The Tug Rule Case Against Mr. Kraft is Unraveling Fast
(I see what you did there, NY Post. You are the undisputed GOAT of the tabloid pun game.)
Source – The prostitution case against Patriots owner Robert Kraft linked to a Florida sex-trafficking ring could be a long shot for prosecutors. …
Police say the business has ties to an international human-trafficking and prostitution ring, and some of the women at the Asian spa and five other affiliated Florida properties are sex slaves from China.
But it appears Kraft was caught on camera getting services from two women who are not victims of human trafficking: the 45-year-old manager of the spa, Lei Wang, and 58-year-old spa employee Shen Mingbi, also believed to be an operator of the business — both licensed masseuses and Florida residents. …
Kraft left the spa in a white Bentley owned by a friend who had driven him there and had waited outside. A Jupiter police officer then pulled the Bentley over on a traffic stop and asked Kraft — the front-seat passenger — for identification.
The billionaire handed over his Massachusetts driver’s license. Legal experts suggest this traffic stop could be illegal because it appears to have been done on the pretext of a traffic violation, but — as the affidavit states — was in fact carried out to identify Kraft, who wasn’t driving the car. …
Despite the video evidence, which does not have audio, legal experts say the case against Kraft is “flawed.” Through his spokesman, the NFL team owner has denied having solicited prostitutes. …
Eric Snyder, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s Office and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and now a high-profile trial lawyer, believes there are glaring issues in the case. …
“There’s also no proof in the affidavit that he solicited anything from the women. It is possible that this could have been a legal and consensual act between adults and there does not seem to be evidence to prove otherwise. So the facts supporting a misdemeanor charge of solicitation really don’t jump out at you. …
I doubt the traffic stop was legal either. So the evidence will likely be suppressed [by Kraft’s legal team] if there is ever a trial.”
Well, that didn’t take long. It just goes to show that what I said the second this story broke last Friday is holding up. Don’t rush to judgment. If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it should be that. Do not rush to judgment. Especially when the thing being judged is something everyone wants to believe is true. Deflategate. The Catholic school kids in the MAGA hats in DC. Jussie Smollet. The Tug Rule.
The beginning of the news cycle in these kinds of stories is always the same. The most heinous thing imaginable coming out with the worst fact pattern, all backed up by solid, incontrovertible proof. Confirmation bias kicks in and everyone is ready to swallow the story whole. That is, until the second wave of facts hits the shore. Then those of us who didn’t buy into the false narrative get to dish out the I Told Yous.
In this case, it was that Mr. Kraft knowingly and willingly went to a spa where kidnapped underage girls were chained to the radiator and living off scraps of food cooked on hot plates to be victimized by lecherous, powerful men. Christ, the Jupiter police were this close to painting as a Hostel scenario, where for the right price you can cut a girl in half with a chainsaw for your own sado-sexual pleasure.
I mean, sure it begged the question, “Why, if the Orchid spa workers were being held as sex slaves why the cops would spend six months stopping Bentleys and checking the driver’s licenses of the passengers instead of kicking the door down with SWAT gear?” But outside of Barstool, no one was begging that question. They were all just accepting the characterization as gospel and demanding draft picks be taken away.
You know, the way you usually combat the international scourge of human sex-trafficking.
It took a few days, but the truth is coming out. Those “sex slaves” are middle aged businesswomen, doing what they want to do. And friendly with their client. Who may or may not have even solicited them. But who. But who surely was involved in a consensual act between consenting adults. And who was stopped by the police illegally. And even if everything that client was charged with is true, it’s a misdemeanor he’ll never appear in court for.
For Mr. Kraft, exoneration is starting to happen. For those few of us who never doubted him, vindication will surely follow. And for the vast majority who bought the whole fake news story, how does it feel to be fooled yet again?
As a buddy of mine just said, here’s your headline: “They’re Going to Get That Jerk Off!” And I’ve been saying all week, and will I say it again, Free Mr. Kraft! Free Mr. Kraft!
