Document links Jeffrey Epstein’s network to high‑level lawyers, U.S. attorneys and political figures

Friday, March 1, 2019 PERVERSION OF JUSTICE The Virgin Islands Daily News 13 fo. The home of Jeffrey Epstein has a large waterfront footprint in the Town of Palm Beach, not far from President Trump's Mara-Lago. PERVERSION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 the entire block on 71st Street between Fifth and Madison avenues. He also owns a 10,000-acre ranch, named “Zorro,” in New Mexico, a private island called “Little St. James” in the Virgin Islands, the $13 million house in Palm Beach, a Gulfstream jet and, at one point, owned a Boeing 727. He has never been in the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, largely because the maga- zine has never been able to determine the source orthe size of his wealth. He has been dogged by questions about his financial dealings. A former business partner, Steven Hoffenberg, sued him in 2016, clairm- ing that Epstein was the mastermind behinda $500 million Ponzi scheme that Hoffenberg was imprisoned for in 1995. Hoffenberg served 18 years forthe scam, but he later dropped the lawsuit against Epstein. In August, two of Hoffenberg’s former inves- tors rekindled the lawsuit against Epstein, but the case was dropped in October. Epstein and his associate, British-born socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, were alsoaccused in a 2015 federal civil suit of organizing underage sex par- ties on his private plane, nicknamed “The Lolita Express,” and at Epstein’s various homes. Maxwell, who has never been charged with wrongdoing, has denied allegations made in Jeffrey Epstein the lawsuit that she was Epstein’s “madam.” The suit, filed by victim [REDACTED], was settled in 2017. It was Epstein’s contacts with powerful and famous people that first propelled him into the public spotlight. In 2002, he flew former Presi- dent Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Chris Tucker and others to South Africa on his private jet as part of a fact-finding AIDS mission in support of the Clinton Foundation. But Epstein, a Clinton donor who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes, realized that his Demo- cratic connections weren't going to help him in 2006, when the federal prosecutor was Acosta, a conservative Republican appointed during the George W. Bush administration. All-star attomeys Epstein’s tactic: hire the most aggressive and politically connected lawyers that his money could buy. At the top of his list: Kenneth Starr, a Repub- lican icon because of his pursuit of Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, which led to the impeachment (but not conviction) of the president after it was revealed he had sex with a young White House intern. Like Acosta, Starr had worked at the presti- gious law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Epstein also tapped Jay Lefkowitz, also of Kirkland, who worked as a domestic policy adviser and later as a special envoy to North Korea during the George W. Bush presidency. Epstein also hired Bruce Reinhart, then an assistant U.S. attomey in Palm Beach. Fite photo by MIAM! HERALD Reinhart, now a U.S. magistrate, left the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Jan. 1, 2008, and went to work representing Epstein's employees on Jan. 2, 2008, court records show. In 201.1, Reinhart was named in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act lawsuit, which ac- cused him of violating Justice Department policies by switching sides, implying that he leveraged inside information about Ep- stein’s investigation to curry favor with Epstein. Reinhart, in a sworn declaration attached to the Crime Victims’ Rights Act case, denied the allegation, saying he did not participate in Epstein’s criminal case and “never learned any confidential, non-public information about the Epstein matter” The U.S. Attorney’s Office has since disputed that, saying in court papers that he did possess confidential information about the case. Contacted for this story, Reinhart, in an email, said he never represented Epstein — only Epstein’s pilots; his scheduler, Sarah Kellen; and Nadia Marcinkova, described by some victims as Epstein'’s sex slave. Reinhart also pointed out that a complaint filed against him by victims’ lawyer Paul Cassell was dismissed by the Kenneth Starr See PERVERSION, next page HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022210