Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/11/02/woman-who-claims-trump-raped.html
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I should be shocked at this, and the actual case… but jeez how jaded have I gotten that they could release news that Trump is a serial killer with dozens of victims and I would just be oh that sounds plausible…
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Seems hinky. Apparently news organizations have been approached with offers of details, but the accuser has been unwilling to be interviewed directly. Sounds like a group of “Never Trump” folks bankrolling an all-too-plausible, but probably bullshit, smear campaign.
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The disgusting part is that it’s not even plausible, but rather guaranteed that tRump’s core of support would absolutely threaten her with rape and death even if they believed her story was true.
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It’s very generous to give Epstein the benefit of the doubt but I think you can drop the “alleged” qualifier once someone pleads guilty to banging 14-year-old prostitutes. (And that was part of an unusually lenient plea deal to avoid more serious charges.)
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With those tiny hands? Nah, he’d hire the best Klansmen to do it for him. (I can’t even tell that’s a joke anymore.)
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The fact that this is supposed to have taken place at an Epstein party in fact hugely elevates the plausibility of this accusation.
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Hey, if all that “grab 'em by the pussy” stuff was just part of an attempt to look cool in front of Billy Bush then just imagine what Trump might have done to impress pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
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unfortunately, his supporters wouldn’t even blink an eye and somehow justify that some people just need killing.
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And it continues to be hinky
So far as I’m aware noone has been able to confirm that the accuser exists, or make any sort of solid contact. That Huffpo article links through to a reporter who spoke to some one claiming to be Johnson. But that writer apparently came away from it confused, and offered little detail.
It becomes relatively impossible to judge the plausibility of these claims if noone can even make contact with the accuser. IIRC even her lawyer (so far as I know Bloom is not her lawyer, its still the patent attorney Meagher) claims not to have met her in person. You can’t do base reporting of any kind without even an anonymous source.
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His tiny hands could explain why he wanted those alleged hand jobs from those girls. Probably felt like he was being stroked by a juicy meat mitten (Trump steak maybe?).
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Well, I can certainly see being afraid of threats, given his supporters and their tendency to go after anyone in the public eye who says anything about Trump.
That said, I can also see not diving into it as a reporter when there are so many unknowns. Might as well devote more ink to HRC’s emails or something.
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There is supposedly at least one witness to the alleged rape, so… we’ll see.
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And that witness (or witnesses, some sources cite two) have the same issue. No-one can seem to make contact or confirm their identities or even existence. It’s all very weird, even journalists attempting to make contact for base reporting seem to come up nards.
lots of suspicious stories getting flung around right now against both candidates, this election is a shit show.
what is depressing to me is that he is one of the two presidential candidates and most people think this story is suspicious because the reported victim hasn’t come forward publicly, not because this is necessarily out of character or the realm of possibility for trump.
what a crazy election. 
#SMDH
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That’s not what makes me suspicious. Its that reporters attempting to make contact to confirm the story using the accuser as an anonymous source seem to be hitting a brick wall. Based on normal journalistic ethics you can report this as claimed with a name and a face. Without that you need to non-publicly confirm an ID and details. From what I can tell reporters attempting to do so have had no luck. Instead finding a Never-Trump republican with a history of bizarre behavior and a former Jerry Springer producer with a history of making up salacious claims about celebrities and peddling it for profit. Who were trying to sell this information for profit.
Even Bloom could not get the accuser to show up to a scheduled press conference. And the much promoted “trial” is a simple process hearing.
Its all very weird. None of the “evidence” seems to go beyond some paper work.
What bothers and disturbs me is how easy its been to use this story to dismiss and distract from the very real and very well attested credible accusations against Trump. His campaign has pointed to this suit as evidence of Hillary manufacturing claims about Trump. And I’ve seldom seen social media mentions of his other accusers that didn’t involve direct reference to this case. Which leads directly to easy dismissals by Trumpvestites of the whole shebang.
I’m glad Boing Boing is keeping up with it. And I’m glad they’re taking a sort of middle road with it (at the moment). And its certainly something to watch.
Frankly I’d like to believe it. Because its so clearly in the realm of possibility for Trump. But we’ve got to check our own biases. Right now there isn’t enough (or any) information to really make a determination. And the circumstantial stuff is. Well not good. I’d totally be willing to buy it if there was at least one respectable journalist who could vet this and tell me “I did the work, its credible”.
Its a little disturbing to me how many people on the left seem totally whole hog for this. I have friends and acquaintances who mention it daily. But those same people ceaseless call out the holes in similar claims from everyone they disagree with. Whether that’s the GOP. Or Hillary, or the DNC or what have. Its a weird glaring example of confirmation bias from the supposedly rational parts of the left. And its like I keep seeing examples of the progressive end of things giving up and drinking the conspiracy driven, reality as spin, purity above all else, culture war first bullshit.
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Here’s an idea: in the absence of evidence about a factual matter, it makes no sense to have an opinion. The facts will come out, or they won’t, in time. Anybody here whose vote is hanging on a timely resolution of this suit? No? Then the only opinion that matters is the jury’s.
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Maybe replace ‘even’ with ‘especially’ at the core’s core.
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I think the thing is to just leave this one alone until / if things become clearer, because all the alternatives are so emotionally unhygienic. Should I root for an allegation of child rape to be true? Speculate on whether a potential victim is just doing it for money?
If the story’s true, then withholding my attention does no harm, and if it’s not, it doesn’t deserve my attention. It’s not like we’re going to run out of reasons why Trump shouldn’t be in the White House society.
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