By Julie K. Brown, July 7, 2019<\/p>\n
Jeffrey Epstein spent a second night in a New York jail cell Sunday, with a federal indictment expected to be unsealed Monday, charging him with sex offenses involving underage girls he and others allegedly trafficked in New York and Florida, sources have told the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n
His Saturday arrest <\/a>capped months of investigating, led by federal agents and prosecutors with the Southern District of New York\u2019s Public Corruption Unit, assisted by investigators with the sex trafficking division. Although details of the case remain undisclosed, there are indications that others involved in his crimes could be charged or named as cooperating witnesses.<\/p>\n Among those potentially on the list: Ghislaine Maxwell, a 57-year-old British socialite and publishing heir who has been accused of working as Epstein\u2019s madam; and Jean-Luc Brunel, who, according to court records, was partners with Epstein in an international modeling company.<\/p>\n Epstein, 66, was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, as he arrived on his private jet from Paris, where he had been vacationing since June 14, aviation records show. About an hour after they picked him up, federal agents arrived at his imposing Manhattan townhouse, breaking down the door to execute search warrants.<\/p>\n Ghislaine Maxwell was sued for slander after calling Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s accusers, a liar. Maxwell, a close associate of Epstein, sought to have documents from the court case remain sealed.<\/p>\n The fact that search warrants were issued shows that federal investigators have new evidence against Epstein beyond the sex cases he was given federal immunity for in Florida in 2008,legal experts told the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t take information from a case in 2002 or 2005 to get a search warrant today; there had to have been something for probable cause that contains evidence of a crime found now, so I\u2019m interested in what that evidence is,\u2019\u2019 said Francey Hakes, a former federal prosecutor who once oversaw the Justice Department\u2019s child exploitation crimes division.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Epstein\u2019s victims, in court filings, have often likened Epstein\u2019s sex operation to an organized crime family, with Epstein and Maxwell at the top, and below them, others who worked as schedulers, recruiters, pilots and bookkeepers.<\/p>\n For her part, Maxwell, whose social circle included such friends as Bill and Hillary Clinton and members of the British Royal family, has been described as using recruiters positioned throughout the world to lure women by promising them modeling assignments, educational opportunities and fashion careers. The pitch was really a ruse to groom them into sex trafficking, it is alleged in court records.<\/p>\n At least one woman, Sarah Ransome, claimed in a lawsuit that Maxwell and Epstein threatened to physically harm her or destroy any chance she would have of a fashion career if she didn\u2019t have sex with them and others.<\/p>\n Maxwell has denied the claim and has never been charged.<\/p>\n Another woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleges she was recruited by Maxwell in 2000 when she was 16 years old. Giuffre was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump\u2019s winter home and resort in Palm Beach at the time, court records show.<\/p>\n Trump, who lived less than a mile from Epstein\u2019s waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, had also been friends with Epstein. Records show that he flew on Epstein\u2019s private jet on occasion and attended parties and social events where he was photographed with Epstein.<\/p>\n Giuffre brought a civil defamation suit against Maxwell in 2015, after the Epstein associate called her a liar. It was settled two years later. But 2,000 pages of the previously sealed case file are expected to be made public in a few weeks<\/a>, the result of litigation by the Miami Herald, and those records could prove damaging to Maxwell and others involved in Epstein\u2019s alleged scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one person most likely in jeopardy is Maxwell because the records that are going to be unsealed have so much evidence against her. She is in a particularly vulnerable position and will have an interest in cooperating, even though she may have missed that opportunity,\u2019\u2019 said lawyer David Boies, who represents Giuffre.<\/p>\n Boies said Brunel could also figure into Epstein\u2019s prosecution because he has in the past offered to cooperate with investigators.<\/p>\n \u201cBrunel has been one of these back-and-forth people for years. We interviewed Brunel more than four years ago and he promised to cooperate and then he didn\u2019t, and he promised and didn\u2019t. He was terrified of Epstein,\u2019\u2019 Boies said.<\/p>\n Giuffre claims that Epstein used the modeling agency, Mc2, to lure underage girls and in court papers said Epstein \u201cdeliberately engaged in a pattern of racketeering that involved luring minor children through Mc2, mostly girls under the age of 17, to engage in sexual play for money.\u201d<\/p>\n Brunel has denied these claims, and says that Epstein was not a business partner or investor in his modeling company.<\/p>\n But Epstein\u2019s arrest could open a window to expose other influential people who knew about or participated in his crimes. The question is what evidence or information does Epstein have against them and how might he use it?<\/p>\n \u201cThis case is being handled by the public corruption unit, and those people don\u2019t typically handle cases involving child exploitation, so there may very well be some bombshells here of other people\u2019s involvement because their role could mean there was some official action that was corrupt or some official acted corrupt in some way,\u2019\u2019 Hakes said.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s first appearance is expected to be brief, with the actual indictment revealing little of substance. More crucial will be a bond hearing later in the week to decide whether Epstein can go free while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n