Queen strips Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of CBE
after rape conviction
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving 23 years in prison in the US for rape and sexual assault, has been stripped of his honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the ruling of the Queen.
Weinstein’s CBE “shall be cancelled and annulled,” the official announcement in the London Gazette read, adding that “his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”
The decision was made during an earlier session of the Honours Forfeiture Committee. The body, which is independent from the UK government, gathers to evaluate the behavior of the holders of the order and decide if it brought “the honours system into disrepute.”
Weinstein, who won an Oscar for producing ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and was involved with dozens of successful movies including iconic indie titles ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’, was awarded a CBE back in 2004 for his contributions to art.
In March, the 68-year-old was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting former assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006, and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
More than 100 women – among them stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek being – had accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, which dated back decades. Those accusations inspired the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and harassment of women in 2017.
Shortly after the scandal broke, the British Film Institute (BFI) rescinded the producer’s fellowship, which was granted to him in 2002.
Virgin Islands AG demands ENTIRETY of Epstein flight logs,
‘sparking panic’ among wealthy passengers
Protesters demonstrate against Epstein and his prosecution-proof cronies outside Manhattan Federal Court
© Reuters / Mike Segar
The US Virgin Islands Attorney General has subpoenaed 21 years’ worth of deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs, reportedly striking fear in the hearts of high-profile passengers not yet exposed as Lolita Express riders.
Passenger logs for Epstein’s four helicopters and three planes have been subpoenaed by Virgin Islands AG Denise George, who recently sued the disgraced financier’s estate for 22 counts including human trafficking, child abuse, neglect, prostitution, aggravated rape, and forced labor, according to a Sunday report by the UK Mirror.
In addition to the passenger lists, George has requisitioned “complaints or reports of potentially suspicious conduct” and any “personal notes” the pilots made while flying Epstein’s alleged harem of underage girls around the world. She also wants the names and contact information of anyone who worked for the pilots – or who “integrated with or observed” Epstein and his passengers.
Epstein pilot David Rodgers previously provided a passenger log in 2009 tying dozens of politicians, actors, and other celebrities to the infamous sex offender – including former US President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, and model Naomi Campbell. However, lawyers for Epstein’s alleged victims have argued that list did not include flights by Epstein’s chief pilot, Larry Visoski, who allegedly worked for him for over 25 years.
“The records that have been subpoenaed will make the ones Rodgers provided look like a Post-It note,” a source told the Mirror over the weekend, claiming that George’s subpoena had triggered a “panic among many of the rich and famous.”
Epstein’s private plane, nicknamed the Lolita Express, counted among its passengers such luminaries as the UK’s Prince Andrew, celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz, actor Chris Tucker, Harvard economist Larry Summers, Hyatt hotel mogul Tom Pritzker, and model agency manager Jean-Luc Brunel along with Campbell, Spacey, and Clinton (who the logs show flew with Epstein over two dozen times). However, the passengers who enjoyed his other aircraft have not been made public - yet.
George has also subpoenaed more than 10 banks – including JPMorgan, Citibank, and Deutsche Bank – in her quest to get to the bottom of the financial edifice Epstein built up before he died. The financial institutions have been ordered to submit documents related to some 30 corporations, trusts, and nonprofit entities tied to the predatory playboy.
Epstein supposedly committed suicide last year in a Manhattan jail facility, while his accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell remains imprisoned in a Brooklyn detention center awaiting trial on charges related to child trafficking and perjury after her arrest earlier this year. Maxwell’s lawyers have struggled to keep documents introduced as part of a recent defamation suit by one of Epstein’s alleged victims under seal, insisting the information would deny her a fair trial.
Senate report links Hunter Biden to
‘prostitution or human trafficking ring’
By Bruce Golding September 23, 2020
Hunter Biden sent “thousands of dollars” to people who appear to be involved in the sex industry, according to a report released Wednesday by Republicans in the US Senate.
“The records also note that some of these transactions are linked to what ‘appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring,'” the report says.
The allegations are contained in a footnote to a section of the report that details potential “criminal concerns and extortion threats” involving the son of Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden and other members of the Biden family.
The report also cites “extensive public reporting concerning Hunter Biden’s alleged involvement with prostitution services.”
“Records on file with the Committees do not directly confirm or refute these individual reports,” the report says.
“However, they do confirm that Hunter Biden sent thousands of dollars to individuals who have either: 1) been involved in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking; 2) an association with the adult entertainment industry; or 3) potential association with prostitution.”
A spokesman for the Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on these specific allegations, but earlier accused Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), whose staffers helped prepare the report, of “diverting” attention from President Trump’s “catastrophically botched” handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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‘Jesus of Siberia,’ cult leader ‘Vissarion’ found in possession of weapons, cash, jewellery, & adult toys during police raid
FILE PHOTO: Vissarion, who has proclaimed himself a new Christ, conducts a service during the "Holiday of Good Fruit" feast in the village of Obitel Rassveta (Cloister of Sunrise), some 640 km (398 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia August 18, 2010. © REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin
By Matthew Clayton
When cops busted Siberia’s answer to Christ this week, they discovered plenty of items unbecoming of a self-proclaimed ‘Son of God.’ Officers found weapons, money and even adult toys in the sect leader’s stash of worldly goods.
The haul was uncovered at the cult’s compound in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk Region, as contemporary ‘Messiah’ Sergey Torop was being arrested and charged with “creating a religious association whose activities involve violence against citizens.”
Two other members of the sect were arrested alongside its founder on Tuesday, on suspicion of causing “serious harm” to their followers. On top of the charges of establishing an illegal religious organization, they are also accused of causing harm to members’ health and wellbeing. They are being held in the city of Novosibirsk, awaiting trial.
During Tuesday’s raid, police found a hoard of empty and full alcohol bottles, jewelry, weapons, adult toys, and a stash of money, held in rubles, dollars and euro. Given that the group espouses peace and love, the weaponry, which included a Saiga semi-automatic rifle and several handguns, is particularly notable.
Established in 1991, the movement forbids its adherents from smoking, drinking or exchanging money, and they live as vegetarian subsistence farmers. The movement's creator, Torop, a former traffic policeman, believes he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and brands himself as ‘Vissarion.’
He has previously come to the attention of Russian police for corruption, and has been associated with various accounts of violence. One such anecdote alleges that a follower of the cult had committed suicide after selling all his property and being rejected by the group.
Police have confirmed that “some weapons were registered. We are verifying if the rest of the arms were registered as well.”
The charges brought against Torop carry a potential sentence of more than 10 years in prison.
I don't know what the violence charges relate to, but there had better be more than what is mentioned above or they appear to have little more than hypocrisy to charge him with. This could be embarrassing for the police unless there is much more to this story, or unless they frame him for something.
French Olympic figure skater under investigation
for sexual abuse allegation retires
Christine Brennan
USA TODAY
Morgan Cipres, the French Olympic pairs skater who is under investigation from the U.S. Center for SafeSport and the Pasco County, Florida Sheriff’s Office for allegedly sending two lewd photos to a 13-year-old American female figure skater (3rd story on link), has retired from the sport.
The French Federation of Ice Sports announced Tuesday that Cipres, 29, and his pairs partner, Vanessa James, 33, were leaving the sport less than a year and a half before the next scheduled Winter Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Games, where they would have been contenders for an Olympic medal.
On Dec. 3, 2017, Cipres allegedly direct messaged two photos of his penis on Instagram to the girl, who skated at the same rink as Cipres in Wesley Chapel, Florida. USA TODAY Sports has reviewed those messages, which were sent from what appears to be Cipres’ verified account.
Morgan Cipres, left, and Vanessa James have announced their retirement from figure skating. Cipres is under investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and Florida law enforcement after allegedly sending lewd photographs to a 13-year-old girl.
When asked in a December 2019 phone interview if he sent the photos of himself to the girl, Cipres replied, “I cannot talk with you about anything about that. I mean, I have nothing to say about this allegation.”
SafeSport opened an investigation into the allegation late last year, according to the girl, her parents and emails obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The girl and her parents also said Cipres’ coaches, John Zimmerman, a 2002 Olympian and member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and Silvia Fontana, a 2002 and 2006 Olympian representing Italy, tried to keep the family from reporting the alleged incident to authorities by shaming and threatening the girl as Cipres, who then was 26, prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The skater and her parents said that instead of going to police or SafeSport, which opened in March 2017 to investigate sexual abuse in Olympic sports, Zimmerman and Fontana implored them to stay quiet because Cipres and James were in the final stages of their preparation for the Olympics in South Korea, where they finished fifth.
Zimmerman and Fontana have denied the allegations. The girl and her parents are not being identified because USA TODAY Sports does not publish the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse.
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