Unsealed docs say Bill Clinton was on ‘pedophile island’
w/ ‘young girls’ & cite Epstein saying former president
‘owed him favors’
US Attorney Audrey Strauss speaks at a news conference announcing charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein. © Reuters / Lucas JacksonNewly unsealed files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case imply that former US President Bill Clinton visited the investor’s private island along with “young girls,” and that the FBI knew well about the minors’ abuse.
Comprising hundreds of pages of documents, the trove was released on Thursday night following a judge’s order last week to have it unsealed, over the objections of Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend to Epstein who has recently been charged as an accomplice in his alleged sex-trafficking operation.
The records stem from a 2015 defamation suit filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, which was placed under lock and key after the case was settled in 2017, but was recently unsealed, as a result of a lawsuit brought last year by conservative blogger Mike Cernovich and the Miami Herald newspaper.
Among other revelations, the documents indicate that former US president Bill Clinton consorted with “young girls” during at least one visit to Epstein’s private resort in the Virgin Islands, where the billionaire was said to host regular “sex orgies.”
“When you were present with Jeffery Epstein and Bill Clinton on the island, who else was there?” one witness – presumably Giuffre – was asked during an interview, to which she replied that Epstein, Maxwell, an unidentified woman named “Emmy” and “2 young girls” had been on the island with the former POTUS. The witness did not elaborate on Clinton’s interactions with the girls, however.
The same witness also told her attorney in 2011 that she had overheard Epstein saying that Clinton owed him “favors,” but noted she couldn't tell whether he was joking.
“He would laugh it off. You know, I remember asking Jeffrey ‘What’s Bill Clinton doing here?’… and he laughed it off and said ‘well he owes me a favor,’” she said. “He never told me what favors they were. I never knew. I didn’t know if he was serious.”
He told me a long time ago that everyone owes him favors. They’re all in each other’s pockets.
One of America’s top law enforcement agencies was also apparently aware that underage girls were still being abused at Epstein’s properties as far back as 2011 – years after he was sentenced for similar crimes in his first criminal case. During her defamation suit, Giuffre said she had provided the FBI a now widely circulated photo of herself and the UK’s Prince Andrew – where he is pictured smiling with an arm around her bare waist.
In 2014, moreover, Giuffre contacted the FBI to request evidence they had previously seized from Epstein’s residences to aid her civil case, suggesting the bureau had for long been informed of her allegations regarding Epstein and his continued involvement with minor girls.
President Donald Trump also made an appearance in the unsealed papers. However, an associate of Epstein, Juan Alessi, said in an interview that Trump “never” stayed overnight while visiting Epstein’s Palm Beach estate, and that he did not receive any “massages” there, as “he’s got his own spa.” An alleged victim also maintained that while Trump and Epstein were “good friends,” Trump made no attempts to “flirt” with her.
Despite repeatedly insisting he had no ties to Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, legal scholar and former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz is directly accused in the documents of having “sexual relations” with an underage girl. He is also said to have witnessed “the sexual abuse of many other minors by Epstein and several of Epstein’s co-conspirators,” and would later help to negotiate an undisclosed immunity deal for himself during Epstein’s first criminal case.
More than 1,000 pages of documents from Giuffre’s civil defamation case had previously been released in August 2019, indicating that a long list of wealthy and powerful figures regularly spent time with Epstein at his lavish properties. One day after that trove was unsealed, Epstein was found hanging in his Manhattan prison cell, dead from an apparent suicide after being charged with sex trafficking and imprisoned some weeks previously.
Maxwell was arrested and charged with procuring minors for sexual abuse earlier this month, after keeping a low profile in the period following Epstein’s death. She has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts and remains in custody without bail, after prosecutors had labeled her an “extreme” flight risk.
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Ashley Judd can sue Harvey Weinstein forsexual harassment, court rules
The Associated Press
Actor Ashley Judd alleges Harvey Weinstein tried to coerce her to watch him shower and give him a massage, then smeared her in Hollywood as a 'nightmare' to work with after she rejected him. (The Associated Press)
A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday restored a major part of Ashley Judd's lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, finding that the producer had power over the actor which should make her able to sue under a California sexual harassment law.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Judd should be allowed to pursue both parts of her lawsuit against Weinstein. A lower court judge dismissed her sexual harassment allegations but left intact her claim of defamation.
Judd filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging that in a meeting at a Beverly Hills hotel in late 1996 or early 1997, the producer tried to coerce her to watch him shower and give him a massage, then smeared her in Hollywood as a "nightmare" to work with after she rejected him.
Judd's attorneys had sued Weinstein under a California law that prohibits sexual harassment by people, other than employers, with professional power, including teachers and landlords.
The court agreed that the law could apply to situations like the one Judd faced, when she was dealing with Weinstein but not working for him.
"Weinstein was uniquely situated to exercise, coercive power or leverage over Judd, who was a young actor at the beginning of her career at the time of the alleged harassment," U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia wrote in the opinion. "Moreover, given Weinstein's highly influential and `unavoidable' presence in the film industry, the relationship was one that would have been difficult to terminate `without tangible hardship' to Judd, whose livelihood as an actor depended on being cast for roles."
Judd's lawyers made it explicit when she filed the lawsuit that she was suing in part to broaden the use of the law to protect against predatory relationships in Hollywood and praised the decision Wednesday.
"This is an important victory not only for Ms. Judd but for all victims of sexual harassment in professional relationships," Judd's attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. said in a statement. "The court correctly holds that California law forbids sexual harassment and retaliation by film producers and others in powerful positions, even outside the employment context, and we look forward to pursuing this claim against Mr Weinstein at trial."
An email seeking comment from Weinstein's attorney, Phyllis Kupferman, was not immediately returned. Kupferman said previously that Weinstein did not hurt Judd's career but promoted it, approving her for roles in two of his films.
$19M settlement rejected
The ruling comes two weeks after a judge in New York rejected a $19 million settlement between Weinstein and many of the women suing him for sexual misconduct. Judd was not involved in the proposed agreement.
The 52-year-old star of Kiss The Girls and Double Jeopardy was among the women who told their Weinstein stories to the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2017, making the #MeToo movement a global phenomenon.
She sued Weinstein the following year after director Peter Jackson said in an interview that Weinstein had warned him against working with Judd when he considered her for the Lord of the Rings films.
The lawsuit had been on hold through the completion of Weinstein's criminal trial in New York, where the 68-year-old producer was convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women. He faces similar charges in Los Angeles.
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UK MP who allegedly told victim ‘I’m a naughty Tory’ convicted on sexual assault charges
An ex-Conservative lawmaker who allegedly told one of his victims “I’m a naughty Tory” has been found guilty on three counts of sexual assault. The judge warned the former MP that he now faces the “real possibility” of jail.
The 49-year-old faced charges relating to two women – one in her early 30s who he assaulted at his home in 2007, and a UK parliamentary staffer in her early 20s who he said was “besotted” with in 2016.
But he has now been warned there is a “real possibility” of imprisonment. In court on Thursday, Judge Mrs Justice Whipple warned Elphicke that he faces the prospect of jail time. The now-disgraced former Tory MP has been released on bail and will be sentenced in September, with the judge adding that: “All (sentencing) options remain open.”
The father-of-two had allegedly tried to kiss and grope the young parliamentary employee after the pair shared a drink in Westminster in April 2016. The complainant said that, after the offence took place, Elphicke had told her: "I'm so naughty sometimes."
The other victim, who was in her 30s at the time, was invited by Elphicke to share a bottle of wine at his home while his wife Natalie was away (on business) for the first time since giving birth to their son. The MP enquired about his guest’s sexual interests and implied he was into “bondage and whips” before groping her breasts and trying to kiss her, jurors were told.
The prosecutor had described to jurors how, when the woman had rejected his advances, Elphicke then chased her around the kitchen in a scene likened to “a sketch from ‘The Benny Hill Show’.”
He was chanting in a sing-song way:
"I'm a naughty Tory; I'm a naughty Tory".
Following the judgment, Natalie Elphicke – who succeeded her husband as Dover MP last year – took to Twitter to say that the verdict brought “profound sorrow” that signaled the end of “my 25 year marriage to the only man I have ever loved.”
The Killers Investigating Sexual Misconduct Claim Against Touring Crew
The band says it’s taking allegations that touring crew members behaved inappropriately on a 2009 tour “extremely seriously
By Matthew Strauss
The Killers, photo by Anton Corbijn
The Killers are investigating a sexual misconduct claim involving members of their 2009 touring crew. The alleged incident was detailed in an account written by a sound engineer named Chez Cherrie, who was on the 2009 tour. The blog post was published online in 2018, but Cherrie has indicated on Twitter that she wrote it in 2015. She recently re-shared the article and named the Killers as the band that she previously did not identify.
Chez Cherrie does not identify the alleged victim and does not implicate members of the Killers in the alleged incident.
When reached by Pitchfork, representatives for the Killers shared the following statement from the band’s attorneys Reynolds & Associates:
First and foremost, any allegations of inappropriate behavior by anyone on The Killers touring team are taken extremely seriously by the band and their management. This person’s story is appalling and, while The Killers do not have the same touring crew in 2020 that they had in 2009, they will be conducting a thorough investigation into past and present tour staff. Their legal team will be reaching out to this person for more information and clarity on the alleged incidents as detailed, as well as to the audio vendor who provided crew for the tour.
The band are astonished and shocked by these claims. The behavior attributed to them and their crew is unrecognizable and in direct opposition to the principles with which they run their workplace.
When reached by Pitchfork, Chez Cherrie said:
The fact that [the Killers are] not 100% coming at me and claiming everything is false is a good sign. And I appreciate that they seem to want to get in touch with me. I have not received a cease and desist yet. I have not been contacted by anybody. They do have my contact information, as I remember it is in their records. So at this point I’m just waiting to hear from them. To find out how they would like to fix this.
How do you possibly fix this? Does anyone even know her name? Can the participants be convicted for gang-rape, as they should, without the victim coming forward? Would the victim even want to come forward?
According to Chez Cherrie, the alleged incident took place the night that the Killers played the Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee. She wrote that, during the show, the front of house (FOH) engineer told the crew that there was “a girl set up in Dressing Room A,” and crew members could put their name on a list to be called “when it’s [their] turn.” She said that her stagehands wanted to “put their name on the list.”
Cherrie wrote that, after the show, “Everyone was swapping stories about this woman and their experiences with her. They talked about her intoxication level, yet had no qualms that she was obviously blacked out, or close to it.” As the crew was getting ready to leave the venue, a security guard allegedly told the FOH engineer, “That girl in Dressing Room A is passed out and naked. Is anyone going to take care of her? Do you have a number of a friend or someone we can call?” The FOH engineer and other crew members allegedly laughed at and dismissed the question.
Former football coach Barry Bennell admits
more abuse of children
By Matilda Coleman upnewsinfoFormer football coach and serial paedophile Barry Bennell has pleaded guilty to nine historical child sexual offences.
He admitted three counts of buggery and six counts of indecent assault in relation to two complainants between 1979 and 1988.
The victims were aged between 11 and 14 at the time.
In February the Record revealed claims of a cross-border paedophile ring involving Bennell and fomer Celtic kit man Jim McCafferty.
McCafferty, 74, admitted his decades of abuse of children when confronted by the Daily Record.
He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison to add to the three years and nine months jail term he was previously given in Northern Ireland.
McCafferty is a former Celtic Boys’ Club coach and Celtic FC kitman, who also worked for Hibs, Falkirk and several amateur youth teams.
Bennell, who used to work as a scout for Manchester City, is serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of 50 child sexual offences in 2018.
The latest case was adjourned for medical reports on the defendant to be prepared.
He adjourned the case to October 5. Eleanor Laws QC, defending, asked that Bennell not be required to attend court in person for his sentencing.
She said: “Notwithstanding that these are serious matters, and ordinarily one would expect his attendance, he is, as your honour might know, not very well. “Even if there were not a pandemic, he is vulnerable in terms of his health.”
"He is vulnerable"? Well gosh, is there a reason why he shouldn't get a glimpse of the vulnerability of his many victims, young, impressionable boys.
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