Ken Starr waged a scorched earth campaign for Jeffrey Epstein in 2007, new book claims

Ken Starr, the attorney whose special counsel investigation triggered former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, waged a ‘scorched earth’ legal campaign to convinced federal prosecutors to drop sex-trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new book.

Starr worked as a ‘fixer’ to help Epstein secure a sweetheart federal immunity deal when he faced investigation in 2007, according to Miami Herald reporter Julie K Brown’s new book, Perversion of Justice, which was obtained by The Guardian.

Brown writes that Starr ‘used his political connections in the White House to get the Justice Department to review Epstein’s case’ by penning a scathing letter to a former colleague high in the DOJ, accusing the lead prosecutors in the case of misconduct.

The end result was a federal immunity deal that kicked the investigation to state court, resulting in Epstein serving a 13-month jail sentence with cozy perks, before he returned to abusing underage girls.

Ken Starr waged a 'scorched earth' legal campaign to convinced federal prosecutors to drop sex-trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new book

Ken Starr waged a ‘scorched earth’ legal campaign to convinced federal prosecutors to drop sex-trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new book

Starr's special counsel investigation into matters including Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky triggered former President Bill Clinton's impeachment

Starr’s special counsel investigation into matters including Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky triggered former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment

Starr did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning. 

According to Brown’s book, Starr teamed up with Epstein’s then-criminal defense lawyer Jay Lefkowitz in ‘campaigning to pressure the Justice Department to drop the case’.

In an apparent move of desperation, Starr sent an eight-page letter to his former colleague, Mark Filip, who had just been confirmed as deputy US attorney general, the second most powerful prosecutor in the country, according to Brown.

Filip and Starr had previously worked together at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Brown writes that Starr’s letter began cordially, but quickly devolved into ‘dramatic language’ reminiscent of the Starr Report, his case detailing the salacious details of Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

In his letter to his high-powered friend, Starr accused federal prosecutors in Miami who were involved in the Epstein case of misconduct in trying to engineer a plea deal with the billionaire that would benefit their friends, Brown writes, calling it a ‘brutal punch.’

Starr sent an eight-page letter to his former colleague, Mark Filip (above), who had just been confirmed as deputy US attorney general, regarding the Epstein case

Starr sent an eight-page letter to his former colleague, Mark Filip (above), who had just been confirmed as deputy US attorney general, regarding the Epstein case

Separately, Brown reports that Epstein’s legal team also went aver the lead federal prosecutor in the case, Marie Villafaña, accusing her of rigging plea negotiations to benefit a friend of her boyfriend, which she denies.

Epstein's legal team accused federal prosecutor Marie Villafaña of misconduct

Epstein’s legal team accused federal prosecutor Marie Villafaña of misconduct

‘It was a scorched-earth defense like I had never seen before. Marie broke her back trying to do the right thing, but someone was always telling her to back off,’ an unnamed prosecutor linked to the case told Brown.

The source said that someone in Washington was ‘calling the shots in the case,’ but the book does not reveal who that refers to.

Starr’s role in assisting Epstein’s defense was already public knowledge, but the scathing letter to Filip had not been previously revealed.  

The secret federal deal that Epstein got was signed off by Alex Acosta, then Miami’s top federal prosecutor, who was forced to resign as labor secretary in the Trump administration when Epstein’s second arrest brought new scrutiny on the case. 

The federal immunity deal resulted in Epstein pleading guilty to one count of paying for sex with a minor under 18 in Florida state court in 2008. 

He served 13 months in jail, and was allowed to work in his home office for 12 hours a day, six days a week. 

In 2019, Epstein was arrested again, on federal charges of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York.

He died behind bars in federal custody in August 2019, in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide.  

Brown’s new book is due out in hardcover on July 20.

source: dailymail.co.uk