Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida who negotiated a plea deal in 2008 with Jeffrey Epstein, arrived on Capitol Hill Friday morning to testify before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors.
Acosta, who served as the Labor Secretary during the first Trump administration, did not respond to several shouted questions as he walked into the committee room.
Acosta resigned his position at the Labor Department after more than two years in the job amid controversy over his role in the 2008 plea deal with Epstein. At the time, he defended his decision, saying his goal “was straightforward” and included putting Epstein behind bars.
In this July 10, 2019, file photo, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta speaks during a press conference at the Labor Department in Washington, D.C.
Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE
With continued interest in the Epstein matter on Capitol Hill, Acosta now finds himself testifying at a closed-door deposition.
“We want to know what went on during the prosecution, when many believe that Epstein was awarded a sweetheart plea deal. So, we’re going to ask a lot of questions about this. This is going to be a pretty hard-hitting deposition,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said ahead of Acosta’s interview Friday.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer arrives prior to a House Oversight Committee closed deposition about Former Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein case, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
Comer said the committee will have “a lot of questions” for Acosta.
“So according to the victims and the survivors of Epstein, there was a lot of warning about the crimes that Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell were committing. But yet, it appears the government let the victims down, and they didn’t, they didn’t prosecute. So, Acosta was a major player in that,” Comer claimed.
Comer said the committee’s Epstein investigation is “very serious” and “fast moving.”
“The Trump administration is fully cooperating with us in this investigation. We’re going to continue to get more documents in from the estate unredacted, and we will be able to answer some more questions,” Comer added.
In this July 12, 2019, file photo, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta stands with President Donald Trump while announcing his resignation to the media at the White House in Washington, D.C.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images, FILE
Earlier this month the committee released tens of thousands of records related to Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice in response to a committee subpoena. A review of the documents released by the committee indicates they largely consist of public court filings and transcripts from Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, already public Bureau of Prisons communications the night of Epstein’s death and various other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida.
