of his cabinet. acosta this morning tweeting a defense of the deal he struck with epstein in 2008. he wrote this, quote, the crimes committed by epstein are horrific and i'm pleased that new york prosecutors are moving forward with the case based on new evidence. but the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender, put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator. now, the new evidence and additional testimony is available, the new york prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice. acosta offering no specifics about what evidence would have changed his decision 11 years ago to grant epstein a deal that is described this way in the miami herald. quote, facing a 53-page federal indictment, epstein could have ended up in federal prison for the rest of his life. but on the morning of a breakfast meeting, a deal was struck. an extraordinary plea agreement that would conceal the full extent of epstein's crimes. and the number of people