Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Epstein Survivors’ Lawsuit Against the FBI Moves Closer to Discovery (8/19/26)

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Epstein Survivors’ Lawsuit Against the FBI Moves Closer to Discovery (8/19/26) · 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. One of the stories that we've been following
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: is the lawsuit filed by over thirty Epstein survivors against
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the FBI. Well, according to the magistrate judge that's overseeing it,
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  Speaker 1: he believes that there is enough there for the lawsuit
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  Speaker 1: to move forward. Now, the FBI, they've thrown everything that
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  Speaker 1: you could possibly imagine at this lawsuit as they seek
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  Speaker 1: its dismissal. And one of the key factors when it
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: comes to their argument is that the jurisdiction is incorrect
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  Speaker 1: and that the claims have timed out and the statue
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  Speaker 1: of limitations has passed. Now, imagine telling that to a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of girls, bunch of women who were abused by
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein, and not just abused by Epstein, but abused
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  Speaker 1: on your watch. They have no excuse for not investigating
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  Speaker 1: Epstein sooner with all of the information that came out,
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  Speaker 1: with all the people that told them what Epstein was.
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  Speaker 1: They knew exactly what they were dealing with, and they
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  Speaker 1: chose not to arrest them, they chose not to stop them.
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  Speaker 1: And now the survivors they want to know who was
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  Speaker 1: involved in that decision making, who made the call, who
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  Speaker 1: decided not to follow up on this information that was
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  Speaker 1: given to the authorities about Jeffrey Epstein. So today we
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  Speaker 1: have an article from Courthouse News and the headline Epstein
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  Speaker 1: victims suit against FBI poised to survive dismissal for now.
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  Speaker 1: This article was authored by Sidney Hollenbeek. A lawsuit file
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  Speaker 1: by Epstein victims against the FBI should be allowed to proceed,
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  Speaker 1: a magistrate judge recommended on Tuesday. US Magistrate Judge Ryan M.
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  Speaker 1: McCabe encouraged the Florida Federal Court in his thirty page
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  Speaker 1: row to allow claims against the FBI to continue despite
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  Speaker 1: the statute of limitations having expired before the suit was filed. Hey, look,
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  Speaker 1: we're sorry about what happened to you, but the clock
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  Speaker 1: is run out and you can't hold us accountable now.
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  Speaker 1: I mean that was years ago. What do you want
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  Speaker 1: us to do about it now? I mean that's basically
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  Speaker 1: the approach they're taking, right. They're not trying to defend
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  Speaker 1: the actions of the FBI or the DOJ, or what
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  Speaker 1: the DOJ and the FBI were doing. They're simply saying,
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  Speaker 1: we don't want this even to go to trial. We
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  Speaker 1: don't want to deal with it. And the reason is X,
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  Speaker 1: Y and Z technicality, A, B and C loophole. Not
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  Speaker 1: that the FBI was in the right and that there
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  Speaker 1: is no case here to be made, but that the
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  Speaker 1: loopholes and technicalities, well they're going to save the FBI. Now,
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  Speaker 1: think about how disgusting that is. You guys are obviously
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  Speaker 1: in the wrong, just like you were in the wrong
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  Speaker 1: with Larry Nasser. And if you want anybody to ever
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  Speaker 1: respect the institutions again, then those institutions like the FBI
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  Speaker 1: and the DOJ are going to just have to take
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  Speaker 1: their licks and admit they were wrong, because until they
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  Speaker 1: do that, how can anyone trust them. Cour jurisdictions a
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  Speaker 1: key struggle in the case, as the plaintiffs have claimed
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  Speaker 1: the FBI agents in New York, Florida, and other unnamed
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  Speaker 1: states negligently failed to investigate Jeffrey Epstein despite receiving numerous tips. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that's what the record shows, right. We
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  Speaker 1: know that Maria let them know in nineteen ninety five,
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  Speaker 1: ninety six. We know that there was another person who
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  Speaker 1: let them know about Glaine Maxwell in early two thousands.
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  Speaker 1: We now know that Hugh Hefner also alerted the authorities.
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  Speaker 1: So how many other people told the FBI or the
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  Speaker 1: DOJ or the local police about Epstein's behavior is a
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  Speaker 1: whole lot. The behavior of employees should be analyzed on
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  Speaker 1: a state by state basis. McCabe said in his report.
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  Speaker 1: I agree with that. That's why it's important that we
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  Speaker 1: know the names of the people that were involved in
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  Speaker 1: all these decisions. And silly me, I was under the
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  Speaker 1: impression that that's what the Epstein Transparency Act was going
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  Speaker 1: to get us. You know, those emails with an actual
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  Speaker 1: chain that tells us who decided what, who recommended what,
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  Speaker 1: and then who gave the okay. Because that's where the
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  Speaker 1: cover up is, and that's why they don't want to
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  Speaker 1: give you any of that information. Plaintiffs alleged that the
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  Speaker 1: FBI agents created a for sealable zone of risk to
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  Speaker 1: future Epstein victims, including themselves, by misleading victims and failing
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  Speaker 1: to exercise due care. In Florida's investigation. Construing these allegations
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  Speaker 1: in light most favorable to plaintiffs, the court finds the
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  Speaker 1: allegation sufficient to survive dismissal and stayed a plausible common law,
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  Speaker 1: duty of care under Florida's voluntary undertaking and zone of
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  Speaker 1: risk doctrines, mckaybe said, and I really hope they bring
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  Speaker 1: up the NPA and how Epstein was in violation of it.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm sure that the Epstein survivors lawyers that are
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  Speaker 1: representing them are well equipped to deal with it. But
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  Speaker 1: if I could give them one suggestion, I'd bring that
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  Speaker 1: up because that is an anchor that is weighing the
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  Speaker 1: whole entire process down. And if there was a way
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  Speaker 1: to get that NPA off the books, that's what they
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  Speaker 1: should be pushing for. He also expressed skepticism that all
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  Speaker 1: the victims will be able to prove causation, which is
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  Speaker 1: required to whin a negligence claim under New York and
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  Speaker 1: Florida law, but is normally reserved for a jury to decide.
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  Speaker 1: Even if FBI agents had taken all of the investigative
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  Speaker 1: steps that plaintiffs believe they should have taken, none of
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  Speaker 1: those steps would have guaranteed that prosecutors would have brought
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  Speaker 1: criminal charges, or that a judge would have imposed a
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  Speaker 1: prison sentence upon Epstein before he committed further crimes against plaintiffs.
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  Speaker 1: Mckaybe added, well, that might be true, but we don't know,
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  Speaker 1: and it was up to the FBI and the DOJA
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  Speaker 1: to do the right thing and do their job. They didn't,
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  Speaker 1: so now they have to be held accountable. The plaintiffs
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  Speaker 1: plausibly argued that they didn't discover the extent of the
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  Speaker 1: government's actions until after the statute of limitations expired. McCabe said,
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  Speaker 1: recommending the case survived the government's current attempt to dismiss it,
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  Speaker 1: and I love that ruling it should survive. To throw
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  Speaker 1: it out at this point would be absolutely ridiculous. Right,
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  Speaker 1: Let's see what's going on, Let's see what the lawsuit says.
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  Speaker 1: Let's see how the FBI decides to try to defend themselves.
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  Speaker 1: McCabe suggested that the court conduct the ninety D eighty
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  Speaker 1: discovery process to determine the content of FBI policies concerning
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  Speaker 1: sexual abuse in child sex abuse material. After that, the
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  Speaker 1: government can then resubmit a request to dismiss the case.
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  Speaker 1: McCabe advised. McCabe's report will go to US District Judge
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  Speaker 1: David Leebowitz, a Joe Biden appointee currently presiding over the case.
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  Speaker 1: Leebowitz may choose to follow McCabe's recommendation and conduct additional
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  Speaker 1: discovery in the case to determine that it is before
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  Speaker 1: the correct court. Discovery in the case has thus far
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  Speaker 1: been halted, so they're fighting a jurisdictional battle. And what
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  Speaker 1: they're trying to figure out is where this complaint should
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  Speaker 1: be filed. And I think that South Florida is a
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  Speaker 1: fantastic spot. But there are several other locations venues where
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  Speaker 1: they could choose to file the same kind of claim,
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  Speaker 1: right New York, New Mexico, the US Virgin Islands, for
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  Speaker 1: God's sakes, But there's no doubt that Florida is the
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  Speaker 1: epicenter for all of the problems. And the court down
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  Speaker 1: in Florida accepts the case and things get moving because
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  Speaker 1: the FBI has gotten away with a lot of bs
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to Epstein for a very long time,
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  Speaker 1: and there's never been any ramifications for anybody involved. Ever.
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  Speaker 1: The plaintiffs, thirty two of which use the pseudonym Jane
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  Speaker 1: Doe to protect their identities, and two who identify themselves,
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  Speaker 1: first sued as a group of eight in Washington, DC
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. The failure to act on tips
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  Speaker 1: constitutes negligence. The women argue, as the FBI and Department
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  Speaker 1: of Justice were obligated to conduct a thorough investigation and
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  Speaker 1: exhaust all leads. Yeah, you know, a regular investigation. God forbid,
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  Speaker 1: they get off their ass and do the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: I know that they're busy seizing people's homes over marijuana
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  Speaker 1: and kicking indoors on Staten Island over illegal gambling, but
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  Speaker 1: you might want to check in on your boy Jeffrey
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  Speaker 1: Epstein every now and then, huh. In nineteen ninety six,
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  Speaker 1: FBI agents began receiving credible tips that Epstein was trafficking
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  Speaker 1: young women and underage girls, but failed to interview victims,
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  Speaker 1: respond to tips, or arrest them. The women said, well,
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  Speaker 1: that's all factual. What about that's not right? What about
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  Speaker 1: that is incorrect or wrong? That's exactly what happened, never
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  Speaker 1: mind the fact I never really investigated anything. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's about time that the FBI answered some questions,
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  Speaker 1: and not in a venue where they can just plead
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  Speaker 1: the fifth, but in open court where there is serious,
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  Speaker 1: you know, ramifications on the line, and hopefully that's what
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  Speaker 1: this becomes. That year, Maria Farmer and her sister Annie
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  Speaker 1: reported to the New York Police Department and the FBI
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  Speaker 1: that they, along with other miners and vulnerable young women,
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  Speaker 1: had been sexually abused by Epstein and his co conspirator,
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  Speaker 1: Glenn Maxwell. The FBI continued to receive reports of sexual abuse, trafficking,
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  Speaker 1: and human rights violations from nineteen ninety six to two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and five, but didn't open an investigation until July
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  Speaker 1: of two thousand and six, when Florida's Palm Beach Police
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  Speaker 1: Department alerted the FBI of likely child prostitution at Epstein's mansion.
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  Speaker 1: And the crazy part is, if it wasn't for Chief
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  Speaker 1: Writer and Detective Rocari, that would have never happened. This
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  Speaker 1: would have stayed local and internal, and they would have
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  Speaker 1: really covered it up because Chief Writer he wasn't having it,
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  Speaker 1: and he went directly over their head to the FBI.
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  Speaker 1: But what he didn't know was that the FBI was
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  Speaker 1: compromised as well. And that's because the DOJ who was
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  Speaker 1: calling the shots at the time, well, they were buddy
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  Speaker 1: buddy with all of Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers. And how do
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  Speaker 1: I know that, Well, the contemporaneous evidence proves it. All
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  Speaker 1: the backroom dealing, all the meetings, and then Mark Philippe
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  Speaker 1: signing off on the Epstein deal. You don't have to
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  Speaker 1: be a great investigator to put those pieces together. You
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  Speaker 1: don't have to be canvas owens and have dreams and
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  Speaker 1: feelings and intuitions and astral projections to understand what's going
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  Speaker 1: on here. The FBI didn't investigate tips a suspicious banking
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  Speaker 1: activity from financial institutions, including payments under age girls, ignored
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  Speaker 1: reports of child sex trafficking, and tips at Epstein as
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  Speaker 1: sexual assault material in his possession, the women claim. The
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  Speaker 1: plaintiffs argue that if the FBI agents had intervened based
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  Speaker 1: on the information they were given, Epstein would not have
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  Speaker 1: been able to continue committing crimes. And I agree with
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  Speaker 1: all of that, and at some point, hopefully now the
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  Speaker 1: FBI explains what they did and why they did it,
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  Speaker 1: their claim is in time barred. The plaintiffs argued because
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  Speaker 1: the government has been so persistent in its woeful suppression
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  Speaker 1: that culpability has only recently been revealed to the victims
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  Speaker 1: through the Epstein Files Transparency Act and through congressional hearings,
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  Speaker 1: the case should be dismissed. The government argued, because the
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  Speaker 1: Federal Tort Claim Act doesn't wave sovereign immunity for the plaintiffs,
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  Speaker 1: negligence claims, loopholes and technicalities, not that we were in
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  Speaker 1: the right, not that we did the right thing when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to Epstein. But instead we have a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of wiggle room, and we're going to use it.
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  Speaker 1: Where's the trap door? And that's our whole entire strategy,
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  Speaker 1: not to defend their behavior, not to defend the results,
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  Speaker 1: but to try and escape the lawsuit itself. It claims
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  Speaker 1: the court doesn't have jurisdiction because the Tort Act excludes
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  Speaker 1: discretionary decisions on behalf of a federal agency, and liability
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  Speaker 1: can't be triggered unless the employee's behavior would be independently
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  Speaker 1: tortious against a private person. The victims have also exceeded
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  Speaker 1: the statute of limitations, it said. A representative for the
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  Speaker 1: Justice Department declined to comment. While that's a shock, you
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  Speaker 1: mean to tell me the Justice Department has nothing to say.
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  Speaker 1: Who would have ever thought? So we're going to be
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  Speaker 1: keeping an eye on this one, and we're going to
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  Speaker 1: keep an eye on it closely because this is significant
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  Speaker 1: and I think it's going to be a very pivotal
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  Speaker 1: battle when it comes to transparency and accountability, and I
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  Speaker 1: think that the Court has an opportunity here to start
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  Speaker 1: setting right some of the wrongs that we have seen
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  Speaker 1: throughout the decades. So, like usual, we'll keep an eye
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  Speaker 1: on it, and when we have some more information one
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  Speaker 1: way or the other, we'll get it added to the catalog.
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  Speaker 1: All the information that goes with this episode can be
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: found in the description box.