Tag Archives: sex trafficking

crime news

Let’s see if there’s nothing to see

Donald J. Trump’s administration is doing a marvelous job of pissing off its political base, not to mention the rest of the country.

It has done pirouettes around the question of whether to release information about convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s prison time and the friends he made while steering girls into prostitution. Trump said initially that he wanted the information released. He incurred the wrath of his loyalists, who don’t want the material released.

He then changed his mind, angering the MAGA cultists who have joined their more progressive antagonists in insisting that Trump release the info.

Trump’s team, though, says there’s “nothing to see.” Really?

Hey, here’s a thought: Why don’t you release the information and let the public determine whether there’s any substance to reports that Trump and Epstein were besties … and that includes reports that the future president of the United States might have been up to his armpits in criminal behavior.

crime news

Trouble in MAGA land? Awww!

There appears to be trouble brewing among the MAGA morons who comprise much of Donald Trump’s base of support.

It involves whether Trump should release information related to the late Jeffrey Epstein’s prison term after his conviction on charges involving sex trafficking and the selling of children into prostitution.

Trump at first said he would release the information to the public. Now he’s back away from that pledge. What’s more, he has pissed off the MAGA cabal that still seemingly adores this idiot.

I’m not entirely clear on why the MAGA cult wants the info released, other than there might be some dirt tossed on many of Trump’s political enemies. Epstein reportedly kept some sort of “black book” on people he serviced with young women. One of them might have been his pal … Donald John Trump.

Trump once said he wanted the information released. Now he’s cowering. The MAGA morons are angry with their guy.

Do I really care that the MAGA loons might be about to jump from the Trump ship that appears to be listing significantly in these roiling political waters? Not really. It does highlight one of the inherent problems that Trump has displayed ever since he entered political life in June 2015. It is his unwillingness to speak the truth.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a true-blue MAGA moron, wants Trump to release the information. Johnson has some supporters backing his insistence that the Epstein files are open to the public. What is Trump going to do? Beats the bejeebers out of me.

I do know that he is handing Democrats tons of ammo to use against him as they seek to regain control of Congress in 2026.

Hey! Come to think of it … that’s why I care about this brewing conflict!

International news

Andrew gets defrocked

It looks for all the world as though we could be watching a one-time prominent member of the world’s pre-eminent royal family being excommunicated in real time, sent to the proverbial woodshed and given a public battering from his mother, her Majesty the Queen of England.

Queen Elizabeth II has stripped Prince Andrew, her second-oldest son, of his military rank and removed him from all his charitable causes. This is in reaction to the stunning news of his alleged involvement with an underage girl who claims Andrew had sex with her “multiple times” while she was being, um, “handled” by a notorious sex trafficker, the late Jeffrey Epstein.

I have no way on Earth in knowing what’s going through Her Majesty’s mind about this, but my gut and my trick knee tell me her decision to bust Andrew of his military standing and take his charitable causes away is based on her belief in the allegations that have been leveled against her son.

The end game? He’s likely done as a working member of Great Britain’s royal family. I doubt seriously at this moment that we’re going to see Prince Andrew attending any public functions involving the royals … ever again!

What lies ahead for the fallen prince? He is being sued by Epstein’s victim. He could challenge the lawsuit and possibly lose. Or he could settle out of court, which to my way of thinking is an admission of some level of guilt.

Either way, Andrew is likely finished.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Verdict: Maxwell is a sex trafficker too!

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Just about the time you think we might have a hung jury unable to deliver a verdict in a high-profile trial … we get a verdict in a high-profile trial.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the one-time girlfriend and accomplice to the late millionaire sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is now a convicted sex trafficker herself.

A jury delivered the news to Maxwell today after five days of deliberation.

Is this the right verdict? Based on what I know — which admittedly isn’t much — it looks as though justice has been delivered. Jurors accepted the testimony that Maxwell assisted Epstein in his quest for young girls with whom he had sex or who he peddled for sex with others.

It was ghastly and gruesome testimony to be sure. As USA Today reported: The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.

Epstein, who was jailed a couple of years ago on sex charges, hanged himself in his New York City jail cell. The world is better off without him staining it with his presence.

Maxwell faces a lengthy prison sentence. My hope is that she gets the maximum.

Oh, and unlike the reaction delivered by Donald Trump when he heard about her arrest in 2019, I do not “wish her well.” I wish her nothing but misery.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

Rep. Gaetz pops off

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who’s under investigation for alleged sex trafficking and for having sex with underage girls, needs to put a sock in his pie hole.

He has called Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin possibly “the stupidest person to ever serve in a presidential Cabinet.” Gaetz tore into the retired four-star Army general for decisions he made while he was in charge of Central Command and as defense secretary.

Gaetz, a Florida Republican, is known primarily for two things: for being a loudmouth and a blowhard and for being an unabashed supporter of the disgraced and twice-impeached former Liar in Chief.

One more point.

Gaetz has challenged the integrity and the honor of the first African-American ever to hold the office of defense secretary. Lloyd Austin served with honor and dignity during nearly 40 years wearing the military uniform.

What about Gaetz’s service to the country? Has he thrust himself into harm’s way?

Umm … no.

crime news

No, Matt Gaetz, they’re coming for ‘you’

(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What in the world of blustery bloviating is Matt Gaetz suggesting?

The embattled Republican congressman from Florida is trying to suggest that investigations into whether he engaged in sex with an underage girl and got involved with a sex trafficking ring is an attack on his supporters.

The loudmouth Donald Trump acolyte tore a page out of the ex-POTUS’s playbook and said over the weekend that the probe into his alleged activity is aimed at others.

“They’re aren’t coming after me,” he bellowed to a crowd. “They’re coming after you.”

No, Matt. The feds are coming after you, as in they want to know what Matt Gaetz is doing when no one is looking.

This investigation might not be turning in Gaetz’s favor. A guy with whom he is friends, Joel Greenberg, is thought to be preparing to cop some sort of plea deal with the feds on a sex-trafficking rap. If he pleads, works out a lesser-sentence agreement and then rats out his buddy, Matt Gaetz … hmm. What happens then?

Meanwhile, Gaetz continues to bluster, bellow, blather his way deeper into the crapper.

I probably should just give way to the “presumption of innocence” principle to which all Americans are entitled. I am sorry to acknowledge that I just cannot go there. Not with this clown.

national news

Gaetz saga getting even more weird

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Matt Gaetz is, to borrow a phrase made famous by a former president, “in deep doo-doo.”

The U.S. House ethics committee is now investigating allegations that the Republican Florida congressman had sex with an underage girl and that he might have engaged in sex trafficking.

Ohhhh, ouch, man!

Gaetz denies it all. He calls it a conspiracy by lefty media types and assorted political opponents.

I happen to think the allegations have enough legs to run a long way. That’s just me.

What needs to happen, though, is if the House ethics panel finds wrongdoing it needs to recommend severe sanctions against Gaetz. Removal from key committee assignments isn’t enough. He needs to get the boot from the people’s House, from my House, your House.

This disgusting individual masquerading as a principled conservative is nothing more than a shill for Donald Trump, the ex-president who continues to pitch The Big Lie about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election … which Gaetz continues to convey to anyone gullible enough to believe it.

Now he’s getting pressure to quit from none other than fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, which isn’t surprising, given that Kinzinger was one of 10 Republican House members to vote to impeach Trump after the then-president incited the Jan. 6 insurrection.

This saga involving Matt Gaetz is only get even more tawdry.

This clown needs to go. As in right now!

national news

Gaetz won’t quit; he certainly should

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Matt Gaetz says he isn’t going to quit his seat in Congress.

He said the allegations against him — that he had sex with an underage girl and might be involved in a sex trafficking ring — are the work of a conspiracy.

Forgive me for saying so, given that Gaetz ain’t my representative, but he needs to get the heck outta there. Why? It’s because he will not ever outrun the allegation, particularly if a federal investigation provides evidence that he, indeed, has been boinking little girls.

Why do I care, living as I do in North Texas, about the political future of a loudmouth who represents a Florida congressional district? Because … this blowhard actually votes on federal laws and regulations that affect all Americans. Members of the House and Senate vote on federal legislation. They propose these laws. They debate them in public. They influence how their colleagues should vote on them.

‘Absolutely not resigning’: Gaetz blasts Justice Dept. probe — and critics (nbcnews.com)

That’s how it’s supposed to work. We have, though, among those serving in the House a seedy cabal of miscreants, not to mention the wacky conspiracy theorists who adhere to the nonsense promoted by QAnon and other traitorous groups.

The scouting report on Matt Gaetz tells me he is interested only in promoting the political future of his former godfather, Donald John Trump. Gaetz keeps a seat warm on the House Judiciary Committee, which gives even more power than your average back-bench member of Congress.

I haven’t been following this story closely enough to be able to project how it will end up. Those who are close to the Gaetz matter suggest that there’s an indictment in the works. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has said that if an indictment comes down, then Gaetz needs to exit the Judiciary panel.

The bitter truth, though, is this: Matt Gaetz cannot outrun these allegations. Every issue he touches as a House member becomes tainted by a tawdry allegation. Pols call it a “distraction.” Yeah, it’s that and a whole lot more.

Get out of there, Matt Gaetz. You have sullied my House, young man.

national news

Matt Gaetz needs a dog

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Someone once said if you want to have a “friend in Washington, get a dog.” My sense today is  that U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, needs a pooch if he desires to find a friend.

Friends are in short supply for Gaetz as he faces allegations of improper sexual  relations with an underage girl and — this is the worst part by far — whether he engaged in sex trafficking. Then there are reports from his colleagues that Gaetz has been showing ’em nude pics of the women with whom he has taken a tumble.

It really and truly stinks to be Matt Gaetz at this time.

Don’t get me wrong. Gaetz, who has been described as a political troll who is more interested in furthering weird causes than actually legislating, is one of the more detestable individuals serving on Capitol Hill. Media are reporting a decided lack of surprise among his congressional colleagues over what has been alleged.

Yeah, he’s got a few pals. They are fellow Donald Trump acolytes who, like Gaetz, continue to suck up to the ex-president. Gaetz is hoping, it appears likely, that Trump can parlay what little political stroke he has remaining to save this clown.

It’s instructive to me that Gaetz’s congressional communications director has quit, citing “principle” as his reason for resigning. Well, who else is going to abandon this nut job?

Yep, Gaetz needs a pooch.

national news

Is this clown going down?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I am not proud to admit this, but here it comes.

Matt Gaetz is in serious trouble and I actually hope the federal authorities have the goods on this seriously bad political actor.

Gaetz is a Florida Republican member of Congress who is being investigated over an allegation that he has had a sexual relationship with an underage girl. He has been tied to alleged sex trafficking activities.

Why is he bad actor? He is a dedicated Trump suck-up, a guy who is more committed to the former president, the guy named Donald Trump, than to the rule of law, or to regular order, or to genuine GOP policy.

Gaetz ventured to Wyoming, for crying out loud, to protest Rep. Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach Donald Trump. Oh, there’s also this: Liz Cheney is a real Republican member of Congress, someone who stood up for the rule of law and the Constitution after Trump incited the Jan. 6 insurrection against the federal government.

Gaetz tried to cover Donald Trump’s ample backside.

So now this guy who seems to have damn few friends in Congress because of his fealty to Donald Trump is now being examined into charges that he has been taking tumbles with a girl.

I know he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That is a legal presumption. I am under no obligation to provide such a presumption as an American who detests everything this guy symbolizes.