R. Alexander Acosta, Labor Secretary (CSPAN/Screenshot)
President Donald Trump hasn't said a word about Labor Secretary Alex Acosta since the press conference about Jeffrey Epstein.
Acosta has been under scrutiny for a "sweetheart" plea deal that allowed Epstein to spend just a few hours a day in prison for 13 months.
Acosta's only goal was to show the president that he was strong enough to fight back against his accusers. While Acosta didn't apologize or admit to doing anything wrong, Trump wasn't pleased with the press conference.
"Now we are being told that while initially, he was pretty favorable with how [Acosta] performed and how he defended himself, he has since become skeptical and is now quizzing people about whether they think his answers were sufficient to essentially make this controversy go away," said CNN's Katlin Collins.
The president isn't necessarily concerned about the plea deal itself but how the story is playing in the media and if it would follow his administration.
"Now that is raising some concerns," Collins continued. "Since [then] he's been quizzing people about how Alex Acosta did, about how long Alex Acosta could potentially last in this administration."
Since Trump when on a rant last Saturday claiming without evidence that he would be arrested on Tuesday, he has gone on daily attacks against Bragg, culminating with his threat late Thursday of "death and destruction."
With the Journal's editors asserting that they are not convinced that Bragg has an iron-clad case against Trump, they also wrote that GOP lawmakers -- who demanding Bragg appear before them and explain himself -- are way out of line.
Worse still, wrote that GOP lawmakers got suckered into a fight by Trump that they can't win.
"Donald Trump, the Beltway press corps and Democrats don’t agree on much, but they do all want Mr. Trump to dominate the nation’s political news and conversation. The puzzle is why House Republicans seem eager to fall into this trap by investigating Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s potential prosecution of Mr. Trump," they wrote before adding, "Democrats couldn’t be happier that House Republicans are helping them in their Trump obsession by saying the GOP plans to investigate Mr. Bragg and haul him up before Congress."
They forcefully asserted, "This is a loser’s game. Mr. Bragg has said he won’t cooperate, and he has the law on his side," and then added, "His local police power is protected from federal intrusion as part of the Constitution’s separation of powers. If he refuses a House subpoena, he is likely to win in court if Republicans try to compel him. Even if he showed up at a House hearing, Mr. Bragg could rightly refuse to comment, as any federal or state prosecutor would, because doing so could jeopardize his investigation. He’s unlikely to comply with document requests for the same reason."
The editorial went on to add that Republicans are wasting time that could be spent passing legislation and doung the work they were sent Washington D.C. to do before the editors took their final shot at the Republicans who have "hit the cable shows to talk about Mr. Trump 24 hours a day."
"Republicans are foolish to feed the Trump maw with a campaign against Mr. Bragg that exceeds their power and has no chance of success," they concluded.
Visitors to London's Westminster Abbey are to be allowed to stand – in socks – for the first time in the exact spot where the Charles will be crowned king.
Special guided “barefoot” tours in celebration of the May 6 coronation will include access to the Cosmati pavement, one of Britain’s greatest medieval art treasures, which is usually roped off to the public.
The intricate 13th century mosaic floor – at the heart of the Abbey’s coronation theatre – has been the site of the crowning of kings and queens for more than 700 years.
It was covered over with carpet at many previous coronations including Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953 and George VI’s in 1937, but for Charles, it will remain uncovered, the Abbey said.
Rich in symbolism, it is said to depict the universe, with a spherical globe at its centre, and even foretells the end of the world.
Tourists – kept to small groups of 10 – will be asked to remove their shoes and walk in socks to help protect the pavement, made of geometric pattens of marble, stone, glass and metal, in the Sacrarium.
The guided Crown and Church visits will begin on May 15, a week after the coronation.
Charles will be crowned sitting in the Coronation Chair which will rest on a low stepped dais above the centre circle of the ancient floor in front of the High Altar.
The tour by Abbey experts will reveal the London abbey’s royal links, tell stories from coronations, visit the chair, and allow access to the pavement and explain its history and significance.
“It will be the first time in living memory that the Abbey has invited visitors to walk on the Cosmati pavement where the Coronation Chair will be placed for the crowning of HM The King on Saturday 6 May,” a spokesperson for the abbey said.
The 24ft 10in square pavement was commissioned by Henry III and completed in 1268 as a glittering adornment to his Abbey.
A cryptic inscription even predicts the end of the world, claiming it would last 19,683 years, with a riddle adding together the life spans of different animals including dogs, horses, men, stags, ravens, eagles and whales.
It is considered the best surviving example outside Italy of a rare type of mosaic stonework known as Cosmati after the Italian family who perfected the technique.
The pavement was hidden under carpet and away from public view for 150 years from the 1870s until it was unveiled after a two-year programme of conservation work in 2010.
Britain's late queen was depicted standing on the spot where she was crowned in Australian-born artist Ralph Heimans’ portrait for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Other elements of the special programme include a new exhibition in the Chapter House. It will explain and illustrate the key elements of the coronation service and its artefacts.
The display opens on April 12 and is included in entry to the Abbey. The Crown and Church tours will run until July 29 and cost £15, plus Abbey entry.
Rich in symbolism, Westminster Abbey's Cosmati pavement where Charles is to be crowned king, is said to depict the universe, with a spherical globe at its centre, and even foretells the end of the world. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/dpa
Reacting to a late-night outburst by Donald Trump where he threatened "death and destruction" if he is indicted in a Manhattan courtroom, the MSNBC "Morning Joe" panel was in agreement that the former president is scared to death and becoming increasingly unmoored from reality.
After midnight, Trump took to his Truth Social account to lash out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, writing: "What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?" Trump wrote. "Why and who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely (sic) hates the USA!"
That led MSNBC host Al Sharpton to comment, "Beneath it all, from when I knew Donald Trump before, I think that he is very nervous. We are looking at a man that is becoming unhinged," before later adding the Truth Social rant "shows a man that has lost control. He is hearing footsteps and they're getting closer."
"The guy is shaking in his boots," host Joe Scarborough later added. "Now, of course, he's threatening the lives of other people."
"But you read these tweets or whatever you call it on that failing platform, and this is a guy who, you're right, he's out of his mind scared," he continued. "He is melting down. Now, he is threatening riots that will lead to death and destruction if he is charged with a misdemeanor."
