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Internal DOJ email from December 2019 discussing how to handle document requests from plaintiffs' attorneys suing Jeffrey Epstein's estate, specifically a request from Robbie Kaplan at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.
This document is an internal email chain between prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), dated December 30-31, 2019—just months after Epstein's death in August 2019. The emails discuss establishing formal protocols for responding to Touhy requests (formal requests for federal government documents or testimony in civil litigation). The prosecutors mention that Robbie Kaplan at Kaplan Hecker & Fink had submitted a narrow document request, and they were coordinating between the criminal team that investigated Epstein and the Civil Division to ensure proper handling of such requests.
Key Highlights
- •DOJ prosecutors were establishing formal protocols for handling document requests from Epstein victims' attorneys just months after his death
- •Robbie Kaplan of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP—a prominent civil rights attorney who later represented E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump—had submitted a document request on behalf of plaintiffs suing Epstein's estate
- •The email reveals coordination challenges between the criminal investigation team and civil division regarding evidence sharing with plaintiffs
- •Prosecutors describe Kaplan's request as 'very narrowly tailored,' suggesting plaintiffs were seeking specific evidence for their civil cases
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From: To: Cc: Subject: RE: RE: plaintiff counsel request for documents, Epstein case Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2019 19:43:01 +0000 Following up on our conversation from a few minutes ago, the Civil Division AUSA who handled the requests from counsel following Epstein's suicide was As I mentioned, the criminal team is happy to assist any civil AUSA(s) who are the point of contact, and we do think it would make sense to have a formal division to ensure that any necessary protocol is fully established and followed in connection with requests, including this current one, which we understand to be very narrowly tailored. As also discussed, we're happy to take a look at a draft letter to counsel explaining what their formal request should include (nature and status of litigation; what the requests are; and how the requested materials are pertinent to the active litigation, etc.). Please let us know if any additional information would be helpful, and thanks very much. From: (USANYS) Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2019 12:42 To: `t ) Subject: RE: RE: plaintiff counsel request for documents, Epstein case You in today? From: Sent: Monday, December 30, 2019 3:49 PM To: (USANYS) Cc: (USANYS) ; (USANYS) ‹ > Subject: RE: plaintiff counsel request for documents, Epstein case efl < Following up on our brief discussion of this issue earlier this month, I wanted to see if you had any additional thoughts on how to handle requests from counsel for plaintiffs who are suing Epstein and his estate who ask us for information or materials in connection with our investigation — I think you had said we should instruct them to submit Touhy Requests, and that you would designate a Civil Division person to whom we could have them direct those requests. If that's right, could you please let us know who that person will be? So far we've just gotten the request from one plaintiff's counsel, Robbie Kaplan at Kaplan Hecker, and her request is very narrow but we want to set up the system in a way that will work if we get additional and/or more expansive requests going forward. And we would like to let her know how she should proceed relatively soon because that case has a status conference on January 10 and I think they'd like to make the request before then. Please let us know if any other information would be helpful, and thanks as always. EFTA00022144
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York EFTA00022145
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