{"id":124912,"date":"2019-07-09T07:10:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T11:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=124912"},"modified":"2019-07-09T07:10:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T11:10:41","slug":"epsteingate-mainstream-media-poised-to-pounce-on-trump-for-acosta-appointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=124912","title":{"rendered":"<b>EPSTEINgate:<\/b> <i>Mainstream Media<\/i> poised to pounce on Trump for Acosta appointment"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>What did Epstein\u2019s famous friends know and see?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><div id=\"attachment_34572\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34572\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34572\" src=\"http:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-34572\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE &#8211; In this Sept. 17, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump, left, and Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta listen during a meeting of the President&#8217;s National Council of the American Worker in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. The arrest of billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein on child sex trafficking charges is raising new questions about the future of Acosta as well as Epstein\u2019s relationships with several major political figures, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>By JILL COLVIN  |  AP<\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Jeffrey Epstein has hobnobbed with some of the world\u2019s most powerful people during his jet-setting life. Future President Donald Trump called him a \u201cterrific guy.\u201d Former President Bill Clinton praised his intellect and philanthropic efforts and was a frequent flyer aboard his private jet.<\/p>\n<p>The arrest of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/f995d90cbfd943169f74a0dbb3b1eadc\">billionaire financier on child sex trafficking charges<\/a> is raising questions about how much his high-powered associates knew about the hedge fund manager\u2019s interactions with underage girls, and whether they turned a blind eye to potentially illegal conduct.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also putting new scrutiny on Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who, as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, was involved in a 2008 secret plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not respond to repeated questions Monday about when Trump was last in contact with Epstein or if he had witnessed Epstein engage in illegal activity with underage girls.<\/p>\n<p>In his most extensive known public comments about Epstein, Trump told New York magazine in 2002 that he\u2019d known the financier for 15 years and praised him as a \u201cterrific guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a lot of fun to be with,\u201d Trump was quoted as saying. \u201cIt is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it &#8211; Jeffrey enjoys his social life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Epstein faces sex trafficking, conspiracy charges\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XbWsimVmMvk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten has since distanced Trump from Epstein, telling Politico in 2017 that Trump \u201chad no relationship with Mr. Epstein and had no knowledge whatsoever of his conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the charges on Sunday, Trump said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Epstein was also an associate of Clinton\u2019s, repeatedly lending the former president his jet to travel overseas. Flight logs obtained by Fox News showed the former president took at least 26 trips aboard Epstein\u2019s Boeing 727, nicknamed the \u201cLolita Express,\u201d from 2001 to 2003. That \u201cincluded extended junkets around the world with Epstein and fellow passengers identified on manifests by their initials or first names, including \u2018Tatiana,\u2019\u201d the outlet found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science,\u201d Clinton told New York magazine though a spokesman for that same 2002 story. \u201cI especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV\/AIDS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clinton spokesman Angel Ure\u00f1a said the former president \u201cknows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.\u201d He said that, in 2002 and 2003, Clinton took four trips on Epstein\u2019s plane with multiple stops and that staff and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein\u2019s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida,\u201d Ure\u00f1a added.<\/p>\n<p>Also back in the spotlight is Acosta, Trump\u2019s labor secretary, due to his role in the deal that ended an earlier investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls. The deal allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges and a possible life sentence. Instead, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges and served 13 months in jail, during which he was allowed to leave for work during the day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want real justice for these underage survivors &#8211; and Acosta to finally answer for his weak plea agreement,\u201d tweeted Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was among a number of congressional Democrats who had asked the Justice Department to reopen the case.<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went further, tweeting Monday night that Acosta should resign from Trump\u2019s Cabinet. \u201cAs US Attorney, he engaged in an unconscionable agreement w\/ Jeffrey Epstein kept secret from courageous, young victims preventing them from seeking justice,\u201d Pelosi wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not respond to questions Monday about Acosta\u2019s future. The Department of Labor referred questions to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters in February that the White House was looking into Acosta\u2019s handling of the case, but she never offered further details. Trump said in February that he didn\u2019t know much about the case but volunteered that Acosta had done \u201ca great job\u201d as labor secretary. As for the Epstein case, Trump added, \u201cThat seems like a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Acosta has previously called the deal appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Epstein is accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. He \u201cintentionally sought out minors and knew that many of his victims were in fact under the age of 18,\u201d according to prosecutors, who said he also paid some of his victims to \u201crecruit additional girls to be similarly abused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Epstein pleaded not guilty Monday to sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/3d0490c6774048dc8a5f4fe80d0cf71f\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/3d0490c6774048dc8a5f4fe80d0cf71f<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What did Epstein\u2019s famous friends know and see?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}