Trump Could Probably Get Pizzella Confirmed-- But Might Lose The Senate In 2020 Because Of It

Pizzella has no problem working for crooks and scumbags

Have you noticed that when Trump fires someone, he then tends to do two things: replace them with someone much worse and give them the title of "acting"-whatever. Acting this or acting that doesn't have to be confirmed by the Senate and even this McConnell-run Trump-enabling Senate wouldn't want to go on record confirming some of the criminals and fascists Trump is putting into government positions. Sunday, we took a look at the Democratic senators who voted to confirm Alex Acosta as Labor Secretary. Four of these Trump's-Democrats were defeated-- in the midst of a purported "blue wave." I don't doubt Trump and McConnell could get all his nominees through... but no one wants that on their record for the next time they have to face the voters. Take Acosta's unsavory replacement, Patrick Pizzella, a total slime ball lobbyist. "In the late 1990s, his clients included a Russian front group, the government of the Marshall Islands and a trade association fighting against the minimum wage in a U.S. commonwealth. For these and other clients, he worked with Jack Abramoff, who was at the forefront of a corruption scandal in the 2000s that ultimately resulted in 21 convictions and major reforms to lobbying laws." It also resulted in several members of Congress (Senator Conrad Burns and Rep. Richard Pombo, for example) losing their seats, more "voluntarily" retiring-- including GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay-- and at least one GOP committee chairman going to prison.

Pizzella has given thousands of dollars in legalistic bribes to Republican organizations and to Republican members of Congress and Republican candidates-- from Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, John Boehner, Tom Tancredo, Barbara Comstock and anyone else willing to trade votes and influence for cash. By not naming him actual Secretary of Labor-- forcing a contentious debate and Senate vote-- voters will never know, at least for sure, if vulnerable Trump allies like Susan Collins (R-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Martha McSally (R-AZ), David Perdue (R-GA), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) would actually vote for some as obviously unfit as Patrick Pizzella.

Pizzella, who has been serving as the deputy secretary of labor under Acosta, was appointed to the Federal Labor Relations Board by President Barack Obama in 2013. He previously served as the assistant secretary of labor for administration and management for eight years under President George W. Bush.

Prior to that appointment, Pizzella was as a lobbyist at Preston, Gates & Ellis, which would later combine with another lobbying firm to form K&L Gates. Abramoff also worked at the firm, whose dozens of clients included several foreign entities.

Documents obtained by OpenSecrets show that Pizzella was one of the lobbyists who worked on behalf of a shell corporation connected to the Russian government in the late 1990s. He was listed in a 1997 lobbying disclosure form as the “director of coalitions” for Chelsea Commercial Enterprises Ltd., a Bahamas-based organization working closely with the Russian oil company Naftasib, which was itself a close affiliate of the Russian government.

Working alongside Abramoff and others, Pizzella helped Chelsea Commercial advocate for “various commercial business enterprises, including investments in Russian businesses.”

The Department of Labor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pizzella’s lobbying ties to Chelsea Commercial Enterprises.

Another client that paid Preston, Gates & Ellis more than $2.3 million between 1999 and 2000 was the Western Pacific Economic Council, a trade association of companies with manufacturing centers in the Northern Mariana Islands.The archipelago located north of Guam is a U.S. commonwealth.

Low wages and little enforcement of labor laws made the commonwealth an attractive destination for garment factories, who could still tag their merchandise as Made in the USA. In the late 1990s, minimum wage on the islands was $3.05 compared to a federal minimum wage of $5.15, a concern for both humanitarian groups worried about inhumane conditions and labor groups who worried about outsourcing.

Pizzella was among the lobbyists from Preston, Gates & Ellis who worked to oppose two bills that would have extended U.S. minimum wage laws to the islands. Neither bill made it to a vote.




Pizzella’s connections to Abramoff and record on the minimum wage came up during his confirmation hearing to become deputy secretary in July 2017. In response to a question from former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), Pizzella said he was not aware of any substandard labor conditions in the Northern Mariana Islands while his firm was lobbying there.

“I was not aware of any such thing,” Pizzella said. “I did not know. I just learned that 21 of Mr. Abramoff’s colleagues were also convicted of wrongdoing. I was not one of them.”

Abramoff and his associates ultimately fell into trouble after they conspired to swindle Native American tribes that had contracted the firm for help in establishing casinos. Abramoff’s tactics included coordinating lobbying against his own clients so he could ask for more money for their services.

Abramoff and his related organizations ultimately reaped $85 million from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and other tribal groups.

Pizzella lobbied on behalf of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw in 1999 and 2000, but was never implicated in his former colleague’s wrongdoing.

Pizzella also registered as a foreign agent for the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 2000, working to convince Congress to relocate and compensate the indigenous peoples for damages stemming for atomic weapons testing in 1946.

The new acting secretary is the latest former lobbyist to gain a seat in the presidential cabinet. Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was a lobbyist for the defense giant Raytheon. Andrew Wheeler, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, lobbied for Murray Energy, the coal company owned by magnate Robert Murray. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was a lobbyist for the oil and gas industry.

Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, oversaw lobbying efforts at drug company Eli Lilly but never registered as a lobbyist with Congress.

Maybe this kind of stuff helps explain why all 4 of the top Democratic contenders are beating Trump in the just-released NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Republican voters don't care about this kind of thing at all-- it's part of being on a team-- but independent voters can't stand it and it's part of why Trump is doing so badly among them and why he's so likely oo lose in 2020-- even if the Trump Recession hasn't kicked in by election day.

Friday Was An Especially Bad Day For Trump And His Regime

In his new book, American Carnage, Tim Alberta quotes Justin Amash, speaking of his Republican colleagues: "These guys have all convinced themselves that to be successful and keep their jobs, they need to stand by Trump. But Trump won’t stand with them as soon as he doesn’t need them. He’s not loyal. They’re very loyal to Trump, but the second he thinks it’s to his advantage to throw someone under the bus, he’ll be happy to do it."

Trump tossed Alex Acosta overboard yesterday, presumably after getting Acosta-- who he praised effusively, to agree to never reveal how many underage girls Trump shtuped at Epstein's Caribbean whore house for minors (and one elderly Russian masseuse). Trump said it was entirely Acosta's decision, although it certainly didn't seem like that was a decision Acosta was about to make during his painful hour-long press conference Wednesday. Standing next to Acosta, Señor Trumpanzee called him a "great labor secretary-- not a good one." He told reporters that Acosta "did a very good job...we're gonna miss him. He also mentioned "He's a tremendous talent. He's a Hispanic man. He went to Harvard. Which I so admire. Because maybe it was a little tougher for him. And maybe not."

Earlier in the week, Fox.com reported that Trump has now changed his tune on Epstein completely:

Trump said Tuesday he was “not a fan” of financier Jeffrey Epstein, despite making comments in the past praising the wealthy hedge fund manager.

During a meeting in the Oval Office with the emir of Qatar, the president was asked about his relationship with Epstein, 66, who pleaded not guilty Monday to sex trafficking in New York federal court.

“I know him, just like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said. “People in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach.”

“I had a falling out with him a long time ago,” Trump continued. “I don’t think I’ve spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan. I was not a fan of his. That I can tell you. I was not a fan.”

Back in 2002, when New York Magazine was profiling Epstein, Trump touted their relationship.

“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Trump reportedly said. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

...“I met Secretary Acosta when I made the deal to bring him onto the administration. I can tell you that for two and a half years, he has been just an excellent secretary of labor. He’s done a fantastic job,” Trump said. “What happened 12 or 15 years ago with respect to when he was a U.S. attorney I think in Miami-- if you go back and look at everybody else’s decisions, whether it’s a U.S. attorney, or an assistant U.S. attorney, or a judge, you go back, 12, 15 years and look at past decisions-- I think you’d probably find that they would wish they did it a different way.”

Trump added that he “heard there were a lot of people involved” in the Epstein decision, “not just him.”

“I can only say this from what I know, and what I do know is he has been a really great secretary of labor-- the rest of it, we’ll have to look at it. We’ll have to look at it very carefully,” he said. “I feel very badly actually for Secretary Acosta because I have known him as being someone who has done such a good job. I feel very badly about that situation.”

Acosta is not the only administration official facing questions over the Epstein case.

Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday had said he would recuse himself from the case due to his past legal work at a firm that represented Epstein in 2008. But a Justice Department official told Fox News on Tuesday that after consulting with career ethics officials, Barr will not recuse himself from the current case being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. The attorney general, though, will remain recused from any "retrospective review" of the 2008 case.

Barr won't be the next person Trump throws under the bus though. That honor belongs to for Indiana Senator Dan Coats. Yesterday, Jonathan Swan reported that Trump is telling confidents he's eager to remove Coats as director of national intelligence. Trump hasn't been paying any attention to anything Coats says since he angered Trump when he criticized his relationship with Putin during an on-stage interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell last year and when he testified before the Senate that North Korea isn't giving up their nuclear weapons (which Trump wants his base to think is going to happen).

One potential replacement Trump has mentioned to multiple sources is [dangerous unhinged psychotic] Fred Fleitz, who formerly served as chief of staff to national security adviser John Bolton. Fleitz was previously a CIA analyst and a staff member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is currently the president of the Center for Security Policy. Trump has told people that he likes Fleitz and has "heard great things." Fleitz has publicly criticized Coats and even called for Trump to fire Coats on Lou Dobbs' Fox Business program after Coats' Senate testimony. Fleitz accused Coats of undermining and "second-guessing" the president.

With all this going on, it's worth noting that yesterday the House voted, 251-170 to pass Ro Khanna's amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act reminding Trump, unambiguously, that he can't bomb Iran without congressional approval. 27 Republicans voted with all but 7 Trump-Democrats. One Trump-crony who voted with the Democrats on this was Matt Gaetz (R-FL) who attacked his own party: "If my war-hungry colleagues, some of whom have already suggested we invade Venezuela and North Korea and probably a few other countries before lunchtime tomorrow; if they’re so certain of their case against Iran, let them bring their authorization to use military force against Iran to this very floor. Let them make the case to Congress and the American people." On passage, Khanna noted that "This is a historic moment for Congress. Although President Trump campaigned on ending costly wars oversees, his chosen advisors, one which includes the architect of the Iraq war, and actions to increase tensions with Iran prove he is far from living up to that promise. With more than 25 Republicans voting in favor of passage, this amendment is proof that opposition to war with Iran transcends partisan politics. Some of the President’s closest allies voted for this amendment. Americans came together around the idea that we must avoid a war with Iran." The Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with Trump were:

• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Stephen Lynch (New Dem-MA)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)
• Kathleen Rice (New Dem-NY)
• Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

Brianna Wu is the progressive Democrat running for the Boston area seat Lynch occupies. I asked her how she felt about his Trump vote yesterday. "What can I say? If there’s a bad call to be made," she said, "Lynch is your guy. This is the man that voted for the disastrous Iraq War and never apologized for his decision that got my friends killed. Unlike Lynch, I did learn a thing or two from the horrors of Iraq and the 36,376 American troops who were killed or wounded. We’ve been here before, Democrats in Congress give the executive the power to go to war without oversight. It didn’t end well in Iraq, and it wouldn't end well in Iran. Strength is not cowboying your way into every problem. Strength is working with others. It’s acting deliberately, and with all the information available. We know the contempt Trump has for both our intelligence agencies and the State Department-- so it’s hard to imagine a reason for Democrats to give this president the unchecked power to go to war."

Eva Putzova is in a primary battle with a former Republican state legislator pretending to be a Democratic, Blue Dog Tom O'Halleran, who, needless to say, reverted to form and voted with his GOP pals on this one. Eva explained this morning that "Only Congress can authorize the U.S. to go to war. For my opponent to relinquish that authority to the most volatile President in the country’s history is irresponsible, morally wrong, and dangerous. I grew up near mass graves and will always advocate for diplomacy and peaceful resolution of conflicts. The only winners in a war are the arms dealers."

Epstein, Acosta, Barr, Trump... Who Else? How Many More? It's Washington, So Expect The Worst.

by Noah

I've always made a point of saying that Washington protects its own. Now we can expect to see that in action on a scale more horrifying than the grotesquely naive think possible. Put it all in perspective: Hollywood had an extremely obese extreme lowlife named Harvey Weinstein preying on adult actresses. Washington's sex scandal goes Hollywood at least one better because it involves 14 and 15 year old girls, and, if you think it involves only one party, I have a bridge or maybe some swampland in Florida to sell ya, or maybe a certain golf resort. This is no fictitious Hilary Clinton-run pedophile ring in the basement of a Friendship Heights, MD. pizza shop that has no basement. That was just a classic case of republican election year projection. Given Bill Clinton's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, though, we shouldn't let the irony escape us. Besides, it pays to keep an open mind.

Here's the current president of the United States telling us about his friend and Mar-a-Lago member Jeffrey Epstein. Anything he says, or has said to counter this in the last day or so, is meaningless "coffee boy" nonsense.

I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It's even said he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it. Jeffrey enjoys his social life

The next quote, where our pervo president describes dropping in on his Miss Teen USA contestants in their dressing room, dovetails nicely with the one above. It's from a 2006 Howard Stern show. Put them both together and you know all you need to know about where Trump is on the subject. All of this stuff was out in the open during the 2016 election campaign but those who voted for Trump were fine with it so it tells you a lot about his supporters too.

Well, I'll tell you the funniest ist that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed...no men ar anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good, You know, the dresses.'Is everyone okay?' you know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.

One degree of separation: Ask yourselves why Secretary Of Labor Alex Acosta (Whether or not he's still in his position when you read this) and Attorney General William Barr got such prime places in the Trump administration. Certainly, the media isn't bothering to ask. If it wasn't for one reporter, Julie K. Brown at the Miami Herald, the whole Epstein thing would have been left to die. The corporate TV media wanted Trump in the White House and went out of their way to give him multi-millions worth of free nightly exposure to a gullible public to get him there. Acosta, though, knows all the details behind Epstein's chosen lifestyle. He got Epstein the sweet deal in a Flor-i-duh court that let him escape decades in prison. Acosta knows where the lines from Epstein lead. He knows which levers to pull and which paths to block. Barr? Barr's father hired Epstein to teach science and math at Dalton, New York's snooty private school. Epstein had no teaching degree, not even close. Qualifications? "We don't need no stinking qualifications! We got us polaroids!" Barr himself? He worked for the law firm that represented Epstein. So did Acosta. To use a useful classic phrase; Barr and Acosta know where all the bodies are buried. One more juicy tidbit: Acosta's Labor Department deals with human trafficking. Barr's deals with the prosecution of those accused of such things. Nice and neat, eh? Between the two of them, they know ALL of the lines that lead from Epstein and his habits directly to their great leader Trump. You don't have to be a natural born cynic to think that's a big reason why Acosta and Barr got their posts: to coverup for Trump. It wasn't just about The Mueller Report or union busting. And how about all of those $enators that voted to confirm both of them? How about them indeed? How many will back away from Epstein and falsely claim "Gee, I didn't know." You can bet that a lot of Senators will pay good money to make this Epstein stuff go away. Past Senators and other Washington names, too. Things must be pretty damn nervous in Washington these days. How many on the White House staff and how many House and Senate have availed themselves of Epstein's "connections and services." Even if by some miracle of justice, this unravels and a few perverts bite the dust, we will never see the full extent. Could you swear at this point that there isn't a Supreme Court judge or Appellate Court judge that has been involved? By the way, the Capitol Building actually does have a basement. And, you have to know that by the time you get to read this, a whole lot of CD Roms and photo files in Washington offices and homes have been destroyed or carted off to places unknown. Putin, if your listening, please send us copies!

Some coincidences are more than mere coincidence. Birds of a feather. "The best people." The more sleazy the people involved are, the less the concept of coincidence comes into play. It's all so banana republic! No wonder Trump adores the Kim Jong-uns of the world. They can, to use another phrase, shut that thing down. In Trump's case, at least they think they can. Anyone who has let Trump get this far and continues to let him run unchecked is nothing but an accomplice in our fake legal system and an accomplice in perpetuating the false moral codes of Washington. They're right there, holding Trump's little 14 year old girl-sized hands. Wouldn't you love to see the classic detectives connections bulletin board with pictures of all of these sleazebags, lines connecting them all? Dates, times, places, associates in common. Do we really even need that? One more old phrase: If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it's a damn fucking duck. Period. Go ahead. Think about it. We all felt OJ was guilty based on less.

For more details on the nexus of Acosta, Epstein and Trump, I strongly suggest Helen Klein's fine DWT piece from back in February.

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

Ask about our Celebrity Party Plane! We're always accepting apprenticeship applications! Special programs for middle schoolers! Candy Stripers Welcome! Are you teen model material? Need a Green Card? Just call Club 1600- 202-456-1111!

Sorry Bill Clinton-Kevin Spacey Meet-And-Greets no longer available.

Acosta, Epstein and Trump A Refresher

-by Helen Klein

Finally, the Jeffrey Epstein case and the fabulous, ridiculously light plea deal he received from Alexander Acosta in 2008 are back in the headlines where they belong. As described last week in the Washington Post:

A federal judge in Florida ruled this week that prosecutors led by former U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta, now President Trump’s labor secretary, broke the law 11 years ago by concealing an unusually lenient plea deal with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from underage girls who said the financier had molested them.

“Under Acosta’s leadership, a sexual predator and his accomplices walked away with a meager slap on the wrist,” said Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy organization, in a statement.

The plea deal was unsealed in 2015 by a federal judge in a lawsuit. Then, a Miami Herald investigation last year revealed allegations against Epstein in greater detail-- more than 30 women, now in their 20s and 30s, have accused the billionaire of molesting them between 1999 and 2006.

On Thursday, federal judge Kenneth Marra ruled Acosta’s team had violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, which entitles victims to know about big developments in their cases, by concealing the agreement from the victims.

Evidence showed Epstein, now 66, ran an international sex trafficking operation that targeted girls and sometimes brought them stateside from overseas, Marra wrote.

“Epstein worked in concert with others to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification, but also for the sexual gratification of others,” the judge wrote.

Due to this decision, the case now has new legs and the victims have the chance to bring it into federal court. If this happens, Acosta will be in really deep trouble, and more importantly, so would the famous, rich and politically connected men who participated in Epstein’s sex orgies with underage girls.

Calls for Acosta to be impeached are gaining traction.

It is interesting yet unsurprising to note that Acosta, under the auspices of his position of Secretary of Labor, is in charge of sex crimes and sex trafficking. This is so typical of Trump, appointing people to cabinet positions who have major conflicts of interest in the spheres of their authority.

This author has written two pieces on this issue for DWT, A Potential Death Knell for Trump-- A Case of Underage Rape? and Sex and the Orangeman. Both have been water under the bridge until now.

Brief Background on Jeffrey Epstein

Epstein’s history of longstanding, systematic and horrific behavior with underage girls is well documented. The variety and number of rich, famous and politically connected men who have been associated with him is staggering.

Epstein has owned a huge mansion in Manhattan, where he held glamorous parties for the rich and famous, as well as properties in Palm Beach, Paris and New Mexico, and a private island in the Caribbean, dubbed Sex Slave Island. He is also known for his private jet, nicknamed, The Lolita Express, which has been described as a “hot spot for under-age sex orgies.” Bill Clinton was known to have flown on the plane at least two dozen times. Epstein has been a major Democratic donor and he also gave millions to the Clinton Foundation. Epstein noted, “I invest in people-- be it politics or science. It’s what I do.” Are these powerful and rich men beholden to Epstein and invested in his escape from justice? What do YOU think?

Epstein’s assistants procured young girls from poor neighborhoods and groomed them to adore or acquiesce to him. According to court filings, the alleged serial sexual abuse and rape of an unknowable number of girls (some as many as 100 times) occurred over many years.

What was the plea deal?

Epstein got off with a guilty plea for a single charge of soliciting a minor, registration as a sex offender for life, and eighteen months prison time in Palm Beach. He served only thirteen months, during which he was allowed to leave six days a week on “work release.”

Another critical aspect of the plea deal, the one that has many participants in Epstein’s offerings of sex with underage girls shaking in their boots, was immunity from federal prosecution for Epstein as well as his co-conspirators, i.e., the people who procured the girls for him and others who may have been involved. The victims in the case were not made aware of this deal nor given the opportunity to object.

Did Epstein show any remorse? Hell no.

“I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,’” he told the New York Post in 2011. “It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.”

Trump and Epstein

Trump has had ties to Epstein for decades. Epstein was a member of Mar a Lago.

In 2002, Trump stated to New York Magazine, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. 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. No doubt about it-- Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

In 2016, Amanda Prestigiacomo reported in the Daily Wire:

When under oath, while Epstein acknowledged he knew Trump, he “curiously pled the Fifth to Trump attending sex parties with underage girls.”

At least one of Epstein’s underage sex victims was recruited from Trump’s Mar a Lago, which he frequented often.

Trump was subpoenaed in 2009 for his connection to Epstein’s underage sex slave rings. Trump has denied ever being served. The lawyer who served him said this was patently false.

Another case involving Epstein and Trump is ripe for revisiting, described in 2016 by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. This would be even more of an eye opener if it sees the light of day anytime soon.

In June 2016, a case was filed in the United States District Court in the southern district of New York by Jane Doe, Plaintiff, proceeding under a pseudonym, against Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein, Defendants. A trial by jury was demanded. The incidents described took place in 1994.



What were Trump and Epstein being accused of?

Rape, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, forcible touching, assault, battery, intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress, duress, false imprisonment and defamation.

Plaintiff was enticed by promises of money and a modeling career to attend a series of parties, with other similarly situated minor females, held at a New York City residence that was being used by Defendant Jeffrey Epstein. At least four of the parties were attended by Defendant Donald Trump.

The suit alleged that at the fourth party, Trump’s and Epstein’s behavior devolved dramatically and savagely. They made threats that if the Plaintiff revealed anything about their sexual misconduct, she and her family would be physically harmed or killed. The suit claimed that the behavior of the Defendants “demonstrates willful, reckless and intentional conduct that raises a conscious indifference to consequences.”

(Both Trump and Epstein) let the Plaintiff know that each was a very powerful, wealthy man and indicated that they had the power, ability and means to carry out their threats. Indeed, the Defendant Trump stated that Plaintiff shouldn’t ever say anything if she didn’t want to disappear like Maria, a 12-year-old female that was forced to be involved in the third incident with Defendant Trump and (whom) Plaintiff had not seen since the third incident, and that he was capable of having her whole family killed.

The Plaintiff asserted that over the years, fear and duress had prevented her from pursuing legal action. However, due to the mass media coverage of Trump and his campaign, the Plaintiff asserted that she had been subjected to daily painful reminders of his horrific behavior, and this is why she sought punitive damages. Shortly after her first complaint was filed in California in April 2016, the Plaintiff stated that she started receiving threatening phone calls.

Trump claimed that all of these allegations were patently false. Of course he would, regardless of their veracity. And of course nothing he says can be trusted and is often the opposite of the truth. The complaint also charged that Trump’s denial amounts to defamation.

The victim eventually dropped the case due to the threats she received and her fear of reprisal.

Questions

Will Acosta face the music? Will he be disbarred? Will he resign or be fired as Secretary of Labor?

What was the quid pro quo for Acosta to give Epstein such a sweetheart deal? Who were the politically connected power brokers that may have been behind this deal?

Will the victims of the Florida case against Epstein decide to pursue the case in federal court? If so, who and what will be exposed to the public?

Will the plaintiff in the 2016 rape case against Trump and Epstein resurface and pursue charges?

Only time will tell.

Manafort Revelations Show Trump Team Crime, Legacy Of Injustice

by Andrew Kreig
editor, Justice Integrity Project

Among the remarkable Mueller probe revelations last week was the claim that attorneys for former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort have been sharing confidential information about the special counsel’s investigation with the legal team of “Individual 1,” aka President Trump.

The New York Times broke the main story electronically on Nov. 27 under the headline, Manafort’s Lawyer Is Said to Have Briefed Trump Team on Mueller Talks. Reporters Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere and Maggie Haberman wrote:

A lawyer for Paul Manafort repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel, according to one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers and two other people familiar with the conversations.

The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago, the people said. Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in hopes of a lighter sentence.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of the president’s personal lawyers, acknowledged the arrangement on Tuesday and defended it as a source of valuable insights into the special counsel’s inquiry and where it was headed.

A number prominent legal pundits soon warned that such cooperation was not only rare but could be regarded as criminally illegal and / or unethical, thereby triggering potential liability for President Trump, Manafort and the lawyers involved. Potential problems could include obstruction of justice (under the theory that the actions could have the intent and effect of undermining the special counsel’s investigation). The conduct also could provide grounds for impeachment of Trump and potential bar sanctions against attorneys involved.

More importantly, the controversy illustrates continuing tension between the federal enforcement “community” and the opportunists (or worse) who operate within the justice system or on its fringes. Such conflicts are especially important and outrageous as the Trump administration draws upon some of the very worst Bush administration attorneys.

Among the many such shocking situations, this column focuses on three such officials who have become extremely prominent and otherwise newsworthy, in part because of their ties to President Trump and his team.

• Manafort’s lead defense attorney, Kevin Downing, is a former senior litigator within the Justice Department’s tax fraud section, which missed a series of colossal tax frauds, including by Downing’s future client Manafort. Downing reportedly is also one of the attorneys involved in the liaison with the Trump White House that the New York Times reported last week;
• U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta as U.S. attorney for Miami in the Bush administration was involved both in major tax fraud cover-ups and also in whitewashing the federal-state prosecution of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein is a Trump friend and neighbor who is back in the news this week with the beginning of a major defamation trial in West Palm Beach, Florida; and
• Our third Bush-era former Justice Department official is Matthew Whitaker, whom Trump named as acting attorney general after Whitaker tried out for the job by arguing on cable news shows that Mueller’s investigation are excessive and unwarranted. Whitaker’s career includes a stint as a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney for southern Iowa, where he vigorously prosecuted one of his political enemies whom a jury acquitted in just two hours.

An Overview

Let’s provide some context before exploring more thoroughly the abusive conduct of these three officials-- and the utter failure of watchdog mechanisms, whether in the Justice Department, courts, Congress or the media, to do much about these problems, at least so far.

The problem of rogue officials using their powers within the U.S. Justice Department for political purposes exploded into the national consciousness in late 2006 and early 2007 with the so-called “U.S. Attorney firing scandal.” Bush administration forced the resignation of nine (by some counts eight) of the nation’s 93 powerful regional U.S. attorneys.

Most of the mainstream media focused on the injustice visited upon that handful of prosecutors who were fired for their failure to bring political cases (often involving prosecuting Democrats on flimsy charges, including “corruption” and “vote fraud”).

Yet the much larger real scandal was the actions by the remaining U.S. attorneys around the nation to keep their jobs despite pressures from Bush White House senior advisor Karl Rove and ambitious political operatives in the Justice Department.

Their goal? Apparently this: To drive prominent Democrats out of office and into prison, often via flimsy “corruption” charges of the kind that framed (there’s no other word for it) former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, his state’s most prominent Democrat. 

Siegelman was sentenced to prison for a seven-year term, with significant segments in solitary confinement to punish him for interviews about the gross injustice. The nearly two decades of prosecutions have helped destroy the Alabama Democratic Party aside from the unique circumstance of former Siegelman attorney Doug Jones' victory over accused pedophile Roy Moore for a U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, Trump's pick to become attorney general last year.

Other goals of the politically driven Bush Justice Department included protecting important Republicans and Republican-oriented institutions from prosecution. Another was to lay the groundwork for current voter suppression efforts by hoked-up prosecutions and fear-mongering about the largely non-existent problem of individual voter fraud while ignoring larger scale efforts to rig entire elections, particularly in swing states.

Down With Tyranny was prominent among the news outlets, primarily in the alternative media, that helped expose these problems in the Siegelman case and similar situations. One of dozens of reports that I wrote about this was for the Huffington Post in 2009, “Siegelman Deserves New Trial Because of Judge’s ‘Grudge’, Evidence Shows... $300 Million in Bush Military Contracts Awarded to Judge’s Private Company.”

Democrats Forgive, Forget?

Sadly, however, the Obama administration took little interest in documented injustices in these kinds of cases throughout the nation.

In many instances, Obama officials sought to ratify in the courts the abusive tactics initiated by the Bush Justice Department. Obama Attorney Gen. Eric Holder and Solicitor Gen. Elena Kagan, for example, opposed Siegelman’s appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court that had been endorsed by unprecedented numbers of law professors and former state attorneys general who underscored the injustice of his prosecution. Holder, after a recent speaking appearance at the Center for American Progress seeking to energize Democratic voters this year, told me in a brief interview that he was not familiar with the Siegelman case. That was a brush-off given the case’s notoriety. Holder had fired a Justice Department whistleblower against the government’s tactics {See “From Justice Dream Job to Nightmare…Tamarah Grimes, Justice Department Paralegal… Why This Whistleblower Was Dissed & Dismissed”, KNOW: The Magazine For Paralegals.} As if that weren’t enough to focus Holder’s attention on Alabama, his late sister-in-law, Vivian Malone, had integrated the University of Alabama in an iconic desegregation advance.

Where's Accountability?

So here we are, December 2018. The public faces large numbers of lingering injustices from the Bush era and large cadres of “law enforcers” from that period who have positioned themselves for higher office in an even more lawless Trump administration.

Let’s look again at Kevin Downing, Manafort’s lead defense attorney. The Manafort prosecution includes, among other charges, jury verdicts and Manafort’s later guilty plea involving Manafort’s receipt of $60 million in income from 2012 to 2016, a period when he reported just $13 million.

Downing left the Justice Department as a senior litigation counsel in mid-2012 for private practice. His representation of Manafort raises questions about "revolving door" justice.

In fairness to Downing, Manafort’s wrongdoing described in the Mueller indictment thus largely fell outside of Downing’s prominent role at the Justice Department’s tax fraud section. It's true also that Downing received an award from Holder for prosecuting fraud by Switzerland-based UBS, one of the world’s most influential financial companies.

However, the whistleblowing former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld portrays Downing in Birkenfeld’s 2016 memoir Lucifer’s Banker as one of the villains in what became one of the leading documented financial fraud investigations in U.S. history.

Birkenfeld asserts that Downing and his Justice Department team reacted with scorn and other hostility when Birkenfeld came to them voluntarily in 2007 with massive evidence revealing the identities of what he called 19,000 U.S. tax cheats who were part of a tax and money laundering fraud that UBS was perpetrating against the U.S. Treasury and public.

Birkenfeld writes that Downing and his team, under pressure for another major investigation that was failing, appeared to be frightened at the prospect of criminally prosecuting the powerful UBS and its ultra-wealthy clients. Instead, Birkenfeld alleges that they made him a convenient scapegoat with the help of the Miami U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta.

Birkenfeld, a fall guy by his account, received a three-year prison term even though he was the one who alerted the federal government to the massive scheme and brought them the documentary evidence. Meanwhile, the Justice Department handled UBS higher-ups and their crooked clients almost entirely via civil actions far less onerous than criminal prosecution. At the same time, Birkenfeld and his attorneys learned in the midst of his ordeal that the Internal Revenue Service was collecting $15 billion in taxes and penalties from the UBS scandal, leading to a $104 million whistleblower award for Birkenfeld.

That’s history. What may be ahead is a claim by some legal pundits that Manafort, his attorneys and Trump’s team appear to have illegally colluded by conveying information this fall after Manafort’s plea deal in mid-September, as reported in the New York Times story.

Several experts have said there is no basis for “joint defense agreement” between a defendant who has pleaded guilty and others who are fighting the special counsel. We are reaching out to Downing for comment.

The Epstein Pedophile Scandal

Acosta, a Harvard-educated son of Cuban immigrants, became assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights beginning in 2003. 

The positioning provided the Bush administration with the politically useful, especially in Florida, a public image of a Hispanic professional in a key post. As it turns out, many of the key hiring decisions there were being made by Acosta's aide, Bradley Schlozman, who would be rebuked by the department’s Inspector General for improperly favoring conservatives in hiring decisions. 

Schlozman went on to become U.S. attorney in Kansas City where he became a notorious vote-suppression and "voter fraud" zealot who sought to crucify Democrats and minorities for relatively trivial misconduct in voter registration drives. In one such case, Schlozman and his colleagues threw the book at minimum-wage voter registration canvassers who made up names for voter registration lists but without proving that the fraud involved an effort to compromise actual voting. Yet that prosecution could be touted as "voter fraud" requiring "reforms" best categorized these as the voter suppression increasingly common in many GOP-controlled voting regions.

Acosta’s own most notorious action came when he approved a sweetheart plea deal for the billionaire pervert and investor Jeffrey Epstein after West Palm Beach police documented more than 100 “Jane Doe” complaints of teenage girls whom Epstein allegedly victimized in a ring targeting junior high and high school girls. Epstein used surrogates to recruit the girls to give him "massages" that evolved into sexual encounters at his mansion located in a ritzy area just a mile from the Mar-a-Lago estate Epstein’s friend Donald Trump.

What helped make the case outrageous is that Acosta ended a joint federal-state investigation with a highly unusual plea deal whereby Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution. Under a highly unusual provision of the plea deal, the government agreed not to investigate anyone else, including those who recruited the girls and Epstein’s high-powered friends. They included Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom.

As it turned out, Epstein served just 13 months and was permitted "work release" whereby he could leave a West Palm Beach jail during the day and return at night during his sentence. Acosta did not inform victims and their families of the terms of the sweetheart plea deal. That has prompted years of acrimony, litigation and adverse news commentary, including a major Miami Herald investigation published on Nov. 28 entitled "Perversion of Justice."

Herald reporters led by Julie K. Brown identified 60 victims, among other sources, focusing heavily on Acosta's decision-making more than a decade ago. Their powerful stories included How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime.

Trump apparently rewarded Acosta by naming him in February 2017 as nominee to become Secretary of Labor, the federal government’s main post protecting American workers.

Some reporters at that point (including me) promptly highlighted Acosta's role in the Epstein case but senators proved too timid to question him in depth about it before his confirmation.

My colleague Wayne Madsen, editor of the Wayne Madsen Report and a former Navy intelligence officer, last year began reporting that two girls, aged 12 and 13, filed legal papers alleging that Epstein and Trump had raped them in the early 1990s in New York City.

Defendants denied the claims. The girls then withdrew their allegations shortly before the 2016 presidential election, with one accuser “Katie Johnson” (a pseudonym) claiming fear at the time from death threats from unknown persons.

Madsen and I documented the story last January in a series that included the segment underscoring the blackmail / extortion liabilities of such predatory behavior targeting underage girls: Trump’s multiple sex scandals endanger U.S. national security.

The accusations continue to percolate. This is in part because Acosta is reported to be a long-shot to be nominated at the next U.S. Attorney General. Trump has said he wants a loyalist in the position, unlike the now-dismissed Sessions, who recused himself from supervising Mueller because Sessions had been implicated with Russian contacts during the presidential campaign.

Beyond that, a much-delayed civil trial unfolds on Dec. 4 in West Palm Beach to resolve vexatious litigation and defamation claims between Epstein and Bradley J. Edwards and attorneys representing victims. Madsen and I were among the reporters planning to cover the trial.

The Next Mueller Boss

Finally, we revisit the appointment of the current acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, whose appointment by Trump without U.S. Senate confirmation has been widely denounced as unconstitutional tactic to shift supervision of the special counsel’s probe of alleged crime by Trump and his team away from the current supervisor, Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod Rosenstein.

As of this writing, Whitaker is not known to have interfered with the Mueller probe which Whitaker had denounced during his de facto "audition" for the Justice Department's post as a pro-Trump pundit on cable news shows. But that may be only because Whitaker's appointment is under several legal challenges, which are compounded by Whitaker’s remarkably shabby professional qualifications for such a high post.

News reports have indicated that Whitaker helped direct a scam company fined $26 million by the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving customers, for example, and that the company is currently under federal criminal investigation. These dubious achievements are chronicled in our column, updated almost daily, Trump's New Acting AG Is Unfit To Serve.

As indicated by that roundup, Whitaker’s critics have found a trove of unseemly conduct in his past. But perhaps most relevant to this column’s themes is his zealous prosecution beginning in 2007 of Iowa State Sen. Matt McCoy, a gay Democrat with a seemingly bright political future.

In a pattern similar to other Bush political prosecutions across the nation, Whitaker ruthlessly targeted McCoy as corrupt for seeking commissions totaling about $2,000 from a local company. But a federal jury ultimately acquitted McCoy in just two hours, as reported by the Washington Post Nov. 9 in Whitaker’s term as U.S. attorney in Iowa draws scrutiny.

Bottom line: The injustices portrayed above largely focus on the actions of just three prominent Trump-era alumns from the Bush era. We know lots about them now. Looking ahead, one question is whether anyone is going to do much to prevent similar abuses from the Trump administration's ex-Bushie  "law enforcers" that Senate Republicans are trying to confirm en masse into the federal judiciary and Justice Department.

In January 2009, President-elect Obama tried to mollify Republicans and the public by saying that he was "looking forward, not backward" regarding alleged Republican injustices during the Bush administration. That must not happen again with the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

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Justice Integrity Project editor Andrew Kreig is a Washington, DC-based reporter, attorney and author whose non-partisan project has long investigated political prosecutions and other official misconduct, including cover-up. He has extensively covered voter suppression, the Siegelman and Manafort federal corruption cases, and corrupt actions by prominent federal officials.

Welcome To Waterbury: The City That Holds Secrets That Could Bring Down Trump-- A Guest Post By Andrew Kreig And Wayne Madsen

A woman who was allegedly sodomized and raped at the age of 12 along with at least one other underage girl by Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein at Epstein’s midtown Manhattan townhouse in 1993 is alive and trying to maintain obscurity from alt-right operatives who have identified her and her current residence.

The Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) and Justice Integrity Project (JIP) are revealing here for the first time the identity of “Maria,” who was identified as such in two 2016 federal civil lawsuits brought against Trump and Epstein by another underage victim of the pair, Katie Johnson (aka, "Jane Doe"). The product of a month-long investigation that took us to the site of the girl’s kidnapping in Waterbury, Connecticut, this information comes from confidential sources in multiple states. They have been pursuing the “Maria” story since the name and 1993 incident was first referenced in Johnson’s lawsuits. Johnson dropped the suit after she became the victim of physical threats by individuals who claimed to be Trump supporters, according to her account in court records.

The original tip came to WMR, which reported exclusively earlier this week with this column that Maria was the 12-year old child rape victim of Donald Trump's and convicted underage girl molester, Jeffrey Epstein's sex orgies at Epstein's midtown Manhattan mansion then owned by his friend Les Wexner, a billionaire retailing mogul. Maria was kidnapped on March 20, 1993, when she was 11-years old from the front of Nash’s Pizza in Waterbury. The girl's kidnappers were involved in a child trafficking ring that provided abductees to wealthy individuals like Trump and Epstein in Manhattan, according to our information.

The Waterbury Police Department has refused to provide us with a copy of the original police report on the abduction. It defers to Linda Wihbey, the city’s Corporation Counsel. On December 12, 2017, Wihbey made her views known in a phone call with Andrew Kreig of JIP, as Wayne Madsen listened. She said that she was ready to “welcome us to Waterbury” until she decided that our investigation was “hostile” to her and Waterbury’s interests. These suffered greatly some 17 years ago over a high-profile pedophilia incident involving the city’s Republican mayor.

Waterbury’s stance emerged from our request for the 1993 police report on Maria’s abduction, including any relevant witness statements provided to the police.

The site of “Maria’s” kidnapping in 1993, then known as Nash’s Pizza restaurant, since relocated

Waterbury reported 110,000 in population at the last census and is located 77 miles northeast of New York City.

In 1993, Maria lived with her mother and nine siblings in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Waterbury, which is nicknamed “The Brass City” for its once-booming brass and clock factories. It is now suffering from urban blight, like many New England cities with abandoned factories.

Maria, whose father died in 1991, was reportedly abducted just moments after her mother entered the pizzeria while asking Maria to wait outside. The precise circumstances are among the secrets that police are withholding, thus limiting news coverage. The mother died in 2015.

One resident of the kidnapped girl's close-knit neighborhood told us that the circumstances always seemed strange to the family and neighbors, and yet almost no police or other interest has been apparent for many years. Our source also stated that Maria’s mother always felt that her daughter was alive and, at one time, was in New York City. Another source in Waterbury said that it was the belief by many neighborhood residents at the time of Maria’s abduction that she was kidnapped by a ring operating out of New York. “Those who took her [Maria] were not from Waterbury,” said one longtime Puerto Rican resident familiar with the case.

In the interest of responsible journalism, we are withholding Maria’s actual full name. A June 25, 2010 paper, titled “Protecting victims’ identities in press coverage of child victimization,” which was published by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, spells out the concerns of releasing the identities of child sex victims without prior precautions being taken. The authors of the paper contend, “When the names of child victims and other identifying information appear in the media it can exacerbate trauma, complicate recovery, discourage future disclosures and inhibit cooperation with authorities for the children involved.”

Maria is still listed as a “missing person” by the Waterbury Police Department. The police missing person notification states that Maria was last seen at the corner of Walnut Street and Walnut Avenue at Nash’s Pizza. It adds that the girl “was 11-years-old when she went missing.”

Here is a development that proved startling in Maria’s neighborhood, including to at least one family member: She is alive.

Maria has been avoiding any public limelight since the Trump Organization discovered her actual identity, according to our sources. During the 2016 presidential campaign, there was some interest in the Maria story by major corporate media outlets, but they were intimidated by Trump Organization legal threats.

The incident helps illustrate the institutional cowardice and greed of many of the major news organizations and the danger that unprotected whistleblower/victims face when they share their stories with such journalists. Although the initial reporters and producers are usually very well-intentioned they work for conglomerates whose top executives realize that it’s typically safer not to antagonize the power structure.

That would be in this case a litigious billionaire Trump, who now influences, if not controls, a vast “law enforcement,” national security and broadcast federal regulatory apparatus.

The federal government delivers (or withholds) merger and tax approvals, for example, scrutiny over a host of other legal and regulatory issues, plus discretionary grants that can be vital to local authorities, particularly those with financial struggles like Waterbury. Beyond that, monied interests in the power structure have fostered private goons and trolls-- sometimes equipped with the trappings of legitimate law enforcement or journalism-- who can seek out whistleblowers, victims and reporters alike to set them up for vicious legal or extra-legal reprisals.

In the case of Katie Johnson, she alleged in lawsuits filed in federal courts first in California and then in New York that Trump knew that she was 13-years-old when he assaulted and raped her in 1993. Johnson said that it was Trump who initiated contact with her at four different parties at Epstein's residence in Manhattan. The mansion, shown below in a photo via Google Maps, was owned by the billionaire retailing magnate Les Wexner, who controls such companies as Victoria’s Secret.

Here is Johnson’s account, taken from her most recent lawsuit filed in Manhattan’s federal court:

She said that she was inveigled into the “party” scene after she was approached by an Epstein party “recruiter” while she was at the New York-New Jersey Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street in Manhattan. The recruiter suggested that she might become a model if she met the right people at a fashionable party. That was a typical approach used by Epstein’s recruiters, who leveraged his high-level contacts with fashion, modeling, photography, travel, political and entertainment figures to entice girls, tweens and teens, according to court records.

The Johnson lawsuit states that at their fourth encounter at an Epstein party: "Defendant Trump tied Plaintiff to a bed, exposed himself to Plaintiff, and then proceeded to forcibly rape Plaintiff. During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but with no effect. Defendant Trump responded to Plaintiff’s pleas by violently striking Plaintiff in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted."

Johnson (shown in a screenshot with her face obscured) claimed that at two parties Epstein raped her once after she had been raped by Trump. During the second encounter with Epstein, Johnson stated that Epstein raped her "anally and vaginally despite her loud pleas to stop." She stated that Epstein attempted to strike her on the head "with his closed fists," while he angrily screamed that he [Epstein], rather than Trump, should have been the one who took the girl's virginity.

According to the suit, Trump told Johnson that if she ever revealed the sexual encounter with Trump, the girl and her family would be "physically harmed if not killed." Johnson also stated that Epstein periodically reiterated to her Trump's earlier threat that if she were to "reveal any of the details of his sexual and physical abuse of her or else," she and her family would be "seriously physically harmed, if not killed."

Trump Fights Back: All Lies and Fake News, He Says

Trump and his representatives have repeatedly insisted that any woman who alleges that he harassed or sexually assaulted her is lying. The Washington Post, among other outlets, reported that stance in All of the women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment are lying, the White House says, a story published on Oct. 26, 2017.

After filing her first complaint against Epstein and Trump in California on April 26, 2016, Johnson said that she began receiving threatening phone calls on her cell phone from blocked numbers. She refiled in New York. A courtroom hearing was scheduled for mid-December 2016 in federal court for the Southern District of Manhattan. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams [pictured at right] said that she was requiring Epstein and Trump to appear before her in the Johnson lawsuit, an unusual requirement for a pre-trial hearing, especially in a civil case. Because of the threats, Johnson pulled her lawsuit just prior to the 2016 presidential election and no hearing occurred.

There are many pundits who will say from their comfortable perches that the withdrawal of this and similar lawsuits means there is nothing further to examine, especially if any flaw can be found or alleged involving the personality of a plaintiff, the supporting witnesses or lawyers. But that blame-the-victim conventional wisdom is being upended by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements-- and is especially wrong-headed in this case for several important reasons.

First, there is substantial evidence that Epstein and Trump are notorious sexual predators and billionaire litigants who use threats and the legal system to their advantage. Epstein is a convicted pedophile who targeted junior high and high school girls, as described below.

Epstein was required to register as a convicted sex offender [pictured at left]. Trump has long been notorious as a lecher, telling ABC’s The View in 2006, “I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."

More recently in November, the Washington Post published in President Trump and accusations of sexual misconduct: The complete list extensive details of thirteen women (not including those alleging crimes only on social media or those like Katie Johnson who had withdrawn lawsuits) making accusations against him, along with names and details of corroborating witnesses. Wikipedia, under a heading Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations, lists 15 claims as of this writing.

After underage sexual abuse allegations began surfacing during the failed campaign of GOP Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, Ivanka Trump (shown on her Twitter portrait) said of Moore, “there’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children. She added, “I’ve yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims’ account.” Bannon, who supported Moore’s campaign, replied to Trump’s daughter in a December 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, “What about the allegations about her dad and that 13-year-old?” Bannon was referring, of course, to Katie Johnson.

Second, the vulnerability of sex abuse victims in their early teens from poor families requires special attention. Nowhere is that more poignant than in the case of the girl “Maria.” Police reports say that she was kidnapped at age 11 from her own neighborhood and, to all outward appearances, then disappeared off the face of the earth. In sum, the track record and power of these two particular defendants requires a deeper look at the allegations, particularly in light of the lessons learned from the #MeToo harassment and assault revelations this past fall regarding other powerful predators.

So, we return to the allegations in the “Jane Doe” (aka Katie Johnson) lawsuit despite the practice of pundits, lawyers, trolls, fanatics and thugs, many well-paid or fanatically ideological, using their varied skills to claim that there’s nothing to see or know. You be the judge, based on these lawsuit claims:

On July 23, 2016, "Joan Doe," a classmate of Johnson during the 1994-1995 school year, signed an affidavit avowing that Johnson had told her during the summer of 1994 about the sexual assaults by Epstein and Trump.

Another witness, “Tiffany Doe,” signed an affidavit in support of Johnson's suit on June 18, 2016. Tiffany Doe stated that she had been hired in 1990 by Epstein when she was 22 to "provide entertainment" for his various "guests." She further stated that Epstein hired her in 1991 as a "party planner" to, among other duties, entice "attractive adolescent women" to attend Epstein's parties. Tiffany Doe stated that she personally witnessed Trump's sexual assault and rape of Johnson during four encounters.

Johnson also stated in the suit that Trump told her that she "shouldn’t ever say anything if she didn’t want to disappear like Maria, a 12-year-old female that was forced to be involved in the third incident" with Trump. Johnson said she had not seen “Maria” after the third sexual encounter with Trump. Tiffany Doe said that she witnessed Johnson and 12-year old “Maria” perform oral sex on Trump.

Vendetta Against Puerto Rico?

There’s a larger story here. Trump's psychopathy of disinterest in Puerto Rico and its post-Hurricane Maria problems likely revolves around the fact that Maria hails from Puerto Rico. Trump’s addled ego may have reacted when Puerto Rico was struck by Hurricane Maria. It could well have reminded him that a 12-year old whom he had raped and knew as Maria knows details that could very well bring down him and his administration.

The Trump administration’s extreme disinterest in Puerto Rico’s recovery-- especially in comparison to post-hurricane rescue efforts for continental U.S. sites this fall-- has been reported by many news organizations. The national media reported it visually by showing his contemptuous hurling of paper towels to Islanders at a photo op soon after the disaster.

Waterbury's Secrets

In terms of solving the 1993 kidnapping, Waterbury Corporate Counsel Wihbey did reveal to us that about four or five years ago-- she said “around 2012 or 2013”-- there was some interest by “law enforcement” and “a few journalists” in the Maria missing person police report from 1993. Wihbey told us that the case remains under “active” investigation even though it has been a dormant “cold case” for several years. Originally, spokespersons for Waterbury Police Chief Vernon Riddick Jr. expressed no real opposition to releasing the police report, claiming that all that was needed was the chief’s concurrence.

Wihbey is pictured above at a Connecticut Freedom of Information hearing defending Waterbury’s insistence on retaining secret documents in another matter. It involved the details of a largely secret arrangement whereby Waterbury taxpayers paid former Republican Connecticut governor and ex-con John Rowland, a former Waterbury state assemblyman and congressman after he had been imprisoned on a federal political corruption charge in 2004.

Waterbury’s Democratic Mayor Neil O’Leary may continue to have good reason to be concerned about public interest in the abduction of Maria to provide sex for pedophiles like Trump and Epstein in New York.

Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary, center, was a witness in a high-profile Freedom of Information complaint in 2013 by Connecticut journalist and author Andy Thibault, right.

O’Leary was the Waterbury police chief (as shown below) when now-imprisoned Republican Mayor Phil Giordano (nicknamed Pedo Phil”) was arrested by the FBI as part of their investigation of payoffs to the mayor by Mafia building contractors. During court-authorized wiretaps of Giordano’s phones, the FBI became aware that the mayor was paying a female Puerto Rican prostitute named Guitana (“Gigi”) Jones for sex with her 10-year old niece and 8-year old daughter. Giordano and Rowland were once close political allies and Rowland’s cozy relationship with Mayor O’Leary has raised eyebrows in Connecticut.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, center, a former Waterbury assemblyman later imprisoned on corruption charges, and then Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, at right, meet in October 2000 at the exclusive Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich

According to federal court records: The trysts between Mayor Giordano and the children took place over nine months in 2000 and 2001 in the mayor’s office, his official car, his home, a friend’s home, and his private law office. Giordano paid Jones $40 to $60 per visit. Giordano made special requests for the two girls on days when he knew they were off from school.

During 2000, Giordano, a former U.S. Marine and state assemblyman representing Waterbury, was the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate against then-Democrat Joe Lieberman. Giordano, married to an attractive heiress, also made no secret of his desire to become the vice president of the United States. In 2003, Giordano was sentenced to 37 years in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona after his conviction of violating the civil rights of the two female children, using interstate devices (cellphones) to arrange the meetings, and conspiring with Jones to supply the children for sexual purposes.

Mafia Connections

It is not known how long Giordano [pictured above in police mug shot] was using his mayoralty and other political influence to arrange for sexual encounters with girls. In 1993, when Maria was abducted, Giordano had been a Republican state representative for Waterbury. Giordano’s mob-linked friend, Joseph Pontoriero, owner of Worth Construction Company, Inc. of Bethel, Connecticut, was also tied to a Mafia syndicate’s numerous concrete-pouring construction contracts in Manhattan and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Pontoriero provided Giordano with $8,300 in designer clothing and a $12,000 loan for a minivan in return for Waterbury contracting favors, federal authorities showed.

Trump's Genius

According to several major biographies, Trump grew his businesses while maintaining relationships with Mafia chieftains Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno (shown at right), the Genovese family crime underboss, and Paul Castellano, chief of the Gambino family. The Genovese and Gambino organizations, named after leaders in their heyday, have historically been the most powerful and dangerous of the New York City metro region’s five Mafia families. The construction firms they controlled, including S & A Concrete, poured concrete for Manhattan’s Trump Tower, Trump Plaza, and other Trump building projects in New York and Atlantic City. Trump’s Atlantic City construction projects also involved Philadelphia and South Jersey Mafia chief Nick “Little Nicky” Scarfo, who was regarded as vengeful and murderous at a level reaching psychotic proportion.

Trump’s association with Mafia bosses resulted from intermediary services provided by the infamous mobbed-up lawyer Roy Cohn (shown at left), someone also known for his prurient sexual interests involving young men. Cohn, who represented leaders in both the Genovese and Gambino mobs, died in 1986 from complications from AIDS. Before that, however, as Trump’s business attorney, friend and mentor, Cohn made the right “introductions” for Trump in the organized crime underground of the New York City area, including Connecticut.

It is very likely that Trump’s affectation for young girls involved compromising him with “favors” that were provided by mob elements in New York and elsewhere, such as Waterbury. And, considering Waterbury’s current obfuscation on providing official information on Maria’s abduction and Giordano’s mob ties and pedophile problems, concerned citizens might reasonably demand answers regarding basic information about the kidnapped girl-- as well as how those secrets relate to the city’s troubled past and current politics.

In Waterbury, federal authorities broke up the massive corruption scheme and documented Giordano’s compulsive sex obsession with teens and pre-teens. Meanwhile, Waterbury authorities apparently proceeded in an oblivious manner that, in the most charitable interpretation, resembled the acumen of Inspector Clouseau in the movies.

Eventually, the Italian Mafia would introduce Trump to the even more nefarious Russian Jewish mob, which was nestled around Brighton Beach, also known as “Little Odessa,” in Brooklyn.

WMR has reported extensively that it was from these quarters that Trump would be introduced to the money-laundering services of shady Eastern European, mostly Jewish, gangsters. These included Felix Sater, David Bogatin, Vyachelsav Ivankov, and the most dangerous mobster of them all-- Semion Mogilevich. These mobsters specialized in not only money laundering, but the other big threat to Trump’s presidency-- sex trafficking, including of underage girls. WMR's findings are summarized in a visual relationship chart of "Trump-Kushner-Sater-Manafort Global Syndicate Road Map" showing persons and entities that was first published last spring and is updated.

Helping to confirm the importance of this illicit network was former Trump Chief Strategist Steven Bannon’s remark quoted by author Michael Wolff in the Fire and Fury best-seller that Trump and his associates are highly vulnerable to money laundering charges in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe.

Epstein’s “Lolita Express”

Trump’s pedophile problems also extend to his Mar-a-Lago private estate and club in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2005, when a Florida mother accused Trump’s “good friend” Epstein with having her underage daughter “Mary” strip down and “massage” Epstein for $300, a barrage of subsequent civil lawsuits was brought against the billionaire investor, who started out his career as a seventh-grade teacher at the exclusive Dalton School in Manhattan from 1973 to 1975.

In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump said of his friend Epstein, “I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. 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. No doubt about it-- Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Trump’s 15-year relationship with Epstein put the alleged rapes of Katie Johnson and Maria well within the timeframe of their friendship.

Palm Beach police detectives led by Det. Joe Recarey and the FBI built up a criminal case against Epstein that soon involved over 100 “Jane Does” who accused the Palm Beach resident Epstein, a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, with sexual assault.

One victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claimed that she was 15 when Epstein’s chief procurer of young girls, Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late newspaper press lord and Mossad operative Robert Maxwell, recruited her into “service” while she was a towel girl at Mar-a-Lago.

Giuffre said that the adjoining photo of her with Maxwell and Prince Andrew of Britain's royal family when she was 17 illustrates the time when she was being trafficked. Epstein, Maxwell and Buckingham Palace denied improprieties, and Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Epstein.

Some of the girls were 14-years-old at the time of Epstein’s alleged assaults at these venues: his Palm Beach El Brillo Way mansion (which is just a mile away from Mar-a-Lago), Epstein’s private Little Saint James Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, his private Boeing 737, and his huge ranch in New Mexico. The other “Jane Does” in the civil cases against Epstein were identified in court documents with the initials of "L.M.," "E.W.," and "M.J."

The Sweetheart Deal Protecting Pervert Pedophiles

Under the Bush administration, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta (shown at right), arranged a sweetheart plea deal for Epstein. The billionaire pervert served merely 13 months of a nighttime-only sentence in a minimum-security wing of the Palm Beach County prison for his misdemeanor guilty plea of soliciting sex from an underage female. The New York Post reported (Massage Maven out of prison) that Epstein was permitted to have a mistress whom Epstein had described as his "sex slave" visit him in jail 67 times.

Most shocking, Epstein was spared from any further Florida or federal charges in a non-prosecution agreement approved by Acosta in coordination with Epstein’s high-powered legal team, which included Florida attorney Jack Goldberger, Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and former President Clinton's Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who was dean of Pepperdine School of Law beginning in 2004.

And, in yet another free ride for those VIPs who were present at Epstein’s orgies with underage girls, Acosta’s plea deal stipulated that neither Florida nor the federal government would charge anyone else for having sex with underage females. Normally, sweetheart plea deals are to encourage small fry to rat out higher-ups, not to protect everyone except one miscreant receiving a slap on the wrists.

The honest police in West Palm Beach were so outraged by the sellout that they risked firing by anonymously posting on the web details (redacted to remove names) of the shocking specifics of Epstein’s crimes against the girls, who were primarily of junior high and high school age. WMR has inspected the court record in criminal and civil cases, and identified 104 separate “Jane Doe” victims of Epstein and his ring in one case alone.

Ironies abound. Clinton and Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom's royal family were among Epstein's social circles. The former president while involved with Clinton Foundation activitiestook many documented flights on Epstein's luxury airplane, although no abuse claims have yet surfaced against him. Starr (shown in a portrait) would go on to become chancellor of Baylor University, where he would intone on the importance of moral instruction for college students, as we reported in the 2015 column Moralist Ken Starr Explains His Help For Billionaire Pervert Jeffrey Epstein. However, a massive sex scandal in football player recruitment, whereby students reported being raped after serving as hostesses for prospective student athletes, festered under his nose and would ultimately cost him his job.

Trump ultimately rewarded Acosta for his “deal” with Epstein by nominating him last year to become U.S. Secretary of Labor. Acosta was approved on a near-party line vote. Most Democrats were too timid to grill him on the Epstein plea deal. Republicans touted his Hispanic and “law enforcement” backgrounds. From this Trump post where Acosta serves as the supposed watchdog over the employment rights of workers, the Labor Secretary continues to serve as an ostensibly decent public servant and rare minority face in the Trump cabinet.

Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, with his hand on a Bible and surrounded by family members, is sworn into office by ViP Mike Pence last year.

What's Next?

Let's think about the high stakes involved and the apparent lack of sustained scrutiny and public disclosure despite the #MeToo movment.

In this instance, the trail of Trump’s and Epstein’s pedophile sexual assaults on young girls is a long one. It extends from the greater Palm Beach area in Florida to Manhattan and, we believe, at least as far north as Waterbury, Connecticut. In most instances, substantial evidence points to law enforcement investigations that have been stymied by government cover-ups, witness intimidation, and monetary pay-offs to victims.

And now there are two new factors: One is an array of zealots, trolls and thugs determined to attack vulnerable victims, particularly to protect President Trump, the leader of their alt-right movement. Also, we see that an entire U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, apparently is suffering from continued storm damage and loss of life because an addled but vengeful Trump apparently conflates a 12-year old Puerto Rican girl whom he knew as Maria with the devastating hurricane of the same name.