Trump official defends giving sweetheart plea deal to a child sex trafficker

A deluge of Democratic elected officials have begun calling for Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to resign, saying the lenient plea agreement Acosta granted to billionaire child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein back in the late 2000s is unacceptable in light of the new charges federal prosecutors brought against Epstein on Monday.

But rather than step aside, Acosta is defending his decision to let Epstein off easy for running a child sex ring from his swanky New York City and Palm Beach, Florida, properties.

Acosta defended himself in a series of three tweets on Tuesday, in which he first called Epstein’s crimes “horrific” and said he is “pleased that NY prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence.”

“With the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that Epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender and put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator,” Acosta said, referencing the light sentence Epstein received back in 2008, in which Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and spent 13 months in “custody with work release,” which let him out of prison for 16 hours a day.

The Miami Herald, which broke the story about Acosta’s role in Epstein’s lenient plea agreement, called the agreement Acosta struck with Epstein “the deal of a lifetime.”

Acosta went on to tweet that, “Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the NY prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice.”

Of course, much of what New York prosecutors alleged in the Epstein indictment unsealed on Monday was known back when Acosta served as a U.S. attorney and declined to vigorously prosecute Epstein for his crimes.

In fact, Epstein could have faced charges back in 2008 that could have earned him life in prison before Acosta intervened.

While Democrats are calling for Acosta’s ouster, Republicans are silent, or in the case of Trump actually defending Acosta’s actions.

Trump even said on Tuesday that he “feels badly” for Acosta.

There truly is no bottom for Trump, the Trump administration, and Republicans.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.