Candidates, be wary of certain donations
With the political air ripe with the stench of sexual misconduct allegations, I have some free advice for Democratic candidates who care to listen: If you start getting a bunch of campaign contributions for thousands of dollars from unknown companies you’ve never heard of, all using the same post office box in the U.S. Virgin Islands, don’t cash those checks! Make like that Elvis Presley song and “Return to Sender.”
Gary King learned that the hard way back in 2014 when he was the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor.
King had to return more than $35,000 in contributions after some pesky reporter (myself ) learned the mysterious P.O. box matched that of registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a onetime New Mexico resident. Epstein, a billionaire with lots of friends in high places, has a private island there.
If he didn’t already sound like a James Bond villain, Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. He also paid cash settlements to several women.
It’s surprising he never made friends with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, who is facing credible allegations of preying on — and in one case sexually assaulting — teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
To be fair, unlike Epstein, Moore never has been convicted of any sex crime. On the other hand, there is no danger that Epstein might actually be elected to a U.S. congressional seat.
I thought of Epstein last week when I stumbled on a story in the Palm Beach Post saying a civil trial for Epstein, originally scheduled to begin last week, had been delayed. The allegations in this complex case center on lawsuits filed on behalf of three teenage girls who claim they were paid to give Epstein “sexually charged massages” (that’s what the paper said) at his Florida mansion.
At a hearing last month, the judge in the case “made it clear that he doesn’t want the trial to become X-rated,” the paper said. Judge Donald Hafele said it’s likely that “graphic, sexual questions” will not be allowed into evidence.
The opposing lawyer has agreed not to refer to Epstein as a “a billionaire pedophile” or “a convicted child molester.” I assumed he’ll also refrain from calling Epstein a “creepy scumbag” or “despicable perv” as well.
One witness expected to testify is Virginia Roberts Giuffre who in a lawsuit claims Epstein turned her into a sex slave at age 15. The plot thickens. Giuffre claims this happened when she was working at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Yes, that Mar-a-Lago. This allegedly happened years before Donald Trump became president.
She claims Epstein flew her around the globe in his private jet filled with various celebrities, including Britain’s Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton.
One of the women involved in the suit claims that Epstein forced her to have sex with famous lawyer Alan Dershowitz numerous times, again at locations around the world, including Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Dershowitz has denied those claims.
Epstein bought that ranch in Stanley in 1993 from Gary King’s father, former Gov. Bruce King.
I believe Gary King is an honest, good-hearted and intelligent man with no whiff of personal scandal. He does not deserve to be linked with the Epsteins of the world. But he should have known better than to have taken those contributions. He’d been burned before by taking Epstein contributions.
In 2006, after Epstein was indicted on the underage-sex charges, King was one of several New Mexico Democrats who returned contributions from the billionaire. King, running for attorney general that year, had taken $15,000. Then-Gov. Bill Richardson had taken $50,000 from Epstein. His campaign said Richardson would give the money to charity.
So be careful out there, candidates — Democrats and Republicans, too. It’s good to know who exactly is paying for your bumper stickers and attack ads.
Contact Steve Terrell at 505-986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at www.santafenewmexican.com/ round house_ roundup.