The following content speaks of sexual assault and may cause distress to some readers.
Donald Trump has been accused of sexual assault, including rape, over four decades. So far, he has managed to avoid prosecution. But with the indictment of his multi-millionaire friend Jeffrey Epstein, Trump may finally be in trouble. He may even find himself in the dock, and not just on sex charges.
Developments
In an earlier prosecution, federal prosecutors identified 36 underage victims, allegedly exploited by Epstein. But in 2008, a plea deal saw Epstein found guilty of just one offence – soliciting a minor for prostitution. Epstein was also given an extraordinarily lenient sentence as part of the deal. Controversially, the deal (brokered by attorney Alexander Acosta) granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators”.
Since then, there have been developments:
- In 2017, Trump appointed Acosta as labor secretary.
- On 6 July 2019, the case against Epstein was re-opened, following a series of shocking revelations by the Miami Herald. Epstein was charged with sex trafficking. It is understood he may have trafficked over 80 underage girls.
- On 12 July 2019, after mounting criticism, Acosta resigned his post in the Trump administration.
Trump named
But Epstein allegedly did not act alone.
‘Jane Doe‘ (aka ‘Katie Johnson‘) made several accusations against Epstein and also Donald Trump, including imprisoning her as a sex slave. ‘Tiffany Doe’ claimed to have seen the alleged sex acts, saying she’d witnessed Trump and Epstein rape the plaintiff several times:
I personally witnessed the plaintiff being forced to perform various sexual acts with Mr Trump and Mr Epstein. Both Mr Trump and Mr Epstein were advised that she was 13 years old
She added:
I personally witnessed four sexual encounters that the plaintiff was forced to have with Mr. Trump during this period, including the fourth of these encounters where Mr Trump forcibly raped her despite her pleas to stop.
In 2016, ‘Jane Doe’ filed a lawsuit and accused Trump of carrying out a “savage sexual attack” on her in 1994. At the time, she was 13 years old.
She further claimed that Trump threatened her life – saying that she would “disappear”. Specifically, she alleged that:
Immediately following this rape defendant Trump threatened me that, were I ever to reveal any of the details of Defendant Trump’s sexual and physical abuse of me, my family and I would be physically harmed if not killed.
The case against Epstein was dropped in September 2016. But only weeks later, the case was re-filed.
It doesn’t end there
Epstein was not only pally with Trump, but had a number of other well known friends, as can be seen via his notorious ‘black book’. They included Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton.
In 2014, submissions were made against Epstein (and Prince Andrew). And in 2015, Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts) issued an affidavit in support of allegations against Epstein. Subsequently, in a statement to the Miami Herald, she said:
It started with one and it trickled into two and so on. And before you know it, I’m being lent out to politicians and academics and royalty.
She accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse. She also accused Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late media magnate Robert Maxwell, of recruiting underage girls for sex on behalf of Epstein. And she claimed to have had sex with Prince Andrew three times: in London, New York, and on Epstein’s island.
Prince Andrew and Maxwell have denied these allegations.
Serial offender
Trump is well known as a misogynist and has referred to women on numerous occasions as ‘slobs, dogs and pigs‘. Not forgetting, too, his controversial 2005 video, in which he bragged about trying to have sex with a married woman. He notoriously said:
I just start kissing them… I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.
There have been many more allegations of sexual misconduct made against Trump; but so far, he has avoided prosecution. Considering the latest prosecution against Epstein, however, it seems possible that more evidence will be revealed that could implicate the US president.
A huge can of worms may have just been opened.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Creative Commons
