I refuse to say he committed suicide because that would require trust in the DOJ's investigation into his death. Not that it's inconceivable that Epstein committed suicide. He was facing serious charges that would have resulted in serious time. He revised his will two days before he died. (Indicative of planning his death or being fearful he'd be killed, however you want to look at it.) Rather, it's that we've learned from the Epstein saga that the DOJ, which serves the broader interests of the US government, can't be trusted.
Two years gone and we still have no good answers about Jeffrey Epstein's ties to intelligence.
There are sources telling Vicky Ward of Rolling Stone that "Epstein's dealings in the arms world in the 1980s had led him to work for multiple governments, including the Israelis." Ward's sources said that Epstein "was known in the intelligence world as a 'hyper-fixer,' somebody who can go between different cultures and networks."
As to the allegations that Epstein was dealing arms in the 1980s - if true, then likely in conjunction with US or Israeli intelligence - that might explain why he had an Austrian passport that was used to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.
And it's easy to imagine Epstein being a "hyper-fixer" in the 1990s-2000s, given his ties to influential political and corporate figures. Think Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and Leslie Wexner (of Victoria Secret's fame), to name a few.
Adding to the intrigue is this excerpt we reported from Ghislaine Maxwell's deposition, where Epstein had reportedly told people he worked for the US government to "recover stolen funds."
What they knew.
In July 2019, prosecutors with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) held a press conference announcing the arrest and indictment against Epstein for sexual exploitation of minors from 2002 through 2005.
If only that were true.
In reality, this was federal prosecutors in New York cleaning up the mess left behind by federal prosecutors in South Florida and federal officials in DC. Make no mistake: the 2019 decision to prosecute Epstein was the result of public outrage from Epstein's 2007 federal non-prosecution agreement. Public relations got so bad the DOJ had to do something.
Background.
A couple dates to keep in mind. First, Epstein signed his non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with federal officials in September 2007. He pleaded guilty to Florida state charges in June 2008.
The Evidence.
The evidence to prosecute Epstein was always there. In 2015, during a South Florida civil case brought by Epstein's victims against the federal government, it was revealed through privilege logs (summaries of the evidence the government was keeping secret) that the DOJ and FBI boxes and boxes of evidence against Epstein. This included an FBI filed called "Summary of Sexual Activity," which contained information on victims, grand jury evidence, and travel records.
In fact, the FBI was still interviewing witnesses after the non-prosecution agreement was signed. (It is standard practice for federal prosecutors offer a plea deal after they identify the victims - not before.)
For example, court filings indicate that "In October 2007, after the NPA was signed, federal agents spoke with three of the more than 30 identified victims."
According to Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz, the federal non-prosecution agreement "went through numerous levels of approval at main justice." This means DC.
Our own research confirms what Dershowitz says. Andrew Oosterbaan, then-DOJ Chief of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, was advised of plea negotiations and the non-prosecution agreement.
Main Justice official Andy Lourie was also involved. (Lourie was the acting chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division in Washington in 2006, before becoming the acting principal deputy assistant attorney general and chief of staff to the Criminal Division by 2007. In 2007, he was also an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida.)
As prosecutors in South Florida consulted with Main Justice in DC, so too did Epstein's lawyers.
Ken Starr, one of Epstein's lawyers, had requested meetings with Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher to stop the DOJ from executing its lawful duty and notifying Epstein's victims of the plea deal.
These appeals worked. According to April 2008 correspondence from Starr to Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sigal Mandelker, the victim notification letters were "halted by an eleventh hour appeal to AAG Fisher."
As the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently observed, "it appears that prosecutors worked hand-in-hand with Epstein's lawyers - or at the very least acceded to their requests - to keep the NPA's existence and terms hidden from victims."
I lay out this evidence - of prosecutors and federal officials fast-tracking the Epstein NPA, of reaching the NPA before victims were interviewed, of high level DOJ participation in the Epstein deal - because there's one important question that remains unanswered:
Why did the federal government go to these lengths to protect Epstein and his co-conspirators?
We suspect the answer goes back to what we started with - Epstein's ties to intelligence.
According to Alex Acosta, the former US Attorney who signed the NPA, he was instructed to back off the case because Epstein was above his pay grade. Acosta supposedly told Trump transition officials that "I was told Epstein 'belonged to intelligence' and to leave it alone."
And who gave Acosta those instructions to leave Epstein alone? A good starting point might be those federal officials identified in this article.
Comment: See also: