EXPLAINED: Sex-trafficking charges against Epstein could rock Trump's cabinet
Former hedge-fund manager Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday on a complaint by the Public Corruption Unit of the Southern District of New York, with an assist from the FBI’s sex trafficking division. The 66-year-old will be arraigned before a federal magistrate Monday on charges he sexually abused and exploited dozens of minor girls between 2002 and 2005, as part of an investigation with consequences that could reach the White House.
“Perhaps now Epstein’s victims will see real justice,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who has pushed for the reopening of the case. “But true accountability is still glaringly absent for Alex Acosta, who approved this serial pedophile’s permissive plea deal. If the DOJ will not adequately review and account for the miscarriage of justice that Acosta authorized, Congress must step in and provide that vigorous oversight.
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” said Trump in a 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein. “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 – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, said in court documents that she was recruited to give him private massages while she was working at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida club. She did not accuse Trump or the Mar-a-Lago staff of being involved in her recruitment.
Attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has denied accusations he dug up dirt on victims in the Florida case and tried to portray the teenagers as unreliable witnesses. Dershowitz and former special counsel Ken Starr — who investigated Clinton for lying about his sexual encounters with White House intern Monica Lewinsky — were among the attorneys who defended Epstein leading up to the 2008 sweetheart deal.
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