“Well, I’m working for Democrats,” Lauren thought to herself in 2017. “…all I have to do is email Joe Hogsett, he’s going to jump on the phone with me and then he’s going to fire Thomas Cook…I was so wrong.”
Lauren Roberts had no way to know that 8 years later, she would be one of five known survivors of the sexual abuse within the Hogsett campaign and subsequent administrations. In her worst nightmares, she couldn’t have imagined still fighting for justice in 2025, that Joe Hogsett would be serving his third term as mayor, and that the Democratic party in her home state would repeatedly blame survivors and protect predators.
I had the privilege of talking with Lauren, Elise Shrock, and Morgan Mickelson for two whole hours over this past weekend. Three women, along with the other survivors, have been carrying the weight of this broken and oppressive system that protects predators, a system that began long before they were born, a system that is desperately trying to silence them.
Today I release part one of our conversation, which I have broken into 4 parts.
Check back on Friday, June 27 for part two.
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