Epstein civil suits, plea deal, and political donations raise questions about high‑profile allies

Epstetn faces civil lawsuits; more clients may be added > EPSTEIN fom 1A were several other girls brought in 2004 and 2005 to an upstairs room at the home for similar massages and sexual touching. The indictment charged Epstein only with felony so- licitation of prostitution. The state attorney’s office later added the charge of procur ing underage girls for that purpose. Prosecutor lohlavek said of the plea: “I took into consideration the length the trial would. have been and witnesses having to testify” about sometimes embarrassing incidents. Epstein may have made a serious mistake soon after he was charged. He rejected an offer to plead guilty to one LI t of agiotouated socials ojouy: UO nod a3vonpy oO. Spry Surrey jo si IPs a0u X@M 10} S19 Jo weBoid sauleyeq eal jo sreak-¢ welBold-Ajuenem Jeak-¢ ssapnjoul ebeyorg Lanna Be-. cS a 3g }sa! “snfauaq aoupunsuy 1? Yates ¢ uoqadsui oIdoosojo/fensi,, ‘ aSewep/sso] seak-¢ ‘ ‘It’s validation of what we're saying in the civil cases.’ JEFFREY HERMAN Attorney who represents alleged victims, commenting on the plea The judge was skeptical but agreed to it. Epstein’s legal woes don’t end with Monday’ plea. There are four pending fed- eral civil lawsuits and one in state court related to his behavior. At least one woman has sued him in New York, where he owns a_51,000- square-foot Manhattan man- sion. “Its validation of what we're saying in the civil cases,” said Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman,- who repre- sents the alleged victims in the federal lawsuits. West Palm Beach attorney Ted Leopold represents one al- leged victim in a civil suit in state court. He said he antici- pates amending that lawsuit to add “a few other clients” as well. In the criminal case, po- lice went so far as to scour Epstein’s trash and conduct surveillance at Palm Beach ternational Airport, where they watched for his private jet so they would know when he was in town. They con- cluded that Epstein paid girls $200 to $300' each after the massage sessions. ‘Im like a Heidi Fleiss,” Haley Robson, now 22, told pue ediAles aul police about her efforts in (AB0jouyoe} se8-a4-U) recruiting girls for Epstein. ABojouyos) siqelene Au to charge Epstein with un- There was probable cause lawful sex acts with.a minor and lewd and lascivious mo- lestation, police concluded. The state attorney's of. fice said questions about the girls’ credibility led it to take the unprecedented step of presenting the evidence against Epstein to a grand jury, rather than directly charging him. Palm Beach Police Chief - Michael Reiter was furious with State Attorney Barry Krischer, saying in a May 2006 letter that the prosecu- tor should disqualify himself. “I continue to find your office’s treatment of these cases highly unusual,” he wrote. He then asked for and got a federal investigation. Epstein hired a phalanx of high-priced lawyers— includ- ing Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz — and public relations people who questioned Reiter’s com- petence and the victims’ truthfulness. In addition to mansions in Palm Beach arid Manhat- tan, Epstein owns homes in New Mexico and the Virgin Islands. He’s a frequent con- tributor to Democratic Party candidates. He also donated $30 million to Harvard in 2003. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer returned a $50,000 campaign contribu- tion from Epstein after his indictment, then resigned this year during his own sex scandal. And the same Palm Beach Police Department that vigorously investigated Epstein returned his $90,000 donation for the purchase of a firearms simulator, Staff writer Eliot Kleinberg and staff researcher Michelle Quig- ley contributed to this story. © larry_keller@pbpost.com ‘HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021548