Cons я Us: Trump and Powell raised
millions on false information, which BTW is illegal – ergo: They should be investigated,
prosecuted, tried, convicted, and given stiff penalties (i.e., jail, hefty
fines, and return the money they duped
people into giving them).
The following article is from Richard Painter, Former Chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. He has a very reputable record on this kind of con and fraud by these two perpetrators of massive fraud regarding the 2020 election.
The
story is here with this Newsweek headline:
“Bush-Era Ethics Lawyer Rips Scam
Artists Trump and Powell for Fundraising off Election Lies”
Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White
House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, suggested that
criminal fraud charges should be filed against Donald J. Trump and lawyer
Sidney Powell — calling them “scam artists for fundraising off of lies about
the 2020 election.”
Trump and his former attorney, Sidney Powell, both claim
that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged or stolen” in favor of
President Joe Biden.
Although Trump and many of his allies continue to promote
the conspiracy theory, they have not provided any evidence.
Meanwhile, Trump and Powell have raised millions of dollars
as “they claim to be fighting against election fraud.”
Painter, now a law
professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote in an opinion article published
by MSNBC on Sunday this: “Let's be clear about something: Spreading fake
news alone may be protected speech under the First Amendment. But spreading
fake news to ask for money is commercial speech, and courts enforce laws
criminalizing fraud. There is no First Amendment right to lie to people to get
their money.”
The Washington Post reported that Powell's nonprofit
group, “Defending the Republic,”
raised more than $14 million in the months after the 2020 presidential
election.
Those funds were raised largely by promoting misinformation
about the election, “spreading the conspiracy theory that it was stolen from
Trump.”
Then back in March, The New York Times reported that
Trump raised more than $250 million as he baselessly challenged the 2020
election results. He raised the money largely by “claiming that there was
massive fraud in the election results.”
Painter asks in his
opinion column: “But what about a candidate who loses an election by a wide
margin, ought to know he has no possible legal way of changing the election
result, but still solicits money from the public to pay lawyers to file
frivolous lawsuits challenging the election? That presumably is a fraud too,
unless the people who send their money are told that there is little or no
chance that the lawsuits will succeed or that the election results will change.
As we know, that has not been the case with Trump's missives.”
Painter went on to point out that there was never a chance that Trump
could legally overturn the 2020 election results, writing: “Short of
sedition, insurrection, and a military coup, the result was not going to
change. Raising money for the purpose of changing the election result was
fraud.”
Painter argues that fundraising off of election misinformation, as Trump and his allies
have done, should make them criminally liable, writing: “Lying about
demonstrable facts concerning an election that is already over to get people to
send you money which cannot possibly be used to change the election result
should be prosecuted as fraud.”
Painter concluded:
“After the 2020 election, the Trump political operation turned from its
habitual distortion of facts for political purposes to outright fraud to raise
money, some of which is unaccounted for. The DOJ and
state AG’s need to investigate and, if criminal fraud can in fact be shown,
press charges against these political scam artists.”
While Trump and his allies, like Powell, continue to spread misinformation about the last presidential election, no evidence has emerged corroborating their extraordinary allegations.
More than 60 election challenge lawsuits filed by the former president and his supporters have failed in state and federal courts. Even judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans have dismissed the lawsuits.
Audits and recounts in states across the country — including in areas where the election was overseen by pro-Trump Republicans — have consistently reaffirmed Biden's victory. Former AG William Barr, who was widely viewed as one of Trump's most loyal Cabinet members, asserted in December 2020 that there was no evidence of fraud that would change the election's outcome.
That conclusion came after Barr instructed the DOJ to probe the claims
of fraud. Nonetheless, Trump's and Powell's lies about the election have
resonated with many Republican voters. Polls have repeatedly shown that a majority of GOP voters (now
some 60%) believe the election was fraudulent and that Biden is not the
legitimate president.
My 2 Cents: I too have written and posted about this exact same subject and Mr. Painter, as I said is a very reputable attorney on matters like this, and his opinion should be heeded.
Powell and Trump must be prosecuted for their fraud – that seems as clear as a bell. Also, the sooner people clinging to Trump come to grips with the fact that Trump is a professional con artist then that will be better for them and the country. That is a fact.
Trump supporters talk about “taking back the country.” Hey, I got news for them – the country didn’t go anywhere – only Trump did. He has gone where no president has ever gone before. That is trying to convert the country into another Trump, Inc. property for his selfish, greedy, and money-making failing ways. Presidents should serve honorably while healing the nation's wounds.
Trump is the opposite. He is a “national destructor and wound inflictor.”
Thanks for stopping by.
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