Epstein case update

Guardian -  Flight logs from Epstein’s private jet showed that former president Bill Clinton took at least 26 trips aboard the plane between 2001 and 2003 – the same period from which the new charges are believed to stem.

Epstein will appear in court for a bail hearing later today, at which time he will also try and fight a demand made by federal prosecutors  in the indictment that he forfeit his $40 million Manhattan mansion. 

NY Times -Mr. Epstein is charged with using his vast network of contacts and associates to bring a constant stream of underage girls to his Manhattan townhouse, one law enforcement official said. He is accused of shuttling the girls between the townhouse and his home in Palm Beach, Fla., paying them in cash and urging them to recruit other underage girls to visit his home.

The girls were initially recruited to give him massages. But he frequently escalated the encounters into sex acts, a law enforcement source said, including groping and touching the girls’ genitals. This pattern continued from at least 2002 to 2005, the source said.

Issues involved in the case

Forbes - A federal appeals court ordered that 167 documents in a lawsuit that alleges famously well-connected financier Jeffrey Epstein participated in a sex-trafficking ring should be unsealed—and that many of his powerful friends could be named. 

In its 27-page decision, the court cited the public’s right to access the case information outweighed the privacy of certain individuals, “including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.” Virginia Guiffre (now Roberts) filed the lawsuit against Ghislane Maxwell, alleging that she had used her as part of a sex trafficking network of underage girls to Epstein and a number of his famous friends, including his lawyer Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew. Both men denied the accusations. Dershowitz has supported unsealing the documents, according to the Daily Beast. The documents will not be immediately available, as anonymous individuals involved in the case have two weeks to file appeals.

Business Insider -  A Trump biographer, Tim O'Brien, tweeted the quote on Saturday. It came from a New York magazine profile of Epstein, in which Trump said: "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it - Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

NY Times -  Federal prosecutors in Miami initially drafted a 53-page indictment against Mr. Epstein. But in 2008, those prosecutors — led by [Alexander] Acosta, then the region’s United States attorney, and now Mr. Trump’s labor secretary — struck a deal with Mr. Epstein’s lawyers that allowed him to avoid federal charges. Instead, Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Under the federal charges, Mr. Epstein could have faced life in prison. After the deal, he served 13 months in jail. He had work-release privileges for six days a week, 12 hours each day, during which a private driver picked him up and took him to a nearby office. 

Mr. Acosta, whom Mr. Trump nominated as labor secretary in 2017, has faced intense scrutiny for his role in Mr. Epstein’s deal to avoid prosecution, which has been widely criticized as shockingly lenient.

A series of investigative stories by The Herald last year revealed that Mr. Acosta was personally involved in the negotiations. He met privately with one of Mr. Epstein’s lawyers, who was also one of Mr. Acosta’s former colleagues.

In subsequent weeks, prosecutors from Mr. Acosta’s office gave Mr. Epstein’s lawyers an unusual amount of control over the terms of the plea deal, The Herald reported.

“Thank you for the commitment you made to me,’’ Mr. Epstein’s lawyer wrote in a letter to Mr. Acosta after their meeting, noting that Mr. Acosta had assured him that he would not contact “any of the identified individuals, potential witnesses or potential civil claimants,” The Herald reported.

Mr. Acosta’s office also agreed to help shield the deal from public scrutiny, according to The Herald. The case’s lead prosecutor, A. Marie Villafaña, wrote to Mr. Epstein’s lawyer at one point: “I can file the charge in district court in Miami which will hopefully cut the press coverage significantly. Do you want to check that out?”

During Mr. Acosta’s Senate confirmation hearing, he defended the deal by noting that Mr. Epstein had been required to register as a sex offender. He also said in 2011 that the plea deal’s results were “better” than risking a trial, which he said had “a reduced likelihood of success.”