Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta defended the decision to give what has been seen as a lenient deal 11 years ago to financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was facing charges for prostituting minors in Florida back then and is facing similar charges now in New York.
As a result, Epstein only spent 13 months in a Florida jail, during which time he was allowed to leave the jail and work from his office.
Back then, Acosta said, America was less sympathetic to victims of sex trafficking and it would have been harder to convince the victims to testify and easier for Epstein’s lawyers to attack their credibility in court.
“We live in a very different world,” Acosta said. “Today’s world treats victims very, very differently. Today’s world does not allow some of the victim shaming that could have taken place at trial 12 years ago. Today’s world understands that when interviewing victims, when eliciting testimony, that testimony can be sometimes contradictory, that memories are difficult.”
The Miami Herald reported that Epstein hired private investigators who dug into the victims’ past to find something to damage their credibility.
Acosta emphasized that the Florida State Attorney’s Office came up back then with an even worse outcome and was ready to let Epstein go without jail time and without even registering as a sex offender.
He said that for federal prosecutors to insert themselves into a state case is rare to begin with.
“We did what we did because we wanted to see Epstein go to jail,” he said.
Acosta was also questioned about a morning meeting with Epstein’s lawyer at a Marriott hotel in West Palm Beach in October 2007.
Acosta countered that the meeting actually happened after the deal was negotiated and that he was at the hotel for a conference.
Epstein’s victims have also objected that the government failed to notify them about the deal.
Acosta said the office did try to notify them, but only after securing Epstein’s agreement with the plea deal. Since the deal included a provision granting the victims restitution, if Epstein decided to decline the deal and go to court, he could have claimed the women only testified against him because the government informed them there could be money in it for them.
“Talking about this would allow him to make the argument in trial that their testimony was compromised,” Acosta said, invoking one of the affidavits as evidence.
Acosta said he welcomed the new charges and called on more alleged victims of Epstein to come forward.