Thread by @davidenrich

Exclusive: Soon after Jeffrey Epstein died, a mysterious man came forward. He said he had CCTV footage from Epstein's homes. He said it showed powerful men having sex and that Epstein used it for blackmail.

with @jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob nytimes.com/2019/11/30/bus…

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob The man went by a pseudonym, Patrick Kessler. He showed us what he said were video stills of men — including Alan Dershowitz and Ehud Barak — having sex in Epstein’s properties. He said he wanted justice for their victims.

Images deliberately blurred.

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob We spent months speaking to and meeting with the man, trying to confirm his story, authenticate his videos and establish his identity.

We couldn’t. We think he is likely a conman and that his videos are fake. We don't know his motivations.

This is Kessler:

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob That might have been the end, but Kessler also went to two lawyers, David Boies and Stan Pottinger. They told @nytimes they hoped to use his supposed videos to win settlements from men who appeared on them.

A lawyer drew up a list of possible targets: "I call it our hot list.”

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob @nytimes The idea was that any money from those settlements would flow to a foundation — and to lawyers, according to text messages obtained by @nytimes.

The deals probably would have kept the videos — some supposedly showed men raping children — secret.

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob @nytimes Was this ethical?

David Boies told us he would only seek settlements on behalf of clients with valid claims. Not extortion.

Stan Pottinger, who wrote the text messages we obtained, said he had been lying to Kessler and never intended to do what he said he would.

@jbsgreenberg @emilysteel @BernsteinJacob @nytimes This saga is the subject of a special hourlong episode of @TheWeekly, airing on @FXNetworks on Sunday night at 10pm. It will stream on @hulu starting Monday.

You can see the lawyers and Kessler explaining what happened in their own words. nytimes.com/2019/11/29/the…

I’m seeing lots of questions (incl from @felixsalmon & @jbenton) about why we named some but not all of the men who appeared on the supposed videos.

Let me explain our thinking. First of all, we doubt the videos exist, which weighs against naming people...

... We decided to name Dershowitz and Andrew because they have already been publicly accused, and Dersh is Boies’s enemy. And the supposed photo of Barak was possibly going to be used to sway an election, which is newsworthy.

That’s our thinking. Reasonable people may disagree.

Tonight, @TheWeekly brings you inside the reporting of this story. We got "Kessler" and David Boies to go on camera. (Stan Pottinger insisted on a phone interview.) We pushed them all hard.

It's airing on @FXNetworks at 10pm tonight and on @hulu tomorrow.