Transcription
ANDREA, HAVE YOURSELF AN EXCELLENT AFTERNOON. EXCELLENT AFTERNOON. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
HELLO, IT’S TUESDAY, JULY 9th. HELLO, IT’S TUESDAY, JULY 9th.
PRESIDENT TRUMP IS DEFENDING HIS LABOR SECRETARY TODAY, ALEXANDER ACOSTA. ACOSTA IS UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY FOR A DEAL HE GAVE SEX OFFENDER AND MULTI-MILLIONAIRE JEFFREY EPSTEIN BACK IN 2008. HERE IS WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID WHILE IN THE OVAL OFFICE JUST MOMENTS AGO.
"I MET SECRETARY ACOSTA, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I KNOW WHEN I MADE THE DEAL TO BRING HIM ON INTO THE ADMINISTRATION. I CAN TELL YOU THAT FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS HE’S BEEN JUST AN EXCELLENT SECRETARY OF LABOR. HE’S DONE A FANTASTIC JOB. NOW, PART OF IT IS OUR ECONOMY IS SO GOOD, OUR UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS ARE AT RECORD LOWS, YOU KNOW, SO MANY GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING, BUT THE FACT IS HE’S BEEN A VERY GOOD SECRETARY OF LABOR. WHAT HAPPENED 12 OR 15 YEARS AGO WITH RESPECT TO WHEN HE WAS A U.S. ATTORNEY, I THINK IN MIAMI -- IS IT MIAMI?"
"YES."
"YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO BACK AND LOOK AT EVERYBODY ELSE’S DECISIONS, WHETHER IT’S A U.S. ATTORNEY OR AN ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY OR A JUDGE, YOU GO BACK 12, 15 YEARS AGO OR 20 YEARS AGO AND LOOK AT THEIR PAST DECISIONS, I WOULD THINK YOU WOULD PROBABLY FIND THAT THEY WISH THEY MAYBE DID IT A DIFFERENT WAY. I DO HEAR THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THAT DECISION, NOT JUST HIM. I CAN ONLY SAY THIS FROM WHAT I KNOW AND WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT HE’S BEEN A GREAT -- REALLY GREAT SECRETARY OF LABOR. THE REST OF IT WE WILL HAVE TO LOOK AT. WE WILL HAVE TO LOOK AT IT VERY CAREFULLY. BUT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A LONG TIME AGO AND, AGAIN, IT WAS A DECISION MADE, I THINK, NO THE BY HIM BUT BY A LOT OF PEOPLE. SO WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT IT VERY CAREFULLY. WE WILL BE LOOKING AT THAT VERY CAREFULLY."
NOW HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER ALONG WITH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF 2020 CANDIDATES ARE CALLING FOR ACOSTA TO RESIGN, OF COURSE, THEY ARE ALL DEMOCRATS.
THE LABOR DEPARTMENT SOURCES SAY ACOSTA HAS ABSOLUTELY NO PLANS TO STEP DOWN, INSTEAD HE TWEETED EARLIER THIS: THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY EPSTEIN ARE HORRIFIC AND I AM PLEASED THAT NEW YORK PROSECUTORS ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE CASE BASED ON NEW EVIDENCE. WITH THE EVIDENCE AVAILABLE MORE THAN A DECADE AGO, FEDERAL PROSECUTORS INSISTED THAT EPSTEIN GO TO JAIL, REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER AND PUT THE WORLD ON NOTICE THAT HE WAS A SEXUAL PREDATOR. NOW THAT NEW EVIDENCE AND ADDITIONAL TESTIMONY IS AVAILABLE, THE NEW YORK PROSECUTION OFFERS AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO MORE FULLY BRING HIM TO JUSTICE.
"I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT, BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS A TENDENCY TO OBFUSCATE. THE LABOR SECRETARY THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE MAY BE LOW, IT’S GOT TO GO TO DO WITH THE LABOR SECRETARY, THE LABOR SECRETARY AND THAT DEPARTMENT MEASURES UNEMPLOYMENT. SO THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS LOW AS A DEFENSE FOR ALEX ACOSTA IS AN IRRELEVANT POINT, JUST SO PEOPLE DON’T GET CAUGHT UP ON THAT."
"ALSO FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE WE KNOW THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS LOST A NUMBER OF PEOPLE OR FIRED A NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION AND UNTIL HOURS, MINUTES BEFORE EVEN THOSE PEOPLE DON’T KNOW. SO FOR THE PRESIDENT TO GIVE HIM A SEAL OF APPROVAL AT 12:30 MEANS NOTHING."
"LET’S TAKE A LOOK, THOUGH, AT THE HISTORY BETWEEN EPSTEIN WHO WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT A LOT AND ACOSTA, THE LABOR SECRETARY. BACK IN THE MID 2000s EPSTEIN FACED ACCUSATIONS THAT HE SEXUALLY ABUSED MORE THAN 40 GIRLS, THE VICTIMS RANGED IN AGES FROM 13 TO 17 YEARS OLD AND AS PALM BEACH AUTHORITIES FEARED, LOCAL PROSECUTORS WOULD BE ROLLED OVER BY EPSTEIN’S HIGH POWERED LAWYERS, THEY ASKED THE FEDERAL PROSECUTOR IN MIAMI TO STEP IN, THAT’S ACCORDING TO REPORTING IN THE "NEW YORK TIMES." THAT U.S. ATTORNEY WAS, IN FACT, ALEXANDER ACOSTA. HE WAS A CAREER GOVERNMENT LAWYER WHO CLERKED FOR JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO, HE WAS -- BEFORE HIS EMPLOYMENT TO THE SUPREME COURT, HE SERVED AS THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION AND HE WAS THE U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. DESPITE HIS OFFICE DEVELOPING A CASE AGAINST EPSTEIN ACOSTA TRAVELED FROM MIAMI TO WEST PALM BEACH MEETING PRIVATELY WITH EPSTEIN’S LAWYERS. FOR SOME REASON OUT OF THAT MEETING CAME AN NPA, A NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT THAT BASICALLY ALLOWED A GUILTY PLEA ON LESSER STATE CHARGES. EPSTEIN WAS TO SERVE 13 MONTHS IN JAIL AND REQUIRED HIM TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER AT ACOSTA’S CONFIRMATION HEARING TO BE SECRETARY OF LABOR SENATOR TIM KAINE OF VIRGINIA PRESSED HIM ON THIS NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT."
"THERE IS AN ALLEGATION THAT I JUST READ THAT YOU DID NOT PURSUE A FEDERAL INDICTMENT EVEN THOUGH YOUR STAFF HAD ADVOCATED THAT YOU DO SO, IS THAT ACCURATE?"
"THAT IS NOT ACCURATE."
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS DETAILED THEIR FINDINGS IN AN 82-PAGE PROSECUTION MEMO AND A 53-PAGE INDICTMENT, BUT EPSTEIN WAS NEVER INDICTED. THEN THERE IS A QUOTE, QUOTE, THIS AGREEMENT, THE AGREEMENT YOU DESCRIBE, WILL NOT BE MADE PART OF ANY PUBLIC RECORD.
"IT IS PRETTY TYPICAL IN A PROSECUTION FOR AN INDICTMENT, A DRAFT INDICTMENT, TO BE WRITTEN. THAT DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THAT DRAFT INDICTMENT IS FILED BECAUSE THAT DRAFT INDICTMENT DOES NOT CONSIDER OFTEN THE STRENGTH OF THE UNDERLYING CASE."
THE DRAFT INDICTMENT, 53-PAGE DRAFT INDICTMENT MAY NOT HAVE CONSIDERED THE STRENGTH OF THE UNDERLYING CASE. HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED, THE U.S. ATTORNEY IN NEW YORK CONSIDERS THE UNDERLYING CASE STRONG ENOUGH AND ACOSTA WASN’T THE ONLY ONE WHO USED THE LAW TO BENEFIT EPSTEIN. IN 2011 THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE ASKED A JUDGE TO DOWNGRADE EPSTEIN’S SEX OFFENDER STATUS FROM THE MOST RESTRICTIVE TO THE LEAST. THE JUDGE INCREDULOUS AT THE REQUEST DENIED IT, BUT HERE IS THE INTERESTING PART, THIS IS HOW SERIOUSLY EPSTEIN TOOK HIS PUNISHMENT. JUST A MONTH AFTER THE DA WENT TO BAT FOR HIM, EPSTEIN JOKED ABOUT HIS SEX OFFENDER DESIGNATION, TELLING THE NEW YORK POST, I’M NOT A SEXUAL PREDATOR, I’M AN OFFENDER. IT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MURDERER AND A PERSON WHO STEALS A BAGEL.
"A PERSON WHO STEALS A BAGEL."
"THIS IS FROM A MAN ACCUSED OF ABUSING DOZENS OF GIRLS."
STEALS A BAGEL.
"GIRLS, AS YOUNG AS 14 YEARS OLD."
"YEAH."
"SO THAT’S LIKE STEALING A BAGEL."
HERE IS WHY THAT’S IMPORTANT, BECAUSE ACOSTA IS THE SECRETARY OF LABOR AND THAT’S WHY THIS IS RELEVANT, BECAUSE THE LABOR DEPARTMENT IS A KEY PARTNER IN PREVENTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, INCLUDING SEX TRAFFICKING, WHICH IS A COMPONENT OF EPSTEIN’S CHARGES. HERE IS HOW ACOSTA DEFENDED THE CASE DURING HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING.
"AT THE END OF THIS CASE I RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM THE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE FBI WHO HAD BEEN PART OF THIS ENTIRE PROCESS AND HAD BEEN AT THE MEETINGS AND HAD BEEN INVOLVED AND HE CALLED TO JUST SAY CONGRATULATIONS. THIS WAS REALLY HARD FOUGHT AND WELL WON. AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE THIS REALLY WAS A POINT OF PRIDE."
"SINCE YOU’VE ADDED ON THEN I WANT TO ADD ON. YOU ARE AWARE THAT MR. EPSTEIN SERVED THAT 13 MONTHS, HE WAS ALLOWED OUT DURING THE DAY AND HE HAD TO SLEEP AT A COUNTY JAIL, BUT HE WAS BASICALLY ALLOWED TO MOVE AND GO AROUND THE COMMUNITY AND DO WHATEVER HE WANTS AND THEN THAT BECAME A SUBJECT OF SIGNIFICANT CRITICISM."
"AND I AM ON RECORD CONDEMNING THAT AND I THINK THAT WAS AWFUL."
"AND YOU WOULD SAY THAT WAS A STATE -- YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY THE STATE ADMINISTERED THE STATE SENTENCE?"
"YES, AND I THINK IT WAS WRONG."
NOW, DESPITE THE DEAL, EVERY SENATE REPUBLICAN OTHER THAN PENNSYLVANIA’S PATH TOOMEY WHO DIDN’T VOTE ELECTED TO CONFIRM ACOSTA. THEY WERE JOINED BY EIGHT DEMOCRATS INCLUDING KAINE’S VIRGINIA COLLEAGUE MARK WARNER ALONG WITH ANGUS KING. JOINING US NOW JILL WINE-BANKS.
"JILL, ACOSTA SAID THIS WAS THE BEST DEAL POSSIBLE. WE HAVE TALKED TO A NUMBER OF LAWYERS SINCE THIS NEWS BROKE THAT SAY THAT THIS DOESN’T SEEM LIKE THE BEST DEAL POSSIBLE, BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, WHY A U.S. ATTORNEY WOULD MAKE A DEAL WITH A DEFENDANT, NOT CONSULT THE VICTIMS ABOUT THE DEAL."
"IT’S A TERRIBLE DEAL AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT STINKS. THE FACT THAT HE KEPT THIS SECRET FROM THE VICTIMS, DID NOT GIVE THEM THE NOTICE THAT’S REQUIRED BY THE LAW, THAT HE MET WITH THE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS IN PALM BEACH IN A HOTEL INSTEAD OF HAVING AN ON THE RECORD MEETING IN HIS OFFICE, ONLY INDICATES HOW TERRIBLE THIS DEAL WAS. THERE WERE MULTIPLE VICTIMS, THERE WAS PLENTY OF EVIDENCE, THERE IS NEVER A DECISION MADE WHERE YOU HAVE A PROSECUTION MEMO THAT DOESN’T CONSIDER THE UNDERLYING EVIDENCE. THAT IS JUST WRONG. ANY PROSECUTOR LEARNS RIGHT AWAY THAT YOU TALK ABOUT THE STRENGTHS AND THE WEAKNESSES AND YOU POINT OUT EXACTLY HOW STRONG YOUR CASE IS. AND THIS WAS A CASE THAT WAS CLEARLY STRONG ENOUGH TO BE PROSECUTED. AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED. THE SENTENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER 40 YEARS IN JAIL IN THE FEDERAL SYSTEM. HE SERVED LESS THAN A YEAR AND HE DID IT, AS YOU HAVE NOTED, BY GOING TO HIS OFFICE AND WORKING EVERY DAY."
"SIX DAYS A WEEK."
"THAT IS NOT PUNISHMENT."
HELP US UNDERSTAND IN THE NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT, CO-CONSPIRATORS WHO ARE NEVER NAMED ARE GRANTED IMMUNITY. WHEN THE PROSECUTION WOULD AGREE TO IMMUNITY, TO THE BEST OF OUR UNDERSTANDING THEY WOULD BE GETTING SOMETHING ON THE OTHER SIDE.
"YOU DON’T GIVE AWAY IMMUNITY FOR NOTHING."
WHAT WAS GIVEN AWAY?
JEFFREY EPSTEIN DOESN’T SEEM TO HAVE OFFERED ANYTHING.
"IT’S VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND AND LET’S LOOK AT THE CURRENT INDICTMENT, WHICH ALSO SAYS THAT EPSTEIN ACTED WITH OTHERS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN. THAT MEANS -- AND LET’S JUST LOOK AT THE WATERGATE INDICTMENT WHICH ALSO INDICTED ALL OF THE PRESIDENT’S TOP MEN WITH OTHERS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN. AND THEN LATER IN A BILL OF PARTICULARS AS PART OF DISCOVERY WE RELEASED THE NAMES OF OTHERS THAT WERE KNOWN, INCLUDING PRESIDENT NIXON. SO I DON’T KNOW WHO THOSE OTHERS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN ARE, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT AT LEAST ONE GIRL WAS TAKEN FROM MAR-A-LAGO WHERE JEFFREY EPSTEIN MET HER AND SO WE DON’T KNOW WHO THOSE OTHERS ARE. WE DO KNOW THAT SOME WERE EMPLOYEES OF HIS WHO ARE NAMED AS EMPLOYEE ONE, TWO AND THREE, BUT IT’S GOING TO TAKE SOME DISCOVERY AND SOME TRIAL TO FIND OUT MORE OF THE DETAILS. BUT THIS IS INEXPLICABLE, IT’S TERRIBLE. WE NEED TO PROTECT YOUNG GIRLS AND THE FACT THAT HE IS NOW IN CHARGE OF SUPERVISING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS REALLY"