Talk:Alexander Acosta

Recent addition

This recent addition, as I've said in edit summaries, has issues with WP:UNDUE and WP:BLP. It basically looks like a salacious WP:COATRACK about Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. If content about Acosta's role in Epstein's legal proceedings is to be included, it needs to focus on exactly that--Acosta's role regarding the law. No need to pile on details about Epstein's criminal record and friendship with Trump, etc. Marquardtika (talk) 21:07, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Jeffery Epstein case

I don't disagree with the wording of "sweetheart deal, a very light sentence, and an end to sex crimes investigations" in the first paragraph but it is worded in a partisan way. I suggest "Acosta negotiated the controversial plea agreement of Jeffery Epstein who received a prison sentence of only 13 months for hosting parties where girls as young as 14 were expected to perform sexual favors for his guests." Perhaps we should also mention that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton attended his parties but make it plain that there is no evidence for or against that there were underage girls there at the same time they attended. — Preceding unsigned comment added by S2pid80it (talk • contribs) 21:24, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

Epstein case in lead section?

The following sentence was removed from the lead section by user:CASSANDRA NOW: While serving as the U.S. attorney for Southern Florida, Acosta negotiated a controversial plea agreement for Jeffrey Epstein who received a prison sentence of only 13 months for hosting parties where girls as young as 14 were expected to perform sexual favors for guests.

Sources

A version of this sentence was added in late November 2018, at the same time as the information was added to the text, so it is fairly recent. I believe this belongs in the lead because of the large amount of publicity it has gotten, but I recognize this has all become an issue just in the last few weeks so maybe it is a case of RECENTISM. How do others feel about having it in the lead? (It is covered extensively in the text.) -- MelanieN (talk) 03:16, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

MelanieN makes a good point, and I've added a sentence about the Epstein case to the lead. My concern with the prior version had to do with accuracy -- the Epstein prison sentence was for paying minors to give him erotic massages at his Florida mansion -- information about the sex parties, importing of girls, etc. came out after the plea agreement was finalized and Acosta said in 2011 that a different decision about plea agreement vs. prosecution might have been made had that information been available at the time the plea agreement was made.CASSANDRA NOW (talk) 08:09, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General

Moved this to the talk page because the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Michael Horowitz and prior Inspector Generals have been calling for the shift of these powers from the Office of Professional Responsibility for years according to Bloomberg Law ("Horowitz, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, is the latest in a line of DOJ watchdogs who have argued their office is better positioned for prosecutor misconduct investigations.").[1]

On January 29, 2019, Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz asked the Senate to take up legislation already passed by the House that would authorize his office to investigate alleged prosecutorial misconduct by Acosta.refOpfer, Chris; Diaz, Jaclyn. "Labor Secretary's Role in Abuse Deal Could Get DOJ Scrutiny (2)". news.bloomberglaw.com./ref

RepresentingThe702 (talk) 03:21, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

Ref 18 is now known to be inaccurate

Ref 18 is currently "A passion of Trump's new Labor secretary pick: Trafficking 'is evil. It is hideous.'". miamiherald. Retrieved 2019-01-30.

This is at least inaccurate considering his handling of the Epstein case.

From the current news: Federal prosecutors broke law in Jeffrey Epstein case, judge rules — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.178.199.77 (talk) 15:20, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

Resolved issues

Cuban? Mexican? Central American?

Why no listing? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:642:4101:4167:3D93:B6F8:798D:77D9 (talk) 18:00, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

"Acosta is the only son of Cuban immigrants." --Super Goku V (talk) 18:32, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2017

Please change college degree from B.S. to B.A. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College. KimBC (talk) 18:07, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Not done: as you have not cited reliable sources to back up your request, without which no information should be added to, or changed in, any article. - Arjayay (talk) 18:32, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Secretary photo

Acosta does not have an official portrait yet. Please quit adding the photo they currently have listed. It is not an official government photo and was taken from Florida International University School of Law, which does not release its photos in the Public Domain. Until an official photo is released, the current image used in the article should be used. Thanks, Corkythehornetfan (ping me) 01:24, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

Undue weight?

Over half this article is the Epstein case. While it absolutely should be included, shouldn't a majority of the information be on its own page? 192.107.156.198 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:56, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

I agree with this. I just removed some of the Epstein as it had nothing to do with the subject. Mikerachel (talk) 06:45, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

His role as labor secretary in cutting the international sex trafficking budget within the Department of Labor

• Trump labor secretary who cut Epstein deal plans to slash funds for sex trafficking victims

• Taina Bien-Aimé on Jeffrey Epstein’s Arrest, Alex Acosta, Fighting Sexual Trafficking and More

• Acosta’s Labor Department budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 proposed slashing the budget of the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) by nearly 80 percent. The agency is charged with combating human trafficking, child labor and forced labor in the United States and around the world. --93.211.223.93 (talk) 09:14, 14 July 2019 (UTC)

Questionable editing

@Muboshgu:, @Acroterion:. This is just a heads up. An IP editor who you were involved in blocking for disruptive editing at the George Soros article earlier this year has just been scrubbing the Alexander Acosta article. I reverted his or her last two edits. From the sophistication in editing displayed by this editor, I'm guessing that this editor has probably been blocked previously while using a conventional User name. Activist (talk) 10:29, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

Very interesting behavior and one I suspect that vilates many wikipedia policies/pirnciples. I would urge you to read the biohraphies of living person's, particularly as it related to the lead section. This paragrah in particular: "The lead section must summarise the life and works of the person with due weight. When writing about controversies in the lead section of a biography, relevant material should neither be suppressed nor allowed to overwhelm: always pay scrupulous attention to reliable sources, and make sure the lead correctly reflects the entirety of the article. Write clinically, and let the facts speak for themselves. These concerns are especially pressing at biographies of living persons." 71.89.114.35 (talk) 01:06, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

@MelanieN:, @Muboshgu:, @Acroterion: While you're catching up on your reading, I suggest that you look not terribly much farther up this Talk page where long-time Wikipedia editor/administrator MelanieN opines that the Epstein info belongs in the lede, as other editors have episodically sought to scrub it/dilute it/obscure it from Wikipedia readers. You haven't seen that I have vilates (sic), any wikipedia (sic) policies/pirnciples (sic) in the paragrah (sic) you cite, in biohraphies (sic) or anywhere else. Thank you for your support. Activist (talk) 15:16, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

"Due weight" would suggest including the reason Acosta resigned / was fired in the lead. It is possible that the body can include some of the sourced information on Mulvaney wanting Acosta out because he wasn't deregulating fast enough, if the sourcing is sufficient to warrant that inclusion. – Muboshgu (talk) 15:54, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Capitalization

Because "secretary of labor" is modified by the adjectives "27th" and "United States", it is treated as a common noun, not a proper title. See example "Nixon was the 37th president of the United States." If Wikipedia doesn't capitalize "president", then it shouldn't capitalize "secretary of labor".  Eyer ^contact  22:15, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Inadequate Context on "Lenient" Deal

"In 2007–2008, as U.S. attorney, Acosta approved a plea deal that allowed human-trafficking ring-leader Jeffrey Epstein to plead guilty to a single state charge of solicitation, in exchange for a federal non-prosecution agreement."

All it says is a "single charge" which implies there were others but those aren't mentioned. IIRC, there was a whole slew of charges and all of them were dismissed as part of the plea arrangement. Saying "single charge" without giving some sense of the others is very clunky and gives the impression of bias. The deal Epstein got was extraordinarily lenient, and despite rumors he was working with law enforcement in any informative capacity it turns out he was not. And now it's obvious to most people that Epstein was involved in some kind of state-sponsored blackmail operation, and while that may not be something to be mentioned in this Article, leaving out the relevent context that Epstein had many charges dismissed in addition to an extremely lenient "punishment" for no reason that is apparent, even to this day. And yet, Alexander Acosta is still politically viable, which is yet another reason why the context should be mentioned in the Lede, along with what is already there. Else move it all out of the Lede and give the full context further down in the body. My point is to avoid telling only half the truth, particularly in the Lede where it is so glaringly obvious.2605:6000:6FC0:25:681C:395:EC3B:52E9 (talk) 20:10, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

Kirkland & Ellis

Alexander Acosta applied for a job with the law firm Kirkland & Ellis after giving Jeffrey Epstein the sweetheart non-prosecution agreement. The firm is the same firm that represented Jeffrey Epstein. Anyone in the United States think this is normal? --217.234.75.244 (talk) 13:32, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Update Acosta current employment, history since resigning.

Enough time has passed since his resignation to update history of employment 2600:1014:B102:AB62:249:8EB4:B6F6:D281 (talk) 13:04, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

NPOV and accuracy: no mention of 11th Circuit ruling

There’s an entire giant POV and OR section about a court decision that was legally incorrect and reversed by the Eleventh Circuit that doesn’t mention the reversal or Acosta’s vindication on appeal (supported by Biden DOJ attorneys). I tried to add information about the reversal, and was reverted. Not going to get into an edit war since there’s clearly a political agenda to smear someone, but this is why people don’t trust Wikipedia.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20616234-wild-11th 2600:1700:12D0:E490:F8EC:7073:BCC5:339B (talk) 15:35, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm not clear on why you are seeking admin help here- admins do not settle content disputes and I see no other use of the admin powers that is required here. Please discuss the issue here, and if that fails to resolve the matter, there are avenues of dispute resolution available. I will say that people shouldn't blindly trust Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:General disclaimer. Readers should evaluate the sources provided, to judge them and the information for themselves. 331dot (talk) 08:56, 16 December 2022 (UTC)