WEBVTT - Epstein Lawyers Reveal Risky Defense Strategy

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. Fund manager Jeffrey

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<v Speaker 1>Epstein is facing as many as forty five years behind

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<v Speaker 1>bars if convicted on all charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy,

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<v Speaker 1>and announcing the charges yesterday, Manhattan US Attorney Jeffrey Berman

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<v Speaker 1>anticipated that Epstein would raise a federal non prosecution agreement

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<v Speaker 1>as a defense. Jeffrey Epstein entered into a non prosecution

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<v Speaker 1>agreement with the Southern District of Florida. That agreement only

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<v Speaker 1>binds by its terms, only binds the Southern District of Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>The Southern District of New York is not bound by

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<v Speaker 1>that agreement and is not a signatory to that agreement. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>the plea agreement that he's talking about was signed in

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<v Speaker 1>September two thousand seven, and it was approved by now

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<v Speaker 1>Labor Secretary Alex Acosta when he was the top federal

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<v Speaker 1>prosecutor for Southern Florida. Joining me as Patricia Hattado Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>News legal reporter. Pat start by explaining a little more

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<v Speaker 1>that Florida deal that Epstein made. Well, it's a little

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<v Speaker 1>murky still and people are trying to unearth the details.

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<v Speaker 1>But from what we understand is he played guilty to

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<v Speaker 1>state charges and a federal investigation essentially went away, and

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<v Speaker 1>he got a non prosecution agreement with the Southern District

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<v Speaker 1>of Florida, and the U s attorney was Alex Acosta,

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<v Speaker 1>who's now Labor Secretary, and in you know, yesterday in

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<v Speaker 1>the press conference, which is kind of unusual of the

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<v Speaker 1>Manhattan US attorney said that defense is not going to work,

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<v Speaker 1>anticipating the defense and saying that it's just not gonna work. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's The government has been criticized by the victims,

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<v Speaker 1>these women victims and their lawyers about the steal that

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<v Speaker 1>made the case go away and the victims were never notified,

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<v Speaker 1>and a federal judge in Florida has already also criticized

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<v Speaker 1>the deal. Under the law, victims are entitled to know

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<v Speaker 1>that there's a proceeding in their case, that something's happened

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<v Speaker 1>in it, and they're entitled to talk and get their

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<v Speaker 1>comments and get restitution, and this didn't happen. So the

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<v Speaker 1>judge in that case, as a civil suit, ruled that

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<v Speaker 1>there had been a violent constitutional violation for their lights

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<v Speaker 1>um and it's still being reviewed, and he anticipated he

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<v Speaker 1>was going to get criticism for why are you bringing

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<v Speaker 1>this case when it already happened. Does it make a

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<v Speaker 1>difference that the prosecutors say there's new evidence and victims

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<v Speaker 1>outside of that Florida the original Florida investigation. Yeah, the

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<v Speaker 1>government says they have new evidence and one of the

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<v Speaker 1>counts has nothing to do with the previous allegations. That

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<v Speaker 1>they have new complaints and they also invited new uh,

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who has new evidence or wants to come forward

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<v Speaker 1>and say they're either a victim or a witness to

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<v Speaker 1>anything he has done, they would like to invite them

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<v Speaker 1>to come come and help their case. So they insist

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<v Speaker 1>that they're on strong legal grounds. So Jeffrey Epstein's bail

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<v Speaker 1>hearing is going to resume on July, and the prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>have set forth several different reasons why they think that

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<v Speaker 1>he should not get bail. Tell us about those. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they have said a variety of things, including that um

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<v Speaker 1>Epstein after he gets this deal. Uh basically threatened and

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<v Speaker 1>harassed and tried to intimidate either personally or through his

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<v Speaker 1>um through his uh adverse. You know, his allies try

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<v Speaker 1>to including run off the fall of one of his

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<v Speaker 1>victims off the road. So this kind of threatened intimidation,

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<v Speaker 1>they say, is not It's not appropriate for someone in

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<v Speaker 1>his with his wherewithal and he's very wealthy and he

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<v Speaker 1>has six homes and owns his own island and the

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<v Speaker 1>US Virgin Islands. So someone like that who has the

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<v Speaker 1>ability and the means to flee and could go anywhere

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<v Speaker 1>in the world, could could get out of the country

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<v Speaker 1>and is a prosecution pet if you know or any

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<v Speaker 1>other people likely be charged in this because the court

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<v Speaker 1>papers indicate that at least three of his employees were

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<v Speaker 1>involved in this alleged trafficking scheme. Yes, and some of

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<v Speaker 1>my smart colleagues at the press conference peppered the U

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<v Speaker 1>S attorney with how come no one else has been charged?

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<v Speaker 1>Where they were named, it sounded like employees of his

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<v Speaker 1>were suggested that had involvement or knowledge or awareness, and

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<v Speaker 1>he wouldn't say whether they were cooperating or if they

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<v Speaker 1>were under investigation, So that may be stay tuned to

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<v Speaker 1>see if someone else gets charged and if anyone else

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<v Speaker 1>comes forward as well. Now he's been under scrutiny for

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<v Speaker 1>more than a decade, and you know, there have been

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<v Speaker 1>years of accusations in addition to the Florida charges. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you know, is there any reason that you know of

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<v Speaker 1>why prosecutors in the Public Corruption Unit in the U. S.

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney's Office in Manhattan decided to you know, pull the trigger,

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<v Speaker 1>so to speak. Well, I guess um the reason there

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<v Speaker 1>they might be involved could be that it's the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of thing where, if you can imagine it in evolves

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<v Speaker 1>the highest you know, defense lawyer Read Weingarten said yesterday

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<v Speaker 1>that some people at the highest level at main Justice, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>this plea deal between federal prosecutors in Florida as well

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<v Speaker 1>as state prosecutors in Florida. So someone looking over the

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder of what was done in the past might need

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<v Speaker 1>to have someone with a finesse of handling public corruption cases.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's just one of the idle guess as

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<v Speaker 1>some people I've been speaking to have suggested, did this

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<v Speaker 1>come as a surprise because there was a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>talk that it's going to happen it's going to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>But when it finally did, it seemed to be a

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<v Speaker 1>surprise to me. I don't know, but for you in

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<v Speaker 1>the court house, Uh, well, you know what it was

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<v Speaker 1>kind of I guess it was a surprise to many people,

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<v Speaker 1>including maybe Epstain, because he didn't seem to if he

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<v Speaker 1>was aware that he was under criminal investigation. He may have,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm only guessing here, but he seemed to have

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<v Speaker 1>a comfort level that he didn't mind keeping in a

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<v Speaker 1>safe all these hundreds, if not thousands with the government

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<v Speaker 1>said they had conducted a search at his East seventy

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<v Speaker 1>one Street mansion and in a safe in there they

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<v Speaker 1>found hundreds of not thousands, of pictures of nude and

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<v Speaker 1>semi nude young women, many who appeared to be miners.

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<v Speaker 1>So he had a comfort level that he had no

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<v Speaker 1>problem keeping that stuff around if he knew he was

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<v Speaker 1>under investigation. Now do I understand the Justice Department is

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<v Speaker 1>also attempting to seize that residence. Yes, and they're going

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<v Speaker 1>after everything he owns, including his uh two jets to

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<v Speaker 1>private jets, UM six property funds, apparently at home in Paris,

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<v Speaker 1>two homes in the British Virgin Islands, the private island,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I mean, I'm the US Virgin Islands, the

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<v Speaker 1>private island. He owns a lot of property, so they're

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<v Speaker 1>going after everything, all right, Well, thanks so much for

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<v Speaker 1>keeping up on all this. Pad always at the courthouse,

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<v Speaker 1>they're following the cases. That's Patricia Hurtado, Bloomberg News Legal reporter.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. You can

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<v Speaker 1>subscribe and listen to the show on Apple podcast, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brosso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg