Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday called Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta “ethically compromised and unfit to serve” after a non-prosecution agreement for Jeffrey Epstein that he oversaw reentered the news.
Under the agreement, Epstein, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than 30 girls, was sentenced to serve just 13 months in jail, and he and his co-conspirators were given further immunity. Acosta was serving as a U.S. attorney in Miami at the time.
Epstein was rearrested Saturday and charged with sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty on Monday.
“I opposed Secretary Acosta’s nomination, and voted against his confirmation,” Warren tweeted. “The last few days have only highlighted how ethically compromised and unfit to serve he is. Acosta must resign—now.”
Several other 2020 presidential candidates also called on Acosta to step down. But Acosta defended the decade-old deal on Tuesday. {mosads}
“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,” he tweeted.