joan1984 · 281735
0 Members and 17 Guests are viewing this topic.
Corruption, thy name is Trump.
other people around here enable them with silence:
Trump reported to Bob Woodward in February that he knew the coronavirus was very dangerous and far worse than the flu, and he knew it was spread by air.But still he downplayed the coronavirus for fear of causing a panic - in the stock market.And he proved that he believes "No Lives Matter" by discouraging the wearing of masks and social distancing in the midst of a pandemic.
Trump has committed so many illegal acts as President and engaged in so much relentless corruption that, to quote Sarah Kendzior: “It’s not a presidency, it is a crime spree.” And we can’t say we weren’t warned.As David Cay Johnston wrote in Politico way back in 2016:Trump’s career has benefited from a decades-long and largely successful effort to limit and deflect law enforcement investigations into his dealings with top mobsters, organized crime associates, labor fixers, corrupt union leaders, con artists and even a one-time drug trafficker whom Trump retained as the head of his personal helicopter service.That the GOP allowed Trump to become their 2016 nominee—and that the media gave his campaign the billions of free airtime it needed to appear legitimate—are scandals in themselves. Those mistakes paved the way for a corrupt and incompetent Presidency that will be forever remembered for the death, devastation and despair it has brought to America.The past four years have been a non-stop blur of investigations, arrests, guilty pleas, imprisonments, pardons and commutations, played out against a background of grubby self-dealing, flagrant violations of the Emoluments Clause, shady foreign loans to Jared, undisguised thievery by Cabinet members, and ongoing Hatch Act violations by the White House staff. Plus an impeachment for High Crimes and Misdemeanors that the Republican Senate simply shrugged at, paving the way for Even Higher Crimes and More Blatant Misdemeanors.The only surprise is that more people in Trump’s orbit haven’t already ended up in prison. Although maybe they will soon if Steve Bannon or Elliott Broidy decide to start squawking to investigators.But even if we set aside all the crimes Trump has committed since he took office, we already know that he already committed at least 10 easy-to-understand, demonstrably proven crimes before he took office, with many of these crimes being committed multiple times.1. Sexual AssaultWe’ve heard him on tape with Billy Bush. Books and articles have been written about his abuse of young models. 25+ women have come forward to accuse him publicly of sexual misconduct, assault, and rape. Michael Cohen says in his book Trump ogled his 15-year-old daughter and asked him “when did she get so hot?” He was often seen sneaking in and out of his New York neighbor Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion. And he has a long history of “joking” about dating his daughter and sex with “troubled teens” and young women. Trump dismisses all of the allegations but when given the chance to clear his name of a rape charge by giving a simple DNA sample, he not only declined, he called in Bill Barr and the DOJ to complete the cover-up.2. Racial DiscriminationFrom violating the Fair Housing Act in the 1970s to paying fines for moving black employees out of sight to appease racist casino gamblers in the 1990s to an endless stream of incendiary racist remarks in the 2000s, Trump has a long and well-documented history of racism, much of it illegal. Racism is what propelled the Birther-in-Chief’s political rise. And his racism is on full display in 2020, encouraging conspiracy theories about Kamala Harris and now even saying it would be an “insult” if Harris were to become President.3. BriberyAs a businessman, Trump routinely bribed politicians, even bragging about it on the campaign trail when he ran for President. In 2013, his “charity” gave an illegal “donation” of $25,000 to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi who then decided not to prosecute the fake Trump University, despite receiving at least 22 complaints from constituents detailing its “persistent fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct.” Bondi would later be hired by President Trump to help him during his impeachment.4. Consumer FraudTrump’s lifetime of scams and frauds include ripping America investors off in a never-built condo development in Mexico and, famously, the aforementioned Trump University. It was a scam so relentless and evil that Trump had no problem separating war widows, seniors and the poorly educated from their life savings. It was such a blatant fraud that Trump quickly agreed to pay $25 million to settle the suit as soon as he was elected President.5. Charity FraudTrump was even sick enough to team up with his son Eric to steal from kids with cancer. While attending events at Trump properties, donors were led to believe that “all donations go toward supporting the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.” In fact, “$400,000 or more” was steered directly to Trump businesses, while additional money was secretly given to other organizations. Separately, after years of scams and self-dealing, Trump’s own foundation was shut down permanently in 2019, paying a $2 million fine for misuse of funds. New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement: “The president will be subject to ongoing supervision by my office, and the Trump children had to undergo compulsory training to ensure this type of illegal activity never takes place again.”6. Tax FraudAs we now know, Trump’s own niece Mary Trump was a major source for The New York Times’ blockbuster 2018 exposé detailing the “dubious tax schemes” and “outright fraud” that multiplied the inheritance Trump received from his parents in the 1990s. Trump’s entire wealth has been built on defrauding the government. Fraud that runs into the hundreds of millions has already been established. And that may only be the tip of the iceberg as Trump continues to battle to prevent the release of years of tax returns—the same returns he once promised he would willingly show America.7. Bank FraudRemember when the Clintons were investigated for years over Whitewater—a real estate investment in which they actually lost $100,000? We found out in 2019 that Trump had committed a $270 million bank fraud in 2012 simply by inflating the value of one property in Westchester, NY.Again, that’s likely the tip of the iceberg. As The New York Times reported last month: New York prosecutors continue to investigate “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization” with “possible crimes involving bank and insurance fraud.”8. Insurance FraudTrump famously raided the 9/11 victims’ fund for $150,000 even though his businesses were hardly affected. While that may have not been illegal, it prevented more deserving businesses from having access to that fund. But he definitely defrauded his Mar-a-Lago insurance company in 2005, claiming $17 million for hurricane damage that was limited to a few flattened trees and the loss of a few roof tiles. The Manhattan D.A.’s ongoing investigation is expected to turn up more examples of Trump’s and the Trump Organization’s insurance fraud.9. Money LaunderingWhile Trump’s tax returns are perhaps still hiding the full extent of Trump’s money laundering for the Russians, what we already knew in 2016 was bad enough: As CNN reported: “The Trump Taj Mahal casino broke anti-money laundering rules 106 times in its first year and a half of operation in the early 1990s.” In 1998, the Taj Mahal paid “the largest fine the federal government ever slapped on a casino for violating the Bank Secrecy Act.” Just this past weekend, legal analyst Barb McQuade told Ali Velshi that new revelations in Michael Cohen’s book could open Trump to additional charges of money laundering in relation to his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.10. Petty Theft.For a supposed billionaire, Trump is not above engaging in some petty theft. He was one of the celebrities caught up in Fifth Avenue jewelry retailer Bulgari’s “Empty Box Scam,” in which customers walked out with the jewelry they bought while empty boxes were sent to New Jersey to avoid paying New York sales tax. Caught in a petty crime that could have cost him his casino license, cheapskate crook Trump contacted investigators and agreed to testify against retailer Bulgari.Beyond these 10 examples, Michael Cohen’s new book reveals additional crimes Trump committed to win the Presidency, including the blackmail of Jerry Falwell, Jr. who was threatened with the release of “racy photos” in exchange for his endorsement. (It makes one wonder again just what does Trump have on Lindsey Graham?)As I said in 2018: the rule that you can’t indict a sitting president should not apply to crimes that made a person the sitting president.But here we are in 2020, with Trump and his Postmaster General and his illegal appointees openly committing (or encouraging supporters to commit) crimes as Trump tries to steal another election.All while claiming to be the “Law and Order President.”
In January 2017, my colleague Matt Gertz wrote a piece titled “What Journalists Can Do When The President Is A Liar” in which he urged the press to rethink the way presidents are covered in the context of President-elect Donald Trump:Journalists typically treat presidential statements as both newsworthy and generally trustworthy until proven otherwise. Trump is hardly the first president to dissimulate. But unlike his predecessors, Trump does not lie strategically or rarely. He lies habitually, on matters great and small. By following their typical practice and reporting the president-elect’s comments as both factual and significant, reporters are doing a disservice to their audience, which is left with the impression that what Trump has said is both true and substantive.Since taking office, Trump has continued to lie about all manner of things, whether it be his false claim that The New York Times sent a letter to subscribers apologizing for negative coverage of his campaign, his wild exaggerations on the size of the crowd at his inauguration, or the more recent and much more consequential laundry list of lies he’s shared about the COVID-19 pandemic this year. The Washington Post’s count of Trump’s lies as president crossed the 20,000 mark on July 9.Trump was not changed by the office upon his swearing-in, and unfortunately, neither was the press. Throughout all of this, mainstream media organizations have continued to offer the same level of deference to Trump as they have previous presidents, boosting his objectively false statements on social media and in stories, often without noting that what he said wasn’t true. This is precisely what Gertz was warning against in his 2017 post. Now, this uncritical amplification of Trump’s misinformation comes at a time when the press needs more than ever to shore up its standing as society’s fourth estate, a bulwark against antidemocratic authoritarianism. Instead, this failure of the press has enabled a truly destructive reelection campaign strategy.With Trump’s potential reelection just weeks away, he and his supporters have ramped up disinformation efforts well aware that there’s no one willing to stop them. In March, for the first time, Twitter slapped a “manipulated media” label on something tweeted by White House social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by Trump. The tweet included a video of Democratic nominee Joe Biden making what seemed to be an accidental endorsement of Trump.“Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump,” Biden says in the edited clip, omitting the second half of his statement. “Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It’s got to be a positive campaign,” he says in the full video.On August 29, Trump ally and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) shared a video on Twitter that edited the words said during an interview with Biden by activist Ady Barkan, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and uses assistive technology to speak. Scalise added the words “for police” to a question Barkan asked about funding things that might mitigate crime such as social services and mental health counseling. The goal of Scalise’s deceptive editing was to make it seem as though Biden was in favor of defunding the police, a position he has repeatedly said he does not support.Twitter again added a “manipulated media” flag to Scalise’s tweet following backlash. Scalise later took the post down, but stood by the video.On August 30, Scavino shared another edited clip. In this one, the clip superimposed an image of Biden over footage from a 2011 interview between a Bakersfield, California-based news show and actor Harry Belafonte. This was edited together with a snoring sound effect to make it look as though Biden had fallen asleep in the middle of a TV appearance, though this obviously was not true. Twitter again applied the “manipulated media” flag to the post, leaving it up. It wasn’t until the video’s copyright holder filed a takedown request that Twitter removed the post altogether.Belafonte said of Scavino’s use of that clip, “They keep stooping lower and lower. A technical glitch in an interview I did 9 years ago now becomes another one of their lies, more of their fake news. I beg every sane American-please vote them out. I knew many who gave their life for the right to vote. Never has it been so vital to exercise that right.”On August 31, Trump’s campaign tweeted a clip of Biden saying, “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” a complete distortion of what Biden actually said: “Since they have no agenda or vision for a second term, Trump and Pence are running on this, and I find it fascinating. 'You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America.’ And what's their proof? The violence we're seeing in Donald Trump's America.”Yet again, Twitter slapped the “manipulated media” label to the post, but not before the video had racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Later, the campaign defended the post, tweeting, “To all the triggered journalists who can’t take a joke about their candidate, it’s not our fault Joe Biden was dumb enough to say this on camera.”The press and tech companies need to incentivize truthfulness, and that means ensuring that the political and social cost of lying outweighs the benefits.Would the Trump campaign have posted the deceptively edited clip of Biden if there was a chance that its entire account would be suspended from the platform? Would Trump have repeatedly claimed that just 6% of COVID deaths were actually because of COVID if newspapers and nightly news broadcasts insisted on doing more than just quickly noting that what he said wasn’t true and moving on?It used to be treated as a scandal when the public learned of an instance of the president lying to the American people, but now it’s just an accepted fact of daily life that something the president says to us today will likely turn out to be untrue. If the press had taken Trump’s candidacy seriously, holding him to the same standards as other candidates, it’s possible he wouldn’t have ever become president. Had journalists stopped offering Trump the benefit of the doubt, he would have been forced to either lie less often or face a barrage of nonstop criticism for his dishonesty. Fact-checking is important, but we’re beyond the point of simply being able to correct our way out of the situation the world is in. Fact checks can’t simply be something brought up in a single segment squeezed between hours of uninterrupted lies, and it cannot be something that gets siloed into its own separate section of news coverage.The many lies of Trump’s presidency have been enabled by the press and by social media companies afraid to take real action to stop the spread of false information. As November’s election approaches, it’s become clear that disinformation is no longer a tactic for his campaign, but the tactic. The extent to which that tactic will be successful will depend on whether the press is willing to cover his campaign the way it should have all along, and if tech and social media companies are willing to hold him and his allies to the same standards as every other user.In July, Trump wrongly claimed that Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) issued a document outlining a plan “to abolish our police departments.” In June, he shared a deceptively edited video made to look like a CNN segment. In May, he lied about a “rogue Secretary of State” in Michigan sending 7.7 million absentee ballots to voters across the state. This is who he is, who he’s always been, and who he will always be. Trump and his allies keep telling lies, and they will continue to do so as long as the benefits of lying outweigh the costs. It’s because of a deferential news media and timid social media companies that the cost of telling blatant lies remains so low. If the worst thing to come of a manipulated Twitter video is a tiny label applied to a tweet long after its engagement has already peaked, it makes perfect sense to continue to spread increasingly brazen false claims and deceptive footage in hopes of influencing voters’ actions. Once you’ve hit 20,000 lies, what are a few more on the pile?