| --- |
| title: "House Oversight: Estate Documents (Nov 12) (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016452)" |
| source: "House Oversight: Estate Documents (Nov 12)" |
| sourceUrl: "https://www.justice.gov/epstein" |
| date: "2026-01-01" |
| category: "House Oversight" |
| eftaNumber: "HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016452" |
| ocrPages: 1 |
| ocrChars: 2232 |
| ocrElapsed: 0.0 |
| parseTier: "external-legacy" |
| engine: "engine undisclosed (ep-nov-12.greg.technology mirror)" |
| externalSource: "greg-ep-nov-12" |
| externalLicense: "not granted" |
| externalCredit: "ep-nov-12.greg.technology" |
| externalUrl: "https://ep-nov-12.greg.technology" |
| --- |
| |
| It's clear, from emails and other records, that prosecutors spent a lot of time |
| figuring out a way to settle the case with the least amount of scandal. Instead of |
| charging Epstein with a sex offense, prosecutors considered witness tampering |
| and obstruction charges, and misdemeanors that would allow Epstein to secretly |
| plead guilty in Miami instead of in Palm Beach County, where most of the victims |
| lived, thereby limiting media exposure and making it less likely for victims to |
| appear at the sentencing. |
| "I've been spending some quality time with Title 18 [the U.S. criminal code] |
| looking for misdemeanors," the lead prosecutor, A. Marie Villafaña, wrote to |
| Epstein's lawyers on Sept. 13, 2007, adding that she was trying to find "a factual |
| basis" for one or more non-sex-related crimes to charge him with. |
| The email chain shows that prosecutors sometimes communicated with the |
| defense team using private emails, and that their correspondence referenced |
| discussions that they wanted to have by phone or in person, so that there would |
| be no paper trail. |
| "It's highly unusual and raises suspicions of something unethical happening when |
| you see emails that say 'call me, I don't want to put this in writing.' There's no |
| reason to worry about putting something in writing if there's nothing improper or |
| unethical in the case, |
| ," said former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes, who |
| worked in the Justice Department's crimes against children unit. |
| On Sept. 24, 2007, another agreement was reached, but Epstein still wasn't |
| happy with it, emails show. |
| Lefkowitz continued to pressure the U.S. Attorney's Office to keep the agreement |
| secret, even though under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, prosecutors were |
| required to inform the victims that a plea deal had been signed. |
| "We ... object to your sending a letter to the alleged victims," Lefkowitz wrote on |
| Nov. 28. "... Any such letter would immediately be leaked to the press, your |
| actions will only have the effect of injuring Mr. Epstein and promoting spurious |
| civil litigation directed at him. We also request that if your office believes that it |
| must send a letter to go to the alleged victims ... it should happen only after Mr. |
| Epstein has entered his plea." |
| HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016452 |
|
|
