Labor Sec’y Acosta RESIGNS as Furor Over Epstein Pedo Plea Deal Explodes
President Trump said Friday morning that R. Alexander Acosta, his embattled secretary of labor, will resign following controversy over a lenient plea deal he made with Jeffrey Epstein when he was a prosecutor in Florida.
Mr. Trump made the announcement as he left the White House for travel to Milwaukee and Cleveland.
>Mr. Trump said Mr. Acosta called him this morning and that it was Mr. Acosta’s decision to resign.
There had been hints that Acosta was neck deep in the brown sauce as CNN reported yesterday:
A day after his labor secretary convened a news conference defending himself against accusations of prosecutorial malfeasance, President Donald Trump is questioning whether Alex Acosta’s efforts were sufficient in quieting the uproar, people familiar with the matter said.
Trump has remained publicly silent in the 24 hours since Acosta held the question-and-answer session — at the President’s urging — to defend his role in financier Jeffrey Epstein’s plea agreement over sexual assault allegations, which critics have bemoaned as woefully lenient.Epstein was ultimately sentenced to time behind bars — but served only 13 months and was allowed to leave for long stretches to work from his office. He avoided a federal trial but did have to register as a sex offender.
Trump, who a day before described Acosta as a “really great” Cabinet member, has privately expressed concern at how the labor secretary’s handling of the Epstein case reflects on him and his administration. Trump has not appeared overly concerned with the plea agreement itself, people close to him said.
Acosta’s self-serving Wednesday press conference defending his handling of the Epstein case, during which he put the blame on Florida’s state prosecutor, went over like a lead balloon and
left many questions unanswered, including the biggest one: why someone who let Epstein get away with a light sentence should remain in charge of an office that deals with human trafficking cases.
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