Former President Barack Obama did not take office until Jan. 20, 2009, after then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta _ who resigned Friday from his post as U.S. secretary of labor _ entered into a secret 2008 no-prosecution agreement with Epstein. The deal resulted in the billionaire financier avoiding federal prosecution on far more serious charges related to the sexual abuse of teenage girls.
Posts circulating on Twitter and Facebook are wrongly linking Obama to the no-prosecution plea deal federal prosecutors agreed to with Epstein. George W. Bush was president when the deal was finalized in 2008. The deal did not become public until it was revealed as part of a civil case.
Acosta was appointed U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Florida by Bush. He served in the post from 2005 to 2009.
Acosta was appointed labor secretary by President Donald Trump in 2017. Acosta told reporters Wednesday that he and other prosecutors “proceeded appropriately” with the case.
