Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Report And Recommendation To Allow The Survivor Suit Against The FBI To Proceed (Part 1) (8/23/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to take a
- 0:07Speaker 1: look at the report and recommendation by David S. Leebelwitz,
- 0:12Speaker 1: who's the United States District judge who is tasked with
- 0:15Speaker 1: the responsibility of figuring out if the survivor's lawsuit that
- 0:20Speaker 1: was filed against the FBI had enough merit to move forward,
- 0:24Speaker 1: and according to Judge Lebelwitz, it did. So we have
- 0:29Speaker 1: that report and recommendation right here and we're going to
- 0:32Speaker 1: dive in. Jane do One, et cetera. Plaintiffs first, United
- 0:37Speaker 1: States of America Defendant Report and Recommendation. This cause comes
- 0:42Speaker 1: before the Court on Defendant's motion to dismiss Plaintiff's fourth
- 0:46Speaker 1: amended complaint, which was referred to the Undersigned by the
- 0:49Speaker 1: United States District Judge David Lebowitz. For the reason set
- 0:53Speaker 1: forth below. The Undersign recommends that the motion be denied
- 0:58Speaker 1: and that the District Judge allow a limit period of
- 1:01Speaker 1: jurisdictional discovery. One background. This is a negligence case against
- 1:05Speaker 1: the United States brought by numerous sexual abuse victims of
- 1:09Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein. The Court accepts the following facts are true.
- 1:12Speaker 1: Taken from the plaintiff's fourth amended complaint. A. Maria Farmer
- 1:17Speaker 1: reports Epstein in New York. In nineteen ninety six, Maria
- 1:21Speaker 1: Farmer contacted an FBI agent in New York and reported
- 1:24Speaker 1: that Epstein had sexually assaulted her, that he possessed child
- 1:27Speaker 1: sexual abuse material, and that he had sexually abused in
- 1:30Speaker 1: traffic numerous young girls. At the end of the conversation,
- 1:34Speaker 1: Farmer asked the FBI agent if she should report Epstein
- 1:37Speaker 1: to anyone else, including any other law enforcement agencies. The
- 1:41Speaker 1: FBI agent instructed Farmer not to share her report with
- 1:45Speaker 1: anyone else. Based on this conversation, Farmer believed that the
- 1:49Speaker 1: FBI agent would help her and investigate her allegation. In
- 1:53Speaker 1: accordance with the agent's instruction, Farmer did not contact any
- 1:57Speaker 1: other law enforcement agency about Epstein or is associate. The
- 2:01Speaker 1: FBI agent never followed up on Farmers allegations. Plaintiff's allege
- 2:06Speaker 1: that FBI agents knew or should have known, that their
- 2:09Speaker 1: failure to investigate Farmers allegations would create an unreasonable risk
- 2:13Speaker 1: of harm to other victims, including plaintiffs. Plaintiffs alleged that
- 2:18Speaker 1: the FBI agents created a foreseeable zone of risk to
- 2:21Speaker 1: future Epstein victims, including themselves, by failing to investigate farmers
- 2:26Speaker 1: credible allegations b FBI agents in unidentified States ignore additional
- 2:33Speaker 1: tips and red flags. Between nineteen ninety six and two
- 2:38Speaker 1: thousand and five, FBI agents in unidentified States continued to
- 2:42Speaker 1: receive additional reports, complaints, and tips concerning Epstein's criminal activities,
- 2:48Speaker 1: including a llegal sex trafficking of women and miners, sexual abuse,
- 2:53Speaker 1: and human rights violations. In response, FBI agents fel to
- 2:57Speaker 1: act upon and investigate these complaints and tips, and failed
- 3:00Speaker 1: to follow internal protocols for sex trafficking investigations. FBI agents
- 3:05Speaker 1: also failed to investigate numerous red flags, including the following.
- 3:10Speaker 1: In October of two thousand and two, a New York
- 3:12Speaker 1: Magazine article reported that Epstein is frequently seen around town
- 3:16Speaker 1: with a bevy of comely young women. In two thousand
- 3:20Speaker 1: and two, federal authorities gave Epstein clearance to travel on
- 3:23Speaker 1: his private plane to Africa with former President of the
- 3:27Speaker 1: United States, as well as a famous actor and several
- 3:30Speaker 1: young women. Epstein's office frequently initiated passports and visas for
- 3:36Speaker 1: young women and underage girls for the purpose of sex
- 3:39Speaker 1: trafficking them. Epstein frequently requested new passports, reported lost passports,
- 3:45Speaker 1: and used multiple passports for traveling. See Audre Christiansen reports
- 3:50Speaker 1: Epstein to the FBI agents in an unidentified state. At
- 3:54Speaker 1: some point prior to two thousand and five, Epstein sexually
- 3:57Speaker 1: abused in trafficked plaintiff Audra christians In two thousand and five,
- 4:01Speaker 1: Plaintiff Christiansen sought help from Hugh Hefner, the founder of
- 4:05Speaker 1: Playboy magazine. Thereafter, in two thousand and five, Hefner contacted
- 4:10Speaker 1: FBI agents multiple times in an unidentified state to report
- 4:14Speaker 1: that Epstein had traffic then abused Plaintiff Christiansen. An FBI
- 4:19Speaker 1: agent spoke to Hefner and explained that the FBI would
- 4:22Speaker 1: investigate the allegations and help Plaintiff Christianensen. Relying on the
- 4:27Speaker 1: FBI to investigator claims, Plaintiff Christiansen did not contact other
- 4:31Speaker 1: law enforcement agencies. FBI agents did not follow up on
- 4:35Speaker 1: Plaintiff Christiansen's allegations until fifteen years later, when FBI agents
- 4:40Speaker 1: finally interviewed her. Plaintiff's alleged that FBI agents knew or
- 4:44Speaker 1: should have known that their failure to follow up on
- 4:47Speaker 1: Plaintiff Christiansen's allegations would create an unreasonable risk of harm
- 4:52Speaker 1: to future victims, including other plaintiffs. Plaintiff's further alleged that
- 4:57Speaker 1: FBI agents created for seeables on a risk uture Epstein victims,
- 5:01Speaker 1: including themselves, by failing to investigate Plaintiff Christiansen's allegations more
- 5:06Speaker 1: quickly d the two thousand and six FBI investigation in Florida,
- 5:12Speaker 1: in March of two thousand and five, a woman contacted
- 5:15Speaker 1: the pom Beach Police Department to report that a fourteen
- 5:17Speaker 1: year old girl had been recruited to Epstein's home for
- 5:20Speaker 1: a sexual massage in exchange for money. The pom Beach
- 5:24Speaker 1: Police Department promptly launched an investigation that included trash runs,
- 5:29Speaker 1: witness interviews, and execution of a search warrant at Epstein's
- 5:33Speaker 1: pom Beach home. The investigation uncovered compelling evidence that Epstein
- 5:37Speaker 1: and others had recruited miners to travel to Epstein's pom
- 5:40Speaker 1: Beach home to give them massages and engage in sexual activity.
- 5:45Speaker 1: In July of two thousand and six, the pom Beach
- 5:47Speaker 1: Police Department referred the case to the FBI's West Palm
- 5:50Speaker 1: Beach Field office, which opened the case on July twenty fourth,
- 5:54Speaker 1: two thousand and six. Plaintiff's allege that FBI agents thereafter
- 5:59Speaker 1: conducted a negligent investigation marked by numerous defects, including, but
- 6:04Speaker 1: not limited to, the following failure to interview or contact
- 6:08Speaker 1: all victims, even though FBI agents had their names and
- 6:11Speaker 1: telephone numbers. Failure to secure assigned statement from each victim
- 6:16Speaker 1: as required by FBI protocol, failure to secure all possible
- 6:20Speaker 1: evidence to corroborate the statements of victims as required by
- 6:24Speaker 1: FBI protocols, making victims feel like they the victims had
- 6:29Speaker 1: done something wrong or illegal during victim interviews. In two
- 6:33Speaker 1: thousand and seven, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of
- 6:36Speaker 1: Florida declined to bring federal charges against Epstein instead. On
- 6:41Speaker 1: September twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, the US Attorney's
- 6:44Speaker 1: Office for the Southern District of Florida entered into a
- 6:47Speaker 1: non prosecution agreement with Epstein. The agreement called for Epstein
- 6:53Speaker 1: to plead guilty to one state charge for solicitation of
- 6:56Speaker 1: a minor and served thirteen months in state jail. Epstein
- 7:00Speaker 1: was allowed to leave the jail every day for work release.
- 7:04Speaker 1: While on work release, Epstein continued to sexually abuse women
- 7:07Speaker 1: and teenagers despite the non prosecution agreement. FBI agents thereafter
- 7:13Speaker 1: sent numerous letters to Epstein's victims in October two thousand
- 7:16Speaker 1: and seven, January two thousand and eight, and May two
- 7:19Speaker 1: thousand and eight, claiming the case was currently under investigation.
- 7:23Speaker 1: This representation was false, as the case had ended with
- 7:27Speaker 1: the non prosecution agreement. By sending these letters, FBI agents
- 7:32Speaker 1: misled victims to believing federal prosecution was still a possibility.
- 7:37Speaker 1: The victims relied on the FBI's misrepresentation that it was
- 7:41Speaker 1: continuing to investigate Epstein the twenty nineteen investigation and arrest
- 7:47Speaker 1: in New York. Following the release from state jail under
- 7:51Speaker 1: the non prosecution agreement, Epstein continued to sexually assault underage
- 7:55Speaker 1: girls up to the date of his eventual arrest in
- 7:58Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. On July sixth, twenty nineteen, FBI agents finally
- 8:04Speaker 1: arrested Epstein on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges resulting
- 8:08Speaker 1: from an investigation in the Southern District of New York.
- 8:12Speaker 1: On August tenth, twenty nineteen, approximately one month after his arrest,
- 8:17Speaker 1: Epstein died in prison from an apparent suicide. As a result,
- 8:22Speaker 1: Epstein never went a trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
- 8:26Speaker 1: F toward claims, plaintiffs alleged that Epstein sexually abused each
- 8:30Speaker 1: of them on various occasions between ninety six and twenty seventeen.
- 8:35Speaker 1: Plaintiffs alleged that employees of the FBI and Department of
- 8:39Speaker 1: Justice owe them the duty of care on two basis.
- 8:42Speaker 1: First that these employees voluntarily undertook a duty to protect
- 8:46Speaker 1: them from Epstein, and second, that these employees created a
- 8:51Speaker 1: foreseeable zone of risk that gave rise to a legal
- 8:54Speaker 1: duty to prevent Epstein from harming plaintiffs. According to plaintiffs,
- 8:59Speaker 1: FBI agents reached these legal duties in numerous ways, including
- 9:03Speaker 1: the following a Failing to properly investigate or follow up
- 9:07Speaker 1: Henria Farmer's report in ninety six. B Failing to properly
- 9:11Speaker 1: respond to tips and reports regarding sex trafficking of miners
- 9:15Speaker 1: and sexual abuse of miners from ninety six to two
- 9:18Speaker 1: thousand and five. C Failing to investigate or follow up
- 9:22Speaker 1: on plaintif Christiansen's allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking in
- 9:26Speaker 1: two thousand and five. D Failing to follow up and
- 9:29Speaker 1: investigate reports and tips of suspicious banking activity from financial institutions,
- 9:35Speaker 1: including payments to minor girls. E Failing to properly investigate
- 9:39Speaker 1: evidence provided by the Palm Beach Police Department. F Negligently
- 9:44Speaker 1: failing to investigate Sea Sam during the two thousand and
- 9:47Speaker 1: five raid of Epstein's Pombeach home. G Negligently failing to
- 9:52Speaker 1: investigate Sea Sam during the two thousand and five raid
- 9:54Speaker 1: of Epstein's Pombach home. H Negligently failing to interview and
- 9:59Speaker 1: assist the vict whose name was mentioned in important messages
- 10:03Speaker 1: from two thousand and one to two thousand and five.
- 10:06Speaker 1: I Negligently permitting Epstein to be a judge at a
- 10:09Speaker 1: beauty pageant in the US Virgin Islands in two thousand
- 10:12Speaker 1: and seven despite impending charges of sex trafficking of miners
- 10:16Speaker 1: and sexual abuse. JAY Negligently permitting Epstein sex trafficking miners
- 10:22Speaker 1: and young women via the clearing of background checks for
- 10:24Speaker 1: passengers on Epstein's private jet. K Ignoring reports of violence
- 10:29Speaker 1: and threats to victims if they cooperated with authorities. L
- 10:35Speaker 1: ignoring reports of child sex trafficking, m ignoring evidence of
- 10:39Speaker 1: miners procuring other miners for sex abuse, n prematurely closing
- 10:43Speaker 1: an FBI file in the face of evidence of sex
- 10:46Speaker 1: trafficking and sexual abuse of miners, OH, ignoring reports of
- 10:51Speaker 1: suspicious banking activities, p ignoring c SAM and child pornography,
- 10:56Speaker 1: q Failing to follow up on improper issuing of passports
- 11:00Speaker 1: and passport Federal passport fraud plaintiffs allege that the negligent
- 11:05Speaker 1: conduct of FBI agents cause them to suffer injuries. Specifically,
- 11:09Speaker 1: they allege that, but for FBI agents failure to comply
- 11:13Speaker 1: with their mandatory obligation to investigate and intervene based on
- 11:17Speaker 1: the information they received, Epstein would not have been able
- 11:20Speaker 1: to continue to commit further crimes, including those committed against plaintiffs.
- 11:25Speaker 1: Based on the above, plaintiffs bring two counts of negligence
- 11:29Speaker 1: under the Federal Tort Claims US Code twenty eight, Section
- 11:33Speaker 1: twenty six seventy one FTCA as follows, negligence under the
- 11:39Speaker 1: voluntary Undertaking doctrine two negligence under the zone of risk doctrine.
- 11:45Speaker 1: Plaintiffs seek three hundred and twenty million in compensentory damages
- 11:49Speaker 1: as well as other relief. All right, we're going to
- 11:52Speaker 1: wrap up episode one right here, and in the next
- 11:54Speaker 1: episode we're picking up with two legal standard. All the
- 11:58Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode mode can be found
- 12:01Speaker 1: in the description box.