R. Alexander Acosta, Law School Dean, Is Trump’s New Pick for Labor – The New York Times

If confirmed, Mr. Acosta could also help smooth the relationship between Mr. Trump and American Muslims who have accused him of fomenting religious discrimination. Testifying before Congress in 2011 at a hearing about the civil rights of American Muslims, Mr. Acosta made a forceful appeal that they should be viewed as any other American community would. “Now is a good time to remember that no community has a monopoly on any particular type of crime,” he said.

Despite the early praise Mr. Acosta has received, it is far from certain that his confirmation will be easy. Progressive groups, such as the Democratic “super PAC” American Bridge, were busy on Thursday digging through his background and looking for stains on his record. One area of potential concern is a 2008 investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general, which looked into whether hiring practices and case assignments at the civil rights division he led were based on political affiliations. A report on the case found that Mr. Acosta had ignored warning signs about such problems.

Another pitfall could be a 2004 letter to a federal judge in Ohio that Mr. Acosta sent while he was at the Justice Department, justifying “vote caging” in the presidential election. The practice, in which private citizens in Ohio challenged the eligibility of African-American voters, was widely seen as a Republican strategy to disenfranchise minorities.

Both issues came up when Mr. Acosta was interviewing to become dean of the University of Florida’s law school in 2014. Michelle Jacobs, a professor at the school, said that she and her colleagues were uncomfortable with how Mr. Acosta explained the vote-caging case. She also said Mr. Acosta had described paying lip service to lawmakers when called to testify before Congress.

“I feel that he lacked some transparency, and he didn’t show a full appreciation for ethical obligations,” Ms. Jacobs said. “We felt it deeply enough that we eliminated him from the list of candidates.”