Several weeks ago, a California woman filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and his old friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alleging that both men raped her when she was thirteen years old. The suit was dismissed for technical reasons, and the whole story barely made a blip in the media. The plaintiff has now refiled her suit, this time through an attorney and in New York, where the events allegedly happened. The new filing is a bit leaner on the harrowing details of the sexual assaults, but adds in some new allegations that are far more chilling.
I'll give a trigger warning before launching into the issues, even though I'll try to spare you too many details.
The plaintiff is filing as Jane Doe. She gave a different name in her original suit, but she says she has since received threats, so she's asking for anonymity in this case. Whether or not this will fly in court, it's a matter of record that people who have criticized Trump and his family have been getting threats from Trump's supporters, so I see no reason to give the other name here.
According to the suit, Doe was thirteen in the summer of 1994, when she became involved with Epstein, an extremely wealthy financier whose circle included quite a number of celebrities and public figures. Drawn by the promise of modeling opportunities, Doe attended a number of parties at his New York residence, along with other under-aged girls. Donald Trump was allegedly present on some of these occasions. The plaintiff claims that on a number of occasions, she was forced to perform sexual acts for Trump and Epstein, who were physically and verbally abusive. On one such night, she says a girl known to her as Maria was forced to participate with her. On another occasion Trump allegedly tied her to a bed, raped her and struck her when she protested.
As awful as all that seems, worse is yet to come. According to the plaintiff, when Trump finished raping her, he allegedly said that he was a very wealthy man, capable of having her whole family killed, and that she shouldn't say anything about what had happened if she didn't want to disappear, like Maria. Ms. Doe had not seen Maria since the occasion the two of them had been forced to perform for Trump, so she believed the worst.
I haven't had a chance to read the exhibits referenced in the filing, but it appears that there may be a witness to many if not all the events related by the plaintiff. This woman was allegedly an employee of Epstein's.
This isn't the first time Trump has been accused of rape. As with the prior cases, he categorically denies that it happened, and Epstein also denies it. Obviously, both have the right to a presumption of innocence.
RadarOnline notes that the plaintiff's name is not in Epstein's black book, which was confiscated by the FBI. (That site and Breitbart trumpet this as if it's conclusive proof that the claim is spurious, but the black book was confiscated over a decade after the events related in this lawsuit--most people update their address books from time to time.)
Lawnewz seems to believe that the suit won't get far, noting that the statute of limitations has long since run, and other than the witness, there is little evidence to support the claims. The plaintiff is asking the court to waive the statute because the alleged threats made her afraid to speak up until now. She says that the nonstop and unavoidable coverage of Trump's candidacy revived the trauma she'd experienced, and finally motivated both her and her witness to speak up.
But no matter what happens with this lawsuit, there is a critical question that needs to be addressed: Shouldn't someone look into whether a twelve-year-old girl named Maria went missing in New York in the summer of 1994?
It may be a long shot, but there are some leads.
- The plaintiff was allegedly recruited by the witness, promised pay for attending the parties as well as opportunities to advance her modeling aspirations. Maria may have come to Epstein in a similar fashion.
- Epstein's black book lists the phone number for the mother of at least one girl categorized under "massage," which is apparently how he listed his child victims. It's possible Maria's family was aware of her connection to him.
- The plaintiff and her witness should have more information. Doe, at the very least, should be able to give a detailed physical description. Her witness might know far more.
- It's possible the child's "disappearance" from these parties has a benign explanation (Trump has been known to make exaggerated threats.) Maybe Maria simply cut ties with Epstein after the awful experience related by the plaintiff. If so, maybe she, too, will come forward now.
- It's also possible the police already investigated whatever happened to this child, and may or may not have gotten anywhere. It sounds like Doe and her witness are only now speaking up. Their information may fill out some details in a cold case.
The mere fact that there may be new information about a missing child should be enough to bring the police into this. If, as Trump and others claim, this lawsuit is a spurious attempt to extort money or politically embarrass him, a police interview of the plaintiff and her witness would put an end to it. Conversely, if there IS any truth in this, at the very least, one of our presidential candidates may have raped a young girl.
And at worst, all those years ago, he may have had something to do with another little girl’s “disappearance.”
In case the links embedded in the text don't work (I've had trouble before), here are links to all the sources I referred to or drew information from.
www.dailykos.com/...
www.revelist.com/...
lawnewz.com/...
www.scribd.com/...
en.m.wikipedia.org/...
radaronline.com/...
www.breitbart.com/...
www.breitbart.com/...
gawker.com/...
Saturday, Jun 25, 2016 · 2:31:58 AM +00:00 · ElisMad
While working on this, I also contacted the plaintiff’s attorney and suggested that the police be contacted. He replied a little while ago. His client has in fact contacted the police with her complaint, and she told them about Maria. I know the police are busy with current cases, but how long would it take to look up unsolved missing children (and, unfortunately, murder) cases from 1994 to see if there's anything matching this new info??
Sunday, Jun 26, 2016 · 3:07:01 PM +00:00
·
ElisMad
After getting a lot of criticism in the comments, I've changed the title to this diary. The original was sensational--my thought at the time was to draw attention to the question, but it seems to have invited some of the negative attention the piece has gotten. Again, what I am asking is that the police look into the possibility that someone has information about a missing child. If, as some claim, this whole thing is frivolous or politically motivated, a police inquiry should clear that up, no harm no foul.