In his former role as U.S. Attorney for the District of Miami Alexander Acosta was one of the senior DOJ officials involved in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Mr. Acosta has explained his role and justified all the actions of his office over a decade ago. However, the media and political opponents to the administration are using Acosta to attack the Trump cabinet.
Today President Trump and Labor Secretary Acosta announce the decision to depart from the administration. President Trump doesn’t want Acosta to resign, but understands he is doing so in order to stop any further distractions to the administration and labor dept.
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[Transcript] THE PRESIDENT: I think he was a great Labor Secretary, not a good Labor Secretary. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s a friend of everybody in the administration. And I got a call this morning, early, from Alex. And I think he did a very good job yesterday. Under a lot of pressure, he did a fantastic job and he explained it. He made a deal that people were happy with, and then, 12 years later, they’re not happy with it. You’ll have to figure all of that out.
But the fact is, he has been a fantastic Secretary of Labor. And Alex called me this morning and he wanted to see me. And I actually said, “Well, we have the press right out here, so perhaps you just want to say it to the press.”
But I just want to let you know, this was him, not me, because I’m with him. He was a — he’s a tremendous talent. He’s a Hispanic man. He went to Harvard. A great student. And, in so many ways, I just hate what he’s saying now because we’re going to miss him.
But, please, Alex.
SECRETARY ACOSTA: Thank you, Mr. President. Over the last week, I’ve seen a lot of coverage of the Department of Labor, and what I have not seen is the incredible job creation that we’ve seen in this economy — more than 5 million jobs. I haven’t seen that workplace injuries are down, bucking a three-year trend; workplace fatalities are down, bucking a three-year trend; that we had the safest year ever in mining, the lowest number of fatalities ever in mining.
I have seen coverage of this case that is over 12 years old, that had input and vetting at multiple levels of the Department of Justice. And as I look forward, I do not think it is right and fair for this administration’s Labor Department to have Epstein as the focus, rather than the incredible economy that we have today.
And so I called the President this morning. I told him that I thought the right thing was to step aside. You know, Cabinet positions are temporary trusts. It would selfish for me to stay in this position and continue talking about a case that’s 12 years old, rather than about the amazing economy we have right now.
And so I submitted my resignation to the President –effective seven days from today, effective one week from today — earlier this morning.
Q If the Secretary explained himself, as you say he did two days ago, why the need for him to resign?
THE PRESIDENT: There’s no need at all, as far as I’m concerned. I would have — I watched Alex yesterday. I thought Alex did a great job. And, you know, you could always second guess people, and you could say it should have been tougher. They do it with me all the time. I make a great deal with anybody, and then they say — like, the Democrats — “Oh, it could have been better.”
I got $1.2 billion settlement fined from a company, from ZTE. And the next day — and everybody couldn’t believe it. The next day, the Democrats said, “Oh, he should have gotten more.” So you can always be second guessed. That’s what people do.
I just want to tell you: This is a person that I’ve gotten to know. There hasn’t been an ounce of controversy at the Department of Labor until this came up. And he’s doing this not for himself; he’s doing this for the administration.
And, Alex, I think you’ll agree. I said, “You don’t have to do this.” He doesn’t have to do this.
Q Why would you — why would you accept his resignation?
Q But you accepted the resignation. You accepted the — why did you accept the resignation if he hasn’t done anything wrong?
THE PRESIDENT: I do, and we have — we have — as everybody knows, we have Pat Pizzella, who right now is a deputy, and he’ll be Acting for a period of time. I think you know Pat. He’s a good man, highly recommended by Alex. But Pat is going to be Acting, and we’ve already informed him.
The Canadian psychologist and author talks to BBC 5 live’s Sarah Brett and Nihal Arthanayake about his latest book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos”. If you like this, subscribe to the Headliners podcast to hear the best of 5 live’s interviews each and every week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nr…
In the U.S. DOJ detention memo (full pdf below) federal prosecutors argue that Jeffrey Epstein should be denied bail. Within the 10-page memo some of the victim evidence seized by federal authorities from a locked safe belonging to Epstein is documented.
Epstein is accused of sex trafficking, and apparently he kept records which included CD ROM’s of young women with other potential suspects and/or participants:
[Page 9 pdf] “Finally, despite having been previously convicted of a sex offense involving an underage victim, the defendant has continued to maintain a vast trove of lewd photographs of young-looking women or girls in his Manhattan mansion. In a search of the New York Residence on the night of his arrest, on July 6-7, 2019, pursuant to judicially-authorized warrants, law enforcement officers discovered not only specific evidence consistent with victim recollections of the inside of the mansion, further strengthening the evidence of the conduct charged in the Indictment, but also at least hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of sexually suggestive photographs of fully- or partially nude females.
While these items were only seized this weekend and are still being reviewed, some of the nude or partially-nude photographs appear to be of underage girls, including at least one girl who, according to her counsel, was underage at the time the relevant photographs were taken. Additionally, some of the photographs referenced herein were discovered in a locked safe, in which law enforcement officers also found compact discs with hand-written labels including the following:
The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant;6 rather, he is a continuing danger to the community and an individual who faces devastating evidence supporting deeply serious charges.” (cloud – pdf link)
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York released an indictment today (full pdf below) against billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. The charges include sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, and outline how he used his fortune to “create a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit.”
This case is being handled by the SDNY Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex Rossmiller, Alison Moe, and *Maurene Comey are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from the Office’s Human Trafficking Co-Coordinator, Abigail Kurland. [*Maurene Comey is the daughter of corrupt former FBI Director James Comey.]
Prosecutors also revealed at a news conference how the FBI found nude photos of girls in a weekend raid of Epstein’s Manhattan mansion. WATCH [Prompted Just Hit Play]:
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Indictment below:
SDNY RELEASE – Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced that JEFFREY EPSTEIN was arrested Saturday and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
The indictment unsealed today alleges that, between 2002 through 2005, EPSTEIN sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money. Epstein allegedly worked with several employees and associates to ensure that he had a steady supply of minor victims to abuse, and paid several of those victims themselves to recruit other underage girls to engage in similar sex acts for money. He committed these offenses in locations including New York, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. EPSTEIN is expected to be presented in Manhattan federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, Jeffrey Epstein abused underage girls for years, operating a scheme in which girls he victimized would recruit others for Epstein to exploit and abuse. Epstein exploited girls who were vulnerable to abuse, enticed them with cash payments, and escalated his conduct to include sex acts, often occurring at his residence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, the victims – then children and now young women – are no less entitled to their day in court. My Office is proud to stand up for these victims by bringing this indictment.”
From at least 2002 through at least 2005, JEFFREY EPSTEIN enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, dozens of minor girls to visit his mansion in New York, New York (the “New York Residence”), and his estate in Palm Beach, Florida (the “Palm Beach Residence”), to engage in sex acts with him, after which he would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash. In order to maintain and increase his supply of victims, EPSTEIN also paid certain victims to recruit additional underage girls whom he could similarly abuse. In this way, EPSTEIN created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit, often on a daily basis, in locations including New York and Palm Beach.
EPSTEIN’s victims were as young as 14 at the time he abused them, and were, for various reasons, often particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Moreover, EPSTEIN knew that many of his victims were under 18, including because, in some instances, victims expressly told him they were underage.
In creating and maintaining this network of minor victims in multiple states to abuse and exploit sexually, EPSTEIN worked with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with EPSTEIN at the New York Residence and at the Palm Beach Residence.
In both New York and Florida, EPSTEIN perpetuated this abuse in similar ways. Victims were initially recruited to provide “massages” to EPSTEIN, which became increasingly sexual in nature and would typically include one or more sex acts. EPSTEIN paid his victims hundreds of dollars in cash for each encounter.
In particular, during encounters at the New York Residence, victims would be taken to a room where they would perform a massage on EPSTEIN, during which EPSTEIN would frequently escalate the nature and scope of physical contact with his victims to include, among other things, sex acts such as groping and direct and indirect contact with the victims’ genitals. In connection with the encounters, EPSTEIN, or one of his employees or associates, typically paid each victim hundreds of dollars in cash. Once minor victims were recruited, EPSTEIN or his employees or associates would contact victims to schedule appointments for “massages.” As a result, many victims were abused by EPSTEIN on multiple subsequent occasions.
To further enable him to abuse underage girls, EPSTEIN asked and enticed certain of his victims to recruit additional minor girls to perform “massages” and similarly engage in sex acts with EPSTEIN. When a victim would recruit another underage girl for EPSTEIN, he paid both the victim-recruiter and the new victim hundreds of dollars in cash. Through these victim-recruiters, EPSTEIN maintained a steady supply of new victims to exploit, and gained access to dozens of additional underage girls to abuse.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, 66, is charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. (read more)
Newly-leaked dispatches from British Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch, to his colleagues in the UK Foreign Office portray the Trump White House as chaotic, riven by internal divisions, and ignorant of how to conduct foreign relations. Essentially, they paint the same picture of the president — a bumbling braggart — and the administration that several authors have…authors Trump dismissed as purveyors of ‘fake news’. Sir Kim coaches leaders in his government dealing with President Trump to keep it simple and short, and to employ generous helpings of flattery. This is the 200th episode of Bill Whittle Now, with Scott Ott. People like you produce 48 new episodes of conservative content like this each month, and also run their own dynamic private blog. We offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee if you want to check us out. Just sign up now at https://BillWhittle.com/register/ and if you don’t feel what we’re doing is worth more than your investment, write us for a cheerful refund.
Joe Biden has been distancing himself from AOC and the extreme left. Biden has made it clear that the majority of Democrats are “center left” not “way left,” and looking at the midterm elections, the majority of people elected were center not way left. Biden is the traditional Democrat who knows where the majority of the support lies. If he moved extreme left, the Democrats would find their funding vanish rapidly. I believe that the Democratic Party will swing the ticket one way or another to make Biden their candidate
Chopper pressers are the best pressers. Sunday evening as President Trump is departing New Jersey en route back to the White House he delivers remarks to the press pool and answers questions: [Video and Transcript]
[Transcript] – Morristown, New Jersey – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. We’ve had great economic numbers that came out. You saw that over the weekend; you saw it on Friday. We have just spectacular economic numbers. We’re doing better than any nation on the planet. And we’re very honored by that.
In addition to which, we’re paying interest rates, which the previous administration essentially didn’t pay. So we’ve had tremendous numbers coming out and that’s a big thing. Our economy is doing incredibly.
I want to congratulate the women’s soccer team on winning the World Cup. That’s an incredible achievement. It was a very exciting game. I got to see a little bit of it. And they’re great players, and it’s a great honor to have them capture it for the United States — fourth time — and that’s a tremendous thing. So congratulations to the team on the World Cup.
And if you have any questions, go ahead.
Q Iran says it’s going to start enriching and breaking the Iran deal. What do you say to that?
THE PRESIDENT: Iran better be careful because you enrich for one reason — and I won’t tell you what that reason is, but it’s no good. They better be careful.
Q Mr. President, do you have a reaction to the British ambassador’s comments that were reported about today?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I haven’t seen it. But, you know, we’ve had our little ins and outs with — with a couple of countries. And I would say that the UK and the ambassador has not served the UK well, I can tell you that. We’re not — we’re not big fans of that man, and he has not served the UK well. So I can understand it. And I can say things about him, but I won’t bother.
Q On the census — any decision on the census and what you’ll do?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we’re moving ahead with the census. They’re spending $15 billion or some ridiculous amount of money on a census. I don’t know why we can’t do that through the computers of the world because, frankly, that’s the way you can do a census today and probably a lot more accurately.
But they’re spending 15 to 20 billion dollars on a census. They’re asking everything, except “Are you a citizen of the United States?” How ridiculous is that? So we are moving forward; we have a couple of avenues. And our Attorney General is doing a fantastic job, in many ways, and I think he’s got it under control.
Q What about a presidential memorandum? What about a presidential memorandum on the border?
THE PRESIDENT: We can do a memorandum. We can do an executive order. We’re looking at different things, but there are other alternatives. And, again, I believe our Attorney General — he’s a fantastic man and I think he’s got it very well under control.
Q Mr. President, can I ask you, sir, about the border — in particular, the conditions there?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I think the New York Times story is a hoax. I think anything the New York Times writes nowadays –they’re — they’re really — you know, they use the word “unhinged” — the New York Times. I call it the “failing New York Times” for a reason. Check out their unfunded liability and see what they’re worth. They’re a failing — they’re already a failed New York Times.
But when they write a story like that, I went to my people, and they said, “Sir, it’s not true.” We told them about a crisis. They said it was “manufactured.” They laughed and they scoffed for months, and then it turned out that it wasn’t manufactured. It’s a crisis. We were right about that.
We told them that the detention centers are really full, and they’ve got to change the loopholes and they have to change asylum; they have to change the immigration laws. We could do it quickly, but we have no votes to do it because the Democrats won’t vote. We need some of their votes.
But the New York Times story is a fabrication. Now, I look at things in the — I saw, visually — I had people there that told me the job that they are doing is incredible. And, in all cases, if you look — people that came from unbelievable poverty — that had no water, that had no anything where they came from — those are people that are very happy with what’s going on because, relatively speaking, they’re in much better shape right now.
The Border Patrol and all of the law enforcement that’s working on the border — it’s incredible what they’re doing. They’ve had to become nurses. They’ve had to become janitors. They’ve had to become things that they were never trained to do, all because the Democrats refuse to change the loopholes and the asylum laws, the immigration laws. So I think it’s a disgrace.
And the New York Times is basically a partner with the Democrats, the way I look at it. They should never be allowed to write stories like that. It’s a disgrace.
Q Did the numbers fall in June (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, the numbers are going down because Mexico is doing a lot. Mexico is building up to over 20,000 soldiers at the border, so the numbers are going down. Yes.
Q Do you believe female athletes should be paid as much as their male counterparts?
THE PRESIDENT: I would like to see that. And you also have to look at numbers because, when you look at World Cup soccer, that’s one thing, and you also have to look at soccer professionals out there. You have to see who’s taking in what.
So I don’t know what those numbers are. I would like to see that. But, again, you have to look at the great stars of the men’s soccer and the great stars of the women’s soccer, and you have to see, year round, how are they all drawing — what’s the attendance for women’s soccer outside of World Cup. But I would like to see it, yes.
Q Mr. President, do have any comment on Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t know about it. That I don’t know about.
Q Will you invite the women’s team to the White House?
THE PRESIDENT: What?
Q Will you invite the women’s team to the White House — the soccer team?
THE PRESIDENT: We haven’t really thought about it. We will look at that, certainly.
Yeah, Jeff.
Q When you said earlier that Iran should “be careful,” what are you thinking about, in terms of a response?
THE PRESIDENT: Iran is doing a lot of bad things. And remember this: The Obama agreement, which was the most foolish agreement that you’ll ever find — it expires in a very short period of time. So whether you have this conversation now or in a number of years from now — a few number of years — it’s a very important conversation, except, the way they want it, they would have automatic right to have nuclear weapons. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
Thank you very much.
Q (Inaudible) this week on China — Ambassador Lighthizer and Secretary Mnuchin, I guess, would they meet with the Chinese this week?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re doing very well with China. That’s right; they’re meeting. But we’re — most importantly, we’re doing very well with the tariffs. We’re taking in billions and billions of dollars from China. We’ve never taken in ten cents from China. China has ripped us off during Obama and Biden; during, in all fairness, Bush and other Presidents; and Clinton, obviously.
And right now China is not very happy because thousands of companies are leaving China and they’re going to other places, including the United States, because they don’t want to pay tariffs. And the other thing is, China is paying the tariff. They’re devaluing their currency and they’re pumping money in. That’s paying for the tariff. Our people have not been paying for the tariff.
Thank you.
Q Do you have any problem with the Fed then, with regard to what they should do?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, if the Fed knew what it was doing, they would lower rates and they would stop quantitative tightening.
If you look at Europe, what they’re doing is they’re pumping money in and they’re having rates lowered so they can compete with us. Just remember, the European Union was set up in order to compete with the United States. Okay? And when they have a man — Draghi — if you look at what he’s done, I mean, he’s made them somewhat competitive. Now, despite everything, they’re not doing well and we’re doing great. Europe is not doing well at all. They’re doing great.
But we’re put in an unfair playing field when they cut interest rates and when they pump in a lot of money. And we’re doing just the opposite; we’re taking money out and interest rates have gone up.
If the Fed didn’t do what it did or if it did even half, we would have a Dow that would be — as good as it is; we’re doing so good — but we would have a Dow that would be anywhere from 5- to 10,000 points higher.
Q Is Jerome Powell’s job safe, sir?
Q Mr. President, will you visit the migrant detention center in Clint, Texas — the one in the New York Times story?
THE PRESIDENT: What we’re going to do is I’m going to start showing some of the detention centers because — to the press. I want the press to go in and see them. And I just spoke to Mark Morgan. And I just spoke with, as you know, Kevin.
So we’re going send people in. We’re going to have some of the press go in and see them, because they’re crowded and we’re the ones who were complaining about they’re crowded. They’re crowded because people come up. But, now, thanks to Mexico, it’s slowing down greatly, and I think you’ll start seeing some very good numbers. But it is crowded. But we want to have the press go in and see because, you know, the New York Times — it really is fake news.
Gordon Chang appears on Fox News with Charles Payne (filling in for Bartiromo) to discuss the downstream consequences from the G20 meeting between President Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.
While he generally frames the picture accurately, lately Chang has been hit or miss. He accurately outlines how a win/win trade deal is not possible from the perspective of Beijing and their zero-sum outlook; however, he misses on the issues around Huawei; misses the entire hostage dynamic with Kim Jong Un; and then hits again on Hong Kong.
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♦ On China President Trump appears to be working on a complete and total decoupling from the U.S. However, there are steps required in the interim that are in flux (EU and USMCA). Once those matters are resolved we will likely see the decoupling.
♦ On North Korea, just because DPRK state media spouts something doesn’t mean Kim Jong-Un has any control over it. Beijing has majority influence over DPRK officials.
♦ On Hong Kong, after the Kim hostage rescue; and while the China decoupling is underway; we can expect Hong Kong to be a larger part of Trump’s Indo-Pacific initiative.
A rather unusual tweet from Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, outlining a concern around the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein: “it is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated.”
Considering the frame-of-reference, the social circle and political network the Pelosi family, the use of the term “our faves” has rather looming implications:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested late on Saturday on suspicion of sex trafficking of underage girls and will appear in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, a source familiar with the matter said, meaning he will face charges similar to those he avoided in a 2007 plea deal.
Epstein, 66, was being held in New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.
Asked by email if Epstein planned to plead not guilty to any charges, a lawyer for Epstein, Jack Goldberger, replied, “Yes.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, which is handling the case, declined to comment. (read more)
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 