Bonus: Accountability British Style
When I’m not laughing, I find it both astonishing and disheartening to witness how Trump's staunch supporters— the ones who are deeply entrenched in the MAGA subculture— are repeatedly exploited for financial gain. When Trump and his inner circle fleece their loyal followers, it’s reminiscent of the ways they are regularly taken advantage of by their MAGA-evangelical churches. Exploitation is a recurring theme— almost a psychological need— and supporters seem unfazed, accepting it as a matter of course. It’s almost like being ripped off is an inevitable part of their miserable existence.
On Monday, NBC News reported that Señor T’s “political operation has routed more than $3 million so far this year through a Delaware limited liability company whose owners are not publicly disclosed, according to campaign finance records— a strategy that mirrors past efforts to mask exactly how his campaign is spending donor cash [and, likel, funneling the money into his own pockets]. The money has been paid to Launchpad Strategies LLC, a company that appears to have been incorporated in Delaware in November, according to state business records and lists a Raleigh, North Carolina, post office box as its address in campaign finance filings. Since it was formally incorporated, the company has received $3.1 million in payments from the Trump campaign and an affiliated joint fundraising committee. The payments add up to make the company the second-largest vendor used this year by the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which is a financial hub for Trump fundraising efforts, with contributions then divided between it and other committees based on a formula… Little is known about Launchpad Strategies LLC beyond its existence and the millions of dollars it has taken in from a presidential campaign. It has never done other political work for state-level or federal candidates.”
Campaign finance watchdog organizations said the quasi-anonymous relationship between the company and the campaign raises red flags and reminds them of previous attempts by Trump’s campaign to mask how donor cash was being spent.
“It’s concerning to see a company formed just six months ago suddenly receive over $3.1 million from Donald Trump’s network of political committees, particularly since there is virtually no public information about this company,” said Saurav Ghosh, the Campaign Legal Center's director of federal campaign finance reform. “Who works there, what services they offer or have provided and whether Trump’s payments to ‘Launchpad Strategies LLC’ are for bona fide services or are, instead, actually payments to other vendors funneled through a mere corporate shell.”
The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission after the 2020 election cycle alleging that Trump’s campaign ran more than $500 million through a firm called American Made Media Consultants, which it argued appeared to be a shell company designed to obscure exactly whom the campaign was paying.
The FEC deadlocked, and the complaint was dismissed.
Matt Dixon’s report makes it perfectly clear that Trump’s political machine misuses donor funds. Donors, who believe they are contributing to legitimate campaign activities, are very likely— if unknowingly and illegally— financing personal expenses. The situation is reminiscent of the allegations in Bannon’s “We Build the Wall” scheme, which I want to come back to in a moment, another instance where a Trump crony diverted donor money for personal use, a hallmark of Trump’s whole governing zeitgeist. Trump has spent his life evading financial transparency and accountability, part of a consistent strategy to sheer the sheep.
Also on Monday, CNN reported that Bannon, who is still not serving his prison sentence, has been ordered to report— 11 days from today— to a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, one step less comfortable than a Club Fed. He requested a Club Fed but he isn’t eligible for the lowest-level prison setup because he still has a pending criminal case against him in New York, where he’s fighting the We Build the Wall” charges and set to go to trial in September. That’s the case where he and 2 cronies defrauded MAGA donors for money they thought would build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Bannon, with a personal net worth between $10 and $20 million, if not more, was indicted in August 2020 for his role in that crowdfunding scam. He and his 3 co-defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of MAGA donors who contributed more than $25 million to the campaign. Most of it was used for personal expenses by Bannon and his amigos. Bannon received well over $1 million through a non-profit organization under his control. He used this money to cover personal expenses, including travel, hotel, and credit card debt, after misleading donors by assuring them that 100% of their contributions would go directly to building the wall, rather than being siphoned off for salaries and personal use.
This case is emblematic of the corruption and grift that characterized the entire Trump regime and its close allies. The accusations against Bannon highlight several key issues often raised by the left, in which they preyed on the goodwill, patriotism, psychological acceptance of being ripped off— and the simplemindedness— of typical MAGAdonians who were motivated to support what they believed was a patriotic cause and suffer from conditions like authority bias (the tendency to attribute greater accuracy to the opinion of an authority figure and be more influenced by that opinion and therefor accept exploitation); confirmation bias (the tendency to search for and misinterpret information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs or values, allowing them to ignore evidence of exploitation since it contradicts their positive perception of hustlers like Bannon and Trump); and, of course, cognitive dissonance (which occurs when individuals experience discomfort from holding two conflicting beliefs or attitudes, a discomfort they reduce by rationalizing and or justifing their their exploitation, convincing themselves that the person exploiting them has their best interests at heart, or that the benefits outweigh the costs).
Bannon’s involvement in this scheme, combined with his subsequent pardon by Trump for federal charges, showcases a predictable pattern of conservative elites evading accountability. It’s part of a broader struggle against corruption, inequality, and the manipulation of populist sentiments for nefarious ends. Unless people like Bannon— and Trump— are severely punished for this kind of behavior, it will just be seen as a green light for more of it.
Plenty of instances of corruption and grift during Trump’s time in the public spotlight stand out as particularly egregious, although no one has been executed or even imprisoned. His own Trump University scheme, which operated from 2005 to 2010, was a for-profit “education” company that promised to teach students Trump’s real estate secrets. Students paid hefty tuition fees, often taking on significant debt, only to receive subpar education. Trump settled three lawsuits in 2016 for $25 million without admitting wrongdoing.
Once he got into the White House, things got worse, starting with the blatant violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, by profiting from foreign and domestic government officials who patronized his hotels and resorts. Although several lawsuits were filed, none resulted in definitive rulings against Trump. Similarly, Ivanka and Kushner we’re the most egregious examples in history of presidential relatives mired in conflicts of interest, using their positions to enrich themselves and benefiting their business ventures.
That barely begins to describe the ethics atmosphere of the Trump Regime. As the EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt spent like a king on travel, security and office renovations that was enough for even Trump to force him to resign as scandals and investigations mounted.
HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, had identical attitudes towards taxpayer money and mixing official business with political activities. Zinke was also forced to resign, although he was subsequently elected to Congress.
Of course, that all minor compared to Trump’s felonious and treasonous first National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, who accepted bribes from foreign governments, including Russia and Turkey. He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, was promptly pardoned by Trump and has since claimed he was framed.
By the way, in Tom Price’s case, he was forced to resign after it was revealed he spent over $1 million of taxpayer money on private charter flights for official travel some of which he was forced to reimburse to avoid criminal charges.
And, while we’re on the topic, Trump’s use of presidential pardons for political allies and individuals convicted of corruption (from Roger Stone and Paul Manafort to Flynn and Joe Arpaio) was widely criticized as undermining the rule of law, but barely caused a ripple outside of Democratic circles, even though they’re more examples that reflect a pattern of behavior epitomizing the misuse of public office for personal gain and the erosion of ethical standards in government, collectively underscoring the need for stricter regulations and the kind of real accountability— not wrist slaps— that even MAGAts would understand.
I’m aware that many DWT readers have no interest at all in British politics— or any politics outside of the U.S.— but I do what to sneak something in since it relates to accountability. A fantastic report from The Telegraph last night predicts that the despised Conservatives are going to be wiped out to an even greater degree than we’ve been forecasting. How about Sunak and most of his cabinet ministers losing their own seats (including Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, Grant Shapps, the Defense Secretary, and James Cleverly, the Home Secretary)!! How about the Conservatives dropping from 365 seats to just 53— just 3 more seats than the LibDems!! According to the Savanta MRP poll, here’s how Sunak’s own constituency will perform on July 4:
If this is accurate, Sunak would lose his Richmond seat to Labour, historic since no British prime minister has ever lost their seat at a general election. The poll “lays bare the scale of voter disillusionment with the Conservatives, and suggests an uncertain road for the party in the years ahead.” Shouldn't the GOP be in the exact same position that the Conservatives are in?
