DOJ-OGR-00023205.tif

Villafafia had raised (defense counsel’s attempt to insert an immigration waiver into the agreement), but Lourie did not comment on the provision promising not to prosecute co- conspirators or ask Villafafia to explain why she believed the provision did not harm the government’s interests. In a subsequent email about the draft NPA, Villafafia asked Lourie for “TaJny other thoughts,” but there is no indication that he provided further input. OPR found no document that suggested Villafafia and Lourie discussed the provision further, or that the other individuals who were copied on Villafafia’s email referencing the provision—her immediate supervisor, the supervisor designated to succeed Lourie as manager of the West Palm Beach office, and Villafafia’s co-counsel—commented on or had substantive discussions about it. Villafafia told OPR that because none of the three supervisors responded to her observation that the non- prosecution provision “doesn’t hurt us,” Villafafia assumed that they agreed with her assessment. Villafafia told OPR that she could not recall a conversation specifically about the provision agreeing not to prosecute “any potential co-conspirators,” but she remembered generally that defense counsel told her Epstein wanted “to make sure that he’s the only one who takes the blame for what happened.” Villafafia told OPR that she and her colleagues believed Epstein’s conduct was his own “dirty little secret.” Villafafia said that press coverage at the time of Epstein’s 2006 arrest did not allege that any of his famous contacts participated in Epstein’s illicit activity and that none of the victims interviewed by the case agents before the NPA was signed told the investigators about sexual activity with any of Epstein’s well-known contacts about whom allegations arose many years later.”°° Villafafia acknowledged that investigators were aware of Epstein’s longtime relationship with a close female friend who was a well-known socialite, but, according to Villafafia, in 2007, they “didn’t have any specific evidence against her.””*? Accordingly, Villafafia believed that the only “co-conspirators” of Epstein who would benefit from the provision were the four female assistants identified by name.”*° Villafafia also told OPR that the focus of the USAO’s investigation was Epstein, and the office was not inclined to prosecute his four assistants if he entered a plea.*4! Because Villafafia was unaware of anyone else who could or would be charged, she perceived no reason to object to a provision promising not to prosecute other, unspecified “co-conspirators.” Villafafia told OPR that given her understanding of the facts at that time, it did not occur to her that the reference to other “potential co-conspirators” might be used to protect any of Epstein’s influential associates. Lourie, who was transitioning to his detail at the Department’s Criminal Division at the time Villafafia forwarded to him the draft NPA containing the non-prosecution provision, told OPR that he did not know how the provision developed and did not recall any discussions about it. 238 Villafafia told OPR that “none of . . . the victims that we spoke with ever talked about any other men being involved in abusing them. It was only Jeffrey Epstein.” 239 The FBI had interviewed one victim who implicated the female friend in Epstein’s conduct, but the conduct involving the then minor did not occur in Florida. 240 The FBI had learned that one of Epstein’s female assistants had engaged in sexual activity with at least one girl in Epstein’s presence; this assistant was one of the named individuals for whom the defense sought the government’s agreement not to prosecute from the outset. Villafafia explained to OPR that this individual was herself believed to also have been at one time a victim. 24 Villafafia told OPR that the USAO had decided that girls who recruited other girls would not be prosecuted. 167 DOJ-OGR-00023205