July 9, 2019

Trump Praises “Excellent” Labor Secretary as Demands for Resignation Grow Louder

Alex Acosta also defended striking a plea agreement with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Kevin Dietsch/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his labor secretary, Alex Acosta, against mounting demands for his resignation over his central role in securing a 2007 plea agreement for billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I can tell you that for two-and-a-half years he’s been just an excellent secretary of labor,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office. 

The president then asserted that many attorneys likely regret decisions made “a long time ago” and that Acosta, then the US Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, was not alone in negotiating the plea deal that allowed Epstein to escape a full investigation and possible life sentence for allegedly abusing underage girls. “I feel very badly, actually, for Secretary Acosta,” Trump added.

On Saturday, Epstein was arrested for allegedly operating a “vast network” of underage girls that he would sexually exploit, “often on a daily basis”—charges similar to the ones he faced more than a decade ago when Acosta negotiated the controversial plea deal. 

Trump on Tuesday also attempted to distance himself from Epstein, who he was known to socialize with in Palm Beach, Florida and whom he once described as a “terrific guy.” “I had a falling out with him a long time ago, I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years,” Trump said. “I wasn’t a fan.”

The president’s currents efforts to shun Epstein come in direct contrast to his praise of the disgraced financier, as well as photographic evidence of the two men partying together in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Shortly before Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office, Acosta posted three tweets defending the 2007 plea agreement. In doing so, the embattled labor secretary appeared to ignore the extraordinarily lenient terms of the deal he struck with Epstein. Epstein, who now faces another potential life sentence over the sex abuse charges, only served 13 months in prison at that time.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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