At a press conference on Wednesday, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta told reporters that new sex crime charges against hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein were a "very, very good thing" and defended the manner in which his office had handled a case against the financier back in 2008.
He also showed no signs of relenting to Democrats' calls for his resignation.
Outrage has been growing, since the Miami Herald recently resurfaced the sweetheart, non-prosecution deal Epstein received when Acosta was a U.S. attorney in Miami.
In 2008, Epstein had been accused of abusing dozens of women and girls, but ultimately pled guilty to prostitution charges. Thanks to the deal, instead of facing a possible life sentence, he served just 13 months of an 18 month sentence in a county jail, during which he was allowed to leave for work.
Epstein was arrested again in New Jersey last weekend and pleaded not guilty Monday to new child sex-trafficking charges for allegations dating back to the early 2000's.
"They've brought these charges based on new evidence against Jeffrey Epstein, who is now a registered sex offender. And this is a very very good thing. His acts are discpable," said Acosta Wednesday. "Epstein's actions absolutely deserve a stricter sentence."
As to the original case, Acosta said it was not clear that the original case would have succeeded at trial because some of the victims were reluctant to testify. "The acts that they had faced were horrible, and they didn't want people to know about them."
The labor secretary said he would release documents that reveal more context of the case.
The chair of the House Oversight Committee has called for Acosta to testify on the subject later this month.
During the press conference, the labor secretary defended his standing in Trump's administration.
"My relationship with the President is outstanding," said Acosta. He also eschewed reports that he had lost the support of the Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney.
As President Biden travels to Europe this week amid Russia's ongoing invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former Bush administration State Department official David Tafuri, joined Cheddar News to discuss the president's stop in Brussels, Belgium, to coordinate with NATO leaders efforts to dissuade Russian President Putin's war. "The maintenance of sanctions and increasingly ratcheting up the sanctions is what he thinks will cause a country like Russia to back off," Tafuri said of Biden. "And so he's committed to that strategy."
John Logan, Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the growing unionization push by employees at Starbucks and Amazon, and the wider implications of employee organization at these big companies.
Cheddar's Arielle Hixson sat down with five Black women making history as part of the Biden administration's communications team. Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy press secretary; Khanya Brann, the chief of staff to Kate Bedingfield; Amanda Finney, the chief of staff to Jen Psaki; Erica Loewe, the director of African American media; and Rykia Dorsey, the senior regional communications director, shared their stories.
President Biden has embarked on a crucial trip to meet with allies in Belgium and Poland to discuss new sanctions on Russia as it continues to wage war on Ukraine. The president will seek to address the growing humanitarian crisis out of Ukraine, demonstrate a united Western front against Russia, and reassure Ukraine that it has support from the U.S. Joel Rubin, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State & President of the Washington Strategy Group, breaks down what to expect from the President's crucial visit to Europe.
Catching you up on what you need to know Mar 24, 2022, with NATO meeting updates, Ukraine retaking suburbs around Kyiv, the spread of omicron subvariant BA.2 in China, Google Pay launching a third-party billing option, and a 16-year-old is suspected of being the Lapsus$ mastermind behind hacks of Microsoft and others.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the U.S. job market continues to show strength in the midst of rising costs and an ongoing virus pandemic.
Alicia Garza joined Cheddar News to talk about the Black Futures Lab where serves as founder and principal. The non-profit organization seeks to develop grassroots power in the Black community with projects like the Black Census, which takes into account the granular experiences of the demographic. "What we know about Black folks and the reason that we decided to focus on black communities again, it's because we're being left out and left behind their stories being told about us without our input and without our shaping," she said. "If we want a robust democracy in this country, we have to change that equation." Garza also touched on issues around voter suppression and the midterm elections.
Sean O'Hara, President of Pacer ETF's, explains why investors who were down after Jerome Powell's remarks on inflation Monday were more optimistic on Tuesday as the major indexes ended the day near session highs.
