RI Politicians Keep Pats Kraft’s Money, MA Official Donates, Trump Wants Him at Ceremony
Thursday, March 21, 2019
As Robert Kraft’s prostitution case heats up, some politicians are distancing themselves, others aren’t talking and some are embracing the Patriots owner.
U.S. Senator Ed Markey is donating the political donations he received from Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, to a victims group that works on the issue of sex trafficking, but one Rhode Island Congressman is keeping the money and two others won’t respond to questions about their donations from Kraft.
Kraft has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution. Kraft is one of dozens of men charged in what Florida police say was sex in spas performed primarily by women being exploited by a sex trafficking ring. Ten Florida spas have been closed down.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Sexual exploitation in all of its forms is reprehensible,” Markey (D-MA) said in a statement. “These allegations are very alarming, and I have confidence that the authorities will be investigating this matter fully to get to the truth.”
Rhode Island Politicians and Kraft
In Rhode Island, members of the Rhode Island delegation — are refusing to return, donate or respond to questions about their donations from Kraft.
In 2015, Congressman David Cicilline spoke specifically to the issue of human trafficking. “Human trafficking is modern-day slavery—its victims are robbed of both their freedom and their dignity, and these repulsive acts violate our deepest moral values,” said Cicilline, who managed debate on the House Floor.
Cicilline, who received a $1,000 donation from Kraft in June of 2010, is refusing to respond to questions about the donation from Kraft.
Kraft, a friend and ally of President Donald Trump, donated $1 million to the inauguration committee for the President.
SEE CHARGES AGAINST KRAFT BELOW
Politico is reporting that Trump “wants Kraft to join his players at the White House this spring for a celebration of their February Super Bowl victory, a prospect that has White House aides worried that it could turn a feel-good photo op into an embarrassing media spectacle.”
In February, Trump had said he stands by Kraft and said the situation was “sad.”
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse received a $1,000 donation from Kraft in December of 2009. He, like Cicilline, is refusing to respond to questions about the donation from Kraft.
In contrast, Congressman Jim Langevin issued a statement to GoLocal outlining his policy as it relates to campaign donations.
“Congressman Langevin's policy is to refuse campaign contributions from individuals who have been convicted of a crime. If a contribution is received from an individual in good standing and that person is later convicted of a crime, that contribution will be donated to a Rhode Island-based charity,” said Congressman Jim Langevin’s spokesman Stuart Malec.
Langevin received a $1,000 donation in May of 2015 from Kraft.
The only other Rhode Island federal candidate to receive a donation from the senior Kraft is now-Superior Court Judge Richard Licht.
Kraft Refuses Deal, Files Motion to Seal Video Footage
This week, Kraft is reported to have refused a deal plea deal with prosecutors and continues to assert his innocence, but simultaneously joined other defendants in trying to block video evidence of the alleged crimes from being released.
"Attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and more than a dozen other defendants charged in a Florida prostitution sting filed a motion to stop the public release of surveillance videos and other evidence taken by police," reports CNN. "In the motion, the attorneys asked the court to grant a protective order to safeguard the confidentiality of the materials seized from the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, and 'in particular the videos, until further order of the court.'"