Department of Labor calendar entries for Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta covering the timeframe May through July 2017.

Records received from November 2018 through September 2019

Records received in November 2019

Records received January 2020

For a timeline of the meetings in this particular production, see below.

Records received March 2020

Annotations of January 2020 calendar production

These records contain calendar entries for former Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta covering the timeframe May 2017 through January 2018. The calendars show scheduled meetings with a wide range of interests including union leaders and lobbyists, Trump advisers, and other individuals with ties to the Trump campaign.

Meetings with Unions

May 1, 2017: Introductory call with Dan McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

May 2, 2017: Meeting with Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Union.

May 4, 2017: Introductory call with Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters.

May 4, 2017: Introductory meeting with Mike Sacco, president of the Seafarers International Union.

May 5, 2017: Introductory call with Chuck Canterbury, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police.

May 8, 2017: Introductory meeting with Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

May 8, 2017: Introductory call with James Callahan, general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers.

May 8, 2017: Introductory call with Nate Catura, immediate past president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

May 9, 2017: Introductory call with Robert Cresanti, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association.

May 11, 2017: Introductory call with Eric Dean, general president of the Iron Workers Union.

May 12, 2017: Introductory call with Mark McManus, president of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry.

May 16, 2017: Introductory phone call with Ken Rigmaiden, general president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.

June 8, 2017: Follow-up meeting from May 12 introductory call with Terry O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers International Union of North America.

Nov. 17, 2017: Introductory meeting with Raymond Hair, president of the American Federation of Musicians.

Nov. 28, 2017: Introductory meeting with Chris Shelton, president of Communications Workers of America.

Meetings with Trade and Lobbying Groups

April 29, 2017: Meeting with Nathan Mehrens regarding the Office of Labor-Management Standards. Mehrens, the associate deputy secretary, was formerly an executive at RWP Labor, a consulting firm focused on breaking up union-organizing efforts and decertifying existing unions, and the president of Americans for Limited Government.

May 1, 2017: Introductory call with Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.

May 5, 2017: Introductory call with Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Nov. 10, 2017: Call with Tom Donohue and Nick Geale.

May 8, 2017: Breakfast meeting with Dan Bryant, senior vice president for global public policy and government affairs at Walmart.

May 10, 2017: Phone call with Jerry Howard, president of the National Association of Home Builders.

May 9, 2017: Phone call with Michael Chertoff, former homeland security secretary, regarding a reference for Paul Liben, who had interviewed for the speechwriter position on May 6. Liben had served as director of speechwriting for Chertoff while also working for the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. Liben joined the Department of Energy in September 2017.

May 9, 2017: Meeting with White House Liaison Bob Bozzuto and Andrew Wimer, assistant director of communications at the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm.

May 9, 2017: Call with Dawn Sweeney, president of the National Restaurant Association.

May 10, 2017: Introductory call with Dan Yager, CEO of the HR Policy Association.

May 10, 2017: Phone call with Sandy Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Kennedy is a member of the White House Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

May 11, 2017: Phone Call with Hal Quinn, then-president of the National Mining Association.

May 11, 2017: Dinner with Josh Bolten, president and CEO of the Business Roundtable, following up from a phone call on May 8.

May 15, 2017: Meeting with Justin Sayfie. President Trump appointed Sayfie to be a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships in April 2018 and Sayfie is expected to hold that position until 2021.  Sayfie simultaneously works as a foreign agent at Ballard Partners, a Trump-connected lobbying firm, where he represents the governments of Turkey and Qatar. In 2005, Sayfie was appointed to the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Southern District of Florida. That same year, Acosta was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Sayfie also appears in other Labor Department records obtained by American Oversight, having lobbied the agency’s Wage and Hour Division on behalf of Caregiver Services Inc., which was being investigated for potentially misclassifying workers.

May 22, 2017: Follow-up meeting from a May 12 phone call with Matt Shay, president of the National Retail Federation.

June 6, 2017: Meeting with Juanita Duggan, then-president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Duggan resigned from the position in December 2019 amid falling membership, and had been appointed to the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board earlier that year.

Sept. 7, 2017: Meeting with UPS representatives including Teri McClure. The meeting was requested by UPS regarding multi-employer pensions and workforce of the future issues.

Nov. 20, 2017: Dinner meeting with Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer who is co-chairman of the Federalist Society. Leo has advised Trump on judicial selection, assisted with the Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court selection and confirmation process, and served as a member of the presidential transition team. Acosta’s relationship with Leo had fueled suspicion that Acosta was pursuing a path to a federal judge position. Acosta and Leo had dinner on Nov. 10, 2017, as well, according to earlier calendars provided to American Oversight.

Nov. 27, 2017: Breakfast meeting with Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center. Diament was appointed by President Obama to serve on the president’s faith-based advisory council.

Meetings with Trump Allies

April 29, 2017: Meeting with former Trump campaign adviser Curtis Ellis regarding the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. Ellis joined America First Priorities in October 2017 as a senior policy adviser.

April 29, 2017: Interview with Jennifer Hazelton, former communications director in Georgia for the Trump campaign, for a position at the Office of Public Affairs.

May 2, 2017: Phone call with then-White House Counsel Don McGahn. Acosta said he “needed a few minutes on the phone with Don.” McGahn was credited with selecting Acosta as the next labor secretary after Trump’s first selection, Andy Puzder, withdrew from the process following allegations of domestic abuse.

May 3, 2017: Interview with David Dorey, a Labor Department attorney who at O’Melveny & Myers had represented American Airlines, ExxonMobil, Maria del Pino Martin, Reed Cordish, Seema Verna, and Wilbur Ross.

May 4, 2017: Phone call with then-White House Adviser Steve Bannon.

May 4, 2017: Interview with Raymond “Tony” Casler for an advance team position. Casler, who was formerly employed at the Trump National Doral Miami resort, was later hired as the director of advance at the Department of Energy.

May 5, 2017: Coffee with Reed Cordish, then-special assistant to the president in the White House Office of American Innovation.

May 8, 2017: Hour-long “get to know you” meeting with Steve Bannon in the West Wing of the White House. This meeting was originally scheduled for May 10, but was canceled and apparently rescheduled for May 8, according to calendars on the Department of Labor’s website, although the meeting is redacted on those calendars.

May 11, 2017: Meeting with Ivanka Trump in her West Wing office to discuss “Apprenticeships/Germany.”

May 15, 2017: Dinner with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

May 31, 2017: Call with Sen. Orrin Hatch regarding “Pensions but not fiduciary.”

Nov. 1, 2017: The National Economic Council hosted a briefing on congressional tax cut plans with a select group of participants: Acosta, Steven Mnuchin, Sonny Perdue, Mick Mulvaney, Linda McMahon, Kirstjen Nielsen, Rick Dearborn, Nick Ayers, Gary Cohn, Kellyanne Conway, Kevin Hassett, Hope Hicks, Sarah Sanders, Marc Short, and Ivanka Trump.

Nov. 2, 2017: Breakfast meeting with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney.

Nov. 2, 2017: Meeting with HUD Secretary Ben Carson regarding “infrastructure.” Other attendees included Matt Hunter, Tim Petty, and Nick Geale.

Nov. 27, 2017: Dinner with Secretary Ben Carson and his wife, Candy Carson.

Dec. 6, 2017: Personal dinner with Utah Sen. Mike Lee, his wife Sharon Lee, and Rob Porter, then White House staff secretary. Porter was formerly chief of staff to former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, and resigned from the White House amid domestic abuse allegations in 2018.

Other Meetings

April 29, 2017: Meeting with Nick Geale and Paul Ray.

May 2, 2017: Interview with David Zatezalo for assistant secretary of mine safety and health. Zatezalo was appointed to the position on Nov. 16, 2017. He is a coal mining executive from West Virginia with significant financial interests in American Electric Power, Clorox, Exxon Mobil, NextEra Energy, General Electric, and more.

May 3, 2017: Meeting with the acting commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bill Wiatrowski.

May 4, 2017: Call with Sen. Lamar Alexander.

May 10, 2017: Meeting with David Cleary, Sen. Alexander’s chief of staff.

May 4, 2017: Meeting with Rep. Tim Walberg.

May 4, 2017: Meeting with Rep. Bradley Byrne.

May 4, 2017: Meeting with Rep. Virginia Foxx.

May 5, 2017: Meeting with Christine Ciccone, assistant secretary in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.

May 5, 2017: Meeting with Rep. Tom Cole.

May 8, 2017: H1B initiative meeting with Paul Ray, Molly Conway, and Shawn Packer.

May 9, 2017: Briefing with Nick Geale, Paul Ray, and Molly Conway to review H2B visas.

May 9, 2017: Phone call with Sen. Tim Scott. The subject of the call was “Fiduciary.”

May 10, 2017: Meeting with Federalist Society contributor and NYU Law Professor Samuel Estreicher. Estreicher is director of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at NYU.

May 11, 2017: Breakfast meeting with Sen. Ted Cruz.

May 12, 2017: Meeting with Bob Bozzuto and Lindsey Freeman, a Justice Department attorney.

May 12, 2017: Interview with Michael Gableman, former justice of Wisconsin Supreme Court.

May 15, 2017: Meeting with Richard Burkhauser, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers for Trump from 2017 to 2019.

May 18, 2017: Bilateral meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Alfonso Navarrete Prida.

May 19, 2017: Bilateral meeting with Spain’s Minister for Employment and Social Security Fátima Báñez García.

May 24, 2017: “Casual catch-up” meeting with former Sen. Mel Martinez.

May 30, 2017: Dinner meeting with Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America.

June 9, 2017: Meeting with UBS Americas executives John Nolan and Tom Naratil in New York.

June 21, 2017: Phone call with Rep. Bruce Poliquin. Poliquin initially requested a joint call with then-Secretary John Kelly to discuss H-2B visas.

Aug. 31, 2017: Informal secretary “huddle” outside of Corpus Christi International Airport. Attendees included Acosta, Elaine Chao, Rick Perry, David Shulkin, Elaine Duke, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Blake Farenthold, Nick Ayers, and Jarrod Agen.

Sept. 7, 2017: Arranged temporary biweekly calls with North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry and South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director Cheryl Stanton regarding Hurricane Irma.  

Sept. 7, 2017: Phone call with Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler regarding Hurricane Irma.

Nov. 10, 2017: Call with Judge John Kastrenakes, who served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida from 1995 to 2009.

Nov. 1, 2017: Breakfast meeting with Sen. Richard Burr. Acosta requested this meeting.

Dec. 12, 2017: Monthly meeting with Inspector General Scott Dahl.

Dec. 20, 2017: Breakfast meeting with Roger Clegg, CEO of the Center for Equal Opportunity.

Jan. 18, 2018: Meeting with Sen. Maggie Hassan.