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

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

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.

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate