Bombshell. Carl Ferrer, CEO of Backpage.com, which essentially served as an advertising site for human trafficking, pleaded guilty in California State Court, Texas State Court and a federal court in Arizona to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to facilitate prostitution. He’s rolling on fellow backpage executives and co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin, who were huge donors to the Democratic Party’s Colorado Senate Victory Fund in 2014.
We have covered this story exhaustively here and here and requested that the Democratic Party return or donate the $88,000 to a charity to prevent human trafficking. So far, the Colorado Democratic Party has said no.
Perhaps this quote from Ferrer’s federal plea agreement might pry the money from their pockets. From the Washington Post coverage of this story:
“In a remarkable three-paragraph admission in his federal plea agreement, Ferrer wrote that ‘I conspired with other Backpage principles…to find ways to knowingly facilitate the state-law prostitution crimes being committed by Backpage’s customers.”
Or this one:
“I have long been aware…that the great majority of these advertisements are, in fact, advertisements for prostitution services (which are not protected by the First Amendment and which are illegal in 49 states and in much of Nevada).”
Following Ferrer’s deal, the feds arrested seven of his colleagues and shut down Backpage.com’s websites in the U.S. and abroad.
So, how about now? Democrats claim to be the party standing up for victims of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. What about human trafficking and slavery? Will Democrats stand up against their donors who clearly knew they were facilitating human trafficking? If the answer is yes, they need to give the money back or donate it to charity.