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Tag: sex crimes

  • Tiger Woods is accused of sexual harassment by ex-girlfriend, according to court document | CNN

    Tiger Woods is accused of sexual harassment by ex-girlfriend, according to court document | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Erica Herman, who was a longtime girlfriend of professional golfer Tiger Woods, has accused the 15-time major champion of sexual harassment, according to a court filing by Herman’s attorney in Florida on Friday.

    Woods is accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with Herman while she worked for him and then forcing her to sign a non-disclosure agreement or she’d be fired from her job, according to the document.

    Herman was an employee at his South Florida restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, at the time.

    “Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in global sports, decided to pursue a sexual relationship with his employee, then – according to him – forced her to sign an NDA about it or else be fired from her job,” the Friday court document said. “And, when he became disgruntled with their sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, pets, and personal possessions, and tried to strong-arm her into signing a different NDA.”

    “A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” Herman’s attorney Benjamin Hobas states in the filing.

    CNN reached out to Woods’ representatives for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

    The document also alleges a “scheme” used against Herman last year where Woods asked her to pack for a weekend getaway to the Bahamas. She was allegedly driven to the airport and then was asked to speak to Woods’ attorney.

    “Then, Mr. Woods’s California lawyer, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, had been locked out of the house, and could not return,” the document said. “She would not even be able to see the children or her pets again.”

    Herman was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which she refused to do, according to the document.

    Herman has brought two separate complaints involving Woods in the past year.

    The first, filed in October 2022, alleges a trust owned and created by the golf star violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking her oral tenancy agreement to continue living in Woods’ home.

    As part of that suit, a trustee of Woods’ trust, Christopher Hubman, has asked the court to order Herman to arbitrate her claims pursuant to an arbitration provision in a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2017.

    In an earlier briefing, Herman cited a statute that says plaintiffs in sexual harassment or assault disputes cannot be compelled to arbitrate those claims.

    The most recent suit, filed in March, Herman argues the 2017 agreement is not enforceable in part because of a new federal law invalidating arbitration clauses in sexual assault or sexual harassment cases.

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  • Key moments from the video of Trump’s deposition in E. Jean Carroll trial released to the public | CNN Politics

    Key moments from the video of Trump’s deposition in E. Jean Carroll trial released to the public | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The video deposition of Donald Trump played before the jury in the E. Jean Carroll civil battery and defamation trial was made public Friday, showing the former president discussing the accusations against him, the “Access Hollywood” tape and the Russia “hoax.”

    In the video, Trump confirms that he made the allegedly defamatory statements denying knowing Carroll, calling her allegations that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing room in the mid-1990s a “hoax,” and saying she is not his type.

    He also tells Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, that she, too, is not his type. And many times during the deposition, he calls Carroll a series of names, including “nut job,” a “whack job” and “mentally sick.”

    The edited deposition runs for nearly an hour. Trump was interviewed in October 2022. He denies all allegations against him.

    Here are key moments from the deposition as reviewed by CNN:

    At one point, Trump is shown a black and white photograph that includes Carroll, but mistakes her for his second wife, Marla Maples. Holding the photo, he points at it and says, “That’s Marla, that’s my wife.”

    After his attorney, Alina Habba, intervenes, Trump says the photo is blurry.

    KAPLAN: You have in front of you a black and white photograph that we’ve marked as DJT 23. And I’m going to ask you, is this the photo that you were just referring to?

    TRUMP: I think so, yes.

    KAPLAN: And do you recall when you first saw this photo?

    TRUMP: At some point during the process, I saw it. That’s I guess her husband, John Johnson, who was an anchor for ABC, nice guy, I thought, I mean, I don’t know him but I thought he was pretty good at what he did. I don’t even know who the woman. Let’s see, I don’t know who – it’s Marla.

    KAPLAN: You’re saying Marla’s in this photo?

    TRUMP: That’s Marla, yeah. That’s, that’s my wife.

    KAPLAN: Which woman are you pointing to?

    TRUMP: Here

    HABBA: No, that’s Carroll.

    TRUMP: [inaudible] Oh I see.

    KAPLAN: The person you just pointed to is E. Jean Carroll.

    TRUMP: Who’s that, who’s this?

    HABBA: [inaudible] That’s your wife.

    KAPLAN: And the person, the woman on the right is your then-wife –.

    TRUMP: I don’t know, this was the picture. I assume that’s John Johnson. Is that –.

    HABBA: That’s Carroll.

    TRUMP: – Carroll, because it’s very blurry.

    Since Carroll came forward in 2019, Trump has repeatedly denied her allegations, often saying that she is “not my type.” Here, Kaplan asks Trump about a June 24, 2019, interview with The Hill, where the president used that phrase.

    KAPLAN: One of the other things that you said about Ms. Carroll at the time appears in your June 24 statement, which is DJT 22. And what you said there is, “I’ll say it with great respect. Number one, she’s not my type.” When you said that Ms. Carroll was not your type, you meant that she was not your type physically, right?

    TRUMP: I saw her in a picture. I didn’t know what she looked like. And I said it, and I say it with as much respect as I can, but she is not my type.

    After more back and forth with Trump repeating the claim, Kaplan ended the exchange:

    KAPLAN: I take it the three women you’ve married are all your type?

    TRUMP: Yeah.

    The former president continued insulting Carroll in denying her allegations.

    TRUMP: I still don’t know this woman. I think she’s a whack job. I have no idea. I don’t know anything about this woman other than what I read in stories and what I hear. I know, I know nothing about her.

    …

    TRUMP: She said that I did something to her that never took place. There was no anything. I know nothing about this nut job.

    Trump appears the most agitated on the video when he denies the rape allegation, saying it is “the worst thing you can do. The worst charge.” He also says that he has a right to defend himself, and asks why, if he is insulted, he can’t insult someone back.

    Kaplan later asked Trump about a Truth Social post from October 12, 2022, where, among other things, he says, “And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!”

    KAPLAN: Okay, then you go on to say in the statement, “And while I’m not supposed to say it, I will.” Why were you not supposed to say it?

    TRUMP: Because it’s not politically correct to say – read the next, go ahead, that she’s not my type. Yeah, because it’s not politically correct to say it, and I know that, but I’ll say it anyway. She’s accusing me of rape. A woman that I have no idea who she is. It came out of the blue. She’s accusing me of rape, of raping her. The worst thing you can do, the worst charge. And, and you know, you know it’s not true too. You’re a political operative also. You’re, you’re a disgrace. But she’s accusing me, and so are you, of rape, and it never took place. And I will tell you, I made that statement. And I said, well, it’s politically incorrect. She’s not my type. And that’s 100% true. She’s not my type.

    trump ireland

    New video shows Trump talking to reporters about E. Jean Carroll trial

    The deposition includes an exchange between Trump and Carroll’s attorneys about his frequent use of the word “hoax.”

    KAPLAN: Now, in your Truth Social statement on October 12, you use the word hoax. Specifically, you say, “It is a hoax and a lie just like all the other hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years.” Do you see that?

    TRUMP: Yeah.

    KAPLAN: Recall making that statement? And I take it what you’re saying there is Ms. Carroll fabricated her claim that you sexually assaulted her, correct?

    TRUMP: Yes, totally. 100%.

    KAPLAN: Fair to say, you’d agree with me, would you not, that you use the term hoax quite a lot?

    TRUMP: Yes, I do.

    KAPLAN: CNN reported that you used it more than 250 times in 2020. Does that sound right?

    TRUMP: Could be. I’ve had a lot of hoaxes played on me. This is one of them.

    KAPLAN: And how would, how would you define the word hoax?

    TRUMP: A fake story. A false story. A made up story.

    KAPLAN: Something that’s not true.

    TRUMP: Something that’s not true. Yes.

    KAPLAN: Sitting here today can you recall what else you have referred to as a hoax?

    TRUMP: Sure. The Russia Russia Russia hoax, it’s been proven to be a hoax. Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine hoax. The Mueller situation for two and a half years hoax – ended and no collusion. It was a whole big hoax. The lying to the FISA court hoax; the lying to Congress many times hoax by all these people, this scum that we have in our country; lying to Congress hoax; the spying on my campaign hoax. They spied on my campaign and now they admitted that was another hoax, and I could get a whole list of them. And this is a hoax too.

    KAPLAN: This, when you say this and that –.

    TRUMP: This ridiculous situation that we’re doing right now, it’s a big fat hoax. She’s a liar and she’s a sick person in my opinion, really sick. Something wrong with her.

    As the exchange continues, Kaplan asks Trump about his having called voting by mail a “hoax.” Trump acknowledges both that he said that and has, in fact, voted by mail himself.

    KAPLAN: Okay, in addition to the Russia Russia Russia hoax, the Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine hoax, the Mueller the Mueller or Mueller hoax, the lying to FISA hoax, the lying to Congress hoax, and the spying on your campaign hoax. Isn’t it true that you also referred to the use of mail in ballots as a hoax?

    TRUMP: Yeah, I do. I do. I think they’re very dishonest, mail in ballots, very dishonest.

    KAPLAN: And isn’t it true that you yourself have voted by mail?

    TRUMP: I do. I do. Sometimes I do. But I don’t know what happens to it once you, once you give it, I have no idea.

    Trump was also asked to react to the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.

    He repeated his admonition that the exchange with Billy Bush captured on the videotape was “locker room talk,” and said it was historically something that stars – including himself – could get away with “fortunately or unfortunately.”

    KAPLAN: And you say – and again this has become very famous – in this video, ‘“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p*ssy. You can do anything.” That’s what you said. Correct?

    TRUMP: Well, historically, that’s true with stars.

    KAPLAN: It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the p*ssy?

    TRUMP: Well, that’s what, if you look over the last million years I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.

    KAPLAN: And you consider yourself to be a star?

    TRUMP: I think you can say that. Yeah.

    KAPLAN: And now you said before, a couple of minutes ago, that this was just locker room talk.

    TRUMP: It’s locker room talk.

    KAPLAN: And so does that mean that you didn’t really mean it?

    TRUMP: No, it’s locker room talk. I don’t know. It’s just the way people talk.

    Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff both testified during the trial about times they say they were sexually assaulted by Trump, who has denied the accounts. Neither woman is a party to the Carroll litigation.

    Stoynoff said Trump forcibly kissed her on December 27, 2005, during a photoshoot and interview session at Mar-a-Lago for People magazine. A story on the Trumps was eventually published in 2006, and Stoynoff went public with her allegations during the 2016 presidential campaign.

    Trump addressed the claims during his deposition.

    KAPLAN: Okay, now, are you familiar with someone by the name of Natasha Stoynoff?

    TRUMP: No. You’ll have to give me a little bit of a background.

    KAPLAN: Do you remember she wrote about you a lot when she worked at People Magazine?

    TRUMP: Oh I do remember there was some woman that wrote and then she, a long time later, I think she wrote a wonderful story. And then a long time later, as I remember it, a long time later, she said that I was aggressive with her. But she wrote the most beautiful story. And then all of a sudden, like, is it a year or two years later, she comes out with this phony story. That I was aggress-, I said, well, why would she have written such a good story for People Magazine, she wrote a really nice piece. And then all of a sudden, like, you know, years or months, many months later, she came up with this phony charge.

    Leeds, a woman who has claimed Trump sexually assaulted her while sitting in first class on an airplane in the late 1970s, also testified. Trump again denied the claims in his deposition.

    TRUMP: This woman made up a story, just like your client made it up. Just made up a story having to do with sitting me and sitting next to me in an airplane. And I mean, I’ll have to read this again, but that story was so false, also. But this was, I guess, making out as opposed to what your client said. This story was so false. This is a disgrace also.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • E. Jean Carroll sounded ‘breathless’ and ’emotional’ in call after alleged rape, friend testifies | CNN Politics

    E. Jean Carroll sounded ‘breathless’ and ’emotional’ in call after alleged rape, friend testifies | CNN Politics

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    Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged assault.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A friend of E. Jean Carroll testified Tuesday that the former magazine columnist called her within minutes after being allegedly raped by Donald Trump in a New York department store in 1996, as the rape and defamation trial against the former president continues.

    Lisa Birnbach recounted how Carroll called her minutes after leaving the department store and told her about the incident in detail.

    Birnbach said Carroll sounded “breathless, hyperventilating, emotional. Her voice was all kinds of things” when she called.

    “He pulled down my tights, he pulled down my tights,” Carroll repeated on the phone, according to Birnbach. “Like she couldn’t believe it. She was still processing what happened to her. It had just happened to her.”

    On the stand, Birnbach said she recalled she was feeding her young children in her kitchen at the time when Carroll called and walked out of the room to whisper “‘E. Jean he raped you. You should go to the police.’” Carroll described the incident with Trump as a fight, she didn’t want to hear the word “rape,” Birnbach said.

    “It sounded like a physical fight she tried to get free from him and she did not want me to say that word,” Birnbach testified. Carroll refused to go to the police and made her friend promise never to speak of it again.

    After the phone call that lasted just a few minutes, the two never spoke about it again until 2019, according to Birnbach. “It was her life, her story, not my story. She clearly didn’t want to tell anybody what happened and I honored that.”

    She never checked in with Carroll about how she was holding up, Birnbach added. “Well because I had made a promise to her not to bring it up not to discuss it and certainly not tell anybody so I put it – I buried it and as life went on it was easier to not think about it.”

    Carroll is suing Trump, alleging he raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

    After Birnbach publicly identified herself in 2019 as Carroll’s friend referenced in Carroll’s book, Birnbach said she gave a few media interviews to support Carroll. “Because I was telling the truth, because my friend was telling the truth and I felt strongly that I could be a supportive friend.”

    Birnbach acknowledged that she doesn’t like Trump and has spoken out publicly against him at length on social media and on her podcast. On cross-examination, Trump’s attorney W. Perry Brandt read a long list of such posts.

    Jessica Leeds, a woman who has claimed Trump sexually assaulted her while sitting in first class on an airplane in the late 1970’s, testified on Tuesday as well.

    Leeds, now 81, said she found herself seated next to Trump when a stewardess offered her an empty seat in first class. She was ticketed for a seat in coach at the time. When she sat down, the man seated next to the window introduced himself as Donald Trump. The two shook hands, Leeds testified.

    After they ate the offered meal in first class, it was “all of a sudden” that Trump tried to kiss and grope her, Leeds said. “There was no conversation. It was like out of the blue.”

    “It was like a tussle,” she said.

    “He was trying to kiss me. He was trying to pull me toward him. He was grabbing my breasts. It was like he had 40 zillion hands. It was a tussling match between the two of us,” she said.

    It was when Trump started to slide his hand up her skirt that she found a jolt of strength to fight to break free, Leeds testified. “I managed to wiggle out of my seat and went storming back to my seat in coach,” she said.

    She doesn’t recall herself or Trump saying anything during the interaction, Leeds testified Tuesday.

    She acknowledged she said in an interview with Anderson Cooper that it lasted about 15 minutes, but what she meant was it felt like it lasted that long.

    Trump accuser speaks out after decades (full)

    No stewardess came to her rescue and no passengers tried to intervene on her behalf, she said. Leeds waited for the entire plane to empty before she disembarked to avoid another run-in with Trump. At the time of the incident, she said she didn’t think anyone would be interested in hearing what happened to her.

    “Men could basically get away with a lot and that’s sort of where I put it,” she said.

    She didn’t report the incident to anyone from the airline and never disclosed it to friends or family until Trump ran for president. Then she told everyone she could, Leeds said, because I thought he was not the kind of person we wanted as president.”

    Trump has denied Leeds’ allegations.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson says he would sign federal abortion ban but supports exceptions | CNN Politics

    GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson says he would sign federal abortion ban but supports exceptions | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson said Sunday he would sign a federal abortion ban if he were elected president but would support exceptions.

    “I would support the restrictions, and I would advocate for the exceptions of the life of the mother and the cases of rape and incest,” the former Arkansas governor said on CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview with Dana Bash. “I believe that’s where the American public is. I don’t think anything will come out of Congress without those exceptions. And I certainly would sign a pro-life bill, but I would expect those exceptions to be in place.”

    As governor in 2021, Hutchinson signed a near-total abortion ban into law that did not include exceptions for rape and incest. He told CNN at the time that he signed the measure because he hoped the US Supreme Court would eventually take up the legislation and overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide.

    A year later, the Supreme Court did just that, allowing various state restrictions on the procedure to move forward, including in Arkansas. Hutchinson told CNN last year before Roe was overturned that he believed the Arkansas law should be “revisited” to provide exceptions for instances of rape or incest.

    Hutchinson said Sunday that unless Republicans earn supermajority status in Congress, “we’re going to keep this issue in the states.”

    Republicans have been wrestling with the issue of abortion, which has become a political landmine for their party and has hurt conservative candidates in recent elections. CNN previously reported that House Republicans have abandoned a yearslong push by their party to pass a federal abortion ban and are exploring other ways to advance their anti-abortion agenda.

    Still, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that Republicans need to directly take on abortion issues in order to appeal to independents.

    “Abortion was a big issue in key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania so the guidance we’re going to give to our candidates is to have to address this head-on,” she said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that Republicans need to “fight back” against Democratic attacks.

    “You need to say, ‘Listen, I’m proud to be pro-life. We have to find consensus among Democrats and Republicans,’” she added.

    Hutchinson formally kicked off his campaign in Bentonville, Arkansas, last week, touting his experience and record as a “consistent conservative.”

    Asked by Bash on Sunday if there’s any appetite for his brand of Republicanism, Hutchinson said, “Absolutely. I wouldn’t be in this race if I didn’t believe it.”

    The former governor also took a swing at a potential GOP rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, over his yearlong fight with Disney, saying, “I don’t understand a conservative punishing a business that’s the largest employer in the state.”

    “It’s not the role of government to punish a business when you disagree with what they’re saying or a position that they take,” Hutchinson said.

    DeSantis’ clash with Disney dates back to the entertainment giant’s opposition to a Florida measure that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The law was dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents, and Disney vowed to help overturn it.

    The Florida governor has defended the state’s actions against Disney, which include taking over the company’s special taxing district.

    “In reality, Disney was enjoying unprecedented privileges and subsidies,” DeSantis said recently. “It’s certainly even worse when a company takes all those privileges that have been bestowed over many, many decades, and uses that to wage war on state policy regarding families and children.”

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  • Boy Scouts of America will begin to compensate sexual abuse victims from a $2.4 billion trust after emerging from bankruptcy | CNN

    Boy Scouts of America will begin to compensate sexual abuse victims from a $2.4 billion trust after emerging from bankruptcy | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Boy Scouts of America will begin to distribute compensation to thousands of victims of sexual abuse after emerging from bankruptcy Wednesday, the organization announced.

    As part of a settlement with more than 82,000 survivors of abuse, the BSA will pay out $2.4 billion from a Victims Compensation Trust that was established by the court during its bankruptcy reorganization.

    “This is a significant milestone for the BSA as we emerge from a three-year financial restructuring process with a global resolution approved with overwhelming support of more than 85% of the survivors involved in the case,” Chief Scout Executive, President and CEO Roger Mosby said in a statement.

    “Our hope is that our Plan of Reorganization will bring some measure of peace to survivors of past abuse in Scouting, whose bravery, patience and willingness to share their experiences has moved us beyond words,” Mosby added.

    The youth organization filed for bankruptcy in February 2020, when it was facing hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits involving thousands of alleged abuse survivors. In September 2022, a judge in Delaware federal bankruptcy court granted final approval for the confirmation of a reorganization plan.

    “These boys – now men – seek and deserve compensation for the sexual abuse they suffered years ago,” Chief Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein wrote in an order last year. “Abuse which has had a profound effect on their lives and for which no compensation will ever be enough. They also seek to ensure that to the extent BSA survives, there is an environment where sexual abuse can never again thrive or be hidden from view.”

    The co-founder of the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice, a group including more than two dozen law firms representing more than 70,000 of the claimants, said it was the largest sexual abuse settlement fund in history.

    Coalition co-founder and attorney Adam Slater also commended the court for “bringing survivors one step closer to justice.”

    “After years of protracted bankruptcy proceedings and decades of suffering in silence, tens of thousands of survivors of childhood sexual assault will now receive some tangible measure of justice. With this decision, the Plan will now become effective, and the Trust will be able to begin distribution of the historic $2.45B settlement fund,” Slater said.

    “Even more important, it means that the safety measures and protections for current and future Scouts included in the Plan will also be put into place – and we know that for many survivors, this has been the highest priority,” Slater added.

    The Boy Scouts of America have since enacted a number of protocols to “act as barriers to abuse.”

    The protocols include mandatory youth protection training for volunteers and employees, a screening process that includes criminal background checks for new adult leaders and staff, and a policy requiring at least two youth-protection trained adults to be present with youth at all times during scouting activities.

    The policy also bans one-on-one situations where adults would have any interaction alone with children.

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  • DeSantis, on cusp of presidential campaign, defies national abortion sentiments with signing of six-week ban | CNN Politics

    DeSantis, on cusp of presidential campaign, defies national abortion sentiments with signing of six-week ban | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Floridians woke up Friday morning to discover Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed into law a six-week abortion ban overnight, meeting behind closed doors with a select group of invited guests to give final approval to a bill that had just passed the state legislature earlier in the day.

    In backing a six-week ban, DeSantis fulfilled a campaign pledge to block abortion after the detection of a heartbeat – just before he is expected to launch his 2024 presidential bid. But as he inches toward a national campaign, DeSantis, who rarely sidesteps cultural clashes, has also become oddly muted on abortion since the fall of Roe v. Wade and has avoided laying out a federal platform before jumping into the race.

    Speaking Friday morning to an overwhelmingly pro-life audience at Liberty University, a deeply conservative Baptist college in Virginia, DeSantis didn’t mention the bill he had signed the night before.

    The late-night private signing also stood in stark contrast to the celebratory event exactly a year prior, when DeSantis, surrounded by women and children and in front of hundreds of onlookers, enacted a 15-week abortion ban at a Orlando-area megachurch as news cameras captured the scene.

    The six-week ban “is going to cause a lot of problems for him,” said Amy Tarkanian, the former chairwoman of the Republican Party in Nevada, where voters have cemented abortion protections in the state constitution. “And I’m pro-life, but I can see the writing on the wall.”

    The US Supreme Court decision last June that ended a federal right to abortion access has throttled the national political landscape, energizing Democrats and leaving Republicans grasping for a message that can blunt the fallout. The latest harbinger of trouble for the GOP came last week from Wisconsin, a presidential swing state where liberals took control of the state Supreme Court in an election fought over the future of abortion access.

    But with DeSantis on the verge of entering the GOP presidential primary – for which abortion is often a litmus test for candidates – Republican state lawmakers delivered their leader a political victory, flexing their super majorities in both Florida chambers to swiftly push through the new restrictions. The law will take effect if the state Supreme Court overturns its past precedent protecting abortion access, which is widely expected. When that happens, Florida, once a sanctuary for Southern women whose states had made it difficult to legally end a pregnancy, will become one of the hardest states in the country to obtain an abortion.

    In an early sign of how Democrats intend to paint DeSantis, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement called Florida’s bill “extreme and dangerous” and said it “is out of step with the views of the vast majority of the people of Florida and of all the United States.”

    A Republican fundraiser close to the governor’s political operation told CNN that the six-week ban would play “great in primary,” where DeSantis would face former President Donald Trump, who appointed three of the justices that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, but acknowledged it was “not good in general” election.

    “But you got to get to the general,” the adviser added.

    In the year following the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Democrats have rattled off a series of victories built in part on voters mobilized by abortion. In solidly red Kansas, voters last year blocked a referendum that would have amended the state constitution to make abortion illegal. In key states like Pennsylvania and Nevada, Democrats pummeled Republican Senate candidate over their views on abortion – with great success, as the party held the US Senate. In battlegrounds like Arizona and Michigan, Democratic gubernatorial candidates won by vowing to lift longstanding state abortion bans that predated the Roe decision.

    Whether the issue continues to animate general voters remains to be seen, but opinions on the Dobbs decision do not appear to have shifted. A Marquette Law School poll last month found two-thirds of voters opposed the ruling, nearly identical to the results in its survey following the November midterms.

    Amid the national outcry to the SCOTUS decision, the typically outspoken DeSantis has remained uncharacteristically reserved on the topic. Unlike other issues, like eliminating college diversity programs and curbing legal protections for the media, he has elevated with staged news conferences and frequent messaging on conservative media, DeSantis has offered vague commitments to protect life but repeatedly declined to say where Florida should draw the line on abortion access.

    In his lone debate last year against Democratic gubernatorial opponent Charlie Crist, DeSantis wouldn’t say what abortion restrictions he would pursue if reelected for a second term. Asked at a March news conference if he supported exceptions for victims rape and incest, DeSantis called it “sensible” and said he would “welcome pro-life legislation,” then quickly pivoted to another topic.

    DeSantis signed the bill at 10:45 p.m. ET Thursday in a closed-door ceremony after returning from a political event in Ohio, a rare-late night action by a governor who often times his actions to maximize exposure.

    “I can’t speculate on his mental processes and what he decides to speak on,” said John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council, a conservative Christian organization that supported the bill. “I’m concerned not with words but with action and he is a man of action.”

    Some Republican operatives believe DeSantis is better positioned than others to stave off primary attacks from the right without alienating swing voters. In a series of posts on Twitter, Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government affairs at the conservative American Principles Project, suggested that by supporting some exceptions for rape and incest, DeSantis would neutralize a key Democratic talking point.

    “What moves voters the most? What did Democrats spend $500M talking about in the 2022 midterms? EXCEPTIONS,” Schweppe said. “Voters want exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. That’s the most important issue. Outside those exceptions, voters are fairly pro-life.”

    Schweppe had previously raised the alarm that “Republicans need to figure out the abortion issue ASAP” after last week’s defeat of a conservative judge in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

    The exceptions offered by Florida’s proposed six-week ban, though, are limited to 15 weeks after conception and require victims of rape and incest to show a police report or other evidence of their assault to obtain an abortion. Similarly, two doctors would have to sign off that a mother’s health is at serious risk or a fetal abnormality is fatal before a woman can end a pregnancy after 15 weeks.

    Bill McCoshen, a veteran GOP consultant in Wisconsin, acknowledged that Democrats have campaigned effectively on abortion there in recent races. But he said it will be harder to attack DeSantis on abortion in his state, where the current law, passed in 1849 and reinstated after the fall of Roe, bars abortion without exceptions.

    “To voters here, the perception of his answer will be that it’s better than the 1849 law,” McCoshen said. “If he signs that law, that will be an improvement of the law that’s here. It may not be as middle of the road as some states, but it’s better than what we currently have in many people’s minds.”

    Still unclear, though, is how DeSantis will navigate new pressures from conservative voters, many of whom will expect their next nominee to use the powers of the presidency to end abortion nationwide. DeSantis, who has not yet declared but is laying the groundwork for a campaign, has so far not faced any questions about what abortion restrictions he would pursue if elected to the White House.

    It’s a question that has already tripped up one potential rival for the nomination. A day after sidestepping a question earlier this week, Republican Sen. Tim Scott said on Thursday that it should be up to states to “solve that problem on their own” – but also said he would sign a federal 20-week ban if it reached his desk.

    Nor has DeSantis weighed in on the ongoing legal saga surrounding mifepristone, one of the drugs that has been used safely for more than 20 years to provide abortions via medication.

    “Right now, DeSantis represents his state and he has to be the voice of his state, but this is a tightrope he has to walk if he’s serious about running for president,” Tarkanian, the Nevada Republican said. “A lot of people don’t even realize they’re pregnant at seven weeks and if you’re pro-choice that’s a scary thought.”

    Katie Daniel, the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Republican candidates risk looking inauthentic if they try to obfuscate their position on abortion. She pointed to Pennsylvania Senate candidate and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who during the GOP primary called abortion “murder” at any stage but in the general election said he supported exceptions for rape, incest or if the mother’s life is at risk. Later, in a debate, Oz said, “I want women, doctors, local political leaders” to decide the issue at the state level.

    “Our message to candidates is define yourself or other candidates will define it for you and you’re not going to like their version of you,” Daniel said. “The ostrich strategy of burying your head in the sand is not going to work.”

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  • JPMorgan executives knew about sex abuse claims against then-client Jeffery Epstein, court filing alleges | CNN Business

    JPMorgan executives knew about sex abuse claims against then-client Jeffery Epstein, court filing alleges | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A new court filing alleges JPMorgan Chase executives were aware of sex abuse and trafficking allegations against its then-client Jeffrey Epstein, several years before the financial institution cut ties.

    The latest complaint, part of a lawsuit against the bank filed by the attorney general for the US Virgin Islands (USVI), adds an additional count alleging that JPMorgan obstructed federal law enforcement and prosecuting agencies pursuing Epstein.

    “JP Morgan’s relationship with Epstein in allowing his sex-trafficking venture to access large sums of cash each year went far beyond a normal (and lawful) banking relationship,” the filing says, adding that bank executives were also aware of potentially suspicious cash withdrawals.

    Epstein, 66, was a client of the financial institution until 2013. He was found dead in a New York prison in August 2019.

    Epstein was awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of operating a sex trafficking ring from 2002 to 2005 at his Manhattan mansion and his Palm Beach estate, in which he paid girls as young as 14 for sex.

    The new complaint against JP Morgan, filed Wednesday, comes days after its CEO Jamie Dimon sat down with CNN’s Poppy Harlow in an exclusive interview.

    Dimon told Harlow that “hindsight is a fabulous gift,” when asked whether the bank should have acted sooner after Epstein entered a guilty plea to soliciting prostitution with a minor in Florida in 2008.

    A JP Morgan spokesperson declined to comment to CNN about the newly filed complaint, which was part of the lawsuit filed in December.

    Attorneys for JP Morgan have denied the allegations. They accused the USVI government of looking for “deeper pockets,” according to court filings.

    The amended complaint details internal email exchanges and documents, alleging several examples that refute Dimon’s suggestion that the financial institution needed “hindsight” regarding Epstein.

    According to the filing, JPMorgan executive Mary Erdoes “admitted in her deposition that JPMorgan was aware by 2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home.”

    “Mary Erdoes testified that JP Morgan terminated Epstein as a customer in 2013 after she became aware that the withdrawals were ‘actual cash,’” the filing alleged. Erdoes’ deposition was taken last month.

    In addition, the filing claims that the JPMorgan Rapid Response Team noted in 2006 that Epstein “routinely” made cash withdrawals in amounts from $40,000 to $80,000 several times per month, totaling over $750,000 per year. Officials concluded that year that “his account ‘should be classified as high risk’ and require special approval.”

    Internal emails quoted in the filing show JP Morgan employees including senior executives discussed coverage of the Epstein allegations for years after 2006 until he was terminated as a client seven years later. High level bank officials also met about Epstein’s account and the allegations against him as far back as 2008, according to the court filing.

    In 2010, the company’s risk management division flagged Epstein’s official status as a sex offender. That was two years after he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and spent about 13 months in prison.

    “See below new allegations of an investigation related to child trafficking – are you still comfortable with this client who is now a registered sex offender,” according to an email in the newly unredacted portions of the court filing.

    Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of Epstein’s who was also a JP Morgan client, was flagged in 2011 by the bank’s anti-money laundering compliance director when she allegedly sought to open an account for a “personal recruitment consulting business.”

    “What does she mean by personal recruitment? Are you sure this will have nothing to do with Jeffrey? If you want to proceed, I suggest that we flag this as a High Risk Client,” the director wrote in an internal email.

    Also that year, a senior compliance official reviewing JP Morgan’s information on Epstein called him a “sugar daddy,” noting his sponsorship of private bank accounts and credit cards for two 18-year-olds “that appear to be part of his inner entourage,” the lawsuit says.

    Last month, a federal district judge presiding over the case in Manhattan ruled that the lawsuit against JPMorgan could move forward, partially denying the bank’s motion to dismiss the suit.

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  • Iowa’s attorney general has paused funding for sexual assault victims’ Plan B and abortions | CNN

    Iowa’s attorney general has paused funding for sexual assault victims’ Plan B and abortions | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Iowa’s Attorney General has paused funding for emergency contraception and abortions for sexual assault victims, according to an email Iowa’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault received that was also shared with CNN.

    The email was sent from Chief Deputy Attorney General Sam Langholz. Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    Langholz told the nonprofit that a review of victim’s services is ongoing and the Attorney General has not made a final decision on whether the payments will resume.

    “While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions. As a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance, Attorney General Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” Bird’s Press Secretary Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement to the Des Moines Register. “Until that review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”

    Langholz shared the same statement from Bird’s press secretary in the email obtained by CNN.

    Under the 1979 Iowa Sexual Abuse Examination Payment Program, victims of sexual assault in Iowa are “never responsible for a sexual abuse forensic examination or for medications required due to the assault,” according to Iowa’s Victim Assistance annual report.

    Though it was not explicitly required, it has been the state’s longtime policy to cover the cost of emergency contraception under the victim compensation fund, and in rare cases, the fund has also paid for abortions for rape victims, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of the victim assistance division under the previous attorney general, told the Des Moines Register.

    After Bird took office, Tibbetts Murphy resigned at request of the new attorney general, the Des Moines Register reported.

    Funds for the program are entirely made up of fines and penalties paid by convicted criminals, rather than general taxpayer money – a point victim advocacy groups emphasize.

    “Victims of rape and child abuse have an acute need for timely access to health services, including contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortion care. Cost should never be a barrier for rape victims seeking medical care,” Iowa’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault said in a statement Monday, urging the attorney general to continue the payments to sexual assault victims. “Using offender accountability victim compensation funds to cover the cost of forensic exams, incentivizes victims to undergo an invasive exam that can help prevent offenders from victimizing others and enhance access to medical care for crime victims.”

    Ruth Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, called Bird’s decision “deplorable and reprehensible,” saying it “further demonstrates politicians’ crusade against Iowans’ health and rights,” according to a statement.

    Bird, a Republican, won her election in 2022 in a race that largely focused on abortion after her Democratic opponent declined to defend Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat” law, which would ban most abortions after about six weeks.

    During her campaign, Bird said, “I am pro-life and I will defend the laws that are passed by the Legislature.”

    Iowa’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault says that ensuring victims are not responsible for the cost of a forensic exam or for needed medications after an assault is “key to encouraging victims to undergo this extremely invasive medical exam as soon as possible after a violent assault.”

    Juveniles accounted for the majority of sexual abuse victim costs paid for by Iowa’s state victim compensation funds, according to a 2021 Iowa’s Victim Assistance report.

    Nearly 2.9 million women across the US experienced rape-related pregnancy during their lifetime, according to a study published in 2018 by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

    “Emergency contraception should be provided to victims of sexual assault, requiring its immediate availability in hospitals and other facilities where sexual assault victims are treated,” the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says on its website.

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  • Maryland AG report into Archdiocese of Baltimore alleges 156 Catholic clergy members and others abused more than 600 children | CNN

    Maryland AG report into Archdiocese of Baltimore alleges 156 Catholic clergy members and others abused more than 600 children | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A report from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown released Wednesday alleges 156 Catholic clergy members and others abused at least 600 children over the course of more than six decades.

    “From the 1940s through 2002, over a hundred priests and other Archdiocese personnel engaged in horrific and repeated abuse of the most vulnerable children in their communities while Archdiocese leadership looked the other way,” the report reads. “Time and again, members of the Church’s hierarchy resolutely refused to acknowledge allegations of child sexual abuse for as long as possible.”

    The report lists descriptions of graphic sexual and physical abuse allegations: It includes stories of how some alleged abusers provided victims with alcohol and drugs and describes in vivid detail how they coerced and forced victims to perform sexual acts.

    The report’s list of abusers includes clergy members, seminarians, deacons, teachers and other employees of the Archdiocese.

    Forty-three priests who “served in some capacity or resided within the Archdiocese of Baltimore” committed sexual abuse in locations outside Maryland, the report alleged. Of these 43 priests, 40 of them allegedly committed sexual abuse in only one other location, while the other three allegedly committed sexual abuse in two other locations outside Maryland, the report says.

    The investigation began in 2018 and has since received “hundreds of thousands of documents,” including treatment reports, personnel records, transfer reports and policies and procedures.

    The Maryland Attorney General’s Office said more than 300 people contacted the office after it opened an email address and telephone hotline for people to report information about clergy abuse, and investigators interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses.

    “Today certainly in Maryland is a day of reckoning and a day of accounting,” Brown said during a news conference Wednesday.

    Brown said he met with survivors and advocates Wednesday morning to hear their stories.

    “While each of those stories is unique, together, they reveal themes and behaviors typical of adults who abuse children, and those who enable that abuse by concealing it,” Brown said. “What was consistent throughout the stories was the absolute authority and power these abusive priests and the church leadership held over survivors, their families and their communities.”

    Most of the abusers listed in the report are dead and no longer subject to prosecution, the attorney general said.

    “While it may be too late for the survivors to see criminal justice served, we hope that exposing the Archdiocese’s transgressions to the fullest extent possible will bring some measure of accountability and perhaps encourage others to come forward,” Brown said.

    Some victims waited to report their claims of abuse until later in life, according to the report. Because Maryland recognizes a statute of limitations defense in civil cases, “victims have no recourse if they are over the age of 38,” the report reads.

    Some victims did not come forward until their parents had died to “spare them the pain of knowing about the abuse,” the report reads, while others never intended to tell but were persuaded to come forward with the help of others. Others repressed their memories and recollections of abuse emerged only many years later, according to the report.

    The Archbishop of Baltimore apologized on behalf of the Archdiocese after allegations of abuse surfaced in the report.

    “To all survivors, I offer my most earnest apology on behalf of the Archdiocese and pledge my continued solidarity and support for your healing. We hear you. We believe you and your courageous voices have made a difference,” Archbishop William E. Lori wrote in a statement Wednesday.

    “The report details a reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese,” Lori added, and wrote it “will not be covered up, ignored or forgotten.”

    The Archdiocese began making “radical changes” in the 1990s to “end this scourge,” Lori wrote. Instances of abuse have fallen every year and every decade since cases of abuse peaked during the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote, saying, “The Archdiocese is not the same organization it was.”

    “Make no mistake, however: today’s strong record of protection and transparency does not excuse past failings that have led to the lasting spiritual, psychological and emotional harm victim-survivors have endured,” the Archbishop’s statement reads.

    The Archdiocese of Baltimore has paid $13.2 million to 303 victims of abuse since the 1980s, according to the Archdiocese’s office.

    The payments include money for both counseling and settlements, the Archdiocese’s executive director of communications, Christian Kendzierski, said in an email to CNN.

    The report contains “a full accounting” of abuse in the Archdiocese and “details of repeated tortuous, terrorizing, depraved abuse.” It lists and details 156 abusers “determined to have been the subject of credible allegations of abuse.”

    More than 600 children are known to have been abused by those 156 people, the report reads, but “the number is likely far higher.”

    The report reveals the names of all but 10 of the 156 alleged abusers listed in the report.

    Brown said those 10 names were obtained through the grand jury process and could not be disclosed without permission or a court order.

    “I should emphasize that because they’re redacted today doesn’t mean they will always be redacted,” Brown said.

    The report does not constitute criminal indictment, according to the attorney general.

    The report recommends that Maryland amend the statute of limitations for civil actions involving child sex abuse.

    “Our judicial system should provide a means for victims who have suffered these harms to seek damages from the people and institutions responsible for them,” the report reads.

    Maryland’s Senate passed a bill in March that would repeal the state’s civil statute of limitations in certain civil actions relating to child sexual abuse. The bill is working its way through the House.

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  • Florida Senate passes 6-week abortion ban | CNN Politics

    Florida Senate passes 6-week abortion ban | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Florida’s state Senate on Monday passed a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after the gestational age of six weeks, or about four weeks of pregnancy.

    The bill’s advance, which still needs to pass the state’s GOP-led House, comes one year after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week ban into law. The new legislation likely further burnishes the conservative credentials of DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, and it was met with outrage by state Democrats, two of whom were arrested during a protest near the state Capitol Monday night.

    The current bill would impose restrictions on telehealth abortions and medication. It would include exemptions for women facing life-threatening harm while pregnant and victims of rape, incest and human trafficking.

    The bill targets both physicians who perform abortions and those who “actively participate in” them, and should the bill become law, any person who violates it could be charged with a third-degree felony.

    The “Heartbeat Protection Act” passed the Florida Senate in a 26-13 vote.

    A protest over the bill near the state Capitol resulted in the arrests of 11 people who were charged with trespassing after a warning, Tallahassee police said. Florida Democrats said state party Chairwoman Nikki Fried and Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book were among them.

    “As the Democratic leader in the Florida Senate, it’s my job to a lead this incredible group of 11 Democrats, other than myself, to fight against these extreme policies,” Book told CNN on Wednesday. ‘Women will die as a consequence of this piece of policy.”

    Other abortion rights advocates say the Florida bill unfairly seeks to ban abortions before many even know they are pregnant.

    “This bill will unfairly and disproportionately impact people who live in rural communities, people with low incomes, people with disabilities, and people of color,” Kara Gross, the legislative director and senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said in a statement.

    “Hundreds of thousands of pregnant people will be forced to travel out of state to seek the care they need. Many people will not even know they are pregnant by six weeks, and for those who do, it is unlikely they will be able to schedule the legally required two in-person doctor’s appointments before six weeks of pregnancy,” Gross said.

    The White House has also criticized the pending bill.

    “The President and Vice President believe women should be able to make health care decisions with their doctors and families – free from political interference. They are committed to protecting access to reproductive care, and continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement when the bill was first introduced.

    State Sen. Clay Yarborough, one of the bill’s Republican sponsors, said “unborn children deserve the strongest protections possible under our laws.”

    The legislation underscores the ongoing efforts across the country to restrict access to abortion in a post-Roe world. Other Republican-led states have also pursued six-week abortion bans that have been met with legal challenges.

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  • Ex-Fox producer said she gave misleading testimony in Dominion case ‘to keep my job’ | CNN Business

    Ex-Fox producer said she gave misleading testimony in Dominion case ‘to keep my job’ | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Abby Grossberg, the former Fox News producer who accused the right-wing network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion defamation case, told NBC News Thursday in her first TV interview that she was “bullied, intimidated and coerced” into protecting the right-wing network to keep her job.

    “It felt awful. I mean it felt terrible because I knew that I was bullied, intimidated, and coerced into saying that just to keep my job and stay at the company,” Grossberg told NBC.

    Asked why she did that, Grossberg said “Because I made the decision to keep my job so that I can keep paying my bills. It seemed like the safer decision for me at the time.”

    Her latest comments echo what she said last week in an interview with CNN’s Oliver Darcy, where she said she filed the lawsuit to protect her career and “expose the lies and deceit” that she says is rampant at the right-wing network.

    Fox News contests all of her allegations, and said in a prior statement that, “the assertion that Ms. Grossberg was coached or intimidated into being dishonest during her Dominion deposition is patently false.”

    Fox News also denies wrongdoing in the underlying Dominion case, and says it didn’t defame anyone.

    Last week, Grossberg filed explosive lawsuits in New York and Delaware accusing Fox News lawyers of pressuring her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion case – testimony that would protect the network and its top talent. Since filing the lawsuit, she submitted new sworn testimony in the Dominion defamation case that undermines some of Fox’s defenses.

    She also claimed in her lawsuit that she had been subjected to a toxic and sexist work environment while at Fox News. The network has vehemently pushed back against these allegations.

    After filing the lawsuit, Grossberg was fired from Fox News. The right-wing network said in a statement that she violated corporate rules improperly exposed legally privileged information in her lawsuit.

    During Thursday’s interview, Grossberg said that she experienced harassment so severe that she thought about killing herself.

    “I reached a breaking point where the harassment was so bad that I called a crisis line,” Grossberg told NBC News. “I thought I could just walk in front of a car and I wouldn’t have to go to work tomorrow.”

    Describing the allegedly toxic workplace at the right-wing network, Grossberg said: “Women were objectified. It was a game. It was a sport. Female politicians who came on the show were mocked. There were debates about who they’d rather sleep with. C-word all the time.”

    A Fox News spokesperson didn’t offer any comment when asked about Grossberg’s mention of suicide. But the spokesperson denied Grossberg’s claims of workplace misogyny, saying her lawsuit was “riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.” The spokesperson also noted that women are currently serving as the CEO of Fox News Media and the presidents of two of its networks.

    Fox News is no stranger to claims of workplace sexism. Fox News founder Roger Ailes, former primetime star host Bill O’Reilly and other men were forced out amid sexual harassment allegations, and the network has paid tens of millions to settle related lawsuits.

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  • Pope Francis expands Catholic Church sexual abuse law to cover lay leaders | CNN

    Pope Francis expands Catholic Church sexual abuse law to cover lay leaders | CNN

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    Rome, Italy
    CNN
     — 

    Pope Francis has updated a 2019 church law governing clerical sexual abuse and extended it to include accountability for Catholic lay leaders of Vatican-approved religious organizations.

    Lay leaders are people other than clergy members who are on the professional rosters of the church.

    The norms were first defined by Francis in an Apostolic letter, Vos estis lux mundi, in 2019 and were originally mandated for a four-year period.

    Francis has now made minor changes to that document and made it permanent, effective April 30, according to a document released by the Vatican on Saturday.

    For decades the Catholic Church has been plagued by a series of sex abuse scandals in countries around the world.

    The new norms represent Pope Francis’ pledge to offer “concrete measures” to combat sexual abuse.

    One of the changes includes provisions for holding lay leaders of Vatican-approved associations accountable for cover-ups of sexual abuse. The norms previously only related to bishops and religious superiors.

    Another change involves the definition of abuse victims, which previously referred to “minors and vulnerable persons.”

    The updated document now specifies “a minor, or with a person who habitually has an imperfect use of reason, or with a vulnerable adult.”

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  • Trump and E. Jean Carroll agree to combine rape defamation trials | CNN Politics

    Trump and E. Jean Carroll agree to combine rape defamation trials | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Former President Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll have agreed to combine two upcoming trials next month regarding Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s.

    In a joint court filing Friday, lawyers said they wanted to hold the trial April 25 in New York in two suits Carroll has filed – one for allegedly defamatory comments Trump made as president in 2019, and a second for battery and other statements Trump made after he left office.

    Trump denies all claims brought against him by Carroll.

    Carroll, a former magazine writer, alleged Trump raped her in a New York department store dressing room and defamed her when he denied the rape, said “she’s not my type” and alleged she made the claim to boost sales of her book.

    “[E]vidence relating to this central factual question ‘is relevant to both cases,’ and will be presented at both trials,” the lawyers wrote Friday. “Because of the overlapping nature of these proceedings, a single trial will reduce costs across the board, avoid the risk of inconsistent factual rulings or jury confusion, and economize matters for the Court (as well as for both parties’ witnesses).”

    A federal judge must still approve the proposal to combine the trials.

    The proposed combined trial, the lawyers added, should continue regardless of the ongoing legal attempt by the former president to have the first defamation lawsuit thrown out.

    Trump and the Justice Department said he was a federal employee and his statements denying Carroll’s allegations were made in response to reporters’ questions while he was at the White House. They argue that the Justice Department should be substituted as the defendant, which, because the government cannot be sued for defamation, would end the lawsuit.

    A Washington, DC, appeals court is reviewing if Trump was acting within the scope of his employment when he made the allegedly defamatory statements.

    Carroll brought her second lawsuit against Trump last November, after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which allows adults alleging sexual assault to bring civil claims years after the attack.

    At the same time, Carroll alleged that Trump continued his defamatory statements on his social media platform, Truth Social.

    “It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years. And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!” the post said.

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  • Man convicted of removing condom without consent during sex in Netherlands’ first “stealthing” trial

    Man convicted of removing condom without consent during sex in Netherlands’ first “stealthing” trial

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    A Dutch man was convicted Tuesday of removing his condom during sex without his partner’s consent, in the first trial in the Netherlands for so-called “stealthing.”

    However Dordrecht District Court acquitted the man of a rape charge because it ruled that the sex was consensual.

    “By his actions, the suspect forced the victim to tolerate having unprotected sex with him. In doing so, he restricted her personal freedom and abused the trust she had placed in him,” the court said.

    The suspect sent the victim texts afterwards including one that said “you will be fine,” AFP reported, citing the court.

    Other courts also have also tackled the phenomenon in recent years. In a case in Germany, a Berlin court in 2018 convicted a police officer of sexual assault and gave him an eight-month suspended sentence for secretly removing his condom during intercourse, and ordered him to pay damages of nearly 3,100 euros to the victim. The suspended sentence was reduced to six months on an initial appeal.

    In 2021, California lawmakers made the state the first in the U.S. to outlaw “stealthing,” making it illegal to remove a condom without obtaining verbal consent. But it didn’t change the criminal code. Instead, it would amend the civil code so that a victim could sue the perpetrator for damages, including punitive damages.

    In the case in Dordrecht, a 28-year-old man from Rotterdam was given a three-month suspended prison term – meaning he won’t have to serve the sentence unless he commits another crime – and ordered to pay his victim 1,000 euros ($1,073) in damages.

    In a separate case, judges cleared a 25-year-old man after finding that he had not removed a condom at any time, but had instead failed to put one on in the heat of the moment.

    The Netherlands has no specific law against “stealthing” but these were the first rulings on the practice, public broadcaster NOS said, adding that there had been similar rulings in countries including Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand.

    A 2017 Yale study that found both men and women have been victims of stealthing. The researchers found that along with victims being fearful of having gotten a sexually transmitted infection or an unwanted pregnancy, they also described the experience as a “disempowering, demeaning violation of a sexual agreement.” 

    AFP contributed to this report.

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  • Judge says jury in E. Jean Carroll case can see ‘Access Hollywood’ tape and testimony of two other accusers | CNN Politics

    Judge says jury in E. Jean Carroll case can see ‘Access Hollywood’ tape and testimony of two other accusers | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge on Friday said that E. Jean Carroll, in her defamation case against former President Donald Trump, can use as evidence the testimony of two other sexual assault accusers as well as the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he bragged about being able to grope women.

    US District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump’s request that the judge block the accusers from testifying at trial. Trump also asked the judge to block the Access Hollywood tape from being played at the trial.

    Carroll, the former magazine columnist who sued Trump for defamation after he denied raping her in the mid-1990s, has indicated that she will call Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds, two women who came forward with allegations against Trump in 2016, as well as use their videotaped depositions.

    Stoynoff alleged Trump sexually assaulted her when she was reporting an article about Trump and his wife, Melania, for People magazine. Leeds alleged Trump groped her while they were on an airplane together. Trump has denied both allegations, as well as Carroll’s rape claims.

    In Friday’s opinion, the judge pointed to court rules passed by Congress in 1994 that say that that in a civil case “based on a party’s sexual assault,” evidence that the defendant committed any other sexual assault may be admitted in trial.

    The judge said that, even though Carroll’s case is a defamation case, she must prove Trump sexually assaulted her in order to prevail.

    “In consequence, this indeed is a case ‘based on’ a sexual assault even under the categorical approach,” said Kaplan, who sits on the federal bench in the Southern District of New York.

    The judge noted that Trump has publicly denied the accusations of the other women Carroll seeks to put on the stand and said that Trump is entitled to put those denials before the jury.

    Carroll is also seeking to introduce as evidence statements Trump made during the 2016 campaign about his accusers. Kaplan is deferring on ruling whether those statements are admissible.

    Trump’s lawyers had argued that the Access Hollywood tape was “irrelevant and highly prejudicial.” They argued that the testimony of the two other accusers “will offer no relevant or meaningful insight into the central question.”

    “We maintain the utmost confidence that our client will be vindicated at the upcoming trial,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said Friday.

    A spokesperson for Carroll’s lawyers declined to comment on the new ruling.

    The case is set to go to trial in April while awaiting a DC appeals court decision that could determine whether the case proceeds against Trump. Carroll also sued Trump for battery and defamation in a separate lawsuit under a new New York law. The judge has not determined whether the trials will be combined.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • US Chess Federation investigates grandmaster following accusations of sexual misconduct | CNN

    US Chess Federation investigates grandmaster following accusations of sexual misconduct | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A chess grandmaster is under investigation by the game’s governing body in the US following accusations of sexual misconduct, according to the US Chess Federation.

    Two formal complaints were received last September by the federation regarding conduct by Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez and the investigation “is ongoing,” the organization stated Thursday, adding that Ramirez’s membership has been suspended.

    The announcement comes after two-time US women’s chess champion Jennifer Shahade posted on social media on February 15, “Time’s up,” accompanied by a two-page statement saying she was assaulted by Ramirez two times “9 and 10 years ago.”

    Shahade wrote that she was speaking out now after other women had approached her with their own accounts of abuse by Ramirez.

    CNN has reached out to Ramirez for comment about the accusations through his lawyer Albert S. Watkins, who replied, “I have been directed to respect the confidentiality I was advised would purportedly attach to pending investigative undertakings.”

    The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the accusations, quoted Watkins as saying, “At some point we are all compelled to take pause and reflect on the reality that unsubstantiated, temporally aged, and concurrent use of social media to incite a ‘Me Too’ call-to-arms runs afoul of every constitutional safeguard we have always held so dear. Superimposing today’s mores on erroneous recitals of acts of yesteryear is a recipe for disaster for both the accused and the accuser.”

    Shahade told CNN she had notified the US Chess Federation and the prominent Saint Louis Chess Club – where Ramirez served as a resident Grandmaster – of the alleged transgressions in 2020. She again reported concerns about Ramirez in 2021 after learning of a separate allegation from a fellow chess player, she said.

    Since her tweet last month, Shahade told the Wall Street Journal and CNN that other women have told her about alleged experiences of abuse by Ramirez.

    US Chess said it “strongly respects the right of alleged victims to control when and to whom they tell their story. However, because US Chess did not receive complaints from, or sufficient information regarding, the allegations of the other women referenced in the WSJ article, we have not had the opportunity to investigate and consider those additional allegations. That process is underway.”

    The Wall Street Journal reports Ramirez has resigned from his post at the Saint Louis Chess Club.

    Ramirez had been a chess coach with Saint Louis University since the inception of the school’s chess program in 2016. A university spokesperson told CNN Thursday, “On February 16, at our request, the St. Louis Chess Club removed Ramirez as SLU’s coach. They have since assigned an interim coach to lead the team.”

    Shahade told CNN Thursday, “I am relieved to hear Alejandro Ramirez resigned from the chess club and SLU. It is high time for a new chess era where we do all we can to make women, girls and all children feel fully safe and welcome.”

    CNN has reached out to the Saint Louis Chess Club and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for comment.

    According to the Saint Louis Chess Club website, Ramirez was a chess prodigy and a FIDE Master when he was 9 years old. Ramirez earned his Grandmaster title by the age of 15.

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  • Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend has lawsuits against golfer and trust | CNN

    Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend has lawsuits against golfer and trust | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Erica Herman, who was a longtime girlfriend of golfer Tiger Woods, has filed two separate complaints after the six-year relationship between the pair came to an end. Both filings were made to the circuit court in Martin County, Florida.

    The first suit, filed in October 2022, alleges a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking the oral tenancy agreement. The filing states the actual damages “are likely to be measured in excess of $30,000,000.” Woods is not named as a defendant in the October lawsuit.

    In December, the trust filed a motion for the court to dismiss with prejudice in response to Herman’s complaint, alleging that the dispute between the two began when Woods broke off his relationship with Herman in October and informed her “that she was no longer welcome in” Woods’ home.

    It further states that the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between the two required “confidential arbitration in all disputes between” Herman and Woods, and that Herman’s suit violates that agreement. A copy of the NDA is attached to Woods’ trust’s motion, but the publicly available version of that document is redacted entirely.

    A more recent complaint aimed at nullifying the NDA was served to Woods on Monday. Both cases are being brought by Fisher Potter Hodas, a Florida-based family law specialist. CNN reached out to Fisher Potter Hodas for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.

    CNN also reached out to Woods’ representatives for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

    The October filing alleges that Woods’ Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust unlawfully brought Herman’s tenancy at the couple’s property on the Hobe Sound, Florida, to an end.

    The legal filing states, “the Defendant (Woods and his trust) elected to engage in ‘prohibited practices,’ i.e., self-help, causing… severe emotional damages to the Plaintiff. The prohibited practices were done intentionally, with premeditation, and with malice aforethought.”

    Specifically, the lawsuit claims “agents of the Defendant” told Herman “to pack a suitcase for a short vacation” before revealing to her that she had been locked out of the house on arrival at the airport. It claims lawyers for the trust were on hand to “confront” Herman with “proposals to resolve the wrongdoing they were in the midst of committing.”

    The filing also alleges that agents of Woods and the trust have since removed Herman’s belongings from the property and “misappropriated” over $40,000 of her cash.

    The NDA was signed in August 2017 according to the court filing, but Herman believes it is “invalid and unenforceable.”

    It notes that during litigation, a trust controlled by Woods commenced an arbitration against Herman based on the NDA, thus expressing its belief that the agreement remains valid.

    The filing asks for the “purported arbitration clause” in the NDA be deemed unenforceable under the federal Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 and the federal Speak Out Act.

    The former bill, coming into public law in March 2022, “invalidates arbitration agreements that preclude a party from filing a lawsuit in court involving sexual assault or sexual harassment, at the election of the party alleging such conduct,” according to Congress’ website.

    The Speak Out Act became public law in December 2022 and “prohibits the judicial enforceability of a nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment.”

    The filing does not accuse Woods of sexual assault or sexual harassment. In a civil cover sheet appended to the October suit, Herman’s attorney indicated “no” when asked whether the case “involves allegations of sexual abuse.”

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  • New Meta platform aims to prevent sextortion of teens on Facebook and Instagram | CNN Business

    New Meta platform aims to prevent sextortion of teens on Facebook and Instagram | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Meta is taking steps to crack down on the spread of intimate images of teenagers on Facebook and Instagram.

    A new tool, called Take It Down, takes aim at a practice commonly referred to as “revenge porn,” where someone posts an explicit picture of an individual without their consent to publicly embarrass or cause them distress. The practice has skyrocketed in the last few years on social media, particularly among young boys.

    Take It Down, which is operated and run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, will allow minors for the first time to anonymously attach a hash – or digital fingerprint – to intimate images or videos directly from their own devices, without having to upload them to the new platform. To create a hash of an explicit image, a teen can visit the website TakeItDown.NCMEC.org to install software onto their device. The anonymized number, not the image, will then be stored in a database linked to Meta so that if the photo is ever posted to Facebook or Instagram, it will be matched against the original, reviewed and potentially removed.

    “This issue has been incredibly important to Meta for a very, very long time because the damage done is quite severe in the context of teens or adults,” said Antigone Davis, Meta’s global safety director. “It can do damage to their reputation and familial relationships, and puts them in a very vulnerable position. It’s important that we find tools like this to help them regain control of what can be a very difficult and devastating situation.”

    The tool works for any image shared across Facebook and Instagram, including Messenger and direct messages, as long as the pictures are unencrypted.

    People under 18 years old can use Take It Down, and parents or trusted adults can also use the platform on behalf of a young person. The effort is fully funded by Meta and builds off a similar platform it launched in 2021 alongside more than 70 NGOs, called StopNCII, to prevent revenge porn among adults.

    Since 2016, NCMEC’s cyber tip line has received more than 250,000 reports of online enticement, including sextortion, and the number of those reports more than doubled between 2019 and 2019. In the last year, 79% of the offenders were seeking money to keep photos offline, according to the nonprofit. Many of these cases played out on social media.

    Meta’s efforts come nearly a year and a half after Davis was grilled by Senators about the impact its apps have on younger users, after an explosive report indicated the company was aware that Facebook-owned Instagram could have a “toxic” effect on teen girls. Although the company has rolled out a handful of new tools and protections since then, some experts say it has taken too long and more needs to be done.

    Meanwhile, President Biden demanded in his latest State of the Union address more transparency about tech companies’ algorithms and how they impact their young users’ mental health.

    In response, Davis told CNN that Meta “welcomes efforts to introduce standards for the industry on how to ensure that children can safely navigate and enjoy all that online services have to offer.”

    In the meantime, she said the company continues to double down on efforts to help protect its young users, particularly when it comes to keeping explicit photos off its site.

    “Sextortion is one of the biggest growing crimes we see at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” said Gavin Portnoy, vice president of communications and branding at NCMEC. “We’re calling it the hidden pandemic, and nobody is really talking about it.”

    Portnoy said there’s also been an uptick in youth dying by suicide as a result of sextortion. “That is the driving force behind creating Take It Down, along with our partners,” he said. “It really gives survivors an opportunity to say, look, I’m not going to let you do this to me. I have the power over my images and my videos.”

    In addition to Meta’s platforms, OnlyFans and Pornhub’s parent company MindGeek are also adding this technology into their services.

    But limitations do exist. To get around the hashing technology, people can alter the original images, such as by cropping, adding emojis or doctoring them. Some changes, such as adding a filter to make the photo sepia or black and white, will still be flagged by the system. Meta recommends teens who have multiple copies of the image or edited versions make a hash for each one.

    “There’s no one panacea for the issue of sextortion or the issue of the non-consensual sharing of intimate images,” Davis said. “It really does take a holistic approach.”

    The company has rolled out a series of updates to help teens have an age-appropriate experience on its platforms, such as adding new supervision tools for parents, an age-verification technology and defaulting teens into the most private settings on Facebook and Instagram.

    This is not the first time a major tech company has poured resources into cracking down on explicit imagery of minors. In 2022, Apple abandoned its plans to launch a controversial tool that would check iPhones, iPads and iCloud photos for child sexual abuse material following backlash from critics who decried the feature’s potential privacy implications.

    “Children can be protected without companies combing through personal data, and we will continue working with governments, child advocates, and other companies to help protect young people, preserve their right to privacy, and make the internet a safer place for children and for us all,” the company said in a statement provided to Wired at the time.

    Davis did not comment on whether it’s expecting criticism for Meta’s approach, but noted “there were significant differences between the tool that Apple launched and the tool that NCMEC is launching today.” She emphasized Meta will not be checking for images on users phones.

    “I do welcome any member of the industry trying to invest in efforts to prevent this kind of terrible crime from happening on their apps,” she added.

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  • Justice Department Concurs With Matt Gaetz Defense That 17-Year-Olds Pretty Much Ready To Roll

    Justice Department Concurs With Matt Gaetz Defense That 17-Year-Olds Pretty Much Ready To Roll

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    WASHINGTON—Announcing the decision to end its sex-trafficking investigation into the Republican congressman, the Justice Department stated Friday that it concurred with Rep. Matt Gaetz’s defense that 17-year-olds were pretty much ready to roll. “After two years of pouring over every detail within this highly sensitive case, we have concluded that Mr. Gaetz was correct when he pointed out that come on, at that age, a girl is all but cleared for landing,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland, who added that the women Gaetz is alleged to have paid for sex—at least one of whom was a girl under 18—were mature for their age, and that they were “pretty much fair game” if they wanted to accept cash in exchange for sleeping with a member of Congress. “The Justice Department took this case extremely seriously, and by all accounts, the witnesses and the evidence point to the fact that these girls were definitely old enough to give the green light. If anything, we agree with Gaetz that they’d also have been ready to do that at an even younger age, like 14 or 15. Seriously, just look at them.” Garland went on to announce that any underage woman who came forward to accuse Gaetz of sex-trafficking would face federal charges of being a ho-bag slut.

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  • ‘Don’t let another sister suffer’: Alleged gang rape in Pakistan’s ‘Central Park’ sparks protests | CNN

    ‘Don’t let another sister suffer’: Alleged gang rape in Pakistan’s ‘Central Park’ sparks protests | CNN

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    Islamabad, Pakistan
    CNN
     — 

    The alleged gang rape of a woman in a park in Pakistan has enraged women’s rights activists who are protesting against what they see as “increasing sexual barbarism” in the country.

    The woman, 24, was with a male colleague in the capital Islamabad’s Fatima Jinnah park – known locally as F9 park and the largest in the city – last Thursday when they were allegedly attacked by two armed men, according to a statement she filed with the police, seen by CNN.

    The woman alleged the men forced the pair toward a “jungle area” of the park where they ripped off her clothes and raped her.

    She said the men told her she should not have been in the park at night and asked about her connection to her colleague.

    “When I responded, I was slapped. My hair was pulled and I was thrown on the floor,” the woman said in her police statement.

    The incident has sparked outrage in the country of 220 million, which is highly patriarchal and where violent attacks against women and girls frequently make headlines.

    Scores of protesters have tied their dupattas – scarves worn by South Asian women – to the railings of the park, alongside messages imploring change.

    “Please don’t let another sister suffer,” one note read. “Save the women and kids of Pakistan,” read another.

    The rights group, Aurat Azadi March (Women’s Freedom March), said in a statement, “There is an increasing sexual barbarism in Pakistan, and criminal silence on it by the state and society is unacceptable.”

    “We are enraged. We are in pain. And we will not let this be forgotten.”

    A spokesperson for Islamabad police told CNN no arrests had been made in the case so far.

    Fatima Jinnah park is a sprawling oasis spread across the center of Islamabad in an affluent part of the city, and has a high security presence. It is often likened to New York’s Central Park as families often gather for festivals and children play at the park throughout the day.

    The government on Sunday ordered domestic television channels not to report on the alleged assault, citing the need to protect the woman’s identity.

    In a statement, Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority said any broadcast of news reports was “prohibited with immediate effect.”

    More than 5,200 women reported being raped in the country in 2021, according to Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission, but experts believe the actual number is much higher as many women are afraid to come forward due to social stigma and victim blaming.

    Fewer than 3% of sexual assault or rape cases result in a conviction in Pakistan, Reuters reported in December 2020, citing Karachi-based non-profit War Against Rape.

    In December 2020, Pakistan toughened its rape laws to create special courts to try cases within four months and provide medical examinations to women within six hours of a complaint being made. But activists say Pakistan continues to fail its women and does not have a nationwide law criminalizing domestic violence, leaving many vulnerable to assault.

    In 2021, the beheading of Noor Mukadam, a Pakistani ambassador’s daughter, sent shockwaves through the country with protesters calling on the government to do more to protect women.

    Her killer, Zahir Jaffer, the 30-year-old son of an influential family and a dual Pakistan-US national who knew Mukadam, was sentenced to death by an Islamabad judge last February.

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