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(Rev. 01-31-2003) FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 08/01/2006 To: Miami From: Miami PB2 / PBCRA Contact: SA Approved By: Drafted By: Case ID #: 31E-MM-108062 Attn: IMA/PB2 (Pending) b3 -1 66-1, -2 b7C -2 Title: JEFFREY EPSTEIN; WSTA - CHILD PROSTITUTION Synopsis: To request the opening of sub-files in captioned case. Details: It is requested that the following sub-files be opened to assist in document management in captioned case. SUB - SUP to capture subpoena. request. SUB - FE to capture forfeiture related materials. 213tr50/EC ZIE - N4-1080620986-69 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019369¶
FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81) Mount Clipping in Space Below) (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 20B / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: 8/4/2006 Edition: Title: He was over 50 And they were girls Character or Classification: 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: MM He was over 50. And they were girls If the women whom Palm Beach Jury should have decided vehicles were registered to two pri police say a part-time town resident invited to his home and paid for if Epstein is a pedophile. vate investigators. Mr. Goldberger denied knowing anything about it. sex acts were, in fact, women, the Police also note in their reports solicitation charge against Jeffrey that the state attorney’s office of Epstein might feel more sufficient. But police interviews with five fered Mr. Epstein a plea deal that But, according to police records, alleged victims and 17 witnesses would have placed him on proba- they weren’t. He was over 50. And under oath, as well as phone mes- tion for five years, allowing him they were girls. sages, a high school transcript and ultimately to walk away with no other items that police found from criminal record at all. searching Mr. Epstein’s trash and I asked Mr. Krischer’s spokes- 7,234-square-foot waterfront home, man, Mike Edmondson, why the Elisa Cramer 17-year-old giris. count thing - the dif prostitution pedophilia. So, it is baffling that Mr. Epstein, who was indicted last month by a grand jury on one felony count of solicitation of pros- titution, has not been charged, as Beach police strenuously urged, with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation. Conviction of crimes against mi- nors would mean steeper penalties than the maximum five-vear prison term Vr. Epstein faces if convicted of the single count of felony solicita- tion. It also would help carry a mes- sage of intolerance to perverts who prey on girls. Prosecutors did not pursue charg- es against Mr. Epstein reflecting the age of the victims because they assumed a jury would view the girls not as victims but as promiscuous, untrustworthy, willing participants. The presumption is offensive. Mr. Epstein, a 53-year-old Man- hattan money manager who has hired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and defense attor- ney Jack Goldberger, has denied knowing how old the girls were. provide evidence that he knew the case was referred to a grand jury in- girls were teenagers. stead of Mr. Epstein being charged One girl couldn’t show up when and facing a trial before a jury. And Mr. Epstein wanted because she shouldn’t the victims’ credibility had soccer. Another time, Mr. Ep- be a factor to determine whether a stein had to wait for his “massage” crime’s been committed, not wheth- session because the girl he wanted er a jury will convict? (After all, as was still in class. Mr. Goldberger told The Palm Beach Why didn’t State Attorney Barry Post of Mr: Epstein, “He’s never de- Krischer let a jury decide whether nied girls came to the house.”) to believe the teenagers - in- Especially, I asked Mr: Edmond- cluding a 16-year-old who went to son to explain: Why shouldn’t the Mr. Epstein’s house to “work” in public look at this case and think December 2004 after being asked there are two kinds of justice — one whether she needed to make money for the wealthy and one for the rest for Christmas gifts? Mr. Edmondson said he could Prosecutors gave greater weight not comment on the case because it to the details Mr. Dershowitz pro- vided about the girls in an apparent is active, but on the latter point, he effort to assail their character. Mr. offered, for the sake of “philosophi- Dershowitz pointed out to prosecu- cal debate”: “Whether wealth buys a tors that some of the teenagers had different standard of justice across talked on myspaçe.com about mari- the country … the answer to that 811/04 juana and alcohol use. would, of course, be yes.” The 20-yearold Royal Palm But in this case, he said, “regard- Beach woman who told police she less of the battery of attorneys, the recruited girls for Mr. Epstein has outcome would be the same. Every a Web page on myspace.com that issue that was debated in public was features one girl using the name debated in our office before this : “Pimpin’ Made EZ.” case went to the grand jury.” Although no charges of witness In this case, it is not the victims’ tampering have been filed, the par credibility but the state attorney’s ents of at least one of the teenage that deserves questioning victims complained to police of be- Elisa Cramer is an editorial writer for 216MM- 08062 ing followed and intimidated by two The Palm Beach Post. Her e-mail men. Police determined that their 03956-70 address is elisa_cramer@bbpost.com HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019370¶
*ED-350 (Rev. 5-8-81) Mount Clipping in Space Below) (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 1B / 58 / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: Edition: 8/5/2006 Title: Experil, ignorance of age isn’t defense in sex cases Character Classification: 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: MM Indexing: Expert: Ignorance of age isn’t defense in sex cases y LARRY KELLE am Beach Post Staff Writ Even if Palm Beach mon- ey manager Jeffrey Epstein didn’t know that girls who police say gave him sexual massages at his Intracoastal home were under the legal age, that alone wouldn’t have exempted him from criminal charges of sexual activity with minors. “Ignorance is not a valid defense, ” said Bob Dekle, a legal skills professor who was a Lake City prosecutor for nearly 30 years, half of that time specializing in sEX crimes against children. “There is no knowledge element as far as the age is concerned,” Dekle said. After an 11-month investi- gation, Palm Beach police said there was probable cause to charge Epstein, 53, with unlawful sex acts with a minor ipstein: Two politicians have retured dona- tions since he was charged with soliciting minors. and lewd and lascivious mo- lestation. They contend that Epstein - friend of the rich and famous and financial pa ron of Democratic Party or ganizations and candidates - committed those acts with 03956-76 31E-MM -108062-11 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019371¶
Lawyer: Juron often believe alults over kids • EPSTEIN from 1B his current job, has returned $10,000 to him because of the Palm Beach scandal, the New York Daily News has reported. Rather than file charges, Child sex abuse cases often are difficult to prosecute, an attorney says. the state attorney’s office presented the case to a county grand jury. The panel indicted Epstein last week on relationship the a single, less serious charge turns 18 before the girl, he of felony solicitation of pros- could be charged with a sex titution. crime if the sex continues. The case raised eyebrows There would be no public in- because the state attorney’s terest in pursuing that, Dekle office rarely, said, it ever, kicks such charges to a grand jury. But where there is a large And it increases the difficulty gap in ages — and especially of prosecuting child sex in cases of teachers with stu- abuse cases, especially when dents — there is a public in- the defendant is enormously terest in prosecuting, he said. wealthy and can hire high- Likewise if the accused has a priced, top-tier lawyers. track record of sex with mi- At least one of Epstein’s nors. alleged victims told police he Still there is a “universal knew she was underage constant” in rosecuting may suffer from psychologi- cal problems, Dekle said. “Lots of child sexual abuse victims have been vic- timized by multiple people over a period of time. Then the act of abuse produces behavior in the victims that further damages their credi- bility.” Examples include promiscuous behavior and drug abuse. Some of the alleged vic- tims in the Epstein case re- turned to his home multiple times for the massage ses- sions and the $200 to $300 he typically paid them per visit That would be definite ‹ problem for the prosecutor, said Betty Resch, who prose cuted crimes against children in Palm Beach County for five years and now is in private practice in Lake Worth. “The victim becomes less when the two of them got hese cases. Dekle said. Ver naked for massages and sex- who exploit underage chil- ual activity. She was 16 years dren for sex often carefully old at the time and said Ep- choose their victims in ways stein asked Most men charged with her questions that will minimize the risk to sex crimes against minors tbout her high school, ac them, he said look normal, Dekle said. A cording to police reports. Victims usually are from a jury expecting to see a mon A girl who said she met lower social status, and they ster seldom will. And the vic- Epstein when she was 15 said he told her if she told any- body what happened at his house, bad things could hap- pen, the police reports state. Epstein’s youngest al- leged victim was 14 when she says she gave him a massage that included some sexual activity. She is now 16. The girl’s father says he doesn’t know whether she told Ep- stein her age. “My daughter has kept a lotofwhathappened from me because of sheer embarrass- ment,” he said. “But she very much looked 14. Any prudent man would have had second thoughts about that.” Defense attorney Jack Goldberger maintains that not only did Epstein pass a polygraph test showing he did not know the girls were minors, their weren’t credible. The state attorney’s office also implied that their credibility was an issue when it decided not to charge Epstein directly, but nstead give the case to the grand jury. “A prosecutor has to look at it in a much broader fash- ion.” state attorney’s spokesman said last week. Epstein hired Harvard law Professor Alan Der- showitz when. he became aware he was under invest- gation, and Dershowitz gave prosecutors information that some of the alleged victims had spoke of using alcohol and marijuana on a popular Web site, according to a Palm Beach police report. Prosecutors lypically consider two things in decid ing whether to charge some body with sex-related offens- es against minors — whether there is sufficient evidence and whether there is a public interest in doing so, said. Dekle tims’ ages work against them and in favor of the defendant in a trial, Dekle said If a child and an adult tell different stories and both swear they’re telling the truth, adult jurors are more likely to believe the adult, Dekle said. “You have all these things working against you in a child sex abuse case. Prosecutors normally try to be very care- ful in filing those cases be cause they know what they’re getting into. There is no such thing as an iron-clad child sexual abuse case.” © larry_keller@pbpost.com 03956-77 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019372¶
Palm Beach chief focus of fire in Epstein case Defendant’s lawyers take him on; he slams state attorney camp tell it, Reiter, 48, is a 18, and a daughter, 14. The loose cannon better suited couple is scheduled to go to By LARRY KELLER Palm Beach Post Staff Writer In the case of Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Ep- stein, it seems, at times, as if two men are accused of wrongdoing: Epstein and Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter. Epstein, 53, was indict- ed last month on a charge of felony solicitation of prosti- tution solely because of Re- iter’s “craziness,” one of Epstein’s lawyers said. His department disseminated “a distorted view of the to be the sheriff of Mayber- mediation Wednesday case” and behaved in a ry. They whisper that he’s Nothing in the court file “childish” manner when the embroiled in a messy di- suggests their split is par- grand jury didn’t indict Ep- ticularly ugly. stein on the charges it Reiter did in fact file for Reiter incurred the sought, another Epstein divorce from his wife, Jill, wrath of the Epstein camp lawyer complained. last year, after 24 years of as well as the state attor- To hear the Epstein marriage. They have a son, See REIER, 7B A Mount Clipping in Space Below) 31E-MM-108062-12 Indexing: Classification 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: MM Character Title: Palm Beach chief focus of fire in Epstein case (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 1B / 7B / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: 8/14/2006 Edition: 03956-78 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019373¶
Colleagues cite chief’s professionalism, integrity PREITER from IB ney’s office for two reasons. First, he pressed for Epstein to be charged with the more serious crimes of sexual ac- tivity with minors. Second, he slammed State Attorney Bar- ry Krischer in blunt language seldom used by one law- enforcement official con- cerning another because of what he perceived as that of- mishandling of the professionalism,” Miami- Reiter: Town dent confined to his home Attorney Manager Peter with a sick child thanked Re Katherine Fernandez Rundle Elwell says the iter for delivering a few Cokes said of Reiter’s letter. to the house. Reiter refused Following Epstein’s in- police chier’s payment for the beverages. dictment, Reiter referred the well worth his resident thanked case to the FBI to determine $144,000 sal- Reiter for shutting off his whether the super-rich, car’s headlights in his drive super-connected way, saying a valet must have had violated any federal laws. been at fault. Reiter won’t discuss the case or the broadsides aimed at him. But others almost uniformly use one word to -* In a letter to Krischer Written May 1, Reiter called his actions in the Epstein case “highly unusual.” He added, Imusturge youto… consider if good and suff- cient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases.” *In short, Reiter told the county’s top prosecutor for the past 13 years that he ought to get off the case. “It¶
- looks like a departure from describe the chief: profes- “I have always been im- pressed by Mies protes- sionalism and his leader- ship,” said Rick Lincoln, chief of the Lantana Police Depart- ment and a Palm Beach County cop for 32 years. “The town of Palm Beach has a very professional police department. We all consider Mike to be our peer and man of integrity.” Juno Beach Police Chief H.C. Clark II agreed. Al- though he doesn’t know Re iter well, he has met with him on countywide law enforce ment issues. “I’ve never seen him lose his cool. I’ve never seen anything but a profes- sional demeanor from him.” Reiter joined the Palm Beach Police Department in 1981, leaving a $20,000-a-year patrol job at the University of Pittsburgh. His personnel jacket shows consistently ex- cellent job evaluations. Posh Palm Beach is no hotbed of crime, and in his first year on the job, a resi- Reiter worked everything from road patrol to organized vice and narcotics. And he’s no novice at investi- gations involving the island’s rich and famous. He was the lead detective probing the drug overdose death of David Kennedy in 1984. He also was one of the officers who worked the investigation of William Kennedy Smith, who was charged in 1991 - and later acquitted — with raping a woman at the Kennedy family compound in Palm Reiter, who has amaster’s degree in human resource development from Palm Be has Attended the rity Na. tional Academy in Quantico, Va., and management cours es at Harvard. He’s been ac- tive in countywide interagen- enforcement organizations and has a “top secret” national “He has a perspective that’s broader than just ad- dressing the needs of the town,” said Town Manager Peter Elwell, who promoted Reiter from assistant chief to chief in March 2001. Reiter makes more than $144,000 as the town’s top cop. Elwell “He’s very businesslike, very straightforward. He’s no asly abatthe works Elwell said. “I think that his service as chief has been betstanding in five-plus @larry_keller@pbpast.com 03956-79 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019374
FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81) The man who had everything Mount Clipping in Space Below) 356 (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 1A / 6A / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: 8/14/2006 Edition: Title: The man who had everything Character Classification: 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: MM indexing: 31E-HM-108062-13 Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion at 358 El Brillo Way. Jeffrey Epstein craved big homes, elite friends and, investigators say, underage girls 03956-80 By ANDREW MARRA, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019375¶
Jeffrey Epstein has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates’ campaigns, including John Kerry’s presidential bid, the reelection campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Senate bids -= =+.. of Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer. WINGED GARGOYLES guarded the gate at Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. Inside, hidden cameras trolled two rooms, while the girls came and went. olice detective ho or the pee ate aver else: the regular arrival of teenage girls he hired to give bage outside kept him massages and, records of visitors, it was the say, perform sexual favors. lair of a troubling target. Epstein was different Epstein, one of the most from most sexual abuse sus- mysterious of the country’s pects; he was far more pow- mega-rich, was known as erful. He counted among his nuch for his secrecy as fo friends former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, along with some of the most prominent legal, scientific and business But at Palm Beach police eadquarter he was be ming known for somethir minds in the country, When detectives started See EPSTEIN, 6A # Epstein’s mysterious lifestyle began to unravel after claims of sexual activity with minors, 03956-81 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019376¶
A life of luxury and secrecy Powerful legal team stymies detectives Women in his life TINA FINEBERG /The Associated Press Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse dominates a block on the Upper East Side. Thought to be the largest private residence in Manhattan, it is reported to have closed-circuit television and a heated sidewalk to melt fallen snow. Ghislaine Maxwell, a T’m like a Heidi fixture at elite parties Feiss,’ Haley Robson and the intensely told police she took at private daughter of a least six giris to visit media tycoon, dated Epstein, all between the Epstein in the 1990s, ages of 14 and 16. PalmBeachPost.com Read prevíous stories on the Epstein investigation. 03956-82 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019377¶
• EPSTEIN from IA asking questions and teenage girls started talking, a wave of legal resistance followed If Palm Beach police didn’t know quite who Jetrey Epstein was, they found out soon enough. Epstein, now 53, was a quintes- sential man of mystery. He amassed his fortune and friends quietly, always in the background as he navigated New York high society. When he first attracted notice in the early 1990s, it was on account of the woman he was dating: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. In a lengthy article, headlined “The Mystery of Ghislaine Max- well’s Secret Love,” the British Mail on Sunday tabloid laid out specula tive stories that the socialite’s beau was a CIA spook, a math teacher, a concert pianist or a corporate head- hunter. “But what is the truth about him?” the newspaper wondered “Like Maxwell Epstein is both flamboyant and intensely private.” The media frenzy did not begin in full until a decade later. In Sep tember 2002, Epstein was flung into the limelight when he flew Clinton and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa on his private jet. Suddenly everyone wanted to Know who Epstein was. New York magazine and Vanity Fair published lengthy profiles. The New York Post listed him as one of the city’s most eligible bachelors and began describing him in its gossip columns with adjectives such as “mysterious” and “reclusive.” Although Epstein gave no inter views, the broad strokes of his past started to come into focus. Building a life of extravagance He was born blue-collar in 1953, the son of a New York City parks department employee, and raised in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighbor- hood. He left college without a bachelor’s degree but became a math teacher at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan. The story goes that the father of one of Epstein’s students was so impressed with the man that he put him in touch with a senior partner at Bear Steams, the global investment bank and securities firm. In 1976, Epstein left Dalton for a job at Bear Stearns. By the early 1980s, he had started J. Epstein and Co. That is when he began making his millions in earnest Little is known or said about Epstein’s business except this: He manages money for the extremely wealthy. He is said to handle accounts only of $1 bilion or great- It has been estimated he has roughly 15 clients, but their identi- ties are the subject of only specula- tion. All except for one: Leslie Wex- ner, founder of The Limited retail chain and a former Palm Beacher who is said to have been a mentor to Epstein. Wexner sold Epstein one of his most lavish residences: a massive townhouse that dominates a block on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It is reported to have, among its ner features, • closed-circuit television and a heated sidewalk to melt away fallen snow. That townhouse, thought to be the largest private residence in Manhattan, is only a piece of the extravagant world Epstein built over In New Mexico, he constructed a 27,000 square-foot hilltop mansion on a 10,000 acre ranch outside Santa Fe. Many believed it to be the largest home in the state. In Palm Beach, he bought a waterfront home on El Brillo Way. And he owns a 100-acre private island in the Virgin Islands. Perhaps as remarkable as his lavish homes is his extensive net- work of friends and associates at the highest echelons of power. This includes not only socialites but also business tycoons, media moguls, politicians, royalty and Nobel Prize winning scientists whose research he often funds. “Just like other people collect art, he collects scientists,” said Martin Nowak, who directs the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and was reportedly the recipient of a $30 million research Epstein. donation from : Epstein is said to have befriended former Harvard Presi- dent Larry Summers, prominent law Professor Alan Dershowitz, Donald o maintain a low profile. He avoid: graphed. “The odd thing is I never met him,” said Dominick Dunne, the famous chronicler of the trials and tribulations of the very rich, i wasn t even aware of him, except for, a Vanity Fair article. Epstein’s friendship with Clinton has attracted the most attention. Epstein met Clinton as early as 1995, when he paid tens of thou- sands of dollars to join him at an intimate fund-raising dinner in Palm Beach. But from all appearances, they did not become close friends until after Clinton left the Oval Office and moved to New York. Epstein has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates’ campaigns, including John Kerry’s presidential bid. the reelection campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Senate bids of Joe Lieberman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer. Powerful friends and enemies Vanity Fair profile found cracks in the veneer of Epstein’s life story. The 2003 article said he left Bear Stearns in the wake of a federal probe and a possible Securities and Exchange Commission violation. It also pointed out that Citibank once sued him for defaulting on a $20 million loan. The article suggested that one of his business mentors and previous employers was Steven Hoffenberg, now serving a prison term after “bilking investors out of more than $450 million in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American histo- As he amassed his wealth, both large and small. He sued the man who in 1990 sold him his rultimillion-dollar Palm Beac ome over a dispute about less tha 03956-83 HOÜSE_OVERSIGHT_019378¶
ff mer friend claimed Epstein _ocu out of a promise to reit ourse him hundreds of thousands of dollars after their failed investment in Texas oil wells. A judge decided Epstein owed him nothing. “It’s a bad memory. I would rather not have ever met Jefrey Epstein,” said Michael Stroll, the retired former president of Williams Electronics and Sega Corp. “Suffice it to say I have nothing good to say about him.” Among the characteristics most attributed to Epstein is a penchant for women. He has been linked to Maxwell, a fixture on the high-society party circuits in both New York and Lon- don. Previous girlfriends are said to include a former Ms. Sweden and a Romanian model. “He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Donald Trump told New York maga- zine in 2002. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it Jettrey enjoys his social life.” Investigation leads to Epstein Although he was not a fre quenter of the Palm Beach social scene, he made his presence felt Among his charitable donations, he gave $y0,000 to the Palm Beach Police Department and $100,000 to Ballet Florida, In Palm Beach, he lived in luxu- ry. Three black Mercedes sat in his garage, alongside a green Harley- Davidson. His jet waited at a hangar at Palm Beach International Airport: At home, a private chef and a small staff stood at the ready. From a window in his mansion, he could look out on the Intracoastal Water- way and the West Palm Beach sky- line. He seemed to be a man who had everything. But extraordinary wealth can fuel extraordinary desires. In March 2005, a worried mother ontacted faim Beach police. She said another parent had overheard a conversation between their chil dren Now the mother was afraid her 14 year-old daughter been molested by a man on the island. The phone call triggered an extensive investigation, one that would lead detectives to Epstein but • I leave them frustrated. Palm Beach police and the state Inorneys nice nave dechned t liscuss the case. But a Palm Beac police report detailing the criminal probe offers a window into detectives faced as they sought to close in on Epstein. Detectives interviewed the girl, who told them a friend had invited her to a rich man’s house to perform a massage. She said the friend told her to say she was 18 if asked. At the house, she said she was paid $300 after stripping to her panties and massaging the man while he mas turbated. Police interview 5 alleged victims The investigation began in full after the girl identified Epstein in a photo as the man who had paid her. Police arranged for garbage trucks to set aside Epstein’s trash so police could sift through it. They set up a video camera to record the comings and goings at his home. They mon- itored an airport hangar for signs of his private jet’s arrivals and depar- They quickly learned that the woman who took the 14 year-old girl to Epstein’s house was Haley Rob son, a Palm Beach Community Col- lege student from Loxahatchee, In a sworn statement at police head- quarters, Robson, then 18, admitted she had taken at least six girls to visit Epstein, all between the ages of 14 and 16. Epstein paid her for each visit, she said. During the drive back to her house, Robson told detectives, “I’m like a Heidi Fleiss.” Police interviewed five allege ictims and 17 witnesses. Thei report shows some of the girls said they had been instructed to have sex with another woman in front of Epstein, and one said she had direct intercourse with him. In October, police searched the Palm Beach mansion. They discov- ered photos of naked, young-looking remales, just as several of the girl had described in interviews. Hidder cameras were found in the garage area and inside a clock on Epstein’s desk, alongside a girl’s high school transcrit. Two of Epstein’s former employees told investigators that young-looking girls showed up to perform massages two or three times a day when Epstein was i They said the girls were permit ted many indulgences. A chef cooked for them. Workers gave them rides and handed out hun- dreds of dollars at a time. One employee told detectives he was told to send a dozen roses to one teenage girl after a high school police, received a $200 Christmas The cops moved to cement their case. But as they tried to tighten the encountered other forces at work. In Orlando they interviewed a possible victim who told them noth ing inappropriate had happened between her and Epstein. They asked her whether she had spoken to anyone else. She said yes, a pri vate investigator had asked her the same questions. When they subpoenaed one of Epstein’s former employees, he told them the same thing. He and a pri- vate eye had met at a restaurant days earlier to go over what the man would tell investigators. Detectives received complaints that private eyes were posing as police officers. When they told Epstein’s local attorney, Guy Frons tin, he said the investigators worked for Roy Black, the high-powered Miami lawyer who has defended the likes of Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith. While the private eyes were conducting a parallel investigation, Dershowitz, the Harvard law pro fessor, traveled to West Palm Beach with information about the girls. From their own profies on the pop ular Web site “MySpace.com, h obtained copies of their discussions about their use of alcohol and mari- He took his research to a meet- ing with prosecutors in early 2006, wies relabit to cast doubt on the¶
- The private eyes had dug u 03956-84 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019379
enough dirt on the girls to make prosecutors skeptical. Not only did some of the girls have issues with drugs or alcohol but also some had criminal records and other troubles, Epstein’s legal team claimed. And at least one of them, they said, lied when she told police she was younger than 18 when she started performing massages for Epstein. After the meeting, prosecutors postponed their decision to take the case to a grand jury. In the following weeks, police received complaints that two of the victims or their families had been harassed or threatened: • Epstein’s legal team maintains that its private investigators did nothing illegal or unethical during their research. By then, relations’ between police and prosecutors were fraying. At a key meeting with prosecutors and the defense, Detective Joseph Recarey, the lead investigator, was a no-show, according to Epstein’s attorney. “The embarrassment.on the prosecutor’s face was evident when, the police officer never showed up for the meeting,’ attorney Jack Goldberger said. Later in April, Recarey walked into a prosecutor’s office at the state attorney’s office and learned the case was taking an unexpected turn. The prosecutor, Lanna Belohlavek, told Recarey the state attorney’s office had offered Epstein a plea deal that would not require him to serve jail time or receive a felony conviction. Recarey told her he disapproved of the plea offer. The deal never came to pass, however. Future unclear after charge On May 1, the department asked prosecutors to approve warrants to arrest Epstein on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and to charge his personal assistant, Sarah Kellen, now 27, for her alleged role in arranging the visits. Police officials also wanted to charge Rob son, the self-described Heidi Fleiss, with lewd and lascivious acts. By then, the department was frustrated with the way the state attorney’s office had handled the case. On the same day the warrants were requested, Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrote a letter to State Attorney Barry Krischer suggesting he disqualify himself from the case if he would not act. Two weeks later, Recarey was told that prosecutors had decided once again to take the case to the i grand jury. It is not known how many of the girls testified before the grand jury. But Epstein’s defense team said one girl who was subpoenaed - the one who said she had sexual intercourse with Epstein - never showed up. The grand jury’s indictment was handed down in July. It was not the one the police department had wanted. Instead of being slapped with a charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, Epstein was charged with one count of felony solicitation of prostitution, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail early July 23 and released hours later. Epstein’s legal team “doesn’t dispute that he had girls over for massages,” Goldberger said. But he said their claims that they had sex- ual encounters with him lack credi- bility. “They are incapable of being believed.” he said. “They had crimi nal records. They had accusations of! theft made against them by their employers. There was evidence of ! drug use by some of them.” What remains for Epstein is yet to be seen. The Palm Beach Police Depart- ment has asked the FBI to investi- gate the case. It also has returned the $90,000 Epstein donated in 2004. In New York, candidates for governor and state attorney genera have vowed to return a total or at from Epstein. Meanwhile, have remained sieet as friess hang Internet blogs feast on the public! details of the police investigation. Goldberger maintains Epstein’s innocence but says the legal team has not ruled out a future plea deal. He insists Epstein will emerge in the end with his reputation untarnished. said. “He will recover from this, he Staff writer Larry Keller and staff researchers Bridget Bulger, Angelica Cortez, Amy Hanaway and Melanie Mena contributed to this story. @andrew_marra@pbpost.com’ 03956-85 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019380¶
(FD:350 (Rev. 5-8-81) Epstein camp calls female accusers liars By LARRY KELLER any underage ly insisted anybody who came tioned,” Goldberger said. Palm Beach Post Staff Writer women,” his to his house be over the age of Epstein, 53, was indicted Attorneys and publicists for lead attorney, 18. How he verided that, I don’t by a county grand jury last Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Jack Gold- know. The question is, did month on a charge of felony Epstein went on the offensive berger, said anything illegal occur. The law solicitation of prostitution. Af Monday, contending that from Idabo was not violated here.” teenage girls who have ac- where he was ter an 1l-month investigation He had no explanation as to that included sifting through cused Epstein of sexual she- vacationing why Epstein would pay girls or nanigans at his waterfront with his fami- Epstein’s trash and surveilling women with no massage train- home are liars and saying that Epstein his home, Palm Beach police ly. ing - as the alleged victims concluded there was enough the Palm Beach Police De Epstein did have young said was the case — $200 to partment is “childish.” evidence to charge him with women come to his house to for their visits. “The sexual activity with minors. “There never was any sex give him massages, Goldberg- credibility of these witnesses between Jeffrey Epstein and er said. “Mr. Epstein absolute has been seriously ques pen on the ler serious serious charge, . Police Chief Michael Reiter referred the case to the FBI to determine whether there were federal law viola- tions. After a spate of stories about the case last week, New York publicist Dan Klores - whose client list has included Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez¶
- said on Saturday that Ep- stein’s camp was ready “to get their story out.” See EPSTEIN, 9B $ 3IE-MM-108062-160 8/8/06 *Mr. Epstein absolutely insisted anybody who came to his house be over the age of 18.’ JACK GOLDBERGER, Epstein’s lead attorney —= Indexing: Classification: 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: Character Title: Epstein camp calls female accusers liars (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 11B / 9B / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: 8/8/2006 Edition: 03956-94 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019381
Attorney: Police gave media ‘distorted view’ • EPSTEIN from 1B directly against him is wrong, Gold- pease” the chief, Goldberger said Epstein investigation berger said. state attorney’s spokesman Read a letter from Palm Beach Police They did that Monday via Gold- The Palm Beach Police Depart- would say only that the office refers Chief Michael Reiter to State Attorney berger and a Los Angeles publicist ment was “happy and ecstatic” that cases to the grand jury when there Barry Krischer on the Epstein probe. for Miami criminal defense attorney Roy Black, who also has represented the eate the panel was going to review the are issues with the viability of the PalmBeachPost.com evidence. “I think what happened is evidence or witnesses’ credibility. Epstein in the case. they weren’t happy with the result Both the state attorney and the “We just think there has been a They decided to use the press to grand jury concluded there was not distorted view of this case in the me embarrass Mr. Epstein.” sufficient evidence that Epstein had dia presented by the Palm Beach po- But records show that Reiter sex with minors, according to Gold- lice,” Goldberger said. wrote Krischer on May 1 - well be- berger. “It was just a childish perfor- Reiter has consistently declined fore the case went to the grand jury — mance by the Palm Beach Police to comment on the case and did not suggesting that Krischer “consider if Department,” Goldberger said. respond to a request for comment good and sutficient reason exists to The defense attorney said one of require your disqualacation from the the alleged victims who claimed she The implication that State Attor- was a minor was in fact over the age of 18. Another alleged victim who accusers, he added, have histories of drug abuse and thefts. “These wom en are liars. We’ve established that” But why would they all invent their stories about meeting Epstein for sexual massages? “I don’t have an answer as to what was the motivation for these women to come forward and make these al- legations,” Goldberger said. 03956-95¶