I don’t think so. Maybe he gets acquitted at trial, but otherwise I doubt anyone will be stupid enough to stick their necks out for him. I’ve underestimated the stupidity of this administration before, so you might be right.
But here’s the scenario that has happened so far and what would need to happen to quash the case.
We know that Epstein was given what any lawyer would immediately identify as a suspicious sweetheart deal. It uses vague language that does not bind other federal districts but is clearly intended to dissuade prosecution by those districts. This agreement was written by a serving cabinet secretary at the time the new indictment was filed.
So we know that the US Attorney who brought this was going against the wishes of a sitting cabinet secretary and the indictment would be a thumb in the eye of that secretary. The US Attorney must have (A) some big balls in bringing this case, but also (B) the intention to have Epstein as a trophy or he’s a true believer who wants to lock Epstein up because it’s the right thing.
In either case, the US Attorney is not going to let this one drop. US Attorneys have significant autonomy, even ones that aren’t in a district called the Sovereign District of New York. I don’t believe they usually ask Main Justice before bringing charges, and don’t solicit Main Justice’s feedback on any prosecution.
If my reading of DOJ structure is correct, the only people who could ask a US Attorney to drop a case would be the Attorney General (Barr), the Deputy Attorney General (Jeffrey Rozen) or the Associate Attorney General for the Criminal Division (Brian Benczkowski). Even then, such a request would basically have to be approved by Barr.
If a request came to drop a case that a US Attorney with huge balls staked his career on, you would expect that US Attorney to push back and flat out refuse until and unless the order came in writing from Barr himself, at which point the US Attorney would resign in protest and taking most of the SDNY staff with him, sparking a very high profile media feeding frenzy that could be placed nowhere else but upon Barr’s shoulders. Congress would have to confirm a replacement, where you can be darned sure the nominee would be grilled on whether he would take up cases like Epstein’s. Other US Attorneys might also resign in protest (though this is unlikely).
Barr is a snake who’s gotten through some negative press, but that’s nothing compared to the outrage he would be forced to cause if he tried to quash the case now.
