EFTA02608495

From: J <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2018 12:31 PM To: Noam Chomsky Subject: Re: Great thx. <=iv> On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at=7:20 AM Noam Chomsky wrote: It's a powerful and convinc=ng statement, but my feeling is that it would not be wise to submit it for=publication. Taking the stance of a reader who comes to the matter f=om afresh, perhaps having heard some rumors but knowing nothing, the react=on I suspect will be of the "where there's smoke there's fire=quot; kind. Few are willing to think through the arguments and factu=l details or to try to adjudicate conflicting claims. I've seen =his happen over and over on other matters -- many years of having been acc=sed of Holocaust denial, for example.. Ugly and bitter as it is, I s=spect the best course now is not to stir the pot by raising the issue publ=cly, opening the door to charges and accusations that can no doubt be answ=red in the court of logic and fairness -- but that's not the public do=ain, where innuendo and suspicion and accusation reign. The great work that =ou have been doing speaks for itself. My feeling is that you should =eep at it, and simply develop a thick skin to fend off whatever ugliness b=eaks through now and then, diminishing over time. On Sat, De= 29, 2018 at 8:33 AM I <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> wrote: Im considering submitting this to the oped of t=e wash post id like your thoughts Sweetheart=deal !" So goes the attack on the resolution of the more than a decade=ago federal investigation involving our client Jeffrey Epstein. The =ttack is profoundly misplaced, supported neither by the law nor the facts.=Nor is it supported by the structure of our constitutional republic. To th= contrary, Jeffrey was subjected to an extremely aggressive federal intrusron into what would typically be considered a quintessentially local crimin=l matter in south Florida. The offense investigated=C24,— at its core, sexual favors for hire —40=A0has long been treated as a matter entrusted to laws of the several State=, not the federal government. The conduct — for wh=ch Jeffrey took full responsibility — was a classic=state offense and was treated exactly that way by able, honest prosecutors=in Palm Beach County. Nevertheless, without a request from=the state prosecutors, the federal government intervened. For their =wn opportunistic reasons, many are now criticizing the federal decision-ma=ers at the time, including now-Secretary of labor Alex Acosta (then-United=States Attorney in south Florida), for not going far enough.=u> The critics are wrong on the fac=s and the law. They also ignore a fact going to the heart of fundamental f=irness: In the decade since paying his debt to society, Jeffrey=Epstein has led a life characterized by responsible citizenship, numerous =cts of generosity and good deeds. =/u> EFTA_R1_01801165 EFTA02608495 Here are the true key facts: Jeffrey Epstein, a =uccessful self-made businessman with no prior criminal history whatsoever,=engaged in illegal conduct that amounted to solicitation of prostitut=on. That conduct was wrong and a violation of Florida stat= law. Although no coercion, violence, alcohol, drugs or the like wer= involved, some of the women he paid were under the age of 18. =hose facts were carefully assessed by experienced state sex crime pro=ecutors who aggressively enforce state criminal laws. No one turned = blind eye to potential offenses to the public order. To the contrar=, the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office conducted an extensive fiftee=-month investigation, led by the chief of the Sex Crimes Division. M=. Epstein was then indicted by the state grand jury on a single felony cou=t of solicitation of prostitution. During that intense inv=stigation, the state prosecutors extensively gathered and analyzed th= evidence, met face-to-face with many of the asserted victims, considered =heir credibility — or lack thereof — and considered the ex=ent of exculpatory evidence, including sworn testimony from=many that they lied about being eighteen years old to be allowed into Mr. =pstein's home. After months of negotiations, the state prose=utors believed they had reached a reasoned resolution of the matter that v=ndicated the public interest — a resolution entirely consistent wi=h that of cases involving other similarly-situated defendants. The s=stem worked as it should have. =u> Then, in came the feds. The United States Attorney=ft39;s Office extensively and aggressively investigated whether Mr. Epstein=had engaged in a commercial human trafficking ring, targeted minors, =r used the internet or traveled interstate in the process. But that=E24*s not what this was and that's not what happened= That is precisely why the federal authorities' ultimat= decision to defer prosecution to the state was the right one.=C2* However, the=federally-demanded resolution was not without conditions. The federal pros=cutors insisted on various unorthodox requirements that Mr. Epstein=E2.4es experienced defense team had never seen imposed on any defendant=anywhere. Under the federally-forced deal, Jeffrey was required to re=uest that the state prosecutors demand the imposition of a thirty-month se=tence that included both jail time and the strictest condit=ons of probation: lifetime sex-offender registration. Those draconian meas=res were far more than warranted by the state grand jury's in=ictment and would not have otherwise been required under the previous=y agreed-upon state disposition. As part of this highly unusual deal,=the government required Jeffrey to pay for a highly experienced =roup of attorneys to bring claims against him on behalf of a governme=t list of asserted victims. Jeffrey was required to waive the right to cha=lenge those claims without being provided the asserted victim's id=ntities by the government until after he was incarcerated. Important=y, the feds' decision to decline prosecution in deference to the state=C2Qin exchange for these extraordinary requirements was review=d and approved at the multiple levels of the U.S. Department of Justice.=C2* Jeffrey took full responsibility, complied with the feds=E24040 demands, served his sentence, and in the process was treated exac=ly the same (including his time served) as any other state-incar=erated individuals. His conduct while in custody was exemplary, and =o characterized by the state custodial authorities. Jeffre= Epstein has paid his debt to society. The challenges to his Agreemen= with the Government must also be understood as challenges to the mil=ions Mr. Epstein paid to the asserted victims and their lawyers pursuant t= that agreement. Amongst the beneficiaries of the Epstein-Federal Gov=rnment Agreement were the many victims who collectively received many mill=ons as a result of the conditions imposed on Mr. Epstein that prevented hi= from meaningfully contesting civil liability — moneys that would =e at issue if requests to invalidate the agreement were granted.=/u> 2 EFTA_R1_01801166 EFTA02608496 =ur nation faces vitally important challenges, many involving the treatment=of women and basic human dignity. Voices are rightly being raised sp=aking truth to power, especially about women in the workplace. But J=ffrey's offenses of yesteryear, which were entirely outside of the=workplace, have long since been redressed by the criminal justice system..C2* He fully and faithfully has performed every promise a=d obligation required of him by state and federal authorities. In th= spirit of the bedrock American belief in second chances and fundamental f=irness, that chapter in Jeffrey's otherwise-productive and charit=ble life should be allowed to close once and for all. =/u> <=> conversation-id 317580 date-last-viewed 0 date-received 1546086667 flags 8590195713 remote-id 886193 3 EFTA_R1_01801167 EFTA02608497