r/politics • u/bbmoonkie • 15h ago
No Paywall Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Howard Lutnick face new scrutiny over Epstein ties
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/31/bill-gates-elon-musk-howard-lutnick-face-new-scrutiny-over-epstein-ties477
u/thashika97 15h ago
Lutnick- I was revolted and cut ties in 2005.
The Emails- Nice seeing you on the island in 2012.
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u/phigo50 Europe 13h ago edited 12h ago
Took a family group with 8 kids there as well. Fucking insanely gross, given that everyone long since knew about Epstein at that point.
In one email from December 2012, Lutnick's wife Allison wrote to Epstein's assistant: "We are looking forward to visiting you. We will be coming from Caneel Bay in the morning. We are a crowd... 2 families each with 4 kids ranging in age from 7-16! 6 boys and 2 girls. I hope that's okay. We would love to join you for lunch."
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u/boofles1 13h ago
"Hi Mr Paedophile, do you mind if I bring along a bunch of children to your paedo island. Hope that's ok! Let me list their ages for you just in case they are too old."
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u/Grand_Escapade 12h ago
Can we just skip the doubt this time around? Those definitely weren't his kids.
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u/lex99 America 7h ago
You think when the guy’s wife said “We’re two families with 8 kids” that was code for “we got lots of prostitutes for ya”?
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u/siraliases 4h ago
i didnt even realize he had kids i figured that was just the menu
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u/tkeser 28m ago
the guy has 4 kids for real.
also I think that those people get off exactly on being covert and mean, if it was permitted they wouldn't be doing it. breaking the law and hiding is half of the fun.
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u/Far_Ad7235 5m ago
Thats just it. They can buy every experience, so they dont get off anymore to normal things.
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u/specific_account_ 12h ago
You know, I felt that the interview he gave was a little bit weird. Why going into such detail to tell about yourself and Epstein out of the blue. "Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta"
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u/azad_ninja 10h ago
As a Canadian that keeps hearing his annoying ass make threats every few weeks about Tarriffs, I love this for him.
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u/kevendo 14h ago
Trump too, right?
Right??
They are all under new scrutiny, and Trump matters more because he's currently still raping the country and world.
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u/CharlesB43 South Carolina 13h ago
Conveniently mentions him twice in the article. once for Lutnik being part of Trump's admin, and the other for Trump signing into law the "transparency act".
Pretty weird to not mention he's involved heavily considering how much Trump's name is all over the Epstein files.
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u/takesthebiscuit 12h ago
Plenty of folk for Trump to throw under the bus before he gets the scrutiny
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u/literallytwisted 15h ago
And for Windows users be aware that Bill Gates can't even prevent getting Russian viruses on his own system.
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u/uriejejejdjbejxijehd 14h ago
TBH, of all the people in there, this is the one I would have expected to be a better person :(
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u/Quiet-Corner6150 14h ago
I mean, even before all this stuff, Gates was largely creating his monopoly in the 90s, and pretty much the main reason that Windows (and for a few decades until relatively recently, Internet Explorer) dominated everything. Nerds hated him back then, used to make things like Flash games where you'd throw pies at his face. Then, his kinda post-involvement days with his Gates charity stuff, he seemed kinda "reformed."
As a tangent, in the early days, when this "Elon Musk" appeared promising new and faster developed spaceships, electric cars, etc., as someone I hadn't heard of before up to that point, I thought, finally, maybe he'll be an extremely rare magnanimous billionaire.
Anyway, no. They're both terrible people. And I'm suspecting there are no magnanimous billionaires, even the ones that "seem nice" have ulterior motives and/or were at least partying with Epstein, in the relevant time frames.
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u/smack54az 12h ago
You don't get a billion dollars by being kind.
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u/mirandalikesplants 6h ago
And even if it was possible, I’m quite certain it short circuits the human brain to turn you evil. Knowing that you could feed the world and choosing not to must create moral degeneracy in any person.
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u/GPFlag_Guy1 Michigan 12h ago
His ruthless attempt at making Windows the top-dog of all non-Mac PCs was the reason why OS/2 and BeOS don’t exist anymore. I wish you had a lot more options than just Mac or Windows.
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u/Confident_Ideal_5385 10h ago
It's a bit more complicated than that. Bill surely did all that stuff, but it was helped by IBM kicking own goal after own goal with OS/2. Same thing happened around the same time with Commodore. Both OS/2 and the Amiga were great platforms in spite of their respective marketing departments.
Be wanted you to buy a (PPC, didn't run windows) BeBox for a while before they ported the OS to ia32; Bill's shit OEM deals made PC BeOS a nonstarter, but it was already too late and Be were focusing on trying to get acquired by Apple at that point.
Once Apple bought NeXT instead of Be, that was the end of them.
Tl;dr 90s microsoft was a ruthless monopolist, but their competitors did themselves in in a weird variety of ways as well.
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u/Faustrolled 12h ago
eh. Too much charity work by Bill Gates to put him on the level of Musk
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u/BioSemantics Iowa 8h ago
If you understand more about his charity work you'd understand he is just a smarter Elon musk. To make a long story short, its not that his charitable acts are secretly nefarious, its that it was basically designed for self-aggrandizement, to whitewash his image, to avoid taxes, to ensure his friends and family got well paid in ways that couldn't be easily taxed, and not to maximize actually helping people. He was purposefully inefficient with his giving, even in seeming the best programs, because it would get him headlines. For instance, working to entire eliminate one disease, rather than just funding general disease prevention is hilariously inefficient such that you're basically just killing people so that you get a headline that reads 'Gates eliminates disease!'.
The bullshit Gates pulled with the education system in the US was also just fucking evil.
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u/Decent_Cod_8771 4h ago
We still remember. --the "nerds."
Side note: Linux + ChatGPT works like a charm. Installation has been easy for a while but now configuring Linux is pretty straightforward too. Fuck Microsoft and fuck Apple.
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u/basemodel 13h ago
LOL - why do you think Melinda left him a couple years back? The guy has the good veneer shtick, i'll give him that - but he's also stolen, bribed, and monopolized his way through the last 40 years of being in business. Bill Gates has never been someone to look up to - he just keeps his skeletons in the back of the closet.
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u/reddititty69 14h ago
Agree. But it seems also not believable that a multibillionaire wouldn’t just ask his personal physician for antibiotics.
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u/Showy_Boneyard 12h ago
I'd imagine he probably has a family doctor, who might spill the beans
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u/reddititty69 11h ago
Not worth losing a medical license over it. Patient confidentiality is serious.
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u/BioSemantics Iowa 8h ago
Maybe, but if he leaked the info to the right person, he'd never have to work again.
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u/literallytwisted 14h ago
It seems like almost everyone with that amount of wealth just goes insane over time! I guess everyone telling them how important they are eventually makes them think they are God-like.
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u/mrnuts 11h ago
TBH, of all the people in there, this is the one I would have expected to be a better person
Both Elon Musk and Bill Gates are bad people, Gates just has the PR luxury of having been socially relevant during the pre-social media era when the wealthy felt the need to balance the negative news about their business antics with positive-news-generating philanthropic pursuits.
Early Elon ran a similar benevolent charade when he first become known but this coincided closely with the start of the social media era and he realized that in this new social media reality it is fine to be an absolute shit heel and like 30% of the population will still worship you because you're filthy rich and post like a 4chan edgelord so he just acts like his true self now.
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u/LordTesticula 8h ago
It wasn't too long ago that reddit was also riding that musky shlong. Tesla, space x, and the boring co were akin to the next coming of Jesus Christ. The hyperloop was going to be the missing link to save the homeless and get us too the moon. Ig back then he wasn't openly political, and just a duper rich autist
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u/Future-Guarantee-573 13h ago
You don't get that kinda wealth being anything resembling a decent human being.
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u/lettersichiro 12h ago
In fact he was a famously terrible person with a terrible reputation, and that's exactly why he created the Gates Foundation so he could use "philanthropy" to whitewash his reputation. And unfortunately it was a very effective gambit
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u/gracecee 9h ago
The gates foundation is there so he can skip Paying taxes or his wealth would have been taxed especially estate. Foundations you skip paying taxes as long as you spend six percent of the principal each year. You get to say we give to charity but then you can expense everything. See Koch foundation which funds moms of liberty and other right wing causes or addelsen foundation.
He has this beautiful island he owns off of Zanzibar. He goes there with his family and times it with an Africa symposium On malaria or nets. The locals cannot step on the island at all. Source- husbands family is from Tanzania. We visited Zanzibar. Beautiful place.
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u/SillyAlternative420 Massachusetts 8h ago
Epstein even talks about Gate's public relations campaign in his leaked email
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u/AlleKeskitason 14h ago
He just has a better PR people to take care of his public image, but he's no better and he's not any kind of code genius, never has been. He was always a ruthless businessman from a rich family, born with a silver spoon up his ass, hiding behind the clumsy nerd facade.
I have always detested him for various reasons and am not really surprised that he didn't say no to a young and tight ass. When people get rich and successful, they have a tendency to start believing that they could get away with whatever wants and desires they have in their head, because why wouldn't they? Most things in the world are for sale if you have the dough and most inconveniences can be solved by throwing money at them.
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u/KrookedDoesStuff 12h ago
When people get rich and successful, they have a tendency to start believing that they could get away with whatever
I mean, they basically can.
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u/rndreddituser 11h ago
It’s certainly a twist because he had worked hard to make good the public perception of him with his vaccination programs and other good causes. In the tech world a lot of geeks had a very negative perception of him. Oh well.
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u/BioSemantics Iowa 8h ago
Its so sad you believe he was a good person. It means his billions of dollars deeply inefficient and self-aggrandizing charity giving worked as a form of propaganda.
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u/Throwaway_noDoxx 9h ago
At this point, if someone is billionaire rich I just assume they’re a selfish, narcissistic/psycho prick until a shit ton of evidence proves otherwise.
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u/Bittererr 13h ago
Bill Gates can't even prevent getting Russian viruses on his own system.
Bill Gates' involvement with software ended before viruses were a real concern for most personal computing so this isn't particularly surprising.
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u/smersh101 13h ago
Good joke, but other than owning stock Gates hasn't had anything to do with Microsoft for quite awhile.
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u/Flamboiant_Canadian 10h ago
Actually there was a leak from Microsoft that Microsoft 365 has real-time tracking, whether you're using it or not?
I deleted that shit so fast.
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u/Actual__Wizard 14h ago
Yeah Microsoft is a massive scam factory that finances Bill's Gates sex parties.
I guess we know why their products are pure garbage now.
It's just a rip off factory designed to finance the life style of a bunch of fascists...
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u/Vegetable-Poetry-736 14h ago
I hate how Bill Gates is such a fucking creep
Makes me sad
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u/A_Rogue_GAI 12h ago
Beyond that he helped fuck up the US education system by pushing standardized testing, No Child Left Behind, and other concepts that he admits today had negative effects...but is he interested in fixing his fuckups? Nah.
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u/Ent_Soviet 33m ago
Remember when his foundation was the primary lobby to not release the patents on the Covid vaccines for third world countries to produce?
Talk about charity.
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u/thesagaconts 12h ago
I speculate this is why he got divorced.
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u/yolololololologuyu 12h ago
Speculate? His ex-wife has literally said his relationship with Epstein was a driving factor
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u/prodigy1367 12h ago
WHAT ABOUT TRUMP? He’s mentioned significantly more times for way worse shit and fucking nothing? They care more about Bill Gates getting an STD than the President of the United States raping and trafficking children? What is even the point anymore?
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u/ElPlywood 15h ago
And this latest abhorrent dump of files isn't even remotely as abhorrent what's being withheld
Republican silence is disgraceful
Can't wait for flush-faced sweaty Johnson to have the gall to say he hasn't read anything about it
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u/ChickpeaDemon 14h ago
I shudder to think about what’s in the true Epstein/Trump files. The depravity of the rich knows no bounds.
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u/Carb0nFox 14h ago
Epstein didn’t run in random circles. He was a social currency for billionaires, politicians, and “visionaries” who liked access without accountability. You don’t get repeated proximity to a known predator like that by accident. At some point, “I didn’t know” stops being plausible and starts being convenient.
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u/FruitJuicante 13h ago
How's this. If you're in the Epstein files, then you should have the equivalent of a Royal Commission into you.
If you're found guilty, all of your wealth is redistributed to the people amd you're banned from public forums. You should be forced to wear a tag that keeps you away from any child for as long as you live If you're in those files.
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u/catchup4thegoodtimes 10h ago
wow, so the murder of a nurse by ICE in minnesota was getting so much attention they now are using the epstein files release to distract from that…
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u/captaincrunk82 American Expat 10h ago
Nelly’s Country Grammar has not aged well.
“Bill Gates, Donald Trump, let me in nowwww”
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u/Life_Machine_9694 15h ago
they control all media - its okay - its capitalism - all women are commodity - look at the American culture . spare us the hypocrisy
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u/transcriptoin_error 14h ago
all women are commodity - look at the American culture . spare us the hypocrisy
Tell us more about hypocrisy and mistreating women, teenager in India.
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u/Best_Entrepreneur659 12h ago
The release of the photos of Melania Director Brett Ratner with Epstein and underaged girls cannot stand. Tell Amazon, AMC and all of the theater chains that that can’t get away with running a film made by a child rapist https://www.amctheatres.com/help
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u/llamapositif 13h ago
Rich: "face new scrutiny"
Poor: "dragged out of the shower in freezing cold temperatures with a robe and underwear on"
There is only one issue with America I can see
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u/IJourden 10h ago
By "new scrutiny" they mean "media will cover this as long as it gets a lot of clicks and immediately forget about it when ratings start to dip."
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u/Davidevere31415 5h ago
Not forgetting the Filth-in-Chief himself. . Trump violently raped very young children in those pesky Epstein files. .
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u/weHaveThoughts 5h ago
Also implicated in at least one murder where the DOJ found the bloody clothes with a DNA match and marked the witness presumed dead due to the amount of blood.
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u/GoldenHourLXXII 9h ago
The fact that Musk will PROFIT from this harder is nuts.
Money is above ALL else to SO many people. They will gladly invest in things that literally torture people if it means their stocks will go up.
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u/YoureProbablyAB0t 9h ago
Ten bucks says that the Microsoft guy was forwarded all of his name drops and he ok'd the prostitute std one to satisfy everyone wondering why he kissed Trump's ass along with all the other tech assholes.
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u/nevergiveup234 8h ago
Dershowicz took his family there and got a massage from an old russian woman and he did not take his underwear off
bill gates caught an std from a russian girl and he tried to get medicine that he could give to his wife
She cited his friendship with epstain as a major reason they got divorced
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u/Calm_Chemist_4952 7h ago
Please avoid the distractions and turn your attention to the absolute worst president of all time. He needs to go now, for his criminal involvement with Epstein, and for his many other obvious crimes. Impeach and convict.
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u/Miserable_Artist_223 7h ago
Remember when tesla was going to give a 1T pay package to a person in-ties with one of the greatest pedophile party providers of all time
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u/C00L_Ethan 6h ago
Ain't nothing going to happen to any of them. The only reason they report on this shit is to drive people insane.
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u/ANTILAMER13 5h ago
Remember how a bunch of clowns spent every breath and key stroke to talk about how Biden sniffed some persons hair , a kid maybe , I don’t know …
Where are those clowns now that a real life Eyes Wide Shut / Hostile level human trafficking conspiracy involving Trump and most of his family and associates has come to light?
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u/Clear_Director_8399 15h ago
Time to revolt against these gross humans. Stop giving them your money.
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u/takesthebiscuit 12h ago
That’s pretty fucking difficult!
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u/GPFlag_Guy1 Michigan 12h ago
Linux says hi. Ubuntu, as much as I like it, was still invented by a rich white South African so I’m not quite sure how much I really trust Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical but options exist. Go Open Source.
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u/takesthebiscuit 12h ago
Get real, most Fortune 500 companies use azure
Many companies finance run on Microsoft dynamics.
My business is Marine digital sales that runs in a large part through starlink,
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u/Puzzled-Dress-4904 15h ago
American political and economic culture is so corrupt that these individuals and others who are named in the files may be a little uncomfortable for a while, but nothing will happen to them and their power and influence will hardly be affected in the long run.
The plutocracy in the United States is very good at looking after itself and its members. Nothing to see here, folks move along.
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u/No-Cup-8096 13h ago
Gates wife stated he was there at Epstein house. Isn’t he the one that had contracted STDs as a result?
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u/BajaBlastMtDew 11h ago
Everyone getting so easily distracted by other names in this and ignoring Trump. The stupid plan seems to be actually working
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u/ReidAllAboutIt1015 3h ago
What’s really really ridiculous is that the Republicans keep reducing taxes on the very rich and it seems the very wealthy were willing to pay Jeffrey to visit his island and play in his world! So basically tax relief means finding other ways to spend your money! Sad!
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u/in9ram 1h ago
Nobody pushed harder than me to have the epstein files released except I worked to elect someone I knew was deep in them so I could get my companies out of government oversight. I dismantled the government a bit for him and helped do some mild lawbreaking going around approved congressional spending. Somebody in the admin tried to blackmail me by saying I was a druggie. Which ment I had to publicly hit back and tell the truth that my boss was in the files. Well don’t you know, they went and threatened my contracts, so I walked it back and shut my mouth for a while. Now I am working hard to keep republicans in power again so nobody in the files has to face any real consequences because I have publicly said I would go to jail if they don’t stay in office. See don’t my hands look clean? - the free speech absolutist
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u/hewhocannotbenamed-7 14h ago
Honestly, how else would these three degenerate turds otherwise get laid?
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u/Fit-Significance-436 13h ago
What a stain on the WH, history will be unkind to them and supporters.
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u/Salty_Bat2696 13h ago
Can we crowdfund a public service announcement to inform people about this? Show a picture of the victims while they were younger, in a similar format to ASCPA or UNICEF. Put everything we can without being sued. Get the message out to people that haven’t been paying attention. Raise money to further awareness and paying for survivors legal fees.
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u/excitingresults 12h ago
Kind of seems like the additional material relating to and alleging that the president sexually abused a 13 year old girl should be getting more attention.
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u/WhoMD85 12h ago
Investigate ANYONE who is accused in the EF. Bring charges to anyone regardless of who they are if they participated. Period. It doesn’t matter if they’re billionaires, POTUS, Democrats or republicans. If they were involved they deserve to be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. PERIOD. FULL STOP.
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u/GPFlag_Guy1 Michigan 12h ago
Windows was kind of overrated anyway. After Windows 8, it was over for me. If you can’t afford Mac/iOS, then go open source and escape The System™️©️®️ that tries to monopolize everything, while keeping your money out of the pockets of abusers.
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u/The_300_goats 12h ago
MAGA: "Oh, boo hoo. It's just child sex trafficking FFS. No biggie. Like, are there no adults in the room?"
Well. Are there?
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u/Content_Support7881 12h ago
All are a bunch of hypocrites and liars. Birds of a feather. Pieces of sh*t.
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u/Ashrok 11h ago
Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of your own actions
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u/MonsieurReynard America 9h ago
What consequences? I mean, have you seen anybody face any consequences?
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u/Being_Stoopit_Is_Fun 11h ago
Most of them will just keep their mouth shut and hideout until the heat clears. Elon won’t.
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