New York Times: Who Protected Jeffrey Epstein?
Mr. Epstein is not the only one due a reckoning with justice.
By The Editorial Board
[…]
At first glance, the Epstein saga looks like another example of how justice is not, in fact, blind — of how it tilts toward the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable. Mr. Epstein, who has claimed to have made his fortune managing other rich people’s money, was not just wealthy; he was politically and socially wired, hobnobbing with such boldfaced names as Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
He donated tens of millions of dollars to institutions like Harvard University, which he never attended but where he financed construction of a campus building and formed strong connections to faculty members and administrators. He is also known for having amassed a quirky “collection” of scientists, in whom he liberally invested over the years.
Upon closer examination, this case offers an even more warped picture of justice. Mr. Epstein retained a cadre of high-price, high-profile lawyers who went after prosecutors with everything they had — at least according to Mr. Acosta. In 2011, facing criticism over the plea agreement, Mr. Acosta complained about having endured “a yearlong assault” by Mr. Epstein’s legal sharks. During his 2017 confirmation hearings to become labor secretary, Mr. Acosta claimed to have forged the best deal possible under the circumstances.
That is hardly comforting. It betrays a system in which the rich and well-connected can bully public officials into quiescence — or into pursuing a deal so favorable to the accused that it runs afoul of the law.
Neither should Mr. Acosta and his former team members be allowed to wave off the tough or awkward questions that are likely to arise going forward. Under pressure from Congress, the Justice Department has opened a review into the handling of the case, and last Wednesday a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of up to 2,000 pages of related documents. Already, distressing new details are surfacing in the case. Most notably, when Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan residence was searched over the weekend, according to a court filing from prosecutors, law enforcement officials recovered “hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of sexually suggestive photographs of fully- or partially-nude females,” some of which “appear to be of underage girls.”
In his request that Mr. Epstein be held without bail, the United States attorney for New York’s Southern District, Geoffrey Berman, noted, “The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant.”
Whatever new details emerge, whatever new participants may be implicated, whatever public officials are found to have failed in protecting Mr. Epstein’s victims, the time for secrecy and excuses and sweetheart deals is over. Mr. Epstein’s victims have waited long enough for answers, and they deserve justice.
WFMZ: New York state law could help Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers
NEW YORK – A new state law in New York could give Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims more opportunities to seek justice.
In January, the state legislature passed the Child Victims Act, which expanded the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases to give survivors more time to seek criminal charges or sue their abusers — or both.
Under the new law, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed in February, survivors of child sexual assault can pursue criminal felony charges until they turn 28, and file a civil lawsuit before age 55.
Epstein’s federal indictment prompted lawyers and advocacy groups to spread the word about another aspect of the law for those who fall outside the new limits.
Starting August 14, adult survivors of child sexual abuse will have one year to sue their abuser or a negligent institution for offenses in New York, no matter how long ago the abuse took place.
Laws are not typically retroactive, which is what makes the one year-window so special, lawyer Carrie Goldberg said.
[…]
I’m running for Senate in Kentucky against Mitch McConnell. Defeat Mitch. Defend Democracy.
Join us: http://www.AmyMcGrath.com
(LEX 18) — Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and combat pilot, announced Tuesday morning that she hopes to challenge Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his seat in 2020.
McGrath made her announcement with a YouTube video,
She appeared later on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to talk about her candidacy.
In her launch video, titled “The Letter,” McGrath speaks softly from a living room while light piano music plays and takes aim at McConnell.
“It started with this man,” McGrath says, tying the political dysfunction and hyper-partisan divide gripping Washington to McConnell’s long tenure. She goes on to charge that McConnell has “bit by bit, year by year, turned Washington into something we all despise.”
In her appearance on “Morning Joe,” McGrath quickly set down markers placing her at the more moderate end of the Democratic Party. Among other issues, McGrath said she would not support ending private health insurance or extending health care to undocumented immigrants.
McGrath jumped into the spotlight less than two years ago with a splashy campaign ad mining her Marine fighter pilot biography as she launched a run against GOP congressman Andy Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. Despite a strong showing in Fayette County, McGrath fell short and Barr was able to hold onto his seat.
McGrath has garnered national attention and interest ever since. In December, McGrath said she would not run for Kentucky governor, moving the speculation to the high-profile McConnell race.
But while the powerful Republican senator is, perhaps, the biggest prize up for grabs in the 2020 election cycle after the presidency, dislodging the self-styled “grim reaper” of Democratic policy initiatives will not be easy.
McConnell was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and assumed the top leadership position in 2015.
McConnell won his last election, in 2014, handily — beating Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes by more than 220,000 votes.
click to watch 11 minutes of Amy McGrath’s announcement and interview on morning joe this morning
https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/meet-the-retired-fighter-pilot-who-will-take-on-mitch-mcconnell-63521349663
Wish Amy could the many poor white counties out to vote against Mitch. He does nothing for them, should ashamed.
Amy McGrath faces daunting opponents- the tobacco, alcohol and thoroughbred industries, oh, and Mitch.
Ditch Mitch
Ms McGrath certainly made an impressive ‘don’t mess with me’ introduction. If she is going to run as a Marine, she should dress as one; otherwise she should soften her grooming and run as the most accomplished moderate Democrat in the State. One who will answer the mail and fight for her constituents as she fought for her Country.
Why isn’t anyone mentioning the woman who was threatened out of her lawsuit — she claimed Trump and Epstein both raped her. I hope she is willing to come out now. Age 13
here’s another story from 2016 in MotherJones: The Trump Files: Donald’s Creepy Poolside Parties in Florida
[…]
“Trump insisted on at least a three-to-two ratio of women to men at his bashes,” Kranish and Fisher reported. That got the approval of Roger Stone, the peddler of conspiracy theories and former Nixon aide who’s a longtime Trump adviser. “There’s a hundred beautiful women and ten guys,” Stone told the Post. “‘Look, how cool are we?’ I mean, it was great.”
[…]
“What it was was a way to get his friends together and bring a bunch of pretty girls with them,” said George Houraney, who owned the pageant with his then-wife, Jill Harth. Harth said Trump groped her during a Mar-a-Lago party in 1993, and then “kissed, fondled, and restrained” her during a visit to his daughter Ivanka’s bedroom, according to the Globe. Harth sued Trump but dropped the lawsuit in 1997. She told the Post that dropping the suit was a condition of settling a separate breach-of-contract suit Houraney and Harth filed against Trump. Trump strenuously denied Harth’s story.
The suit also mentioned other alleged sexual advances by Trump. The Globe described one encounter with a pageant hopeful:
Another Trump guest was Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire accused of raping numerous underage girls. “That was one of his best buddies,” Houraney told the Times. “He threw a party one night just because of Epstein. He said, ‘The other guys aren’t coming, but I don’t care because Jeff’s coming.’” The Trump campaign denied that Trump was “best buddies” with Epstein, telling the Times that “Mr. Trump only knew Mr. Epstein socially as someone who would occasionally use the club.”
Trump claims to be concerned about sex trafficking yet dismisses charges against Epstein as being old news
Well, H. Ross Perot took his final bow today.
Perot jumped in with both feet; I admire the level of his commitment. In his memory, I gave $10 to Tom Steyer’s campaign this afternoon.
H Ross Perot — wow I thought he was already dead and now I see he really wasn’t that old when he ran
I thought he was in his late sixties when he ran for president
the guardian:
Ted Cruz exploded over Fox News’s pro-Trump bias in 2016, new book claims
Rival for Republican presidential nomination believed Trump was actively helped by TV channel, American Carnage author writes
[…]
Cruz does not reserve his criticism of the media exclusively for Fox News. He tells the author the journalistic establishment acted as one in smothering Trump with coverage.
“I didn’t anticipate that Trump would receive over three billion dollars in free media,” the senator is quoted as saying. “There is no precedent for that in the history of the United States of America.”
In the end, in July 2016, Cruz agreed to address the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, at which Trump was nominated. But he refused to endorse the man who had dubbed him “Lyin’ Ted” and insulted his father and wife.
Alberta writes that Cruz told friends there was “no way in hell” he would subjugate himself to Trump in front of millions of viewers, remarking: “History isn’t kind to the man who holds Mussolini’s jacket.”
cbs news:
“forced her to have sex with his attorney, Alan Dershowitz” ??? that’s abuse if not torture no matter what age
ewwww
Dershowitz is still alive?? If true, might’ve been his last erection.
It’s crossed my mind that Dersh might have an Epstein connection, but I’ve never taken it seriously. I still don’t.
XR, I’m in your camp on that one.
Dersh serves as a paid fuxnewz ‘splainer and as a shill for trump. Like barr, he no longer practices law, having launched a successful career in shobiz.
If the pedophile epstein took pictures of little girls, he might have taken some of SFB doing things to little girls. There are pictures of the two of them together with little girls in the background.
Would a rapist SFB lose the “christian” right? No, he already is accused of raping a thirteen year old girl and they stayed with the creep. Would pictures make them leave? Probably not, they might want large reprints for their bathroom walls.
Summer time and the living is hot and humid. There are days I miss the five percent humidity of Denver.
I have a video up on YouTube showing my sailboat being hauled and blocked in the boat yard. Later, when the weather is cooler I need to take the engine out and rebuild it. Can’t even give away a boat that does not have a working engine.
BB, nice boat. Sure had a lot of algae on the bottom. I hate that stuff.
Pogo – thank you. Her bottom is a lot cleaner now. It is scary how many dings there are in it and the keel from all the stuff she hit out in the Chesapeake Bay. Most of it was below the surface. Things like logs floating down the Bay, crab traps, fishing net stakes, submerged trash and even a hatch cover (large like a door) about two feet below the surface. The keel bottom shows a lot of wear from plowing through mud and sand, plowing crabs is the way I think of it. What is good is that the bottom paint is still working after six years and many miles. I have a lot of work to do on her engine and hull. But, what will happen is I will probably keep her instead of selling her. First love, forever love type thing. Can’t give up the old girl. I cried when I finally got a broker to look at her. I cried as she was hauled just to do her bottom. And I cried this time too.
NEW THREAD
Like seeing the kid off to kindergarten for the first time.