President Donald Trump's Labor Secretary Alex Acosta defended his actions during a press conference on Wednesday over his role in prosecuting billionaire Jeffrey Epstein a decade ago, according to The Guardian.
Acosta has faced accusations of prosecutorial malfeasance since many felt state prosecutors allowed Epstein to walk away from the charges of sexual assault.
The Miami Herald even called Acosta's actions the "deal of a lifetime" for Epstein, though the Labor Secretary said he secured a reasonable sentence after facing an uncertain trial with a reluctant witness.
"Facts are important and facts are being overlooked," Acosta said. "These cases are complex, especially when they involve children."
One administration official said Acosta is not expected to resign over the growing scandal after Epstein was charged with having run a sex trafficking ring where he abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida.
CNN said two sources claimed Acosta was told to hold a press conference during a phone call with President Trump on Tuesday afternoon.
Under Acosta's deal, Epstein only served 13 months in prison, had to register as a sex offender, but avoided a federal trial.
"I think that Alex will probably be sharing more information with you all," Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. "And as you heard Alex say yesterday, we welcome the fact that there's additional evidence that can be prosecuted, the crimes and atrocities, and certainly should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
When Trump was asked about the issue on Tuesday, he said "a lot" of people aside from Acosta were involved in the 2008 case.
"I can only say this from what I know and what I do know is that he's been a great, really great secretary of labor," Trump said. "The rest, we'll have to look at it, we'll have to look at it very carefully. But you're talking about a long time ago and again it was a decision made, I think, not by him but by a lot of people. So we're going to look at it very carefully."
However, a growing number of Democrats have started to call on Acosta to resign, including 2020 hopefuls such as Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Since when do underage girl sex ring traffickers get to go to their office every day while they serve their time?” asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Tuesday morning via Twitter. “The victims should have had a say. That’s what the law says. I didn’t vote for former Florida U.S. Attorney Acosta to begin with and he should step down.”
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Alex Brandon
