EFTA00206407¶
Why do you make it so hard for the good guys to follow the rules? Just release the letter. It isn’t a privileged communication. It was sent to opposing counsel.¶
Sorry. Here it is¶
----- Original Message -----¶
From: csarnoff [mailto]:¶
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 06:56 PM¶
To: [blank], blank; Janet Aitken <¶
Subject: Re: Statement re Epstein¶
After reviewing the U.S. Attorney’s handling of this matter, including allegations of misconduct, the office of the deputy attorney general determined there was no basis to intervene in the matter. We will not be making additional comments. Thanks for checking with us.¶
Special Counsel to the US Attorney¶
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry¶
From:¶
Aitken, Lee <¶
Sent:¶
Thursday, March 24, 2011 4:07 PM¶
Subject:¶
jeffrey epstein prosecution¶
Dear Ms.¶
I am an editor at both Newsweek and the Daily Beast website. I left a phone message last week but have not received a call back. Now we are facing a deadline for posting on the Daily Beast tonight, so I’d like to give you another chance to respond to our query. We have obtained a five-page letter you wrote to attorney Jay Lefkowitz on December 13, 2007¶
EFTA00206408¶
protesting charges of misconduct on your part and laying out several details about your interactions with Jeffrey Epstein’s legal team. Your co-signer, Alex Accosta, has already acknowledged the vaiidity of this letter, but I would also like you to confirm that it came from your office. If you have any further comment to make about it or facts to add about this case I would love to hear back from you right away. We plan to post a story about the negotiations behind the Non-Prosecution agreement at 8 pm this evening.¶
Thank you for your time and prompt attention, Lee Aitken¶
Proposed SDFL (non)response:¶
As you know from your communications with the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs, the defense in this case asked for an independent DOJ review of all facts, circumstances and allegations surrounding this prosecution. The Office of the Deputy Attorney General did in fact review the case, which is not uncommon, and determined that NO MISCONDUCT OCCURRED AND THAT prosecutorial discretion in the case appropriately rested with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.¶
If you agree, I need to run this by DOJ. DOJ already provided the following comment — but ours is slightly different (ergo, the need to run it by them)¶
DOJ response: The Office of the Deputy Attorney General did review the case, which is not uncommon, and determined that prosecutorial discretion in the case appropriately rested with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (Off the record, note “review” would be the appropriate word, not “negotiate”.) In terms of a boss, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices report through the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (at the time, Mark Filip was the DAG.)¶
-----Original Message-----¶
From: [blank] . (USAFLS)¶
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 4:12 PM¶
To: [blank], [blank] (USAFLS)¶
Cc: [blank] (USAFLS); [blank] (USAFLS)¶
Subject: FW: jeffrey epstein prosecution -CONTACT FROM NEWSWEEK¶
Importance: High¶