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Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
GOP Sen. Refuses to Admit Bush, Not Obama, Was President During Epstein's Plea Deal
Sen. Markwayne Mullin tried to blame former President Barack Obama for Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 plea deal, despite Obama not being president at the time. Mullin made the comments while being interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. First, Tapper and Mullin debated over whether the attorney general has the ability to release documents related to the Epstein investigation, with Mullin insisting that only judges have the ability to make that information public and Tapper arguing that there is additional information that Attorney General Pam Bondi could — and has promised to — release, yet she has not done so. Then Mullin made a bizarre claim that Epstein struck a deal in Florida in 2009, under President Obama. But that is factually incorrect, as Tapper pointed out. 'Remember there was a plea deal that was struck in 2009, way before I was in office, way before Trump was even considering it to be in office, way before Pam Bondi was office, way before Kash Patel was director,' Mullin said. '2009, there was a sweetheart plea deal that was made underneath the Obama administration with Epstein, and that sweetheart has not been exposed.' 'No, that's not right,' Tapper said. 'It's not? Well, when was the case heard?' Mullin asked. 'It was 2008… The U.S. attorney at the time was a guy named Alex Acosta,' Tapper said. 'He was a Bush appointee. He went on to become President Trump's secretary of labor. It all took place in 2008.' 'Who was in office at the time?' Mullin asked. '2008, George W. Bush,' Tapper said, reciting a well-known fact. But Mullin continued to insist on incorrect information. 'No, 2009 is when the case came out, and it was — and Obama was in office at the time,' Mullin said. 'It's not true. It's not true,' Tapper said. Mullin doubled down later in the interview. 'I will go back to what you're saying about it wasn't true,' Mullin said. 'The case was sealed in 2009. That's absolutely true. It was heard in 2008. It was sealed in 2009.' Tapper is correct, and Mullin is wrong. An executive summary report of the Epstein case by the Justice Department states that in the summer of 2008, then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in which the billionaire pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. Because of the deal, instead of serving a possible life sentence, he was sentenced to 18 months in a work-release program followed by 12 months of house arrest. Epstein was then allowed to leave the minimum-security facility for 12 hours a day to work at a foundation he had incorporated. Epstein was released after serving less than 13 months. He was also mandated to register as a sex offender and make payments to his victims. According to the Justice Department, Epstein began serving his sentence in Oct. 2008, and a judge unsealed the non-prosecution agreement in Sept. 2009. A lead prosecutor in the investigation, Marie Villafana, said in 2020 that Epstein's sweetheart deal was an 'injustice.' 'That injustice, I believe, was the result of deep, implicit institutional biases that prevented me and the FBI agents who worked diligently on this case from holding Mr. Epstein accountable for his crimes,' Villafana said. More from Rolling Stone Trump Is Trying to Hide the Cost of Renovating His New Air Force One Supreme Court Lets Trump Enact His Authoritarian Agenda on Its 'Shadow Docket' Trump's Senior Moments Are Getting Worse Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
Haberman: Trump potential pardon of Maxwell amid Epstein chaos ‘quite a line to walk'
Political analyst Maggie Haberman on Friday evaluated the potential impact of President Trump possibly pardoning convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell after she cooperated with the Justice Department (DOJ) during two days of interviews. 'It's quite a line to walk,' Haberman said during an appearance on CNN's 'The Source with Kaitlan Collins.' 'What I think you're seeing the Trump administration potentially moving toward is claiming she was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, that she was somehow not a sex trafficker herself, but somebody who was caught up in his crime wave. The reason, I think, that is the people close to the administration have started describing her as a victim,' she added. Haberman and Collins reminded viewers that there are groups of people impacted by Epstein's criminal dealings that are still recovering from years of trauma. 'There are real — girls. There are real victims here. There are real victims who suffered, whose lives have been irreparably damaged. And they are being — some of them have said, feel like they are being used in a way that is very unpleasant,' Haberman said. Maxwell is currently appealing her guilty verdict to the Supreme Court despite disapproval from the DOJ. Some are hoping that her Thursday and Friday conversations with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal attorney, will bring forth more information in regard to the high-profile people involved in Epstein's criminal dealings. She was granted limited immunity during the meetings, according to reports. 'This was a thorough, comprehensive interview by the Deputy Attorney General. No person and no topic were off-limits. We are very grateful. The truth will come out,' Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement to NewsNation, the sister network of The Hill. The president dubbed the informal probe involving his criminal ties to Epstein a 'witch hunt' from which he is seeking to clear his name. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this week, the president suggested to reporters he has not completely ruled out pardoning Epstein's accomplice, Maxwell. 'It's something I haven't thought about. I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about,' Trump told reporters on Friday.
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
George Conway says Trump not ruling out Maxwell clemency ‘just insane'
Attorney George Conway criticized President Trump on Friday for not completely ruling out a pardon for convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell at the center of the Jeffrey Epstein case. His words came after Trump told reporters earlier in the day that he was 'allowed' to grant Maxwell clemency but hadn't considered taking the measure. 'She is a sexual predator. She was found guilty of doing these things. She [was] found guilty of, she would take the passports away from these girls, who they dragged to Epstein island. She did all of this stuff,' Conway said during an appearance on CNN's 'The Lead with Jake Tapper.' 'She's neck deep, way in.' 'And so the notion that they would give her clemency is just insane,' he added. Conway, a staunch Trump critic, joins a chorus of Democrats and even some conservatives who are railing against the Trump administration for failing to release files related to the Epstein case. Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and Maxwell, who's now serving a 20-year sentence, were convicted for sex trafficking and other charges. Maxwell appealed her guilty verdict and is fighting to have her case heard before the Supreme Court. This week, she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the case. During those meetings, the Justice Department granted her limited immunity in exchange for her candor, ABC News reported. However, some, including Conway, said she can't be trusted. 'The Justice Department trashed on her credibility back when they prosecuted her,' he told Tapper on Friday. 'They said that she couldn't be trusted under oath.' Trump was notified that his name was listed in files tied to Epstein's dealings earlier this year. But the president denies any wrongdoing and says those seeking information about his involvement with the deceased financier are engaging in a 'witch hunt.'
