Trump announces Miami native Alex Acosta as new Labor secretary nominee

Feb. 17--By turning to South Florida's R. Alexander Acosta to serve as secretary of labor, President Donald Trump is breaking the mold he established with his earlier cabinet picks.

Most of the people Trump has nominated to lead government agencies are white men: wealthy businessmen and financiers with no government experience, conservative members of Congress, and former high-ranking military officers.

Acosta is different. Dean of Florida International University law school. Former U.S. Attorney for South Florida, leading an office whose corruption prosecutions included Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne and Palm Beach County commissioners Tony Masilotti, Mary McCarty and Warren Newell, all of whom went to prison. Harvard College and Law School graduate. Former assistant attorney general for civil rights. Former member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Acosta, who goes by Alex, is 48, grew up in Miami-Dade County and now lives in Coral Gables. He is Cuban-American and would be the only Hispanic in Trump's cabinet.

In making the announcement at the White House, Trump said Acosta has had "a tremendous career." The president predicted he would be "a tremendous secretary of labor." Acosta wasn't present.

It was a quick decision on the part of the president. Trump's original nominee, Andrew Puzder, withdrew Wednesday after it became clear that too many Republicans -- the party that controls the Senate -- were reluctant to vote for his confirmation. Puzder, CEO of a fast food company, was damaged by revelations he failed to pay taxes on an undocumented housekeeper until he was nominated for labor secretary and by domestic abuse allegations, since recanted, from his former wife.

Because of his previous jobs, Acosta has been confirmed three times by the Senate. Trump has had difficulty getting speedy confirmation of his cabinet nominations.

The president devoted only 45 seconds of the announcement to his nomination of Acosta -- then immediately diverted all attention to other issues. For an hour and ten minutes he held forth, first in a statement and then in a news conference, on his displeasure with the news media, the controversy swirling around his aides' contacts with Russia, "the mess I inherited" in the U.S. and internationally, and his view that the Democrats had "screwed things up royally."

Republicans praised the nomination of fellow Republican Acosta, who served as U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush.

"He has an impressive record of achievement," U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami-Dade Republican, said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called him "a phenomenal choice" to lead the Labor Department. "Alex has succeeded in all endeavors he has taken on, and managing the Department of Labor will be no different," Rubio said in a statement.

On Twitter, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another Miami-Dade County Republican, offered "Congrats to mi amigo, Alex, who has done a tremendous job at @FIU @fiulaw on his nomination as #LaborSecretary! Hell do a great job!" Later, she added, that Acosta is "competent, prepared, brilliant! Great pick!"

Ana Navarro, the Miami-Dade Republican political commentator who is an outspoken Trump critic, praised the nomination on Twitter: "Clean as a whistle. Smart. Loyal. Brings unique perspective of an immigrant community," adding that "He's not a billionaire. Humble. Hard-working lawyer and Law School dean w/a squeaky clean reputation."

South Florida Democrats were silent on Acosta, issuing statements instead on the proposed repeal of Obamacare, Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency and on abortion rights. Their offices declined to offer assessments of Acosta or didn't respond to email inquires.

The Service Employees International Union, which was sharply critical of Puzder, took a wait-and-see stance toward Acosta on Thursday. "In the coming days and weeks, workers will find out more about how Alexander Acosta will ensure working people have pathways to good jobs on which they can raise their families," SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement.

Among the most high-profile cases of Acosta's tenure as U.S. Attorney for the territory from Fort Pierce to Key West was the prosecution of Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy and wire fraud charges. Abramoff pleaded guilty and served 43 months of a five-year, 10-month sentence. Acosta's office also prosecuted Jose Padilla for terrorism and members of a Colombian drug ring responsible for bringing 15 tons of cocaine per month into the United States.

While Acosta was U.S. attorney, prosecutors cut a deal with billionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein who was accused of having sex with dozens of underage girls. Prosecutors didn't file federal charges against Epstein in return for his pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution, for which he served 13 months in jail and served a year on house arrest.

A pending lawsuit claims the decision not to prosecute Epstein on federal charges violated two teenage girls' rights as crime victims. A 2011 letter written by Acosta said that "Our judgment in this case, based on the evidence known at the time, was that it was better to have a billionaire serve time in jail, register as a sex offender and pay his victims restitution than risk a trial with a reduced likelihood of success."

After Bush left office in 2009, Acosta became the second dean of FIU's law school. In a written statement, Cesar L. Alvarez, senior chairman of the Greenberg Traurig law firm and member of FIU's Board of Trustees, said Acosta "catapulted FIU Law to the ranks of top law schools in a very short time." FIU has the highest bar examination passage rate of all Florida law schools.

Acosta was a clerk for Samuel Alito, now a U.S. Supreme Court justice, who was then a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Acosta is the chairman of U.S. Century Bank, the largest domestically-owned Hispanic community bank in Florida and one of the 15 largest Hispanic community banks in the nation.

In a statement issued by the White House, Acosta said he was "deeply grateful and honored" by the nomination. "I am eager to work tirelessly on behalf of the American worker."

The labor secretary pick came up again when Trump and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta joked about whether he's related to Alex Acosta. (He's not.) Acosta said the phrase "Secretary Acosta" sounds good and Trump said he asked to have the nominee's family tree checked to make sure there was no connection.

Cuba

Florida came up again late in the president's news conference, when a reporter asked about first lady Melania Trump. He said she was at the White House on Wednesday when the two had dinner with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and his wife Jeanette.

"Melania's terrific. She was here last night. We had dinner with Senator Rubio and his wife, who is by the way lovely. And we had a really good discussion about Cuba. Because we have very similar views on Cuba and Cuba was very good to me in the Florida election, as you know, the Cuban people, Americans. And I think that Melania's going to be outstanding."

Information from the Los Angeles Times and Sun Sentinel archives was used in this report.

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