Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein was a controversial American financier.[4]
He was convicted of sexually exploiting women and girls who were below the legal age of consent, in FLorida, in 2005, and in New York, in 2018.[5]
One of the controversies that Epstein's Florida conviction and sentencing triggered, was that he was allowed a kind of day parole, right from the start, where he continued to be allowed to go to the office, or any other activity, so long as he was back in jail by a curfew hour.[6] In 2019 reports emerged that, during his day parole, he continued to have underage women brought to his office for illegal sexual exploitation.[6]
A second concern over his Florida case was that observers would later question the extreme generosity of the plea deal his lawyers negotiated with prosecutor R. Alexander Acosta in 2007.[1][2][3] Donald Trump would later appoint Acosta his Secretary of Labor. Not only did the plea deal grant Epstein extraordinary unsupervised day parole, where he had an opportunity to continue his offenses, Acosta agreed to drop Federal sex crime charges, so that he only faced charges in Florida's state courts. This prevented Epstein from being listed on the Federal sex crimes registry.
Another clause in the plea deal ensured his victims would not be informed as to how favorable the plea deal was, for Epstein.[3]
Another controversial fact was that other wealthy men did not shun him, after his conviction.[7][8]
Rumors continue to circulate as to the extent his wealthy friends were allowed to take advantage of his stable of vulnerable underage women and girls.[8]
Epstein was convicted a second time, in New York. Rumors circulated that, eventually, other wealthy men, who had taken advantage of the women and girls he supplied, would also face charges. However, in spite of directions that he should be kept under special scrutiny, to make sure he did not commit suicide, he was found dead, in his cell, on August 10, 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide.[8]
Craig Unger wrote a book, in 2021, entitled "American Kompromat", about whether or not Russian intelligence agencies had acquired evidence that could have been used to blackmail or compromise President Donald Trump.[9] He asserted a renegade former Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Officer, John Mark Dougan, who sought asylum in Russia appeared to have brought with him evidence that could be used to blackmail Epstein's other wealthy associates.
However, it also covered claims that Dougan had brought with him evidence that could be used to blackmail friends of Epstein in addition to Trump. The New York Post, citing The Times of London, reported that Prince Andrew is one of the individuals against whom Dougan is believed to have evidence.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Liam Stack (2019-02-06). "U.S. Opens Inquiry Into Handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Abuse Case". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/us/fbi-jeffrey-epstein.html. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "The Justice Department said Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into a 2007 plea deal negotiated by a prosecutor who is now a member of President Trump’s cabinet that kept the financier Jeffrey E. Epstein from facing federal charges related to accusations that he molested dozens of underage girls."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Julie K. Brown (2018-11-28). "How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2018-11-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20181128153832/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "But on the morning of the breakfast meeting, a deal was struck — an extraordinary plea agreement that would conceal the full extent of Epstein’s crimes and the number of people involved." mirror
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmiamiherald2018-11-28b - ↑ Maya Salam (2019-07-16). "The Unraveling of Jeffrey Epstein: The story line is moving quickly. Here’s what to know". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/jeffrey-epstein-what-to-know.html. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "Last week, federal prosecutors revealed that a trove of lewd photographs of girls as young as 14 had been discovered in a safe in his Manhattan mansion. Epstein, 66, pleaded not guilty."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lia Eustachewich (2019-09-25). "Ex-Florida cop accuses FBI of covering up Prince Andrew’s role in Jeffrey Epstein scandal". NewJYork Post. https://nypost.com/2019/09/25/ex-florida-cop-accuses-fbi-of-covering-up-prince-andrews-role-in-jeffrey-epstein-scandal/. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "John Mark Dougan worked as a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy in 2005, the year the department launched an investigation into the pedophile financier, who died in a jailhouse suicide in August."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mike Baker (2019-06-19). "Sheriff to Investigate Jeffrey Epstein ‘Work Release’ After Allegation of Nude Meeting". New York Times: p. A23. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/us/epstein-palm-beach-sheriff-work-release.html. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "An investigator working with Mr. Edwards said in an interview Friday that the work-release allegation originated from two women who said they had been brought from another state at the age of 18 to visit Mr. Epstein at his office. The investigator, Mike Fisten, said the women reported that the meeting turned sexual in nature, with Mr. Epstein naked but for a GPS ankle monitor, and that there was sexual activity that included physical contact."
- ↑ James B. Stewart (2022-04-22). "Jeffrey Epstein, a Rare Cello and an Enduring Mystery: A cello’s strange odyssey helps explain how the notorious Mr. Epstein surrounded himself with the world’s richest and most powerful men". New York Times: p. BU 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/22/business/jeffrey-epstein-william-derosa.html?searchResultPosition=4. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "When Jeffrey Epstein died in jail in 2019, he took many secrets with him. One was how a sexual predator and college dropout managed to forge bonds with an astonishing number of the world’s richest and most powerful men, like Britain’s Prince Andrew and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia."
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 William K. Rashbaum, Benjamin Weiser, Michael Gold (2019-08-10). "Jeffrey Epstein Dead in Suicide at Jail, Spurring Inquiries". New York Times: p. A1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who was long dogged by accusations of sexual abuse of girls and who was able to cultivate an array of high-profile friends despite his lurid lifestyle, killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell, officials said on Saturday."
- ↑ Mickey Friedman (2021-03-04). "BOOK REVIEW: Craig Unger’s ‘American Kompromat’". The Berkshire Edge. Archived from the original on 2022-08-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20220802032126/https://theberkshireedge.com/book-review-craig-ungers-american-kompromat/. Retrieved 2022-08-21. "Then, just in case you haven’t had enough of the rabbit hole, Unger tells the story of the former Palm Beach deputy sheriff John Mark Dougan who ends up in Moscow with some of Epstein’s tapes." mirror
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