Dems want Acosta to resign for role in financier’s sex plea
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Tuesday he would be looking “very closely” at Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s handling of a sex trafficking case involving nowjailed billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. But he also seemed to stand by his Cabinet official, praising Acosta’s performance on the job and saying he felt “very badly” for him.
As for Epstein, Trump had said years ago that he knew the financier well, thought he was “a terrific guy” and “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
On Tuesday, however, he distanced himself from the hedge fund manager now charged with abusing minors, saying the two had had a fallingout 15 or so years ago. “I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you,” Trump said.
His comments came as a parade of Democratic presidential contenders and party leaders demanded that Acosta, a former federal prosecutor in south Florida, resign or be fired over his role in a secret 2008 plea deal that let Epstein avoid federal prosecution after allegations he molested teenage girls.
Epstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to new child sextrafficking charges. Federal prosecutors in New York accuse him of abusing dozens of underage girls in the early 2000s, paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. He could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump repeatedly praised Acosta, calling him a “really great secretary of labor” and “very good” at his job. He suggested it’s not unusual to find past mistakes if you look hard enough.
“You know, if you go back and look at everybody else’s decisions, whether it’s a U.S. attorney, or an assistant U.S. attorney or a judge, if you go back 12 or 15 years ago or 20 years ago and look at their past decisions, I would think you would probably find that they would wish they’d maybe did it a different way,” said Trump. His sympathetic words seemed to echo his statements of support for thenSupreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused of sexual misconduct as a young man.
“I feel very badly, actually, for Secretary Acosta because I’ve known him as being somebody that works so hard and has done such a good job,” Trump said.