How did Julie K. Brown’s journalism reopen the Epstein case?

Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown published a landmark three-part series, “Perversion of Justice,” in November 2018 that is widely credited with reigniting public, political, and prosecutorial interest in Epstein’s crimes.

The Investigation: Brown spent more than a year tracking down and interviewing Epstein’s victims — many of whom had stayed silent for years — as well as investigators, prosecutors, and other witnesses. Her reporting benefited from Florida’s unusually broad public records laws, which allowed her to access depositions, police reports, and other records.

What She Found: Brown documented in detail:

• The scale of Epstein’s abuse (dozens of underage victims)
• The workings of the trafficking operation in Palm Beach
• The extent of the lenient 2008 plea deal and how intentionally secret it had been kept
• The Department of Justice’s failure to consult victims
• The work-release privileges that made Epstein’s sentence almost nominal

The Impact: The series attracted enormous national and international attention. It prompted review by the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility into Acosta’s role in the NPA. It put Acosta’s handling of the case under the spotlight at his Senate confirmation hearings as Secretary of Labor.

The SDNY Connection: Prosecutors at the SDNY were already looking at whether their office could bring charges not covered by the 2008 Florida deal. Brown’s reporting heightened public pressure and created a political environment in which taking action became nearly unavoidable.

Recognition: Brown won the George Polk Award and numerous other journalism prizes for the series. Her book Perversion of Justice (2021) expanded on the reporting with additional detail.