Sex trafficking: Political pals of US billionaire Jeffery Epstein panic

Epstein has been accused of engaging in sex trafficking involving girls as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and in Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.

Hedge-fund billionaire Jeffery Epstein’s arrest on charges of sex trafficking has turned the focus on his powerful friends and contacts that include former President Bill Clinton, who sought to pre-empt it by saying he knew nothing of the financier’s “terrible crimes”.

In a controversial plea deal Epsteisigned then, he admitted to lesser state law violations and had gotten away with merely 13 months in prison. (AP file photo)

Clinton had travelled in Epstein’s private jet several times, and the financier was also friendly with the President Donald Trump in his pre-White House years. Trump had said in 2002 “he (Epstein) likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Epstein has been accused of engaging in sex trafficking involving girls as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and in Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. He was tried before but got away easily. In a controversial plea deal he signed then, he admitted to lesser state law violations and had gotten away with merely 13 months in prison.

That deal was overseen by then US attorney Alexander Acosta, who is now the labour secretary in Trump’s cabinet. Calls are growing for him to be removed from office. New York southern district attorney’s office has restarted the case against him, arguing it is not bound by the Florida agreement.