What is document EFTA00017765?

This is an internal Department of Justice email chain from August 14, 2019, between staff members in the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) discussing how to customize victim notification system (VNS) letters for the Jeffrey Epstein case. The emails show coordination to fulfill a specific request from U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman regarding the format of notifications sent to registered victims.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document explicitly names Geoffrey S. Berman, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York prosecuting the Epstein case. It also references a Victim Witness Coordinator from the SDNY office and staff from EOUSA's Office of Legal Programs and the VNS Help Desk, though their names are redacted.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals that U.S. Attorney Berman took a hands-on approach to victim communications, personally specifying exactly what he wanted in notification letters—just two paragraphs with the introduction and added text, removing standard closing language. It also shows the bureaucratic process required to customize these automated notifications, with staff having to manually remove content since the system couldn't be easily modified.

Why is the timing of this document significant?

This email was sent on August 14, 2019—just four days after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on August 10. This was during a critical period when prosecutors were preparing for an August 27 hearing where victims would be allowed to speak in court, making victim communications particularly sensitive and important.

What is document EFTA00017765?

This is an internal Department of Justice email chain from August 14, 2019, between staff members in the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) discussing how to customize victim notification system (VNS) letters for the Jeffrey Epstein case. The emails show coordination to fulfill a specific request from U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman regarding the format of notifications sent to registered victims.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document explicitly names Geoffrey S. Berman, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York prosecuting the Epstein case. It also references a Victim Witness Coordinator from the SDNY office and staff from EOUSA's Office of Legal Programs and the VNS Help Desk, though their names are redacted.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals that U.S. Attorney Berman took a hands-on approach to victim communications, personally specifying exactly what he wanted in notification letters—just two paragraphs with the introduction and added text, removing standard closing language. It also shows the bureaucratic process required to customize these automated notifications, with staff having to manually remove content since the system couldn't be easily modified.

Why is the timing of this document significant?

This email was sent on August 14, 2019—just four days after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on August 10. This was during a critical period when prosecutors were preparing for an August 27 hearing where victims would be allowed to speak in court, making victim communications particularly sensitive and important.

EFTA00017765 - EFTA00017766

Internal DOJ email chain from August 14, 2019, discussing how to customize victim notification letters for the Jeffrey Epstein case at the specific request of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.

This document is an internal email exchange between DOJ staff members on August 14, 2019—just four days after Jeffrey Epstein's death in custody. The emails reveal that SDNY U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman personally requested a modified victim notification letter with only two paragraphs (introduction and added text), removing the standard VNS closing paragraphs. Staff coordinated with the Help Desk to manually remove these standard paragraphs from letters for victim registrants, though they noted they could not modify email notices. This shows the level of direct involvement by Berman's office in managing victim communications during this sensitive period.

Key Highlights

•U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman personally specified the exact format he wanted for victim notification letters
•Sent August 14, 2019—four days after Epstein was found dead and two weeks before the August 27 victim hearing
•Reveals internal coordination between EOUSA's Office of Legal Programs and the VNS Help Desk
•Staff had to manually modify letters because the system couldn't automatically remove standard closing paragraphs

Frequently Asked Questions

Books for Further Reading

Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

Julie K. Brown

Investigative journalism that broke the Epstein case open

Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

James Patterson

Bestselling account of Epstein's crimes and network

Crazy

Document Information

Bates Range

EFTA00017765 - EFTA00017766

Pages

Document Content

Page 1 - EFTA00017765

From: To: Cc: Subject: RE: Epstein 2018R01618 Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 16:47:52 -4)000 OK. Crazy From: Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 12:19 PM To: Subject: FW: Epstein 2018R01618 Importance: High Is this good enough? From: Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 11:29 AM To: Subject: RE: Epstein 2018R01618 Importance: High What we can do is have the Help Desk manually remove the standard VNS closing paragraphs from the letter for each of the registrants. We cannot remove the closing from the email notices (about five registrants have email addresses). If that is acceptable, let me know and I will follow up with the instructions on how to proceed. From: Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 9:57 AM To: Subject: RE: Epstein 2018R01618 M . is there a way to remove the closing paragraph of the VNS notification? VNS Project Manager I EOUSA I Office of Legal Programs From: Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 7:55 AM Toil Subject: Epstein 2018R01618 The SDNY USA Geoffrey Berman wants a notice to go out with two paragraphs only. The introduction and the added text. He was very specific on what he wants. I called= at VNS help desk and he could not tell me how to manipulate the notification so that it only has two paragraphs the introduction and other. EFTA00017765

Page 2 - EFTA00017766

Can you- and I figure out how to do this. The notice is timely. Victim Witness Coordinator United States Attorney's Office Southern District of New York New York, New York 10007 Tel. EFTA00017766