What Had Happened Was...(weekly recap of Aug. 5th-11th)
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Here’s a catch-up of the major events of the week of August 5, 2019. You can check in with a minimal time commitment, read about the big stuff and stay in the know before we’re on to the next. This week we had more Chinese retaliation in the Trump Trade War, Presidential visits in towns that really didn’t want him, the largest immigration raid in at least a decade, a huge release of unsealed documents in the Epstein case and the shocking suicide of Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail. Let’s dig right in.
(the image above is Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein accuser, holding an image of herself at the age of 16-the age she alleged she was abused.)
Stocks Plunge and China Counters Back in the Trade War
Stocks dropped sharply on Monday as the escalation of the trade war between the United States and China sparked a market sell off worldwide. The Dow lost 766 points for the day, although it had tumbled as steeply as 900 points by the afternoon. In addition to the instability produced by the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S., the Chinese government devalued it’s currency, the yuan, to fall below its 7-to-1 ratio with the US dollar for the first time in a decade.
The weak yuan ignited fear on Wall Street of a currency war and there was increased concern that the United States would respond with even higher tariffs all of which would prolong the standoff with China and potentially weaken the global economy. Trump then took to Twitter to once again to accuse China of currency manipulation, claiming the latest move by the Chinese with yuan devaluation was a "major violation." The U.S. Treasury Department quickly backed Trump up, and formally designated China as currency manipulator, a historic move that no White House had exercised since the Clinton administration.
“Now we have a trade situation that is going off the rails as the side effects multiply due to the ramping up of the use of tariffs and we are only further apart from any resolution with the Chinese. The policy of using tariffs as a tool to address our legitimate beefs with the Chinese has failed miserably.” — Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer Bleakley Advisory Group
China also confirmed reports that it was pulling out of U.S. agriculture as as a retaliatory response in the ongoing trade war on Monday. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Chinese companies have responded to Trump’s new 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods by ceasing to purchasing U.S. agricultural products. China is one of the largest buyers of U.S. agriculture and it’s possible that Beijing may stop importing agricultural products completely in response to Trump’s new tariffs. Given that Trump bragged about securing large quantities of agricultural purchases when he met with President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in June, this complete reversal has left U.S. farmers even more vulnerable.
Trump visits Dayton and El Paso
Trump set off Wednesday morning to visit victims and first responders in Dayton and El Paso. Trump’s team attempted to carefully craft an image of the President that combated all of the insincerity of his previous messaging, but it didn’t work. Trump took questions on the White House lawn from reporters Wednesday morning on his way to Dayton and began to immediately blame politicians on the other side of the aisle, including Dayton’s own mayor, who he accused of “trying to make political points.” When asked if his rhetoric was in any way to blame for the violence that had occurred over the weekend, Trump told reporters “my rhetoric brings people together.”
Once Trump visited the hospitals in both locations, traveling press was not allowed access. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told reporters that “It wasn’t about a photo-op for the president and the first lady,” and then his team put out a generously edited campaign video of the entire event. A surviving infant, whose parents had both been killed to protect him, was brought back to the hospital after being discharged just for a photo-op for Trump and the First Lady. The Trump Campaign had also incurred nearly half a million dollars in charges from their last visit to El Paso. Adding insult to injury, the fees were from a rally in February where he laughed at a supporter yelling about shooting immigrants and he continued with more of his hateful rhetoric. You can read more about the day here in “Amid Backlash, Trump Heads to El Paso and Dayton.”
Ice Arrests
While Trump was visiting victims in Dayton and El Paso, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed multiple federal criminal search warrants at seven agricultural processing plants across Mississippi. This was the largest ICE raid to occur in a decade and the arrests of 680 Hispanic workers took place while Trump was in Dayton and just hours before arriving in El Paso.
Matt Albence, the interim director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that the investigation had been ongoing for the last year, which makes the timing of the arrests seem coordinated with the President’s visit to a border town where he was supposedly giving condolences to victims. What made the situation even more horrific were the traumatized children suddenly left without parents and nowhere to go. Some children arrived home from school to find themselves locked out of their homes. You can read more about that here in, “ICE Arrests in Mississippi Leave Children Devastated.”
The timing of the arrests could also be viewed as suspect given the recent huge settlement Hispanic workers had gotten from Koch Foods after eight years of litigation. The raids on Hispanic workers at the Morton, Mississippi Koch plant could be seen as retaliation against the workers for filing a discrimination suit. You can read more about that here in, “ICE Arrests at Koch After Hispanic Workers Get Huge Settlement.”
Jeffrey Epstein Doc Releases (Warning this is explicit)
On Friday, a federal court unsealed documents from a lawsuit by Virginia Roberts Guiffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, against his alleged girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. More than 2,000 pages of documents were unsealed and provide some salacious details on the allegations made against Epstein and some of the world’s most famous and powerful men.
Giuffre testified that she was recruited by Maxwell while working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Resort at the age of 16 as a spa attendant. With no experience, Maxwell assured her that she would be trained and well paid as a masseuse. She also testified that “massage” and “model” were code words for “sex.” Giuffre also testified that even though she was told by Maxwell that she would be trained at Epstein’s residence as a masseuse, “on the very first meeting that I had with him . . . she instructed me to take off my clothes and to give oral sex to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Maxwell and Epstein soon trafficked her and to powerful men for sex. Giuffre alleged that Maxwell specifically instructed her to have sex with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Britain’s Prince Andrew, wealthy financier Glenn Dubin, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, and scientist Marvin Minsky.
“Just outside the locker room, sitting where the other girl who works there usually sits. I was reading a book on massage therapy. … She noticed I was reading the massage book. And I started to have chitchat with her just about, you know, the body and the anatomy and how I was interested in it. And she told me that she knew somebody that was looking for a traveling masseuse. ... If the guy likes you then, you know, it will work out for you. You’ll travel. You’ll make good money.” — Virginia Giuffre, answering a deposition question about when she was first approached by Ghislaine Maxwell
Giuffre also claimed Maxwell and Epstein directed her to have sex with other various influential men including “another prince,” a "foreign president," a well-known prime minister" and the owner of a “large hotel chain.” Giuffre’s ex-boyfriend, Tony Figueroa, also confirmed that Giuffre had told him that she participated in threesomes with Maxwell and Epstein and that Maxwell also asked Figueroa to find girls for Epstein.
Giuffre also testified in her 2016 deposition that she had sex with former Epstein attorney, Alan Dershowitz, six times in various locations. Dershowitz denies this and has accused Giuffre of making up these sexual encounters at the encouragement of others to help sell her story. He claims that an email from a publisher reminding her not to forget his name in her list of perpetrators shows that she was pushed into fabricating an accusation against him. It’s worth noting that Giuffre is currently suing Alan Dershowitz for defamation and alleges that Dershowitz knowingly made false assertions that she committed perjury by accusing him.
The unsealed documents also contained the deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, who was employed as Epstein’s personal assistant after being recruited by Maxwell. Sjoberg testified that Maxwell had recruited her to be “a legitimate assistant” by answering phones for Jeffrey Epstein but was soon asked her to perform sexual massages for Epstein and then punished when she didn’t cause Epstein to orgasm. In addition to detailing some of Epstein’s sexual proclivities, Sjoberg confirmed some of Giuffre’s allegations against Prince Andrew. She testified that when they were all at Epstein’s New York City mansion that she sat on Prince Andrew’s lap with Giuffre sitting next to him. The prince then touched Sjoberg’s breast and used a puppet to touch Giuffre’s breast to indicate what he would do to her.
“He explained to me that, in his opinion, he needed to have three orgasms a day. It was biological, like eating.” — Johanna Sjoberg in her deposition testimony
Epstein’s former Palm Beach house manager, Juan Alessi, also testified that he witnessed “probably over 100” girls come to Epstein’s home over a 10 year period that were referred to as masseuses. He also recounted his duties for Epstein that included cleaning up the rooms where sex had taken place and detailing all of Epstein’s sex toys and gear. Alessi also claimed in a 2016 sworn affidavit that a massage “was like a treat” that Epstein provided his guests.
Epstein Suicide
On Saturday morning, Jeffrey Epstein apparently killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell where officials say he hanged himself. Epstein had previously been placed on suicide watch after a July 23 failed suicide attempt and received psychiatric evaluation. According to a source familiar with his detention, Epstein was removed from suicide watch on July 29 and returned to the special housing unit, which is in a segregated area of the prison with extra security.
Authorities have yet to explain exactly why Epstein was taken off of suicide watch and the F.B.I. has confirmed that it has initiated an investigation. Additionally, the Inspector General has also announced that it will open an investigation into Epstein’s death. Given that the Justice Department oversees the Inspector General and that the DOJ is headed by William Barr, it will be hard to trust the veracity of any investigation by the DOJ in this case. For more background on the Epstein arrest and charges and the events surrounding his case see, “Jeffrey Epstein Arrested by FBI and Charged in SDNY” and “Alex Acosta Needs to Resign Over Mishandling of Epstein Case” and “Acosta Tries to Defend Himself by Blaming the Victims.”
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Amee Vanderpool writes the “Shero” Newsletter and is an attorney, contributor to Playboy Magazine, analyst for BBC radio and Director of The Inanna Project. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.