"Sphincter Politicians on Parade”

[LFC]

The Santos Scandal Stream hasn't run dry yet.

The growing stink around Rep. George Santos (R-NY) grew even stinkier on Monday with a report claiming that over $365,000 of campaign spending has been left mysteriously unaccounted for in financial filings. The New York Times report alleges that a total of $365,399.08—which amounts to 12 percent of Santos’ total reported expenses—has simply been left unexplained in the campaign’s records. Such an irregularity is not necessarily illegal, but election law experts say such a large gap in the records could point to a pattern of incompetence at best or a bid to hide rule-breaking spending at worst. Only if the $365,000 were made in payments of $200 or less to over $1,800 separate entities would the campaign not have to itemize the transactions. “It again falls into the category of reporting that is so ludicrous that it’s completely wrong, and suggests that they’re covering up how they actually spent their money,” Saurav Ghosh, a director with the Campaign Legal Center, told the Times.

[LFC]

Oh, George.

[LFC]

DeSatanist and Floriduh Republicans are throwing taxpayer dollars all over the place to reward their cronies and donors. It's not remotely subtle.

Ron DeSantis has successfully installed Richard Corcoran as president of New College of Florida (with a $700K salary, $84K housing allowance & $12K car allowance).

Now, DeSantis will have legislators hand Corcoran an extra $15 million to spend on "institutional restructuring."
It'll happen this afternoon, during a meeting of the Legislature's "Legislative Budget Commission," a joint House-Senate panel that can rewrite the state budget in the middle of the year.

The $15 million for New Hillsdale is the 1st item on the agenda:

And this is a pretty sweet payoff for $75,000 in donations.

The LBC is also going to rewrite a contract with the Florida Lottery's biggest contractor, in a deal that'll pay the company (a major campaign contributor) an extra $1 million+ per year.

[LFC]

Two words on Santos: never ... ending.

When George Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, he lost by more than 12 points. But even though he was running in a safely blue district, the “red mirage” of Election Day votes lent the false impression of a tight race, and before absentee ballot counting began the following week, Santos seized on a golden fundraising opportunity: a recount fund.

The only catch was, in Santos’ case, there never was a recount. Those 90,000 absentee ballots devoured Santos’ 4,000-vote Election Day lead, swinging the race—which had not even been ranked “competitive” by Cook Political Report—to Democratic opponent Tom Suozzi. Suozzi eventually won by more than 46,000 votes.

State election laws only trigger automatic recounts when the margin is 20 votes or less or 0.5 percent or less, and those laws do not allow candidates to call recounts independently.

But that didn’t stop Santos from creating “Devolder Santos for Congress Recount” (DSCR) less than 24 hours after Election Day—a fundraising committee that raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supposedly in connection with a recount that was never in the cards to begin with.

Saurav Ghosh, director of federal reform at government watchdog Campaign Legal Center, told The Daily Beast that Santos appears to have “abused” one of the “most unregulated areas of campaign finance.”

Essentially, Ghosh said, federal guidelines say candidates can have recount accounts, which allow them to raise money above the usual election contribution limits, “but they don’t really delineate how the money can be spent.”

“Recounts are one of the most unregulated areas of campaign finance. They’ve been around for decades, and I think some of the institutional views of recount funds in general reflect the thought that they’re going to have an impact on elections,” he explained. “However, recount accounts aren’t treated the same way as general election funds—which deal with money raised and spent to influence voters—because essentially recount money is only supposed to be related to post-election recounts or legal fees related to challenging election results.”

The rules around such funds are loose enough that Santos may be able to justify the fundraising, Ghosh said. As for the spending, he said, “Our view is that at a minimum that’s an abuse of what recount funds are supposed to be used for.”

[LFC]

Santos's besty! Lying grifters of a feather...

The woman Rep. George Santos called his “best friend” is a Republican fundraiser and conspiracy-theory spreader who spent years promoting an Albanian politician barred from entering the United States for corruption—work that raised concerns among legal and ethics experts who spoke with The Daily Beast.

In the space of two election cycles, Evi Kokalari—who sometimes uses her ex-husband’s surname Angelakis—went from a small-time Queens real estate broker whose dabbling in politics never extended beyond a couple gifts to local campaigns, to a jet-setting Republican operative who hosted events for Santos and GOP luminaries including former Rep. Lee Zeldin and Trump acting intelligence director Ric Grenell.

In the same period, beginning around 2019, social media showed her attending parties at Mar-a-Lago, commanding meetings with Eric Trump; ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Ilir Meta, then the president of Albania; and Yuri Kim, former U.S. ambassador to Albania. Posts showed she regularly visited her home country in the Balkans and such destinations as London, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos.

Her access to U.S. politicians allowed her to propagate a narrative in the United States and in Albania that blamed liberal billionaire George Soros for American sanctions against ex-Prime Minister Sali Berisha, whom the State Department had declared persona non grata for his involvement in public corruption. Following her events with Zeldin and Grenell, the two Republicans began to echo her talking points about Berisha’s supposed persecution, and she claimed online to have recruited multiple members of Congress to her anti-Soros cause.

[LFC]

With a nose for self-preservation, a number of House Republicans want Santos to go. I guess the endless stank coming off of him is just too much for the party that easily absorbed Greene, Gaetz, Boebert, Gohmert, Biggs, Norman, and on and on.

Embattled Rep. George Santos is contemplating a nightmare scenario for House Republicans: Trying to stick it out in Congress, even if he is indicted on criminal charges.

After previously signaling to Republicans he wouldn’t seek reelection, Santos has recently been telling people he is considering running for a second term, according to multiple Republican sources, and privately insists he will ultimately be cleared of all wrong-doing and that his treasurer will face scrutiny over his finances. And Chris Grant, a political consultant who once worked for an indicted former member of Congress, has advised Santos to not resign, encouraging the New York Republican to ride out his myriad legal issues, another GOP source said.

“Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down,” tweeted Santos on Tuesday, who has been defiant despite calls for his resignation over repeatedly lying about his career, education and identity. “I will continue to work for #NY03 and no amount of Twitter trolling will stop me. I’m looking forward to getting what needs to be done, DONE!”

Adding to the intrigue about Santos’ future, the Federal Election Commission asked Santos last week to announce whether he plans to run again in 2024 after the freshman lawmaker crossed a post-election fundraising threshold that now requires him to make a formal declaration by March 14. His office declined to comment about campaign matters.

But even before Santos publicly telegraphs his next moves, top party leaders are vowing to knock Santos off and mount an aggressive effort to ensure he can’t tarnish their New York ticket, with six House Republicans in districts carried by Joe Biden in 2020 already on defense going into next year.

In New York, senior Republicans are beginning to reach out to potential primary challengers to topple Santos if he attempts to hang onto his seat. In Washington, senior Republicans are reassuring members of their party in New York that there’s no way they’ll let him be their nominee. And GOP leaders are privately hoping that the cascading revelations and potential for criminal charges will be enough to convince him to bow out and not run for reelection – even though they privately would like to see him occupy the seat for the rest of this Congress to avoid setting up a special election for a seat that could flip to the Democrats.

Part of the reason for the sense of urgency: Several New York freshmen – who were responsible for giving the GOP a House majority – will be vulnerable in 2024 and want to be talking about anyone other than Santos next year.

“George Santos will not be on any ticket in 2024,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro, a New York GOP freshman, who has said he’d vote to expel Santos if a resolution to kick him out of Congress came to the floor.

“I am confident that George Santos will not be on any ticket come 2024,” added Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a fellow Republican freshman who represents a neighboring Long Island district. “I am confident that we’ll do everything in our power to make sure we have the right candidate, the honest candidate, the truthful candidate, and the one who was honest about his entire being.”

No matter the outcome, though, Santos has put GOP leaders in a serious bind. If he does resign or is expelled, that would set up a special election in a Long Island swing district and chip away at the House GOP’s razor-thin majority, at least temporarily. But they also don’t want Santos to run for reelection in 2024, remaining a black eye on the party and allowing Democrats to link Republican candidates to Santos.

[LFC]

Now they're asking the (recently neutered) House Ethics Committee to look into George Santos's likely marriage for potential violations of immigration law. Good thing for him they'll cover for him.

When Representative George Santos of New York was 24, he did something that many millions of people do each year: He got married.

That marriage, to a Brazilian woman, would last seven years. In that time, Mr. Santos began to lay the groundwork for a largely fictional life story, moving back and forth between New York and Florida, working sporadic jobs that he later falsely inflated into a successful Wall Street career, and navigating a handful of evictions. He would also date men — even proposing to one in 2014.

By 2019, Mr. Santos was divorced, not long before he launched his first congressional campaign. But the old relationship drew new scrutiny on Wednesday, via a letter filed with ethics watchdogs in the House of Representatives requesting an investigation into whether Mr. Santos has violated federal immigration laws.

The request was made by Malcolm Lazin, an L.G.B.T.Q. rights activist and former federal prosecutor, to the House Ethics Committee and Office of Congressional Ethics. It is the latest in a torrent of scrutiny of Mr. Santos, who made history as the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican to be elected to Congress.

Mr. Lazin does not claim to have any firsthand knowledge or clear evidence that Mr. Santos’s marriage was a sham, instead appending a series of details from news reports that suggest that the couple lived separate lives, including the fact that Mr. Santos dated men during his marriage.

In an interview in December with the political publication City & State, Mr. Santos suggested that he was not openly gay when he first married. “I did marry young, and I married a young woman at the time, and we pretty much were in love,” he said.

But, he continued, the relationship ended after he decided to come out. “I set myself free and I set her free,” he said, adding that the split had been somewhat contentious and preceded a long period before his divorce. He is now in a committed relationship with a man.

Still, friends, former roommates and co-workers said in interviews that Mr. Santos identified as gay for his entire adult life and that he was dating men during the period in which he was married to his ex-wife.

One of those men, Pedro Vilarva, recalled that Mr. Santos had proposed to him in 2014. He said that the couple lived together for several months but separated after Mr. Vilarva discovered that Mr. Santos was wanted by Brazilian authorities for check fraud.

So how sketchy is the timeline? Pretty sketchy.

Public records obtained by the nonprofit group Reclaim the Records indicate that Mr. Santos was married in 2012 in Manhattan. But in May 2013, court records show, one of the parties moved to dissolve the marriage, though the effort was dropped in December of that year.

In March 2014, Mr. Santos filed a family-based immigration petition for his wife on the basis of their marriage, according to an official timeline of their case shared with The Times. The petition was approved in July, and she was granted conditional permanent residence. Such an approval is typically considered an official acknowledgment that the relationship is valid, and is based on interviews, documents, such as a marriage license, bills and other proof of cohabitation and wedding photographs.

In July 2016, after the required two years had passed, Mr. Santos’s wife filed a form with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to remove conditions. The request was approved in October 2017, and the ex-wife became a legal permanent resident. In August 2022, she became a United States citizen, according to the timeline.

In October 2022, she filed a petition to sponsor her new husband, who is also Brazilian, for a green card, according to the timeline. That matter is pending.

[LFC]

We know that Santos lied (and lied and lied and lied...) about his background. Next we had Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) who embellished her own resume.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, faced criticism online Friday after a report revealed that she was not raised Jewish, according to some of her family members, despite previously claiming Jewish heritage.

This past November, Luna, who identifies as Christian, told Jewish Insider days before the midterm elections that she was "raised as a Messianic Jew" by her father. Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

At the time, she was defending Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, over past comments that some viewed as antisemitic.

"I am also a small fraction [of] Ashkenazi. If she [Greene] were antisemitic, why did she endorse me?" Luna asked the publication.

The details in a Friday report by The Washington Post contradicted Luna's previous claims of Jewish heritage. Luna's mother, Monica Luna, said that the Republican's father George Mayerhofer—who Luna and other family members said was a drug addict—was a Christian who embraced the Messianic faith.

"He eventually got clean and started attending a messianic Jewish church in Orange County. He brought Anna to services and she buried him to Jewish customs," Monica Luna said, according to the Post.

However, Luna's father was Catholic, according to three members of Luna's extended family who said that they were not aware of him practicing any form of Judaism while the Florida congresswoman was growing up.

Now we have Rep. Andy Ogles (R-KY) who has repeatedly claimed to be an economist plus other things for which there is little, no, or contradicting evidence. I guess if he "identifies as an economist" then he should be treated like an economist, right?

If you believe Middle Tennessee's newest congressman, he's not only a businessman, he's also an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.

But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Andy Ogles' personal life story is filled with exaggerations, a story that's often too good to be true.

Not long after his election to Congress, the freshman Republican found himself in the middle of the drama over the House speaker — giving him a chance to introduce himself to a national audience.

"Yeah, you know, I'm an economist," Ogles told a C-SPAN interviewer. Later, asked to name the committees to which he would like to be assigned, Ogles began: "So, I'm an economist."

On the TV show Washington Watch in January, he added to the claim: "I'm an economist. I worked in economics. I worked in health care."

It was a claim Ogles began making on the campaign trail, beginning one answer in a Wilson County GOP debate by saying, "You know, as an economist..."

In his first meeting on the House Financial Services Committee, Ogles prefaced one question to a group of expert witnesses, referring to himself, "you know, as an economist..."

Yet, like some of the questions surrounding his controversial colleague, New York Congressman George Santos, there's little evidence that Ogles ever received any formal training in economics.

[goldenvalley]

Feb 17, 2023 19:51:44 GMT LFC said:

Now we have Rep. Andy Ogles (R-KY) who has repeatedly claimed to be an economist plus other things for which there is little, no, or contradicting evidence. I guess if he "identifies as an economist" then he should be treated like an economist, right?

If you believe Middle Tennessee's newest congressman, he's not only a businessman, he's also an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.

But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Andy Ogles' personal life story is filled with exaggerations, a story that's often too good to be true.

Not long after his election to Congress, the freshman Republican found himself in the middle of the drama over the House speaker — giving him a chance to introduce himself to a national audience.

"Yeah, you know, I'm an economist," Ogles told a C-SPAN interviewer. Later, asked to name the committees to which he would like to be assigned, Ogles began: "So, I'm an economist."

On the TV show Washington Watch in January, he added to the claim: "I'm an economist. I worked in economics. I worked in health care."

It was a claim Ogles began making on the campaign trail, beginning one answer in a Wilson County GOP debate by saying, "You know, as an economist..."

In his first meeting on the House Financial Services Committee, Ogles prefaced one question to a group of expert witnesses, referring to himself, "you know, as an economist..."

Yet, like some of the questions surrounding his controversial colleague, New York Congressman George Santos, there's little evidence that Ogles ever received any formal training in economics.

I have to laugh at this one. I know the college this guy went to (Middle TN State University). It's part of the regional university system there and 40 years ago when I was in the university in that system we called MTSU the "high school." The implication was that it wasn't academically rigorous while mine was filled with engineering students and more science-y types. But that was 40 years ago.

There's exaggerating and then there's outright lying. Ms Luna and Ogle are more on the exaggerating side but Ogle is closer to Santos on the continuum when you consider the claim that he was some sort of law enforcement officer too.

[LFC]

Sounds like Santos is on a apology tour. I guess it boils down to "Sure I've been a lying shitbag all my life but I understand that but now I'm a serious person." Uh, huh.

After a bit of prodding from none other than right-wing TV host Piers Morgan, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) admitted to being “a terrible liar” in a Monday interview. In the roughly 40-minute discussion Morgan pressed the New York congressman on the plethora of lies he has told over the past couple of years, which came to light just after he was elected to Congress.

“I was a Wall Street superstar, I was this, my family were this, and it was all untrue,” Morgan said to Santos on his show “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” referring to the lies Santos spewed about his resume and background.

“I don’t characterize these as mistakes,” Morgan continued, “I think they’re part of your process of… cathartic process of redemption if you’d like. It’s gotta start from ‘I’ve been a terrible liar,’ I mean, would you be prepared to say that?”

“Sure, like I said,” Santos began before Morgan interrupted and urged him to “go on then.”

“Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects,” Santos admitted.

[goldenvalley]

Feb 22, 2023 16:37:28 GMT LFC said:

Sounds like Santos is on a apology tour. I guess it boils down to "Sure I've been a lying shitbag all my life but I understand that but now I'm a serious person." Uh, huh.

After a bit of prodding from none other than right-wing TV host Piers Morgan, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) admitted to being “a terrible liar” in a Monday interview. In the roughly 40-minute discussion Morgan pressed the New York congressman on the plethora of lies he has told over the past couple of years, which came to light just after he was elected to Congress.

“I was a Wall Street superstar, I was this, my family were this, and it was all untrue,” Morgan said to Santos on his show “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” referring to the lies Santos spewed about his resume and background.

“I don’t characterize these as mistakes,” Morgan continued, “I think they’re part of your process of… cathartic process of redemption if you’d like. It’s gotta start from ‘I’ve been a terrible liar,’ I mean, would you be prepared to say that?”

“Sure, like I said,” Santos began before Morgan interrupted and urged him to “go on then.”

“Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects,” Santos admitted.

"terrible liar"? Does this mean he's bad at telling lies or he is terrible for telling lies?  

I suspect this running for Congress thing was just another scam for him. Spend campaign money as if it were his personal money, not have to do anything but talk...something he likes to do. He lost the first time so no one really paid attention to his behavior.  But he screwed up and won the second time around and uh oh! people started paying attention (too late).  

[goldenvalley]

MTG wants a national divorce.  Of course she fails to realize that many states are purple with rural areas that are red and urban/suburban areas that are blue.  That makes dividing up the country impracticable.  Really I wonder why we continue with the organization around states...it made sense in the 1770s but modern life is not divided up by geography or common ideology so neatly anymore.  And her precious red areas rely on the blue areas for federal tax dollars and probably a lot of state tax dollars too. A divorce would make them much poorer.

[LFC]

MTG, now completely allied and aligned with Qevin, revealed a little of what her red state paradise might look like. Sure does sound like an undemocratic fascist state to me.

Jason Campbell
@jasonscampbell

Marjorie Taylor Greene: "If Democrat voters choose to flee these Blue states...Well, once they move to a Red state, guess what? Maybe you don't get to vote for five years"

[LFC]

Kyrsten Sinema is oddly close with Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat in name only who is suspiciously supportive of Vladimir Putin.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) spends more of her campaign funds on security than nearly every other member of Congress—she’s underwritten well over $560,000 for her protection since late 2021—but what’s more unusual than how much she spends is who she spends it on.

According to federal campaign finance filings, Sinema’s campaign committees have paid a combined $307,000 in security expenses to an Arizona-registered entity called TOA Group LLC. And official documents show that TOA Group LLC has just one officer: Vrindivan Gabbard Bellord, best known as the sister of and occasional spokesperson for Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate turned right-wing political figure, has long had a friendly relationship with Sinema. And Gabbard’s sister, Bellord, also appears to be quite close to the senator.

Since fall 2021, Bellord has been employed as the “security director” in Sinema’s Senate office, a role that has paid her over $50,000, according to Senate records. Bellord has also apparently been the exclusive security provider to Sinema’s campaign. She appears to have no other clients aside from the Arizona senator.

Beyond paying Bellord’s salary, Sinema’s campaign committee and personal PAC have spent over $240,000 on other security-related expenses—airfare, lodging, meals, and other benefits for “security detail,” presumably meaning Bellord.

In 2022, Sinema’s campaigns spent over $56,000 for security detail lodging at Marriott hotels alone. Notably, there are also two separate charges totaling over $100,000 for “security detail vehicle.”

Bellord may have also benefited from Sinema campaign expenses that were not listed as specifically security-related. In February 2022, Sinema’s personal PAC paid $95 to a “fat bike” tour company in Park City, Utah. Days before, Bellord posted a photo to Instagram showing two bikes—with fat wheels—in snowy mountain surroundings. In response to a comment from Gabbard, Bellord said, “thanks to our friend,” with a winky-face emoji. (Sinema liked the post.)

The connection between Sinema and Bellord is far from coincidental. Sinema and Gabbard first became friends when both arrived in the U.S. House as freshmen in 2013. During Gabbard’s time in Washington, Bellord reportedly lived with her sister—and likely got to know Sinema there. According to property records, Bellord’s primary residence now is in Texas.

As a former U.S. marshal—and the de facto driver and body woman for Gabbard’s 2020 presidential campaign—Bellord surely has applicable security expertise.

But the previously unreported arrangement between Sinema and Bellord raises several ethics concerns, according to campaign finance law experts. These experts told The Daily Beast that Sinema has an obligation to explain the relationship further. The newly independent Arizona senator has not announced whether she will run for re-election in 2024, but she has already drawn a challenger in Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).

[LFC]

[LFC]

MTG playin' the victim for experiencing exactly what she's done to others, including high school student and survivor David Hogg. BTW I noticed she didn't supply video. Hmmmmmm.

Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦
@ronfilipkowski

From the woman who used to chase people down on the street and film herself yelling at them so she could post it on the internet.

[pnwguy]

After following a few Twitter threads down, I saw the best nickname for this bimbo:

Marjorie Trailer Grease

[LFC]

I have a pretty low opinion of Herschel Walker but I suspect in this case he's just a chump that grifters realized they could grift. I saw a comment that somebody apparently watched Season 3 of Breaking Bad and decided to give it a try.

Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦
@ronfilipkowski

Walker’s campaign paid $595,600 to a company called ‘Jetts’ to supposedly charter private planes. However, Fox has learned that ‘Jetts’ is a defunct car wash that was owned by a Walker donor.

[goldenvalley]

Interesting logic employed by MTG

[LFC]

The revelations about Santos's shady campaign fundraising and spending, plus the cast of known grifters and scumbags he's surrounded himself with, have been endless. Today was what I'd call a cherry on top except I know there are many more layers to come.

[goldenvalley]

The gentle lady from Colorado (Boebert) has announced that her 17 year old son is about to become a father.  I wonder if he saw a Drag Queen when he was younger.  

[andydp]

Mar 10, 2023 0:35:22 GMT goldenvalley said:

The gentle lady from Colorado (Boebert) has announced that her 17 year old son is about to become a father.  I wonder if he saw a Drag Queen when he was younger.  

I understand the mother of her new grandchild is 15. Is that grooming ?

[LFC]

Oh, no. No, no, no. Just no.

What did Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles do with tens of thousands of dollars meant for a children's burial garden?

Now, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered more questions that the freshman Republican won't answer.

It's a story that goes far beyond questions about Ogles' inflated resume. It's a story that stems from a personal tragedy — the stillborn death of a child whose photo Ogles sometimes posts on his political social media — and a GoFundMe that allowed Ogles to rake in tens of thousands of dollars for what was supposed to be a children's burial garden.

Yet, what makes it a story is the fact that there is no burial garden, no one knows where their donations went, and Ogles refuses to say what he did with the money.

One donor said he almost felt guilty about passing along the tip. Another said, "It just feels like a topic you can't touch. It's taboo."

But the story that NewsChannel 5 Investigates heard repeatedly was how two days after the loss of the child in 2014, Ogles himself used a photo of his stillborn baby for a GoFundMe for something he called "Lincoln's Place."

It implored: "Help us help other families. No family should have to bury their child; no child should be alone."

It promised a "burial garden" that would "create a place for Lincoln's new play friends," "a life-size statue of Jesus watching over the children," along with "benches for families to sit while surrounded by flowers."

And people responded to Ogles' emotional plea, donating almost $25,000.

GoFundMe confirms Ogles got the money.

One of the donors told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that she wanted "to believe that that money went for something good," but Ogles' other challenges with the truth left her with "gnawing questions about what happened to these funds."

Of course, this would not be a story if the future congressman had taken the money and used it as promised, or at least used it for a good cause.

But in the cemetery where Lincoln is buried, we checked from one corner to another.

And just like the tipsters had feared, there is no children's burial garden, no benches where families can sit, and no life-size statue of Jesus.

In fact, a Tennessean story a year after the GoFundMe raised the question of what happened with the money, quoting Ogles as blaming government bureaucracy.

"What we found over the past year as we have been going through this process is that burials are heavily regulated," he claimed.

He insisted none of the money had been spent.

Oh, so he's just been waiting to use it since 2014? Buuuulllll-shit!

[goldenvalley]

Mar 15, 2023 23:38:44 GMT LFC said:

Oh, no. No, no, no. Just no.

What did Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles do with tens of thousands of dollars meant for a children's burial garden?

Now, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered more questions that the freshman Republican won't answer.

It's a story that goes far beyond questions about Ogles' inflated resume. It's a story that stems from a personal tragedy — the stillborn death of a child whose photo Ogles sometimes posts on his political social media — and a GoFundMe that allowed Ogles to rake in tens of thousands of dollars for what was supposed to be a children's burial garden.

Yet, what makes it a story is the fact that there is no burial garden, no one knows where their donations went, and Ogles refuses to say what he did with the money.

He's the guy that lied about his resume...economist, human trafficking expert, lawman.  Seems like Channel 5 in Nashville has been watching him closely. It broke the resume story too I think.  I hope they keep looking at his activities.

[LFC]

In a decent political party somebody like this would be a pariah. In the GOP it's a Thursday.

North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who has a long history of attacking gay people, Jews, and various minorities, is now reportedly seeking higher office. On Thursday, one day after TPM published a look at Robinson’s years of extremist Facebook posts, Axios revealed that he is set to announce a gubernatorial bid at a rally next month.

Along with his online writings, Robinson has made a series of controversial comments in speeches and church sermons. Despite his history of inflammatory remarks, Robinson is, according to Axios, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Robinson’s extensive, typo-filled Facebook oeuvre included myriad attacks on trans and gay people, a community he dubbed a “FILTHY ABOMINATION” and a “satanic cult of sexual perversion.”

“We have pushed homosexuality over the top. Mark my words PEDOPHILLA is next, which will be closely followed by the END of civilization as we know it,” Robinson wrote in 2014.

Robinson, who did not respond to a request for comment, also wrote posts where he hinted at conspiracy theories that advocacy groups have called anti-Semitic and seemed to question the Holocaust.