The Daily - United States v. Jeffrey Epstein

Episode Date: July 9, 2019

Prosecutors in New York have accused the billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls and of asking them to recruit others. We spoke with our colleague about what happened in a similar case against Mr. Epstein over a decade ago. Guest: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: The new indictment of Mr. Epstein could prompt a reckoning for the Justice Department, which is facing fresh scrutiny over a plea deal in 2008 that protected him from federal charges.Alexander Acosta, President Trump’s labor secretary and the former United States attorney in the Southern District of Florida, was personally involved in negotiating that plea deal.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, prosecutors in New York are accusing Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls and asking them to recruit other underage girls. Patti Mazzei on what happened in a similar case against Epstein over a decade ago. It's Tuesday, July 9th. Good morning. I'm Jeff Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Today, we announce the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein. Patty, tell us about what happened in New York on Monday. So on Monday morning, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jeffrey Berman, States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jeffrey Berman, holds a press conference where he announces new federal criminal charges against Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, and later today he will be presented before a magistrate judge. Epstein is a former hedge fund manager who made his wealth in Wall Street. He's got a palatial townhouse in the Upper East Side of New York.

He's got a mansion on Palm Beach Island. He's got property at the United States Virgin Islands. And he is friends with the rich and powerful, including President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of York in England. Epstein was arrested this past Saturday evening at Teterboro Airport aboard his private jet that had just landed from Paris, France. And what is the U.S. attorney in New York alleging that Epstein did?

Epstein is charged in a two-count indictment. First, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and second, the substantive crime of sex trafficking of underage girls. According to prosecutors, Epstein created this network between 2002 and 2005. The victims were all underage girls at the time of the alleged conduct. In which he invited girls, underage girls, into his mansion in New York and in Palm Beach, and he paid them to give him nude massages. These massages became increasingly sexual in nature and would typically include one or more sex acts as specified in the indictment.

Those encounters often ended in masturbation, oral sex, and in at least one case, rape. As alleged, Epstein also paid certain victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused. And he also paid them to recruit more girls that could come to his house, therefore creating this sort of ever-expanding network of sex trafficking. The alleged behavior shocks the conscience. And while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women. They deserve their day in court, and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.

And the prosecutor said that even though some of these encounters happened a long time ago, that some of this is old, these girls who are now women deserve their day in court. Thank you. So the prosecutor in New York makes a point of saying this alleged behavior dates back years and years, basically to 2002. So why are we just seeing these charges today? So why are we just seeing these charges today? That's the key question, Michael, because what is stunning about this case, when you listen to the U.S. attorney in New York on Monday, is that it sounded so familiar to allegations made against Jeffrey Epstein in Florida more than a decade ago. In that case, the girls in Florida did not get their day in court. But the story of how the Florida case against Epstein unraveled

is one of the reasons why we are here today talking about this case against him in New York. this case against him in New York. So what exactly is the story of what happened in Florida? The story begins in 2005 when a girl and her parents go to the police in Palm Beach and tell them that she has been molested by Epstein and paid for it. And the police start investigating and what they find is not just one girl, but many girls with stories about being molested by Epstein. And some girls just lead to more girls. And so they wind up with what they think is a very big case on their hands. They take it to the state attorney, but eventually the police feel like Epstein might not get as harsh of a charge as they would like, given the number of victims that they have seen. And concerned about

that, they take the case to the FBI and say, help us, we think there's a big case here. And why do the local police have that suspicion that Epstein will not be appropriately charged? What exactly do they fear? They become anxious that either because of Epstein's wealth or name in the community or the fact that he didn't have a criminal history,

that he just might not be charged as strongly as they think he should be charged. For example, that instead of some sort of sex abuse charge, he might end up with something like soliciting prostitution that would elicit a less harsh penalty. And so what does the FBI do when the police bring this case to them? The FBI starts investigating and finds more victims and victims corroborating the stories that the police had found. Stories about massages and nude massages and payment for these massages that ended up in various sex acts and a web of

recruitment where one girl would be paid by Epstein and his associates to bring in more girls to his Palm Beach house for these massages. And eventually, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, which at the time was run by a man named Alex Acosta, drafts a 53-page indictment against Epstein. And what does this indictment say? The indictment lays out these allegations of sex trafficking against minors and carries a potential punishment of up to life in prison. It's a serious indictment. Yeah, it was pretty thorough. And so what happens? So weeks go by and then months go by. And finally, in 2008, the victims learn that there will be no federal criminal indictment against Epstein. Unbeknown to the victims behind the scenes, Epstein and his high-powered defense lawyers had negotiated with federal prosecutors so that they would not charge him in federal court. They negotiated what is called a non-prosecution agreement. And so in the end, Epstein pleaded guilty to a single count of

soliciting prostitution in state court. He had to register as a sex offender. He had to pay financial restitution to some of his victims. And he got 18 months in county jail, in which he could leave six days a week to go to work. Leave prison six days a week. Just kind of walk out of jail and go to work. Yeah, it was an extraordinary arrangement. It raised eyebrows even at the time, but the prosecutor said it was how they were going to guarantee that Epstein served some time in jail and that he registered as a sex offender, which they viewed as important to help the community around him.

So the local police brought this case originally to the FBI because they were worried that the state attorney would be rolled over by Epstein by his wealth, by all his connections and his fancy lawyers, and that he would get a sweetheart deal. Prosecutors would tell you that they did their best and that meant sending Epstein to jail. But in the end, he faced a prostitution charge in state court

and not a sex trafficking charge in federal court. And that's exactly what the Palm Beach police worried could happen at the start of the case. But with the FBI and the federal prosecutors. Right, the people who they had turned to for help. Patty, you said that this was unknown to the victims. Why would that be? The victims were not given a chance to speak up against this agreement before it was signed. It was essentially just negotiated between Epstein's attorneys and the prosecution.

And so the victims didn't find out until after the fact and after Epstein had already agreed to the plea deal. And what's the reaction from the victims who have been cut out of this plea agreement and are now learning that he's going to be facing an unusually light sentence? are now learning that he's going to be facing an unusually light sentence. The victims are outraged. And as soon as they find out about this non-prosecution deal in 2008, they go to court asking for the agreement to be nullified, for them to get their day in court. And this argument turns into years of legal battles over what was negotiated in secret that the victims did not know about.

And what's going on with Epstein during this time, as this battle over the plea agreement is playing out in courts? Epstein gets out of jail about five months early. He reportedly has a party to celebrate his return to society. And he has to register as a sex offender. But other than that, he basically goes back to his old life. He had his lavish lifestyle that he continued traveling between his properties in New York and Palm Beach and

the Virgin Islands. And the case kind of receded from public view for years until President Trump asks Alex Acosta, the former top prosecutor in Miami who reached the secret deal not to indict Epstein with federal charges to be his labor secretary. We'll be right back. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order. This morning we're holding a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Alexander Acosta. Patty, what happens after Acosta is nominated as labor secretary. With the Acosta nomination comes a lot of scrutiny into Acosta's career,

especially his time as a prosecutor. And so reporters like myself start looking into the case again. I want to just read this. In 2007, Acosta signed a non-prosecution deal. And in fact, it comes up in Acosta's Senate confirmation hearing for the Labor Department. What is the reason why a deal of this kind has the specification that it will not be made part of any public record? Senator, I'll answer your question. He says, as he had said in the past. At the end of this case, I received a telephone call from the special agent in charge of the FBI.

That they did the best they could. And he called to just say congratulations. This was really hard fought and well won. And that the outcome was positive because Epstein went to jail and had to register as a sex offender. And that that would help protect the community. You are aware that Mr. Epstein served that 13 months. He was allowed out during the day and he had to sleep at a county jail, but he was basically allowed to move and go around the community and do whatever he wants. And then that became a subject of significant criticism. And I

am on record condemning that. and I think that was awful. Despite those questions, Acosta gets confirmed by the Senate and becomes the Labor Secretary, which he still is now. But the Miami Herald, his hometown paper, decides that it's going to dig even deeper into the Epstein case and see what happened, especially now that not only is Acosta the labor secretary, but that the Me Too movement has happened and that perhaps these victims who are now young women might be willing to talk publicly for the first time.

And what does the Herald find? The Herald is reporting that Acosta gave a sweetheart deal to a wealthy man accused of sex crimes, including sexually abusing underage girls. The Herald investigation, which was published in late 2018, found a trove of documents showing how the secret non-prosecution agreement was negotiated. The paper found that as a U.S. attorney in Florida in 2007,

Acosta and another federal prosecutor struck a plea deal with Epstein's legal team. And the documents show Epstein's defense lawyers being chummy with prosecutors on a first-name basis, while the victims didn't know anything about what was going on. I was young. I was scared, I knew these people were powerful. I didn't know what would happen if I said no. I didn't know what would happen if I reported them. That 16-year-old girl just let it happen.

In addition to that, the Herald finds more victims. And victims who are going on the record for the first time now that they're adults. It takes a long time to start the healing process. I mean, I will never heal. There are pieces for me that can never be put back together. And the combination of the behind-the-scenes communications about this agreement and the additional victims and the victims putting a face and details to these allegations starts to build new public pressure for something to be done in the case. And it's not long after that Miami Herald report that something else happens. That lawsuit that the victims in Florida had filed seeking to invalidate the secret non-prosecution agreement,

a judge finally issues a ruling. And he rules in the women's favor. He says the prosecutors made a mistake in not letting them know that this was being negotiated. And by prosecutors, you mean Alex Acosta, who is now the United States Labor Secretary. That's correct. who is now the United States Labor Secretary. That's correct. The judge ruled that Acosta and his office violated the victim's rights by not letting them know about this secret deal

that they had negotiated with Epstein. And that's where everything was until we got to Monday in New York. Is that what led the U.S. attorney in New York to bring these charges on Monday? We don't know exactly. That case is still pending in Florida. What we do know is that the prosecutor in New York apparently found a new victim in his jurisdiction.

And that seems to be a primary driver in his decision to pursue this case now. And it's possible for him to also draw in some of the allegations from Florida into his case. We know that he went out of his way to say on Monday that the non-prosecution agreement in Florida does not apply to them in New York. But it is key to note that they have found a victim there. And so that gives a new dimension to their findings. So it's possible that these girls, now women, in Florida, who alleged that Jeffrey Epstein had done these things to them and who were kind of boxed out of this non-prosecution agreement, that they may be drawn into this case and have their

day in court here in New York? Possibly. We're going to have to wait and see, given this sort of tricky dynamic between having somebody in the Justice Department in New York signing off on a new case that had been sort of closed and done by somebody in the Justice Department in Miami. It seems like the U.S. attorney in New York is saying something about how the case was handled in Florida. saying something about how the case was handled in Florida. It sounded like the U.S. attorney in New York was implying that this case maybe wasn't handled so well the first time around, either by his predecessors in New York or by his colleagues in Florida,

and that now he has another shot. They get a do-over here, and they plan to take it. And they have a chance to make things right for all these victims after all these years. Patty, you've been covering this case as a reporter in Florida for years. What do you make of these latest developments? What do you make of these latest developments? To me, it's an illustration of how society has changed in the time since this case first came up. And now, I think between the Me Too movement that has exposed some very powerful men and their behavior towards women. I think some of society's impatience now with perhaps wealthy people having a bigger say in the criminal justice system than people who don't have money.

And it's also just interesting that the charge Epstein faced was for soliciting prostitution. I'm so struck by the fact that the resolution of that first Florida case was a prostitution charge, which meant that prosecutors there essentially labeled a minor who was allegedly paid for sex by Jeffrey Epstein as a prostitute, not a victim. Actually, the former police chief in Palm Beach, whose department first started investigating this, has said that what he would really like to see here, in addition to an apology to the victims who did not get what he would consider timely justice, he would like to see lawmakers keep that from happening again. He would like to make it impossible for prosecutors to treat minors like prostitutes in future cases like this one to prevent what he considers was a miscarriage of justice.

Patty, where is Jeffrey Epstein right now? he considers was a miscarriage of justice. Patty, where is Jeffrey Epstein right now? He is in jail in New York, and not the kind of jail where you could leave every day to go to work, like he was in Florida. And he faces the prospect of up to 45 years in prison if this case moves forward and he's found guilty. Patty, thank you very much.

Thank you, Michael. On Monday, federal investigators said they had found hundreds of photographs of nude and partially nude young women and girls inside Jeffrey Epstein's New York home. inside Jeffrey Epstein's New York home. After reviewing the photos, prosecutors said that Epstein, quote, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant. Rather, he is a continuing danger to the community. Shortly after, Epstein pleaded not guilty in federal court. Later on Monday, Attorney General Bill Barr was asked about how Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney in Florida and now the president's secretary of labor,

had handled the original Epstein case in Florida. Barr declined to comment. Barr declined to comment. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. In a highly unusual move, the government lawyers defending the president's efforts to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census have left the case, apparently in protest. The lawyers had been asked to defend the question, despite a recent ruling by the Supreme Court that found that there was no legal basis for including the question.

legal basis for including the question. And in Sudan, military leaders and protesters have reached an unexpected agreement to share power after the military carried out a deadly crackdown on the protesters. Under the agreement, an army general will run Sudan for nearly two years, followed by a civilian leader for the next year and a half. The plan offers the possibility of an eventual transition to democracy after 30 years of dictatorship. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Babar. See you tomorrow.