A brand new article from Mother Jones involving Ivanka and the Inauguration Committee is adding to the long, growing and glowing list of forms of corruption that are beginning to stick the “The Shady Bunch,” also known as “the swamp within the swamp.” To wit:
www.motherjones.com/...
Documents Show Ivanka Trump Didn’t Testify Accurately in Inauguration Scandal Case
She said she played no role in planning inaugural events. These records suggest otherwise.
The Trump family has trouble with depositions. In 2007 testimony, Donald Trump was repeatedly shown to be a liar. In February, Donald Trump Jr. was deposed in the Trump inauguration scandal lawsuit, and on several key points, under oath, he provided false testimony. A review of documents filed in that case and other material obtained by Mother Jones shows that Ivanka Trump also testified inaccurately during her deposition in this lawsuit.
The inauguration probe was launched last year by Karl Racine, the attorney general of Washington, DC. He has alleged that Trump’s inauguration committee misused charitable funds to enrich the Trump family. As Racine put it, the lawsuit maintains “that the Inaugural Committee, a nonprofit corporation, coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel… The Committee also improperly used non-profit funds to throw a private party [at the Trump Hotel] for the Trump family costing several hundred thousand dollars.” In short, the attorney general accused the Trump gang of major grifting, and he is seeking to recover the money paid to the Trump Hotel so those funds can be used for real charitable purposes.
During a December 1 deposition—in which she swore to tell the truth—Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of Donald Trump who was an executive at the Trump Organization before becoming a White House adviser to her father, was asked if she had any “involvement in the process of planning the inauguration.” She replied, “I really didn’t have an involvement.” Ivanka testified that if her “opinion was solicited” regarding an inauguration event, she “would give feedback to my father or to anyone who asked my perspective or opinion.” And that was as far as her participation went.
Yeah, right. And “to the moon and back, Alice” is as far as the Honeymooners went. It has been know for a very long time that one of Ivanka buddies got spectacularly overpaid for running the inauguration. I suppose that she knew nothing about that, either.
The timing on this is delicious, of course, with:
--Rudy, Rudy Rudy facing a hearing that would permanently eliminate his law license for lying about phony charges of voter fraud (with likely criminal charges to follow);
--Today being the deadline for Trump Org. attorneys to fend off the risk of criminal charges,
--A widespread and growing perception of state-level attacks on democracy, with their own aspects of corruption (see: The Cyber Ninjas and the Maricopa County phony recount).
-- Bill the Barrbarian showing himself to be far more corrupt than was previously known, as here from Raw Story and WaPo:
www.rawstory.com/...
Bill Barr's 'clean-up exercise' to save his reputation actually reveals he was far more corrupt than anyone realized: columnist
Former Attorney General William Barr is attempting to resuscitate his image after two years of using the Justice Department as a partisan defense agency for former President Donald Trump. In a new interview with reporter Jonathan Karl, Barr claimed he always knew Trump's election conspiracy theories were "bullsh*t" and that then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) begged him to help push back on them.
But on Monday, writing for The Washington Post's "The Plum Line," columnist Greg Sargent argued that far from exonerating him, Barr's new revelations show the depths of his corruption.
"Having gone to extraordinary lengths to help Donald Trump corrupt the presidency, William P. Barr is working overtime to launder his post-Trump reputation," wrote Sargent. "But the former attorney general's latest clean-up exercise may end up showing that the stain of his corruption is even darker than we thought — in a way that soils other Republicans as well."
The problem is that at the same time Barr was allegedly standing up to Trump's attacks on the election, he also made a
major policy change at the Justice Department, authorizing U.S. Attorneys to investigate election fraud — and throwing fuel on the fire even as he allegedly knew there was nothing to Trump's "big lie."
Adding to all of this, of course, is the ongoing and expanding theme of 1/06 and its ties the Trump and other Rethugs, which the House Select Committee established by Pelosi will make extremely visible. (I love the idea of white supremacist militants as “tourists.” ) And, ultimately, it seems likely, a rapidly expanding possibility that Trump himself gets indicted, after people like Alan Weiselberg are shown that going state’s evidence is the only way to save himself, and possibly members of his family, from the hooskow.
This long and growing list of evidence of the vast corruption within the Trump Bunch and the Rethugs generally will continue to grow right into 11/22. For those of you who know me on my ”Annexes” on the Good News Roundup daily diaries, it’s one of the reasons I have started to talk again about the “Dem Undercount” with respect to next year’s elections. No doubt, we will get very few members of the Trump Cult to move away from him—but some will. The stampede away from Trump’s speech yesterday, chronicled here on Kos, is imo a suggestion that the enthusiasm around Trump is waning, that his “schtick” isn’t working as well, and that even his cult is finding far fewer reasons to cheer for him. But, beyond that, independents will almost inevitably view Trump and the Rethugs with growing disgust, even as the fight against state-level Rethug voting cheats grows, and Dem GOTV efforts reach spectacular proportions. And as the hard right does “stupid stuff,” like suggesting a defund of the military because General Milley supported examination of White Rage.
These are ugly, awful times in many ways. But if you use a big enough microscope, you can see the germs of real risks for Trump and the Rethugs, as the theme of the Cult of Corruption grows and grows and grows. And on the positive side, Biden and the Dems have good stuff on THEIR side, such as the impending start of the child tax credits, a pretty solid economy, and the capacity to counter Rethugs in the Senate on infrastructure/jobs.
In other words, please ignore the doom and gloom pundits. They are working with today’s patterns not the ones that will inevitably hit very soon. And that’s the truthhhh.
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2021 · 1:43:41 AM +00:00 · Mrmuni12
Meanwhile, coming in a month:
I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year Hardcover – July 20, 2021
The definitive behind-the-scenes story of Trump's final year in office, by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, the Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters and authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller, A Very Stable Genius
The true story of what took place in Donald Trump’s White House during a disastrous 2020 has never before been told in full. What was really going on around the president, as the government failed to contain the coronavirus and over half a million Americans perished? Who was influencing Trump after he refused to concede an election he had clearly lost and spread lies about election fraud? To answer these questions, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig reveal a dysfunctional and bumbling presidency’s inner workings in unprecedented, stunning detail.
Um, people: That is dysfunctional, bumbling and CORRUPT. You cannot leave out the corrupt part. I can’t wait for this book, from two very talented investigative journalists. I also can’t wait for the paperback with the afterward, which will have spectacular new material by late in the year.
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2021 · 2:00:00 AM +00:00 · Mrmuni12
From a conversation below, with some additional ideas:
2007 testimony, Donald Trump was repeatedly shown to be a liar.
But nothing happened to him. Swearing falsely under oath is a family tradition for the grumps because there's never been any consequences for them doing it. Not one. Not ever. For a bunch of ignoramuses they sure make the American legal system look stupid and ineffectual
Lying got him elected president, no wonder he keeps doing it
To be sure, exlrrp.
My point here though, is different, in 6 ways.
1) Trump now lacks the protection of the presidency, or of a corrupt AG.
2) Trials and hearings describing corruption among Trump and all of his linked thieves is now coming, fast.
3) The more this all goes on the more Trump will deteriorate and get worse in front of crowds. It is his nature.
4) It is very clear that even some MAGATs are losing enthusiasm for his schtick. They may not leave him entirely, but is there GOTV enthusiasm among Republicans? Doubtful.
5) The proportion of the country that is actually Trumpist is smaller than the pundits describe—they claim 40%. It’s not. And it IS declining, slowly. Successful Dem, programs like the Child Tax Credit will help. So will weather crises that Trump and the Rethugs have ignored for much longer than 4 years. Example of the pattern: 3 climate change proponents elected to the Exxon Board.
6) As he and his reputation deteriorate, the number of ambitious Rethugs who recognize that Trump can hurt them more than help them will grow. This is starting, as people like Barr begin their “mea culpa tours.” Those will become vastly more prevalent.