About Alexander Acosta
Rene Alexander Acosta (born January 16, 1969) is an American lawyer and government official who served as the 27th United States secretary of labor from 2017 to 2019 during the first presidency of Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, Acosta had previously served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He had also served as dean of the Florida International University College of Law. As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 2007–08, Acosta oversaw a federal investigation into possible sex trafficking crimes by financier Jeffrey Epstein that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement under which Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution-related charges under Florida state law and received only a 13-month prison sentence. The agreement, which granted immunity from federal prosecution and extended immunity to potential co-conspirators, drew renewed scrutiny in 2019 after Epstein’s arrest in New York on federal sex trafficking charges. Acosta defended the agreement as a strategic decision to secure a conviction amid concerns about trial risk, but it was widely criticized as unusually lenient. Facing bipartisan criticism, Acosta resigned as Secretary of Labor in July 2019. After leaving public office, Acosta entered the private sector and in March 2025 joined the board of directors of Newsmax, where he chairs the audit committee. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard University in 1990, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from university. Then, he became Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division on August 22, 2003, where he was known for increasing federal prosecutions against human trafficking. The case resulted in UBS paying $780 million in fines, and for the first time in history, the bank provided the United States with the names of individuals who were using secret Swiss bank accounts to avoid U.S. federal income taxes.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.