Nobody talks about my friends that way.
Paul Hennessy/Getty Images.
It’s been a big week for individuals connected to Donald “All the Best People” Trump and sex trafficking. On Thursday, a judge ruled that the president’s Labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, broke the law when he allowed billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to sign a plea deal that was concealed from victims, who might’ve taken issue with Epstein’s mere 18-month sentence for literally running an international sex ring. (The White House has said Acosta did the “best” job he could on the case and has done a “great job” as Labor secretary, and that the Epstein business—which involved dozens of minors—happened “a long time ago.”) And on Friday, some not-great news befell the president’s very favorite N.F.L. owner:
Robert Kraft, a longtime friend of President Trump and owner of the New England Patriots, faces charges in a prostitution sting connected to Florida spas, police said Friday.
Kraft, 77, is facing two charges of soliciting prostitution, police in Jupiter, Florida, said during a news conference. Two instances of Kraft at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa were caught on video, they said. Kraft was one of 25 people facing charges in the incident.
“Our concern in this investigation centers around the possibility of victims of human trafficking,” said Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr, adding that there was evidence of trafficking.
Kraft—whose spokesperson “categorically” denied that he “engaged in any illegal activity”—goes way back with Trump, frequently paying visits to Mar-a-Lago, which is conveniently located just 22 miles from the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Still, you might expect President Law and Order to come down pretty hard on his buddy boy, considering he’s previously encouraged police to rough people up during arrests, questioned the need for due process, and vocally called for five teenagers to be executed before they went to trial for a crime it turned out they did not commit. Except, of course, he’s only gung-ho about prosecuting people to the fullest extent of the law when said people are immigrants, minorities, women, or some other group with whom he can’t relate. When it comes to fellow septuagenarian billionaires and/or white people who’ve pledged their loyalty to him, it’s all innocent until proven guilty, and even then it’s not clear we can trust the courts!
Trump on Friday said he was “surprised” that Robert Kraft was busted for patronizing a sleazy massage parlor in Florida—but emphasized that his billionaire buddy “has denied it.”
Other people who’ve received the Kraft treatment from Trump include Bill O’Reilly, who the president insisted was a “good person” who didn’t do “anything wrong” after the ex–Fox News host settled for $13 million with five women who’d accused him of sexual harassment. Our newest Supreme Court justice, human six-pack Brett Kavanaugh, was given a similar pass, claiming that his treatment “violate[d] every notion of fairness, decency, and due process.” As of late Friday afternoon, the president had not taken to the Internet to decry the Kraft news as a “GIANT MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE,” “A HOAX,” or a “WITCH HUNT,” though he does do his best tweeting in the early hours of the morning, so give him time.
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The Kushners eye new batch of tenants to subject to their slumlord-esque ways
After being bailed out of its worst investment ever, in part by the Qatar Investment Authority, Jared Kushner’s family has reportedly acquired more than 6,000 middle-class rental apartments valued at roughly $1.25 billion, 70 percent of which Kushner Cos. plans to borrow. According to The Wall Street Journal, the acquisition is part of a plan by the company to rebuild its suburban portfolio, which will now include roughly 22,000 units with another 6,000 in the pipeline, “due to the economics of the deals and the relatively low risk of middle-class housing during a downturn.” The First-in-Laws predict they will be able to raise rents by 3 percent annually, though hopefully for the current tenants they’re no longer engaging in alleged slumlord-esque tactics that included filing false paperwork to skirt strict oversight and subjecting people in multiple buildings to “extensive construction, with banging, drilling, dust, and leaking water that tenants believe were part of targeted harassment to get them to leave and clear the way for higher-paying renters.” (The company has blamed the false documents that allowed them to get around regulations on the third parties that prepared them, and said, “if mistakes or violations are identified, corrective action is taken immediately.”)
Another apartment building votes to rid itself of the stench eau Trump
If only removing him from office was as easy as removing his name from a series of condos along the West Side Highway:
On Election Day 2016, six residential buildings called Trump Place stood in a row on Manhattan’s Upper West Side—a legacy of Donald Trump’s efforts to develop that site and a sign of the Trump name’s enduring value in New York. Soon, Trump’s name will be gone from all of them.
On Friday, the last building holding on to the name announced that it would take it down, according to an e-mail obtained by The Washington Post. That e-mail, sent out by the condo board at 220 Riverside Blvd., said that it had held a vote of building owners and that owners representing 83 percent of the building had cast votes. “Of the 83 percent [that] voted, 74.7 percent voted to remove the signage, and 25.3 percent voted not to remove the signage,” the e-mail said. “Over the next several weeks, we will select a company to carry out the required work” of removing the signs, the board said.
Last year, the board of 200 Riverside Boulevard took the Trump Organization to court after the business claimed taking its name off the building “would constitute a flagrant and material breach” of its licensing agreement, with a judge ruling in the building’s favor. Around the world, residents and investors have been desperate to rid themselves of association with Agent Orange. “It’s a bloodbath, basically. It’s a financial bloodbath,” Jeffrey Rabiea, a businessman who owns three rooms at a hotel where Trump’s name was removed in March, told The Washington Post.
Report: Cohen told prosecutors about “possible irregularities” at the Trump Organization
It’s not clear what the president’s ex-fixer discussed with law enforcement, but he’s apparently hoping it’s big enough to reduce his three-year jail sentence:
Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, met last month with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, offering information about possible irregularities within the president’s family business and about a donor to the inaugural committee, according to people familiar with the matter. . . . Cohen, who worked at the Trump Organization for a decade, spoke with the prosecutors about insurance claims the company had filed over the years, said the people, who did not elaborate on the nature of the possible irregularities.
While it was not clear whether the prosecutors found Mr. Cohen’s information credible and whether they intended to pursue it, the meeting suggests that they are interested in broader aspects of the Trump Organization, beyond their investigation into the company’s role in the hush money payments made before the 2016 election to women claiming to have had affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last summer to arranging those payments.
The White House referred questions to the Trump Organization, which declined to comment. Previously, Trump has accused Cohen of lying to reduce his sentence, though he‘s slightly biased in this case. Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, said only that his client is “interested in cooperating with and assisting” prosecutors “in any way they believe is helpful.”
If this Jerome Powell thing doesn’t work out, Trump’s got a new Federal Reserve candidate waiting in the wings
“Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron whose lies contributed to the sudden collapse of the energy company in one of the country’s most high-profile cases of corporate fraud, was released from federal custody on Thursday after serving more than 12 years in prison, the federal authorities said.”
Elsewhere!
Ex-Citigroup President Havens Caught Up in Prostitution Probe (Bloomberg)
“She pulled a comb from her bag and began eating the salad with it, according to four people familiar with the episode. Then she handed the comb to her staff member with a directive: Clean it.” (N.Y.T.)
Mysterious 8,500 Percent Stock Gain Attracts Big Funds (And Big Questions) (Bloomberg)
Amazon Doesn’t Plan to Pay the IRS Anything This Tax Season (Bloomberg)
Equifax says U.S. regulators seek damages related to 2017 breach (Reuters)
Joss Sackler, wife of OxyContin heir, just wants her “f–king neon hoodies” reviewed (N.Y.P.)
Bill would keep Trump off 2020 N.J. ballot unless he releases his tax returns (Courier Post)
New York Has Prepared Paul Manafort Charges If Trump Pardons Him (Bloomberg)
SocGen Weighs Thousands of Job Cuts at Investment Bank (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk Turns to Morgan Stanley for Five Monster Mortgages (Bloomberg)
Nudists plan roller-coaster world record attempt (UPI)
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This story was originally published by Vanity Fair
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