Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney who brokered the 2008 plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein, denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged ties to intelligence agencies during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee.
The committee issued the statement on Friday Full version From Acosta’s September 19 testimony, part of the ongoing investigation into how federal prosecutors handled the cases of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Democratic New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury pressed Acosta on whether he believed Epstein had ties to American or foreign intelligence services, a theory that has circulated for years about the financier’s lenient treatment. (RELATED: Alex Acosta Finally Reveals Why He Offered a Plea Deal to Epstein)
“Steve Bannon has publicly stated that you told him that Epstein, as you said, belonged to intelligence.” Do you remember talking to Steve Bannon about Jeffrey Epstein? Stansbury asked. Acosta responded that he “didn’t remember speaking to Bannon about Epstein.”
BOMB: Acosta’s script just destroyed the Epstein-Trump smear of Democrats.
Classification of members Garcia and @OversightDems They spent months pushing a lie against President Trump.
🧵 Here are the receipts they don’t want you to see:
– Supervisory Committee (@GOPoversight) October 17, 2025
Stansbury pressed Acosta on whether he had ever spoken with former White House strategist Steve Bannon. Acosta confirmed he did but Epstein was never discussed.
“I didn’t know if that was the source of that anonymous White House quote,” Acosta said, referring to the allegation that Epstein had ties to intelligence agencies. “I was asked about that. I didn’t know where that came from. I’ll take your word for it that it came from Mr. Bannon, but I don’t know where it came from. I never made that assertion.”
Acosta said he has consistently denied the rumor, including during a news conference and in an interview with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, repeating that he has “no knowledge of whether or not he is a member of the intelligence community.”
Speculation about Acosta’s previous statements resurfaced in July when a reporter asked Attorney General Pam Bondi during a Cabinet meeting whether Epstein was an intelligence asset. The question referred to an alleged statement attributed to Acosta, who served as Labor Secretary during the first Trump administration.
“I have no knowledge of that,” Bundy said. “We can get back to you about that.”
During his testimony, Stansbury asked Acosta to confirm whether he had said Epstein “belonged to the secret service.” “I didn’t,” Acosta replied. When asked if anyone from the intelligence community contacted him during the Epstein investigation, Acosta replied: “No.”
Stansbury went on to ask whether anyone from the CIA, NSA, State Department, or the FBI’s Intelligence Division had contacted him about Epstein. Acosta responded “no” to each agency.
She then pressed on, asking whether Epstein was connected to any foreign intelligence services, including Israel’s Mossad.
“Again, I don’t know if he did it or not,” Acosta said. “If you want to know, you should ask the intelligence community. No member of the intelligence community has contacted me, and I have no knowledge of their membership in the intelligence community.”
3/ Did Trump appoint Acosta because of Epstein? no.
“Not at all, no.” (p. 124)
Did Trump ask Acosta to resign? no.
“[It] It was my choice. “No one in the White House suggested that I resign.” (p. 124)
The Democrats made up this whole talking point. pic.twitter.com/tehpEVa2la
– Supervisory Committee (@GOPoversight) October 17, 2025
Stansbury then asked Acosta if he had any reason to believe that Epstein “was an asset to a domestic or foreign intelligence operation.”
“If there had been any secure information, it would have been possible to activate procedures that were never activated,” Acosta replied.
Finally, Stansbury asked if anyone had ever told him that Epstein couldn’t be prosecuted because he was an “asset.” “No one has ever approached me and said that,” Acosta said.
The transcript concludes this exchange with a redacted name indicating “We can opt out. Thank you.”