Great piece in the Guardian about the one reporter who made the case against Epstein:
When Julie K Brown of the Miami Herald approached a former police chief of Palm Beach, Florida, in 2017, hoping to get him to open up about his investigation of the child sex crimes for which the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein had been fleetingly jailed a decade earlier, she was surprised by how unresponsive he was.
Michael Reiter told Brown he had been down this road many times and was sick of it. As Brown recalled in a WNYC interview last month, Reiter said he had talked to many reporters and told them precisely where to find damning evidence against Epstein. But nothing ever came of it.
“He was convinced that a lot of media had squashed the story and he was fed up,” she said.
Reiter warned Brown what would happen were she to continue digging: “Somebody’s going to call your publisher and the next thing you know you are going to be assigned to the obituaries department.”
Brown did not heed his warning. […]
There’s also a good re-telling of the case against Graydon Carter at Vanity Fair, whose defense for cutting out the testimony of one of Epstein’s victims (“I believe him…I’m Canadian”) is an affront to both Canada and to journalism.
mad citizen
Women have so much power, I hope they keep amping it up. Investigate and report. Repeat.
It would be great if a reporter or news anchor person, the next time they get an extended interview with Trump, just go into as many questions as possible about the Trump/Epstein 2 on 28 party they hosted. What was the purpose of the party? What was the age range of the invitees? Who organized it? Were they paid to show up? Etc.
germy
Ken
From the Guardian article:
I have a horrible feeling we’ll someday find out that “ironically” should have been “significantly”.
germy
These conde nast and hearst assholes aren’t our allies. They never were and never will be.
Lorne Michaels is part of that bunch. An asshole, top to bottom.
Good to see the truth coming out finally.
Miss Bianca
@germy: Not to be unduly snarky, here, but WTF else would ypu expect from a publication called “Vanity Fair”? The name says it all.
germy
Graydon Carter has a new project coming soon: “Air Mail” (“For The World Traveler”)
https://airmail.news/
“A news platform for the young, urbane, and worldly.”
Hard-hitting journamalism, unless it’s embarrassing to Carter’s friends.
Scotian
Being a Canadian I find the use of our nationality as some sort of shield to deflect exposing this kind of thing quite offensive indeed. The most I might give our nationality and cultural patterns some cred would be over use of civility, and even there only to a limited degree. Using it to try to explain this disgusting behaviour away is just that much more salt in the wound.
germy
@Miss Bianca: Vanity Fair managers have a long history of being assholes. The humorist Robert Benchley resigned almost 100 years ago:
Dorothy Parker was fired because she gave an actress a bad review, and the husband of the actress was A Very Important Person and friend of Vanity Fair.
History always rhymes while repeating itself.
Citizen Alan
@Ken:
We already have. Acosta cut the budget for the sex trafficking division by 80%.
germy
Carter is a professional Gatekeeper.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
is that the Richard Cohen who is still for some reason employed by the Washington Post ?
Hitlesswonder
@Citizen Alan:
A good political operation could use this to peel off some Evangelical support from Trump. Obviously, most would stick with him, but sex trafficking is a big issue in that culture… obviously it’s a horrific crime but some crimes resonate more than others…and some PAC should hammer home Trump’s association with Epstein and Acosta and the budget cut…so if anyone has ties to a PAC….
debbie
Agreed about Carter, that pompous prick. He should burn in hell.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I believe so.
MisterForkbeard
@Citizen Alan: I think he TRIED but failed to do this, IIRC
germy
germy
Humdog
Schadenfreud alert! Evidently, Acosta is only 50 and has always dreamt of becoming a federal judge. He is now toxic enough, he willl never fulfill his dream and others will never be subjected to his revolting judgment. More thanks to Julie Brown for that.
oatler.
Chuck Todd will do a hatchet job on Epstein on Meet the Press tomorrow…unless Louis Gohmert wants to appear.
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
That seems unnecessarily harsh for the man who coined “short-fingered vulgarian” to describe Trump.
germy
@SiubhanDuinne: He can be a witty devil, to be sure, but he’s still no ally.
laura
@Hitlesswonder: Would those evangelicals be the very same ones who hold dominionist views, subordination of women and children, purity balls, not meeting “alone” with a woman, anti-abortion and literal interpretation of the bible? Epstein’s crimes and those of the other 4 sex pests that the acting president associates with haven’t moved the needle one iota.
Jezabels, always tempting a good man. Why, just last week, a judge found that a young, sophisticated rapist shouldn’t face jail time because he’s from a good family . .
I don’t see a PAC making any difference at all in curing misogynists of their deeply ingrained misogyny, but I hope to be proven wrong.
Just One More Canuck
@Scotian: Completely agree – very well said. Doug Ford is not really an anomaly as much as we would collectively like to think so.
And my best to you in these difficult times
boatboy_srq
@Ken: or worse, “predictably.” Lord Dampnut, his MAGAts, and the Teahad in general seem bound and determined to appoint as leadera individuals whose background and skillset are most suited to tearing down the entities they are tasked with managing.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@laura: This is the outrageous shit that turns out our voters. Think Todd Akin on 2006.
boatboy_srq
@SiubhanDuinne: Got to agree with germy on this one. ZEGS resigned rather than work with Lord Dampnut; that doesn’t make him less ZEGSy. Same principle here.
“Short-fingered vulgarian” is still one for the books, though.
Hitlesswonder
@laura: As you say, I think a lot of support would stick with him…but some would fall away, and as we saw last election that can be very valuable. It’s weird that there hasn’t been more made of the fact that the president has ties to Epstein…that he has multiple credible accusations of sexual assault. It’s like the media is afraid to cover it because it’s true. In any case, if the situation were reversed, the Republicans would be all over this trying to peel off how ever many voters they could and inspire their own voters…it’s one reason why they win.
dr. bloor
@SiubhanDuinne: The thing with Carter though is that for him and his lot, it was all in-group antagonism. He was a particularly cutting enemy of our enemy, although it’s unlikely he ever had much interest in being our friend. He isn’t, and I say that as someone who picked up Spy Magazine as soon as it hit the stands in its heyday.
Baud
I’ve determined that male Juicers are the only good men left on the planet.
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Which Richard Cohen? Good question. I’m guessing it’s not the fencer. And did the article run elsewhere?
Mike G
Our Corrupt “Elites”, Episode 3758211
Steeplejack
@Scotian:
Holding you in the light. ?
James E Powell
Where was everyone else? We have some pretty good ideas. They were on a tire swing at a barbecue. They were on Martha’s Vineyard sharing stories about how much travel in Europe has declined. They were at the most exclusive private schools, watching their children perform. They were at each other’s weddings. And they were at the same parties, always the same parties, because being at those parties is what they’ve worked for their entire lives.
patrick II
@Hitlesswonder:
It’S not weird the media isn’t covering it. The media is intimidated . If a reporter started investigating they would be branded as political, part of the prejudiced media. The “other” tribe which is harmful to God’s Chosen.
Kay
It really was heroic to go after him. Obviously she’s somewhat protected by the fact that she works for a newspaper, but they could have invented some excuse to fire her and basically ruined her career.
These are police reports. These people were reporting this over and over and it’s truly threatening. They were doing stuff like trying to run one parent of a girl off the road. They certainly had no qualms about destroying careers:
Edwards (eventually) won, but what did it cost him in time spent, worry and damage to his reputation? When is there reputational damage to all the very fancy people involved in these sleazy tactics to protect this guy? Half of these people still appear on cable news.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Baud: …and President Obama…
#righteousmen
Omnes Omnibus
@germy: When was Vanity Fair a place to find hard-hitting journalism? Expecting something to be what it’s not, just like expecting a person to be what they are not, is a recipe for disappointment.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Aren’t you a dude?
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
@boatboy_srq:
@dr. bloor:
I was being sarcastic. I guess that didn’t come through. Would have used the snark tag but I can never remember whether it goes / this way or \ that way.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
QFT!
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
I identify as male on this blog, yes.
Baud
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
I always assumed one on the nyms here was his.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Well, haven’t I just disproved your theory?
dr. bloor
@Baud: We’ve plainly never met IRL.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Dammit.
ETA: You’re good, counseler.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Sorry.
germy
The best man in the world isn’t good enough for the worst woman.
– James Thurber
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
It doesn’t take a whole lot of clever to come up with a good turn of phrase. Carter is an elitist and an attention whore, and he would turn on anyone on a dime. Like Trump with far better fashion tastes.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sorry, I too missed the snark.
Amir Khalid
@debbie:
Nor does your heart need to be in the right place.
B.B.A.
@Baud: What a starry-eyed optimist you are. I’m increasingly convinced Valerie Solanas was right.
germy
Ruckus
@germy:
IT IS always projection.
JoyceH
@germy: with Republicans, every accusation is a confession. Whatever they’re accusing their opponents of doing is what they are doing. We keep having to relearn this lesson over and over again. In this case, it’s hard to believe because it’s so over the top. But apparently the evidence exists.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Actually I agree with you, Balloon Juice men are better examples of the species than men in general. TBH I find it easier to get along with men than women even IRL. Women can be incredibly nosy, they will ask you about your family and antecedents in the first meeting. I no likey.
ETA: My anecdata covers women from two widely different cultures but the nosiness is the same. Why do you want to know what my brother’s wife does. Jeez.
MagdaInBlack
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/brotopia-silicon-valley-secretive-orgiastic-inner-sanctum
Not entirely OT
I admit I used to read VF. I knew exactly what it was: my favorite Sat morning on the couch with coffee fluff reading.
Aleta
Hope
@debbie: and a different variety of bad hair
Aleta
@Baud: And a toast to the ones who avoid the Juice but love a Juicer. Those ones who don’t bat an eye when those surprise rescue animals show up at the door.
smintheus
I saw this in the Times today explaining that Epstein’s behavior while teaching at Dalton was creepy and totally infra dig. Chiz. Even as a child in the ’70s I realized that prep schools were infested with pedophiles, yet the alum of a lot of these swamp holes have been professing shock in recent years upon ‘learning’ about all the sexual abuse and general turpitude of their dear beloved holes. It’s almost to laugh.
Omnes Omnibus
@B.B.A.: We can’t all shoot Andy Warhol. I mean, well, he’s sort dead already. Plus wouldn’t there be a certain it’s been done already quality to the act?
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
@Kay:
Interesting choice of smear, too. “It’s always projection.”
Aleta
@Kay: “those who help him will be compensated and those who hurt him will be dealt with”
That quote and the reported transactions for victim silence suggest possibility of other bribes. Last night my friend suggested that Acosta was cash bribed for his decision of 2008.
smintheus
@Aleta: The next most likely explanation would seem to be that Acosta is himself a pedo.
tokyokie
¿Por qué no los dos?
Brachiator
I’m glad Acosta is gone. But didn’t the Miami Herald reporting note cops complaining that the state prosecutors dropped or reduced charges against Epstein?
rikyrah
@smintheus:
Waiting for the Dalton victims to come forward??
boatboy_srq
@SiubhanDuinne: Oops.
Although SFV was definitely a classic putdown, and he should be remembered for that. (Perhaps as Wagner is celebrated for his music?)
I think it’s / but not sure. /s always works.
Mnemosyne
@Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog:
“The fact that increasing numbers of my victims are coming forward means that their lawyer is running a Ponzi scheme!”
?
Anonymous
My younger brother attended St. Paul’s up in NE, a great uncle was headmaster back then. All male, young, horny… let your imagination work on those descriptions. Now he’s part of the Boy Scouts cult and a serious RWNJ. Hmmm.
After seeing a couple pics of Acosta’s kids, in identical dresses very hollow-eyed, with skeletal mom, I no longer wonder why Acosta let Epstein walk. Birds of a feather, after all. Tragic. Those girls need a long interview with a very skilled interventionist — show me on the doll where you were hurt…
Sloane Ranger
I wonder what other papers/media outlets were involved in the cover up? The police chief she spoke to, Reiter, says he was interviewed by lots of journalists and he told all of them where the metaphorical (possibly real) bodies were buried but nothing happened. Hence his cynicism when she interviewed him.
Interesting if he would name names.
rikyrah
@Anonymous:
His daughters look like the twins from The Shining ??
Miss Bianca
@Aleta: speaking ofrescue beasties, whatever happened to the Lappies?