Justice probe of Epstein's 2007 plea deal finds no 'professional misconduct' by federal prosecutors

The Justice Department’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 plea deal in Florida on sex-related crimes has been concluded with investigators determining that Miami federal prosecutors committed no “professional misconduct” when declining to prosecute the wealth financier. 

Epstein, who last year committed suicide inside a Manhattan jail awaiting trial on sex-crime charges, in 2007 pleaded guilty in a Florida state court for soliciting sex from a minor and a prostitute. But as part of the plea deal, he avoid federal prosecution on allegations he had sexually abused dozens of other underage females.

The detail about the conclusion in the Justice Department’s roughly 300-page report emerged Thursday after it was reviewed by roughly 30 of Epstein’s victims, according to the Daily Beast. 

Victims’ lawyers Paul Cassell and Brad Edwards called the report “an attempt to whitewash” the DOJ’s mishandling of the Epstein case. They also said it appeared to be based on incomplete information, such as missing emails.

The report was the result of 60 interviews and will now be given to two unnamed U.S senators.

However, Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, has issued a scathing response to the report in which he calls for it to be made public.

“Letting a well-connected billionaire get away with child rape and international sex trafficking isn’t ‘poor judgment’ – it is a disgusting failure," Sasse said. "Americans ought to be enraged. Jeffrey Epstein should be rotting behind bars today, but the Justice Department failed Epstein’s victims at every turn. The DOJ’s crooked deal with Epstein effectively shut down investigations into his child sex trafficking ring and protected his co-conspirators in other states. Justice has not been served.”