Tag Archives: sex trafficking

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.

crime news

How about an independent probe into Epstein death?

Jeffrey Epstein was under the “watchful eye” of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was being held in a Manhattan jail cell. He was arguably the most notorious criminal in federal custody, a guy who needed the DOJ’s relentless and unblinking attention.

Then he hangs himself. The DOJ is denied the opportunity to put a known pedophile on trial for allegations of sex trafficking underage girls.

The multimillionaire also had two high-profile relationships, with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump … a former and current president of the United States.

Now we hear from Attorney General William Barr blasting to smithereens the security detail at the Manhattan jail. He has called Epstein’s death a monumental failure.

Really, Mr. AG? Well, who is responsible for that failure? I contend that the AG himself is to blame. This happened on Barr’s watch.

The medical examiner has reportedly determined Epstein’s cause of death. There appears to be no evidence of “foul play,” or so we’re led to believe. I won’t join conspiracy theorists who have ideas and notions aplenty about what happened to Epstein.

However, does the DOJ investigate itself? Does the Justice Department look deeply into this a**hole’s death?

I don’t know how the DOJ does that. Nor do I accept that the department can peel away all the layers to expose the truth behind what happened to this guy.

Epstein was put on suicide watch in late July after he was found unconscious in his cell; he reportedly had ligature marks on his neck, suggesting an attempt at hanging himself. Then they removed the suicide watch. Then we hear that the security staff was overworked and didn’t keep an eye on this bastard at all times, allowing him to string himself up inside the jail cell.

That sounds like incompetence. I believe the incompetence goes far beyond the walls of that correctional facility.

Attorney General Barr needs to step aside. He needs to find an independent investigator to take over and determine how such a high-value, high-profile and infamous prisoner can kill himself while he’s in the hands of a federal agency charged with keeping him alive while his notorious case works its way toward adjudication.

crime news

How in the world did this guy ‘off’ himself?

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Well now. Allow me to offer this initial reaction to news that an accused sex trafficker killed himself in a New York jail cell.

W. T. F.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill pervert who hanged himself. He was worth many millions of dollars. He claimed to be friends with at least two highly visible politicians: Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

Jeffrey Epstein had been convicted already of sex crimes in Florida. He stood accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls. He was a bad dude, man.

But here’s where this story breaks down for me. He was on suicide watch. Authorities found him July 23 lying in his cell; he was unresponsive; he reportedly had what looked like robe burns on his neck. The revived him and slapped the suicide watch on him.

Now, I am no expert on how you handle these matters, but I have just a hint of experience at it.

For six months after I left daily journalism in 2012, I worked part-time as a juvenile supervision officer at the Randall County Youth Center of the High Plains. The facility incarcerates youngsters accused of various crimes. Some of them need special attention. Those with suicidal tendencies, for instance, need real special attention.

When a kid was deemed a threat to himself or herself, the YCHP would require security officers — such as me — to keep eyes on the kid at all times. We had to check on them constantly. The lights were never turned off in their cell. They couldn’t do anything within the confines of the room without someone watching them.

My question is this: How did Jeffrey Epstein hang himself while under the supposedly keen eyes of security officials who were supposed to prevent such a thing from occurring?

Obviously, there won’t be a trial. Epstein has taken whatever secrets he had with him to somewhere in the great beyond.

I am not mourning this guy’s death. However, I would like an explanation from the lockup hierarchy on how this monster managed to off himself in plain sight.

Anyone?