>>> THE ALLEGED BEHAVIOR SHOCKS THE CONSCIENCE.
THE CONSCIENCE. WHILE THE CHARGED CONDUCT IS
FROM A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, IT
IS STILL PROFOUNDLY IMPORTANT TO
THE MANY ALLEGED VICTIMS NOW
YOUNG WOMEN.
YOUNG WOMEN. THEY DESERVE THEIR DAY IN COURT.
>> WELCOME BACK.
WEALTHY AND WELL-CONNECTED.
HEDGEFUND MANAGER JEFFREY
EPSTEIN IS BEHIND BARS RIGHT
NOW.
NOW. HE IS CHARGED WITH SEX
TRAFFICKING AND ACCUSED OF
SPLOITING A VAST NUMBER
UNDERAGED VICKS FOR SEX.
HE PLEADED NOT GUILTY WHICH
COULD PUT HIM IN PRISON FOR THE
REST OF HIS LIFE IF CONVICTED.
AT LEAST FROM 2002 UNTIL 2005,
EPSTEIN SOUGHT OUT GIRLS AS YOUJ
AS AGE 14 PAYING THEM HUNDREDS
OF DOLLARS FOR SEX ACTS AT HIS
HOMES IN MANHATTAN AND PALM
BEACH, FLORIDA.
BEACH, FLORIDA. HE PLEADED IN GUILTY TO STATE
CHARGES OF SOLICITING AND
PROCURING A MINOR FOR
PROSTITUTION, AVOIDING SERIOUS
FEDERAL CHARGES.
FEDERAL CHARGES. THAT PLEA DEAL WHICH HAS BEEN
WIDELY CRITICIZED AS TOO LENIENT
WAS NEGOTIATED BY ALEX ACOSTA.
THAT WAS THE U.S. ATTORNEY IN
MIAMI AT THE TIME AND IS ALSO
NOW PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LABOR
SECRETARY.
SECRETARY. WITH ME NOW IS TOM WINTER, NBC
NEWS INVESTIGATIONS
NEWS INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT AND GLENN, FORMER
FEDERAL PROSECUTOR AND CURRENT
MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST.
TOM, LET ME JUST START WITH YOU.
IF YOU COULD JUST SORT OUT
EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE
YOU’VE GOT THIS PIECE HERE OF
2008, A NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT
WITH THE FEDS, STATE CHARGES IN
FLORIDA, NOW FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
IN NEW YORK PICKING UP.
ARE THEY PROSECUTING HIM NOW FOR
ANYTHING THAT WAS INVESTIGATEDS
A DECADE AGO OR ARE THESE
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT INSTANCES
THAT THEY’VE PICKED UP ON?
>> GOOD QUESTION, STEVE.
SO THE APPEARS THAT IN FACT SOME
OF THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE
LOOKING INTO AND SOME OF THE
THINGS THAT MAY BE TIED UP INTO
THIS ARE IN FACT THINGS THAT
WERE INVESTIGATED BACK IN 2008.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO REWIND THE
CLOCK BACK A LITTLE BIT FURTHER.
WE HAVE TO LOOK BACK TO 2005.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, MARCH 15th,
2005 WHEN THE PALM BEACH POLICE
DEPARTMENT FORMERLY OPENED THEIR
INVESTIGATION INTO JEFFREY
EPSTEIN AND THEY WERE READY TO
GO IN 2006 BRING FORTH CHARGES.
THEY HAD TALKED TO FIVE
VICTIMS -- EXCUSE ME, 17
WITNESSES.
WITNESSES. THEY HAD COMPILED PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE, THEY CONDUCTED A
SEARCH WARRANT.
SEARCH WARRANT. SO THEY WERE READY TO MOVE
FORWARD WITH THE CASE.
A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT THEY
DISCOVERED IN THEIR
INVESTIGATION, THE SAME TYPES OF
PATTERN, THE PRACTICE, THE IDEA
OF PAYING THESE WOMEN FOR,
QUOTE, UNQUOTE MASSAGES.
THEY WOULD TURN THEM
INCREASINGLY INTO SEXUAL
ENCOUNTERS ACCORDING TO THE
INVESTIGATION BACK THEN IN
2005-2006.
2005-2006. THEN FROM THERE SOME OF THOSE
VICTIMS WOULD THEN BECOME
RECRUITERS FOR EVEN MORE
VICTIMS.
VICTIMS. SO THAT’S THE SAME TYPE OF
PATTERN OR BEHAVIOR THAT WE SAW
BROUGHT FORTH IN TODAY’S
INDICTMENT.
INDICTMENT. 2002 THROUGH 2005.
SO A LOT OF WHAT WE SAW BACK
THEN CAME FORWARD TODAY THERE
WAS AN ONGOING FEDERAL CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION OF COURSE IN THE
MID-2000s THAT WAS PART OF THAT.
AND THE U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
IF YOU READ THE NONPROSECUTION
AGREEMENT, NBC NEWS HAS A COPY
THAT FAR GRATE.
IT’S VERY -- AGREEMENT.
THAT THE U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
COULD’VE BROUGHT AGAINST JEFFREY
EPSTEIN.
EPSTEIN. SO THE FACT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE
HAD A CASE, THE FACT THAT THERE
WOULD HAVE BEEN A FEDERAL CASE
OR A POSSIBLE INDICTMENT TO BE
BROUGHT TO BEAR IS NOT
SURPRISING AT ALL.
WE KNOW FROM COURT FILINGS THAT
IN FACT THERE WAS A 53 PAGE
DRAFT AGAINST EPSTEIN.
THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE
NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT, THAT
THAT NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT
WAS ONLY FOR THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT OF FLORIDA.
THINK THE PALM BEACH AREA.
THINK THE MIAMI AREA.
THE DID NOT APPLY TO NEW YORK.
AND SINCE JEFFREY EPSTEIN HAS A
MANSION HERE IN NEW YORK,
PROSECUTORS CALL THE THAT, IT’S
A BIG HOME ON THE UPPER EAST
SIDE.
SIDE. AND BECAUSE SOME OF THE ACTIVITY
THAT OCCURRED INVOLVING BOTH THE
GIRLS AS WELL AS ARRANGING SOME
OF THESE INTERACTIONS WITH
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, WHICH WOULD
TURN ILLEGAL AND WHICH WOULD
TURN, YOU KNOW, SEXUALLY
ABUSIVE.
ABUSIVE. THAT THOSE INTERACTIONS WERE
COORDINATED FROM HERE.
THAT’S WHY YOU SEE TODAY THE
NEXUS TO NEW YORK AND THE
PROSECUTION.
PROSECUTION. >> AND, GLENN, WE MENTIONED THAT
EPSTEIN IS WELL CONNECTED.
HE’S NOT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL, NOT
AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, NOT
SOMEBODY IN A GOVERNMENT
POSITION, BUT WE ARE TOLD TODAY
THAT IT’S THE PUBLIC CORRUPTION
UNIT THAT IS HANDLING THIS.
AM I READING -- WOULD THAT BE A
STANDARD PRACTICE IN A CASE LIKE
THIS?
THIS? OR IS THERE SOME SIGNIFICANCE TO
THAT POTENTIALLY?
THAT POTENTIALLY? YOU KNOW, IT’S HARD TO IGNORE
THAT, STEVE.
THAT, STEVE. THE DOES SEEM LIKE WE HAVE TO
READ SOMETHING INTO THAT BECAUSE
ORDINARILY IF THERE ARE SEX
OFFENSES, SEX TRAFFICKING
CRIMES, THAT’S GOING TO BE
HANDLED BY THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT
NEW YORK UNIT, NOT THE PUBLIC
CORRUPTION UNIT.
CORRUPTION UNIT. WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT HOW
EPSTEIN REALLY ESCAPED
RESPONSIBILITY BY AND LARGE FOR
THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED WHEN
THEN U.S. ATTORNEY NOW LABOR
SECRETARY ACOSTA, SORT OF GAVE
HIM THIS UNPRECEDENTED, IN MY
EXPERIENCE, PITCH, OF A
NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT WHEN AS
TOM JUST SAID, THERE WAS A
53-PAGE INDICTMENT, FEDERAL
INDICTMENT WAITING FOR HIM.
IT’S HARD TO SEE HOW THAT KIND
OF FAVORITISM THAT IS DONE FOR
SOMEONE WHO IS RICH AND
INFLUENTIAL AND CONNECTED
DOESN’T RAISE THE SPECTER AT
LEAST OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION.
SO, THE MAKES PERFECT SENSE PUT
TWOG AND TWO TOGETHER THAT THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
PUBLIC CORRUPTIONS SECTION IS
THE ONE TAKING LEAD ON THIS
PROSECUTION.
PROSECUTION. >> AND, TOM, YOU WENT THROUGH
THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THIS, THE
HAD BEEN SORT OF OUT IN THE OPEN
YEARS AGO.
YEARS AGO. SO WHY NOW, WHY ALL THESE YEARS
LATER DID FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
DECIDE WE’RE GOING TO TAKE
ANOTHER LOOK AT THIS?
>> WELL, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT
TO NOTE THAT TODAY’S INDICTMENT
AND THE ARREST OF JEFFREY
EPSTEIN OVER THE WEEKEND ON
SATURDAY WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT
JUST CAME UP IN THE PAST SEVERAL
WEEKS.
WEEKS. AS A MATTER OF FACT WE KNOW NOW
FROM THE PUBLIC DOCKET THAT’S
BEEN UNSEALED THIS AFTERNOON
THAT FEDERAL PROSECUTORS FIRST
FILED THIS INDICTMENT UNDER SEAL
ON JULY 2nd.
SO THEY HAVE BEEN ANTICIPATING
JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S ARRIVAL IN THE
UNITED STATES AND THE ABILITY TO
TAKE HIM INTO CUSTODY FOR AT
LEAST, ALMOST A WEEK AT THIS
POINT OR AT LEAST FIVE BUSINESS
DAYS.
DAYS. SO THAT’S OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT’S HAPPENED HERE.
AND THEY TALKED ABOUT IN COURT
TODAY THEY TOOK COVERT, THEY
USED THE WORD "COVERT" MEASURES
THAT MAKE SURE THAT THIS
INVESTIGATION DID NOT LEAK OUT
INTO THE PUBLIC.
THERE WERE NO PUBLIC STATEMENTS,
THERE WERE NO MEDIA REPORTS
ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION BECAUSE
THEY FELT THEY NEEDED TO MAKE
SURE JEFFREY EPSTEIN WASN’T
TIPPED OFF TO THIS.
AS FAR AS WHAT INITIALLY TRIGGED
THIS INVESTIGATION, BUT THE WAS
SOME OF THE INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTING THAT’S BEEN DONE ABOUT
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, AND I THINK WE
CAN POINT PRIMARILY TO THE MIAMI
HERALD IN JULIE BROWN’S
REPORTING THAT LED US TO TODAY’S
EVENTS.
EVENTS. BASICALLY THAT REPORTING CAME
OUT OF THE STATE PROSECUTION
FILES, WHICH MAKE THE VERY CLEAR
EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON BACK
IN THE MID-2000s.
>> AND, GLENN, QUICKLY, WE
MENTIONED THE LABOR SECRETARY,
ALEX ACOSTA’S NAME COMING UP
HERE OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE HE WAS
PART OF THAT.
HE WAS KEY IN THAT
NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT 11
YEARS AGO.
YEARS AGO. THIS CAME UP A LITTLE BIT IN HIS
CONFIRMATION HEARING.
CONFIRMATION HEARING. WE DON’T HAVE ANY COMMENT FROM
THE ADMINISTRATION RIGHT NOW.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IN TERMS OF
HIS ROLE AS THIS PLAYS OUT IN
THE PUBLIC SQUARE?
>> WELL, THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITY HAS ALREADY
OPENED AN INVESTIGATION TO HOW
THEN U.S. ATTORNEY ACOSTA
HANDLED THIS.
HANDLED THIS. AND I HAVE TO SAY IT’S PRETTY
STUNNING THAT A FEDERAL JUDGE
BACK IN FEBRUARY FOUND IN THE
CIVIL LITIGATION THAT SOME OF
THESE VICTIMS BROUGHT THAT THEN
U.S. ATTORNEY ACOSTA ACTUALLY
VIOLATED THE LAW.
HE VIOLATED THE RIGHTS THAT THE
VICTIMS HAVE UNDER THE CRIME
VICTIMS RIGHTS AKT TO BE
NOTIFIED OF ANY DISPOSITION IN
THE CASE AND TO BE HEARD.
SO I DON’T THINK WE’VE HEARD THE
LAST OF THE POSSIBLE EXPOSURE
THAT ACOSTA MIGHT HAVE FOR THE
WAY HE HANDLED THIS CASE BACK IN