[Washington Examiner] Merrick Garland testified Monday that it was "horrendous" that deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had not been "vigorously prosecuted" much earlier than he was, though President Biden’s pick for attorney general said he does not know why the Justice Department had failed so badly.The Justice Department concluded in November that former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta and other federal prosecutors exercised "poor judgment" in their handling of 2008’s sweetheart deal with the jet-setting financier and accused sex trafficker but did not conclude there had been professional misconduct. Epstein was arrested more than a decade later and was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in the summer of 2019.
During Garland’s confirmation hearing Monday, Sen. Ben Sasse brought up the Epstein case, saying: "Obviously, he evaded justice for years, and when the department did ultimately partner with local authorities, it allowed charges to be brought that didn’t befit the seriousness of his crimes. Infuriatingly, he was allowed to die by apparent suicide in federal custody, despite the fact that everybody knew he was a suicide risk and many people would benefit from that outcome."
The Nebraska Republican said Epstein’s estate was also failing to compensate the victims properly and asked Garland what he believed had gone wrong with the DOJ investigation.
Garland said all he knew about the case was what he’d read in the news and seen on TV, and Sasse asked if Garland would agree about how "disgustingly embarrassing ... the department’s pursuit" of Epstein was.