Press

Coming off the heels of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s press conference this afternoon, I wanted to flag that progressive, labor an women’s groups – including the American Federation of Teachers, CREDO Action, MoveOn, and UltraViolet, will project “ACOSTA ENABLES SEX TRAFFICKING. ACOSTA MUST GO” on a U.S. government building on Capitol Hill tonight.

As you know, earlier this week, federal prosecutors unsealed new sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, alleging the politically connected multimillionaire abused dozens of female minors at his Manhattan and Florida homes. It was also revealed that investigators seized nude photographs from Epstein’s townhouse as part of the new investigation. The new charges highlight now-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta cut a deal with multi-millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein that sentenced him to just 13 months in jail. The deal, which was made in secret, without informing any of the survivors of Epstein’s crimes, shut down an FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other wealthy perpetrators who took part in Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, said:  “Secretary Acosta’s actions in not disclosing the plea deal of a politically well-connected predator to the victims of that predator were illegal and unconscionable. By breaking the law and hiding the deal from victims, he’s shown that we cannot trust him. A labor secretary is supposed to protect everyday people – Alex Acosta proposed an 80% cut to his department’s bureau that combats human trafficking, and gave a sweetheart deal to a known predator. While know we can’t count on this White House to take action, we can make sure the public knows just how dangerous it is to have a cabinet full of people who break the law and then try to get away with it. Alex Acosta helped protect a child sex trafficker and he must resign, or the president must fire him.”

Shaunna Thomas, executive director at UltraViolet, explained, “Congress should open a full investigation into why child sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein was protected over the survivors of his abuse. That means investigating every single enabler of Epstein’s abuse, from Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to President Donald Trump, and every celebrity and business mogul in between, and includes starting impeachment proceedings into Acosta, who broke the law to hand a serial pedophile a sweetheart deal. The American people cannot afford a President and Labor Secretary who would rather shield wealthy sexual abusers from prosecution than protect sexually trafficked children.”