The wealthy friend of Donald Trump has been arrested again for sex trafficking of minors by the FBI. Are there others who should be afraid of what comes out at trial?
July 6, 2019

It's been a long time coming, but justice may finally find Jeffrey Epstein.

Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources. The arrest, by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force, comes about 12 years after the 66-year-old financier essentially got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida.

These are federal charges, so Donald Trump does have the power to pardon Epstein, although he may want to keep clear of that for his evangelical base. Of course, Jerry Falwell Jr will probably have no problem finding a rationalization for why it's perfectly Christian to forgive the rape and trafficking of minors as sex slaves.

But then again, if Donald Trump's name comes up in discovery (Trump was accused before the 2016 election of the rape of a minor, which was retracted after the victim got death threats--that assault allegedly took place at Epstein's place. Epstein was also accused by the victim.), it definitely would serve his interests to cut the investigation short. Other prominent names often mentioned in connection with Epstein are attorney Alan Dershowitz, former president Bill Clinton, and the UK's Prince Andrew. I don't know how much honor is among pedophiles like Epstein, but it's worth considering that he could trade what he knows about those names for leniency.

This is not the first time Epstein has faced charges. He was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008, but a secret plea agreement with then US Attorney (now Trump Secretary of Labor) Alex Acosta basically gave him the cushiest of sentences and no notice to his more than 30 victims. Just this February, a federal judge found that Acosta acted improperly, but like so much of the Trump administration, there have been no consequences to Acosta.

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