SERVED AS THE U.S. ATTORNEY IN FLORIDA.
FLORIDA. THIS CALLS FOR ACOSTA TO RESIGN
SEASON TO GROW.
>> JOINING US NOW DEMOCRATIC
CONGRESSWOMAN FROM FLORIDA LOIS
FRANKEL.
FRANKEL. CONGRESSWOMAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH
FOR JOINING US.
SECRETARY ACOSTA EARLIER TODAY
TWEETED A STATEMENT THAT HE IS
SAYING NOW HE IS GLAD THAT THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
PICKED UP THE PROSECUTION.
HE DEFENDED HIS CHOICES FROM A
DECADE AGO, ARGUING THAT EPSTEIN
WAS FORCED TO REGISTER AS A SEX
OFFENDER, I’M NOT GOING TO SAY
THAT WAS JUSTICE, BUT HE SEEMED
TO SAY THAT WAS THE RIGHT THING
AT THE TIME, THERE’S NEW
EVIDENCE AND THAT NEW EVIDENCE
IS WHAT NEW YORK IS GOING AFTER.
>> IS THAT A QUESTION?
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIS
STATEMENT?
STATEMENT? >> OKAY.
>> OKAY. FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU BOTH FOR
HAVING ME TODAY.
I THINK IT’S LUDICROUS.
I MEAN, HE ALLOWED A SEXUAL
PREDATOR WHO -- WHO MOLESTED
COUNTLESS NUMBERS OF YOUNG GIRLS
TO RUN FREE ON THE STREETS.
THAT’S WHAT REALLY BOTHERS ME
THE MOST IS THAT WE HAVE HAD --
NOT ONLY THE DEAL MAKING, THE
SWEETHEART DEAL THAT EPSTEIN
GOT, BUT THE FACT THAT A
DANGEROUS MAN WAS LET LOOSE.
>> I MEAN, IN THAT TESTIMONY AND
YOU AND OTHER OF YOUR COLLEAGUES
QUESTIONED HIM, HE DIDN’T
SEEM -- HE DIDN’T SEEM TROUBLED
BY THIS.
BY THIS. HE SEEMED TO SUGGEST THAT YOU,
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, DIDN’T
REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE LAW
WORKS AND THIS WAS A GOOD DEAL
BECAUSE THE GUY WENT TO JAIL AND
THEY GOT THE DEAL THEY COULD
GET.
GET. HE DIDN’T SEEM TO REALLY GET --
SHARE THE SENSE OF OUTRAGE THAT
OTHERS HAD ABOUT THE FACT THAT
EPSTEIN GOT WHAT SOME ARE
CALLING THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY.
>> WELL, LET’S JUST REMEMBER
WHAT EPSTEIN WAS DOING.
I MEAN, HE WAS BRINGING YOUNG
GIRLS, SOME AS YOUNG AS 13 OR
14, TO HIS HOME UNDER PRETENSE,
MOLESTING THEM, COUNTLESS
NUMBERS, I HAVE HEARD NUMBERS UP
TO 80, PROBABLY MORE, WE JUST
PROBABLY KNOW THE TIP OF THE
ICEBERG.
ICEBERG. HE WAS GIVEN A SWEETHEART DEAL
IN A STATE COURT WHERE HE SERVED
JUST A FEW MONTHS, I THINK, BUT
MOST OF IT IT WAS IN LIKE A
TWO-BEDROOM SUITE, HE WAS
ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE JAIL EVERY
DAY TO GO TO WORK AND AS FAR AS
BEING ARRESTED AS A SEXUAL
OFFENDER OR BEING -- THE FACT OF
THE MATTER IS THE MAN OWNS
MANSIONS, I DON’T THINK HE
REALLY CARES EXACTLY WHERE HE’S
TERMED A SEXUAL OFFENDER.
>> THEN WHEN ALL OF THIS
HAPPENED AND HE GOT THIS
SWEETHEART DEAL, WHAT DID THE
PEOPLE OF PALM BEACH SAY?
THIS IS YOUR DISTRICT.
THESE ARE YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
HE BIG-FOOTED HIS OWN
PROSECUTORS WHO HAD A 53-PAGE
INDICTMENT WAITING.
INDICTMENT WAITING. >> WELL, I CAN TELL YOU THIS,
THE CHIEF OF POLICE OF PALM
BEACH WAS VERY UPSET.
HE REMAINS VERY UPSET TO THIS
DAY AND I INQUIRED SEVERAL
MONTHS AGO -- I MEAN, WHEN THIS
STARTED BUBBLING UP AGAIN I
INQUIRED BACK AT THE STATE
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE TO TRY TO FIND
OUT WHY THEY HAD ALLOWED THIS
KIND OF DEAL AND THE STATE
ATTORNEY WHO WAS THERE AT THE
TIME, HE IS NOT THERE NOW, HE IS
RETIRED, AND, YOU KNOW, THE KIND
OF REACTION I GOT WAS, WELL, WE
REALLY DIDN’T THINK MUCH OF
THESE YOUNG GIRLS AT THE TIME.
YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF ACOSTA, I
WILL SAY THIS, IF YOU LOOK AT
THAT DEAL, PEOPLE WERE GIVEN
IMMUNITY, WHY WERE OTHER PEOPLE
GIVEN IMMUNITY?
GIVEN IMMUNITY? WHY WAS THE DEAL CONFIDENTIAL?
WHY DID THEY SHIELD IT FROM THE
VICTIMS?
VICTIMS? WHY DID A -- POTENTIALLY A
53-COUNT INDICTMENT TURN INTO A
LITTLE SLAP IN THE ARM FOR
SOLICITING PROSTITUTION?
SOLICITING PROSTITUTION? WHO CALLS A 13 OR 14-YEAR-OLD
GIRL A PROSTITUTE?
THERE IS SO MUCH WRONG WITH WHAT
WAS DONE HERE AND WHAT I WANT TO
ADD IS, YOU KNOW, MR. EPSTEIN IS
NOW GOING TO FACE CRIMINAL
CHARGES.
CHARGES. THAT’S A GREAT -- THAT’S A GOOD
THING IN NEW YORK, BUT I STILL
THINK WE HAVE TO GET TO THE
BOTTOM OF WHY DID HE GET THAT
SWEETHEART DEAL.
SWEETHEART DEAL. TO LET YOU KNOW, OUR WOMEN’S --
DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S CAUCUS WE
HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS FOR
MONTHS NOW.
MONTHS NOW. WE HAVE BEEN IN CONSTANT
COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND
REQUESTING THAT THE COMMITTEE
LOOK INTO IT.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR,
THOUGH, IS AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE
WE WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE
CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. BUT WE ARE NOT DONE FOLLOWING
THIS.
THIS. >> WHAT’S YOUR LEVEL OF
CONFIDENCE IN SECRETARY ACOSTA’S
ABILITY TO CONTINUE AS A LABOR
SECRETARY GIVEN ALL THE LIGHT
THAT IS NOW ON HOW THIS DEAL WAS
HANDLED?
HANDLED? >> WELL, MYSELF AND OTHERS, WE
HAVE ALREADY -- WE’VE ALREADY
WRITTEN TWO LETTERS TO THE
PRESIDENT REQUESTING THAT HE
REMOVE ACOSTA.
REMOVE ACOSTA. OF COURSE, I THINK IT WOULD BE
BETTER FOR MR. ACOSTA JUST TO
RESIGN.
RESIGN. I MEAN, THE IRONY OF IT IS THAT
PART OF THE DUTIES OF THE LABOR
DEPARTMENT IS TO PREVENT LABOR
TRAFFICKING AND HERE IS A MAN
WHO SAID IT’S OKAY FOR THIS
SEXUAL PREDATOR TO TRAFFIC IN
YOUNG GIRLS.
YOUNG GIRLS. NO, I DON’T THINK HE’S FIT TO BE
IN OFFICE RIGHT NOW.