THAT’S ALL IN FOR THIS EVENING. RACHEL MADDOW STARTS WITH JOY
REED FOR RACHEL.
>> GOOD EVENING.
HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE NIGHT.
THANKS TO YOU ALL.
RACHEL HAS THE NIGHT OFF, BUT
WILL BE BACK TOMORROW.
I WANT TO START WITH THE STORY
OF COURTNEY WILD.
SHE WAS 14 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME
SHE WAS LIVING IN FLORIDA.
SHE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND
CAPTAIN OF THE CHEERLEADING
SQUAD AND PLAYED THE TRUMPET.
HE HAD GOOD GRADES AND BRACES
AND WHEN SHE WAS 14 YEARS OLD,
SHE WAS INTRODUCED TO A MAN
NAMED JEFFREY EPSTEIN.
HE IS AN INCREDIBLY WEALTHY
MULTIMILLIONAIRE WHO SURROUNDED
HIMSELF WITH POWERFUL HIGH
PROFILE PEOPLE.
PROFILE PEOPLE. HIS PRIVATE AIRLINE HAS HOSTED
HIGH PROFILE GUESTS LIKE BILL
CLINTON, PRINCE ANDREW AND
VARIOUS CELEBRITIES AND DONALD
TRUMP DESCRIBED HIM AS A FRIEND.
IN 2005, FLORIDA POLICE STARTED
INVESTIGATEING AND WHAT THEY
TURNED UP WAS HORRIFYING.
HE WAS RUNNING AN OPERATION TO
MOLEST AND RAPE LARGE NUMBERS OF
GIRLS.
GIRLS. HE WAS IN HIS 50s AND MANY
VICTIMS WERE CHILDREN.
THE FBI GOT INVOLVE AND WAS ABLE
TO IDENTIFY DOZENS OF GIRLS WHO
HAD BEEN HIS VICTIMS.
MOST WERE BETWEEN 13 AND 16
YEARS OLD.
YEARS OLD. SOME PEOPLE THINK THERE COULD BE
HUNDREDS OF OTHER VICTIMS OUT
THERE.
THERE. ONE OF THE ALLEGED VICTIMS WAS
COURTNEY WILD WHO WAS 14.
HE SAID HE SEXUALLY ABUSED HER
FOR YEARS.
FOR YEARS. IT WAS SPELLED OUT IN THE "MIAMI
HERALD’S" HEROIC REPORTING TO
PREPARE CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR
BEING A SERIAL CHILD SEX
OFFENDER.
OFFENDER. THE INDICTMENT THE FBI WROTE UP
LISTING ALL OF THE HEINOUS
CRIMES WAS 53 PAGES LONG.
53 PAGES OF STORIES LIKE
COURTNEY WILD’S.
COURTNEY WILD’S. THEY ACCUSED EPSTEIN OF
RECRUITING UNDERAGE GIRLS FOR
SEX ACROSS STATE LINES.
THOSE ARE FEDERAL CHARGES THAT
COULD HAVE SENT HIM TO PRISON
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
INSTEAD A FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
NAMED ALEX ACOSTA PREVENTED
JEFFREY EPSTEIN FROM BEING
CHARGED WITH ANY FEDERAL CRIMES
AND FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST
ACCOMPLICES, TOO.
ACCOMPLICES, TOO. THAT MAN IS IN THE PRESIDENT’S
CABINET.
CABINET. HE IS DONALD TRUMP’S LABOR
SECRETARY.
SECRETARY. BACK WHEN THAT FBI INVESTIGATION
WAS GOING ON, HE WAS THE U.S.
ATTORNEY IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA.
INSTEAD OF CHANGING JEFFREY
EPSTEIN WITH THE 53 PAGES OF SEX
CRIMES, ALEX ACCOSTOSTA MADE A D
IN A NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENT
WHICH GAVE HIM IMMUNITY FROM ALL
FEDERAL CHARGES AND HE PLEAD
GUILTY TO TWO STATE CHARGES FOR
PROSTITUTION AS IF THE GIRLS
LIKE COURTNEY WILD WERE
PROSTITUTES AND NOT CHILDREN
BEING VICTIMIZED BY AN ACCUSED
CHILD MOLESTER THANKS TO THE
SWEET DEAL HE GOT.
HE GOT TO LEAVE JAIL DURING THE
DAY TO WORK IN HIS OFFICE.
SINCE THEN HE HAS GONE BACK TO
LIVING OFF HIS MILLIONS, JET
SETTING ALL OVER THE WORLD.
ALEX ACOSTA AGREED TO DO HIS
DEAL IN SECRET.
CRIME VICTIMS HAVE THE RIGHT TO
BE TOLD WHEN THERE ARE PLEA
NEGOTIATION GOING ON, BUT ALEX
ACOSTA DID NOT NOTIFY THE
VICTIMS BEFORE HE GRANTED HIM
THAT PLEA DEAL.
EPSTEIN’S LAWYERS ASKED ACOSTA
TO KEEP THE DEAL A SECRET AND
ACOSTA AGREED.
ACOSTA AGREED. COURTNEY WILD, ONE OF THE VICTIM
WHO IS WAS KEPT IN THE DARK
ABOUT THAT DEAL, SHE SUED THE
GOVERNMENT ALLEGING THAT ALEX
ACOSTA AND HIS TEAM BROKE THE
LAW BY KEEPING SECRET FROM HER
AND ALL THE OTHER VICTIMS THE
FACT THAT THEY GAVE EPSTEIN THIS
NON-PROSECUTION DEAL.
NON-PROSECUTION DEAL. SHE FILED THAT NAUGHT 11 YEARLAW
AGO AND IT DRAGGED ON FOR OVER A
DECADE.
DECADE. SHE BRAVELY AND COURAGEOUSLY PUT
HER NAME ON THE RECORD AND TOLD
HER STORY TO THE "MIAMI HERALD."
COURTNEY WILD DID NOT GIVE UP
AND DROP HER CASE AFTER ALL THAT
TIME.
TIME. EVENTUALLY EARLIER THIS YEAR A
JUDGE AGREED WITH HER, RULING
THAT THE CURRENT SECRETARY OF
LABOR, ALEX ACOSTA BROKE THE LAW
WHEN HE AGREED TO KEEP THAT DEAL
A SECRET FROM HIS VICTIMS.
AND YET STILL EVEN THEN, THERE
WAS NO JUSTICE FOR COURTNEY WILD
AND HER FELLOW VICTIMS.
ALEX ACOSTA STAYED LABOR
SECRETARY.
SECRETARY. JEFFREY EPSTEIN STAYED FREE.
HE COULD NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
FOR CRIMES TOWARDS COURTNEY WILD
AND THE DOZENS OF OTHER WOMEN
LIKE HER WITH THE
NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENT ON THE
BOOKS IN FLORIDA.
IN FLORIDA.
IN FLORIDA. OVER THE WEEKEND, FEDERAL
PROSECUTORS IN NEW YORK CITY
BUSTED DOWN THE DOOR OF JEFFREY
EPSTEIN’S MANSION AND ARRESTED
HIM AT THE AIRPORT AFTER HE
LANDED IN HIS PRIVATE JET FRESH
OFF A VACATION IN FRANCE.
THIS MORNING EPSTEIN WAS
ARRAIGNED IN FEDERAL COURT ON
FEDERAL SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES
IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
IN THIS NEW INDICTMENT, THEY
ALLEGE BETWEEN 2002 AND 2005 HE
ABUSED DOZENS OF UNDERAGE GIRLS
IN MANHATTAN AND PALM BEACH.
THEY ARE PRACTICALLY A MIRROR
IMAGE WRITTEN UP MORE THAN A
DECADE AGO THAT WERE SHELVED BY
ALEX ACCOST A. THEY COVER THE
SAME PERIOD.
SAME PERIOD. THE SAME KINDS OF LURID SEX
CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN.
THEY ARE NEW CHARGES ABOUT
DIFFERENT ALLEGATIONS FROM THE
LAST TIME HE WAS INVESTIGATED IN
FLORIDA.
FLORIDA. THE ONES COVERED BY THE
NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENT WHICH
HAS BEEN PROTECTING HIM FROM
BEING CHARGED THERE.
THAT AGREEMENT NOT TO PROSECUTE
IS ONLY VALID IN SOUTHERN
FLORIDA WHERE ACCOSTOSTA MADE TH
DEAL WHICH LEFT THE FIELD WIDE
OPEN FOR PROSECUTORS IN NEW YORK
TO CONDUCT AN INVESTIGATION OF
THEIR OWN INTO EPSTEIN’S CONDUCT
IN NEW YORK IN THEIR BACK YARD
WHICH LED TO THE BRAND-NEW
CHARGES TODAY.
CHARGES TODAY. PROSECUTORS IN NEW YORK DO NOT
THINK EPSTEIN SHOULD BE SET FREE
WITH JUST A SLAP ON THE WRIST.
UNDER THIS NEW INDICTMENT, HE
FACES 45 YEARS IN PRISON.
HE IS 66 YEARS OLD.
THAT MEANS IF HE IS FOUND GUILTY
IN NEW YORK, HE COULD SPEND THE
REST OF HIS NATURAL LIFE BEHIND
BARS.
BARS. PROSECUTORS SEEM TO THINK THEY
HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PUT HIM
THERE.
THERE. THEY ANNOUNCED WHAT THEY FOUND
WHEN THEY BUSTED THROUGH
EPSTEIN’S FRONT DOOR.
DOCUMENTS, NOTES, MESSAGES
INCLUDING NAMES AND CONTACT
INFORMATION FOR EPSTEIN’S
ALLEGED VICTIMS AND CALL RECORDS
CONFIRMING HIS CONTACT WITH
THEM.
THEM. WITH THE VICTIMS.
PROSECUTORS SAY THAT EVIDENCE IS
CONSISTENT WITH VICTIM
RECOLLECTIONS.
RECOLLECTIONS. FURTHER STRENGTHENING THE
EVIDENCE OF CONDUCT CHARGED IN
THE INDICTMENT.
THE INDICTMENT. PROSECUTORS SAY THEY FOUND
HUNDRED FIST NOT THOUSANDS OF
LEWD PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUNG WOMEN
AND GIRLS WITHOUT THEIR CLOTHES
ON.
ON. MANY OF WHOM ARE BELIEVED TO BE
UNDERAGE.
UNDERAGE. SOME OF THE PHOTOS WERE
DISCOVERED IN A LOCKED SAFE.
PROSECUTORS WRITING THAT THE
DEFENDANT IS NOT REFORMED.
HE IS NOT CHASENT.
HE IS NOT REPENTANT.
RATHER, HE IS A CONTINUING
DANGER TO THE COMMUNITY AND AN
INDIVIDUAL WHO FACES DEVASTATING
EVIDENCE SUPPORTING DEEPLY
SERIOUS CHARGES.
SERIOUS CHARGES. THAT DEVASTATING EVIDENCE THEY
HAVE AGAINST JEFFREY EPSTEIN
MUST BE A RELIEF TO A WOMAN LIKE
COURTNEY WILD.
COURTNEY WILD. RELIEF TO THE DOZENS OR HUNDREDS
OF VICTIMS LIKE HER WHO LOST
THEIR SHOT AT JUSTICE THE FIRST
TIME AROUND BECAUSE ALEX ACOSTA
TOOK THAT SHOT AWAY.
IT IS POTENTIALLY DEVASTATING
NEWS FOR THE LABOR SECRETARY TOO
SINCE ALEX ACOSTA GAVE THAT
SWEETHEART DEAL WHEN HE WAS U.S.
ATTORNEY, HE DEFENDED HIS
HANDLING OF THE CASE.
WITHOUT THAT DEAL, EPSTEIN COULD
HAVE GOTTEN ZERO JAIL TIME AND
REGISTRATION AS A SEXUAL
OFFENDER AND THERE WOULD HAVE
BEEN ZERO RESTITUTION FOR THE
VICTIMS AND THAT’S THE BEST HE
COULD GET BASED ON THE EVIDENCE
HE HAD.
HE HAD. WITH THIS NEW INDICTMENT,
PROSECUTORS SEEM TO CONTRADICT
THAT ASSERTION.
THAT ASSERTION. ACCORDING TO THIS NEW
INDICTMENT, THERE IS ENOUGH
EVIDENCE DO YOU MEANING
EPSTEIN’S CHILD SEX CRIMES TO
PUT HIM IN JAIL FOR THE REST OF
HIS LIFE.
HIS LIFE. ALEX ACCOSTOSTA DID NOT SEE IT T
WAY.
WAY. JOINING US NOW IS JULIE BROWN,
THE REPORTER WHOSE INDEPTH
REPORTING SERIES ON JEFFREY
EPSTEIN BROKE THIS STORY WIDE
OPEN AND WAS CREDITED BY
PROSECUTORS FOR ASSISTING IN THE
INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATION. SHE WAS INSIDE THE COURT TODAY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING
HERE.
HERE. THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS
REPORTING.
REPORTING. FOR THESE YOUNG VICTIMS IT HAD
TO BE A RELIEF TO SEE THE
BEGINNINGS OF JUSTICE.
DOES IT SURPRISE YOU THAT THE
CHARGES THAT ARE BEING BROUGHT
AGAINST HIM TODAY ARE SO SIMILAR
TO THE CHARGES THAT HE WAS GIVEN
A SWEET DEAL FOR BEFORE.
HOW CAN THAT BE EXPLAINED TO THE
ORDINARY PERSON?
ORDINARY PERSON? >> HE HAD AN OPERATION GOING.
HE HAD PEOPLE WHO WORKED FOR
HIM.
HIM. HE HAD A SET UP OF RECRUITERS
ALL OVER IN NEW YORK, IN
FLORIDA, AS FAR AS WE KNOW THIS
WAS PROBABLY GOING ON IN THE
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS WHERE HE HAD
A HOME AND IN EUROPE.
HE HAD SCHEDULERS JUST LIKE AN
ORGANIZED CRIME ORGANIZATION
OPERATES WITH A BOSS AT THE TOP
AND YOU HAVE THE LIEUTENANTS AND
CAPOS AND SOLDIERS.
HE HAD PILOTS AND SCHEDULERS AND
RECRUITERS AND PEOPLE WHO HANDLE
HIS MONEY AND PAID THE GIRLS.
PEOPLE WHO DROVE THE GIRLS BACK
AND FORTH.
AND FORTH. HE HAD A SCHEDULE WHERE TWO,
THREE OF THEM WOULD COME EVERY
DAY.
DAY. IT WOULDN’T BE SURPRISING THAT
SINCE HE HAD THE SAME
ORGANIZATION IN PLACE THAT THAT
SAME OPERATION EXISTED IN NEW
YORK AS WELL AS IN FLORIDA.
>> HOW PUBLICLY KNOWN -- AMONG
THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW JEFFREY
EPSTEIN, WAS THIS SOMETHING
KNOWN THAT HE WAS DOING OR WAS
IT A SECRET OPERATION WHERE THE
EMPLOYEES KNEW, BUT OUTSIDE OF
THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE, NO ONE
KNEW?
KNEW? >> WELL, THERE WERE PEOPLE
OUTSIDE THE OPERATION THAT
PROBABLY KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING,
WHETHER THEY PARTICIPATED IN IT
OR JUST KNEW ABOUT IT AND LOOKED
THE OTHER WAY, WE DON’T KNOW.
THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE
THAT HAD TO KNOW WHAT HE WAS
DOING.
DOING. IT WAS TOO PERVASIVE FOR THEM
NOT TO KNOW.
>> HOW WAS IT THAT HE WAS
SENTENCE AND GOT THIS DEAL, THE
IDEA THAT HE WAS ALLOWED TO BE
OUT OF JAIL ON A WORK RELEASE
AND HE WAS BARELY PUNISHED AT
ALL AND THE GIRLS WERE
CLASSIFIED AND WHEN HE WAS
CONVICTED OF WAS PROSTITUTION.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. THEY TREATED THESE GIRLS LIKE
THEY WERE PROSTITUTES EVEN
THOUGH THEY WERE UNDERAGE.
THAT’S ONE OF THE EXCUSES FOR
NOT CHARGING HIM WITH MORE
SERIOUS CRIMES BECAUSE THEY
ACCEPTED MONEY.
ACCEPTED MONEY. IT WAS THEIR FAULT IN THEIR
MINDS THAT THESE GIRLS CAME FROM
VULNERABLE FAMILIES AND BROKEN
HOMES AND SOME WERE PRETTY MUCH
HOMELESS.
HOMELESS. THEY DIDN’T TAKE THESE GIRLS
SERIOUSLY WHICH IN HINDSIGHT
THEY SHOULD HAVE.
A COUPLE OF THEM TOOK THEM TO
COURT AND HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR
THIS FOR 10 YEARS AND HAVE BEEN
PERSISTENT IN FIGHTING FOR
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. >> HOW WELL DID HE KNOW DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. WHEN HE CALLS HIM A FRIEND, IS
THAT A REFLECTION?
>> I THINK THEY WERE FRIENDS,
BUT I DON’T KNOW IF THEY STILL
ARE.
ARE. HE FLEW ON JEFFREY’S PLANE AND
JEFFREY AT TIME BELONGED TO MAR
A LAGO.
A LAGO. TRUMP KICKED HIM OUT BECAUSE HE
HIT ON ONE OF THE MEMBERS’
YOUNGER DAUGHTERS.
YOUNGER DAUGHTERS. I DON’T KNOW HOW FRIENDLY THEY
ARE ANY LONGER, BUT THEY WERE IN
THE SAME SOCIAL CIRCLE.
>> HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO
INTERVIEW OR TALK TO PEOPLE WHO
HAD THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WAY HE
ENDED THIS CASE?
>> JEFF SLOWMAN WAS WHO WAS
DEPUTY HAS BEEN VOCAL IN THE
SUPPORT OF MR. ACOSTA.
HE AGREES THAT A.M.LEX FACED A L
OF PUSH BACK BY EPSTEIN’S
ATTORNEYS AND IN THEIR VIEW, THE
GIRLS AT THE TIME WERE RELUCTANT
TO GO TO TRIAL BECAUSE THEY WERE
SCARED.
SCARED. THEY WERE VERY YOUNG AT 13 OR 14
YEARS OLD.
YEARS OLD. BUT HERE’S WHAT I ALWAYS POINT
OUT TO PEOPLE.
IF THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD DEAL, IF
THIS WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO,
WHY DID YOU SEAL IT AND KEEP IT
SECRET?
SECRET? I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY ANYBODY
HASN’T FORCED HIM TO ANSWER THAT
QUESTION.
QUESTION. THEY SAY WELL, THE GIRLS DIDN’T
WANT TO COOPERATE AND THEIR
STORIES WERE DIFFERENT OR THERE
ARE OTHER REASONS.
BUT OKAY.
BUT OKAY. THEN WHY DID YOU SEAL IT AND
MAKE THEM FIGHT FOR ALMOST A
YEAR, THE GOVERNMENT FOUGHT THEM
AND WOULDN’T EVEN GIVE THEM THE
AGREEMENT.
AGREEMENT. IT’S BAFFLING THAT THEY COULD
JUSTIFY THIS BY SAYING ALL THESE
REASONS, BUT IN REALITY THE
REASON IS THEY KEPT IT FROM
THEM.
THEM. >> IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO
ASK HIM THOSE QUESTIONS.