If @willbunch wrote it, you should read it.© & I thread it:
"The story of the most serious White House bribe allegation in U.S. history can't be allowed to fall under the cushions of #JDVance's couch
Congress must probe what really happened with #Trump, #Egypt and the $10M - and make bribery a crime again. My column"
1/...
2/ "Bribery is bad for democracy.
"The impeachment clause of the Constitution spells out bribery as 1st on its list of things for which a corrupt pres or other federal official can be removed from office, ahead of treason & other high crimes and misdemeanors. In case that was too ambiguous, the framers also wrote up the Emoluments Clause, using an anachronistic term to essentially bar the president and other officeholders from accepting gifts or payments from foreign countries or their rulers"
3/ "I’m sure you’ll be shocked, shocked to learn that two of the Supreme Court justices who voted to legalize a cut-and-dried form of bribery have been accused of improperly accepting gifts from billionaires with an interest in what happens at the nation’s highest court... At this point, one has to wonder: Where is rock bottom?
We may have just found it."
4/ "On Friday, the Washington Post broke a bombshell story about a credible allegation of bribery involving the 2016 election of Donald Trump, Egypt’s dictator Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and a mysterious $10 million all-cash withdrawal from an Egyptian state-run bank just five days before Trump became president — and adopted a more friendly aid policy toward the Middle Eastern nation."
5/ "This is the third major case — in addition to the allegations of a Trump cover-up in Mueller’s probe of 2016 Russian election interference, and the 2016 hush money to Stormy Daniels that eventually led to Trump’s conviction on 34 state felony counts — in which Barr is alleged to have put his finger on the scales of justice in a case involving the president who appointed him. That alone is worthy of a congressional investigation."
6/ "Before dropping out, Pres Biden kept telling us democracy is on the ballot in November. But what kind of democracy are we fighting for if bribery is becoming increasingly legal, or untouchable? The belief that everybody and everything is for sale in America has created the remarkable aura of cynicism that permeates our politics. One of the many ironies is that Trump, who may or may not have benefited from a $10 million bribe that makes the Watergate crimes of Nixon look like jaywalking.."
7/ "And yet the Post’s report of the most serious presidential bribery allegation in American history all but vanished from our wild political news cycle, like it fell between the cushions of JD Vance’s couch or whatever else we’re obsessing about on TikTok. It doesn’t have to be this way. If “freedom” is the new buzzword, America needs to be freed from bribery.
Do not let the matter of Trump, Egypt and the $10 million disappear."
8/ "Although it’s tragic that criminal statute of limitations expired, any alleged bribe can still be pursued as civil case. More importantly, Congress—for now, that means Dem-controlled Sen,—needs to open full-blown investigation, w efforts to subpoena Barr & other DOJ higher-ups to explain in publ why the case was dropped
What’s more, Dem candidates running to retake control of both houses in 2025 need to pledge they will strengthen fed bribery laws in the face of outrageous SCOTUS decisions"
9/9 "The other wrinkle is the recent, abysmal Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity for so-called official acts that would have made Trump’s pro-Egypt policies — the quo in this alleged quid pro quo — off limits. The next Congress must pass legislation that spells out a president is not above the law.
Anyone can talk about making America great again, but that’s not really going to happen until we make bribery a crime again."
Plz read the entire column.
@GottaLaff it was a shocking read...as a Canadian, I don't generally re-toot things about what is going on in the US (I do follow it very closely though) I sure as heck re-tooted this. If true (and it probably is) this is horrifying and should not be swept under the rug. I hope the investigation will be reopened.
@vickietorious Thanks for boosting it. It's SO important.
@GottaLaff dang, he is on fire here!!
@StephanieMoore He always is
@GottaLaff I remember one of Trump's lies in the run up to getting elected after losing the popular vote in 2016 was that he would donate the presidential salary because he was already so rich. Well, he never did that. But at least we all know what he meant now - he had bribes in the works that would dwarf the presidential salary!
@Brad_Rosenheim @JonChevreau @GottaLaff And to this day I see memes posted by his loyal acolytes saying how selfless he is because he donated his whole salary, he’s working for you, blah blah blah. And some still believe that!
@GottaLaff
Thank you.
@GottaLaff @willbunch This is a crucial story on so many levels, and not just the TFG-Was-Bribed aspect.
It's the coverup that always ends up being more destructive to the candidate.
We need to emphasize the cold-bloodedness of TFG's extortion attempt and just how much Bill Barr was involved. And it's a great way to highlight how dangerous Schedule F would be in TFG's administration:
"Imagine not one Barr, but THOUSANDS OF THEM."
@GottaLaff the Supreme Court can deem any law unconstitutional. Doesn’t a true solution to the problem entail a constitutional amendment?
@GottaLaff hey, just grease my palm – then you will not have any grease left: that is how we Make America Grate Again.
@GottaLaff
> Dem candidates running to retake control of both houses in 2025 need to pledge they will strengthen fed bribery laws in the face of outrageous SCOTUS decisions
The problem is this is just as likely to decimate their ranks as the GoP's. Eg;
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/03/politics/henry-cuellar-indictment-doj/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/article/bob-menendez-corruption-bribes.html
So neither major party is likely to front-foot this. If the US electorate wants it dealt with, they'll need to elect more anti-business independents.
@GottaLaff
Ah yes... American "capitalism"... everything's for sale.
@GottaLaff
More like Agnew than Nixon.
Let's not forget who funds Bill Barr, #KochNetwork
Big Oil owns and operates Bill Barr.
https://newrepublic.com/post/180827/bill-barr-endorses-republican-nominee-donald-trump
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/05/02/the-doj-ig-backlog-at-bill-barrs-behavior/
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-27/justice-department-william-barr-mueller-memo
@GottaLaff Rock bottom would be — God forbid — during a second term for #TheDonOld
One of my "favorite" #Scrotus rulings is "Democrats receive bribes but Republicans take tips."
@GottaLaff Mitch McConnell said it best: If we enforce ethics on the supreme court, there would be no conservative justices.
I think he needs to look up the meaning of conservative, because he just said there ARE no conservative justices on SCOTUS. I like to call them reactionaries.
@GottaLaff
Not even close.
“When you hit rock bottom, there’s always dynamite.”
@GottaLaff It’s only rock bottom if it motivates people to get off the sidelines and vote to knock these damn criminals out of office. If we accomplish even some of that, we can start to fix this…. But we’ve got a hell of a lift to work through first.
If only those two Supreme Court justices who voted to legalize bribery could be charged with accepting bribes. I'm sure they would recuse themselves from the case.
@GottaLaff Does anybody read this anymore, I know I haven't, but I think its time.
@GottaLaff @willbunch It's already dead. The people of the country don't get to choose who ends up in the primaries, they're chosen for us. And when we have the actual election, the electoral college again chooses for us. Businesses run Congress. The Supreme Court can dismantle people's rights on a whim.
That's not democracy.
@GottaLaff @willbunch I ike Presidents that aren't in the pocket of foreign leaders.
Not to make light of the allegations (which seem damning, frankly) but it seems to me that it shows once again that TFG is no multibillionaire. $10M is chump change to someone who has $10B or more.
Or to put it another way, this AHole was perfectly willing to sell out his country for a couple of mortgage payments. Russian double agents get a better rate of return.
@GottaLaff @willbunch Yup, and Mr Teflon will hire a stable of unscrupulous attorneys who will push enough uncertainty around through the courts until SCOTUS says it was an “official act”
Getting a little tired of all this. Another crime, another way out of it.
@GottaLaff @willbunch it seems to me there’s another crime here, which is the cover-up. I would love to hear defecting Republicans also call for a full investigation alongside Democrats.
@GottaLaff @willbunch
If a reporter asked trump about this, and framed it as "It'd be stupid and un-American NOT to take the money, and would make you a bad businessman."
Then he would 100% admit to doing it, *especially* since he knows he's untouchable criminally for it.
And the Dems had better subpoena Liu and Sherwin in addition to Barr. Hopefully they win enough seats to actually enforce them!
https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/10m-from-egypt
@Incognitim Statute of limitations is over. It has to be a civil case, which is what Will posted.
@GottaLaff
Sorry if it seems like I was disputing that.
I'd be VERY intrigued by a civil case against him, but I think the best bet for some solid answers would be for a Congressional investigation...buuut that's assuming that any of their subpoenas would be enforceable.
(I also think this is a clear cut example of why the statute of limitations should be 7 or 11 years for bribery— assuming that's still a crime in this country )
@GottaLaff @willbunch
I am so happy I subscribed to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
I still miss some of the journalists from the Washington Post, but they were cavalier with truth too often.
@GottaLaff @willbunch They will drop it because they all accept bribes.
@GottaLaff @willbunch
It’s not just “weird”…how rump has not just normalized bribery…
He boldly encourages it.
This…is what I call…a “motivational imperative”.
“But what kind of #democracy are we fighting for if #bribery is becoming increasingly legal, or untouchable?
The belief that everybody & everything is for sale in #america has created the remarkable aura of cynicism that permeates our #politics.”
In Corruption in America, an eloquent, revealing, and sometimes surprising historical inquiry, Teachout convincingly argues that corruption, broadly understood as placing private interests over the public good in public office, is at the root of what ails American democracy.
—David Cole, New York Review of Books
@GottaLaff SCOTUS and then AG Bill Barr interfered with the investigation. The criminality and duplicity of the GOP is treasonous.
@GottaLaff @willbunch I was surprised to have not heard about the WaPo article but seeing it’s behind a paywall when trying to view it reminds me another way we create that darkness that democracy is dying in.