The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. August 26, 2025 Alex Acosta, Who Gave "Sweetheart Deal" to Jeffrey Epstein, Agrees to Testify to House Panel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Trump's former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta will testify in front of a House Oversight panel next month about brokering a plea deal with the dead serial sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Acosta was the former U.S. attorney for South Florida when he offered a nonprosecution agreement to Epstein back in 2008, allowing him to plead guilty to a single state charge, which ended the FBI's investigation without federal charges. In his first term, Trump appointed Acosta as labor secretary; he was forced to resign in 2019 following criticism of his handling of Epstein's plea deal. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has also issued a subpoena to Epstein's estate for a "birthday book" compiled by his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, which reportedly contains birthday messages from Epstein's wealthy and connected friends. Comer is also requesting "any document or record that could be reasonably construed to be a potential list of clients." .