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The Epstein Chronicles
The Hidden Deals Protecting Epstein’s Powerful Friends (6/25/26)
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Some of Epstein’s accusers reportedly signed confidential pre-litigation settlements with powerful men in Epstein’s orbit whom they accused of misconduct, and those deals included NDAs that keep them from speaking publicly. Members of the House...
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What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. One of the most effective tools that was wielded and used by Jeffrey Epstein and those associated to him was the NDA. And the whole entire point behind the NDA obviously, was to keep things quiet, to make sure that nobody else knew what was going on. And Jeffrey Epstein effectively wielded these NDAs as a shield. And his strategy was very effective. It kept a lot of people from coming forward, and it kept a lot of truth from being known. And now, according to sources, the House Oversight Committee has now started to chew on the idea of hitting some people with subpoenas that might be involved with these NDAs. And remember, criminal court is where NDAs go to die. You're not going to be protected by an NDA in a criminal matter. So if you're accused of sexually assaulting somebody, you can't fall back on the NDA and use that as your, you know, shield. That's not what the NDA is. An NDA just means you can't disclose to the public or anybody else your relationship status with whoever you sign the NDA with. It's not some kind of repellent, if you will, that keeps you clean and free from state or federal charges. That's not what an NDA is. And if somebody's referred for a criminal matter, then the NDA goes directly out the window. The problem is, nobody's been referred criminally. Right. Well, besides Frederick Fakai and Mr. Levine. But besides that, we haven't seen anybody get referred to justice to have a case opened up on him. But up until this point, the Justice Department has shown zero desire to pursue people in a criminal nature. So I don't know if that's going to change because the referral it should. But considering who's running the show over here, I have my doubts. So today's article was published by Politico, and the headline, the Secret Settlements Protecting Jeffrey Epstein's Friends. Oh, there's plenty of those. This article was authored by Jacob Shamzian. Members of the House Oversight Committee have discussed issuing subpoenas to people who could testify about secret settlements between some of Jeffrey Epstein's friends and his accusers. Well, we know for a fact Leon Black is one of them. I think that we can state that definitively. We've heard on record about the NDA that Guzell Ganieva signed and the other girls that were allegedly with Leon Black that they had to sign. So I have no doubt that Leon Black is one of these associates that they're talking about. Some of Epstein's accusers have signed confidential pre litigation settlements with friends of the sex offender whom they have also accused of misconduct, according to three people with direct knowledge of such settlements, including Brad Edwards, an attorney who has represented more than 200 of Epstein's accusers. And remember, the whole entire idea was to make it go away. That's what they wanted to do. They didn't want us to talk about this. They never wanted this to come back up and rear its ugly head. These sons of bitches thought they got away with it. They thought that they had such a great campaign out there that they had people believing that everything's just a bunch of bs. But when you have the documentation that's been released and you have the witness statements that we have, I honestly have to question your integrity or your intelligence if you still can't grasp what was going on. These settlements include non disclosure agreements that prohibit them from speaking publicly about their experiences, Edwards and the other people told Business Insider, part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes Politico. The House Oversight Committee is investigating the Justice Department's handling of its Epstein investigations and it's scheduled to conduct voluntary interviews with associates of Epstein in the coming weeks. Those conversations won't be under oath and participants won't be legally compelled to answer every question. Refer to the episode from yesterday. This is my biggest problem. There's no teeth. There is nothing that is an enforcement mechanism here. So we're getting the runaround and I mean, they couldn't even be courteous enough to give us a reach around while we're getting a run around. None of this should be voluntary. The days for volunteering information have come and gone. These people could have come forward at any time without this whole entire thing blowing up. Right? But remember, they chose not to. They chose to remain quiet and only under great pressure have they come forward. Subpoena could require witnesses to answer questions even if they have signed a non disclosure agreement, though the committee would need the majority support to issue one. A spokesperson for committee Democrats said that its members have discussed issuing the subpoenas. A spokesperson for committee Republicans, which holds the majority, said they are aware of the settlements between Epstein's accusers and his associates and declined to comment further. Yeah, because it's a whitewash. I know people don't want to hear that. I know there's a lot of people out there that are, you know, Republican swing, right. And they don't want to believe that their lawmakers, the people they respect, the people they voted for would be this insidious. But they are. Look, these people are completely captured by Donald Trump and the vast majority of them do not have the courage to go against the grain. So instead they'll just continue to break dance through a minefield so that they can please Donald Trump because they know the backlash that's coming their way if they don't look at the message that's been sent. So I doubt these Republicans are going to grow a backbone anytime soon and stand up to Donald Trump when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. It's unclear how many Epstein accusers signed pre litigation settlements and with how many of his associates. No public records for them exist. One person told Business Insider they had direct knowledge of settlements with four of Epstein's friends who were accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women between them. The person said the women accused those men of coercing them into non consensual and abusive sexual encounters. Well, there's a whole lot of that going on, and a whole lot of people in Jeffrey Epstein's world were engaging in that, whether with girls that were provided or introduced to them by Jeffrey Epstein or otherwise. When I tell you about fellow travelers, that's what I mean. How many of you hang out with people that you don't have in common with? Not very many, right? Maybe like, you know, your spouse's best friend's husband that you're forced to go to, you know, a wine tasting with. You don't really care for them. Okay, great. But the vast majority of times you're gonna hang out with people that you have stuff in common with, people that, you know, you enjoy their company, their conversation, and you guys have interests that you share in common. A settlement isn't necessarily an indication of wrongdoing. No, we're just paying out money because, you know, why not? That's what rich people do. They don't just crush people in court, they pay out money. Like, what planet are we on? When's the last time a rich person reached into their pocket just to hand out some money? While parties can use settlements to resolve civil legal claims, they do not have the power to block criminal proceedings. That's true. And that's why I tell you that criminal court is where the NDAs go to die the second it becomes a criminal matter. That NDA doesn't mean the House Oversight Committee raised the issue of secret settlements. In an interview with Bill Gates earlier this month, a Republican staffer asked the former Microsoft CEO if he had secured a settlement in connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Ghislaine Maxwell or any of their victims. According to a transcript made public on Tuesday, Gates said he had not well, that's cool. I guess we can just believe Bill Gates, right? Another paragon of truth. The existence of these settlements came into the spotlight because of a court filing by Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in grooming and recruiting girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. In December, Maxwell filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a last ditch attempt to get out of prison after the U S. Supreme Court rejected her appeal. Her Filing cited a 2024 podcast interview in which Edwards said that his clients could have brought lawsuits against between 10 and and 15 of Epstein's friends. Some of those men signed confidential settlements with the clients over allegations of mistreatment, Edwards said. And now Maxwell has launched another Hail Mary, once again trying to rely on the NPA to get her out of the clink. And if you were wondering why I talk so much about the NPA and why it should be done away with, this is why. But sure, let's talk about and let's continue to spin our wheels in neutral and let these people get away with it. As we continue to waste time on bullshit, salacious nonsense that goes nowhere. There are still people that I personally think should have been exposed, but not at the expense of your client's wishes, Edward said on the interesting Lawyers podcast episode, an interview that had largely flown under the radar. Edward said that in those cases his clients wanted to move on from rather than file a public lawsuit. I'm not a big fan of confidentiality, but it serves a purpose in a certain circumstance and this was the right circumstance, he said on the podcast. Look, it's easy for all of us to say what other people should do, but until you're in that position, I don't think we really have a leg to stand on because we don't know. We don't know the trauma that people have went through. We don't know the financial burden the that has been placed upon people. So when people are signing these NDAs and they get paid out, I kind of understand why right now the selfish part of me, the part that wants justice no matter what, hates that kind of because it keeps everything private. We never get the discovery, we never get to trial, we never get to a point where we really know what's going on. So I've never been a big fan of confidentiality agreements. Maxwell argued in her court filing that these men could equally be considered as co conspirators and that she was denied A fair trial because she would have called those men as witnesses had she known about the settlements. Bullshit. You played a logistical part, Ghislaine Maxwell. Not only were you taking part in the abuse, you were part of the enterprise. You had a leadership role. And that's another RICO predicate, by the way. In an interview with Business Insider, Edwards declined to answer questions about confidential settlements between his clients and Epstein's friends. He said that in general, Epstein had lent out about 50 girls and women to about 30 men from the 90s until his second arrest in 2019. And that sounds about right. Now, I've told you for a long time not to buy into the. That Jeffrey Epstein was like Heidi Flice. That wasn't what he was doing. When he was providing women or girls, there was a purpose. He was trying to gain some inroads, whether ingratiating himself or trying to get some blackmail, some comprom, whatever it might be. Everything was transactional. And if you think Jeffrey Epstein was selling some trim to make some money, you're crazy. That's not what it was about. The money was coming from all of the stealing, you know, laundering money, tax evasion, the whole thing. He wasn't banking dough by running girls. That's not what this dude was. That was just an aspect of it, right? That was just one of the many chambers, the most disturbing chamber, but one of many. And if you look at Jeffrey Epstein and his operation through just that lens, you're not going to understand the full scope of what's going on here. And I think too many people get caught up in this portion of it. And again, look, I get it. It is the most disturbing part, and it's the part where justice is most deserved. But I'll tell you what, take what's deserved and put it in one hand and in the other and see what you have more of. In the end, we have to be realists, right? It's great to think that the whole entire house of cards is going to come tumbling down and everybody's going to be exposed. But that's not reality, unfortunately. Reality is a lot more mundane, a lot more boring. And that's because the money trail doesn't lie. There's no salacious stories. There's no, you know, side quests. The money trail is the money trail, and that's why they've been so reticent to follow it, because they know that. Well, you think the federal government, of all people, doesn't know that they need to follow the dough? Oh, they know some of the men were with multiple of Epstein victims, and some were only with one. He told Business Insider Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Oh, well, I guess Jacob Shamsian has figured it out. And in his next article, he's going to tell you how he doesn't trust the Trump administration and the government. But in this instance, the government's telling the truth. These people can't have it both ways. Either the government's bullshitting you or they're not. Okay, it doesn't matter which political parties in charge. Both sides are going to do everything they can to protect the institutions. His death made more urgent the questions of who else could be held accountable for his crimes. Seven years later, Maxwell is the only other person in Epstein's sex trafficking operation charged by the Justice Department. Well, he calls it a trafficking operation. Where's the proof of that? You have no proof of that. Just like you have no proof that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in jail. Unless, of course, you're going off of what Nicholas Tartaglioni told you. And if you believe that, well, maybe, just maybe, you think that Holden Caulfield is a reliable narrator and Catcher in the Rye. After Epstein's death, the Justice Department examined who else in his orbit may have participated in his sex trafficking operation. The Epstein files show that the FBI identified several potential co conspirators. Aside from Maxwell, most of the other people identified in internal FBI documents as potential co conspirators were also victims, girls or young women who brought others to Epstein. Except for a model recruiting agent, Jean Luc Brunel, whom French authorities charged with rape and who killed himself in jail before trial, no other men in Epstein's vast network have faced criminal charges for sex crimes. When the Justice Department re examined the Epstein investigation last year, it concluded that there wasn't sufficient evidence to investigate uncharged third parties. Well, that turned out to be a lie, because two people have already been referred to the Justice Department for investigation. Epstein frequently kept women and girls around them, hiring them as assistants and masseuses. He offered them financial benefits, job opportunities, and other ways to advance their education as part of a grooming process, according to records released by the Justice Department and testimony from his accusers. He sometimes introduced them to his friends, and those friends sometimes sexually abuse them. Women have alleged in lawsuits, depositions, and interviews with prosecutors, according to court filings and records released by the Justice Department. And it's been the same story for years. How many people have come out and told us the same thing time and time again? And keep in mind the same people want you to move on. I wonder why. Edwards and another person familiar with settlements between Epstein's friends and accusers both said that Epstein would send his victims to friends after the women had been in his orbit for a long time. Had to trust them, had to make sure that they knew their role, right? And that's what Jeffrey Epstein was doing. He groomed these girls, and then he'd send them to have, you know, sexual encounters with these guys, to be abused by these guys. And if they were underage, then Jeffrey Epstein had a hook right away. And not only that, he would have the girls report back anything they might have heard. And then you add the cameras to it, and, well, you see what's going on here. This is a classic honeypot operation. That's what Epstein was up to when we're talking about this portion of it, believe me, he wasn't out here selling girls, bro. Wasn't down on the blade having girls walk the track. He lent out these women to people influential in the world economy and celebrities. One of the people familiar with the settlement said some of the relationships were consensual. Edwards said in the podcast interview, there's no doubt that some were 100%. Jeffrey Epstein liked to muddy the waters, and he liked to keep things confusing. Edward said that in some cases, clients told him, look, I have a relationship with this now very famous or very powerful person, and it's very good. I could call them on my cell phone right now. He never mistreated me. He didn't know what was going on. Some misconduct accusations against Epstein associates have played out in public, and several have have reached large public settlements or resolutions. One Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts, filed a lawsuit against then Prince Andrew in 2021 and Alan Dershowitz in 2019, alleging that Epstein directed her to have sex with both men. Both men denied the allegations and later settled the suits. As part of his settlement, the British royal agreed to make a substantial donation to Robert's charity and recognized her as an established victim of abuse without personally admitting wrongdoing. In Dershowitz case, both parties said the resolution didn't involve any payments, and Robert said she may have had made a mistake in identifying him. And I've told you from the beginning, I think Virginia was just fatigued. I think she had had enough at that point. Wasn't like anything was going to happen. Wasn't like anybody cared back then. I know a lot of people don't want to hear it, but a lot of people didn't give a fuck. A lot of people out here now causing havoc, raising a bunch of chaos, yelling and screaming. Where were you at in 2019? The truth is a lot of people that are interested in this case now didn't care back then, and nobody can say this information wasn't out there. It was. The problem is the legacy media misled you. They had you thinking that this was some vast right wing conspiracy and because of that we lost very important time. We could have really made some inroads if we had all the people that care about this now caring about it back then, there would have been a lot more arrests and things would have been a lot different. But too many people were too busy following along with salacious bullshit that they wanted to be true even though they knew that there was no evidence to back it up. And look, it's not about what you know, it's about what you can prove. And when you're dealing with very powerful people, you have to enter every door that's left open. In court filings, media interviews and a memoir written before her death last year, Roberts named other friends of Epstein with whom she had sex during the time Epstein sexually abused her. She did not sue those men. She should have, but unfortunately Virginia knew that the deck was stacked against her. Always was, always will be. Edwards, who represented Roberts, said her allegations weren't unique. Her experiences in terms of Epstein sending people out to a select group of friends were actually more typical than I think any of us realized in 2009 when Virginia first said it, edwards told Business Insider. Edwards has also represented a model in a lawsuit against the psychiatrist and investor Henry Jarecki. The woman, who used a Jane Doe pseudonym, alleged that she was abused by Epstein and that Epstein introduced her to Jarecki, who raped her and treated her as his modern day slave. Jarecki denied the allegations. The woman withdrew the lawsuit ten months later. In statements at the time, she said she believed Jarecki did not mean me any harm and Jarecki said he never engaged in any abusive conduct with the complainant or any other person. Dr. Jarecki has for some time been suffering from advanced dementia and is non communicative, a spokesperson for his business office, Falconwood Corporation, told Business Insider. Prior to the onset of his illness, Dr. Jarecki privately expressed deep regret over any association with Jeffrey Epstein. Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, paid $62.5 million to the US Virgin Islands as part of a January 2023 settlement to resolve the government's legal claims related to Jeffrey Epstein, whether known or unknown. Now why would you do that if you're innocent. Don't you fight that. I know. Records released by the Justice Department show that following Epstein's death, federal and local prosecutors in Manhattan examined sexual assault allegations against Black, who sent EPSTEIN More than 150 million for what Black has said was tax advice. Neither office brought criminal charges against Black, who was denied wrongdoing related to Epstein. So we're talking about what, a quarter billion dollars in total. This Leon Black is ponied up due to Epstein, but sure, he has nothing to hide. Give me a break, dude. Come on. $250 million. That is an eye popping amount of money, even for a guy like Leon Black. Other allegations against Epstein associates have become public through interviews already conducted by the House Oversight Committee. Sarah Kellen, a client of Edwards. That's crazy to even say. Remember all the stuff Brad Edwards had to say about Sarah Kellen for all. All these years? But now she's a client. I guess a payday is a payday. And said that Epstein abused her for years. Told the committee in May that Philip Levine, who later became mayor of Miami beach, sexually assaulted her while she was on a trip with Epstein. And she said Frederick Fakai, the celebrity hairstylist, sexually assaulted her before he introduced her to Epstein. And now both of them have been referred to the Justice Department. So I wonder what's going to come of that. Committee chair Representative James Comer asked the Justice Department in June to investigate Kellen's allegations against lavine and Fakai. Chris Vlasto, a spokesperson for Lavine, told Business Insider that the intimate encounter with Kellen was consensual and her allegations of misconduct are false. Mark Her, a spokesperson for Fakai previously said her allegations were categorically false and that Fakai wasn't aware of Epstein sex trafficking. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens here. I wonder what justice does. Are they going to go against the grain and actually do their job, or are they going to stick with the narrative that there's nothing left to see here and there's nobody to prosecute. A Justice Department spokesperson told Business Insider that prosecutors previously determined that there was no prosecutable case after interviewing Kellen, the DOJ would reevaluate if the committee sent a formal criminal referral with additional evidence of any federal crime. The spokesperson said. How much more evidence do you need? Like, for real? Why don't you just go to the DOJ archive, the vault there and dig around a little bit? With subpoenas, the House Oversight Committee could force people with NDAs to answer questions, said David Rapalo, a former top lawyer on the committee. Lauren Hirsch, the CEO of World Without Exploitation, an organization that has advocated on behalf of Epstein's victims before Congress, said that the committee should use subpoenas to pierce any confidentiality agreements and ensure that those who cause devastating harm are held accountable. Well, what do you know? Wouldn't that be nice? But instead, let's have him come in for a voluntary chat. Did you guys give him some tea? Maybe a foot rub? What a fucking joke. Epstein acquaintances expected to speak to the committee in coming weeks, including Black, Dershowitz and former Barclays CEO Jess Daly, would appear for transcribed interviews, not subpoenaed depositions. As a result, they can legally decline to answer questions, said Rapaolo. The terms and scope of transcribed interviews are often negotiated between lawyers for the interview subject and the committee's majority party, Rapallo said. Translation, the fix is in. Dershowitz told Business Insider he plans to answer every question and welcomes the subpoena. A representative for Black declined to comment. Attorneys for Staley didn't respond. The committee could also issue friendly subpoenas to Epstein's accusers, much like Congress routinely uses to protect corporate whistleblowers who have NDAs. In that case, the committee would likely need the cooperation of the victim. A spokesperson for House Oversight Democrats said the committee would let victims decide whether to appear before the committee. Edwards, the attorney representing Epstein's accusers, said that the vast majority of victims want to move on with their lives because of the media frenzy around the Epstein story. Look, I get it. I'd want to move on, too. But I remember a time when Brad Edwards was begging for this kind of coverage. What's changed? What has changed with Mr. Brad Edwards and what are his motivations? Because the only way this story is ever gonna really break is if people know what's up. And I thought that was the entire goal. But maybe it's not anymore for Brad Edwards. Dude had his payday, right? All these lawyers got a fat bag. He pointed to the ongoing British media interest following a BBC interview in January in which Edwards alleged that one of his clients, when she was a young woman, was sent by Epstein to spend the night with then Prince Andrew at his residence, Royal Lodge, and was given a tour of Buckingham Palace. Representatives for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment. The prime example is Prince Andrew madness, edwards said. There were victims that would have cooperated not only civilly but criminally, and they want nothing to do with it anymore. Because the British press calls me them. Everybody. Well, what did you expect, man? That's what happens if you come forward in a case like this. You're gonna make an allegation against Prince Andrew and then think nobody's gonna cover it or report it or be on it. In the words of Tywin Lannister, madness, rank madness. And I would contend that the more interest, the better. Now, of course, that means there's gonna be crazy people out there that try and contact people that are part of the story. But I think that the only way to get to the bottom of what happened and who was involved is if we expose it all. But here's the truth. If the people who were harmed don't want the story to go any further and they don't want to talk about it, then that's up to them. Nobody can compel them to do so. Remember, they're the ones that have to deal with the repercussions. They're the ones that have to continue to live their life. They're the ones that have to deal with whatever kind of blowback comes. So I completely understand. But at the same time, the only way that we're ever going to hold anybody accountable is if people are pointing fingers and there are actual people to investigate. Right. So what I'm getting from Brad Edwards here is kind of concerning. Is he saying that he wants to move on, too now? Is that what he's basically saying? Oh, well, the media frenzy is too much. It's time to just, you know, move on, not talk about it anymore. Cecilavi, Is that what he's saying? Because I'll tell you what, my answer to him is the same one I have to the Trump Justice Department. Get stuffed. We're not moving on. We want answers, homie. And if you become an impediment, then you're part of the problem. I know you're out here trying to get that bag, you know, defending Sarah Kellen, Vickers and shit, but this whole, like, switch that we see with Brad Edwards as of late is pretty concerning. And I wonder what the motivation is, because my man's tune has certainly changed. So I'm pretty curious to see what the strategy is going to be moving forward for Brad Edwards and his clients. And like usual, we'll be here every step of the way as it all goes down. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.