Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Epstein Survivors Amend Their Lawsuit Filed Against The U.S. Government (Part 4) (10/11/26)

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Epstein Survivors Amend Their Lawsuit Filed Against The U.S. Government (Part 4) (10/11/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode we're picking up where we
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  Speaker 1: left off with a lawsuit filed by the survivors against
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  Speaker 1: the United States government. D. The FBI negligent investigates Epstein
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  Speaker 1: in 2006 and misleads victims about the investigation. The FBI
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  Speaker 1: did not open a case until July 24th, 2006. The
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  Speaker 1: file number assigned was 31E-MM-108062-1A98. The date received indicates various.
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  Speaker 1: When the FBI opens its case, it failed to interview
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  Speaker 1: or contact all the victims even though the FBI had
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  Speaker 1: their names and telephone numbers. The victims' names and contact
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  Speaker 1: information was included in the important messages turned over by
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  Speaker 1: the Palm Beach Police Department. FBI protocol required agents to
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  Speaker 1: speak to each victim. As explained in greater detail below,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI manual explains that the primary step in any
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  Speaker 1: sex trafficking case is to secure a signed statement from
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  Speaker 1: the victim showing the interstate transportation for prostitution or any
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  Speaker 1: sexual activity for which any person can be charged with
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  Speaker 1: a criminal office. After the primary step, the FBI manual
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  Speaker 1: instructs agents to secure... all possible evidence to corroborate statements
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  Speaker 1: of the victim by interviewing that individual's relatives and associates
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  Speaker 1: and other persons in a position to give pertinent information
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  Speaker 1: and secure all possible documentary evidence to corroborate the statement
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  Speaker 1: of the victim. When securing that evidence in a child
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  Speaker 1: sex trafficking case, the manual also instructs agents about the
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  Speaker 1: essential facts to obtain. Specifically, it's essential for agents to
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  Speaker 1: obtain names with aliases, descriptions, brief personal histories, reputation, marital status,
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  Speaker 1: and identification records of subject and victims. It's also essential
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  Speaker 1: to obtain previous acquaintances and attendant relations between subject and
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  Speaker 1: the victim. The FBI violated those policies. For instance, despite
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  Speaker 1: cell phone numbers listed on the seized important messages, the
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  Speaker 1: FBI declined to contact most of the victims. And when
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  Speaker 1: they did speak to the victims, the FBI was negligent
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  Speaker 1: in its investigation. For instance, as Marcy Hamilton, a law
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  Speaker 1: professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert in
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  Speaker 1: crimes against children explained, federal authorities were uninformed about how
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  Speaker 1: to deal with the victims of sex crimes. They clearly
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  Speaker 1: had no awareness about sex trafficking, how it starts, and
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  Speaker 1: how it flourishes. Epstein was not engaging in individual sex abuse.
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  Speaker 1: He was creating an entire system. The FBI agents tailored
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  Speaker 1: their questions so narrowly that it seemed as if they
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  Speaker 1: didn't want to know how deep the crimes were and
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  Speaker 1: who was involved. Moreover, several victims explained that when they
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  Speaker 1: were questioned by the FBI, they said that they said, look,
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  Speaker 1: I almost felt like I had done something wrong, and
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  Speaker 1: they were very scared. The FBI was making them feel
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  Speaker 1: like they perhaps had broken the law, and at the
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  Speaker 1: time that this case happened, there was still a law
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  Speaker 1: in the books in Florida that child prostitution was illegal,
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  Speaker 1: not on the part of the pimps, but the girls
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  Speaker 1: that were involved and the boys. What they were doing
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  Speaker 1: was illegal. So part of the thing that the prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: used to excuse the fact that they weren't going after
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  Speaker 1: the case was that they would tell the girls, look,
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  Speaker 1: you understand what you did was illegal. And in a way,
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  Speaker 1: they sabotaged their own case because they made the victims
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  Speaker 1: feel like they could get in trouble. They didn't want
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  Speaker 1: to cooperate as much as they would. On November 11th, 2006,
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  Speaker 1: two FBI agents without warning knocked on the door of
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  Speaker 1: Maria Farmer's then home in North Carolina. FBI agents met
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  Speaker 1: with Ms. Farmer for hours. She again told the FBI
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  Speaker 1: about how she was abused, her specific concerns about the
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  Speaker 1: ongoing Epstein sexual abuse and trafficking of other children, and
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's possession of CSAM. Consistent with what they told Chief Ryder,
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  Speaker 1: FBI agents told Farmer this time, we will get him.
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  Speaker 1: For a second time, Farmer relied on the FBI to
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  Speaker 1: investigate and stop Epstein from trafficking and abusing children. FBI
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  Speaker 1: agents also asked Farmer if they could speak to her sister,
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  Speaker 1: Annie Farmer. Annie was also abused by Jeffrey Epstein. In 1996,
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  Speaker 1: Annie visited her sister, who was then working at Epstein's
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  Speaker 1: residence in New York City. At the time, Annie was
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  Speaker 1: 16 years old. During that visit, Epstein took Annie to
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  Speaker 1: the movies, and during the movie, held her hand and
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  Speaker 1: caressed her leg. Despite that uncomfortable experience, Annie stayed in
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  Speaker 1: touch with Epstein because he had offered to mentor her. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: Annie accepted an invitation to travel to New York or
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico. Initially, Annie felt more comfortable because Maxwell was
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  Speaker 1: also in New Mexico. But at the New Mexico home,
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and Maxwell both sexually assaulted Annie. They instructed her
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  Speaker 1: to take off her clothes, get on the massage table.
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell pulled down the sheet, exposed Annie's breasts, and massaged them.
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  Speaker 1: Shortly after their conversation with Maria around Thanksgiving in 2006,
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  Speaker 1: two FBI agents went to Texas to talk to Annie Farmer.
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  Speaker 1: Annie told FBI agents how Epstein sexually abused her. The
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  Speaker 1: agents asked several questions, took notes, and seemed engaged in
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  Speaker 1: the conversation. Following that conversation, Annie's impression was the FBI
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  Speaker 1: was going to investigate and prevent future abuse and trafficking.
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  Speaker 1: Like her sister, Annie relied on the FBI to investigate.
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  Speaker 1: Relying on the FBI, Annie did not contact any other
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  Speaker 1: law enforcement agency about Jeffrey Epstein. In 2007, federal prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: declined to charge Epstein, sending the case back to local prosecutors. Then, U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Attorney Alex Acosta agreed to sign a non-prosecution deal that
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  Speaker 1: ended the federal sex crimes investigation and spared Epstein, the
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  Speaker 1: prospect of serving, a harsher prison sentence. That non-prosecution agreement
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  Speaker 1: was signed on September 24, 2007. Despite the government's agreement
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  Speaker 1: on September 24, 2007 to end its federal investigation, the
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  Speaker 1: FBI sent to victims in October 2007, January 2008, and
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  Speaker 1: May 2008 letters stating that the case was currently under investigation.
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  Speaker 1: In a case involving alleged violations of the Crime Victims
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  Speaker 1: Rights Act filed by Epstein abuse survivors, this court explained
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  Speaker 1: that those letters misled the victims to believe that the
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  Speaker 1: federal prosecution was still a possibility. and that it was
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  Speaker 1: material omission for the government to suggest that the victims,
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  Speaker 1: that they have patience relative to an investigation that which
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  Speaker 1: had already bound itself to not prosecute. In its 2020
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  Speaker 1: report regarding federal authorities' handling of the Epstein investigation, the
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  Speaker 1: United States Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility likewise
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  Speaker 1: found that the letters sent to the victims by the
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  Speaker 1: FBI risk misleading victims about the status of federal investigations.
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  Speaker 1: Victims relied on the FBI's statements and relied on the
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  Speaker 1: FBI to continue to investigate Epstein, as the FBI said
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  Speaker 1: it would. For example, victim Courtney Wilde received one of
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  Speaker 1: the January 10, 2008 FBI letters. She later stated that
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  Speaker 1: it was her understanding of the letter was that her
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  Speaker 1: case was still being investigated and the FBI and prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: were moving forward on the federal prosecution of Epstein for
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  Speaker 1: his crimes against her. In other words, Ms. Wilde relied
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  Speaker 1: on the FBI... to continue its investigation, but the FBI
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  Speaker 1: had already stopped investigating. Instead, Epstein pleaded guilty to state
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  Speaker 1: charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 13
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  Speaker 1: months at a Palm Beach County jail. Epstein was able
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  Speaker 1: to leave the jail on so-called work release. The work
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  Speaker 1: release was a cover for him to leave the jail
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  Speaker 1: and continue to sexually abuse teenagers and women while at
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  Speaker 1: his office. Several Jane Does were sex trafficked by Epstein
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  Speaker 1: from New York to Florida, while he was serving his
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  Speaker 1: time for his pedophile conviction. Epstein continued his sexual assaults
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  Speaker 1: of underage girls after his release from jail in July
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  Speaker 1: 2009 until he was arrested on federal charges of sex
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  Speaker 1: trafficking of minors on July 8th of 2019. As Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Ryder put it, it was very disappointing that the system
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  Speaker 1: failed in this case. From 2009 until 2019, the FBI
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  Speaker 1: was complicit in permitting the ongoing sex trafficking of minors
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  Speaker 1: and the rape and sexual abuse of girls and young women,
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  Speaker 1: which occurred between New York, Paris, Palm Beach, the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Virgin Islands, and many other locations. This information alone should
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  Speaker 1: have warranted FBI prosecution and felony conviction, but it did not. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI file was closed in 2008, and Epstein continued
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  Speaker 1: to sexually abuse minors and young women, and sex trafficked
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  Speaker 1: them all over the world for another decade. The FBI
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  Speaker 1: grossly delayed their investigation... and failed to timely arrest Epstein
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  Speaker 1: despite credible evidence of child sex traffic ring and prostitution
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  Speaker 1: that lasted 25 years. The FBI's vault is largely sealed
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  Speaker 1: from the public. However, the unsealed Epstein file indicates that
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  Speaker 1: it did not reopen an investigation into Epstein until July 2019.
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  Speaker 1: On July 1, 2024, Judge Luis Delgado ordered the release
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  Speaker 1: of previously sealed testimony and evidence presented in to the
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  Speaker 1: Palm Beach County Grand Jury from the 2006 Epstein sex
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  Speaker 1: abuse investigation. Judge Delgado explained the testimony taken by the
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  Speaker 1: Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape.
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  Speaker 1: All of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting,
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  Speaker 1: and criminal. Judge Delgado stated, tragically, the record reveals that
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  Speaker 1: Epstein used children to find more victims. Finally, the court
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  Speaker 1: also notes that that the testimony was previously disclosed to
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  Speaker 1: law enforcement agencies. E. Several banks, who also provided tips,
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  Speaker 1: regarding suspicious activity to federal authorities, which were also ignored.
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  Speaker 1: In April 2002, J.P. Morgan raised a red flag about
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein. The bank had noticed his accounts were cashing
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  Speaker 1: an unusual number of checks, many for $ 9, 500 or $ 9, 800,
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  Speaker 1: just under the $ 10, 000 limit that draws increased detentions. JPMorgan
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  Speaker 1: filed what is known as a SAR about Epstein's transactions
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  Speaker 1: to FinCEN, a bureau at the U.S. Department of the Treasury,
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  Speaker 1: because of this clear pattern of banking activity that was
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  Speaker 1: meant to evade authorities. The bank would file another SAR
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  Speaker 1: in December of 2002 and another in April of 2003.
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  Speaker 1: JPMorgan Chase continued to report Epstein suspicious transactions until 2008.
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  Speaker 1: In 2008, for instance, the bank filed another SAR on
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  Speaker 1: Epstein flagging $ 800, 000 in withdrawals in 2008 and 2007. Between
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  Speaker 1: 2002 and 2013, JPMorgan also filed about 150 currency transaction
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  Speaker 1: reports related to Epstein and his accounts, flagging large cash withdrawals.
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  Speaker 1: 73 of those CTRs were filed before Epstein was arrested
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  Speaker 1: in July of 2006. The FBI never contacted JPMorgan in
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  Speaker 1: response to any SAR or CTR. JPMorgan relied on federal authorities,
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  Speaker 1: including the FBI, to investigate those reports of suspicious activity.
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  Speaker 1: The FBI received notices and tips of suspicious banking activity,
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  Speaker 1: including SARS linking the accounts to funding of sex trafficking.
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  Speaker 1: For instance, the FBI was notified that JPMorgan Chase handled
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  Speaker 1: more than $ 1. 1 million in payments from Epstein to girls
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  Speaker 1: or other women, many with Eastern European surnames. But according
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  Speaker 1: to a JPMorgan spokeswoman, it does not appear that anyone
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  Speaker 1: in government or law enforcement acted on those SARS for years.
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  Speaker 1: Reasonably relying on the FBI, J.P. Morgan did not contact
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  Speaker 1: any local law enforcement agency to report Epstein. The FBI
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  Speaker 1: violated mandatory policy and protocol requiring it to investigate claims
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  Speaker 1: in SARS linking Epstein's suspicious banking to child abuse and trafficking.
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  Speaker 1: By failing to investigate the SARS and Epstein's suspicious banking activity,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI failed to exercise reasonable care. That failure to
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  Speaker 1: exercise reasonable care increased the risk of the harm that
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  Speaker 1: plaintiffs ultimately suffered. The FBI knew, or should have known,
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  Speaker 1: that its failure to investigate the SARS and Epstein's suspicious
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  Speaker 1: financial transactions created an unreasonable risk of harm to other victims,
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  Speaker 1: including plaintiffs. Thus, by failing to investigate, the FBI created
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  Speaker 1: a foreseeable zone of risk of future victims of Epstein's
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  Speaker 1: sex trafficking enterprise, including plaintiffs. The FBI knew, or should
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  Speaker 1: have known, or foresaw, that its failure to act in
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  Speaker 1: response to Epstein's suspicious banking activity endangered potential victims of
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  Speaker 1: child sex abuse and sex trafficking, including plaintiffs. Plaintiffs' injuries
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  Speaker 1: occurred within the zone of risk created by the FBI's
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  Speaker 1: failure to investigate the SARS and Epstein's suspicious banking activity,
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  Speaker 1: including payments to minor girls. Plaintiffs suffered harm because J.P.
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  Speaker 1: Morgan relied on the FBI's to investigate Epstein's suspicious financial transactions.
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  Speaker 1: The FBI's failure to exercise reasonable care increased the risk
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  Speaker 1: of harm, and in fact resulted in harm to plaintiffs.
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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 with
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  Speaker 1: Part F. All the information that goes with this episode
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  Speaker 1: can be found in the description box.