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Epstein Survivors’ Lawsuit Against the FBI Moves Closer to Discovery · 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 30 Epstein survivors against
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  Speaker 1: the FBI. Well, according to the magistrate judge that's overseeing it,
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  Speaker 1: he believes that there's enough there for the lawsuit to
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  Speaker 1: move forward. Now the FBI, they've thrown everything that you
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  Speaker 1: could possibly imagine at this lawsuit as they seek its dismissal.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: And one of the key factors when it comes to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: their argument is that the jurisdiction is incorrect. And that
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  Speaker 1: the claims have timed out. And the statute of limitations
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  Speaker 1: has passed. Now imagine telling that to a bunch of girls,
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of women, who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: And not just abused by Epstein, but abused on your watch.
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  Speaker 1: They have no excuse whatsoever. For not investigating Epstein sooner.
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  Speaker 1: With all of the information that came out. With all
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  Speaker 1: the people that told them what Epstein was. They knew
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  Speaker 1: exactly what they were dealing with. And they chose not
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  Speaker 1: to arrest him. They chose not to stop him. And
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  Speaker 1: now the survivors. They want to know who was involved
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  Speaker 1: in that decision making. Who made the call. Who decided
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  Speaker 1: not to follow up. On this information that was given
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  Speaker 1: to the authorities. About Jeffrey Epstein. So today we have
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  Speaker 1: an article from Courthouse News and the headline, Epstein Victim
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  Speaker 1: Sued Against FBI, Poised to Survive Dismissal for Now. This
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  Speaker 1: article was authored by Sidney Hollenbeek. A lawsuit filed by
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  Speaker 1: Epstein victims against the FBI should be allowed to proceed.
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  Speaker 1: A magistrate judge recommended on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryan M.
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  Speaker 1: McCabe encouraged the Florida Federal Court in its 30-page report,
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  Speaker 1: to allow claims against the FBI to continue, despite the
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  Speaker 1: 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: has 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, Y,
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  Speaker 1: and Z technicality. A, B, and C loophole. Not that
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  Speaker 1: the FBI was in the right and that there is
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  Speaker 1: no case here to be made, but that the loopholes
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  Speaker 1: 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 Nassar. 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? Core jurisdiction is
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  Speaker 1: a key struggle in the case, as the plaintiffs have
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  Speaker 1: claimed the FBI agents in New York, Florida, and other
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  Speaker 1: unnamed states negligently failed to investigate Jeffrey Epstein despite receiving
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  Speaker 1: numerous tips. Well, I'm pretty sure that's what the record shows, right?
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  Speaker 1: We know that Maria let them know in 1995-96. We
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  Speaker 1: know that there was another person who let them know
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  Speaker 1: about Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s. We now know
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  Speaker 1: that Hugh Hefner also alerted the authorities. So how many
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  Speaker 1: other people told the FBI or the DOJ or the
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  Speaker 1: local police about Epstein's behavior. My guess is, a whole lot.
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  Speaker 1: The behavior of employees should be analyzed on a state-by-state basis,
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  Speaker 1: McCabe said in his report. I agree with that. That's
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  Speaker 1: why it's important that we know the names of the
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  Speaker 1: people that were involved in all these decisions. And silly me,
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  Speaker 1: I was under the impression that that's what the Epstein
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  Speaker 1: Transparency Act was going to get us. You know, those
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  Speaker 1: emails with an actual chain that tells us who decided
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  Speaker 1: what Who recommended what? And then who gave the okay?
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  Speaker 1: Because that's where the cover-up is. And that's why they
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  Speaker 1: don't want to give you any of that information. Plaintiffs
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  Speaker 1: allege that the FBI agents created a foreseeable zone of
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  Speaker 1: risk to future Epstein victims, including themselves, by misleading victims
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  Speaker 1: and failing to exercise due care in Florida's investigation. Construing
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  Speaker 1: these allegations, in light most favorable to plaintiffs, the court
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  Speaker 1: finds the allegations sufficient to survive dismissal, and state a
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  Speaker 1: plausible common law duty of care under Florida's voluntary undertaking
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  Speaker 1: and zone of risk doctrines, McCabe said. And I really
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  Speaker 1: hope they bring up the NPA and how Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: in violation of it. And I'm sure that the Epstein
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  Speaker 1: survivors' lawyers that are representing them are well equipped to
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  Speaker 1: deal with it. But if I could give them one suggestion,
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  Speaker 1: I'd bring that up. Because that is an anchor that
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  Speaker 1: is weighing the whole entire process down. and if there
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  Speaker 1: was a way to get that NPA off the books,
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  Speaker 1: that's what they should be pushing for. He also expressed
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  Speaker 1: skepticism that all the victims will be able to prove causation,
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  Speaker 1: which is required to win a negligence claim under New
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  Speaker 1: York and Florida law, but is normally reserved for a
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  Speaker 1: jury to decide. Even if FBI agents had taken all
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  Speaker 1: of the investigative steps that plaintiffs believe they should have taken,
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  Speaker 1: none of those steps would have guaranteed that prosecutors would
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  Speaker 1: have brought criminal charges or that a judge would have
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  Speaker 1: imposed a prison sentence upon Epstein before he committed further
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  Speaker 1: crimes against plaintiffs, McCabe added. Well, that might be true,
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  Speaker 1: but we don't know. And it was up to the
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  Speaker 1: FBI and the DOJ to do the right thing and
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  Speaker 1: do their job. They didn't. So now they have to
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  Speaker 1: be held accountable. The plaintiffs plausibly argued that they didn't
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  Speaker 1: discover the extent of the government's actions until after the
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  Speaker 1: statute of limitations expired, McCabe said, recommending the case revive
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  Speaker 1: the government's current attempt to dismiss it. And I love
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  Speaker 1: that ruling. It should survive. To throw it out at
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  Speaker 1: this point would be absolutely ridiculous, right? Let's see what's
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  Speaker 1: going on. Let's see what the lawsuit says. Let's see
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  Speaker 1: how the FBI decides to try to defend themselves. McCabe
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  Speaker 1: suggested that the court conduct a 90-day discovery process to
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  Speaker 1: determine the content of FBI policies concerning sexual abuse and
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  Speaker 1: child sex abuse material. After that, the government can then
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  Speaker 1: resubmit a request to dismiss the case, McCabe advised. McCabe's
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  Speaker 1: report will go to U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz, a
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  Speaker 1: Joe Biden appointee, currently presiding over the case. Leibowitz may
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  Speaker 1: choose to follow McCabe's recommendation and conduct additional discovery in
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  Speaker 1: the case. to determine that it is before the correct court.
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  Speaker 1: Discovery in the case has thus far been halted. So
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  Speaker 1: they're fighting a jurisdictional battle. And what they're trying to
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  Speaker 1: figure out is where this complaint should be filed. And
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  Speaker 1: I think that South Florida is a fantastic spot, but
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  Speaker 1: there are several other locations, venues, where they could choose
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  Speaker 1: to file the same kind of claim, right? New York,
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, for God's sakes. But
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  Speaker 1: there's no doubt that Florida is the epicenter for all
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  Speaker 1: of the problems. And hopefully, the court down in Florida
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  Speaker 1: accepts the case and things get moving. Because the FBI
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  Speaker 1: has gotten away with a lot of BS when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to Epstein for a very long time. And there's
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  Speaker 1: never been any ramifications for anybody involved, ever. The plaintiffs,
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  Speaker 1: 32 of which, use the pseudonym Jane Doe to protect
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  Speaker 1: their identities, and two who identify themselves, first sued as
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  Speaker 1: a group of eight in Washington, D.C. in 2024. The
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  Speaker 1: failure to act on tips constitutes negligence, the women argue,
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  Speaker 1: as the FBI and Department of Justice were obligated to
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  Speaker 1: conduct a thorough investigation and exhaust all leads. Yeah, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a regular investigation. God forbid they get off their ass
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  Speaker 1: and do the right thing. I know that they're busy
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: seizing people's homes over marijuana and kicking in doors on
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  Speaker 1: Staten Island over illegal gambling, but you might want to
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  Speaker 1: check in on your boy Jeffrey Epstein every now and then, huh?
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  Speaker 1: In 1996, FBI agents began receiving credible tips that Epstein
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  Speaker 1: was trafficking young women and underage girls, but failed to
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  Speaker 1: interview victims, 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 they never really investigated anything. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's about time that the FBI answer 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 minors and vulnerable young women,
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  Speaker 1: had been sexually abused by Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
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  Speaker 1: The FBI continued to receive reports of sexual abuse, trafficking,
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  Speaker 1: and human rights violations from 1996 to 2005, but didn't
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  Speaker 1: open an investigation until July of 2006 when Florida's Palm
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  Speaker 1: Beach Police Department alerted the FBI of likely child prostitution
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  Speaker 1: At Epstein's mansion. And the crazy part is. If it
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  Speaker 1: wasn't for Chief Ryder. And Detective Ricari. That would have
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  Speaker 1: never happened. This would have stayed local. And internal. And
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  Speaker 1: they would have really covered it up. Because Chief Ryder.
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  Speaker 1: He wasn't having it. And he went directly over their head.
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  Speaker 1: To the FBI. But what he didn't know. Was that
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  Speaker 1: the FBI was compromised as well. And that's because the DOJ.
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  Speaker 1: Who was calling the shots at the time. Well they
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  Speaker 1: were buddy buddy. With all of Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers. And
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  Speaker 1: how do I know that? Well, the contemporaneous evidence proves it.
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  Speaker 1: All the backroom dealing, all the meetings, and then Mark
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  Speaker 1: Philippe signing off on the Epstein deal. You don't have
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  Speaker 1: to be a great investigator to put those pieces together.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to be Candace Owens and have dreams
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  Speaker 1: and feelings and intuitions and astral projections to understand what's
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  Speaker 1: going on here. The FBI didn't investigate tips of suspicious
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  Speaker 1: banking activity from financial institutions. including payments to underage girls,
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  Speaker 1: ignored reports of child sex trafficking, and tips that Epstein
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  Speaker 1: had sexual assault material in his possession, the women claim.
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  Speaker 1: The plaintiffs argue that if the FBI agents had intervened
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  Speaker 1: based on the information they were given, Epstein would not
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  Speaker 1: have been able to continue committing crimes. And I agree
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  Speaker 1: with all of that. And at some point, hopefully now,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI explains what they did and why they did it.
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  Speaker 1: Their claim isn't time-barred, the plaintiffs argued, because the government
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  Speaker 1: has been so persistent in its willful suppression that culpability
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  Speaker 1: has only recently been revealed to the victims through the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Files Transparency Act and through congressional hearings. The case
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  Speaker 1: should be dismissed, the government argued, because the Federal Tort
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  Speaker 1: Claim Act doesn't waive sovereign immunity for the plaintiffs' negligence claims.
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  Speaker 1: Loopholes and technicalities. Not that we were in the right,
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  Speaker 1: not that we did the right thing when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to Epstein, But instead, we have a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: wiggle room and we're going to use it. Where's the
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  Speaker 1: trap door? And that's her whole entire strategy. Not to
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  Speaker 1: defend their behavior, not to defend the results, but to
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  Speaker 1: try and escape the lawsuit itself. It claims the court
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have jurisdiction because the Tort Act excludes discretionary decisions
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of a federal agency and liability can't be
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  Speaker 1: triggered unless the employee's behavior would be independently tortious against
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  Speaker 1: a private person. The victims have also exceeded the statute
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  Speaker 1: of limitations, it said. A representative for the Justice Department
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  Speaker 1: declined to comment. Well, that's a shock. You mean to
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  Speaker 1: tell me the Justice Department has nothing to say? Who
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  Speaker 1: would have ever thought? So we're going to be keeping
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  Speaker 1: an eye on this one, and we're going to keep
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  Speaker 1: an eye on it closely, because this is significant. And
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  Speaker 1: I think it's going to be a very pivotal battle
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to transparency and accountability. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that the court has a opportunity here to start setting
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  Speaker 1: right some of the wrongs that we have seen throughout
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  Speaker 1: the decades. So, like usual, we'll keep an eye on it.
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  Speaker 1: And when we have some more information, one way or
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  Speaker 1: the other, we'll get it added to the catalog. All
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: in the description box.