MIAMI (FL)
USA TODAY
November 30, 2018
By Christal Hayes and Jorge L. Ortiz
A Democratic group of lawmakers is calling for a Justice Department investigation into Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta after a scathing report revealed decade-old allegations that he granted an alleged serial pedophile the “deal of a lifetime’’ while serving as a U.S. attorney in South Florida.
The still-growing group, led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called on Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate Acosta’s role in a plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire financier. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, but a Miami Herald investigation this week said the allegations against him were originally much broader, accusing him of coercing dozens of underage girls into sex acts.
As of Friday, six lawmakers had signed the letter calling for an investigation and seven others were scheduled to before it’s sent to the Justice Department on Monday, according to a signed draft exclusively obtained by USA TODAY.
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