I'm beginning to see a pattern in Trump 2.0

 

So now we can stop wondering

Some never wondered.  They always assumed Barron was just another fucking Trump.

Andrew Tate found modest fame as a professional kickboxer in the 2010s, but as he tells it, he didn’t start making real money until he and his brother went into pornography.

[...]

[Tate] nurtured relationships with Donald Trump Jr. and his younger brother Barron, who recognized the role that young male voters could play in their father’s return to power.

Barron, now 19, admired Andrew, and spoke with him over Zoom last year, according to Justin Waller, a mutual friend who was on the call. During the call, they discussed their shared belief that the Romanian criminal case was an effort to silence the Tates, he said.

  NYT

 "I just heard about that"..."I don't know what it is she's doing."  But I'm here to announce it.  Brilliant.

It's Sunday

 

1

Always the Republicans.

Just another right wing family values sex scandal

Texas's controversial Attorney General has been caught in a shocking sex scandal - less than two years after cheating on his wife with his mistress.

The Daily Mail can exclusively reveal Ken Paxton, 62, was secretly seeing a married Christian influencer behind the backs of both their partners.

Multiple sources confirm mother-of-seven Tracy Duhon, 57, who is also an author, is the reason the politician's relationship crumbled earlier this summer.

Texas State Senator Angela Paxton announced in July their 38-year marriage was over in a stinging tweet, citing 'biblical grounds'.

It is not the first time Ken Paxton has been rocked by scandal, having been caught cheating on Angela in 2023 with his former mistress Laura Olsen.

[...]

His wife stood by him through that first scandal.

But the latest incident with Duhon appears to have been the last straw, and could threaten Paxton's latest bid to become a US senator.

  Daily Mail

Gym Jordan in the hot seat again

 

clip

Jim Jordan, a former Ohio State assistant wrestling coach who is now a U.S. congressman, has long denied any knowledge of the decades of sexual abuse perpetrated by Richard Strauss during his tenure as an Ohio State physician.

But "Surviving Ohio State," a new documentary produced by George Clooney that aired on HBO June 17, alleges Jordan and many other coaches and administrators within Ohio State were very much aware.

Multiple wrestlers and a referee told filmmakers that Jordan was aware of Strauss' abuse. Jordan declined to be interviewed for the documentary.

[...]

[Dan Ritchie, who wrestled at Ohio State from 1988 to 1992,] recalled a conversation where Jordan said he wouldn't allow Strauss to abuse him like others had.

Ritchie claimed Jordan, an assistant coach at the time, told wrestlers, "If he ever did that to me, I'd snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood."

[...]

Frederick Feeney, a wrestling referee from 1988 to 2024, [...] told filmmakers that he told both Jordan and former Buckeyes wrestling coach Russ Hellickson about [an encounter with Strauss]. But Feeney said Jordan shrugged off the incident and said: "It's Strauss, you know what he does."

[...]

Former wrestler Adam DiSabato told filmmakers that when Jordan was accused of knowing about Strauss' abuse, the congressman called him and asked him to stand up for him. Jordan, DiSabato said, cried on the phone and asked him to say publicly that he had no knowledge of the abuse.

  Columbus Dispatch

No doubt.

Jordan made it through earlier reports of the scandal.  Will he make it through again?

Pope LEO's detractors are not done

Laura Loomer will be all over this:

Leo XIV arrives to the papacy with controversy in tow. In recent months, and more explicitly in the hours leading up to the conclave, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been the subject of a campaign orchestrated by ultraconservative sectors of the Church.

The accusation centers around his alleged cover-up of several sexual abuse cases committed by a Peruvian priest in 2004. According to this version, Prevost was aware of the cases and failed to investigate them in 2022, when he was serving as the bishop of Sufar and apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, located on the northern coast of Peru. The Vatican has firmly denied these accusations.

[...]

The dossier against Prevost — released by some unreliable digital outlets — claims that in April 2022, three sisters met with the bishop to report that two priests from his diocese had abused them in 2004 when they were between the ages of nine and 14. According to the accusers, Prevost told them that the Church had no means to investigate the matter, although he encouraged them to report it to civil authorities, assuring them that an investigation would be initiated within the Church once the case was reported.

The sisters claimed that Prevost referred them to the Listening Center, an institution created by the bishop just weeks earlier to help abuse victims. According to the dossier, the sisters then approached the police to file a report but were told that the case had already expired due to the statute of limitations.

The 18-page report also accuses Prevost of covering up another sexual abuse case involving a priest in Chicago, when the now Pontiff was the provincial superior of the Augustinians. The Vatican states that it has investigated these allegations as well and found no evidence to support them. The same sources suggest it is suspicious that this attack on Prevost came just before the conclave, when his name was already being considered as a potential papal candidate.

[...]

On Thursday afternoon, one hour after Prevost appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica already vested as Leo XIV, Peruvian journalist Pedro Salinas, who has extensively investigated the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae movement — an organization recently dissolved by Pope Francis due to sexual abuse accusations and cult-like traits — stated that the allegations against Prevost were absolutely false: “There is no documentary evidence or solid testimonies pointing to Prevost.”

In Peru, Prevost clearly sided with the victims in the Sodalitium scandal. [...] [T]hey claim that they found a strong ally in Prevost, who played a decisive role in facilitating their direct access to Pope Francis at the Vatican. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, after receiving firsthand information from the journalists, decided to open a major investigation that concluded in January 2025 with the dissolution of Sodalicio.

  El Pais

From another source...

While Prevost reportedly has high-profile advocates among the cardinals, the prospect of a Prevost papacy is also prompting pushback.

And as cardinals tell The Pillar they’re aiming for a pontiff unsullied by the prospect of scandal, it is not clear whether the allegations and reports about Prevost’s leadership will prove a deterrent to the prospect of his election, or whether cardinals will consider them a kind of weaponized smear campaign against a candidate in the mold of Pope Francis.

  The Pillar (Catholic media) May 5 (pre conclave)

Apparently, it was the latter.

Moreover, as an American who spent the whole of his episcopal ministry in South America, sources have told The Pillar that Prevost is regarded by some electors as having a now-desired Western approach to management and governance, without the perceived limited ecclesial vision often attributed to American bishops.

[...]

[A]buse advocates are raising concerns about the cardinal’s candidacy, suggesting that Prevost’s handling of abuse cases should disqualify him from office.

Among the cases flagged by advocates are charges that Prevost’s former Diocese of Chiclayo has been accused of mishandling clerical allegations made by three sisters, who say that in 2022, when they reported abuse in the diocese, Prevost failed to open an investigation into the claims.

[...]

[I]n a statement published last September, the three alleged victims claim that there had been no investigation, or at least nothing substantial or serious. If anything was sent to Rome, they allege, it was tailored to be considered insufficient and not merit the opening of a full penal canonical investigation.

[...]

“As proof of our statements, we point to the non-existence of any decree ordering the opening of an investigation, or of any decree issuing precautionary measures.”

“During this period, we were never called by any investigator to make any deposition.”

[...]

As the dispute unfolded, the victims claimed that an accused priest admitted guilt to Prevost directly, compounding the charges that Prevost had mishandled the case.

[...]

[I]n September 2000, Fr. James Ray was permitted to live at St. John Stone Friary, a house of the Chicago province of the Augustinian religious order. The friary is half a block from a parish elementary school.

According to diocesan records, the move required approval by Prevost, who was then an Augustinian provincial superior.

According to diocesan records reviewed by The Pillar, Ray had been restricted in ministry for nine years by 2000, and had been accused multiple times of sexually abusing boys, at least one of them for years. He had admitted to bringing at least one boy to sleep in his rectory bed, but said of one allegation that he “did not recall” having sexually assaulted a child with whom he admitted to having “cuddled.” Ray did admit to diocesan officials that in 1993 he engaged in sexual activity with a man while on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, a supposed Marian apparition site in Croatia.

[...]

When the Augustinians permitted Ray to live at the friary, records indicate they understood at least summarily what accusations the priest faced. Augustinian leaders met with diocesan officials to discuss Ray’s background, and an Augustinian in residence at the house agreed to monitor the priest’s compliance with the restrictions of his ministry set by the archdiocese, including that he not be alone with children.

But administrators at St. Thomas the Apostle School were not notified that a priest accused of serial sexually abusing children was living in proximity to the parish elementary school.

[...]

To date, Prevost has declined comment on the Chicago situation, giving no indication of regret for the decision, or indicating how he might have handled it differently. On the Peruvian charges, the cardinal has pointed to a defense made by the diocese, suggesting that Prevost took the necessary canonical steps to address the allegations raised against him.

[...]

Some cardinals have also expressed their view that in 2025, no prelate who has been a diocesan bishop is exempt from criticism over his handling of abuse cases, and some have raised concern about the prospect that information about Prevost is being weaponized by his perceived ideological enemies.

[...]

Advocates especially note that after Francis gained a reputation for protecting friends and allies from abuse charges, the perception of integrity should be a critical factor in assessing the next pontiff.

Since that came out before Prevost was elected Pope, I'm surprised Loomer and the other MAGA detractors haven't already been on it.

I expected to see an African pope in my lifetime. I never expected to see an American pope.

Why?

Because the Vatican is dominated by Europeans and they are deeply suspicious of America and American Catholics. To them, we are toddlers with shotguns.

  JV Last @ The Bulwark

Seems right.

Maybe they looked at America and realized that it was no longer a colossus bestriding the globe. No longer exceptional. Not just in decline, but deluded about its reality.

Maybe Robert Prevost was elected pope because the Church realized they no longer needed to be concerned about America power.

And, maybe they thought an American had the best chance of influencing Americans, both to regain churchgoers and have some influence on regime politics.  And, maybe the Pope's nationality just doesn't matter any more and wasn't in consideration.

PS: Prevost voted in Republican primaries in 2012, 14, and 16.

UPDATE 10:57 am:

Gaetz back in the news

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Just another Republican sex scandal

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Could you be less surprised?

The Justice Department said Wednesday it is investigating politicians, military officers and government contractors for buying sex through a high-end brothel network operating in Massachusetts and the D.C. suburbs.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged three people with running the network: Han Lee and Junmyung Lee of Massachusetts and James Lee of California.

[...]

The defendants allegedly rented high-end apartments, paid for women’s flights and transportation, and advertised sexual services available for hourly rates that ranged from $350 to $600.

  Politico

THAT's high end? I would think at least four figures would be required to fit that bill.

Prospective buyers were instructed to fill out forms with detailed personal information, including their names, addresses, employers, and a “reference if they have one,” prosecutors said in court papers.

And they gave real information?

Also, why the hell is prostitution still illegal?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Surprise, surprise

Ali Alexander has become one of the most ubiquitous figures in the MAGA movement. Trump himself reportedly requested that Alexander speak at his rally before the riot, with his appearance only quashed by a last-minute intervention from Trump’s aides. But this week, Alexander stands at the center of a scandal that raises questions about how powerful men in the far-right treat their younger acolytes.

[...]

Alexander, who has described himself as bisexual in the past, added that he was “battling with same-sex attraction.”

[...]

Rumors about Alexander’s alleged sexual behavior towards younger men have circulated in conservative online circles since at least 2015. But they reached a new level late last month after Milo Yiannopoulos —the controversial British provocateur and one-time Alexander ally—turned on Alexander.

[...]

Yiannopoulos claims he’s releasing the video against Alexander because Alexander dropped Yiannopoulos’ name to entice young men.

[...]

Yiannopoulos started releasing video interviews and other evidence meant to prove that Alexander sexually propositioned both adult men in their 20s and at least two teenagers. Yiannopoulos, whose own career as a far-right pundit imploded in 2017 after remarks he had made downplaying the seriousness of pedophilia surfaced, claims he has more damaging videos to release. On Friday night, Alexander—who was questioned by the House Jan. 6 Committee about his role organizing a canceled rally dubbed the “Wild Protest” outside the Capitol, which drew crowds to the building right before the riot began—issued a statement Friday offering a general apology.

“I apologize for any inappropriate messages sent over the years,” Alexander wrote, adding later, “When I’ve flirted or others have flirted with me, I’ve flexed my credentials or dropped corny pick up lines."

[...]

Originally from Dallas, Alexander pleaded guilty to felony property theft in 2007 and felony credit card abuse in 2008. But despite his criminal background, Alexander—who was then using his legal name, Ali Akbar—managed to rise in the GOP during the online conservative backlash to the Obama administration.

[...]

By 2017, Alexander had become an ardent Trump supporter with a passion for social-media trash talk. He became a protege of MAGA figures like Roger Stone and InfoWars chief Alex Jones, and ran with a group of other young MAGA internet provocateurs, including anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer and blundering smear artist Jacob Wohl.

  Daily Beast

One thing you must remember about Republicans: every accusation is a confession.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Jim Jordan is still an ass

Jim Jordan will always be an ass.

Jim Jordan, the man who famously turned a blind eye to sexual abuse of young men under his care while he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.  And who claimed exoneration when an investigative report said there was no "contemporaneous documentary evidence" to implicate him.  It did say numerous athletes testified that Jordan was told about and was aware of the allegations.

Oh, get in line

It won't matter to Republican voters.  The GOP has long been the party of closeted gays, pedophiles, and misogynists.  After so many busts and scandals, I think they've finally just decided to embrace the sexual proclivities they've denounced in others in the past.  And, good, I guess. 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

US Secret Service Shame

Somebody needs to clean up the Secret Service. I'm not talking about the fact that some of them are Trump loyalists, although that needs to be addressed as well.

An employee of the Secret Service has returned to the United States from Israel after an alleged “physical encounter” led to his detention by Israeli police, the agency confirmed to The Hill.

[...]

The incident was first reported by CNN, which identified the member detained by police as part of the Secret Services Counter Assault Team, a highly-trained specialized tactical unit.

A source told the news network the employee assaulted a woman outside of a bar.

[...]

This incident comes months after two Secret Service employees were sent back to the U.S. from South Korea and placed on administrative leave after the employees allegedly got into a confrontation with a taxi driver in South Korea while they were apparently intoxicated.

  The Hill

Click the above graphic for the article.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Reagan rumors redux

It was not until a boozy lunch with a man claiming to have been a “long time Reagan associate,” however, that Best found what he believed to be the “smoking gun” proving that Reagan was controlled by homosexuals. “Bill, you don’t understand the problem,” the man told Best. “I once engaged in a homosexual act with Reagan.”

[...]

This account of the alleged “homosexual ring” that controlled Ronald Reagan, and the efforts to expose it on the eve of the 1980 Republican National Convention that nominated him for the presidency, is compiled from interviews with several of the surviving participants and documents uncovered in the papers of former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. Appropriately for a story involving what was once considered the gravest sin in American politics, it has never been told until now.

  Politico

But it's not the first story of the "homosexual ring".

Prince Andrew squeaks by

Prince Andrew, the disgraced second son of Queen Elizabeth II, has settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, a woman who had accused him of raping her when she was a teenage victim of Andrew’s friend, the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new court filing in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The amount that Andrew, 61, will pay Ms. Giuffre is confidential, the parties said in a joint statement attached to the filing.

  NYT

I bet it was a shit-ton.

The deal comes just weeks before Andrew was scheduled to sit for a deposition, in which he would have been questioned under oath by Ms. Giuffre’s lawyers. Andrew did not admit to any of Ms. Giuffre’s accusations against him in the statement announcing the settlement.

I wouldn't be surprised if his own stake was added to by people whose names might have come out in deposition: e.g. Alan Dershowitz and Donald Trump.

Andrew was forced to relinquish his military titles and royal charities, no longer was to use the title “His Royal Highness,” and was “not to undertake any public duties,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement last month.

[...]

In the statement on Tuesday, Andrew said it was “known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years,” and that he “regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”

[...]

The settlement came relatively quickly — just six months after Ms. Giuffre filed her suit and one month after Judge Kaplan denied Andrew’s motion to dismiss it.

It's Sunday

Didn't we already know this? And isn't this at least partly why he resigned?

The former pope Benedict XVI failed to stop four clergymen accused of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church in Munich, a law firm that carried out a key investigation has said.

The ex-pontiff, who was the archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982, has “strictly” denied any responsibility, said the lawyer Martin Pusch.

[...]

Two of the cases involved clergymen who had committed several proven acts of abuse but were allowed to continue with pastoral duties, Pusch said.

[...]

In one case, a now notorious paedophile priest named Peter Hullermann was transferred to Munich from Essen in western Germany where he had been accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy.

[...]

In 1986, by which time Benedict had been transferred to the Vatican, [Hullermann] was convicted of molesting more children and given a suspended prison sentence.

Even after the conviction, he continued to work with children for many years and his case is regarded as a pertinent example of the mishandling of abuse by the church.

The ex-pope has denied knowing about the priest’s history.

  Guardian

Bullshit.

Benedict was accused years ago, but apparently not sued. Why wait until the man is almost 95 (in April) years old?

Remembering a favorite Benedict article.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

This seems to be taking an awfully long time

Grand Jury in the Matt Gaetz case.

Gaetz has been under investigation to determine if he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice.

[...]

One of the sources said she has information related to the investigation of both the sex trafficking and obstruction allegations.

"This may be a willing participant who has a smart lawyer who sought an immunity deal from the government," said former prosecutor and CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman. "The government does not give immunity blindly, they know what they're getting in exchange."

[...]

A source told CBS News last week that as a part of an obstruction probe, investigators are looking into whether Gaetz had a phone call with the ex-girlfriend, and another woman, who was already a witness in the federal investigation.

Multiple sources told CBS News that the ex-girlfriend and the other woman traveled to the Bahamas with Gaetz in 2018, along with a third woman with whom Gaetz was in a sexual relationship. That third woman was 18 at the time of the Bahamas trip, but investigators are also looking into whether she was 17 when the sexual relationsInvestigators are trying to determine if any of the women were paid and were illegally trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of sex with the congressman. 

  CBS

Honestly, I don't think this is anybody's business other than the obstruction of justice bit and the possibility Gaetz has been lying about it and whether he's involved with other underage girls. That is, I don't think his sexual activities should be cause for criminal charges if the woman was 18 (or about to be 18), but I do think the fact that he's dating 18-year-olds should disqualify him for serving in Congress. Too immature and too stupid.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Prince Andrew off the hook

The Metropolitan police’s decision to take no further action over Virginia Giuffre’s allegations of sexual assault against Prince Andrew “comes as no surprise”, a source close to the royal has said.

  Guardian

No shit. The surprise is that they ever pretended to take it seriously in the first place.

Giuffre’s lawsuit accuses Andrew of sexually abusing her at the home of the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in London and at properties owned by [Jeffrey] Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking.

A now notorious photo of Andrew with an arm around Giuffre’s waist is said to have been taken by Epstein at Maxwell’s home during a visit to London in 2001, when Giuffre – then Virginia Roberts – was about 17. Sources said to be close to the prince have suggested the photo was faked – a claim vehemently denied by his accuser – while Andrew has said he has “no recollection” of meeting her.

I find the "no recollection of having met" someone in these cases dubious. It's a great legal excuse though. I don't recall.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

So what's happening with the Matt Gaetz investigation?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Gaetz investigation update

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Does anyone besides me always see this when looking at a picture of Matt Gaetz?