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US says prostitution ring counted politicians, tech execs, lawyers as clients

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:01:28 +0000

The exterior of John Jospeh Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Katherine Taylor/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

BOSTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday charged three people with running a high-end brothel network out of apartment complexes in greater Boston and northern Virginia whose customers included elected officials, tech and pharmaceutical executives, lawyers, professors and military officers.

Federal prosecutors in Boston did not identify any of the “wealthy and well-connected clientele” that they say paid up to $600 per hour for sexual encounters with predominantly Asian women who were being exploited through sex trafficking.

The brothels’ alleged operators — Han Lee, 41, and Junmyung Lee, 30, of Massachusetts and James Lee, 68, of California — were arrested and charged with conspiring to coerce and entice women to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Acting U.S. attorney Josh Levy said the probe was “just getting started” and that law enforcement was gathering more evidence after executing search warrants on locations in Massachusetts, Virginia and California.

Those searches included of active brothels and uncovered financial documents, cash and women believed to be engaging in prostitution, according to court records.

“We’re committed to working closely with our federal, state and local partners to hold accountable the people who both ran this ring and the people who fueled the demand for this ring,” Levy said at a press conference.

Han Lee and Junmyung Lee, who are both Korean, were ordered by a judge to be detained following a hearing in Massachusetts. Han Lee’s lawyer declined to comment. Other defense lawyers either did not respond to requests for comment or could not be identified.

According to charging documents, the defendants, led by Han Lee, used high-end apartment complexes as brothels in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, and Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia.

Two websites advertised appointments with Asian women, and customers underwent a vetting process that included providing their driver’s license photos and employers’ names, prosecutors said. The U.S. government has seized those sites’ domains.

Authorities said they believed the brothel network had potentially hundreds of customers, who Levy said “often paid a monthly fee to be part of this illicit club.”

Customers included politicians, pharmaceutical and technology executives, doctors, military officers, professors, lawyers, business executives, scientists and accountants, prosecutors said.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi; Editing by David Gregorio and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Nate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.

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Biden attorney: no classified documents found in search of Delaware beach house

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 20:01:11 +0000

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department did not find documents with classified markings during a three-and-a-half hour search of President Joe Biden’s beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Wednesday but did take some materials for further review, Biden’s attorney said.

The morning search by FBI agents appeared to represent an expansion of the probe into Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Materials were previously found at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at a Washington office he used during the time between his service as vice president under Barack Obama and his presidential election.

Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said in a statement that Wednesday’s search took place from 8:30 a.m. to noon in “coordination and cooperation with the president’s attorneys” and had been planned.

“No documents with classified markings were found,” Bauer said. “Consistent with the process in Wilmington, the DOJ took for further review some materials and handwritten notes that appear to relate to his time as Vice President.”

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The search was conducted by the FBI, which is part of the Justice Department.

The issue has created a political headache for Biden, who is expected to announce a re-election campaign in the coming weeks or months. It has stripped him and fellow Democrats of a political weapon to use against former President Donald Trump, who also had classified documents found at his home.

Trump has said on social media, without providing evidence, that he declassified the records, though his attorneys have declined to repeat that assertion in court filings. He has launched his own re-election campaign and could face Biden in the 2024 general election.

Bauer said earlier on Wednesday that the Department of Justice chose to do the search without advance notice to the public.

“Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” he said. “The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate.”

The White House counsel’s office did not have representatives present at the search, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told reporters.

“We’ve been following the Justice Department’s lead and coordinating these searches with them,” Sams said, adding the department was given access to “every single room” of Biden’s home in Rehoboth “as well as the one in Wilmington.”

Classified documents have also been found in the home of Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, giving some political cover to Biden.

Biden has vowed to cooperate with the searches and Pence had said he takes responsibility for the found documents. Trump resisted efforts to return materials in his possession, prompting a FBI search of his Florida home and resort last year.

U.S. attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two separate special counsels to review Trump and Biden’s handling of such documents.

Meanwhile, the National Archives has reportedly asked all former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to search their personal records for classified documents or other presidential material that should have been turned over when they left office.

It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material, although no current or former president or vice president has been charged with wrongdoing.

Reporting by Jeff Mason and Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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