A former FBI official said Monday that the federal indictment of Jeffrey Epstein is a "placeholder" for prosecutors and he expects a much larger "superseding" indictment to be forthcoming.

Swecker said on America's Newsroom that he believes the current investigation is a "redo" of a previous probe that ended with Epstein receiving the "deal of the century." Epstein's plea deal, in which he was sentenced to 13 months in jail, was overseen by former Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who is now Trump's labor secretary.

"That plea deal should never have happened. This is a zero-tolerance crime now and it should have been a zero-tolerance crime back then," he said.

He emphasized that the Southern District of New York's public corruption unit is handling the Epstein case, probably because he is alleged to have provided underage women to "pretty high-profile individuals."

"That would involve, by definition, public corruption if the charges were suppressed for that reason," said Swecker.

The once-secret deal, exposed in a series of reports in The Miami Herald, has been challenged in federal court. A judge ruled earlier this year that Epstein's victims should have been consulted under federal law, and he is now weighing whether to invalidate the agreement.

According to the indictment, Epstein is accused of having "worked and conspired with others, including employees and associates" to groom and sexually exploit minors. Epstein supposedly lured "dozens" of minors as young as 14 to his properties in Florida and New York, where he coerced them to perform "massages" on him, before sexually abusing them. The disgraced billionaire paid the girls hundreds of dollars in cash for the encounters.

Federal prosecutors believe that Epstein used his massive fortune to "create a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit." He allegedly paid certain victims to work as "recruiters," enticing more children to be abused.

Epstein's behavior, Berman said, "shocks the conscience."

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'Britain has fallen, freedom's gone' - Tommy Robinson asks Trump for political asylum in US
Published time: 9 Jul, 2019 08:17
Edited time: 9 Jul, 2019 13:45

British activist Tommy Robinson, who is facing jail time in the UK, has sought political asylum in the United States, claiming that he fears for his life as "dark forces are at work" in his home country.

"I feel like I'm two days away from being sentenced to death. In the UK. For journalism," Robinson told InfoWars on Monday after the UK High Court found him guilty of contempt. He's now pleading with the American government to help him escape the UK, addressing President Donald Trump directly.

"I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case. I need evacuation out of this country because there are dark forces at work in this nation," Robinson stated in his video address.

The 36-year-old, who was previously an adviser to former UKIP leader Gerard Batten on grooming gangs and prison reform, even claimed he would be killed if he goes to jail, alleging that prisons in the UK are "controlled by jihadi gangs." The activist claims the UK government is trying to "silence" him and that he therefore has "no future" in Britain.

"Our freedom is gone. The country has fallen," he concluded.

Separately, Robinson also appealed to the US government through a US-based news website, the Gateway Pundit, urging Trump "to get his lawyers and his team" to look into the activist's case.

"I've already been unlawfully imprisoned, now I've been convicted - not by a jury of peers - but the government that got me through a back door," he stated, emphasizing once more that he's "been convicted for journalism."

"I'll be sent to prison to be murdered by a government who oppose and have taken our freedoms away," he declared, adding that the UK's "freedom of speech is gone and our freedom of press is gone - and whilst it goes, all the mainstream media celebrate it."

Robinson is widely known for his provocative activism, including courthouse broadcasts and videos depicting so-called "no-go zones" in some British communities, which he claims have been taken over by Muslim immigrants. He was also a co-founder of the English Defense League (EDL), a right-wing social organization hostile to immigrants and Islam, but broke ties with it in 2013, claiming he did not want to align himself with "far-right extremism."

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Multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein pleaded not guilty. US prosecutors alleged he operated a sex trafficking ring where he paid girls as young as 14 to have sex with him.

About the charges: He is charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.

At Jeffrey Epstein's hearing today, the parties and the judge agreed to adjourn the detention hearing until Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.

Epstein will be detained until that time.

More alleged victims and attorneys have come forward in the last 36 hours

The US attorney's office has been contacted over the last 36 hours by attorneys and people who allege they were victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a prosecutor told the judge at Monday's hearing.

None of them had previously spoken with the office.

The prosecutor also said Epstein has refused to answer questions about his wealth or assets for pretrial services.

Sec. Alex Acosta's handling of the Epstein case is under review

A senior administration official told CNN there was an internal administration review of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case in Florida.

The official was cautious in assessing Acosta's standing with the White House.

"We will wait and see what develops. This is obviously a significant event," the official said about the Epstein case. "We need to see what comes of it."

The official could not say whether that review had been completed.

In November, the Miami Herald reported Acosta, who was the US Attorney in Florida, had brokered a deal with one of Epstein's attorneys, where he pleaded to two state prostitution charges, ultimately serving only 13 months and avoiding a federal trial in 2008. He also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.

The deal allowed Epstein to avoid major repercussions even though a federal investigation had identified 36 underage victims.

The non-prosecution agreement only applies to the US Attorney's office in Florida, which is why the Southern District of New York can file charges against Epstein.

Attorney General William Barr says he is recused from Epstein case

Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he is recused from the case involving multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

He told reporters in South Carolina one of the law firms that represented Epstein long ago was a firm Barr subsequently joined.