US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta had to answer questions in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 on the Labor Department budget for Fiscal Year 2020.

He faced congressional scrutiny over whether he is able to safeguard children from illegal labor practices and combat human trafficking, as several lawmakers grilled him over a lenient plea deal he gave to Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy New York businessman suspected of operating a child sex trafficking ring.

Lawmakers were concerned about a number of program cuts. Among them: a significant decrease in programs that combat human trafficking.

That opened the door for several of them to question Acosta about a sex-trafficking case he handled when he was a federal prosecutor in Miami a decade ago.

“This is not the first time you have ignored human trafficking,’’ said Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark.

Video: 'Rep. Katherine Clark just tore into Acosta big time!' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGR2ZlebMk (17 min.)

Acosta, while U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, helped orchestrate an unusually light plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein, a politically connected New York hedge fund manager accused in 2005 of molesting and sexually assaulting dozens of girls, mostly ages 13 to 16, at his mansion in Palm Beach.

Instead of going to prison like most sex offenders in Florida, Epstein was given federal immunity and was allowed to plead guilty to two prostitution charges in state court. A number of other people involved in his operation were also immunized and never charged.

He served 13 months in the county jail. But had Acosta prosecuted him on sex-trafficking charges, Epstein could have gone to prison for the rest of his life.

In February of this year, a federal judge ruled that the deal that Acosta arranged was improper because federal prosecutors failed to comply with the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

The deal, signed in 2007, was done in secret, and it was sealed so that no one could know how many girls Epstein abused or who else was involved in his scheme. Moreover, Acosta’s staff agreed to demands by Epstein’s lawyers that the victims not be made aware of the federal non-prosecution agreement until after it was signed and executed.

“The judge found you broke the law, Mr. Acosta, when you chose not to tell the victims about this deal and you gave them the impression that the investigation was ongoing,’’ said Clark at the hearing. “Was the judge right?’’

Acosta attempted to pivot, but Clark continued. “I asked you a yes or no question,’’ she demanded.

Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat whose constituents are in Palm Beach, quizzed Acosta about how it was that a sex abuser got off so easy.

“Many people in my community are upset that you allowed a sexual predator on the loose,’’ Frankel said.

Acosta has never said why the deal was kept under wraps. At the hearing Wednesday, Acosta told lawmakers what he has repeatedly said for years: The deal ensured Epstein went to jail and had to register as a sex offender.

Why on earth are cutting the programs for fighting human trafficking?!