US Politics Thread

[The Arrogant Worms]

Donald Trump Endorses Fellow Election Denier Kari Lake With Election-Denying Rant

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kari-lake-election-denier-endorsement_n_652687cae4b09f4b8d427663

[Warhippy]

13 hours ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

 

Here's the announcement from the DOJ.

 

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/congressman-george-santos-charged-conspiracy-wire-fraud-false-statements-0?s=09

Congressman George Santos Charged With Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, False Statements, Falsification of Records, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Credit Card Fraud

Santos Allegedly Filed Fraudulent Fundraising Reports with the FEC to Obtain Financial Support for His Campaign and Repeatedly Charged the Credit Cards of Campaign Contributors Without Authorization

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – A 23-count superseding indictment was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging George Anthony Devolder Santos, better known as “George Santos,” the United States Representative for the Third District of New York, with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud, in addition to the seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the United States House of Representatives that were charged in the original indictment.  Santos is due back in federal court in Central Islip on October 27, 2023.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Anne T. Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney, announced the superseding indictment.

“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign.  Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “This Office will relentlessly pursue criminal charges against anyone who uses the electoral process as an opportunity to defraud the public and our government institutions.”

“Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes, lying to the American public in the process.  The FBI is committed to upholding the laws of our electoral process.  Anyone who attempts to violate the law as part of a political campaign will face punishment in the criminal justice system,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith.

“The defendant - a Congressman - allegedly stole the identities of family members and used the credit card information of political contributors to fraudulently inflate his campaign coffers,” stated District Attorney Donnelly.  “We thank our partners in the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI as we work together to root out public corruption on Long Island.”

As alleged in the superseding indictment, Santos, who was elected to Congress last November and sworn in as the U.S. Representative for New York’s Third Congressional District on January 7, 2023, engaged in two fraudulent schemes, in addition to the multiple fraudulent schemes alleged in the original indictment.

The Party Program Scheme

During the 2022 election cycle, Santos was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in New York’s Third Congressional District.  Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty on October 5, 2023 to related conduct, was the treasurer for his principal congressional campaign committee, Devolder-Santos for Congress.  During this election cycle, Santos and Marks conspired with one another to devise and execute a fraudulent scheme to obtain money for the campaign by submitting materially false reports to the FEC on behalf of the campaign, in which they inflated the campaign’s fundraising numbers for the purpose of misleading the FEC, a national party committee, and the public.

Specifically, the purpose of the scheme was to ensure that Santos and his campaign qualified for a program administered by the national party committee, pursuant to which the national party committee would provide financial and logistical support to Santos’s campaign.  To qualify for the program, Santos had to demonstrate, among other things, that his congressional campaign had raised at least $250,000 from third-party contributors in a single quarter.

To create the public appearance that his campaign had met that financial benchmark and was otherwise financially viable, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that at least 10 family members of Santos and Marks had made significant financial contributions to the campaign, when Santos and Marks both knew that these individuals had neither made the reported contributions nor given authorization for their personal information to be included in such false public reports.  In addition, understanding that the national party committee relied on FEC fundraising data to evaluate candidates’ qualification for the program, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that Santos had loaned the campaign significant sums of money, when, in fact, Santos had not made the reported loans and, at the time the loans were reported, did not have the funds necessary to make such loans.  These false reported loans included a $500,000 loan, when Santos had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts. 

Through the execution of this scheme, Santos and Marks ensured that Santos met the necessary financial benchmarks to qualify for the program administered by the national party committee.  As a result of qualifying for the program, the congressional campaign received financial support.

The Credit Card Fraud Scheme

In addition, between approximately December 2021 and August 2022, Santos devised and executed a fraudulent scheme to steal the personal identity and financial information of contributors to his campaign.  He then charged contributors’ credit cards repeatedly, without their authorization.  Because of these unauthorized transactions, funds were transferred to Santos’s campaign, to the campaigns of other candidates for elected office, and to his own bank account.  To conceal the true source of these funds and to circumvent campaign contribution limits, Santos falsely represented that some of the campaign contributions were made by other persons, such as his relatives or associates, rather than the true cardholders.  Santos did not have authorization to use their names in this way.

For example, in December 2021, one contributor (the “Contributor”) texted Santos and others to make a contribution to his campaign, providing billing information for two credit cards.  In the days after he received the billing information, Santos used the credit card information to make numerous contributions to his campaign and affiliated political committees in amounts exceeding applicable contribution limits, without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization. To mask the true source of these contributions and thereby circumvent the applicable campaign contribution limits, Santos falsely identified the contributor for one of the charges as one of his relatives.  In the following months, Santos repeatedly charged the Contributor’s credit card without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization, attempting to make at least $44,800 in charges and repeatedly concealing the true source of funds by falsely listing the source of funds as Santos himself, his relatives and other contributors.  On one occasion, Santos charged $12,000 to the Contributor’s credit card, ultimately transferring the vast majority of that money into his personal bank account.

The charges in the superseding indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section, the Long Island Criminal Division, and the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Harris, Anthony Bagnuola, and Laura Zuckerwise, along with Trial Attorneys Jacob Steiner and John Taddei, are in charge of the prosecution with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Rachel Friedman.  Former Trial Attorney Jolee Porter of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section also provided substantial contributions to the prosecution.

 

14 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

 

 

It will be interesting watching the party of law and order throw this guy out.  right?

 

Because that's what they do right?  

 

right?

[Inkidu]

 Mark Milley, president, for his Eisenhoweresque retirement speech. 

 

 

 

[Sabrefan1]

1 hour ago, Warhippy said:

It will be interesting watching the party of law and order throw this guy out.  right?

 

Because that's what they do right?  

 

right?

 

I'm curious to see if the GOP leadership follows through or if they keep the matter DOA in the ethics committee while still using Santos as their puppet. 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/new-york-house-republicans-introduce-resolution-expel-rep-george-santo-rcna119917

 

The guy who used to have that seat already announced his new election campaign to take the seat back.

[The Arrogant Worms]

Steve Scalise Nabs House Republicans' Nod To Replace Kevin McCarthy As Speaker

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-scalise-nominated-speaker_n_6526c4a9e4b0a32c15c120fe

[the destroyer of worlds]

4 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

Steve Scalise Nabs House Republicans' Nod To Replace Kevin McCarthy As Speaker

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-scalise-nominated-speaker_n_6526c4a9e4b0a32c15c120fe

So they're going with David Duke without the baggage as opposed to GYM.  Gym's Ohio State scandal was thankfully being brought up publicly again.  

[King Heffy]

Do Republicans not have any option that isn't a sex offender or a white supremacist?  I understand those groups are their base, but making this bigoted piece of garbage the speaker is only going to help the Dems.

[The Arrogant Worms]

The NRA Argues Domestic Abusers Should Keep Their Guns

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nra-argues-domestic-abusers-should-keep-their-guns_n_6526c740e4b0a32c15c12351

[nuckin_futz]

Newly released emails spark GOP demand for “full blown audit” of deepening Sarah Sanders scandal

 

 

 

New public records have sparked additional questions about when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office intended to use Republican Party funds to reimburse the state for a $19,000 lectern purchased in June with a government credit card. Records released this week, obtained by The Associated Press, show that the Arkansas GOP paid for the lectern in September but the words "to be reimbursed" were added to the original invoice later. The undated reimbursement notice has only fueled weeks of scrutiny in the state over the purchase.

 

This week, a legislative panel is expected to vote on Republican state Sen. Jimmy Hickey's request for an audit of the lectern's purchase. An email about the reimbursement notice was among a number of other documents related to the lectern that were released to AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. Hickey told AP that the email “further indicates the need for a full blown audit to get all the facts.” The custom lectern was bought for $19,029.95 and the Arkansas Republican Party reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14. Sanders' office called the use of a state credit card for the transaction an accounting error.

 

Sanders has said she welcomes the audit but has also dismissed questions about the purchase, and her office acknowledged the addition of the reimbursement note. “A note was added to the receipt so that it would accurately reflect that the state was being reimbursed for the podium with private funding the governor raised for her inauguration and the check was properly dated,” Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Sanders’ office, told AP, dubbing questions about the invoice “nothing more than a manufactured controversy.”

[Bob Long]

18 hours ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

 

Here's the announcement from the DOJ.

 

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/congressman-george-santos-charged-conspiracy-wire-fraud-false-statements-0?s=09

Congressman George Santos Charged With Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, False Statements, Falsification of Records, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Credit Card Fraud

Santos Allegedly Filed Fraudulent Fundraising Reports with the FEC to Obtain Financial Support for His Campaign and Repeatedly Charged the Credit Cards of Campaign Contributors Without Authorization

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – A 23-count superseding indictment was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging George Anthony Devolder Santos, better known as “George Santos,” the United States Representative for the Third District of New York, with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud, in addition to the seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the United States House of Representatives that were charged in the original indictment.  Santos is due back in federal court in Central Islip on October 27, 2023.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Anne T. Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney, announced the superseding indictment.

“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign.  Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “This Office will relentlessly pursue criminal charges against anyone who uses the electoral process as an opportunity to defraud the public and our government institutions.”

“Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes, lying to the American public in the process.  The FBI is committed to upholding the laws of our electoral process.  Anyone who attempts to violate the law as part of a political campaign will face punishment in the criminal justice system,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith.

“The defendant - a Congressman - allegedly stole the identities of family members and used the credit card information of political contributors to fraudulently inflate his campaign coffers,” stated District Attorney Donnelly.  “We thank our partners in the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI as we work together to root out public corruption on Long Island.”

As alleged in the superseding indictment, Santos, who was elected to Congress last November and sworn in as the U.S. Representative for New York’s Third Congressional District on January 7, 2023, engaged in two fraudulent schemes, in addition to the multiple fraudulent schemes alleged in the original indictment.

The Party Program Scheme

During the 2022 election cycle, Santos was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in New York’s Third Congressional District.  Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty on October 5, 2023 to related conduct, was the treasurer for his principal congressional campaign committee, Devolder-Santos for Congress.  During this election cycle, Santos and Marks conspired with one another to devise and execute a fraudulent scheme to obtain money for the campaign by submitting materially false reports to the FEC on behalf of the campaign, in which they inflated the campaign’s fundraising numbers for the purpose of misleading the FEC, a national party committee, and the public.

Specifically, the purpose of the scheme was to ensure that Santos and his campaign qualified for a program administered by the national party committee, pursuant to which the national party committee would provide financial and logistical support to Santos’s campaign.  To qualify for the program, Santos had to demonstrate, among other things, that his congressional campaign had raised at least $250,000 from third-party contributors in a single quarter.

To create the public appearance that his campaign had met that financial benchmark and was otherwise financially viable, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that at least 10 family members of Santos and Marks had made significant financial contributions to the campaign, when Santos and Marks both knew that these individuals had neither made the reported contributions nor given authorization for their personal information to be included in such false public reports.  In addition, understanding that the national party committee relied on FEC fundraising data to evaluate candidates’ qualification for the program, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that Santos had loaned the campaign significant sums of money, when, in fact, Santos had not made the reported loans and, at the time the loans were reported, did not have the funds necessary to make such loans.  These false reported loans included a $500,000 loan, when Santos had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts. 

Through the execution of this scheme, Santos and Marks ensured that Santos met the necessary financial benchmarks to qualify for the program administered by the national party committee.  As a result of qualifying for the program, the congressional campaign received financial support.

The Credit Card Fraud Scheme

In addition, between approximately December 2021 and August 2022, Santos devised and executed a fraudulent scheme to steal the personal identity and financial information of contributors to his campaign.  He then charged contributors’ credit cards repeatedly, without their authorization.  Because of these unauthorized transactions, funds were transferred to Santos’s campaign, to the campaigns of other candidates for elected office, and to his own bank account.  To conceal the true source of these funds and to circumvent campaign contribution limits, Santos falsely represented that some of the campaign contributions were made by other persons, such as his relatives or associates, rather than the true cardholders.  Santos did not have authorization to use their names in this way.

For example, in December 2021, one contributor (the “Contributor”) texted Santos and others to make a contribution to his campaign, providing billing information for two credit cards.  In the days after he received the billing information, Santos used the credit card information to make numerous contributions to his campaign and affiliated political committees in amounts exceeding applicable contribution limits, without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization. To mask the true source of these contributions and thereby circumvent the applicable campaign contribution limits, Santos falsely identified the contributor for one of the charges as one of his relatives.  In the following months, Santos repeatedly charged the Contributor’s credit card without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization, attempting to make at least $44,800 in charges and repeatedly concealing the true source of funds by falsely listing the source of funds as Santos himself, his relatives and other contributors.  On one occasion, Santos charged $12,000 to the Contributor’s credit card, ultimately transferring the vast majority of that money into his personal bank account.

The charges in the superseding indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section, the Long Island Criminal Division, and the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Harris, Anthony Bagnuola, and Laura Zuckerwise, along with Trial Attorneys Jacob Steiner and John Taddei, are in charge of the prosecution with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Rachel Friedman.  Former Trial Attorney Jolee Porter of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section also provided substantial contributions to the prosecution.

 

thats awesome. What a moron. And yet the GOP still back him? 

[the destroyer of worlds]

I wonder if the QOP will follow through.  New York QOP members introduced a resolution to expel him.  Maybe after the Speaker election is done, that might make the docket?  Maybe not?  Who knows.

[the destroyer of worlds]

Nice trip the Tommy T.  

[nuckin_futz]

For decades Trump has used NDA's (non disclosure agreements) to hide his secrets. A ton of people are now free to spill the beans without fear of being sued.

 

 

https://protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/130.-Order-Approving-Settlement.pdf

Edited October 12, 2023 by nuckin_futz

[5forFighting]

On 10/7/2023 at 5:18 PM, Canuckle said:

 

Right you are, Ken.

Who is Ken? A meme?

[RupertKBD]

10 hours ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

Nice trip the Tommy T.  

 

Shouldn't there be a pulling guard ahead of that play?

[the destroyer of worlds]

Even more charges for comically corrupt Dem Sen Bob.  

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/bob-menendez-charged-foreign-agent-1234852759/

 

Sen. Bob Menendez Charged With Acting as a Foreign Agent

The New Jersey Democrat chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he was indicted last month on a slew of bribery charges

[King Heffy]

3 minutes ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

Even more charges for comically corrupt Dem Sen Bob.  

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/bob-menendez-charged-foreign-agent-1234852759/

 

Sen. Bob Menendez Charged With Acting as a Foreign Agent

The New Jersey Democrat chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he was indicted last month on a slew of bribery charges

Give him the maximum sentence.  No excuse for this.

[Playoff Beered]

49 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Give him the maximum sentence.  No excuse for this.

 

If he's convicted then straight to ADX Florence.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by Playoff Beered

[RupertKBD]

This is hilarious....apparently Deutsche Bank gives out trophies for the "Best Loans".....and you can't get better than "perfect!"

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-boasts-about-trophy-a-bank-gave-after-giving-him-a-perfect-loan/ar-AA1i70VN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=146826be75dc4cdda75aaf3f02bf9651&ei=57

 

 

Quote

 

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James yet again on Thursday and said that he couldn't have committed fraud because his former bank once gave him a trophy.

 

In a rant on Truth Social, the ex-president's personal social media platform, he bragged that Deutsche Bank gave him a trophy because he got a loan from their bank. The trophy has an engraving of the Old Post Office in Washington which Trump bought and turned into a hotel.

 

On the base, it reads: "Trump Old Post Office LLC," the amount of the loan, "$170,000,000," and the date, "July 23, 2014."

 

"They had the best Lawyers, the smartest Loan Officers, and were thrilled to do business with 'TRUMP,'" he said, speaking about himself in the third person. "Interest was fully paid every month (no payment ever missed!), never received a default notice, and if Interest came due on a weekend, I paid it on a Friday. THE LOAN WAS PAID OFF FAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!"

Trump, who described the loan he received from the bank as a "PERFECT LOAN" then went off on the Justice Department and the New York attorney general, saying that there were no "Victims" of his alleged misdeeds.

 

"There were only happy Bankers (sic)!" Trump claimed.

Trump has long claimed that the case shouldn't be brought against him because even if he broke the law, no one got hurt. According to his claims, the law being used is "a Statute that was never used for this before."

 

How can anyone believe this clown is a good candidate for running a country....

[The Lock]

1 hour ago, RupertKBD said:

This is hilarious....apparently Deutsche Bank gives out trophies for the "Best Loans".....and you can't get better than "perfect!"

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-boasts-about-trophy-a-bank-gave-after-giving-him-a-perfect-loan/ar-AA1i70VN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=146826be75dc4cdda75aaf3f02bf9651&ei=57

 

 

How can anyone believe this clown is a good candidate for running a country....

 

The problem I think is that there's still so many Americans that either:

 

1) Never hear of this news as it won't be part of their news stream

2) Will ignore it while they're in that echo chamber, and/or

3) Don't hear about anything other than what's happening in their personal daily lives (since a lot of it's a rural population).

 

At least as more and more of this unfolds, the less prominent these echo chambers should be and hopefully it reaches a lot of the people by word of mouth who would otherwise not even know.

[nuckin_futz]

2 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

How can anyone believe this clown is a good candidate for running a country....

 

He's mean to the people they hate.

[Bob Long]

3 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

This is hilarious....apparently Deutsche Bank gives out trophies for the "Best Loans".....and you can't get better than "perfect!"

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-boasts-about-trophy-a-bank-gave-after-giving-him-a-perfect-loan/ar-AA1i70VN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=146826be75dc4cdda75aaf3f02bf9651&ei=57

 

 

How can anyone believe this clown is a good candidate for running a country....

 

if a bank is giving you stuff for free, it usually means they are fleecing you. 

[The Lock]

25 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

if a bank is giving you stuff for free, it usually means they are fleecing you. 

 

I love the whole "free this.... when you spend blah blah blah..."

 

So you mean it's... not free?...

[Bob Long]

Just now, The Lock said:

 

I love the whole "free this.... when you spend blah blah blah..."

 

So you mean it's... not free?...

 

its really bad when your relator throws you a party. 

 

[The Lock]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

its really bad when your relator throws you a party. 

 

 

I once got laid off from a place and was thrown a party with cake on my last day.

 

That might have been one of the weirdest and most disappointing parties I've ever had.