Page 2 - aruba-today-20190711

A2 US NEWS
Thursday 11 July 2019

Facing calls for resignation, Acosta defends Epstein deal

conference, Acosta re- manager. And on Wednes- resulted in no jail time until
traced the steps that fed- day, a new accuser his office intervened and
eral prosecutors took in stepped forward to say Ep- pressed for tougher con-
the case when he was U.S. stein raped her in his New sequences, a contention
attorney for the Southern York mansion when she that is supported by the
District of Florida a decade was 15. record. The alternative, he
ago, insisting that “in our Jennifer Araoz, now 32, told said, would have been for
heart we were trying to do “Today” she never went to federal prosecutors to “roll
the right thing for these vic- police because she feared the dice” and hope to win
tims.” He said prosecutors retribution from the well- a conviction.
were working to avoid a connected Epstein. She But Epstein only was given
more lenient arrangement now has filed court papers 13 months in a work-re-
that would have allowed seeking from Epstein in lease program, which let
Epstein to “walk free.” preparation for suing him. him work out of the jail six
“We believe that we pro- While the handling of the days a week. Acosta said it
Labor Secretary Alex Acosta calls on a reporter to ask a ceeded appropriately,” case arose during Acosta’s was “entirely appropriate”
question during a news conference at the Department of Labor, he said, a contention chal- confirmation hearings, it to be outraged about that
Wednesday, July 10, 2019, in Washington. lenged by critics who say has come under fresh and leniency, but he blamed
Associated Press Epstein’s penalty was egre- intense scrutiny after the that on Florida authorities.
By JILL COLVIN and RICH- Wednesday defended his giously light. prosecutors in New York “Everything the victims
ARD LARDNER handling of a sex-trafficking The episode reignited this brought their charges on have gone through in these
Associated Press case involving now-jailed week when federal prose- Monday, alleging Epstein cases is horrific,” he said,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Try- financier Jeffrey Epstein, in- cutors in New York brought abused dozens of under- while repeatedly refusing
ing to tamp down calls sisting he got the toughest a new round of child sex- age girls in the early 2000s, to apologize to them.
for his resignation, Labor deal he could at the time. trafficking charges against paying them hundreds of “I think it’s important to
Secretary Alex Acosta on In a nearly hour-long news the wealthy hedge fund dollars in cash for massag- stand up for the prosecu-
es, then molesting them tors” in his old office, he
at his homes in Florida said. His account did not
and New York. Epstein has sit well with Barry Krischer,
pleaded not guilty to the who was the Palm Beach
charges; if convicted he County attorney during the
could be imprisoned for case. Krischer, a Democrat,
the rest of his life. said Acosta “should not be
Acosta’s lawyerly presen- allowed to rewrite history.”
tation was an effort to Acosta’s South Florida of-
push back against grow- fice had gotten to the
ing criticism of his work in a point of drafting an indict-
secret 2008 plea deal that ment that could have sent
let Epstein avoid federal Epstein to federal prison for
prosecution on charges life. But it was never filed,
that he molested teenage leading to Epstein’s guilty
girls. A West Palm Beach plea to two state prostitu-
judge found this year that tion-related charges. In ad-
the deal had violated the dition to the work-release
Crime Victims’ Rights Act jail sentence, Epstein was
because the victims were required to make pay-
not informed or consulted. ments to victims and regis-
He was also out to per- ter as a sex offender.
suade President Donald Krischer said the federal in-
Trump to keep him on the dictment was “abandoned
job as Democratic presi- after secret negotiations
dential candidates and between Mr. Epstein’s law-
party leaders called for his yers and Mr. Acosta.” He
ouster. added: “If Mr. Acosta was
Acosta insisted his office truly concerned with the
did the best it could under State’s case and felt he
the circumstances a de- had to rescue the mat-
cade ago. He said state ter, he would have moved
authorities had planned forward with the 53-page
to go after Epstein with indictment that his own of-
charges that would have fice drafted.”q