US Labour Secretary Alex Acosta is resigning amid criticism of his brokering of a plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein in a child sex case.
Mr Acosta, a former Florida prosecutor, made the announcement from the White House lawn on Friday, as President Donald Trump stood by his side.
Democrats had called for him to quit over his handling of the Epstein case.
Mr Acosta had been defending the secretly-negotiated plea deal in a news conference only two days ago.
Mr Trump told reporters that the two had spoken on the phone earlier on Friday morning and that it was Mr Acosta’s decision.
Mr Acosta was the US Attorney in Miami in 2008, when he oversaw a non-prosecution deal against Epstein, which allowed him to serve 13 months in jail – with much of that spent on work release at his Palm Beach office.
“This was him not me,” Mr Trump said, adding that Mr Acosta was “a tremendous talent” who “went to Harvard University”.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump told reporters that he felt badly for his labour secretary, but added that he did not know him personally before hiring him.
Mr Acosta told reporters: “I do not think it is right and fair… to have Epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today”.
But he added: “It would be selfish for me to stay in this position and continue talking about a case that’s 12 years old.”
Patrick Pizzella, the current labour deputy secretary, will become acting secretary when Mr Acosta officially steps down in one week, Mr Trump said.
On Wednesday, Alex Acosta gave a dispassionate, legalistic defence of his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, more than a decade ago. It wasn’t enough to save his job. Given how quickly he departed after his performance, it wasn’t even close.
The former US attorney attempted to shift blame to state prosecutors and justify his decisions based on changing expectations in sex crimes cases.
He never adequately explained why the circumstances at the time required that he offer such a lenient deal to Epstein or seal the damning details of the original indictment, instead of building a stronger case with further investigation. –BBC
