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Tag: sexual assault
Trump Club Waitress: 'I Was Forced To Engage In Sex' To Keep Job

Trump Club Waitress: 'I Was Forced To Engage In Sex' To Keep Job

Alice Bianco, who worked as a server at former President Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, is accusing her former boss of sexual assault, and the ex-president's attorney of making her sign an illegal non-disclosure agreement in an attempt to silence her.

Politico reports the lawsuit, which does not name Trump as a defendant, pertains to alleged sexual assault between May and July of 2021 from Bedminster Golf Club food and beverage manager Pavel Melichar. Bianco's lawsuit says Melichar at first kissed her without her consent, then forced her "to engage in sex as a quid pro quo for continued employment and ‘protection.'" After an attempted assault in July of that year, Bianco said she refused Melichar's advances, which led to him "retaliating against her," giving her "unfair job assignments and allowing his henchmen to abuse her and steal her tips."


Bianco, who was just 21 years old at the time, hired an attorney after she was contacted by the club's human resources department. That was when, according to the lawsuit, Trump attorney Alina Habba reached out to Bianco.

First, the lawsuit alleges that Habba "groomed" Bianco, "pretending to be a friend." This allegedly involved Habba sending Bianco a negative article about the attorney she hired, telling the former server to "be careful" and reminding her that she could fire her attorney at any time. This eventually resulted in Bianco dismissing her lawyer and having no legal representation. At that point, the lawsuit alleges Habba asked Bianco to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which prevented Bianco from talking about the alleged sexual assault that took place at Bedminster. She then offered what Bianco referred to as a "paltry sum" of money in exchange for signing the NDA.

"Alina Habba used the unethical silencing of my client, Ali Bianco, as a way to propel herself into Trump’s inner circle," Nancy Erika Smith, who is currently representing Bianco, said in a public statement. "Her behavior was predatory. Pretending to be 'neutral' when acting on behalf of one party is clearly unethical."

When contacted for comment by Politico, Habba said, "I always conduct myself ethically and acted no differently in this circumstance."

Bianco isn't asking for additional monetary damages in the lawsuit, but is only asking to keep the initial settlement proceeds, for Habba's "unethical behavior" to be referred to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics and for her legal costs to be reimbursed.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Jennifer Carnahan

Exploding Scandals Leave Minnesota GOP In Ruins

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Just months after suffering an upsetting loss during the 2020 presidential election, Minnesota Republicans are now left reeling as a result of the latest loss.

On Thursday, August 19, Jennifer Carnahan, wife of Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN) and embattled chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, submitted her resignation, adding more insult to injury for the ailing political party.

To make matters worse, Carnahan is also "accused by party officials and former staffers of running a toxic, retaliatory workplace, mismanaging party finances and, through the use of non-disclosure agreements, squashing transparency."

Her resignation came just days after Republican donor Anton "Tony" Lazzaro was hit with an indictment of federal sex trafficking charges. Gisela Castro Medina, chairwoman of the University of St. Thomas College Republicans, was also arrested in connection with Lazzaro's scheme as she was accused of assisting him in the sex trafficking of minors.

The publication reports that the accusations against Carnahan and her alleged affiliation with Lazzaro likely contributed to her abrupt departure from the political party. Now, some members of the party are speaking out about the latest scandal and its impact on the political party.

"The party is in ruins," said Michael Brodkorb, former deputy chair of Minnesota's Republican Party. He added, "I don't know if the party has hit rock bottom yet."

Minnesota GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan resigns during Thursday night meetingwww.youtube.com

The timing of her departure is also problematic for the party because it comes at a time female Republican leaders and lawmakers have been working to encourage more young women to embrace the party and run for public office. Now, that plan may also be thwarted as a result of all that has occurred.

"When you have woman after woman after woman coming out and saying that they had an issue with abuse or sexual assault and that our chairwoman stifled their story, that's concerning to me," said Minnesota state Sen. Julia Coleman (R). "If I was a young woman recently graduating, I wouldn't want to come anywhere near the MN GOP."

Despite all that has happened, some members of the party believe it was necessary for Carnahan to be removed. Former Minnesota Senate majority leader Amy Koch (R) insisted the party had to distance itself from a "terrible chair" who "wielded a hammer and kept power in this state through intimidation and false accusations and all the things people hate about politics."

She later added, "What happened this week is that a bunch of activists and legislators and former legislators, all those folks stood up and said it's not OK. It's not OK. We're not going to allow this to go forward."

Joe Polunc, a former GOP chair in Carver County, Minnesota, also weighed in on the future of the party admitting that it will likely face challenges for an extended period of time.

"The party's going to have to suffer to some extent," said Polunc. "I mean, the media's all over it … so there's going to be a period of time, it will be difficult."

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings

Idaho GOP Lawmaker Urged To Resign After Doxxing Alleged Rape Victim

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings, a Republican, faced renewed calls to resign on Monday following her decision to out an alleged rape victim.

In a Facebook post, the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic violence urged supporters to "demand accountability from Rep. Giddings" and to "ask her to resign."

The call echoes a recent demand for an investigation by the Idaho House Ethics Committee into Giddings' actions by the Idaho 97 Project, a state group focused on countering disinformation and extremism.

In March, an intern for then-Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger (R) alleged that he raped her in his apartment after they went to a restaurant. Von Ehlinger denied the claim. After an ethics committee looked into the allegation and determined that Von Ehlinger had engaged in "behavior unbecoming" and recommended he be suspended without pay, he resigned from the Idaho Legislature.

Before that happened, in a "legislative update" to constituents, Giddings attacked the alleged victim.

"The allegations are straight out of the liberal play book; they are a blatant liberal smear job," Giddings wrote. She also complained that "House leadership is using taxpayer funds to publicly embarrass Rep von Ehlinger."

The representative accused Republican leadership of "jumping on the liberal band wagon and using the flimsiest of pretexts to smear one of their own."

Giddings described the alleged assault as a "honey trap" and proceeded to link to a far-right blog that published the woman's name and photo.

In an interview with the Associated Press published on Monday, the woman, who was identified as "Jane Doe," described the right-wing attacks as "overwhelming."

She mentioned a photo that has been posted on right-wing websites like the one Giddings linked to.

"You know that photo everyone is posting? I'm 12 years old in that photo. I'm not even a teenager in that photo, and they're sharing it calling me nasty," she said,

She added, "I respected them [Republican lawmakers in the state] enough not to keep it a secret and they destroyed me."

Another Republican member of the Idaho Legislature, state Rep. Heather Scott, filed a public record request with Boise, Idaho, looking for a copy of the police report from the incident.

"Scott approached Rep. Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat from Boise, to ask about how a person who files a false police report alleging sexual assault could be charged," the Associated Press reported.

At an April 28 hearing of the ethics committee when Doe testified about Von Ehlinger's alleged actions, Giddings reportedly "scoffed and laughed at times" according to an Associated Press report, including when Doe's attorneys said the abuse she had suffered might discourage other women from coming forward about sexual assault in the future.

Right-wing supporters of Von Ehlinger swarmed around Doe after she testified, attempting to capture her image on video and in photos. One woman told the Associated Press she heard Doe screaming in the hallway during the hostile encounter, which led to Doe's lawyers shielding her from public view with umbrellas.

Giddings has further connections to right-wing extremism.

On Saturday, Giddings addressed the group North Idaho Freedom Fighters, telling them, "Patriotism is the fire that will unite us as we continue this fight for freedom."

In January the same group organized a protest against the results of the 2020 presidential election where attendees claimed the election was "fraudulent" and used the slogan "stop the steal."

The Spokesman-Reviewreported that members of the group "cheered" the attack on the U.S. Capitol and an announcement that "they're taking the Capitol and taking out Pence."

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Final vote count of the Violence Against Women Act in the House.

House Renews Violence Against Women Act — But 172 Republicans Vote NO

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

The overwhelming majority of House Republicans voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act Wednesday, just 24 hours after eight women – including six Asian American women – were gunned down in a shooting spree at a series of Atlanta spas by a shooter who is now claiming he has a sex addiction.

The legislation passed 244-172, with a mere 29 Republicans joining Democrats to support the bill. No Democrat voted against it. The bill now heads to the Senate.

The Violence Against Women Act is Clinton-era legislation that was sponsored in 1993 by then-Senator Joe Biden. Originally so uncontroversial it passed on a voice vote in the House and by 95-4 in the Senate, the law must be regularly renewed. It is currently expired because then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow it to be re-authorized in 2019.

Urging passage of the critical bill, President Biden in a statement last week said: "Delay is not an option, especially when the pandemic and economic crisis have only further increased the risks of abuse and the barriers to safety for women in the United States. Domestic violence is being called a pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic, with growing evidence showing that the conditions of the pandemic have resulted in escalated rates of intimate partner violence, and in some cases more severe injuries."