Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: Brad Edwards And The Battle Over The CVRA (Part 2) (6/13/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:02Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're picking up where we
- 0:06left off with Brad Edwards and the CVRA. Affidavid the
- 0:11government's fiduciary duty to crime victims bars any privilege. I'm
- 0:16familiar with the case law recited in our pleading regarding
- 0:19a fiduciary exception also known as the Garner exception in
- 0:23some filings to privileges. In this case, the government had
- 0:27a fiduciary obligation to protect the CVRA rights a Jaine
- 0:30Do number one and Jaine Do number two, specifically, because
- 0:34they were recognized as victims under the CVRA, the government
- 0:38had obligations to provide them rights under the CVRA, including
- 0:42the right to confer, the right to notice, and the
- 0:44right to be treated with fairness. Because of this fiduciary duty,
- 0:49an exception applies to many of the government privilege claims
- 0:52regarding in our actions with the victims. The fiduciary duty
- 0:56of the government to the victims in this case is clear.
- 0:59In two thousand, the FBI determined that both Jane Do
- 1:02one and Jane Do two were victims of sexual assault
- 1:05by Epstein. While there were miners, beginning when they were
- 1:09approximately fourteen years of age and approximately thirteen years of age, respectively.
- 1:15These sexual assaults involve use of means of interstate commerce
- 1:18ie telephone and travel in interstate commerce. Both Jane does
- 1:23were initially identified through Palm Beach Police Department's investigation of Epstein,
- 1:28confirming the fact that the government had identified Jane do
- 1:31One as a victim in its case. On about June seventh,
- 1:35two thousand and seven, FBI agents had delivered to Jane
- 1:38Doe number one a standard CVRA victim notification letter. The
- 1:43notification promises that the Justice Department would make its best
- 1:47effort to protect Jane do One and her rights, including
- 1:51the reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the
- 1:53United States in the case, and to be reasonably heard
- 1:56at any public proceeding in the district court involving a plea.
- 2:01The notification further explain that at this time, your case
- 2:04is under investigation. Similarly, on or about August eleventh, two
- 2:09thousand and seven, FBI agents had delivered to Jane do
- 2:12number two a standard CVRA victim notification letter. The notification
- 2:18promises that Justice Department would make its best efforts to
- 2:21protect Jane Doe number two's rights, including the right to
- 2:24confer with the attorney of the US and to be
- 2:27reasonably heard at public proceedings. Early in the investigation, the
- 2:31FBI agents and the Assistant US Attorney had several meetings
- 2:34with Jane Do number one, and Jane Do number two
- 2:37was represented by council that was paid for by Epstein,
- 2:40accordingly all contact or contract that was made through that attorney.
- 2:44These meetings occurred because the FBI had obligations to protect
- 2:48victims' rights under the CVRA. In October of two thousand
- 2:52and seven, shortly after the initial non prosecution agreement was
- 2:56signed between Epstein and the US Attorney's Office for the
- 2:59Southern didstay strict to Florida, Jane Do number one was
- 3:02contacted to be advised regarding the investigation. On October twenty six,
- 3:07two thousand and seven, special agents E Nesbit, Kirkandaal and
- 3:11Jason Richards met in person with Jane Do number one
- 3:14because she was recognized as a victim of Epstein's crimes.
- 3:17In all of the dealings between the government and the victims,
- 3:21as well as other dealings of a similar nature, the
- 3:23government had a fiduciary obligation to protect the interests of
- 3:27the victims under the Crime Victim's Rights Act. Accordingly, the
- 3:31government is precluded from raising any privileged claim to which
- 3:34a fiduciary exception applies, or at the very least any
- 3:38privilege assertion would be outweighed by the victim's compelling need
- 3:41for the material. An illustration of a situation where the
- 3:45fiduciary duty exception applies is found on page one of
- 3:49the Supplemental Privilege Log with regard to Supplemental Box number three.
- 3:54The entry here reads seven eight eight Email from Marie
- 3:58Vilafauna to Alex Acosta, Jayson Lohmann, k Atkinson, and FBI
- 4:02reproposed response to Goldberger's letter Victim Notification. In responding to
- 4:08Defense Attorney Goldberger's letter about victim notification, the U. S.
- 4:12Attorney's Office had a statutory duty under the CVRA to
- 4:16protect the victim's interest. Accordingly, the office cannot assert privilege
- 4:20when questions about whether it fulfilled its obligations to the
- 4:23victims have arisen in this case, or at the very
- 4:27least any privileged assertion would be outweighed by the victim's
- 4:30compelling need for the material. Another illustration of a situation
- 4:35where the fiduciary duty exception applies is found on page
- 4:38sixteen of the first privileged log with regard to box two.
- 4:43The entry reads file folder entitled rs RCCH Crime Victims'
- 4:48Rights containing attorney research, henwritten notes, draft victim notification letter,
- 4:53and draft correspondence to J. Lefkowitz. Here, again, the material
- 4:57at issue go to the heart of the case. What
- 5:00kind of notification were made to the victims and how
- 5:03did the defense attorney's shape and limit those notifications. Moreover,
- 5:07in evaluating victims' rights issues and determining what kind of
- 5:11letter descend, the government was fulfilling legal duties that it
- 5:14owed to the victims. Accordingly, the office cannot now assert
- 5:18privilege when questions about whether it fulfilled its obligations to
- 5:22the victims have arisen. In the case, communications facilitating crime
- 5:27fraud misconduct not covered, I'm familiar with the cases cited
- 5:31in our brief regarding an exception to various privileges when
- 5:35the communications concern crime, fraud or government misconduct, Many of
- 5:40the important documents about the treatment of the victims to
- 5:42which the government is asserting privilege would fall within that
- 5:45exception with regard to fraud the government misconduct. A number
- 5:49of the documents in the government's privilege log concerned concealment
- 5:53from the victims of the existence of the non prosecution
- 5:56agreement between the government and Epstein. Reviewed a copy of
- 6:00the non prosecution agreement signed on about September twenty fourth,
- 6:05two thousand and seven by Epstein and his attorneys and
- 6:08a representative of the US Attorney's Office. The text of
- 6:11that agreement bar's disclosure of the agreement to the victims.
- 6:15On about January tenth, two thousand and eight, my client's
- 6:18Jane Do number one and Jane Do number two received
- 6:21letters from the FBI advising them that this case is
- 6:24currently under investigation. This can be a lengthy process, and
- 6:28we request your continued patients while we conduct a thorough investigation.
- 6:33The statement in the notification letter was deceptive because it
- 6:37did not reveal that the case had previously been resolved
- 6:40by the non prosecution agreement entered into by Epstein and
- 6:43the US Attorney's Office discussed previously. Moreover, the FBI did
- 6:48not notify Jane Do number one or Jane Do number
- 6:51two that a plea agreement had been reached previously, and
- 6:54that part of the agreement was a non prosecution agreement
- 6:57with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida,
- 7:00and that the non prosecution agreement would resolve the federal
- 7:03case completely. Whether the FBI itself had been properly informed
- 7:09of the non prosecution agreement is also unclear. Were not
- 7:13alleging misconduct by the FBI, but rather that the FBI
- 7:16was not properly informed about the case or in any event,
- 7:19was acting at the direction of the U s Attorney's Office.
- 7:23In about April of two thousand and eight, Jane Do
- 7:25number one contacted the FBI because Epstein's council was attempting
- 7:29to take her deposition and private investigators were harassing her.
- 7:33Assist in US Attorney Marie Villafauna secured pro bono council
- 7:37to represent Jane Do Number one and several other identified
- 7:42victims in connection with the criminal investigation. Pro Bono council
- 7:46was able to assist Change No. Number one in avoiding
- 7:49the improper deposition. Ausa. Vilafauna secured pro bono council by
- 7:54contacting Meg Garvin of the National Crime Victims Law Center
- 7:59in Portland, Oregon, which is based in the Lewis and
- 8:01Clark College of Law. During the call, Miss Garvin was
- 8:05not advised that a non prosecution agreement had been reached
- 8:08in the matter. On May thirtieth, two thousand and eight,
- 8:11another of my clients who was recognized as an Epstein
- 8:15victim by the US Attorney's Office, received letters from the
- 8:18FBI advising her that her case is currently under investigation.
- 8:23This can be a lengthy process, and we request your
- 8:25continued patients while we conduct a thorough investigation. The statement
- 8:30in the notification letter was deceptive because it did not
- 8:33reveal that the case had been resolved by the non
- 8:36prosecution agreement entered into by Epstein and the US Attorney's
- 8:40Office in September of two thousand and seven. In mid
- 8:44June two thousand and eight, I contacted a USA Vilafauna
- 8:47to inform her that I represented Jane Doe number one
- 8:50and later Jane Doe number two. I asked to meet
- 8:53to provide information about the federal crimes committed by Epstein,
- 8:57hoping to secure a significant federal indictment against Epstein. AUSA
- 9:02Vila Fauna and I discussed the possibility of federal charges
- 9:05being filed. At the end of the call, Ausa Vila
- 9:08Fauna asked me to send any information that I wanted
- 9:11considered by the US Attorney's Office in determining whether to
- 9:15file federal charges. I was not informed that previously, in
- 9:19September of two thousand and seven, the US Attorney's Office
- 9:22had reached an agreement not the file federal charges. I
- 9:25was also not informed that any resolution of the criminal
- 9:28matter was eminent at the time. Presumably the reason the
- 9:32US Attorney's Office withheld this information from me was because
- 9:36of the confidentiality provision that existed in the non prosecution agreement.
- 9:41At this point, it's clear that Ausa Villafana was restricted
- 9:45in what she was being permitted to tell me. On
- 9:47July third, two thousand and eight, I sent to Ausa
- 9:50Vilafauna a letter. In the letter, I indicated my client's
- 9:53desire that federal charges be filed against defendant Epstein. In particular,
- 9:58I wrote, on behalf of my clients, we urge the
- 10:00Attorney General and our United States Attorney to consider the
- 10:04fundamental import of the vigorous enforcement of our federal laws.
- 10:08We urge you to move forward with the traditional indictments
- 10:11and criminal prosecution commesurate with the crimes mister Epstein has committed,
- 10:16and we further urge you to take the steps necessary
- 10:18to protect our children from this very dangerous sexual predator.
- 10:23When I wrote this letter, I was still unaware that
- 10:25a non prosecution agreement had been reached with Epstein, in fact,
- 10:29that continued to be concealed from me and the victims
- 10:32by the US Attorney's Office. I only learned of this
- 10:35fact later on, as alleged in the preceding paragraphs and
- 10:39elsewhere in the affid David and in this case, delivery
- 10:42concealment from crime victims and their legal counsel of the
- 10:46existence of the non prosecution agreement would be fraud and
- 10:49government misconduct. Documents related to that fraud misconduct would then
- 10:54fall outside of many of the privileges being asserted. An
- 10:57illustration of a document to which the crime fraud misconduct
- 11:00exception applies on this basis is found on page three
- 11:04of the Supplemental privilege log. The entry reads file folder
- 11:09entitled twelve five oh seven STARTO Acosta, containing drafts of
- 11:13eleven thirty seven letters from Acosta to Ken Starr and
- 11:17from Jay Slowman to Jay Lefkowitz performance and victim notification
- 11:22with handwritten notes and edits by Marie Vilafauna. Again, these
- 11:26materials are central to the dispute in the case, as
- 11:29they involve discussions between the US Attorney's Office and defense
- 11:32attorneys about notification to crime victims, and given the dates
- 11:37and communications, in all likelihood they would be related to
- 11:40the deceptive notification that the government made to the victims
- 11:44a few weeks later. All Right, folks, we're going to
- 11:46wrap up right here, and in the next episode, we're
- 11:49going to pick up where we left off. All of
- 11:51the information that goes with this episode can be found
- 11:54in the description box. What's up, everyone, and welcome to
- 11:57another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're
- 12:01going to pick up where we left off with the
- 12:03Brad Edwards CVR a affat David. Another illustration of where
- 12:08the crime fraud misconduct exception could potentially apply is with
- 12:12regard to information that the government possesses that Matthew Minchell
- 12:16has a personal or business relationship with defending Jeffrey Epstein.
- 12:20This could potentially show misconduct by Menchell, and it also
- 12:24potentially a motive to violate the victim's rights has explained previously,
- 12:28the government's privileged log has numerous entries showing that Menchell
- 12:32was substantially and personally involved in making decisions related to
- 12:36the Epstein prosecution. Of the first privilege log with regard
- 12:40to box number three P zero one one nine two
- 12:44three two P zero one one nine sixty six, the
- 12:48victims have information suggesting that immediately after leaving the employment
- 12:52with the US Attorney's Office, Menchell was associated with Epstein
- 12:55controlled entities or had some business relationship with them. The
- 12:59documents that the government possessed showing a personal or business
- 13:03relationship between one of its prosecutors and the man who
- 13:06was charged with prosecuting should be produced. The government has
- 13:10admitted that its internal affairs component, the Office of Professional Responsibility,
- 13:15has collected information about possible improper behavior during the investigation
- 13:20of the Epstein matter. Government answers to RFA twenty two.
- 13:25The fact that the government's own investigating agencies have collected
- 13:29such information demonstrates that there is a prima fossee case
- 13:33of improper behavior which is enough to trigger the crime
- 13:36fraud misconduct exception to various privileges, factual materials not privileged.
- 13:42As noted in the accompanying legal memorandum, factual materials are
- 13:46generally not covered by the privileges at issue. In the case,
- 13:50many of the material to which the government is asserting
- 13:52privilege are factual materials. Assertion of the attorney client privilege.
- 13:57The government has asserted attorney client privilege regarding many documents,
- 14:01Yet with regard to most of these assertions, it's impossible
- 14:05to determine who is the attorney, who is the client,
- 14:08whether professional legal services are being rendered, and whether the
- 14:11communications were confidential to those involved in the delivery of
- 14:15legal services. Accordingly, it's very difficult for me to respond
- 14:20to many of the assertions of attorney client privilege, and
- 14:23in any event, the government has failed to carry its
- 14:25burden of showing that privilege applies. An illustration of documents
- 14:31at to which attorney client privilege appears to have been
- 14:34improperly asserted or inadequately described is found on page seven
- 14:39of the first privilege log with regard to supplemental box
- 14:42number three. The entry for these twenty two pages of
- 14:45documents reads file folder entitled information Package Drafts, containing several
- 14:51descriptions to see how the attorney client privilege applies to
- 14:54these documents. I could provide many other illustrations of the problem.
- 14:59The god government's attorney client privileged claim directly covers situations
- 15:03where it was in a fiduciary relationship with the victims
- 15:06and therefore is limited in now asserting privilege. For example,
- 15:11page three of the supplemental privilege log contains an entry
- 15:15concerning a costa containing drafts of eleven thirty seven letters
- 15:21from Acosta to ken Starr and from Jay Slowman to
- 15:24Jay Lefkowitz, performance and victim notification with handwritten notes and
- 15:28edits by Marie Villafauna. This information goes very directly to
- 15:33the issue involved in the case, as it goes directly
- 15:35to victim notification, Yet the government has asserted an attorney
- 15:39client privilege to prevent the victims from learning what's in
- 15:42these documents. The fiduciary exception to the attorney client privilege
- 15:47applies in this situation and limits the government's ability to
- 15:50invoke a privilege. This also appears to be shared communication
- 15:54between the government and Epstein's attorneys, and it's unclear how
- 15:58the attorney client privilege could but ethically apply to such documents.
- 16:03As one example of why the victims have established a
- 16:05compelling need for material described in the preceding paragraph is
- 16:09the fact that the Court has indicated that it will
- 16:12be considering an estoppel argument raised by the government as
- 16:16a defense in the case. The Court has noted that
- 16:19this argument implicates a fact sensitive, equitable defense which must
- 16:23be considered in the historical, factual context of the entire
- 16:27interface between EPSTEIN, the relevant prosecutorial authorities, and the offense victims,
- 16:33including an assessment of the allegation of a deliberate conspiracy
- 16:37between EPSTEIN and federal prosecutors to keep the victims in
- 16:40the dark on the pendency of negotiation between EPSTEIN and
- 16:44federal authorities until well after the fact and presentation of
- 16:48the non prosecution agreement to them was completed. The materials
- 16:54to which the government is asserting attorney client privilege go
- 16:57directly to that interface between the victims, the government, and EPSTEIN.
- 17:01The victims have a compelling need for the information, and
- 17:04the fiduciary exception to the attorney client privilege applies to
- 17:07permit the Court to provide these documents to the victims.
- 17:11The government has not explained any harm that would come
- 17:13from releasing the documents covered by attorney client privilege to
- 17:17the victims. If the government raises any such harm, I
- 17:20respectfully request an opportunity to provide additional information on that
- 17:24alleged arm deliberative process privilege. Some of the correspondents that
- 17:30is being withheld by the government under the deliberative process
- 17:33privilege concerns an investigation that the Justice Department's Office of
- 17:37Professional Responsibility opened with regard to the Epstein case. This
- 17:41investigation was undertaken at the request of the victims in
- 17:44the case. On December tenth, twenty ten, CO Council Professor
- 17:48Paul Cassel of the University of Utah College of Law
- 17:52and I met with US Attorney for the Southern District
- 17:54of Florida regarding this case in the U s Attorney's
- 17:57Office in Miami, Florida. On that date, Professor Cassel presented
- 18:03a letter to the US Attorney, Mister Ferrer, asking him
- 18:06to personally investigate what happened during the Epstein prosecution and
- 18:10how the victims were treated during that investigation based on
- 18:14the privileged log that has been provided as well as
- 18:16subsequent correspondence sent to Professor Cassell. That request for investigation
- 18:21was turned over to OPR in Washington. The ultimate outcome
- 18:25of the OPR investigation is unclear. What is clear is
- 18:28that many documents are being withheld about that investigation, documents
- 18:32that would go to the central issue in the case.
- 18:35Approximately three hoole pages of privileged log Pages twelve through
- 18:39fourteen of the supplemental Log relate to the OPR investigation
- 18:43of how the Epstein case was handled and how the
- 18:46victims were treated. A deliberative process privilege can only be
- 18:51asserted with regard to the process of reaching a decision,
- 18:55not the ultimate decision itself. The government here has apparently
- 18:59asserted a deliberate process claim over not only the OPR process,
- 19:03but also over the OPR decision. It's not clear which
- 19:07document embodies the final OPR decision, or, given the inadequacies
- 19:11of the government's log, whether that final decision has been produced.
- 19:15Given the limited description of the document that have been provided,
- 19:19it appears that the OPR decision may be reflected in
- 19:22a document found on page thirteen of the supplemental Log.
- 19:27The description there reads draft letter marked confidential to be
- 19:31opened by addresses only Robin c Ashton to a Fredo Ferrar,
- 19:36with a handwritten correction. No dates provided regarding the letter,
- 19:40nor is there any indication as to whether the letter
- 19:43was or was not circulated to other persons. It is
- 19:47also noteworthy that this letter is described as a draft letter.
- 19:50Nowhere in the privileged log is the final version of
- 19:52that letter indicated, raising questions about what was draft and
- 19:56what was final. If this is the final embodiment of
- 19:59the opr's conclusions, then this letter would not be protected
- 20:02by process of privilege because the deliberations would have come
- 20:07to an end. It's also worth noting that because OPR
- 20:10is an agency that investigates misconduct by federal prosecutors, it
- 20:14would not be providing attorney client advice to prosecutors, and
- 20:18its documents would not be attorney client privileged with regard to,
- 20:22for example, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District
- 20:25of Florida. The fact that OPR has investigated many of
- 20:29the exact claims raised by Jane do one and two
- 20:32and were able to gather documents unobstructed by the government
- 20:35in order to reach its conclusion likely means that production
- 20:38of the OPR file to the victims in this case
- 20:42could significantly shortcut this discovery process and the litigation. Additionally,
- 20:47if OPR needed the documents to investigate and make findings
- 20:50regarding the victim's claims, then logically the victims share that
- 20:54need and have no other means through which to obtain
- 20:57the documents. The government has not explained any harm that
- 21:01would come from releasing the documents covered by the process
- 21:04of privilege to the victims. If the government raises any
- 21:08such harm, I respectfully request an opportunity to provide additional
- 21:12information on that alleged harm. Investigative privilege. The investigative privilege
- 21:18is a qualified privilege which balances the need of a
- 21:21particular litigate for access to information against any public interest
- 21:25in non disclosure. That balancing process is ordinarily made with
- 21:29reference to factors discussed and Frankhauser vers Rizzo on the
- 21:34facts of this case favor way in favor of disclosing
- 21:38the information the victims have requested with regard to factor one,
- 21:42the extent to which disclosure will thwart governmental process by
- 21:46discouraging citizens from giving the government information I presented for
- 21:50victims of Epstein's sex offenses in federal court. Change No
- 21:54Number one, change do No. Number two, and a victim
- 21:56I will refer to as SR and MJ and other
- 22:01victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse as well. If further information
- 22:05is disclosed about the case, that will not discourage them
- 22:09from providing information, but rather will encourage them. I have
- 22:12also talked personally the attorneys for a number of other
- 22:15victims in the case. I have been told that many
- 22:17of these victims hope that Jang Do one and Jane
- 22:20Do two are successful in their case. With regard to
- 22:24factor number two, the impact upon persons who have given
- 22:27information of having their identities disclosed, Jang Do one and
- 22:31Jane Do two are not asking for information that would
- 22:34identify any particular victim. Accordingly, there will be no effect
- 22:38on other victims. Additionally, I'm aware of the true names
- 22:41of many of Epstein's victims, and that information has not
- 22:44been disseminated to the public, where those individual victims did
- 22:48not wish for their identities to be disseminated. All right,
- 22:52We're going to wrap up this episode right here, and
- 22:54in the next episode dealing with the topic, We're going
- 22:56to pick up where we left off. All of the
- 22:58information that goes with if this episode can be found
- 23:01in the description box. What's up everyone, and Welcome to
- 23:04another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're
- 23:08going to pick up where we left off with Brad
- 23:10Edwards and the CVRA Affid David. With regard to factor three,
- 23:16the degree to which governmental self evaluation and consequent program
- 23:20improvement will be chilled by disclosure, this is a lawsuit
- 23:24to force the compliance by the government with its CVRA obligation. Accordingly,
- 23:29the government's program of providing victims' rights will be directly
- 23:32improved if the victims are able to enforce their rights
- 23:35in this lawsuit. With regard to factor four, whether the
- 23:39information sought as factual data or a summary, many of
- 23:43the items that the victims seek are factual summaries. An
- 23:46example of this is found at page eighteen of the
- 23:48first Privilege log with regard to box number three P
- 23:53zero one one seven seven eight to P zero one
- 23:56one seven eight eight. The entry reads file four entitled
- 24:00six twelve nine Victim Notification Log containing chart with victim
- 24:05contact information and attorney notes regarding dates and types of contacts.
- 24:10This would include, for example, dates of contacts with Jane
- 24:13Do number one and Jane Do number two, which would
- 24:16be purely factual information with regard to factor five, whether
- 24:20the party seeking the discovery is an actual or potential
- 24:24defendant in any criminal proceeding, either pending or reasonably likely
- 24:27to follow from the incident. In the question, Jane one
- 24:31and Jane do two are plainly victims of a crime,
- 24:34not criminal defendants. Indeed, as the court is aware, it's
- 24:37the criminal defendant, Jeffrey Epstein who has undertaken several limited
- 24:41intervention efforts to try and block disclosure of information to
- 24:45the victims. With regard to the factor six, whether the
- 24:49police investigation has been completed, the investigation at Epstein was
- 24:53completed years ago, and the government has not produced in
- 24:56its privileged log any information indicating recent and vas activity.
- 25:02With regard to factor seven, whether any inter department disciplinary
- 25:06proceedings have arisen or may arise from the investigation, it
- 25:10appears that OPR investigation has arisen as a direct result
- 25:14of the victim's efforts in the case. However, it does
- 25:17not appear that release of any information to the victims
- 25:20would hamper any disciplinary proceedings. Indeed, to the extent that
- 25:24the victims are able to obtain information about the case
- 25:28and find information about misconduct, they can provide the information
- 25:32to the government and other disciplinary entities as appropriate. With
- 25:37regard to factor eight, whether the plaintiff suit is non
- 25:40frivolous and broaden good faith. It should be clear at
- 25:43this juncture of a five year long case that the
- 25:45victims have substantial claim that has brought in good faith.
- 25:50With regard to factor nine, whether the information sought is
- 25:52available through other discovery or from other sources. As recounted
- 25:57throughout this Avia David, the victims have no other way
- 25:59to obtain the information at issue in this privileged debate,
- 26:03as it involves information internal to the Justice Department. With
- 26:08regard to factor ten, the importance of information saw to
- 26:11the plaintiff's case, the information that the victims are seeking
- 26:15is highly important to their case. Indeed, without adequate proof,
- 26:19the court is indicated that it may have to deny
- 26:21the victim's petition. Throughout this Avid David I have provided
- 26:25numerous examples and explanations of why the victims need the
- 26:28information that they're requesting. The documents to which the government
- 26:33is asserting investigative privilege, for example, bear directly on the
- 26:37government's alleged estoppel defense, which victims need to complete evidentiary
- 26:41record to dispute work product doctrine. A work product claim
- 26:46can be defeated by showing of substantial need and undue
- 26:49hardship to obtain the material in other ways. In this Avid, David,
- 26:54I have tried to articulate the specific and compelling need
- 26:57for all the materials that victims are seeking. Will not
- 27:00repeat all of those assertions here, but simply note that
- 27:03I stand ready to provide any additional information that the
- 27:06court may require to determine the compelling need that the
- 27:09victims have for the materials they have requested, as well
- 27:13as the undue hardship, if not actual impossibility of obtaining
- 27:17the materials. In other ways, any balancing of considerations tips
- 27:22decisively in the victim's favor. As one example, the victims
- 27:26have a compelling need for the materials that OPR collected
- 27:29as part of its investigation. Because Justice Department attorneys are
- 27:34generally required to talk to OPR investigators, OPR was apparently
- 27:38able to investigate the claim of misconduct related to the
- 27:41Epstein case by getting statements from the attorneys involved. These
- 27:45interviews appear to be recorded in materials found at page
- 27:49fourteen of the Supplemental Privilege Log d two sixteen one
- 27:53with regard to supplemental box number three p DASH zero
- 27:57one three nine five six two p D DASH zero
- 28:00one three eight four six a total of fourteen pages.
- 28:06Judging from the entry, these notes would be factual statements
- 28:09from Justice Department prosecutors about how the Epstein case was
- 28:12handled and whether any misconduct occurred during the handling of
- 28:16the case. Those are central issues in the case. There's
- 28:20no other way for the victims to obtain information about
- 28:23these subjects because the Justice Department has declined to provide
- 28:27information on the subject. The victims have established a substantial
- 28:32need for the material there are requesting in the previous
- 28:34paragraphs of this Avid David that review requests by request
- 28:38their document production Request numbers one through twenty five and
- 28:42supplemental Requests number one as Another example of why the
- 28:46victims have established a compelling need for the materials is
- 28:50the fact that the Court has indicated that it will
- 28:53be considering an estoppel argument raised by the government as
- 28:56a defense in the case. The Court has noted that
- 28:59this argument implicates a fact sensitive equitable defense which must
- 29:03be considered in the historical, factual context of the entire
- 29:07interface between EPSTEIN, the relevant prosecutorial authorities, and the federal
- 29:12offense victims, including an assessment of the allegation of a
- 29:16deliberate conspiracy between EPSTEIN and federal prosecutors to keep the
- 29:21victims in the dark on the pendency of negotiation between
- 29:24EPSTEIN and federal authorities until after the fact and presentation
- 29:29of the non prosecution agreement. The materials to which the
- 29:33government is asserting work product protection go directly to that
- 29:36interface between the victims, the government, and EPSTEIN. The victims
- 29:40have no other way of showing what that interface is.
- 29:43The government will not be harmed if the materials are
- 29:46provided to the victims grand jury information. The victims legal
- 29:50pleading has explained why the government has not properly asserted
- 29:54any grand jury secrecy to the documents at issue. In addition,
- 29:58many of the government's grand jury privilege desertions appear to
- 30:01broadly cover both grand jury and non grand jury information.
- 30:06Even if the court allows the government to assert some
- 30:08form of grand jury privilege, it should require the government
- 30:11to sever grand jury material from non grand jury material.
- 30:15An illustration of this problem comes from page twelve of
- 30:18the first Privilege log with regard to box number two
- 30:22p DASH zero zero eight six one six to P
- 30:25DASH zero zero eight six eighty six. The entry reads
- 30:29file folder entitled FBI Summary Charts containing chart prepared at
- 30:33direction of AUSA, containing victim names, identifying information, summary of activity,
- 30:40and other information relevant to the indictment. This does not
- 30:43appear to be a document that was ever presented to
- 30:46the grand jury or that directly discloses grand jury preceding. Moreover,
- 30:51to the extent that it involves some kind of limited
- 30:53disclosure of grand jury proceedings, that limited disclosure could be redacted,
- 30:58and the other information provided to the victims, it does
- 31:01not appear that any of the alleged grand jury materials
- 31:04that the government is asserting privilege involve ongoing grand jury issues. Moreover,
- 31:09it does not appear that disclosing any of the materials
- 31:12would tip off a potential target to a government investigation.
- 31:16Of course, Jeffrey Epstein and his associates are well aware
- 31:19of the government's investigation into their crimes against young girls
- 31:23for sexual purposes. The government has not explained any harm
- 31:28that would come from releasing the documents to the victims.
- 31:31If the government raises any such harm, I respectfully request
- 31:34an opportunity to provide additional information on that alleged harm
- 31:39privacy rights of other victims. Jaine Do number one and
- 31:44Jaine Do number two do not seek confidential or identifying
- 31:47information about any other victim. To clarify that fact, on
- 31:51July thirty first, twenty thirteen, I sent a letter to
- 31:54the government stating in part that to avoid any interference
- 31:58with any privacy rights of victim who are not parties
- 32:01to this litigation, Chaine Do number one and Jane Do
- 32:04number two are not seeking any identifying information about other
- 32:08victims in any of the documents that Jane Do number
- 32:12one or Jane Do number two have requested from the
- 32:14government that they produce. The government should not produce the
- 32:17names of other victims or other identifying information eg. Address
- 32:22or a telephone number, but should instead redact that information.
- 32:27I declare, under penalty of perjury, pursuant to US Code
- 32:30twenty eight, Section seventeen forty six, that the foregoing is
- 32:35true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief,
- 32:38executed this sixteenth day of August twenty thirteen, and this
- 32:43document was signed by Brad Edwards all right, So that
- 32:47finishes up the affid David of Brad Edwards when it
- 32:50comes to the CVRA, and now with this new dump,
- 32:54we have a lot of court records to dive into
- 32:56and the grand jury material, especially because we've never seen
- 32:59that right, so I want to make sure that we
- 33:01get a handle on that as well. So over the
- 33:04next couple of days, we're going to be diving deep
- 33:06into that grand jury material, and that way everybody gets
- 33:09to see for themselves what we've been saying for all
- 33:12these years that the fix was in and this has
- 33:14been a cover up since the start. All of the
- 33:18information that goes with this episode can be found in
- 33:21the description box.