A U.S. congresswoman made sweeping accusations against a local law-enforcement agency over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation during the congressional shadow hearing in West Palm Beach. Her condemnation, while evocative, was misleading.
Speaking at West Palm Beach City Hall, where House Oversight Committee Democrats heard testimony from Epstein survivors on May 12, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said “the police department here in West Palm Beach chose to take a donation from Jeffrey Epstein.”
The donation she referenced went to the Palm Beach Police, not the West Palm Beach Police. The two agencies cover separate municipalities: Palm Beach, where Epstein’s mansion was located, and the neighboring city of West Palm Beach, where the hearing was held.
Stansbury didn’t mention that the Palm Beach Police Department returned the $90,000 donation once Epstein came under suspicion. She instead excoriated the “hundreds, or even thousands of micro decisions that were made by local police” and others who “chose to turn a blind eye.”
“The officials, the federal, the state, the local, the Attorney Generals didn’t just fail to investigate these cases,” Stansbury said. “They chose not to investigate them.”
Palm Beach Police at once condemned, praised at Epstein hearing
While state and federal authorities have borne the brunt of scrutiny over Epstein’s treatment, the Palm Beach Police Department is regarded as one of the few agencies that sought justice for his victims.
It was Palm Beach Police, under Chief Michael Reiter and Detective Joe Recarey, that built the case against Epstein, recommended felony charges punishable by decades in prison and ultimately went over the state attorney’s head to federal authorities when prosecutors declined to pursue them.
Reiter publicly called on State Attorney Barry Krischer to recuse himself from the case, citing what he described as highly unusual treatment of the investigation, and later turned his evidence over to the FBI when that effort failed.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat, alluded to those efforts within the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s hearing, crediting Reiter with uncovering “a deeply disturbing pattern of predatory sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.”
Stansbury’s core point, that Epstein received extraordinary leniency from multiple parts of the justice system, is true. Palm Beach Police was not among those that gave it to him.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. Reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Congresswoman’s claims about Epstein police probe were misleading
Reporting by Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
