Alex Acosta testifies to House committee about Epstein's 2008 'sweetheart deal'

Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta testified on Capitol Hill Friday, where members of the House Oversight Committee asked about the plea deal he cut with Jeffrey Epstein back in 2008.

That deal allowed Epstein to avoid a federal trial by sending him to prison for 13 months on state prostitution charges involving minors.

On Friday Acosta testified for some six hours behind closed doors. While he did not speak to the media, Democratic lawmakers on the committee spoke over the hearing's lunch break.

They alleged that Acosta was taking no responsibility for the deal and claimed he was involved in a coverup, including with the current Trump administration.

"Mr. Acosta, at least to us in this deposition, essentially has said he didn't have fait in the victims, their stories and their ability to tell their own story in their own testimony, which is deeply disturbing to all of us sitting in there," said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL). "Not just that, but it seems like Mr. Acosta really had no idea about what was going on in his own office during this investigation, during the deliberation on this, on what is the most high-profile case that his office handled during that time period."

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) spoke to reporters ahead of the meeting, saying that he wanted to talk to Acosta about the deal particularly because survivors have told him that they tried to warn the government about Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions and were ignored.

Comer is also encouraging survivors to continue to speak up.

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The hearing comes on the heels of a heated week of testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel, who testified before the House Oversight Committee and clashed with some members, including some Republicans, over the fact that he said that there has been no credible evidence that Epstein trafficked minors to other people.

"According to victims who cooperated with the FBI in that investigation. These documents in FBI possession — your possession — detail at least 20 men, including Mr. Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays Bank, that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked victims to, victims including minors such as Virginia Roberts, Giuffre, may she rest in peac," Rep. Massie told Patel. "That list also includes at least 19 other individuals: One Hollywood producer worth a few hundred million dollars. One Royal Prince, one high profile individual in the music industry, one very prominent banker, one high-profile government official, one high-profile former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rockstar, one magician, at least six billionaires, including a billionaire from Canada."

Some survivors of Epstein's abuse released a two-page statement concerning Patel's testimony, saying that it "raises more questions than answers."

"Previous investigations were indeed incomplete," the statement reads. "So what is [Mr. Patel's] plan to make sure that a thorough and unbiased investigation is conducted at last? He seems to acknowledge that the FBI FD-302 reports, naming other men to whom Epstein-Maxwell victims were trafficked, are real. So will he release those reports to the House Oversight Committee and to the public?"