Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest drew national attention, particularly focusing on a deal that allowed him to plead guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida and avoid more serious federal charges. | (Credit: Richard Drew/Associated Press)
…last week a Florida judge dropped a bombshell 150-page transcript related to a 2006 grand jury investigation of Jeffrey Epstein (readers may remember him if not his clients, none of whom it would appear are notable enough to be criminally charged), revealing that prosecutors were aware that Epstein sexually abused underage girls.
As Breanna Morello explains, the transcripts reveal that the deal between Epstein and prosecutors came two years after they learned that Epstein engaged in statutory rape of teenage girls, and resulted in minimal punishments for the billionaire human trafficker. In the end, Epstein was charged with only one count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite evidence of multiple rapes and a pattern of behavior. Thanks to this slap on the wrist which meant he would be free shortly after, Epstein went on to sexually exploit children until his “suicide” in 2019 and made hundreds of millions from child trafficking with countless billionaires and political oligarchs, ferrying them back and forth on his Lolita Express to Epstein island, where countless underage girls were raped by the true ruling class which to this day remains immune from the legal system.
“Details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,”Judge Luis Delgado wrote, adding that the transcript has (further) diminished public perception of the criminal justice system, which in recent months is best known for getting hijacked to serve Biden’s failed crusade to incarcerate Trump before the election. The filings were released after a 2024 Florida law made it legal to do so for transcripts related to Epstein.
As noted above, the 2008 charges boiled down to a count of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, despite investigators’ knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The charge was significantly less severe than the evidence warranted, especially since investigators had knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of behavior, including numerous incidents of rape. The limited charge ignored the full extent of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Florida’s Southern District Attorney, Alex Acosta (Credit: public domain)
The filing, which itself further unveils prosecutorial missteps that enabled Epstein’s later conduct, came years after the lenient, and delayed, sentence was criticized.
“The story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado wrote.
Florida’s Southern District Attorney, Alex Acosta, who served for a period of time as Trump former Secretary of Labor, approved a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2008, despite prosecutors’ knowledge of the rapes. Acosta eventually left the Trump administration in scandal after details emerged outlining his botched prosecution of the prolific trafficker.
Watch the full report below.
🚨JEFFREY EPSTEIN DOCUMENT DUMP🚨
I’ve just read through the entire 2008 Epstein grand jury transcripts.
The details are disturbing including the claims that Epstein raped a teenage girl a day before her 18th birthday.
Why did Alex Acosta cut Epstein this deal?
I discuss: pic.twitter.com/FRKnEoMWeC
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) July 3, 2024