Jasmine Crockett unleashes on Ghislaine Maxwell talking to Trump DOJ before Congress: ‘Out of jail for free'
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, will meet with Maxwell on Thursday in Florida, where she is serving out her two-decade sentence for scheming with the late pedophile power-player to sexually exploit and abuse young women and girls.
The meeting comes just a day after the House Oversight Committee, on which Crockett sits, voted to subpoena Maxwell. On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena and set Maxwell's deposition date for Aug. 11.
'I don't know that we'll get anywhere, but I know if there's anybody that I want to talk to her, it is us — and not the administration — because at least if she comes before the committee, even if it's behind closed doors, it will be bipartisan,' Crockett, a frequent Trump antagonist, told The Independent.
'It won't just be one side able to ask questions, it'd be both sides, whereas the administration, they're a bunch of thugs,' she railed. 'And frankly, if it means that she can engage in a coverup, he'll most likely let her out of jail free. He's let people out of jail for far less.'
This comes after the Department of Justice released a two-page memo on July 6 saying that Epstein, the convicted pedophile, had no 'client list' and died of suicide in his New York City jail cell, where he was found hanged by bed sheets.
But Crockett, who spoke to The Independent before Comer issued his subpoena, also cautioned that she did not know if they would actually hear testimony from the once high-flying former socialite Maxwell.
'I don't know if she has appeals that are pending, and I'm sure that her attorneys will have some issues, some questions surrounding so it's more complicated than just subpoenaing her,' the Democrat said.
'We can subpoena all we want to. We have had a number of transcribed interviews as well as depositions over the last two weeks, and frankly, a lot of them ended with nothing because people invoked privilege and things like that.'
Crockett has become a fundraising dynamo because of her combative style of questioning on the Oversight Committee and her willingness to joust with Republicans in the majority. But she recently lost her bid to replace the late Gerry Connolly (D-VA) as the top Democrat on the committee to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA).
Garcia told The Independent that subpoenaing Maxwell does not mean the committee trusts her to be truthful.
'She's a documented liar, she's obviously done an enormous amount to harm young girls and and and has an interest, of course, in, in being free,' Garcia said.
'We should still want to have her come testify in front of oversight in the Congress, but, but we should just be very we should understand that this is a very complex witness and someone that has caused great harm and not a good person to a lot of people.'
The House of Representatives broke a day early after the House Rules Committee ground itself to a halt because Democrats continued offering amendments to release files related to Epstein. In an attempt to mollify Democrats and some conservatives, Republicans proposed a non-binding House resolution to get the Department of Justice to release files.
In addition, Rep. Thomas (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have a discharge petition, which would force a vote and circumvent Speaker Mike Johnson, to release files related to Epstein.
Massie, a critic of Trump, accused Johnson of covering for the president.
'He doesn't want a paper-thin sliver of daylight between him and the president, and so that's why he's avoided taking even the symbolic vote on the non-binding resolution,' Massie told The Independent.
Trump, a friend of Epstein's for many years before a falling out that appears to have come before it was publicly known the financier was being investigated over his sex trafficking, has criticized his supporters and others for focusing on the Epstein case.
He also vehemently denied a story in The Wall Street Journal that he sent Epstein a note for the disgraced financier and predator's 50th birthday party and also filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the newspaper and its owners News Corp and Rupert Murdoch, among others.
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The Herald Scotland
26 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Bondi called for release of Epstein files. What is she doing now?
Now, Bondi, 59, finds herself at the heart of the debate over whether more information will be disclosed on the alleged sex trafficker. More: 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Despite his death six years ago, Epstein's case continues to haunt the headlines because of rampant speculation about which rich and powerful people might have joined him in sexually abusing minors. Bondi has said there was no client list in Epstein's criminal file. But President Donald Trump's name reportedly appears in the documents, and he was a repeat passenger on Epstein's private jet when the two were friends in the 1990s. Trump has denied wrongdoing or visiting Epstein's private island, where much of the abuse allegedly occurred. "The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep," said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, referring to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida. Meanwhile, Bondi served as Florida's state attorney general years after Palm Beach County authorities convicted Epstein on prostitution charges and released him in 2009 after 13 months in detention, which was mostly work release. Federal authorities chose not to prosecute Epstein at all, in what critics called the legal "deal of the century." After a Miami Herald investigation of his case, New York-based federal prosecutors charged Epstein in July of 2019 with sex trafficking minors. He died in jail a month after his arrest and long before any criminal trial could happen, in what the New York medical examiner ruled and the Justice Department confirmed was a suicide. Now Bondi has asked federal judges to release grand jury transcripts in the case. One has already turned her down and another asked for more documentation. And federal prosecutors and Bondi's No. 2, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, met July 24 and again on 25 with Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein associate serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to sexually abuse minors. Here are the highlights of Bondi's involvement in the case. Did Bondi investigate Epstein as Florida attorney general? After years of state-level investigation, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under age 18. During the inquiry, then-Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter disagreed with how Palm Beach state attorney Barry Krischer was handling the case and invited then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, an appointee from the George W. Bush administration, to investigate. But in what critics called the legal "deal of century," Epstein served 13 months on the two state charges under an agreement not to charge him federally. Bondi, a Republican, was elected statewide more than a year after Epstein was released and served as Florida's attorney general for two terms from 2011 to 2019. State attorneys such as Krischer are elected independently and don't report directly to the attorney general. Dave Aronberg, a Democrat who stepped down this year after a dozen years as Palm Beach state attorney, said the Epstein matter never went before Bondi. "Zero overlap," said Aronberg, who also served as Florida's state drug czar under Bondi. "It was long over by the time she got there." Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said after state and federal prosecutors concluded their case there appeared to be nothing more for Bondi to pursue. "There was no reason to start a new investigation," Jarvis said, unless new evidence was brought to Bondi's office. Bondi said Epstein never should have been released Still, with accusations of more than 1,000 victims in the case, Republicans and conspiracy theorists have long argued for the release of additional information because of skepticism Epstein died by suicide and demands for a presumed client list that could lead to more prosecutions. Two days after Epstein died, Bondi told Sean Hannity on Fox News on Aug. 12, 2019, that he should have never been let out of custody. More: Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, awaiting sex trafficking charges, dead of apparent suicide "Well, he should have never been released when he was in jail serving his jail time. Someone who is accused of sex crimes convicted should never be on work release," Bondi said. "So what do we have now? We have a dead, most likely pedophile, coward, and we have very brave victims who wants to face the person that did this to them." Bondi pledged to release information after becoming attorney general Shortly after her early February confirmation as Trump's second-term U.S. attorney general, Bondi again highlighted the case and began pledging to release files. Fox News host John Roberts asked Bondi on Feb. 21 whether she would release the list of Epstein's clients. "Will that really happen?" he asked. "It's sitting on my desk right now to review," Bondi replied. "That's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that." Then Bondi told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Feb. 26 more information would be released. "I think tomorrow, Jesse, breaking news right now, you're going to see some Epstein information being released by my office." She then added, "What you're going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information." The Justice Department released documents on Feb. 27 that had previously been leaked, but were never formally released. "The Department remains committed to transparency and intends to release the remaining documents upon review and redaction to protect the identities of Epstein's victims," a department statement said. The lack of revelations in the release disappointed lawmakers and others who expected bombshells from the release. "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, wrote on social media Feb. 27. "GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!" Bondi made a point of noting in a Feb. 27 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that she had requested "the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein" but learned she received only a fraction of them. She initially received about 200 pages, "which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein's list of contacts, and a list of victims' names and phone numbers," she wrote. But the FBI field office in New York notified her that day there were thousands more pages of records, audio and video recordings, and other materials related to Epstein and his clients. "There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access," Bondi wrote Patel. "The Department of Justice will ensure that any public disclosure of these files will be done in a manner to protect the privacy of victims and in accordance with law, as I have done my entire career as a prosecutor." Appearing on Hannity's FOX News program, Bondi on March 3 said that an order she issued in February resulted in a "truckload" of Epstein files being delivered by the FBI. "Thousands of pages of documents. I have the FBI going through them," Bondi said. "We believe in transparency, and America has the right to know." Justice Department release on Epstein sparks criticism Against that backdrop, the Justice Department released a memo July 7 that said a "systematic review revealed no incriminating 'client list'" and confirmed Epstein died by suicide in August 2019. "Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither" to combat child exploitation nor bring justice to victims, according to the memo. "No further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted." More: Family feud: Trump at odds with MAGA movement on multiple fronts The memo set off a firestorm of criticism from inside Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement and calls for the release of more information: Charlie Kirk, the head of Turning Point USA, listed 10 things he thinks should be done about the files and witnesses. Kirk later said he was done talking about Epstein and trusted his friends in the administration. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, said "no one is satisfied with what has been received of lack thereof," on "The Benny Show." Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, cosponsored a petition to force a House vote on releasing the files. The next day at a White House Cabinet meeting, Trump discouraged reporters from asking questions about Epstein. "Are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable," Trump said as he preferred to talk about legislative victories and recovery efforts for Texas flood damage. "It just seems like a desecration. But you go ahead." Two seats to Trump's right at the July 8 Cabinet meeting, Bondi then tried to clarify her remarks from the February interview with John Roberts that she was referring to the entire Epstein file, rather than a specific client list. "I was asked a question about the client list and my response was, 'It's sitting on my desk to be reviewed,' meaning the file, not the client list," she told reporters. Bondi also said jailhouse video from New York was missing a minute because of a nightly reset for the aged recording system. And she said any of Epstein's videos from the investigation would never "see the light of day" because they contain child pornography. "Also, to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein," Bondi said. "Child porn is what they were. Never going to be released. Never going to see the light of day." Lawmakers seek release of Epstein file The Trump administration denials raised suspicions there was something to hide. Democrats piled on with Republicans to demand more information. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, joined Massie on the proposed legislation that aims to force the Justice Department to release all its records related to Epstein. More: Is Trump in the Epstein files? Before Bondi's reported alert, here is where he appeared By mid-July, with the tempest rising, Trump directed Bondi to seek the release of grand jury testimony in the case. Bondi filed three requests July 18. It wasn't enough to help out House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who suspended House floor action days before the scheduled August recess rather than face a vote on Massie's legislation. Johnson, a close Trump ally, said his decision for lawmakers' early dismissal was to "give the president space" to resolve questions about the investigation. He added that members of Congress were threading a fine needle trying to secure the release of information about Epstein while protecting his victims. Trump "wants maximum transparency but he's also very insistent that we do not subject people who have already been victims of unspeakable crimes to further public scrutiny," Johnson told reporters July 22. "It would be a very dangerous thing to put those people's names out or do a release of information in a way that is haphazard, where they could be easily unmasked." More: Republicans still have an Epstein dilemma. Now they have to face voters. "As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat CON JOB," Trump wrote on social media July 24. "Hopefully, the Grand Jury Files will put an end to this HOAX. Everyone should see what is there, but people who are innocent should not be hurt." Judges review requests to unseal Epstein file One big challenge for Bondi and the Trump administration as they push for more disclosures: Grand jury evidence traditionally remains confidential. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach quickly refused to unseal the documents. The judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said the Bondi-led department's request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. Rosenberg said her "hands are tied." U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York, another Obama appointee who presided over Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell's case, said there are exceptions to the secrecy rules but that Bondi hadn't invoked them. Engelmayer set a July 29 deadline for the government to explain why the disclosure is being sought, what specific information should be disclosed and whether grand jury witnesses are still alive. He also asked for a complete set of transcripts, a redacted version for potential release and a list of other evidence such as exhibits. Maxwell, an associate of Epstein who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to sexually abuse minors, has until Aug. 5 to say whether she agrees to disclosure or opposes it. Victims face an Aug. 5 deadline to state their positions. "The Court intends to resolve this motion expeditiously," Engelmayer wrote. "However, the Court cannot rule on the motion without additional submissions." Federal prosecutors meet with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche - who previously served as Trump's private lawyer defending him in a series of criminal cases - met July 24 and 25 with Maxwell to find out what more she can say about her dealings with Epstein. "If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say," Blanche in a statement on social media on July 22 while planning the meeting. But Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York, argued Blanche's effort was to protect Trump "by tacitly floating a pardon for Maxwell in return for information that politically benefits President Trump." "Maxwell's information is only as credible as any corroboration found in the Epstein files, including recordings, witness interviews, electronic communications, and photographs and videos," said Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel in Trump's first House impeachment and battled against a presidential defense team that included Bondi. "Do not be fooled: this latest delay tactic is yet another effort to conceal the Epstein files." The same day as the Justice Department's announcement, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee agreed to subpoena Maxwell for questions from lawmakers. Three days later, as he readied to leave on a trip to Scotland, Trump responded to reporters that he hasn't considered pardoning Maxwell. Contributing: Nick Penzenstadler and Holly Baltz of The Palm Beach Post
The Herald Scotland
26 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump's immigration raids are hitting farms hard. So what's next?
And they must be picked by hand. Lots of them. Finding those hands locally can be a challenge. Like other growers, some of her workers are foreign-born, whose presence is reflected in the Hispanic restaurants in the nearby 3,300-resident town of Mattawa. But this summer the harvest coincided with President Donald Trump's mass deportation sweeps. Rumors swirled of roadway checkpoints. More than 100 workers who started Lyall's harvest dwindled to 30 by the second week, leading her farm to struggle to get cherries picked in time. Some were picked too late, she said, but the financial hit to her farm was likely to be far less than what some other growers experienced. "There's a lot of farms that didn't pick because they didn't have enough labor," she said. Lyall is a Trump supporter in a conservative farming region. She favors stricter border security because of worries of drug cartels. But she wants to see a path toward a stable workforce. "There needs to be some solutions put on the table," Lyall told USA TODAY. Across the country, Trump's immigration raids have roiled farms and farming communities - with cases of worker shortages and fears of unpicked crops. And it has fueled growing calls for the Trump administration to protect agricultural workers critical to the U.S. food supply. Of the 2.6 million people working on U.S. farms, about 42% lack legal status, according to the Department of Agriculture and other estimates. Farmers say few native-born residents will pick fruit or tend cows. The country's foreign agriculture worker visa program can be costly, burdensome and limited. And farmers say Congress has failed for decades to pass comprehensive immigration reforms. Those long-standing struggles are now compounded by the lurking presence of Trump's masked immigration forces as harvest season approaches or is underway. Earlier this month, raids on farms in California left hundreds detained, and soon after, a group of farmworkers in California held a three-day strike and called for boycotts. At stake are potential disruptions to the U.S. food supply and higher consumer costs. "Farm employers are holding their breath, trying to keep operations afloat without knowing whether their workforce will show up tomorrow -- or stay away for fear of a raid," said Ben Tindall, head of the Save Family Farming advocacy group, based in Washington state. The Trump administration in June suspended farm enforcement but then reversed that decision. More recently, Trump has cited the importance of farm labor and said his administration would look into ways for farmworkers to "be here legally, they can pay taxes and everything." Other administration officials, including border czar Tom Holman, said there would be no "amnesty" but cited ongoing discussions about policy changes related to farmworkers. A bill in Congress would create a legal pathway for longtime workers and streamline worker visas. The push for changes comes amid signs of a shift in public attitudes reflected in a recent Gallup poll that found a record-high of 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is good for the country, while only 35% said they approve of Trump's handling of the issue. Manuel Cunha, the president of the Nisei Farmers League, which represents 500 farmers employing about 75,000 California farmworkers, said he's hopeful that policies will change. For now, he said, workers in places like the San Joaquin Valley are holding steady despite raids that have caused temporary shortages. Still, farmers are on edge, knowing it could change at any moment. Why foreign-born workers are critical to farmers In Lincoln County, Wisconsin, where the rural landscape of pastures and fields is dotted with barns and silos, Hans Breitenmoser's parents emigrated here in 1968 from Switzerland to raise dairy cows on a small farm. He grew up amid the daily rhythms of feeding and milking. When the farm grew, they had to hire more workers. But they could find few native-born residents willing to take the jobs in the sparsely populated area. And over time, fewer younger people were sticking around the farms. Now, the 56-year-old relies on about a dozen foreign-born workers, mostly from Mexico, to operate the 460-cow farm, not far from a shuttered church with peeling paint about five miles outside a town of 9,000 residents. "If it wouldn't be for immigrants, my dairy farm wouldn't run," he said. In recent months, dairy farms in Texas reported absenteeism while ICE has detained or deported people at dairy farms in New York and Vermont, where one Trump-voting farmer told a news outlet he didn't think deportations would impact the industry's workers. Dairies are particularly vulnerable to labor shortages because cows need daily care to survive, Brietenmoser said, and cannot be temporarily shut down like a construction site or restaurant. "Am I concerned about it? Absolutely," said Breitenmoser, who said he was among a minority in Lincoln County who did not support Trump in 2024. "They don't get fed and they don't get watered, and they don't get milked and they don't get cleaned up after, they will die." Across the nation today, about 70% of workers in the U.S. farm sector are foreign born, according to the Federal Reserve of Kansas City. The National Milk Producers Federation says milk prices could nearly double if the U.S. dairy industry loses its foreign-born workforce, the group said. "The uncertainty that undergirds agricultural labor and immigration in the U.S. continues to harm workers and their families, farm employers, rural communities and national food security," according to the federation. Farmers typically hire workers with documentation such as Social Security cards or permits the government says must "reasonably appear to be genuine." The government's E-Verify system, required in some places, isn't foolproof. Breitenmoser argues Trump's political rhetoric painting immigrants as criminals and invaders, when most are workers filling jobs no one else will, is a self-defeating strategy. "We've built an economy that relies on people, but we have a public policy that demonizes them. And to my way of thinking that just doesn't make any sense," he said. "American farming cannot survive without foreign-born staff." The dairy farmer noted that "we had immigration reform in front of the Congress prior to the election, but because all of the Republicans were scared of Donald Trump, it didn't happen." The solution, he said, is "stupid simple:" Accept the realities of farm labor. Hand out more work visas. And create pathways to vet longtime workers who need legal work permits. He hopes the recent turmoil will lead to long-needed changes. "Somebody's going to drive through McDonald's to buy a freaking latte and a hamburger. And guess where that comes from? It comes from my farm. And it doesn't happen magically. It takes human beings, be they brown, Black, White, green or otherwise, to get the job done," he said. "And that's what our public policy should reflect." Workers face stains, worry In a Colorado agricultural area northeast of Denver, Maria has worked in fields of watermelon, pumpkins and tomatoes for years. But not now. The 56-year-old, who didn't want to use her full name because she doesn't have legal status, emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico 20 years ago to escape violence and find better pay. Jobs on farms are hot, grueling and physically challenging. But some farmworkers can earn in one hour what they'd make in a full day back in Mexico. She said she sees an ICE presence in her part of Colorado. One friend's brother was detained on the street earlier this year. Her husband is still working in a dairy to make ends meet, but she said some farms have had to look for workers out of state. For now they want to stick it out. Their lives are here. They have children and U.S. citizen grandchildren who live in the United States and are concerned about them. "There's a lot of anxiety about, you know, grandmother, are they going to take you away?" she said. Many have reluctantly returned to work after raids that have taken place in places like California's San Joaquin Valley for financial reasons, said Teresa Romero, head of United Farm Workers. "It is a little misconception, assuming that workers are not going back to work. Some workers are, of course, scared of what could happen," she said. "They might be scared for a day or so, but they go back to work. They need their jobs and they need to support their families." Romero said the crackdown is also impacting the communities in which they live and work. Many are staying inside and not going to parks, school functions, churches and restaurants. In raids earlier this month at cannabis farms in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, immigration agents descended on Glass House Farms near Camarillo and in Carpinteria. They clashed with protesters and detained more than 200 farmworkers. A Mexican farmworker, Jaime Alanis Garcia, 57, died after falling from a greenhouse roof he'd climbed atop in an alleged attempt to evade officers, according to multiple reports, "The farmworkers detained in these raids are clearly in the United States to fill jobs that employers cannot otherwise fill," U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Thousand Oaks, said in a letter to federal officials. "Their undocumented status is not by choice, but a direct result of Congress' ongoing failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would allow a sufficient number of workers into the country and provide a viable pathway to citizenship." That's what Gabriel, a 42-year-old from Puebla, Mexico, who didn't want to use his name because he lacks legal status and fears detention, would like to see, too. The farmwork in California's Central Valley has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. He has worked in fields of crops from eggplant to pumpkin, waking up at 4 a.m. and earning $16.50 an hour. He said the majority of his fellow workers are also immigrants without papers and are still working, but some are considering going home. He blames past and current administrations for failing to deliver on immigration reform. He said some longtime workers were angry at former President Joe Biden for enacting more legal pathways to migrate and not focusing on legalizing the status of longtime workers. "Let workers work," he said. "These are people who help feed the country and pay taxes." Even legally present farmworkers are uneasy. ICE officials have argued they don't need probable cause to detain people and the agency could deport people with just six hours' notice. Maurico Sol, an H-2A worker who supervises dozens of fellow visa holders on a farm that spans Idaho and Oregon, said some colleagues have asked if it's safe to go to Walmart on weekends. He advised them to always carry their passport and visa. "I've also heard people that say, well, maybe this is going to be my last year," he said. "Because it feels different ... Even when we are in a good space here, where it's not happening a lot, you feel like, eh, we don't know. We don't want to go out. Because maybe they're going to confuse me if they see me in the mall and I'm going to be chained for, I don't know, 48 hours, or maybe they're going to deport me even though I have papers." A search for a solution Sol works for Shay Myers, a farmer whose onions grow in fields not far from where the Snake River separates Oregon and Idaho. The third-generation farmer operates Owyhee Produce, which grows one in every 20 onions consumed in America. Myers, 45, is also TikTok influencer with 692,000 followers and posts videos about his farm and the intricacies of agriculture. But lately the Republican farmer has been highlighting his mostly foreign-born laborers - from Mexico, Central America, Peru and Colombia - who he says are critical. The majority of his workers, which can number 350 during harvests, are here on H-2A visas. While such workers represent about 13% of the nation's farmworkers, the number of certified H-2A workers grew by 64.7% between 2017 and 2022. Meanwhile, the share of unauthorized workers has dropped to about 42% from from 55% in 2001. But it's also a bureaucratic and expensive program, he said. Farmers have to prove no domestic workers are available or willing to do the job. They provide housing and adhere to wage-premiums meant to keep the program from pushing down wages of U.S. residents who do similar jobs, and must follow rules such as overtime that differ among states. And it's time-limited. Labor groups also criticize the H-2A visa program, saying it often requires workers to stick with one employer which makes them vulnerable to wage theft or poor housing. Myers said that's not the case at his farm. He grew up and went to school in the area with undocumented families. And today his children do, too. "We lose from every angle. The right-wingers come at us ... 'You won't give jobs to Americans," Myers said. "And then the left wing side of the discussion is, well, all you do is bring H-2A workers and they work for you like slaves." He, too, wants a more flexible worker program and creating a path to legal status for undocumented workers here for 10 years and longer. He said the deportations have proved a problem both ethically for farm families and economically for the industry. "Let's find a solution," he said on one video. Earlier this month, Trump suggested in Iowa - a leading corn and pork producer that relies heavily on migrant workers - that his administration would seek to permit some migrants without legal status to stay on farms, the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. "If a farmer's willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristi, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good, right?" he said, referencing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who was with him on the Iowa trip. "You know, we're going to be good with it. Because we don't want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they're doing right now." U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins cited plans to make the H-2A program "cheaper, more efficient and more effective for those farmers." The United Farm Workers favors paths to legal status for those already here over simply expanding the guestworker program for new arrivals, who they say would still be more prone to labor abuses. In Congress, Republican U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, and Veronica Escobar of Texas introduced the DIGNITY Act. Among its many provisions is a seven-year earned legal status program allowing undocumented immigrants to live and work legally, with renewable status based on good conduct and restitution. "We have 10 million people or more working in construction, hospitality, agriculture, dairy, fisheries, slaughterhouses who are undocumented but are not criminals," Salazar said at a news conference. But House Speaker Mike Johnson told the Wall Street Journal that immigration overhauls would face an uphill battle. Rollins has also suggested that the country could fill jobs with Americans who will face Medicaid work requirements, something farmers immediately shot down. Farming groups call for realism Cunha, head of Nisei Farmers League, was among those very blunt about that idea: "That's just not going to work," he said. He knows firsthand. In 1998, during President Bill Clinton's Welfare-to-Work push, Cunha helped launch an effort in 10 California counties to recruit welfare recipients and unemployed workers to help fill tens of thousands of farmworker jobs. People would be aided with child care, transportation and training. Just 500 people applied. And only three took jobs. None of them lasted more than two days, he said. Crops were lost. 'It was a total disaster," he said. A similar result took place in North Carolina, according to a 2013 report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Center for Global Development. When North Carolina had more than 489,000 unemployed residents, a growers association offered 6,500 jobs. Of 245 domestic workers hired, only seven lasted the entire season. It's not likely he contended that higher wages alone would have Americans flocking to the jobs, he argued. Not only can the work be physically grueling or dangerous, Cunha said it is not the unskilled work that many people assume. It takes experience and skill to prune a fruit tree or know which fruits to pick now and which to return for later. At a recent farm training in California that included topics like heat illness, Cunha said workers instead were full of questions about avoiding run-ins with ICE. Should they drive different routes or not wear hats and bandanas? One asked if he should shave his beard to look less like a farmworker. For now, he said, as the area's remaining harvests are closing in, it's stressful for both farmers and farmworkers. "Labor is tight, but it's holding. And as long as - we pray every day - they stay out of the valley, then we'll make it through this season," he said. "But we do need to deal with it. We should not have to go through this type of tension. And workers should not have to worry about shaving their beard."
The Herald Scotland
27 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Thanks to Epstein, MAGA is waking up to Trump's endless lies
And then ... Trump and Co. tried to drop the Epstein matter. They said it was a nothingburger. Trump called it boring. Old news. He told his loyalists they were "weaklings" for not letting it go. MAGA is shocked to learn that President Donald Trump lies It was a twist that few in the Trump-loving universe saw coming. Put simply, he lied about releasing the files. And then, as we recently learned, he lied about whether his name appears in the files. His flailing attempts at distraction, his finger-pointing at others who were friends with Epstein and his decision to send a top Justice Department official (who happens to have previously been the president's personal defense attorney) to speak with Epstein's imprisoned sex-trafficking partner Ghislaine Maxwell have all made Trump seem desperate. Opinion: 'South Park' mocking naked Trump = NOT FUNNY. Fake Obama arrest video = FUNNY! And that has given the MAGA faithful a rare moment of clarity. Let me say this to them: Welcome back to reality. Your hero-president is a liar who lies about everything. Trump lies incessantly. His supporters might be starting to notice. He lied about the 2020 election being stolen. He lied about the crowd size at his first inauguration. He lied about the state of the economy under former President Joe Biden. He lied about crime rates. He has recently been lying about former President Barack Obama engaging in a coup or committing treason or whatever his latest evidence-less claim happens to be. He lied about migrants eating dogs. He has lied about U.S. cities being destroyed by immigrant gangs. He lies about his polling numbers, which lately are abysmal. Opinion: Insecure Trump knows he'll never measure up to Obama. And it kills him. He was asked not long ago whether Attorney General Pam Bondi had told him his name appears in the Epstein files. To that he said: "No, no." The Wall Street Journal reported July 23 that Bondi had told Trump his name appears "multiple times." So that's a banger of a lie? And based on the MAGA fury over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, it's one of the lies that broke through the "Everything Trump Says Is Gospel" barrier that has long protected his supporters from the painful truth of his habitual dishonesty. How can anything Trump says about the Epstein case be trusted? So my question to Trump supporters, seeing for the first time that the president plays fast and loose with the truth, is this: As the Epstein story continues to unfold, how can you trust anything Trump tells you? His deception already indicates he has something to hide, and having something to hide when it comes to Epstein is among the reddest of red flags. You believed Trump would bring down the vile elites who were part of a global conspiracy, but now you've gotten a glimpse at the possibility that the president is, at best, trying to protect powerful people or, at worst, trying to protect himself. Trump has made himself an inextricable part of the Epstein conspiracy One day, when the administration starts miraculously releasing the information it refuse to release right now, and if the name "Trump" is miraculously scrubbed from that information, and if we learn that Trump's former defense attorney and current Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has offered leniency or a pardon to Maxwell in exchange for testimony that miraculously exonerates Trump while targeting powerful Democrats, what will you think? Will you remember Trump lied to you? Will you remember how squirrelly he got as the Epstein story boiled? Will you remember his evasiveness and wild blame-casting? Or will you retreat to the safety of believing Trump to be a faultless purveyor of truth? Will you stick with the lies you swallowed before, and maybe gulp down a few more to dull the pain of facing the true nature of his character? MAGA has a choice with Epstein: Embrace the light or retreat to the shadows People like me have been saying for years that Trump can't be trusted. You've ignored such claims every step of the way, but now he hit a nerve, and it will require Herculean levels of denial to unsee the sidesteps and dissembling. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. If you care about the Epstein case - and whether it involves Democrats or Republicans or celebrities or whoever, we all should - you know as well as I do that Trump and this administration can't be trusted. That private jet has flown. Trump has woven himself into the conspiracy by behaving in a conspiratorial way. So you have a choice, MAGA: a harsh reality or the comfort of lies. I have no confidence you'll choose reality. But I at least hope the decision is tougher than usual. Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at
