Epstein Secrets

o asserted that OPR “misunderstands and devalues Secretary Acosta’s very real and legitimate interest in the develo

afaña opined, “This is NOT good faith negotiations.” Lourie responded that he would “reach out to Alex to discuss.” Lourie immediately emailed Acosta the following: I looked at the latest draft from Jay [Lefkowitz] and I must agree with Marie. Based on my own conversations with him, his draft is

n for work release because his sexual offender registration would not take place 177 Letter from R. Alexander Acosta “To whom it may concern” (Mar. 20, 2011), published online in The Daily Beast. The FBI Special Agent in Charge told OPR that he had no recollection

attorneys [ ] [became] something to consider. . . . . I think that the ability of Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr and Jay Lefkowitz to convince Alex Acosta that I didn’t know what I was talking [about] also, all came into play. So I think there were a number of factors and it all came together. Altho

ial issues,” his own focus had been on “the legal side of things.” Notably, during his prior tenure as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acosta had been involved in efforts to address sex trafficking. He told OPR that one of the “background issues” that the Civil Rights Division ad

ought the matter to an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA), who opened a file with her supervisor’s approval and with the knowledge of then U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta. She worked with two FBI case agents to develop a federal case against Epstein and, in the course of the investigation, they discovered additional

ttle the case, the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment remained pending for more than a year. In 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Acosta to be Secretary of Labor. At his March 2017 confirmation hearing, Acosta was questioned only briefly about the Epstein case. On April 17, 2017,

thy substantive email about the case to her immediate supervisor, Lourie, Sloman, and Acosta on August 23, 2006, Lourie emailed Sloman: “Do you and Alex [Acosta] want her updating you on the case?” Sloman responded, “At this point, I don’t really care. If Alex says something then I’ll tell her to just run

shington, D.C.; approximately four years as a policy fellow and law school lecturer; and nearly two years as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department’s Civil Rights Division. He was presidentially appointed in 2002 as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and in 2003 as Assistant Attorney General in charge of

175 Epstein’s state guilty plea.250 As U.S. Attorney, Acosta had the authority to resolve the case in this manner, but OPR concludes that in light of all the surrounding circumstances, his decision to do so r

that I spoke with him, you know, there had been all of this . . . letter writing or all of these concerns and instructions that I had been given by Alex [Acosta] and Jeff [Sloman] not to disclose things further and not to have any involvement in victim notification, and so I felt like that prohibited me from

otify the victims, “OPR identified no reason why Secretary Acosta should have distrusted his team on these points.”

ictim interviews. x Villafaña revised the prosecution memorandum to focus “on victims who are unknown to Epstein’s counsel.” x The USAO informed the Department’s Civil Rights Division “pursuant to USAM [§] 8-3.120,” of the USAO’s “ongoing investigation of a child exploitation matter” involving Epstein and others. x Villafaña se