How Jeffrey Epstein Worked the South Florida Legal System

It seems that a key provision in the 2008 sweetheart plea deal that gave Jeffrey Epstein his light sentence was proposed by a former federal prosecutor who later regularly corresponded with the sexual predator.

Among the revelations in an extensive report by The Miami Herald is that while insisting on a minimum two-year sentence and a felony conviction for Epstein as part of a plea agreement, former chief federal criminal prosecutor Matthew Menchel also reportedly proposed that Epstein be allowed to enter a plea in state rather than federal court. The ultimate entry of Epstein’s highly favorable plea in state court enabled Epstein to obtain the work release that got him out of jail for periods at a time. 

According to the Herald, Menchel initially discussed this matter not with the lead prosecutor on the case, Marie Villafana, but rather with Epstein’s defense lawyer Lily Ann Sanchez (whom Menchel had once dated). A 2020 report from the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility stated that Menchel failed to tell his supervisors about his prior relationship with Sanchez, but the OPR concluded that there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct by Menchel or any of the federal prosecutors. 

“I told Lily [sic] that a state plea with jail time and sex offender status may satisfy the USA,” Menchel wrote to Villafana in July 2007.

Villafana was incensed, as she had already prepared an 82-page prosecution memo directed to U.S. attorney Alex Acosta and Menchel that suggested a 60-count federal indictment for Epstein, the Herald reported. 

“[I]t is inappropriate for you to enter into plea negotiations without consulting with me or the investigative agencies, and it is more inappropriate to make a plea offer that you know is completely unacceptable to the FBI, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], the victims and me,” she wrote to Menchel. 

Menchel wrote back: “If the U.S. Attorney [Acosta] or the First Assistant [Sloman] desire to meet with you, they will let you know. Nor will I direct Epstein’s lawyers to communicate only with you. If you want to work major cases in the district you must understand and accept the fact that there is a chain of command — something you disregard with great regularity.”

Menchel left the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office in August 2007, one month before Epstein’s non-prosecution deal was finished, and was not involved in final negotiations. A few years later, and just months after Epstein had completed his state sentence, he and Menchel began to correspond regularly and “met often for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners,” according to the Herald. Menchel’s lawyers asserted to the Herald that their correspondence was only “​​in the context of potential representation and referrals, none of which ever materialized into any business.” 

The full report reveals just how powerful—and how insidious—Epstein was, and how the system lacked the collective will to mete out a punishment commensurate to his despicable crimes.

UPDATE: Menchel’s attorney, Erica Wolff, wrote to The New Republic to clarify that: Menchel was not responsible for the plea deal; the eventual plea deal agreed to by Acosta was more lenient than the one Menchel recommended; and Menchel did not insist on a state plea.  

A nearly blind refugee was found dead on the streets of Buffalo, New York, Tuesday after Border Patrol officers dropped him off at a Tim Hortons location miles from home last week.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who survived the Rohingya genocide in Burma and arrived in the United States as a refugee in December 2024, was found by Buffalo police Tuesday night after they responded to a report of a dead body. He had been missing since February 19 after being released from the Erie County Holding Center on bail. Since an immigration detainer had been placed on him, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted Border Patrol before his release, and agents picked him up that day.  

Shah Alam had been in the holding center for the past year after he was arrested by Buffalo police while walking in his neighborhood with the help of curtain rods he used as walking sticks. He got lost and found his way to a porch of another person’s home as she was letting her dog out. The woman called the police, and Shah Alam, having poor vision and unable to speak English, didn’t respond to police commands to drop the rods.

A scuffle ensued, and his lawyer, Benjamin Macaluso, said that police beat and tased Shah Alam before arresting him. He was then charged with numerous offenses, including assault, trespassing, and possession of a weapon. Macaluso said that Shah Alam’s family didn’t bail him out at the time for fear that he would be detained by ICE and sent out of state. 

Shah Alam had made a plea deal with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office on charges of trespassing and possessing a weapon, which allowed him to “clear” the detainer, Macaluso told the nonprofit news outlet Investigative Post. So the agents dropped him off at the café, seven miles away from where Alam’s family lives on the east side of Buffalo.

Border Patrol claims that’s where Shah Alam agreed to go. After agents realized that Shah Alam wasn’t supposed to be in their custody, they “offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.

The statement even had the audacity to claim that a man blind in one eye, with blurry vision in the other, who needed two sticks to walk, “showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance.”

Border Patrol also didn’t notify Shah Alam’s family that they released him. Macaluso and Shah Alam’s family spent the following few days looking for him, and the attorney opened a missing person’s case with Buffalo police Sunday. On Monday, the case was mistakenly closed for hours because a detective thought Alam was actually taken to an ICE facility before being reopened later that day.

Now, a man who survived a genocide has died because of negligence by Border Patrol agents only 14 months after arriving in the U.S. Even before that, he was arrested and held for a year seemingly because of a miscommunication, and despite having legal status, his family justifiably feared that ICE would detain him thanks to the Trump administration’s reputation of ignoring long-standing immigration law. Shah Alam should still be alive, but thanks to failures from local authorities all the way to the federal government, he passed away on a cold Buffalo street without his family. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may be left footing the bill for Alligator Alcatraz—Donald Trump’s wetland-themed concentration camp—so the Department of Justice can sidestep threats from environmental groups that would shut the facility down, according to the Florida Phoenix.

In a filing Tuesday, the Department of Justice clarified that the ICE facility in the Florida Everglades wasn’t eligible to receive federal funding for construction—only for its day-to-day operation.  

“Any potential future federal funding is reimbursement-based, calculated per detainee, and available only for operational costs—not construction or facility modification,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson wrote.

“As it likely will be structured, there will be no potential federal funding of the facility’s design, siting, maintenance, or construction, and no federal approval authority over whether the facility is built at all,” he added.

The filing was made as part of an ongoing legal battle brought by the Friends of the Everglades, Earthjustice, and the Miccosukee Tribe, who hoped to block the construction. The groups alleged that the expedited construction of a facility at the Big Cypress National Preserve had been done without complying with federal environment laws and regulations. A lower court had sided with the environmental groups, and the government appealed the decision. 

The government’s appeal hinges on the question of federal funding: If the facility never received federal dollars, then it wouldn’t need to comply with federal laws. 

In a separate filing Tuesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed that the Sunshine State had accepted the “risk” that the FEMA money reimbursement might “not materialize” at all.

But when Alligator Alcatraz was first announced, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the facility would “in large part be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.” The facility would cost $450 million a year to operate. 

If the funds for construction don’t arrive—and it seems like they won’t—the Florida Division of Emergency Management might have to foot more than just the $245 million construction bill. So far, the FDEM has pulled together roughly $406 million to fund the state’s immigration enforcement efforts. 

In September, DHS announced that it had submitted an application for a $608 million grant for Alligator Alcatraz to FEMA and been approved—but that didn’t mean that the money had actually been sent, DOJ lawyers claimed Tuesday. 

FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said earlier this month that FEMA told him the DOJ had held up the massive reimbursement. 

The White House is prepping for war with Iran—but that outcome is getting more and more difficult to rationalize, even for MAGA loyalists.

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin flopped and floundered Wednesday night to properly explain the need for another war during a sit-down interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

“I think people see the risks for sure…. It’s just hard sometimes to get your head around that we were told last summer it was obliterated, and now we’re saying a strike might be necessary if the talks don’t work,” Collins said.

“But obliterated is much different than the rebuilding it. They are purposefully trying to rebuild it,” Mullin replied.

“But how can you rebuild it if it was obliterated?” pressed Collins.

“I’m just saying, why do you think China and Russia—” started Mullin, before Collins interjected to repeat her question.

“But I’m just saying why do you think China and Russia—” Mullin said again.

“But how can you rebuild it if it was obliterated?” Collins asked a third time.

“I’ve already explained that,” Mullin responded. “How do you rebuild your legs after you shatter them? How do you rebuild a house after it’s been knocked down by a tornado or a hurricane? You can rebuild things. The foundation may still be there, you can build a lot back on the foundation once the top of it is removed. If the structure of the foundation is there, they can start rebuilding.”

Donald Trump ordered a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22 without the express approval of Congress. The attack damaged facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, though a postmortem battle damage assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm determined that the missile barrage only set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months, rather than the “years” that Trump had advertised.

The topic of striking Iran again has resurfaced amongst the president’s top aides over the last month. Since January 22, the U.S. has built an enormous military presence across a web of U.S. bases in the Middle East for the mere possibility of war, flooding ships—including naval destroyers and aircraft carriers—and more than a dozen jets to the region, reported CNN.

On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the potential for war with Iran is still very much on the table. Top U.S. military officials, meanwhile, have reportedly warned the White House against dragging the country into war with Iran, arguing that it could entangle America in a prolonged conflict.

U.S. officials including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—Trump’s son-in-law—met with an Iranian delegation in Geneva early Thursday to discuss the countries’ ongoing standoff.

The talks have paused, though an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told CNN that an “immediate agreement” could be within reach if the discussions singularly focus on Iran’s “non-production of nuclear weapons.”

Transgender people across Kansas are receiving letters warning them that their driver’s licenses are now invalid due to a new state law.

Senate Bill 244 takes effect Thursday, and requires to transgender people to have licenses corresponding with the sex of their birth. It passed last month, with Kansas legislators overriding Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto. Anyone who receives the letter has to surrender their license and pay for a new one, and if they are caught without a valid license, the penalty is a class B misdemeanor, with a sentence of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Gender marker changes had been allowed on Kansas licenses since 2007 despite the efforts of Kansas Republicans. That changed with SB 244, which doesn’t just ban gender changes going forward, but invalidates any changes made in the past. And the bill doesn’t come with a grace period lasting months—it’s taking effect immediately upon publication in the Kansas Register, which is updated on Thursdays.

“The Department is working as quickly as possible to notify individuals whose credentials will be affected under SB 244, ensuring they have sufficient time to update their credentials and avoid any disruption,” Zach Denney, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue, told The Topeka Capital-Journal. “Letters are being sent to those impacted, and they should begin receiving them soon.”

About 1,500 people in the state are expected to receive letters, although Denney said that number could go down as the department “continues to look through and refine our records.” In addition to requiring new driver’s licenses, SB 244 also bans transgender people from bathrooms that match their gender identity in public buildings, and even goes as far as to create a bounty system giving people the ability to sue transgender people they see using the “wrong” restrooms for at least $1,000. The bill is written vaguely enough to potentially include private restrooms, too.

It’s a bill designed to appease a right-wing panic about transgender people, hiding behind bathroom safety, even though other states have not had any crimes or issues resulting from transgender people using the restroom of their gender. All it’s going to do is make the lives of many Kansans more difficult and make conservatives feel better about a problem that doesn’t exist.

First Lady Melania Trump will preside over the United Nations Security Council on March 2, addressing “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict.”

“Mrs. Trump’s leadership will mark the first time a sitting U.S. First Lady presides over the Security Council as members consider education, technology, peace, and security,” a press release from her office read.

While the first lady has shown an interest in children’s welfare, particularly in Russia’s war on Ukraine, it’s hard to imagine her address as any more than a symbolic gesture that will look good in a social media post. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz will be in attendance.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will go to the White House Thursday as he looks to push through a merger that even Republicans say presents antitrust concerns.

The proposed deal would see Netflix acquire Warner Bros. Discovery at the cost of $70 billion. Though it’s not clear if Sarandos will be meeting directly with President Donald Trump, he will try to curry favor with his administration, whose Department of Justice has the final say as to whether the merger goes through.

Trump previously said he wouldn’t get involved with the deal, but eventually couldn’t resist trying to leverage his power for political gain. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, he called on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice, a former Democratic policy adviser.

“Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences,” Trump wrote.

Trump’s request was later rejected by Sarandos.

In the meantime, 11 Republican attorneys general have asked the DOJ to block the deal.

The group penned a letter to the DOJ on Wednesday arguing that a Netflix–Warner Bros. merger would give Netflix too much power over its streaming rivals, creating a monopoly that could lead to higher prices and reduced quality.

Adding to the mess is the fact that the chief of the DOJ’s antitrust division, Gail Slater, stepped down recently after feuding with Trump officials. The acting chief is Omeed Assefi, who was previously a criminal prosecutor in the division.

Sarandos tried to downplay the discord in remarks to the BBC. “This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal,” he said.

The U.S. women’s hockey team is telling Donald Trump that they’d love to meet up, they’re just really busy right now.

After both U.S. hockey teams took gold in Milan last week, Trump rhapsodized over the men, personally calling the team up to offer an invitation to his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

As for the women? “I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump said during the call. “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

The men’s team erupted in laughter at the remark, but the women didn’t find the mockery too funny, opting not to attend Trump’s address. A spokesperson said that while the women were grateful for the invite, the team would not be attending “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”

Whether he was hurt by the idea that anyone might not enjoy his presence or just trying to save some face, Trump then claimed during his State of the Union address that the women’s team would visit the White House “soon.”

This apparently came as news to the team, who proceeded to give an excellent nondenial denial through a spokesperson on Wednesday: “Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season. They’re honored and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude.”

The team has better offers on the table, anyway. Following the Trump kerfuffle, rapper Flavor Flav said he’d throw the team a “real celebration” in Las Vegas for them and all female Olympians and Paralympians. “I’ll host them,” the Public Enemy co-founder wrote on social media. “Do some nice dinners and shows and good times.”

Cuban officials have confirmed that the country’s Border Guard troops killed four people aboard a speedboat registered in Florida Wednesday morning.

The speedboat was one nautical mile from a small island northeast of Cuba when Cuban troops approached the boat, requesting identification for venturing into Cuban territory. As it drew near, occupants aboard the U.S.-registered vessel opened fire on Cuban authorities, injuring the Cuban boat’s commander.

“As a consequence of the confrontation, as of the time of this report, four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six were injured,” reads a statement by Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior. “The injured individuals were evacuated and received medical assistance.”

The identities of those killed or injured were not specified. The ministry did note that the boat’s registration number was FL7726SH, and that it was detected near Cayo Falcones, in the country’s central Villa Clara province.

American boats face significant legal restrictions with regard to travelling in Cuban waters—in no small part because of the regulations imposed by the U.S. government.

The U.S. has maintained a comprehensive embargo on Cuba since 1962, restricting trade and travel between the two countries, a policy that has effectively choked Cuba’s economic growth for more than six decades.

U.S. law prohibits any form of tourism to the island, and boats cannot enter Cuban waters without direct permitting and authorization from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Commerce. Failure to comply with U.S. regulations could result in the government seizure of one’s boat, fines up to $25,000 per day the boat is in Cuban waters, or even imprisonment.

“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region,” the Cuban statement continued.

The violence comes just weeks after Donald Trump softened an oil trade ban on the island in the wake of the U.S.’s recent ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuban ally, and its subsequent takeover of Venezuela’s oil supply. Washington allowed shipments of Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use” after Caribbean leaders claimed the regional economy would be devastated if they were frozen out of the nearby oil reserve.

This story has been updated.

The Trump administration is blocking Congress from seeing the classified intelligence report that prompted a whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Gabbard’s office emailed Democratic congressional staffers on February 13 and said it couldn’t send the unredacted intelligence behind the complaint, which concerns an intercepted conversation two foreign individuals had about President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, “due to the assertion of executive privilege to portions” of the information.

The Journal learned earlier this month about the complaint, which was filed with the DNI’s inspector general back in May. Gabbard’s office was supposed to disclose the complaint to Congress but didn’t for eight months, prompting an attorney representing the whistleblower to write a letter in November accusing Gabbard of burying the complaint, which has reportedly been locked in a safe.

Gabbard’s office eventually relented and shared a redacted version with some members of Congress earlier this month, using executive privilege to justify the redactions. What is known about the complaint is that it accuses Gabbard of limiting the sharing of intelligence for political purposes.

After the intelligence, which partially has to do with Iran, was gathered last year, Gabbard met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Following that meeting, Gabbard worked to limit who saw the intelligence, unnamed sources told the Journal.

Another part of the complaint is that NSA lawyers failed to report a possible crime to the Justice Department that came up in the conversation between the two individuals for political reasons.

The leading Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes, are now asking who asserted executive privilege and why, as it is rarely used to prevent sharing intelligence with Congress.

“The request and provision of intelligence reports have been longstanding practice between the [intelligence community] and its congressional oversight committees,” Warner and Himes wrote in a letter to Gabbard’s office Tuesday.

But writing a letter is all Democrats can do as the minority party in the House and Senate. Kushner doesn’t have a formal job in the Trump administration, but he has been involved in its key foreign policy decisions, such as Middle East negotiations, including the rebuilding of Gaza by the new Board of Peace. If he is compromised internationally, then it’s a matter of national security, and the public should know. The cover-up suggests something of that nature that would be publicly damaging to Trump. What does Gabbard know?