Department of Justice¶
EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT CONTROL SHEET¶
DATE OF DOCUMENT: 2/21/2020¶
DATE RECEIVED: 2/21/2020¶
| WORKFLOW ID: | 4392040 |
| DUE DATE: | 3/10/2020 |
| FROM: | The Honorable Ben Sasse* United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 |
TO: AG¶
MAIL TYPE: Congressional Priority¶
| SUBJECT: | (Rec'd from OLA via email) Writing regarding Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead by apparent suicide while in federal custody in April. Mentions the Department owes the American people a full accounting of its handling of the Epstein matter, including the sweetheart deal he received from prosecutors that allowed him to evade meaningful consequences. Further mentions his previous letter including the Department's response that the Office of Professional Responsibility(OPR) had opened an investigation into allegations that Department attorneys may have committed professional misconduct in the manner in which the Epstein criminal matter was resolved. Urging OPR to conclude its investigation as expeditiously as possible and to release any claims of privilege and allow attorney Marie Villafana to disclose any and all relevant testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.See WFs 4167070,4167042 and related corres in ES. |
| DATE ASSIGNED | ACTION COMPONENT & ACTION REQUESTED |
| 02/25/2020 | OPR
Prepare response for AAG/OLA signature. |
INFO COMPONENT: OAG, ODAG, BOP, CRM, EOUSA, FBI, JMD, OIG, OLA¶
COMMENTS: 02/25/2020: Per OLA, assign to OPR.¶
FILE CODE:¶
EXECSEC POC:¶
EFTA00175139¶
BEN SASSE NEBRASKA¶
COMMITTEES:¶
FINANCE INTELLIGENCE JUDICIARY BANKING¶
United States Senate¶
WASHINGTON, DC 20510¶
February 21, 2020¶
The Honorable William P. Barr Attorney General¶
U.S. Department of Justice¶
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW¶
Washington, DC 20530¶
Dear General Barr,¶
I write to you today in regards to Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier who ran an international child sex trafficking ring and was found dead by apparent suicide while in federal custody in August. As you and I have previously discussed, the Department owes the American people a full accounting of its handling of the Epstein matter, including the sweetheart deal he received from prosecutors that allowed him to evade meaningful consequences for his sickening behavior for more than a decade.¶
As you are aware, shortly after The Miami Herald published its investigation of this deal, $ ^{1} $ I wrote to the Department urging an investigation. Last February, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote to me to announce that the Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility had “opened an investigation into allegations that Department attorneys may have committed professional misconduct in the manner in which the Epstein criminal matter was resolved.” $ ^{2} $ I applaud the Department’s commitment to get to the bottom of the issue and urge the expeditious completion of this investigation.¶
As the investigation has now continued for more than a year without the release of its findings, various media reports have continued to add to the disturbing picture painted by The Miami Herald’s investigation. Yesterday, ABC News reported that “[a] woman whose allegations of childhood sex abuse in New York were central to last year’s indictment of Jeffrey Epstein was questioned by the FBI and subpoenaed for testimony by federal prosecutors in Florida more than a decade ago in connection with the first federal investigation into Epstein’s alleged child sex trafficking” but that her testimony before the grand jury had not yet been secured before prosecutors sealed the sweetheart deal with Epstein. In response a request for comment on this report, an attorney for Marie Villafaña, the former Assistant U.S. Attorney who led the Department’s handling of the matter, commented: “Because the Department of Justice has declined to waive privilege over the Epstein matter, Ms. Villafaña is prohibited from¶
1 Julie K. Brown, How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime, MIAMI HERALD, Nov. 28, 2018, https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html.¶
| 2 Letter from Stephen Boyd, Assistant Att'y Gen., U.S. Dep't of Justice, to Ben Sasse(Feb.6,2019), available at https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/1e5e07ee-0138-4441-9e61-b6ec7037c4d5/-untitled-.pdf. |
| 3 James Hill, Exclusive: Florida feds knew of New York victim in Epstein indictment 11 years earlier, ABC NEWS,Feb.20,2020,https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-florida-feds-knew-york-victim-epstein-indictment/story?id=69088738&cid=social_twitter_abcn. |
KEARNEY OFFICE 4111 FOURTH AVENUE KEARNEY, NE 68845 (308) 233-3677¶
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| WASHINGTON, DC 20510-2709 |
| (202) 224-4224 |
EFTA00175140¶
discussing this matter and her opinions on the outcome in greater detail… If the Department were to waive that privilege, she believes it would provide a fuller and more accurate picture of how she handled this matter and how she advocated for victims at every turn.”4¶
Like so many others who want to see justice done, I urge the Office of Professional Responsibility to conclude its investigation as expeditiously as possible, but it should not hinder the ability of Congress and the American public to bring more information to light when possible. Given how central of a role Ms. Villafaña played in this matter, her claims must be aired. As such, will you release any claims of privilege and allow her disclose any and all relevant testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee?¶
Thank you for your resolve to pursue justice in this matter.¶
Sincerely,¶
Ben Sasse¶
United States Senator¶
$$ ^4 \text{Id.} $$¶
2¶