After Jeffrey Epstein’s death, prosecutors examine his inner circle

New York CNN — The jail cell death of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein over the weekend positioned prosecutors to pursue his associates, some of whom allegedly assisted him in abusing underage girls. Prosecutors will draw on Epstein evidence As they pursue potential targets beyond Epstein, prosecutors will likely have the ability to use material they seized from a search conducted of his Upper East Side mansion in the hours after his arrest in July, according to former federal prosecutor Rachel Maimin, a partner at law firm Lowenstein Sandler LLP who helped prosecute the case against President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen for campaign-finance violations and other crimes. A press conference after Epstein’s arrest was punctuated by a dramatic moment when US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stepped out from behind the lectern and pointed his finger at an oversized photo of Epstein’s face, imploring people to come forward “if you believe you are a victim of this man.” As the case proceeded, a phalanx of senior leadership at the office attended each of Epstein’s pretrial court appearances, with Berman arriving alongside the chief of the public corruption unit and his deputy. But the case is far from over Over the weekend, Berman signaled that prosecutors would not let the case expire, saying “our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing.” That charge in the indictment accuses Epstein of having “worked and conspired with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with Epstein at the New York Residence and at the Palm Beach Residence.” The indictment alleges that when Epstein traveled from New York to Palm Beach by private jet, “an employee or associate would ensure that minor victims were available for encounters upon his arrival in Florida.” The indictment describes, but doesn’t name, a New York-based employee, as well as two other assistants it suggests were based in Palm Beach.