The December Memo

The Memo

The document is dated December 19, 2019. It is titled "Investigation into Potential Co-Conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein." The cover page is marked PRIVILEGED — ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT/DELIBERATIVE PROCESS and CONFIDENTIAL — SUBJECT TO FED. R. CRIM. P. 6(e). The addressee is Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. Attorney. The authors are identified only as "AUSAs," their names redacted across every page of the indexed version EFTA02731082DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document.

The memo is 86 pages. It is the second federal prosecution memorandum prepared about Jeffrey Epstein and the people around him, and the first of the two that was delivered after he was dead.

What Preceded It

"On July 2, 2019, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned a sealed indictment (the 'Indictment') charging Jeffrey Epstein with one count of sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591, and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371" EFTA02731082DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019. The Indictment was unsealed on July 8, 2019. On or about August 10, 2019, he died in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan EFTA02731082, p1DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document.

Four months and nine days later, the memo was delivered to Berman.

The Named Subjects

The Background section of the memo names the subjects of the continued post-indictment investigation. "Since his death, we have continued the investigation that remained ongoing following the return of the Indictment against Epstein into potential co-conspirators. In particular, that investigation focused on Ghislaine Maxwell, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and Leslie Groff" EFTA02731082, p1DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. Two of the four are redacted at the identifier position. The two visible names are Maxwell and Groff.

Leslie Groff is the Leslie Groff of this investigation. The spelling variance is a documentary fact worth noting: the 2007 Non-Prosecution Agreement spells her name "Lesley Groff" EFTA00192983, p20DOJEE, EFTA00192983 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. The 2019 SDNY memo spells it "Leslie Groff" across 19 indexed pages EFTA02731082DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. The same person, the same immunity recipient, spelled two ways in two federal documents filed 12 years apart.

The Background section also notes that Maxwell's case would be handled separately. "The potential charges against Maxwell will be further analyzed in a separate prosecution memorandum, which is expected to seek authorization to charge Maxwell with federal offenses for her role in facilitating the transport of minors for illegal sex acts" EFTA02731082, p1DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. That separate Maxwell memorandum is not EFTA02731082. It is referenced inside it.

The Analysis Section

The memo's Section IV is titled "Analysis." Its purpose, stated at the top: "In light of the evidence gathered during our investigation, as well as the [legal] tools available, in this section, we evaluate whether there is sufficient evidence to charge Leslie Groff and/or Ghislaine Maxwell with a federal crime and, if so, whether such charges would be in the interests of justice" [EFTA02731082, pp. 74-75].

Section IV has five lettered subsections in the indexed record: A, B, C, D, E. Sections A, B, and C name their subjects at the subsection header, and each of those three subject names is redacted in the indexed version. The two subsections whose subjects are visible:

• D. Leslie Groff EFTA02731082, p85DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document
• E. Ghislaine Maxwell EFTA02731082, p85DOJEE, EFTA02731082 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document

The substantive analysis underneath each lettered subsection is itself heavily redacted across pages 75 through 85. The redaction analysis against the indexed version recovers place names (New York, Palm Beach, Virgin Islands), the names Epstein and Maxwell as document subjects, and one reference to Prince Andrew on page 59; it does not recover the subsection-A, -B, or -C subject names on pages 75 through 84.

The Gap With the 2007 NPA

The 2007 Non-Prosecution Agreement granted federal immunity to Epstein and to "any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova" EFTA00192983, p20DOJEE, EFTA00192983 on Epstein Exposed, an alternative host for the same document. Four people named, plus an open-ended category.

The 2019 SDNY memo analyzes five subjects under Section IV. Only one of the four NPA-named recipients appears by visible name in that analysis: Leslie Groff, at subsection D. Kellen and Marcinkova do not appear by name in the indexed body of the memo at any page. The first name "Adriana" does not appear in the indexed body of the memo; the surname "Ross" appears on two pages, and whether either reference is to Adriana Ross is not established by the surrounding context. Whether any of the three NPA-named recipients other than Groff are the redacted subject of subsection A, B, or C is a question the indexed record does not answer. The redaction recovery against pages 75 through 84 has not surfaced the subject names.

Ghislaine Maxwell, at subsection E, was not named in the 2007 NPA's immunity clause. Her potential charges were sent to a separate prosecution memorandum, which did produce charges; she was indicted by SDNY in July 2020 and convicted at trial in December 2021.

What the Record Does Not Show

The names of the authors of the memo. The identities of the redacted subjects of subsections A, B, and C. Whether any of those three are Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marcinkova, or Adriana Ross. Whether the SDFL's 2007 NPA-era immunity travel with them across jurisdictions, and whether SDNY concluded it did or did not. Whether any of the three were ever charged. The separate prosecution memorandum on Maxwell referenced inside EFTA02731082 and not yet indexed under its own EFTA identifier. The substantive paragraphs of Section IV, which are redacted across pages 75 through 84.

Several Items Remain Open

The separate Maxwell prosecution memorandum referenced inside EFTA02731082. The redaction-recovery work on Section IV pages 75 through 84, to the extent the indexed corpus can surface the three redacted subject names at the subsection-A, -B, and -C headers. A clean cross-reference between the SDNY memo's Section IV subjects and the NPA's four named immunity recipients, once the redactions are recovered. The list of the AUSAs who authored the memo, which the Office has retained even where the indexed release redacts it. The 82-page SDFL prosecution memorandum (spring 2007), which is the document this memo's structure mirrors from the other side of the NPA. Those are the Phase 2 targets the Immunity Shield investigation now turns toward.