Sounds like Epstein's original sweetheart deal was a much bigger deal than we knew, with subpoenas going out to his banks and attorneys tracking all of his financial transactions. What was big enough to persuade prosecutors to back off from the investigation? Via Bloomberg News:
New evidence of a money laundering probe into Epstein's financial transactions raises the question as to whether Alex Acosta, who went on to become Trump's labor secretary in his first term, lied to the House Oversight committee last month. (Ha ha, of course he did!)
As you will recall, Acosta was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida who signed off on Epstein's plea deal.
"Acosta told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that he didn’t recall any discussion of 'potential financial crimes' as part of his office’s Epstein investigation," Bloomberg News reports. "Yet the emails and documents from Epstein’s Yahoo account show that prosecutors in his office discussed the financial-crimes component of the investigation with Acosta and copied him on correspondence about it."
"Records obtained as part of the money laundering probe were stored at the US Attorney’s Office in a folder titled, 'Money Laundering,' which contains 'attorney research and handwritten notes,' according to a partial list of the government’s evidence that was filed in a related court proceeding," the report added.
Well, maybe Acosta was just BUSY, what with building his future career. (Now he's on the board at Newsmax.)
Bloomberg reviewed documents and emails from Epstein’s personal Yahoo account that show lead prosecutor Marie Villafaña, then assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, requested grand jury subpoenas in 2007 for "every financial transaction" he had engaged in for the previous four years. Sources say prosecutors also subpoenaed major banks for records about his accounts and financial activity.
Villafaña, who left the federal prosecutor’s office in 2023, declined to comment on the Bloomberg story.
