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dfhsheh · 5 months

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Who are named in Jeffrey Epstein documents? Big names like Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, Alan Dershowitz confirmed

The people whose names were revealed include sex abuse victims, litigation witnesses, Epstein’s employees, and people with a passing connection to the scandal

Hundreds of pages of documents from a lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein have been publicly released. The list has mentioned big names like Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and Michael Jackson.

The names revealed were listed in court documents filed as part of accuser Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell. The names, before being unsealed, were listed in court papers as variants of J Doe. Many of the names had been previously revealed as well.

Notably, every individual named in the list is not accused of wrongdoing. The people whose names were revealed include sex abuse victims, litigation witnesses, Epstein's employees, and people with just a passing connection to the scandal. Some names were redacted.

Here is a list of big names that have been unsealed:

Ghislaine Maxwell

Virginia Lee Roberts Giuffre

Kathy Alexander

Miles Alexander

James Michael Austrich

Philip Barden

REDACTED

Cate Blanchett

David Boies

Laura Boothe

Evelyn Boulet

Rebecca Boylan

Joshua Bunner

Naomi Campbell

Carolyn Casey

Paul Cassell

Sharon Churcher

Bill Clinton

David Copperfield

Alexandra Cousteau

Cameron Diaz

Leonardo DiCaprio

Alan Dershowitz

Dr. Mona Devanesan

REDACTED

Bradley Edwards

Amanda Ellison

Cimberly Espinosa

Jeffrey Epstein

Annie Farmer

Marie Farmer

Alexandra Fekkai

Crystal Figueroa

Anthony Figueroa

Louis Freeh

Eric Gany

Meg Garvin

Sheridan Gibson-Butte

Robert Giuffre

Al Gore

Ross Gow

Fred Graff

Philip Guderyon

REDACTED

Shannon Harrison

Stephen Hawking

Victoria Hazel

Brittany Henderson

Brett Jaffe

Michael Jackson

Carol Roberts Kess

Dr. Karen Kutikoff

Peter Listerman

George Lucas

Tony Lyons

Bob Meister

Jamie A. Melanson

Lynn Miller

Marvin Minsky

REDACTED

David Mullen

Joe Pagano

Mary Paluga

J. Stanley Pottinger

Joseph Recarey

Michael Reiter

Jason Richards

Bill Richardson

Sky Roberts

Scott Rothstein

Forest Sawyer

Doug Schoetlle

Kevin Spacey

Cecilia Stein

Mark Tafoya

Brent Tindall

Kevin Thompson

Donald Trump

Ed Tuttle

Emma Vaghan

Kimberly Vaughan-Edwards

Cresenda Valdes

Anthony Valladares

Maritza Vazquez

Vicky Ward

Jarred Weisfeld

Courtney Wild

Bruce Willis

Daniel Wilson

Andrew Albert Christian Edwards, Duke of York

Epstein allegedly sexually assaulted multiple teenage girls. Some of his victims were as young as 14 years old, prosecutors have said. He committed the crimes at his homes in Manhattan; Palm Beach, Florida; and his private island near St. Thomas.

In 2019, federal prosecutors charged him with one count of sex trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking with underage females. Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell about a month after being arrested, and the charges against him were thus dropped.

His partner Maxwell, who was also involved in the crimes, is now serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in December 2021. She was accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse minor girls.

#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList #EpsteinIsland #EpsteinFiles #EpsteinDocs

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joyfulreviewstarfish · 1 year

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Deutsche Bank to pay $75 million to settle lawsuit by Epstein accusers

Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by women who say they were abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and accused the German bank of facilitating his sex trafficking.

The accord resolves claims in a proposed class action in Manhattan federal court by Epstein’s accusers, and was confirmed by their lawyers late on Wednesday. Court approval is required.

Epstein had been a Deutsche Bank client from 2013 to 2018. He died in August 2019 in jail while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, in what New York City’s medical examiner called a suicide.

The Wall Street Journal reported the settlement earlier and said the bank did not admit wrongdoing, citing people familiar with the matter.

Deutsche Bank spokesman Dylan Riddle declined to discuss the accord, but referred to a 2020 statement in which the bank acknowledged error in making Epstein a client.

He also said Deutsche Bank has invested more than 4 billion euros to bolster its controls, processes and training, and hired more people to fight financial crime.

David Boies, one of the accusers’ lawyers, said in a statement that Epstein’s abuses “could not have happened without the collaboration and support of many powerful individuals and institutions. We appreciate Deutsche Bank’s willingness to take responsibility for its role.”

The law firms Boies Schiller Flexner and Edwards Pottinger represent Epstein’s accusers. A trial had been scheduled for Sept. 5.

JPMorgan impact

It wasn’t immediately clear how the settlement might affect JPMorgan Chase & Co, which faces similar but larger lawsuits by Epstein’s accusers and by the US Virgin Islands, where the financier had a home.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013, a period when he allegedly trafficked many more women and girls. Court papers have outlined many details about the bank’s alleged ignoring or turning a blind eye to Epstein’s activities.

JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

It is separately suing Jes Staley, a former private banking chief who had been friendly with Epstein, to help cover its losses in the two lawsuits it faces.

Staley is also a former Barclays Plc chief executive. Tesla Inc’s Elon Musk is among those who have been subpoenaed in the JPMorgan litigation.

The Deutsche Bank case was led by an unidentified plaintiff, known as Jane Doe 1, who said Epstein sexually abused her from 2003 to 2018.

A different Jane Doe 1, a former ballet dancer who said Epstein trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, is leading the accusers’ case against JPMorgan.

Last September, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $26.25 million to settle a US shareholder lawsuit accusing the bank of lax oversight while doing business with risky, ultra-rich clients like Epstein.

The case is Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10018.

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newswireml · 1 year

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China Select Committee hearing highlights partisan divide on Beijing-countering strategy#China #Select #Committee #hearing #highlights #partisan #divide #Beijingcountering #strategy

Pottinger spiced up his testimony with a video of quotes by China’s paramount leader Xi Jinping that suggested hostile intentions toward the United States. Pottinger accused the Chinese government of waging “information warfare” on the U.S. and likened it to a series of magicians, calling the Chinese Communist Party “the Harry Houdini of Marxist-Leninist regimes; the David Copperfield of…

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eagletek · 1 year

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China Select Committee hearing highlights partisan divide on Beijing-countering strategy

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rbolick · 4 years

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Books On Books Collection - Heavenly Monkey

Books On Books Collection – Heavenly Monkey

Francesco Griffo da Bologna: Fragments and Glimpses (2020)

Francesco Griffo da Bologna: Fragments and Glimpses (2020) Rollin Milroy H234 x W159 mm, 114 pages. Edition of 50, of which this is #32. Acquired from Heavenly Monkey, 4 November 2020. Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Several collections of Aldine volumes made themselves known around 2015, the 500th anniversaryof the death of Aldus…

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pancakeke · 3 years

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OK continuing this post on today’s events (1/6)

Twitter gave Trump a fun new banner

but then deleted 3 of his tweets and gave him a 12 hour ban. They said if he does it again he’s suspended.

Facebook deleted Trump’s video. An internal memo was sent to employees regarding the situation.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, called for a “trial by combat” this morning.

Trump did not call in the National Guard, Pence had to do it with Congress. Trump resisted calling them in.

The woman shot in the Capitol has died.

DC police chief says rioters deployed ‘chemical irritants on police’ to gain access to US Capitol.

Pipe bombs were found at the headquarters for the DNC, RNC and grounds of the United States Capitol. They were detonated by bomb squads.

Rioters were stealing items from the Capitol building.

A rioter was seen with zip ties, potentially signaling he wanted to take hostages.

Rioters seized and destroyed equipment belonging to the Associated Press. They also turned a cable into a noose.

Police gingerly helped a member of the rioters out of the Capitol building and down its steps while holding her hand. Several videos have been posted showing police collaborating with rioters.

A Pro-Trump march took place in Tokyo.

Senator Tom Carper (D - DE) doesn’t believe any action should be taken against insurrectionists within the government.

Rep Michael Burgess (R - TX) has sponsored Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bill to crack down on protests.

Virginia has issued a State of Emergency, along with a curfew.

First lady's chief of staff, former WH press secretary, and one of the longest serving Trump staffers Stephanie Grisham resigned over the protest.

WH Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews resigned.

WH social secretary Rickie Niceta resigned.

National security adviser Robert O'Brien, deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell are all considering resigning.

Trump banned Pence chief of staff Marc Short from the WH.

Former WH Director of Communications urges Trump supporters to admit they lost.

Newly sworn in Rep Derrick Evans (R - VW) was among those who broke into the Capitol and posted video of himself doing so.

Former PA. state lawmaker Rick Saccone was among those who stormed the Capitol.

Rep Mary Miller (R - IL) posted a video of herself at a rally on the Capitol where a speaker brought up a way in which “Hitler was right”.

Only 15 or so people were arrested in DC so far. In comparison, 14,000+ arrests were made during the George Floyd protests.

Incomplete lists of:

People condemning the rioters: GOP Communication Director Michael Ahrens, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson lol, Rep Elise Stefanik (R - NY), Former WH Chief of Staff Reince Priebus

People who have issued statements against Trump’s behavior: Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Trump's former Sec of Defense Jim Mattis, former president Barack Obama, Rep Liz Cheney (R - WY), Senator Richard Burr (R - NC), Former homeland security adviser Thomas Bossert, Sen Ben Sasse (R - NE), former President George W Bush, Sen Ed Markey (D - MA)

People calling for Trump to be impeached again: Rep Carolyn Bourdeaux (D - GA), Rep David Cicilline (D - RI), Rep Ilhan Omar (D - MN), supposedly 7 reps total but I can’t find everyone

People calling for use of the 25th amendment: Lucy McBath (D - GA), the National Association of Manufacturers

Congress floor staff rescued the electoral ballots before the rioters broke into the building. Congress reconvened to finish counting the electoral votes. DC metro police are patrolling the halls. Photo. Pence spoke out against the rioters. McConnell called them an “insurrection” while condemning their behavior.

Twitch removed the PogChamp emote after the real PogChamp guy was saying dumb shit on Twitter in support of the rioters.

And probably more but this is so long.

#current events #long post #bignotes

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lesser-known-composers · 3 years

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youtube

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber - Missa Alleluia in C-Dur à 36 voci [Alleluja Mass in C major]

Ars Antiqua Austria conductor Gunar Letzbor

0:00 Kyrie 2:58 Gloria 11:35 Credo 24:40 Santus Benedictus 31:45 Agnus Dei Ars Antiqua Austria: Fritz Krircher, Barbara Konrad, viool/violin Peter Aigner, Wolfram Fortin, altviool/tenor violin Claire Pottinger, cello Jan Krigovsky, Roberto Sensi, violone Erich Traxler, Sergej Tscherepanov, orgel/organ Hubert Hoffmann, theorbe/theorbo Andreas Lackner, Herbert Walser, clarino Thomas Steinbrucker, Martin Sillaber, Gerd Bachmann, Georg Pranger, trompet/trumpet Georg Tausch, pauken/timpani Norbert Salvenmoser, Gerhard Schneider, Johannes Giesinger, trombone Frithjof Smith, Gebhard David, cornetto/cornett Solisten van de St. Florianer Sängerknaben Solists: Josef Pascal Aur, Simon Paul Bernhard, Daniel Mandel, sopraan/soprano Alois Mühlbacher, alt/alto Franz Farnberger koorleider/choral conductor Markus Forster, alt/alto Bernd Lambauer, tenor Gerhard Kenda, bas/bass Ulfried Staber, bas/bass Gunar Letzborg, conductor

#Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber #Ars Antiqua Austria #Gunar Letzbor

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foreverlogical · 3 years

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He’s the latest Cabinet official to step down in the wake of last week’s insurrection at the Capitol.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced his resignation Monday, joining a long line of Trump administration officials who have stepped down since the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol building last week.

Wolf — who has served in the position since November 2019 and become the public face of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies — had been planning to remain in his post until President-elect Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20. He had been overseeing security measures for the inauguration, and announced Monday that he was extending the “national special security event” period, a designation that facilitates cooperation among federal law enforcement agencies to respond to terrorist or other criminal threats.

But he reportedly told agency staff later on Monday that ongoing legal challenges to his appointment to the position had precluded him from staying on.

Pete Gaynor, the current Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, will succeed Wolf.

“Unfortunately, this action is warranted by recent events, including the ongoing and meritless court rulings regarding the validity of my authority as Acting Secretary,” he told agency staff, according to the New York Times. “These events and concerns increasingly serve to divert attention and resources away from the important work of the Department in this critical time of a transition of power.”

Other Trump administration officials who recently stepped down from their posts since last week’s insurrection at the Capitol include Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney, and chief of staff to the first lady Stephanie Grisham.

Though Wolf has frequently gone to bat for the president in the media, reportedly becoming his favorite homeland security secretary, Wolf had publicly urged Trump to strongly condemn last week’s violence.

“This is unacceptable. These violent actions are unconscionable, and I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Any appearance of inciting violence by an elected official goes against who we are as Americans. Every American is guaranteed the right to peacefully protest, but once those protests become violent, we should enforce our laws and bring those responsible to justice — regardless of political motivations.”

But his resignation did not appear to be directly tied to last week’s events. Rather, he cited several court rulings that he was unlawfully appointed to his position. Judges found that Trump had sidestepped the Senate confirmation process to install him, running afoul of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Trump had attempted to rectify the issues with Wolf’s appointment by formally nominating him for the position but abruptly withdrew the nomination from the Senate last Thursday.

With Wolf continuing to serve in his position without legal authority, his legacy has come into question. One court already invalidated his memo halting new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on the basis of his illegitimate appointment.

There is no telling whether further legal challenges could invalidate other DHS policies promulgated under Wolf’s watch — or even whether the incoming Biden administration could argue that Wolf’s appointment was unlawful in order to refrain from enforcing agency policies that it opposes.

Wolf became Trump’s mouthpiece on the border

Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli were at the forefront of Trump’s “law and order” messaging over the summer and have been staunch defenders of the president’s restrictionist immigration policies.

Wolf led the crackdown against Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon, sending federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection there on the premise of protecting federal buildings that had been vandalized. The agents later drew criticism for escalating tensions by using tear gas on crowds and detaining protesters in unmarked vehicles.

And in the final weeks before the presidential election, he and Cuccinelli went on a tour of several battleground states — Pennsylvania, Arizona, Minnesota, and Texas — holding at least five press conferences to showcase Trump’s immigration policies. Some of the press conferences concerned routine enforcement actions that would typically be publicized with a simple press release.

Wolf made the border wall a prop in the agency’s public messaging. After racing to finish the border wall in the months leading up to the election, he has been eager to claim that Trump made good on his campaign vow. (Some 500 miles of wall have been completed, but Mexico never paid for it — rather, that $15 billion burden fell on taxpayers and largely was transferred from the Pentagon’s budget.)

Wolf traveled to the border on October 29 to tout the progress on construction, making abundantly clear what he thought was at stake in the presidential election. He said that Biden’s policies would create a surge of migration at the border and pose a threat to national security.

“Let me be clear, each of those policies would endanger the lives of the border patrol and Americans across the country,” he said.

He also tweeted out a video jabbing at journalists who cast doubt on whether Trump would complete the border wall and whether it would even serve its intended purpose of “securing the border.” It’s not clear whether the video was produced by the Department of Homeland Security, but it might as well have been a campaign ad:

David Lapan, a former spokesperson for DHS, called it a “misuse of [government] resources” and “clear electioneering.”

The announcement of Wolf’s resignation comes just before Trump’s planned trip to the US-Mexico border on Tuesday, where he is expected to again tout his legacy on immigration.

VISIT WEBSITE

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iamlizzybrown · 3 years

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david pottinger 🇯🇲

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phroyd · 4 years

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http://phroyd.tumblr.comU.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President’s Daily Brief, a sensitive report that is produced before dawn each day and designed to call the president’s attention to the most significant global developments and security threats.

For weeks, the PDB — as the report is known — traced the virus’s spread around the globe, made clear that China was suppressing information about the contagion’s transmissibility and lethal toll, and raised the prospect of dire political and economic consequences.

But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience for even the oral summary he takes two or three times per week, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.

The advisories being relayed by U.S. spy agencies were part of a broader collection of worrisome signals that came during a period now regarded by many public health officials and other experts as a squandered opportunity to contain the outbreak.

As of Monday, more than 55,000 people in the United States had died of covid-19.

The frequency with which the coronavirus was mentioned in the PDB has not been previously reported, and U.S. officials said it reflected a level of attention comparable to periods when analysts have been tracking active terrorism threats, overseas conflicts or other rapidly developing security issues.

A White House spokesman disputed the characterization that Trump was slow to respond to the virus threat. “President Trump rose to fight this crisis head-on by taking early, aggressive historic action to protect the health, wealth and well-being of the American people,” said spokesman Hogan Gidley. “We will get through this difficult time and defeat this virus because of his decisive leadership.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for the PDB. In response to questions about the repeated mentions of coronavirus, a DNI official said, “The detail of this is not true.” The official declined to explain or elaborate.

U.S. officials emphasized that the PDB references to the virus included comprehensive articles on aspects of the global outbreak, but also smaller digest items meant to keep Trump and senior administration officials updated on the course of the contagion. Versions of the PDB are also shared with Cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking U.S. officials.

One official said that by mid- to late January the coronavirus was being mentioned more frequently, either as one of the report’s core articles or in what is known as an “executive update,” and that it was almost certainly called to Trump’s attention orally.

The administration’s first major step to arrest the spread of the virus came in late January, when Trump restricted travel between the United States and China, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year.

But Trump spent much of February publicly playing down the threat while his administration failed to mobilize for a major outbreak by securing supplies of protective equipment, developing an effective diagnostic test and preparing plans to quarantine large portions of the population.

The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged

Trump insisted publicly on Feb. 26 that the number of cases “within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero,” and said the next day that “it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

In reality, the virus was by then moving swiftly through communities across the United States, spreading virtually unchecked in New York City and other population centers until state governors began imposing sweeping lockdowns, requiring social distancing and all but closing huge sectors of the country’s economy.

As late as March 10, Trump said: “Just stay calm. It will go away.” The next day, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

By then, officials said, the warnings in the PDB and other intelligence reports had taken on the aspect of an insistent drumbeat. The first mention of the coronavirus in the PDB came at the beginning of January, focusing on what at that point were troubling signs of a new virus spreading through the Chinese city of Wuhan, and the Chinese government’s apparent efforts to conceal details of the outbreak.

In the ensuing weeks, U.S. intelligence agencies devoted additional resources and departments to tracking the spread of the coronavirus. At the CIA, the effort involved agency centers on China, Europe and Latin America, as well as departments devoted to transnational health threats, officials said.The preliminary intelligence on the coronavirus was fragmentary, and did not address the prospects of a severe outbreak in the United States.

U.S. intelligence officials, citing scientific evidence, have largely dismissed the notion that the virus was deliberately genetically engineered. But they are continuing to examine whether the virus somehow escaped a virology lab in Wuhan, where research on naturally occurring coronaviruses has been conducted.

“We’re looking at it very closely, but we just don’t know,” said one senior U.S. intelligence official.

The warnings conveyed in the PDB probably will be a focus of any future investigation of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in early April called for the formation of an independent commission analogous to the one created to investigate the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks.

In response to that probe, the George W. Bush administration was pressured to declassify portions of the PDB from August 2001 — a month before 9/11 — warning that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was “determined to strike in U.S.”

Senior officials with direct knowledge of Trump’s intelligence briefings say that Trump listens and asks questions during the sessions. “We go in and he treats us with respect,” one senior official said.

But Trump has also been combative or dismissive toward U.S. intelligence agencies throughout his presidency.

In mid-February, as the pathogen was spreading, Trump fired acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire after learning that a senior analyst had briefed members of Congress that Russia was seeking to interfere in the 2020 presidential election and had “developed a preference” for Trump.

Officials have noted that Trump was also contending with the Senate impeachment trial in January and focused on other security issues, including tracking Iran’s response to a Jan. 3 U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad.

David Priess, a former CIA officer who was a PDB briefer in the George W. Bush administration, said that even if Trump is ignoring his briefing book, other officials including national security adviser Robert O’Brien are probably digesting the material and interacting with Trump daily.

O’Brien’s deputy, Matthew Pottinger, has a background in intelligence and was among a small circle of senior officials urging early action to contain the coronavirus, U.S. officials said. Pottinger pushed to close off air travel from Europe in February, officials said, but Trump did not do so until mid-March.

“The fact that [Trump] gets only two or three briefings a week from the intelligence professionals doesn’t mean that’s the only exposure to the PDB he’s getting,” Priess said. “He can get the best intelligence in the world and still not make good decisions based on it.”

Priess, author of a book on intelligence briefings for presidents, said that Trump’s predecessors have been varied in their approaches to consuming intelligence. President Barack Obama was considered an avid reader of “the book,” which was prepared for him on a specially equipped computer tablet. President George W. Bush reviewed the highlights of the PDB and often discussed its contents at length with his briefer. President Richard M. Nixon likely didn’t read the PDB, Priess said, but was extensively briefed by his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger.

Trump’s top health officials and advisers were also delivering warnings on the coronavirus through January and February, though their messages at times appeared muddled and contradictory.

On Feb. 25, Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned publicly that virus was spreading so rapidly that “we need to be prepared for significant disruption in our lives.”

Trump, traveling in India at the time, was outraged by what he regarded as the alarmist tone of her remarks and their perceived impact on the U.S. stock market.

Two days later, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar testified before a Congressional committee that the risk to the public remained “low,” and that the coronavirus would “look and feel to the American people more like a severe flu season in terms of the interventions and approaches you will see.”

On March 11, with cases surging in New York and the stock market plummeting, Trump declared a national emergency and announced a ban on travel from Europe, which had become the new epicenter of the outbreak.

Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Phroyd

#covid #trump #national security

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royalwatchblog · 5 years

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skippyv20 · 5 years

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Pottinger appears to have discussed taking 40 percent of any settlements resulting from the promised footage. The New York Times also says he spoke of representing the wealthy men. The tapes appear to have been a scam.

#two lawyers representing epstein victims duped planning cut deals famous men

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iol247 · 4 years

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Des van Rooyen goes full ‘Bell Pottinger’, attacks ANC, ‘white capital’ and ‘white-owned media’

Van Rooyen told the commission that ‘white capital’ had, after dumping the apartheid government it had propped up, formed a new ‘evil alliance’ with the ANC (the party he represented in Parliament) which had then abandoned the RDP for the neo-liberal Gear.

David Douglas “Des” van Rooyen, the man whose appointment as minister of finance by Jacob Zuma in 2015 cost the South African economy R500-billion, finally got to make his maiden speech, almost five years later.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-12-des-van-rooyen-goes-full-bell-pottinger-attacks-anc-white-capital-and-white-owned-media/

Did Des van Rooyen meet Gaddafi’s banker? And other mysteries…

He disclosed two curious meetings at Melrose Arch around the time he was sworn into office in December 2015.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-12-did-des-van-rooyen-meet-gaddafis-banker-and-other-mysteries/

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yobaba30 · 5 years

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Soon after the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein died in August, a mysterious man met with two prominent lawyers.

Towering, barrel-chested and wild-bearded, he was a prodigious drinker and often wore flip-flops. He went by a pseudonym, Patrick Kessler — a necessity, he said, given the shadowy, dangerous world that he inhabited.

He told the lawyers he had something incendiary: a vast archive of Mr. Epstein’s data, stored on encrypted servers overseas. He said he had years of the financier’s communications and financial records — as well as thousands of hours of footage from hidden cameras in the bedrooms of Mr. Epstein’s properties. The videos, Kessler said, captured some of the world’s richest, most powerful men in compromising sexual situations — even in the act of rape.

Kessler said he wanted to expose these men. If he was telling the truth, his trove could answer one of the Epstein saga’s most baffling questions: How did a college dropout and high school math teacher amass a purported nine-figure fortune? One persistent but unproven theory was that he ran a sprawling blackmail operation. That would explain why moguls, scientists, political leaders and a royal stayed loyal to him, in some cases even after he first went to jail.

Kessler’s tale was enough to hook the two lawyers, the famed litigator David Boies and his friend John Stanley Pottinger. If Kessler was authentic, his videos would arm them with immense leverage over some very important people.

Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger discussed a plan. They could use the supposed footage in litigation or to try to reach deals with men who appeared in it, with money flowing into a charitable foundation. In encrypted chats with Kessler, Mr. Pottinger referred to a roster of potential targets as the “hot list.” He described hypothetical plans in which the lawyers would pocket up to 40 percent of the settlements and could extract money from wealthy men by flipping from representing victims to representing their alleged abusers.

The possibilities were tantalizing — and extended beyond vindicating victims. Mr. Pottinger saw a chance to supercharge his law practice. For Mr. Boies, there was a shot at redemption, after years of criticism for his work on behalf of Theranos and Harvey Weinstein.

In the end, there would be no damning videos, no funds pouring into a new foundation. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger would go from toasting Kessler as their “whistle-blower” and “informant” to torching him as a “fraudster” and a “spy.”

Kessler was a liar, and he wouldn’t expose any sexual abuse. But he would reveal something else: The extraordinary, at times deceitful measures elite lawyers deployed in an effort to get evidence that could be used to win lucrative settlements — and keep misconduct hidden, allowing perpetrators to abuse again.

Mr. Boies has publicly decried such secret deals as “rich man’s justice,” a way that powerful men buy their way out of legal and reputational jeopardy. This is how it works.

7 men and a headless parrot

The man who called himself Kessler first contacted a Florida lawyer, Bradley J. Edwards, who was in the news for representing women with claims against Mr. Epstein. It was late August, about two weeks after the financier killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Mr. Edwards, who did not respond to interview requests, had a law firm called Edwards Pottinger, and he soon referred Kessler to his New York partner. Silver-haired and 79, Mr. Pottinger had been a senior civil-rights official in the Nixon and Ford administrations, but he also dabbled in investment banking and wrote best-selling medical thrillers. He was perhaps best known for having dated Gloria Steinem and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Mr. Pottinger recalled that Mr. Edwards warned him about Kessler, saying that he was “endearing,” “spooky” and “loves to drink like a fish.”

After an initial discussion with Kessler in Washington, Mr. Pottinger briefed Mr. Boies — whose firm was also active in representing accusers in the Epstein case — about the sensational claims. He then invited Kessler to his Manhattan apartment. Kessler admired a wall-mounted frame containing a headless stuffed parrot; on TV, the Philadelphia Eagles were mounting a comeback against the Washington Redskins. Mr. Pottinger poured Kessler a glass of WhistlePig whiskey, and the informant began to talk.

In his conversations with Mr. Pottinger and, later, Mr. Boies, Kessler said his videos featured numerous powerful men who were already linked to Mr. Epstein: Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister; Alan Dershowitz, a constitutional lawyer; Prince Andrew; three billionaires; and a prominent chief executive.

All seven men, or their representatives, told The New York Times they never engaged in sexual activity on Mr. Epstein’s properties. The Times has no reason to believe Kessler’s supposed video footage is real.

In his apartment, Mr. Pottinger presented Kessler with a signed copy of “The Boss,” his 2005 novel. “One minute you’re bending the rules,” blares the cover of the paperback version. “The next minute you’re breaking the law.” On the title page, Mr. Pottinger wrote: “Here’s to the great work you are to do. Happy to be part of it.”

Mr. Pottinger also gave Kessler a draft contract to bring him on as a client, allowing him to use a fake name. “For reasons revealed to you, I prefer to proceed with this engagement under the name Patrick Kessler,” the agreement said.

Despite the enormities of the Epstein scandal, few of his accusers have gotten a sense of justice or resolution. Mr. Pottinger thought Kessler’s files could change everything. This strange man was theatrical and liked his alcohol, but if there was even a chance his claims were true, they were worth pursuing.

“Our clients are said to be liars and prostitutes,” Mr. Pottinger later said in an interview with The Times, “and we now have someone who says, ‘I can give you secret photographic proof of abuse that will completely change the entire fabric of your practice and get justice for these girls.’ And you think that we wouldn’t try to get that?”

A victim becomes a hacker

Mr. Pottinger and Mr. Boies have known each other for years, a friendship forged on bike trips in France and Italy. In legal circles, Mr. Boies was royalty: He was the one who fought for presidential candidate Al Gore before the Supreme Court, took on Microsoft in a landmark antitrust case, and helped obtain the right for gays and lesbians to get married in California.

But then Mr. Boies got involved with the blood-testing start-up Theranos. As the company was being revealed as a fraud, he tried to bully whistle-blowers into not speaking to a Wall Street Journal reporter, and he was criticized for possible conflicts of interest when he joined the company’s board in 2015.

Two years later, Mr. Boies helped his longtime client Harvey Weinstein hire private investigators who intimidated sources and trailed reporters for The Times and The New Yorker — even though Mr. Boies’s firm had worked for The Times on other matters. (The Times fired his firm.)

By 2019, Mr. Boies, 78, was representing a number of Mr. Epstein’s alleged victims. They got his services pro bono, and he got the chance to burnish his legacy. When Mr. Pottinger contacted him about Kessler, he was intrigued.

On Sept. 9, Mr. Boies greeted Kessler at the offices of his law firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, in a gleaming new skyscraper at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side. Kessler unfurled a fantastic story, one he would embroider and alter in later weeks, that began with him growing up somewhere within a three-hour radius of Washington. Kessler said he had been molested as a boy by a Bible school teacher and sought solace on the internet, where he fell in with a group of victims turned hackers, who used their skills to combat pedophilia.

Kessler claimed that a technology executive had introduced him to Mr. Epstein, who in 2012 hired Kessler to set up encrypted servers to preserve his extensive digital archives. With Mr. Epstein dead, Kessler boasted to the lawyers, he had unfettered access to the material. He said the volume of videos was overwhelming: more than a decade of round-the-clock footage from dozens of cameras.

Kessler displayed some pixelated video stills on his phone. In one, a bearded man with his mouth open appears to be having sex with a naked woman. Kessler said the man was Mr. Barak. In another, a man with black-framed glasses is seen shirtless with a woman on his lap, her breasts exposed. Kessler said it was Mr. Dershowitz. He also said that some of the supposed videos appeared to have been edited and cataloged for the purpose of blackmail.

“This was explosive information if true, for lots and lots of people,” Mr. Boies said in an interview.

Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger had decades of legal experience and considered themselves experts at assessing witnesses’ credibility. While they couldn’t be sure, they thought Kessler was probably legit.

A chance to sway the Israeli election

Within hours of the Hudson Yards meeting, Mr. Pottinger sent Kessler a series of texts over the encrypted messaging app Signal.

According to excerpts viewed by The Times, Mr. Pottinger and Kessler discussed a plan to disseminate some of the informant’s materials — starting with the supposed footage of Mr. Barak. The Israeli election was barely a week away, and Mr. Barak was challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The purported images of Mr. Barak might be able to sway the election — and fetch a high price. (“Total lie with no basis in reality,” Mr. Barak said when asked about the existence of such videos.)

“Can you review your visual evidence to be sure some or all is indisputably him? If so, we can make it work,” Mr. Pottinger wrote.

Kessler said he would do so. Mr. Pottinger sent a yellow smiley-face emoji with its tongue sticking out.

“Can you share your contact that would be purchasing,” Kessler asked.

“Sheldon Adelson,” Mr. Pottinger answered.

Mr. Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate in Las Vegas, had founded one of Israel’s largest newspapers, and it was an enthusiastic booster of Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Pottinger wrote that he and Mr. Boies hoped to fly to Nevada to meet with Mr. Adelson to discuss the images.

“Do you believe that adelson has the pull to insure this will hurt his bid for election?” Kessler asked the next morning.

Mr. Pottinger reassured him. “There is no question that Adelson has the capacity to air the truth about EB if he wants to,” he said, using Mr. Barak’s initials. He said he planned to discuss the matter with Mr. Boies that evening.

Mr. Boies confirmed that they discussed sharing the photo with Mr. Adelson but said the plan was never executed. Boaz Bismuth, the editor in chief of the newspaper, Israel Hayom, said its journalists were approached by an Israeli source who pitched them supposed images of Mr. Barak, but that “we were not interested.”

‘These are wealthy wrongdoers’

The men whom Kessler claimed to have on tape were together worth many billions. Some of their public relations teams had spent months trying to tamp down media coverage of their connections to Mr. Epstein. Imagine how much they might pay to make incriminating videos vanish.

You might think that lawyers representing abuse victims would want to publicly expose such information to bolster their clients’ claims. But that is not how the legal industry always works. Often, keeping things quiet is good business.

One of the revelations of the #MeToo era has been that victims’ lawyers often brokered secret deals in which alleged abusers paid to keep their accusers quiet and the allegations out of the public sphere. Lawyers can pocket at least a third of such settlements, profiting off a system that masks misconduct and allows men to abuse again.

Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger said in interviews that they were looking into creating a charity to help victims of sexual abuse. It would be bankrolled by private legal settlements with the men on the videos.

Mr. Boies acknowledged that Kessler might get paid. “If we were able to use this to help our victims recover money, we would treat him generously,” he said in September. He said that his firm would not get a cut of any settlements.

Such agreements would have made it less likely that videos involving the men became public. “Generally what settlements are about is getting peace,” Mr. Boies said.

Mr. Pottinger told Kessler that the charity he was setting up would be called the Astria Foundation — a name he later said his girlfriend came up with, in a nod to Astraea, the Greek goddess of innocence and justice. “We need to get it funded by abusers,” Mr. Pottinger texted, noting in another message that “these are wealthy wrongdoers.”

Mr. Pottinger asked Kessler to start compiling incriminating materials on a specific group of men.

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