WASHINGTON — Former South Florida US Attorney Alex Acosta testified to House lawmakers last month that a federal prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein foundered in the mid-2000s because of a lack of victims willing to testify that would have made trial a “crapshoot,” The Post has learned.

Acosta discussed the evidentiary and other challenges prosecutors faced during a six-hour interview with Oversight Committee members and staff on Sept. 19.

“Ultimately, the trial was a crapshoot, and we just wanted the guy to go to jail,” Acosta told members of the Oversight panel, according to a transcript of the interview in which he defended his office’s non-prosecution agreement that saw Epstein sentenced to 18 months in prison after copping to state charges of soliciting sex from a minor. 7

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