Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Corruption and cryptocurrency

a functional press would, every single day, repeatedly, across numerous paragraphs in every story about him, make it clear that this is indisputably the most corrupt President in U.S. history

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— Karl Bode (@karlbode.com) October 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
cartoon man sticking out arm to refuse something emphatically

Jared Yates Sexton: "The other side of this coin, the first thing is: Nobody would think to pass a law or a restriction that would keep someone from doing this 'cause most people can't imagine someone doing it. Meanwhile, the Trump crypto banking thing: I want to make something clear because I'm always talking about this. Donald Trump didn't think about making his crypto into a banking project. Which God help us, God help us if that actually happens because it's just another — You know what it reminds me of, Nick? It reminds me of the old cartoons where someone would steal someone's wallet, but they weren't done, and they picked the person up and shook them until the lint came out of their pockets. You know? Until the Grinch went back to steal the hooks off the wall. That's what this is. I always talk about these think tanks and institutes that are being flooded with money by billionaires and now trillionaires. This is the shit that they sit around thinking up. This is where they make their money. It's not figuring out how to make the world better. It's not figuring out what laws and legislation can be passed in order to improve people's lives. They're being paid to come up with some of the most evil shit imaginable. And you're thinking about the Grinch stealing the hooks, you're thinking about the cartoon character shaking the lint of the pockets. That's what they're there for now. They're there to not only figure out how to get that lint out of your pocket. They're there to figure out how to create a legal apparatus that not only shakes the lint out, but creates an entire law enforcement structure that stands there and watches and sometimes helps. So it's stuff that people are imagining and creating in order to get at the last scraps that the poor class and the middle class have."
(We're Talking About Revolutionary Shit, Here, Muckrake Podcast, June 19, 2026, 31:05–32:49)

Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets, speaking to Paul Krugman, Jul 11, 2026:

"...there is no legitimate use case for crypto. They’ve had 18 years to come up with one. They keep throwing things up like “an inflation hedge” or “source of stability.” Every one of them has turned out to be baseless. The only real use for crypto is tax evasion, money laundering, and crime. It’s the preferred mechanism of choice for global terrorists, sex traffickers, and rogue nations like North Korea and Iran.

You have to ask yourself why crypto has basically hijacked the political agenda of Washington. It’s because they followed the Sam Bankman-Fried model of buying bipartisan support by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in campaigns. ... It’s the biggest bait-and-switch in history. In the hundreds of millions of dollars they spend on campaigns, they don’t mention crypto. That’s because they know crypto is toxic. Poll after poll shows crypto is toxic with the American people. Politico and the Wall Street Journal independently looked at the massive amounts of ads bought by the crypto industry supporting candidates in the United States, and not one mentioned crypto. Then they get their friends elected who come to Washington and say, “Crypto voters sent us here,” except not one voter voted based on crypto. They were mostly negative attack ads on extraneous issues.

So crypto has now basically hijacked the agenda. The amount of attention politicians give it is crazy. The Senator from Maryland was recently quoted as saying, “I’m spending virtually all my time on crypto.” If his constituents knew that, they wouldn’t be happy. So here we have a financial product of no social use and massive negative uses that is being integrated with our core banking and financial system. ...the President is getting filthy rich on crypto.

The problem is that the downside of crypto is not going to fall only on the people getting rich on it. Once they connect it up to the banking and financial system, which they’re doing across the board, we are going to see problems. In many ways, I think what’s happening now is worse than what happened before the ‘08 crash...we have this entirely new multi-trillion dollar financial product that has no value, is incredibly volatile, and is rife with conflicts of interest. It is going to be a core part of our banking system within the next twelve to thirty-six months."

"Capital One Cites Money Laundering Review in Trump-Related Suit" Erik Larson for @bloomberg.com

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— Zach Everson (@zacheverson.com) August 1, 2026 at 6:11 PM
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Friday, April 7, 2023

Clarence Thomas corruption scandal

Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court Justice, has a long-term friendship with a billionaire who buys him off. Thomas hasn't disclosed what he's received. He has instead reported income from nonexistent companies.

Crow gives Thomas lavish gifts

"...Thomas issued a statement last Friday — explaining that the reason he hadn’t disclosed any of this was that Crow and his wife are among Clarence and Ginni Thomases’ “dearest friends” and that “as friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them."

Thomas further explained that he thought he didn’t need to report these gifts on annual disclosure forms because when he first joined the court he was told that “personal hospitality from close personal friends” need not be reported.

This is dangerous rubbish. Thomas has been a member of the Supreme Court since October 1991, which means he met his “close personal friend” Harlan Crow after Thomas was already a justice. And Thomas has been accepting Crow’s sumptuous hospitality almost from that start. Which is exactly the problem."

"How to become one of Clarence and Ginni’s dearest friends: Who is he kidding?" Robert Reich, Substack, April 13, 2023.

Here's Jack Posobiec talking to Ginni Thomas's MAGA group:

Yikes.

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— ✨Reader Librarian ✨ ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿงš๐Ÿˆ‍⬛๐Ÿชฌ (@weeklyreader.bsky.social) Jul 7, 2024 at 10:55 PM

More about Ginni Thomas (if you're on Bluesky, read the thread)

1/ Business lobbyist Virginia Lamp once said anti-immigration attitudes are “based on a type of selfish nationalism.” Today she's better known as Ginni Thomas: wife of Clarence Thomas, and an "America-first" election denier. What’s changed — for her and the U.S.? Thread ๐Ÿ‘‡

— ProPublica (@propublica.org) October 25, 2024 at 7:33 PM

Also buys real estate from him

Also: "Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal." by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski, Pro Publica, April 13, 2023

"Thomas’ mother still lives on one of the properties and doesn't pay rent." — HuffPost

Clarence Thomas Took More Trips On GOP Donor's Jet He Didn't Disclose, Senator Says: The conservative Supreme Court justice went on an international round-trip in 2010 with his billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow, according to Sen. Ron Wyden. Sanjana Karanth, HuffPost, Aug 5, 2024

Crow has had a personal interest in Supreme Court cases

Crow has fascist statues in his yard

That last tweet points to: "Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Benefactor Collects Hitler Artifacts," Sylvie McNamara, The Washingtonian, April 7, 2023. It begins: "When Republican megadonor Harlan Crow isn’t lavishing Justice Clarence Thomas with free trips on his private plane and yacht (in possible violation of Supreme Court ethics rules), he lives a quiet life in Dallas among his historical collections. These collections include Hitler artifacts — two of his paintings of European cityscapes, a signed copy of Mein Kampf, and assorted Nazi memorabilia — plus a garden full of statues of the 20th century’s worst despots."

Crow also donated to two Democratic senators who often broke ranks to side with Republicans

How Thomas could be criminally referred

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Invited To Testify About Ethics Before Senate Huff Post, April 20, 2023

On November 13, 2023, the Supreme Court "announced a code of conduct in an attempt to bolster the public’s confidence in the court after months of news stories alleging that some of the justices have been skirting ethics regulations." — CNN

boat

"Senate Judiciary Committee Has Yet to Subpoena Harlan Crow or Leonard Leo": More than two months after authorizing subpoenas for two key figures in the Supreme Court’s ethics crisis, Senate Democrats have yet to issue them. Andy Kroll, ProPublica, Feb. 16, 2024

Read also: Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group That Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance”: Leonard Leo, a key architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, is now the chairman of Teneo Network... (ProPublica)

Previously, on the January 6 connection

He accepted at least 38 luxury vacations

Revealed in August 2023: Since he was appointed Justice in 1991, several billionaires sent him on at least 38 luxury vacations, which he did not disclose.

He had financial troubles

This story begins: "In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt." Why? Well, "the month before, the justice had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV." He privately warned one Republican member of Congress that "one or more justices will leave soon" if they didn't get pay raises. "In other private conversations, Thomas repeatedly talked about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches." Many rich people gave him gifts. "Precisely what led so many people to offer Thomas money and other gifts remains an open question."
— A “Delicate Matter”: Clarence Thomas’ Private Complaints About Money Sparked Fears He Would Resign. Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski and Brett Murphy. ProPublica. Dec 18, 2023.

On June 7, 2024, Thomas "formally disclosed a 2019 trip to Indonesia paid for by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, a vacation that was at the center of the controversy over his travel."

Clarence Thomas Failed To Report 3 Other Private Jet Trips, Senate Committee Says The Supreme Court justice took the trips, which were paid for by billionaire political donor Harlan Crow, between 2017 and 2021. Sebastian Murdock, HuffPost, Jun 13, 2024

Justice Samuel Alito's house in 2021

David Kurtz writes:

"In a breathtaking report from the NYT’s relentless Jodi Kantor [in May 2024], neighbors of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito provided evidence that the American flag was flying upside down outside his Alexandria, Virginia home in the run-up to Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden – an unmistakeable emblem of protest heavily adopted by the Big Lie/Stop the Steal crowd in the weeks after the 2020 election." (David Kurtz, The Insurrectionists In Our Midst, Talking Points Memo, May 17, 2024)

Alito acknowledged to the NYT that it was "in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." In other words, that the flag wasn't accidentally raised upside-down but that it had deliberate political meaning. He says his wife did it; "I had no involvement whatsoever."

Kurtz asks why the NYT turns the story into "an analysis of the ethical implications for a sitting Supreme Court justice, including whether the Supreme Court’s own rules apply to the justice themselves, whether they should be subject to the standards of everyone else in the federal judiciary, and the whys and wherefores of judges not doing anything to appear overtly partisan." Let's not be "splitting hairs over the ethical niceties of this or that particular episode," he pleads.

"This wasn’t merely a matter of the household of a sitting Supreme Court justice improperly demonstrating a partisan preference in a public way. This was a bold declaration of affinity for and alignment with the smoldering insurrection led by a president of the same party that had just been put down but which still loomed as a threat to civic order, the peaceful transfer of power (which at that point had still not yet happened), and the rule of law."

In the days after the attack on the Capitol, Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes was aware of the upside-down flag at the Alitos' home, but, the Washington Post explained in May 2024:

"The Post decided not to report on the episode at the time because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha-Ann Alito, rather than the justice, and connected to a dispute with her neighbors, a Post spokeswoman said. It was not clear then that the argument was rooted in politics, the spokeswoman said."

There was a dispute with neighbors (they have text messages), but that one hadn't yet happened when Alito told reporters there had been a dispute. So, again, why was the flag up?

Alito lied about the reason the flag was up because he didn’t know the couple had text messages establishing the date of when the incident took place. They were supporting the insurrection. www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/u...

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— Adam Serwer (@adamserwer.bsky.social) May 28, 2024 at 6:44 PM

putting up a "stop the steal" sign in response to this is not any better than putting it up because you read something on 4chan! it's not exonerative at all! the intent and meaning is still the same!

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— Michael (@fleerultra.bsky.social) May 17, 2024 at 10:31 AM

this dude is basically the nation’s leading expert on legal ethics, we are so cooked.

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— Peter (@notalawyer.bsky.social) May 18, 2024 at 11:23 AM

Also, at Alito's beach house, an "Appeal to Heaven" flag was flown. CNN explains: "The 'Appeal to Heaven' flag, as it is commonly called, also stands outside of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office in the Capitol building and has been proudly displayed by other Republican lawmakers. It has also appeared among crowds at far-right rallies and at the January 6 Capitol insurrection."

SCOOP: The "Appeal To Heaven" flag, a popular symbol for Christian nationalists that was waved by January 6 rioters, was raised over the Small Business Administration headquarters last week.

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— WIRED (@wired.com) June 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM

When it was revealed that Justice Abe Fortas received $15,000 for teaching a seminar at American University, conservatives howled so much that they blocked his elevation to chief justice and then forced his resignation.

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— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) May 30, 2024 at 7:52 AM

Appears to have been a regular thing: www.regent.edu/news/justice... www.regent.edu/news/supreme...

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— Sarah Posner (@sarahposner.bsky.social) May 30, 2024 at 8:23 AM

He co-taught the seminar with Regent Law Dean Mark D. Martin.

Documentary filmmaker made a secret recording of Sam Alito. "He endorsed what his interlocutor described as a necessary fight to 'return our country to a place of godliness.'" www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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— Sarah Posner (@sarahposner.bsky.social) Jun 10, 2024 at 12:34 PM

Alito will not be subpoenaed to testify before the Senate committee because the Senate votes aren't there at either the committee level or at the full Senate level.

Rolling Stone: Alito objects to ProPublica exposรฉ

Elites

Elites aren't entirely self-made and self-sustaining. From where do they receive support? From so-called "think tanks."

"Alejandro Chafuen, an Argentine American businessman who took over the Atlas Network presidency in 1991 and remained in charge until 2018, once described the network’s audience in one word: elites.

'To answer the question ‘Who is the real customer of a think tank?’' he said, 'I will refer to the often ignored passage of Ludwig von Mises, in his book Bureaucracy. In it he describes a type of person — elite — who I believe is not only the real customer of Atlas and many think tanks, but also our ideal customer, who benefits us and is served by us.'"

— Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protesters For decades, the Atlas Network has used its reach and influence to spread conservative philosophy—and criminalize climate protest. Amy Westervelt and Geoff Dembicki, New Republic, September 12, 2023

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Saturday, February 1, 2020

Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's defense attorneys, receives $65 million in charitable funds

Yesterday the Associated Press published a most interesting article by Michael Biesecker. It is long. Here, I've summarized and reorganized the information.

Although the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), "as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, is barred under IRS rules from engaging in partisan political activities," nevertheless a half-dozen ACLJ lawyers, including its chief counsel Jay Sekulow and his son, are part of Trump's legal defense team in the impeachment. "Charity watchdogs for years have raised concerns," the AP story explains, "about the blurred lines between for-profit businesses tied to Sekulow and the complex web of non-profit entities he and his family control."

An AP investigation "of tax returns for the ACLJ and other charities tied to Sekulow" found that between "2008 to 2017, the most recent year available, show that more than $65 million in charitable funds were paid to Sekulow, his wife, his sons, his brother, his sister-in-law, his nephew and corporations they own." The American Institute of Philanthropy's CharityWatch website placed a “Donor Alert” about the ACLJ.

One problem is with the way the charities are structured and led. In 1988, "Sekulow founded the non-profit Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE)," which fundraises over $50 million each year, "more than $12 million was paid in direct salary and benefits to Sekulow and his family members." Furthermore, "ACLJ now receives the bulk of its $23 million annual budget from CASE. All six of the [ACLJ] charity’s paid board members share the last name Sekulow, including Jay’s wife, Pam, and their sons, Jordon and Logan." This runs afoul of the Better Business Bureau's recommendation for the independence of board members; accordingly, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance has an advisory about ACLJ. Similarly, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability requires independent boards, and "CASE and ACLJ are not listed among the council’s 2,400 members."

Another problem is with their connection to political work. Money for the Trump defense is being paid to the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group (CLA Group), a for-profit "phantom law firm" whose contact information is a virtual or "flex-space" rented location. It is co-owned by Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at ACLJ, and Stuart J. Roth, senior counsel at ACLJ, both of who are Trump's defense lawyers. When contacted by the Associated Press, a PR professional paid by the ACLJ claimed that Sekulow's work for the president is done in Sekulow's "personal capacity" and has nothing to do with the ACLJ. (However, between 2008 and 2017, as the AP notes, "nearly $37 million in charitable funds were paid by ACLJ to the CLA Group." Of that, $5.8 million was paid in 2017 alone.) This same PR professional would not say "whether Sekulow was doing his legal work for Trump in the non-profit group’s office" nor whether ACLJ was being reimbursed by the CLA Group for anything related to the Trump defense.

These problems are related. The combined problem is that Jay Sekulow does political work, and the charities' money goes to Jay Sekulow and his colleagues. In 2017, ACLJ paid $1.4 million to Regency Productions, which receives Sekulow's fees for radio and television appearances. "Over the 10-year period reviewed by AP, CLA Group and Regency were paid a combined $46 million in charitable funds by ACLJ and CASE. Millions more were paid by the charities for 'airtime,' though the recipients of that money were not detailed in the tax records." The charities spent $1.2 million on private jets, plus millions of dollars "routed into numerous non-profit and for-profit entities, which makes it challenging to determine who is really getting the money." Some money was funneled to corporations headed by evangelical television personality Pat Robertson and former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft.

From the AP story:

A 2005 investigation by the publication Legal Times reported about questionable spending at ACLJ, quoting former employees describing millions in charity funds being spent to support the Sekulows’ lavish lifestyle, which included multiple homes, golf junkets, chauffeur-driven cars and a private jet used to ferry then-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Guardian and The Washington Post reported additional details in 2017, shortly after Sekulow was named as Trump’s lawyer.

Sekulow joined Trump's legal team during the Mueller investigation in 2017. Since that time, his CLA Group has received over $250,000 from the Republican National Committee. Also since 2017, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has been investigating the abuse of charitable funds related to Sekulow.

Trump, of course, is also under scrutiny for his own corruption. From the AP story:

Trump, Sekulow’s star client, has faced similar legal questions. Trump agreed to pay $2 million as part of a settlement with the state of New York in which he was forced to admit he misused charitable funds from the Donald J. Trump Foundation to promote his 2016 presidential campaign, pay off business debts and buy a $10,000 portrait of himself hung at one of his Florida resorts. Trump’s charity also cut an illegal $25,000 check to support the reelection of then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who now works with Sekulow as a member of the president’s defense team.

2025 update

Trump was re-elected and inaugurated. Pam Bondi is attorney general.

The Henchmen Strategy: What Trump Is Doing To Make The Law His Own: The Trump administration has appointed numerous interim U.S. Attorneys — and it's all part of his quest to twist law enforcement agencies into his personal legal task force. Brandi Buchman, HuffPost, Apr 28, 2025

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