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995 KB
Extraction Summary
4
People
2
Organizations
1
Locations
2
Events
3
Relationships
7
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Legal document
File Size:
995 KB
Summary
This document is an excerpt from a legal filing detailing an OPR interview with prosecutor Villafaña about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein NPA negotiations. Villafaña defends her collegial communication style with defense attorney Lefkowitz as a tactic to complete the assigned task, while remaining firm on substantive terms. She also explains her strategic reasoning for agreeing to a plea deal provision that protected Epstein's associates from prosecution, which was to avoid excessive court scrutiny that could jeopardize the entire agreement.
People (4)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Villafaña | Government Attorney/Prosecutor |
Interviewed by OPR about her negotiations and communications with Lefkowitz regarding Epstein's NPA.
|
| Lefkowitz | Defense Attorney |
Represented Epstein during NPA negotiations with Villafaña.
|
| Epstein | Subject of Investigation/Defendant |
The subject of the NPA and federal plea agreement being negotiated by Villafaña and Lefkowitz.
|
| Lourie |
Mentioned as having suggested in an earlier email charging Epstein by complaint to provide more flexibility in plea n...
|
Organizations (2)
Locations (1)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Villafaña describes herself as a 'Minnesota girl' to explain her communication style.
|
Relationships (3)
They were opposing counsel in the NPA negotiations for Epstein. Villafaña described their communications as civil, collegial, and collaborative, though she was firm on the terms of the agreement.
Villafaña was the government attorney negotiating a Non-Prosecution Agreement and plea deal related to federal charges against Epstein.
Key Quotes (7)
"[I]f you were to pull all my e-mails on every case, you would find that that is how I communicate with people. I’m a Minnesota girl, and I prefer not to be confrontational until I have to be. And I can be when I need to be. But my instructions from my supervisors were to engage in these negotiations and to complete them. So I felt that given that task, the best way to complete them was to reach the agreement and, keeping in mind the terms that . . . our office had agreed to, and do that in a way that is civil. So . . . although my language in the kind of introductory or prefatory communications with Mr. Lefkowitz was casual and was friendly, when you look at the terms and when he would come back to me asking for changes, my response was always, “No, I will not make that change.”"Source
— Villafaña
(Explaining her communication style and negotiation strategy to OPR.)
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Quote #1
"No, I will not make that change."Source
— Villafaña
(Her consistent response to Lefkowitz's requests for changes to the agreement terms.)
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Quote #2
"highlight for the judge all of the other crimes and all of the other persons that we could charge"Source
— Villafaña
(From an email explaining her reluctance to include overly detailed information in the plea agreement that might prompt court scrutiny.)
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Quote #3
"Epstein’s fulfilling the terms and conditions of the Agreement also precludes the initiation of any and all criminal charges which might otherwise in the future be brought against [four named female assistants] or any employee of [a specific Epstein-owned corporate entity] for any criminal charge that arises out of the ongoing federal investigation."Source
— Lefkowitz (proposed language)
(Language proposed by the defense for inclusion in the federal plea agreement to protect Epstein's employees from prosecution.)
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Quote #4
"off campus"Source
— Villafaña
(Her offer to meet Lefkowitz at a location away from their offices to finalize negotiations.)
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Quote #5
"neutral"Source
— Villafaña
(Describing the proposed location for a face-to-face meeting with Lefkowitz.)
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Quote #6
"all the necessary decision makers present or ‘on call’"Source
— Villafaña
(A condition for the proposed face-to-face meeting to ensure it would be productive.)
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Quote #7
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