Miami Herald Editorial Board

The questionable actions of former Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta in gifting a sweetheart federal plea deal to a Palm Beach multimillionaire and serial sexual predator have come under fire — and should also come under federal investigation, as we recommended in a past editorial.

A group of bipartisan congressional members — and the Miami Herald Editorial Board — have already called for the Department of Justice Inspector General to probe the secret deal struck 10 years ago by Acosta, now a Cabinet member and U.S. Labor Secretary. But a controversial procedural obstacle stands in the path of that investigation and others crafted in secrecy by federal attorneys. It must be removed.

Listen carefully, Senators — especially Florida Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. If you want to restore the public's trust in a federal justice system that can't be bought by a rich man with powerful friends and fancy attorneys, this is what needs to happen, and soon. We're asking the Senate to quickly pass the Inspector General Access Act of 2017, House Bill 3154.

This would give DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz a clear path to investigate Acosta now — if he wishes to do so. He should. In the future, it would also bring other similar backroom deals under the IG's oversight.

More: How does Labor Secretary Acosta sleep at night? | Carl Hiaasen

A year-long Miami Herald investigation by reporter Julie K. Brown has shockingly detailed how Palm Beach hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein created "a large, cult-like network of underage girls — with the help of young female recruiters — to coerce into performing sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day." He disguised sexual abuse with the trappings of wealth.

Brown is the only reporter to extensively interview many of Epstein's victims — as many as three dozen victims were all kept in the dark about the secret deal he finagled from Miami's top prosecutor. Acosta gave his seal of approval to the plea deal. He did not seek a harsh sentence for Epstein. Instead, he repeatedly caved to his high-powered lawyers' demands and even worked with the legal team to limit the scope and publicity of the FBI investigation.

In 2007, Epstein pleaded guilty to counts of prostitution and served 13-months in a county jail, where he could come and go. What a farce. During Acosta's confirmation hearing for Labor Secretary in March 2017, the Epstein plea deal surfaced and Acosta waved it away with this explanation: "At the end of the day, based on the evidence, professionals within a prosecutor's office decided that a plea that guarantees someone goes to jail, that guarantees he register generally (as a sexual predator) and guarantees other outcomes, is a good thing."

But California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, didn't buy it — and we shouldn't have either. She voted against Acosta's nomination saying his handling of the Epstein case suggested he prioritizes the interests of the powerful over everyday people.

Feinstein was right, and we should have paid more attention to her concern. Now we get a Mulligan.

Why is this pending bill so critical? Currently, the Office of the Inspector General is statutorily required to refer all allegations of attorney misconduct to the Office of Professional Responsibility — a flaw that allows federal attorneys to function without any independent oversight from the IG when they are accused of wrongdoing.

Passage of the Access Act would give Horowitz the authority to investigate all DOJ attorneys accused of alleged wrongdoing while they are litigating, investigating or providing legal advice.

The time has come for Congress to throw the spotlight on the kind of cozy and secret federal deals that Acosta was able to strike up for the rich and connected like Epstein.