Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Marie Villafana And Her Defense Of The NPA (Part 1)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:02Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to take a
- 0:06look at Marievilla Fauna's declaration when it comes to the
- 0:10CVRA case number zero A Dash eight zero seven three
- 0:17six Dash SIV, Dash, Mara, Matthewman, Jane Do one and
- 0:22Jane Do two Petitioners verse, United States Respondent Declaration of
- 0:27Marievilla Fauna in support of government's response and opposition to
- 0:31petitioner's motion for partial summary judgment and cross motion for
- 0:36some rey judgment. I, Marievilla Fauna, do hereby declare that
- 0:40I am a member in good standing of the Bar
- 0:42of the State of Florida. I graduated from the University
- 0:45of California at Berkeley School of Law in ninety three.
- 0:49After serving a judicial clerk to the Honorable David F.
- 0:52Levi in Sacramento, California. I was admitted to practice in
- 0:55California in ninety five. I am also admitted to practice
- 0:59in all courts of the States of Minnesota and Florida,
- 1:03the eighth, eleventh, and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, and
- 1:06the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
- 1:09The District of Minnesota and the Northern District of California.
- 1:13My barred mission status in California and Minnesota is currently inactive.
- 1:17I am currently employed as an assistant United States Attorney
- 1:21in the Southern District of Florida, and was so employed
- 1:23during all of the events described here in I am
- 1:26the assistant United States Attorney who was assigned to investigation
- 1:30of Jeffrey Epstein for purposes of US Code eighteen, Section
- 1:34thirty seven seventy one A five. I was the attorney
- 1:38for the government, although as discussed below, no federal criminal
- 1:41charges wherever filed and there was no case as that
- 1:44term is used in the statute. I have previously filed
- 1:48two declarations, and this declaration repeats some of the information
- 1:52contained in the earlier declarations. Four case reference. The federal
- 1:57investigation at Jeffrey Epstein was handled by the FBI, and
- 2:01the federal investigation was initiated in two thousand and six
- 2:04at the request of the Palm Beach Police Department. In
- 2:07delegations at Jeffrey Epstein and his personal assistants had used
- 2:11facilities of interstate commerce to induce young girls between the
- 2:14ages of thirteen and seventeen to engage in prostitution, amongst
- 2:19other offenses. Although the U s Attorney's Office for the
- 2:22Southern District of Florida opened the matter to conduct an
- 2:25investigation and to evaluate a possible prosecution, the office never
- 2:29accepted the matter for federal prosecution. That is, the office
- 2:33never authorized the presentation of a proposed indictment to a
- 2:37federal grand jury or the filing of any federal charge
- 2:41in a criminal complaint or information, and no case was
- 2:44ever filed. Throughout the investigation, the FBI's Victim Witness Specialist
- 2:49and I prepared and provided victim notification letters. Letters to
- 2:53reported victims were prepared in early in the investigation and
- 2:57subsequently delivered as each of those victims was contacted. The
- 3:01victim notification letters that were sent early in the investigation
- 3:05were sent to individuals who had been identified as potential
- 3:08victims of EPSTEIN, but whom the investigative team had not
- 3:12yet interviewed and had not necessarily determined were in fact
- 3:16victims of a federal offense or came under the protection
- 3:20of the CVRA. For example, the US Attorney's Office letters
- 3:24were hand delivered by FBI agents to Jane do one
- 3:27and Jane Do two on dates subsequent to the dates
- 3:30of their letters. At the time those letters were sent,
- 3:34determinations had not yet been made that Jane Do one
- 3:37and Jane Do two were in fact victims of federal
- 3:39offense or came under the protection of the CVRA. Nonetheless,
- 3:44the investigative team and I adopted an approach of providing
- 3:48more notice and assistance to potential victims than the CVRA
- 3:52may have required, even before circumstances of those individuals had
- 3:56been fully investigated and before any charging decision had been made.
- 4:00My letters to Jane Do one and Jane Do two
- 4:03notified them of their rights under the CVRA, including the
- 4:06right to confer with me and the right to see
- 4:08counsel with respect to their CVRA rights. My letters also
- 4:13contained my direct dial telephone number and the direct dial
- 4:17telephone number of the case agent, Nesbit Kirkandahl, and the
- 4:21telephone number for the Justice Department's Office for Victims Crimes.
- 4:25Both Jane Do one and Jane Do two also received
- 4:28letters from the FBI's victim Witness specialists, which were sent
- 4:32on January tenth, two thousand and eight. Neither Jane Do
- 4:36one nor Jane do two ever contacted me to discuss
- 4:38the investigation, potential charges, or resolution of the matter, or otherwise.
- 4:43If they had, I would have been happy to discuss
- 4:45the matter and provide their comments, concerns, or desires to
- 4:48my superiors. I never declined any victim request to confer
- 4:53regarding any aspect of the investigation. A subpoena was issued
- 4:57to Jane Do two for testimony in Docum t MINS
- 5:00in September two thousand and six. Within a few days,
- 5:03I was contacted by Attorney James Eisenberg, who informed me
- 5:07that he was representing Jane Doe number two. Mister Eisenberg
- 5:10also informed me that Jane Doe two would not provide
- 5:13testimony or appear for a consensual interview unless the US
- 5:16Attorney's Office obtained court ordered use immunity for Jane Doe
- 5:20two pursuant to US Code eighteen, Section six zero zero one.
- 5:26I had several oral and written communications with mister Eisenberg
- 5:30asking him if Jane Doe two would appear under the
- 5:32protection of a standard cast of guard letter, but he
- 5:36told me that Jane Do two would only appear if
- 5:38statutory immunity pursuant to US Code eighteen, Section six thousand
- 5:43and one was received. For example, in my letter of
- 5:46January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, I confirmed my
- 5:49earlier conversation where mister Eisenberg had advised that Jane Doe
- 5:53two intended to invoke the Fifth Amendment if questioned, and
- 5:57that she was unwilling to speak to the investigative team
- 5:59sue into a cast of guard letter. In the same
- 6:02letter on January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, I
- 6:05raise concerns regarding whether mister Eisenberg had a conflict of
- 6:08interest as noted in Jane Doe two's declaration, mister eisenberg
- 6:14fees were paid by Jeffrey Epstein, the target of the investigation.
- 6:18In response, mister Eisenberg wrote the attached letter dated February first,
- 6:23two thousand and seven. Mister Eisenberg stated that it was
- 6:26the attitude of the US Attorney's Office, in which the
- 6:29office refuses to accept the fact that is Jane do
- 6:32two's decision not to cooperate with a government that upsets her.
- 6:36Mister Eisenberg also assured me that there is no conflict
- 6:39of interest in his representation of Jane do two. In
- 6:42this case, I have always been asked and always will
- 6:45exercise independent judgment to follow my client's independent will. Despite
- 6:51his express misgivings about the Palm Beach Police Department's handling
- 6:54of its investigation, mister Eisenberg stated that one of the
- 6:58above is directed at you personally. I want you to
- 7:01repeat that you have always treated us with respect. In
- 7:05light of mister Eisenberg's representations that there was no conflict
- 7:08of interest, and in light of his clearest statements that
- 7:11he represented Jane do two, I cannot directly contact or
- 7:14confer with Jane Doe two without running a foul of
- 7:17the Florida Bar Rules and us CO twenty eight Section
- 7:21five point thirty B. I continue to converse with mister
- 7:24Eisenberg about having Jane Doe two appear for a voluntary interview,
- 7:28which continuously delayed the investigation to that end. On February fifth,
- 7:33two thousand and seven, I provided mister Eisenberg with two
- 7:36proposed cast of guard letters that I felt should assure
- 7:39Jane do two that she was being interviewed only as
- 7:42a witness and a potential victim. At Jane Doe two's request,
- 7:46I also prepared office paperwork to obtain authorization for childcare
- 7:50while Jane do two was interviewed on February twelfth, two
- 7:54thousand and seven. After another conversation in which mister Eisenberg
- 7:58reiterated Jane do twos in ten to invoke her Fifth
- 8:01Amendment privilege and Jane DO two's refusal to testify without
- 8:04six thousand and one immunity, mister Eisenberg provided, at my
- 8:08request a letter detailing Jane DO two's concerns regarding testifying
- 8:13without immunity. In that letter, mister Eisenberg reiterated that Jane
- 8:17do two will refuse to voluntarily cooperate with the federal government.
- 8:22Jane do two thereafter denied being involved in, or as
- 8:25a victim of, any criminal activity, and made statements to
- 8:29exonerate Jeffrey Epstein, including Epstein never touched mister Epstein in
- 8:34a sexual way and mister Epstein never touched Jane do
- 8:36two at all. At one point, mister Epstein did ask
- 8:39Jane do two her age. Jane do two insisted she
- 8:42was eighteen years old. Describing Jane do two's position, mister
- 8:46Eisenberg wrote, we believe no crime was committed. Just to
- 8:49interject here, Eisenberg was hired by Epstein to manipulate the
- 8:53situation and turn it into what it was. Based upon
- 8:57the profit letter provided by mister Eisenberg, in March of two,
- 9:00one thousand and seven, I prepared a request for authorization
- 9:03to apply for a compulsion order seeking immunity pursuing the
- 9:07US Code eighteen, section six zero zero one through six
- 9:11zero zero three for Jane DO two. On April thirteenth,
- 9:14two thousand and seven, Bruce C. Schwartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General,
- 9:18approved the request on behalf of Aleis Fischer, Assistant Attorney General.
- 9:23I then applied to the court for an order compelling
- 9:26Jane Doe two's testimony. District Judge Middlebrooks granted the application
- 9:31on April sixteenth, two thousand and seven. After learning of
- 9:35Judge Middlebrooks order, mister Eisenberg asked whether Jane DO two
- 9:38could appear for an interview rather than provide formal testimony,
- 9:42pursuing to heur subpoena so that he could be present.
- 9:45On April twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, Jane DO
- 9:48two was interviewed. The interview was videotaped. During the interview,
- 9:52Jane DO two again denied being involved in or a
- 9:56victim of any criminal activity, and made statements meant to
- 10:00exonerate Jeffrey Epstein. Jane do two also informed me that
- 10:03the FBI agents who were present that she hoped nothing
- 10:07happens to Epstein because he is an awesome man, and
- 10:09that she believed it was a shame that he has
- 10:12to go through this because he was an awesome guy
- 10:14and he didn't do nothing wrong. Other than that interview,
- 10:18I had no direct contact with Jane Doe two during
- 10:21the course of the investigation. Jane do two never contacted
- 10:25me at all, either directly or through mister Eisenberg, whether
- 10:29seeking information, requesting to confer with me, or regarding the investigation,
- 10:33charging decisions or the resolution of the matter, or complaining
- 10:37that she was not being treated with fairness and respect.
- 10:40In light of other evidence and witness statements, the investigative
- 10:43team considered Jane do two's exculpatory statements to be false. Nonetheless,
- 10:48those statements precluded us from including her as a victim
- 10:52who would be referenced in any federal indictment. Despite this,
- 10:55in light of the team's general approach to try and
- 10:58go above and beyond in turn terms of caring for
- 11:01the victims, I continued to treat her as a victim
- 11:04in that Vein shortly after the non prosecution Agreement was signed,
- 11:08I contacted mister Eisenberg to ask whether he still represents
- 11:11Jane do two. Mister Eisenberg stated that he did. I
- 11:15then told him that we would soon be making victim
- 11:18notifications and as mister Eisenberg whether I could send the
- 11:21notification directly to Jane do two or if it had
- 11:24to be served through him. Mister Eisenberg instructed that any
- 11:28victim notification should be sent to him, as I explained
- 11:32in further detail below. After the NPA was signed, mister Epstein,
- 11:35through his council, made several attempts to avoid having to
- 11:38perform the obligations that he had undertaken in the NPA.
- 11:43Several of those attacks alleged prosecutorial misconduct by me and
- 11:47Epstein's attorneys used my efforts to provide a post NPA
- 11:51signing victim notification to Jane do two as evidence of
- 11:55that claim misconduct. In response to mister lefkowitz runeous allegations
- 12:00against Jane Doe two and myself, on December thirteenth, two
- 12:03thousand and seven, I sent a response to mister Lefkwitz,
- 12:06defending myself and Jane Doe number two. All right, folks,
- 12:09we're gonna wrap up right here with episode one. In
- 12:11the next episode, we're gonna pick up where we left
- 12:14off with the declaration of Marie Villa Fauna. All of
- 12:19the information that goes with this episode can be found
- 12:22in the description box.