The former federal prosecutor who helped broker a controversial 2008 plea deal that let Jeffrey Epstein largely avoid prison time and serious charges in an early sex crimes case reportedly defended his record on Friday during lengthy testimony before a House committee.
Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney who negotiated the deal, was “defiant,” “unremorseful,” and “evasive” before the House Oversight Committee, according to Democrats.
“There was a clear lack of remorse,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia told The Miami Herald. “This is someone who should at least acknowledge that he made a mistake … his memory faded whenever we asked pointed questions.”
The testimony marked the first time Acosta, 56, has spoken under oath about the plea deal, which saw Epstein plead guilty to lesser state charges and avoid a federal sex trafficking case. Under the terms, the late financier and his associates also got immunity from federal prosecution.
Epstein, who had been on federal officials’ radar since 2006, ended up serving just over a year in prison, much of the time being allowed to commute to his West Palm Beach office. An Epstein survivor has said she was raped during this period.
The scores of Epstein victims who had already come forward were not notified about the plea deal, and its terms were initially sealed, further preventing public knowledge about the agreement.
“I’ve testified for six hours,” Acosta told reporters of his comments before the committee. “I’ll let the record speak for itself.”
During his testimony, Acosta “expressed concern” that a potential loss in federal court would’ve been seen as a green light for Epstein to continue committing crimes, according to a committee readout. He also testified that he never met with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and that he never saw Donald Trump’s name mentioned on any Epstein-related documents.
The Independent has contacted the news network Newsmax, where Acosta serves as a board member, for further comment.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the committee, painted a different picture of the former official’s testimony, thanking him for providing useful information and accusing Democrats of overly politicizing the process.
“They were battering around so many questions about Trump,” Comer told Politico. “The members were talking over each other.”
Acosta, a veteran government lawyer, went on to lead the Labor Department under the first Trump administration. He resigned in 2019 when Epstein was re-arrested as part of a renewed federal sex-trafficking investigation, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction for the administration.
During his testimony on Friday, Acosta said his decision to resign was his alone.
Earlier this week, FBI Director Kash Patel testified in the Senate that Acosta’s case was the “original sin” of errors in how officials prosecuted Epstein.
“The original case involved a very limited search warrant, or set of search warrants, and didn’t take as much investigatory material it should have seized,” Patel said. “If I were the FBI director then, it wouldn’t have happened.”
The Epstein scandal continues to haunt the Trump administration and the president, a former friend of Epstein who was accused of (and denies) writing a sexually suggestive 50th birthday letter to the late financier about a “wonderful secret.”
The FBI, meanwhile, concluded this summer that Epstein did not maintain a long-rumored “client list” full of well-known figures, and that federal officials had determined “no further disclosure is appropriate or warranted” regarding the late sex offender. This angered a MAGA base that had been promised wide-ranging releases about Epstein.
Officials in Congress, including Republicans, have continued to push for more information, subpoenaing the Department of Justice and the Epstein estate, among others.
