Pelosi and Schumer: Trump Labor Secretary Acosta must resign over plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein

William Cummings, USA TODAY July 9, 2019

Former Vice President Joe Biden also called on Acosta to resign, writing on Twitter that "The abuse of a child is one of the most heinous, despicable abuses of power imaginable."

WASHINGTON – The top Democrats in Congress have called on Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to resign over a past plea deal he cut as a U.S. attorney that gave a light sentence to multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who had allegedly engaged in sex acts with dozens of minors.

In an 11 p.m. tweet on Monday, Pelosi said Acosta "must step down" because "he engaged in an unconscionable agreement" with Epstein, which was "kept secret from courageous, young victims preventing them from seeking justice. This was known by @POTUS when he appointed him to the cabinet. #AcostaResign."

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was "calling on Secretary Acosta to resign" in a speech from Senate floor.

"It is now impossible for anyone to have confidence in Secretary Acosta's ability to lead the Department of Labor. If he refuses to resign President Trump should fire him," Schumer said. "Instead of prosecuting a predatory and serial sex trafficker of children, Acosta chose to let him off easy."

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Epstein, 66, who is known for his ties to powerful figures including Trump and former President Bill Clinton, was arrested Saturday on charges of sex-trafficking girls as young as 14. He pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court on Monday. The indictment against him says he "sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes" in New York City and Palm Beach, Florida.

Acosta has stood by his decision to offer Epstein a deal, and on Tuesday he tweeted that he was "pleased" that prosecutors in New York are "moving forward with a case based on new evidence."

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Trump told reporters that he thought Acosta has been "an excellent secretary of labor" and that he "feels badly" about the criticism he is facing. He also said he'll look "very carefully" at the plea deal, which he said was "a long time ago" and was a decision made "by a lot of people" in addition to Acosta.

In November, the Miami Herald published an in-depth look at the 2007 deal that showed that Acosta – then the top federal prosecutor in Miami – was directly involved in negotiating a deal with Epstein's lawyers in which the wealthy and influential hedge fund manager agreed to plead guilty to two state felony prostitution charges, pay restitution to his victims, register as a sex offender and serve 13 months in county jail.

But Epstein, who had faced a possible life sentence if convicted on the federal charges, was able to serve much of that sentence from his Palm Beach office as part of a work-release program.

Epstein's alleged co-conspirators were granted immunity and the federal non-prosecution agreement was sealed, which meant it was hidden even from the girls Epstein was accused of abusing when they were teenagers, the Herald revealed. Federal prosecutors identified three dozen accusers, according to the Heald, but the newspaper said it found 80 girls who were abused between the ages of 13 and 16.

In response to those reports, Democratic lawmakers last year called for a Justice Department investigation into Acosta's role in Epstein's plea agreement. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who called Epstein a "monster," joined that call, and in February the Justice Department launched an investigation into potential "professional misconduct" in Epstein's plea deal. That same month U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that Acosta and his team had violated the Crime Victims Rights Act by concealing the plea agreement from Epstein's victims.

On Tuesday, Schumer called for the results of the Justice Department's investigation into the deal to be made public and for Senate hearings into the matter. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters he was open to such hearings.

"If this plea deal doesn’t withstand scrutiny, then it would be the job of the Judiciary Committee to find out how it got off the rails," he said, according to The Hill.

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Poster Comment:

The Dims will do anything to throw a monkey wrench in the works with Trump. They hate him so for sending Hildabeast on a vacation.