Herschel Walker’s End Run Around Finance Laws

Former Georgia Bulldog, New Jersey General, and The Apprentice TV loser Herschel Walker told lots of lies during his failed MAGA senate campaign, but his secret lie to a billionaire donor was worth over half a million dollars and, possibly, a federal conviction for wire fraud.

Instead of transferring the payments to his senatorial campaign fund, Walker asked Montana billionaire Dennis Washington to wire $535,200 directly to his private company, HR Talent, LLC. Mr. Washington did so, thinking this was a legitimate political contribution. Not so.

The hidden ball trick is legal in football, but not in campaign finance, or any kind of finance, except maybe organized crime. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked the referees, The Federal Election Commission (about the campaign donation violation and Attorney General Garland (about the wire fraud issue), and it sure looks like a personal foul by Herschel Walker.

More:

“Emails Reveal ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Herschel Walker Money Scandal,” Roger Sollenberger, Daily Beast

“Emails show Herschel Walker nicked billionaire Dennis Washington for $500K,” Zoë Buchli, Missoulian

“Report: Herschel Walker’s Very Embarrassing Campaign May Have Also Committed Wire Fraud,” Caleb Ecarma, Vanity Fair

Top image: 1984 Topps bubblegum card. The New Jersey Generals team owner was Donald Trump. 

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DeSantis Finds Trump a Running Mate

While Republicans are historically known for their support of business, Florida’s GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is locked in battle with his state’s largest employer, Disney World. Disney spoke out against the DeSantis-encouraged laws meddling in women’s health and persecuting sexual minorities. In retaliation for these corporate views, Mr. DeSantis targeted the mechanism used to develop and maintain Disney’s huge Cental Florida resort since 1967. That testy move could put Florida taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion.

After Disney dodged the DeSantis development-takeover ploy, the governor threated to put tolls on roads leading to Disney World and build an adjacent state prison. Why would Ron Desantis persist in this vendetta? The Yale- and Harvard-educated governor is running for president as a populist culture warror.

Picking a fight with drag queens is one thing; taking on a $203 billion company is quite another. Disney now is suing DeSantis in federal court for retaliating against the company as punishment for Disney’s constitutionally protected speech. By most accounts, Disney is likely to prevail.

Enter Donald Trump, current frontrunner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Ron DeSantis is obviously set to formally enter the fray after his symbolic world tour. As far the The Donald is concerned, the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Expect to see him leave Mar-a-Lago for an Orlando mouse-hugging daytrip soon.

Fun Fact:  Ron DeSantis got married at Disney World in 2009.

More:

“Donald Trump posts scorched-earth rant against Ron ‘DeSanctus,’ blasts gov’s ‘political stunt’ against Disney,” Mark Moore, New York Post

“Trump attacks DeSantis by suggesting Disney could leave Florida because of the governor,” Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post

“Man vs. Mouse: Ron DeSantis Finds Taking On Disney Is a Dicey Business,” Charles Homans, New York Times

“The feud between Ron DeSantis and Disney, explained,” Nicole Narea, Ian Millhiser, and Alex Abad-Santos, Vox

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Trump Locks Up the 2024 Campaign

Celebrity golf cheat, insurrection organizer, and twice-impeached former US President Donald Trump is due to be arraigned today in New York City on multiple business fraud counts weirdly related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Naturally, in today’s MAGA-Republican party, this makes him the front-runner in the GOP 2024 presidential campaign, earning him millions in campaign contributions.

The New York case, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is much, um, sexier than other Trump investigations, which merely involve stealing government documents, plotting a coup, and attempting to steal a presidential election. While the Big Apple case may seem more of a long shot, it’s the first indictment of a former US president, so indictments in other cases won’t be precedent breakers, reducing the heat on prosecutors.

More:

“New York, city of Trump’s dreams, delivers his comeuppance,” Matt Sedensky, Associated Press

“Trump Says He Can’t Be Bought–Then Begs For Campaign Money,” Matt Young, Daily Beast

“Melania Trump Seen Wearing “I Don’t Care” Jacket,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Hell-Bent for Election

“Hell-Bent for Election,” a political animation for the 1944 presidential election, funded by the United Auto Workers, promoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt (the fast express train) over Republican oppontent Thomas Dewey (the tired old steamer). Voters are encouraged not to “fall asleep at the switch.” It’s also a “win the war” message.

Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Robert Lees, with music by Earl Robinson and lyrics by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg. Narrated by Marvin Miller. The is the first production of United Productions of America (UPA), made in founder Zack Schwartz’s apartment. UPA made training films during WWII, won Academy Awards for its post-war theatrical cartoons, and later transitioned to television. UPA was active up through the 1970s.

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Trump Gets More Money from His Saudi Masters

Celebrity golf cheat, grand jury target, and former US President Donald Trump, fresh from his triumphant Senior Golf Tournament cheat last week, has scored three LIV Golf tournaments at his East Coast golf courses for the 2023 season. They will be televised on the CW Network. The Saudi-funded LIV Golf Tour “sportswashing” campaign’s 2022 tour stained the Trump National Golf Clubs in Bedminster, New Jersey and Doral, Florida, and was only seen on YouTube.

Another big difference this year: Donald Trump will be taking foreign money while he is an officially-declared candidate in the 2024 presidential election. When he appears at the LIV tourneys, will the FEC deem them campaign events? We’ll see.

Mr. Trump embraced the insurgent Saudi-backed tour in revenge after the U.S.-based PGA pulled its 2022 championship tourney from his Bedminster course, but he has history backing upstart sports leagues, and it’s not the first time Donald Trump has taken Saudi money. Saudi cash saved Trump from bankrupcy, and, despite anti-Saudi rhetoric during his 2016 campaign, he and son-in-law Jared Kushner have kept their shoddy businesses afloat on an Arabian Gulf of Saudi money.

By April 2022, Jared Kushner’s equity firm primarily depended on Saudi money. Previously, as Trump’s Secretary of Everything, Mr. Kushner had defended Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman. In 2021, after Steven Mnuchin stepped down as Treasury Secretary, the Saudi fund invested $1 billion in his business. It’s unclear how much Mr. Trump will earn from the Saudi-backed golf tour in 2023 but, knowing him, he’ll probably start bragging about it.

Last year there were strong objections to Trump’s embrace of Saudi golf money by the PGA, by survivors of the victims of 9/11, and National Press Club members who remember the “grisly-bonesaw” murder of their collegue Jamal Khashoggi.

More:

“Trump courses hosting three tournaments for Saudi-underwritten LIV Golf,” Stephen Neukam, The Hill

“Trump courses to host 3 events for Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour,” Herb Scribner, Axios

Related:

“Hosting Saudi Golf Tourney, Trump Has Forgotten He Used to Blame Kingdom for 9/11,” Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone

“Trump: LIV Golf tournament a ‘great thing’ for Saudi Arabia,” Jared Gans, The Hill

“The marriage of LIV Golf and Donald Trump is the stuff schemes are made of,” Eamon Lynch, Golfweek

“Donald Trump’s Sketchy Playbook for Blowing Up a Pro Sports League,” Ian Ward, Politico

“Remembering The Tour De Trump, Donald Trump’s Failed Bike Race,” Patrick Redford, Deadspin

“Does Saudi Arabia Own Donald Trump?” NotionsCapital

“Ivana Trump was buried near the first hole of Trump National Golf Club. Her gravesite could offer tax breaks for the business.” Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Isabella Zavarise, Business Insider

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Image (“Trump Welcomes His Saudi Masters to New Jersey”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Collectors of Classified Documents

When leaving the White House, everybody takes home some souvenir secret documents. It seems like that, anyway. Trump had 300. Ex-VP Biden had a few. Now it turns out that ex-Veep Mike Pence had some back home in Indiana, too. It’s a questionable hobby.

The federal government began the modern system of document classification in 1951, updating it in 1953 and 2009. Maybe the FBI also needs to search the homes of Harry Truman, Alben Barkley, Ike, Nixon, JFK, LBJ, Hubert Humphrey, Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Dan Quayle, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush,  Dick Cheney, and Barack Obama.

Kamala Harris, take heed.

More:

“Trump Angrily Orders Pence to Return All Classified Documents to Mar-a-Lago,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

Updates:

See? We told you.

“Classified records pose conundrum stretching back to Carter,” Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Colleen Long, and Jill Colvin, Associated Press

“US National Archives asks ex-presidents to check for classified papers,” Hugo Lowell, The Guardian

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Congress Moves From Comedy to Tragedy

The careening clown car of the House Republican majority has finally put Kevin McCarthy behind the wheel as Speaker, so the comedy ends, and the tragedy begins. Politico’s Jesús Rodríguez likens Rep. McCarthy’s positon to various Shakespearian princes, but it’s really really closer to Marlowe or Goethe; not Hamlet or Macbeth but Faustus. Mr. McCarthy has clearly made a secret pact with the Devil.

The 55-page House Rules Package is evil enough, but it turns out there’s a secret 3-page addendum that the GOP majority passed, sight unseen. Was it written it blood? Probably. It lists McCarthy’s specific concessions to the MAGA Freedom Caucus terrorists who spent a week blocking his speakership.

What’s in the secret addendum? No GOP rep will even concede that it exists; that’s the first rule of far-right fight club.

If Kevin McCarthy won’t live up to its unspecified terms, the Feedom Caucus cabal won’t steal his soul, but they’ll call a snap vote and remove him as Speaker. For Mr. McCarthy, that will be Hell enough.

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Insurreição no Brasil

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so The Donald must be thrilled that devotees of the “Trump of the Tropics” in Brazil mirrored the US January 6th insurrectionists, storming the Jetson-esque government buildings of Brasilia, falsely claiming the country’s presidential election had been stolen. The similarity with January 6th is no coincidence: MAGA Rasputin Steve Bannon and Trump cultist Jason Miller had advised Bolsenaro on election denialism.

After the Brazilian insurrectionists trashed the futuristic courts, legislature, presidential offices and mansion, 1500 were arrested, and await trial. At the time of the riots, rightwing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was in that US home of retired fascists, Florida. He had traveled there before his successor was inaugurated, on a diplomatic visa. Now that he is no longer in office, that visa is no longer valid, and he is subject to expulsion and extradition.

More:

“The violent attack on Brazil’s government was months in the making. Here’s what you need to know,” Rob Picheta, CNN

 

“Brazil’s ‘Trump of the Tropics’ Stoked Riots—Then He Fled to Florida,” Emily Green and Roberta Fortuna, Vice

“Brazil: The code word used to invite protesters to a riot,” Hannah Gelbart, Juliana Gragnani and Ricardo Senra, BBC News

“America’s Trumpist export to Brazil: Election denialism,” Eugene Robinson, Washington Post

“Brazil’s failed coup is the poison flower of the Trump-Bolsonaro symbiosis,” Julian Borger, The Guardian

“Bannon on Brazil riots: ‘I’m not backing off 1 inch,’” Meridith McGraw, Politico

Update:

“Brazil’s Supreme Court to investigate Bolsonaro over January 8 attacks,” By Mia Alberti and Marcia Reverdosa, CNN

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Title via Google Ttanslate. Video: Channel 4 (UK)

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House Speaker Votes Continue

Several trolls in the so-called House Freedom Caucus have paralyzed the U.S. House of Representatives all week, blocking election of a presiding Speaker. The umpteenth round of voting will occur tonight, January 6th at 10 PM EST.

Update:

After 14 ballots, the House again failed to elect a Speaker. On this date two years ago, terrorists failed to disrupt Congress. Today, the terrorists inside the House did just that.

The House began voting for the 15th time at 11:50 PM.

New:

Early on Saturday, Kevin McCarthy was elected to the Office of Speaker of the House, or what’s left of it.

More:

“The ‘spoiler caucus’ is creating chaos,” David Winston, Roll Call

“The Chaos Caucus Is Now In Charge,” Michelle Cottle, New York Times

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DeSantis Sues to Promote Florida COVID Deaths

GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is weaponizing Florida’s court system to attack the vaccines that would have saved the lives of the Floridians he sacrified to COVID. Mr. DeSantis wants a grand jury to investigate the rare cases of heart inflamation attributed to vaccinations, when such conditions are seven times more frequent among those suffering from COVID. Since anti-vaccine rhetoric is killing more Republicans than Democrats, you’d think self-serving MAGA hacks like Ron DeSantis would avoid bad-mouthing vaccines.

The governor is backed up by quack-medicine-loving Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the state’s surgeon general, a “well-educated COVID crank.” As a physician, Dr. Ladapo never treated COVID patients, and his public health research record is in doubt. Florida pays Dr. Ladapo $362,000 a year, 52% more than his more-qualified predecessor, a salary bumped by an additional no-show job as a University of Florida professor.

The Ron DeSantis “investigation” into the extensively-reviewed vaccines seems designed to keep the governor’s name in the headlines and capture the Qanon faction from Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential campaign.

More:

“DeSantis seeks grand jury investigation of COVID-19 vaccines,” Freida Frisaro, Associated Press

“Gov. DeSantis, Surgeon General Ladapo go after COVID vaccines; request statewide grand jury,” Isaac Morgan, Florida Phoenix

Related:

“After vaccines became available, a partisan gap in deaths emerged,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

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