>>> WELCOME BACK. A FEDERAL JUDGE RULED ONE OF
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CABINET
MEMBERS BROKE THE LAW WHILE HE
WAS WORKING AS A FEDERAL
PROSECUTOR IN A CHILD SEX RING
CASE.
CASE. DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT PRESIDENT
TRUMP’S LABOR SECRETARY,
ALEXANDER ACCOSTA.
ALEXANDER ACCOSTA. THE JUDGE SAID WHILE ACCOSTA
SERVED AS THE MIAMI U.S.
ATTORNEY, HE VIOLATED THE CRIME
VICTIMS RIGHTS ACT.
ACCOSTA AND OTHER FEDERAL
PROSECUTORS COLLABORATED WITH
LAWYERS OF HEDGE FUND MANAGER
JEFFREY EPSTEIN TO ARRANGE A
SWEET, SWEET, SWEETHEART PLEA
DEAL.
DEAL. DOZENS OF UNDER AGE GIRLS SAY
THEY WERE SEXUALLY ABUSED BY
EPSTEIN IN A SEX TRAFFICKING
RING.
RING. BUT THE DEAL GRANTED IMMUNITY TO
EPSTEIN AND MANY OF HIS
UNIDENTIFIED ACCOMPLICES, REALLY
RICH GUYS.
RICH GUYS. THE DEAL ALSO CONCEALED ALL
CHARGES.
CHARGES. VICTIM INFORMATION AND SHUTDOWN
AN ONGOING FBI PROBE INTO THE
CASE.
CASE. EPSTEIN PLEADED GUILTY TO JUST
TWO STATE CHARGES OF
PROSTITUTION AND HE SPENT ONLY
13 MONTHS IN A COUNTY JAIL.
BUT YESTERDAY THE JUDGE STOPPED
JUST SHORT OF OVERTURNING THE
ENTIRE DEAL.
ENTIRE DEAL. AND NOW THERE IS GROWING FOCUS
ON ACCOSTA’S ROLE IN ALL OF
THIS.
THIS. ACCOSTA NOW HEADS AN AGENCY WITH
OVERSIGHT OVER HUMAN TRAFFICKING
AND CHILD LABOR, AND HE HAS YET
TO EXPLAIN WHY HE SEALED THE
DEAL WITH AN ACCUSED CHILD SEX
TRAFFICKER.
TRAFFICKER. THE TODAY THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS
IT IS, QUOTE, LOOKING INTO THE
MATTER.
MATTER. I AM JOINED NOW BY THE "MIAMI
HERALD" INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
JULIE BROWN WHO IS I AM
ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE
UNBELIEVABLE REPORTING ON THIS
MAJORLY IMPORTANT STORY.
JULIE WAS AWARDED THE
PRESTIGIOUS GEORGE POLK AWARD.
I AM JOINED BY FORMER FEDERAL
PROSECUTOR AND MY GOOD FRIEND
GLENN KIRCHNER.
GLENN KIRCHNER. MY GOODNESS, JULIE, ACCOSTA WAS
NOMINATED AS LABOR SECRETARY IN
2017, NOW HE OVER SEES CHILD
LABOR AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
HE RELEASED THIS STATEMENT
THROUGH A SPOKESPERSON THAT,
I’VE GOT TO BE HONEST, I DIDN’T
EVEN UNDERSTAND.
EVEN UNDERSTAND. I’M GOING TO READ A PORTION OF
T. THE OFFICE’S DECISION WAS
APPROVED BY DEPARTMENTAL
LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWED
DEPARTMENTAL PROCEDURES.
DEPARTMENTAL PROCEDURES. THIS MATTER REMAINS IN
LITIGATION AND, THUS, FOR ANY
FURTHER COMMENT WE REFER YOU TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
>>> YOU NODE WHAT, MAYBE I’M
ACTUALLY GOING TO GO TO GLENN.
YOU’RE MY LEGAL BEAGLE.
WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT
MEAN?
MEAN? >> THAT’S A WHOLE LOT OF
BUREAUCRATIC NONSENSE IS WHAT
THAT IS, STEPH.
LISTEN, ACCOSTA HAS BEEN CAUGHT
BY A FEDERAL JUDGE, HAVING
VIOLATED THE CRIME VICTIMS
RIGHTS ACT.
RIGHTS ACT. THAT ACT CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN
2004 AND I KNOW THE EXACT MONTH
BECAUSE I WAS SUPERVISING ABOUT
25 TO 30 FEDERAL PROSECUTORS AT
THE TIME, AND WE HAD TO MOVE AT
LIGHT SPEED TO ABSORB IT,
UNDERSTAND IT, TRAIN OUR
PROSECUTORS ON IT, AND MAKE SURE
WE UPHELD EVERY SINGLE RIGHT
THAT VICTIMS NOW HAD UNDER THE
LAW.
LAW. AND TO SEE THIS REPORTING,
REMARKABLE REPORTING AS YOU
SAID, THAT ACCOSTA VIOLATED THE
RIGHTS OF THE MOST VULNERABLE
VICTIMS -- THESE ARE YOUNG
GIRLS, YOUNG LADIES WHO WERE
BEING SEX TRAFFICKED, WHO WERE
BEING ABUSED BY EPSTEIN, WHO
WERE BEING SEXUALLY ASSAULTED,
WHO WERE BEING GIVEN TO OTHER
MEN TO BE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED,
AND THE DEAL THAT ACCOSTA STRUCK
IS CRIMINAL.
IS CRIMINAL. LITERALLY CRIMINAL, BECAUSE HE
VIOLATED THE RIGHTS THAT THESE
VICTIMS HAD TO BE HEARD, TO KNOW
WHAT THE DEAL WAS, TO OBJECT TO
THE DEAL IN OPEN COURT TO THE
JUDGE.
JUDGE. AND GUESS WHAT?
IF THE JUDGE DECIDED TO ACCEPT
THE DEAL OVER THEIR OBJECTION,
THESE VICTIMS HAD A RIGHT TO
APPEAL IT TO AN APPELLATE COURT.
AND I’LL TELL YOU, THIS MAKES MY
BLOOD BOIL AS A FORMER FEDERAL
PROSECUTOR.
PROSECUTOR. >> IT’S NOT JUST EPSTEIN,
THOUGH.
THOUGH. WE KEEP SAYING HIS NAME OVER AND
OVER.
OVER. JULIE, DO YOU BELIEVE THE FULL
LIST OF CHARGES AGAINST EPSTEIN
WILL BE RELEASED, BUT ALSO
ACTUALLY WHO WAS IN THAT
ALL-STAR INNER CIRCLE?
I MEAN, IT IS THE ELITE IN
BUSINESS AND POLITICS.
>> WELL, THERE CERTAINLY WERE A
LOT OF PEOPLE COMPLICIT IN
EPSTEIN’S CRIMES.
EPSTEIN’S CRIMES. WE KNOW THE NAMES OF A FEW OF
THE WOMEN THAT WERE INVOLVED.
THEY WERE RECRUITERS WHO
INITIALLY STARTED OUT BEING
PROBABLY SEXUALLY TRAFFICKED OR
ABUSED WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG.
AND WE KNOW THAT -- FROM HIS
VICTIMS THAT ONCE THEY BECAME 17
OR 18 YEARS OLD, THEY WERE
AUTOMATICALLY TOO OLD FOREHIM.
SO
SO FOR HIM.
FOR HIM. WHAT HE DID WAS TRANSFERRED THEM
INTO BEING RECRUITERS FOR HIM
AND BRINGING IN MORE YOUNG
GIRLS.
GIRLS. THIS WAS ALMOST LIKE A PYRAMID
SCHEME WHERE, AS THEY AGED OUT,
SO TO SPEAK, THEY BECAME
RECRUITERS.
RECRUITERS. WE KNOW THERE WERE A LOT OF
OTHER PEOPLE, RECRUITERS -- OF
COURSE, THERE WERE JOHNS THAT
WERE INVOLVED IN THIS.
WE DON’T KNOW ALL OF WHOM THEY
ARE.
ARE. FBI FILES, THEY’VE BEEN
RELEASING THEM GRADUALLY OVER
THE PAST YEAR OR SO.
BUT MOST OF THOSE DOCUMENTS ARE
HEAVILY REDACTED.
HEAVILY REDACTED. THEY’RE UNREADABLE.
THEY’RE UNREADABLE. >> WHY, GLENN?
GO LEGAL WITH ME.
WHY ARE THEY HEAVILY REDACTED.
WHO ARE THEY PROTECTING?
WHAT WOULD THE REASONENING BE?
>> WELL, LISTEN, WHEN YOU HAVE
JUVENILE VICTIMS, IT SOUNDS LIKE
MOST OR ALL OF THE VICTIMS WERE
JUVENILES, WE REGULARLY REDACT.
WE DON’T PUT A JUVENILE’S NAMT
IN AN INDICTMENT WHICH WOULD BE
A PUBLIC RECORD.
WE TAKE PAINS TO PROTECT THE
VICTIMS.
VICTIMS. OF COURSE, THAT’S A LITTLE
IRONIC BECAUSE THE U.S. ATTORNEY
AT THE TIME, ACCOSTA, NOT ONLY
WAS NOT TRYING TO PROTECT THE
VICTIMS, BUT HE WAS VIOLATING
THEIR RIGHTS --
>> OKAY, STAY ON THAT FOR A
MOMENT, BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY
ALWAYS WANT TO PROTECT A VICTIM.
BUT THESE VICTIMS WERE MISLED.
THEY WERE MISLED ABOUT THE FBI
INVESTIGATION BEING TERMINATED.
>> THEY WERE MISLED.
AND YOU KNOW, THEY’RE INVOLVED
IN THIS LITIGATION NOW.
I THINK THE JUDGE GAVE THE
PARTIES 150 DAYS TO REPORT BACK
PARTIES 15 DAYS TO ADDRESS HOW
WHAT IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL
LAW BY THE PROSECUTORS IN THIS
CASE.
CASE. IT’S GOING TO BE INTERESTING TO
SEE WHAT THE VICTIMS AND THEIR
LAWYERS CHOOSE TO DO, BECAUSE
LET ME TELL YOU, IT’S KIND OF A
HOLLOW VICTORY WHEN YOU SAY, YOU
KNOW WHAT, WE CAN VOID THE
NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT.
NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT. WE CAN BEGIN TO CONSIDER