Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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While the effort by multiple media companies to obtain the “sneak and peek” surveillance video created when Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly engaged in sexual activity at a Florida day spa continues, one prominent publication has abandoned the fight.
Via Deadspin.com, the Boston Globe has withdrawn from the effort to force the authorities to make the video public.
“When the Globe joined the motion, authorities were explicit in describing the case as part of a human trafficking investigation,” the newspaper said in a statement. “Though the Globe had no intentions to air videos of a sexual nature, we believed it important to push for public access to evidence that, under Florida law, should be placed in the public realm.
“Authorities have now said the charges against Robert Kraft are not part of a human trafficking case. While we still have an interest in video from outside the spa, we’ve decided to focus our energy on the famously weak public records laws of Massachusetts. In fact, earlier this week, we argued before the Supreme Judicial Court for the release of thousands of records stemming from secretive court hearings that are shamefully shielded from public view.”
The efforts by the Globe to force the release of the Kraft video created obvious friction between the company and the team. The fact that Globe owner John W. Henry also owned the Boston Red Sox made the effort to secure the video even more awkward.
More importantly, the Globe acknowledges that which prosecutors have now been forced to repeatedly admit. The case was never about human trafficking, even though law-enforcement officials in Florida initially characterized it that way, calling the evidence of trafficking “manifestly obvious” — and creating the false impression that there were victims of human trafficking at the facility.
There are not. There never were.