Following Friday’s revelation that Jeffrey Epstein had a close personal relationship with the prosecutor behind his 2007 “sweetheart” plea deal, former Justice Department attorney Brendan Ballou cast doubt on the likelihood of further legal action in the case, citing in part the Trump administration’s reluctance to release its cache of Epstein files.
On Friday, the House Oversight Committee released another trove of Epstein documents, among them being emails that revealed that Epstein had a close relationship with former federal prosecutor Matthew Menchel, that included a ski trip sometime in the 2000s and multiple meetings and dinners from 2011 to 2017, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
Epstein’s plea deal allowed him to plead guilty to just one count of prostitution and serve 18 months in prison, while being allowed to leave prison on work release for up to 12 hours a day. This plea deal was afforded to Epstein despite the FBI having identified at least 40 potential minor victims in his case.
Appearing on MSNBC Saturday, Ballou was asked whether he saw any room for legal action following the revelation, to which he said “probably not, bluntly.”
“The information revealed doesn't show that there is – at least, based on the initial review – anything actionable against him, and obviously prosecutors are afforded really broad discretion in their decisions about how to prosecute or who not to prosecute here,” Ballou said.
Still, Ballou suggested that even if new evidence emerged showing unethical or illegal coordination between prosecutors and Epstein, any effort to hold those involved accountable would likely be blocked by the Trump administration, which he said has shown “no interest” in releasing additional Epstein files.
“The challenge that I think any victim has, that any potential plaintiff has is that it's the Department of Justice in this administration that holds the vast trove of investigation material from this case, but they have absolutely no interest in revealing that information, so it's going to be very hard for these folks to get that.”
