January 6 Committee Details The Big Fraud Monetizing The Big Lie
The second hearing from the January 6 Committee was just as well choreographed as the first one, with an even greater reliance on Republican voices to make the case against Trump, including:
- Bill Barr
- Bill Stepien
- Al Schmidt
- Alex Cannon
- Ivanka
- Rudy Giuliani
- Sidney Powell
- Chris Stirewalt
- Jason Miller
- Ben Ginsberg
Here’s my live tweet of the hearing.
The presentation started by describing how Trump was told on election night that the news looked bad. The presentation ended by showing how those attacking the Capitol cited Trump’s lies to justify their actions.
Perhaps the most effective part of the hearing, however, was a video shown near the end that talked about how Trump monetized the Big Lie. He raised $250M telling lies about voter fraud.
Some of that money went to Mark Meadows’ “charity,” the Conservative Partnership Institute and even more went to Paul Manafort’s company, Event Strategies.
This is the kind of activity, fundraising making false claim, that got Steve Bannon charged with wire fraud and it’s the kind of scheme behind the investigation into Sidney Powell.
I’m convinced that this is the tip of the iceberg with regards to the Trump campaign’s fraud. I hope this starts a real investigation.
I mean, how could it not be just the tip? These people were grifting back before they invented the word grifting. $250 mil chump change compared to Jared— Don must be jealous.
Is being “detached from reality” a viable defense to wire fraud?
I don’t think we’ve seen everything fully researched and investigated wrt 2016 inauguration monies, have we? let’s hope more than just this grift will be investigated.
Inauguration details are still being protected under b7A exemptions, so DOJ considers it open.
I’ve been afraid any investigation re inauguration was stuck because of counterintelligence considering how much money from foreigners floated into the coffers.
ADDER: Oh, and this guy.
lolol… “I come in peace!”
“Klaatu barada nikto.”
Not apt . . . Klaatu actually “came in peace”. These people came envisioning Whirled Peas.
Looks like he’s saying, “No questions, please”
https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still
His gesture and demeanor reminds me of a scene from an obscure but beloved movie; Greaser’s Palace. The messiah character comes into the village filled with surely citizens who want hang him. The messiah holds his hand up and says something like “I’ve come to bring you a message. Six mile north of Skaggs mountain in the valley of pain there’s an evil devil monster and his name is ‘Bingo Gas Station Motel Cheeseburger with a side of aircraft noise and You’ll be Garry Indiana’…”
If you feel, you’re healed.
robert downey senior RIP
[Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the same username each time you comment so that community members get to know you. This is your second user name; you’ve commented before as “Alexander von Humburg.” Thanks. /~Rayne]
If you feel, you’re healed.
“To serve man”…
The fact that such a small percentage went to anything that could remotely be considered legal defense seems to be the most hopeful door into a fraud charge. Those donations are pretty clear, and surely there are others.
Besides the relationship to Paul Manafort, Event Strategies was described this morning as being the company that organized the Ellipse rally on Jan 6.
“Felonies” for $100 Alex! Oh, the Jeopardy!
Which Alex are we talking about?
The late Mr Trebek (if you’re really askin’).
I haven’t seen a description of even where $10 M of those raised funds went.
I signed up for a rally to protest Roy Moore back when I lived in Pensacola Florida several years back. While the Trump Campaign emails are a complete nuisance and not my politics, I decided a while back that I wanted to see how far they would take it. I think the way they shed light on this at the hearing was remarkable. I am also genuinely curious about what happens to all of the money raised if Trump is not a candidate for 2024.
Some years ago I joined the NRA so that I could get the member discount at their HQ building’s indoor range in Fairfax County. I let it expire but I still get their emails. They are a pretty reliable indicator of what NOT to support.
I also noticed that when you let your membership expire — or even it YOU expire — you’re still considered a member.
The challenge now is that you’re harvested. They’ll make a point of buying all the personal data they can both to do a better job of targeting you and using your data to predict other target audience members who haven’t joined the NRA.
They’ve already been doing this without joining the NRA depending on other purchased data; keep in mind this is what Karl Rove did for the GOP for years with mail data. Someone in this household makes purchases from sporting goods stores like Cabelas, Gander Mountain, does searches for hunting and fishing-related content. We get calls at home from pro-gun politicians and right-wing surveys because this purchasing and content consumption leaves data which has been bought by pols, initiatives, and PACs. If any of this data matches up with habits of someone like you who’ve also joined the NRA in the past, they know to continue to press on the likely gun owner here.
Fortunately that supposed gun owner doesn’t screen the mail or the phone calls. * https://youtu.be/-nPl-qAkUO0 *
No legal entity by that name!
LOLOLOL
May I suggest, after fair and open trials, that we should find several vacant Wal Marts in the Midwest and South (not in my PNW backyard, ‘course) for the long dreaded FEMA camps?
Nice. And I’ll assume some of the empty Walmarts will be in Texas, with no air conditioning (current temp in Garland, TX is 95, heat index is 100).
AZ, NV, and UT should also have some vacant W-Ms, or empty warehouses.
I always wondered why Mark Meadows went from “Trump must be held accountable” to Trump’s once again puppet.
Now I know it was that $1 million donation from Trump’s fraudulent fund to Meadows charity.
Yep, follow the money. Good this was exposed with more to reveal …
Remember what Bannon said after he left the WH in 2017? Follow the money. What did Michael Cohen say? Something to the same effect.
Well, well, well. Manafort, again? Don’t tell me, is that how the coup was financed?
Small money donors are perfect cover for money laundering operations. They camoflauge the big “whale donor” trees in the large small donor forest. Yet a substantial proportion of total money still comes from the whales.
It was mentioned today that the average donation was $17. Wanna bet the median donation was quite a bit less?
The distinction between average and median is a necessary but not sufficient step towards warming my heart.
This bipartisan committee is doing a fantastic job laying out the facts with testimony from Trump’s inner circle, and when taken collectively with all other current and former investigations into Trump, contributes to a mountain of evidence for RICO and/or other organized crimes, regardless of what patsy and sleeper agent notsobmaz vomits. Take that crap somewhere else! ;0)
GA and NY investigations have EACH employed RICO investigators, John Floyd and Mark Pomerantz, respectively, and Pomerantz has specified, “evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt”.
Accordingly, all of the “known” crimes of Trump and his orbit between at least 2006-2022 are the tip of the iceberg! The question isn’t whether or not there-there exists, it is whether or not the there-there police will do anything about the same, or instead overtly further more there-there. Garland would be a national hero if he connected all of the dots for the public, and there are so many dots as to blot white paper blue.
Hi there, you take “your” vomit elsewhere. You clearly would not know a real RICO case if it bit you in the ass. “…and Pomerantz has specified, “evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt”. Georgia has their own state level analogue to RICO, but it is not the same. And if you think GA will prosecute Trump for even their analog, you are out of your mind. Lol, what a joke. And, by the way, as I often have to remind people getting all googly eyes at “RICO”, it does not apply to federal government agents and entities. Please do not spew that garbage here.
Just FYI………
I skip all your posts now. Not because we disagree.
But because your posts are not substantive. They are not polite. They are not informative.
Try harder.
Thank you for your continued support! Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn what you read. Try harder yourself.
I read all bmaz posts and twitter. sometimes i learn something sometimes i don’t. but i appreciate the BS meter he provides, and when he teaches something i know there is some truth, which is necessary.
I thought Rico Law was a cough drop…
https://share.(dot) icloud.com/photos/0ff8XvUQLZLDR6m2mpeTzpagQ
1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
2. Tell them.
3. Tell them what you told them.
The information gets to them x3. And it works.
Questions had been asked for a long time about the money gap from the 2017 Inauguration and the various grifts (i.e. discussion about the fine print saying where the money could go) but what made this hearing different is that Faux News televised it as well as the other networks. I posted a link to an article from the Hill on an earlier thread, but my thinking is that some of the MAGA trolls will not like being duped one bit. Considering how many votes the GQP can count on in the general election, they really can’t afford to have too many of their base to stay home because people will think they’re fools.
Doesn’t Trumpworld have a lot of debt servicing coming due this year? IIRC the sum was north of 440 M$ so not a nickel will be left on the sidewalk. As for Jared, what was his quid pro quo, really?
I’d keep an eye on the yard signs. If those start coming down, the GQP is toast.
According to a report by CNN, the only debt coming due for Trump in 2022 was the mortgage on Trump Tower. He dealt with that by refinancing it with a $100 million loan from Axos Bank in San Diego, which is headed by a big Trump supporter and donor. The large Deutsche Bank loans on his golf courses come due next year.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/politics/donald-trump-tower-loan-mortgage/index.html
In related news, TFG personally netted $76 million from the sale of the Old Postoffice Building lease, according to a report in Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/05/11/trump-organization-closes-375-million-sale-of-dc-hotel/?sh=7a0568bd418f
‘but my thinking is that some of the MAGA TROLLS WILL NOT LIKE BEING DUPED ONE BIT.’
This right here… hammer it home every chance you get…
Over and over and over again…
If they haven’t realized by now that everything about trump is a scam this latest revelation is not going to move the needle
Keep hammering it home…
Over and over and over again…
there’s a reason Trump keeps repeating the same inane soundbites, like ‘Unselect Committee’…
It’s because it works.
Trump suckered them for their; time and money at rallies, Christianity, war dead, decency, commonsense, savviness around NYC con artists, and protection from COVID – they thought it was all just part of their team’s game plan.
Then the rich fraud duped ’em for a two bit donation to his Official Election Defense Fund.
Been short changed a buck on a cup of coffee?
Polls will be of interest.
Trump and Co. corrupt everything they touch.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/14/roger-stone-michael-flynn-distorting-christianity-reawaken-america
Nothing is sacred, nothing they won’t distort, demean or destroy.
It’s good to see some are willing to speak out against it.
I’m sure you know that the con in conman is short for “confidence.” Trump is a master, a frikkin’ Jedi master, at convincing these rubes that, yes, he is a con man, but he’s their conman and they are in on it with him. What amazes me even more is how he is able to corrupt and co-opt people with a bit of education and accomplishment, however dubious. I doubt the man has ever done a straight deal in his life. I think he is incapable of it. He MUST get over on the other party(s) in any deal. And by “get over” I mean cheat.
Has anyone heard Brad Parscale’s name so far? I’m waiting to see if/how the plotline involving Jared’s numerous forays into playing with government as a diversion (see Peter Navarro getting hired off a Google search; Covid; peace in the middle east) either dovetails with or vectors off from Trump’s amoeboid project to stay in office.
Any investigative attempt to follow the money here must include whatever Jared was up to, at all times, including his apparent decision to start freelancing with MBS soon after the 2020 election. Just *when* he opted out of Trump’s plot might be instructive, especially since the combined departures of Parscale and (implicitly) Kushner seem to have created part of the Giuliani-seeking vacuum.
Another name for the Big Reveal Rayne was talking about last week. There are some so-far curious gaps but Parscale is a good one if for no other reason than he had his own ‘side hustle’ going (allegedly ripping off Trumpworld) and that he was campaign manager before Stepien moved into that role. His tenure included several of the earlier references by Individual-1 to rigged elections and similar dreck. He’s shown no scruples of any kind that I can see, but there is no real chance he would have testified without a subpoena and a legal fight.
There’s a tax case to be made here. Without a bona fide political action committee there is no legislative exemption for the income received under IRC sec. 527. If Trump controlled the funds, then he benefitted from and received the income under IRC sec. 61. I am quite confident he didn’t report these amounts on his personal return. At a minimum this is a civil case, and turning this into a criminal matter is what Tax Justice does all day.
Tax evasion, just like Capone. That has a nice ring.
Capone’s old cell on Alcatraz is available.
You can escape from Alcatraz. Steve McQueen proved it.
McQueen escaped from Devil’s Island in/as Papillon. Eastwood may have escaped from Alcatraz in his film but that has never been proved.
Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (aka the Mythbusters) tested out the tale of an escape by attempting to replicate it in all its stages, with only the stuff available to the prisoners back in the day. They made it out of the prison and then to land, but called the myth merely “plausible” rather than “confirmed” as there is no evidence of the missing prisoners either surviving or dying.
Per WaPo summarization this morning:
Elsewhere, they note the distributions to McCarthy and Manafort came from this PAC.
Yup. An example of how the Committee handed a criminal referral to DOJ without leaving their committee room. Those two are exposed in fraud and will now have the opportunity to explain all this.
I read an interesting reader comment today at the New York Times. She argued that a significant Tell (that TFG knew he’d lost) was the lack of any serious Inauguration II festivities grifting-fundraising & planning by Jan 6th. Dunno. ‘eh?
Hamberders are cheap.
Still requires advance planning.
Coup celebration riots don’t take much planning, just an open invitation tweet.
Continuing down that road: In 2020, after the election:
— They were fundraising for his legal defense fund, not for his 2nd inaugural. Not even pretending. This was quite the tell, given the importance he attached to showmanship in general and the first inaugural in particular.
— Nobody seeks to “overturn” an election that they won. TFG tweeted #overturn at 8:34 AM Dec. 9, 2020.
— When asked about counterprogramming against “the” inauguration, the WH didn’t even bother to deny that’s what they’re planning.
— They were rushing to grant pardons.
— They were rushing to burrow minions into government jobs that they never cared about until now.
— They said control of the senate hinged on the Georgia runoffs, which it wouldn’t if Pence were still VP.
All this was obvious at the time. Conclusion: They knew they had lost. They totally knew.
The biggest tell of all may be Trump’s pointed and emphatic lack of interest in promoting voting by mail to his base, even in a time of pandemic. This could have been a huge opportunity for him to garner more votes but it would also have neutered the grievance of fixed elections he had been feeding and grooming since the 2016 campaign, one that would be a super-motivator for his base to support a coup that would both keep him in power and through its shock and violence free him from all those annoying democratic encumbrances that were plaguing his first term, thwarting his freedom of action.
Wow. You’re right. I’ve been wondering why on earth encourage the insanity of rejecting the VBMs that could have elected you.
I also loved the presentation of the Big Grift funding the Big Lie. Outstanding. It would be Shakespearean justice if Trump’s lust for easy money from the rubes ended up being his downfall, which he has pursued since Daddy Trump kicked the bucket. I wasn’t aware that Paul Manafort was behind this Event Strategies organization, but it isn’t surprising since this whole Trump/Manafort/Ukraine/Putin/January 6th mess that the world finds itself in now, is really just one big, incestuous, interconnected ball of corruption.
TNS: Transnational Crime Syndicate
While I naturally hope this is finally the time he went too far and ends up behind bars, of all of Trump’s sins, this is one I actually approve of. I hope he keeps stealing from the scum who worship him. This has at least 3 benefits: 1) Might be an easy to prove crime; 2) Evil, degenerate religious institutions will have less money; 3) GOP candidates could have less money if it’s all going to tfg; and, 4) His drooling worshipers will suffer.
I keep thinking that all this money flowing in the RW/trump/evangelical/media world is just cycling over and over again. Not much is really being spent on real-world items like Lamborghinis, expensive meals, etc.
Instead some entity funded the CNP (or Koch or Mercer or others) spends a ton of money on Murdoch or RW/xian media who donate millions back to the (r)epuglicons who give enormous tax breaks to everyone.
The only poor losers are those that send part of their paltry paychecks to the MAGA crowd.
(Wish I could say it is totally different for the opposite side of the aisle.)
“[P}oor losers”? I rejoice as their mortgages fall into default. Scum.
I’m thinking about what could be a good cartoon: split screens one with “Republicans in Their Natural Habitat”, and the other “Republicans Under Oath”. Two candidates come to mind off the top of my head, for which I won’t bother to look up actual quotes. Giuliani saying all kinds of wild, definitive things about proven fraud, then saying in court in answer to a direct question, no your honor, I am not alleging voter fraud. Another is Sidney Powell’s inspired description of the Dominion fraud scheme, followed by saying no reasonable person would believe the things I said.
Along those lines, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed watching Barr under oath pretending to be a reasonable person. Perhaps best of all is seeing clips of Trump, clips that would normally make my skin crawl, in the context of, “Here’s a clip of Trump saying something that we’ve just proven is a conscious lie.” Whatever else is true, there are rare joys to be found in these hearings, and I am embracing them fully. This may well be a once-in-a-lifetime experience of truth telling.
Just a side note re Barr: if you are the AG of the US, and you come to believe that the POTUS has lost touch with reality, do you resign or do you take steps to protect the country you claim to love so much from the devastating results of having an insane person in the oval office?
Bullshit Barr has earned that moniker over decades of dirty water-carrying for the GOP’s top politicians. Among his cups of dirty water are claims that the odd Republican might be errant, but all Democrats are evil incarnate and an existential threat to humanity. How convenient that doing God’s work should give him license to do pretty much anything that fits his politics.
He’s been a curse for far too long. Incidentally, did I miss a PS to his resignation letter? Something like, “And by the way, stop doing that crazy shit you’ve been doing.” Of course, Barr claims that before the election, he could talk sense to Trump. Perhaps they’ll end up blaming it all on Covid dementia.
I was struck by Barr claiming how *rump faced with losing the election lost touch with reality. Any politically aware grounded adult of Barr’s age has known *rump was out of touch with reality at least a decade before 2015 and if not it was immediately clear when he went gangbusters on Birtherism.
Once a defense counsel, always a defense counsel. Ignorant conduct, for example, let alone conduct while insane, incurs less liability than intentional conduct.
A responsible public office bearer must have a sound basis for confidence in the fitness of those they have any authority to or over.
contrast with R. Senators & Kavanaugh, Barr & Trump
Using defense counsel ethics when in public office needs to be called out as highly irresponsible.
Donald Trump (who turns 76 today) is basically a liar and a conman. I’m sure he knows full well that Obama was American-born, but he seized on the Birther Lie because he knew it would appeal to those who were rankled by the fact that there was a black man in the White House. It was also a sure-fire way of obtaining publicity for himself. Anyone out of touch with reality wouldn’t be so careful about avoiding emails and ripping up, flushing, or burning his correspondence if there’s a chance it might incriminate him.
It was more than a means to stoke racial tension or earning the attention of racist voters. It was a means to plant the seeds of questioning the legitimacy of the election process with the implication that only fraud would allow a Black man who might not be American become POTUS.
Agree.
What Barr said was more nuanced: “if he believes this, he’s…”
May be a distinction without a difference.
No discussion of Trump’s 2020 campaign grift would be complete with mentioning American Made Media Consultants. The Trump campaign and the “Trump Make America Great Again” PAC paid that company over $750 million (yeah, 3/4 of a billion dollars). AMMC was started in 2019 with Lara Trump and Pence’s nephew John Pence as officer (both of them allegedly resigned a few months later to “focus on the campaign”).
$750 million in spending leaves lots of opportunity for payoffs, etc.
This was a story during the campaign, with questions on why Trump was not running as many ads as his “war chest” seemed capable of funding. I think a good chunk went straight to family controlled organizations.
One more reason why I’d like to know what internal polling showed in August-October. Trump was running around the country having super spreader campaign rallies but if he already was being told the numbers were difficult to overcome, then the reason for those rallies isn’t campaigning just as the campaign wasn’t spending on adverts.
“I don’t burn my beautiful $ on ads. I’ve got a better way to remain Pres, one that doesn’t rely on votes.”
When did prep for TheBigSteal really begin?
Consistent with early planning for TheBigSteal are;
underspend on 2020 election advertising,
statements by 45 that 45 will continue as Pres past 2020,
..?
What else you good folk got?
Statement by his former attorney Cohen in Feb 2019 that he feared if Trump lost in 2020 there wouldn’t ever be a peaceful transition of power again. https://youtu.be/RmYxWTlVIpE
I’m sure there’s more; Trump’s publicly expressed reluctance to accept losing since 2016.
There was also Trump’s 2020 campaign fundraising scheme which involved sending numerous emails asking supporters for money. Unless the recipients read the email carefully, they wouldn’t realize the default option was for monthly donations. Donors would have to uncheck the monthly donation box if they planned to make a one-time contribution. It was only when their financial statements came in that many people realized they had been tricked into donating far more to Trump’s campaign than they originally intended.
From a technical perspective, I think the 2nd hearing had more logical edits and a much smoother and more natural pace. Zoe Lofgren’s calm and professional demeanor did a lot to help me follow the narrative. Kudos to the focus on the Big Rip-off.
By the end of all the hearings, I think there might be some people who will begin to see things as they really are rather than what they were tricked into believing. If the truth is shared as often as (or more than) the lies, then there is hope. At least, the following article supports this:
“How liars create the ‘illusion of truth’ “- Tom Stafford, 26th October 2016
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161026-how-liars-create-the-illusion-of-truth
Apparently Fox News covered the hearing this morning, so maybe there will be a bit of blow back from that.
Brings to mind Stephen Colbert’s concept of “truthiness.”
billy barr finally has to tell the truth, HAHAHA!!!!! No billy, you will never again be their fixer.
I’m not so sure of that. Barr’s witness came across- even to myself, who has known him for a millenarianist scoundrel long and well- as a reasonable, BS-intolerant “there are lines I will not cross” sort. I suspect part of the damage in the wake of TFG’s corruption is making bad people look like saints by comparison.
I want to fact check something here. I’m under the impression that, despite 62 lawsuits, the Trump campaign never once alleged election fraud in a court of law. I know of at least two occasions when Trump lawyers were invited by a judge to allege fraud explicitly, and they backed down. If this is so, I wish it would be pointed out.
You might be able to weed through this list.
This article is from November 20, 2020 and it supports the idea that Trump-related lawsuits never alleged fraud. There may be more current info, but most of the articles pointing out that no claims fraud were presented in court seem to be around this time.
https://time.(dot)com/5914377/donald-trump-no-evidence-fraud/
A problem with fraud as an offensive litigation strategy is that it must be pleaded with specificity: names, dates, times, conduct. Without actual facts, that’s hard to do. Making shit up can lead to a world of hurt. Moreover, there’s a good faith requirement that puts the lawyer in jeopardy, if the facts aren’t there.
Rudy’s suspended law license is evidence of the truth of your last statement.
In a number of the election cases the lawyers were asked specifically if they were alleging fraud, and they all denied it.
It’s the smoke that matters, not the fire. As Gordon Sondland testified in the first TFG’s impeachment, all TFG cared about was that Zelensky announce an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter. He didn’t care about the actual investigation. I’m guessing the post-election lawsuits served a similar PR purpose.
Nice correlation with tfg’s past activities.
Well, there’s election fraud, and there’s voter fraud.
The Trump campaign was heavily involved in attempting election fraud, while lying about rampant voter fraud. Part of the election fraud would be what DeJoy was doing with the Post Office. Also lying to voters about voter fraud is election fraud.
It is truly the icing, that TFG was actively fleecing his followers as they flocked to him and the cause.
That is why his followers can never admit it. 50% are already wound up dopamine hate addicts anyway. They would never give up that hate hit. Roll it all together and it’s a nani nani boo-boo conga line. The heads of F News must be continuously amazed at how easy their work is.
Can I hear a young people, black people, suburban women save our bacon again Please!
Trump, like many of his peers and neoliberals in general, is a firm believer in the self-serving Robber Baron mantra, “If God did not want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep.”
Amazing. When Keith Ham died (Hare Krishna co-founder!?!), a commenter following the Post’s obituary wrote, “The cheated want to be cheated by the cheaters.” Stuck with me.
I recommend the film Kumare: True Story of a False Prophet as a study in how people practically beg to be misled.
I’d like to banish “neoliberal” from the English language.
Me too. I hate that word. I think it has unintentional consequences that play right into a propagandistic trope.
YES!
The usage is European. It does not mean progressive or new progressive, but the opposite.
It comes across as sounding elitist by those who use it. That, in turn, can easily be used against them. That is why I think it is problematic.
Defund is another word that creates unintended issues. I think we should try to rethink how some words might create issues.
Hate is a powerful emotion to exploit. Once is planted, the facts don’t matter. Noticed this with close family members. Unless they get deprogrammed, it is hard to argue hate. My mother is visiting for 6 months. So I just cut the TV. In few weeks I can see a big difference. She is more reasonable, more active, better mood. So much easier for the visit. I wish all the MAGA like people have a chance to unplug from Fox. My mother was exposed to some sensational news in Romania, not Fox, but they operate on the same concept, hate. Give people something to hate and they follow you to the end.
Wow! How did you cut access to the T.V.?
I’m trying to think through if one of my “loved ones”/caretakers took away access to the internet because I was following EW.
I’m hoping there’s a RICO case somewhere in this and he loses all of his properties/assets. I think that would be worse for him than prison.
There is no RICO case, there is never any RICO case.
Please bmaz, can we have just one RICO case? I only want one and I’ll be your friend forever!
Only if Popehat approves.
I’m kind of hoping that this one may actually get there. But only if they can convict the lot of them.
Everything else is probably much easier to prove, though.
RICO is in the barn with the optimist boy’s pony.
But the barn is *full* of evidence of the pony.
An old client of mine was convicted under RICO, before I helped them with other issues.
Ah, but was it a government official client, and if so, on the Federal level?
Client was a civilian, federal conviction. Sicilian background.
Ah, thanks. That appears to be actually what the concept was designed for.
SO emphatic, for offering no evidence, and not even an argument.
You sound a bit like someone we all know………….
Listen jackass, you have been around here for about 18 comments, I have been here for about 16 years. Pretty much a quarter of my life has been poured into this blog and that which came before it. None of us, except Marcy, makes one red cent off of it all (and if she offered to pay me, I would not accept it). You have no idea of the crap Rayne and I have to deal with daily, if not sometimes hourly, 24 hours a day. And, no, you will never see most of it. If you do not like it here, get the hell out, because nobody cares about your opinion on how we do our job.
And, by the way, I owe you no duty to disprove idiocy as to RICO. If you have some magic pixie dust to prove otherwise, have at it, don’t bitch at me for not explaining it in full for the 939th time on this blog. Here is my friend Ken White’s explainer. When he says:
He is apparently referring to you. Enjoy your remedial education. And the next time you feel like bitching at the people who actually keep this joint running, think twice about what is really “substantive” because it sure is not your comments in that regard.
Obiligatory: https://www.popehat.com/2016/06/14/lawsplainer-its-not-rico-dammit/
Monetizing the Big Lie gives Trump et al. a possible out on the charges of sedition and attempt to defraud the US, as he can argue that he wasn’t pushing the Lie to attempt to stay in office, but rather to continue the $ gravy train. Still illegal, but a lesser charge.
It needn’t be an either-or proposition.
A plea bargain at half the price!
I miss Stephen Miller.
When is he going to be invited to the party?
I’m almost certain he has earned a cell.
Stephen “Baby Goebbels” Miller was subpoenaed by the House J6 Committee on November 9, 2021.
He was asked to supply documents by November 23, 2021.
He was asked to testify on December 14, 2021.
Here’s a copy of the subpoena. Apparently he’s complied because there’s no indication he’s relying on privilege to exempt him or any documents, and he’s filed no lawsuit.
All of this is readily available online. I suggest next time you elevate your game and do your own legwork because you could have answered this question all by yourself instead of wasting my time.
This does, however, give me the opportunity to mention that the clip of Jared in the 2nd hearing shows he has aged quite a bit. Or maybe all his evil is just making him uglier. Doesn’t he look more like Stephen Miller now?
Apparently $2 billion from the Saudis can’t buy the kind of aestheticians and plastic surgeons Jared needs.
Or he’s afraid of going under anesthesia?
Hoping for a Dorian Grey moment sometime in the future…..
I think Jared switched places with his alter-ego in the portrait.
What he needs is a modern day Ivan Albright.
Oh, I know about all that.
But I haven’t heard his name WRT the hearings or the DOJ recently, and am wondering if he is going to cooperate, of stonewall.
I have seen no indication one way or another and do not believe that filing no lawsuit says much.
Just wondering WHEN anyone is going to get around to investigating Moscow Mitch Grifter’s grifter wife Elaine Ciao’s shenanigans.
If anyone REALLY wanted to take down the PowerMonster, they could like, do THAT…
I do believe there’s a WHOLE LOT of keeping the DOJ hounds at bay because it’s about SO MUCH MORE than the Big Lie.
Investing based on secret intel might be just a FASCINATING subject.
I for one am so sick of highly boastful (Schumer!) Demorats pussyfooting around, while our country absolutely crumples.
I am not a one-is-as-bad-as-the-other proponent, but I see how surgically narrow the focus has been since Mueller was given such a narrow purview to no avail. LET’S GET THE BIG FISH-ALL OF THEM-NOT JUST THE GUPPIES.
Your caps lock key gets stuck a lot. Take a deep breath and then go do some digging into all these problems you want solved because if you’re hinting anybody here needs to do it we’re a bit busy and you’re off topic of this post.
p.s. Your address says you’re in Canada. How about worrying about the fish on your side of the border, eh?
Honey, check your spelling. Her name is “Chao”.
Naw. Her family is from far eastern Italy.
~snicker~ Like my dad’s antecedents, located where Marco Polo is alleged to have discovered pasta.
It was easy to loose track of just how many Rs testified today. Marcy’s list at the top of the thread should also include:
Charles Donaghue
BJ Pak
Eric Herschmann
Derek Lyons
Matt Morgan
I notice his friends are hinting he’s not been acting all there. Interestingly, they seemed to have avoided this topic in the past. Could they be setting the stage for an insanity defense, if needed?
Stephen Colbert opening and monologue last night.
Need To Transport A Bunch Of Racists? Try U-Heil
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKcfG2i-oN0)
Jan 6th Hearings Are Can’t-Miss TV | How Drunk Was Rudy Giuliani On Election Night?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEcKTJgJiOg)
Any guesses on whether Event Strategies picked up the tab for the buses and hotel rooms for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers during their tourist visit to D.C.? It should be easy enough to follow the money.
TRUMP responds:
[I KNOW he could NOT have written this.
My guess would be POWELL or NAVARRO [or his aide ZIEGLER]
https://twitter.com/kristina_wong/status/1536476851383803909
6:33 PM · Jun 13, 2022
Marc ELIAS:
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1536479254489210884
6:42 PM · Jun 13, 2022
A taste, from page 2: [Roger STONE?]
hahaha–he’s disowning the witness
[Jim JORDAN?]
Narrative:
Definitely not written by Democrats; instead it’s what Ronna McDaniels referred to as “legitimate political discourse.” Claiming Democrats wrote this is gaslighting.
Aunt Tiffa !!!
lol
Billy [“BULLSHIT!”] BARR:
https://twitter.com/Limericking/status/1536483213228625920
6:58 PM · Jun 13, 2022
har har
Next Hearing POSTPONED:
https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1536699818759839745
9:19 AM · Jun 14, 2022
Possibly related?
wrt: Kenneth KLUKOWSI; Jeffrey CLARK’s 12/28/20 “Proof of Concept” letter.
https://twitter.com/fdwilkinson/status/1536693495460769798
8:54 AM · Jun 14, 2022
[approx] 12/20/20 [“two weeks before oval office mtg”] KLUKOWSKI joined DoJ as legal counsel for the Civil Division under Clark.
Before that, he “served as special counsel to the WH Office of Management and Budget.”
Before that, he had been a “senior analyst” for BREITBART.
[Can’t say that without thinking: BANNON]
12/28/20 4:20 PM KLUKOWSI email to CLARK [“obtained by the Post”]
The attached letter has been previously released, titled “Pre-Decisional & Deliberative / Attorney-Client or Legal Work Product – Georgia Proof of Concept
12/28/20 4:40 PM CLARK emails ROSEN and DONOGHUE:
Subject “Two Urgent Action Items.”
KLUKOWSKI was listed to give a deposition to the J6 Committee on 11/29/21
See: https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1459358621335109634
10:13 PM · Nov 12, 2021
7/25/19 TRUMP to ZELENSKY: “I would like you to do us a favor though”
8/27/19
https://twitter.com/LevineJonathan/status/1166410005022744579
1:59 PM · Aug 27, 2019
“Special Counsel” for the General Counsel of OMB
Attorney With Ties to Anti-LGBT Groups Hired for Key Government Agency https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/09/20/attorney-ties-anti-lgbt-groups-hired-key-government-agency September 20, 2019
Ugggg It’s just a HUGE rat’s nest.
I wonder if anyone has FOIA’d DOJ to identify all new hires/appointees during the Trump administration. Betting there are more like Klukowski though he’s a particularly egregious example.
ADDER: I think they could share the info if personal information was omitted. https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-update-oip-guidance-privacy-protection-considerations
1/24/19 Ginni [SCOTUS Spouse] THOMAS and a group of conservative activists meets in the WH with TRUMP and about 6 aides for about an hour, after months of delay, mainly about Administration appointments they wanted, but were [allegedly] being denied by the WH. THOMAS handed a memo of names [The GROUNDSWELL Memo] directly to the president.
This meeting came after Ginni [SCOTUS Spouse] THOMAS and her
“best friend” Clarence [“impartiality might reasonably be questioned”] THOMAS had dinner with TRUMP and Melania at the White House.
1/16/20 Press statement regarding GAO Decision B-331564, Office of Management and Budget–Withholding of Ukraine Security Assistance https://www.gao.gov/about/press-center/press-releases/press-statement-b-331564-omb-ukraine.htm
Just heard that the postponement was due to not being ready with the video segments for the hearing. Their video editing crew must be working double-overtime already. Thursday hearing is still about Pence, so the Wednesday hearing about DOJ shenanigans will happen later…
So, they couldn’t get their little infomercial editing done in time? Lol.
A witness may had a scheduling conflict they could not resolve, but the three attorneys wanted to appear and appear together.
Remember when the GQP’er made a huge stink (bullshit and false, naturally) about BLM donations going directly to the DNC?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
or when the J6 attack was taking place the GOP said it was Antifa
hahahahhaaa
My question is, what happens to the Mueller Report…? Can it be revisited? Can it be used in the future prosecutions of the trump crime family and friends? Is there an un-redacted copy available to the committee? Is the Mueller Report still relevant? My confidence in our justice system is flagging…I feel like we really are living on the “knife’s edge”…
[Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the same username each time you comment so that community members get to know you. This is your second user name; your previous 67 comments were published as “Buford.” Thanks. /~Rayne]
The “Mueller Report” is deader than a doornail. It will not be returning.
The aliens came in business suits and said “Business is our business”. I believe that is the lyrics to that song bouncing in my head.
“Watergate is a 7-Eleven Robbery Compared to This Thing.” – Frank Figliuzzi
I don’t know, but it feels like these hearings have the potential to result in a GOP decision to jettison Trump, especially after the Murdoch op-eds in the Post and the WSJ. It would make sense, as it is pretty clear that the thing standing between a GOP victory this fall is the power of the anti-Trump vote. They must understand at some level that they have retained the enthusiasm at their base without the man himself, so why hold on to the baggage. A plus might be the martyrdom aspect – vote for a de Santis pardon! Its risky, but they probably lose Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania senate races with Trump on board, and maybe but not likely Ohio. I’d watch the tells in the next few days, I thought Stepian separating out the “good” Trumpers and the “bad” Trumpers was particularly telling, as was Barr’s parsing of what Trump himself did with the generalized “bullshit” of the Big Lie. No public good with this lot, so they may be the leading edge of something.
I tweeted yesterday:
Dear @GOP: you now have the unenviable task of helping foment the most massive jury nullification effort in US history. He is simply not worth it. Think about it. Seriously. After merely 2 days of @January6thCmte public hearings, the incriminating evidence is dispositive.
“… retained the enthusiasm at their base without the man himself, …”
Hi Frank Anon.
What evidence do you see that the base is the GOP’s and no longer Trump’s?
When people talk about Trump being detached from reality, I think what they really mean is that he’s detached from morality and hence, is utterly shameless. For most people, being caught out in a lie is a call to repent and reform. For Trump, it just means he has to tell a better lie.
Yes. And it doesn’t mean he can’t tell the difference between his lies and reality. Like a tobacco salesman, he prefers his lies because they are much more profitable than the truth.
And at this point he couldn’t tell the truth about anything, not even his parents or his spawn.
And the real personal joy is in the telling of a con.
It was heartening to see the J6 Com make it clear that the “Big Lie” was actually the “Big Grift,” something that many of us suspected from the beginning. I look forward to David Farenthold’s reporting on all this as he’s been bird-dogging Trmp’s “charity” grifts for years now and probably has all the strings to pull at his fingertips.
What’s been disheartening is how obvious a grifter Trmp has been since the first story about him in the NYTimes back in the early 1970s, a story that the Times didn’t do due diligence on then and a practice that has continued since then, at least for the favored few.
I also noted that in the screenshots of the donation solicitations, that they were touting 1000% matching. 10x matching? Wow. Maybe there was an asterisk I didn’t see, but that claim struck me as fairly fraudulent. Just more grift.
J6 Committee releases new video footage of HERSHMANN regarding EASTMAN:
https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1536815728208355330
4:59 PM · Jun 14, 2022
That clip is awesome. Superb. I’d like to hope Eastman was sweating it afterward.
https://twitter.com/UrbanAchievr/status/1536717602768277504
10:30 AM · Jun 14, 2022
I wonder if this might be [part of] the reason for the delay, today.
Remember the DOJ Call Logs?
About 10 with Hershmann [whose name I MISSPELLED throughout.
[Start here and follow the links…I think that gets you to all of them]
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/11/09/minority-report-botheration-benefits-bannon/#comment-907482
1/7/21 HERSHMANN re: conversation with EASTMAN
I said, “Good, John.” LOL!
As powerful as Hershmann’s deposition is, I’m struck by his very specific recollections about a conversation from 2.5 years ago, and the vagueness about why Eastman called him (or was it a text?), or “something dealing with Georgia”. Vagaries of human memory, or elision of damning details? (All these R’s seem to be trying to rehab themselves, probably for job prospects in wingnut welfare.)
I’m not nearly smart enough to be a WH lawyer — hell, I can barely remember what I said last week — but I’d expect these interactions to be contemporaneously documented as a CYA for just such an eventuality as these investigations.
The followup question by investigators should have been whether Herschmann had notes and if not, how he recalled this. IMO, this was big enough that I would have recalled it if I’d been on the receiving end and felt compelled to make a recommendation to get legal counsel.
We may have been spared that detail work for the purposes of brevity. You’ll notice there hasn’t been any public rebuttal of Herschmann’s statement.
Marcy retweeted this, earlier:
https://twitter.com/meghanncuniff/status/1536816056353755136
5:01 PM · Jun 14, 2022
Links to:
John Eastman Persuades Judge Carter to Reclassify 10 Emails as Protected From Jan. 6 Committee Saturday’s order reduces from 159 to 149 the number of Chapman University emails Eastman was to disclose to the committee, but it does not change the judge’s central findings about the crime-fraud exception.
https://www.law.com/therecorder/2022/06/14/john-eastman-persuades-judge-carter-to-reclassify-10-emails-as-protected-from-jan-6-committee/?slreturn=20220514193623 Meghann M. Cuniff June 14, 2022 at 04:47 PM
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.841840/gov.uscourts.cacd.841840.364.0.pdf
Oh man, I wonder who these “statistical experts” are.
From the article:
These were “emails with or about statisticians that advised state legislators or circulated Eastman’s theories on their authority”
Sounds like “accomplices”.
I’m starting to look at this here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/06/13/january-6-committee-details-trumps-fundraising-fraud/#comment-941349
I noted some possible “statisticians” over at the other thread, look for them when comments get out of the pokey.
From the article:
Here’s the transcript of CHENEY’s bit:
Every time I hear: “to use former Attorney General BARR’s words”,
I think she’s going to say “BULLSHIT!”
Every time Barr starts to say Bullshit, I imagine he is going to say, “Bull Durham!”
In my line of work, I get to read all sorts of people.
When you watch Herschmann talk about Eastman’s need for a good lawyer, notice how his face contorts. His language is fairly civil, but he is so angry he is about to spit tacks.
Yes, it was so striking compared to all the wishy washy responses from everyone else. He clearly knows right from wrong. Other people who responded, who knows?!
Herschmann looks like he’s restraining himself, but I can’t tell to what degree because he may have had either Botox or some training about body language; note how his forehead facial muscles don’t move at all. If he’s had body language training, he slips when he scratches his face with his left hand communicating discomfort with what he’s discussing.
(I’d really like a body language expert to evaluate Barr’s in his interview. IMO he expresses some arrogance with his slouching, but also discomfort because he’s leaning away from the interviewer.)
I think ALL of these supposedly “reasonable” CACA Party people
[CRAZY-ASS CULT ABSURDIST]
wanted to USE the Crazies to keep their own power,
…letting them go just so far…keeping them on a leash.
But, then, the Crazies got loose.
[IF Herschmann is angry, I think this is why.]
Trump and Co. fleecing followers.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” P.T. Barnum
Pretty good (paywalled?) WaPo interview with Rick Perlstein – a historical expert on the matter – on The ugly truth about the right-wing grift machine.
As is well documented back in 2019 in Anne Nelson’s “Shadow Network”. It is rife with the coordination of RW/libertarians, money, evangelicals, and media networks.
They’ve taken a long-term view on how to subvert democracy, liberalism, progressive policies. They couch it in religious/anti-abortion terms, but it is all about power.
I would posit that fellow Boomer bmaz and I can agree on this sentiment:
The Gerontocracy of the Democratic Party Doesn’t Understand That We’re at the Brink
Absolutely. I have been saying that for years!
The gerontocracy was MIA long before we approached the brink.
While I agree with you gentlemen, punaise, bmaz and earl of h, what do you think could actually be accomplished now, in this particular climate, that isn’t being done ?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s let me count the ways comes to mind. But let me put it in two words: public leadership, articulating what so many see and feel rather than a false sense of camaraderie.
Compare DiFi and Katie Porter at any oversight hearing. Compare Joe B channeling Anne Frank, describing that, “In spite everything I still believe Moscow Mitch is really good at heart,” vs. AOC saying, in effect, “I’ll endorse Joe B. based on what he does, not what he says.”
Katie Porter is my hero.
She knows how to effectively use a white board and a marker to make her points. She knows how to effectively embarrass and belittle self-important, self-aggrandizing corporate swine. She knows how to speak Truth to power. She gives Wall Street CEOs and corporate monopolists nightmares, I am sure. She is, in short, one badass congresswoman.
Schumer, Durbin, and Hoyer come to mind.
And Pelosi. Get rid of them all. Katie Porter for Speaker and Chris Murphy in Senate. Sherrod Brown would be fine too, but rather prefer Murphy.
I was actually meaning from a passing legislation stand point.
Katie Porter would be great as Speaker. Not sure how much more she could accomplish, but she would take names and run a tight ship.
Senate? Warren would get my support, but she’s not on the younger side.
Oh, I know: Sinema! (LOL, JK!)
You say punaise and I say bmaz.
Let’s call the whole thing off.
potayto, potahto….
In a way I can see where bmaz is coming from, as least to the extent that these hearings are a) not “real” hearings, b) overproduced, and as a result, c) might strike some as canned/fake and perhaps even futile. (Ultimately I find them fascinating, for many reasons, but among other things IANAL.)
Reacting as someone who works in communications, I can only say a) readers of this (amazing) site, or really any folks who’ve been paying attention, are not the primary target viewers and b) this well exceeds anything the DNC has done so far (mostly a comment on the subterranean position of the bar in this case).
Yes, the hearings are both overproduced and, based on what TV has conditioned us to expect today, dramatically underwhelming. Also way, way too long for the target audience. But there are already plenty of clips that a competent editor could fashion into something really compelling. Yes — dare I say it — even 6-second YT ads. Unfortunately, in the real world, for some percentage of voters in the middle, that may be about the only thing that can get through.
While I am loath to view this through the lens of “entertainment”:
From clear scripts to big-name casting, the Jan. 6 hearings meet the standards of must-see TV
“Employing tools of the best TV dramas isn’t cheapening the proceedings – it’s meeting the audience’s needs”
Punaise, thanks for the Salon link, many important points there.
The main issue here is engagement. Those of us who read this site, most of our friends, etc. are already engaged. Our thoughts are mostly reactions to substance.
For anyone who’s not already engaged, there’s only one thought: show me why I should even give this a try. (Getting any of this content into a space where the unengaged might encounter it in the first place it is obviously at least as much of a challenge, but that’s a whole other discussion.)
Personally, as far as thinking about the hearings as entertainment, I’m not just loath, I find it horrifying and depressing, as I imagine many of us do. But strategically, I’m thrilled and relieved to see somebody outside the hatersphere finally thinking that way, and I can only hope there will be more efforts, and better.
File under: “Dumbing down of America / Race to the Bottom / Squirrel!” …
This is so important!
There is a gravitas vs frivolity argument that completely misses the point. In an existential period for US democracy the information space must be fought for for all conceivable demographics.
Cheney’s tweet video last night was a great start. Name and shame, a mugshot who’s who.
It appears the Committee doesn’t control graphics on any feeds and this is an error IMO. Computer animations, flow charts, organization charts, like any quality Youtube video, would have increased interest. Not too late to ramp up dedicated content with serious audience investment, and delays are perfect, do more. Stretch this out to dominate the slow Summer news cycle.
Building the “Big Lie”: Inside the Creation of Trump’s Stolen Election Myth
https://www.propublica.org/article/big-lie-trump-stolen-election-inside-creation#1319228
Doug Bock Clark, Alexandra Berzon and Kirsten Berg April 26, 2022
LMAO they used the work of a statistical whiz who couldn’t calculate the odds of getting nailed by the feds for possession and distribution of controlled substances like heroin, coke, and guns?
I can’t believe we’re losing our democracy to these morons. We’re not trying hard enough.
There’s Seth Keshel again. I was commenting on Rayne’s post (previous page) about him as possibly one of the “statistical analysis” emailers in the docs Eastman has to produce. [And had not gotten down here to see this comment until now.]
I really hope we get these names from J6 (unless some of this info has to be secreted for a minute towards e.g. a DOJ purpose). Very curious.
The ProPublica article begins with this story:
11/13/20 [AM] Beginning of the Smartmatic / Dominion Conspiracy theory.
>> Leamsy SALAZAR claims to know that the 2020 U.S. presidential election had been rigged — and how, and gives sworn testimony to lawyer Lewis SESSIONS, brother of newly re-elected TEXAS representative Pete SESSIONS. [SALAZAR worked formerly for Venezuelan special operations and as chief of security for Hugo Chavez, and had been for years an informer about drug trafficking to American law enforcement agencies, which helped him defect.]
[Pete Sessons TX-17, after serving 11? terms,
defeated by Colin Alered D in 2018;
reelected to TX-17 on 11/3/20]
Also, on 11/13/20 SESSIONS retweeted POWELL’s interview with Lou Dobbs in which she talked about all of this and promised to release the Kraken.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210105235644/https://twitter.com/PeteSessions
…and, just to finish a thought, here for now, here’s a screenshot of a 1/2/21 SESSIONS tweet:
https://twitter.com/burgessct/status/1365043061999292416
3:56 PM · Feb 25, 2021
This can also be seen at his web archive, above.
Stephen Colbert:
The Fight The Fraud Of The Former Fight The Fraud, Which Fought The Fraud Of The First Fraud Fund
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIAnSN_8fh0)
How T**** Duped $250M From His Most Passionate Fans | Somebody’s Going To Jail For This Right?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuEoVYqa37Q&t=643s)
For some reason, “The Golden Vanity” has earwormed me. (False promises of rewards, said rewards being based on performance of certain actions.) The Rs apparently didn’t hear any of the folksongs about what happens to people who make false promises, or any of the operas either (“Don Juan”).
Is that the same as the Golden Throne? Or perhaps a combo unit: “The Golden Bidet”
Not sure either will accept triple-budger bricks.
Gimme a break. This is the one instance they get huffy about?
Trumpworld reportedly ‘aghast’ at Kimberly Guilfoyle over money she made on Jan. 6
It’s egregious, of course, but no more so that most of the other grift.
She’d been in those circles for how long, and they still hadn’t figured that out?
They’re chartering the throw-under bus as we speak.
This one’s really funny and seems to relate to a much bigger story. They say she was paid by the Publix heiress Julie Fancelli. That’s the same woman who actually paid the vast bulk of money that Alex Jones had bragged about raising for the rally (initially making it sound like he had paid it himself). Then we found out that it wasn’t only Fancelli who primarily paid (as opposed to Jones), but that Jones had supposedly leaned on Caroline Wren to get this donation. ProPublica at some point had characterized Wren as a former “deputy” of Guilfoyle. Then there’s texts (ProPublica) that came out where Guilfoyle was bragging about having raised a ton of the rally money.
So are (were) Jones and Guilfoyle trying to out-wag each other, and/or was Jones covering for Guilfoyle at the outset while claiming some clout in exchange for his “duties”?
huh! [If I had to guess, I would probably choose door #2]