The Wall Street Journal reports Financier Jeffrey Epstein Indicted on Federal Sex-Trafficking Charges.
Financier Jeffrey Epstein was indicted in New York on federal sex-trafficking charges stemming from an alleged scheme to exploit underage girls, another chapter in a lurid legal drama that has surrounded the politically connected money manager for years.
Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Epstein, 66 years old, with two counts related to sex trafficking of minors, which together carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. He was arrested Saturday night at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey as he was returning from Paris on his private jet.
The 14-page charging document covers alleged activity in Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan and Palm Beach homes from 2002 to 2005. The indictment alleges Mr. Epstein orchestrated and financed a yearslong sex-trafficking operation in which he lured dozens of underage girls—some as young as 14 years old—to the homes in New York and Florida. He recruited them to perform massages in the nude that steadily progressed to masturbation and sex acts, prosecutors said.
As part of the indictment, prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of Mr. Epstein’s multistory townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which has been valued at approximately $77 million. He also owns 15 vehicles, a private island and five other homes, prosecutors said.
2008 Revisited
Florida prosecutors attempted to sweep this under the rug with an extremely lenient plea bargain arrangement in 2008.
New York prosecutors say that agreement does not apply in New York and there are new incidents.
Name Name
TruNews reports Epstein might be willing to name names which will bring down the House of Cards.
Speculation about who might be connected to this scandal dates back more than 15 years to the period of time when Epstein was first under investigation.
Prior to the announcement of his arrest and the unsealing of his indictment, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals had approved the unsealing of documents related to Epstein’s prior lawsuit related to alleged sex trafficking in Florida. That 27-page decision stated that the financier was connected to “numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders.”
Officials in New York say they deem Epstein a severe flight risk and have asked that he not be given bail throughout the duration of his trial. But, the well-connected former hedge fund manager’s attorneys have already offered to “name names” if prosecutors are willing to give him a plea deal that gives him a maximum sentence of five years.
Vast Trove of Lewd Photos
CNBC reports Jeffrey Epstein had ‘vast trove of lewd’ photos of girls: Prosecutors.
- Federal prosecutors on Monday said wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein is a “serial sexual predator” who has maintained “a vast trove of lewd photographs” of young-looking women or girls as they asked a judge to hold him without bail on child sex trafficking charges.
- Prosecutors said Epstein, a former friend of both President Donald Trump and ex-President Bill Clinton, represented both a serious risk of flight to avoid the charges, and a risk to the public if he is freed on bail.
- Epstein, 66, is accused of trafficking “dozens” of minor girls, some of young as 14 years old, from 2002 to 2005. An indictment accuses him of having the girls brought to him to sexually abuse in his New York and Florida mansions.
- Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony solicitation of prostitution, according to his plea agreement on charges brought in Florida.
- He is accused in a new indictment unsealed Monday of trafficking “dozens” of minor girls, some of them as young as 14 years old, from 2002 to 2005. The indictment accuses him of having the girls brought to him to sexually abuse in his New York and Florida mansions, and then paying each of the girls hundreds of dollars.
Worry for Trump?
Bloomberg says Epstein Arrest Is a Worry for Donald Trump
Epstein, who has been accused repeatedly over the years of manipulating and molesting underage girls, was arrested at a New Jersey airport on Saturday, according to multiple media reports. The Daily Beast, which broke the news of Epstein’s arrest, correctly predicted that prosecutors would accuse the financier of luring minors and other women to his homes by offering cash for massages and then sexually molesting them.
In an interesting twist, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan has put its public corruption unit in charge of the Epstein case – not, as might be expected, its human-trafficking team (although the latter unit is being consulted reportedly). It’s likely, at least in part, that the case is being handled by corruption prosecutors because of a controversial and lenient plea deal struck between Epstein and federal law enforcement officials in Florida back in 2008. The financier was being investigated at the time for having sex with underage girls – many of them orphans or runaways – at his Palm Beach mansion.
The Miami-based prosecutors had prepared a 53-page federal indictment against Epstein, but his deal allowed him to plead guilty only to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He served 13 months in a Palm Beach prison that allowed him to leave six days a week to work. The deal also granted immunity to any of Epstein’s potential co-conspirators, who otherwise might have been swept up in his abuses.
Alexander Acosta, who is now President Donald Trump’s labor secretary, was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 2008 and he supervised the group of lawyers that forged the Epstein deal.
Epstein’s Contact List Book
- Bill Clinton; the U.K.’s Prince Andrew; powerhouse attorneys such as Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, and Roy Black; and business contacts such as Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, and Leslie Wexner, the owner of retailer Victoria’s Secret. Several years ago, Gawker published a copy of Epstein’s address book and it was packed with marquee names from Hollywood, Wall Street and Washington.
- For a while Trump was more than just a casual acquaintance of Epstein. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Charges Against Trump
During the 2016 presidential campaign, an unidentified young woman filed a suit against Trump in which she alleged that he raped her when she was 13 at a party at Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan. Trump denied the claims and the woman later dropped the suit because, her lawyer said, she was intimidated by death threats. The Trump camp described her allegations as “untrue.”er sources mention this new plea deal.
Heresay
The full scope of Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring. pic.twitter.com/LQi4aMY3md
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) July 7, 2019
Many of the important pieces of this story are “Heresay”.
Being on someone’s name list is not proof of anything. Heck, much of this does not even amount to allegations. It’s pure speculation.
Speculatively speaking, looking back to 2005 and 2006, is it more likely someone wanted to protect Bill Clinton or Trump? I don’t know, nor does anyone else (except those who may have been directly involved).
It’s unwise to go down these lines of thoughts, I only did so to balance out the Bloomberg slant against Trump.
Let it All Hang Out
Only one source reports Epstein is willing to name names.
Will he? I don’t know, nor does anyone else until we see the names.
But if Epstein is willing to talk, I am willing to listen.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
“HE SAID NOT TO TELL ANYONE”: HOW TRUMP KEPT TABS ON JEFFREY EPSTEIN
link to vanityfair.com
very interesting article and not at all surprising
Clinton News Network is claiming that Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director Comey… yeah that James Comey… is reportedly on the prosecution team.
If she is anything like her old man, she will throw the case on purpose
Is that supposed to be worse than the son-in-law of the attorney general joining the White House legal team? Or, is it worse than the attorney general, who in his confirmation suggested that he would recuse himself in this very situation, now refusing to recuse himself in the Epstein case, even though this attorney general’s father hired an unqualified Epstein as a high school teacher, without a college degree, and, even though a firm where Barr once worked represented Epstein in the past? Why try to focus on a single conflict of interest of your choosing? There are plenty of conflicts to go around, whether or not you’re paying attention to them.
Is Anthony Weiner on the list?
Unless you are named Nancy Pelosi, it is illegal to bribe members of Congress. So if you do want to bribe a member of Congress, you have to call it a speaking fee. Or you hire their spouse / kid at an absurd salary way above those with similar skills. In a pinch, you can give them insider stock information, since Congress is exempt.
If you want to get money from rich pedophiles, you can’t ask them to write a check. That would be illegal, probably even if you are a member of Congress. But you can tell them to “invest” in your hedge fund and charge them a fee to supply children – oops manage money.
Trump the candidate was right. Drain the swamp
You missed the biggest part of the story. The government said the public corruption crimes unit will be the lead investigator. This means one or more sitting in office are part of the ring and will likely be charged for a federal crime. If you see a bunch of politicians retire before 2020 you will know they were involved.
Epstein’s money management skills are questionable. He is best known for his superior ability in assisting the wealthy in evading taxes. If they open that up for investigation also, expect well known money managers to be involved.
His “money management skills” are no better, nor worse, than anybody elses. Guys on welfare don’t have any magical “welfare getting skills.” Just as lottery winners don’t have any special “number picking skills.” He’s just some average dunce who got a bigger check from The Fed than most others. Neither here nor there.
If he used some of those funds to facilitate crimes, or worse, facilitate government officials partaking in crimes, that is an Epstein problem. Arbitrary, average, dunces being handed enough of what The Fed steals from others to afford doing so, is a problem much bigger, wider and more fundamental problem, than just some schmuck trying to buy his way into some panties.
This site has some of the worst editing features I have ever seen. My draft numbers are correct. The posted numbers are incorrect. A previous reply vanished, even though the ‘replies’ showed it as being present.
This thing smells fishy and looks like Trump will be suspected as an accomplice. Wait until the the circus starts up again.
“Bloomberg says Epstein arrest is a worry for Donald Trump”
“Trump Was ‘Only One’ To Help Prosecutor In 2009 Epstein Case”
Left-liberal Bloomberg can only wish it were a problem for Trump.
Michael Bloomberg runs all around NYC telling anyone who will listen that he is the most eligible billionaire bachelor in NYC. Wonder if Bloomberg’s name is on Epstein’s list?
Everyone who lived in NYC at the time of storm Sandy knows then Mayor Bloomberg got on his private jet and flew to his 2nd mansion in a private gated community in Bermuda. He left Gotham to fend for itself. He said he phoned the police commissioner a few times to check on the flooding in NYC, but the weather in Bermuda was nice. He did this while mayor.
I am sure there is a perfectly innocent explanation for all this:
“Former President Bill Clinton was a much more frequent flyer on a registered sex offender’s infamous jet than previously reported, with flight logs showing the former president taking at least 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express” — even apparently ditching his Secret Service detail for at least five of the flights, according to records obtained by FoxNews.com.
Clinton’s presence aboard Jeffrey Epstein’s Boeing 727 on 11 occasions has been reported, but flight logs show the number is more than double that, and trips between 2001 and 2003 included extended junkets around the world with Epstein and fellow passengers identified on manifests by their initials or first names, including “Tatiana.”
The tricked-out jet earned its Nabakov-inspired nickname because it was reportedly outfitted with a bed where passengers had group sex with young girls.
In a statement, Clinton claimed he had “no idea” about Epstein’s behavior or the crimes that he committed, particularly with underage girls.
Time will tell what happens next in the case, but there is speculation that Clinton may have visited Epstein’s “Orgy Island” — where underage girls were allegedly drugged and raped — in the past.
Who initiated this investigation? William Barr recused himself because he was associated with the law firm that represented Epstein. Barr obviously knew this was coming well in advance. Therefore, it would appear that this investigation was initiated by Trump’s DOJ at his behest.
It appears that the heads to roll will be the Democrat politicians, and the Hollywood elite. And of course, there will be all kinds of surprises revealed.
Why is it always so necessary to continue to defend a person who
*has his own attorney recommend that he not meet Robert Mueller, because he lies too much,
You my friend need to read about “cult of personality”
This is actually more appropriate. “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” from ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds’ by Charles MacKay, 1841
money and power tends to create ‘perversity’…it s always been like that and won t change anytime soon…. Perversity is in our genes, with most of us anyway, but some can afford to be more perverse than others….
If Epstein miraculously survives the hit jobs put on him by the connected pedophiles, he still has his prison buddies to look forward to. Trump is out for blood.
I don’t believe any big names will find themselves with problems. Epstein is well connected with people in positions of power and has likely worked with them on blackmail schemes. The swamp and the international pedos will be protected. This is an age old story of those with money and power indulging themselves at the expense of the young and vulnerable.
It seems very unclear from where Epstein got his money. It is just accepted that he is a brilliant financier. I think that following the $ would be most interesting.
I wouldn’t trust anything Epstein says. But if he has pictures, that’s a different story. Without evidence, those who hate Trump will find him guilty. Not any different from every other accusation against him.
And those who hate Clinton will find him guilty too. How about keeping an open mind or is that to much to ask to a Trump worshiper…
even if he names names the powerful and well connected won’t be affected. Justice is about arresting and convicting poor people.
It keeps coming out that he wasn’t a billionaire; that his links to Bear-Stearns were questionable. Has anyone considered the possibility that he was nothing more than a pimp to the powerful?
Can it really be true if Brussels is not on the map? If any of this is true, he will likely be found dead in his jail cell.
I would imagine that Clinton is at the top of list. He may be in real trouble this time. Clinton was known to be involved with young girls when he was governor. I seriously doubt that Trump is involved. Time will tell. This story finally has legs and is evolving.
Clinton took 26 trips on Epstein’s plane and ditched Secret Service protection on at least five of them.
link to foxnews.com
Hidden replies!!!
What a concept!!
A lot of people seem to be pinning high hopes on this Epstein arrest, but I don’t see any big names going down for it. If the web of compromised people is as large as advertised, it would be an unparalleled bust, which is why I believe it will be soft pedaled and gradually fade from public consciousness. That seems to be the norm now where people uncover corruption and even though it becomes common knowledge, nothing happens. We all know central bankers are killing the global economy yet they sleep like babies.
I’d like to be proven wrong here, but until I see a wave of perp walks I’m unconvinced this goes anywhere meaningful outside of internet forums like this.
maybe. my cynical outlook certainly agrees with you. but something seems different with the involvement of the public corruption unit this go ’round: link to miamiherald.com
Cernovich, a Trump fan, is the reason Epstein was finally arrested – Cernovich appealed to get the closed file on Epstein opened. Apparently Trump flying with Epstein once is the same as Clinton flying 26 times including without Secret Service. Clinton was such a sex addict he almost lost his presidency over it.
I wonder if the CIA has been working overtime lately?