Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The US Department Of Justice Motion To Dismiss The Epstein Survivor Lawsuit (Part 1) (11/1/26)

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The US Department Of Justice Motion To Dismiss The Epstein Survivor Lawsuit (Part 1) (11/1/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  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 docket diving and
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  Speaker 1: we're going to start taking a look at the battle
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  Speaker 1: that's being waged by Epstein survivors against the United States government.
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  Speaker 1: Now this has to do with the lawsuit that was
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  Speaker 1: filed against the FBI and the United States government overall
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  Speaker 1: for the piss poor job that they've done when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to Jeffrey Epstein. And we've already went over the complaint.
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  Speaker 1: So now we're going to take a look at the
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  Speaker 1: government's reply and their motion to dismiss the Fourth Amended Complaint.
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  Speaker 1: Case number 925-CV-808-80-DSL. Jane Doe 1 and the class versus
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  Speaker 1: United States of America, the defendant. Defendants reply and support
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  Speaker 1: a motion to dismiss Fourth Amended Complaint. Defendant United States
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  Speaker 1: of America, by and through the undersigned Assistant United States Attorney,
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  Speaker 1: hereby files this reply in support of the United States
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  Speaker 1: motion to dismiss plaintiff's fourth amended claim. Argument. Plaintiff's response
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  Speaker 1: to defendant's motion attempts to persuade this court that it's
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  Speaker 1: bound by its prior ruling pursuant to the law of
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  Speaker 1: the case doctrine. Plaintiffs are incorrect. The law of the
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  Speaker 1: case doctrine applies to courts of appeal decisions, not to
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  Speaker 1: district court decisions. Further, the court previously dismissed the plaintiff's
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  Speaker 1: prior complaints, which contain completely different legal theories. The FAC
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  Speaker 1: is the first and only time the Undertaking Doctrine and
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  Speaker 1: the Zone of Risk Doctrine have been alleged in the case,
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  Speaker 1: and the court is therefore tasked with reviewing a wholly
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  Speaker 1: new complaint, albeit with many of the same fatal flaws
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  Speaker 1: as the previous complaint in the case. 1. Plaintiffs continuously
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  Speaker 1: fail to meet the requirements of Rule 8. After multiple
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  Speaker 1: rounds of amendments and robust discussion in defendant's motion, plaintiffs
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  Speaker 1: continue to disregard the pleading requirements of Rule No. 8,
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  Speaker 1: and the FAC should be dismissed on this basis. A.
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  Speaker 1: Equitable Tolling Plaintiffs allege in the FAC that they meet
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  Speaker 1: requirements for equitable tolling, yet fail to actually allege any
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  Speaker 1: facts showing due diligence or how the government could have
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  Speaker 1: possibly concealed the information necessary for them to timely bring
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  Speaker 1: their claims. Rather, plaintiffs rely heavily on the prior decisions
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  Speaker 1: of this court, which as mentioned above, have no binding
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  Speaker 1: effect on the court at this juncture. Plaintiffs attempt to
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  Speaker 1: convince the court they have met the reasonable diligence requirement,
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  Speaker 1: but in doing so they confuse the issues. Plaintiffs argue
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  Speaker 1: they plausibly allege reasonable diligence by alleging the FBI, concealed
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  Speaker 1: Epstein sex trafficking venture, and its own investigation and evidence.
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  Speaker 1: This argument goes to the second element of equitable tolling analysis,
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  Speaker 1: the extraordinary circumstance requirement, not the due diligence requirement. And
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  Speaker 1: as discussed in defendant's motion, reasonable diligence and extraordinary circumstance
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  Speaker 1: requirements are not blended factors. They're separate elements, both of
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  Speaker 1: which must be met before there can be equitable tolling.
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  Speaker 1: Plaintiffs fail to even attempt to meet the pleading requirement
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  Speaker 1: for the application of equitable tolling. There are no facts
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  Speaker 1: alleged indicating any diligence on behalf of the plaintiffs, much
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  Speaker 1: less reasonable diligence. The reason that the plaintiffs cannot make
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  Speaker 1: a single allegation of due diligence is that even a
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  Speaker 1: simple internet search would have uncovered a trove of articles, books, documentaries, blogs,
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  Speaker 1: and public statements criticizing the FBI's alleged failures regarding Epstein,
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  Speaker 1: thereby advising plaintiffs of their casual connection to their FTCA claims.
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  Speaker 1: Much of the public information is cited within the FAC,
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  Speaker 1: including the OPR investigation, FAC at page 34 and 35,
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  Speaker 1: Judge Mara's opinion, FAC at page 34 or 35, Worst
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  Speaker 1: failure in criminal justice system in modern times, FAC at
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  Speaker 1: page 27 and 28, Julie Brown's investigation, FAC at pages
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  Speaker 1: 27 and 32, Everyone heard about Jeffrey Epstein's enablers, few
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  Speaker 1: listened to his victims, FAC at page 32, The Justice
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  Speaker 1: Department probe ends with no action against prosecutors who oversaw
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  Speaker 1: Epstein deal. FAC at page 40. Senator Sass November 12,
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  Speaker 1: 2020 public statement that the government's investigation was a disgusting failure.
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  Speaker 1: In view of the trove of publicly available information years
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  Speaker 1: before the allegation of discovery of the casual connection, the
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  Speaker 1: 52-page FAC fails to allege that a single act of
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  Speaker 1: due diligence by a single one of the 34 plaintiffs,
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  Speaker 1: resulting in no factual basis whatsoever to permit a finding
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  Speaker 1: of equitable tolling. Further, as to the second element plaintiffs
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  Speaker 1: are required to meet to be entitled to equitable tolling,
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  Speaker 1: plaintiffs have not alleged any acts of concealment. Notably, the
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  Speaker 1: supporting allegations must be specific and not conclusory. Cole v. Worden,
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  Speaker 1: Georgia State Prison 768, F. 3D 1150-1158, 11th Circuit, 2014. See
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  Speaker 1: also Carlson v. 1W Bank FSB, 2010 WL 412-3573-2, Southern
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  Speaker 1: District of Florida, October 20, 2010. Plaintiff's conclusory assertion of
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  Speaker 1: equitable tolling is insufficient. The complaint must allege facts sufficient
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  Speaker 1: to support the contention that equitable tolling should apply. Where
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  Speaker 1: there has been no showing of a basis for equitable
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  Speaker 1: tolling in either the complaint or the response to a
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  Speaker 1: motion to dismiss, courts have granted motions to dismiss claims
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  Speaker 1: as time-barred. Plaintiffs state in conclusory fashion that the FBI
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  Speaker 1: concealed Epstein's sex trafficking venture and its own investigation, but
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  Speaker 1: such statements... entirely unsupported by a single factual allegation, do
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  Speaker 1: not survive the equitable tolling analysis in the 11th Circuit.
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  Speaker 1: Plaintiffs rely solely on the J.P. Morgan case filed in
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  Speaker 1: 2022 for when they allegedly received notice of their claims,
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  Speaker 1: yet do not provide a specific date on which they
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  Speaker 1: became aware, nor what it was about, that case that
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  Speaker 1: allegedly put them on notice. This is especially problematic given
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  Speaker 1: the case that allegedly put the plaintiffs on notice was
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  Speaker 1: a case about suspicious activity reports being sent to FinCEN
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  Speaker 1: and the Department of Treasury, nothing involving notifications of FBI
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  Speaker 1: nor DOJ. Notably, this was pointed out in defendant's motion
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  Speaker 1: and plaintiff conveniently failed to address the issue in their response.
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  Speaker 1: Because plaintiffs have failed to meet Rule 8 pleading standards
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  Speaker 1: to properly allege facts, supporting their claim to equitable tolling
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  Speaker 1: in the FAC, and also failed to advance any facts
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  Speaker 1: or arguments that would legally be sufficient in their response
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  Speaker 1: to defendant's motion, plaintiff's claims are time-barred and the court
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  Speaker 1: lacks jurisdiction. The two-year statute of limitations to file administrative
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  Speaker 1: claims expired years before plaintiff's claims began to be filed
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  Speaker 1: in 2024. As such, this case must be dismissed. When
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  Speaker 1: a district court considers a motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds,
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  Speaker 1: it may consider matters beyond the pleading in order to
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  Speaker 1: determine whether it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Goodman v. Sipos, 259,
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  Speaker 1: 11th Circuit, 2001. A district court may take judicial notice
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  Speaker 1: of certain facts without converting a motion to dismiss into
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  Speaker 1: a motion for summary judgment. C. Bryant v. Avado-Brands, 11th Circuit, 1999.
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  Speaker 1: Public records are among the permissible facts that a district
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  Speaker 1: court may consider. See Stahl v. U.S. Department of Agriculture,
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  Speaker 1: 8th Circuit, 2003. The district court may take judicial notice
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  Speaker 1: of public records and may thus consider them on a
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  Speaker 1: motion to dismiss. That being the case, the public information
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  Speaker 1: that was available to plaintiffs, had they done the slightest
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  Speaker 1: due diligence, would include the docuseries Jeffrey Epstein, Filthy Rich.
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  Speaker 1: which includes an in-depth interview of Maria Farmer and her
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  Speaker 1: dissatisfaction with the FBI as detailed in the FAC, as
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  Speaker 1: well as her prior appearances on news shows showcasing the
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  Speaker 1: same dissatisfaction. The Filthy Rich docuseries spend significant portions criticizing
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  Speaker 1: the federal government's failure to prosecute Epstein. Plaintiffs' conclusory claims
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  Speaker 1: of ignorance of the casual connection now allowed is undone
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  Speaker 1: by the public information cited in the FAC as well
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  Speaker 1: as the other public information fully available to them. B.
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  Speaker 1: Discretionary Function Exception Plaintiffs again argue that the court cannot
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  Speaker 1: dismiss the case on the discretionary function exception because the
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  Speaker 1: court previously found it was premature to consider at the
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  Speaker 1: motion to dismiss stage. However, as discussed above, the court
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  Speaker 1: is not bound by its previous findings pertaining to prior
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  Speaker 1: complaints no longer at issue. The government has now provided
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  Speaker 1: further support for dismissal on DFE grounds, and it has
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  Speaker 1: distinguished the case previously relied upon by this court. The
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  Speaker 1: government has also, for the first time, brought to the
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  Speaker 1: court's attention Wilde and 11th Circuit decision establishing that the
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  Speaker 1: decision not to prosecute Epstein was a constitutionally discretionary decision
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  Speaker 1: vested with the U.S. attorney. Plaintiffs rely heavily on Douglas
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  Speaker 1: for the argument that dismissal at the motion to dismiss
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  Speaker 1: Stage is inappropriate. However, as already discussed, in defendant's motion,
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  Speaker 1: Douglas is entirely distinguishable from this case. Plaintiffs bear the
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  Speaker 1: burden to plead a plausible claim that falls outside of
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  Speaker 1: the discretionary function exception. See Douglas 814 at 1276. They
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  Speaker 1: have not done so. See generally FAC. Even in plaintiff's response,
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  Speaker 1: they failed to point out any mandatory directive. Rather, they
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  Speaker 1: cite permissive language from MIOGs and DIOGs that have already
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  Speaker 1: been held to be permissive rather than mandatory and offer
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  Speaker 1: mere conclusory statements that some speculative mandatory directive exists. Even
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  Speaker 1: looking at the few specific sections of the MIOGs cited
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  Speaker 1: by plaintiff, the sections are clearly permissive rather than mandatory.
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  Speaker 1: This is not the language of a specific statutory or
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  Speaker 1: regulatory directive, Gonzalez v. U.S. 9th Circuit, 2016. Further plaintiff's
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  Speaker 1: assertion that they are entitled to discovery to determine whether
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  Speaker 1: the FBI violated any other relevant policies or procedures runs
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  Speaker 1: directly contrary to Rule 8 pleading requirements. The FBI policies
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  Speaker 1: and procedures are public record, as clearly indicated by the FAC,
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  Speaker 1: where several of the policies are cited. No amount of
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  Speaker 1: discovery will turn the discretionary policies of the FBI into
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  Speaker 1: mandatory ones. See Twombly 550 at 556, noting that the
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  Speaker 1: motion to dismiss and general pleading standard of the federal
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  Speaker 1: rules require a plaintiff to allege enough fact to raise
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  Speaker 1: a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence to prove
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  Speaker 1: the alleged crime. Finally, most of the references to the
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  Speaker 1: FAC and plaintiff's response contain conclusory allegations that a mandatory
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  Speaker 1: directive exists. without any specific citation or quotation to such
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  Speaker 1: alleged mandatory directive. Notably, legal conclusions couched as factual allegations
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  Speaker 1: are not permissible and need to be accepted as true
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  Speaker 1: by this court. See Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550, 2007,
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  Speaker 1: citing Papasan v. Elaine, 1986. On a motion to dismiss,
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  Speaker 1: courts are not bound to accept as true a legal
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  Speaker 1: conclusion couched as factual allegation. Legal conclusions without adequate factual
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  Speaker 1: support are entitled to no assumption of truth. Womack v.
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  Speaker 1: Carroll City, Georgia 2020 We need not accept as true
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  Speaker 1: plaintiff's legal conclusions, including those couched as factual allegations. Hall v.
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  Speaker 1: HSBC Mortgage Service 2014 Hall's assertions of causation and damages
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  Speaker 1: amount only to conclusory statements the legal conclusions couched as
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  Speaker 1: factual allegations and, as such, do not suffice to a
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  Speaker 1: state claim. Trujillo v. Florida, 481, 2012. Trujillo's complaint contains
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  Speaker 1: only legal conclusions couched as factual allegations, and the district
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  Speaker 1: court was not bound to accept such legal conclusions. Alright folks,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to wrap up right here, and in the
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  Speaker 1: next episode, we'll finish this bad boy off. All the
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  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
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  Speaker 1: the description box.