The outcry is growing over a deal Alex Acosta gave to Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire accused of molesting at least 80 underage girls. Today The Miami Herald, the newspaper that broke the story, writes:
“Maybe Acosta can include his reasoning in his resignation letter as U.S. Labor Secretary, which he should submit immediately to President Trump.”
“Acosta made the deal with the devil Epstein, then tried to hide the fact of the settlement — ultimately, 13 months in the county jail — from the victims. How squirrelly. A poorer man who had abused scores of underage girls would have received little mercy and a far harsher sentence, and deservedly so.
What Acosta did when the Epstein case landed on his desk is reprehensible in the pre– and post- #MeToo era.”
Late Thursday the paper also wrote:
More than two dozen lawmakers are demanding an investigation into possible misconduct by U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, who, as a former federal prosecutor in Miami, helped broker a secret plea deal for a multimillionaire accused of running an underage sex trafficking network.
The lawmakers, mostly Democrats, have sent several letters to Michael E. Horowitz, inspector general for the Department of Justice, calling for a probe into Acosta’s role in the 2008 plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein.
Julie Brown, the Herald’s investigative reporter who spent a year researching the story told MSNBC today, “The real story is the criminal justice system and how it failed these girls and I tried to stay focused on that because I didn’t think frankly that I’d get to the bottom of exactly why Alex Acosta did what he did except for monetary reasons because this man had a lot of power and a lot of money.”
Brown’s reporting should be applauded. Watch what else she said above.