- 5 months ago
Alicia Arden and her lawyer Gloria Allred held a press briefing to call for the release of the Epstein files.
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00:00Thank you for coming today. I'm attorney Gloria Allred and today we are here with
00:15the first victim to have documented proof that she filed a police report against Jeffrey Epstein.
00:22In 1997, Alicia Arden, who is here with me today, filed a police report with the Santa
00:30Monica Police Department alleging that Jeffrey Epstein committed a sexual battery against
00:37her when she met him at the Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Epstein said
00:44that he was a representative of Victoria's Secret and that he was interviewing and auditioning
00:50models to appear in the Victoria's Secret catalog. When Alicia realized that Epstein was using
00:59his position to touch her in a sexually inappropriate way, she left and reported him to the police.
01:09The details of what happened to Alicia in that room with Mr. Epstein were explained at a press
01:15conference that Alicia and I held in 2020. We will forward those details to the press who
01:21requests them. Unfortunately, no prosecution ever took place. Alicia alleges that she would
01:29have been willing to testify against Jeffrey Epstein if the criminal case had been filed. But that never
01:37happened. Alicia feels that if Epstein had been forced to face the consequences of his criminal
01:46behavior at that time, perhaps many other women and children could have been spared from the sexual
01:54abuse and sex trafficking that many were forced to suffer. The failure of the criminal justice system to
02:03bring Jeffrey Epstein to meaningful justice was repeated in the cases of many other victims over
02:09decades after Alicia's experience with him and resulted in Jeffrey Epstein's misconduct becoming worse
02:17and leading to child sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls. It included his friend and co-conspirator
02:26Jelaine Maxwell's conviction for conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in sexual acts, conspiracy to
02:36transport minors to participate in illegal sexual acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sexual acts,
02:45sex trafficking, conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for her crimes.
02:53Now, decades later, the public and many of Epstein and Maxwell's victims are insisting that they want to know how
03:02Jeffrey Epstein and Jelaine Maxwell were able to get away with their crimes for so many years. They also want to know who
03:12else may have enabled them or assisted them in their sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children. They believe that the answers are in the
03:23the unreleased files of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the files of the former United States Attorney
03:30for the Southern District of Florida and the State Attorney's file in Miami. The battle to learn the truth of what really happened by releasing the files is now in the news almost every day.
03:46As a political class takes sides in this battle, the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Jelaine Maxwell are often ignored and the toll that this is taking on them emotionally is often just a footnote rather than a focus of many stories.
04:03To date, a few of the more than estimated 1,000 victims of Jeffrey Epstein have decided to break their silence concerning what they believe should happen now and the aggravated trauma that they are experiencing because of the constant reporting of Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Maxwell's names and the allegations against them.
04:25We understand and respect the decision of most victims and survivors to remain silent and not become embroiled in the court of public opinion. There are very good reasons not to become involved in what is happening. However, there are also good reasons for victims to break their silence and share with the public their opinions of what should happen next in this battle for truth, transparency and justice.
04:54and justice. Decisions being made now by those who have the power to make them. And those decisions are affecting victims lives and increasing their emotional suffering. Today, Alicia Arden has decided to be one of the survivors who will share her thoughts about some of those decisions. Once again, she is showing her courage by continuing to speak out about Jeffrey Epstein and Jelaine Maxwell.
05:22and Jelaine Maxwell. I am sure that more victims will also break their silence in the future.
05:28Alicia will now read a statement responding to some of the key questions that reporters have been asking, but she hasn't previously answered them. After she speaks, I will also briefly respond to the question of whether and under what conditions, I believe, that the interview of Jelaine Maxwell by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanchard
05:50and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanchard should be released. In addition, I will speak to the issue of Congress and its upcoming hearings on Jeffrey Epstein and how it should involve victims in that process.
06:05And now, it is my honor and pleasure to introduce Alicia Arden.
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06:34The first question that I have is, should the files be released?
07:01And I believe, yes, the files should be released.
07:08I'm tired of the government saying that they want to release them.
07:15So please just do it.
07:19And the next question is, should Ms. Maxwell be pardoned?
07:29No, Ghislaine Maxwell should not be pardoned.
07:32She was convicted of sex trafficking of children.
07:39This is a terrible crime.
07:43Our next question is, did you ever meet Virginia Goufray?
07:55Yes, briefly.
07:58Finally, before Ms. Maxwell was arrested, there was a meeting in New York with law enforcement,
08:10with either the FBI or Homeland Security, and with many other victims.
08:21And Virginia and I were there.
08:25And I said, hi, Virginia.
08:30Did you file a police report?
08:33I did, in California.
08:37Virginia said, no, I could not do that.
08:43I could not do that.
08:45I was around rich and powerful people.
08:54And at the same meeting with victims and their attorneys, the law enforcement agent at the
09:03podium asked the victims if they had any questions.
09:11Virginia asked why Maxwell was still walking around and free.
09:20And the agent responded that they were going to find her.
09:28And I'm very glad that Virginia, that she asked that question.
09:33I'm very glad.
09:37And another question is, do you want Ms. Maxwell to testify?
09:48I don't know.
09:49I'm not sure.
09:50I'm really not sure if we can even believe her, but I mean, I would like to know what
09:56the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche asked her and what she actually said to him.
10:10And the last question, how do you feel about seeing Jeffrey Epstein in the news every single
10:28day and every night, all the time, and the story in the news almost every day, every day
10:36and every night, it's very upsetting to me, and I cry with tears like I am now, in my living room, watching
10:45this all the time, when I see it on the news every day, Jeffrey's in my brain and I see him again and again,
10:54and I remember what he did to me in that hotel room, and I feel pain in my heart for myself and all for the other victims everywhere.
11:04And I see it every single day on the news.
11:09Okay, thank you.
11:11Here are a few of my additional comments regarding the question of whether or not Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
11:26should release a transcript of the questions he asked of Delaine Maxwell and the answers that she gave in his two-day interview of Ms. Maxwell.
11:38I believe that he should release the entire transcript of his more than nine-hour interview with her, including all of his questions and all of her answers.
11:49I'm aware that Delaine Maxwell, in addition to the other crimes for which she has been convicted, was also indicted on two counts of perjury.
12:00Ultimately, those charges were dismissed. However, the charges cannot be ignored and other lies that she has told do have an impact on her credibility,
12:12and are part of the reason that some victims and their lawyers think that she should never have been interviewed.
12:21They do not believe whatever her responses were to the questions asked by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
12:28In my opinion, if the transcripts were released, then everything that Ms. Maxwell said in the interview should only be released if they are accompanied by corroboration of her statements
12:41and or evidence of inconsistent statements by her and or proof that she lied about some of her statements, if she did.
12:51In reference to the planned upcoming hearings in the fall by the House Committee, I do believe that there should be a joint hearing by the House Committees and the Senate Committee.
13:03I'm aware that the House Subcommittee is issuing subpoenas for many people in the list that they've already developed, including many former Attorney Generals.
13:14I think that they should add to that list former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alex Acosta.
13:22In addition, I think they should subpoena Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
13:29Finally, victims and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and or Jolene Maxwell should be invited to appear before the House and Senate Committees to share how they were victimized by Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,
13:46the impact on them of these crimes, and how the criminal justice system has helped them or failed them.
13:53Victims should not be subpoenaed or compelled in any way to testify, but they should be invited.
14:01Some may wish to testify, but they should be invited and not compelled.
14:06And some may want to be anonymous, that is, they would not want their identities known or their faces shown.
14:19They should be supported in their request, if that is the wish.
14:24We need change and new laws to be passed by Congress to better protect victims from the sexual predators.
14:32I look forward to sharing my ideas on this subject in the coming days.
14:37So finally, in a few moments I'll take some questions.
14:42Alicia will not be taking any questions.
14:45But we want to show you this police report.
14:50We should also have copies.
14:52I'll see you later.
14:53Okay.
14:54I'll check it out.
14:55Okay.
14:56So this is her police report.
14:58I provided you copies of that.
14:59Okay.
15:00I see you later.
15:01Okay.
15:02Yes.
15:03Okay, so this is her police report.
15:06I provided you copies of that.
15:07Okay.
15:08I see you later.
15:09Yes.
15:10Yes.
15:11Okay, so this is her police report, and I've provided you copies of that.
15:26She is the redacted name.
15:28Yeah, here. So, yeah, this is the 1987 Santa Monica Police Department crime report
15:37accusing Jeffrey Epstein of sexual battery of Alicia Arden.
15:43The redactions were made not by us, but this is the way we received the police report.
15:54Previously, I have asked for an unredacted copy, but I have not ever received it.
16:04Well, I'm going to try again. So, but you have that.
16:09Okay. And that's it.
16:14And I'll leave this here if you want to take a look at it afterwards.
16:19Okay. Thank you.
16:22I'll come back and sit down.
16:25Okay.
16:38Okay. I'll be happy to take a few questions, if you have them.
16:44Ms. Allred, other than holding a press conference like this, what more can you do to try to compel the government to release what you're asking for?
16:57Great question. How can we compel the government to do it?
17:02I think that the answer is that the power lies in the representatives of the people in Congress, in the House and the Senate.
17:16We do not have any lawsuit pending, and therefore we cannot subpoena documents or individuals.
17:27I do represent, or have represented, 27 victims of Epstein and some Epstein and Maxwell.
17:36Some underage, some adults.
17:39But any legal work we were doing for them has been accomplished.
17:46So, having said that, you know, victims have become a political football for the Congress.
17:56We're really talking about law, not politics, but politics is now very much involved.
18:05And so the answer is, it's going to be up to them.
18:10But individuals and groups have the power of public opinion, a court of public opinion.
18:16They can write to their elected representatives.
18:20They can also ask them the question of what they're going to do at town halls,
18:27many of which are being conducted across the country.
18:30Some of the very heated town halls, with very frank and specific questions and allegations made by the people who are attending.
18:43But I think, in the end, you know, they're there to represent their constituents,
18:50and it appears that the majority of people in the United States and most polls would like to see more transparency of the evidence being revealed to them.
19:03I have a question specifically about this.
19:05You mentioned that no charges were ever filed.
19:08That's correct.
19:09Can you talk us through the process?
19:10Not in this case.
19:11Right.
19:12Can you talk us through the process between police report being filed and no charges?
19:18Was there anything potentially nefarious in that process?
19:21Anything, any sort of cover up you're suggesting there?
19:25Well, we tried to get to the bottom of it.
19:28Why?
19:29Yeah.
19:30Previously, a number of years ago.
19:32I wrote to law enforcement to try to obtain the answer to the question.
19:39Their response was that they thought that Ms. Arvin only wanted to warn him and not to have him prosecuted.
19:55She denies that.
19:56You know, I don't know how they reached that conclusion, and for now, it doesn't matter to me.
20:06But the point is, often, it is the perception, based on my experience, that law enforcement sometimes discourages victims from wanting to go ahead.
20:22And that was many years ago.
20:25Yeah.
20:26That was decades ago.
20:27And sometimes, you know, in 1997, which is when it took place, law enforcement, for whatever reason they had, you know, might have disparaged them.
20:41Alicia has alleged previously that she did want to file a police report that she was disparaged the first time.
20:49Right.
20:50But then she went back and insisted on being able to file a police report.
20:53Right.
20:54And she did.
20:55So, all I can say is, I think law enforcement needs to do a better job of supporting victims, having perhaps, you know, women, victim advocates there to support victims and to help them to understand how they can play a role in prosecutions.
21:14And support them so that predators could, in fact, be prosecuted.
21:23But I'm saying, her position is, she wanted him prosecuted, she would have testified.
21:28Right.
21:29But you don't have any evidence that there was an actual cover-up here.
21:33It was potentially just how these things were handled kind of badly, you know, at that time.
21:39My understanding is that they did contact Mr. Epstein, that is law enforcement, and he denied it.
21:44Okay.
21:45What a surprise.
21:47I don't know whether or not they ever contacted Mr. Rexner, who was owned or was the head of Victoria's Secret.
22:06Okay.
22:07Any other questions?
22:08Yeah.
22:09Are you worried about victims still coming forward with how the federal government is handling this now?
22:15Am I worried about it?
22:17Yeah.
22:18The question is, am I worried about other victims coming forward given how it appears to be handled right now by the government?
22:25Well, having been involved in this case for a number of years now, it's my guess that most of the victims have lawyers, not all.
22:42And so they've been getting support from their lawyers and also from therapists, because therapy has been made available to them if they would like to take advantage of it, no cost to them.
22:54But this is, you know, a whole new chapter.
23:02Politics is brutal.
23:05And there are still a lot of people that don't believe victims.
23:12And so, as I said, I respect their decision if they decide to come forward or don't come forward.
23:23But they should be invited.
23:24And they should be supported and not discouraged.
23:28So, I just leave it up to them.
23:31I mean, some of them are still being very triggered by what's going on in the news.
23:36As obviously Alicia is and has been.
23:41Because some of them have tried to move on from this emotionally and have not been successful.
23:47Because now it's there every day, streaming, on the internet, discussions at home, around kitchen tables.
23:56And it's tough about that.
24:01So, it's up to them if and when.
24:06I just don't want Congress to be pushing them around.
24:09We don't want them to be bullied.
24:12And we don't want them to be challenged.
24:16They've gone through a process.
24:19Many of them have spoken to law enforcement.
24:22But didn't testify for one reason or another.
24:25One reason, perhaps, was that Jeffrey lied.
24:28Or, you know, was the victim of homicide.
24:34I'm not here to talk about that today.
24:39So, you know, sometimes there's a lot of fear and sometimes there's just a lot of emotion.
24:45So, we'll have to see who decides to come forward.
24:54Any other questions?
24:56Okay.
24:57If not, I will just say that if you do want the details that we gave about what happened in that room.
25:05Some of it's in the police report.
25:08But, we've talked about it at our press conference in 2020.
25:12You can just email me and I'll be happy to provide it to you.
25:15Okay.
25:17Okay.
25:18Thanks.
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