Acosta, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, ultimately resigned from his post as secretary in 2019 after receiving scrutiny for authoring Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which allowed the financier to serve 13 months in prison on two state prostitution charges. At the time, more than a dozen victims stepped forward and alleged that Epstein was running an international sex trafficking ring involving girls as young as 14.

The former Labor secretary stood by his decision not to prosecute Epstein during his September testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

Acosta told lawmakers, “a billionaire going to jail sends a strong signal to the community that this is not, not right, that this cannot happen,” according to the 172-page transcript released Friday.

Acosta Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CtE3pRovhmz8pLDZEtR-vKe87UVT4TLO/view