Islam Times - Trump distances himself from Epstein, sides with Acosta

Islam Times - US President Donald Trump distances himself from his once close friend, Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire pedophile who could be jailed for up to 45 years comes Monday, while defending his current labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, who allowed the financier practically escape punishment for a sex-crimes case in 2008.

Former President Bill Clinton also “knows nothing” about the registered sex offender’s “terrible crime,” his spokesman said Tuesday.

Epstein has been charged with running a sex-trafficking ring involving underage girls.

“He was a fixture in Palm Beach,” Trump said of Epstein during an Oval Office meeting with emir of Qatar. “I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan.”

The president further defended Acosta who served as US attorney in Miami at the time and played a key role in giving Epstein a lenient jail time.

“I feel very badly, actually, for Secretary Acosta because I’ve known him as being somebody that works so hard and has done such a good job,” Trump said, downplaying his role in the 2008 plea by adding that, "there were a lot of people involved in that decision, not just him.”

Clinton also responded to reports about his connections to Epstein (pictured below alongside Trump), who was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan this week.

"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York," read a statement tweeted by Clinton's press secretary Angel Ureña.

Epstein was arrested Saturday on sex-trafficking charges dating back to the 2000s.