Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Maria Farmer Sues the Federal Government Over Its Handling of Jeffrey Epstein (Part 3) (11/3/26)

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Maria Farmer Sues the Federal Government Over Its Handling of Jeffrey Epstein (Part 3) (11/3/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode we're going to pick up
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: where we left off with Maria Farmer and her lawsuit
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: filed against the United States government. 5. FBI requirement to
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  Speaker 1: notify victims regarding criminal investigation and the availability of victim
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  Speaker 1: services including protection from intimidation and harassment. Under the Victim
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  Speaker 1: Rights and Restitution Act, VRRA, U.S. Code 34, Section 20141,
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  Speaker 1: crime victims were entitled to receive information as to the
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  Speaker 1: status of the criminal investigation, to be informed of the
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  Speaker 1: place where they may receive medical and social services, to
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  Speaker 1: be informed of public and private programs available for counseling
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  Speaker 1: and other support services, and to receive reasonable protection from
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  Speaker 1: a suspected offender, and persons acting in concert with or
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  Speaker 1: at the behest of the suspected offender. Further, under the
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  Speaker 1: Crime Victims' Rights Act, CVRA, of 2004, U.S. Code 18,
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  Speaker 1: Section 3771, crime victims are accorded certain rights, such as
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  Speaker 1: the right to be reasonably protected from the accused, to
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  Speaker 1: accurate and timely notice of any public court proceeding, to
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  Speaker 1: be treated with fairness and with a respect for the
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  Speaker 1: victim's dignity and privacy. to be timely informed of any
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  Speaker 1: plea bargain or deferred prosecution agreement, and to be informed
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  Speaker 1: of the rights and services under the VRRA. The FBI
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  Speaker 1: and federal prosecutors were supposedly trained regarding their statutory victim-witness responsibilities.
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  Speaker 1: The 1995 Attorney General Guidelines set forth various services for
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  Speaker 1: victims and witnesses during the federal criminal justice process, including information, referral,
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  Speaker 1: and protection from intimidation and harassment. B. The Federal Government's
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  Speaker 1: Early Awareness of Epstein Epstein was known by or tied
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  Speaker 1: to federal authorities for decades, often in connection with suspicious
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  Speaker 1: and illegal activities. In 1981, Epstein reportedly abruptly left Barristerns
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  Speaker 1: after committing a possible Regulation D violation with rumors that
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  Speaker 1: he had engaged in other illegal activities. Epstein subsequently was
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  Speaker 1: a business partner with Stephen Hoffenberg at Towers Financial, who
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  Speaker 1: was prosecuted and imprisoned for bilking investors out of over
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  Speaker 1: $ 450 million in a Ponzi scheme that was then the
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  Speaker 1: largest financial fraud in American history. Even though Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: not charged, other parties have alleged that Epstein received illicit
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  Speaker 1: funds and was one of Hoffenberg's co-conspirators. In 1991, James W.
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  Speaker 1: Schacht acting director of insurance of the state of Illinois,
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  Speaker 1: acting as conservator liquidator of United Diversified Corporation and related companies,
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  Speaker 1: sued Hoffenberg alleging an insurance Ponzi fraud. Although Epstein and
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  Speaker 1: his company were recipients of improper fund disbursements, Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: not charged. In 1992, instead of assisting in the investigation
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  Speaker 1: or prosecution of Epstein, the United States Department of State
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  Speaker 1: rented a luxurious New York City townhouse to him. When
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  Speaker 1: in 1996, Epstein, in violation of the lease, marketed the
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  Speaker 1: property to real estate brokers and sublet the townhouse out
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  Speaker 1: of profit, the United States Department of State sued Epstein
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  Speaker 1: and others. In defending the suit, Epstein relied on communication
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  Speaker 1: with Richard Massey of the Office of Foreign Mission in Washington, D.C.
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  Speaker 1: Certain documents were sealed in the case. And the only
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  Speaker 1: consequences to Epstein appear to be termination of the lease. C.
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  Speaker 1: Maria's introduction to Epstein and Maxwell and increasing exposure to
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  Speaker 1: their activities. In the mid-1990s, Maria, then in her mid-20s,
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  Speaker 1: was a burgeoning artist having recently graduated from the New
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  Speaker 1: York Academy of Art with a Master of Fine Art degree.
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  Speaker 1: With the encouragement and insistence of Peggy Guggenheim, then head
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  Speaker 1: of the New York Academy of Art, Maria met Epstein
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  Speaker 1: and sold him one of her paintings for half the
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  Speaker 1: amount she had already been offered for the piece. At
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  Speaker 1: the trial of Glenn Maxwell, Epstein's partner and procurement lieutenant,
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  Speaker 1: evidence was presented that Epstein repeatedly promoted himself to young
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  Speaker 1: artists and actresses as a philanthropist interested in helping them
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  Speaker 1: achieve their educational and professional dreams. Epstein used the same
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  Speaker 1: modus operandi with Maria, promising her assistance with her budding
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  Speaker 1: career in visual arts. Epstein and Maxwell bragged to Maria
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  Speaker 1: that that they were connected to important, wealthy, influential people
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  Speaker 1: who assisted, supported, and protected them in their endeavors. Epstein
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  Speaker 1: hired Maria initially as an art scout for his collection.
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  Speaker 1: The position expanded to a receptionist, clerk, and other duties
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  Speaker 1: in Epstein's New York City mansion, an apartment building on
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  Speaker 1: East 66th Street where Epstein housed many young girls, along
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  Speaker 1: with his office. Over several months in 1996, Maria witnessed
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  Speaker 1: many young women going in and out of Epstein's New
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  Speaker 1: York mansion, including children in school uniforms. She also witnessed
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's actively scouting for new teenage girls, whom Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: purportedly also helping. Maria occasionally ran errands with Maxwell using
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's car. During these errands, Maxwell repeatedly directed the driver
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  Speaker 1: to stop the car so that she could go get
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  Speaker 1: the girls for Epstein. Maria also helped with interior design
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  Speaker 1: at the 66th Street apartment building, where she observed many
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  Speaker 1: young women coming and going, many of whom appeared to
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  Speaker 1: be teenagers. Epstein informed Maria about the video camera's recording
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  Speaker 1: activity at the New York mansion. He showed her a
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  Speaker 1: media room filled with such recording devices and monitoring systems.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein noted his sophisticated computer equipment, which was in continuous use.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and Maxwell also bragged about a modeling book that
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  Speaker 1: was so valuable, important, and private that they kept it
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  Speaker 1: locked and Epstein safe. This modeling book, which they share
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  Speaker 1: with others occasionally, contained images of what appeared to be
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  Speaker 1: children explicitly posed in various stages of undress. Maxwell claimed
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  Speaker 1: that the modeling book was used in connection with Victoria's Secret,
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  Speaker 1: one of the retail magnate Les Wexner's businesses. and another
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  Speaker 1: wealthy and influential Epstein friend. Maria also saw binders with
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  Speaker 1: images of nude teens and young women at Epstein's Palm
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  Speaker 1: Beach mansion. Epstein's homes were filled with photographs and other
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  Speaker 1: sexualized artwork featuring nude females, some of whom appeared to
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  Speaker 1: be minors, including partially naked images. At first, Maria accepted
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and Maxwell's innocuous business interest or eccentric justifications for
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  Speaker 1: these activities. D. Epstein and Maxwell sexually assault Maria, steal
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  Speaker 1: her sister's nude photographs, and threaten her with violence. In
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  Speaker 1: the summer of 1996, Epstein encouraged Maria to leave New
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  Speaker 1: York City, where she lived, and become a summer artist-in-residence
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  Speaker 1: at the home in New Albany, Ohio. That residence was
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  Speaker 1: part of or adjacent to Les Wexner's estate. Epstein and
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell directed Maria to give them the keys to the
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  Speaker 1: New York City apartment while she was out of town.
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  Speaker 1: In or about late July or early August 1996, during
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  Speaker 1: a visit to the Ohio property, Epstein and Maxwell sexually
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  Speaker 1: assaulted Maria. Maria was stunned and devastated. Maria also discovered
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  Speaker 1: that during their visit, Epstein and Maxwell had stolen images
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  Speaker 1: that Maria maintained and cataloged by number in her personal
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  Speaker 1: private collection for her personal use in her artwork. including
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  Speaker 1: nude images of two minor siblings. Epstein and Maxwell, for
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  Speaker 1: their and perhaps others' sexual gratification, transported these images via
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  Speaker 1: airplane from Ohio to New York. Maria increasingly realized that
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and perhaps others produced, compiled, and collected sexualized images
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  Speaker 1: of minors, whether in their modeling book, Epstein Safe, or
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  Speaker 1: through images stolen from Maria and likely others. In transporting
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  Speaker 1: the images back to New York with him, Epstein trafficked
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  Speaker 1: sexually explicit images of at least two children across state
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  Speaker 1: lines from Ohio to New York. Maria also became frightened
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  Speaker 1: that Epstein, who had falsely presented himself to Maria's sister
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  Speaker 1: and their mother as a well-intentioned benefactor, assaulted one of
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  Speaker 1: her minor sisters as well as other children. Increasingly anxious
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  Speaker 1: and distressed, Maria attempted to leave Epstein's New Albany residence
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  Speaker 1: to return to her home in New York, retrieve the images,
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  Speaker 1: protect her sisters, and report Epstein and Maxwell's wrongdoing. However,
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  Speaker 1: for many days, Maria was physically threatened by a local
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  Speaker 1: sheriff and other persons connected with Wexner, and prevented from
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  Speaker 1: leaving the New Albany property. The silencer, Epstein, repeatedly called
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  Speaker 1: Maria in Ohio, attempting to trivialize the sexual assault, the
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  Speaker 1: images he admitted to taking, and other misdeeds. Epstein told Maria...
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  Speaker 1: that he'd make it up to her, offered to provide
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  Speaker 1: her with compensation, and asked her what she wanted. When
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  Speaker 1: Maria did not cooperate with Epstein's attempts to pay her off,
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  Speaker 1: she continued to be held in Ohio against her will
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  Speaker 1: and threatened. Only after Maria contacted family members and took
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  Speaker 1: other actions was she permitted to leave the property. When
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  Speaker 1: Maria returned to New York, she discovered that her apartment
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  Speaker 1: had been painted black and most of her furniture removed.
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  Speaker 1: Since Epstein Epstein and Maxwell were the only persons with
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  Speaker 1: access to her apartment, it was clear that they had
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  Speaker 1: trashed and burgled her home. Maria confronted Epstein and Maxwell demanding,
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  Speaker 1: among other things, that they return the stolen photographs of
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  Speaker 1: her sisters. They refused, ridiculed her, and retaliated against her
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  Speaker 1: threatening to physically harm her and her family and burn
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  Speaker 1: all of her artwork. Epstein and Maxwell reminded Maria that
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  Speaker 1: they were connected and important, influential people. They warned her
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  Speaker 1: that bad things would happen to her if she did
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  Speaker 1: or said anything. Maxwell directed Maria to keep quiet and
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  Speaker 1: threatened to torture artwork, the building where she was living,
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  Speaker 1: and all the people in it. Maxwell told Maria that
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  Speaker 1: she and Epstein could and would destroy her career. Maria
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  Speaker 1: believed that they had the power to do so and
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  Speaker 1: much more. Increasingly, Maria realized that Epstein and Maxwell's sexual
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  Speaker 1: abuse and threats to her, the parade of young girls
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  Speaker 1: and young women in his home, their destruction and theft
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  Speaker 1: of her property, the grooming of one of her minor sisters,
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  Speaker 1: and the interstate transportation and retention of her minor siblings'
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  Speaker 1: sexually explicit images were part of a far-ranging criminal enterprise.
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  Speaker 1: All right, we're going to wrap up right here. And
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  Speaker 1: in the next episode, we're going to pick up where
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  Speaker 1: we left off. All the information that goes with this
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  Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box.