Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Donald Trump Acquaintance Jeffrey Epstein Charged With Sex Trafficking Of Minors | Deadline | MSNBC
a man Donald Trump once described as
quote a lot of fun to be with sixty
six-year-old billionaire financier
Jeffrey Epstein was in court today where
he pleaded not guilty to charges of sex
trafficking of minors and conspiracy to
commit sex trafficking of minors
investigators also say they seized a
trove of photographs of underage girls
from Epstein's Manhattan residents over
the weekend the Southern District of New
York leading this prosecution of Epstein
he was previously investigated in
Florida and ultimately not prosecuted a
decision that could Rock the Trump
administration in the coming days and
weeks along with members of Epstein
Circle who may also become ensnared
here's US attorney Jeffrey Berman today
the alleged behavior shocks the
conscience and while the charged conduct
is from a number of years ago it is
still profoundly important to the many
alleged victims now young women they
deserve their day in court the New York
Times writes of today's charges quote
mr. Berman's decision to seek an
indictment in Manhattan was an implicit
rebuke of the decision by prosecutors in
Miami in 2008 to enter an agreement with
mr. Epstein that allowed him to avoid
federal prosecution and a possible life
sentence and here's where the story goes
from lurid and tragic to potentially
explosive for the Trump administration
that implicit rebuke is a rebuke of a
deal negotiated by a current member of
Donald Trump's cabinet his Secretary of
Labor
Alex Acosta who previously served as the
top prosecutor in South Florida and
negotiated that non-prosecution
agreement for Epstein Julie K Brown
investigative reporter for the Miami
Herald who has done groundbreaking work
on this story work that happened to be
credited today by those prosecutors in
New York wrote this last fall quote
Acosta aloud Epstein's lawyers unusual
freedoms in dictating the terms of a
non-prosecution agreement the report
adds Epstein and four of his accomplices
named in the
agreement received immunity from all
federal criminal charges but even more
unusual the deal included wording the
granted immunity to any potential
co-conspirators who were also involved
in Epstein's crimes as part of the
agreement Acosta agreed despite a
federal law to the contrary that the
deal would be kept from the victims that
reporting from Julie K Brown kicked off
a firestorm of controversy around
Trump's Labor Secretary but when Trump
was asked about a costume February he
played dumb I really don't know too much
about it I know he's done a great job as
labor secretary and that seems like a
long time ago but I know he's been a
fantastic labor secretary that's all I
can really tell you about the old long
time ago excuse we've heard that before
and on Epstein Trump's comment to New
York magazine in 2002 stands out today
he was given he gave that comment around
that around the time period covered in
today's indictment the president said
this quote I've known Jeff for 15 years
terrific guy he's a lot of fun to be
with it is even said that he likes
beautiful women as much as I do and many
of them are on the younger side no doubt
about it
Jeffery enjoys his social life but
what's old is new and today Epstein is
behind bars at least until his bail
hearing next week also today the White
House and the president mum on both
Acosta and Epstein we are watching that
space for you and that is where we start
today with some of our favorite
reporters and Friends with us in New
York the aforementioned Miami Herald
investigative reporter Julie K Brown
also joining us former federal
prosecutor for the Southern District of
New York Mimi Roca plus former assistant
director for counterintelligence at the
FBI Frank Fugazi joining me on set in
Washington Jeremy bash former chief of
staff at the CIA and the Department of
Defense and senior correspondent for
Boston's public news station WBUR Kim
Atkins I want to start with you Julie
I'm such a fan of your journalism
such a fan of your stealing Asst but
today can you just take us through
today's developments before you take us
back to some of your original reporting
that led us here well we had quite a
throng of media at the federal
courthouse here in Manhattan and it
started at 11 o'clock with a press
conference by the US attorney Jeffrey
Berman in which he displayed a huge sort
of wanted poster of Jeffrey Epstein
basically with the mission of trying to
reach out to more victims and with the
promise that they had a hotline that
they could call and that they would be
pushed right to the top of that phone
chain so to speak because he announced
and and the FBI assistant FBI director
announced as well that this is a
priority for them right now and they are
going to do everything they can to put
him behind bars for a long time so Julie
can you just take us through how we got
to the US attorney for the Southern
District of New York holding up a wanted
poster publicizing a hotline to help
bring out of the woodwork more victims
when the last federal prosecutor who
looked at Jeffrey Epstein sat in a
conference room I'm gonna read some of
your reporting back for our viewers who
may have missed this and anyone who
missed this reporting should go back and
read all of it I've reread it all
yesterday so this is from some of your
reporting in the fall about Acosta who
was the last federal prosecutor to look
at Epstein's crimes and to ultimately
enter into a non-prosecution agreement
with him you wrote this accost in 2011
would explain that he was unduly
pressure by Epstein's heavy-hitting
lawyers Lefkowitz Harvard professor Alan
Dershowitz Jack Goldberger Roy black a
former US attorney former whitewater
special prosecutor you-you-you basically
detailed that a Kostas defense here is
that he was out lawyers but
didn't had it Epstein end up walking
away with no jail time and an
arrangement that left the victims in the
dark well they did a pretty masterful
job of keeping this whole scandal under
wraps they did a lot of this behind
closed doors that they quite frankly
misled not only the public but they
misled the judge did not even tell her
the scope of mr. Epstein's crimes that
he was accused of and he never of course
gave the victims an opportunity even
appear in court at the sentencing where
they likely would have objected to him
being charged he was charged with a
prostitution charge and this was all
done without their knowledge and in and
the media really didn't know about it
either it was very carefully
orchestrated so that no one would find
out I want to read this is sort of I
think when we talk about the inequities
in our criminal justice system this
scene depicts exactly what people worry
about you write this on a muggy October
morning in 2007 Miami's top federal
prosecutor Alexander Acosta had a
breakfast appointment with a former
colleague Washington DC attorney Jay
Lefkowitz it was an unusual meeting for
the then 38 year old prosecutor a rising
Republican star who'd served in several
White House posts before being named US
attorney in Miami by George W Bush
instead of meeting at the prosecutors
Miami headquarters the two men both with
roots and the prestigious Washington law
firm of Kirkland and Ellis convened at
the Marriott in West Palm Beach 70 miles
away for Lefkowitz 44 a US special envoy
North Korea and a corporate lawyer the
meeting was critical his client Palm
Beach multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein
was accused of assembling a large
cult-like network of underage girls with
the help of young female recruiters to
coerce into having sex acts behind the
walls of his opulent waterfront mansion
as often as three times a day how did
this reporting I mean they basically
credit this reporting of yours with
bringing this case back in front of
federal prosecutors can you just tie a
line between what you described in the
stunning and startling scene and what
may happen now heard you say on our air
yesterday that there may be a whole lot
of powerful people ensnared in the kind
of conduct Jeffrey Epstein is guilty of
well we don't have all the information
from the investigation that they did in
Florida but with the information that we
have included a lot of emails that went
back and forth between Epstein's defense
attorneys and federal prosecutors and I
found those emails to be pretty stunning
they were very collegial maybe even more
than collegial you know how was your
weekend kind of thing and oh we'll meet
here and we'll meet there and it just
didn't sound like these four prosecutors
that we're handling a sex trafficker and
trying to put him away in prison this
this sounded like these were people that
were almost working on the same side and
and that in itself was disturbing and
then on top of all that have found out
about this meeting which quite frankly
initially I didn't really understand the
significance of it until I spoke with
some other federal prosecutors and when
I told them about it they went whoa that
is really not you know something that
should be happening no US prosecutor
should be having a quiet meeting and I
you know at a hotel with the the you
know one of the lead attorneys for a
defendant like this and they were you
know they pointed out to me that this
really showed that there was a big
problem Frank fig luzie and Mimi Roca
let me bring both of you into this Frank
let me start with you I want to know
from your perspective I mean just
contrast what Julie just laid out that
today the US Attorney for the Southern
District of New York basically had a
wanted poster up of Jeffrey Epstein
looking for more victims to build his
criminal case where in 2008 the defense
attorney a former colleague of then US
Attorney
Alex Acosta met off-campus off-site
outside of the US Attorneys offices in
South Florida and worked out what what
sounds like a non-prosecution agreement
so outside the norm that it would it
would appear to me
the US attorney Jeff Berman rebuked it
in his public statement today Nicole you
know I supervised one of the very first
crimes against children squads in in the
history of the FBI when I was in San
Francisco division and then I I served
as the number two official in FBI Miami
Division just prior to this case coming
out and I have to tell you something as
try as I might to think of any similar
analogous plea deal that had each and
every one of these components that you
would allow a defendant's case to go to
the state yes maybe that you you would
allow the state sentence to let you out
on during the week to go to your office
yeah maybe that that you would let all
of the accomplices off the hook and then
any other co-conspirators maybe maybe
not but that you would hide then the
plea deal from the victims in a sex
trafficking case no so all of those
totality of components to this deal I
have never seen before
particularly in a sex trafficking of
minors case so it smells very very badly
and the reason why I think the public
corruption section of the Southern
District of New York the US Attorney's
Office is engaged in this case is
because it smells badly to them to me me
roca that's exactly where I was heading
with you talk about the significance of
the public corruption team having this
case and talk about what kind of
exposure Donald Trump sitting Secretary
of Labor Alex Acosta may have for his
conduct in this case well Nicole look I
think as you know Frank and Julie and
you have have pointed out there was so
many red flags with that first Florida
plea that up Steen got it was a slap on
the wrist a sweetheart deal and I think
what need we need to find out what we
need answers about is was it the result
of something you know where Acosta his
relationship with these defense lawyers
it was sort of an old boys club it was
just a little too cozy
or wasn't much more nefarious than that
was there actual corruption there's no
question it was wrong there's no
question it was unethical
served and that is what made me so proud
today was to see Jeff Berman and the
assistant director in charge of the FBI
talking about justice for these victims
and I think anyone who watched that
press conference really understood and
believed that that is what they were
they are seeking and that is what the
prosecutors and the agents in this case
are now seeking that it has been denied
for too long and that's the way it
should be so the answer though to the
question of why that first sweetheart
deal was allowed to happen we don't know
the answer yet I think Frank absolutely
could be right that part of the reason
at least that the public corruption unit
in particular is involved in this case
is that they are going to do a full
probe of how those of you go she a
shion's took place was it sort of
negligent you know sort of old school
old boys network kind of you know that's
the most benign explanation I think or
was it something more calculated more
nefarious that could rise to the level
of actual criminal corruption charges if
for example there was some kind of bribe
offered to Acosta you know that could be
a criminal charge if he was offered
obviously you know something tangible or
even something intangible like the
future promise of a cabinet position I
mean I would like to know sort of how
this came about is it just a coincidence
that he ended up as the labor secretary
and his explanation so far about why he
was allowed his office to enter into
this pretty shocking plea deal just
don't stand up so far so I do trust at
the Southern District if that's
something they now have jurisdiction
over and that is still a big question to
me that was sort of what they're able to
probe with respect to how that deal came
about but if they are able to probe it
and if there was real corruption I do
believe that they will find it I do
think the public corruption unit could
also be involved because there could
have been public officials whether they
be minor ones or major ones involved in
the actual sex trafficking operation
you know what they say you judge people
by the company they keep our friend Rick
Wilson today tweeted today Donald Trump
has three friends in jail Michael Cohen
Paul Manafort now Jeffrey Epstein yeah
look I think the the terrible sad irony
here is that the Secretary of Labor is
responsible for human trafficking but we
have an endemic in our country in our
society in which young women young
individuals are basically enslaved and
and the Secretary of Labor in our
government is one of the officials
responsible for stopping that so I think
there has you're saying by letting him
stay out of jail he didn't he didn't I
think he went to jail one day week he
was out of jail six days a week and
you're saying if there's evidence that
he committed crimes after that
arrangement that he's basically an
accomplice to that crime well I'm saying
it I think it calls into question the
judgment of the person who is enforcing
the law with regards to human
trafficking I think there's a broader
issue here in Nicole which is that this
is an indictment not just of Jeffrey
Epstein but it's an indictment of the
legal system it's an indictment of a
legal system that allows well-connected
well-heeled wealthy individuals to avoid
accountability for obvious horrific
crimes with victims yet our prisons are
filled to the gills with individuals who
don't have money don't have legal
representation are largely African
American a minority coming from minority
communities and they have committed
crimes that our victim lists so I think
it really is an indictment of the entire
legal system that needs to be addressed
no I agree that I think Julie is too
humble to take credit for this but the
prosecutors made a point of pointing to
her investigative journalism on this
case as part of the reason they were
standing there today in dining Jeffrey
Epstein I mean pick up on on Jerry's but
and and the white house has also dropped
the ball I mean that sound we played
that sound of Donald Trump saying in
February oh it's old and where we heard
that before we've heard that with Roy
Moore these are old allegations with Rob
Porter his staff secretary he said oh
these are old allegations of good maybe
I mean Donald Trump's reflux is always
to feel defensive and protective to the
accused man right and he will probably
point to the fact that Epstein pleaded
not guilty to this as a denial we've
seen the president
defend those who deny it today there's
well it's hard to get an answer out of
the White House since there are no
longer White House briefings in the
White House has deferred questions about
this today but I think that this is
something they will have to address
because this is his labor secretary and
Jeremy is exactly right the labor
secretary is the person in charge of
investigating the seam and protecting
against the same sort of crimes that we
are seeing now and we are talking about
this is not a victimless crime this is a
horrific crime of trafficking of
children and the fact that this is
connected to this White House I think in
any other administration the secretary
Acosta would no longer have a job
already but they will have the very
difficult task of defending him now
Julie I wanna I want to end where I
started I want to spend some time with
you I wonder if you can pull this thread
through your body of reporting what you
uncovered the victims have been through
what they were denied and what your
understanding is of how this prosecution
in the Southern District of New York
just so far on day one feels and looks
different well it is it's a difference
of night and day and I just would like
to point out one thing that the bond
hearing that they had today Jeffrey
Epstein's lawyers talked about these
crimes that he committed and described
them basically as victimless crimes that
these were not violent crimes this was
not sex trafficking at all he in fact
almost equated these victims to child
prostitutes which of course we know
there is no such thing as child
prostitutes and so this is sort of a
look at how the prosecutors to some
degree in Florida handled this case they
these were not victims they were child
prostitutes in their mind when this
happened and I think that the mr.
permanent has made it very clear that
this is a very serious crime and to try
to characterize this as anything other
than a than its axis trafficking really
does a disservice to the criminal law
enforcement community that works day in
and
out to enforce these kinds of laws
against children Frankfort Lizzy you and
I had a lot of conversations about SD NY
now that's a household name because of
their prosecutions of Michael Cohen and
their investigation into the Trump
Organization just talk to me about what
this investigation might look like the
parts we don't yet see so we know they
they searched mr. Epstein's residence
they found photographs we know that the
the charges so far are for sex
trafficking of minors and conspiracy for
a sex trafficking of minors crime there
also though is Julie pointed out the top
of the show they're looking for more
victims what is SD and why doing yeah
there's going to be various components
of this and you can you can see it in
the shape that we've we've already seen
in the sense that there's a public
corruption aspect to this there's going
to be the general crimes crimes against
children aspect of this but you know
who's going to play a huge role in this
is the computer forensic examiners for
FBI in New York they're they're going to
come in the fruits of that search
warrant we already know they've found
nude photos of apparent minors and by
the way that's huge from a legal
perspective why because when they have a
detention hearing which may be scheduled
for Thursday and they try to claim this
guy's a flight risk
Epstein should be detained pending trial
because he might flee there's another
aspect now which is he may be an active
offender he's still in possession of
child pornography that's an additional
charge so but what I'm really fascinated
by is the forensic part of this so are
they going to find communications dating
way back going back to mar-a-lago going
back to associations with Donald Trump
other other players in this there's
affiliations with Clinton what are they
going to find in communications and even
are they going to find communications
related to the old charges in Florida
and now perhaps concern about new
charges surfacing hey there I'm Chris
Hayes from MSNBC thanks for watching
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