Experts testify in support of Portman's sex trafficking investigation; Backpage CEO refuses to attend hearing
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), held a significant hearing concerning its bipartisan investigation of sex trafficking on the Internet Thursday.
Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office provided valuable written testimony in support of Portman’s hearing and outlining their work to address sex trafficking. The testimony was submitted by Brant Cook, the Director of Attorney General DeWine’s Crimes Against Children Initiative.
In his written testimony, Cook stated that, “The investigation by this Subcommittee concerning traffickers’ use of online marketplace websites is critical in identifying any information that may assist law enforcement in more effectively combatting sex trafficking. The currency of any investigation is information, and a clear understanding of what information could be available through fuller and more uniform retention of information by online service providers – which may then be able to be acquired through appropriate legal process by law enforcement – would make a large difference in investigations of sex trafficking and other crimes. The Subcommittee and Senator Portman’s questions deserve answers.”
“Attorney General DeWine continues to be a critical force in the fight against child sex trafficking, and I appreciate his office providing valuable testimony outlining what more needs to be done to keep children safe,” Portman stated.
This hearing laid the foundation for contempt proceedings against one subject of the investigation, a major commercial sex advertising website called Backpage.com, considered by leading authorities to be a hub of online sex trafficking.
During his opening remarks, Portman outlined a number of deeply troubling preliminary findings released in an interim staff report earlier today.
The first panel featured two witnesses with a wealth of experience dealing with the problem of sex trafficking. First, Yiota Souras, the General Counsel of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the premier organization for finding missing children which has had long-running interaction with Backpage, testified that the company’s publicized efforts to reduce child sex trafficking are ineffective and have failed to deter child sex trafficking on the website.
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Next, Darwin Roberts, Deputy Attorney General, State of Washington, testified about the problem of child sex trafficking, and in particular, the growing problem of online sex trafficking.
Backpage refused to comply with the Subcommittee’s subpoena concerning its efforts to protect against sex trafficking, including trafficking in minors.
Under the Subcommittee’s subpoena, Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer has been under a legal obligation to appear before the Subcommittee since Oct. 1, and the Subcommittee notified him by letter on Nov. 3 that his appearance was scheduled for this morning. Yesterday, however, Mr. Ferrer’s lawyers wrote to Portman and McCaskill to let them know that Mr. Ferrer would not return from his international business trip to attend the hearing.
Portman and McCaskill noted that this refusal to comply with a subpoena to appear before PSI is a clear act of contempt that may justify a referral to the Department of Justice for criminal contempt. This is a step the Senate has not taken in 20 years and that PSI has not taken for more than 30 years.
Portman closed with the following statement:
“Senator McCaskill and I began this bipartisan investigation with a very simple goal: better informing Congress about the issue of sex trafficking, how to combat it through smart reforms, including legislative actions. We will not be deterred from that inquiry.
“If Backpage fails to change course and comply with the Subcommittee’s subpoena, the appropriate next step is to pursue contempt proceedings. This is a step the Senate has not taken in twenty years, and that PSI has not taken for more than thirty years. But regrettably, Backpage’s conduct has invited this very unusual action. When dealing with a party acting in good faith, we would be inclined to pursue what’s known as civil contempt. That involves a resolution authorizing the Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil lawsuit to compel Backpage to comply. But I know I speak for Senator McCaskill and myself when I say, this case appears more serious than a good-faith disagreement. It’s not about questions of privilege.
“As I noted, Backpage’s lawyers have told PSI that the company has not even bothered to search for and identify the documents responsive to the subpoena. And with no lawful excuse, the company’s CEO has defaulted on his obligation to appear before the Subcommittee today. These are not the actions of a party acting in good faith. He could have come, he could have pleaded the Fifth, but he chose not even to come. Rather, it’s evidence of willful defiance of the Senate’s process. For those reasons, after consulting our staff and Senate Legal Counsel, Senator McCaskill and I believe this case may justify a referral to the Department of Justice for criminal contempt. We will consider the appropriate course in the next few days.”