Key takeaways from the Justice Department review of Jeffrey Epstein sweetheart deal
Victims’ rights lawyers who have been battling the U.S. Department of Justice for a dozen years over the controversial “sweetheart deal” reached by federal prosecutors in Florida with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are blasting the department’s long-awaited review of the deal as “offensive” and a “whitewash.”
“I think, frankly, what we got was an effort to paper over what happened,” said Paul Cassell, a former federal judge who now represents Epstein accusers. “I think they're trying to put the most favorable light on what's clearly misconduct on the part of their attorneys.”
A 350-page report from the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which was made public Thursday, determined none of the five federal prosecutors who were deeply involved in the Epstein investigation committed professional misconduct or violated any clear and unambiguous rules when they reached the deal without informing or consulting with victims.
Instead, the OPR report faulted former Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, then the U.S. Attorney in Miami, for exhibiting “poor judgment” in deciding to resolve the Epstein case through a non-prosecution agreement and in failing to make certain the alleged victims were notified in advance of Epstein’s guilty plea in state court that ended the federal investigation.
“They just say he used poor judgment, and that's their way of basically letting everyone off the hook while offering some sort of an olive branch to the victims that we acknowledge weren't treated perfectly,” said Brad Edwards, who sued the DOJ in 2008 on behalf of Epstein accusers, seeking to invalidate the once-secret deal. “But nobody really did anything wrong. It's really offensive. It's hurtful.”
Jena-Lisa Jones, who has alleged Epstein sexually abused her when she was just 14, called the Justice Department’s conclusions “like another slap in the face” to victims.
“Poor judgment is cheating on a spelling test or speeding five miles over the speed limit. That would be poor judgment to me,” Jones said after attending a four-hour government briefing on the report’s findings at the FBI office in Miami. “I honestly don't think that anybody will take responsibility in any sense, in any shape or form in the way that they actually should as adults.”
The OPR report, which took 22 months to complete, is not likely to be the last word on the Florida prosecutors’ treatment of Epstein, who was arrested last year by federal authorities in New York and then died while in custody in a Manhattan detention center.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who requested the department review after the Miami Herald’s in-depth reports on the Epstein case were published in late 2018, harshly criticized OPR’s conclusions and vowed to keep investigating what he labeled a “disgusting failure.”
“OPR might have finished its report, but we have an obligation to make sure this never happens again,” Sasse said in a statement.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/key-takeaways-justice-department-review-100219239.html