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Early Monday morning, the federal government will begin settlement talks with several alleged sexual abuse victims of billionaire\u00a0Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong>. The mediation is a culmination of a civil case, which was filed back in 2008, which centers around\u00a0how federal prosecutors handled the\u00a0investigation into Epstein\u2019s alleged victimization of underage girls. The case reveals how the feds came to a \u2018sweetheart\u2019 deal with the billionaire reportedly\u00a0ignoring\u00a0the rights of the alleged victims in the process. The recent filings in the case\u00a0also raise legitimate questions about what\u00a0else prosecutors\u00a0would have discovered if the federal investigation had not come to\u00a0an abrupt end with the promise of no prosecution.<\/p>\nFirst some background. In 2007, the feds entered into a secret non-prosecution agreement with the billionaire which ensured that Epstein and his \u2018co-conspirators\u2019\u00a0would not\u00a0be prosecuted\u00a0federally in exchange for Epstein\u2019s guilty plea to state charges.\u00a0Epstein served\u00a013 months in a Florida prison<\/a> and home detention for solicitation and procurement of minors for prostitution \u2014 which many believed was a mere slap on the wrist.<\/p>\n Attorneys for the victims in this case contend their clients\u2019 rights were violated when the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office in the Southern District of Florida\u00a0failed to notify them in a timely matter of this non-prosecution agreement\u00a0\u2014 a deal these alleged victims (called Jane Doe\u2019s in the case to protect their identities) would have objected to vigorously.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government and Epstein conspired to conceal the NPA (non-prosecution agreement) from the victims to prevent them from joining any objection, and to avoid the firestorm of controversy that would have arisen if it had become known that the Government was immunizing a politically-connected billionaire and all of his conspiracies from the prosecutions of hundreds of federal crimes against minor girls,\u201d the plaintiff\u2019s attorneys wrote in a recent filing.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s case was recently back in the spotlight after reports that former President Bill Clinton took at least 26 trips aboard his private jet,\u00a0the \u2018Lolita Express,\u2019 even leaving behind his secret service agents on several occasions,\u00a0according to flight records obtained by Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n As a matter of law, the\u00a0civil\u00a0case centers around\u00a0The Crime Victims\u2019 Rights Act passed in 2004<\/a> which requires\u00a0investigators to notify victims of proceedings, and afford them \u201cthe right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim\u2019s dignity and privacy.\u201d However, maybe more importantly, the case brings\u00a0to light questions about what else would have been\u00a0discovered\u00a0if federal prosecutors had forgone the non-prosecution agreement and continued\u00a0their investigation into the billionaire\u2019s alleged illicit activity. Would\u00a0anyone else have been implicated? What more could investigators have found?<\/p>\n I have spent hours and hours reading through the evidence\u00a0and filings in this civil case. In my opinion, the young women make\u00a0it clear from\u00a0a series of documents\u00a0obtained through discovery\u00a0that the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Southern Florida violated the very spirit of\u00a0the\u00a0federal\u00a0law meant to protect victims. Not only do prosecutors negotiate a\u00a0carefully worded non-prosecution agreement\u00a0with Epstein\u2019s attorneys, they\u00a0apparently don\u2019t notify dozens of his alleged victims\u00a0until after the deal has been signed. When the feds\u00a0did send out notifications in 2008, documents reveal the FBI\u00a0made it\u00a0appear as if\u00a0the investigation was still ongoing, even though they knew full well\u00a0that a deal had been reached with Epstein to end the investigation.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not bad enough, attorneys for the alleged victims also presented evidence that prosecutors worked with\u00a0Epstein\u2019s attorneys to prevent the public disclosure of the non-prosecution agreement.<\/p>\n In my view, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s\u00a0office would never have taken such action in a criminal case if they hadn\u2019t been heavily influenced by Epstein\u2019s slew\u00a0of heavy-hitter attorneys which include\u00a0Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, Roy Black, and Jay Lefkowitz. That\u2019s not to say that Epstein should have been charged \u00a0or would have been found guilty of\u00a0federal crimes. I am simply saying that I have little doubt that\u00a0Epstein\u00a0would have been treated differently if he was just your average middle-aged male pervert.\u00a0 A letter written by the former U.S. Attorney,\u00a0Alexander Acosta<\/strong>, who oversaw the\u00a0investigation, perfectly reveals the intense pressure put on prosecutors by Epstein\u2019s defense team in the case.\u00a0 He\u00a0wrote:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026What followed was a year-long assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors. I use the word assault intentionally, as the defense in this case was more aggressive than any which I, or the prosecutors in my office, and previously encountered..<\/p>\n The defense strategy was not limited to legal issues. Defense counsel investigated individual prosecutors and their families, looking for personal peccadilloes that may provide a basis for disqualification.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In February, the plaintiff\u2019s attorneys, in a motion for summary judgment,\u00a0asked\u00a0a judge to find that federal investigators and prosecutors violated the law. \u00a0 \u201cDespite the responsibilities to the victims, the Government chose instead to side with the man who had victimized them,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n Instead of responding with a motion of their own, the feds agreed to enter into settlement discussions. A sure sign that prosecutors are aware that they could be in for some trouble. \u00a0Those settlement talks begin Monday morning\u00a0at 9:30 am in a federal court room in the Southern District of Florida, and I am told that the public is allowed to sit in for the beginning of the mediation. Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s attorney, Roy Black, is also expected to be in attendance. He declined to comment on this case.<\/p>\n Update 3:45 p.m. 5\/23\/2016<\/p>\n