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The Dan Le Batard Show

#BecauseMiami: There's Something About Jeffery Epstein

26 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What allegations are being made against former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine?

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In a bombshell announcement for a high-profile South Florida politician, the House Oversight Committee said Thursday it's asking the Justice Department to investigate sexual misconduct allegations made by Jeffrey Epstein's former assistant, Sarah Kellen. Kellen testified behind closed doors last month. She worked for Epstein and accused three men of sexual assault.

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One of them, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine. He served from 2013 to 2017. In transcripts released Thursday, Kellen told lawmakers Levine forced himself on her at a house in St. Tropez. Epstein and Maxwell were in the house, but not present when the assault happened. They rented a house in St.

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Tropez one summer, and Philip was good friends with Ghislaine, and he came to stay with us in the house. And Jeffrey and Ghislaine had gone to bed, and Philip and I were still up. There was me and Philip, and then there was, like, this wooden kind of shack on the beach, and just, like, grabbed my hand and pulled me into the shack, basically forced himself on me.

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A spokesperson for Levine said in a statement, Nearly a quarter of a century ago, our client had a brief intimate encounter with another consenting adult. Any allegation suggesting otherwise is not true.

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74.399 - 76.802 Dan Le Batard

There's always a Miami connection.

Chapter 2: What details emerge from Sarah Kellen's testimony regarding Jeffrey Epstein?

77.143 - 102.297 Dan Le Batard

Sometimes there's multiple Miami connections. And Roy, this story about Phil Levine that broke in recent weeks is pretty wild because I am not a degree of separation away from him. And I feel like if there is a former Miami, in this case, Miami Beach mayor who was implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein case, I need to be out there in the interest of full disclosure.

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102.277 - 126.124 Dan Le Batard

Roy, in 2014, at the world premiere of the ESPN 30 for 30, The You Part Two, which we held at the Colony Theater on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, I was surprised on stage during my introduction. You'll see I'm wearing I borrowed that jacket from Uncle Luke, my Hurricanes starter jacket. But I was surprised on stage by then Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine. And this happened.

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There's no greater treasure, and he's very important to all of us, because he keeps everyone honest, he keeps everyone thinking about what's right for the people, and on behalf of the city of Miami Beach, it's my honor to recognize Billy and raconteur with a key to our city.

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151.392 - 176.985 Dan Le Batard

I'm still gonna tweet about you, dude. Yes, you heard me at the end as he was escaping to his back. I said, I'm still going to tweet about you, dude. And I kept that promise because in 2019, I discovered when Gawker published what they call Jeffrey Epstein's little black book. It was really just his phone book. I looked inside and found that Phil Levine had more entries.

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177.067 - 182.031 Dan Le Batard

More listings in Jeffrey Epstein's phone book than almost any single other person.

Chapter 3: How did Philip Levine respond to allegations of sexual misconduct?

182.292 - 208.555 Dan Le Batard

There was 13 different numbers, email addresses. I don't even know addresses, his home, his work. There was his butler, his assistant, his secretary, his housekeeper, his driver. It was a crazy list of 13 different listings. I broke that story on the Twitter machine. It was picked up by Miami New Times. Jeffrey Epstein at all.

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208.595 - 235.069 Dan Le Batard

But this becomes the story, these kind of from 2019 to present day, these evolving denials from Phil Levine. And to that end, Miami New Times really, even more so than any other periodical or news outlet out there, has been covering this. Scott McClendon is a Miami New Times staff writer who's basically been on the Phil Levine, Jeffrey Epstein beat as of late. Scott, can we go through a

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235.049 - 239.521 Dan Le Batard

Phil Levine's first denial back in 2019. What was that story?

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239.922 - 250.189 Scott McClendon

So first he tells our staff writer, Alex DeLuca, the quote is, I think I met him possibly two or three times, but briefly, maybe over 15 years ago at events.

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250.169 - 267.537 Scott McClendon

don't remember ever giving him my full contact info but possibly did give him my contact card um that was just days after epstein died by suicide in manhattan um then he says when i read the book the little black book i was also surprised i truly just don't know was his first response to us

269.204 - 286.349 Dan Le Batard

That is 2019. Then you got to flash forward because Phil Levine kind of retires from politics and the spotlight. He has a failed run for Florida governor in a Democratic primary. He comes in, what, like third, fourth? It was really... just kind of pathetic.

286.39 - 303.591 Dan Le Batard

He lit $25 million of his own money on fire in this weird narcissistic ego play where he didn't even win the city of Miami Beach, I think, most of the precincts in Miami Beach. You know who won that? Andrew Gillum. Remember Andrew Gillum? Yes. Is he here? Is Andrew here? Look under the desk. See you, Andrew, honey.

Chapter 4: What connections exist between Philip Levine, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell?

303.991 - 327.941 Dan Le Batard

Andrew, are you here? No, he's not here. So Phil kind of retires off to a ranch somewhere And we don't hear much from him. But then a funny thing happens. Circa 2025. Remember, Ghislaine Maxwell did an interview in prison with Todd Blanch, who is now the interim, I guess you'd call him attorney general, but he's the personal attorney to the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

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327.961 - 350.691 Dan Le Batard

So this was before Ghislaine was transferred to a much more luxe accommodations in the Bureau of Prisons. But during this interview, she revealed a stunning piece of information, which is that the way that Ghislaine Maxwell met former President Bill Clinton was through her close friend, Philip Levine. So get this.

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350.891 - 372.685 Dan Le Batard

According to this interview, Philip Levine introduces Bill Clinton to Ghislaine Maxwell, who introduces Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein. So Phil Levine is apparently, according to Ghislaine, the connection between between Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein. So now what, Scott? Now what does the former Miami Beach mayor have to say about this?

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373.154 - 399.541 Scott McClendon

Now, this was in this was July 2025. He now tells us that he was introduced to the president coming out of the White House and became friendly with him. I'm sorry that Maxwell said this, that Levine introduced him. And Levine tells us that that's not accurate, that he told us in a previous text that he never introduced Maxwell or Epstein to the president. says that's simply untrue.

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399.821 - 422.597 Scott McClendon

This is public information and easily attainable. I've tried being helpful, but based on my personal knowledge, unfortunately, there's nothing I can contribute to further your efforts. And he follows that up with some Wikipedia page links that show some pictures of Epstein and his relationship with Clinton. as his proof that he couldn't have introduced them.

423.078 - 435.932 Scott McClendon

Then he also says that he was just a friend with Maxwell, him and his wife. But there's an issue with that because he wouldn't be married until years later.

435.912 - 451.963 Dan Le Batard

He may not have even known his wife or had met the woman who would become his wife. And nobody asked him about that, per se. I mean, he just sort of offered he just throws his wife kind of under the bright line there where she's like, he's like, oh, and by the way, you know, I only knew Ghislaine because she was friends with my wife.

Chapter 5: What was the public's reaction to the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting incident?

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But again, not married. for like, I mean, 10, 15 years or more. I mean, like there's a long stretch between the time.

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459.552 - 484.093 Dan Le Batard

Well, although I guess we didn't entirely know what era yet Phil Levine knew Ghislaine Maxwell, but basically says, I don't know why you drag your wife into this, even if it was true, which it doesn't appear to be from a chronological perspective, why you'd want to kind of blame your wife for your connection to this woman. But also there was a book published in 2008 by author Carol Felsenthal.

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called Clinton in Exile. And one of the things that she wrote at the time, which probably didn't mean as much then in 2008 as it does now, but that in addition to Ron Burkle, Clinton spends much of his downtime with Miami businessman Philip Levine, billionaire money manager Jeffrey Epstein and movie producer Stephen Bing.

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504.29 - 523.988 Dan Le Batard

This is like the only mention, I think, of Jeffrey Epstein and Philip Levine in that book. But obviously, like I said, makes a lot more sense and means a lot more now than it did then. So even then, there was the connection in a post-presidential Bill Clinton, a connection between Philip Levine, Jeffrey Epstein, and Bill Clinton.

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524.628 - 547.979 Dan Le Batard

Now, a month later, so this transcript that we were just talking about came out in December of 2025, which is when the Miami New Times wrote about it. But then, And literally like a month later, the Epstein files, as it were, I mean, whatever of them they felt like releasing, Pam Bondi felt like releasing and Kash Patel felt like releasing came out in this searchable format.

547.999 - 575.757 Dan Le Batard

So we went online and we saw who do you think we searched for? Roy. Not Phil Levine. Well, I mean, after we searched ourselves, just in case. Hashtag not in the files, Roy. Not in the files. We searched for Philip Levine, who turns up, what, six, seven, eight hundred times or something in various emails. With Ghislaine Maxwell and with Phil Levine.

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But no Roy Bellamy.

577.14 - 597.072 Dan Le Batard

No. Roy! No, and we even checked just to be sure. Now Phil Levine's at this point month-old, barely month-old denial from December of 2025 is disintegrating before our eyes. What do we learn from these Epstein Files emails between Phil Levine, Ghislaine Maxwell, and of course Jeffrey Epstein?

597.052 - 615.381 Scott McClendon

that kind of turns the previous denials all the previous denials over the previous five six years on their head so there's lots of it like dozen scores of emails between levine and epstein and levine and maxwell and then between the three of them too in those emails it shows a

Chapter 6: Why was Camila Ball forcefully removed from the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting?

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They also talked about him being, quote, hung like a horse.

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639.825 - 655.441 Dan Le Batard

Vile. I thought that was me. I thought you are a vile little man. Oh, vile one. Yes. Like pet names, though. Okay, so here's the thing, Roy. By the way, for clarity, Scott, this is like at the turn of the century, right? In the early zeros? Right.

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655.481 - 658.265 Scott McClendon

This would have been before Levine was mayor.

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658.665 - 678.209 Dan Le Batard

Right. And before he was married. These are effectively two single consenting adults engaging in a flirtatious email relationship, if not more, which is entirely their business. If it's a consensual sexual relationship between consenting adults, that's not really of interest. But then there are some... We have to remember the denials are the problem, Roy.

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678.229 - 693.505 Dan Le Batard

He kept saying, I don't know Jeffrey Epstein. I never met Jeffrey Epstein. I don't know Ghislaine Maxwell. She was friends with my wife. All of that is total, utter bullshit in light of this evidence. But also, what are his exchanges, Philip Levine's exchanges like with Jeffrey Epstein himself via email?

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With Epstein, right after he got out of jail the first time in the Palm Beach jail, he sends him a letter saying, congratulating him for making it through this tough time. Says that he got a bad rap. He's happy that this is behind him. This trifle of child prostitution or soliciting prostitution is behind him now.

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To be clear, Roy, that he was in jail in Palm Beach.

Chapter 7: What impact did the incident at the commission meeting have on Camila Ball's life?

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This was this ridiculous sweetheart deal that they cooked up for him to avoid federal charges for sex trafficking and raping underage girls. This was a solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution. So in response to that, Scott. Philip Levine is telling him, you're a great man. Thank God. What did he say?

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746.462 - 763.662 Scott McClendon

He said, hi, I just want you to know that I'm happy that everything has come to a positive ending for you during tough times. Happy endings. You're a great guy. And I know all good things will come to you going forward. You are a great guy. And hope we can catch up soon. Your friend, Philip.

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763.642 - 787.199 Dan Le Batard

Do we know if they ever caught up? I want to know if this bromance continued to brew. We don't know. Now what? Now Phil Levine's got to have a new story, right? Ghislaine's not friends with his wife. Ghislaine and him are sort of at least amorous from afar at a bare minimum. Polyp. My precious polyp. My sweet. You are a vile little man. And not knowing Epstein. Now what's the story?

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787.219 - 788.501 Dan Le Batard

What's the statement from Phil Levine?

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788.721 - 792.821 Scott McClendon

This is now circa January of this year. Right. This was January 30th.

Chapter 8: What are the broader implications of local law enforcement's relationship with ICE?

793.022 - 804.516 Scott McClendon

He did not actually respond to us that time. We have his cell phone number, so we called, texted him, sent him some emails. No response to that. Oh, he's got nothing to say now.

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804.614 - 822.133 Dan Le Batard

Okay, and then this is January. Now let's go to June. We're all caught up. Just a few weeks ago, Sarah Kellan, the longtime personal assistant to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, she's a bit of a controversial figure. She has tried to avoid the impression that she was somehow complicit

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Jeffrey Epstein's crimes like Ghislaine Maxwell was and portray herself as an abused and groomed victim of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. And she just testified behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee. That transcript was eventually released. And in it, she accused three people, prominent people, including Philip Levine, of sexual assault. And now

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845.907 - 858.721 Dan Le Batard

The House Oversight Committee has referred that complaint to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation. This onion keeps peeling or unpeeling and unpeeling. So now what's the story, Scott, from Phil Levine?

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859.581 - 883.001 Scott McClendon

Now it's again reaching out to his cell phone number. We get a call back from a spokesman this time that the first time that's happened. He's been sticking up for himself until now. So now he basically has a crisis management team or somebody. A PR manager, at the very least, tells us nearly a quarter century ago, our client had a brief, intimate encounter with another consenting adult.

883.341 - 886.164 Scott McClendon

Any allegations suggesting otherwise is not true.

887.806 - 900.415 Dan Le Batard

So effectively admits that there was something sexual or physical that occurred with Sarah Kellen. But now it's a he said, she said, effectively. Right. That happened a quarter of a century ago. I'm sorry. He says nothing.

900.455 - 915.57 Dan Le Batard

He's silent or the crisis manager or PR person is silent on the ever revolving and deteriorating denials and explanations, false explanations of the nature of his relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

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No statement on how the response to the relationship has changed over time as more evidence has come out showing how close they really were.

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