secret service

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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman">NO LNX AN 8 23</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b>Secret Service agent was 'unofficial liaison' to Oath Keepers founder before Trump’s J6 rally: watchdog</b></div><div>
</div><div>Alex Henderson</div><div>August 23, 2023</div><div>
</div><div><b>In late May, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes — found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection — was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison. Rhodes, however, is likely to receive a presidential pardon if former President Donald Trump or another Republican defeats President Joe Biden in 2024.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Before the Oath Keepers founder was indicted, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Merrick Garland conducted an in-depth investigation of his activities in the weeks and months leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack. <b>According to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW), members of the U.S. Secret Service were in touch with Rhodes before the election.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Jordan Libowitz and Sara Wiatrak of CREW, in a report published on August 23, explain, "<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Internal Secret Service e-mails obtained by CREW show special agents in close communication with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, while failing to acknowledge the group's ties to white nationalists and clashes with law enforcement. In September 2020, a Secret Service agent sent an e-mail to others within the agency, informing them that he had just spoken to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes about an <b>upcoming visit by then-President Trump to Fayetteville, NC."</b></span></div><div>
</div><div>Libowitz and Wiatrak add that the a<b>gent, who referred to himself as "the unofficial liaison to the Oath Keepers (inching towards official)," described the far-right group as "primarily retired law enforcement/former military members who are very pro-LEO (law enforcement officer) and pro-Trump."</b></div><div>
</div><div>According to Libowitz and Wiatrak, "The e-mails obtained by CREW as part of an ongoing public records request offer only a snapshot of the communication between the Oath Keepers and the Secret Service. As they focus solely on the time period around the Fayetteville event, the extent of the contact Stewart Rhodes had with the agency remains unknown. The agent 'inching towards' being the 'official' liaison for Oath Keepers suggests a more longstanding relationship with Rhodes."</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Oath Keepers founder warns Trump: 'You're going to be found guilty'</div><div>
</div><div>CREW's full report is available at this link.</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>DeSantis was just endorsed by a lawmaker on the Oath Keepers roster. Will Republican voters care? ›</div><div>Oath Keeper leader’s 18-year sentence is a 'message' to Trump and other 'militants': ex-federal prosecutor ›</div><div>Oath Keepers founder forced his child to guard the family home with a rifle and body armor: court docs ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Justice Department appeals Jan. 6 prison sentences for Stewart ... ›</div><div>Who Are The Oath Keepers, Scrutinized In Capitol Riot Probe? : NPR ›</div><div>Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for ... ›</div><div>
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</div><div><a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/emails-reveal-secret-service-contacts-with-oath-keepers/">https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/emails-reveal-secret-service-contacts-with-oath-keepers/</a></div><div>
</div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Internal Secret Service emails obtained by CREW show special agents in close communication with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, while failing to acknowledge the group’s ties to white nationalists and clashes with law enforcement</b>.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In September 2020, a Secret Service agent sent an email to others within the agency, informing them that he had just spoken to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes about an </span><a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?475837-1/president-trump-campaign-rally-fayetteville-north-carolina" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">upcoming</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> visit by then-President Trump to Fayetteville, NC. The agent, who referred to himself as “the unofficial liaison to the Oath Keepers (inching towards official),” described the group as “primarily retired law enforcement/former military members who are very pro-LEO [law enforcement officer] and Pro Trump. Their stated purpose is to provide protection and medical attention to Trump supporters if they come under attack by leftist groups.” He went on to say that Rhodes, “had specific questions and wanted to liaison [sic] with our personnel” and shared Rhodes’s cell phone number.</span></p></div><div>
</div><div>...</div><div>the <span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);">emails obtained by CREW as part of an ongoing public records request offer only a snapshot of the communication between the Oath Keepers and the Secret Service. As they focus solely on the time period around the Fayetteville event, the extent of the contact Stewart Rhodes had with the agency remains unknown. The agent “inching towards” being the “official” liaison for Oath Keepers suggests a more longstanding relationship with Rhodes. </span></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Another Secret Service agent spoke to Rhodes and informed the other agents that “their desire is to assist those attending the event make it to and from their cars safely. They are NOT there to demonstrate or push a political agenda.” In October 2022, a former member of the Oath Keepers testified that Rhodes had spoken to the Secret Service to coordinate around the rally, but an agency spokesman </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/politics/oath-keepers-trial-secret-service/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">told CNN</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> that, “The US Secret Service doesn’t have enough information to say whether or not this call actually took place.” These emails show that it did.</span></span></p><p class=" img-loaded img-loaded" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);">[doc]</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When one agent requested intelligence about the Oath Keepers another responded: “General searches revealed news articles that touched on the background of the founder Stewart Rhodes and the group. Rhodes has denounced White Nationalists ideals while sharing his dislike for ANTIFA…The group claims it is a local community response team for natural or civil disorders.” Agents also noted that a Facebook account associated with the group “contained pro-gun content, commentary on racism in the US, and news articles about politics,” but failed to find anything else.</span></p><p class=" img-loaded" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);">[grx]</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>There was plenty of other publicly available information about Rhodes and the Oath Keepers at the time that should have easily raised alarm.</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In 2014, Oath Keepers traveled to Ferguson, Missouri with assault rifles claiming they were providing security for businesses in the area after the grand jury decision not to indict the white police officer who killed Michael Brown. The St. Louis County Police Department had to </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2014/12/03/oath-keepers-ordered-stop-providing-security-ferguson-businesses%C2%A0" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">demand</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> that the Oath Keepers stop patrolling the city, explaining in a statement that members were walking on rooftops of businesses holding semi-automatic rifles, breaking the county’s ordinance regulating security officers and guards. The police reportedly </span><a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-shut-down-mysterious-oath-keepers-guarding-rooftops-in-downtown/article_f90b6edd-acf8-52e3-a020-3a78db286194.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">threatened arrest</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, and the Oath Keepers began protesting the authorities.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">On the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s shooting, Oath Keepers </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/why-are-oath-keepers-allowed-be-armed-ferguson-n408156" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">again arrived in Ferguson</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> with assault rifles and flak jackets, apparently intending to “</span><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/presence-of-militia-style-group-oath-keepers-in-ferguson-questioned/" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">protect</span></a></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">” businesses and right-wing journalists, including an employee from InfoWars.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"> St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called their presence “both unnecessary and inflammatory.” This was </span></span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/why-are-oath-keepers-allowed-be-armed-ferguson-n408156" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">also</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-world/2015/08/12/police-chief-armed-activists-in-ferguson-inflammatory/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">covered</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/08/12/oath-keepers-protesters-and-how-the-law-is-used-to-oppress/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">extensively</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> by national media.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The group has also compared Hillary Clinton to Hitler on its </span><a href="http://oath-keepers.blogspot.com/2009/05/keeping-your-oath-not-just-following.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">website</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, and on May 5, 2015, Rhodes was </span><a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/05/12/pro-constitution-group-founder-hang-mccain-dead/27207815/" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">recorded saying</span></a></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> that then-Sen. John McCain should be tried for treason, convicted and “hung by the neck until dead.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);">” <b>A long list of former Oath Keepers </b></span></span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/05/16/leader-josephine-county-oath-keepers-breaks-stewart-rhodes-over-leadership-style" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>allegedly</b></span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><b> cut ties with the group by 2017, citing concerns with Rhodes’s leadership</b>.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Rhodes’s conduct outside of the Oath Keepers had also repeatedly come into question. In October 2015, the Montana Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjmacnab/2015/11/02/oath-keeper-founder-at-risk-of-being-disbarred/?sh=4d631294d991" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">recommended</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> that Rhodes be disbarred for violating his attorney oath following a number of ethics and conduct complaints against him, joining </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2012/06/29/arizona-bar-admonishes-oath-keepers-founder-stewart-rhodes" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Arizona</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, which admonished Rhodes in 2012 for practicing without a license.</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">While the nearly all-white Oath Keepers themselves are purportedly not a white nationalist organization, and Rhodes may have “denounced” white nationalist ideals, Oath Keepers have repeatedly worked alongside white supremacist and white nationalist groups. In 2016, as neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups such as the National Socialist Movement, factions of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Freedom Party deployed members at polling sites, the Oath Keepers </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/suppress-black-vote-trump-campaign-230616" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">advised</span></a></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> its members to do the same undercover. </span><em style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">The </em></span><i style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Washington Post</i><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/16/boomer-antifa-white-supremacists-rip-into-paramilitary-oath-keepers-for-not-being-racist-enough/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">reported</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> in 2017 that white supremacists in the alt-right scene “seem to have a lot in common with the Oath Keepers,” but that the Oath Keepers were not </span><i style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">as</i><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> racist or radical as certain far-right white nationalists would “prefer.” The Oath Keepers have repeatedly been highlighted in national articles as part of the landscape of white supremacist </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/17/white-supremacists-militias-private-police-215498/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">militias</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">, and are often tied to their public ally the </span><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/proud-boys-oath-keepers-controversial-groups-involved-major/story?id=56687836" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Proud Boys</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">, a group that has been </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">categorized</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. <b>The Proud Boys similarly are </b></span><b><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/4axe4b/proud-boys-leader-told-jan-6-investigators-oath-keepers-dropped-his-name-for-clout" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">allied</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> with the American Guard, a white nationalist group according to SPLC.</span></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Rhodes is now best known for his role in organizing significant turnout of insurrectionists at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, just a few months after he was in contact with the Secret Service. <b>Rhodes and other Oath Keepers planned to participate in violence at the Capitol—against Secret Service </b></span><b><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/mike-pence-was-subject-of-ominous-oath-keeper-message-before-capitol-riot" class="hovered" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">protectees</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, no less—and he gave followers </span><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/oath-keepers-meeting-transcript-jan-6-violence-1351912/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">instructions</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> like “stay fully armed” and “get ready to fight” leading up to the attack.</span></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In November 2022, Rhodes was </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy-sentencing-b3ed4556a3dec577539c4181639f666c" class="hovered" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">convicted</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> of seditious conspiracy by a jury for his role in the attempt to keep Donald Trump in power, and was </span><a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/court-sentences-two-oath-keepers-leaders-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related-us" style="box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">sentenced</span></a></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> to 18 years in prison in May—the longest of any convicted January 6th defendant so far. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255);">U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta </span></span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1178116193/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-verdict" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; touch-action: manipulation; text-decoration-color: rgb(146, 162, 184); text-underline-position: under; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">found</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 254, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"> that Rhodes’s role in January 6th amounted to terrorism and said that he presents “an ongoing threat and peril to this country.”</span></p><font face="Times New Roman" /><div><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 22</font></div><div><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray is at the <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/secret-service-james-murray-trump-ties-texts-1726581" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">center of controversy</a> as concerns mount about his close ties to former President Donald Trump amid the House Select Committee's ongoing investigation into the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Newsweek, the speculation centers around missing text messages that were sent and received on January 5 and 6, 2021. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell recently shared critical remarks about Murray describing him as "the problem" within the government agency.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The MSNBC host also insisted that the agency has the most important text messages in their history because no one there knew that those text messages were important" and accused the Secret Service official of being "a Trump guy."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/trump-secret-service/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Potential unauthorized deletion' of Secret Service Jan. 6 texts prompts probe request</a></font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">O'Donnell also shared details from a NBC News report that detailed the specific orders Secret Service agents were given to preserve text messages. "The senior Secret Service official said it was James Murray's responsibility to make sure all Secret Service texts sent and received on January 6 were preserved. And he did not do that," O'Donnell noted.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Murray was appointed by Trump in 2019 to lead the government agency. A number of journalists and reporters have noted that Trump initially wanted to appoint <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/secret-service-ties-donald-trump-ring-alarm-bells-jan-6-revelations-1720584" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Secret Service agent Tony Ornato</a> but Murray came highly recommended by Ornato.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>O'Donnell also shed light on Murray's interview with Trump for the position; an interview that reportedly lasted all of 10 minutes.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"That interview may well have in included the questions. Who did you vote for for president? Who are you going to vote for for president? And do I have your complete and total loyalty at all times for anything I might want to do?" O'Donnell said.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/secret-service-cassidy-hutchinson/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Secret Service agents confirm details Hutchinson shared about Trump demanding to be taken to US Capitol Jan. 6</a></font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He added, "We know that Donald Trump was not going to give that job to anyone who did not clearly pledge loyalty to Donald Trump. So, we know that James Murray is a Trump guy in every sense important to Donald Trump or Donald Trump would not have promoted him to director of the Secret Service in April of 2019."</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">O'Donnell went on to raise questions about whether or not Murray "had done 'a service' for Trump by 'overseeing the deletion of all the Secret Service text messages on January 6.'"</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The January 6 committee can answer all of these questions by issuing a specific personal subpoena to James Murray for his under oath testimony and a separate subpoena to James Murray for all his Secret Service text messages on January 6," he said.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He later said, "We have never seen a problem like this at the Secret Service," he said. "It's a very serious problem at the Secret Service. And James Murray is part of that problem. Or James Murray is the problem."</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Murray is also facing critical responses from others. On Wednesday, July 20, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/topic/msnbc" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">MSNBC</a> legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks tweeted on Wednesday: "There must be consequences for anyone at [Secret Service] who did not back up their data and for the leadership who did not make it happen. Director #JamesMurray must be fired today."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/secret-service-cassidy-hutchinson/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Secret Service agents confirm details Hutchinson shared about Trump demanding to be taken to US Capitol Jan. 6</strong></a></font></p></div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/new-report-shows-how-trump-businesses-took-money-from-the-government-even-while-they-closed-down/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/new-report-shows-how-trump-businesses-took-money-from-the-government-even-while-they-closed-down/</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">when Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, he insisted that if he won the election, there would be a strict separation between the federal government and his business interests — that he would be “completely isolating” himself from his businesses. <b>But according to Washington Post reporters David A. Fahrenthold and Josh Dawsey, the president’s high-end properties have “charged the U.S. government more than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-spending-bedminster/2020/09/17/9e11e1c2-f6a0-11ea-be57-d00bb9bc632d_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$1.1 million in private transactions</a> since Trump took office” in January 2017.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Documents showing $1.1 million in charges, Fahrenthold and Dawsey report in the Post, were released by the U.S. Secret Service after the Post filed a public-records lawsuit. Those documents included receipts and invoices from Trump’s businesses, and the Post reporters note that “$188,000 in previously unknown charges” increases the Post’s “running total of payments to Trump’s properties related to the presence of Secret Service agents.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>One of those businesses is the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey,</b> which “charged the Secret Service more than $21,800 to rent a cottage and other rooms” while it was closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump, according to Fahrenthold and Dawsey, did not visit his Bedminster property while it was “closed and otherwise off limits to guests,” but his daughter, White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump, reportedly did.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fahrenthold and Dawsey explain, “The family visited the club in April to celebrate Passover, a period that overlaps with several of the largest Secret Service charges. At the time, both the District of Columbia — where Ivanka Trump lives — and New Jersey had imposed ‘stay-at-home’ orders, telling residents to avoid travel except under limited circumstances." t<span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">he Post reporters, however, note that the Secret Service does not appear to have violated New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home order, which employees of the federal government were exempt from.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of the government watchdog group Public Citizen, finds it “appalling” that Trump’s businesses are profiting at the expense of taxpayers — especially in light of the toll that the coronavirus pandemic has taken on state budgets.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gilbert told the Post, “The waste inherent in this is appalling…. They’re nickel-and-diming the American people at a moment when every penny counts.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Fahrenthold/Dawsey article published on Thursday isn’t the first time the Post has reported on the Bedminster business making money from taxpayers, but the Post reporters point out that “the new documents show that the rentals lasted much longer than previously known. Instead of lasting only for the summer months, when Trump usually visited, the rentals stretched from May to the end of October, the new documents show.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to a former Trump official, the Secret Service chose to rent out rooms for six months at a time because the president did not announce his travel schedule far in advance. That source, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the Post, “We always had space reserved at Bedminster weeks before the president arrived, just in case. If he came in the Oval on, let’s say, on a Wednesday, and said, ‘I want to go this weekend,’ you have to be ready.”</font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">to be fair, WH sez will colect and pt out inaccuracies, which is SOP fair, but they haven't yet?</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/white-house-threatens-journalist-with-a-dossier-over-report-exposing-trumps-self-dealing/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/white-house-threatens-journalist-with-a-dossier-over-report-exposing-trumps-self-dealing/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">white House threatens journalist with a ‘dossier’ over report exposing Trump’s self-dealing</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Alex Henderson August 27, 2020</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised that he would “completely isolate” himself from the Trump Organization if elected president. But the Washington Post and other media outlets have done a great deal of reporting on the many ways in which Trump’s properties — from Mar-a-Lago in South Florida to his hotels and golf resorts around the world — have profited from his presidency. Some of that reporting can be found in an article that was written by reporters <b>David A. Fahrenthold</b>, Josh Dawsey and Joshua Partlow and published by the Post on Thursday morning, and one of the article’s revelations is that<b> a White House spokesman resented the Post’s investigation so much that he was willing to threaten Fahrenthold with a “dossier.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a written statement to the Post, the journalists report, Deere said:<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> “The Washington Post is blatantly interfering with the business relationships of the Trump Organization, and it must stop. Please be advised that we are building up a very large ‘dossier’ on the many false David Fahrenthold and others stories as they are a disgrace to journalism and the American people.”</span></b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</span></b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[[<span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Manuel Roig-Franzia</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">@RoigFranzia</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Here are the only 3 lines needed for the @Fahrenthold dossier: “One of America’s greatest journalists. Irreproachable ethics and scrupulously fair. End of dossier.”</div><div>
</div><div>David Fahrenthold</div><div>@Fahrenthold</div><div>Sadly, the White House is exempt from FOIA (I wish it wasn't -- i'd like to see what the White House has paid to Trump properties from its own budget).</div><div>But if you know anything about a dossier the White House has supposedly compiled on me, let me know (or send me a copy)! https://twitter.com/htsuka/status/1299039276085075970]]</div></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In that statement, Deere insisted that Trump has “turned over the day-to-day responsibilities of running the company, though he was not required to, (and) has sacrificed billions of dollars.” But Fahrenthold, Dawsey and Partlow, in their article, make it abundantly clear how much Trump’s businesses have profited from Trump’s presidency.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>“Trump has now visited his own properties 270 times as president</b>, according to a Washington Post tally — with another visit planned for Thursday, when he is scheduled to meet GOP donors at his Washington hotel,” the Post reporters explain. <b>“Through these trips, Trump has brought the Trump Organization a stream of private revenue from federal agencies and GOP campaign groups. Federal spending records show that taxpayers have paid Trump’s businesses more than $900,000 since he took office. At least $570,000 came as a result of the president’s travel</b>, according to a Post analysis.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>One of the Trump Organization’s profitable customers, according to Fahrenthold, Dawsey and Partlow, has been the U.S. Secret Service.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“New federal spending documents obtained by the Post via a public-records lawsuit give more detail about how the <b>Trump Organization charged the Secret Service —</b> a <b style="">kind of captive customer,</b> required to follow Trump everywhere,” the reporters note. “In addition to the rentals at Mar-a-Lago, the documents show that the Trump Organization charged daily ‘resort fees’ to Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Pence in Las Vegas and, in another instance, asked agents to pay a $1300 ‘furniture removal charge’ during a presidential visit to a Trump resort in Scotland.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Post journalists observe that Trump can cause his businesses to profit — at the expense of U.S. taxpayers — merely by setting foot in them.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The most frequent way Trump is known to have helped his properties has been just to visit them, with the vast, big-spending presidential entourage in tow,” they explain.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Post, “One would think that if he was trying to completely isolate himself from his businesses, he wouldn’t talk about his business —  he wouldn’t promote his business, he wouldn’t go to his businesses…. (But) his businesses have been a constant presence in his presidency. No, the idea that he was going to isolate himself completely — it’s been quite the opposite.”</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an720</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Donald Trump’s fundraising operation paid about $400,000 to the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/11/15/trumps-d-c-hotel-is-for-sale-and-heres-the-pitch-get-rich-off-foreign-money/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Trump International Hotel in Washington</a> in the second quarter, an analysis by a researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics revealed.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising operation between Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, spent about $400,000 at Trump’s hotel between April and June, according to CPR researcher Anna Massoglia.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s fundraising operation has steered “over $3 million in donations from presidential campaign donors to Trump family, properties & businesses with his 2020 re-election campaign & Trump MAGA joint fundraising [committee],” <a href="https://twitter.com/annalecta/status/1283604353497079808" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Massoglia wrote on Twitter</a>. “$17.4M+ counting 2016."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt doc]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the Trump Victory Committee previously spent more than $250,000 at the Washington hotel in the second quarter of 2019, according to an analysis by <a href="https://1100pennsylvania.substack.com/p/trump-victory-reached-250000-in-spending" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">1100 Pennsylvania</a>. The hotel has received more than $1.1 million in total from Trump Victory, the RNC, Vice President Mike Pence’s Great American Committee and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Protect the House committee.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump campaign spending has been a boon for his private company, from which he has refused to divest. By last fall, political spending by Trump’s campaign committees and his allies at Trump properties topped $20 million, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/10/trump-properties-poli-spending-passes-20m/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">according to CPR data</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s presidency, which he kicked off by <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/01/22/dc-attorney-general-sues-trumps-inaugural-committee-for-allegedly-violating-its-nonprofit-status_partner/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">dropping $1 million to book a ballroom</a> at his own hotel ahead of his inauguration, has also resulted in new cash flow for the company.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold has <a href="https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1283394589890621441?s=20" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">tracked about $970,000 in taxpayer spending</a> at Trump’s properties since he took office, though that number only scratches the surface. Both the administration and the Trump Organization have gone to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-has-paid-rates-as-high-as-650-a-night-for-rooms-at-trumps-properties/2020/02/06/7f27a7c6-3ec5-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">great lengths to conceal</a> how much taxpayer money is spent at the properties.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, claimed last year that the administration relied on the president’s properties to save taxpayers money.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Secret Service agents “stay at our properties for free — meaning, like, cost for housekeeping,” <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/g-7-at-trump-golf-resort-saves-the-us-money-eric-trump-192655739.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">he insisted</a>. “We charge them, like, 50 bucks.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But receipts obtained by The Post show that the Trump Organization <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/06/trump-org-charged-taxpayers-eight-times-more-for-secret-service-stays-than-it-claimed-documents/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">jacked up the prices when Secret Service agents stayed at the property on the taxpayers’ dime</a>. The Trump Organization charges Secret Service an average of $396 per night, or about<b> eight times more than Eric Trump’s claim.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fahrenthold <a href="https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1283394589890621441?s=20" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote on Twitter that he has found</a> “exactly zero cases where Trump Org did what they promised.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“They always charged more,” the reporter added.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Newly-released Federal Election Commission filings cast more light on the donors that powered Trump to a $262 million haul between his campaign committees and the party committees in the second quarter.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Top donors to the Trump Victory Committee <a href="https://twitter.com/CATargetBot/status/1283598666368839680" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">included</a> Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter and his wife Laura, as well as Jet Support Services CEO Robert Book and his wife Amy. Both couples gave more than $1.1 million combined.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other top donors include oil tycoon Douglas Scharbauer ($580,000), <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2019/11/22/the-man-who-gave-scientology-360-million-actually-answered-the-phone/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">prominent Scientologist Trish Duggan</a> ($580,000) and Ross Perot Jr. ($575,000).</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Trump Supporters, that money he told he desperately needed to help him get re-elected went right in his pocket,” <a href="https://twitter.com/MrJonCryer/status/1283609984077492227" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">actor and activist Jon Cryer</a> tweeted in response to the spending at the Washington hotel.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Who knew,” <a href="https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1283606724042260481" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">tweeted radio host David Pakman</a>, “running for president could be so profitable.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/investigative-reporter-explains-how-trump-makes-the-secret-service-captive-customers-at-his-businesses-basically-the-buyer-and-the-seller-in-almost-1-million-of-gov-transactions/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/investigative-reporter-explains-how-trump-makes-the-secret-service-captive-customers-at-his-businesses-basically-the-buyer-and-the-seller-in-almost-1-million-of-gov-transactions/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div>