(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) joined Congresswomen Jackie Speier (CA-14), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Lois Frankel (FL-21), Haley Stevens (MI-11), and Katherine Clark (MA-5) and 62 other colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in sending a letter to President Donald J. Trump demanding the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta for his role overseeing the Florida investigation into billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual violence and trafficking of dozens of underage girls and young women.

According to in-depth reporting by the Miami Herald and a recently unsealed indictment from federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Epstein “created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach.”

As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where Epstein exploited dozens of girls in his Palm Beach mansion, Acosta secretly arrangeed an extremely lenient plea deal for Epstein, who ended up serving only 13 months in a county jail, from which he was able to leave six days a week for 12 hours at a time. This lax plea deal included a non-prosecution agreement that shut down other investigations and granted immunity to potential co-conspirators.

“[W]e are committed to ensuring that those who occupy top positions in the federal government are held to the highest standards of the law,” the Members wrote. “We strongly believe that Secretary Acosta was negligent in his duty to represent the best interests of the victims and the U.S. Government, and his role obliterates any credibility with enforcing our anti-trafficking and other laws. As such, we request that you immediately demand his letter of resignation.”

Click here for a copy of the letter.

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