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aforrestofstuff · 5 years ago

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What do you think the OPM characters' guilty pleasures would be? I feel like Tatsu loves soap operas and Atomic Samurai secretly loves a really popular boy band, like SMAP

Thanks for your request, anon! Sorry this took me so long to get to, you were buried in my inbox lol. But I hope this was worth the wait because oh boy this required all 3 of my brain cells.

Tornado of Terror: As you said, soap operas. She also loves candy apples in canon. But...she also is a HUGE fan of those really cheesy Cosmopolitan magazines that have all of the personality quizzes and the “which hot male celeb would date you” scenarios. She doesn’t fall for it one bit. In fact, she hate reads those fuckers in the same way that people pay to go see bad movies. It’s fun.

Silverfang: Yoga and following along to some cheesy-ass 80s workout videos. I’ve said he likes yoga in a previous headcanon, but he also likes to exercise along to some obnoxious 80s pop while some dude in a leotard instructs him on what to do from a TV screen. He wears sweatbands and legwarmers, too. The whole shebang. He only does it when he’s alone, though. Sometimes he’ll try to teach yoga to his disciples as a way to help them decompress after a long training session, but his workout tapes are his best-kept secret.

Atomic Samurai: I don’t know what a SMAP is, but he’s definitely got some questionable music choices going on considering he’s... well, the way that he is. I’d say he likes to listen to old country, like Marty Robbins and Glen Campbell. It’s really funny because you’ve got this intimidating man from Japan (or a fictional universe basically set in Japan) with a badass katana and shit but inside that empty head of his, there’s just a faint “out in the west Texas town of El Paso....”

Child Emperor: Picking at scabs. He’s often on his knees fixing shit in his lab, and he probably gets burned all the damn time from playing around with lasers so he’s undoubtedly always has a wound healing somewhere. Whenever he’s working on something, he’ll just absentmindedly pick at his scabs. It’s a bad habit and he knows it, but nothing beats the feeling of peeling off an entire patch of that shit. So satisfying.

Metal Knight: Buying books. He doesn’t even read them. He just buys bigass novels with smart-sounding names to fill up his library because he thinks it’ll make his dick grow another three inches or some shit. One of the few things he likes in this world (besides homicide) is the smell of a new book. If he’s feeling particularly pissy, he’ll go into his library and just ssssssnnnnnnnnnniififfffffffffff. He spends an outrageous amount of money on it. If he has anyone over (which is unlikely, but hypothetically speaking) and they mention his library by asking something like “have you read all of these?” It’ll be one of the few times in his life that he’ll feel shame.

King: Reading and writing fanfiction based on his favorite video game/anime series. Nobody knows he does this except his small following online, of course. And even more so, nobody online knows he’s an ultra-popular S-Class hero who’s friends with the most powerful man on earth. He’s actually a pretty decent writer, he just doesn’t take himself too seriously so the plotline to his stories tend to get a little haywire and overly self-indulgent. Let him have his fun. He just wants to be a Sailor Scout.

Zombieman: Singing. He actually used to be a good singer (he sounded like a discount Steve Perry back in the day), but constant smoking really fucked up his voice. He might as well have lungs the size of grapes because he can’t carry a note for more than 2 seconds without wheezing like an accordion with asthma. He’s never sang in front of anyone before because he thinks it’s silly thing that isn’t worth showing off. Play anything from The Eagles though, and he’ll have a hard time resisting.

Drive Knight: He likes to open up panels in his arms and legs to play with the wires (basically a robot’s version of nerve endings, I’m assuming) just so he can feel something. It’s kind of sad because he doesn’t experience pain or the cold or being tickled... (I know what y’all are thinking and you’d better STOP). So he sometimes takes it upon himself to dick around with his insides and dip his toe into what it feels like to be human, even if it’s just for a little bit. He’s super secretive about it (he’s just secretive about everything, really) because he doesn’t want anyone to know that he desires something outside of being a weapon of mass destruction justice.

Pig God: His whole schtick is basically indulging in a guilty pleasure — pigging out on delicious food with no regard whatsoever for one’s overall health. Other than that, however, he does like to collect body pillows. There, I said it. All he fucking does is eat and he’s too much of a big boi to be going out 24/7, so he’s gotta be on the internet/watching anime/playing video games/reading manga during all of that downtime between his stints of doing hero work. His bed is fucking ginormous to handle all of that big boy-ness and on it, he has his body pillow nest. He rests on a throne made for kings. A true icon.

Superalloy Darkshine: Also working out along to some cheesy 80s exercise videos. His hero outfit was inspired from what those ravishing instructors would wear on the television. Well, it was supposed to be a full leotard but it ripped every time he flexed just a tiny bit so the speedo is the only thing that’s left. He’s gotta hella rhythm and keeps up with the music using little to no effort. Although, he can’t go too hard because he’s also a big boi and he’ll literally shake the entire building if he gets too turnt up. Dance muscle boy, dance.

Watchdog Man: Eating too many dog treats lol. Sometimes while he’s stationed on his little podium thing, visitors will leave him little offerings like dog treats and other miscellaneous food items/toys. He never takes them or eats them in front of people, but he often brings everything home with him after a long day just to gobble that shit up. He’s gained a little weight since he started doing it but you can’t even notice it because his suit is hella bulky. Some of it is due in part to stress-eating because being a dog and dude at the same time is hectic, but it’s honest work.

Flashy Flash: Racing shit. Whenever he’s on his travels during, say, assassination missions or hero work, he gets hella bored really quickly. So, to help with this, he’ll often race birds or planes flying in the sky on his way to his destination to see who’s quicker (it’s always him). Sometimes he’ll even play catch with himself by throwing a pine cone or something and running to the place he guesses it’ll land before it even touches the ground. He just does a ton of weird speedster shit whenever he’s bored and he’ll deny it if anyone asks.

Genos: Purposefully putting a little bit too much oil on his joints after each upgrade so he’ll be as slick as a salamander. It’s a really funny feeling to be able to move your limbs with little to no resistance without having to worry about popping or breaking anything. It just makes him feel so agile despite being like, a hunk of actual metal. If he wasn’t so uptight, he would loosen the screws in his fingers to he can bend them almost all the way back (he’s actually thought about it a few times), but both Dr. Kuseno and his 3 remaining braincells attested to that. He just likes to tinker around with his body and see what weird shit he can do. It’s a bad habit because it’s led to a few things being broken on multiple occasions.

Metal Bat: Zenko’s shitty pop music. Whenever he drops her off at school or piano practice, he’ll immediately go home and blast that shit on full volume (because he’s practically deaf from always jumping out of falling buildings and continuously blasting music in his earbuds) while doing chores and the like. He’s one of those people that HAVE to have something going on in the background as they’re getting shit done. He’d rather be caught dead than listening to the OPM equivalent of Taylor Swift because he knows Zenko would never let him live it down.

Tanktop Master: Wearing suits around the house when he’s not even going anywhere. He’s got to wear his tanktop 24/7 whenever he’s in public to keep up The Image (which he has no problem with, he genuinely loves the tanktop ideology) but he also needs to feel fancy every once and a while. So, if he happens to have the time while in between appearances, he’ll prance around in a suit tailored just for him. Because he’s so fucking huge that he had to pay someone a large sum to custom make an outfit that actually fits. He is 7-motherfucking-feet tall. 7.

Puri-Puri Prisoner: Making Valentine’s Day cards all times of the year. Listen, it gets boring as hell in prison. Sometimes the guards will let all of the inmates have a little glitter and glue to keep themselves busy because no harm can come of a little arts and crafts, right? He likes to make cards on the daily just to let all of his lovers know how much he appreciates them. If they express even the slightest amount of disdain for his creations, he’ll spent the next week crying in the darkest corner of his cell block. He also likes origami. Origami is huge in prison because it’s hella time-consuming and guaranteed to calm a busy mind. His favorite things to make are little unicorns.

Amai Mask: Bath bombs. There have been several mishaps in which he’s used a poorly-made bath bomb and came out of the tub looking like Shrek but he’s grown and lot since then, okay? After a long day or a particularly stressful concert, he’ll sink into some hot water and drop a ball of lavender-scented goodness in there. It’s become a bit of an addiction because he’s got multiple cabinets dedicated solely to his collection, but at least he always smells divine.

Iaian: Shakespearean dramas. Kama got him hooked on theater shit and he’s since ripped through all of the most well-known plays. He thinks in iambic pentameter. It wasn’t always noticeable since he’s a quiet, well-reserved guy but his fellow disciples and Kami have recently noticed that he’s developed a bit of a dramatic flair. Even worse, he’s started calling himself a knight whenever he puts on his armor. Everyone prays it’s just a phase but seeing as how stubborn Iaian is, that seeks highly unlikely. Kami is dying inside because he can’t handle another drama nerd.

Okamaitachi: Soap operas, like Tatsumaki. Kama is the most dramatic out of all of the disciples so it’s only natural that she’d like the most dramatic genre of any show out there. She doesn’t exactly watch them religiously though. She’s the type of viewer to drop off the face of the earth for three seasons and come back without knowing what the fuck is going on (because the disciples have limited access to cable due to Kami’s dumbassery and ignorance to anything technology-related), but still cry during the finale anyway because oh no these people are so hot and one of them is deaaaaaad and the other one is that person’s long-lost sister....

Bushidrill: Taking alcohol from Atomic Samurai’s stash every so often. Bushidrill knows what the good shit is and he could buy it himself if he wanted to, but why would he when there’s a perfectly good alcoholic to steal from living right down the hall? He only takes in small doses because, believe it or not—he’s smart, but Kami isn’t gonna notice regardless of whether or not Bushi takes 1 or 5 bottles at a time because the old shit couldn’t spot a purple raccoon if it was 3 feet in front of him. There have been times where Bushi has opened bottles of Kami’s alcohol right in front of him just to play God and he always, without missing a beat, says “Oh, we have the same taste. How neat.”

Fubuki: I’ve said this before in a previous headcanon, but she has a mild obsession with Victorian aesthetic. She’s got a small collection of semi-authentic ballgowns that cost upwards of a-fuckton-of-money each, but anything’s worth it to be able to play dress-up with Lily. Fubuki’s favorite thing is making Lily feel beautiful because everyone has been an insecure teenager at one point and she knows how it feels to not be comfortable in one’s own skin. This isn’t exactly a guilty pleasure because she’s not guilty about it, but it’s almost gotten to a point where an intervention is needed. She’s got so many damn dresses and sooooo much fine china....

Saitama: Retail therapy, lol. Saitama is only good at budgeting because he has no choice given how fucking poor he is, but give this boy even a little bit of leeway and he’ll buy the ugliest clothes (to which he thinks look poppin’) and the best meats without even batting an eye. His entire manga collection is the product of him having little to no self control the moment he realizes he’s got a bit of money to spend on himself. This is also the only time he’ll experiment with cooking because now he can actually afford to fuck up, literally.

Mumen Rider: Sweets! I’ve said this in a previous hc but he has a major sweet tooth. You can substitute salt for sugar in any given recipe and he’ll see it as a major improvement because he just goes absolutely buckwild for anything sweet. His pancreas is suffering, but he believes nothing feels better than curling up under the covers on a rainy day with a heaping helping of milk chocolate. The only thing that makes him feel better after getting beat to shit is a kiss on the cheek and box of his favorite cookies (and some bananas, lol).

Sonic: Like Flash, he also likes racing things. But, in addition to that, his guilty pleasure is doing his own hair in elaborate hairstyles (when it was longer). He’s pretty much homeless so he’s got a lot of time to himself in between murders. This is when you can find him sitting in the woods somewhere braiding flowers into his hair and tying it off with a moss ribbon. He’d never admit he does this because he’s a big macho man and he’d probably cry.

Garou: Spicy chips. I’ve said this before in a previous hc, but he absolutely inhales his food without even tasting it half the time so it’s not even like he gets to enjoy the flavor that much. He just likes the burn because he’s a shithead. He also doesn’t fear death or a torn-up asshole, so he’ll eat an entire family-sized bag of the OPM-universe equivalent to Takis without even batting an eye. He’s been beat to shit so many times that the agony that comes with downing so much spice is lost on him. He doesn’t even need water. It’s insane. Someone stop this madman at once.

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heisthq · 5 years ago

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you all certainly didn’t make this easy on me — it was an incredibly tough decision for many of the roles. there were THIRTY-EIGHT applications for only ELEVEN roles, which is insane, and please know that every single one was incredible. i’m only one person on the internet, and this decision is in no way a reflection of the quality of your writing ( seriously, i know i just said it, but i’m kind of shocked by how good every single app was ). i’m so grateful for all the love heist has gotten, and i couldn’t be happier with the beautiful submissions i received ! from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

for those of you who were accepted, please follow the checklist, familiarize yourself with your fellow members, & review the triggers list. once your blog is set up, please send it in to the main within 24 hours so i can send you a link to the discord server.

but enough talking — the newest members of HEISTHQ can be found under the cut !

welcome, DEDE ! you have been accepted as THE BLEEDING HEART, otherwise known as JUDY FAULKNER PRYCE ( ELIZABETH OLSEN ).

good god. what a way to start off acceptances — judy reached into my heart and took it for herself, and i’m not upset about it in the slightest. her gruff outer shell, still with that instinctive need to help, to do something, is so bleeding heart, and i ached at every step of the way through her journey. i knew i was really in for it when i dedicated a skeleton to loss itself, but you spun that concept into a living, breathing person and shot her back at me. i’ll happily let her knock me down any day, and i know she certainly will as soon as she makes her way onto the dash.

welcome, CHERRY ! you have been accepted as THE CAREER CRIMINAL, otherwise known as MISCHA DOSTOYEVSKY ( NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO ).

though you made my decision very difficult with that eleventh hour app, i couldn’t stop coming back to mischa. from the beginning of her childhood crimes to her current position as the head of the motherfucking bratva, she pulled me in and got me hook, line, and sinker. you painted such a brilliant picture of her that i felt she was going to jump off the page at any moment — and that last line of her bio ? chills. literal chills. finally, i have now decided their next heist is going to be stealing lip gloss from claire’s, shoutout to mischa for that hot idea. all in all, she’s an absolute delight, and i cannot wait to have her here.

welcome, REED ! you have been accepted as THE EYE IN THE SKY, otherwise known as INDIANA “INDIE” ASCENCIO ( ANA DE ARMAS, BUT ONLY WITH PINK HAIR ).

okay, first of all, are you kidding me with that bio structure ? that was the coolest shit i’ve ever seen. what a way to kick it off for the eye in the sky — i said break the stereotype and you said bet. indie is an absolute gem of a character, as stunning as she is valuable, and damn if she doesn’t know it. she’s so vibrant that i could practically hear her voice when i read your answers to the prompts; i’m still howling at thirty five pages of criminal offenses. the eye in the sky needed to take me by the throat to show me who they are; you broke down the door and said here she is. i couldn’t be more honored to have her.

welcome, NOAH ! you have been accepted as THE GETAWAY DRIVER, otherwise known as CARLISLE “JACE” JACOBI HARRISON-SHEA ( CYRUS AMINI ).

the getaway driver was, arguably, the toughest choice i had to make — but i couldn’t help myself. jace drew me back in every single time like a moth to a flame, and i know he’d read that fact with that same, secret little smirk. every moment of reading your app is exciting, like i’m white-knuckled in jace’s passenger seat, along for whatever twists and turns his psyche brings, which was exactly what i was looking for. there are too many incredible quotes to put in one acceptance post, but one such example is stunningly simple: you weren’t just running. you were chasing. i posed a question in the getaway driver’s skeleton, and with one quick pivot, you took my breath away. just... wow. that’s all.

welcome, MARS ! you have been accepted as THE HIRED GUN, otherwise known as ASLAN “MAZZIE” YILMAZ ( ALPEREN DUYMAZ ).

mars, i’m gonna be honest, i hate you a little bit ( but not really. i love you ). i’m pretty sure forcing me to choose between two stunning apps should count as some sort of personal attack, but after much agonizing, i’m delighted to settle with the absolute tragedy that is my newest son mazzie. there’s a quiet power, a quiet ( but no less imposing ) threat threaded throughout his story, and somehow you managed to weave my own heartstrings into the picture alongside it all. you sent me tumbling head over heels for this man who, in his own words, is death himself. you gave me my hired gun, and he’s everything i dreamed. thank you.

welcome, LUCY ! you have been accepted as THE INSIDE MAN, otherwise known as IVY WANG ( GEMMA CHAN ).

lucy. lucy !!! you didn’t make it easy on me, but man, i couldn’t be more wrapped around ivy’s finger, which is probably just how she’d like it. the structure of your app was so interesting & unique ( that arrest report ?? HOT ). she encapsulates the inside man so perfectly — from her mannerisms to her motivations, everything was so spot on that i’m pretty sure you reached inside my brain to pull out my exact vision. she feels so real, so human and so powerful all at once, and i would personally let her arrest me and write her a thank you note for putting me in jail. i’m obsessed. obsessed !

welcome, BEE ! you have been accepted as THE MASTERMIND, otherwise known as BISHOP LEE ( CHOI MINHO ).

my beautiful mastermind is no longer mine — he’s yours, bee, every inch, and i couldn’t be happier about it. from his recruitment log ( which was !!! you wove his voice into it so perfectly ) to his reasoning for creating the group in the first place, bishop is someone i didn’t expect, but i adore him, shaping his little family & leaving behind a legacy he can be proud of ( “so bishop acts like they’re immortal, because he truly believes they are. it’s just his version of immortality is in the history books rather than an eternally beating heart.” are you KIDDING ??? ). please don’t take him from me — i don’t want to let him go.

welcome, MIA ! you have been accepted as THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK, otherwise known as MARTY CHOI ( KANG MINA ).

listen, i’m pretty relieved i didn’t get another app for this character, because i didn’t need one — marty is the new kid, through and through. she has that hunger that is so quintessential for this role, the drive and ambition for something more in this grand universe of ours. it’s so perfectly exemplified by marty’s own words: let me be excellent at something again. let me be proud of my own capabilities again. let me be part of something so i'll stop feeling so alone. this !! this is so perfect i almost jumped out of my skin reading it. thank you for bringing me our perfectly imperfect new kid — i can’t wait to see her in action.

welcome, LEXI ! you have been accepted as THE SECOND IN COMMAND, otherwise known as PERCY BANKS ( BRENTON THWAITES ).

holy shit, lexi. holy shit !! from the moment i saw “STATUS: deceased” at the beginning of your app, i knew i was in for a wild ride — but i had no idea what truly awaited me. from percy’s humble beginnings through his ambitious rise to hotshot fbi agent ( speaking of, can you say hot fucking take to have him as ex-fbi ? i’m floored ), i was hooked into the twists and turns of his story, my jaw dropping when i realized who jupiter was after all. the highs and lows of his first foray into the world of heists had me on the edge of my seat, and i truly cannot wait to see what percy does next — because at this rate, who knows where he’ll end up ? i’m excited to find out !

welcome, HANNAH ! you have been accepted as THE STAR OF THE SHOW, otherwise known as STRIKER KIM ( CHARLES MELTON ).

god, hannah — break my heart, why don’t you ? as each tidbit of striker’s past fell into place, that’s what you did, and i’m aching for this boy who’s just trying to stay alive ( and live as much as he can while he still is ). though the star could be played in so many different ways, you took this role an entirely different direction, and suffice to say it blew me away. literally, your mind. exhibit a — you didn’t go running to high society for fame or fortune, no. it was your insurance policy — god, striker !! he’s such a complex, heartbreaking character, and i can’t wait to see him on the dash. he may have a hand in two different worlds of crime, but he’s also got a place in my heart, and god knows he could use the love. also, making me crack a code just to understand your bio headings ? touché. i deserved that.

welcome, ELLIE ! you have been accepted as THE WATCHDOG, otherwise known as THEA JAIN ( NAOMI SCOTT ).

the watchdog requires a delicate balance: soft edges bathed in steel, a gentle person capable of terrible things. it can be a tough image to capture, but i shouldn’t have worried. your entire app painted a picture of this exact person, tugging at my heartstrings until the very end: remember that you are thea jain, and that you are a good person. you are kind. you are loved. and you are in control. that was it — just like thea’s fifth rule to round out the reminders of her morality, you completely sealed the deal. the way she cares for the team, baking for them and occasionally mothering them, exposes that soft underbelly guarded by her quiet yet surprising strength and power. you’ve made a beautiful character, ellie. i can’t thank you enough for bringing her to me.

#accepted.#thank u all for putting up w me !!!#sorry it took so long but whew #it's here

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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Jeffrey Epstein Hanged Himself in Jail, Officials Say https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html

Jeffrey Epstein Dead in Suicide at Manhattan Jail, Officials Say

Mr. Epstein, the financier indicted on sex trafficking charges, was not under suicide watch at the time of his death.

By William K. Rashbaum, Benjamin Weiser and Michael Gold | Published

Aug. 10, 2019 4:28 PM ET | New York Times | Posted August 10, 2019 4:59 PM ET |

Leer en español

Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who was long dogged by accusations of sexual abuse of girls and who was able to cultivate an array of high-profile friends despite his lurid lifestyle, killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell, officials said on Saturday.

Mr. Epstein hanged himself, the officials said. He was found at around 6:30 a.m. Saturday at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement.

Last month, after being denied bail on federal sex trafficking charges, Mr. Epstein was found unconscious in his jail cell with marks on his neck. Prison officials had been investigating the incident as a possible suicide attempt.

Mr. Epstein, who had been found injured on July 23, was placed on suicide watch and received a daily psychiatric evaluation, according to a person familiar with his detention. He was removed from suicide watch on July 29 and returned to the special housing unit, a segregated area of the prison with extra security, this person said.

The authorities did not immediately explain why he was taken off suicide watch. The F.B.I. said it was investigating, and Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement that a special inquiry would be opened into what happened.

“I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody,” Mr. Barr said. “Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered.”

In addition to the F.B.I., the Inspector General, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, will open an investigation into Mr. Epstein’s death, Mr. Barr said.

[Read more: Why wasn’t Mr. Epstein on suicide watch when he died?]

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month charged Mr. Epstein, 66, with sex trafficking of girls as young as 14 and sex trafficking conspiracy. The indictment renewed attention on how Mr. Epstein — who had opulent homes, a private jet and access to elite circles — had escaped severe punishment in an earlier investigation of sexual abuse more than a decade ago in Florida.

He had avoided federal criminal charges in 2008 after prosecutors brokered a widely criticized deal that allowed him to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution from a minor and serve 13 months in jail. Even while in custody, Mr. Epstein was able to leave the jail for 12 hours a day, six days a week, to work at his office in Florida.

The new federal indictment also focused scrutiny on luminaries in government, politics, business, academia, science and fashion with whom Mr. Epstein had associated over the years, including Donald J. Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of Britain and the retail billionaire Leslie H. Wexner.

Mr. Epstein’s defense team — the lawyers Reid Weingarten, Marty Weinberg and Michael Miller — declined to comment on the circumstances of death. “We are enormously sorry to learn of today’s news. No one should die in jail,” they said in a statement.

A fourth member of Mr. Epstein’s legal team, Marc Fernich, blamed a host of actors — from prosecutors to victims’ lawyers to the media — for bearing “some responsibility for this calamity.”

Mr. Epstein’s suicide derailed a prosecution that his accusers had hoped would finally show how he had been allowed to commit what they said was a string of depraved crimes for so many years — and what role his wealth, privilege and connections played.

Jennifer Araoz, who said she had been raped by Mr. Epstein after being recruited into his circle in 2001 outside her Manhattan high school, said she was angry that he would not have to face his accusers in court.

“We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed — the pain and trauma he caused so many people,” Ms. Araoz said. She said she hoped investigators would pursue charges against people who had aided and protected Mr. Epstein.

[Epstein’s accusers called for investigators to continue an inquiry into his confidants.]

The United States attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, said in a statement that the investigation into Mr. Epstein’s misconduct would continue, pointing specifically to the conspiracy charge, which suggested Mr. Epstein was assisted by others who helped facilitate his illegal acts.

“Today’s events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein’s many victims their day in court,” Mr. Berman said.

The apparent demise of the new federal prosecution also spurred widespread airing of conspiracy theories online on Saturday, with people questioning who would benefit from Mr. Epstein’s death.

Until last year, it seemed that he had largely been able to avoid further scandal over his dealings with young women and girls.

But then new questions were raised about the earlier plea agreement in an investigative report published by The Miami Herald in November 2018 which quoted four of Mr. Epstein’s victims, who are now adults, on the record for the first time.

In February, the Justice Department said it had opened an investigation into the nonprosecution agreement. The inquiry is reviewing whether prosecutors committed professional misconduct in their handling of the earlier Epstein case.

At the same time, federal prosecutors in Manhattan, apparently spurred by The Miami Herald investigation, opened their own inquiry into accusations of sex trafficking by Mr. Epstein.

The United States attorney in Florida who handled the 2008 case was R. Alexander Acosta, who was President Trump’s labor secretary. After the new charges were announced against Mr. Epstein in July, Mr. Acosta’s work on the earlier case came under intense criticism, and he resigned.

[Read about how Mr. Epstein become a symbol of wealth, privilege and depravity.]

Mr. Epstein was arrested on July 6 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after his private plane landed on a flight from Paris.

He was accused of hiring dozens of girls as young as 14 to perform nude massages on him, at which point he would masturbate and touch their genitals with his hands or with sex toys. The abuse was said to have occurred at both his Upper East Side mansion and his palatial waterfront home in Palm Beach, Fla., between 2002 and 2005.

The girls were paid hundreds of dollars in cash for the encounters and, once recruited, were asked to return to his homes several times, where they were abused again, the indictment against him said.

Prosecutors said Mr. Epstein asked some of the girls to recruit other girls, creating a network of vulnerable victims.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he would have faced up to 45 years in prison.

Mr. Epstein had initially sought home detention at his Upper East Side mansion while he awaited trial. His lawyers had proposed allowing Mr. Epstein to post a substantial bond and stay in his luxurious seven-story townhouse, watched by 24-hour security guards, at his expense.

But a federal judge denied the request, concluding that Mr. Epstein was a flight risk and citing his “vast wealth,” which prosecutors have placed at more than $500 million.

Mr. Epstein’s younger brother, Mark, was his “only living immediate family member,” according to a memo filed in federal court last month by Mr. Epstein’s lawyers. The memo described the pair as close.

Mr. Epstein, a former money manager with Wall Street experience, had long depicted himself as a wealthy financier with stellar investment savvy.

In addition to his homes in Florida and New York, he owned a private island in the United States Virgin Islands, a massive ranch in New Mexico and a residence in Paris. He had numerous luxury vehicles and access to private planes and helicopters.

Even after he served time in a Florida jail and became a registered sex offender, Mr. Epstein successfully maintained a reputation as a billionaire investor, philanthropist and sophist.

Still, since Mr. Epstein’s arrest last month, evidence has emerged that the former money manager’s business acumen was more myth than fact. His client list was not as extensive as believed, and the services he offered were less remarkable than once portrayed.

Earlier this week, perhaps Mr. Epstein’s most notable client, Mr. Wexner, the retail executive behind Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, accused Mr. Epstein of misappropriating “vast sums of money” from him and his family.

After Mr. Epstein’s arrest in July, some Wall Street titans found themselves forced to answer questions as to why they had continued to socialize or do business with him after his 2008 conviction. They included the private equity billionaire Leon Black, the longtime banking executive Jes Staley and the hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin.

The executives all said they had no knowledge he had engaged in sex trafficking, and had sought to minimize their contacts with Mr. Epstein in recent years.

Also drawing attention were a number of major universities — including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that had accepted large contributions from foundations established by Mr. Epstein even after his 2008 conviction.

The contributions to the universities and to scientists at those schools were part of a campaign by Mr. Epstein to polish his image and get himself back into the good graces of the academic and corporate elite.

But even as Mr. Epstein was trying to rebrand himself, he continued to peddle dubious ideas.

A number of scientists said he had showed an interest in biogenetic engineering and had discussed a plan to seed the human race with his DNA by having young women impregnated at his Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

There is no indication that Mr. Epstein ever took steps toward carrying out those plans, but some in the scientific world continued to meet with him and take his money.

Long before he generated the riches that facilitated those interactions, Mr. Epstein came from modest beginnings. He was born in Brooklyn in 1953 and grew up in Coney Island; his father worked for the city Parks Department.

Mr. Epstein was something of a prodigy, playing the piano at 5, skipping two grades in school and graduating from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn when he was 16.

Though Mr. Epstein took college classes, he never received a degree. Instead, he landed a job as a math and physics teacher at the Dalton School, an elite private school in Manhattan in 1974. His time there was brief, but some students recalled that Mr. Epstein was willing to violate norms in his encounters with girls.

An administrator told The Times that he was dismissed from Dalton for poor performance.

But it was through Dalton, a prestigious school with well-heeled parents and alumni, that Mr. Epstein came into closer contact with New York’s rich and powerful. After leaving the school, he eventually took a job at the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns.

In 1981, Mr. Epstein left Bear Stearns to start his own advisory firm and in 1988, he formed J. Epstein & Company, the investment firm that would help him build his network of connections to wealthy Wall Street executives.

The exact details of Mr. Epstein’s money management operation were shrouded in secrecy, as was his client list.

Mr. Epstein claimed to be handling finances for a number of billionaires, but his only prominent known investor was Mr. Wexner.

In 1991, Mr. Wexner gave Mr. Epstein unfettered authority to handle his personal fortune for roughly 16 years. That enabled Mr. Epstein to become hugely wealthy himself and supplied him with the Wall Street bona fides he needed to seek business from other executives.

Along the way, Mr. Epstein would acquire a mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that had once belonged to Mr. Wexner, as well as a Boeing 727 jet from Mr. Wexner’s company.

The money he made working for Mr. Wexner enabled Mr. Epstein to buy his own island in the United States Virgin Islands, where he relocated much of his financial advisory business in 1999.

Mr. Wexner, now 81, has said he had severed all ties to Mr. Epstein in late 2007. Just this week, he wrote in a letter to his charitable foundation that he had learned that year that Mr. Epstein had misappropriated vast sums from him.

But Mr. Wexner apparently never notified authorities of the suspected misappropriation — even though Mr. Epstein was, at the time, being investigated in Florida for engaging in sex with underage girls.

Katie Benner, Matthew Goldstein, Sam Roberts and Emily Steel contributed reporting.

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ericvick · 3 years ago

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Pelosi Husband’s Tech Stock Spotlights Law on Lawmaker Trades

(Bloomberg) — Paul Pelosi’s multi-million-dollar win on Alphabet Inc. stock in the week before a U.S. House committee publicly considered legislation affecting technology giants has drawn renewed attention to a decade-old law governing lawmakers’ trades that some outside experts say should be changed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband acted legally and within the bounds of the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or Stock, Act when he exercised options to acquire more shares of the parent company of Google for a nearly $5 million gain.

That law requires disclosure by members of Congress and other government employees, including lawmakers’ spouses, of such transactions, and prohibits their use of non-public information for private profit. The speaker complied with House rules and disclosed her husband’s trade in a July 2 filing.

Still, some experts challenge the appropriateness and political optics of Paul Pelosi’s stock activity and are calling on Congress to prohibit lawmakers and, potentially, their families from trading individual stocks. Lawmakers in both chambers have in the last several years pushed for more stringent restrictions on how members play the stock market, but those efforts have not been enacted.

“What leapt out to me was the massive amount of money involved,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist at the government watchdog group, Public Citizen. “This is the spouse of the House leader making millions on stock transactions with businesses that fall under legislation that Nancy Pelosi can control.”

A Pelosi spokesman has said the speaker had no prior knowledge of her husband exercising the options.

The circumstances of Paul Pelosi’s stock options bear no resemblance to the trading controversies that, for instance, surrounded Senator Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican. Loeffler and her husband’s sales and purchases of stocks following closed-door briefings to Congress on the Covid-19 outbreak were among those of senators that came under Justice Department scrutiny last year.

Story continues

The former senator had said through a spokesman neither she nor her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, had themselves directly traded. Third-party advisers managed their investments, the spokesman said.

Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that Nancy Pelosi’s July 2 financial form included that her husband had on June 18 exercised call options to acquire 4,000 shares of Alphabet at a strike price of $1,200. The trade netted him a $4.8 million gain, and it’s risen to $5.3 million since then as the shares have jumped.

The Alphabet call options that Paul Pelosi held were exercised on the very last day he could have exercised them, according to Pelosi’s July 2 filing. They would have expired on June 19, making them no longer valid.

He had also bought 20 call options in May for Amazon.com Inc. with a strike price of $3,000 and 50 call options for Apple Inc. with a strike price of $100. Both of those had a June 2022 expiration date.

‘Leaky Boat’

The disclosure of Paul Pelosi’s exercising of the options — as required — has itself renewed calls from some experts for changing the rules for trading by lawmakers, who are privy to sensitive information and pass laws that can move markets. Some urge updating the Stock Act, including with language to tighten restrictions on whether members of Congress and their immediate family should be holding individual stocks at all.

Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, introduced a bill in January that would require lawmakers and their immediate families to put specified investments into a qualified blind trust. The bill has attracted 15 co-sponsors. The House referred the measure to the House Administration Committee, which has not considered it.

Two other Democrats, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, have previously sponsored legislation that would prohibit lawmakers and other senior government officials from owning or trading individual stocks.

The Stock Act has shown itself to be “a leaky boat” that needs to be patched and updated, argues Marti Subrahmanyam, the Charles E. Merrill Professor of Finance and Economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Subrahmanyam says it is difficult to establish a clear connection between lawmaker trades and information obtained in secret meetings and closed committee hearings. Holman echoes that tying the trading of a lawmaker or their spouse to information they have gained from their public office — not in the public domain — has been too often difficult to prove.

“If the spouse has a joint account with the member, applying the same ban would be appropriate,” Holman said. “If the spouse has his or her own account separate from the member of Congress, then disclosure is all we could legitimately ask.”

But James Cox, a professor of corporate and securities law at Duke University, adds: “I would think Congress should understand the optics of garnering gains within the ‘household’ by potential abuse of using non-public information so that the restriction should apply to households and cover not just purchasing stocks — including interests in sector mutual funds — but also derivatives that are based on either individual or sector stock price changes.”

None of the investigations last year into lawmakers for their trades early in the pandemic resulted in prosecutions or a change to the law.

That included scrutiny of Republican Senator Richard Burr’s dumping of hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks while Burr, a North Carolina Republican, received closed Covid-19 briefings from a seat on the Senate’s health committee. Loeffler and Senator James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California came under Justice Department review for their trades early in the coronavirus pandemic, but the investigations ultimately were dropped.

Paul Pelosi’s Alphabet transaction was completed a week before the House Judiciary Committee advanced six bipartisan antitrust bills, four of which take aim at Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook Inc. Market reaction to the hearings was muted, suggesting that investors didn’t see the House proposals as a real threat to the companies.

Holman says the knowledge of the upcoming House antitrust meeting was clearly information in the public domain. And Pelosi last month even said she supports the Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan effort to challenge the hold that big technology companies have over the internet economy.

Congress, Pelosi told reporters, is “not going to ignore the consolidation that has happened and the concern that exists on both sides of the aisle.” She said Congress’s responsibility is to “the consumer and competition.”

Still, Cox said, new restrictions on how members play in the stock market “would greatly improve the public trust” in elected officials.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

#Husbands #law #Lawmaker #Pelosi #Spotlights #Stock #tech #trades

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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White Oregon School Board Member Replaces Face With Black NBA Star’s in Official Meeting

An elected member of an Oregon school board in the state capital held a mask of former Portland Trail Blazers star Cliff Robinson in front of his face for nearly the entirety of an hour and thirty-seven minute long official Zoom meeting, in what he said he considered a protest against the dangers of online voting manipulation during the pandemic.

“I am making the point that you all don’t actually know if I’m sitting here,” said Paul Kyllo, who represents Zone 7 on the Salem-Keizer Public School Board. “And so how would the public or anyone else know who is actually at the meeting or not?”

Throughout the meeting he was never ordered to remove the mask, nor did any other members object to Kyllo, who is white, hiding behind the smiling face of a Black man. Chairperson Marty Heyen told Kyllo he could simply choose not to wear the mask if he wanted his identity to be known to his colleagues on the video call.

Towards the end of the meeting, Kyllo removed the mask. “Oh, that's so special,” said Heyen, laughing, when Kyllo revealed his face. Others chuckled. “Paul, you look good today,” said fellow school board member Jessi Lippold.

The Zoom meeting originally took place on March 30 and was first flagged on Monday by Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS), a youth leadership group in Salem, when it published a Facebook video with clips of Kyllo using the mask and the reactions of the other board members. Latinos Unidos Siempre is calling for the resignation of Kyllo and Heyen and the removal of police from schools in Salem-Keizer county.

"Blackface and other forms of white supremacy have no space in our community," the group wrote, also calling for "the removal of any school board members aligned with white supremacy beliefs/groups [and] all the other school board officials to issue a clear apology and indicate their stance on white supremacy." So far, a petition by the group has more than 2,000 signatures.

Kyllo told VICE News that he had no racist intentions and that he was simply trying to point out the inherent cybersecurity issues of a Zoom call.

“I wore a mask to point out the insecurity in Zoom,” he said in an emailed statement. “I choose to hold the mask of Cliff Robinson as he was my favorite Trail Blazer, and the face cut out is a treasured possession.”

“I made a public apology when it happened,” he added.

Paul Kyllo and his mask is second from the left on the top row of the Zoom call. (Screenshot/YouTube)

To the dismay of local activists, the school board voted Tuesday evening in favor of continuing to fund police in local schools—a common policy nationwide, which civil rights organizations firmly say unequally targets students of color.

“We have been asked what would make us feel safe returning to schools, and we can tell you that Black and Brown young people will not feel safe returning to school with police in schools and a racist school board,” said an LUS statement provided to VICE News following the meeting.

“By not calling for the resignation of Director Kyllo and Director Heyen, the board placed more importance on protecting white fragility than the safety of students of color. Shame on all of you.”

Heyen, who ran a losing campaign for the Oregon House as a Republican in 2018, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The Salem Reporter reported that a local movement of angry citizens is urging her to step down.

According to an official bio on an Oregon GOP website, Heyen’s husband Jeff is "involved with" the III% militia, which is considered a far-right anti-government militia movement by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a racism watchdog based in Montgomery, Alabama.

White Oregon School Board Member Replaces Face With Black NBA Star’s in Official Meeting syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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go-redgirl · 5 years ago

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20 YEARS: A SYNDICATION ANNIVERSARY REFLECTION

I live to write. I write to live.

The close of 2019 marks two full decades since I entered national newspaper syndication. You are reading the 1,571st column I’ve filed with Creators Syndicate. The years have flown and so have the words: More than one million of them carefully marshaled each week for the past 1,043 weeks to enlighten, entertain and enrage.

Thank you, Creators Syndicate founder Rick Newcombe, for your steadfast support and friendship.

Thank you to the hundreds of newspaper op-ed and website editors who publish my work.

Thank you to the thousands of readers over the past 20 years who’ve provided warm encouragement, sharp criticism, typo corrections, whistleblower tips, crochet patterns, favorite poems and prayers. I am especially heartened by positive feedback from high school students assigned by their English teachers to expose themselves to views different from their own.

Though the past few months have been filled with slanderous accusations that I am a purveyor of “hate,” longtime readers of this column know that my weekly pieces are undergirded by love of language, love of family, love of freedom and love of country.

My columns have been filed from across the heartland and around the world, from our southern border to the Pacific Northwest, from Washington, D.C., to Iraq. I root for underdogs, watchdogs and sheepdogs. I oppose elites, control freaks, race hustlers, con artists, ingrates, liars, reality deniers, bullies and incompetents.

No topic is off-limits. I’ve shared dissenting views on the Japanese internment, rethought my former support for the death penalty and challenged the Big Pharma/Big Government orthodoxy on vaccines since 2004, when our family pediatrician kicked us out of her practice for requesting that a Hep B jab simply be delayed. While every major American media outlet cowered as Muslims worldwide rioted against free speech in 2006, my columns vigorously defending the Danish newspaper cartoonists who dared to draw Muhammad earned death threats, distributed denial of service attacks on my website and sharia warnings that continue to this day.

I’ve exposed the cronyism and corruption of the Bushes, McCains, Clintons, Obamas and Bidens. I’ve offended Muslims, Catholics, Lutherans and Jews with my opinions and reporting. I’ve been an equal-opportunity hate crime hoax debunker and crapweasel hunter.

Politics and policy have been a central focus, of course, but I’ve also shared the joys and pains of my personal life: the birth of my children, the still-unsolved disappearance of my cousin from the University of Washington campus in 2011, my late mother-in-law’s experience with medical marijuana to relieve stage 4 melanoma-related pain in 2014, my daughter’s struggles with chronic illness and pain in 2015, and my 25th wedding anniversary celebration last year.

So many of the stories of suffering, perseverance, patriotism, faith and sacrifice I’ve shared with you remain inscribed on the hard drive of my soul, including Guadalcanal war hero and U.S. Coast Guard Signalman Douglas A. Munro and his dedicated friend Mike Cooley; the children who died on 9/11; Rick Rescorla; Jahi McMath; Haleigh Poutre; Justina Pelletier and Marty and Dana Gottesfeld; Daniel Holtzclaw; Valentino Dixon; Jeff Deskovic; and Brian Franklin.

Along the way, I’ve enjoyed connecting with remarkable human beings of all backgrounds and political stripes. In 2002, I wrote a tribute column to my friend and veteran crime journalist Jack Olsen, who died unexpectedly of a heart attack. We had carried on phone and email conversations for years since my days as a columnist at the Seattle Times. I recounted him jokingly calling himself my “one lefty friend.” We traded notes berating and cajoling each other.

“O for Chrisakes, Michelle, lighten up,” Jack wrote in response to a column I did on touchy-feely conflict resolution seminars in the public schools.

“You are incorrigible,” he ribbed when I told him that was my idea of lightening up.

From the very start of my journalism career, I’ve fought the scourge of identity politics and fetishizing of false “diversity.” One of my very first syndicated columns in 1999 called out a “journalists of color” conference in Seattle for “treating minority journalists as trinkets to be tallied.”

A “newsroom that looks like America is worthless if it doesn’t reflect the diverse and discordant beliefs of its readers,” I wrote at the time. “Journalism doesn’t need more like-minded foot soldiers who march in political unity. It needs straight shooters who think fearlessly for themselves.”

With free speech and free thought under intense fire from all quarters, those words mean more to me now than they did when I wrote them 20 years ago. My New Year’s resolution is to forge ahead and put the roar in the “Roaring Twenties.” There is so much truth yet to be exposed, so many more stories yet to tell, and miles to go before I sleep.

Posted in: Politics

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awesomebutunpractical · 2 days ago

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Formerly evil currently out of work commander is pulled back into his old game to counter a new contender. Also, Marty got him to babysit somehow.

Someday, I'll invent a small Watchdog girl who doesn't imprint on Peepers like a duckling. Rena is not going to be it.

#the idea here is that Peepers has been really struggling to feel /competent/ in his new good guy role #so a. he's not sure if he can get back into the swing of strategizing and b. it's pretty darn tempting when he does #Rena doesn't know all that she's just here to have a good time #wander over yonder #Marty the Watchdog #Rena doesn't need her own tag yet #OC Talk #watchdog oc talk #MAN I could not draw Peepers tonight #I mean I think I got there in the end but wow #he fought me #I feel like he'd need a wardrobe update maybe? I can't see him giving up the helmet #maybe round it out a little #It's hard to be down on yourself and also tempted by evil when a very polite small child is gazing into your soul #with her admiring void of a face

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emedhelp · 5 years ago

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Jeffrey Epstein dies by suicide a month after arrest in child sex trafficking case

Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier criminally charged last month with child sex trafficking, has died by apparent suicide, according to the Justice Department

Epstein, 66, hanged himself in Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he was being held without bail, sources told NBC News. He was found at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

He was transported by the FDNY-EMS from the jail to New York Downtown Hospital. When they arrived, Epstein was in cardiac arrest, sources told NBC. He was subsequently pronounced dead by hospital staff. The FBI is investigating the incident.

Epstein was being held without bail in the jail since his arrest in early July at an airport in northern New Jersey after arriving there on his private plane on a flight from Paris.

He was previously put on suicide watch after he was found semi-conscious on the floor of his jail cell on July 23 with marks on his neck. Multiple people familiar with the investigation say that Epstein was in his own cell, but was not currently on suicide watch at the time of his death. Attorney General William Barr said he was "appalled' by Epstein's suicide and said the inspector general was opening an investigation in addition to the FBI.

"Mr. Epstein's death raises serious questions that must be answered," Barr said. "In addition to the FBI's investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death."

Epstein, a one-time friend of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, was accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls, some of whom were as young as 14.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges. He faced a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison if convicted.

The New York City medical examiner's office said it is investigating Epstein's "cause and manner of death."

A federal appeals court on Friday unsealed nearly 2,000 pages of documents, including one that contains records showing that President Donald Trump flew on Epstein's private plane in 1997.

Another document showed that an accuser said Epstein's alleged procurer of underage girls, Ghislaine Maxwell, directed the accuser to have sex with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, a Maine Democrat, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and other prominent people.

Those files released Friday are part of a defamation lawsuit that Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers, filed against Maxwell several years ago. Both Mitchell and Richardson have denied ever meeting Giuffre. Epstein's former lawyer Alan Dershowitz also has denied Giuffre's claims to have had sex with him at Maxwell's behest when Giuffre was underage.

Epstein's criminal defense lawyer Reid Weingarten did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US Attorney Office in Manhattan and the FBI NY Office have no comment.

But in a statement to The New York Times, Weingarten and two other Epstein attorneys, Marty Weinberg and Michael Miller said they could not confirm his cause of death and trusted it would be investigated by the United States Attorney's office and the United States Marshals Service.

"We are enormously sorry to learn of today's news. No one should die in jail," they said, according to The Times.

Brad Edwards, an attorney representing some Epstein accusers, called his death "both unfortunate and predictable."

"The fact that Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit the selfish act of taking his own life as his world of abuse, exploitation, and corruption unraveled is both unfortunate and predictable," said Edwards in a statement obtained by NBC News.

"The victims deserved to see Epstein held accountable, and he owed it to everyone he hurt to accept responsibility for all of the pain he caused."

Gerald Lefcourt, a New York lawyer who previously represented Epstein in a similar case in the mid-2000s in Florida, was stunned to learn he had killed himself.

"It's shocking, totally shocking," Lefcourt told CNBC in a phone interview.

Lefcourt said Epstein's suicide was shocking not only because of the circumstances of where it occurred, but also because of Lefcourt and Epstein's current legal team belief that they could win a dismissal of the pending federal criminal case.

"When somebody is suicidal, you just take better care of them," Lefcourt said. "This is unheard of, where there's a suicide attempt, and he's not closely watched so he can't hurt himself. It's just crazy. It's not understandable."

Lefcourt in recent weeks had been consulting with Epstein's current defense lawyers about a non-prosecution deal that Lefcourt had cut with the U.S. Justice Department in 2007, that said Epstein would not be federally prosecuted in Florida as part of a probe there involving suspected sexual abuse of underage girls.

The deal called for Epstein to plead guilty to prostitution-related charges involving an underage girl in a case lodge by a state prosecutor, and to register as a sex offender. In exchange, Epstein and his suspected co-conspirators would not be hit with far more serious federal criminal charges.

U.S. Attorney for Manhattan Geoffrey Berman has said that deal did not prevent Berman's office from filing the new child sex trafficking case against Epstein last month, even though it involves the same time frame, the same conduct and Epstein's home in Florida. Berman said the 2007 deal did not bar him, or federal prosecutors outside of southern Florida, from charging Epstein for the same conduct and time frame.

Lefcourt said Berman is wrong. "The deal, if you read it, says to cover all federal and state liability, and even mentions this statute" of sex trafficking, Lefcourt said. "We were preparing to argue that the deal covers this."

"If you read the agreement, and know that it was approved by the deputy attorney general of the United States, and there was no new women" alleged to be abused since 2007 then the current prosecution "should have been precluded," Epstein said.

Epstein's bail was denied in mid-July when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ruled he was a potential danger to "new victims" from his apparently "uncontrollable" sexual fixation on young girls, and the risk that Epstein would flee to avoid prosecution for child sex trafficking charges.

"This newly discovered evidence also suggests that Mr. Epstein poses 'ongoing and forward-looking danger,'" the judge wrote. "Mr. Epstein's dangerousness is considerable and includes sex crimes with minor girls and tampering with potential witnesses."

That tampering included payments to potential witnesses and possible co-conspirators on the heels of a series of stories in the Miami Herald about Epstein last winter.

Those articles looked back a the prior Florida state and federal investigations into Epstein in the mid-2000s. Those probes focused on Epstein's hyper-obsessive fixation on receiving daily massages from underage girls and young-looking women at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.

Epstein received as many as three "massages" each day his home from the girls and women, who were paid several hundred dollars per session.

Multiple women ended up saying that the massages were of a sexual nature. And a number of those women said that Epstein engaged in sexual conduct with them when they were underage.

Epstein hired a group of high-powered lawyers to defend himself during the probes. His legal team grew after local police, frustrated at what they saw as a state prosecutor's reluctance to bring serious charges in the case, took evidence to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, the top prosecutor for the area.

That office, led at the time by Alex Acosta, did investigate Epstein.

But in what because a highly controversial decision, Acosta ultimately decided to only sign a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein that let the financier off the hook for serious federal charges.

In exchange, Epstein agreed to plead guilty to minor prostitution-related charges involving an underage girl -- charges that were lodged by state prosecutors. Epstein served just 13 months in jail in that case, but much of that time was spent on work release, and jailers reportedly kept his cell door open at night.

As a result of that earlier case, Epstein registered as a sex offender. Acosta's non-prosecution deal with Epstein generated widespread outrage last month on the heels of Epstein's arrest for the new federal case in Manhattan.

Critics questioned why Acosta, who by then was Trump's Labor secretary, had given what was now seen as a sweet-heart deal to Epstein. The deal is under investigation by an internal watchdog at the Justice Department, and has already been blasted by a federal judge because of Acosta's failure to notify Epstein's accusers at the time it was being crafted.

Acosta resigned as Labor secretary shortly after Epstein's arrest last month.

This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked his state's Law Enforcement Department to conduct an investigation into both the original light plea deal Epstein cut with state prosecutors in 2008, and the circumstances of his stay in jail for that case.

Epstein's suicide came just days after L Brands chairman and founder Les Wexner claimed that Epstein had misappropriated more than $46 million from Wexner and his family more than a decade ago.

Wexner said the money was found to be missing after Epstein was placed under investigation in Florida in the mid-2000s, and as Wexner moved to sever ties with Epstein, who had managed his finances for years. Wexner said some of the money was returned by Epstein in the form of donations to a Wexner-controlled charity.

To get help: Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for free and confidential support.

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the-bane-of-eye-life · 6 years ago

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Marty’s Introduction

“Oh... I have no idea what I’m doing here... Do-do I just talk into the camera or-”

*BEEP*

“Hello! Private Marty here. I am a private in Lord Hater’s army and I’m stationed on the Skullship. My name is Marty... you already knew tha-”

*BEEP *

“I’ve been on the Skullship about a week now. It’s been fun. Fun’s the wrong word. It’s been... serious. Serious stuff I take very seriously. Honestly, I’ve just been patrolling the hallways.”

*BEEP*

“There’s been some adjustments. It’s a little overwhelming to be around Commander Peepers, let alone Lord Hater! Oh man... I hope I never need to make a report to Lord Hater.”

*BEEP*

“Anyway, thanks for dropping by. As you can see I’m not overly threatening, which may not be the greatest trait to have when you’re part of a villainous army. All that to say, I don’t bite. I don’t have teeth... Bye”

*BEEP*

“’-don’t have teeth’ What kind of- is that thing on?”

*BEEP*

#marty the watchdog

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thestarsofthenight · 8 years ago

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Chapter 3: The Phantom Protector of Great Britain

Fandom: Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler

Pairings: mainly Ciel Phantomhive/Elizabeth Midford

Summary: “There is nothing more ridiculous than living in a country in which an orange-skinned man won an election,” Francis had said, ending the Midfords four-year-long stay in the USA. Three days later, Elizabeth lives in gloomy London, wishing to be back in sunny LA, when a murder case suddenly turns her life upside down, entangling her with Ciel Phantomhive, his duty to the crown, and his school-intern detective agency…

Navigation: Chapter Index

“Wherever this shadowed path might lead, we were both irrevocably committed to follow it to the end.” ― Susan Kay, Phantom

London, England, United Kingdom – November 2016

She did not know when she had started to run.

A second ago, Elizabeth had witnessed a murder, and now, her feet were carrying her as far away from the crime scene as possible. And while she ran, records of what she had seen found their ways back to her mind.

The metallic smell of blood.

The murderer, stabbing and stabbing their victim even though they were long dead.

The victim’s muffled, dying screams.

There is no way that I will ever forget them, Elizabeth thought while running and running and cursing her bag with the chocolates and her bag with the bagels for not allowing her to run faster.

Eventually, despite the adrenaline pushing her body to go farther, her lungs started to burn so badly that she could only stop. Elizabeth collapsed against the wall of a building, trying to catch her breath. She had no clue where she was. She had no clue if the murderer had seen her or not. What if she had started to run without checking that first? What if they had noticed her running away and went after her?

The thought turned her blood to ice.

No, a voice in her head suddenly said – the voice belonging to the part of her head which was still sane despite everything. Someone was killed. There is a killer on the loose. You have to go to the police. You need to report this. Staying here will only decrease your chance of surviving if the murderer really followed you. You will be safe with the police.

Elizabeth pulled herself away from the wall, her legs feeling wobbly. Because her hands were shaking and she was still holding the bag with the bagels, taking out her phone proved quite difficult. If leaving the bagels wouldn’t make it easier for the killer to track her, she would have thrown the bag away ages ago. When Elizabeth had finally managed to get her mobile, she tried to dial the police’s number, but stopped herself right before clicking on “call.” What if her voice was too shaky? What if the person on the other side of the line couldn’t understand her? Was making a phone call in an unknown place while possibly being followed by a killer the best idea?

No, not here, definitely not here, her rational part said and forced her run farther to a more crowded place and into some shop.

After Elizabeth had walked through the entire shop a few times while calming herself down, she looked up the location of the closest police station.

It is only a few minutes away. Thank God, it is only a few minutes away.

And these few minutes gave her new strength to make her feet move.

***

The police station was awfully ugly. “Police” was written in capital letters over the entrance of the grey building, and a lonely London flag was fluttering miserably in the wind.

Elizabeth took a deep breath before entering the police station.

“Good evening, how can I help ya?” the policeman in charge said, looking up from what looked like a comic, and frowned. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to walk around on a school day?”

Elizabeth glimpsed at a clock and saw that it was a little after ten o’clock. When had it got so late? She had no idea.

“I,” she began, her voice hoarse and her throat dry. “I...”

“Stop stuttering, kid, and tell me what the matter is. Lost your parents? Someone stole your lolly?”

“There was a murder somewhere around here,” Elizabeth managed to say, falling into a nearby chair.

The policeman’s eyes widened. “Woah, woah, girl! You’ve seen a murder?”

Elizabeth nodded faintly. Her mind was drifting away to the crime scene, but she blinked away the image of the street painted red. Focus. “Yes. In... in Whitechapel, around Brick Lane.”

The policeman raised an eyebrow and put his hands under the counter. It was a strange movement. It had been meant to be subtle, but Elizabeth’s clouded brain still managed to catch it. She tried to analyse what he was doing, but, somehow, she did not manage to grab a clear thought.

“And you are not lying to me? Kids like you come to me all the time to prank me. Not cool. Absolutely not cool. They always prank me because they believe that Detective Inspector Marty Card is an easy victim. Can you imagine that? Can you believe that? Kids nowadays are all idiots. I am not the idiot here. Definitely not.” The policeman, Marty Card, took out a piece of paper before frowning at her. “You are not kidding me, right? Joking about murder is bad. Joking about such a murder is even worse. False information could cost me my job. Perhaps even my head. I cling to my head. I think it’s a nice head, not particularly pretty, but still nice. Has a nice shape, don’t you think?”

With her head feeling heavy, Elizabeth barely managed to nod at Marty’s words. In the alley, this one voice in her head had told her that she would feel safe with the police. But, for some reason, she did not feel secure at all. Elizabeth grabbed the rim of her skirt. Her heart was racing, her body tensed. What if the murderer knew that Marty was in charge today? If children knew when he worked, did grown-ups too? Did this one grown-up know? What if the killer had followed her and decided to get rid off her right here and now in this police station because they knew that only Marty was here? What if they murdered them both? She dug her fingers deeper into the fabric of her skirt.

“Hello? Are you listening to me, kid?” Marty’s voice snapped her back to reality.

She stared at him with wide eyes. “Hm?”

“I asked: Was that a nod for the kidding part or the head part?”

When Elizabeth didn’t reply and simply kept staring at him, he only sighed. “Not very talkative, are you? For now, I am believing you because I don’t think you are that much of an actress to fool me, Mighty Marty. So... for the protocol, what is your name?”

***

It was little after 10 pm when Ciel’s late night ice-cream eating was disturbed.

Regularly, Ciel would eat ice-cream even if it was already late. He did not even care about the fact that it was late autumn. After all, it might be cold outside, but it was quite warm inside his townhouse. Thus it was fairly reasonable to eat ice-cream even on an icy November day. Ciel especially liked it to sit next to a window on the ground floor while eating so that he could watch the passersby shuddering in the coldness while being warm and comfortable himself.

But today, he was sitting in his office, and thus, could see the tiny red lamp going on on his desk. The alarm used to make a sound too but Sebastian had once changed the ring tone from the Toccata by Johann Sebastian Bach to the cat song from The Big Bang Theory when his master hadn’t been there. Annoyed, Ciel had removed this function upon finding out about this change.

Ciel had made the alarm himself: It was connected to Scotland Yard, and every time someone pressed a certain button in one of their police stations, the small lamp lit up in his office. Next to this button, Ciel had let little, foldout, and extractable keyboards to be installed so that whoever had pressed the button could send him a short message, telling him what was going on. Then, the message would appear on a small display on the alarm cube. Another display showed the number of the police station from where the message had been sent.

He leaned forward and read the message: “S7616 – around Brick Lane, Muscle. Manor: circle. DI Right Brother.”

Ciel himself had invented the code and was quite proud of it. It had not been the easiest task to teach it to the police, though. The message, decrypted, meant:

Serial murder case: New Whitechapel Murders – around Brick Lane, now. Witness: a female. DI Marty Card.

Ciel frowned. A witness? That was strange. There had never been a witness to this case. But Ciel could not think longer about it as the message had said that the murder was happening right now. Apparently, the witness has immediately run to the next police station. Interesting. He stood up and called Sebastian.

***

Less than two minutes later, Ciel and Sebastian arrived at the scene of the crime, but the criminal was already gone. It looked like the other crime scenes which Ciel had seen in the photographs the Queen had included in her letter: The horrifyingly mangled victim was lying in a pool of blood. Her eyes were staring up at the dark sky as if she was trying to pledge Heaven for mercy. Ciel couldn’t help but to bitterly chuckle at this sight. Mercy. What a joke.

“Sebastian – search the crime scene for things which seem important or odd,” Ciel ordered.

Normally, a crime scene is secured first, then thoroughly documented by taking photographs and drawing sketches before evidence is collected. But if you have a demon butler and are the Watchdog, things work a little bit differently.

“Yes, Mylord,” Sebastian replied, his eyes glowing bright red, and began to work.

“What now, Young Master?” the butler asked a few minutes later, closing the last plastic bag.

“That someone witnessed the murder is bad enough,” Ciel meant, walking back and forth. “We cannot allow anyone else to see the crime scene again.”

“And what do you suggest, Mylord?”

“You need to restore the street’s appearance before the murder took place. Like that, this case will stay the secret it has been since the first murder.” Ciel looked up at Sebastian. “Sebastian – I order you to restore the street’s appearance, and when you’re done to bring me to Marty Card’s police station. There is someone we need to speak.”

***

“Come to think of it, Lizzy, you were not hallucinating, were you?”

After Elizabeth had calmed herself by slowly and deeply breathing in and out and after Marty had given her cup by cup of tea, she had been somehow able to answer Marty’s questions – told him her name and contact data and all she knew about the crime – even if she could only vaguely remember what had happened.

At which time did you see the murder? I am not sure. I think sometime after nine o’clock.

What did the murderer look like? I can’t remember.

Did he have a weapon? No. Wait... yes. A knife. The killer had a knife.

Eventually, Marty had decided that saying “Miss Midford” all the time was too troublesome and started to call her “Lizzy” instead without her permission.

“I am only asking because I’ve noticed that your backpack is full of chocolate and that you have a plastic bag full of Rainbow Bagels. Too much sugar can do strange things to some people, you know? Some become hyperactive, some start hallucinating. Could also be that I am mixing this up with some other white substance, though.” Marty shrugged. “Nevertheless, can I have some? I am starving. The others went home early, leaving me with all the work. Can you believe that? They work for the police, justice and righteousness and all, and then they leave their coworker to do everything! Didn’t have time to grab something to eat. Could be that I started doodling food on the documents I had to fill out.”

Elizabeth threw him a Rainbow Bagel. It nearly fell to the ground because she didn’t have the strength anymore to throw it properly. His hunger, apparently, gave Marty the power to dive headlong over the counter and catch the bagel a centimetre over the ground with the grace and elegance of a drunk cat.

“Caught it!” he happily exclaimed before returning to his original position behind the counter. “Never thought that I am so sporty, right?” Marty ate the bagel like a savage. “Oh, Heavenly Rainbow Bagel! Without you, I would have died of hunger. You coming here was truly a gift of Heaven, Lizzy! When we forget the murder part, though.”

“When do you think my parents will come?” Elizabeth asked him. She felt tired, and her brain kept repeating the screams of the victim again and again. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her parents and brother. She wanted to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow and find out that all of this had been a mad, mad dream. What were the odds to witness a murder on your first day of school?

“I didn’t notify them,” Marty said, licking the bagel crumbs from his fingers.

Elizabeth blinked at him, the fog over her mind suddenly lifted. “What?”

“That means ‘Excuse me,’” he corrected her. “Also, if I had called them, they would have come to see and get their baby duck – Babies of a duck are called ‘ducklings,’ right? Like in The Ugly Duckling; to see and get their duckling then. However, I cannot allow that. Someone high-up will want to talk to you. And if I mean ‘high-up’ I mean ‘scarily high-up.’ He can do things no other citizens of Britain can. Cannot afford to enrage this guy. Like I’ve said, I cling to my head. And I know what you’re thinking ‘It’s the 21st century, and we are in a civilised country, nobody gets executed and incapacitated here!’ But I have to tell you otherwise: He has the power to wander outside of law, he does not care if we are still in the 21st century and that I have a nice head I cling to.”

“Who is this ‘scarily high-up’ person?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“‘The Phantom Protector of Great Britain’!” Marty theatrically said, spreading his arms. “His work and existence are one of the best-kept secrets in the entire United Kingdom. And I am one of the secret keepers. It’s such an honour!”

“Which you have just told me.”

“Excuse me?” he blinked at her.

“‘His work and existence is one of the best kept secrets in the entire United Kingdom.’ And you have just told me about him.”

Marty immediately turned very, very pale. “Oh God, what have I done? I will be killed for sure. Beheaded like this dumb queen with her pimped out dress and white, stinky wig –”

“Marie Antoinette.”

“– Mary Anton!” he continued in a scream.

Then, to Marty’s horror, the door to the police station opened. He shrieked and jumped out of his chair. Elizabeth’s body temperature increased – What if it’s the killer? she thought between two raced heartbeats –, and she craned her head to see who had entered the station. And as soon as she saw who had come, her body temperature promptly dropped – her initial, unreasonable fear – Marty had told her that someone was coming after all – being replaced by cold disbelief.

Only a few metres away from her stood a person she knew. A person who had just turned around and whose eyes widened at the sight of her just like her own did.

Cute Shortie.

***

Ten minutes later, Elizabeth Midford was sitting in the back seat of a Bentley. A 1954er R-type continental. One of the only 208 which had ever been created, instinctively crossed her mind. Growing up with an older brother and a father with a deep love for old and rare things, especially cars, had left marks on her. Furthermore, ever since she had been a child, facts and numbers had a comforting effect on her. And now, it helped her to keep her mind from drifting away again.

King Henry VIII never slept without an axe beside him.

Two-thirds of the world’s population has never seen snow.

The first three digits of pi are 3.14. Backwards, these numbers spell “pie.”

Four is considered to be an unlucky number in some Asian countries as their names for “four” sound similar to their words for “death.”

In Thailand, “five” is pronounced as “ha.” 555 would be “ha ha ha.”

The national anthem of Greece consists of 158 stanzas, but, normally, only the first two are sung.

The tradition to buy a white dress which is specially made and worn for and on your wedding started with Queen Victoria in 1840. Before that, women wore dresses to their weddings which they could wear afterwards too. Also, these dresses could be of any colour.

People suffering from Capgras delusion believe that someone close to them, for example a good friend or family members, was replaced by a doppelganger.

One year after the tragedy of the Titanic, the International Ice Patrol came into existence. Its purpose is to warn ships of icebergs.

Even though Buddhism originates from India, only around one percent of Indians are Buddhists. Most of them are Hindus.

Ciel Phantomhive is the “Phantom Protector of Great Britain.”

Half an hour later, the Bentley stopped, and Ciel’s butler, a tall man with black hair and peculiar eyes, opened the door for Elizabeth. She left her bags inside the car, and the butler helped her to get out. The instance she saw where they were, her eyes widened.

Why did they bring me to school?

Quietly, Elizabeth followed Ciel and his butler to Blue House, and the butler opened a door for them which said “McMillan & Phantomhive Detective Agency – Chocolate for Investigating.” Ciel entered the room and sat down behind a large desk, and as soon as Elizabeth had stepped through the door too, the butler closed it behind her, leaving the two of them alone.

As weak as a kitten, Elizabeth fell onto a sofa. The entire day had been awfully draining. First, she had been late to school. Then, she had lost her diary and became witness to murder. Now, she was sitting inside a Detective Agency at her school with the ominous “Phantom Protector of Great Britain” opposite from her – who had turned out to be the boy she had run into this very morning.

“I thought that it would be better if we could talk in a calm environment,” Ciel started, turning on a table lamp which was barely able to illuminate the room. “The police station is rather... loud with Card in charge.” He leaned back. “Let me introduce me first: My name is Ciel Phantomhive, the Earl of Phantomhive – but I guess that you have already known that.”

Blood rushed into Elizabeth’s cheeks, and she was thankful for the dim light. “I am Elizabeth Midford.”

She could faintly see Ciel raising one of his eyebrows. “Midford? Like in Marquess Alexis Leon Midford?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes. I am his daughter.”

“I see.”

Ciel wanted to continue, but a question suddenly blurted out of Elizabeth and cut him off: “How come you are ‘The Phantom Protector of Great Britain’?”

He blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

Elizabeth’s cheeks turned bright red. “That’s what Marty Card called you,” she mumbled.

“Card?” She could hear Ciel chuckle. “Nobody calls me that.”

Elizabeth looked up, and Ciel continued: “But that is, more or less, a description of what I am and what I do.” Ciel’s next words froze the blood in her veins.

“I am the Watchdog of the Queen – the secret executive organ, the private detective, and private assassin of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth the Second.

“I am the detective in charge of this murder case; and, unfortunately, you, Lady Midford, have to work with me now.”

#the stars of the night #the whitechapel copycat arc #elizabeth midford #ciel x lizzy #ciel phantomhive #cielizzy #kuroshitsuji #black butler #modern au #fanfiction #school au #this chapter was hard to write

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democratsunited-blog · 6 years ago

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Kentucky Democrats to return Schnatter money

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=6265

Kentucky Democrats to return Schnatter money

Backlash was swift after reports that Papa John’s founder John Schnatter used the N-word. He’s resigned as the company’s chairman as well as a trustee at the University of Louisville Wochit

Buy Photo

John Schnatter in 2017(Photo: Marty Pearl/Special to The C-J)Buy Photo

The Kentucky Democratic Party doesn’t want anything to do with Papa John’s pizza mogul John Schnatter after it was revealed last week he used a racial slur.

Schnatter, who is known primarily for giving to Republican candidates, gave $3,500 to the Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee between 1996 and 2018, according to a Courier Journal analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.

Brad Bowman, a spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party, told the Courier Journal that the party will return the $3,500 to Schnatter.

“In light of John Schnatter’s inappropriate racial slur, the Kentucky Democratic Party will rescind his 2001 and 2007 contributions,” Bowman said. “While we would rather give them to an entity that promotes racial justice, Kentucky law prohibits us as a political entity from giving donations to nonprofits.”

Related: Will Mitch McConnell and other politicians return Papa John’s money?

From 1996 to 2018, Schnatter donated more than $270,000 to Republicans and $20,500 to Democrats. On the state level from 2010 to 2018, Schnatter gave more than $36,000 to Republicans and $15,000 to Democrats.

Bowman challenged other lawmakers who have taken donations from Schnatter to return them.

“We call on the Republican Party of Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul and all current Kentucky lawmakers to rescind these contributions. There’s no defense for racism.”

Schnatter admitted last week that he used the N-word during a May conference call with a public relations firm hired to help him address sensitive subjects, including race.

In less than 24 hours after Forbes reported the comments, Schnatter stepped down from the company he founded, resigned from the University of Louisville’s board of trustees, and his name was removed from the school’s football stadium.

It was the final straw in a series of high-profile problems over the past year that started when Schnatter partially blamed declining pizza sales on NFL players’ national anthem protests of racial injustice, a move that led to a Papa John’s endorsement from white supremacists.

More: Report: John Schnatter says he shouldn’t have resigned from Papa John’s

Kentucky Democrats have claimed they would donate campaign funds from controversial figures several times recently.

Last month, the Courier Journal noted that Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes had not donated $5,200 in campaign funds given to her by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Her spokesman, Bradford Queen, said in response that “the Secretary continues to support organizations that lift up and promote women’s causes, donating her time and money.” He did not say which charity, the time of the donation or when a donation was given.

Also, Attorney General Andy Beshear, who is running for Kentucky governor, took donations in 2015 from Tim Longmeyer, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of running a political kickback scheme while he served as Personnel Cabinet secretary in former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration.

Andy Beshear has said his 2015 campaign fund will rid itself of any such tarnished contributions by donating its final balance to the government watchdog group Common Cause after the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance completes its audit of the fund.

Thomas Novelly: [email protected]; 502-582-4465.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/17/kentucky-democrats-return-papa-john-schnatter-donations/791482002/

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