Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Brad Edwards Affidavit In Support Of Epstein Related Transparency (Part 1)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to continue taking
- 0:06Speaker 1: a look at some more court documents in regard to
- 0:10Speaker 1: the CVRA and the non prosecution Agreement, and this time
- 0:14Speaker 1: we're taking a look at the Affid David of Bradley
- 0:18Speaker 1: Edwards regarding need for the production of documents Case number
- 0:23Speaker 1: nine zero eight DASH CV DASH eight zero seven three
- 0:28Speaker 1: six DASH KAM Jane Do one Jane Do two versus
- 0:33Speaker 1: the United States of America The Affid David of Bradley J. Edwards.
- 0:39Speaker 1: I Bradley J. Edwards Do hereby declare that I'm a
- 0:42Speaker 1: member in good standing of the Bar of the State
- 0:44Speaker 1: of Florida. Along with co Council, I represent Jane Do
- 0:49Speaker 1: number one and Jane Do number two as referred to
- 0:52Speaker 1: as victims in the above listed action to enforce their
- 0:55Speaker 1: rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act. I also represented
- 0:58Speaker 1: them in several other victims in civil suits against Jeffrey
- 1:01Speaker 1: Epstein for sexually abusing them. I am also familiar with
- 1:06Speaker 1: the criminal justice system, having served as a state prosecutor
- 1:09Speaker 1: in the Broward County State Attorney's Office. The Affid David
- 1:13Speaker 1: covers factual issues regarding the government's assertions of privilege to
- 1:17Speaker 1: more than thirteen thousand pages of documents it has produced
- 1:20Speaker 1: for in camera inspection. In the case, this affid David
- 1:24Speaker 1: provides factual information demonstrating that the government's assertions of privilege
- 1:29Speaker 1: are not well founded. It further demonstrates that the victims
- 1:32Speaker 1: have a compelling and substantial need for the information requested
- 1:36Speaker 1: and have no other way of obtaining that information. Background
- 1:40Speaker 1: regarding unsuccessful efforts to reach stipulated facts with the government.
- 1:44Speaker 1: On July seven, two thousand and eight, I filed a
- 1:47Speaker 1: petition to enforce the CVR rights at Jane DO one
- 1:50Speaker 1: and Jane DO two with regard to sex offenses committed
- 1:53Speaker 1: against them by Jeffrey Epstein while they were miners. Though
- 1:57Speaker 1: a course of the proceedings since then is one known
- 2:00Speaker 1: to the Court. For purposes of this Affidavid regarding privileges,
- 2:04Speaker 1: it's enough to briefly recount the efforts of the victims
- 2:07Speaker 1: to reach a stipulated set of facts with the government,
- 2:10Speaker 1: efforts that the government has blocked. The Court first held
- 2:14Speaker 1: a hearing on victims petition on July eleventh, two thousand
- 2:17Speaker 1: and eight. The Court discussed a need to have complete record,
- 2:20Speaker 1: and this is going to be an issue that's going
- 2:22Speaker 1: to go to the Eleventh Circuit, so it may be
- 2:25Speaker 1: better to have a complete record as to what your
- 2:27Speaker 1: position is and the governments is to what actions were taken.
- 2:32Speaker 1: The court concluded that the hearing with the following instructions,
- 2:35Speaker 1: So I'll let both of you confer about whether there
- 2:38Speaker 1: is a need for any additional evidence to be presented.
- 2:42Speaker 1: And that was the transcript we did previously, so this
- 2:45Speaker 1: is building on that. The victims and the US Attorney's
- 2:49Speaker 1: Office then attempted to reach a stipulated set of facts
- 2:52Speaker 1: underlying the case. The US Attorney's Office offered a very
- 2:55Speaker 1: abbreviated set of proposed facts, and the victims responded with
- 2:59Speaker 1: the detailed set of proposed facts rather than respond to
- 3:02Speaker 1: the victim's specific facts. However, the U. S. Attorney's Office
- 3:06Speaker 1: suddenly reversed course. On July twenty ninth, two thousand and eight,
- 3:10Speaker 1: it filed a notice to court regarding absence of need
- 3:13Speaker 1: for evidentiary hearing. The U. S. Attorney's Office took the
- 3:17Speaker 1: following position after consideration, the government believes that an evidentiary
- 3:21Speaker 1: hearing is not necessary. The office asserted that the court
- 3:25Speaker 1: need only take judicial notice of the fact that no
- 3:28Speaker 1: indictment had been filed against Epstein to resolve the case.
- 3:32Speaker 1: On August first, two thousand and eight, the victims filed
- 3:35Speaker 1: a response to the government's notice, given a proposed statement
- 3:38Speaker 1: of facts surrounding the case. The victim's response also requested
- 3:42Speaker 1: that the court direct the government to confer with the
- 3:45Speaker 1: victims regarding the undisputed facts of the case and produced
- 3:49Speaker 1: the non prosecution agreement and other information about the case.
- 3:53Speaker 1: On August fourteenth, two thousand and eight, the Court held
- 3:56Speaker 1: a hearing on the case regarding the confidentiality of the
- 3:59Speaker 1: non na prosecution agreement. The court ultimately ordered production of
- 4:03Speaker 1: the agreement to the victims. After the U. S. Attorney's
- 4:07Speaker 1: Office made the non prosecution agreement available to the victims,
- 4:10Speaker 1: the victims reviewed it and pursued further discussion with the U. S.
- 4:14Speaker 1: Attorney's Office. Ultimately, however, the U. S. Attorney's Office declined
- 4:18Speaker 1: to reach a stipulated set of facts with the victims
- 4:22Speaker 1: and declined to provide further information about the case. With
- 4:26Speaker 1: negotiations at an impasse, the victims attempted to learn the
- 4:29Speaker 1: facts of the case in other ways. In approximately May
- 4:34Speaker 1: of two thousand and nine, Council for the Victims propounded
- 4:37Speaker 1: discovery requests in both states and federal civil cases against Epstein,
- 4:42Speaker 1: seeking to obtain correspondence between Epstein and prosecutors regarding his
- 4:47Speaker 1: plea agreement, information that the U. S. Attorney's Office was
- 4:51Speaker 1: unwilling to provide to the victims, and information that was
- 4:54Speaker 1: highly relevant both to the victim's civil suit and their
- 4:57Speaker 1: CVRA enforcement action. Epstein refused to produce the information, and,
- 5:02Speaker 1: as the Court is aware, extended litigation to obtain the
- 5:06Speaker 1: materials followed. The Court rejected all of Epstein's objections to
- 5:10Speaker 1: producing the materials. On June thirtieth, twenty ten, Council for
- 5:15Speaker 1: Epstein sent to Council for Victims approximately three hundred and
- 5:19Speaker 1: fifty eight pages of email correspondence between Criminal Defense Council
- 5:23Speaker 1: and the U. S. Attorney's Office regarding the plea agreement
- 5:26Speaker 1: that had been negotiated between them. These emails began to
- 5:30Speaker 1: disclose for the first time the extreme steps that had
- 5:33Speaker 1: been taken by the US Attorney's Office to avoid prosecuting
- 5:37Speaker 1: Epstein and to avoid having the victims in the case
- 5:40Speaker 1: learn about the non prosecution agreement that had been reached
- 5:43Speaker 1: between Epstein and the government. While the court ordered that
- 5:47Speaker 1: all of the correspondents be turned over to the victims,
- 5:50Speaker 1: Epstein chose to disobey that order and instead only produced
- 5:53Speaker 1: the correspondents authored by the government and redacted all correspondents
- 5:57Speaker 1: authored by him or his attorneys. In mid July twenty ten,
- 6:02Speaker 1: Jane do one and Jane do two settled their civil
- 6:05Speaker 1: lawsuits against Epstein. Then, armed with new information, they turned
- 6:09Speaker 1: to moving forward in the CVR case. On September thirteenth,
- 6:13Speaker 1: twenty ten, the victims informed the court that they were
- 6:17Speaker 1: preparing new filings in the case. On October twelfth, twenty ten,
- 6:22Speaker 1: the court entered in order directing the victims to provide
- 6:25Speaker 1: a status report on the case by October twenty seventh,
- 6:28Speaker 1: twenty ten. That same day, Council for the victims again
- 6:32Speaker 1: contacted the US Attorney's Office about the possibility of reaching
- 6:36Speaker 1: a stipulated set of facts in the case. That same day,
- 6:40Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office responded, we don't have any problem
- 6:43Speaker 1: with agreeing that a factual assertion is correct if we
- 6:46Speaker 1: agree that is what occurred. On October twenty third, twenty ten,
- 6:51Speaker 1: the victims email to the US Attorney's Office a detailed
- 6:54Speaker 1: proposal statement of facts that many of the facts now
- 6:57Speaker 1: documented by the correspondents between the US Attorney's Office and
- 7:01Speaker 1: Epstein's council. The victims requested that the US Attorney's Office
- 7:06Speaker 1: identify which facts it would agree to. In a letter
- 7:09Speaker 1: to the US Attorney's Office, the victim stated, if you
- 7:12Speaker 1: believe that any of the facts they proposed during correct,
- 7:16Speaker 1: Jane do one and Jane Doe two would reiterate their
- 7:19Speaker 1: long standing request that you work with us to arrive
- 7:22Speaker 1: at a mutually agreed statement of facts. As you know,
- 7:25Speaker 1: in the summer of two thousand and eight, Jane do
- 7:27Speaker 1: one and Jane do two were working with you on
- 7:30Speaker 1: a stipulation of facts when you reverse course and took
- 7:32Speaker 1: the position that no recitation of the facts was necessary.
- 7:37Speaker 1: I hope that your email means that you will at
- 7:39Speaker 1: least look at our facts and propose any modifications that
- 7:43Speaker 1: you deem appropriate. Having that evidence quickly available to the
- 7:47Speaker 1: court would help move the case to a conclusion. That
- 7:49Speaker 1: same day, the US Attorney's Office agreed to forward the
- 7:52Speaker 1: proposed statement of facts to the appropriate Assistant US Attorney
- 7:56Speaker 1: for review on October twenty six, twenty ten. Rather than
- 8:00Speaker 1: stipulate to undisputed facts, the US Attorney's Office contacted the
- 8:04Speaker 1: victims attorneys and asked them to delay the filing of
- 8:08Speaker 1: their motion for a two week period of time so
- 8:10Speaker 1: that negotiations could be held between the office and the
- 8:13Speaker 1: victims in an attempt to narrow the range of disputes
- 8:16Speaker 1: in the case and hopefully reach a settlement resolution without
- 8:20Speaker 1: the need for further litigation. Negotiation between the victims in
- 8:24Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office then followed over the next two days. However,
- 8:29Speaker 1: at six eleven pm on October twenty seventh, twenty ten,
- 8:33Speaker 1: the date on which the victims pleading was due, the
- 8:36Speaker 1: US Attorney's Office informed the victims that it did not
- 8:39Speaker 1: believe that it had time to review the victim's proposed
- 8:42Speaker 1: statement of the facts and advise which were accurate and
- 8:45Speaker 1: which were inaccurate. The office further advised the victims that
- 8:50Speaker 1: it believed that the victims did not have a right
- 8:53Speaker 1: to confer with their office under the CVRA in this case, because,
- 8:57Speaker 1: in its view, the case is civil litigation rather than
- 9:01Speaker 1: criminal litigation. As a result, purely as an accommodation to
- 9:05Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office. On October twenty seventh, twenty ten,
- 9:09Speaker 1: the victims filed a report with the court in which
- 9:12Speaker 1: they agreed to delay filing their motion and accompanying facts
- 9:15Speaker 1: for up to two weeks to see if negotiations can
- 9:18Speaker 1: resolve or narrow the disputes with the U. S. Attorney's Office.
- 9:23Speaker 1: Discussions with the U. S. Attorney's Office dragged on, including
- 9:26Speaker 1: a personal meeting between Jane do One and the U.
- 9:28Speaker 1: S Attorney in December of twenty ten. After further discussion
- 9:34Speaker 1: failed to produce any agreement or other visible progress, the
- 9:38Speaker 1: victims informed the US Attorney's Office that they would file
- 9:41Speaker 1: their summary judgment motion with the court on March eighteenth,
- 9:44Speaker 1: twenty eleven, and requested further cooperation from the office on
- 9:49Speaker 1: the facts. Ultimately, after months of discussion, the US Attorney's
- 9:53Speaker 1: Office in formed Council for the Victims that, contrary to
- 9:56Speaker 1: promises made earlier to stipulate to undisputed facts, no such
- 10:00Speaker 1: stipulation would be forthcoming. Instead, on March fifteenth, twenty eleven,
- 10:05Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida,
- 10:08Speaker 1: wil Fredo A. Farah sent a letter to the victims
- 10:11Speaker 1: declining to reach any agreement on the facts, because, as
- 10:15Speaker 1: a matter of law, the CVRA is inapplicable to this matter,
- 10:19Speaker 1: in which no federal criminal charges were ever filed. Your
- 10:22Speaker 1: request for the government's agreement on a set of proposed
- 10:24Speaker 1: stipulated facts is unnecessary and premature. That is because whether
- 10:29Speaker 1: the rights in eighteen US Code Section thirty seven to
- 10:33Speaker 1: seventy one a attached prior to the filing of a
- 10:36Speaker 1: charge in federal court is a matter of statutory interpretation.
- 10:40Speaker 1: Resolution of that question is not dependent upon the existence
- 10:44Speaker 1: of any certain set of facts other than whether a
- 10:46Speaker 1: charging document was ever filed against Jeffrey Epstein in the U. S.
- 10:50Speaker 1: District Court for the Southern District of Florida. And while
- 10:53Speaker 1: this office remains willing to cooperate, cooperation does not mean
- 10:57Speaker 1: agreeing to facts that are not relevant to the resolution
- 11:00Speaker 1: of the legal dispute at issue. Letter from Wilfredo A.
- 11:05Speaker 1: Ferrer to Paul G. Cassel, accordingly, unable to work with
- 11:10Speaker 1: the government to reach a resolution of the facts. On
- 11:12Speaker 1: March twenty first, twenty eleven, the victims filed emotion for
- 11:16Speaker 1: some rejudgment alleging fifty three undisputed facts, along with some
- 11:21Speaker 1: evidentiary support for each of the facts. The victims also
- 11:25Speaker 1: filed a motion to have their facts accepted because of
- 11:28Speaker 1: the government's failure to contest their facts. The victims also
- 11:32Speaker 1: filed emotion to have the court direct the government not
- 11:35Speaker 1: to withhold relevant evidence. Following a hearing on the motions
- 11:39Speaker 1: on September twenty six, twenty eleven, the court rejected the
- 11:43Speaker 1: government's argument that the CBRA was inapplicable in the case
- 11:47Speaker 1: because the government had never filed charges against Epstein. The court, however,
- 11:52Speaker 1: rejected the victim's argument that it should accept their facts
- 11:55Speaker 1: because of the government's failure to contest the facts. Instead,
- 11:59Speaker 1: the court directed that discovery could proceed in the form
- 12:02Speaker 1: of requests for admissions and document production requests. The court
- 12:06Speaker 1: reserved ruling on the victim's motion that the government should
- 12:09Speaker 1: be directed not to withhold evidence. All right, folks, we're
- 12:13Speaker 1: gonna wrap up right here, and in the next episode,
- 12:15Speaker 1: we're gonna pick up where we left off. All of
- 12:18Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
- 12:21Speaker 1: in the description box.