A Free Man | 1

Summary

The Mysterious Mr. Epstein

Podcast: The Mysterious Mr. Epstein
Episode: 1 – A Free Man
Host: Lindsey Graham
Date: October 1, 2019

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Episode Overview

The debut episode of The Mysterious Mr. Epstein investigates how Jeffrey Epstein—a man now widely recognized for sexual predation, fraud, and coercion—managed to evade real justice for so long despite countless allegations and evidence. The episode meticulously traces the origins of the Palm Beach police investigation, the failure of multiple justice systems to hold Epstein accountable, and the dogged reporting that ultimately brought the case again to national attention. Through interviews, legal analysis, and narrative storytelling, the show peels back the layers of Epstein’s protection and privilege, setting the stage for the rest of the series.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The First Known Victim Comes Forward ([00:00]–[04:03])

• The episode opens with the story of a 14-year-old girl from Royal Palm Beach High School lured to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion for what she believes is a massage job, orchestrated by a peer, Hayley Robson.
• Details highlight the class divide between West Palm Beach and the ultra-wealthy enclave of Palm Beach, where Epstein resides.
• The girl is instructed by Hayley to lie about her age ("If Jeff asks your age, tell him you're 18").
• The encounter is coercive. Epstein pays $300 and instructs her to keep everything secret.
• Rumors at school and a subsequent fight lead to the girl's parents discovering the abuse and reporting it to police.
• The investigation begins: police immediately suspect Epstein, based on the girl's description, and he is identified in a photo lineup.
• This marks the first victim interview that sets off a wider investigation by the Palm Beach Police Department.

2. From Accusation to Inaction: Power, Wealth, and Immunity ([04:03]–[20:45])

• In parallel to these crimes, Epstein is seen in New York society, apparently untroubled and surrounded by wealthy peers, notably Ghislaine Maxwell.
• The podcast flashes forward to 2017, when Alexander Acosta, up for Secretary of Labor, is questioned about the sweetheart plea deal he gave Epstein a decade earlier ([07:34]).
  • Senator Tim Kaine presses Acosta on why he failed to indict, highlighting the lack of federal charges when first presented with evidence ([08:08]).
  • Acosta claims the decision not to indict wasn't solely his, but avoids details.
• The Miami Herald's Julie K. Brown and editor Casey Frank are introduced; they spearhead an investigation into Epstein once Acosta’s role becomes publicly scrutinized ([09:56]).
  • Brown operates her reporting like a "cold case squad," determined to find the victims ignored by the justice system ([10:23] Casey Frank).
  • Brown and Frank eventually track down and convince several victims to go on record, uncovering up to 80 women who allege abuse ([10:53]).
• Chief Michael Reiter (Palm Beach Police) is pivotal. Initially reluctant to go on record, he’s convinced to speak candidly about how the prosecution faltered due to pressure and influence ([12:09]).

3. The Palm Beach Investigation: Evidence vs. Influence ([14:27]–[21:51])

• In 2005, police gather extensive physical evidence linking Epstein to the abuse—notes, photos of minors, sexually explicit materials, and documentation showing appointments ([14:27]).
• Hayley Robson is identified as a "recruiter," paid to bring new girls—"the younger, the better" ([14:55]).
• Virginia Roberts (one of the girls) later describes the training and expectation of subservience ([15:54] quote).
  • "The training started immediately ... everything down to how to give a blowjob, how to be quiet, be subservient..." – [Virginia Roberts, 15:54]
• Despite the volume of evidence, the local State Attorney offers Epstein a lenient deal: probation and no charges ([17:20]).
• Incensed, Reiter contacts the FBI, which compiles a 53-page federal indictment. Epstein could have faced life in prison.
• However, Epstein's defense team leverages connections at the highest levels of the Department of Justice to undermine the case ([20:45] Casey Frank).
  • "Mr. Epstein's legal team, they had contacts at the highest levels of the Justice Department... and that's precisely what they did at the time." – [Casey Frank, 20:45]

4. The “Sweetheart Deal” & Its Aftermath ([21:51]–[30:26])

• Epstein's attorneys—including Alan Dershowitz, Jay Lefkowitz, and Kenneth Starr—pressure Acosta for a secret non-prosecution agreement ([21:14]).
• The deal: Epstein and potential co-conspirators receive broad immunity from federal crimes. Most scandalously, victims are not notified ([24:00]).
  • "There are very serious lingering questions about what exactly prompted Alexander Acosta ... and especially why he would agree to keep that agreement secret from the victims." – [Casey Frank, 25:08]
• In June 2008, Epstein pleads guilty to reduced state-level charges: solicitation of prostitution and solicitation with a minor. He is sentenced to 18 months in a county facility—but receives privileges unheard of for such crimes.
• He is allowed work release: leaving jail up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, guarded by off-duty deputies his foundation paid for, and even visited his mansion ([26:42]).
• After serving only 13 months, he is released, with few in the public knowing the full story.

5. The Miami Herald Investigation: Accountability and Consequence ([29:55]–[34:20])

• In 2018, after two years of digging, Julie K. Brown publishes "Perversion of Justice," a three-part exposé revealing the secret deals and giving voice to dozens of victims.
  • Despite initial low web traffic, the series skyrockets in prominence, ultimately bringing national attention and legal consequences ([30:26]).
• Congressional hearings resume; Rep. Catherine Clark grills Acosta about his handling of the Epstein case ([31:15]).
  • "Epstein and his friends destroyed these girls' lives. Senator Ben Sasse called Mr. Epstein a monster. Would you say that's a fair characterization?" – [Julie K. Brown quoting Sasse, 31:15]
• Spurred by public outrage and the Herald's reporting, Epstein is arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges ([32:14]).
  • "Today, we announce the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein." – [Jeff Berman, 32:14]

6. Fallout and Ongoing Mysteries ([33:05]–end)

• Acosta resigns under mounting pressure ([33:18]).
  • "I told him that I thought the right thing was to step aside." – [Alexander Acosta, 33:18]
  • Trump claims not to have spoken to Epstein for over 15 years: "I wasn't a big fan of Jeffrey Epstein, that I can tell you." – [Donald Trump, 34:04]
• Casey Frank credits Julie Brown’s relentless reporting: "There's no way that Mr. Acosta would have lost his job. None of this would have happened if not for the work of Julie Brown." – [Casey Frank, 34:15]
• The episode closes by emphasizing that Epstein’s story—and the full breadth of his enablers and methods—remains only partially revealed, promising further revelations in future episodes ([34:33]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You're just thrown into a world that you don't understand and you're screaming on the inside and you don't know how to let it come out." – [Virginia Roberts, 04:03]
• "The training started immediately ... it was everything down to how to give a blowjob, how to be quiet, be subservient..." – [Virginia Roberts, 15:54]
• "Mr. Epstein's legal team, they had contacts at the highest levels of the Justice Department ... that's precisely what they did at the time." – [Casey Frank, 20:45]
• "If somebody were to say that we can't run this story and I felt it was a story, I would quit and I meant it." – [Casey Frank, 12:09]
• "There's no such thing as child prostitution under federal law, only child sex trafficking." – [Julie K. Brown, 31:30]
• "There's a lot still to be learned. There's a lot still to be investigated, and we're not done. And anybody who thinks this story is over with is insane." – [Casey Frank, 34:20]

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Key Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | The 14-year-old's first encounter with Epstein | | 04:03 | Virginia Roberts speaks about her experience | | 07:34 | Sen. Tim Kaine questions Acosta at confirmation hearing | | 10:23 | Reporter Julie K. Brown’s investigation begins | | 12:09 | Casey Frank convinces Chief Reiter to speak | | 14:27 | Palm Beach police uncover evidence in Epstein’s mansion | | 15:54 | Virginia Roberts on Epstein’s "training" | | 20:45 | Casey Frank on DOJ pressure to go easy on Epstein | | 21:51 | Attorneys and prosecutors collude for non-prosecution | | 25:08 | Serious questions over Acosta’s motives | | 26:42 | Epstein’s pampered jail sentence and work release | | 29:55 | "Perversion of Justice" published to wide acclaim | | 31:15 | Congressional grilling of Acosta after new revelations | | 32:14 | 2019: Epstein is charged again for sex trafficking | | 33:18 | Acosta resigns | | 34:04 | Trump distances himself from Epstein | | 34:20 | Casey Frank: Story far from over |

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Tone & Language

The episode’s tone is methodical, somber, and resolute. It gives voice to victims and dedicated reporters, while narrating with journalistic rigor. It highlights systemic failures without sensationalizing, using personal stories and legal details to inform and engage listeners.

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Conclusion

Episode 1, “A Free Man,” sets up the Epstein saga as a story not just about one predator, but an entire system of wealth, influence, and cowardice that enabled serial abuse. It details how investigative journalism—particularly the work of Julie K. Brown—finally forced long-overdue accountability, but closes on the ominous note that many questions remain, not least about Epstein’s mysterious fortune and the scope of his network.

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Further episodes will unravel the origins of Epstein’s wealth and delve deeper into the backgrounds of his enablers and accomplices.

Transcript

[Lindsey Graham]

The following episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and may not be suitable for everyone. Please see the episode notes for more information about support services. It starts with a 14 year old girl with $300 in her purse. She's a freshman at Royal Palm Beach High School. She's only been a student there a few months when a girl she knows named Hayley tells her about a way to make some quick cash. Hayley Robson's a little older, the cousin of an ex boyfriend, and she works as a waitress at a local Olive Garden. One Sunday in February 2005, they get into Haley's pickup truck. They drive down Okeechobee Boulevard, which is lined with fast food restaurants, strip malls and liquor stores, and cross the bridge onto the island of Palm Beach. Royal Palm High School is in West Palm Beach. The island of Palm beach, on the other hand, is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States. It's a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth, famous for its multi millionaires and mansions, private clubs like Mar a Lago and the golf courses that line its shores. As Haley and the girl cross the bridge from one world to the other, Haley tells her about the guy she works for. His name is Jeff. Then she adds, if Jeff asks your age, tell him you're 18. They drive down a dead end street and park in front of a two story pink house. Then they walk down the driveway, past a guard house and through the kitchen door. Once inside, the girl is offered a drink and introduced to a woman with blonde hair. And that's when the girl loses track of Hayley. She's led upstairs into a bedroom which has a massage table. The girl will later describe the man who walks in as mid-40s with a long face, bushy eyebrows and silver hair. Take off your clothes, he tells her sternly, and he asks the girl to give him a massage. She's not sure how to react except to do what the man says. When she tries to keep some of her clothes on, the man tells her to take off everything. At the end, the silver haired man hands her $300 and sends her back downstairs where Haley is waiting. After they've left, the girl tells Hayley that the man asked her to give him a massage. I know, haley replies flatly. They go shopping together, then drive back home. Rumors are flying among the students at the high school that girls are being paid to perform sexual favors for a rich man in Palm Beach. A few days after the girl's visit to the mansion, another student at school calls her a whore the name calling turns into a fight, and the fight lands both girls in the assistant principal's office. When the administrator rummages through the girl's purse, she finds $300. At first, the girl won't say where the money came from. But eventually she opens up to her parents. And on March 15, 2005, she and her parents speak with a detective from the Palm Beach Police Department. Slowly, sometimes through tears, the 14 year old tells the detective her story. From the description of the man, the house, and that first name, Jeff, the police think that they may know who the girl is talking about. He's a wealthy guy in Palm Beach. He's even donated money to the Palm Beach Police Department recently to help pay for much needed new equipment. They place a photo of the man in a lineup and the girl points to him right away. Jeffrey Epstein. The police will conduct dozens more interviews like this as the investigation continues. Interviews with other young women and other girls. But this, this is the first. The first time the Palm Beach Police Department will speak with one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims. And more women will speak in the years to come.

[Virginia Roberts]

You're just thrown into a world that you don't understand and you're screaming on the inside and you don't know how to let it come out.

[Lindsey Graham]

That same night, Jeffrey Epstein is 1200 miles away at a charity benefit inside an old bank building that's been converted into one of the most lavish event spaces in New York City. Rod Stewart is performing in a photo taken that night. Epstein's wearing a double breasted navy jacket, a blue shirt and a gold watch with a black leather band. He has his arm around a woman, pulling her head toward his so that his smirking lips graze her temples. The smiling woman is Ghislaine Maxwell, who Epstein calls his best friend. Epstein is tan and relaxed, and as his eyes meet the camera, he looks like he doesn't have a care in the world. And for a man who firmly believes that his wealth can solve any problem he faces, perhaps he's right not to be worried. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of American Scandal, and this is the mysterious Mr. Epstein. We have breaking news tonight about new

[Senator Tim Kaine]

women coming forward saying Jeffrey Epstein sexually

[Lindsey Graham]

abused them when they were minors.

[Casey Frank]

The man Trump once called a terrific

[Senator Tim Kaine]

guy back behind bars.

[Lindsey Graham]

Breaking news. Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier and accused sex trafficker, is dead. Jeffrey Epstein.

[Julie K. Brown]

Jeffrey Epstein.

[Lindsey Graham]

Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein. Long before Epstein dominated headlines as a sex trafficker of girls and young women, he received a glowing reception in the highest reaches of American society. Epstein formed business relationships with billionaires and amassed a large fortune of his own. Beyond his home in Palm beach, he owned a seven story townhouse in New York City, a private island in the Caribbean, and a 10,000 acre ranch in New Mexico. He cultivated friendships with ex President Bill Clinton and future President Donald Trump. Nobel Prize winners praised him to the press as brilliant and fun, charming and handsome. When Epstein died in a New York jail this summer, he left behind many unanswered questions. This is a six part series that uses original interviews we've conducted and brings together extensive research and reporting to tell the complete story of how the wealthy financier accused of financial and sexual crimes was able to elude justice from his first days as a young man on Wall street until the very end. This is episode one, A Free Man. It's the morning of March 22, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. president Trump has been in office two months and a Senate committee has gathered to question his nominee for Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta. Acosta is in his late 40s, a former U.S. attorney for Southern Florida. He has a receding hairline and a wide mouth, and he's wearing the dark suit that's standard issue for a man appearing before a congressional committee, a committee that holds the fate of his confirmation in its hands. Nearly two hours pass, more or less amicably. Trump has had some controversial cabinet picks, but Acosta is not considered one of them. Until Senator Tim Kaine takes his turn to address Acosta, the committee needs to

[Senator Tim Kaine]

ask about, and I think you're entitled to respond to an article that appeared in the Washington Post online version last night and this morning. Labor nominee Acosta cut deal with billionaire guilty and sex abuse case.

[Lindsey Graham]

The billionaire is Jeffrey Epstein.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

There was once a time before the investigations, before the sexual abuse conviction, when rich and famous men loved to hang around with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire money manager who loved to party. President Trump called Epstein a terrific guy.

[Lindsey Graham]

Senator Kaine asks Acosta why he didn't INDICT EPSTEIN Nearly 10 years ago. Why, when these accusations first surfaced and

[Senator Tim Kaine]

there's an allegation that I just read that you did not pursue a federal indictment even though your staff had advocated that you do so. Is that accurate?

[Alexander Acosta]

That is not accurate. Let me address the and I can't discuss the details of the case, but let me take it. Generally it is pretty typical in prosecution.

[Lindsey Graham]

But Kane keeps pressing. He wants to know why Acosta instead negotiated a sweetheart deal for Epstein without his victims even knowing about It.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

Was that a consensus decision in your office?

[Alexander Acosta]

It was a broadly held decision, yes.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

I'm over my time, Mr. Chair and all.

[Lindsey Graham]

The exchange between the senator and Acosta lasts a little more than seven minutes, and it's the only time Epstein is mentioned in the confirmation hearing. Acosta is confirmed as Secretary of Labor. Back in Florida, a reporter at the Miami Herald has been following the hearing closely as Acosta dodges the questions about Epstein. Julie K. Brown is a longtime reporter at the Herald. She's in her mid-50s and has shoulder length blonde hair. She's equal parts warm and tenacious. When she was starting out as reporter, her nickname was the Slapper because she would ask the same question a dozen times until she got an answer. Brown believes that with Acosta's rise to national prominence, it may be worth digging deeper into exactly how Jeffrey Epstein managed to avoid prosecution back in Florida in the mid 2000s. Brown has the support of her editor, Casey Frank. Frank is a longtime editor at the paper who oversees the investigation department. He has short, graying hair and the tan skin of a lifelong Floridian. They'd recently worked together on a series about the sexual abuse of prisoners.

[Casey Frank]

And this made her interested in the subject of human trafficking and especially sexual trafficking of women. And so that led her to research the case of Jeffrey Epstein. And the more she poked around, the more she decided to approach it. Kind of like a police cold case squad.

[Lindsey Graham]

So Brown begins the long process of tracking down Epstein's victims, most of whom were minors at the time of the incidents.

[Casey Frank]

And she dug in, burrowed in, pulled all sorts of records, but the key was that she was able to identify the victims of Mr. Epstein, who, of course, are not named in court documents. She was able to get some of them to talk to her, which nobody had done.

[Lindsey Graham]

It takes nearly a year, but Brown identifies around 80 women who all say they are Epstein's victims. She can track down about 60 of them, and finally eight of them agreed to talk.

[Casey Frank]

Previously, really, nobody cared what these women had to say. Their insights were ignored as the feds, and then the state made this case go away.

[Lindsey Graham]

Frank says this is the moment when he was sure something would come of her efforts.

[Casey Frank]

When the women started speaking to us, and that took a lot of courage by those women, we knew we had a story and there was no stopping it.

[Lindsey Graham]

They have a story, but one crucial element is still missing. Who knows what really happened? The former Palm beach police chief who gathered the evidence, including 37 victims. Former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter oversaw the investigation into Epstein back in 2005. By the time Julie Brown is working on her story, he's retired. When she tries to interview Reiter about the case, he's not interested in talking. He says the Herald probably won't have the guts to publish the story on the Epstein investigation anyway. Finally, Brown asks her editor to see if he might have better luck. Casey Frank goes to Ryder.

[Casey Frank]

I talked to him and I said, Number one, I've been here 30 odd years and we don't bury stories. Number two, we don't get intimidated by influential people, whether it's Mr. Epstein or anybody else. Number three, if somebody were to say that we can't run this story and I felt it was a story, I would quit and I meant it.

[Lindsey Graham]

Frank's assurances work. The former police chief opens up about the case, and once he starts talking, it turns out Ryder has a lot to say about how the Florida prosecution handled the case against Jeffrey Epstein.

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[Leon Neyfakh]

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[Gracie Kanan]

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[Senator Tim Kaine]

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[Lindsey Graham]

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[Lindsey Graham]

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[Lindsey Graham]

It's spring 2005 when the Palm Beach Police Department first hears about Jeffrey Epstein's assault of the 14 year old student at Royal Palm High. School. Palm beach police Chief Michael Reiter and his officers launch a full investigation and they find a lot of evidence. The officers go through Epstein's troops trash. They find a note with the girl's name on it and a date that matches the date she told police she went to the mansion. The police track down the young recruiter, Hayley Robson, the one who works at the Olive Garden. They learn she makes money by bringing girls to Epstein. She says that Epstein told her the younger the better. They find similarities among the stories they the girls are young, from challenging backgrounds and are usually approached by a friend telling them there's a way they can make some easy money. Each time, the girls are taken to Epstein's Palm beach mansion, brought through the side door into the kitchen and offered something to drink. Then they are led upstairs, past walls crowded with photographs of naked young girls, and into a room with plush carpeting and a memorable pink and green couch. There they meet Jeff for a massage. Jeff escalates the massage into a sexual encounter, offering more money the more the girls are willing to do. One of those girls, Virginia Roberts, would later tell the Miami Herald in a

[Virginia Roberts]

documentary they produced, the training started immediately. I mean, it was everything down to how to give a blowjob, how to be quiet, be subservient, telling you, I want it this way. No, go slower and don't do that and do this.

[Lindsey Graham]

One girl tells police that Epstein raped her, apologized after the fact and gave her $1,000. Under Florida law, the age of consent is 18. It is not legally possible for a 14 or a 16 year old girl to consent to any of these acts with an adult Epstein's age. Paying a minor for these acts is child sex trafficking. At 9:30 in the morning on October 20, 2005, the Palm beach police arrive at Epstein's pink mansion on El Brio Way. They're here to execute a search warrant. They take a video camera with them as they go through the house. As they walk silently from room to room, they point the camera in all directions, zooming in to capture odd details. One of the first things the camera notices is a computer that seems to have its hard drive ripped out. The camera goes up a staircase covered with pink carpeting. It zooms in on a frame black and white shot of intertwined bare limbs. Then it finds a picture of a nude young girl shot from behind, bent over for the camera. The camera finds more nude photos of young women and girls in the next room, then another room and another. Some of the photos are of girls they've interviewed. And these photos hang alongside a very different kind of photo. Epstein posing with famous men, including Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul ii. In the bathrooms, police find soaps shaped like genitalia and sex toys called twin torpedoes. They see the distinctive pink and green couch some of the girls describe from their assaults. And they find notepads with girls phone numbers and appointment times. On the desk in the bedroom, there's a transcript for a student at Royal Palm High School. Jeffrey Epstein learns he's being investigated. In late 2005, he makes a call to a lawyer he knows. Not just any lawyer. Alan Dershowitz is a Harvard Law School professor who's represented many famous and controversial clients, including O.J. simpson. He's famously combative. With the threat of charges looming, Epstein asked Dershowitz to join his defense and Dershowitz agrees. But Epstein doesn't stop there. He assembles a legal team that includes some of the biggest names in the profession, including high powered DC lawyer Jay Lefkowitz and and Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who oversaw the investigation into Bill Clinton. Part of Epstein's lawyer's strategy is simple. Investigate and discredit the teenage accusers. They hire private investigators to follow the victims and their families. They comb through the girls MySpace pages looking for references to drugs and alcohol. To further their side of the case, the police work closely with the Palm Beach State Attorney's office on what the charges against Epstein ought to be. At first, the state prosecutor seems gung ho about bringing Epstein down. But then something changes. Chief Reiter learns that the State Attorney now wants to strike a deal with Epstein. Five years probation, psychiatric evaluation, no criminal record and no jail time. Reiter and his deputies can't believe it. They respond by filing an affidavit that argues there's sufficient cause to charge Epstein with felonies that could mean use years in prison. Ryder delivers the affidavit to the State Attorney's office, attaching a letter that drives the point home. It is regrettable that I am forced to communicate in this manner, but my most recent telephone calls to you have been unanswered and messages remained unreturned. I must urge you to examine the unusual course that your office's handling of this matter has taken and consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases. The affidavit does its job in sinking the plea deal, but it doesn't stop the State Attorney's office from going easy on Epstein. Chief writer is furious. He decides to notify the federal government about the case. He calls the FBI and encourages them to look into Epstein. It works from there. It lands on the desk of the U.S. attorney for Southern Florida, a 38 year old prosecutor named Alex Acosta. Acosta and his team take all the evidence and prepare a 53 page indictment of Epstein on sex trafficking charges. Epstein faces life in prison. But as the Herald's Julie Brown and her editor Casey Frank will later uncover,

[Casey Frank]

Mr. Epstein's legal team, they had contacts at the highest levels of the Justice Department in Washington and they could induce those people to send the word down to the U.S. attorney, Alexander Acosta and his subordinates to go easy on Mr. Epstein. And that's precisely what they did at the time.

[Lindsey Graham]

Acosta is a rising star with a promising career. He'd later say in an interview that he felt his career was at stake. But Dershowitz would brag, we out lawyered him.

[Casey Frank]

Everything was kept on the down low and it was done so deliberately and at the behest of the defense team. How do we know that? Because we obtained the emails and other correspondence between the defense team and the U.S. attorney's office. And it was quite clear that the defense team was pushing the feds harder and harder to do it their way.

[Lindsey Graham]

Bright and early one October morning in 2007, Acosta drives to the West Palm Beach Marriott, 70 miles from the U.S. attorney's office in Miami. He's there to meet one of Epstein's attorneys, Jay Lefkowitz. Lefkowitz and Acosta once worked for the same powerful D.C. law firm. And over breakfast, they discuss a way for Epstein to avoid prosecution entirely. Lefkowitz later writes an email to Acosta documenting what they discussed. Thank you for the commitment you made to me during our October 12th meeting. You assured me that your office would not contact any of the identified individuals, potential witnesses or potential civil claimants, and the respective counsel in this matter. In fact, the Herald will later find an incredible level of cooperation between the prosecutor's office and the legal team of the man they were prosecuting. As his lawyers are battling the charges behind the scenes, Jeffrey Epstein sits down for a rare interview with Philip Weiss, a reporter from New York magazine. Epstein strolls in a half hour late, and the first thing he says to Weiss is, have you managed to talk to many of my friends? Epstein's given him the phone numbers of scientists, Wall street types and media figures who can vouch for him. Do you understand what an extraordinary group of people they are, what they have accomplished in their fields? Wise nods for New York Magazine I want to write a story about a secretive genius. Epstein smiles. Not secretive, private. If I was a genius, I wouldn't be sitting here. It's a story about a guy with sex issues. What do you mean by sex issues? Wow. Never married. You're channeling my mother. The Icarus story Someone who flies too close to the sun, Epstein replies coolly. Did Icarus like massages? In fact, Epstein's love of massages is part of his legal defense. His lawyers tell the prosecutors in an email, and this is a quote, Mr. Epstein is very passionate about massages. The massages are therapeutic and spiritually sound for him. That is why he has had many massages emailed. Arguments like that appear to be working because both sides, it seems, want Epstein to get away with the lightest of wrist slaps. Epstein's lawyers don't want him charged with a sex crime. The line prosecutor in Acosta's office replies that she's been spending some quality time with Title 18 looking for misdemeanors. Epstein's lawyers write back that they're already thinking about the same statutes. Later, Epstein's lawyers decide they don't want his victims or the press appearing at the sentence hearing. Prosecutors have a solution for that too. On an avoid the press note, I can file a charge in District court in Miami which will hopefully cut the press coverage significantly. Do you want to check that out? In the end, Epstein's lawyers get what they're after a non prosecution agreement. Epstein and any alleged co conspirators will get immunity from any federal charges. Most shocking of all, they get assurances that the deal would be completely taken care of before any of the victims are notified. This is not just unusual. It's illegal to make a deal like this without giving the victims a chance to weigh in.

[Casey Frank]

There are very serious lingering questions about what exactly prompted Alexander Acosta, then the U.S. attorney for Southern Florida, to agree to such an odd non prosecution agreement, and especially why he would agree to keep that agreement secret from the victims.

[Lindsey Graham]

In late June 2008, Jeffrey Epstein's lazing around in Little St. Jeff's his 78 acre private island in the U.S. virgin Islands, when he gets a call from his lawyer. The time has come. He spends the weekend packing and flies to Palm beach, leaving behind his 70 person staff and the flamingos that populate his private lagoon. On Monday, Epstein finally has his day in court. But his victims do not. True to his word, Acosta hasn't informed them of the plea agreement. Epstein had faced the prospect of life in federal prison. Now he pleads guilty to one state count of solicitation of prostitution and one count of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

[Casey Frank]

When they allowed Mr. Epstein to plead to two very minor charges, which were basically the equivalent of going down to the red light district and hiring a woman who was on a street corner. And that is not what this is.

[Lindsey Graham]

Jeffrey Epstein is sentenced to 18 months in a Florida jail. But even in his punishment, Epstein will find a way to bend the justice system to his will. In June 2008, Jeffrey Epstein begins his jail term. But he doesn't have to serve it in a prison. Instead, he's under the custody of the sheriff's office in the Palm beach county stockade. On the day of Epstein's sentencing, a captain in the sheriff's department sends an email to his colleagues. Epstein is poorly versed in jail routine and society, and his adjustment to incarceration will most likely be atypical. For the time being, I am authorizing that his cell door be left unlocked and he be given liberal access to the attorney room where a TV will be installed during his plea negotiations. Epstein, with the help of his lawyers, created a brand new charity, the Florida Science Foundation. It has cushy offices in West Palm beach, and Epstein files a request with the sheriff's office for a work release. He claims he needs to be at the foundation's offices Monday through Saturday to fulfill his responsibilities as the head of the foundation, which consists of finding worthy causes to fund. The sheriff's office grants Epstein work release privileges for his entire sentence. He's permitted to leave the jail for up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, chauffeured back and forth by his private driver. Acosta's office catches wind of the work release and complains to the sheriff. Besides the fact that Epstein shouldn't be eligible for work release in the first place because of the charge of soliciting a minor. Acosta's team lays out all the ways. Epstein's employment was clearly a ruse, but the sheriff ignores Acosta's complaints and allows Epstein to continue the work release program. Epstein's foundation pays $128,000 directly to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Department, a tax deductible donation to cover the cost of the plainclothes guards who accompany him most days. During this period, Epstein's allowed to go home to his mansion several times. After serving 13 months of his 18 month sentence, a time when, essentially he only was in jail to sleep at night, Epstein is released. While he does have to register as a sex offender. He moves back into his mansion. He gets back to business within a few years, the arrest and his jail time will be little more than an asterisk. At the time of his jail sentence. Some of these details are known to the public, but many are not and won't be for another decade. Not until the Miami Herald publishes its investigation in 2018. Julie K. Brown tries to interview Epstein numerous times for her story, but he ignores her requests. After nearly two years of reporting, Julie K. Brown's three part series on Epstein's victims and the inside story of his sweetheart deal goes live on the Herald's website on November 28, 2018. The series is called Perversion of Justice. Brown, her editor Casey Frank and their colleagues tracked the article's progress on a digital board in the newsroom, which looks

[Casey Frank]

like almost like a tote board at a racetrack. And the Jeffrey Epstein story was stuck at number two on our traffic board and it was behind the number one story, which was a crazy, absurd little thing about a woman passing gas in a bar and somebody getting upset with her and her pulling a knife on that person.

[Lindsey Graham]

But as cable news and other outlets start talking about the series, it hits number one.

[Casey Frank]

From that point on, it just took off like a rocket and it never really subsided.

[Lindsey Graham]

And the impact of the Herald piece wasn't only measured by readership and website traffic. It's April 3, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. nearly five months since the Herald story was published. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta appears before members of Congress in a House subcommittee hearing. There's a far different future than at his nomination hearing two years earlier. Representative Catherine Clark of Massachusetts lays into Acosta, whose responsibilities as part of the President's cabinet now include combating sex trafficking.

[Julie K. Brown]

Epstein and his friends destroyed these girls lives. Senator ben Sasse called Mr. Epstein a monster. Would you say that's a fair characterization?

[Alexander Acosta]

He engaged in file crimes?

[Casey Frank]

Yes.

[Julie K. Brown]

You're a law professor besides many of your other jobs that you've had. And I'm sure you know there's no such thing as child prostitution under federal law, only child sex trafficking. And each offense under 18 USC 1591 carries a sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison. So logically, Mr. Ebstein, with the investigation of the federal US Attorney's office should have been looking at a potential sentence of 360 years at a minimum. But that's not what happened. Because there was a power dynamic here, wasn't there?

[Lindsey Graham]

And then on July 8, at a press conference in New York City, spurred on by The Herald's reporting.

[Jeff Berman]

Good morning. I'm Jeff Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Today we announce the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein.

[Lindsey Graham]

The U.S. attorney stands beside a poster board with Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot and the words US Versus Jeffrey Epstein.

[Jeff Berman]

Epstein was arrested this past Saturday evening at Teterboro Airport aboard his private jet that had just landed from Paris, France. Epstein was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional center in Manhattan.

[Lindsey Graham]

This time, no one is going to allow Epstein to leave the jail for 12 hours a day.

[Jeff Berman]

The United States Attorney's office will take the position that Epstein should be detained pending trial.

[Lindsey Graham]

Four days after that, beset by more questions about his role in Epstein's non prosecution deal, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta joins President Trump on the White House lawn before Trump boards his helicopter.

[Alexander Acosta]

And as I look forward, I do not think it is right and fair for this administration's Labor Department to have Epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today. And so I called the President this morning. I told him that I thought the right thing was to step aside.

[Lindsey Graham]

How did you accept his resume, Mr. President? Why did he accept his resignation? Why did he accept his falling out? And did his.

[Donald Trump]

Yes, and I did have a falling out a long time ago. Reason doesn't make any difference, frankly. But I haven't spoken to him in probably 15 years or more. I wasn't a big fan of Jeffrey Epstein, that I can tell you.

[Casey Frank]

There's no way that he would have been arrested. There's no way that Mr. Acosta would have lost his job. None of this would have happened if not for the work of Julie Brown.

[Lindsey Graham]

As Epstein finally faces justice, his life comes under more scrutiny than ever.

[Casey Frank]

There's a lot still to be learned. There's a lot still to be investigated, and we're not done. And anybody who thinks this story is over with is insane.

[Lindsey Graham]

The layers of his past will be peeled away, including the mystery of how exactly he managed to achieve his wealth and how he was able to fill up his little black book with the names and numbers of some of the world's most powerful people.

[Virginia Roberts]

A very simple question.

[Lindsey Graham]

Who is Jeffrey Epstein? Who is Jeffrey Epstein, who is in his inner circle and has been for the years?

[Donald Trump]

I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years.

[Virginia Roberts]

The mystery of Jeffrey Epstein's wealth has never been clarified.

[Julie K. Brown]

He started out as a Dalton teacher, right? Teacher at the private school in Manhattan.

[Lindsey Graham]

That's on the next episode of the mysterious Mr. Epstein. From Henri this is episode one of eight of the Mysterious Mr. Epstein. To hear episodes three through eight of the Mysterious Mr. Epstein, listen exclusively with Wondry. Join Wondery for more exclusive binges, early access and ad free listening available in the Wondry app. If you like stories of far reaching scandals, listen and subscribe to my series American Scandal where we tell the stories from the Enron financial fiasco to the Eliot Spitzer drama. You can find it by searching for American Scandal in your favorite podcast app. This story is about power abuse and manipulation. If you'd like to help spread the word, please give us a five star review and tell your friends to subscribe. This series deals with issues of sexual violence. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, reach out for help. In the US you can contact the National Sexual Assault hotline by calling 1-800-656-HOPE that's 1-800-656-467. Or you can chat anonymously with a hotline staffer by messaging the Rape, Abuse and Incest national [e-mail] the Mysterious Mr. Epstein is hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship Sound Design by Derek Behrens. This episode was written by Michael Kanan Meyer. Additional reporting and research by Alyssa Jung Perry and Heather Schrehring. Associate producer is Caleb Bissinger. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman, George Lavender, Marshall Louie and Hernan Lopez. For Wondering.