Epstein Says Suspicious Passport Was to Fend Off Hijackers
Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein once again urged that the accused child sex trafficker be released on bail.
(Bloomberg) -- Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein once again urged that the accused child sex trafficker be released on bail, asking a federal judge not to be swayed by the discovery of a foreign passport in their client’s mansion, with his photo but a different name. Epstein kept the Austrian document on hand in case he was taken hostage in a hijacking, not to deceive authorities, they said.
“Epstein -- an affluent member of the Jewish faith -- acquired the passport in the 1980s, when hijackings were prevalent, in connection to Middle East travel,” they said of the incongruous item in a court filing Tuesday. “The passport was for personal protection in the event of travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnappers, hijackers or terrorists should violent episodes occur.”
They said there is no evidence he ever used the passport, which expired 32 years ago and listed a Saudi residence.
Prosecutors said in their own filing that Epstein’s ability to get hold of such a passport, genuine or forged, “gives rise to the inference that the defendant knows how to obtain false travel documents and/or assume other, foreign identities.” They argued that “adds to the serious risk of flight posed by the defendant.”
In addition to the passport, government agents searching Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse at the time of his arrest on July 6 found 48 loose diamonds, a large diamond ring and more than $70,000 in cash, according to court filings, contents that prosecutors say are “consistent with the capability to leave the jurisdiction at a moment’s notice.”
Epstein, arrested in New Jersey after stepping off his private jet from Paris and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy, will learn on Thursday morning whether he will return to his home or to the jail he now shares with Paul Manafort and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Epstein, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of molesting girls from 2002 to 2005 and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
Epstein has filed a financial-disclosure statement putting his assets at $559 million. Pointing to his wealth, the government has told U.S. District Judge Richard Berman that no conditions would ensure Epstein’s appearance and that the bail terms he has proposed -- a “substantial” bond, a GPS ankle bracelet and confinement to his home under watch by a “trustee” -- would only establish a “gilded cage” from which he could still seek to influence witnesses, as they claim he has as recently as December.
Epstein’s attorneys said the government’s position “thwarts the presumption of innocence” and violates rights including due process and the guarantee of bail.
“To be sure, wealthy defendants do not deserve preferential treatment,” they wrote. “But they certainly shouldn’t be singled out for worse treatment -- in effect categorically disqualified from bail, at least in a presumption case -- on the basis of their net worth.”
Epstein’s finances are “fairly complex,” his lawyers said, and it would be impossible to provide a sufficient summary before a court deadline, which passed at 5 p.m. Tuesday. They asked the judge to accept an initial disclosure and order Epstein to give a more detailed disclosure if he intends to release him.
The lawyers pushed back at the government’s contention that Epstein has no meaningful domestic ties to the U.S. to keep him from fleeing, emphasizing that his brother Mark is a U.S. resident and is prepared to co-sign a release bond in the full amount of his own net worth, which is more than $100 million.
They responded to the judge’s comments about studies that show rates of recidivism increase after 15 years, saying other studies have shown that the risk of relapsing “drops substantially” the longer a person doesn’t commit any sex offenses in the community. They say their client has a “spotless” record going back 14 years.
And they noted that payments the government says were made to potential cooperating witnesses in lawsuits against Epstein were in fact made to longtime friends and employees, who never cooperated with plaintiff’s attorneys, instead invoking their Fifth Amendment rights and declining to testify when deposed. Prosecutors say that’s not true, alleging co-conspirators were paid off.
Prosecutors urged the judge to keep Epstein in jail pending trial, citing allegations that a representative of Epstein ran a parent of an alleged victim off the road, along with the claims of payoffs to potential witnesses and the contents of the safe. They said they are working to get more information about the passport, including how it was obtained and whether it is real or fake.
The case is U.S. v. Epstein, 19-cr-00490, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
--With assistance from Erik Larson, Greg Farrell and Bob Van Voris.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net
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