House Oversight — Estate records
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031415
A Justice Dept. discipline office with limited reach to probe handling of controversial child sex abuse case - The Washington Post
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A Justice Dept. discipline office with limited reach to probe handling of controversial child sex abuse case Matt Zapotosky The Justice Department office that handles employee discipline has opened an investigation into whether attorneys committed “professional misconduct” in allowing a well-connected millionaire to spend just over a year in jail to resolve allegations that he molested dozens of young girls. The department revealed the investigation Wednesday in a letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd to Sen. Ben Sasse (R- Neb.), who has questioned how the department handled its inquiry of financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epsteinʼs case had been the subject of an investigation by the Miami Herald, which detailed how then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, now https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-justic…1718903bfc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c9ebae38dfe7 2/6/19, 7I29 PM Page 1 of 3 President Trumpʼs labor secretary, shelved a 53-page indictment that could have put Epstein behind bars for life. Epstein, who counts among his friends Trump and former president Bill Clinton, assembled a high-powered legal team to address the allegations he faced. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty in 2008 only to state charges of soliciting prostitution. Victims told the Herald they felt betrayed by the arrangement. The departmentʼs newly announced investigation is likely to be of limited consequence. According to Boydʼs letter, it is being handled by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which explores allegations of employee wrongdoing. The officeʼs findings, at worst, typically result in employees being fired, and they are not usually made public, though Boyd wrote to Sasse that the office would “share the results with you at the conclusion of its investigation as appropriate.” It is possible, even likely, the investigation could drag on so long that Acosta, already outside the Justice Department, would by then be out of government entirely. In a stateme […]