... I’m going forward, because I know I did absolutely nothing wrong.”The charges came in the aftermath of reporting by the Miami Herald that raised questions about whether there was undue influence that tainted the earlier state and federal criminal investigations. Starr later was forced out of his job at Baylor University amid allegations that the university had mishandled several cases in which football players were accused of attacking women.Fresh media scrutiny of the case led to the resignation of Trump’s labor secretary, Alex Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney in South Florida when Epstein’s 2008 plea deal was negotiated.Epstein, a hedge fund manager who worked with the super wealthy, over the years socialized with Trump, Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew.WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of the lawyers on President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team have shared another client: Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr both helped the late hedge fund manager and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein win a lenient sentence for abusing underaged girls.Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor emeritus, helped O.J. Epstein later hired him to serve on his legal team.Dershowitz and Starr, both prominent lawyers, are expected to play key roles when Trump’s legal team begins presenting its defense on Saturday. Trump insisted to him that he is unbothered by the Epstein connections, the lawyer said.The White House declined to comment about the attorneys’ Epstein connections, but in the past Trump has sought to minimize his own connections with the convicted sex offender. Ken Starr, the independent counsel in Bill Clinton's impeachment, has been hired by Trump to join his defense team in the Senate impeachment trial. The handling of his case in earlier years raised questions about whether Epstein had been handled by authorities with kid gloves, because of his status, wealth and powerful connections.Lawsuits and news reports have detailed how Eptein’s legal team helped him win the controversial plea agreement that led to the financier serving only a 13-month sentence on state prostitution charges instead of facing more serious federal charges for sex abuse.
Conservative author Ann Coulter torched President Donald Trump’s defense team, Monday, claiming “Epstein’s lawyer” Ken Starr was trying to “torture the Senate” by boring them. In the lead-up to Trump’s impeachment trial, both attorneys have faced some of the toughest scrutiny of their careers for their connections to Epstein.“It goes back to Trump’s line about shooting someone on 5th Avenue,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor, referring to Trump’s 2016 remark as a candidate that he could do anything and not lose supporters. Dershowitz has vigorously denied the charges and countersued Guiffre.Starr did not respond to requests for comment.