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Epstein Case Has Barr Weighing Whether He Must Recuse Himself

Epstein Case Has Barr Weighing Whether He Must Recuse Himself

(Bloomberg) -- Attorney General William Barr is reviewing whether he needs to recuse himself from the prosecution of fund manager Jeffrey Epstein on U.S. charges he sexually abused dozens of young girls for years at one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan, according to a Justice Department official.

Epstein Case Has Barr Weighing Whether He Must Recuse Himself

Barr already has recused himself from matters related to Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, a fellow Cabinet member, according to the official, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter. Acosta was the top federal prosecutor in southern Florida in 2008 when Epstein was allowed to avoid prosecution on federal sex-trafficking offenses and the decades of prison time that he could have faced if convicted.

Under the deal, which has been widely criticized, Epstein was permitted to plead guilty to two state charges of soliciting a prostitute and served 13 months in a Florida state prison.

Epstein Case Has Barr Weighing Whether He Must Recuse Himself

Prosecutors in the new case brought in Manhattan say they aren’t bound by Epstein’s earlier non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida because those charges didn’t include any alleged victims outside that state.

“This is old stuff, this is ancient stuff,” Reid Weingarten, one of Epstein’s lawyers, said in court Monday, referring to the new charges. He said Epstein believed he had a “global resolution” with his deal in Florida.

--With assistance from Bob Van Voris and Patricia Hurtado.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, David Glovin

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