Justice Department concludes probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s slap on the wrist plea deal in 2007
The Justice Department has concluded former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta exercised “poor judgement” when he allowed Jeffrey Epstein to serve only one year of jail time despite evidence of underage sex trafficking, according to an outraged senator.
The Justice Department and FBI are presenting Epstein victims Thursday with the results of a review of Acosta’s handling of the Epstein case in 2007 and 2008 while serving as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, according to a source.
Details of the review were not immediately available, but Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said it concluded Acosta exercised “poor judgement.”
“Letting a well-connected billionaire get away with child rape and international sex trafficking isn’t ‘poor judgment’ — it is a disgusting failure. Americans ought to be enraged," Sasse, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee, said in a release. “Jeffrey Epstein should be rotting behind bars today, but the Justice Department failed Epstein’s victims at every turn. The DOJ’s crooked deal with Epstein effectively shut down investigations into his child sex trafficking ring and protected his co-conspirators in other states. Justice has not been served.”
Acosta resigned as President Trump’s labor secretary last year amid questions about his handling of the Epstein case. His office conducted unusual negotiations with Epstein’s powerhouse team of lawyers that allowed the perv to plead guilty to state prostitution charges in 2008 and serve 13 months in Palm Beach County jail.
Subsequent litigation revealed that the feds had amassed ample evidence that Epstein ran an underage sex trafficking scheme. Federal prosecutors also kept Epstein victims in the dark about the plea deal, violating the federal Crime Victims' Rights Act, a judge ruled.
Manhattan federal prosecutors charged Epstein last year with sex trafficking of minors. He hanged himself in a jail cell at the age of 66.
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