Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Paperwork Over Predators: How New York Tried to Soften Jeffrey Epstein’s Crimes

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Paperwork Over Predators: How New York Tried to Soften Jeffrey Epstein’s Crimes · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to take a
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  look at the argument made by Jeffrey Epstein's legal team
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  trying to get his offender status in New York knocked
• 0:13
  down to the lowest level. And to do that, we're
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  gonna jump right into the transcript from the hearing in
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  front of Judge Ruth Pickholtz. For the defense, you have
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  kirkland Ellis. That's Jeffrey Epstein's legal team. It's going to
• 0:28
  be Jay Lefkowitz and Sandra Mussumichi. And then for the
• 0:32
  government or for the State of New York, I should say,
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  you have Jennifer Gaffney and Cyrus Vance. So after they're
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  all sworn in, Jennifer Gaffney begins, your honor. This is
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  a case on a sorry hearing this afternoon. The people
• 0:48
  did receive the board recommendation of a level three. However,
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  we receive the underlying information from them and also had
• 0:55
  some contact with Florida, and we don't believe that we
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  can rely on the entire probable cause is Affid David.
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  I don't know if the board sent that to you
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  as well. The court I don't know why you can't
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  rely on it, Miss Gaffney, because in Florida, all of
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  the victims in that probable cause Affidavid, they actually only
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  went forward on one case. There was only an indictment
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  for one victim, and that is what the defendant pled to.
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  So it's unlike a situation where everything was indicted and
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  then we get to sort of assess points for all
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  of the victims if it was part of a plea bargain.
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  They did not actually choose to go forward on any
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  except for the one victim. So under the board guidelines,
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  the Risk Assessment Interim guidelines, it actually says, you know,
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  by the way of contrast, if an offender is not
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  indicted for an offense, it's strong evidence that the offense
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  did not occur. And I don't think the court cuts
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  her off. Do you find that if somebody is not indicted,
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  it's strong evidence that it did not occur, Miss Gaffney,
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  I don't know that we can rely on it as
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  clear and convincing evidence if the prosecutor's office never went
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  forward with it. The prosecution said that the victims, although
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  they spoke to the police early on, did not cooperate
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  with them, so we don't have any follow up information
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  the court. But the board found a level three. I
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  have to tell you, I'm a little overwhelmed because I
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  have never seen the Prosecutor's office do anything like this.
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  I have never seen it. I had a case with
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  one instance. It was a marine who went to a bar,
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  and I wish I had that case before me. But
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  he went to a bar and a seventeen year old.
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  He was an adult, obviously he was a marine. A
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  seventeen year old came up to him and one thing
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  led to another, and he had sex with her. And
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  people would not agree to a downward modification on that.
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  So I'm a little overwhelmed here because I see, I mean,
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  I read everything here. I'm just a little overwhelmed that
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  the people are making this application. I could cite many
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  many I have done many sores much less troubling than
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  this one, where the people would never make a downward
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  argument like this, Miss Gaffney. I agree with your honor,
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  it's incredibly unusual for us to make a downward argument.
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  But the problem is the one thing that we have
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  from the board. It seems to be a contradiction to
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  their own guidelines, which if something was not indicted, you're
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  not supposed to rely on it the court. They obviously
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  took that into consideration, Miss Gaffney, and I tried to
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  reach I reached the authorities in Florida to try to
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  see if they had all the interview notes or other
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  things that we can then subsequently rely on that might
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  be considered clear and convincing evidence if they had interviewed
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  these women on their own, and they never did. No
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  one was cooperative, and they did not go forward on
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  any of the cases, and none of them were indicted.
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  So I don't know. The court. And you spoke to
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  the prosecutor, Miss Gaffney, the actual prosecutor left the office.
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  I spoke to the prosecutor that took over the case
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  the court. Maybe you can find the prosecutor that left office.
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  You've done more in other cases looking into it. I
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  have never seen the prosecutor's office do this. I have
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  to tell you, I'm shocked, Miss Gaffney, right, but I
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  spoke to the prosecutor that took over the case, and
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  they don't have anything any affid David's, any statements, any notes,
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  And just to interject here, you guys see what I
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  mean about the fix being in. Once again, the paperwork
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  proves it, the court, why don't you speak to the
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  prosecutor that did the case. I'm sure you could find
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  that prosecutor, Miss Gaffney. I can find her, But based
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  upon what the other prosecutor said, they did not speak
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  to that prosecutor either the court. You didn't speak to
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  the prosecutor yourself. You didn't speak to them. That's hearsay.
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  You did not speak to the prosecutor that handled the case,
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  Miss Gaffney. That's right, the Court. I don't think you
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  did much of an investigation here, Miss Gaffney. I mean
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  I called the prosecutor, even the first prosecutor that left,
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  presumably the prosecutor's office has the files. The Court, I
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  would still call the prosecutor, Miss Gaffney. Anything from these
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  women would have forwarded it to us the Court. I
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  don't know that. I think you have to speak to
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  the prosecutor. But be that as it may. I hear
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  your argument anything else, Miss Gaffney. I mean that's why
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  I don't think I can or we can. I don't
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  think we're entitled to rely on this because they did
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  not go forward the court. The board maker of recommendation,
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  Miss Gaffney, correct, Miss Mussumichi, one of the lawyers for Epstein,
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  May I speak your honor the court. Yes, Miss Musumichi,
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  good afternoon. I would like to bring a few additional
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  points to your honor's attention that don't come across in
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  the board recommendation. The first is that mister Epstein is
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  not a resident of New York. Unlike most of these
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  out of state he has not changed his address and
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  moved to New York. He maintains a vacation home in
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  New York. His primary residence is the US Virgin Islands.
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  Another bunch of bullshit. He's registered in the US Virgin Islands.
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  He has been since his release from jail. He noticifies
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  the US Virgin Island authorities every time he leaves that jurisdiction.
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  Virgin Island Authority's rated him at the lowest level of registration. Oh,
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  I bet they did, because they were all being paid
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  by them. I mean, are you guys not disgusted yet?
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  And don't you have more questions for Stacy Plaskett and
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  everybody down in the USVII. Probably a good idea to
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  focus there, huh. He also registered in Florida, which is
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  the state of this particular offense, and the only reason
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  that this conviction is even before your honor. The offense
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  for which he was convicted is not a registrable offense
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  in New York. So picking up a little girl in
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  New York is not a registrable offense. And that was
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  the whole point of them kicking it down to state.
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  They didn't want this to be a real thing. They
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  didn't want this to follow Epstein to other places, so
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  they manipulated the whole situation and made it a state
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  charge that never had any teeth. And guess what, that's
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  not speculation, that's fact. He is only registerrable here, arguably
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  because based on the provision of the SORA that says
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  if a crime is registrable in the state of conviction,
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  then it's registrable here New New York, and the Florida
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  authorities that considered that rated him the lowest level of
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  their Sores statute. He additionally has a vacation home in
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  New Mexico and is registered in New Mexico. The New
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  Mexican authorities, when they considered his offenses to determine that
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  he not register at all. Nevertheless, he has voluntarily registered
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  with New Mexico and maintains that registration. Additionally, because of
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  his possession of a vacation home in New York, he
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  has been voluntarily registered with New York SOMU, the Sex
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  Offender Monitoring Unit, since May of this year. He notifies
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  them whenever he comes to travel to New York. He
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  never comes to New York for more than seven days,
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  or at least he has not since he has been registered.
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  He has no intention to ever be here for a
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  longer period of ten days. Like I said, he does
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  notify the authorities when he's here. He fully understands the
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  reason for voluntary registration. He wants to be compliant with
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  the federal Sora law law, which requires wherever you own
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  a property to register. Cool. Let's see all those logs.
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  I want to see every single time he checked in.
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  That's part of the files, right, let's see it. That's
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  not national security. I want to know who was and
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  who wasn't doing their job. To require mister Epstein to
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  register as a Level three offender in New York would
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  actually require him to come to New York more than
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  he actually does. Who would require him to come every
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  ninety days and renew his registration. He is very diligent
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  in registering with New York authorities. All the other jurisdictions
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  that have considered his case have determined that he is
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  either not to register at all or register at the
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  lowest level, and that he has been more than compliant
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  with all of those requirements, Your honor, we would join
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  in the prosecutor's application. Now think about that for a minute.
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  The prosecutor and Epstein together, the City of New York,
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  by the way, cy Vance, Jennifer Gaffney, and the New
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  York Prosecutor's Office, all arguing in favor of making Epstein
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  register at the lowest level. Now chew on that for
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  a little while, the court, I'm sure you would miss Musumichi.
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  By the way, a background. We have been in contact
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  with the Prosecutor's office on this matter since I believe
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  certainly mister Epstein got his notification, which I believe was
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  in August. We have met with the prosecutor and provided
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  numerous material for the prosecutor to consider. We have included
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  in that a deposition from the detective who headed this investigation,
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  who acknowledged in a sworn deposition that the lead prosecutor
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  who originally had the case, whose name I cannot pronounce,
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  Lana Bellohovlik, I apologize for the mispronunciation, said to the
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  detective after her investigation. There are no real victims here,
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  So Lana Bellohovlick, you're next up on the chopping block. Bro.
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  Why isn't this lady being called before Congress? Why isn't
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  this lady being forced to give a sworn statement? And
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  how much money did Jeffrey Epstein pay her and her friends?
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  That's basically where I'm going with this. Now, I can't
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  prove that, but what else is going to motivate somebody
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  to give Jeffrey Epstein the Homy hookup. All of the
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  alleged conduct that is cited in the board's rite up
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  was of commercial value. All of the alleged conduct the
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  women went voluntarily. There are no allegations of force, certainly
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  none the court. There was no allegation of force in
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  the marine either. Who met a girl in a bar,
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  a young girl seventeen? There was no force there, Miss Mussumichi.
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  It's our understanding that a prosecutor in Florida conducted a
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  full investigation, as full as she was able with the
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  cooperation afforded by these complaints and determined that there was
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  only one case that she could present to the grand jury.
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  Was this indictment for non registerable offense then, and the
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  judge cuts her off mid sentence. The court, but it
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  is registrable here. I don't know what you mean a
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  non registrable offense, Miss Mussumichi. Let me explain, your honor.
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  Mister Epstein pled to two charges. One was an indictment,
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  which is an offense that is not registrable. It is
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  a Florida in indictment for cut off again by the court.
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  Then why is he after register here, Miss Mussumichi. It
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  was the second offense that he pled to the court
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  that is registrable, Miss Mussumichi. That is registrable. That offense
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  was by information and that is the only registrable offense.
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  That is what the DA's office is considering and doing
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  their scoring. The indictment, which was the only case that
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  the prosecutor even prosecuted through grand jury, is not even
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  a registrable offense the court. He pled guilty to a
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  registrable offense, Miss Mussumichi, yes, the Court. What did he
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  plead guilty to, Miss Gaffney. He pled guilty to procuring
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  a person under the age of eighteen for prostitution the court.
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  Procuring a person under eighteen for prostitution, Miss Gaffney, right,
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  the court. How old was she, Miss Gaffney. It appears
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  the first time they met she was either sixteen or seventeen.
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  Then for the remainder of their relationship, she was probably seventeen.
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  The Court. How long was their relationship, Miss Gaffney, She
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  met him, she had more approximately fifteen massages, including with
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  sexual contact, and ultimately, when she was seventeen, had intercourse
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  with them. The court, she is still a child, Miss Mussumichi,
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  Your honor, I would note that under SORA, it's clear
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  that prostitution offenses are only registerrable when in fact, by
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  clear and convincing evidence, the women or victim is seventeen,
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  is under seventeen. I can't believe they're even making this argument.
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  It's really disgusting, and the fact that they let them
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  get away with this down in Florida is the whole
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  entire problem. The whole entire issue here is that they're
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  saying that it was prostitution. But the big problem for
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  them is this, if you're underage, you can't consent, you
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  can't be a prostitute. So it's not prostitution. It's child abuse.
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  It's underage child abuse. That's what it is. Why don't
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  we just call it what it is? The court, well,
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  she met him at sixteen, he procured her at sixteen.
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  From what I read, Miss Mussumichi, there's evidence that we
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  challenged the court he pled guilty to. That, didn't he,
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  Miss Mussumichi, he pled guilty to under eighteen, which is
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  the law in Florida, which is a different standard than
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  the law in New York. And there is no evidence,
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  there is no clear and convincing evidence as to her
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  specific age at the time of the specific conduct. The court, well,
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  the DA just told me she was most likely seventeen.
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  She just said it on the record, Miss Mussumichi, Your honor,
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  we agree that the evidence is that she was seventeen
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  on the one occasion he had consensual intercourse with him,
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  And seventeen is not registerrable or criminal under New York law,
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  and the prostitution aspect of having intercourse with the seventeen
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  year old is not a registrable conduct. Oh yeah, I
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  guess not. Everything's all good. Do you think she'd be
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  saying the same thing about her seventeen year old daughter
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  the court, Why does he have to register here, Miss Gaffney,
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  because it's a registrable offense in Florida, New York State
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  Board of Examiners. The court recognizes it, Miss Gaffney recognizes it. Yes,
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  the Court. I have had many cases like that where
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  it was not registerrable here, but it was in the
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  state where the person came from, and New York recognized that.
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  Miss Mussumichi, your honor. We're not saying that we should
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  not register. Mister Epstein has already registered and recognizes his
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  duty to register the court. I'm glad of that. I
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  am very glad of that. I'm sorry that he may
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  have to come here every ninety days. He can only
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  give up his New York home if he does not
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  want to come every ninety days. Anything else, I rely
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  on the board. Miss Mussumichi, your honor, we would reserve
• 14:36
  our right to appeal. Your honor is ruling the court,
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  of course, do so, Miss Gaffney, for the record, Your honor,
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  he is going to be deemed a Level three offender
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  with no designation. Correct the court correct Miss Mussumichi. For
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  purposes of the appeal, I believe that your honor the
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  court give me the board scoring. The board has scored
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  use of violence the least ten sexual contact with victim
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  twenty five. I agree number of victims three or more.
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  He only pled guilty to one, but apparently there were
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  more than one, and I think the people can see that.
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  Although they say it was not reliable duration of the offense,
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  conduct with victim continuing the course of sexual misconduct, the
• 15:15
  people have told me it was continuing for twenty points.
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  Age of victim eleven through sixteen. He got twenty points
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  for that, and she was sixteen at the time. Other
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  victim characteristics. There was no mental disable or helplessness. I
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  agree relationship with victim stranger twenty points age at first
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  act of sexual misconduct twenty or less. They scored him
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  zero on that number. In nature of prior crimes no history,
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  they scored them five on that. Recency of prior offense
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  less than three years. They gave them zero drug or
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  alcohol abuse history. They gave him zero acceptance of responsibility.
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  They gave him zero conduct while confined. They gave him
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  zero and supervision. They gave him zero living employment situation zero.
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  They gave them one hundred and thirty points, which is
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  the highest level. And I agree with that. Now, mister Lefkowitz,
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  one of Epstein's other lawyers, chimes in, if I could
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  be heard for one moment, it appears that the state
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  board made its determination based on access to a police
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  report in Florida. The prosecutor, the lead prosecutor, the lead
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  sex crimes prosecutor in Palm Beach, made a determination that
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  the complaints in the police report itself was not credible
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  and decided not to prosecute on the basis of all
• 16:25
  of that. And right there in itself is a big problem.
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  None of this was believable or credible. The only thing
• 16:31
  that's not credible is the whole ass investigation, from top
• 16:34
  to bottom. So yes, save the bullshit, save the lies,
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  save the gas lighting, save the bullying, shut the fuck up,
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  and release the files. In addition, there has been, through
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  the course of the last few years, some civil litigation,
• 16:45
  as you might imagine, involving these matters, and now we
• 16:49
  have sworn testimony and evidence from the complaintants themselves disclaiming
• 16:53
  much of what appears in the police report. So your honor,
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  we would submit, and this is not to make light
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  in any way of the conduct of mister Eppstein did
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  or what mister Epstein played guilty to, but with the
• 17:03
  respect to everything, and that's why mister Epstein voluntarily registered
• 17:06
  in New York, even though there is a question about
• 17:09
  whether he has any obligation, just as jurisdictional matter. But
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  your honor, with respect to the appropriate level for him
• 17:16
  to register, we would submit, your honor that the evidence
• 17:18
  simply does not support the foundation of the state's determination
• 17:22
  the court. You have made a very clear record, and
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  you have a right to appeal. I feel the board
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  looked into all of this, made their recommendation, found them
• 17:30
  to have one hundred and thirty points, and I see
• 17:32
  no reason to disturb that. Thank you, and with that
• 17:36
  the hearing ends. But the fact that the State of
• 17:38
  New York actually got on board and tried to argue
• 17:41
  this is just straight up disgusting, and I think that
• 17:44
  everybody is in agreement at this point. Save the bullshit nonsense,
• 17:48
  save the narrative, and release the files all of the
• 17:52
  information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 17:55
  the description box.