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A Justice Dept. discipline office
with limited reach to probe
handling of controversial child sex
abuse case
Matt Zapotosky
The Justice Department office that handles employee discipline has
opened an investigation into whether attorneys committed
“professional misconduct” in allowing a well-connected millionaire to
spend just over a year in jail to resolve allegations that he molested
dozens of young girls.
The department revealed the investigation Wednesday in a letter from
Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-
Neb.), who has questioned how the department handled its inquiry of
financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Epsteinʼs case had been the subject of an investigation by the Miami
Herald, which detailed how then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, now
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President Trumpʼs 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 departmentʼs newly announced investigation is likely to be of
limited consequence. According to Boydʼs letter, it is being handled by
the Office of Professional Responsibility, which explores allegations of
employee wrongdoing. The officeʼs 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 Epsteinʼs 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 Heraldʼs investigation, did not immediately return a
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message seeking comment for this report.
Martin G. Weinberg, an attorney for Epstein, said in a statement that
Epsteinʼs plea was “fairly negotiated by experienced teams of
attorneys representing each party.”
“It was anything but a sweetheart deal,” Weinberg said. “And it was
carefully and fully reviewed not only by senior prosecutors within the
Southern District of Florida Office but also at multiple levels of the
Department of Justice in D.C.”
The government, he said, “avoided litigation risks including the risks of
an acquittal and Mr. Epstein went to jail, served a period of probation,
lived up to each and every obligation under the Agreement, and has
fully conformed his conduct to the law for well over 10 years.”
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