President Trump expressed support for Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta Friday after a federal judge ruled that Acosta violated the law as a U.S. attorney in 2008 by offering billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a plea bargain without informing the victims.
“I really don’t know too much about it,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I know he’s done a great job as labor secretary, and that seems like a long time ago.”
Acosta has been criticized for his handling of the prosecution of Epstein, who was eventually served 13 months in county jail for being convicted of two counts of prostitution in 2008. Critics argue the penalty was far too light given the allegations that Epstein was involved in sex-trafficking and had abused dozens of women, many underage. He initially faced a 53-page federal indictment for related crimes.
During the confirmation hearings for his nomination in 2017, Acosta defended his actions as part of a reasonable plea deal: “At the end of the day, based on the evidence, professionals within a prosecutor’s office decided that a plea that guarantees someone goes to jail, that guarantees he register generally [as a sexual predator] and guarantees other outcomes, is a good thing.”
Federal judge Kenneth Marra ruled Thursday that the deal violated the Crime Victim’s Rights Act. “Particularly problematic was the Government’s decision to conceal the existence of the [agreement] and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility,’’ Marra wrote.
Earlier on Friday, White House Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the controversy by saying, “My understanding is that’s a very complicated case, something we’re certainly looking into, but that they made the best possible decision and deal they could’ve gotten at that time.”
The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility announced earlier this month that it had launched a probe into whether Acosta’s actions as U.S. attorney amounted to professional misconduct.
