Grifters Do Grift

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“The surge of donations is largely from small-dollar donors, campaign officials say, tapping into the president’s base of loyal and fervent donors who tend to contribute the most when they feel the president is under siege or facing unfair political attacks. The campaign has sent about 500 post-election fundraising pitches to donors, often with hyperbolic language about voter fraud and the like.”

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“The donations are purportedly being solicited for the Official Election Defense Fund, which is blazed in all red across the Trump campaign’s website, with an ominous picture of the president outside the White House. There is no such account, however. The fundraising requests are being made by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. As of Nov. 18, that committee also shares its funds with Save America, a new leadership PAC that Trump set up in early November and which he can use to fund his post-presidency activities.”

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28 thoughts on “Grifters Do Grift”

  1. 🎵  “grifting along with the tumbling tumbled trump…” 🎵

    original lyrics don’t even need much tweaking to fit the occasion:

    See them tumbling down
    Pledging their love to the ground!
    Lonely, but free, they’ll be found
    Grifting along with the tumbling tumbled weed

  3. on the grift subject, jezebel noted this a couple of weeks ago:

    It has been nearly a week since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, and President Trump still refuses to face the facts. But while he won’t accept his demise, he will accept your hard-earned cash.
    The mountain of frivolous lawsuits and demands for recounts are costly, and the Trump team has set up a legal defense fund to aid in their fruitless and undoubtedly costly attempts to challenge his unfavorable election results. Trump’s loyal base is willing to fork over donations if it could potentially steal the election from Biden. But, as it turns out, most of the donations aren’t even going to the legal defense fund.
    From Politico (emphasis ours):

    Much of the money raised by Stepien and the Trump campaign won’t go towards challenging election results, however, but to help set the stage for the president’s next act. The Trump campaign has a recount fund, but the money won’t go to it unless someone gives more than $8,333. Rather, 60 percent of a donation up to that amount for Trump’s “Official Election Defense Fund” is routed to a new PAC started this week by the president that can pay for a wide range of activities — but is likely legally barred from spending on recounts, lawyers say. The remaining 40 percent goes to the Republican National Committee, which is allowed — but not required to — spend on the recount. Prior to Tuesday, the majority of a donation went to helping Trump’s campaign cover its debt.

    If you’re thinking, “Hmm, maybe that money will go right into Trump’s pocket” well… more or less.

    In the coming months, Trump could use money from his new PAC, called Save America —the existence of which was reported for the first time by The New York Times on Monday— to travel the country and stage rallies, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He could promote candidates who were loyal to him and make donations to their campaigns. And, if he wanted to, he could place his family members and former administration officials on payroll, and continue to host lavish events at his properties without tripping up campaign finance law.

    There you have it. It looks like Trump—a man who advisers say is already eyeing a 2024 run—is funding his political future and asserting himself as a powerful force in the Republican Party even after he leaves office. The grift never ends.

  4. NYTimes today:

    President Trump has raised about $170 million since Election Day as his campaign operation has continued to aggressively solicit donations with hyped-up appeals that have funded his fruitless attempts to overturn the election and that have seeded his post-presidential political ambitions, according to a person familiar with the matter.
    The money, much of which was raised in the first week after the election, according to the person, has arrived as Mr. Trump has made false claims about fraud and sought to undermine public confidence in the legitimacy of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory.
    Instead of slowing down after the election, Mr. Trump’s campaign has ratcheted up its volume of email solicitations for cash, telling supporters that money was needed for an “Election Defense Fund.”
    In reality, the fine print shows that the first 75 percent of every contribution currently goes to a new political action committee that Mr. Trump set up in mid-November, Save America, which can be used to fund his political activities going forward, including staff and travel. The other 25 percent of each donation is directed to the Republican National Committee.
    […]
    The $170 million figure, raised in less than four weeks, is an enormous sum that rivals the amounts of money brought in at the peak of the campaign. While a breakdown of the money was not immediately available, the deluge of donations would appear to have paid off any remaining Trump campaign debt (in the first days after the election, the fine print showed that contributions were earmarked for that purpose). The money is also likely to provide Mr. Trump with a sizable financial head start in paying for his post-presidency political activities.
    […]
    Mr. Trump’s team created the political action committee, known as a leadership PAC, in part to capture the influx of postelection money, according to people familiar with the matter.

    Currently, donors on Mr. Trump’s website are opted in with a prechecked box to make monthly contributions.

    Rob Flaherty, who served as Mr. Biden’s digital director, said on Twitter that the huge sums raised by Mr. Trump since the election were “plain and simple grift.”
    [continues]

  5. our trail friend whiskyjack left this intriguing inquiry late last night:

    Ok, who did this?
    I just got this email forwarded to me from one of our support organizations.
    “I am a British TV producer and we are developing a TV series for Discovery Network about neighbours who help out with dilapidated properties. I have read about  the good work carried out by the McCoy Park Neighbours. I am struggling to find a way to contact them. Do you have an email for the group  ”
    I just told Mrs Jack to get her ass back here, enough of this bullshit we have work to do.
    Jack

  6. Congrats Jack!  Now get your ass in gear!
     
    I say to trump supporters…   give hearty and give often.  Hey you know it’s better to give then receive….  so give while the giving is hot!

  9. Giving Tuesday so many needs so little money to go around.

     The Grand Theater  in Tacoma, WA because these old local movie houses with small films will disappear without their audience.

    Shelter Box who are still out there putting a roof over refugees

    Local Food Bank

    Elephant Sanctuary

    Not much but maybe it will help the world regain sanity in 2021.

     

  11. True to form, a Proud Boy named Jeremy Bertino picked up a bullhorn a couple minutes after the official 11:30 a.m. start time and addressed the counter-protesters across the street.
    “America will never be a communist nation — never!” Bertino said as fellow Proud Boys lined the sidewalk wearing tactical vests and trademark yellow and black gear. “Your side will lose. We will exterminate you like the rats you are…. Exterminate you!”

     
    https://www.salon.com/2020/11/29/we-will-exterminate-you-proud-boys-and-trump-diehards-confront-counter-protesters-in-raleigh_partner/

  13. Got a nice card and solicitation letter from Jimmy & Rosalyn for the Carter Center yesterday. Worthy cause that makes the donation list this year. Hope they stay in good health for several more years. 

  16. Pogo… Rick supports the Carter Center too.  He loves Jimmy!  As for me… I decided several years ago to support local things and people who mean something to me.

  18. APnews:

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

    His comments come despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the election was stolen, and his refusal to concede his loss to President-Elect Joe Biden.

    In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they’ve received, but they’ve uncovered no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

    “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.

    The comments are especially direct coming from Barr, who has been one of the president’s most ardent allies. Before the election, he had repeatedly raised the notionthat mail-in voter fraud could be especially vulnerable to fraud during the coronavirus pandemic as Americans feared going to polls and instead chose to vote by mail.

    [continues]

  19. forbes:

    After the knockout success of her first book about Donald Trump, the president’s niece, Mary Trump, is set to publish a second tome early next year, her publisher announced Tuesday, this time focusing on the impacts of Trump’s presidency. 
    While Trump’s first book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, focused specifically on the inner workings of the Trump family, THE RECKONING will zoom out to assess “America’s national trauma,” which she argues has been exacerbated by the Trump administration, according to the announcement.
    “For four years, Donald Trump has inflicted a series of traumas upon the American people,” Trump said in the announcement, adding: “In short, he transformed our country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family.” 
    The book will focus on Trump’s presidency, including his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the publishers, as well as the roots of “rising levels of rage and hatred, hopelessness and apathy” in the U.S.
    THE RECKONING is scheduled to be published by St. Martin’s Press, owned by Macmillan Publishers, in July 2021. 

  21. I asked this late yesterday here.  Seriously, I’d like to know if there’s a penalty for this kind of talk.  Can I say that about the governor or a talking head or anyone and not pay a price?
     
    IS THERE A LAWYER IN THE HOUSE?? Steve Bannon said or printed publicly that Dr. Fauci should be beheaded. Joe diGenova, on of Trump’s lawyers,  said today that  Chris Krebs should be  drawn & quartered and shot. Is there NO punishment for this kind of talk, public talk?

  23. Craig, the trumpers sound like this is the Middle Ages. They are conservative-like & very old fashion.  More like the 1950’s generally.  But what about this type of threat?

  26. Tiptoe, states have laws against criminal threats of dead or bodily harm, but an opinion that someone should be drawn and quartered or beheaded made by someone who isn’t threatening to do the act seems attenuated. It probably depends on which state you’re in. 

  27. BREAKING from CNN:  

    “The Justice Department is investigating a potential crime related to funneling money to the White House in exchange for a presidential pardon, according to a court record unsealed on Tuesday by the chief judge of the DC District Court.”

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