Politics
Labor Secretary Acosta resigning amid Epstein deal scrutiny
Published
5 years agoon
By
FNN NEWSWASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said Friday he is resigning following renewed scrutiny of his handling of a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein , who is accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls.
President Donald Trump, with Acosta at his side, made the announcement as he left the White House for a trip to Wisconsin and Ohio. The president said “I hate to see this happen” and he did not ask Acosta to leave the Cabinet. But conservatives, who are unhappy with steps Acosta has taken at the department, had been pushing for his ouster.
Trump, who publicly faults the news media nearly every day, said Acosta put the blame there, too, for his departure.
The president tweeted from aboard Air Force One that Acosta “informed me this morning that he felt the constant drumbeat of press about a prosecution which took place under his watch more than 12 years ago was bad for the Administration, which he so strongly believes in, and he graciously tendered his resignation.”
Acosta was the U.S. attorney in Miami when he oversaw a 2008 non-prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges but plead guilty to state charges and serve 13 months in jail. Similar charges filed against Epstein by federal prosecutors in New York this week had put Acosta’s handling of the 2008 agreement with the now-jailed financier back in the spotlight.
Over the years, Epstein has counted Trump and former President Bill Clinton among his powerful friends, and Trump was quoted in 2002 as saying the financier was “a lot of fun to be with,” a “terrific guy” of whom “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Trump now says he and Epstein had a falling-out and he is “not a fan.”
Acosta said his resignation would be effective in seven days. He said he didn’t think it was right for his handling of Epstein’s case to distract from the president’s agenda and his work as secretary of labor.
“My point here today is we have an amazing economy, and the focus needs to be on the economy,” Acosta said.
Top Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates had demanded that Acosta resign. But Acosta defended his actions, insisting at a news conference Wednesday that he got the toughest deal on Epstein that he could get at the time.
A federal judge said Acosta violated federal law by not notifying Epstein’s victims of the arrangement. The Justice Department has been investigating.
A Florida lawyer who represents several Epstein victims welcomed of Acosta’s resignation.
“Mr. Acosta broke the law when he was a U.S. attorney by failing to keep the victims informed about the negotiations taking place in 2008,” said attorney Spencer Kuvin. “We should never allow an official who has been held to break the law by a Federal Court, to hold an office in the president’s Cabinet. His resignation today is hopefully only the first step in holding those accountable.”
Acosta had also frustrated some conservatives who had been pushing for his ouster long before the Epstein uproar. Among their objections were Acosta’s decisions to proceed with several employment discrimination lawsuits and to allow certain Obama administration holdovers to keep their jobs.
Trump had initially defended Acosta but said he’d look “very closely” at his handling of the 2008 agreement.
The deal had come under scrutiny earlier this year following reporting by The Miami Herald.
Epstein, 66, reached the deal to secretly end a federal sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls that could have landed him behind bars for life. He instead pleaded guilty to Florida state charges, spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims and registered as a sex offender.
Acosta had attempted to clear his name, and held a news conference — encouraged by Trump — to defend his actions. In a 50-plus-minute lawyerly rebuttal, Acosta argued his office had secured the best deal it could at the time and had worked in the best interests of Epstein’s victims.
“We did what we did because we wanted to see Epstein go to jail,” he said. “We believe that we proceeded appropriately.”
Pressed on whether he had any regrets, Acosta repeatedly said circumstances had changed since then.
“We now have 12 years of knowledge and hindsight and we live in a very different world,” he said. “Today’s world treats victims very, very differently.”
After federal attorneys in New York announced the new charges against Epstein this week, Acosta tweeted that he was pleased by their decision.
“The crimes committed by Epstein are horrific,” Acosta tweeted. “With the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that Epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender and put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator.”
“Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the NY prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice.”
Acosta took office as the nation’s 27th labor secretary in early 2017, leading a sprawling agency that enforces more than 180 federal laws covering about 10 million employers and 125 million workers. The department also plays a role in combatting human trafficking.
Trump said Acosta would be replaced by Pat Pizzella, currently the department’s deputy secretary.
Before he was named a U.S. attorney, Acosta was an assistant attorney general for the civil rights division in President George W. Bush’s first term. Before joining the Trump administration, Acosta was dean of the Florida International University law school.
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Politics
Congressman Maxwell Frost Slams TikTok Bill Ahead of Scheduled House Vote
Published
6 days agoon
March 12, 2024By
FNN NEWSWASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10) released a statement ahead of the scheduled House vote on a bill that could unilaterally ban social media app TikTok.
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“Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill that will most likely lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. I am voting no.
“Let’s be clear that I am deeply concerned about our foreign adversaries accessing our private data online, but this bill is not the comprehensive reform we need to reign in Big Tech and protect Americans from harm and manipulation.
“I refuse to spring a TikTok ban on my constituents who, under the neo-fascist control of Governor DeSantis, rely on social media for income, information, and community.
“This legislation is an infringement of our constitutional right to freedom of speech that also places a nearly impossible condition for the app to be sold within six months or less – it’s unrealistic.
“This bill does not solve our data privacy problems and harms innocent users whose very livelihood and existence is supported by this app. Count me out.”
Politics
Sierra Club Florida Urges Governor DeSantis to Protect Local Economies and Workers by Vetoing HB 433
Published
1 week agoon
March 9, 2024By
FNN NEWSTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today Sierra Club Florida sent Governor Ron DeSantis a letter urging him to veto HB 433, “Employment Regulations.”
If signed into law, HB 433 would preempt local governments’ ability to pass protections for workers in extreme heat at a time when climate change is pushing record temperatures higher year after year. Of the many threats climate change poses to Florida’s economy and well-being–including rising insurance rates and storms– the impact of extreme heat is one of the biggest.
In 2022, heat exposure in the U.S. led to the loss of almost half a trillion potential labor hours, a significant increase from previous years. In 2021, a report by The Atlantic Council found that loss of productivity from heat led to a loss of about $100 billion dollars a year in the United States. The same report concluded that “without meaningful action to reduce emissions and/or adapt to extreme heat, labor productivity losses could double to nearly $200 billion by 2030 and reach $500 billion by 2050.” These impacts will fall on the shoulders of working-class Floridians at a time when Florida is also growing disproportionately less affordable compared to the rest of the nation.
Additionally, extreme heat is already a leading weather-related cause of death and workplace injury across the country. In the United States, extreme heat was estimated to be the cause of about 120,000 workplace injuries every year, and without action, that number could rise to about 450,000 per year in 2050. From 2019 to 2022, heat related deaths rose a staggering 88% in Florida. These deaths and injuries also disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
Sierra Club Florida Political Director Luigi Guadarrama said, “Governor DeSantis himself has admitted that ‘Florida’s economic success is tied to our environment,’ yet the legislature continues to produce bills that threaten the well-being of both. We cannot and will not ignore the devastating impact that this bill will have on our economy and the health of hard-working Floridians.”
Sierra Club Florida Executive Committee Chair James Scott said, “The cost of inaction on climate change is ethically intolerable and economically unsustainable. Preventing local governments from taking action will cost Floridians their paychecks and their lives. While big business and big-government Tallahassee legislators may choose to ignore that, Florida won’t.”
Inaction on climate change is costly. Sierra Club Florida urges Governor DeSantis to take this threat to our economy and our workers seriously, and veto HB 433.