9/21/21: We learned yesterday that lawyers for the Trump Organization are predicting fresh indictments are coming. These will likely pile on top of the one that prosecutors have already filed against Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer at the operation for many years.
Where you find one crook hiding under a Trump rock, you often
find five or ten or lose count, as they scurry away. (See below.)
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Trump and Razak: Two crooks? |
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“He that delights to walk and talk with them that have the plague, it is no marvell if he catch infection.”
Richard Mather, c. 1639
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Law enforcement authorities recently uncovered a trove of evidence in the basement of a “co-conspirator,” and alerted the defense team, as required by the rules of discovery. It’s not clear yet who the “co-conspirator” might be, or whether the material might lead to charges against multiple individuals. Bryan Skarlatos, speaking for the defense did say, “We have strong reason to believe there could be other indictments coming.”
Plural?
Others who might be under the
microscope include Allen Weisselberg’s son, Barry, and Matthew Calamari, who
rose through the ranks, from Trump bodyguard to chief operating officer. We know
prosecutors have said that there was a “sweeping and audacious illegal payments
scheme” in place to evade taxes, which sounds as if multiple individuals might
be involved. And even Michael Cohen – when testifying before Congress – said he
thought several persons with the Trump Organization would be able to turn over
the legal rocks and reveal a wide-ranging plan to cheat local, state, and
federal tax collectors. (He mentioned Calamari, by name.)
Of course, all of these gentlemen might be innocent lambs, and this blogger is not prone to shouting, “Lock them up!” and drooling, as if at a Trump rally, before trials play out. Still, let’s be honest. Cohen went to the slammer for a scheme cooked up while he was employed at the Trump Organization. And his indictment mentioned an “Unindicted Co-Conspirator 1.”
That was Donald John Trump, himself – who evaded indictment by virtue of the fact he was President of the United States at the time.
In any case, this latest news is not a good look for an already battered Team Trump.
Even worse, Allen Weisselberg’s trial is set for next summer,
just in time to remind voters ahead of the midterms what it was like to have a
pack of criminally-inclined individuals leading the nation.
*
THE FORMER PRESIDENT reacted badly to the news – because – when does he not? In a statement he first blasted Gen. Mark Milley, who he referred to as a “lightweight,” even though he had picked him to be chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He went on to complain about the “bullshit” he’d had to endure for years, as law enforcement officials continued to examine his business adventures. He went on to yowl that a bunch of “Never Trumpers” prosecutors were out to get him, insisting,
they have NOTHING! Murder and
all forms of crime are “through the roof” in New York, and their focus is on
“Trump,” despite numerous other political investigations that went nowhere.
They are spending tens of millions of dollars with a vast army of Trump Haters.
This has been going on for years and the people of our Country are not going to
take it anymore!
You almost had the feeling that Trump was finally worried about what investigators were going to find.
Especially now – when he can no longer pardon himself.
*
We’ve got “criminal bingo” in one story.
WHAT OTHER legal developments might we have missed? In short order, we learn this week that the Department of Justice has filed charges against two men, including a former aide of both Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell. That aide, Jesse Benton, had already garnered a pardon from President Trump in an unrelated criminal scheme, but clearly failed to learn his lesson.
(You know some of these crooks are really going to be hoping Donald J. Trump gets elected again in 2024.)
Now, Benton has been charged, along with Doug Wead, with taking $100,000 from a Russian – that’s right a Russian – pocketing $75,000 as their fee, setting up a convoluted structure to disguise the source, and sending $25,000 on to – yes – we’ve got “criminal bingo” in one story – a Trump joint fundraising committee!
What did the Russian want for his money? He wanted a photo op with the Orange President.
Both Benton and Wead have been charged with six criminal counts,
including conspiracy, and abetting illegal foreign political contributions
(which we will see in a moment is a theme when we’re talking about Team Trump).
Benton had practice playing hide and seek with campaign cash – and got
convicted – and then pardoned in the waning days of Donald John’s first and
only term in office.
*
You are
essentially putting U.S. foreign policy up for sale.
IF YOU MISSED this larger story, as I did (until a few days ago), Igor Fruman as now plead guilty in federal court. (See: 10/25/21.)
This is when the liberal blogger, who has profound respect for the way the U.S. courts are structured, shouts gleefully, “Lock him up!”
A reminder, of course, who Fruman is. Along with Lev Parnas, he worked with Rudy Giuliani on a variety of what would seem to have been questionable deals in Ukraine. (See, for example, the seedy story of Dmitry Firtash, and his efforts to avoid extradition to the United States.) You may recall how, during President Trump’s first impeachment trial, his defense rested on the idea that all his efforts to get Hunter Biden and his dad investigated by the Ukrainians boiled down to his abiding interest in draining swamps both here and abroad. Yet, Parnas is now a suspect in an insurance fraud case; and together he and Fruman are accused of funneling stacks of foreign cash into U.S. political campaigns. (See: Benton and Wead, above.) Fruman has plead guilty to a charge of showering Republican committees with $500,000.
Why might this smell – politically – like dead-skunk roadkill
by the side of the street? It is well-established that foreign individuals may
not legally donate to U.S. political campaigns, and don’t risk doing so illegally,
unless they hope to get something extremely valuable in return. That means if
you take foreign money, you are essentially putting U.S. foreign policy up for
sale.
Here, in the annals of Team Trump, we have already turned over several rocks, and seen creepy individuals run from the light. We know Trump’s first National Security Advisor, General Michael T. Flynn, took a $45,000 speaker’s fee from the Russians in December 2015. Then he neglected to tell the U.S. Army about the payment, as regulations required. Later, he and his son took $530,000 from Turkish interests – at the same time dad was giving the newly-elected Mr. Trump foreign policy advice. As for Paul Manafort, and all his efforts to get a few million dollars to end up in his secret bank accounts, let’s just remind everyone he piled up at least ten felony counts. Then, oddly enough, he got a coveted Golden Pardon from President Trump.
In the fall of 2020, we also learned that Elliott Broidy, another pal of President Trump, plead guilty to selling influence to foreign entities – during which schemes he raked in some truly impressive bucks. Broidy reaped what prosecutors described as “millions of dollars” for his efforts. Those efforts focused on convincing top officials in the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the looting of a Malaysian wealth fund.
Then, inexplicably, on the morning of January 20, 2021, he too snagged a pardon from Trump on the soon-to-be ex-president’s way out the White House door.
Flynn had snagged a pardon previously if you think there
might be a trend.
There are a lot of crooks in stories about Team Trump, so you have to pay attention if you hope to follow along. The looted wealth fund that had Broidy’s attention was looted by none other than Najib Razak, the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia. Along with an assortment of sleazy accomplices, he got away with embezzling $4.5 billion, at least for a while.
Eventually, Razak was convicted, despite Broidy’s efforts, in July 2020. But he and his lawyers have vowed to appeal.
We already noted that there are a lot of crooks in this tale. So, let’s not forget Goldman Sachs. That’s the company you, the American taxpayer, helped rescue in October 2008, by virtue of a $10 billion government bailout. That bailout and others like it were necessary because the Lords of Wall Street had managed to bring the U.S. economy to its knees. This past July, the investment firm agreed to pay a $3.9 billion settlement to the Malaysian government for its role in helping Razak steal all that dough. In return, criminal charges against the bank were dropped.
(George Floyd? Passed a counterfeit $20. You know the rest.)
The list of convicted and alleged criminals grows longer, the
more we look. We haven’t even mentioned Razak’s stepson, Hollywood producer Riza Aziz, yet. He got
arrested and charged with laundering $248 million in stolen cash. (Ironically, one of his most
successful films was “The Wolf of Wall Street.”)
Then there’s the fugitive Malaysian businessman, Jho Low, who agreed through his lawyers to forfeit $700 million in assets, including five luxury homes in New York, London and Beverly Hills, along with his Bombardier jet. He continues to claim innocence – while still hiding out.
Are we done yet with criminals? This is a story about Team Trump. So, we’re not even close. Low got nailed again – ironically on ex-President Trump’s last birthday – and charged with a fresh basket of crimes. His alleged accomplice this time: Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the Fugees, a hugely popular 90s hip hop trio that included Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean.
Suddenly, the story is even more fun. Low faces five to ten years on each of several counts with which he has been charged. Michel could get five to twenty on at least one of his charges – and their alleged crimes rise to double digits for each. Then – we have another Elliott Broidy sighting!
As the Department of Justice explained in a press release in June:
According to the superseding
indictment, Low Taek Jho, 39, also known as Jho Low, and Prakazrel “Pras”
Michel, 48, are alleged to have conspired with Elliott Broidy [emphasis
added], Nickie Lum Davis, and others to engage in undisclosed lobbying
campaigns at the direction of Low and the Vice Minister of Public Security
for the People’s Republic of China respectively [that’s right, these guys
were working with the Chinese!!], both to have the 1MDB embezzlement
investigation [the Malaysian wealth fund case] and forfeiture proceedings
involving Low and others dropped and to have a Chinese dissident sent back
to China. Michel and Low are also charged with conspiring to commit money
laundering related to the foreign influence campaigns. Michel is also charged
with witness tampering and conspiracy to make false statements to banks.
If you didn’t catch that last detail, let’s be clear. These guys were going to take millions in illegal money to get a Chinese dissident sent back to his home country. Had their scheme been a success, that dissident would have been given a preemptory trial and carted off to jail.
Millions of foreign dollars went into the presidential election.
The DOJ further notes:
In May 2019, Michel and Low were charged in the District of Columbia for
allegedly orchestrating and concealing a foreign and conduit contribution
scheme in which they funneled millions of dollars of Low’s money into the
U.S. presidential election as purportedly legitimate campaign
contributions, all while concealing the true source of the money. According to
the indictment, to execute the scheme, Michel received Low’s money and
contributed it both personally and through approximately 20 straw donors.
So, can we guess whose campaign got those millions of dollars in illegal foreign cash?
I think we can.
*
IN FACT, we have a whole other collection of alleged crooks – charged with similar crimes – including longtime Trump pal, billionaire Thomas Barrack. We highlighted his possible crimes in pervious posts (see: 1/21/21, 7/21/21). He, too, has been indicted for selling influence to foreign nations.
And just to tease you a little: federal authorities decided Barrack might be a flight risk and set bail at $250 million.
Anyway, you may have heard the right-wing folks make a huge deal about what a crook Hunter Biden is – and how his dad supposedly used his influence to keep him out of jail for supposed crookery in Ukraine. One problem is that we haven’t seen any evidence yet, although it seems clear the son is prone to engaging in questionable business deals, playing off the family name.
The dilemma, if you’re a Trump fan, and you’re not blind to
reality, is that when you shake the Trump administration tree, criminals rain
down like wormy apples. You can go back to my earlier post (7/21/21) for
a list if you’d like to check.
We started off today’s post with Parnas and Fruman, and mentioned Rudy Giuliani, who in April had his apartment raided by the feds.
If this blogger had to bet, he’d bet that Rudy is going to be indicted at some point soon. (See also: 9/21/21.)
FUN FACT WITH NUTS: Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and conspiracy nut, announced today that 100,000 votes, during the 2020 election, were “flipped” in Alabama and said the state’s voting machines were hacked.
Lindell insisted he had the “data” to prove his claims.
This was all part of some sinister plan, which would allow Joe Biden to lose the state by almost 600,000 votes.
Indeed, this massive breach dramatically reduced Donald J. Trump’s vote from 62.1% in 2016 to – holy voter fraud – a mere 62.0% four years later.
And this blogger has data to prove it.
BLOGGER’S NOTE, 2/25/22: When I check the
Heritage Foundation’s database, I see that the last person charged with voter fraud in Alabama was Elbert
Melton in 2019.
We should also note that Alabama Secretary of
State John Merrill, a Republican, said there was no way Lindell was right, and that
the actual number of votes “flipped” in the 2020
election was…um…zero.
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