Geoffrey Berman

INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

Geoffrey S. Berman served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) from 2018 to 2020. He is a central prosecutorial figure in the federal Epstein case, not a defendant or subject of any Epstein-related legal accountability. On July 8, 2019, Berman personally announced the federal charges against Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, covering conduct between 2002 and 2005. Berman stated at the time that the decade-old nonprosecution agreement Epstein had secured with Florida prosecutors did not bind the SDNY, allowing his office to proceed with the indictment. Following Epstein's death in custody on August 10, 2019, Berman issued a statement calling the circumstances "disturbing" but pledged the SDNY would continue investigating Epstein's network of associates and co-conspirators. His office produced an 86-page internal memo analyzing the potential criminal liability of Epstein's associates and employees. Berman also publicly confronted Prince Andrew's refusal to cooperate with the investigation, stating at a press conference held at Epstein's New York mansion that Andrew had provided "zero cooperation" and had "completely shut the door" on voluntary cooperation. Additionally, Berman charged two federal prison guards with falsifying records and conspiracy in connection with the failure to monitor Epstein in the hours before his death. In June 2020, Berman was removed from his position after Attorney General William Barr claimed he had resigned, which Berman publicly denied. Berman ultimately stepped aside only after his deputy Audrey Strauss was named acting U.S. Attorney. His removal occurred while he was overseeing multiple high-profile investigations, including those involving Epstein's co-conspirators and associates of President Trump. Some reporting suggested his firing was connected, in part, to his pursuit of Epstein-related investigations. In September 2022, Berman published a memoir titled "Holding the Line: Inside the Nation's Preeminent US Attorney's Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department," in which he described his work on the Epstein prosecution and alleged that Trump DOJ leadership had sought to improperly pressure and interfere with his office's independence. His account prompted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin to open a formal investigation into those allegations. Berman is not a defendant, suspect, or person of interest in the Epstein case. He is the chief federal prosecutor who brought the case and continued the investigation until his removal from office.