← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Mega Edition: Jeffrey Epstein And The Police Department That Exposed Him (3/28/26)
00:41:25
Michael Reiter, the former police chief of Palm Beach, played a decisive and often underappreciated role in initiating the first serious law enforcement response to Jeffrey Epstein. After being alerted to allegations involving a minor, Reiter pushed...
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The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time, scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
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What's up, everyone? And welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to take a look at the deposition of Joseph Ricari, the detective who was in charge of the investigation in Palm beach after the initial claims against Jeffrey Epstein were made. And he goes into detail about how Jeffrey Epstein was recruiting girls and how he was getting them from the local high school. So for all the people out there talking about conspiracy theories, my suggestion is you do yourself a favor and dive into these court documents and learn a thing or two. Alright, so we have Joseph Ricari, who is going to be questioned by Brad Edwards, who is a lawyer for multiple survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and someone that was engaged in a struggle against Epstein for years. And the deposition starts right off with Mr. Ricari speaking. I wanted to speak with everyone related to this home, including Ms. Maxwell. My contact was through Gus attorney Gus Frondsten at the time, who initially had told me that he would make everyone available for an interview. And subsequent conversations later, no one was available for an interview and everybody had an attorney and I was not going to be able to speak with them. Okay. During your investigation, what did you learn in terms of Ghislaine Maxwell's involvement, if any? Pagliuca. Objection to form. And the foundation? Ms. Maxwell, during her research, was found to be Epstein's longtime friend. During the interviews, Ms. Maxwell was involved in seeking girls to perform massages and work at Epstein's home. Pagliuca objected to the form and the foundation. Did you interview? How many girls did you interview that were sought to give or that actually gave massages at Epstein's home. Mr. Pagliucca object to form and the foundation Approximately. PAGLIUCCA Same objection. I would say approximately 30, 30 or 33. Mr. And of the 30 or 33 or so girls, how many had massage experience? Objection to the form and the foundation. The witness I believe two of them may have been. Two of them. Okay. And as we go through this report, you may remember the names, correct? Let me correct myself. I believe only one had Edwards and that was was that one of the similar age to the other girls? PAGLIUCA Objecta form and the foundation no. Okay, the one with massage experience was older. Mr. Pagliucca Objective form and foundation. The correct. The remainder. Of the 30 girls that went to this house for the purpose of massage or recruited for massage, is it my understanding that they had no massage experience? Mr. Pagliuca object to the form and the foundation. Ricari that's correct. Edwards and, and were the majority of those girls that you interviewed over or under the age of 18? Mr. Pagliucca object to the form and the foundation. RICARI the majority were under Mr. Edwards and how was it that Mr. Epstein gained access to that number of underage girls? PAGLIUCA Objective form and the foundation Each of the victims that went to the home were asked to bring their friends to the home. Some complied and some didn't. Okay, so the victim would come to the home and could give a massage and get paid for it, is that right? Mr. Pagliuca objecta form and the foundation Correct. EDWARDS and at the end of the massage, if that victim brought other friends, she would get paid for the recruitment of those friends. Pagliucha objecta form and foundation. Ricari Correct. EDWARDS Additionally, did your investigation reveal that the assistance of Jeffrey Epstein was would call and set up for these girls to come over to the house for the massage? PAGLIUCA Object to form and foundation. Ricari Correct. EDWARDS and as well, certain people that were friends or girlfriends or assistants of Jeffrey Epstein would recruit girls under the pretense of giving a massage. Mr. Pagliuca object to the forum and the foundation. Ricari Correct. EDWARDS Is that what your investigation revealed in terms of the system of getting these girls over to the house? Mr. Pagliucca object to the form and the foundation yes. EDWARDS okay, talking about the massages, when, when these the various girls that you interviewed described the massages, was there a pattern of what occurred during these massages? PAGLIUCCA Object to the form and the foundation yes, there was. EDWARDS okay, describe for me what the pattern was that was told to you by the 30 or so girls that you interviewed. PAGLIUCCA Object to the form and the foundation RICARI Initially, when the when the victims would come into the home and were brought upstairs to provide the massage, Epstein would lay on his massage table where they would start to rub his back and the back of his legs. Epstein would either attempt to fondle the girls or touch the girls inappropriately and, and at which point he would masturbate. And when he was done, he would get up, go wash off while the girl would get dressed and go back downstairs and get paid. Okay, so did you determine that massage was actually a code word for something else? Object to the form and the FOUNDATION when they went to perform a massage, it was for sexual gratification. And when the assistants would call and ask these girls to work, did you learn the term work meant with respect to these girls coming to the house? Objectiform and the foundation Ricari were meant to come and provide Epstein a massage. EDWARDS and massage how often would these massages, based upon your investigation, turn into something sexual? Mr. Pagliucca object to form and the foundation RICARI during the investigation, it was determined that he would have multiple massages during the day. He would have some in the morning and some in the afternoon, sometimes into the evening. EDWARDS alright. And so when you went to speak with the victims, what did these victims say about their experience with Jeffrey? Epstein Object to Form and FOUNDATION RICARI Once they were recruited, they were brought to the home, they were to provide a massage. Some of the victims did not want to be touched. Some of the victims did not want to partake in any of that. So it was, I believe, for a couple of them it was only a one shot deal, but others continued to come. EDWARDS okay, and as you interviewed some of these victims, did you learn that some of these victims also brought additional girls? Pagliuca Objectiform and foundation? EDWARDS so as you're investigating this case, as part of your investigation, you're learning information from these victims and then going to talk to the next person down the line, if you will? PAGLIUCA Objective form and the FOUNDATION correct. EDWARDS and what is the purpose of that? RIKARI to identify further victims and acquire additional information. EDWARDS and in doing that, were you able to corroborate the accuracy of what the first victim told you? Objection to the form and the FOUNDATION correct. EDWARDS okay. And did you learn of Sarah Kellen's involvement with respect to the various girls? Pagliuca Objecta form and foundation RICARI Yes. EDWARDS what was her role? PAGLIUCA Objecta form and foundation. RICARI that is correct. EDWARDS and did you turn all of your files over to either the state attorney's office or the FBI? RICARI that is correct. EDWARDS and through the state's attorney's office, was the information contained within the probable cause affidavit and the incident reports a publicly available document? PAGLIUCA Object to the form and the foundation. RICARI yes. EDWARDS and around the time of your investigation, around the time you ended your investigation and thereafter, were various newspaper articles written about the substance of some of your investigation? RICARI yes. EDWARDS did it become well known to the public that Jeffrey Epstein had recruited high school girls to his house for the purpose of some sexually involved massage? Object to the form and the FOUNDATION that is correct. And in fact, haven't you read many of these newspaper articles? That is correct. That was not a hidden secret from the public beginning in 2006, right? No. Edwards and from your overall investigation, kind of just a big picture, what was the criminal activity, as specific as you can, that you learned that Jeffrey Epstein and others were involved in? PAGLIUCA Objection to form and foundation. RICARI it was sexual battery and lewd and lascivious conduct for under the age of 16. Now remember folks, this is Joseph Ricari giving you his account. This was the lead detective on the case down in Palm beach. And if you wonder where I get my receipts from, well, you have now cracked the case. These court documents are a treasure trove of information, and not just these, but the ones that came previously. EDWARDS and what was the specific system of engaging in this type of activity? Pagliucca Objectiform and foundation. RUKARI as to Edwards, interrupts him from the recruitment to the how did you get them? What did you do? How did you keep it going? Rikari wants the he's interrupted by Pagliuca. Object to the forum and foundation. Sorry? RUKARI no, no. As it became known to us that the victims were recruited, brought to the home, provided the massage was paid, whether there was inappropriate touching, whether there was sexual activity, whether there was actually intercourse. All of that was documented and was asked whether they brought anyone to the home, whether they had any formal training in massage therapy. And once once additional victims were identified, we continued the same, the same method of investigation.
- [11:19]
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The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay Locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time, scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
- [11:49]
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- [12:19]
A
the Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time, scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
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And this is a big hole in Maxwell and Epstein's stupid ass plot. There's no 15 or 16 or 17 year old girl that's giving you the quality of a massage that you'd get from a professional. These people are rich. They have all the money in the world. They could get the best massage therapists going to come over and get them worked on, but that wasn't what they were looking for, is it? Edwards? Okay, and one of the earliest victims in terms of the chronology of the pyramid of girls, for lack of a better word. You understand what I mean by that, right? Mr. Pagliuca object to the form and the foundation. Ricari. Yes, Edwards. That's, there's, there's. One of the earliest victims that you interviewed was Haley Robson, is that right? Pagliuca Objective form and Foundation. Rikari it was actually sg, I think was the first one that was interviewed. And then HR was the one that I interviewed. Edwards. Okay, my question was bad. I know that the first person interviewed that kind of kicked off the investigation was sg, but and just to create a picture of what we have here, this is, and tell me if I characterize it wrong, a scheme that Jeffrey Epstein is engaged in by using assistance to recruit girls. Right? Ricari? Correct. Edwards under the Pagliuca Object to form and Foundation. Edwards under the pretense of giving a massage. PAGLIUCA Object to form and foundation. RICARI Correct. Either a massage and or become a model for Victoria's Secret and or connections. So when you hear people talking about, oh well, they were just hanging around. EPSTEIN that's not that big of a deal. Yes it is. They enabled his bullshit. And anybody saying any different has no idea what they're talking about. EDWARDS and when he was able to get these girls to his home, he would then offer them money to also become recruiters for him. Pagliuca Objectiform and the foundation. RICARI Correct. EDWARDS and that created this, if you mapped it out, kind of a spider web or a pyramid of girls bringing girls to Jeffrey Epstein's house. Pagliucca object to the form and the foundation. Mr. Edwards right. Correct. EDWARDS alright, so when I say one of the first, I mean the top of the pyramid. One of the earliest people that you interviewed that brought girls to Jeffrey Epstein's house was H.R. ricari correct. Pagliuca Objective form and the foundation. And I think that you testified that Molly and Tony drove HR to Jeffrey Epstein's house the first time, right? PAGLIUCCA Object to the form and the foundation. Rukari Correct. EDWARDS did you ever trace all the way up to the highest level to determine who it was that started this particular chain of Palm beach girls coming over to Jeffrey Epstein's home? PAGLIUCA Objective form and foundation? RIKARI I did not. And that's where the document cuts off. But from that little brief exchange, you can see what Rikari is saying here, and you can see just how disgusting Jeffrey Epstein's bullshit was. And this is before we're even talking about the highly publicized cases. These are the high school girls in Palm beach. And if you want to hear it right from the horse's mouth, I think that Detective Ricari and his account here in this deposition is a good place to start, considering this man was the lead investigator on the original case down in Florida. So this was the original investigation that we're talking about. And this mainly had to do with girls from Palm Beach High School. So keep that in mind when you're listening to this or you hear anything from Detective Ricari. Alright, folks, that's gonna do it for this one. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
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What's up everyone? And welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. In this Look Back episode, we're going to hear from former Police Chief Michael Ryder of the Palm Beach Police Department. This article was published by NBC News and it was published on September 20th of 2019. The authors of this piece, Sarah Fitzpatrick and Rich Shapiro. Former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Ryder spent years trying to convince state and and federal prosecutors in Florida to bring serious charges against Jeffrey Epstein. Now the retired lawman wants to tackle a new to persuade lawmakers to take action to prevent the next Jeffrey Epstein from perverting the criminal justice system. Now, Michael Ryder was one of the only good guys, if there were any good guys, if you will, in the whole entire Epstein saga. This guy listened to what these girls said, compiled a whole bunch of evidence and then turned that evidence over to the prosecutors. Now, once the prosecutors have that evidence, it's up to them to do the right thing with it, right? It's up to them to make sure that they get indictments and then after
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they get the indictment, it's up to
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them to make sure that these people are convicted. So they failed the prosecutors in Florida, failed the police officers in Palm beach who worked this case originally. They did great work. The investigators were all over this. They compiled all kinds of evidence. When it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, it was the prosecutors once again who decided not to pursue it. Epstein found every loophole, Ryder told NBC News as part of a months long Dateline investigation. I want some system in the future that this can't happen again. He's not wrong. One of the ongoing conversations we've had about these people, all of them, is how they navigate loopholes, how they navigate technicalities and somehow harness them always to work in their favor. Now I guess that's what they were put into these laws for in the first place, right? So the rich people can navigate them and not get in trouble when they're the ones who get slapped with them. Like we said previously several times, it's like when you have a computer programmer who creates software, they leave themselves a little back door so they can access it, right? Same thing here. They know that the small folk, us are going to be the ones who have to live up to these laws, not them, not their friends. Ryder said he believes the state and federal prosecutors handling of the Epstein case amounts to the worst failure of the criminal justice system in modern times. Look, he's not wrong. It's the reason we're still talking about this right now. It's that impactful, it's that important about how the criminal justice system is conducted moving forward. We need something that provides equitable law for everybody. If you're a girl from the quote unquote other side of the tracks and you Say you were abused by a rich and powerful man and there's evidence to back that up. You should be listened to. And for way too long these guys had all of their loopholes, all of their technicalities, and they were able to navigate the criminal justice system by using those and harnessing the relationships that they
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built with the other so called elite.
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And it amounted to get out of jail free cards. The story begins in March of 2005 when the Palm Beach Police Department received a call from the distraught mother of a 14 year old girl. Now imagine being the cop on the other, the other end of that phone call. Yeah, this is the Palm Beach Police Department, Sergeant Stanton speaking.
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Oh my God. My daughter has been abused by.
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Okay, hold on ma', am, slow down. And then you start processing the details and the name that's being dropped and all of a sudden, you know, right away you have yourself a big problem. Because when rich people are accused of stuff like this, they automatically strike back and there's, you know, problems for the people who bring this stuff up. So I'm sure the cops weren't too happy to hear the name Jeffrey Epstein. But what I will say about the Palm Beach Police Department, they didn't shy away from it. They did their job, they did their duty. The woman Ryder recalled said her underage daughter was having sex with an adult who lives in a mansion in Palm Beach. Palm beach police detectives immediately launched an investigation. Yeah, that's probably the right thing to do. You got some guy living in a mansion and he's having a relationship with a 14 year old girl. It probably a good idea to launch an investigation. And I don't care who that person is in the mansion. I don't care if it is the most famous person in the world. You can't be abusing children. Okay, so the Palm Beach Police Department, they started going hard. And if you know the story well, you know that they really were kicking in some doors and asking some very uncomfortable questions. Do you think it's just a shock, just a coincidence that this got kicked away to the feds and then back
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down to the state level?
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They wanted it to look like, oh yeah, we're going to take action, we're going to kick it up to the feds.
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But really they never had any intention
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of the feds prosecuting this case. They said this is credible, this is believable. Said Ryder, speaking in his first in depth TV interview. Our sense just from sitting in the room with the first survivor, was that this is something we've absolutely got to get On. So right from jump street, the Palm beach police department knew that this was something way bigger. And Michael Ryder, the chief here, he didn't spare any expenses, right?
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He.
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He was all over this. He had his investigators looking into it, chasing down leads and what they uncovered. What they found was terrifying. The interview with the initial young girl led to another and another. I have no problem telling you everything that I know, one of the girls told the police in a videotaped interview obtained by NBC. Another told police that Epstein pulled out this vibrator thing and he pulled down my panties. Now, remember, they only listened to had one girl speak in front of the grand jury. Why? If all of these girls came forward with all of these credible allegations, why only have the one girl speak in front of the grand jury? That does not make sense. The investigators were immediately struck by the consistency of the accounts. Writer said the stories were all the same. He said they all could describe the house in detail. They could describe what happened, and they didn't know each other. It wasn't like all these girls got together and said, all right, we're gonna take down Jeffrey Epstein, the guy who lives in the mansion down the block. Nobody even knew who Epstein really was at this point. He wasn't a celebrity. So that whole line of thinking has always been garbage to me. These were just young kids, high school kids, younger in some cases.
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The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time, scores, breaking news and highlights, lights, all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
- [24:59]
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- [25:27]
A
The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see. For yourself. That's why I stay locked in in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time, scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
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But the detectives also observed that the accounts weren't perfectly aligned. That would have been a red flag that the stories were coordinate were coordinated, Ryder said. The investigators also noting noted something else of significance. Many of the survivors didn't know each other, so there was little chance that they would have come together to concoct false allegations. And that of course was the bedrock of Epstein's defense. Right. This is all fake. Everyone's looking for a payday. I'm like a piggy bank, blah, blah, blah, blah. Within those first few weeks, the investigation was already bearing fruit. We realized this was basically a way of life for Epstein, writer said.
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And it didn't take long to realize
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that a lot of people were involved in this. This was a very prolific sexual predator. Now listen to what the, the chief of police is saying here, okay? And this is what I always tell you to do. Don't listen to me. Don't listen to Joe Schmo who has the other podcast. Listen to what these policemen say. Listen to what these investigators say. Listen to what the survivors say. There were a lot of people that were involved in this. This was a very prolific sexual predator. That's not someone making up a story. That's not some guy who just got involved in the case yesterday. That's Michael Ryder, the man who investigated this as the police chief in Palm beach who blew this shit open. He even knows how much more and how deeper this goes. Detectives pick through Epstein's trash and discovered incriminating messages on scraps of paper documenting phone calls. She is wondering if 2:30 is okay.
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She needs to stay in school.
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Read one. Imagine. And whoever took that note down is another piece of. What do you mean she needs to stay in school? Why are any school age girls calling Jeffrey Epstein in the first place? The note, it was clear to police were about massages and sex, Ryder said. And it, it just wasn't phone messages. Ryder said Epstein had flowers delivered to one of the survivors who was in a performance, a performance at her high school congratulating her at the end of the performance. Now imagine how brazen you must be. This high school age girl that you're sexually abusing. She has this high school performance and you send her flowers. Now I know If I was the dad of that girl, there would be problems, conversations would be had. This dirty son of a bitch was so brazen in his behavior, so brazen in his activity that he would send flowers to a girl after her performance. NBC News has spoken with nearly two dozen women who allege that Epstein didn't operate alone. Ryder said the investigation identified adult women who had sexual contact with underage girls and in some cases performed sexual battery on children. This was a financially successful, smart, capable, well networked and well financed individual who built an organization around him that supported his criminal and enterprise, writer said. Now if you're wondering why I always talk about RICO and how this isn't a RICO case, folks, what more do you need? I mean, honestly and again, this is another reason why I've chosen the format that I have chosen to follow along with these articles. That way everything is uniformed. It's not me making this stuff up, right? Or oh, this is just a guess by me. This is from curating all of these articles and following all of this evidence and listening to what the key players had to say. For me, survivors, lawyers and the law enforcement agents on the ground. Not the jerk offs in the back room, not the acostas of the world, guys like Michael Ryder. And when you listen to what they have to say, it is rather obvious that this was a criminal enterprise that should have been ricoed and everybody involved should have seen a prison cell. But as the months wore on with police building their case, odd things began to happen when detectives armed with a search warrant entered his home with a video camera. What they found made them suspect he had been tipped off the place had been cleaned up, Ryder said it wasn't completely devoid of evidence, but a computer that contained all of the home surveillance camera footage was gone and all the wires were left hanging there, Ryder said. So they did a dump and pump, came in, ripped everything out real quick, all of the monitoring equipment because somebody in the government tipped them off. One of their buddies. But nah, Jeffrey Epstein wasn't connected. He wasn't an asset. After six months of investigation, Ryder said the local police department noticed a shift in attitude from the state prosecutors. Ryder said the prosecutors told him the witnesses were not credible. The prosecutors, Ryder said, suddenly seemed dismissive of the case and were uncooperative in approving critical investigative techniques that hindered the Palm Beach Police Department's investigation. No shit. No shit. They were. These guys were working behind the scenes with Epstein's lawyers to make sure this went nowhere or at the very least make sure Epstein got Just a little smack on the ass. No real jail time. 13 months in a stockade.
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Are you kidding me right now?
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I've had punishments from my parents that were worse than that. Epstein, who had a massive bankroll and extensive connections, had assembled a high powered team of lawyers, including Kenneth Starr, Alan Dershowitz, Jack Goldberger, and Jay Lefkowitz. Around this time, Ryder said, the investigation took another strange turn. Epstein's defense team seemed to know details about the probe before they were made public. Whoa, what do you know? Just take your pick from Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz, Jack Goldberger, or Jay Lefkowitz about who could have manipulated their influence, their relationships behind the scenes to turn it into something like this. Folks, we talk about it all the time. When you go to Harvard and you get your law degree and then you're practicing law, people aren't really paying you because you went to Harvard per se. They're paying you because now you have access to all of the other scoundrels who went to Harvard.
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So you have inside connections.
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You have access, and that's what you're paying for. When you get a high profile lawyer, your lawyers are going out to eat and dinner and who knows what else with these prosecutors down here in Florida at least and at the federal level, when we're talking about Mukase and the others, and then we wonder why Epstein doesn't get punished like the rest of us would. How many of you gotten an invite to go play around the 18 with insert federal official here? We believe that the content of our probable cause affidavit, eventually, sometime after we presented it to the state's attorney's office, ended up with the defense attorneys, Rider said, because minute details that nobody else knew that were in those documents were being refuted and contrary information provided by the defense. This, Ryder said, never happened to me before in my career. And this is a guy again. He's in Palm beach dealing with rich, powerful people. Never in his life has he dealt with something like this. However. But no, continue to tell me that Epstein wasn't getting hooked up, that nobody was there and helping him make sure that the walls don't fall in, and then tell me that this wasn't a RICO case. Ryder was so frustrated that he took the unusual step of asking the state attorney, Barry Krisher, to remove himself from the case, citing the office. Highly unusual treatment of the investigation. When that didn't work, the police chief turned his evidence over to the FBI. And you would think, right, the G men are coming. This is awesome. All Right, Perfect. The FBI, they're gonna save the day. And look, don't get it twisted again, folks. I'm not talking about your average agent that's working his tail off or her
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tail off to try and keep us safe.
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There's a lot of those people that are going after some horrible fucking criminals. My problem isn't with them. My problem is with the command structure, the bureaucracy that runs this whole entire monolith. They look at us like we're just numbers, like we don't matter as far as, you know, the citizens of this country. And they feel like they've been given the. The charter to do as they wish. And how many times do we see good agents like, or good cops, in this instance like Mike. Mike Ryder, get screwed by prosecutors and these federal minions at the Department of Justice? Those are the people I have a problem with, not the rank and file. And they said, this is an easy case. This is a horrific situation. We'll put him away for the rest of his life. Ryder recalled. That's what the U.S. attorney, Assistant U.S. attorney told us as well. But Reiter's renewed enthusiasm didn't last long. In time, it became clear that the federal probe was stalling. Though he believes the FBI agents were invested in the case, Ryder arranged to meet face to face with the prosecutor in charge of the case, US Attorney Alex I have no spine. Bitch ass Acosta. Acosta would go on to be named U.S. labor Secretary under President Donald Trump. Another brilliant move by old Trumpy, huh? Alex Acosta. I mean, you don't have this conversation with him, and then even if you do, you still go through with it. There's not a better person in the whole entire country that could have been Labor Secretary, huh?
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But I have to say this.
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I'm thankful that Trump, in a weird way, put him there. Because if Alex Acosta wasn't in this position, and there weren't, you know, a bit of politicism happening around this, we probably would have never had the second arrest of Epstein, because would Julie Brown really been as interested if this didn't have the political bend to it, if it wasn't a Trump appointee? Again, maybe, I don't know, we can't tell one way or the other. The future was what it was. But I have a funny feeling that if it wasn't for Trump appointing Alex Acosta as Labor Secretary, in a weird way, we would have never been at the point we are now. The conversation, Ryder said, did not get off to a promising start. He basically said in a very measured Manner that the defense in the case has successfully delayed and frustrated their investigation and their prosecution of the case, Ryder said. So when's the last time the federal government has been frustrated and had their case delayed? Zero chance. It doesn't happen unless they want it to happen. But Ryder left Acosta's office hoping for the best after the prosecutor told him they were moving forward with the investigation. I left that meeting thinking this guy hopefully is going to do his job, ryder said. It didn't turn out the way Ryder had hoped. In 2007, Acosta made the decision not to charge Epstein in federal court. Instead, he sent the case back to the local prosecutors. Now again, I don't think this was Acosta on his own. You can't make this decision as a mid level bureaucrat. This was a decision that was made on high and Acosta was just the trigger man. Ryder was crushed. The same office that seemingly refused to pursue Epstein aggressively was now back in charge. And again, you could say, oh, this is a coincidence. It's just, you know, the way things happen sometimes. But there sure are a lot of coincidences around Jeffrey Epstein, isn't there? The cameras, the missing emails, all of this nonsense. At what point is it not coincidence and is it just what it is? Acosta agreed to sign a non prosecution deal that ended the federal sex crimes investigation and spared Epstein the prospect of serving several years in prison. Instead, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges for soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 13 months at Palm Beach County Jail. Epstein was also required to register as a sex offender and pay his restitution to his survivors. Eh, didn't have to register in New Mexico, huh? I've never seen anything like it. Ryder said it was extremely unusual and disappointing. Ryder said he believes the result would have been different had the victims been underage boys. That would have shocked the senses more. Ryder said somehow this hits in a different place, that they were young women on the way to being women. And he's not really wrong about that. How many people have set these girls up as prostitutes? Or why do they keep coming back the brain dead narrative that they wanted this to happen? You know, the same folks that will say, oh well, she was wearing a miniskirt. So way more nuanced than that. When you have all of the different things that went in to grooming these girls and normalizing all of this, it's a whole different ball game. But he's not wrong. Boys would have really shocked the emotions and shocked the senses. Epstein was released from jail in the summer of 2009. The case seen behind him until 2018 was when the Miami Herald published an expose highlighting the government's kid glove treating of a man accused of preying on dozens of underage girls. Acosta defended the way his office handled what he described as a complicated case. We believe we proceeded appropriately, acosta said during a July 2019 press conference. We did what we did because we wanted to see Epstein go to jail. So you mean to tell me the federal government couldn't have done that if you really wanted to see and again, let me back up, you might want to see him go to jail. We want to see him go to prison. Okay? And you not running the federal charges, you and your bosses taking the step back that made sure that Epstein was never going to federal prison. But Acosta resigned as oh, excuse me. Acosta defended the way his office handled what he described as a complicated case. We believed we proceeded appropriately, acosta said during a July 2019 press conference. We did what we did because we wanted to see Epstein go to jail. But Acosta resigned as labor secretary two days later amid mounting criticism. Krisher, the former state attorney, didn't return a request for comment from MDC News, but he released a statement in July defending his office and pushing back against Acosta, suggesting that state prosecutors were driving the case. Nobody wants to take responsibility ever. Right? It's always somebody else's fault. It's always someone else who did something wrong. In reality, the feds up and the state up.
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Acosta was truly concerned with the state's case and felt he had to rescue the matter, he would have moved Forward with the 53 page indictment that his own office once drafted, Krisher said. Epstein was arrested on fresh charges in July. New York federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking and conspiracy in a case that featured similar allegations to those a decade earlier. Never far enough, right? How, again, how isn't this rico, considering not what I said to you, but what Michael Ryder laid out to you just previously in this article? Epstein pleaded not guilty, but he committed suicide in his federal jail cell last month. The death left Ryder thinking about the survivors and their lost chance to see him held accountable. I feel so badly for the survivors, ryder said. I realize that there's a catharsis in confronting Epstein and they'll never have that opportunity. Buddy hopes that the entirety of the case will lead to systemic change. The criminal justice system needs to learn from this and make sure it can't happen again, said Ryder, who still lives in Palm beach, where he runs a security consulting firm. Ryder wants to see legislation that bars minors from being labeled as prostitutes in the justice system. He also called on Florida lawmakers to close loopholes that allow people like Epstein to get away with misdemeanors for child sex crimes. I mean, is he wrong? Does a, does a cop, a former cop, have to call for this? Why wouldn't our politicians, the ones who make the laws do it, do it themselves? Oh, they're the ones who put this law on the books. Oh, that's right. If you look at the first dozen victims and their accounts of what happened to them, it's clear to me he was coached by a lawyer on how to only commit a misdemeanor, rider said. If you're a member of the legislature and you're listening to this right now, fix this. It needs to be fixed. And I'm guessing that lawyer I don't have proof of this, but I'm guessing it was Darren Endyke. Ryder also delivered a message to all of those girls whose lives were upended by a middle aged sexual predator with endless resources available to him. I don't have any contact with the survivors and if they're listening now, I'm embarrassed for the way the criminal justice system treated them back then in Florida, ryder said. But I want them to know that not every part of the system failed them. We did our job in Palm beach and at the Palm Beach Police Department and everything that happens here should lead to in the future, if any of these things happen again to some other victim, that the system won't fail them. And I'd like to believe that. But man, I have a hard time believing it. Folks. I am very cynical about our justice system, as you all know, and the more I see, the more cynical I become. So while I hope that Michael Rider's plea will find its way to the ears of our legislators, for some reason I still have my doubts. If you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B B Y C A P U C c I@protonmail.com youm can also find me on Twitter obby Cap Ucci. The link that we discussed can be found in the description box. Tyler redick here from 2311 Racing. Another checkered flag for the books. Time to celebrate with Chumba. Jump in@chumbacasino.com let's Chumba no purchase necessary. BTW Group void where prohibited by law. CTNC 21 sponsored by Chumba Casino.
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