The Week in Washington: “A Shameful Assault on Families Across the Country”
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” President Trump said in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” But 17 years later, that social life has become far less enjoyable. The notorious pedophile is now rotting in a New York jail, facing up to 45 years in prison on sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges. The reason this billionaire was running free in the first place was that in 2008, when he was busted in Florida for his involvement with underage girls, some as young as 14, his attorneys negotiated an amazing sweetheart deal—he was sentenced to only 13 months in prison, and he only had to sleep there—he was allowed to go to his office for 12 hours a day. This incredible arrangement—can you imagine another sexual predator being so lucky?—was sanctioned by Alexander Acosta, then the US attorney in Miami, and, until Friday, Trump’s Secretary of Labor, when he was forced to resign in the face of mounting outrage over his role in the Epstein case.
Of course, now Trump insists he barely knew Epstein, though there is plenty of documentary evidence that the two had “lots of fun” together back in the day. If this has a familiar ring, it might be because the president has also claimed he was barely acquainted with a slew of other disgraced close associates, including his former lawyer Michael Cohen, his former senior White House advisor Steve Bannon, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his former adviser Roger Stone, and his former campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
In other news, after the Supreme Court ruled late last month that the administration could not add a question about citizenship to the upcoming census, the president fulminated that he would find some way, any way, to get this question back on the form. But by Thursday, he had caved and was forced to admit defeat—the forms would indeed go out minus the citizenship question. Standing in the Rose Garden flanked by his henchmen, Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Trump declared in typical 1984-ish fashion that in fact he was still the winner! He would be pursuing other avenues to count non-citizens! Maybe he would issue an executive order!
On Tuesday a federal appeals court ruled that the president has been violating the Constitution by blocking people from following his Twitter account because they criticized or made fun of him. On Friday, those of us salivating over the prospect of Robert Mueller finally testifying before congress in open session found out that we will have to wait another week—the hearing has been delayed until July 24th , reportedly to allow the former special prosecutor more time to prepare.
Lastly, the horror show at the border continues to unfold. On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife visited two facilities. According to the Washington Post, Pence “… saw nearly 400 men crammed behind caged fences with not enough room for them all to lie down on the concrete ground. There were no mats or pillows for those who found the space to rest. A stench from body odor hung stale in the air. When reporters toured the facility before Pence, the men screamed that they’d been held there 40 days, some longer. They said they were hungry and wanted to brush their teeth. It was sweltering hot, but the only water was outside the fences and they needed to ask permission from the Border Patrol agents to drink.” After viewing the conditions, the Vice President commented, “This is tough stuff.”
Meanwhile, The White House continues its own version of tough stuff, ratcheting up its assault on undocumented immigrants. The administration has announced plans to launch raids today on immigrant families living in major cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco. But many government officials are fighting back, instructing local law enforcement not to cooperate with ICE. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced, “We’re not going to put children in cages or leave them in inhumane conditions. Our job is to help those families as best as we can.” San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared, “If you want to come after them, you’re going to have to come through us.” And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued the following statement: “There are multiple reports that the Trump Administration will launch its previously announced blitz of ICE raids across the country this Sunday, including here in New York. This shameful assault on families across the country will no doubt lead to further separations of children from their parents and 'collateral arrests' by ICE, where individuals with no orders of deportation will be detained. This politically motivated directive is despicable and inhumane, and New York will fight it.”
Originally Appeared on Vogue
