Trump will build his arch without approval by Congress, or anyone else.
I’m skeptical that any of that money was ever intended for Jsixers. Pardoning them was cheap, from Trump’s point of view, and got him a lot of good will, but they can’t really do anything for him now. I think he’ll concentrate on 5, 10, 20mil dispersals to people further up the food chain. Maybe for kickbacks maybe for other tangibles.
On the good news side, today I saw the term GOP-Yolos, short timers in congress with little to lose but still with the ability to disrupt MAGA. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but it’s a nice idea.
Not gonna happen.
Definitely wishful thinking.
Nothing is stopping this shit show.
There are Republicans unhappy with this and pushing back, or at least raising a stink. Some of them remember being in the capitol during the attack, and while they sat there silently while their would-be attackers got pardoned, this might be going too far for them.
MS NOW is reporting that Republicans are “uncomfortable” with it.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., slammed the proposal.
“Imagine that — a fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol police officers?” he told NOTUS on Wednesday. “People that had pled guilty to physical acts against the president may actually be able to get compensated.”
“How absurd is that sound coming out of my mouth?” he asked.
Even Fox News is reporting on it.
Legal Eagle put out a video on this slush fund. I have never seen Devin Stone this pissed off in a video before. It’s shorter than one of their regular videos, just a bit over 10 minutes. It’s worth watching.
This is the kind of thing that Democrats should use as messaging. And this isn’t a partisan political commentator, this is a lawyer who explains the law to lay people. Even he is fed up.
As he puts it, if he can get away with this, this goes beyond Victor Orban and it’s more like something Vladimir Putin would do. I don’t think he’s exaggerating much when he says that this kind of thing is literally an existential threat to the country.
I thought the very same thing-- why would trump give money to the J6ers? What would he get out of it at this point? I figured he was probably making a show of doing that, maybe make a couple well-advertised but not sizable payouts, and then somewhere down the line quietly pocket most of the money. Or use it for quid pro quos, as you say.
As Devin points out:
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The “settlement” (which in no way is a legal settlement, it’s just something that they made up without any real legal process at all) doesn’t restrict who is eligible for a payout. Per the language in it, Trump could literally give all the money to himself. All decisions are made by a 5 person panel of folks appointed by Trump himself.
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Though $1.8B is the amount being widely reported, in truth there is no actual monetary amount listed in the settlement, and therefore they could take as much money as they want. It’s a blank check that can have any name or number they (and by extension Trump) decide on.
No wonder even Republicans aren’t cool with this. While they will kiss Trump’s ass in order to please his base and keep themselves in power, that power is worthless when you no longer have a budget because Trump has put all of it in some offshore bank account. Yeah, he could potentially use some of it to bribe folks in Congress, and if nobody stops this then he absolutely could do that, but that isn’t his style. He never pays anyone. Then again, what he does do is promise people that he will pay, like Wimpy in Popeye, and then just never actually pays people. But still, this is showing signs of maybe being a step too far.
Beat me to it by 12 minutes.
I agree with all you said. This is a video everyone should watch.
What is happening is truly a crime and shocking. And Trump will almost certainly get away with it.
Everyone…and I mean everyone…should watch that video and be pissed off.
ETA: The Supreme Court giving him near complete legal immunity is a whole other crime. Assholes.
You mean the $1.776B? Because they have the creativity, intelligence, and decorum of pre-pubescent rich kids who think they’re a good deal cleverer than they really are?
I’m spitting nails too. Not just because it’s completely and totally illegal, but we know WHO is gonna get most of the money.
He should have been in prison decades ago.
Prison. NOW.
Yes, I am sure that is a made-up number “FOR FREEDUMB” that has no bearing on the actual amount that they are planning to steal. And this is theft. You might as well walk into a bank with a shotgun and claim that it’s legal to take all of their money because you wrote a blank check on a napkin to yourself and included “thiz iz legul” on the back. The only reason why he might get away with it is because he has a bunch of people with the equivalent of really big shotguns backing him up.
There has literally never been a better reason to impeach him than this. Out of everything he has ever done, this is somehow beyond it all.
“Uncomfortable”??? Oh no!!
Is that the same thing as being " concerned"?
^^^
This.
Sure, why not?
There have been so many good reasons not only to impeach but to remove him that this just seems the latest, rather than the best, reason.
I do sincerely hope it leads to some real pushback, at least, and not whatever token BS Mike Johnson comes up with.
ETA: it doesn’t really need to be stated, but it’s appalling that it comes down to money and not the millions of people treated as sub-human because of their skin tone for the Republicans to maybe, possibly, show any spine
I think the headline was very soft because they’re afraid of rocking the boat, but when you read the article it goes beyond discomfort. You don’t call something absurd and point out that people are being compensated for assault when you’re uncomfortable. It’s the press being chickenshit as usual, but Republicans are actually being more forceful than that in their opposition. At least some of them. Right now. Via rhetoric. If that actually means anything real when it matters, I don’t know. I’m skeptical of course. But at least there’s something. Then again, they were really pissed right after J6, and in less than a week they all seemed to shut up and act like everything was fine, so who the fuck knows.
… but not Wisconsin’s Senator Ron Johnson, the dumbest senator alive (and maybe the dumbest ever). He’s all “yeah! Gimme a piece of that action!”
Perhaps. But having watched it, I feel like I should watch some porn to maybe help me feel a bit less violated.
IMHO it’s not a threat, it’s already happened. Even if the Dems pull off a miracle in the mid-terms by winning the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities* and enlarge SCOTUS my faith in this country’s institutions is destroyed.
Liz Dye, a frequent guest-contributor has a catch-phrase, “Thanks, Roberts.”
They don’t have to furrow their brows.
Right now, I’ll take anything.
*A very laconic “if.”
If there is a way to block any payouts from happening, and there are actual consequences from it, then no, it hasn’t happened and the worst hasn’t come to pass. That’s a huge “if” and I’m not confident, but it’s not over yet. We’re maybe on the cliff and tipping over but not off yet, at least from my perspective.
He’s got to pay his inserectionists. Doubt they will see a dime.
But the inserection should have taken him out for sure. Ho-hum, that’s just Donald.
I was referring to this country being destroyed. The goddam money is just a symptom whether it leaves the coffers or not.
The United States I grew up with is gone. I feel like this fellow from 1940.
