Marshall Helmberger

The recent arrest and charging of now-former state Sen. Justin Eichorn should hopefully serve as a much-needed reminder to the public that hiring underaged women for sex is still illegal in this country, and that federal penalties for such actions (obviously holdovers from an earlier era) can be harsh. Eichorn faces a mandatory minimum of ten years in federal prison if convicted on charges filed against him by U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick, and possibly more since the discovery of possible obstruction of justice.
I certainly wouldn’t defend Eichorn’s actions, but the harsh federal response seems out of sync with the current zeitgeist in America, in which the old rules of propriety, and even the law itself, seem no longer to apply— at least for white men of a certain political persuasion.
Eichorn’s offense, after all, would seem to be on par, or even less egregious, than the allegations leveled against former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida. Gaetz was alleged not only to have paid 17-year-olds for sex, but to have even transported them for that purpose to other states. That’s why Gaetz was investigated for sex trafficking of underaged girls, in addition to having sex with them. While the trafficking investigation concluded without charges, it was more over doubts about the credibility of some of the witnesses than doubts about Gaetz’s actions. As the House Ethics Committee made clear, there was little question about Gaetz’s encounters with underaged prostitutes. He even boasted about it on the floor of the U.S. House.
While Gaetz resigned from Congress, it’s worth remembering that he did so not to avoid possible expulsion, but to become U.S. Attorney General under President Trump.
While a handful of GOP senators objected to Trump’s nomination of Gaetz, which made it appear confirmation was unlikely, Gaetz remains uncharged and he’s now making big bucks hosting a nightly political talk show on One America News, a right-wing network now given top billing in the Trump White House press room.
Matt Gaetz has sex with underaged prostitutes and gets his own television show? There’s a lesson there about the standards in today’s America.
And the experience of Matt Gaetz is hardly an exception. As was widely reported earlier this month, several Trump representatives, including his son Don Jr., pressured the Romanian government to lift the travel ban it had imposed on right-wing online influencer Andrew Tate, who was facing multiple charges there stemming from a long list of allegations of sex trafficking and sexual abuse of woman, some underaged, some not.
Tate runs an online business in which he pimps out women who perform webcam pornography and has even recommended the business model online. He’s been spending time in Eastern Europe in recent years, which is a well-known recruiting site for men of Tate’s ilk.
He’s a popular social media influencer globally, with almost 11 million followers, including many younger males, and he is huge in MAGA world. He’s also famous for his blatant misogyny and faces multiple civil suits by women who say he raped or otherwise sexually abused them. He’s now ensconced back in Florida, where he is presumably safe from federal charges thanks to Trump’s pardon power.
So, let’s consider for just a moment the social and political milieu in which Justin Eichorn and millions of other young and middle-aged males in the U.S. find themselves today. The President of the United States has been found guilty of sexual assault and even bragged about it on the Access Hollywood recording. This is an America in which Matt Gaetz could be nominated as U.S. Attorney General and Andrew Tate is an individual worthy of significant political intervention to allow him to continue his career of taking sexual advantage of women. The Secretary of Defense has been credibly accused of rape and serial sexual harassment of women, not to mention general incompetence.
Is it any wonder that Justin Eichorn, who clearly pays attention to the political signals out there, absorbed these lessons and felt perfectly justified in wanting his piece of the action? After all, why shouldn’t the same rules that apply to Donald Trump, Matt Gaetz, Andrew Tate, and Pete Hegseth apply to him?
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the recent Bloomington sting operation netted 14 perpetrators. After all, monkey see, monkey do.
If Eichorn was utterly shameless, he’d go full Trump on the charges. Call it a witch hunt, or entrapment by a liberal police department looking to take down a Republican lawmaker. Go on Tucker Carlson, or commiserate on the Matt Gaetz Show, and claim he was just a man being a man. Accuse the U.S. Attorney (a woman of all things) of being a DEI hire. He’d probably have a pardon by the next morning.
That’s the America we apparently voted for. If you sense mixed messages here when it comes to the abuse of women, at least you know you’re paying attention.