The problem with writing “in the moment” as I did yesterday in my take down of Alex Acosta’s bullshit “explanation” is that subsequent events can overtake your writing. This happened yesterday, but fortunately, two “concepts” that I struggled to define were defined for me by others later that day.
The Palm Beach county DA in the Epstein case confirmed what I wrote yesterday in his written statement when he said that no federal prosecutor would ever take a back seat to a state prosecutor. But more importantly, he confirmed that if Acosta thought that the locals were screwing the case up, all he had to do was to file his charges and take over the case! No back room double dealing and secret negotiations were required, just try the damn case in court.
This matters, because I think that Alex Acosta had a case to bring, and it was a strong case. I mean, how weak can a 54 page indictment be? Most Supreme Court rulings aren’t 54 pages long for Crissakes.I think that there were reasons that Acosta didn’t want to have to file that case.
Chuck Rosenberg nailed the other ephemeral problem I struggled with last night on Rachel Maddow’s show. What Rosenberg couldn’t understand, and I can’t either, is why Acosta entered into a non prosecution agreement with Epstein in the first place. That’s almost unheard of in federal prosecutions. I have the news on 7 days a week, 15 hours a day, and I can’t remember the last time i heard that phrase before this week.
Michael Cohen didn’t get one. Neither did Michael Flynn. Ditto for Paul Manafort. And it wasn’t on the radar for George Papadopoulos or Alex VanderZwaan either. Those guys got plea deals, not non prosecution agreements. basically, the government charged them with whatever they felt they could prove in court, and then dropped some charges in return for guilty pleas, cooperation, or both. The goal being to minimize But they were charged, because that’s how the feds do itz. the amount of time they have to serve, and have the prosecutors put in a good word for them at sentencing.
In his “explanation,” Acosta made himself appear like the hero, fearing that the county was about to let Epstein off of the hook, Acosta swept in like an avenging angel, threatening federal prosecution if Epstein didn’t cop to heavier state charges, with jail time, and registration as a sex offender. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Since the charges Acosta would be filing would likely be things like statutory rape, child sexual assault, and child sex trafficking, if Acosta wanted Epstein put away, the solution would have been to file the federal charges with the much stiffer penalties, not settle for negotiating a piddly upgrade to the state charges.
This is pure speculation, but this is what I think happened, and it makes sense. I think that Alex Acosta knew full well who Jeffrey Epstein was, and the social and political weight he pulled. I don’t think that Alex Acosta threatened Epstein with federal prosecution to get him to accept a heavier state sentence, the federal charges would have done that. I think Acosta used the non prosecution agreement to avoid having to file federal charges, since the staff lawyers in the office, knowing the strength of their case, would have wanted to take a whack at Epstein if he got a slap on the wrist form the state. A federal plea deal would have meant a federal conviction, and no matter how he pleaded down, no single charge would have gotten him the cupcake sentence that the state charge did. The scam was to make it appear as if Epstein had caved to federal pressure, while the non prosecution agreement ensured that the feds couldn’t try him later if the outcry became too loud from the public, or Acosta’s own office.
When Alex Acosta signed that non prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, he may as well donned a blonde wig, a hot pink halter top, flaming red micro skirt, and a pair of “fuck me” pumps. I don’t know what Epstein’s quid pro quo was to Acosta for that deal, but I surely hope it comes out as the SDNY prosecutes its case. But all I can say to Alex Acosta is “I hope it was worth it.” Because no matter what you got, nd how yu got it, it was ultimately at east 36 innocent young girls who paid for it. You soulless prick.
I hope it was worth it.” because whatever you got, and however you got it, at least 36 innocent young girls are the ones who ultimately paid for it. You soulless prick.
You nailed it with one sentence. ‘ All he had to do was file charges, and take over the case.’ His press conference was so much bullshit.
Ah but we both know how a devil’s bargain works, Murf. You only get what you ask for. You NEVER get what you actually need. May it be so for Acosta.
You get precisely what you asked for, not what you really wanted. And if there’s a way to make it worse for you, the devil will find it.
Correct, P J. Even in tales where things work out like the Grimms fairy tale “Bearskin”, there’s always a hidden surcharge that pops out of the woodwork.
lol…Brings me to mind of the movie “Bedazzled,” where Brandon Fraser keeps asking the devil to be somebody else to make a woman love him, and the devil, Elizabeth Hurley, keeps changing him into what he wants, but always with a twist that sinks his chances…
When you play with shite, it’s hard not to come up smelling of shite. Accosta is as guilty as Epstein of ruining the lives of these young girls, throw his sorry arse in jail.
He came in to seal it up tight, and stop the investigation. Can’t let those pesky co conspirators names come out.
That’s exactly what I think too…And considering the fact that I can’t find anything that ties Acosta to Trump that far back, it makes me kind of wonder what kind of ties there may have been between Acosta and Epstein way back then, buried nice and deep…
The worthlessness of women in the eyes of powerful men is really weighing on me right now. I am really happy that in about two hours I am going to get to hear my #1 pick for president, Kirsten Gillibrand. These issues are right in her wheelhouse.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why she’s having SO much trouble gaining any kind of traction in the primaries…
After hearing her this evening , I am even more baffled. She is so engaging, natural, friendly and down-to-earth. She did a brief presentation on social security because I guess that was supposed to be the official “theme” of the event, but then said people could just ask questions about that or anything. else they wanted to. She really listened to people and gave very thoughtful answers to questions such as what she would do to assure women’s reproductive rights in the face of the onslaught of anti-choice laws, how to make teaching a decent middle class job you can support a family on (asked by a 17-year-old male student from the area’s mostly Jewish upscale high school where parents probably expect their kids to be doctors or lawyers, but this kid said he had a real passion for teaching) & how she expected to win talking to small groups like she was doing. She exuded confidence without arrogance, and hung out and took selfies and had private conversations with people. (The 17-year-old wanted to grill her in more depth about Israel-Palestine. She took the time to address his concerns, talking to him like two serious adults).
There’s one salient fact that is so central to all of this that I’ll make it my only point here: a plea deal to a light charge in the state case would have made the federal case stronger.
As detailed by many former prosecutors on MSNBC last night, federal prosecutors can commonly leverage a plea to lesser charges on state crimes to utterly throw the book at suspects. In this case, Epstein having openly admitted and plead to soliciting sex from minors in the Florida case would have left so little room for doubt in all the rest.
The state charges made Acosta’s job to convict easier, not harder. We can’t let him lie about that.
Great point!!! And the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that there would have been nothing to keep the US Attorney to file charges, whether Epstein was charged locally or not…The real giveaway to me was that Acosta not only gave Epstein immunity, and he didn’t just extend it to Epstein’s known co-conspirators, he went whole hog and threw in “as yet unknown and unnamed co-conspirators” gratis…Epstein came off looking like a hero to all of the other sick fucks that were abusing the girls he procured…And Acosta gave them all a free pass…
If I remember correctly Acosta lied to the Judge when he was asked whether the victims were consulted about the sentence and in response to other questions to ensure the Judge bought off on the light deal. Hope Acosta gets debarred and charged criminally. This screams how separate and unequal our Justice system is depending upon who is charged, how much money they have and how many friends in high places (and politicians they own).