Politics

Wasserman Schultz Rules AG Barr’s Promise Of Epstein Investigation ‘Obscenely Inadequate’

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote Sunday that Attorney General William Barr’s promise of an investigation into the apparent suicide of multi-millionaire and alleged pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein is “obscenely inadequate.”

Wasserman Schultz, whose Congressional district is near the late Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, dismissed any investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz, because, “it will not provide true independent accountability to those who survived his horrific crimes.” She made the remarks in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout/File Photo/Reuters)

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ sex offender registry March 28, 2017. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout/File Photo/Reuters)

Wasserman Schultz claimed an IG investigation “may only quell the irresponsible conspiracy theories President Trump peddles” but suggested it wouldn’t go any further in answering questions about why the criminal justice system was so apparently lenient with Epstein in the past. (RELATED: Jerry Epstein’s Autopsy Conducted But Results Are ‘Pending Further Information’)

On Saturday Trump retweeted an apparent assertion that former President Bill Clinton was somehow implicated in Epstein’s death.

In her letter, Wasserman Schultz suggests that Horowitz should “investigate this entire DOJ miscarriage of justice,” and reiterated her insistence that the DOJ needs to probe deeper into the Epstein case. Last November, the congresswoman urged Horowitz to “conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the non-prosecution agreement Mr. [Alex] Acosta entered into with Mr. Epstein.

Then-Labor Secretary Alex Acosta attends a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House July 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. This was Acosta’s last cabinet meeting before he leaves the administration at the end of the week over his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein case. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Acosta, who was President Donald Trump’s secretary of labor, resigned from his post last month after being hit with criticism for his 2008 plea deal with Epstein that sent the sex offender to prison for just 13 months.

Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse also believes justice failed Epstein’s victims and called for a deeper investigation from the DOJ during Barr’s January confirmation hearings. In February, the department responded with an interview review that has not yet revealed anything to the public. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Leads Bipartisan Call For Answers Following Epstein Suicide)

Sasse repeated that demand Saturday in a letter to Barr, saying the DOJ had “failed” and that “heads must roll.”

“Epstein’s co-conspirators think they might have just gotten one last sweetheart deal,” Sasse wrote. “Every single person in the Justice Department — from your Main Justice Headquarters staff all the way to the night-shift jailer — knew this man was a suicide risk, and that his dark secrets couldn’t be allowed to die with him.”