Prosecutor on Epstein’s trail shames those who backed off
Alex Acosta and Barry
Krischer last week tried to blame each other for the odious Jeffrey Epstein plea deal. In fact, they’re both to blame.
Seeking to save his job as Labor Secretary, Acosta dumped on Krischer, the former Palm Beach County state attorney. Acosta said Krischer would have let Epstein walk on sex abuse charges. Acosta, the former U.S. attorney in Miami, cast himself as the hero for the deal under which Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges and registered as a sex offender.
Krischer, who had never commented publicly, responded last week that the feds always call the shots when working with state prosecutors. Acosta’s version of events, Krischer said, “is completely wrong.”
Neither man, of course, believed that he ever would have to defend the Epstein plea deal in public. Acosta and Krischer tried to keep it secret. A chain of events, however, broke down the secrecy and has brought some degree of accountability to the men who enabled a sexual predator – and perhaps will hold accountable the predator himself.
It began in 2009, with the unsealing of the plea deal. That happened because of lawsuits by the victims, whom Acosta had not told about the deal, and The Palm Beach Post, where I worked. Back then, the Post was the only news organization consistently reporting on Epstein because the focus was on girls at his Palm Beach home.
Though Acosta and Krischer wouldn’t fight for them, the victims didn’t give up. They sued Epstein, and some collected. But they also filed lawsuits seeking information about Acosta’s non-prosecution agreement.
Those lawsuits are succeeding. In February, a federal judge in West Palm Beach ruled that Acosta violated the law by signing the agreement without informing the victims. This month, a federal appeals court ordered the release of records from Epstein’s case. They could concern those who recruited the girls and Epstein’s friends.
Finally – and ironically – President Trump chose Acosta to be Secretary of Labor. The job involves enforcement of sexual trafficking laws. Acosta’s March 2017 confirmation hearing briefly revived interest in the Epstein case, though no senator pushed him hard on it.
There was enough new interest, however, for Julie Brown of the Miami Herald. Last November, the paper published her series “Perversion of Justice.” Brown had new material to review. Most important, though, she had the victims.
These children Epstein abused were grown. They gave their names and spoke on camera. Calmly and strongly, they put faces – rather than court documents – on Epstein’s depravity.
A decade ago, Epstein’s attorneys called them bad girls, because they posted on social media about getting drunk. How shocking that 15-year-olds from broken homes sounded like the children they were.
By coddling Epstein, the two male prosecutors essentially believed those accusations. When a female prosecutor objected to going easy, Acosta overruled her.
It wasn’t the only time Krischer ignored such victims. In November 2006, he refused to charge Jason Shenfeld, whom two girls – ages 19 and 18 – had accused of sexual assault. Eight months later, Shenfeld raped and killed 18-year-old Amanda Buckley.
Based on the record, one theory is that Epstein’s legions of lawyers intimidated Acosta and Krischer, who perhaps were looking ahead. Acosta knew that he was a short-timer. President George W. Bush, who appointed him, was leaving office in six months. Krischer declined to run for a fourth term in 2008.
Whatever the reason(s), the outcome of the Epstein case – 13 months instead of a possible life sentence – didn’t serve the interest of Epstein’s victims or the public. It may have allowed Epstein to abuse many more children.
Even as he accepted Acosta’s resignation on Friday, President Trump dismissed the victims. He referred to the deal as something “people are happy with, and then, 12 years later, they are not happy with.”
Actually, plenty of people were not happy. The only happy ones were Alex Acosta, Barry Krischer – and Jeffrey Epstein.
But this new investigation by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, who has charged Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy, could lead in many directions. Last week, allegations emerged that Epstein paid $350,000 to people who might testify against him following publication of the Herald series.
National and world media now are on the Epstein story. Acosta and Krischer can’t duck their collective blame any longer.