Trump Administration - Festering Skidmarks

[MSheridan]

Jul 20, 2021 16:55:17 GMT LFC said:

Jul 20, 2021 16:45:20 GMT MSheridan said:

Again, what power? They've shackled themselves. Is this like Invisible Boy in the movie Mystery Men, who had the power to be invisible as long as no one was looking? What plan of substance do they still have the power to make possible? I mean, I guess they still retain the power to fix traffic tickets and to get decent seating at restaurants. Is that really enough to sell out the Republic?

The power to keep their sweet jobs, get the attention they desperately crave, and get control over those yummy campaign donations. They also get to not actually work while pulling in that $174,000/year and great benefits.

Even as villains they manage to underwhelm and disappoint.

[Deleted]

MSheridan needs to be sent to re-education camp. The government does not exist to help people. It's sole purpose is to control people. You're discounting the hard work it takes to gain, exercise and retain power. It's a hard, hard, exhausting life. Just thinking about the number of times they've to shower everyday exhausts me. Shower after morning routine, shower after meeting your fellow Congresspeople, shower after meeting your staff, shower after committee work, shower with bleach and scrub several times after appearing on Fox News - that's the most painful, and oh, shower after meeting people - almost as bad as Fox News.

[LFC]

Being an ex-president doesn't pay as well.

The number of federal political committees that have spent money in the first half of 2021 at Trump Organization properties has dropped dramatically from the same period two years ago, Federal Election Commission filings show. Those continuing to spend: a smaller circle of loyal supporters of former President Donald Trump and candidates jockeying for his favor in contested Republican primaries.

During the first six months of 2021, 27 federal committees have reported spending $348,000 at Trump Organization properties, with the Republican National Committee accounting for more than half the total. That’s a steep decline from the 177 committees that did so during the 2019-2020 election cycle or the 78 committees that spent more than $1.6 million at Mar-a-Lago, the Trump International Hotel in Washington and other company sites in the first half of 2019, filings show.

Of course, that spending came in the run-up to a presidential election in which Trump was the incumbent. The biggest spenders in 2019 were the RNC and Trump’s own political committees raising money to support his campaign.

While the RNC is the top spender so far in 2021, many of the other PACs that used Trump properties as venues for fundraising events and other activities appear to have stopped their spending. The National Republican Congressional Committee, the fundraising arm of House Republicans, has not reported spending any money at Trump properties through May of this year after spending $32,532 during the previous election cycle. (National party committees will file reports covering activity in June on July 20, which may show some spending at Trump’s facilities.)

Those that have spent money at Trump properties this year represent some of the former president’s most fervent loyalists, including Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama, who is running for an open Senate seat, and Ronny Jackson of Texas, who previously was the White House physician. Overall, 13 of the 23 committees spending this year are connected to current members of the House or Senate.

“Republican candidates are in a delicate moment, I think, because of uncertainty surrounding Trump’s future power,” said Abby Wood, a professor of law, political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, in an email. “Trump’s power in the next election is much less certain than it was from the vantage point of folks spending money (and enriching him) at his properties in 2019.”

The drop in political spending comes at a precarious time for the Trump Organization, which in early July was hit with 10 felony charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., as well as additional charges against Allen Weisselberg, the organization’s chief financial officer. Both Weisselberg and the company have pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the impact of the investigation and the fallout of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have damaged the company’s business prospects. The Washington Post described the company as at its “lowest point in decades.”

[MSheridan]

Jul 20, 2021 20:18:50 GMT LFC said:

Being an ex-president doesn't pay as well.

Both Weisselberg and the company have pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the impact of the investigation and the fallout of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have damaged the company’s business prospects. The Washington Post described the company as at its “lowest point in decades.”

Such a shame.

[indy]

Tom Barrack, who chaired former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he unlawfully influenced the foreign policy positions of the campaign and administration to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates, the Department of Justice said.

In a seven-count grand jury indictment, unsealed in a New York federal court, Barrack, 74, and two others are accused of "acting and conspiring to act as agents" of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018, but without registering as foreign agents. Barrack was also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements to federal law enforcement agents.

The trio acted "to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests," the Justice Department said.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/thomas-barrack-trump-s-inaugural-committee-chair-arrested-federal-charges-n1274533

[goldenvalley]

Jul 20, 2021 22:42:47 GMT indy said:

Tom Barrack, who chaired former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he unlawfully influenced the foreign policy positions of the campaign and administration to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates, the Department of Justice said.

In a seven-count grand jury indictment, unsealed in a New York federal court, Barrack, 74, and two others are accused of "acting and conspiring to act as agents" of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018, but without registering as foreign agents. Barrack was also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements to federal law enforcement agents.

The trio acted "to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests," the Justice Department said.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/thomas-barrack-trump-s-inaugural-committee-chair-arrested-federal-charges-n1274533

Gee I always wondered why the first trip overseas was to Saudi Arabia...

[goldenvalley]

The resident of Mar A Lago and Bedminster doesn't put his money where his mouth is. 

Former president Donald Trump’s political PAC raised about $75 million in the first half of this year as he trumpeted the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen from him, but the group has not devoted funds to help finance the ongoing ballot review in Arizona or to push for similar endeavors in other states, according to people familiar with the finances.

[indy]

Jul 23, 2021 16:15:34 GMT goldenvalley said:

The resident of Mar A Lago and Bedminster doesn't put his money where his mouth is. 

Former president Donald Trump’s political PAC raised about $75 million in the first half of this year as he trumpeted the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen from him, but the group has not devoted funds to help finance the ongoing ballot review in Arizona or to push for similar endeavors in other states, according to people familiar with the finances.

No, but he does put it where his pocket is.

[LFC]

Another Trumpy is under indictment, this one as an illegal foreign agent for the UAE.

For the odd melange of foreign policy and nakedly transactional deal-making that characterized the Trump administration, Tom Barrack was a fit.

But from what prosecutors allege in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday and an accompanying memorandum demanding that he remain in federal custody, Barrack crossed the line. In doing so as brazenly as he allegedly did, Barrack has inadvertently helped reveal how foreign policy in the Trump administration’s early years began to form.

Barrack, a longtime Trump confidante and founder of investment firm Colony Capital, has been charged with crimes related to an alleged scheme from 2016-18 to illegally lobby the Trump White House on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. Prosecutors described him as an “extremely wealthy and powerful individual” who allegedly acted at the direction of senior UAE officials.

To some in the D.C. foreign policy community, the allegations fit with some of the more surprising things that came out of the Trump administration’s approach to the Middle East.

First off, Trump came out of the gate in early 2017 hot on Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Aaron David Miller, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a longtime adviser to secretaries of state from both parties, pointed out to TPM that Trump was exceptional in that his first foreign trip was to Saudi Arabia.

“The Emiratis – and Tom Barrack was the embodiment of this – the Emiratis probably couldn’t believe how easy it was to establish relations with this administration,” Miller said. “They were pushing on a very, very open door.”

Hussein Ibish, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told TPM that UAE and Saudi leaders had “recognized” something of themselves in the Trump administration.

“They saw in him an American president who conducted politics in a way that they recognized the most,” Ibish said. “And he was looking to sell stuff, and they were looking to buy it, so there was a meeting of the minds there.”

Ibish added that for the first year of the Trump administration, it was unclear to many foreign nations who in Washington they should call to gain access and influence in the White House.

Barrack, Ibish added, appears to have filled that role for the UAE.

“It’s not just who do you call, but who can call on your behalf – that’s where someone like Barrack becomes a useful lobbyist, and an actual advocate,” Ibish said.

[LFC]

Jul 23, 2021 18:15:20 GMT LFC said:

Another Trumpy is under indictment, this one as an illegal foreign agent for the UAE.

He was released under bond, one of the largest bonds in U.S. history.

Tom Barrack, longtime confidant of former President Donald Trump, has been ordered to be released Friday on a bail package that includes a staggering $250 million bond, secured by $5 million in cash — a sum that is among the highest in United States history.

Earlier this week, a multi-count indictment from a federal grand jury in Brooklyn was unsealed that charged Barrack and two others for allegedly acting as agents of the United Arab Emirates. Barrack was additionally charged with obstruction of justice and making material false statements.

The bail hearing for Barrack and fellow defendant Matthew Grimes, who worked for Barrack’s investment firm, was held Friday before Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue in U.S. District Court in Central California. Neither Barrack nor Grimes, both of whom are in custody, appeared. In both cases, the release conditions were agreed upon by both the federal prosecutors and defense lawyers.

Grimes was given a bail package including a $5 million bond. Both men will have to wear ankle bracelets with GPS monitoring and surrender passports and travel documents to ensure they remain in the Central District of California, or the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York for trial purposes.

[AnBr]

www.businessinsider.com/trumps-pac-spent-no-money-proving-election-fraud-claims-report-2021-7

[LFC]

Jul 24, 2021 0:04:35 GMT AnBr said:

www.businessinsider.com/trumps-pac-spent-no-money-proving-election-fraud-claims-report-2021-7

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2021 0:31:10 GMT LFC said:

Jul 24, 2021 0:04:35 GMT AnBr said:

www.businessinsider.com/trumps-pac-spent-no-money-proving-election-fraud-claims-report-2021-7

Trumps taunts directed towards his own supporters were greeted with robust cheers by the same crowd of supporters.

[goldenvalley]

An example of a lawyer taking notes:

The exchange unfolded during a phone call on Dec. 27 in which Mr. Trump pressed the acting attorney general at the time, Jeffrey A. Rosen, and his deputy, Richard P. Donoghue, on voter fraud claims that the Justice Department had found no evidence for. Mr. Donoghue warned that the department had no power to change the outcome of the election. Mr. Trump replied that he did not expect that, according to notes Mr. Donoghue took memorializing the conversation.

“Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me” and to congressional allies, Mr. Donoghue wrote in summarizing Mr. Trump’s response.

Mr. Trump did not name the lawmakers, but at other points during the call, he mentioned Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, whom he described as a “fighter”; Representative Scott Perry, Republican of Pennsylvania, who at the time promoted the idea that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump; and Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, whom Mr. Trump praised for “getting to bottom of things.”

Sounds like a phone call to the Ukrainian president..."just say you're opening an investigation..."

[jackd]

Trump will deny and the cult will chant, "USA,USA,USA!"

[goldenvalley]

It appears that former chief of staff to Trump Meadows is hanging around the New Jersey country club having meetings with others about "plans."  

He refused to divulge the specifics of plans being discussed with Trump — whom he referred to as “the president” — at the former president’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.

Trump is “a president who is fully engaged, highly focused and remaining on task,” Meadows insisted.

“We met with several of our Cabinet members tonight, we actually had a follow-up ... meeting with some of our Cabinet members, and ... we’re looking at what does come next,” Meadows said.

He didn’t identify any of the “Cabinet members.” It was unclear if he was referring to Trump’s former Cabinet members or if some new group has been formed and is being referred to as a Cabinet.

As for the plans under discussion, Meadows told Newsmax: “I’m not authorized to speak on behalf of the president, but I can tell you this: We wouldn’t be meeting tonight if we weren’t making plans to move forward in a real way, with President Trump at the head of that ticket.”

If I were him I'd be looking for another job.  

[goldenvalley]

David Frum's theory on why the Republicans are trying to bury memory of the insurrection:

The first is the familiar human instinct to save face. You invest five years dismissing Trump as a vulgar but ultimately harmless buffoon. Then comes the definitive proof that you were wrong. Are you going to admit it? Of course not....

A second reason is that non-Trumpy conservatives share with Trump conservatives an intense preoccupation with the hypocrisies and double standards of their political opponents. If anything, non-Trumpy conservatives feel even more anger against those opponents than Trump conservatives do. Affirmatively pro-Trump conservatives feel right at home in the Trump coalition. For non-Trump conservatives, their situation is much less comfortable. Disregarding Trump himself as unimportant and irrelevant—while focusing all their attention on irksome things done by anybody other than Trump—becomes an indispensable psychological coping mechanism that leads them to reinterpret January 6 not as a story about Trump but as a story about why liberals did not say more in 2020 about urban disorders or some other irritant of the moment.

Reason three: Non-Trump conservatives have begun to absorb that Trump is not in fact receding into the past. Trump’s grip on the Republican Party remains tight. Unless he’s dead or otherwise unable by then, he’s the likeliest 2024 nominee. And even if he somehow is debarred from running, noisy loyalty to Trump will be a precondition for anyone who wants to succeed him...

Finally, while non-Trump conservatives may disapprove of the crude and excessive violence deployed on January 6, they do not disapprove of the post-democratic path being explored by the modern right. The yearning for a Caesar to repress the woke mob is expressed more and more explicitly, hence the appeal to even the highest-toned of today’s conservative intellectuals of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Poland’s Law and Justice party, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Some even have favorable words for some of the fascists of the 1930s, such as Portugal’s António Salazar.

[andydp]

They'll never carry a COVID passport but...



Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry 'Trump Cards'

Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry "Trump Cards."

"The card you select will be carried by Patriots all around the Country. They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and I'm putting my full trust in you," Trump wrote in the first email.

(SNIP)

The Trump camp did not outline exactly what entitled one to carry a "Trump Card." Clicking on the link to vote for one's favorite design brought the user to a fundraising page. The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

More of the usual details here:

www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-wants-supporters-to-carry-trump-cards-2021-8?fbclid=IwAR0jBPiAlhyozix7X4QLVaJYNlyopWzINMqENVUZ1lhZnaA8s5YJp2Y6SOU

[jackd]

Grifters gotta grift.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 5, 2021 12:37:17 GMT andydp said:

They'll never carry a COVID passport but...



Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry 'Trump Cards'

Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry "Trump Cards."

"The card you select will be carried by Patriots all around the Country. They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and I'm putting my full trust in you," Trump wrote in the first email.

(SNIP)

The Trump camp did not outline exactly what entitled one to carry a "Trump Card." Clicking on the link to vote for one's favorite design brought the user to a fundraising page. The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

More of the usual details here:

www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-wants-supporters-to-carry-trump-cards-2021-8?fbclid=IwAR0jBPiAlhyozix7X4QLVaJYNlyopWzINMqENVUZ1lhZnaA8s5YJp2Y6SOU

I'm a card carrying member of MAGA!  Entitles me to punch anyone who tries to tell me what to do!

[jackd]

Or audit any election result I don't like.

[pnwguy]

Aug 5, 2021 14:50:16 GMT goldenvalley said:

I'm a card carrying member of MAGA! Entitles me to punch anyone who tries to tell me what to do!

And Dear Leader will get Mexico to pay for any legal fees.

My vote for the Trump Card design...

[Deleted]

Aug 5, 2021 14:50:16 GMT goldenvalley said:

I'm a card carrying member of MAGA!  Entitles me to punch anyone who tries to tell me what to do!

Also, entitles me to victim status and your donations to my GoFundMe campaign, if anyone objects. 

[indy]

Aug 5, 2021 14:07:21 GMT jackd said:

Grifters gotta grift.

And suckers gotta...suck?

[pnwguy]

Aug 5, 2021 17:15:56 GMT indy said:

Aug 5, 2021 14:07:21 GMT jackd said:

Grifters gotta grift.

And suckers gotta...suck?

...get the dollars sucked out of their bank accounts.


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