--:-- [Sound of music fades out, followed by the host's voice]
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley, and I'm here with Georgia Howe. It's Sunday, December 31st, and we're bringing you a special New Year's Eve edition.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for joining us, John.
--:-- John Bickley: Today, we're going to talk about a major development in the Jeffrey Epstein case. A federal judge has unsealed a massive trove of documents related to his sex trafficking operation, and it's set to be released in the first few days of 2024. Joining us now is Daily Wire Investigations Editor Brent Schur. Hey, Brent. So tomorrow is the day these records are officially set to be unsealed, correct?
--:-- Brent Schur: That's right.
--:-- John Bickley: Because tomorrow is a holiday, Happy New Year's Eve, we're not expecting to see those documents until Tuesday. And that's probably welcome news for the people who expect to be on this list, who are reportedly dreading having their names officially linked to Jeffrey Epstein, this whole sex trafficking operation.
--:-- Brent Schur: Right. As a refresher, Epstein was this incredibly well-connected financier. He ran in both political and entertainment circles. And he was also a convicted sex offender who built a sex trafficking operation that involves several of the world's most rich and famous individuals.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One of those individuals is Great Britain's Prince Andrew. The Daily Mail reported that Prince Andrew is totally tormented by the impending document release. A source told the tabloid that Andrew is beside himself with this latest development, and everyone close to him is concerned for his mental well-being.
--:-- Brent Schur: So, Queen Elizabeth actually stripped Andrew already of all his titles last year in hopes of insulating the royal family from the whole scandal. But this release could result in new information about Andrew's activities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Remember, it's not just names that are being released. There are several emails, depositions, and other legal documents that are also going to be unsealed in this drop.
--:-- Brent Schur: So is this list all people like Andrew, friends of Epstein who were linked to his sexual operation? No, it's not. The 177 individuals that have been referred to as John and Jane Doe in the legal system, they also victims of Epstein, and many of them say it's unfair for their identities to be revealed.
--:-- John Bickley: The judge who ordered this release, she's a Trump-appointed federal judge named Loretta Preska. She's giving the individuals all the opportunity to make their case for why they should remain sealed.
--:-- Brent Schur: One woman associated with Epstein, for example, she's identified in court documents as Doe 107. She told Judge Preska that she now lives in a culturally conservative country and believes she faces risks of physical harm if she's identified.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a lot of the intrigue surrounding Epstein has been really sparked by the fact that he died before his trial took place.
--:-- Brent Schur: Do we expect that some of the documents that are going to be released would have come to light during the trial? It's possible.
--:-- John Bickley: We should note the official declaration that Epstein killed himself in prison has always been viewed with suspicion, and given the number of powerful people who want as little known as possible about their relationship with him.
--:-- Brent Schur: I spoke to investigative reporter Alana Goodman. She wrote a book on Epstein called A Convenient Death, exploring who would have wanted him dead and what really happened in his prison cell.
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--:-- Brent Schur: There are a lot of people around Epstein who had reason to potentially want him dead and not to sit through a trial. He had a lot of powerful friends, people like Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, many billionaires who he knew, political figures, you know, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There were allegations that he may have been blackmailing people. He certainly had cameras around his house. And there are other indications that he was recording people in his life.
--:-- Brent Schur: And certainly you can think of a lot of reasons why people might not have wanted him to go to a trial. Anything on Prince Andrew in there is going to be interesting. I'd definitely be interested in seeing stuff on Bill Gates, if any of that's in there, because there was those reports that Epstein was what ended his marriage to Melinda.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Goodman says there's still intrigue around Epstein because of how much we still don't know about his operation. We have allegations that Epstein may have trafficked some of these girls to the circle of powerful friends, but we don't have any hard evidence of that at this point.
--:-- Brent Schur: We have allegations that he may have been blackmailing people, but we don't have hard evidence at this point. There's still questions about how he made his money and how much he was actually worth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There's still questions about his death and the details surrounding his death. And so I think that it's always good when you have records come out because if they can help us answer any of these questions or give us any new information on this case.
--:-- Brent Schur: So now that this information is being unsealed, it sounds like this release is going to complicate life for people who thought maybe they had put this scandal behind them. Who are some of the other big names involved here?
--:-- Georgia Howe: One of the most intriguing set of documents that's coming is related to Doug Band. Here's one of Bill Clinton's closest aides in the White House. Band has managed to avoid embarrassment over Epstein, which is a bit surprising.
--:-- Brent Schur: He joined Clinton on a Lolita Express trip to Africa that also included Kevin Spacey. It's the same trip where the infamous picture of Clinton receiving a massage from one of Epstein's flight attendants was taken.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But Band has publicly said he got bad vibes from Epstein on the trip, and that he urged Clinton to cut ties with Epstein even before his whole sexual network was revealed.
--:-- Brent Schur: But Clinton did not listen, correct? Not at all. And that's always been a bit of a hole in Band's story. He was one of Clinton's top advisors and remained close as the Epstein relationship continued.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Epstein was still donating thousands of dollars to Clinton's foundation after the trip. But these documents are going to shed new light on Band's relationship with Epstein and whether he's been telling the truth the whole time.
--:-- Brent Schur: How about in D.C.? I know there have been some rumors that some more politicians might get wrapped into this, correct?
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's what one congressman says. Tennessee Republican Tim Burchick created some waves with his prediction that some of his colleagues are compromised.
--:-- Brent Schur: He told Newsmax that's why there's been Democrat resistance to forcing more information out through Congress. Too many of my colleagues, I'm afraid, are compromised in this area for whatever reason.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Somebody just whispered in their ear said, "Hey, you don't want something to come out on something else. You better keep your mouth shut on this."
--:-- Brent Schur: That was his explanation for the resistance to Senator Marsha Blackburn's push to subpoena the flight records from Epstein's jet.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We talked to her a couple of weeks ago, and she says the Department of Justice has information about Epstein it's keeping hidden from the public.
--:-- Brent Schur: We fully believe that the Epstein records, the video surveillance from his homes, the flight logs, all of that is in the possession of the FBI and DOJ. And getting that released so that we can get justice for these victims, it's an important thing to do.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the push for flight logs in Congress, the release of these documents, why is this all happening now?
--:-- Brent Schur: It's a good question. For Blackburn, it kind of has to do with proving a point. Senate Democrats were pushing to subpoena of flight records for Clarence Thomas, so she suggested Epstein as an alternative.
--:-- Georgia Howe: When we met on November 9th to consider these subpoenas, I said, "If you're going to do that, I've got some subpoenas that I would like to issue." And the first one, of course, being the flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein.
--:-- Brent Schur: Getting to the bottom of this international sex trafficking ring that Jeffrey Epstein had put in place, finding out who all was involved in that, that is something that needs to be done also.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So that's starting in Congress, but when it comes to the courts, this is a legal battle that's been brewing for years. These documents are all related to a defamation case against Maxwell that was settled years ago, but the Miami Herald sued for the documents to be released, and Judge Preska finally agreed to just rip off the band-aid and unseal everything.
--:-- Brent Schur: So now all that's left to do is wait and see what's actually released and if there are any new revelations.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, I think the whole world would be watching what comes out in that document release.
--:-- Brent Schur: Thanks for reporting, Brent.
--:-- Brent Schur: Yeah, of course. That was Daily Wire Investigations editor Brent Schur, and this has been a New Year's Eve edition of Morning Wire.
