Two decades ago, a federal prosecutor in Florida spent two years investigating Jeffrey Epstein and urged her superiors to charge him. Her frustrations mounted as her boss, US Attorney Alex Acosta, pursued a now-infamous plea deal that allowed Epstein to serve just 13 months, much of it on work release.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg legal reporter David Voreacos joins host Sarah Holder to examine emails and evidence recently released by the Justice Department. They reveal Marie Villafaña’s exhaustive efforts to hold Epstein accountable — and how, despite years of credible evidence, he managed to slip through the cracks.

Read more: Sex-Crimes Prosecutor's Repeated Pleas for Epstein's Arrest Were Denied

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by David Voreacos; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and David Fox; Engineering by Katie McMurran.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

Two decades ago, a federal prosecutor in Florida spent two years investigating Jeffrey Epstein and urged her superiors to charge him. Her frustrations mounted as her boss, US Attorney Alex Acosta, pursued a now-infamous plea deal that allowed Epstein to serve just 13 months, much of it on work release.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg legal reporter David Voreacos joins host Sarah Holder to examine emails and evidence recently released by the Justice Department. They reveal Marie Villafa&ntilde;a&rsquo;s exhaustive efforts to hold Epstein accountable &mdash; and how, despite years of credible evidence, he managed to slip through the cracks.
Read more: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-20/prosecutor-pushed-her-bosses-for-epstein-s-arrest-multiple-times-in-2007?srnd=undefined">Sex-Crimes Prosecutor's Repeated Pleas for Epstein's Arrest Were Denied</a>
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by David Voreacos; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and David Fox; Engineering by Katie McMurran.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

The Prosecutor Who Tried to Stop Epstein, in Her Own Words

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/51baff4f-03f5-415d-a37a-b4180162fb83/transcript