FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A
Politics & the Nation
BY MATT ZAPOTOSKY
AND BETH REINHARDThe Justice Department’s inter-
nal disciplinary arm concluded
that then-U.S. Attorney Alexander
Acosta exhibited “poor judgment”
but not “professional misconduct”
in approving a generous deal for
Jeffrey Epstein to resolve allega-
tions that he molested dozens of
young girls years ago, drawing re-
bukes from victims’ lawyers and
even the lead prosecutor on the
case.
Officials on Thursday released
an executive summary of an inves-
tigation into the handling of Ep-
stein’s case, now more than a dec-
ade old, and briefed victims and
their lawyers on its findings. The
Washington Post later obtained a
copy of the full report. The summa-
ry chastised Acosta’s judgment and
acknowledged that Epstein’s vic-
tims were treated poorly, but it said
investigators did not find evidence
that his decision to sign off on the
deal “was based on corruption or
other impermissible consider-
ations, such as Epstein’s wealth,
status, or associations.”
The politically connected mil-
lionaire, now dead , w as known for
a highflying lifestyle that included
partying with Donald Trump be-
fore his election as president and
traveling with luminaries such as
former president Bill Clinton.
The investigation’s summary
also said other prosecutors on the
case had not committed profes-
sion al misconduct. Shortly after its
release, Marie Villafaña, who had
been the lead line attorney, issued a
statement c alling the result of Ep-
stein’s case “patently unjust.”
“That injustice, I believe, was the
result of deep, implicit institutional
biases that prevented me and the
FBI agents who worked diligently
on this case from holding Mr. Ep-
stein accountable for his crimes,”
Villafaña said. “By not considering
those implicit biases based on gen-
der and socioeconomic status, OPR
[the Justice Department’s Office of
Professional Responsibility] lost an
opportunity to make recommenda-
tions for institutional changes that
could prevent results like this one
from occurring in the future.”
The report casts Villafaña as par-
ticularly aggressive in the case —
unsuccessfully advising her superi-
ors not to meet with Epstein’s de-
fense attorneys, complaining about
victims not being kept in the loop
and pushing for Epstein to be ac-
cused of violating the terms of his
agreement — t hough it also says
her supervisors, including Acosta,
offered reasonable legal or strategic
reasons for their actions.
Acosta’s lawyer released a
lengthy statement saying that had
Acosta “known then what he
knows now, he certainly would
have directed a different path.”
“But as OPR makes clear, neither
he nor his staff had the benefit of
the record available today to craft
their strategy to handle a legally
and factually challenging case,” thestatement said.
“Alex Acosta’s actions caused
emotional trauma for countless mi-
nors who deserved to be protected
by the U.S. Attorney’s Of fice and
allowed a serial molester to escape
accountability,” said Adam Horo-
witz, one of several attorneys repre-
senting Epstein victims who at-
tended Thursday’s briefing at an
FBI office in South Florida. “He and
his office failed to give notice to
victims, misled victims, misinter-
preted the law and did not treat the
abuse survivors with decency and
respect. The mountain of mistakes
was not just poor judgment. It was
reckless.”
Another attorney for Epstein vic-
tims, Paul Cassell, said Associate
Deputy Attorney General Stacie
Harris told those at the briefing
that Acosta’s incoming emails be-
tween May 2007 and May 2008
could not be recovered and exam-
ined due to a “technical glitch.”That’s the period of time, he said, in
which Acosta was weighing the Ep-
stein case. Cassell casti gated inves-
tigators for not interviewing Ep-
stein’s defense attorneys, who he
believes exerted undue influence
over federal prosecutors.
“This report is a c overup,” Cassell
said. “How can you possibly claim
you’ve done a t horough investiga-
tion without exploring these is-
sues?”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who has
been critical of the department’s
handling of the Epstein matter and
had pushed for an internal investi-
gation, also blasted the conclusion.
“Letting a well-connected bil-
lionaire get away with child rape
and international sex trafficking
isn’t ‘poor judgment’ — it is a d is-
gusting failure,” Sasse said in a
statement. “Americans ought to be
enraged. Jeffrey Epstein should be
rotting behind bars today, but the
Justice Department failed Epstein’svictims at every turn. The DOJ’s
crooked deal with Epstein effec-
tively shut down investigations
into his child sex tra fficking ring
and protected his co-conspirators
in other states. Justice has not been
served.”
The Justice Department publicly
revealed the probe in February
2019, writing in a l etter to Sasse that
it was opening an inquiry into “alle-
gations that Department attorneys
may have committed professional
misconduct in the manner in
which the Epstein criminal matter
was resolved.” The le tter cited re-
porting in the Miami Herald, which
had detailed how Acosta shelved a
53-page indictment that could have
put Epstein behind bars for life.
Acosta would go on to serve as
Trump’s labor secretary before he
resigned amid uproar over his in-
volvement in the Epstein case.
Epstein’s deal in 2008 ultimately
allowed him to admit only to state
charges and spend just over a year
in ja il — w ith work-release privile g-
es — to resolve the allegations. Vic-
tims have alleged th ey were kept in
the dark about it and sued in feder-
al court, claiming prosecutors vio-
lated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
A federal judge initially agreed with
them, though a t hree-judge appeals
court panel overturned that ruling.
The case is now being considered
by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 11th Circuit.
The investigation and 290-page
report represent the most thor-
ough, internal look back the Justice
Department has done examining
the generous arrangement that Ep-
stein was afforded.
According to the report, the Of-
fice of Professional Responsibility
reviewed hundreds of thousands of
records from various Justice De-
partment components and con-
ducted more than 60 interviews.
Though the report addressed
each person’s actions in detail, it
ultimately seemed to lay blame on
Acosta, who it said “made the pivot-
al decision” to resolve the allega-
tions with a deal in state court.
That blame, though, was limited.The summary essentially accused
Acosta of being too deferential to
Florida authorities, and it noted
that it was outside the purview of
Justice Department investigators
to explore state actions. The report
noted, too, that “Epstein himself
was not satisfied” with the agree-
ment and unsuccessfully appealed
to the Justice Department to get it
thrown out.
It also claimed, as Justice De-
partment lawyers have previously
in court, that prosecutors did not
break the law in not notifying vic-
tims of the deal, because Epstein
had not been charged in a federal
case. But it portrayed that decision
as misguided and asserted it “ulti-
mately created the misimpression
that the Department intentionally
sought to sil ence the victims.”
“Aco sta failed to ensure that vic-
tims were made aware of a court
proceeding that was related to their
own cases, and thus he failed to
ensure that victims were treated
with forthrightness and dignity,”
the summary alleged.
Cassell noted that Acosta had
said in his 2017 Senate confirma-
tion hearing for labor secretary that
the decision not to bring federal
charges against Epstein was
“broadly held” in his office, and at a
news conference last year, he stated
it was “the judgment of prosecutors
with dozens of years of experience.”
“The report lets Acosta take the
fall for everybody,” Cassell said.
“That’s very convenient since he’s
left the Justice Department.”
Epstein was charged in 2019 in a
new sex trafficking case brou ght by
federal prosecutors in Manhattan,
but he killed himself last year while
in federal custody awaiting trial.
Manhattan federal prosecutors lat-
er charged one of Epstein’s long-
time confidantes, Ghislaine Max-
well, with recruiting and grooming
underage girls for abuse by Epstein.
She is awaiting trial.
[email protected]
[email protected]Shayna Jacobs in New York contributed
to this report.DOJ report finds no misconduct in Epstein case
TOM WILLIAMS/POOL/CQ ROLL CALL
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) criticized the conclusion of the Justice Department report, which found that
then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta exhibited “poor judgment” but not “professional misconduct.”WEATHER
Eta soaks Fla., races to
Carolinas and Georgia
Tropical Storm Eta dumped
blustery rain across north
Florida after landfall Thursday
morning north of the heavily
populated Tampa Bay area, then
sped out into the Atlantic off the
neighboring coasts of Georgia
and the Carolinas.
Some flooding was reported
but no major damage, though
one death in Florida was linked
to the storm.
Some parts of the Carolinas
saw three to seven inches of
rainfall by Thursday afternoon
due to a combination of moisture
carried by the cold front that
pushed Eta across Florida and
moisture from the Gulf of Mexico
brought in by the tropical system.
That has led to flash flooding,
multiple water rescues and road
closures, and at least one
collapsed bridge, said Sandy
LaCorte, a meteorologist with the
National Weather Service in
Greenville, S.C.
Earlier, Eta slogged ashore
near Cedar Key, Fla., before
moving northeast across the
state, according to the Weather
Service in Miami. The storm
emerged into Atlantic waters
early Thursday afternoon and
was forecast to pass just offshore
of South Carolina and North
Carolina as it races up the
Southeast seaboard through
Friday morning.At 4 p.m., the storm was
centered about 90 miles south-
southwest of Charleston, S.C. It
had sustained winds of 40 mph
and was moving to the northeast
at 18 mph.
— Associated PressNORTH CAROLINA3 dead, 2 missing in
flooding at campsiteThree people are dead and two
more, including a child, are
missing after floodwaters from a
nearby river overtook
recreational vehicles at a
campsite Thursday, an of ficial
said.
In addition to the three deaths
at the Hiddenite FamilyCampground in Alexander
County, a m otorist was killed in
the county while traveling on a
road that was washed out by
rising water, said Doug Gillespie,
county director of public
services.
According to Gillespie, the
floodwaters either covered or
swept away the recreational
vehicles at the campground,
which is next to the South Yadkin
River.
Swift water rescue personnel
and local fire departments saved
31 people from their vehicles,
some of them hanging onto their
campers, according to Gillespie.
He said three people were taken
to the hospital for treatment and
two have been released.
Of the two people still missing,one of them was a child
approximately 1 year old,
Gillespie said.
The campground is about
50 miles north of Charlotte,
where a portion of Interstate 85
was closed because of flooding.
— Associated PressTEXAS2-month-old girl t ests
positive for heroinA 2-month-old girl tested
positive for heroin and was
placed on life support after being
found unresponsive with
injection marks at a W est Texas
home over the weekend,
according to police.
The girl’s mother, DestineyHarbour, 21, was arrested, along
with her mother, Christin
Bradley, 37, and Bradley’s
boyfriend, Dustin Smock, 34, San
Angelo police said Tuesday. All
three were charged with causing
serious bodily injury to a child.
Officers responded to a home
Saturday a fter receiving a report
of an unconscious infant. The
girl was taken to a hospital,
where injection marks were
found on her extremities and
head, and her urine tested
positive for heroin, police said.
She was taken to Cook
Children’s Medical Center in
Fort Worth. A police
spokeswoman declined to
provide information about the
girl’s condition Thursday.
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