Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz described as “obscenely inadequate” the Saturday announcement from Attorney General William Barr that Inspector General Michael Horowitz would be investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Wasserman Schultz, whose southern district is less than an hour from Epstein’s Palm Beach estate, said in a Sunday letter obtained by the Washington Examiner that a probe into Epstein’s apparent suicide was not sufficient because “it will not provide true independent accountability to those who survived his horrific crimes.”
Wasserman Schultz said an inspector general investigation into Epstein’s death “may only quell the irresponsible conspiracy theories President Trump peddles” but lamented it wouldn’t provide true accountability against everyone who dropped the ball regarding Epstein’s criminality.
She said Horowitz should “investigate this entire DOJ miscarriage of justice” and renewed her calls from November for a broader DOJ inquiry, including an investigation into the sweetheart deal Epstein received from federal prosecutors more than a decade ago.
Wasserman Schultz said she “led a call in Congress for an Inspector General probe of the entire Justice Department handling of Epstein’s lenient plea deal — last year,” but “it was never done.” She and other representatives sent a letter to Horowitz in November 2018 asking him to “conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the non-prosecution agreement Mr. Acosta entered into with Mr. Epstein.” They also asked Horowitz to “review whether any Department of Justice policies, procedures, or practices were violated and determine what, if any, violations were committed.”
Epstein’s arrest in July marked the second time he was investigated for sex crimes. Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney for Southern Florida who resigned as Trump’s Labor Secretary, reached a controversial agreement in 2008 with Epstein’s attorneys in which the FBI’s probe was halted and Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to state-level prostitution solicitation charges. Epstein served just 13 months in Palm Beach County jail with work release, paid some restitution, and registered as a sex offender. The secret agreement was struck before investigators finished interviewing all alleged victims and included immunity for some of Epstein’s possible co-conspirators.
Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse echoed these sentiments during Barr’s confirmation hearings in January, urging the DOJ to investigate its handling of the Epstein case. The DOJ said in February it launched an internal inquiry into the handling of the Epstein case at the federal level, but the status of that investigation remains unknown.
Sasse was critical of the DOJ on Saturday, saying it “failed” and “heads must roll.”
“Epstein’s co-conspirators think they might have just gotten one last sweetheart deal,” Sasse wrote to Barr. “Every single person in the Justice Department — from your Main Justice Headquarters staff all the way to the night-shift jailer — knew this man was a suicide risk, and that his dark secrets couldn’t be allowed to die with him.”
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was seeking answers about how the case was handled on a state level.
And federal prosecutors promised Saturday they are still committed to Epstein’s accusers and that their investigation into the alleged crimes of Epstein and his associates is ongoing.
