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President Trump’s labor secretary, shelved a 53-page indictment that
could have put Epstein behind bars for life.

Epstein, who counts among his friends Trump and former president Bill
Clinton, assembled a high-powered legal team to address the
allegations he faced. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty in 2008 only to state
charges of soliciting prostitution. Victims told the Herald they felt
betrayed by the arrangement.

The department’s newly announced investigation is likely to be of
limited consequence. According to Boyd’s letter, it is being handled by
the Office of Professional Responsibility, which explores allegations of
employee wrongdoing. The office’s findings, at worst, typically result
in employees being fired, and they are not usually made public, though
Boyd wrote to Sasse that the office would “share the results with you
at the conclusion of its investigation as appropriate.” It is possible,
even likely, the investigation could drag on so long that Acosta, already
outside the Justice Department, would by then be out of government
entirely.

In a statement, Sasse said: “The victims of Epstein’s child sex
trafficking ring deserve this investigation — and so do the American
people and the members of law enforcement who work to put these
kinds of monsters behind bars. Parents should be grateful for the men
and women at the DOJ who are committed to transparency and
accountability and for the soon-to-be Attorney General who is
committed to pursuing justice.”

A representative for Acosta, who did not respond to requests for an
interview for the Herald’s investigation, did not immediately return a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-justic...1718903bfc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c9ebae38dfe7 2/6/19, 7:29 PM
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