While we wait for Jeffrey Epstein’s indictment to be unsealed, here’s everything we know about the new case against him, the developments that preceded and followed his arrest, and what the charges could mean for him and his friends, including Trump
Jeffrey Epstein Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images On Saturday, billionaire financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for the alleged sex trafficking of dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
That shield is apparently now gone, the New York Times reported on Sunday. As a result, according to two of the publication’s sources, Epstein is being “charged with using his vast network of contacts and associates to bring a constant stream of underage girls to his Manhattan townhouse,” and “is accused of shuttling the girls between the townhouse and his home in Palm Beach, Fla., paying them in cash and urging them to recruit other underage girls to visit his home.
More Victims and Witnesses Have Come Forward Per the Miami Herald’s law-enforcement sources, the indictment against Epstein “includes new victims and witnesses who spoke to authorities in New York over the past several months.” But on June 25, the Department of Justice decided otherwise: Federal prosecutors announced they would not void Epstein’s non-prosecution deal. The next day, however, a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of almost 2,000 pages of records regarding a 2015 defamation case against Epstein.
Why Is the SDNY’s Public Corruption Unit Handling the Case? Gene Rossi, a trial analyst for Law&Crime, suggested that the PCU provides flexibility to add more charges, like money laundering, corruption, or tax-related crimes, noting that he would be surprised if the sex-trafficking charges were the only charges. “The sky’s the limit,” he added.It could mean that a public official is being investigated or will be charged with Epstein. That could be a minor public figure or a major one.
Who Else Could Be Implicated? Though Epstein has had a massive social network — as evidenced by the publication of his “little black book” by Gawker in 2015 — it’s unclear if, or how many of, his contacts will be in legal jeopardy after his indictment is unsealed on Monday. The Miami Herald has identified two possible enablers who “could be charged or named as cooperating witnesses”:
Accusations of sex crimes toward children have also been a central focus of some of the most bizarre conspiracy theories on the far right. And the fact that Robert Mueller led the FBI at the time of the original charges against Epstein has not gone unnoticed by those who still see the former special counsel as one of the president’s deep-state enemies.
Trump’s connection to Epstein will certainly be subject to further scrutiny in the coming weeks, as will any of the pictures of them together. The only thing that I can say about President Trump is that he is the only person who, in 2009 when I served a lot of subpoenas on a lot of people, or at least gave notice to some pretty connected people, that I want to talk to them, is the only person who picked up the phone and said, let’s just talk. I’ll give you as much time as you want.
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