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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
