Acosta out as scrutiny grows over Epstein deal
Labor secretary steps down amid pressure from scandal
WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s resignation Friday amid the mushrooming Jeffrey Epstein investigation made him the latest in a growing list of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members to depart under a cloud of scandal, plunging an administration that has struggled with record turnover into further upheaval.
Trump announced Acosta’s departure in a morning appearance together on the South Lawn, telling reporters that his labor secretary had chosen to step down a day after defending himself in a contentious news conference over his role as a U.S. attorney a decade ago in a deal with Epstein that allowed the financier to plead guilty to lesser offenses in a sex-crimes case involving underage girls.
The president expressed regret over Acosta’s decision, calling him a “great labor secretary” and saying he had reassured the secretary that “you don’t have to do this.”
“It was him, not me,” Trump said, though behind the scenes he had grown uncertain about Acosta’s future, according to administration aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The sole Hispanic member of Trump’s
Cabinet said the intense media focus on his role in Epstein’s case had threatened to become a distraction that would undermine his work for the administration.
Trump, who as a private businessman had socialized with Epstein in the early 2000s, has come under renewed scrutiny for his ties to the disgraced financier.
“I don’t think it is right and fair for this administration’s Labor Department to have Epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy we have today,” said Acosta, whose resignation will take effect in a week. “It would be selfish for me to stay in the position and continue talking about a case that is 12 years old.”
Trump said that Patrick Pizzella, the deputy secretary of labor, will become acting secretary of the department.
Acosta’s rapid downfall closed a 2½ year-tenure that began only after Trump’s first choice for labor secretary, fast-food mogul Andrew Puzder, withdrew from consideration amid questions from Senate Democrats over potential conflicts of interest and his policy positions.
In all, 13 Cabinet members named by Trump have departed over 30 months, not counting those who served in an acting capacity, and several others left under ethics scandals, including Tom Price at Health and Human Services, David Shulkin at Veterans Affairs, Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency and Ryan Zinke at Interior.
Several others, including Jeff Sessions at Justice, Jim Mattis at the Pentagon, Kirstjen Nielsen at Homeland Security and James Comey at the FBI, have been forced out amid increasing acrimony in their personal relationships with Trump or the president’s frustration with their performances.
Trump has struggled to keep up with the frequent vacancies, and he has moved in several cases to allow acting secretaries, who do not require Senate confirmation, to handle the duties, raising questions of accountability from congressional Democrats and good-governance groups.
Still, Acosta’s departure seemed almost inevitable, coming amid mounting calls for his resignation on Capitol Hill.
“Given the serious questions about his handling of the Epstein case and his failure to take responsibility for his conduct, Mr. Acosta was no longer entitled to public confidence,” Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, said in a statement. “The Epstein case is an extraordinary example of the ordinary ways in which money and power often determine who prevails in our criminal justice system. We must have a national conversation about the deep inequities that this case represents.”
The 2008 plea deal in Florida that Acosta was involved in came under renewed scrutiny in light of Epstein’s indictment Monday on more child sex trafficking charges in New York.
Eleven years ago, Epstein, 66, had signed a nonprosecution agreement with federal authorities and pleaded guilty in state court in 2008 to felony solicitation of underage girls.
During his 13-month sentence in a Palm Beach, Fla., jail, Epstein was allowed to work out of his office six days a week. As U.S. attorney, Acosta approved the deal. A federal judge this year ruled that prosecutors violated the rights of victims by failing to notify them of an agreement not to bring federal charges.
At a news conference Wednesday, Acosta defended his role, stating that a state’s attorney in Palm Beach County was preparing to allow Epstein to plead to a single charge of solicitation that did not make a reference to the age of the female minor. That deal would have carried no jail time and would not have required Epstein to register as a sex offender.
“We wanted to see Epstein go to jail,” Acosta said. “He needed to go to jail.”
The former state’s attorney for Palm Beach County at the time of the Epstein plea deal released a statement disputing Acosta’s account following the news conference.
“I can emphatically state that Mr. Acosta’s recollection of this matter is completely wrong,” said Barry Krischer, who added that Acosta could have moved forward with a 53-page indictment that his office had drafted.
Trump expressed skepticism at Acosta’s performance and began asking senior aides what he should do about him, according to two White House officials, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Acosta was disliked by acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who told others he was ineffective at implementing the administration’s deregulation agenda, the officials said.
But Trump did not originally want to be seen as cutting ties with him over a decade-old episode, even as some of his longest advisers believed Acosta’s departure was inevitable given the cascade of sustained news coverage and the facts of the case.
Spencer Kuvin, a Floridabased attorney who represented the 14-year-old girl who first reported Epstein to police, called Acosta’s resignation a step toward accountability.
“It is fantastic news that finally the people who were involved in this awful sweetheart deal for a pedophile are being held to account for their failures,” Kuvin said.