A group of 15 Democratic lawmakers is calling for an investigation into Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s conduct following an investigation into a 2007 plea deal he struck with an alleged serial sex offender when he was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawmakers, which include 10 representatives from Florida, are asking the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate the “circumstances” surrounding the nonprosecution agreement Acosta entered into with Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy Florida investor who was convicted on two counts of prostitution in 2007.
A new Miami Herald investigation provides details into the deal Acosta and Epstein struck after Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of young girls, many of whom were minors. Epstein was facing a life sentence in federal prison but only served 13 months in county jail as a result of the plea deal with Acosta.
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The Herald report quotes multiple people involved in the 2007 case who accuse Acosta of caving to pressure from Epstein’s lawyers to cut a preferential deal. Epstein originally faced 53 counts for sex trafficking and related crimes.
According to the letter, the 2007 deal also shut down the FBI investigation into whether Epstein had abused more girls.
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Acosta was pressed over the deal with Epstein during his 2017 confirmation hearings, but the Herald story provided previously unreported details about the case and highlighted the stories of women who say they felt silenced by the deal.
Epstein has been accused of assembling a network of minors to coerce into sexual acts at his home on a daily basis in the early 2000s. The deal offered him and four accomplices immunity from all federal criminal charges.
The lawmakers in the letter called that deal “extremely preferential.”
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Lawmakers call for investigation into Trump's labor secretary over plea deal he struck with wealthy sex offender https://t.co/GGGZ2vFnc9 pic.twitter.com/T2Q7PEnrsa
— The Hill (@thehill) December 4, 2018
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