By Derrick Broze
The long-awaited trial could
potentially reveal more secrets of Epstein’s alleged sex rings, including the
possible involvement of high profile politicians, celebrities, and royalty.
A lawsuit
against convicted sex offender and billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is scheduled
to begin December 4th in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. If
the trial is not further delayed or a settlement is not reached the public may
learn more details of Epstein’s disturbing pedophile adventures. Epstein is
well known for his connections to many powerful businessmen, politicians, and
royalty. Some of his friends include Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Bill Clinton,
and Donald Trump.
The upcoming trial relates to an
ongoing legal battle between Epstein and lawyer Bradley Edwards. In 2008,
Edwards successfully sued Epstein on behalf of women who claimed he paid them
to massage while he masturbated. All of the women were teenagers at the time.
Court records indicate there may
have been up to 40 teenage victims. Despite these
disturbing facts, Epstein was offered a non-prosecution agreement which allowed
him to plead guilty to the lesser charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution
and soliciting prostitution. He was ordered to pay multi-million dollar
settlements to victims and sentenced to 18 months in jail, of
which he only served 13.
Epstein was allowed to stay in the
Palm Beach County Jail in his own private cell where he was allowed to leave
the prison six days a week for “work release”. Epstein was forced to register
as a sex offender for life, but with his money and his connections he doesn’t
seem too bothered. He currently resides on his private island in the Virgin
Islands.
Edwards has been working to convince
a federal judge to reopen the investigation into Epstein, alleging that more
evidence remains to be uncovered. Edwards was one of the lawyers representing
the women who brought the original suit against Epstein. Following Epstein’s
plea agreement Edwards filed suit against the U.S. government claiming the feds
failed to involve the victims in the settlement, an obligation required by the
Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
The women behind the suit state they
believe Epstein’s connections helped him get his “sweetheart” prison deal. This
speculation may be accurate, especially in light of recently released documents
which indicate that Epstein may have cut a deal with the FBI.
Earlier this year the FBI released
hundreds of new documents onto their online depository, The Vault. Some of the
documents related to the case
against Jeffrey Epstein. One memo from September 18, 2008 states:
“On 9/11/08, case agent advised
writer that Epstein is currently being prosecuted by the State of Florida and
is complying with all conditions of his plea with the State of Florida. Epstein has also provided
information to the FBI as agreed upon. Case agent advised that no federal
prosecution will occur in this matter as long as Epstein continues to uphold
his agreement with the State of Florida. … Case agent is requested to contact
writer in the event this matter moves forward on a federal level.”
Additionally, in 2015 Politico
reported that court documents released
through litigation appeared to show prosecutors cooperating with Epstein’s
lawyers to keep the deal secret. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Villafaña used
her personal Gmail account to suggest to one of Epstein’s lawyers that they
file legal papers in a different jurisdiction as a way to “hopefully cut the
press coverage significantly.”
Villafaña told Epstein’s attorney
that she would “include our standard language regarding resolving all
criminal liability and I will mention ‘co-conspirators,’ but I would prefer not
to highlight for the judge all of the other crimes and all of the other persons
that we could charge.”
Edwards and Paul Cassell filed a
court document in response to the revelations, stating that “the
victims’ allegations of a conspiracy between the Government and Epstein’s
attorneys to conceal the existence of a broad non-prosecution agreement are not
mere speculation, but appear to be well supported.”
The suspicion of improper
deal-making is one of the key reasons these women and Bradley Edwards have
fought for this lawsuit for the last ten years. Unfortunately, even if the suit
does go forward, Jeffrey Epstein will not be attending.
Palm Beach
Daily reports that attorney Jack Scarola
will have to read excerpts of Epstein’s sworn statements rather than
questioning him directly. Epstein previously invoked his 5th Amendment right
not incriminate himself and remained silent. Epstein’s attorney Scott Link said
Edwards and Scarola are trying to “show what a horrible person Mr. Epstein was”
in hopes that “the jury dislikes Mr. Epstein enough to award Mr. Edwards lots
of money in damages.”
Epstein has had a barrage of
attorneys fighting for him in an attempt to get the lawsuit dismissed, including
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz who has also been
accused of being involved in Epstein’s sexual deviance.
The claims come from an additional
alleged victim, known as Jane Doe #3 or Virginia Roberts. In January 2015, it
was reported that Roberts and a Jane Doe #4 filed motions in court seeking to
be added to the ongoing case fought by Bradley Edwards.
The women’s allegations match that
of earlier victims: Epstein worked with women to lure in young girls who would
be paid to massage his back and chest while he masturbated and poked the girls
with a vibrator. He often groped the young girls while they gave the massages.
However, the claims of Roberts and
Jane Doe #4 went further than the previous women. The
motion claims that Epstein was running a “sexual
abuse ring” where he loaned out underage girls to “prominent American
politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known
prime minister, and other world leaders”.
The Guardian also reports that Roberts claimed the U.S.
government was holding back evidence of her time as a “sex slave” for Epstein.
Roberts said the FBI and federal prosecutors are part of a “major cover-up”.
Although she has been largely dismissed, both in court and by the media, The
Guardian notes that Roberts filed previously undisclosed receipts for a flight
from New York to Thailand in September 2002 which was paid for by “J Epstein”.
Virginia Roberts claims by the age
of 16 she was forced into a life of sexual servitude. She claims to have been
brought into Epstein’s “inner-circle”, flying in his private jet to his ranch
in New Mexico, his private island, and his mansion in New York. Roberts said
she was sexually exploited and assaulted by “politicians, academicians,
businessmen”. Epstein settled the lawsuit out of court by paying Roberts an
undisclosed sum. Now Roberts is among the women trying to get Epstein’s
non-prosecution agreement overturned.
With all the allegations of Epstein
being connected to politicians, businessmen, and royalty it’s important to take
a moment to highlight some of the people connected to the convicted sex offender.
In January 2015, The Daily Mail reported it had obtained a
copy of Jeffrey Epstein’s address book, which contained the list of all his
associates. Following the Daily Mail’s report, Gawker released a copy of the address book. The address book
came from Epstein’s former house manager, Alfredo Rodriguez, who was arrested
in 2009 after attempting to sell it. Rodriguez would spend 18 months in
prison before he died in December. He was never able to speak out
publicly about the true importance of the names.
About 50 names were circled by
Rodriguez, including Courtney Love and Donald Trump. Other names listed in the
address book included Barbara Walters, Alec Baldwin, Sir Richard Branson,
actress Elizabeth Hurley, designer Tom Ford, John Cleese, Minnie Driver, Dustin
Hoffman, Bobby Kennedy Jr., Senator Edward Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, Maria
Shriver, Rupert Murdoch, and models Janice Dickinson, Marie Helvin, and Angie
Everhart.
Although it is widely reported that
both the Clinton’s and Donald Trump have connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the
existence of the address book has been ignored. Beyond simply
appearing in Epstein’s little black book, Trump was also accused of raping a
teenage girl who he met through Epstein.
Katie Johnson, also known as Jane
Doe, filed three different lawsuits against Trump in 2016, claiming that she
was 13 when she first met Epstein and began participating in sex parties
involving older men. Johnson claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1994
at one of Epstein’s parties. She was 13 at the time.
Johnson said she decided to come
forward once she realized Trump was running for president. However, in November
2016, Johnson
abruptly cancelled a planned press conference in which she was
going to reveal her identity and instead withdrew her lawsuit after she said
she had received threats on her life. Trump’s attorney claimed there did not
exist any corroborative evidence to prove Johnson’s claims.
There is definitely more to this
story than what has been released to the public. The evidence points to Epstein
using his connections to get out of prison time. He is simply too connected to
powerful people to be brought down. And if the allegations are true that Epstein
secretly recorded the sex parties he may have plenty of dirt on
many of the world’s most powerful people. Hopefully, this December the people
of the world will learn the truth and perhaps Epstein’s victims can rest a
little easier knowing the truth is out.
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