Billionaire felon Jeffrey Epstein is facing new sex trafficking charges related to his sexual abuse and rape of teenage girls over a period of years—charges that will throw even more attention on the sweetheart deal he got in 2008 from federal prosecutors led by now-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. Epstein is now being charged by federal prosecutors, more than a decade after that deal with Acosta allowed him to plead guilty to Florida state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Epstein served 13 months in jail on that charge, though he was allowed to leave on work release for most of his waking hours. Acosta, then the U.S. attorney in Miami, and his team had decided not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes, despite having a long list of possible charges ready. A federal judge recently said that Acosta and other federal prosecutors on the case violated the law by not notifying Epstein’s victims that a deal was in the works.
Donald Trump, who had been friendly with Epstein—saying of him in 2002 that Epstein was “a lot of fun to be with” and “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side”—has kept Acosta in his Cabinet.
The current charges against Epstein specifically involve three minor victims, though the grand jury charges also refer to “dozens of additional minor girls.”