Whether it’s #TrumpRussia, Biglygate, or the reign of POTUS 45*, we have received continuing legal education in lawfare, as more folks read the Mueller report. #TrumpRussia is filled with timebombs, as we’ll eventually see.
Epstein’s legal ploys were instructive in that many attempts were made to limit future exposure in other jurisdictions since Jeffrey was such a globalist in his procuring underage females. As if there wasn’t enough exposure in a party with him, Trump and 28 women.
Nevertheless Epstein’s lawyers knew that there would be hell to pay once New York and the Feds in the SDNY got onto a badly quashed prosecution of Epstein in Florida.
If the parties had intended for the agreement to bind US Attorneys in other districts, surely the NPA would have said so.
On the other hand, the NPA says, “the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators,” purporting to bind all districts, but likely not binding anyone—if the Southern District of Florida had decided to prosecute Prince Andrew, could he invoke an agreement to which he wasn’t a party?
Plea agreements generally make it clear that the local US Attorney is binding only his own office, and not US Attorneys in other districts. I wondered whether that was optional or mandatory. I found a Department of Justice policy:
- It is important that non-prosecution agreements be drawn in terms that will not bind other federal prosecutors or agencies without their consent. Thus, if practicable, the attorney for the government should explicitly limit the scope of his/her agreement to non-prosecution within his/her district. If such a limitation is not practicable and it can reasonably be anticipated that the agreement may affect prosecution of the person in other districts, the attorney for the government contemplating such an agreement shall communicate the relevant facts to the appropriate United States Attorney and/or Assistant Attorney General. United States Attorneys may not make agreements that prejudice other litigating divisions, without the agreement of all affected divisions. See also JM 9-16.000 et seq. for more information regarding plea agreements.
Epstein had the best criminal-defense lawyers money could buy. You can bet that they knew that the Southern District of Florida could not bind the Southern District of New York without that district’s agreement, and were hoping that Epstein’s political connections (and secreted blackmail tapes?) would protect him from prosecution elsewhere. Not “betting”—this agreement cost their client nothing, and bought him twelve years free of prosecution—but hoping.
That didn’t quite work out.
(h/t Greenbird)