A judge ruled Thursday that federal prosecutors overseeing the Jeffrey Epstein sexual-abuse case — including current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta — violated the law by concealing from his underage alleged victims the existence of a plea deal that shielded the politically connected Florida financier from federal charges.
In a 33-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra said the Justice Department violated a federal law when it failed to inform the alleged victims about the controversial nonprosecution agreement signed in 2007.
Concealing the deal — which was secretly negotiated with Epstein’s star-studded legal team — violated the 2004 Crime Victims’ Rights Act, a statutory bill of rights for victims of federal crimes, Marra concluded. Among other things, the law grants victims a “reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.” By making the plea deal with Epstein and not conferring with the alleged victims, prosecutors violated the law, the judge said.
Capping more than a decade of litigation, the decision marks a significant development in a long-running scandal in a case that exposed tensions between the due-process rights of the accused and the rights of alleged victims. The ruling comes weeks after the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility announced that it was probing its handling of the Epstein case, which was supervised by Acosta, then the U.S. attorney in Miami.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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