Page 2 - For Epstein News Today

Crimes. this year a federal judge ruled that acosta and his office by failing to notify the victims about the plea agreement ahead of time broke the law. but acosta today was not only unrepentant, he portrayed himself as something of the hero in the epstein affair claiming the tate of florida would have let epstein go free he had and his team not come in wearing federal white hats and save the day. and ensuring that epstein at least went to jail for some time and was labelled a registered sex of...

Beautiful women as much as i know. >> i knew him like everybody in palm beach. i had a falling out with him a long time ago. i dont think ive spoken to him for 15 years. i wasnt a fan. >> reporter: and he was a visitor at the mar-a-lago resort but the attorney for the trump administration said trump banned him from the property, although he doesnt remember when or why. as for epstein, who is facing new charges in a new york case, another accuser went public today. describing being raped by him a...

Resignation. "the herald" broke of story of epsteins light punishment, 13 months in county jail and the freedom to work at his office 12 hours a day six days a week. not clear yet what if any role congress will play in investigating the 2008 plea deal which is now under intense scrutiny. >> as for epstein the president is trying to distance himself in the wake of a new indictment in new york, charging him with running a child sex ring. this is the same jeffrey epstein mr. trump once described as...

>> for 2.5 years hes been just an excellent secretary of labor. hes done a fantastic job. but youre talking about a long time ago. and again, it was a decision made i think not by him but by a lot of people. >> but cnn has learned that confidence could vanish in a flash depending on the news coverage, of course. the presidents longtime confidante chris ruddy told don lemon acostas future is not so bright. >> i think the plea agreement he did is indefensible. i think that hes not going to stay fo...

Holiday inn express. were there. so you can be too. . back with breaking news. labor secretary alex acosta fiercely unrepentantly defending his role in securing a plea deal for jeffrey epstein in 2008 insisting the deal he cut as u.s. attorney was a more certain outcome than taking the case to trial but stopped short of saying he would make the same decision again today. cnn kaitlan collins asked acosta about this this afternoon. and what else did he have to say? >> reporter: well, jake that w...

Prince? >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to the leed, im jake tapper. we begin with breaking news. minutes ago in an attempt to keep his job and defend his reputation, secretary of labor alex acosta tried to defend himself from the chorus of calls for his resignation given the 2008 plea agreement called the sweetheart deal for child rapist jeffrey epstein. he was urged to hold this press conference by president trump. hes faced scathing criticism from the epstein many victims w...

Misconduct by acosta. today the secretary said he would be willing to be interviewed by those investigators but he remained defiant he did nothing wrong. jake. >> pamela brown at the white house. joining me now are two former federal prosecutors, elliott williams and elie honig. what do you make of acostas characterization in the defense of the way his office handled the matter. >> what we saw was acosta essentially shift the blame to the line prosecutors in his office, the state prosecutors a...

To have credibility on it. and in a case like this and i think at ex acosta was reaching for an excuse or some explanation for what happened. it seems that what is really going on here is that jeffrey epstein is an extraordinarily wealthy, powerful politically-connected person. that is why he believed it was going to be a gamble, a roll of the dice to take this to a court as opposed to settling it. >> and ryan, acosta was urged to do this press conference by president trump. obviously hes trying...

Dice and bring a federal indictment. >> standing here today, are you basically saying that you feel that you did everything you could -- you got the best deal you could get and you have no regrets? >> we believe that we proceeded appropriately. >> reporter: cnn confirms acostas statement comes after trump ordered him to explain himself publicly. >> my relationship with the president is outstanding. he has, i think, very publicly made clear that ive got his support. >> reporter: and while the whi...

He mentioned something about this meeting which was very suspect that he had with one -- a private meeting with one of epsteins defense -- >> the breakfast meeting at marriott with jay leftvich. >> and he tried to paint that in a way that isnt accurate. yes, hes correct, there was a deal that was signed in september. but there were other aspects of that deal that were -- he mentioned an addendum, that is key there was an addendum still being negotiated. and also the part about not informing the ...