Abuser & Child Sex Trafficker Jeffrey Epstein Re-Arrested 10+ Years Later

ElaineA

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This is a pretty mind-blowing turn of events--in a very good way. All credit goes to a couple of Miami lawyers who have been trying for 10+ years to find justice for victims, and intrepid journalist extraordinaire Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, for shining a light on the rot of this situation for the nation to see.

If you're not aware of the details, start here with Perversion of Justice, the long-form, explosive, in-depth exposé the Herald published last November. (Content warning for the subject matter.) It's a stellar piece of must-read journalism.

This is a textbook case of powerful men committing crimes and protecting each other regardless of law, justice, morality, or any of the virtues that are supposed to rule a "just" society. (I know, it's the US, so there are a lot of erroneous assumption there.) The primary names involved, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, the ringleader; Alex Acosta, the federal prosecutor (now-Secretary of Labor) who called off the FBI and violated every Fed Attorney ethical norm; an all-name legal team, including Jay Lefkowitz, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, Jack Goldberger, Roy Black, former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, Gerald Lefcourt, and Kenneth Starr. Together, these men conspired to keep a billionaire well known to traffic in underage girls from going to prison, and to steal justice from the girls, whose lives were poisoned.

This is the story of how Epstein, bolstered by unlimited funds and represented by a powerhouse legal team, was able to manipulate the criminal justice system, and how his accusers, still traumatized by their pasts, believe they were betrayed by the very prosecutors who pledged to protect them.

“I don’t think anyone has been told the truth about what Jeffrey Epstein did,’’ said one of Epstein’s victims, Michelle Licata, now 30. “He ruined my life and a lot of girls’ lives. People need to know what he did and why he wasn’t prosecuted so it never happens again.”

“This was not a ‘he said, she said’ situation. This was 50-something ‘shes’ and one ‘he’ — and the ‘shes’ all basically told the same story,’’ said retired Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter, who supervised the police probe.

Federal prosecutors, including Acosta, not only broke the law, the women contend in court documents, but they conspired with Epstein and his lawyers to circumvent public scrutiny and deceive his victims in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. The law assigns victims a series of rights, including the right of notice of any court proceedings and the opportunity to appear at sentencing.

“As soon as that deal was signed, they silenced my voice and the voices of all of Jeffrey Epstein’s other victims,’’ said Wild, now 31. “This case is about justice, not just for us, but for other victims who aren’t Olympic stars or Hollywood stars.’’

Epstein should have spent the rest of his life in prison for sex trafficking. Instead he's been out living his best life, while his victims...?

The Herald also identified about 80 women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused by Epstein from 2001 to 2006. About 60 of them were located — now scattered around the country and abroad. Eight of them agreed to be interviewed, on or off the record. Four of them were willing to speak on video.
The women are now mothers, wives, nurses, bartenders, Realtors, hairdressers and teachers. One is a Hollywood actress. Several have grappled with trauma, depression and addiction. Some have served time in prison.

Now, tonight, the Federal Prosecutors of SDNY have arrested Epstein, thanks to NY's elimination of the statue of limitations for sex crimes. (He also has homes in NY and New Mexico, and several of these underage sex "parties" occurred on his private plane.) It's also about to get very TMZ because of the names that will be unveiled (Dershowitz, Trump, Clinton, Prince Andrew, for starters). The national under-belly is about to get a nice, close examination.

I am so, SO hopeful these women--these, once, young girls--finally get their justice.
 
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Brightdreamer

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My hope is that this results in actual prosecution and jail time. Numerous prosecutions.

My expectation, given what has been elevated to the highest office and who has been stacking courts...
 

ap123

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My hope is that this results in actual prosecution and jail time. Numerous prosecutions.

My expectation, given what has been elevated to the highest office and who has been stacking courts...

Yup, I'm waiting to hear he was a mere boy of 50 from a good family who liked beer with a bright future ahead of him.
 

ElaineA

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I'm sure there will be a battle royale on keeping him locked up. He IS already convicted of sex crimes. He was on the sex offender registry. If he's done ANYthing involving underage girls/teens since his "plea deal" they'll have a good argument to for no-bail. He's rich enough that no amount is going to keep him from absconding. He's got his own planes, houses overseas. He's a total flight risk.

Mimi Rocah, former SDNY prosecutor, clarified that these are Federal charges, so yes, pardonable. But the State of NY hasn't been shy about going after Trump and if Epstein did anything in their jurisdiction, there is still that avenue open. Trump is going to be in quite a position. He's been running with Epstein since the way-back, Epstein was a member at Mar-al-Lago, and at least one of the victims worked there. Ol'45 and his blunt instrument, Billy Barr, are going to work hard to keep the files on this one sealed tight.
 

Roxxsmom

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My hope is that this results in actual prosecution and jail time. Numerous prosecutions.

My expectation, given what has been elevated to the highest office and who has been stacking courts...

Yeah, it would be nice if folks involved in covering for this dingleberry in the ass-crack of humanity get prosecuted too. It's probably too much to hope for, though.

Completely unsurprising that one of these scumbags is in the Trump administration, though.

I'm sure there will be a battle royale on keeping him locked up. He IS already convicted of sex crimes. He was on the sex offender registry. If he's done ANYthing involving underage girls/teens since his "plea deal" they'll have a good argument to for no-bail. He's rich enough that no amount is going to keep him from absconding. He's got his own planes, houses overseas. He's a total flight risk.

This is why bail should be uncoupled from money. Rich people are actually greater flight risks in certain types of crime, for the reasons mentioned above and because losing a big wad of cash is not going to be much of a deterrent.

CA has recently become the first state to eliminate cash bail in favor of a system based on algorithms that assess numerous risk factors. The intent is to eliminate the advantage rich people get (in terms of being released on bail awaiting their trials, at least) when accused of the same crimes as poor people (who often can't make bail at all and must stay in prison or take out crippling loans). I hope others follow suit.

It's also resulted in the elimination of those sleazy bail bond companies that used to erect billboards all over poorer neighborhoods.
 
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CWatts

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Yeah, it would be nice if folks involved in covering for this dingleberry in the ass-crack of humanity get prosecuted too. It's probably too much to hope for, though.

Completely unsurprising that one of these scumbags is in the Trump administration.

I want to see every scumbag who abused those girls do hard time. It appears that both Trump himself and Bill Clinton are implicated. I bet some backroom deals are already happening - both to get both off and to take them both down.

Have to say it's ironic AF that Ken Starr is involved in this shitstorm.
 

ElaineA

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The web of connections is pretty damn interesting (hello, Felix Sater, nice to see you back again). The arrest warrant was filed by the Public Corruption unit of SDNY (which doesn't mean public officials are involved, just that the defendant committed crimes that would affect public institutions, ie: tax fraud, bribery, etc. It makes sense since Acosta illegally sealed this case and gave cover to other defendants as yet unknown.) and presumably wasn't supposed to be acted on until Monday when the indictment was scheduled to be unsealed. That they arrested him on a Saturday night is unusual, according to experts, and probably indicates their worry about his risk to flee.

Tomorrow's news coverage is going to be entertaining. :popcorn:
 
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frimble3

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I want to see every scumbag who abused those girls do hard time. It appears that both Trump himself and Bill Clinton are implicated. I bet some backroom deals are already happening - both to get both off and to take them both down.

Have to say it's ironic AF that Ken Starr is involved in this shitstorm.
Yeah, Starr and Clinton, together again! Or, Starr and Clinton - the farewell tour.
Bet Clinton is the only one of the pair who gets the joke.

Sadly, this is also Bill Clinton, screwing whatever slim chance Hillary ever had of getting out from his shadow.
 
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BenPanced

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I want to see every scumbag who abused those girls do hard time. It appears that both Trump himself and Bill Clinton are implicated. I bet some backroom deals are already happening - both to get both off and to take them both down.

Have to say it's ironic AF that Ken Starr is involved in this shitstorm.

Yeah, Starr and Clinton, together again! Or, Starr and Clinton - the farewell tour.
Bet Clinton is the only one of the pair who gets the joke.

Sadly, this is also Bill Clinton, screwing whatever slim chance Hillary ever had of getting out from his shadow.

So far, the only "implications" I've seen are people skimming the articles and finding Clinton's name mentioned in a sidebar about people Epstein's associated with then immediately jumping to conclusions about his involvement because THEY JUST KNOW and RICH WHITE GUYS and POLITICIANS SUCK and CLINTON CLINTON CLINTON. Unless I'm missing something? I've read the links above and the original complaint that's been unsealed, and I don't see how.
 

lizmonster

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I see a lot of conservatives on Twitter howling THEY'LL BE COMING AFTER YOUR GUYS TOO

to which I say I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE POLITICS OF PEDOPHILES SWEEP THEM ALL OUT

The projection is strong in certain segments of the right wing.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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I see a lot of conservatives on Twitter howling THEY'LL BE COMING AFTER YOUR GUYS TOO

to which I say I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE POLITICS OF PEDOPHILES SWEEP THEM ALL OUT

You and every Progressive I've seen on Twitter.

Oddly enough, the Left does not seem to be the political affiliation historically in the habit of giving a pass to the vilest of criminals just because they happen to share their political affiliation.

You don't protect child rapers, even if they can sing your catechism.
 
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Introversion

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I see a lot of conservatives on Twitter howling THEY'LL BE COMING AFTER YOUR GUYS TOO

to which I say I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE POLITICS OF PEDOPHILES SWEEP THEM ALL OUT

Amen. Like, yesterday. Do it do it do it.
 

BenPanced

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I see a lot of conservatives on Twitter howling THEY'LL BE COMING AFTER YOUR GUYS TOO

to which I say I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE POLITICS OF PEDOPHILES SWEEP THEM ALL OUT

The projection is strong in certain segments of the right wing.

Hang 'em all regardless. Let them fry. I won't care which party they're affiliated with or how much money they have or what their last name is. If the evidence is there, burn them if guilty.
 

ElaineA

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So far, the only "implications" I've seen are people skimming the articles and finding Clinton's name mentioned in a sidebar about people Epstein's associated with then immediately jumping to conclusions about his involvement because THEY JUST KNOW and RICH WHITE GUYS and POLITICIANS SUCK and CLINTON CLINTON CLINTON. Unless I'm missing something? I've read the links above and the original complaint that's been unsealed, and I don't see how.

There's a little more to it than that. There were definitely contacts and long-standing suspicions, but it's still mostly whispers. Still, 3 paragraphs into this Daily Beast story from 2015>> I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 he makes an appearance.

I was a political supporter of Bill Clinton's from as far back as the late 80's, but damn, if he's involved, I wouldn't defend him from this situation for all of Epstein's money and then some. If he's implicated, take him down, and all the other pedophiles along with him. I don't give a flying you-know-what about party affiliation.
 
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BenPanced

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There's a little more to it than that. There were definitely contacts and long-standing suspicions, but it's still mostly whispers. Still, 3 paragraphs into this Daily Beast story from 2015>> I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 he makes an appearance.

I was a political supporter of Bill Clinton's from as far back as the late 80's, but damn, if he's involved, I wouldn't defend him from this situation for all of Epstein's money and then some. If he's implicated, take him down, and all the other pedophiles along with him. I don't give a flying you-know-what about party affiliation.

The link you'd posted above mentions the trip to Africa was a fact-finding trip for the Clinton Foundation, so there's the reason for pearl clutching right there. Yeah, if it's much more than that hang the guy but again, all I've seen so far is a strong whiff of whataboutism and "your guy's next!" If I'm wrong, I'll admit it but I think it's a bit unwarranted to bring up Clinton's involvement in anything.
 
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Alessandra Kelley

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The link ElaineA posted above mentions the trip to Africa was a fact-finding trip for the Clinton Foundation, so there's the reason for pearl clutching right there. Yeah, if it's much more than that hang the guy but again, all I've seen so far is a strong whiff of whataboutism and "your guy's next!" If I'm wrong, I'll admit it but I think it's a bit unwarranted to bring up Clinton's involvement in anything.

The answer to Whataboutism is: Nothing that Y did makes X’s crime any less monstrous.

The answer to Your guy’s next! is: If he’s guilty, he should be. We don’t close ranks to protect monsters just because they’re already in the compound waving our team colors.
 
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CWatts

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The answer to Whataboutism is: Nothing that Y did makes X’s crime any less monstrous.

The answer to Your guy’s next! is: If he’s guilty, he should be. We don’t close ranks to protect monsters just because they’re already in the compound waving our team colors.

This. The GOP campaigned for Roy Moore.

I really hope Bill Clinton wasn't involved. We all know he's a player but he's never been linked to anyone underage. But if there's evidence, throw the book at him. I also think Hillary would divorce him over this.

There's no real doubt Trump is involved, and the allegations are disturbing: https://mobile.twitter.com/iansmadrig/status/1068605537246425088
 

ElaineA

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Interesting morning of hearings where in Epstein's attorneys argue his flight risk is dramatically overstated (he owns 2 airplanes, a private island, and a $77 M residence in Manhattan); and that authorities in Florida had all the resources to investigate and came away with this being a "simple case of prostitution." He claims bond and a tracking bracelet "should cut it."

Meanwhile, FBI agents raided Epstein's Manhattan home and found "hundreds, maybe thousands of photos of underage-appearing girls," and several CDs with labeled content in a safe.

If they let this guy free on bond...grrrrrrrrrrr
 

Xelebes

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The web of connections is pretty damn interesting (hello, Felix Sater, nice to see you back again). The arrest warrant was filed by the Public Corruption unit of SDNY (which doesn't mean public officials are involved, just that the defendant committed crimes that would affect public institutions, ie: tax fraud, bribery, etc. It makes sense since Acosta illegally sealed this case and gave cover to other defendants as yet unknown.) and presumably wasn't supposed to be acted on until Monday when the indictment was scheduled to be unsealed. That they arrested him on a Saturday night is unusual, according to experts, and probably indicates their worry about his risk to flee.

Tomorrow's news coverage is going to be entertaining. :popcorn:

That's George Nader, not Felix Sater.
 

cornflake

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Not for nothing -- and believe me, I think the guy should be locked up, and should have been years ago; it doesn't seem there's ever been any question as to the veracity of the kind of endless offenses he's committed and arranged -- but there's a difference between people involved in committing the crimes, people like Acosta, who appear to have tried to cover up/get law enforcement away from the crimes, which is likely a crime, and the lawyers who are defending Epstein.

I get thinking they're assholes for doing it, but I don't like the way some of the writing linked in the OP sort of conflates everyone involved. The lawyers are doing their jobs. Everyone is entitled to a vigorous defense. Dershowitz is an unbelievable ass who is, for whatever reason, currently enamored of Trump, but he's always said he'd defend anyone, including Hitler, in court, because he so believes in that tenet of the system -- that the adversarial basis of it requires a proper, dedicated defense, no matter the crime.
 

MaeZe

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There was a lot of information this morning on Democracy Now: Jeffrey Epstein, a Billionaire Friend of Presidents Trump & Clinton, Arrested for Sex Trafficking
One of the girls describes what went on for years and also questions how he actually became rich.
VICKY WARD: If Alexander Acosta had let the FBI to continue with its investigation. But instead, there was this—that he had one meeting with Jay Lefkowitz, a member of Jeffrey Epstein’s powerhouse, massive sort of legal team, and he did the—you know, he later justified the plea deal that was cut, the nonprosecution agreement, that was significantly, by the way, not just helpful to Jeffrey Epstein, but helpful to four conspirators who had enabled him. He claimed later, “Well, you know, the women’s testimony might not have stood up. This was the best deal I could get.” But, in fact, we now know that he actually broke the law. You’re not allowed to cut a deal like that and not tell victims, who were cooperating with a separate FBI investigation, which is what happened. They were completely blindsided by this thing.

And finally, this year—and I have to say thank you to Julie Brown, the Miami Herald journalist, for highlighting the issue before Congress, and thank you to Ben Sasse, the Republican senator from Nebraska, for joining with 15 Democrats and going back to the Justice Department and saying, “What on Earth happened? This is a clear miscarriage of justice. Investigate it,” because I think it’s against that political climate of goodwill that you now have the FBI saying, “OK, let’s go back.”
I see now it was Congress that has challenged Acosta's actions so that's how Trump's DoJ prosecutors are fighting it. I was wondering how the DoJ was fighting itself.
 

Gregg

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'Bradley Edwards, an attorney who successfully represented multiple Epstein victims, actually praised Trump as one of the few connected people who chose to help him when he was building his case against Epstein — facing charges now of sex trafficking, Epstein was at the time charged with paying many underage girls for sex.'

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/0...p-was-very-helpful-in-case-against-him-772580