Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta’s job is safe — for now.
According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Politico, the White House is paying close attention to the coverage of Acosta’s role in the decade-old lenient plea deal for accused child sex trafficker and billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. President Trump is reportedly likely to keep Acosta in his current position and will only become concerned if his labor secretary’s time in the news cycle lingers, according to the report. Politico’s sources said Trump will give Acosta the “benefit of the doubt,” in Politico’s words, given the President’s own history of facing accusations of sexual assault.
However, as Bloomberg reports, Acosta’s employment in the Trump administration was already on thin ice even before the new charges against Epstein came to light. According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg, White House officials and people in the business community are frustrated with the speed at which Acosta is issuing deregulations — he’s not moving fast enough. Two of Bloomberg’s sources claim Acosta’s time in the administration is short.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already called for Acosta’s resignation, as has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and the Miami Herald’s editorial board.
The 2008 sweetheart deal that Acosta had a hand in has come under increased scrutiny in the past two days after Epstein was charged with allegedly running a sex-trafficking ring with underage girls in the early 2000s. Epstein now faces up to 45 years in prison.
But back in 2008 when he was charged with other sex crimes, Epstein was given a 13-month prison sentence and allowed work release so he could come and go from the jail. Acosta was the prosecutor in the case.
