The Justice Department has requested that a federal judge keep the names of two Jeffrey Epstein associates confidential, citing privacy concerns, according to NBC News.
The two individuals reportedly received a total of $350,000 from Epstein in 2018, just days after the Miami Herald began releasing a series of stories where victims condemned his 2008 Florida plea deal.
NBC News had previously asked U.S. District Judge Richard Berman to unseal the names, which were included in a July 2019 memorandum filed by prosecutors. The outlet argued the information should be made public since Epstein is dead and the criminal proceedings have concluded.
In a response Friday, Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated: “Individual-1 and Individual-2 are uncharged third parties who have not waived their privacy interests; indeed, both Individual-1 and Individual-2 have expressly objected to the unsealing of their names and personal identifying information in the July 2019 Letter.”
Court filings show Epstein “wired $100,000 from a trust account he controlled, to an individual named as [REDACTED] a potential co-conspirator — and for whom Epstein obtained protection in — the NPA [nonprosecution agreement]” on November 30, 2018.
The documents also reveal that “just three days later, on or about December 3, 2018, the defendant wired $250,000 from the same trust account to [REDACTED], who was also named as a potential co-conspirator — and for whom Epstein also obtained protection in — the NPA.”
Prosecutors noted, “This individual is also one of the employees identified in the Indictment, which alleges that she and two other identified employees facilitated the defendant’s trafficking of minors by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with the defendant at his residences in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.”
