Attorney General Bill Barr is recusing himself from the sensational Jeffrey Epstein case, citing a potential legal work at a law firm – although Barr’s father also gave the convicted pedophile a big break.
Barr told reporters of the recusal while traveling in South Carolina, on a day when federal prosecutors in New York announced the indictment of Epstein on charges of tracking underage girls.
Barr – who defied some Democrats’ calls to recuse himself from the Russia probe due to his past intervention on the matter – said he would recuse from the case due to his work for a law firm that long ago represented Epstein.
Attorney General William Barr is recusing himself from from the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein for alleged trafficking of underage girls
‘I’m recused from that matter because one of the law firms that represented Epstein long ago was a firm that I joined for a period of time,’ he said, NBC reported.
Barr didn’t mention another potential conflict: that his father, while headmaster of the prestigious Dalton school, hired Epstein to teach calculus and physics there when Epstein was just 20 and lacked a college degree.
It also isn’t clear why he said ‘long ago.’
Barr previously worked for the firm Kirkland & Ellis, although it could not immediately be confirmed if this was the stated reason for recusal. Firm partner Jay Lefkowitz is among the high-powered attorneys who represented Epstein and helped secure his advantageous non-prosecution agreement.
Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who served as U.S. attorney during plea negotiations, had worked with Lefkowitz at the firm.
Epstein’s other dream team members included Alan Dershowitz, and former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr.
Epstein was born in Brooklyn and raised in Coney Island, where he attended the nearby Lafayette High School.
It was considered one of the top schools in the city at the time, and after graduation Epstein claims to have enrolled at Cooper Union in Manhattan.
He took physics classes at the school for two years, but it is unclear if he enrolled in any other studies while at the college.
Shortly after leaving, he enrolled at New York University, where he also took classes for two years.
This time around his focus was on mathematical physiology, but did not obtain a degree from the school.
He managed however to score a job at one of the country’s top private schools, Dalton, when Donald Barr was headmaster, despite the fact that he was a 20-year-old dropout.
Epstein taught at the Upper East Side school from 1973 to 1975, and claims he left after one parent was so impressed with him that he said the young teacher should be working on Wall Street, and told him to call Ace Greenberg.
He then headed to Bear Sterns to work with the senior partner.
As Attorney General with oversight over U.S. attorneys in New York, Barr in theory could help steer the case.
The case instantly took on a high profile, not only due to Epstein being a billionaire former hedge funder but also due to the nature of the alleged crimes and his powerful network of associates.
Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is already coming under fire for having negotiated the non-prosecution agreement that ended up letting Epstein serve just 13 months in jail after pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated Monday that the deal reached with prosecutors in Florida had no bearing on Epstein being charged in New York.
Epstein has been a guest at Mar-a-Lago and has been photographed with President Trump, although a lawyer representing Epstein accusers told New York Magazine that Trump was ‘very helpful’ when he called seeking information about what he knew about Epstein.
The lawyer, Bradley Edwards, said Trump ultimately barred Epstein from Mar-a-lago ‘because Epstein sexually assaulted an underage girl at the club,’ according to court documents.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for a more specific comment about the reasons for Barr’s recusal.