Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Leon Black’s Team Quietly Pressured Federal Judge in Epstein Survivor Case (Part 1) (5/8/26)

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Leon Black’s Team Quietly Pressured Federal Judge in Epstein Survivor Case (Part 1) (5/8/26) · 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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Epstein Chronicles. A couple of days ago, we were talking
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about Leon Black and how he had won a court
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battle to sanction one of his accusers. Well, now The
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Guardian has a very extensive article out going a little
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bit deeper into the situation with Leon Black and the
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accuser who is accusing him of abusing her and some
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of the allegations. Some of the information that we're learning
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is very disturbing, such as Leon Black and his team
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reaching out to the judge behind the scenes. That doesn't
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seem like a very good idea, does it. That doesn't
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seem like it's in the spirit of fairness, especially considering
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how powerful Leon Black is. Anyway, So we have a
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very extensive article here from The Guardian, and we're going
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to break it down into multiple pieces. So let's dive
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into episode one of this Guardian article and see what
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they have to say about Leon Black and his ongoing
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legal battle with his accuser. Headlined Epstein link. Billionaire accused
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of rape privately reached out the federal judge to defend
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his good name. Like what that doesn't seem like the
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proper way to do it? Shouldn't you do that inside
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the courtroom? Did the judge receive anything improper from Leon Black?
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And we're talking about Judge Rakoff here, So what did
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he receive from Leon Black? If anything? And why is
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Leon Black reaching out to him behind the scenes. Sounds
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a whole lot like what Jeffrey Epstein was doing with
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the NPA. This article was authored by Johannah Berkman and
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Johannah great job. This is a very very good article,
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very well put together and exactly on point. Lawyers for
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Leon Black, the billionaire investor who has been accused in
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a civil lawsuit of raping a teenage girl inside Epstein's
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New York townhouse in two thousand and two, reached out
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to a powerful federal judge in twenty twenty four to
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raise doubts about the alleged victim's claims. A Guardian investigation
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has found the move set off a months long court proceeding,
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which was conducted outside public view and led to US
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District Judge Jed Raykoff to reverse a two and a
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half million dollar reward that had been granted to the
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alleged victim in a separate Epstein related class action lawsuit.
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According to court records. She was later given a much
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smaller settlement in the class action case. Absolutely disgusting. I mean,
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for real, Judge Raykoff, Really, that's what you're doing. You're
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going back and you're reversing a decision because Leon Black
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and his people reached out to you. Cowardice, That's what
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it is, straight up cowardice. Jane Doe, as she's known
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in Core filings, his claim she was trafficked by Epstein
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and rape by Black when she was a teenager more
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than two decades ago. The Guardian's investigation is revealing new
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details about the private communitytion in Black's legal campaign, which
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undermined Doe in her civil lawsuit against the Wall Street billionaire.
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And can you imagine being this Dough going up against
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somebody like Leon Black and then having the federal system
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come down on you on behalf of Leon Black. It
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is unconscionable, Absolutely unconscionable. In a recent court order, Dough
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faced a significant setback when Jessica Clark, the federal judge
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presiding over her civil lawsuit against Black, sanctioned Doe and
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her former lawyer for serious sanctionable misconduct in the case.
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They said that the former lawyer had repeatedly lied to
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the court and opposing council and directed her client to
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destroy a social media account. Dough was sanctioned for having
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falsified some sonogram images that appeared in personal journals, which
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were submitted to the court as evidence in her abuse
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by Epstein. However, it was not a complete victory for Black,
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as the judge also ruled that the high stakes lawsuit
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could proceed. But made no mistake, this is a serious
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setback for Jane Doe. The fact that she was sanctioned,
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the fact that her lawyer was sanctioned. That's going to
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come up in any criminal or civil case, right and
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you know that Leon Black's team, they're going to look
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to utilize that. Black, the seventy four year old former
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Apollo Global Management CEO, pet Epstein one hundred and seventy
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million according to an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee,
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which he says was for tax and estate planning. Can
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you imagine paying someone one hundred and seventy million American
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dollars for tax and estate planning. Black has denied allegations
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that he raped or ever met though who is now
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forty years old. He's never been charged with any crimes
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and connection to Epstein or otherwise. I'm sure him paying
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sixty two million dollars to the US Virgin Islands to
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get his name out of the fire played a part
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in that, though right. The Epstein scandal has prompted questions
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about why the accused sex traffickers elite circle of friends
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and associates is not faced greater scrutiny that may change.
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Black is due to testify before the House Oversight Committee
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on June twenty six, according to a person familiar with
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the matter, as part of the committee's investigation into, among
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other things, Epstein's sex trafficking rings. He's also facing questions
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from the Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who claimed in a
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recent letter to Black that the Epstein files released by
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the Department of Justice remove any lingering doubt as to
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whether Black was connected to women in Epstein's network, and
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alleged that powerful associates in the US and abroad we're
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surveilling and paying off women on Black's behalf. We've seen
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the emails, and we know that they reached out to
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Russian special services to do that. But I guess that's
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no big deal, right. I guess it's the girl who
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was abused allegedly by Leon Black, who should be sanctioned.
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Black's attorney, Susan Strich, called Widen's assertions outrageous and false
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in an emailed statement, and characterized the senator's comments as
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a politically motivated attack. What now politically motivated? That's taking
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it a bit far. Maybe, just maybe Leon Black is
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a dirt bag? How about that, Susan Strich. The Guardian's investigation,
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based on access to extensive court records, many of which
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are still under seal but are due to be unsealed soon,
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reveals how Black and his legal team's private pleas to
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a federal judge led to a legal battle involving extensive
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written submissions and multiple hearings in a case in which
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he was not a party. Well, of course, got to
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have that extra pull behind the scenes, because I'm Leon Black,
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mister big shot. It included an extraordinary personal appeal from
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Black to Judge Rakoff, well known and respected jurist based
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in the Southern District of New York. The written message,
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which was obtained by The Guardian, portrayed Black as a victim,
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invoking the death of Black's father, disputing those credibility and
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citing the damage the allegations have done to Black's reputation.
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It was submitted by the billionaire's lawyers days before Raycoff
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denied the two and a half million dollar reward that
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Doe was due to receive in the Epstein related class
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action lawsuit. Was Judge Rakoff paid off? Look? I know
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that's a big question, right and I don't have any
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evidence to back that up. But something here is a miss.
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Why would Judge Rakoff do what Leam Black asked him
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to do? I mean, I guess Judge Raykoff could think
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it's the right thing to do, but that would really
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call his judgment into question in my opinion. In another twist,
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Black's legal effort was bolstered by a high profile lawyer
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who was publicly heralded as an advocate for Epstein's victims.
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All these communications occurred outside of public view. And remember
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when I told you that all the lawyers involved, even
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the ones that are representing the survivors, shouldn't be trusted.
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This is what I mean. The vast majority of these
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lawyers are just looking to collect a bag, and they
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know that this is a big case, and they know
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they can make a lot of money if they get
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a settlement, so a lot of these people don't even
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care about the survivors. In an exclusive statement to The
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Guardian in which Doe described her feelings about what had transpired,
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she said were often taught that the justice system is
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here to protect victims and correct wrongs. My experience has
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shown me that it's far more complicated than that. Justice
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is not always blind. It's often shaped by power, access
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and who is able to withstand the process. I'm still here.
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I am not done. In July of twenty twenty three,
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Jane Do alleged in a legal complaint filed against Leon
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Black in the Southern District of New York that Jeffrey
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Epstein introduced her to Black at Epstein's townhouse in the
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late spring of two thousand and two. She was sixteen
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years old. Black, who was worth an estimated fourteen billion,
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was the chair in chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management,
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a private equity firm he co founded and led until
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he stepped down in March of twenty twenty one in
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the wake of the revelations he paid tens of millions
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of dollars to Epstein. Black has said the payments were
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for legitimate financial advice, and that he was completely unaware
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of misconduct by Epstein, who, in emails released earlier this
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year by the Department of Justice, sometimes referred to Black
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as mister big. Well, that's funny because I think that
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Leon Black is mister big, but mister big dickhead. Apollo
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announced in January of twenty twenty one that an internal
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review by the Decker LLP law firm, which Apollo's board
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commissioned to investigate Black's previous professional relationship with Epstein, found
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Black's payments to Ebstein were four bonafied financial services. Oh god, okay, sure,
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we believe that the whole investigation should be over. Everything
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was just a big mistake, sorry, mister Leon Black. The
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report found that there was no evidence that Black was
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involved in Epstein's criminal activities, and that review has since
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faced scrutiny, however, including by Senator Wyden, who's claimed to
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staff uncovered evidence that money paid by Black to Epstein
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was used to finance Epstein's sex trafficking operation. Black's lawyer
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called Widen's attacks on the decorate report completely baseless. Nope,
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not baseless. Sorry, that report is garbage and the whole
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entire idea behind that report was to whitewash what was
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going on with Leon Black. That's all that report was,
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and it did a pretty good job. Right, they're still
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talking about it like that report means something like that
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report is important when it's not. What's really important is
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what Leon Black was up to. What's really important is
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that he lied about Jeffrey Epstein, and he lied about
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that relationship for years. That's what's important. So considering all
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of that, why exactly should I be giving Leon Black
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the benefit of the doubt. In her legal complaint, Do
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alleged that Epstein told her that Black was a special friend,
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and that because she was Epstein's special girl, he had
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chosen to give her to Black the same kind of
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massage treatment that she gave to him. Do understood. According
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to her legal complaint, this meant that she was expected
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to strip naked and have sex. But when Doe and
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Black went up to a third floor massage room, she
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alleged in the complaint, Black threw her down on the
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massage table and then abused her vaginally and anally with
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sex toys. He then bit her regina, she alleged, cause
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him bleeding and extreme pain. Reflectively, The complaint says Dough
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kicked him, and in response to the complaint, alleges he
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became enraged then raped her. Do alleged in her complaint
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that the internal abrasion she suffered from the alleged attack
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that day continued to cause her pain more than twenty
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years later. The complaint described Dough as having autism. While
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she has an above average IQ, the complaint alleges her
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neural divergence makes her extremely trusting. That is just beyond
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the pill. Imagine going after a young girl who has autism.
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What kind of monster does something like that? Oh, that's right, Well,
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that's in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit, that's who. In a subsequent
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amended complaint filed by Doe's en lawyer Jean Christianensen, claims
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about the alleged assault by Black remained substantially the same.
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Some key details about how Doe said she met Maxwell
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and was trafficked by both Maxwell and Epstein changed significantly.
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According to a later court order, The Guardian has not
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independently verified any of those claims. Well, that's hard to do,
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so it comes down to who do you trust. Black's
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attorneys have said those allegations are entirely fabricated. Black's lawyer
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have also previously called for Whigdoor, the law firm that
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represented Doe until last year, to be legally sanctioned for
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relying on false allegations and made up stories in other cases.
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When Doe filed the suit against Black, Wigdor had already
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filed two other lawsuits against Black on behalf of women
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who also alleged e rape them. One of those lawsuits
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by Guzel Ganieva, a Russian model and former mistress, who
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claimed that she was dismissed because she had previously signed
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a non disclosure agreement for which he had been paid
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nine and a half million dollars by Black. The other lawsuit,
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filed by a woman named Sherry Pearson, who alleged that
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Black and raped her at Epstein's townhouse, was discontinued with
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prejudice and without cost to any party. As against the other.
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Black has said he never met Pearson. Black slawyers have
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said the allegations by both women have no merit. Even
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as she pursued a civil lawsuit against Black, Doe was
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involved in another legal case in the Southern District of
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New York, This one connected to the crimes of Epstein
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that he was accused of before his twenty nineteen suicide.
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In twenty twenty two, a class of Epstein victims sued
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JP Morgan Chase, alleging that the bank had violated anti
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trafficking laws because of its participation and intentional involvement in
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Epstein's sex trafficking operation. The victims were represented by Bradley Edwards,
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the Florida plaintiff's lawyer who has represented hundreds of Epstein
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victims and is famous for helping to expose the two
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thousand and eight Sweetheart non prosecution agreement that shielded Epstein
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for years. Doesn't make him infallible, and it certainly doesn't
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put him above criticism or approach right. The JP Morgan
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class action lawsuit, which was overseen by Judge Rakoff, settled
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for two hundred and ninety million dollars in June of
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twenty twenty three without an admission of liability. Though JP
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Morgan said it regretted its association with Epstein. It included
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a fund for Epstein abuse survivors to compensate them for
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physical and emotional injuries. A Claims administrator was appointed to
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oversee the fund. Edwards firm Edwards Henderson, together with co
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council Boy Schiller, were paid eighty seven million dollars for
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their work representing Epstein victims in the JP Morgan class
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action lawsuit eighty seven excuse me not eighty three? Eighty
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seven million dollars. That is quite the bag to collect.
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Quite the bag. In late October twenty twenty three, Dough
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was interviewed by the claims administrator in the JP Morgan case.
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She later found out that she was being allocated two
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and a half million dollars. It was a moment of
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elation for Doe, her adoptive mother told The Guardian, because
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it was the first time she felt that her trauma
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was being recognized. All Right, folks, we're gonna wrap up
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right here, and in the next episode, we're gonna pick
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up where we left off. All the information that goes
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with this episode can be found in the description box.