Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick back
up with the email chain with Marie Villafauna and the
prosecutors and Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers from the original prosecution in Florida.
This email was sent by Jay Lefkowitz to Jeff Slowman,
and Alex Acosta was c seed. This email was sent
on November twenty eighth, two thousand and seven. Here, Jeff,
I received your email yesterday and was a little surprised
at the tone of your letter, given the fact that
we spoke last week and I had thought it was
a very productive meeting. I was especially surprised given that
your letter arrived on only the second day back to
work after the Thanksgiving holiday, and yet your demands regarding
timing suggest that I have been sitting on my hands
for days. You should know that the first time I
learned about Judge redacted selection of Podthurst and Josephsburg, and
indeed the first time I ever heard their names was
in our meeting with you on Wednesday of last week. Nevertheless,
I have now been able to confer with my client
and we have determined that the selection of Podthurst and
Joseph Berg are acceptable to us, reserving, of course, our
previously stated objections to the manner in which you have
interpreted the section twenty two to fifty five portion of
the agreement. We do, however, strongly and emphatically object to
your sending a letter to the alleged victims without fair
opportunity to review and the ability to make objections to
this letter. It is completely unacceptable that you would send
it without our consideration. Additionally, given that the US Attorney's
Office has made clear it cannot vouch for the claims
of the victims, it would be incendiary and inappropriate for
your office to send such a letter. Indeed, because it
is a certainty that any such letter would immediately be
leaked to the press, your actions will only have the
effect act of injuring mister Epstein and promoting spurious civil
litigation directed Adam. We believe it's entirely unprecedented and in
any event inappropriate for the government to be the instigator
of such lawsuits. Finally, we disagree with your view that
you were required to notify the alleged victims pursue into
the justice for all act of two thousand and four.
First US Code eighteen, Section twenty two to fifty five,
the relevant statute under the Non Prosecution Agreement for the
Settlement of Civil Remedies does not have any connection to
the Justice for All Act. Section twenty two to fifty
five was enacted as part of a different statute. Second,
the Justice for All Act refers to restitution, and section
twenty two to fifty five is not a restitution statute.
It is a civil remedy. As you know, we had
offered to provide a restitution fund for the alleged victims
in this matter. However, that option was rejected by your office.
Had that option been chosen, we would not object to
your notifying the alleged victims at this point. At this juncture, however,
we do not accept your contention that there is a
requirement that the government notify the alleged victims of a
potential civil remedy in the case. Accordingly, for all the
reasons we have stated above, we respectfully and firmly object
to your sending any letter whatsoever to the alleged victims
in this matter. Furthermore, if a letter is to be
sent to these individuals, we believe we should have a
right to review and make objections to that submission prior
to it being sent to any alleged victim. We also
request that if your office believes that it must send
a letter to go to the alleged victims who still
have not been identified to us, it should happen only
after mister Epstein has entered his plea. This letter should
then come from the Attorney representative and not from the government,
to avoid any bias. As you know, Judge Starr has
requested a meeting with the City Attorney General Fisher to
address what we believe is the unprecedented nature of the
Section twenty two to twenty five component of the agreement.
We're hopeful that this meeting will take place as early
as next week. Accordingly, we respectfully request that we postpone
our discussion of sending a letter to the alleged victims
until after that meeting. We strongly believe that rushing to
send any letter out this week is not the wisest
manner in which to proceed, given that mister Epstein will
not enter his plea for another few weeks. Time is
clearly not of the essence regarding any notification to the
identified individuals. Thanks very much, Jay. The next email was
sent by Jeff Slowman and it was sent to Jay Lefkowitz.
The United States has a statutory obligation Justice for All
Act of two thousand and four to notify the victims
of the anticipated upcoming events and their rights associated with
the agreement entered into by the United States and mister
Epstein in a timely fashion. Tomorrow will make one full
week since you were formally notified of the selection. I
must insist that the vetting process come to an end. Therefore,
unless you provide me with a good faith objection to
Judge redacted selection by COB tomorrow November twenty eighth, two
thousand and seven, I will authorize the notification of the
victims should you give me the go ahead on Podthurst
and josephs Berg selection by COB tomorrow, I will simultaneously
send your draft of the letter. I intend to notify
the victims by letter after COB Thursday, November twenty ninth,
Thanks Jeff. Next email from Jeff Slowman to Jay Lefkowitz
with alex Acosta c Seed. Jay, Please accept my apologies
for not getting back to you sooner, but I was
a little under the weather yesterday. Hope that you enjoyed
your Thanksgiving. Regarding the issue of due diligence concerning Judge
redacted selection, I'd like to make a few observations. First,
Guy Lewis is known for some time that Judge redacted
was making reasonable efforts to secure Redacted Podthurst and Bob
Joseph Berg for the assignment. In fact, when I told
you of Judge redacted selection during our meeting last Wednesday,
November twenty first, you and Professor Dershowitz seem very comfortable
and certainly not surprised with the selection. Podthurst and Joseph
Berg are no strangers to nearly the entire Epstein defense team,
including Guy Lewis, Lillianne Sanchez, Roy Black, and apparently Professor Dershowitz,
who said he knew mister Joseph Berg from law school. Second,
Pothurst and Joseph Berg have long standing stellar reputations for
their legal acumen and ethics. It's hard for me to
imagine how much more vetting needs to be done. Next.
EML sent by Marie Villafauna to Gerald Lefcourt and CC
to Jeff Sloman and Andrew Lourie Jerry. As per your
discussion with US Attorney A. Coup, I have attached the
offices written counter proposal. If you have any questions regarding
the terms, please do not hesitate to call. Next email
from Marievilla Fauna to John McMillan, Andrew Osterbon, agent Kirkandaal
and Jason Richards Hi All, here's a revised version of
the indictment. We're still doing some proofreading, but I wanted
to get some feedback before I start sending it through
the chain of command. Can you let me know what
you think. Next email is from Andrew Osterbon to Marievila
Fauna and this email was sin September eleventh, two thousand
and seven. Will do when do you plan to submit it?
Next email from Marievilafauna to Andrew Osterbon on September eleventh,
two thousand and seven, probably sometime tomorrow, just to Karen
Atkinson to get a first read. Then it will go
to Rolando and then up to Yes. I'm still shooting
for a nine to twenty five for an indictment date,
assuming they don't take our counter counter offer. In case
you haven't heard yesterday, one of Epstein's lawyers countered with
a fifteen month in jail followed by fifteen months community
confinement aka home confinement, and we counter countered with twenty
months in jail followed by ten months community confinement. Here's
the agreement that was sent out, Thanks Drew. Next email
was sent by Andrew Osterbon to Marie Vilafauna. This email
was sent on September eleventh, two thousand and seven. I
had not heard the counter offering. Is unfortunate, but I
suppose it's understandable. Let me know how it goes. Thanks Marie.
Next email from Marievilllafauna to Andrew Osterbon, September thirteenth, two
thousand and seven. Hi, Drew, Sorry to bother you, but
the POLA negotiations are getting fast and furious. Epstein's lawyers
are fixated on this idea of a victim's fund rather
than having the girl's files separate twenty two to fifty
five actions. I know that the reason that they want
to do this is not out of the goodness of
their hearts, but to keep this stuff out of the
public court files. But in some way it'll help the
girls too. Do you know anything about how the fund
in Alaska has worked out? Did all the victims consent
or did the court just do it? Thank you for
your help. I also turned in the indictment package to
my immediate supervisor today, so I expect some edits back
from her before it goes higher up the chain. If
you add any thoughts, please let me know. Next email
from Andrew Osterban to Marie Villa Fauna, and this one
was sent on September thirteenth, two thousand and seven. Thanks
for more information, Marie. I'll get the details on the
balm arrangements from the prosecutors and get back to you tomorrow.
I believe the girls agreed to the arrangement, but I'll
confirm that I should have the indictment reviewed by then
as well. Next email from Marie Villa Fauna to Andrew
Astar Hi, Drew, I tracked down the AUSA in Alaska
and he's sending me the trust agreement and I'll let
you know how things go in the morning. Next eml
from Marievilla Fauna to someone whose names were redacted and
CC to Andrew Lowry, Jay, it was nice seeing you again, Andy,
and I talk with Alex and Jeff. We're all satisfied
in principle with the agreement, but the office is uncomfortable
with the recommended federal charge. Specifically, we're concerned about the
effect of taking the position that mister Epstein's house is
in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,
and we have no evidence of any assaults occurring either
on mister Epstein's plane or offshore from his residence. We're
hoping that you can find an alternative federal statute that
can be used. I will also wait to hear from
Jack Goldberger to discuss logistics. Thank you, Marievilla Fauna. Next
Emil from Jay Lefkowitz to Marievilla Fauna and meant to
copy you on my first attempt to respond to Marie.
We appreciate the courtesy of today's meeting and your agreement
and Alex's. We understand the concerns you are raising and
will work over the next few days to come up
with a mutually acceptable solution. I'll speak with you no
later than Monday, and in the interim we can come
up with a solution. We will be in touch with you.
Next email from Jay Lefkowitz to Marievillafauna on September thirteenth,
two thousand and seven, Marie, are you free to speak
at nine am tomorrow? Next email from Marievillafauna to Jay Lefkowitz,
September thirteenth, two thousand and seven. Hi, Jay, Yeah, I am.
I've been spending some quality time with Title eighteen looking
for misdemeanors. Do you want to take a look at
US Code eighteen four oh three, US Code eighteen fifteen
twelve D and forty seven USC two twenty three A,
one and B and we can talk about them tomorrow.
I know that someone may there being activity on an airplane.
I just want to make sure that there is factual
basis for the plea that the agents can confirm. I'm
not sure exactly where I'll be tomorrow morning, so is
it all right if I call you? Have a good morning.
The next and final email from Jay Lefquwitz to Marie
Villafuna sounds good. I will be at home. Let's talk
at nine am. Already thinking about the same statutes. Look
forward to speaking in the morning, best Jay. All right, folks.
So that completes this thread. But when I tell you
that we haven't even scratched the surface yet, I mean it.
We have so many documents to go over that it's
not even funny. So we're going to continue to eat
this elephant one bite at a time, and when we
have slow news days like today, we're going to have
more files added to the catalog. As for this one, well,
all the information that goes with it can be found
in the description box.