EFTA00076059.pdf

From: To: "Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS)" Cc: Subject: Acosta Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2019 17:34:55 +0000 Importance: Normal For our next discussion: https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-sick-story-played-out-for-years-in-plain-sight Epstein's name, I was told, had been raised by the Trump transition team when Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney in Miami who'd infamously cut Epstein a non-prosecution plea deal back in 2007_, was being interviewed for the job of labor secretary. The plea deal put a hard stop to a separate federal investigation of alleged sex crimes with minors and trafficking. "Is the Epstein case going to cause a problem [for confirmation hearings]?" Acosta had been asked. Acosta had explained, breezily, apparently, that back in the day he'd had just one meeting on the Epstein case. He'd cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein's attorneys because he had "been told" to back off, that Epstein was above his pay grade. "I was told Epstein 'belonged to intelligence' and to leave it alone," he told his interviewers in the Trump transition, who evidently thought that was a sufficient answer and went ahead and hired Acosta. (The Labor Department had no comment when asked about this.) Chief Public Corruption Unit United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District ofNew York 1 St. Andrew's Plaza EFTA00076059