Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Judge Engelmayer Denies Ghislaine Maxwell's Attempt To Overturn Her Conviction (Part 4) (9/28/26)

Transcript

Judge Engelmayer Denies Ghislaine Maxwell's Attempt To Overturn Her Conviction (Part 4) (9/28/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: where we left off with Judge Engelmeyer and the order
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: denying Ghislaine Maxwell's attempt to get her conviction overturned. First,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Maxwell portrays certain EFTA records as revealing that the NPA
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: gave blanket transactional immunity to all co-conspirators of Epstein. But
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to reach that conclusion, Maxwell distorts those materials. For example,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: her unauthorized supplement cited and attached a single page from
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  Speaker 1: OPR's 2019 interview of Acosta, during which the questioner stated
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  Speaker 1: that the NPA conferred blanket immunity on co-conspirators. Significantly, Acosta responded,
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  Speaker 1: although he understood how it could be read that way,
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  Speaker 1: he did not want to characterize it as conferring such immunity.
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  Speaker 1: In any event, even if the EFTA records could be
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  Speaker 1: read to imply that the co-conspirator immunity clause covered Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: The Second Circuit's decision in Anabee, as the Circuit held
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  Speaker 1: on Maxwell's appeal, holds that such a grant of immunity
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  Speaker 1: would only bar the USAO SDFL from charging her, and
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  Speaker 1: not the USAO SDNY, or offices in other districts. And
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  Speaker 1: the EFTA documents cited by Maxwell drive home that point.
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  Speaker 1: On the very next page of OPR's Acosta interview, which
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell omitted, for example, Acosta emphasized that an important point
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  Speaker 1: to recognize is was the fact that the NPA was
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  Speaker 1: limited to SDFL. Second, Maxwell claims that other EFTA records
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  Speaker 1: indicate that DOJ officials outside USAO SDFL participated in negotiating
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  Speaker 1: and approving the NPA. Their involvement, she asserts, means the
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  Speaker 1: agreement bound the entire department, including SDNY. Even assuming the
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  Speaker 1: truth of her factual assertions, Maxwell's take on the legal
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  Speaker 1: implications is wrong. As the Second Circuit recognized, The operative U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Attorney's Manual, now called the Justice Manual, stated unequivocally, no
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  Speaker 1: district or division shall make any agreement, including any agreement
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  Speaker 1: not to prosecute, which purports to bind any other district
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  Speaker 1: or division without the express written approval of the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: attorneys in each affected district and or the assistant attorney
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  Speaker 1: general of the criminal division. The EFTA records cited by
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell do not in any respect suggest that the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Attorney for SDNY or the Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: in Washington approved, let alone provided express written approval for
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  Speaker 1: the NPA. Third, Maxwell asserts that certain EFTA records suggest
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  Speaker 1: that investigative steps were taken in New York as part
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  Speaker 1: of the SDFL's 2005-2007 investigation into Epstein, and that this
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  Speaker 1: causes the NPA to bind USAO-SDNY. The exhibits Maxwell attaches
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  Speaker 1: do not support her claim. She states, for example, Exhibit
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  Speaker 1: 5 to the reply supplement reflects that the expanding New
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  Speaker 1: York investigation formed part of the broader factual landscape surrounding
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  Speaker 1: the execution and implementation of the NPA. But that exhibit
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  Speaker 1: is a one-page excerpt from a document of unstated provenance
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  Speaker 1: that does not mention New York at all. And the
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  Speaker 1: other records Maxwell cites are similarly irrelevant. They do not
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  Speaker 1: reflect any intent by the NPA drafters or negotiating parties
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  Speaker 1: to bind USAO, SDNY, or any U.S. Attorney's Office besides SDFL. Fourth,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell cites communication contained in other EFTA documents between DOJ
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  Speaker 1: personnel and private counsel for victims, ostensibly concerning the NPA scope.
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  Speaker 1: These documents also do not avail her. A July 25,
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  Speaker 1: 2019 email between redacted parties, for example, states, My client's
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  Speaker 1: Epstein victims were told back in 2013 that the NPA
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  Speaker 1: did not extend to New York or other jurisdictions. And
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  Speaker 1: that is the point we are making in Florida litigation
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  Speaker 1: brought by victims under the CVRA. In sum, the EFTA
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  Speaker 1: records that Maxwell claims support that the NPA-bound USAOSDNY are
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  Speaker 1: irrelevant or underscore the correctness of Judge Nathan and the
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  Speaker 1: Second Circuit's holdings to the contrary. B. Maxwell's Brady Claim
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's petition relatedly claims that the government violated its Brady
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  Speaker 1: obligation by allegedly not searching for, nor disclosing to her,
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  Speaker 1: certain materials related to the NPA, including the OPR report.
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  Speaker 1: That argument is procedurally barred and baseless. Relevant Background At
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  Speaker 1: the initial pretrial conference held July 14, 2020, Judge Nathan
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  Speaker 1: asked the government about its plan to ensure timely review
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  Speaker 1: of files held by non-SDNY components of DOJ for potential
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  Speaker 1: disclosures in the case. On October 7, 2020, the government
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  Speaker 1: submitted a letter of response. It stated that the Second
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  Speaker 1: Circuit case law did not require it to review or
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  Speaker 1: produce Maxwell information held by other agencies because those had
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  Speaker 1: not been part of the SDNY prosecution team. Nonetheless, the
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  Speaker 1: government stated it had opted to go beyond its Brady
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  Speaker 1: and other discovery obligations and collect and review certain material
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  Speaker 1: associated with other investigations. including USAO-SDFL's earlier investigation of Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: It obtained via OPR, for example, the email inbox of
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  Speaker 1: Marie Villafana, the lead assistant U.S. attorney on USAO-SDFL's investigation
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  Speaker 1: of Epstein, and conducted targeted searches of terms relevant to
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's prosecution, including the names of witnesses, victims, and Maxwell.
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  Speaker 1: On February 2, 2021, nearly 10 months before her trial,
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  Speaker 1: the government produced the OPR report to Maxwell. By then,
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  Speaker 1: the report was already available on the internet. On April 16, 2021,
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  Speaker 1: Judge Nathan denied Maxwell's request for discovery and an evidentiary
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  Speaker 1: hearing regarding the NPA. Judge Nathan also directed the government
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  Speaker 1: to state whether it considers any evidence related to negotiation
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  Speaker 1: of the NPA to constitute Brady or Rule 6 material,
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  Speaker 1: Rule 16 material, and if so, to confirm that it
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  Speaker 1: has or will disclose all such evidence. On April 23, 2021,
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  Speaker 1: the government filed a letter stating that it had reviewed
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  Speaker 1: the evidence in its possession for any that could support
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's assertion that the NPA was intended to 1. bind
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  Speaker 1: other U.S. attorneys in other districts or 2. cover Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: specifically on the premise that records to this effect would
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  Speaker 1: constitute Brady material in that they could support Maxwell's construction
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  Speaker 1: of the NPA. The government stated, however, that it did
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  Speaker 1: not view any other material that are simply related to
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  Speaker 1: the NPA as ones it was obliged to disclose under
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  Speaker 1: Rule 16 or Brady. Based on its review of material
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  Speaker 1: it had gathered from DOJ components, including USAO SDFL, the
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  Speaker 1: government stated that it had identified materials broadly related to
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  Speaker 1: the NPA, but had determined that none of those constitute
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  Speaker 1: Brady material. Its letter described the expansive approach it had taken,
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  Speaker 1: including by reviewing voluminous repositories of information held by other
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  Speaker 1: DOJ components, which USAO SDNY had not been required to do.
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  Speaker 1: In affirming Maxwell's conviction, the Second Circuit held that Judge
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  Speaker 1: Nathan had correctly denied Maxwell's motion to dismiss the indictment
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  Speaker 1: as barred by the NPA without an evidentiary hearing. Assessment
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's claim that the prosecution team denied O'Brady or other
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  Speaker 1: material to which he was entitled is both barred and wrong.
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  Speaker 1: The material disclosed under EFTA do not suggest that SDNY
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  Speaker 1: breached any disclosure obligation, including Brady. The Brady Doctrine does
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  Speaker 1: not require a prosecutor to deliver his entire file to
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  Speaker 1: defense counsel, but only to produce information that is material
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  Speaker 1: to the defendant's guilt or punishment. To establish a Brady violation,
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  Speaker 1: a defendant must show that 1. The evidence at issue
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  Speaker 1: must be favorable to the accused, either because it's exculpatory
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  Speaker 1: or because it's impeaching. 2. The evidence must have been suppressed,
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  Speaker 1: either willfully or inadvertently. And 3. And prejudice must have ensued.
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  Speaker 1: A defendant cannot satisfy the suppression requirement if the defendant
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  Speaker 1: directly or through counsel either knew or should have known
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  Speaker 1: of the essential facts permitting him to take advantage of
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  Speaker 1: that evidence. Even where a defendant proves that favorable information
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  Speaker 1: was suppressed, no Brady violation has occurred unless that information
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  Speaker 1: was material. There is a reasonable probability that had the
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  Speaker 1: evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the
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  Speaker 1: proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability sufficient to
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  Speaker 1: undermine confidence in the outcome. Undisclosed evidence will be deemed
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  Speaker 1: material only if it could be reasonably taken to put
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  Speaker 1: the whole case in such a different light as to
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  Speaker 1: undermine confidence in the verdict. Measured against these standards, Maxwell's
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  Speaker 1: claim of Brady violations is unsustainable. The SDNY prosecution team
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  Speaker 1: exceeded its discovery obligation by proactively gathering files from SDFL
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  Speaker 1: and other DOJ components, materials outside its possession, and hence
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  Speaker 1: its Brady obligations. And as Judge Nathan noted in denying
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's motion to dismiss the indictment as barred by the NPA,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell received access to an unusually large amount of information
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  Speaker 1: about the NPA's negotiating history in the forms of the
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  Speaker 1: OPR report. Again, seizing on the EFTA, Maxwell cites a
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  Speaker 1: grab bag of documents released under the act to argue
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  Speaker 1: that USAO SDNY violated Brady by ostensibly not searching for
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: and disclosing those documents to her. Her claim focuses on
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  Speaker 1: a document Bates stamped, EFTA 00190632. She argues that the
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  Speaker 1: prosecution did not inform her of a fact revealed by
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  Speaker 1: that document, that there were ongoing negotiations while Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: incarcerated and after the signature of the NPA, EFTA 00190632.
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  Speaker 1: is an email chain from August 2008 among Acosta and
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  Speaker 1: other members of USAO SDFL that appears to reflect a
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  Speaker 1: discussion among those persons concerning a possible future agreement with
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  Speaker 1: Epstein that might supersede the 2007 NPA. But that document
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  Speaker 1: does not bespeak any violation by USAO SDNY of a
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  Speaker 1: disclosure obligation, even assuming it was not produced to Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: in connection with her prosecution. It's not material or favorable
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  Speaker 1: to her. and its non-production to her did not cause
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  Speaker 1: her prejudice. The dispositive agreement as to the scope of
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  Speaker 1: USAO-SDFL's agreement with Epstein was the MPA, executed 11 months
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  Speaker 1: before the August 2008 email exchange, and EFTA 00190632, which
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  Speaker 1: consisted of internal communication with USAO-SDFL, did not purport to alter,
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  Speaker 1: and legally could not have altered, the meaning of the
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  Speaker 1: executed agreement. Even if these email communications had brought about
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  Speaker 1: negotiations towards a possible superseding agreement with Epstein, these could
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  Speaker 1: not have been modified, the original agreement, unless and until
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  Speaker 1: they resulted in bilateral assent to a new agreement, and
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell had not adduced any evidence that the 2007 Epstein
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  Speaker 1: NPA was ever superseded or modified by any later agreement.
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  Speaker 1: To the contrary, her counsel argued for years in the
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  Speaker 1: district court, in the Second Circuit, and with the Supreme
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  Speaker 1: Court that the 2007 NPA was the only operative agreement.
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  Speaker 1: EFTA 00190632 does not assist Maxwell, and other documents relating
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  Speaker 1: to the NPA released under the EFTA do not either.
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  Speaker 1: The petition's assertion that there was a Brady breach as
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  Speaker 1: a result of government ostensible non-production of those documents in discovery,
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  Speaker 1: a claim that is tellingly not joined in by any
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  Speaker 1: of Maxwell's trial or post-trial counsel, is conclusory, cynical, and wrong.
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  Speaker 1: In sum, the EFTA material Maxwell cites do not support relief.
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  Speaker 1: The prosecution team went above and beyond its disclosure obligations
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  Speaker 1: and fully comply with Brady by collecting information outside its possession,
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  Speaker 1: including from USAO, SDFL, and conducting reasonable searches of those materials.
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  Speaker 1: Although individual prosecutor is presumed to have knowledge of all
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  Speaker 1: information gathered in connection with his office investigation of the case,
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  Speaker 1: United States v. Avellino, 2nd Circuit, 1998. Knowledge on the
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  Speaker 1: part of persons employed by a different office of the
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  Speaker 1: government does not in all instances warrant the imputation of
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  Speaker 1: knowledge to the prosecutor. Declining to infer the prosecutor's knowledge
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  Speaker 1: simply because some other government agents knew that or knew
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  Speaker 1: about certain evidence where prosecutors were unaware of documents possessed
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  Speaker 1: by FBI agents uninvolved in the investigation of trial or
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  Speaker 1: the defendant. United States v. Quinn, Second Circuit, 1971. All right,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to wrap up right there. And in the
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  Speaker 1: next episode, we're going to pick up with Claim 3,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Constructive Amendment of the S2 Indictment. All the information that
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  Speaker 1: goes with this episode can be found in the description box.