The Boys Club, Con't

The entire Epstein saga over the last two years began in earnest when the Miami Herald broke the news in December of 2018 that the US Attorney that originally gave Epstein his odious plea deal in 2008 was at the time, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was US Attorney under Dubya for the district of Miami. Acosta was forced to resign in July of 2019 after a disastrously bad press conference in the wake of Epstein being arrested and charged for the crimes that Acosta let him skate on.

But now, it seems Acosta gets the last laugh, as the Barr "Justice Department" is letting Acosta and his team at the time avoid any real responsibility for their devil's bargain.

In a 13-page executive summary of the investigation’s findings reviewed by NBC News, the Office of Professional Responsibility said it was Acosta who “made the pivotal decision to resolve the federal investigation of Epstein through a state-based plea and either developed or approved the terms of the initial offer to the defense that set the beginning point for the subsequent negotiations that led to the” non-prosecution agreement.

“The NPA was a flawed mechanism for satisfying the federal interest that caused the government to open its investigation of Epstein,” the report says.

In the course of the review, the office said members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office had concerns about “legal issues, witness credibility, and the impact of a trial on the victims” that led them to ultimately go for the non-prosecution agreement and avoid trial.

As a result, “OPR does not find that Acosta engaged in professional misconduct by resolving the federal investigation of Epstein in the way he did or that the other subjects committed professional misconduct through their implementation of Acosta’s decisions.”

The report also says that Acosta’s decision to bring charges against Epstein through the state led to a lack of transparency and left victims “feeling confused and ill-treated by the government.”

“In sum, OPR concludes that the victims were not treated with the forthrightness and sensitivity expected by the department.”

Acosta could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

Acosta was naughty but he didn't break the law, even though it was perfectly clear that a quid pro quo was in play. Acosta's defense was that he was waiting for a better deal, following Justice Department policy under Dubya AG Michael Mukasey, where Epstein would pay restitution to his victims. Of course, that never materialized, because Acosta never pursued it.

And Epstein got what he wanted, a 13-month sentence where he spent the majority of time on "work release".

Of course, Epstein is gone now, and his protege and victim wrangler, Ghislaine Maxwell, is facing decades of prison time. Another round of documents in that case could be publicly released as soon as Friday.