Compliance July 12, 2019

DOL Secretary Announces Resignation

The editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon says Democrats may end up regretting their calls for Acosta's resignation since his replacement could be more proactive in pushing the Trump labor agenda.

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Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is resigning from the Department of Labor (DOL) following controversy over his role in financier Jeffrey Epstein’s plea deal for crimes committed when Acosta was a U.S. attorney in Florida.

Epstein was required to register as a sex offender following two state prostitution charges in 2008 and ended up serving a custodial sentence of 13 months in jail, where he was allowed out on during the day on work release. He was also required to pay restitution to those victims identified by the FBI.

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Acosta had stated his support of the plea deal since 2008, even as further evidence was released after the outcome.

“Some may feel that the prosecution should have been tougher,” Acosta said in a 2011 letter to the Daily Beast, according to the Washington Post. “Evidence that has come to light since 2007 may encourage that view… I supported the judgement then, and based on the state of the law as it then stood and the evidence known at the time, I would support the judgement again.”

However, when Acosta spoke with CNBC recently, he expressed frustration over the lack of sentence time Epstein received. “The work release was complete BS,” Acosta said. He told reporters his office had meant for Epstein to complete his full sentence, at 18 months, in prison.

Even as Acosta faced mounting pressure from members of the Left Party to resign these past days, Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti said Democrats may regret their demands for his resignation. “Democrats might end up regretting calling for Acosta’s resignation because it is true that many conservatives feel that Acosta has been slow rolling some of the labor deregulation agenda of this president,” Continetti said. “So you might get a replacement for him should he resign who would actually be much more forward leaning in terms of deregulating the labor market.”

President Donald Trump has stated that Deputy Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella will take Acosta’s place in an acting capacity, according to CNBC. Pizzella was nominated to serve as deputy secretary by President Trump, and was sworn in by Acosta in April 2018. Previously, Pizzella had acted as a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) under former President Barack Obama, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, under past President George W. Bush.

Acosta stated his resignation will be effective one week from the announcement.

Break from the Grind July 11, 2019

A Little Friday File Fun

And now it's time for FRIDAY FILES!
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In Tampa, Florida, a woman returned to a hotel room she was sharing with her boyfriend after a run to McDonald’s. However, she apparently ordered the wrong food, and the boyfriend became angry. He started pelting her with containers of McDonald’s Sweet ‘N Sour dipping sauce. Investigators responding to a 911 call noted that the woman had “marks consistent with her statements,” according to The Smoking Gun. The boyfriend fled the motel, but was subsequently arrested and booked into the Pasco County jail on a felony battery charge.

 

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In Missoula, Montana, a black bear cub accidently locked himself inside a mudroom after entering a residence. It initially ripped “the room apart” after discovering he was trapped, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook, the Huffington Post reports. But he then clambered into a closet for a nap, where he remained until deputies arrived to remove him. The bear apparently didn’t want to be disturbed from his nap because police knocks on the door resulted in a stretch and yawn. Officers were able to unlock the door, hoping the bear would leave, but all it did was yawn more. Eventually, the bear was able to enjoy a deep sleep when officials from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks were called in to tranquilize the bear, and they relocated him to the Mission Mountains.

 

In San Antonio, Texas, a woman called 911 from inside Government Canyon State Park saying that she had climbed a tree to get away from an animal that had been growling and following her. She was ultimately put in touch with a park police officer, and “urged him to please hurry because an animal she believed to be a wild pig was nearby and growling,” according to the Huffington Post. In reality, the sound that the woman and her hiking buddy mistook for vicious grunting and snorting was actually nearby cars going over a rumble strip on the road, according to a news release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

 

Near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, a man learned the hard way to make sure his parking brake is on when he makes a roadside pit stop. Video shows footage of the man emerging from a port-a-potty to see his truck roll backwards off a cliff.

 

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the state highway patrol sent a message that people can only use the carpool lanes if the other passengers are living. They did so after pulling over a man driving a hearse in an HOV lane. The driver told a trooper he assumed that the body he was transporting to a funeral brought him in compliance with the HOV lane requirement of two or more occupants per vehicle, according to The Associated Press. He was given a warning.
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Children’s ice cream and Popsicle fails.

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