Adam Ag 98 said:
Have we seen anything come from anyone testifying in front of a congressional committee since Iran-Contra?
The last time anyone was punished for failing to comply to a congressional committee was when Rita Lavelle (a Republican), EPA official April 26, 1983 the House Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives found her in contempt as well as she was Indicted for lying to Congress; convicted; sentenced to 6 months in prison, 5 years probation thereafter, and a fine of $10,000.
Since then Lois Lerner, Eric Holder and Carl Ferrer, the CEO of Backpage were all found in contempt of Congress and lying to congress however the DOJ under Barry never went after them legally. In fact Loretta Lynch on January 9 2017 with 11 days left in her tenure stated that the Backpage executives all had immunity under section 230 of the CDA, and the day before they were to have to testify before the Senate Judiciary committee. for charges a child trafficking, pretty much shutting down the Senate investigation into all that child trafficking and underage prostitution, and they were allowed to carry on business as usual.
However in March of 2018 the Trump DOJ went after Carl Ferrer, arrested him and seized his assets. He also agreed to a plea deal in which he will testify against other alleged co-conspirators, such as but not limited to founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin. The State of Texas also has cases pending against them for Human Trafficking and pimping underage girls. They are all still in the works. The State of Texas has vowed to go for maximum sentencing against Lacey and Larkin. The company Backpage was seized by the feds and shut down on April 6 2018.
On April 6, 2018, Backpage was seized by the DOJ, and Michael Lacey's home was raided by the FBI. Lacey was charged with money laundering and violations of the Travel Act.
On April 9, 2018, the DOJ's indictment against Backpage was unsealed. The 93 charges include, but are not limited to:
Quote:
"Crimes of conspiracy to facilitate prostitution using a facility in interstate or foreign commerce, facilitating prostitution using a facility in interstate or foreign commerce, conspiracy to commit money laundering, concealment money laundering, international promotional money laundering, and transactional money laundering."
Reading the indictment the seven people charged in the indictment are: Michael Lacey of Paradise Valley, Arizona; James Larkin of Paradise Valley, Arizona; Scott Spear of Scottsdale, Arizona; John E. "Jed" Brunst of Phoenix, Arizona; Daniel Hyer of Dallas, Texas; Andrew Padilla of Plano, Texas; and Jaala Joye Vaught of Addison, Texas. These cases are all still pending sentencing since they all plead guilty in the federal charges, but the State of Texas cases are still in the works and Paxton wants to lock them up forever. Their lawyers kept filing continuances hoping Paxton would lose his re-election this year but he didn't and I suspect they will start trying to make a plea deal ASAP, but I doubt Paxton goes along, they have them dead to rights, since the Federal Judges ruled that they fell outside of the immunity under Section 230.
So this DOJ under Trump has shown a little backbone but we will see if they follow through completely. Never take a hostage you aren't willing to shoot,
Remember, America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.
Code 7 10-42