This senator just revealed the results of a Jeffrey Epstein probe: 'A disgusting failure'

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has been very outspoken about the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, complaining that he should have been prosecuted much more vigorously. And on Thursday, the Nebraska Republican issued an official statement about the completed U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Epstein's plea deal with prosecutors — slamming former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta's 2008 deal with Epstein as a travesty.

The department itself has not released the results yet, but Sasse obtained the information as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee.

The investigation concluded that Acosta showed "poor judgement" in the Epstein case, Sasse revealed, but the angry senator argued that Acosta's actions in the Epstein case were much worse than that.

"Letting a well-connected billionaire get away with child rape and international sex trafficking isn't 'poor judgement' — it is a disgusting failure," Sasse said in his statement. "Americans ought to be enraged. Jeffrey Epstein should be rotting behind bars today, but the Justice Department failed Epstein's victims at every turn."

Acosta was a federal prosecutor when, in 2008, he approved a plea deal in which Epstein agreed to plead guilty to a single state charge of solicitation — and in exchange, would not be prosecuted for federal sex charges.

Acosta went on serve as labor secretary under President Donald Trump from 2017-2019, and he held that position when, in July 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. Those charges brought Acosta a great deal of renewed scrutiny for the 2008 plea bargain, of which Sasse has been vehemently critical. Trump also had a well-documented friendship with Epstein before his plea deal, though they reportedly had a falling out for unclear reasons.

Sasse said in his statement: "The DOJ's crooked deal with Epstein effectively shut down investigations into this child sex trafficking ring and protected his co-conspirators in other states. Justice has not been served. The full report needs to be released to the public."

Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019. Attorney General William Barr described Epstein's death as an apparent suicide.