Overview
- A Miami Herald account of former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter says federal prosecutors and White House figures under President George W. Bush intervened to slow local Epstein investigations.
- Reiter says he interviewed about two dozen alleged victims in the mid‑2000s and collected extensive evidence before federal authorities took control and removed him from the case.
- The case returned to public view on June 10 when Bill Gates testified to a House oversight panel denying knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and saying Epstein tried to pressure him using information about private affairs.
- Published internal ‘Epstein files’ include a 2013 draft email mentioning Gates and a passage about getting ‘medications’ for ‘sex with Russian girls,’ and the oversight committee is conducting closed hearings and plans to release transcripts and documents.
- The new reporting and congressional interviews reopen questions about the 2008 plea deal negotiated by then‑U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, could lead to demands for further records or accountability, and matters to victims seeking fuller investigation and redress.