BALDWIN: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta grilled by lawmakers about his role at a plea deal with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Acosta was the U.S. Attorney in Florida at the time. A federal judge ruled in February that the 2008 deal was illegal because prosecutors failed to confer with Epstein's victims as required by law. Epstein got 16 months in jail while federal investigators reportedly identified dozens of underage victims.</s>REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): How, as Secretary of Labor, can you tell this panel and the American people that you can responsibly oversee this budget, the Department of Labor and including human trafficking? Is there no answer?</s>ALEXANDER ACOSTA, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: Is that a question?</s>CLARK: That was a question.</s>ACOSTA: So, as I was saying, the Department of Justice for the past 12 years has defended the actions of the office in this case. The facts in this case were presented to a grand jury that initially recommended -- not initially, that actually recommended a charge that would have carried no jail time at all. And at the end of --</s>CLARK: Do you regret making this deal in secret?</s>ACOSTA: At the end of the day --</s>CLARK: Do you regret making this deal in secret?</s>ACOSTA: Congresswoman, if I could finish. At the end of the day, Mr. Epstein went to jail. Epstein was incarcerated. He registered as a sex offender. The world was put on notice that he was a sex offender, and the victims received restitution.</s>BALDWIN: The Miami Herald reports Acosta met with Epstein's lawyers in a hotel room to cut the deal. The Secretary told lawmakers he doesn't remember the meeting but said records indicate it happened after the plea agreement was signed. President Trump lashing out against reports that some on Robert Mueller's team are frustrated with him and Attorney General Bill Barr in his four-page letter, the summary of the Mueller report. We have those details ahead.
Acosta Grilled For Role In Billionaire Sex Offender's Plea Deal.