{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":73.63,"endTime":75.47,"body":"3 million pages of evidence."},{"startTime":76.27,"endTime":81.55,"body":"Thousands of unsealed flight logs, millions of data points, names,"},{"startTime":81.71,"endTime":84.03,"body":"themes and timelines connected."},{"startTime":84.83,"endTime":88.91,"body":"You are listening to the Epstein Files, the world's first"},{"startTime":89.07,"endTime":94.14999999999999,"body":"AI native investigation into the case that traditional journalism simply"},{"startTime":94.14999999999999,"endTime":95.22999999999999,"body":"could not handle."},{"startTime":99.78999999999999,"endTime":101.55,"body":"Welcome back to the Epstein Files."},{"startTime":102.03,"endTime":105.47,"body":"The central mystery isn't just about one man's crimes, but"},{"startTime":105.47,"endTime":108.63,"body":"how a system designed to deliver justice seemed to malfunction"},{"startTime":108.63,"endTime":112.07,"body":"at every turn and whether the fixes implemented since are"},{"startTime":112.07,"endTime":113.55,"body":"enough to stop the next one."},{"startTime":114.10999999999999,"endTime":116.27,"body":"After everything that came out, what changed?"},{"startTime":116.42999999999999,"endTime":120.22999999999999,"body":"Today, we examine the reforms, what institutions have done since"},{"startTime":120.22999999999999,"endTime":124.50999999999999,"body":"2019, what accountability looks like in the Federal Register, and"},{"startTime":124.50999999999999,"endTime":125.59,"body":"the gaps that remain."},{"startTime":125.99,"endTime":129.07,"body":"Let's flow into the first piece of evidence, the scramble"},{"startTime":129.07,"endTime":129.75,"body":"for accountability."},{"startTime":130.07,"endTime":130.87,"body":"It's good to be back."},{"startTime":130.87,"endTime":133.26999999999998,"body":"And you're absolutely right to frame it as a scramble."},{"startTime":133.26999999999998,"endTime":135.51,"body":"I mean, that's really the only word for it, because"},{"startTime":135.51,"endTime":138.14999999999998,"body":"when you look at the timeline, especially after July of"},{"startTime":138.23,"endTime":142.14999999999998,"body":"2019, you know, the arrest, his death, and then this"},{"startTime":142.14999999999998,"endTime":145.95,"body":"mad dash to find Ghislaine Maxwell, the justice system wasn't"},{"startTime":145.95,"endTime":148.58999999999997,"body":"moving with its usual slow, deliberate pace."},{"startTime":148.58999999999997,"endTime":149.39,"body":"No, not at all."},{"startTime":149.39,"endTime":150.31,"body":"It was reacting."},{"startTime":150.31,"endTime":152.26999999999998,"body":"It was, I think you could argue, in a state"},{"startTime":152.26999999999998,"endTime":154.95,"body":"of institutional shock, trying to prove to a very, very"},{"startTime":154.95,"endTime":156.87,"body":"skeptical public that it could still function."},{"startTime":157.03,"endTime":157.75,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":157.75,"endTime":160.47,"body":"And that reaction, it didn't just happen in a vacuum."},{"startTime":160.70999999999998,"endTime":163.63,"body":"I think before we even touch the, you know, the"},{"startTime":163.63,"endTime":166.75,"body":"dry legal documents and the internal memos, we have to"},{"startTime":166.75,"endTime":169.11,"body":"paint the picture of what was happening at that moment."},{"startTime":169.51,"endTime":172.26999999999998,"body":"Our files here reference the release of what the media"},{"startTime":172.26999999999998,"endTime":173.75,"body":"called the Maxwell files."},{"startTime":173.99,"endTime":177.35,"body":"And this wasn't your standard DOJ press release?"},{"startTime":177.35,"endTime":178.23,"body":"Oh, not even close."},{"startTime":178.23,"endTime":179.99,"body":"This was a floodgate opening."},{"startTime":180.31,"endTime":183.29,"body":"A huge document dump from a civil case had been"},{"startTime":183.29,"endTime":184.69,"body":"sealed up tight for years."},{"startTime":185.17,"endTime":187.64999999999998,"body":"And when those seals broke, it wasn't just text hitting"},{"startTime":187.64999999999998,"endTime":188.08999999999997,"body":"the Internet."},{"startTime":188.08999999999997,"endTime":189.73,"body":"It felt like a cultural bomb went off."},{"startTime":189.73,"endTime":190.76999999999998,"body":"That's a crucial point."},{"startTime":190.85,"endTime":193.13,"body":"We tend to think of court documents as, you know,"},{"startTime":193.13,"endTime":198.60999999999999,"body":"procedural, dry affidavits, motions, filing dates, the boring stuff."},{"startTime":198.76999999999998,"endTime":201.76999999999998,"body":"But in this case, the unsealing of those 2015 documents,"},{"startTime":201.76999999999998,"endTime":204.21,"body":"which our sources mentioned in the context of Ernestine Powell's"},{"startTime":204.21,"endTime":206.81,"body":"alert, it completely changed the entire landscape."},{"startTime":206.81,"endTime":207.17,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":207.17,"endTime":209.53,"body":"You have to remember, before those files came out, a"},{"startTime":209.53,"endTime":211.60999999999999,"body":"lot of the talk about the network, the island, the"},{"startTime":211.60999999999999,"endTime":214.93,"body":"planes, the powerful names, so much of that was just"},{"startTime":214.93,"endTime":216.69,"body":"dismissed by mainstream institutions."},{"startTime":216.69,"endTime":218.57,"body":"It was called conspiracy theory."},{"startTime":218.65,"endTime":219.73,"body":"Tabloid fodder."},{"startTime":219.73,"endTime":220.57,"body":"That's what they called it."},{"startTime":220.57,"endTime":222.45,"body":"Oh, did you hear who might have been on the"},{"startTime":222.45,"endTime":223.53,"body":"plane or."},{"startTime":223.53,"endTime":225.81,"body":"I heard a guy say it was all just rumor"},{"startTime":225.81,"endTime":230.32999999999998,"body":"and innuendo, and then boom, suddenly it's not rumor anymore."},{"startTime":230.32999999999998,"endTime":231.93,"body":"You have sworn depositions."},{"startTime":232.01,"endTime":234.41,"body":"You have flight logs that have been entered into evidence."},{"startTime":234.57,"endTime":235.73,"body":"You have emails."},{"startTime":235.73,"endTime":239.53,"body":"It makes that critical leap from gossip to hard evidence."},{"startTime":239.53,"endTime":240.57,"body":"And that leap is everything."},{"startTime":241.01999999999998,"endTime":241.66,"body":"Precisely."},{"startTime":241.82,"endTime":245.57999999999998,"body":"That transition from conspiracy theory to court record is."},{"startTime":246.62,"endTime":249.82,"body":"It's a massive psychological shift for the public, but it's"},{"startTime":249.82,"endTime":252.62,"body":"an even bigger pressure point for the Department of Justice."},{"startTime":253.01999999999998,"endTime":256.5,"body":"The sources are pretty clear that specific names started surfacing"},{"startTime":256.5,"endTime":258.22,"body":"in that initial media storm."},{"startTime":258.62,"endTime":262.5,"body":"You know, Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, former President Bill Clinton."},{"startTime":262.5,"endTime":263.9,"body":"And we have to be so careful here."},{"startTime":263.98,"endTime":264.94,"body":"Yes, absolutely."},{"startTime":264.94,"endTime":265.98,"body":"We must be precise."},{"startTime":266.29999999999995,"endTime":268.62,"body":"Just because a name appears in a document doesn't mean"},{"startTime":268.62,"endTime":269.34000000000003,"body":"a conviction."},{"startTime":269.54999999999995,"endTime":271.87,"body":"It doesn't even mean a formal accusation of a crime"},{"startTime":271.87,"endTime":272.59000000000003,"body":"in every case."},{"startTime":272.83,"endTime":275.43,"body":"But the presence of those names in black and white"},{"startTime":275.43,"endTime":278.87,"body":"in a court filing, it forced these institutions to wake"},{"startTime":278.87,"endTime":279.07,"body":"up."},{"startTime":279.07,"endTime":281.47,"body":"They can no longer pretend this was just one rogue"},{"startTime":281.47,"endTime":283.15,"body":"financier acting totally alone."},{"startTime":283.31,"endTime":286.75,"body":"It created a blast radius, and it made it impossible"},{"startTime":286.75,"endTime":288.23,"body":"to just look away anymore."},{"startTime":288.23,"endTime":291.39,"body":"And right there in the center of that radius, finally,"},{"startTime":291.54999999999995,"endTime":293.07,"body":"was Ghislaine Maxwell."},{"startTime":293.15,"endTime":295.31,"body":"We've got material here describing her arrest."},{"startTime":295.71000000000004,"endTime":298.79999999999995,"body":"She'd been, as the reports put it, in hiding for"},{"startTime":298.79999999999995,"endTime":299.32,"body":"about a year."},{"startTime":299.4,"endTime":301.0,"body":"The elusive British socialite."},{"startTime":301.0,"endTime":302.2,"body":"That was the phrase everyone used."},{"startTime":302.2,"endTime":302.84000000000003,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":302.91999999999996,"endTime":305.32,"body":"And then suddenly, handcuffs."},{"startTime":305.79999999999995,"endTime":307.15999999999997,"body":"July 2020."},{"startTime":307.79999999999995,"endTime":310.28,"body":"Tucked away in a house in New Hampshire, of all"},{"startTime":310.28,"endTime":310.76,"body":"places."},{"startTime":310.84000000000003,"endTime":313.36,"body":"The imagery of that moment is just so vital for"},{"startTime":313.36,"endTime":315.48,"body":"this whole reckoning narrative we're talking about today."},{"startTime":315.64,"endTime":318.2,"body":"For a solid year, the question was just hanging over"},{"startTime":318.2,"endTime":318.91999999999996,"body":"the doj."},{"startTime":319.48,"endTime":320.24,"body":"Where is she?"},{"startTime":320.24,"endTime":321.32,"body":"Why haven't you acted?"},{"startTime":321.32,"endTime":323.32,"body":"Is there some secret deal being cut?"},{"startTime":323.4,"endTime":325.52,"body":"The public was convinced that was happening."},{"startTime":325.52,"endTime":326.15999999999997,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":326.15999999999997,"endTime":329.74,"body":"So her arrest was the first real, tangible proof that"},{"startTime":329.74,"endTime":332.53999999999996,"body":"the system could still reach into those highest echelons of"},{"startTime":332.53999999999996,"endTime":332.98,"body":"society."},{"startTime":333.38,"endTime":335.14,"body":"But if you look closely at how the arrest was"},{"startTime":335.14,"endTime":337.70000000000005,"body":"handled, and more importantly, the legal filings that came right"},{"startTime":337.70000000000005,"endTime":340.46000000000004,"body":"after, you see the system actively trying to correct for"},{"startTime":340.46000000000004,"endTime":341.46000000000004,"body":"its past mistakes."},{"startTime":341.93999999999994,"endTime":343.05999999999995,"body":"It wasn't just an arrest."},{"startTime":343.05999999999995,"endTime":343.86,"body":"It was a statement."},{"startTime":344.17999999999995,"endTime":346.22,"body":"Okay, let's unpack that, because this is where we get"},{"startTime":346.22,"endTime":348.53999999999996,"body":"into the nuts and bolts of how the system tried"},{"startTime":348.53999999999996,"endTime":350.58000000000004,"body":"to fix itself in, you know, in real time."},{"startTime":350.74,"endTime":353.17999999999995,"body":"We have a whole stack of DOJ files here, and"},{"startTime":353.17999999999995,"endTime":354.98,"body":"they're almost all about the bail process."},{"startTime":355.22,"endTime":358.6,"body":"It feels like a huge amount of the legal battle"},{"startTime":358.6,"endTime":360.4,"body":"wasn't even about guilt or innocence yet."},{"startTime":360.4,"endTime":361.6,"body":"It was about custody."},{"startTime":362.0,"endTime":363.96000000000004,"body":"The fight before the actual fight."},{"startTime":363.96000000000004,"endTime":365.12,"body":"It was the battle of bail."},{"startTime":365.12,"endTime":368.79999999999995,"body":"And it's fascinating because the documents keep coming back to"},{"startTime":368.79999999999995,"endTime":370.0,"body":"the Bail Reform Act."},{"startTime":370.15999999999997,"endTime":373.08000000000004,"body":"Now, for anyone listening who isn't a legal scholar, bail"},{"startTime":373.08000000000004,"endTime":375.91999999999996,"body":"is usually a pretty standard Procedure."},{"startTime":375.91999999999996,"endTime":377.76,"body":"You know, you assess the risk, you set a dollar"},{"startTime":377.76,"endTime":378.55999999999995,"body":"amount, you move on."},{"startTime":378.55999999999995,"endTime":382.43999999999994,"body":"Sure, but here, these DOJ files show this desperate tug"},{"startTime":382.43999999999994,"endTime":385.37,"body":"of war over the very definition of flight risk."},{"startTime":385.61,"endTime":389.40999999999997,"body":"The documents specifically mentioned defendants who changed travel plans."},{"startTime":389.40999999999997,"endTime":391.89,"body":"Which sounds so bureaucratic and benign, right?"},{"startTime":391.89,"endTime":395.89,"body":"But in this context, changing travel plans means fleeing the"},{"startTime":395.89,"endTime":396.73,"body":"country, doesn't it?"},{"startTime":396.73,"endTime":399.25,"body":"It means running in the context of someone with immense"},{"startTime":399.25,"endTime":400.80999999999995,"body":"wealth and multiple passports."},{"startTime":400.80999999999995,"endTime":402.40999999999997,"body":"Yes, that's exactly what it means."},{"startTime":402.65,"endTime":405.01,"body":"And this is where the system was really forced to"},{"startTime":405.01,"endTime":405.53,"body":"evolve."},{"startTime":405.85,"endTime":407.04999999999995,"body":"The Bail Reform Act."},{"startTime":407.21000000000004,"endTime":410.25,"body":"It lists four specific factors a judge has to consider."},{"startTime":411.02,"endTime":413.26,"body":"The nature of the crime, the weight of the evidence,"},{"startTime":413.58000000000004,"endTime":416.98,"body":"the defendant's history, and the danger they pose to the"},{"startTime":416.98,"endTime":417.26,"body":"community."},{"startTime":417.58000000000004,"endTime":420.38,"body":"Okay, what's so interesting here, and what the files really"},{"startTime":420.38,"endTime":425.26,"body":"light up, is how extreme wealth just completely warps every"},{"startTime":425.26,"endTime":426.22,"body":"one of those factors."},{"startTime":426.70000000000005,"endTime":430.22,"body":"The defense was arguing, essentially, that wealth shouldn't be a"},{"startTime":430.22,"endTime":430.70000000000005,"body":"penalty."},{"startTime":430.86,"endTime":433.38,"body":"Just because she has money and connections doesn't mean she'll"},{"startTime":433.38,"endTime":433.65999999999997,"body":"run."},{"startTime":433.82000000000005,"endTime":436.02,"body":"But the prosecution's argument was the opposite."},{"startTime":436.02,"endTime":436.5,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":436.5,"endTime":438.93999999999994,"body":"The prosecution was arguing that wealth was the weapon."},{"startTime":439.20000000000005,"endTime":440.55999999999995,"body":"It was the means of escape."},{"startTime":440.72,"endTime":442.91999999999996,"body":"Wealth was the get out of jail free card."},{"startTime":442.91999999999996,"endTime":444.84000000000003,"body":"I'm looking at a note in the files right here"},{"startTime":444.84000000000003,"endTime":445.91999999999996,"body":"about co signers."},{"startTime":446.24,"endTime":448.91999999999996,"body":"The defense was trying to suggest that having other wealthy"},{"startTime":448.91999999999996,"endTime":451.32000000000005,"body":"friends sign on to the bond would guarantee she'd show"},{"startTime":451.32000000000005,"endTime":451.91999999999996,"body":"up for court."},{"startTime":452.4,"endTime":456.0,"body":"The document actually asked this question, whether two identified co"},{"startTime":456.0,"endTime":458.32000000000005,"body":"signers meaningfully changed the calculus."},{"startTime":459.03999999999996,"endTime":460.67999999999995,"body":"That phrase really stuck with me."},{"startTime":460.67999999999995,"endTime":461.36,"body":"The calc."},{"startTime":461.36,"endTime":462.96000000000004,"body":"That phrase is everything."},{"startTime":463.52,"endTime":465.20000000000005,"body":"Meaningfully change the calculus."},{"startTime":465.80999999999995,"endTime":468.49,"body":"It shows the court grappling with a reality that the"},{"startTime":468.49,"endTime":469.97,"body":"system wasn't really built for."},{"startTime":470.37,"endTime":472.92999999999995,"body":"I mean, if your friends are billionaires, does a $10"},{"startTime":472.92999999999995,"endTime":476.92999999999995,"body":"million bond actually mean anything to you or to them?"},{"startTime":477.01,"endTime":477.33000000000004,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":477.33000000000004,"endTime":478.28999999999996,"body":"Is it a penalty?"},{"startTime":478.28999999999996,"endTime":480.21000000000004,"body":"Or is it just a business expense?"},{"startTime":480.21000000000004,"endTime":481.57000000000005,"body":"A ticket price for your freedom?"},{"startTime":481.57000000000005,"endTime":482.73,"body":"A transaction fee?"},{"startTime":482.73,"endTime":484.04999999999995,"body":"That's a great way to put it."},{"startTime":484.04999999999995,"endTime":487.61,"body":"Does forfeiting $10 million actually stop you from getting on"},{"startTime":487.61,"endTime":490.77,"body":"a private jet to a country with no extradition treaty?"},{"startTime":491.5,"endTime":493.82000000000005,"body":"The answer, the court decided, was no."},{"startTime":494.05999999999995,"endTime":496.53999999999996,"body":"And you can feel the ghost of the 2008 deal"},{"startTime":496.53999999999996,"endTime":497.78,"body":"haunting all of this."},{"startTime":497.78,"endTime":499.38,"body":"Oh, it's all over these documents."},{"startTime":499.38,"endTime":500.98,"body":"The failure to monitor him."},{"startTime":500.98,"endTime":502.05999999999995,"body":"The leniency."},{"startTime":502.53999999999996,"endTime":505.9,"body":"It's the backdrop for every single argument the prosecution makes."},{"startTime":506.05999999999995,"endTime":508.74,"body":"The courts had to interpret the Bail Reform act so"},{"startTime":508.74,"endTime":510.14,"body":"much more strictly this time around."},{"startTime":510.14,"endTime":512.86,"body":"They were essentially saying, look, we can't trust the financial"},{"startTime":512.86,"endTime":513.82,"body":"handcuffs anymore."},{"startTime":513.82,"endTime":514.78,"body":"We need real ones."},{"startTime":514.9399999999999,"endTime":516.9399999999999,"body":"There's another bit in here about a safe house."},{"startTime":517.68,"endTime":521.4399999999999,"body":"The defense actually argued that the defendant could voluntarily agree"},{"startTime":521.4399999999999,"endTime":524.36,"body":"to assume responsibility and stay in A private home with"},{"startTime":524.36,"endTime":525.04,"body":"private security."},{"startTime":525.36,"endTime":527.72,"body":"They offered to build their own jail, which is."},{"startTime":527.72,"endTime":530.56,"body":"I mean, it's essentially creating a luxury private prison."},{"startTime":531.36,"endTime":535.28,"body":"And the documents show the court pushing back hard against"},{"startTime":535.28,"endTime":536.08,"body":"that idea."},{"startTime":536.4,"endTime":538.88,"body":"It brings up this really profound ethical question."},{"startTime":539.92,"endTime":543.6,"body":"Should you be able to privatize your own incarceration if"},{"startTime":543.6,"endTime":544.4399999999999,"body":"you have enough money?"},{"startTime":544.52,"endTime":546.52,"body":"And the reckoning part of all this is the system"},{"startTime":546.84,"endTime":548.68,"body":"finally forcefully saying no."},{"startTime":548.84,"endTime":549.32,"body":"Yes."},{"startTime":549.8,"endTime":552.72,"body":"The realization that allowing a defendant to pay for their"},{"startTime":552.72,"endTime":556.84,"body":"own security guards creates this massive inherent conflict of interest."},{"startTime":557.48,"endTime":560.2,"body":"I mean, if you're the one signing the guard's paycheck,"},{"startTime":560.2,"endTime":561.92,"body":"who does that guard really work for?"},{"startTime":561.92,"endTime":563.56,"body":"Yeah, that seems so obvious when you say it out"},{"startTime":563.56,"endTime":563.76,"body":"loud."},{"startTime":563.76,"endTime":565.16,"body":"The guard works for me, not the court."},{"startTime":565.24,"endTime":568.16,"body":"It seems obvious to us now, looking back, but for"},{"startTime":568.16,"endTime":571.08,"body":"decades, that was a pretty accepted practice for high level"},{"startTime":571.16,"endTime":572.4399999999999,"body":"white collar defendants."},{"startTime":573.03,"endTime":576.71,"body":"You know, home confinement with your own security detail was"},{"startTime":576.71,"endTime":579.35,"body":"a standard perk of the wealthy defendant class."},{"startTime":579.43,"endTime":581.07,"body":"So the rejection of that was a big deal."},{"startTime":581.07,"endTime":583.35,"body":"It was a significant shift in judicial thinking."},{"startTime":583.4300000000001,"endTime":584.23,"body":"A major one."},{"startTime":584.39,"endTime":586.95,"body":"So if we boil this down for the listener, one"},{"startTime":586.95,"endTime":589.99,"body":"of the first and most immediate reforms wasn't a new"},{"startTime":589.99,"endTime":591.19,"body":"law passed by Congress."},{"startTime":591.19,"endTime":594.39,"body":"It was a change in attitude, a cultural shift from"},{"startTime":594.39,"endTime":595.59,"body":"prosecutors and judges."},{"startTime":595.99,"endTime":598.15,"body":"They just stopped giving the wealthy the benefit of the"},{"startTime":598.15,"endTime":598.47,"body":"doubt."},{"startTime":598.47,"endTime":599.35,"body":"That's exactly right."},{"startTime":599.65,"endTime":602.09,"body":"It was the system applying the existing rules with a"},{"startTime":602.09,"endTime":603.09,"body":"newfound rigor."},{"startTime":603.25,"endTime":606.61,"body":"Mostly because the public embarrassment of the past failures was"},{"startTime":606.61,"endTime":608.85,"body":"so raw, they knew everyone was watching."},{"startTime":609.09,"endTime":612.25,"body":"Speaking of cultural shifts inside the doj, let's look at"},{"startTime":612.25,"endTime":613.2900000000001,"body":"the internal reviews."},{"startTime":613.2900000000001,"endTime":615.529,"body":"We got a document here that talks about something called"},{"startTime":615.529,"endTime":619.09,"body":"the Office of Professional Responsibility, or opr."},{"startTime":619.33,"endTime":621.49,"body":"Now, most people have probably never heard of the opr."},{"startTime":621.73,"endTime":623.49,"body":"What is it and why does it matter here?"},{"startTime":623.8100000000001,"endTime":626.69,"body":"The OPR is basically the DOJ's internal affairs."},{"startTime":626.98,"endTime":627.94,"body":"They're the watchdog."},{"startTime":628.02,"endTime":629.46,"body":"They investigate their own."},{"startTime":629.7,"endTime":633.62,"body":"When DOJ attorneys or agents behave unethically, break rules or"},{"startTime":633.62,"endTime":636.82,"body":"commit misconduct, they police the police, so to speak."},{"startTime":636.9,"endTime":640.14,"body":"And this document notes that the OPR has also changed"},{"startTime":640.14,"endTime":640.82,"body":"over the years."},{"startTime":641.14,"endTime":645.26,"body":"And then it explicitly mentions its mission, now includes public"},{"startTime":645.26,"endTime":647.38,"body":"recommendations for systemic change."},{"startTime":647.38,"endTime":647.78,"body":"That."},{"startTime":648.34,"endTime":650.98,"body":"That feels like an admission of guilt, or at least"},{"startTime":650.98,"endTime":652.66,"body":"an admission that things were broken."},{"startTime":652.96,"endTime":654.36,"body":"It's an acknowledgment of evolution."},{"startTime":654.36,"endTime":656.0,"body":"And you're right, probably a forced one."},{"startTime":656.0,"endTime":659.2,"body":"I mean, institutions like the doj, they typically prefer to"},{"startTime":659.2,"endTime":660.64,"body":"handle their problems quietly."},{"startTime":660.64,"endTime":663.08,"body":"Yeah, you know, clean their own laundry in house, behind"},{"startTime":663.08,"endTime":663.84,"body":"closed doors."},{"startTime":663.84,"endTime":664.48,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":664.5600000000001,"endTime":667.6800000000001,"body":"So when you see a phrase like public recommendations for"},{"startTime":667.6800000000001,"endTime":670.84,"body":"systemic change pop up in these files, it signals a"},{"startTime":670.84,"endTime":672.96,"body":"major departure from that old code of silence."},{"startTime":673.52,"endTime":677.24,"body":"It's them realizing that to get public trust back, the"},{"startTime":677.24,"endTime":678.48,"body":"fix has to be visible."},{"startTime":678.6700000000001,"endTime":680.03,"body":"You can't just say, we fixed it."},{"startTime":680.03,"endTime":680.59,"body":"Trust us."},{"startTime":680.83,"endTime":681.95,"body":"You have to show your work."},{"startTime":682.11,"endTime":684.59,"body":"And one of the specific fixes they were working on,"},{"startTime":684.59,"endTime":687.15,"body":"mentioned right here in these files, is discovery."},{"startTime":687.23,"endTime":690.4300000000001,"body":"The document notes a push to reform discovery law."},{"startTime":690.6700000000001,"endTime":693.23,"body":"Now, for those of us who aren't lawyers, discovery is"},{"startTime":693.23,"endTime":695.15,"body":"just when the two sides swap their evidence."},{"startTime":695.15,"endTime":695.5500000000001,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":695.63,"endTime":697.27,"body":"Why is that such a big deal?"},{"startTime":697.27,"endTime":699.3100000000001,"body":"Why is this the Hill they're choosing to die on?"},{"startTime":699.47,"endTime":702.99,"body":"Because discovery is the absolute heartbeat of a fair trial."},{"startTime":703.39,"endTime":705.95,"body":"It's the whole process where the prosecution has to give"},{"startTime":705.95,"endTime":708.64,"body":"the defense all its evidence and vice versa."},{"startTime":708.64,"endTime":712.0400000000001,"body":"It's based on this idea that you can't hide evidence"},{"startTime":712.2,"endTime":713.9200000000001,"body":"that might prove someone is innocent."},{"startTime":713.9200000000001,"endTime":714.32,"body":"Okay."},{"startTime":714.32,"endTime":717.0400000000001,"body":"But in cases like this, cases with powerful people and"},{"startTime":717.0400000000001,"endTime":720.36,"body":"vulnerable victims, discovery is so often weaponized."},{"startTime":720.36,"endTime":721.64,"body":"How do you weaponize it?"},{"startTime":721.8000000000001,"endTime":723.0,"body":"Well, a few ways."},{"startTime":723.0,"endTime":724.9200000000001,"body":"You can just bury the other side in paper."},{"startTime":724.9200000000001,"endTime":726.28,"body":"It's called a document dump."},{"startTime":726.36,"endTime":729.24,"body":"You send them 5 million pages of totally irrelevant stuff,"},{"startTime":729.32,"endTime":733.4,"body":"and you hide the one critical email on page 4,700,000."},{"startTime":733.5600000000001,"endTime":734.0,"body":"Wow."},{"startTime":734.0,"endTime":734.9200000000001,"body":"Or you delay."},{"startTime":735.19,"endTime":737.75,"body":"You hold everything back until the night before the trial"},{"startTime":737.83,"endTime":739.6700000000001,"body":"so the other side has no time to prepare."},{"startTime":740.15,"endTime":740.5500000000001,"body":"Or."},{"startTime":740.87,"endTime":743.39,"body":"And this is critical in this context, you get everything"},{"startTime":743.39,"endTime":746.3100000000001,"body":"sealed under a protective order so the public never sees"},{"startTime":746.3100000000001,"endTime":749.27,"body":"it and other victims might not even know it exists."},{"startTime":749.35,"endTime":753.91,"body":"So reforming discovery means making it harder to play those"},{"startTime":753.91,"endTime":754.63,"body":"kinds of games."},{"startTime":754.7900000000001,"endTime":755.51,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":755.75,"endTime":759.11,"body":"It means streamlining the process so victim stories aren't buried,"},{"startTime":759.19,"endTime":761.11,"body":"so the defense can't just run out the clock."},{"startTime":761.4300000000001,"endTime":763.75,"body":"If you can hide the evidence, you can deny justice."},{"startTime":764.5500000000001,"endTime":766.91,"body":"The fact that discovery reform is showing up in the"},{"startTime":766.91,"endTime":770.91,"body":"Epstein files tells us that the internal reviewers realized the"},{"startTime":770.91,"endTime":773.83,"body":"procedural loopholes were a huge part of what let this"},{"startTime":773.83,"endTime":775.27,"body":"go on for so long."},{"startTime":775.6700000000001,"endTime":777.59,"body":"It wasn't just people looking the other way."},{"startTime":777.59,"endTime":780.4300000000001,"body":"The legal machinery itself was being used to block the"},{"startTime":780.4300000000001,"endTime":780.7900000000001,"body":"pipes."},{"startTime":780.95,"endTime":783.39,"body":"It's always the boring stuff that actually matters in the"},{"startTime":783.39,"endTime":784.15,"body":"end, isn't it?"},{"startTime":784.63,"endTime":787.6800000000001,"body":"We look for the big, sensational courtroom moments, but the"},{"startTime":787.6800000000001,"endTime":790.0,"body":"real change happens in a rule about how lawyers have"},{"startTime":790.0,"endTime":791.4,"body":"to share PDF files."},{"startTime":791.48,"endTime":793.64,"body":"That's often where the real battle is won or lost."},{"startTime":794.28,"endTime":796.72,"body":"Not with a dramatic speech to a jury, but with"},{"startTime":796.72,"endTime":799.84,"body":"a technical rule change about deadlines and file formats."},{"startTime":799.84,"endTime":801.48,"body":"Okay, but this is where it gets really interesting for"},{"startTime":801.48,"endTime":801.64,"body":"me."},{"startTime":801.64,"endTime":803.479,"body":"We move from the courtroom to the prison cell."},{"startTime":803.479,"endTime":806.72,"body":"We have documents here talking about federal prison reform, and"},{"startTime":806.72,"endTime":808.4,"body":"there's a line that just leaped off the page."},{"startTime":808.4,"endTime":811.96,"body":"It says many reforms can be accomplished without legislation."},{"startTime":812.44,"endTime":814.36,"body":"That is such a powerful sentence."},{"startTime":814.66,"endTime":816.58,"body":"It's so simple, but it says so much."},{"startTime":816.74,"endTime":818.26,"body":"It sounds like a workaround."},{"startTime":818.5,"endTime":821.1800000000001,"body":"It sounds like someone saying, we don't need to wait"},{"startTime":821.1800000000001,"endTime":822.74,"body":"for Congress to get its act together."},{"startTime":822.74,"endTime":824.26,"body":"We can just do this ourselves."},{"startTime":824.74,"endTime":828.46,"body":"It's an assertion of executive power, and it's also a"},{"startTime":828.46,"endTime":830.02,"body":"massive admission of failure."},{"startTime":830.1,"endTime":832.78,"body":"You have to remember the Bureau of Prisons is part"},{"startTime":832.78,"endTime":833.86,"body":"of the Department of Justice."},{"startTime":833.86,"endTime":835.46,"body":"It's run by the executive branch."},{"startTime":835.78,"endTime":839.7,"body":"So when that document says reforms can happen without legislation,"},{"startTime":839.94,"endTime":843.46,"body":"it's admitting that the failures that led to Epstein's death,"},{"startTime":843.62,"endTime":847.0,"body":"the cameras not working, the staff shortages, the guards who"},{"startTime":847.0,"endTime":847.8000000000001,"body":"faked the logs."},{"startTime":847.8000000000001,"endTime":848.0400000000001,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":848.0400000000001,"endTime":848.44,"body":"Regards."},{"startTime":848.44,"endTime":850.2,"body":"Who said they checked the cell, but they were shopping"},{"startTime":850.2,"endTime":851.12,"body":"for furniture online."},{"startTime":851.52,"endTime":852.08,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":852.08,"endTime":852.72,"body":"All of that."},{"startTime":852.88,"endTime":854.48,"body":"Those were administrative failures."},{"startTime":854.64,"endTime":856.8000000000001,"body":"They didn't need a new law from Congress to make"},{"startTime":856.8000000000001,"endTime":857.84,"body":"sure the cameras were working."},{"startTime":857.9200000000001,"endTime":860.0,"body":"They didn't need an act of Congress to make sure"},{"startTime":860.0,"endTime":861.4,"body":"guards were doing their rounds."},{"startTime":861.4,"endTime":862.96,"body":"They just needed competent management."},{"startTime":863.36,"endTime":865.52,"body":"So the reckoning in this part of the story is"},{"startTime":865.52,"endTime":869.16,"body":"the system realizing it had the power to prevent this"},{"startTime":869.16,"endTime":869.6800000000001,"body":"all along."},{"startTime":870.08,"endTime":871.6,"body":"It wasn't using it."},{"startTime":872.25,"endTime":872.8100000000001,"body":"Precisely."},{"startTime":873.0500000000001,"endTime":876.9300000000001,"body":"There's a huge difference between a legislative gap where the"},{"startTime":876.9300000000001,"endTime":880.61,"body":"law just doesn't exist to stop something, and an administrative"},{"startTime":880.61,"endTime":883.01,"body":"gap where the rules are on the books, but nobody"},{"startTime":883.01,"endTime":883.85,"body":"is following them."},{"startTime":883.9300000000001,"endTime":887.33,"body":"The fact that the Government Accountability Office, the gao, is"},{"startTime":887.33,"endTime":890.09,"body":"also referenced in our sources that supports this."},{"startTime":890.09,"endTime":892.41,"body":"The GAO is Congress's auditor."},{"startTime":892.89,"endTime":895.25,"body":"Their involvement tells us that this was being treated as"},{"startTime":895.25,"endTime":898.97,"body":"a full blown management crisis, not just a criminal one."},{"startTime":899.2,"endTime":902.08,"body":"It's the difference between saying we need new rules and"},{"startTime":902.08,"endTime":904.44,"body":"saying we need to actually follow the rules we already"},{"startTime":904.44,"endTime":904.8000000000001,"body":"have."},{"startTime":905.0400000000001,"endTime":907.44,"body":"And more to the point, we need to fire the"},{"startTime":907.44,"endTime":908.8000000000001,"body":"people who aren't following the rules."},{"startTime":908.96,"endTime":910.72,"body":"That's what administrative reform is."},{"startTime":910.72,"endTime":913.32,"body":"It's faster because you don't need to get 60 votes"},{"startTime":913.32,"endTime":913.88,"body":"in the Senate."},{"startTime":913.88,"endTime":915.6,"body":"But it's also easier to undo."},{"startTime":915.6,"endTime":916.0,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":916.24,"endTime":917.28,"body":"That's a scary thought."},{"startTime":917.44,"endTime":920.8000000000001,"body":"If it's just an administrative policy, couldn't the next administration,"},{"startTime":920.88,"endTime":923.76,"body":"or even just the next Bureau of Prisons director, change"},{"startTime":923.76,"endTime":926.01,"body":"it back or just let things get lazy again?"},{"startTime":926.25,"endTime":927.61,"body":"That is the fundamental risk."},{"startTime":928.01,"endTime":931.85,"body":"And it's why the tension between legislative reform and administrative"},{"startTime":931.85,"endTime":932.89,"body":"reform is so important."},{"startTime":933.45,"endTime":936.25,"body":"Legislation is slow, but it's sticky."},{"startTime":936.33,"endTime":937.33,"body":"It's hard to repeal."},{"startTime":937.33,"endTime":940.21,"body":"Administrative changes are fast, but they're temporary."},{"startTime":940.21,"endTime":942.09,"body":"They rely on constant vigilance."},{"startTime":942.49,"endTime":945.2900000000001,"body":"Let's pivot to the money, to the enablers."},{"startTime":945.53,"endTime":947.25,"body":"Not just the people who opened doors for him, but"},{"startTime":947.25,"endTime":948.49,"body":"the people who moved his money."},{"startTime":948.89,"endTime":952.73,"body":"We've got these documents that reference the Private Securities Litigation"},{"startTime":952.73,"endTime":956.41,"body":"Reform act and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board."},{"startTime":956.95,"endTime":958.5500000000001,"body":"And I have to Ask the obvious question."},{"startTime":959.35,"endTime":962.63,"body":"Why are securities laws and accounting boards in the Epstein"},{"startTime":962.63,"endTime":963.03,"body":"files?"},{"startTime":963.11,"endTime":965.5500000000001,"body":"What does corporate auditing have to do with a sex"},{"startTime":965.5500000000001,"endTime":966.47,"body":"trafficking case?"},{"startTime":967.11,"endTime":969.6700000000001,"body":"It seems disconnected at first, but if you step back"},{"startTime":969.6700000000001,"endTime":971.83,"body":"and look at the logistics of the operation, it makes"},{"startTime":971.83,"endTime":972.5500000000001,"body":"perfect sense."},{"startTime":972.71,"endTime":973.4300000000001,"body":"Think about it."},{"startTime":973.51,"endTime":977.15,"body":"A high end international trafficking ring is incredibly expensive to"},{"startTime":977.15,"endTime":977.4300000000001,"body":"run."},{"startTime":977.59,"endTime":980.71,"body":"You need planes, you need multiple properties in different countries."},{"startTime":980.71,"endTime":983.27,"body":"You need staff, lawyers, payoffs, hush money."},{"startTime":983.51,"endTime":986.63,"body":"It requires a massive, complex financial infrastructure."},{"startTime":986.63,"endTime":989.25,"body":"You can't run that kind of operation with cash stuffed"},{"startTime":989.25,"endTime":989.97,"body":"under a mattress."},{"startTime":990.2900000000001,"endTime":990.85,"body":"No way."},{"startTime":991.01,"endTime":993.1700000000001,"body":"You need banks, you need corporate shell companies."},{"startTime":993.41,"endTime":996.0500000000001,"body":"You need access to huge amounts of liquid cash."},{"startTime":996.37,"endTime":999.13,"body":"So these documents are suggesting the DOJ was finally looking"},{"startTime":999.13,"endTime":1000.77,"body":"at how all that money was moving around."},{"startTime":1000.85,"endTime":1001.33,"body":"Yes."},{"startTime":1001.57,"endTime":1004.85,"body":"And the inclusion of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board,"},{"startTime":1005.01,"endTime":1006.73,"body":"or pcaob."},{"startTime":1006.73,"endTime":1007.89,"body":"That's especially telling."},{"startTime":1008.21,"endTime":1011.45,"body":"That board was created after the big Enron and WorldCom"},{"startTime":1011.45,"endTime":1013.41,"body":"scandals to police the auditors."},{"startTime":1014.46,"endTime":1017.38,"body":"Its presence here suggests that investigators were looking at the"},{"startTime":1017.38,"endTime":1020.3000000000001,"body":"financial professionals, the accountants, the auditors who signed off on"},{"startTime":1020.3000000000001,"endTime":1020.78,"body":"the books."},{"startTime":1020.94,"endTime":1023.62,"body":"Were they complicit or were they just negligent?"},{"startTime":1023.62,"endTime":1027.26,"body":"Did they see a $10 million wire transfer labeled modeling"},{"startTime":1027.26,"endTime":1029.74,"body":"fees and just shrug and approve it?"},{"startTime":1029.819,"endTime":1033.6599999999999,"body":"And the document mentions recommendations about reforms at that accounting"},{"startTime":1033.6599999999999,"endTime":1034.54,"body":"oversight level."},{"startTime":1034.62,"endTime":1037.02,"body":"So the idea is to widen the net of accountability."},{"startTime":1037.42,"endTime":1039.3799999999999,"body":"It's not just about putting the abuser in jail."},{"startTime":1039.3799999999999,"endTime":1041.54,"body":"It's about tightening the financial system so they can't even"},{"startTime":1041.54,"endTime":1042.62,"body":"operate in the first place."},{"startTime":1043.2,"endTime":1044.32,"body":"That's the core idea."},{"startTime":1044.48,"endTime":1047.1599999999999,"body":"If you make it impossible to move the money, you"},{"startTime":1047.1599999999999,"endTime":1049.36,"body":"make it impossible to sustain the abuse."},{"startTime":1049.84,"endTime":1052.56,"body":"Follow the money is a cliche, but it's a cliche"},{"startTime":1052.56,"endTime":1053.2,"body":"for a reason."},{"startTime":1053.92,"endTime":1056.92,"body":"But this suggests a reform in how we even define"},{"startTime":1056.92,"endTime":1057.68,"body":"complicity."},{"startTime":1058.1599999999999,"endTime":1061.96,"body":"Is the accountant who willfully ignores dozens of suspicious wire"},{"startTime":1061.96,"endTime":1065.0,"body":"transfers just doing their job, or are they a part"},{"startTime":1065.0,"endTime":1066.24,"body":"of the criminal enterprise?"},{"startTime":1066.8799999999999,"endTime":1070.72,"body":"These reforms are aimed at making those financial gatekeepers legally"},{"startTime":1070.72,"endTime":1071.28,"body":"liable."},{"startTime":1071.28,"endTime":1073.76,"body":"It's about making it too risky to be the accountant"},{"startTime":1073.76,"endTime":1076.94,"body":"for a predator, which is a very, very effective deterrent."},{"startTime":1077.02,"endTime":1078.7,"body":"You know, people will do a lot of things for"},{"startTime":1078.7,"endTime":1080.74,"body":"a wealthy client, but most of them won't risk their"},{"startTime":1080.74,"endTime":1082.7,"body":"professional license and potential jail time."},{"startTime":1082.78,"endTime":1085.58,"body":"If the regulations are strict enough and the enforcement is"},{"startTime":1085.58,"endTime":1088.6599999999999,"body":"real, it forces the banks and the accounting firms to"},{"startTime":1088.6599999999999,"endTime":1090.06,"body":"become the first line of defense."},{"startTime":1090.06,"endTime":1092.22,"body":"Okay, now we have to go to the political web."},{"startTime":1092.3799999999999,"endTime":1095.1799999999998,"body":"And this is delicate territory because we need to stick"},{"startTime":1095.1799999999998,"endTime":1097.26,"body":"very strictly to what the files actually say."},{"startTime":1097.58,"endTime":1101.7389999999998,"body":"We're looking at metadata from this pinpoint database that mentions"},{"startTime":1101.819,"endTime":1102.9389999999999,"body":"deleted items."},{"startTime":1103.1789999999999,"endTime":1106.339,"body":"This is a very unusual and frankly, a very troubling"},{"startTime":1106.339,"endTime":1109.899,"body":"part of the document release, it requires us to look"},{"startTime":1109.9789999999998,"endTime":1112.4189999999999,"body":"not just at what the text says, but at how"},{"startTime":1112.4189999999999,"endTime":1116.379,"body":"the information was presented and in some cases, taken away."},{"startTime":1116.379,"endTime":1120.4989999999998,"body":"The database metadata explicitly notes that items which connect Epstein"},{"startTime":1120.4989999999998,"endTime":1123.1789999999999,"body":"to President Donald Trump were released and then deleted by"},{"startTime":1123.1789999999999,"endTime":1123.899,"body":"the doj."},{"startTime":1124.139,"endTime":1126.779,"body":"But at the same time, the files also contain references"},{"startTime":1126.779,"endTime":1129.7389999999998,"body":"to the Obama administration and criminal justice reform."},{"startTime":1130.25,"endTime":1132.01,"body":"It feels like every time you pull on one political"},{"startTime":1132.01,"endTime":1134.4499999999998,"body":"thread, it snags on another one from the other side"},{"startTime":1134.4499999999998,"endTime":1135.05,"body":"of the aisle."},{"startTime":1135.1299999999999,"endTime":1136.9699999999998,"body":"And that's the nature of this kind of power."},{"startTime":1137.53,"endTime":1139.9299999999998,"body":"Epstein operated across administrations."},{"startTime":1139.9299999999998,"endTime":1141.53,"body":"He didn't care about political parties."},{"startTime":1141.53,"endTime":1143.2099999999998,"body":"He cared about influence and access."},{"startTime":1143.4499999999998,"endTime":1145.53,"body":"He was an equal opportunity operator."},{"startTime":1145.849,"endTime":1148.57,"body":"The fact that documents connecting him to Trump were released"},{"startTime":1148.57,"endTime":1152.09,"body":"and then deleted raises serious questions about the transparency of"},{"startTime":1152.09,"endTime":1152.73,"body":"this whole process."},{"startTime":1152.73,"endTime":1153.6899999999998,"body":"Why delete them?"},{"startTime":1153.77,"endTime":1155.57,"body":"Was it a simple redaction error?"},{"startTime":1155.57,"endTime":1157.4499999999998,"body":"Was it a result of political pressure?"},{"startTime":1157.52,"endTime":1157.6799999999998,"body":"Was."},{"startTime":1157.83,"endTime":1160.07,"body":"We don't know the why, but the what."},{"startTime":1160.07,"endTime":1162.9499999999998,"body":"The deletion itself is a matter of record in the"},{"startTime":1162.9499999999998,"endTime":1163.59,"body":"database."},{"startTime":1163.6699999999998,"endTime":1166.07,"body":"And then on the other side, you've got these references"},{"startTime":1166.07,"endTime":1170.07,"body":"to the Obama administration, to criminal justice reform efforts."},{"startTime":1170.31,"endTime":1172.99,"body":"It seems like the files are grappling with just how"},{"startTime":1172.99,"endTime":1176.3899999999999,"body":"deeply embedded this man was in the entire power structure."},{"startTime":1176.6299999999999,"endTime":1178.55,"body":"There's a phrase in one of the documents that just"},{"startTime":1178.55,"endTime":1179.27,"body":"floored me."},{"startTime":1179.75,"endTime":1183.11,"body":"Visible efforts to change invisible connections."},{"startTime":1183.61,"endTime":1184.9699999999998,"body":"That is a profound phrase."},{"startTime":1185.4499999999998,"endTime":1186.81,"body":"Invisible connections."},{"startTime":1187.37,"endTime":1189.05,"body":"That's exactly what this is all about."},{"startTime":1189.05,"endTime":1192.33,"body":"The photo ops, the public charity events, the name drops"},{"startTime":1192.33,"endTime":1192.9699999999998,"body":"in magazines."},{"startTime":1193.1299999999999,"endTime":1194.6499999999999,"body":"Those are the visible connections."},{"startTime":1194.6499999999999,"endTime":1195.73,"body":"We can see them, right?"},{"startTime":1195.73,"endTime":1198.8899999999999,"body":"But the invisible connections, the favors traded, the back channel"},{"startTime":1198.8899999999999,"endTime":1202.37,"body":"introductions, the shared secrets, the influence peddled at a dinner"},{"startTime":1202.37,"endTime":1205.33,"body":"party that isn't on any official calendar, those are the"},{"startTime":1205.33,"endTime":1206.81,"body":"hardest things in the world to regulate."},{"startTime":1207.29,"endTime":1210.06,"body":"How do you legislate against a quiet favorite?"},{"startTime":1210.2099999999998,"endTime":1212.9299999999998,"body":"The analysis in the documents suggest that this political influence"},{"startTime":1212.9299999999998,"endTime":1216.01,"body":"from all sides just complicates any attempt at real reform."},{"startTime":1216.01,"endTime":1218.33,"body":"We see mentions of the Republican Party in one file,"},{"startTime":1218.33,"endTime":1219.57,"body":"Democratic figures in another."},{"startTime":1219.81,"endTime":1221.8899999999999,"body":"It's thoroughly bipartisan."},{"startTime":1222.05,"endTime":1225.2099999999998,"body":"It shows that the system that protected someone like Epstein"},{"startTime":1225.2099999999998,"endTime":1226.85,"body":"isn't really a partisan system."},{"startTime":1227.01,"endTime":1228.2099999999998,"body":"It's a class system."},{"startTime":1228.29,"endTime":1230.2099999999998,"body":"It's a system of access and power."},{"startTime":1230.6899999999998,"endTime":1234.2099999999998,"body":"And when reform tries to touch that class, the invisible"},{"startTime":1234.2099999999998,"endTime":1237.5,"body":"connections push back the fact that files are being deleted"},{"startTime":1237.5,"endTime":1239.4199999999998,"body":"or that certain connections are being scrubbed."},{"startTime":1239.4199999999998,"endTime":1243.26,"body":"It suggests that this reckoning is, at best, incomplete."},{"startTime":1243.74,"endTime":1245.82,"body":"Full transparency is still a struggle."},{"startTime":1245.98,"endTime":1249.1399999999999,"body":"The system seems willing to expose the monster, but it's"},{"startTime":1249.1399999999999,"endTime":1252.5,"body":"very hesitant to expose the machinery that built and maintained"},{"startTime":1252.5,"endTime":1252.78,"body":"him."},{"startTime":1252.78,"endTime":1255.34,"body":"It feels like we're seeing the absolute limits of what"},{"startTime":1255.34,"endTime":1257.6599999999999,"body":"the system is willing to reveal about itself."},{"startTime":1257.6599999999999,"endTime":1260.1799999999998,"body":"It'll give us the criminal, but maybe not the network"},{"startTime":1260.1799999999998,"endTime":1260.98,"body":"that enabled him."},{"startTime":1260.98,"endTime":1263.4199999999998,"body":"Or maybe we're seeing the system fighting itself."},{"startTime":1263.6599999999999,"endTime":1266.9399999999998,"body":"You have people inside the DOJ pushing for this information"},{"startTime":1266.9399999999998,"endTime":1269.4199999999998,"body":"to be released, the ones who fought to unseal the"},{"startTime":1269.4199999999998,"endTime":1269.98,"body":"documents."},{"startTime":1270.2199999999998,"endTime":1272.06,"body":"And you have others trying to pull it back."},{"startTime":1272.3,"endTime":1275.62,"body":"The deleted metadata might just be the scar tissue from"},{"startTime":1275.62,"endTime":1276.6999999999998,"body":"that internal battle."},{"startTime":1276.78,"endTime":1278.02,"body":"That's a great way to put it."},{"startTime":1278.02,"endTime":1280.54,"body":"The scar tissue of the battle for truth."},{"startTime":1280.86,"endTime":1284.1,"body":"Let's broaden out for just a minute, because when we"},{"startTime":1284.1,"endTime":1287.04,"body":"talk about reform in these files, the scope gets."},{"startTime":1287.9099999999999,"endTime":1289.35,"body":"Well, it gets weirdly broad."},{"startTime":1289.59,"endTime":1292.59,"body":"We have documents that start mixing in topics like gun"},{"startTime":1292.59,"endTime":1295.6699999999998,"body":"reform, healthcare reform, and even climate change."},{"startTime":1295.99,"endTime":1297.6699999999998,"body":"It's puzzling when you first see it."},{"startTime":1297.6699999999998,"endTime":1300.11,"body":"You think, why on earth is climate change in a"},{"startTime":1300.11,"endTime":1302.23,"body":"sex trafficking investigation file, Right."},{"startTime":1302.23,"endTime":1305.07,"body":"Was he secretly trading carbon credits on his island?"},{"startTime":1305.07,"endTime":1305.99,"body":"It makes no sense."},{"startTime":1305.99,"endTime":1308.1499999999999,"body":"Well, there are a couple of possible interpretations."},{"startTime":1308.23,"endTime":1310.99,"body":"One is that it could relate to his attempts to"},{"startTime":1310.99,"endTime":1312.1499999999999,"body":"launder his reputation."},{"startTime":1312.7199999999998,"endTime":1315.28,"body":"You know, he often donated to scientific causes and tried"},{"startTime":1315.28,"endTime":1317.52,"body":"to brand himself as a man of science."},{"startTime":1318.1599999999999,"endTime":1320.6399999999999,"body":"But it's more likely, I think, that it illustrates the"},{"startTime":1320.6399999999999,"endTime":1324.8799999999999,"body":"kitchen sink approach of these massive legal and legislative battles."},{"startTime":1324.9599999999998,"endTime":1327.9599999999998,"body":"When a case gets this big, with this much congressional"},{"startTime":1327.9599999999998,"endTime":1330.24,"body":"attention, everything gets dragged into it."},{"startTime":1330.3999999999999,"endTime":1333.52,"body":"Or, and this is the more cynical take, reform itself"},{"startTime":1333.52,"endTime":1334.7199999999998,"body":"just became a buzzword."},{"startTime":1334.8,"endTime":1337.28,"body":"A buzzword used to delay actual action."},{"startTime":1337.36,"endTime":1339.76,"body":"Like one of those giant omnibus bills where they throw"},{"startTime":1339.76,"endTime":1341.6799999999998,"body":"everything in so that nothing can ever pass."},{"startTime":1342.23,"endTime":1343.1899999999998,"body":"That's exactly it."},{"startTime":1343.4299999999998,"endTime":1345.99,"body":"If you want to stop the specific trafficking reform bill,"},{"startTime":1346.1499999999999,"endTime":1348.1899999999998,"body":"a good way to do it is to attach a"},{"startTime":1348.1899999999998,"endTime":1352.4299999999998,"body":"controversial amendment about gun control to it, knowing that half"},{"startTime":1352.4299999999998,"endTime":1354.51,"body":"of Congress will now be forced to vote against the"},{"startTime":1354.51,"endTime":1355.1899999999998,"body":"whole package."},{"startTime":1355.27,"endTime":1357.9489999999998,"body":"It highlights how the very language of reform can be"},{"startTime":1357.9489999999998,"endTime":1360.4699999999998,"body":"used to obstruct rather than to clarify."},{"startTime":1360.55,"endTime":1363.31,"body":"There's also a legal citation in here for Color of"},{"startTime":1363.31,"endTime":1363.83,"body":"Change v."},{"startTime":1363.83,"endTime":1365.35,"body":"United, and that's really significant."},{"startTime":1365.83,"endTime":1368.79,"body":"Color of Change is a major racial justice organization."},{"startTime":1369.2199999999998,"endTime":1372.06,"body":"Their name showing up here suggests that the reckoning wasn't"},{"startTime":1372.06,"endTime":1373.06,"body":"happening in a vacuum."},{"startTime":1373.2199999999998,"endTime":1374.98,"body":"It wasn't just about sex crimes."},{"startTime":1374.98,"endTime":1377.8999999999999,"body":"It triggered a much broader reevaluation of how our justice"},{"startTime":1377.8999999999999,"endTime":1380.34,"body":"system treats power, race and influence."},{"startTime":1380.4199999999998,"endTime":1381.54,"body":"It forced people to."},{"startTime":1381.9399999999998,"endTime":1383.62,"body":"Who gets a sweetheart plea deal?"},{"startTime":1383.6999999999998,"endTime":1385.6999999999998,"body":"Who gets a non prosecution agreement?"},{"startTime":1386.02,"endTime":1389.3799999999999,"body":"And historically, the answer is usually the wealthy, connected white"},{"startTime":1389.3799999999999,"endTime":1389.9399999999998,"body":"defendant."},{"startTime":1389.9399999999998,"endTime":1392.62,"body":"The intersection of these files with racial justice issues points"},{"startTime":1392.62,"endTime":1395.54,"body":"to a much broader critique of America's two tiered system"},{"startTime":1395.54,"endTime":1396.1799999999998,"body":"of justice."},{"startTime":1396.5,"endTime":1400.1799999999998,"body":"It's asking that really uncomfortable question, if Jeffrey Epstein had"},{"startTime":1400.1799999999998,"endTime":1402.4599999999998,"body":"been a poor man from a different background, would he"},{"startTime":1402.4599999999998,"endTime":1404.1799999999998,"body":"have ever gotten that deal in 2008."},{"startTime":1404.34,"endTime":1406.6599999999999,"body":"And the answer is almost certainly no."},{"startTime":1407.4599999999998,"endTime":1410.86,"body":"That fundamental unfairness is what fueled so much of the"},{"startTime":1410.86,"endTime":1412.74,"body":"public anger that drove these reforms."},{"startTime":1413.4599999999998,"endTime":1416.58,"body":"The color of change reference is a reminder that justice"},{"startTime":1416.58,"endTime":1418.86,"body":"is supposed to be blind to net worth, not just"},{"startTime":1418.86,"endTime":1419.78,"body":"blind to race."},{"startTime":1419.9399999999998,"endTime":1422.86,"body":"And that those two things are so often intertwined in"},{"startTime":1422.86,"endTime":1424.02,"body":"the American legal system."},{"startTime":1424.4399999999998,"endTime":1426.6399999999999,"body":"So after all of this, what does it all mean?"},{"startTime":1426.6399999999999,"endTime":1430.04,"body":"We started this by asking if the system actually reacted."},{"startTime":1430.36,"endTime":1432.3999999999999,"body":"And I think the evidence in the files is clear"},{"startTime":1432.3999999999999,"endTime":1432.8,"body":"that it did."},{"startTime":1432.8,"endTime":1433.6399999999999,"body":"It had no choice."},{"startTime":1433.9599999999998,"endTime":1436.04,"body":"So today we established that the system did react."},{"startTime":1436.04,"endTime":1439.24,"body":"We saw changes to how bail is applied, making it"},{"startTime":1439.24,"endTime":1441.84,"body":"much harder for the wealthy to just buy their way"},{"startTime":1441.84,"endTime":1442.9599999999998,"body":"out of pretrial detention."},{"startTime":1442.9599999999998,"endTime":1446.12,"body":"We saw a real push for discovery reform, trying to"},{"startTime":1446.12,"endTime":1447.6399999999999,"body":"stop those old games with evidence."},{"startTime":1448.12,"endTime":1450.8799999999999,"body":"And we saw administrative shifts in the prison system, a"},{"startTime":1450.8799999999999,"endTime":1454.03,"body":"clear admission that management, not just the law, was broken."},{"startTime":1454.27,"endTime":1456.87,"body":"And of course, we saw the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell"},{"startTime":1456.87,"endTime":1458.6699999999998,"body":"as a tangible result of all that pressure."},{"startTime":1458.6699999999998,"endTime":1460.31,"body":"But we also have to be clear eyed about the"},{"startTime":1460.31,"endTime":1461.3899999999999,"body":"gaps that remain."},{"startTime":1461.6299999999999,"endTime":1462.1899999999998,"body":"Exactly."},{"startTime":1462.1899999999998,"endTime":1464.1899999999998,"body":"We also saw deleted files."},{"startTime":1464.51,"endTime":1468.55,"body":"We saw these invisible connections that legislation really hasn't figured"},{"startTime":1468.55,"endTime":1469.3899999999999,"body":"out how to touch."},{"startTime":1469.4699999999998,"endTime":1472.31,"body":"We saw that real financial accountability is still a work"},{"startTime":1472.31,"endTime":1472.99,"body":"in progress."},{"startTime":1473.07,"endTime":1474.75,"body":"The reckoning has definitely started."},{"startTime":1474.75,"endTime":1477.4699999999998,"body":"But the renovation of the system is far from finished."},{"startTime":1477.55,"endTime":1479.35,"body":"And the big question that hangs over all of this"},{"startTime":1479.35,"endTime":1483.1699999999998,"body":"is are these changes permanent or will they just fade"},{"startTime":1483.1699999999998,"endTime":1484.9699999999998,"body":"away as the headlines do?"},{"startTime":1485.1299999999999,"endTime":1487.77,"body":"Will UPR stay aggressive five years from now?"},{"startTime":1487.9299999999998,"endTime":1491.01,"body":"Will judges continue to apply this level of scrutiny to"},{"startTime":1491.01,"endTime":1492.8899999999999,"body":"flight risk once the cameras are gone?"},{"startTime":1492.9699999999998,"endTime":1494.81,"body":"That's the question we all have to keep asking."},{"startTime":1494.81,"endTime":1497.2099999999998,"body":"Because reform isn't a destination you arrive at."},{"startTime":1497.2099999999998,"endTime":1498.8899999999999,"body":"It's a constant maintenance job."},{"startTime":1499.37,"endTime":1501.29,"body":"Next time, we go back to the beginning."},{"startTime":1501.85,"endTime":1503.05,"body":"1996."},{"startTime":1503.53,"endTime":1506.73,"body":"Maria and Annie Farmer, the earliest documented victim."},{"startTime":1507.36,"endTime":1508.32,"body":"Why nothing was done."},{"startTime":1508.32,"endTime":1510.28,"body":"That's next time on the Epstein Files."},{"startTime":1510.28,"endTime":1510.8799999999999,"body":"Good night."},{"startTime":1516.1599999999999,"endTime":1519.36,"body":"You have just heard an analysis of the official record."},{"startTime":1520.24,"endTime":1524.08,"body":"Every claim, name and date mentioned in this episode is"},{"startTime":1524.08,"endTime":1526.24,"body":"backed by primary source documents."},{"startTime":1526.7199999999998,"endTime":1530.7199999999998,"body":"You can view the original files for yourself at Epsteinfiles"},{"startTime":1531.12,"endTime":1531.6799999999998,"body":"fm."},{"startTime":1532.57,"endTime":1536.1699999999998,"body":"If you value this data first approach to journalism, please"},{"startTime":1536.1699999999998,"endTime":1539.37,"body":"leave a five star review wherever you're listening right now."},{"startTime":1539.6899999999998,"endTime":1541.9299999999998,"body":"It helps keep this investigation visible."},{"startTime":1542.33,"endTime":1543.9299999999998,"body":"We'll see you in the next file."}]}