Scams fraud con grift
419
SEE TWO
TAG GRFT
see telemarketing
see direct mail
see scam pacs
see also fear phobia scam (root in entine)
HTML scammy
belated disambig? aha expand to grift, con man // to ideological entrepreneur
if there's no such thing a society, common good, if ok to do anything not expressly prohibited (and enforced) by law, if survival of fittest, do whatever it takes to be a winner, invisible hand of mkt will correct all... then do whatever you want. so pharma bro, -- of wall st
wohl of wall street
looks for holes in regs eg nutrit
gop generates fear/despair, then makes money on it
eg nutritional supplements, online for profit college, gold stock tips, prepper seeds/food
ref
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/conservative-circles-scams-abound
former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) has used his mailing list as a lucrative tool for many years, and it’s a habit he’s apparently reluctant to break. Even after the Arkansas Republican gave up his Fox News program, apparently to pursue another White House campaign, Huckabee continued to send out emails with “really questionable ads.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) isn’t running for anything, but as discovered last week, he’s also using his list to send out spam-like messages that appear to be scams.
It’s against this backdrop that Kenneth P. Vogel had a great piece this week on the rise of “scam PACs” that target conservative donors.
Since the tea party burst onto the political landscape in 2009, the conservative movement has been plagued by an explosion of PACs that critics say exist mostly to pad the pockets of the consultants who run them. Combining sophisticated targeting techniques with fundraising appeals that resonate deeply among grass-roots activists, they collect large piles of small checks that, taken together, add up to enough money to potentially sway a Senate race. But the PACs plow most of their cash back into payments to consulting firms for additional fundraising efforts.
A POLITICO analysis of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission covering the 2014 cycle found that 33 PACs that court small donors with tea party-oriented email and direct-mail appeals raised $43 million – 74 percent of which came from small donors. The PACs spent only $3 million on ads and contributions to boost the long-shot candidates often touted in the appeals, compared to $39.5 million on operating expenses, including $6 million to firms owned or managed by the operatives who run the PACs.
I’m reminded of a line Chris Hayes used a couple of years ago, which continues to ring true: “[M]uch of movement conservatism is a con and the base are the marks.”
Eric Hananoki added soon after, “Media Matters has previously documented how conservatives have scammed their followers. [Erick Erickson], for example, was caught sending a plagiarized email (from Ann Coulter) endorsing a newsletter which purported to reveal a ‘secret’ system to become ‘instant millionaires.’”
And just yesterday, Ben Dimiero noted, “Erick Erickson’s email list subscribers have received a bizarre array of pitches from conspiracy theorists and dubious practitioners warning of the impending death of millions of Americans and promising ‘cures’ to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and aging.”
To be sure, there are some specific differences among these dubious appeals. The Politico piece, for example, highlighted the activities of suspicious political action committees, while the Huckabee, Gingrich, and Erickson examples focus on use of regular ol’ email lists, outside of PAC control.
But the bottom line remains the same: a dynamic now exists in which many conservatives are receiving dubious messages through lists operated by Republican leaders they trust.
The basic idea isn’t entirely new – for decades, groups and political figures sent out direct-mail letters, which regularly included unsavory appeals for cash – but the old model relied on slow and expensive distribution through the mail. It’s cheaper, faster, and easier for these unsavory schemes to be put in motion electronically.
Kevin Drum, meanwhile, asked the question that was on my mind:
So here’s my question: why is this so much more common on the right than on the left? It would be nice to chalk it up to the superior intelligence of liberal audiences and call it a day, but that won’t wash…. One possibility is that a lot of this stuff is aimed at the elderly, and conservatives tend to skew older than liberals. And while that’s probably part of the answer, it’s hardly satisfying. There are plenty of elderly liberals, after all – certainly enough to make them worth targeting with the same kind of fraudulent appeals that infest the right.
Another possibility is that it’s basically a supply-side phenomenon. Maybe liberal outlets simply tend to be less ruthless, less willing to set up scam fundraising organizations than conservative outlets. In fact, that actually does seem to be the case. But again: why?
I honestly have no idea, so let’s open it up to some discussion. Why do these scams seem so much more common on the right than the left?
Explore:
The MaddowBlog, Elections, Erick Erickson, Fundraising, Mike Huckabee, Money in Politics and Newt Gingrich
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https://theconversation.com/going-back-to-school-to-deal-with-hard-times-for-profit-schools-could-make-things-even-harder-134872
disaster cap'lism?
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mma 3/22/20
| Grift watch: How right-wing media are trying to profit off a pandemic |
We've talked about how right-wing media are trying to downplay the pandemic. Even worse are those that are trying to profit off of it.
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mma 320
| grift watch: How right-wing media are trying to profit off a pandemic |
We've talked about how right-wing media are trying to downplay the pandemic. Even worse are those that are trying to profit off of it.
|
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cease and desist grift jnz televangelist covid
new York AG tells Jones to “immediately cease and desist selling and marketing products as a treatment or cure for the coronavirus”
03/11/20 1:52 PM EDT
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More...
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https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/alex-jones-infowars-attempting-profit-coronavirus-outbreak
no lnx docs
Jones’ Infowars is attempting to profit from the coronavirus outbreak
Jones: “I am very sad about this virus and very sad about the bioweapons and things that are going on, but it is an opportunity for people to take advantage of the products we have”
WRITTEN BY TIMOTHY JOHNSON
PUBLISHED 02/29/20
Alex Jones coronavirus
Far-right conspiracy theory outlet Infowars has been aggressively hawking bulk food packages at inflated prices while spreading wild conspiracy theories about the coronavirus outbreak. Since December, the price of bulk food at Infowars’ online store has more than doubled with the biggest package costing nearly $3,000.
On December 31, China announced an outbreak of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus that started in Wuhan City, with the first known case dating back to December 1. The disease has since spread beyond China and is currently present in 53 countries, including the United States, and has stricken more than 83,000 people.
Infowars is selling bulk food at recently increased prices
As the virus continues to spread, and a pandemic becomes more likely, Alex Jones is using Infowars to panic his viewers while also trying to profit from them.
Infowars operates InfowarsStore.com, which sells dietary supplements, apparel, firearm accessories, and bulk food. The page for bulk food has been using the coronavirus outbreak as a sales hook. A video ad has appeared at times on the store’s “emergency survival foods” page with the title, “EMERGENCY SURVIVAL FOODS: Coronavirus Clearance Sale.” In the video, Jones urges viewers to buy Infowars bulk food packages, claiming that other sellers are sold out, but that Infowars can ship within seven to 10 days. (When accessed on February 28, the Infowars Store now says “Shipping WILL be delayed on many orders, potentially 6-8 weeks or more in rare cases.”)
In the advertisement, Jones explicitly references coronavirus, saying, “I noticed there were reports that food prices in general were going to be going up because of the crisis in China and surrounding areas and with how deadly this coronavirus is” and claims, “This is the lowest price you’re going to find anywhere, even when it’s at its regular price.” He also suggests that buyers should act before it is too late, saying, “You can feel it in your bones, big stuff is coming down, whether it’s coronavirus or something else, now is the time to get prepared and I suggest folks get their storable food at InfowarsStore.com while you still can.”
Jones urges buyers to consider large purchases, saying, “I personally have ordered more storable food just last week because I have to be able to take care of not just myself but my neighbors, because believe me, hungry starving neighbors are not a good thing to have and so it’s simple: You better hide your food or you better have extra.” During the video, Infowars packages with prices up to $2,987.00 are shown.
Video file
CitationFrom the Infowars Store website "emergency survival foods" page
Since December, the Infowars store has more than doubled the price of its largest package, “Infowars Life Select: 1 Year.” On December 21, the package was being sold for $1443.50. The price increased to $1,594 by January 23. By January 30, the price had increased to $2,987, and the page was displaying the “EMERGENCY SURVIVAL FOODS: Coronavirus Clearance Sale” video.
Infowars broadcasts are filled with aggressive sales pitches for bulk food
Coronavirus has been a near-constant topic of discussion on Infowars' various broadcasts. According to a search of Infowars’ online streaming platform Banned.video, at least 145 videos have been posted since January 22 that reference the outbreak in their titles. Of these, 127 were published after Infowars released its “EMERGENCY SURVIVAL FOODS: Coronavirus Clearance Sale” ad for bulk food on January 27.
Sales pitches that appear in Infowars content are aggressive. They play on fears of food shortages, emphasize the need to make immediate and large orders, and fearmonger about the prospect of societal collapse and cannibalism. Among some of the on-air pitches:
On February 27, Jones posted a video with an “emergency announcement about storable foods” in which he announced shipping delays and then said “the lord works in mysterious ways” before crediting the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent bulk food sales for helping Infowars’ finances.
During a February 25 broadcast, Infowars contributor Mike Adams pitched Infowars bulk food, telling viewers to buy Infowars bulk food right now because “if the CDC is briefing the Senate right now today -- if they tell the Senate this is uncontained in America, that news could come out three hours from now and then it’s too late. You won’t be able to order anything.” As Adams made the pitch, the camera cut to stacks of Infowars bulk food products displayed in the Infowars studio.
In a February 18 video with the title “How To Prepare For A Coronavirus Lockdown In The U.S.,” Jones raised the prospect of cannibalism during a food crisis, saying that “within about 15 days, most people become cannibals” immediately before pitching Infowars bulk food, which was shown stacked in the studio.
In a February 12 video about “the natural components that can easily be used to combat viral infection,” Jones pitched Infowars bulk food, saying, “I am very sad about this virus and very sad about the bioweapons and things that are going on, but it is an opportunity for people to take advantage of the products we have.” During his pitch Jones said the Infowars warehouse is full of “safes with guns and folks trained to use them” and said, “We got food, we got guts, we got red blood, we’ll kick your ass if you attack us.” He also said: “With me, it’s religious not to screw you over.”
In an Infowars bulk food ad that appeared on a February 2 video about “possible solutions for those who seek to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic,” Jones said, “Last week there I was ordering masks and more food and then I didn’t even come on air and do it myself, because there was that feeling of like, ‘Well I’m pushing it during a crisis.’ Of course we should promote this during a crisis, it’s all more reason to get prepared and get ready.” Jones urged viewers to order food within the next four or five days to avoid price increases.
On January 29, Jones hosted Keith Bansemer, the president of My Patriot Supply, the company that provides Infowars with the bulk food that it sells under its own label. A video of the segment was published with the title “EXCLUSIVE: D.O.D. Buying Up American Food Supplies For Coronavirus Outbreak.” Bansemer claimed that the Department of Defense is repeatedly calling him trying to buy food, but that he has refused. Throughout the segment, Jones and Bansemer promoted their respective bulk food products.
Infowars is seeking to instill fear in its audience
Infowars streaming platform Banned.video has been carrying a banner advertisement for Infowars brand bulk foods.
Banned.video banner ad 2]
And the videos that are paired with this ad appear designed to maximize fear about the coronavirus outbreak. Here are some of the more sensational titles of Infowars videos related to coronavirus:
“Violent Leftists In A Coronavirus Quarantine Would Collapse Society”
“How Globalists Justify Releasing the Coronavirus Bioweapon”
“Lancet ModelPredicts Hundreds Of Millions Dead From Coronavirus Outbreak”
“Was Coronavirus Intended To Be Primer For Chinese Invasion Of America?”
“Bioweapons Expert: Coronavirus Is Super Biological Weapon Never Encountered Before”
“MSM Tries To Suppress Evidence That HIV Delivery System Is Embedded In Coronavirus”
“Countdown: Top Ten Ways Coronavirus Will Be Used to Usher In Global Government”
The conspiracy theories Infowars is pushing to sell its bulk food
Infowars has been spreading ever-evolving conspiracy theories about coronavirus, pushing other falsehoods, and making dire predictions about the outbreak. Initially, Infowars broadcasts pushed a conspiracy theory that coronavirus was designed in a lab and was accidentally released, but more recently the overarching conspiracy theory is that coronavirus is a bioweapon that was created by China and/or the “globalists” and was purposefully released in an effort to control and depopulate the planet. Here are a few of the various conspiracy theories and fearmongering:
While guest hosting the February 26 edition of The Alex Jones Show, Infowars contributor Mike Adams claimed that the Centers for Disease Control is “setting a trap for Trump” by exacerbating the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. The end of the segment was an ad for Infowars bulk food.
During the February 24 broadcast of The Alex Jones Show, a video was played which Adams claimed showed residents of Wuhan en masse screaming in terror. In fact, the residents were shouting encouragement to each other. Adams used his false account of the video to make claims about what would happen if there were coronavirus quarantines in the U.S., saying, “When you take these deranged lunatic violent leftists, who are already mentally ill … and you add a quarantine to that, what’s going to happen to their state of mental health? What are they then willing to do in terms of violence or looting or murder or killing or rape or pedophilia or all the things that they do almost on an everyday basis anyway? Add the coronavirus to that, you start looking at the downfall of society.” The segment included a coronavirus-themed pitch for Infowars bulk food.
In a video published on February 21, Infowars contributor Greg Reese claimed “experts tell us the virus was weaponized in a lab, and while nobody disputes this fact, the mainstream media hide it.” The video ended with an Infowars Store ad urging viewers to buy bulk food and other products.
In a February 20 video, Adams said, “We’re going to get into the heads of the globalists here to try to understand what they are thinking when they released this global pandemic and engineered this weapon against human beings, the Wuhan coronavirus.”
During a February 17 broadcast, Infowars host Owen Shroyerpromoted the conspiracy theory that coronavirus was designed by China as part of a U.S. invasion plot. The segment ended with a promotion for Infowars bulk food.
During the February 17 broadcast of The Alex Jones Show, Jones suggested that coronavirus was a bioweapon created by globalists so governments “can use the smokescreen of the crisis to expand their control.” The segment ended with a pitch for Infowars bulk food.
During his February 7 broadcast, Jones claimed that coronavirus is “a race-specific bioweapon” that was released by the Chinese government.
During his February 6 broadcast, Jones devoted a segment to claiming that coronavirus is a bioweapon designed by China to attack the west. The segment concluded with a coronavirus-themed ad for Infowars bulk food.
During a February 4 Infowars broadcast, Adams claimed that globalists designed coronavirus by combining HIV and SARs. Moments later, Infowars broadcast a coronavirus-themed Infowars bulk food ad.
During the February 4 edition of The Alex Jones Show, Jones suggested that maybe even President Donald Trump was involved in the creation of the coronavirus, but that “maybe it’s a complex false flag to blame America down the road.” After Jones finished his comments, a coronavirus-themed ad for Infowars bulk food was broadcast.
During a February 2 Infowars broadcast, Adams hyped a scenario in which people in Mexico become infected with coronavirus and then flee to “sanctuary cities” in the United States causing a massive outbreak. The segment ended with a coronavirus-themed ad for Infowars bulk food.
How Alex Jones is taking advantage of his audience
People are right to be concerned about coronavirus, but Jones and Infowars are attempting to profit from panic that they create. Writing in Scientific American, Zeynep Tufekci argued that the way to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus is through practicing “community-wide isolation” where outbreaks are present and taking actions -- including getting a flu shot, regularly washing your hands, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, not touching your face, and, if in a position of authority, allowing workers to work from home or make up the time later. Such steps, according to Tufekci, reduce the risk for people to get infected -- by coronavirus or other diseases like the common flu -- and will lower the burden on the healthcare system, so it can better treat vulnerable populations such as the elderly.
In her article, Tufekci criticizes tactics like the ones used by Jones, writing, “There is no shortage of snake oil sellers who hope stoking such fears will make people buy more supplies: years’ worth of ready-to-eat meals, bunker materials and a lot more stuff in various shades of camo.” Instead, Tufekci says the way to prepare for the possibility of self-isolation is to “buy two or three weeks’ worth of shelf-stable food that you would eat anyway, and be done; this could include canned food like beans and vegetables, pasta, rice, cereals or oats, oils/fats, nuts and dried fruits” and to have potable water on hand.
That won’t cost you $3,000.
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https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-believe-con-artists-130361
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aha, all are televangelists now b/c of soc med?
https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trump-spiritual-adviser-tells-followers-to-skip-paying-monthly-electric-bills-so-they-can-send-her-church-more-cash/
no lnx
Trump ‘spiritual adviser’ tells followers to skip paying monthly electric bills so they can send her church more cash
Written by Brad Reed / Raw Story February 17, 2020
Paula White, a prosperity gospel minister who serves as President Donald Trump’s “spiritual adviser,” apparently believes her followers should live in the dark to help keep the lights on at her church.
A lengthy report on White by Mother Jones reveals that the Trump-loving preacher recently told followers at her Supernatural Ministry School in Miami that they could secure God’s favor by sending her church as much money as possible — even if that meant skipping their monthly electric bills.
In particular, White said that followers who send their money to Florida Power and Light (FPL) every month instead of giving it to her church are treating the electric company better than they treat God.
“Instead of writing [that check] to the house of God as I’m instructed to, then what I’m saying spiritually is, ‘FPL, I have now established a spiritual law that put you first,’” White explained to her flock. “So, FPL, save my family, FPL, deliver my drug addicted son. FPL, kill this cancer that doctors say is in my body.”
White, who opened the National Day of Prayer Event at the White House in 2017 and who has just landed an official job at the White House, has drawn criticism from many Christians over the years, including her business in which she sells believers “resurrection seeds” that will grant them eternal life for the low price of just $1,144.
extraction scam grift basis:
aha extraction, but special cat: dereg makes big public taxpayer $ vulnerable for extraction (via uber myth corps good/effic and gov't bad/bloated/collectivist)
//charter
aha2: pvt // deregulation; afr and latinx ppl of color mos need education, but cn last afford, least prepard for it; fed loans (and maybe student/family savings) are a big target to extract from; online for profit college biggest grift/profit attractor b/c can do in "spare" time. betsy devos dereg accredidation
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/obama-closed-an-agency-that-accredited-a-university-with-no-faculty-or-students-then-betsy-devos-saved-it/
no lnx
Obama closed an agency that accredited a ‘university’ with no faculty or students. Then Betsy DeVos saved it
Written by Daily Kos February 16, 2020
If you have never heard of Reagan National University, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, you’re not alone. But like many small colleges you’ve never heard of, this one boasted (at least until this month) full accreditation as sanctioned by the federal government.
There’s just one small problem.
By all appearances, at present it has no students, no faculty and no classrooms.
As an investigation for USA Today by Chris Quintana and Shelly Conlon found, this institution of higher learning was accredited by the Department of Education under the auspices of Trump-appointed Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. Or more precisely, it was accredited by an “approved” and sanctioned agency of DOE with a track record so dismal that, back in the good old days (known as the “Obama administration”) when the federal government was actually being run by competent people who worked for the interests of American ciitizens, it had been summarily shuttered and put out to pasture.
The agency in question, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools, has a history of approving questionable colleges, with devastating consequences. It accredited ITT Tech, Corinthian Colleges and Brightwood College, massive for-profit universities whose sudden closures last decade left thousands of students without degrees and undermined the value of the education of those who did graduate. Those closures led President Barack Obama’s Education Department to strip ACICS’ powers in 2016.
After a Federal Judge ruled that the Obama Administration had failed to consider a substantial number of documents that ACICS had submitted to appeal its closure, DOE was ordered to reconsider its decision, which it did. DOE career employees again found that ACICS failed to meet appropriate standards in its accreditation process.
But by then Trump acolyte and billionaire-by-marriage Betsy DeVos, who, following standard Trump-appointee procedure, was proceeding to reverse every single action taken by the prior administration, no matter how sensible or helpful to the American people, had begun to remake the Department. DeVos reinstated the ACICS agency despite its horrid past record of promoting colleges that exist solely to rip off American students (usually poorer ones and disproportionately students of color).
Since its short-lived disbandment, the agency had lost many colleges as “members” and, as Quintana and Conlon note, lost their “membership fees” as well. It needed money, and fast. So, apparently it was time for some quick calls to those “institutes of higher learning” out there.
Accreditation is the key to obtaining federal grant and loan money for students who want to attend college. Of course, that money then goes straight to the “accredited” college. But as USA Today found out, “Reagan National University” is a very strange college. To begin with, when the reporters attempted to learn more about the college itself, its website links were all dead. They still are.
Adding further to the mystery, “[n]o students or graduates could be found on LinkedIn or Facebook.”
When USA Today tried to contact faculty from this so-called college, they could find none. People whose names were listed on the “college’s” website swore they’d never heard of or taught at Reagan National University. Other names had absolutely no internet history, something quite unusual for academics. Phone calls to the University ended in curtly disconnected lines. Attempts to physically visit the school were similarly unavailing, yielding locked offices. Peering through the window, a vacuum cleaner and some insulation were visible.
As the USA Today investigation found, ACICS specializes in accrediting “for profit” colleges, the same ones notorious for ripping off students with phony promises of inflated job prospects and providing worthless degrees. But since the Obama administration shut it down, its members have dwindled from 290 in 2016 to 63 at present. ACICS told USA Today that Reagan had somehow met its stringent accreditation standards, but it refused to provide any details on how that may have occurred.
Michelle Edwards, CEO and president of ACICS, defended the council’s accreditation process in emails this month to USA TODAY. ACICS first accredited Reagan in 2017, though Edwards said the university had to address some areas where it was initially out of compliance. She declined to say what those areas were.
But hey, ACICS pulled out all the stops to get Reagan National U. up to snuff! In January 2019, it sent an (apparently) sternly worded letter to its accredited so-called college, informing Reagan that its job placement rate was a whopping 0%. Of course, the agency’s standard procedure provided a window of time for an institution to “show cause” why its accreditation should not be pulled in such an instance. For Reagan, that “window” expired in May, 2019. According to the agency CEO, “Reagan” provided some sort of satisfactory information to ACICS (we’re not told what that was), and the “show cause” order was lifted.
But in December, 2019, ACICS really laid the hammer down.
This time accreditors raised concerns about the language in a course catalog and the university’s grading system. It also hinted at more existential issues, such as a lack of evidence of a qualified person to run the business programs. And the computer science program didn’t have the materials necessary to teach.
It’s not clear who ACICS was talking to at “Reagan,” if they were actually talking to anyone at all. This entire shoddy episode reeks of either purposeful negligence or something worse. As Antoinette Flores, with the Center for American Progress who studies accreditation asks, how could this agency possibly have accredited a “school” with no faculty and no students?: “You accredited this institution. How did you miss this?”
In February of 2020, while USA Today was conducting its investigation, “Reagan National University” voluntarily withdrew its accreditation.
The USA Today investigation found something that provides a clue to exactly what “Reagan National University” is. It seems that in 2011, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement visited another questionable institution, called the “University of Northern Virginia” on “suspicions” that it was operating to exploit the issuance of visas through legal loopholes for foreign visitors rather than acting as an actual educational institution. That university was shut down by the state of Virginia because of its lack of accreditation in 2013, but popped up again, listing an address in South Dakota—the same address used by “Reagan National” in its corporate filings. It even listed the name of its agent as “Xianhua Fan”, seemingly the same name as Reagan’s president (in its business filings spelled as “Xuanhua Fan,” although the official “website” listed president of the University was a fellow named “Harold Harris”).
South Dakota, as the authors of the USA Today article point out, is probably not the ideal place to go to college: “State officials merely ask colleges whether an accrediting group has approved them — they don’t independently hold universities accountable.”
If it seems that all of this should have been obvious to ACICS, the agency DeVos stepped in to save, it should. The article describes the many criticisms and problems that agency has, including denial of recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, a university-member body that sets stringent standards for accreditation.
But ultimately, as the article notes, this is all traceable back to DeVos and the Trump administration philosophy of rolling back every regulation in favor of business interests, no matter who is harmed in the process.
The education secretary wants to cut back the rules governing accreditation. Fewer regulations could allow colleges to implement new training programs swiftly to fill holes in the workforce, she says — an approach cheered by for-profit colleges like the ones accredited by ACICS.
Critics argue these rollbacks will make it easier for shoddy or predatory institutions to take advantage of students. They have pointed to the high-profile closures of several for-profit colleges over the past decade as a need for more regulations to protect students, rather than fewer.
What this all boils down to has nothing to do with learning or “education,” and everything to do with political campaign contributions from the “for-profit” college mill industry and lining the pockets of the investors that fund such scam schools. As noted by Jeff Bryant of the Campaign for America’s future,”The favors Trump and DeVos are granting to the for-profit college industry reflect the generosity of campaign contributions the sector has generally showered on Republicans, especially since the advent of the regulatory constrains issued in the Obama years.”
And whether those colleges actually have any faculty or students, or whether they even can provide degrees, is apparently not a major concern.
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/gop-senator-theres-no-question-that-a-series-of-grifters-associate-themselves-with-trump/
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/all-the-presidents-grifters/
from what fresh hell?
All the president’s grifters
Written by Joshua Holland / Raw Story January 18, 2020
Welcome to another edition of What Fresh Hell?, Raw Story’s roundup of news items that might have become controversies under another regime, but got buried – or were at least under-appreciated – due to the daily firehose of political pratfalls, unhinged tweet storms and other sundry embarrassments coming out of the current White House.
One of Donald Trump’s great gifts is an instinct for surrounding himself with people who are so sleazy and lacking in credibility that when they’re indicted for some scam or flip on him and reveal his abuses of power they’re easy to discredit.
This week, for example, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham described Lev Parnas, the grifty GOP operative who released a tranche of damning documents this week, as “a man who is under indictment and who’s actually out on bail. This is a man who owns a company called Fraud Inc. We’re not too concerned about [his revelations].” All of that is true, but Parnas worked closely with Trump’s personal attorney to strong-arm Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden, says he asked Trump to remove the US ambassador and has released dozens of photos of himself mugging with Trump, both of his sons, Mike Pence and a who’s-who of Republican bigwigs close to White House.
Christina Wilkie
@christinawilkie
Telling detail of the Lev Parnas/Robert Hyde/Anthony de Caluwe triangle: Each of them tells reporters he’d been warned the other guy was a scumbag.
De Caluwe was warned about Hyde, Hyde was cautioned about Parnas, and Parnas was told to avoid Hyde.
And yet here we are.
As soon as Michael Cohen, Trump’s long-time lawyer and business partner, turned on his former boss he became “a felon, a disbarred lawyer and a convicted perjurer who lied to both Congress and the Special Counsel in a ‘deliberate and premeditated’ fashion,” according to campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany.
“The Trump campaign is distancing itself from one of its highest-profile supporters, David Bossie, two days after the president’s longtime friend was accused of using his political group to scam elderly Republican voters for his own financial gain,” reported Politico last year.
Despite visiting the White House 13 times and being described in media reports as “a lobbyist known for his ties to the inner circle of President Donald Trump,” the White House claimed that nobody in the building knew George Nader after he cooperated with the Mueller probe. He was later arrested on child porn charges.
When Trump announced that he was tapping George Papadopoulos as a foreign policy advisor, he called the unheralded and inexperienced “energy consultant” an “excellent guy,” but when Papadopoulos was busted for lying to the FBI and then cooperated in the Mueller probe, he became “just a coffee boy.”
After Sam Nunberg blasted the White House in a series of bizarre (and perhaps drunken) press hits, then-White House spox Sarah Huckabee Jones described him as someone who “hasn’t worked at the White House” and didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Matt Whitaker—I don’t know Matt Whitaker,” Trump said of the buffoonish Fox News legal analyst he’d appointed Acting Attorney General when the media revealed that Whitaker had been involved in a series of fraudulent endeavors.
And after Omarosa Manigault Newman, whom Trump had once gushed over as “a wonderful woman” who was “amazing” and “such a fine person,” wrote a tell-all book about her experience in the White House, Trump called her “a crazed, crying lowlife” who is “vicious, but not smart.”
This is, of course, only a partial list.
*****
Speaking of the best people…
“A small number of people at a few federal agencies have vast power over the protection of American air and water,” reports The New York Times. “Under the Trump administration, the people appointed to those positions overwhelmingly used to work in the fossil fuel, chemical and agriculture industries. During their time in government they have been responsible for loosening or undoing nearly 100 environmental protections from pollution and pesticides, as well as weakening preservations of natural resources and efforts to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.”
*****
In related news, “a lobbyist turned senior Agriculture Department official repeatedly shared information with her former industry on policy and enforcement, according to ProPublica.Before being tapped by Trump to serve as a senior Agriculture Department official, Rebeckah Adcock “was the chief lobbyist for the herbicide industry’s trade group.”
Adcock had helped her former industry colleagues in a variety of ways. At Dow’s request, for example, she had arranged a meeting between a top company official and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue….
Before the May 2017 meeting, a Dow lobbyist emailed Adcock: “Do you know who will staff the secretary?”
Adcock wrote back, playfully, “Yes and u do too.”
“Roger,” the lobbyist, Hunt Shipman, replied. Then he joked about the potential conflict of a public servant helping former colleagues: “Maybe you can have a chair on both sides of the table…maybe you can staff them both? :)”
*****
Art of the deal…
Citizens for Ethics
@CREWcrew
- Trump applied for trademarks in Argentina
- The Trump administration rescinded tariffs on Argentina
- Trump got the trademarks
- The Trump administration replaced the tariffs https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-argentina-trademarks/ …
US Held Off on Tariffs while Argentina Reviewed Trump Trademarks - CREW
Trump's Argentina trademarks are not the first time that the Trump family’s trademarks ran up against American foreign policy.
citizensforethics.org
TPM:
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) want to know whether any Mar-a-Lago members had advanced knowledge that the Trump administration would kill a top Iranian general — and whether they used that knowledge to game the stock market.
*****
A couple of stories about trying to manage under an unhinged president*…
Politico reports that Intelligence officials are trying to convince Congress to skip the public portion of an annual threat report after last year’s presentation “provoked an angry outburst from President Donald Trump.”
At the last such threats briefing a year ago, the chiefs presented findings that diverged from the president’s statements on the longevity of Islamic State terror group, as well as Iran and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. He blistered them on Twitter the following day, labeling them “passive” and “naive” while writing that “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”
This week, the regime also “abruptly canceled four classified congressional briefings related to the ongoing Iran crisis, in some cases providing little or no explanation for doing so,” according to CNN. The briefings were scheduled to be conducted by officials from the State Department, the FBI and the Pentagon.
*****
Imagine actually believing that Trump was bothered by corruption in Ukraine….
President Trump wanted to strike down a law that prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials, calling the ban “so unfair” to American companies, two Washington Post reporters recount in a new book.
In the spring of 2017, Mr. Trump was at a briefing with Rex W. Tillerson, then the secretary of state, and aides in the Oval Office. At the mention of a bribery allegation, Mr. Trump “perked up” and told Mr. Tillerson that he wanted his help in scrapping the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the authors write.
That law, enacted in 1977 and heavily enforced since around 2005, prohibits companies that operate in the United States from bribing foreign officials to obtain or retain business. It has become a major factor in corporate decision-making about operations abroad.
Mr. Trump said that it was “just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas…”
*****
Denver this week became the national target of the Trump administration’s escalated crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoenaed information on four foreign nationals wanted for deportation.
ICE usually sends the administrative subpoenas to employers or landlords as they track down immigrants who are in the country illegally. The agency confirmed to The Associated Press, which first reported the Denver subpoenas, that it was the first time they had been directed to a law enforcement agency. ICE indicated that it could expand the unusual practice to other cities.
According to The Denver Post, one city officials said, “This is not a legal document. It’s not signed by a judge.”
*****
“Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2?billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget, according to internal planning figures obtained by The Washington Post.”
Just a reminder that Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution give Congress the exclusive power of the purse.
*****
The story that we believe should have been plastered all over the front pages this week…
James Hohmann
@jameshohmann
A new study shows that the oceans are warming at the same rate as if FIVE Hiroshima bombs were dropped in EVERY second.https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/world/climate-change-oceans-heat-intl/index.html …
Oceans are warming at the same rate as if five Hiroshima bombs were dropped in every second
The world's oceans are now heating at the same rate as if five Hiroshima atomic bombs were dropped into the water every second, scientists have said.
cnn.com
*****
And we’ll leave you with two pieces of good news.
Texas Tribune: “A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that would have allowed governors, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and other local leaders to prevent refugees from resettling in those areas.”
Daily Kos: “Scotland to Reach 100% Renewable Energy This Year.
mma 1219
Fox's Dan Bongino appears in Trump campaign video despite purported network policy
12/10/19 3:16 PM EST
Loesch on School Shield: "This program works"
NRATV promoted a school “safety” program that the National Rifle Association allegedly used as “fundraising front”
12/10/19 3:28 PM EST
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no lnx
https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/new-evidence-of-trumps-financial-crimes-emerge-during-an-otherwise-quiet-holiday-weekend/
New evidence of Trump’s financial crimes emerge during an otherwise quiet holiday weekend
Written by Joshua Holland November 30, 2019
Welcome to another edition of What Fresh Hell?, Raw Story’s roundup of news items that might have become controversies under another regime, but got buried – or were at least under-appreciated – due to the daily firehose of political pratfalls, unhinged tweet storms and other sundry embarrassments coming out of the current White House.
This was a pleasantly slow holiday week in America, but rarely do seven whole days go by without some new allegations of crimes by the Trump Crime Family.
On Wednesday, ProPublica reported that an analysis of Trump Organization tax and loan documents revealed a gap between the financial information Trump’s company reported to lenders when seeking massive loans on Trump’s signature Manhattan property and the numbers they handed over to the government when tax-time came around. “The findings,” wrote Heather Vogell, “add a third major Trump property to two for which ProPublica revealed similar discrepancies last month.”
In the latest case, the occupancy rate of the Trump Tower’s commercial space was listed, over three consecutive years, as 11, 16 and 16 percentage points higher in filings to a lender than in reports to city tax officials, records show.
[long list]
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doh! ideol entre extract $ from target rich RWI environment
greatest scam in history: Why science failed to to stop climate change
It’s a tale for all time. What might be the greatest scam in history or, at least, the one that threatens to take history down with it. Think of it…
aha: military has far and away best rep of any gov't agy tho ME wars not popular; trump sees himself as a tough guy and likes to surround himself, appear to ally w/ them eg rally on aircraft carrier; // nixon claimed/used support from hardhats, djt uses mil and cops as scenery; cf uber aha on Fem
https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/trump-used-money-raised-for-vets-as-campaign-slush-fund-that-should-end-his-political-career
teflon --> kevlar?
never makes link to vets?
no lnx
No other president would have survived defrauding veterans’ charities
President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday evening,Aug. 21, 2019, returning from his trip to the American Veterans (AMVETS) 75th National Convention in Louisville, KY. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
Written by David Atkins / Washington Monthly November 10, 2019
One of the many perversities of the Trump era is the low bar to which presidential accountability has now become set. We are currently watching unfold the saga of presidential bribery and extortion of a foreign power in order to sabotage a domestic opponent, and to pursue an outrageous conspiracy theory designed to exonerate a hostile foreign power to which that president remains shockingly solicitous. Taken together with the Mueller probe (and it’s all of a piece), it’s the greatest presidential scandal in American history.
But it should still leave us speechless that only a few days ago the President of the United States was held liable by judge of defrauding veterans to the tune of millions of dollars via a fake charity he used for vainglorious personal and campaign expenses. To recap:
So it has come to pass with a New York judge’s ruling Thursday that the president had misused money given to the Donald J. Trump Foundation and, as part of a settlement, will have to pay $2 million in damages. Not only did he use the money for himself, including the purchase of a 6-foot-tall portrait of None Other, but he also filled the board of directors with family members (the usual suspects: Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric) and at least one officer, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who didn’t know he was even on the board, according to court documents.
The man who popularized “fake news” apparently also invented a fake charity. They’re tons of fun until you get caught. But there was nothing fake about the money Trump spent that was intended for others.
In addition to the portrait, for which he paid $10,000 (albeit at an auction for another charity) but which later hung in his Doral golf resort in Miami, Trump’s other charitable interests included about $250,000 to settle lawsuits involving his for-profit business.Best of all, he used $12,000 from the charity to buy a jersey and a helmet autographed by then-Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
Our eyes glaze over reading this stuff because…well, it’s Donald Trump. But that’s only because our sense of moral outrage has become deadened by his behavior. Try, if you can, to imagine that Barack Obama had raised money for veterans only to spend it on a giant portrait of himself and a bunch of sports memorabilia. It would have singlehandedly destroyed his presidency and would likely have forced his resignation. George W. Bush was certainly no saint, and his administration was guilty of misdeeds of horrendous consequence. But he would never have been so tawdry and venal as to steal money from veterans for such things. If he had, it would likely have ended his presidency. Same for Clinton, Bush Senior, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. None of them would have survived such a revelation.
But in this funhouse horror of an administration, the news that the President of the United States was forced by a judge to repay $2 million to real charities because of these grifter scams was just another Thursday. It wasn’t even the top headline of the day.
Donald Trump skates by because we have come to expect this level of debasement from him. Because they refuse to hold him accountable, we have come to expect it of the entire Republican Party.
But we must not let ourselves become numb to it. The House impeachment proceedings should include this gross business among the other counts of Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors. The public should be reminded of it during the next year’s campaign ads. And the shame of it should follow him and his entire family of grifters for the rest of their lives.
As much as we should avoid lowering the bar for this president, we should have the self-respect as Americans to demand the same level of accountability from all of our public servants. If the realities of partisan politics prevent us from doing so while he is in office, then the shame, opprobrium and criminal and civil consequences must follow him and his co-conspirators after they cease pretending to work on behalf of the American people
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oops delete other An article on have breakfast w. prez 15x no winners go
TPM Well-known veteran journalist and founder of both Popular Information and ThinkProgress, Judd Legum, has been chasing down this story for months, and publishing the results in his email newsletter and to Twitter....
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https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/its-springtime-for-grifters-paul-krugman-explains-how-trump-is-bad-for-us-business-but-good-for-scams/
no lnx
‘It’s springtime for grifters’: Paul Krugman explains how Trump is bad for US business — but good for scams
Written by Cody Fenwick September 5, 2019
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have claimed that he is essentially the savior of American business, but economist Paul Krugman argued Thursday in a New York Times column that he is, in fact, the exact opposite.
With his trade wars and aggressive deregulatory policy, Trump is creating substantial economic burdens and uncertainty that appear to be creating serious a drag in the economy.
Many have made similar arguments, but the point about the risks of deregulation — which, unlike tariffs and trade wars, we would have expected from any GOP president elected in 2016 — is often missed:
Imagine yourself as the head of a business that plans and expects to be around for a long time. Sure, you’d like to pay less in taxes and not have to comply with costly regulations. But you also want to invest in your company’s future. And to do that, you need some assurance that the rules of the game will be stable, so that whatever investments you make now aren’t suddenly made worthless by future shifts in policy.
Business leaders aren’t do-gooders, but they are realists. Most of them understand that climate change is happening, that it’s dangerous, and that we’ll eventually have to transition to a low-emissions economy. They want to spend now to secure their place in that future economy; they know that investments that worsen climate change are bound to be long-run losers. But they’ll hold off on investing in our energy future as long as conspiracy theorists who consider global warming a gigantic hoax — and/or vindictive politicians determined to erase Obama’s achievements — keep rewriting the rules.
Indeed, Krugman noted that, to the surprise of some, fossil fuel companies have opposed Trump’s efforts to roll back Obama-era environmental regulation.
We should be careful here, because “business uncertainty” is a buzzword that is often used to attack progressive policies. President Barack Obama was frequently criticized for supposedly creating uncertainty in his efforts to regulate carbon emissions and other harmful externalities (though in reality, the biggest economic problem during his tenure was a shortfall in demand driven by austerity). But some uncertainty may be worth it if it’s the cost of imposing regulations that are actually good for the country and the world. In this case of deregulation, however, Republicans argue that rolling back rules is good for business; if, in fact, the uncertainty created by the changes actually hurts business, their entire putative purpose is undermined.
Krugman added that uncertainty isn’t actually bad for all business. One type of business doesn’t mind Trump’s antics? Scams:
To be fair, however, some kinds of business do thrive under Trumpism — namely, businesses that aren’t in it for the long run, operations whose strategy is to take the money and run. These are good times for mining companies that rush in to extract whatever they can, leaving a poisoned landscape behind; for real estate speculators sponsoring dubious ventures that take advantage of newly created tax loopholes; for for-profit colleges that leave their students with worthless degrees and crippling debt.
In other words, under Trump it’s springtime for grifters.
Of course, we shouldn’t be too surprised to find ourselves in these conditions, Krugman argued, when we elected the founder ofTrump University.
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AN 819
no lnx
The stupid merchandise conservatives buy in their endless pursuit to ‘stick it to the libs’
Tomi Lahren athletic wear
Written by Doctor RJ / Daily Kos August 28, 2019
In their decades long resentment fueled quest to achieve government by spite, conservatives have not only sacrificed their souls, but also their wallets. Giving one’s money, time, and effort to horrible human beings in order to achieve disgusting policies is one things. But buying horrible crap just because it has some stars and stripes which these idiots say represent America and Jesus, or diet supplements with a label stating how “alpha” it is and promises to be “rock hard” in making their dick better than liberal cucks, while being promoted and hocked by the latest right-wing dipshit, well … that’s a whole other sad story.
Late last week, Fox News personality Tomi Lahren announced her “Freedom” line of athletic wear,which is being marketed specifically as “a brand that represents their freedom … a brand that represents their rights.” Lahren, who seems to be living proof hair bleach may cause brain damage, has made her bones by being Fox’s young conservative voice of millennials. However, she’s also infamous for not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, even among the dull selection of conservative nitwits which make up the pundit stable. Lahren infamously showed her lack of depth when she admitted to still being on her parents’ health insurance moments after criticizing Obamacare, which she wouldn’t have been able to do if the law didn’t exist, and received intense criticism this year when she claimed Sen. Kamala Harris had slept her way to the top.
Partnering with Alexo Athletica, a brand which makes clothing with gun holsters inside of them, the athletic line will include a bra top for $52, a sweater for $69, leggings at $89, and a bomber jacket for $99, designed around having a space for a “small self-defense tool,” which Lahren claims is “about freedom, it’s about the bill of rights, it’s about constitutional freedoms” in support of Donald Trump and the United States. However, there are two problems. Buying star-spangled polyester is a dubious argument for patriotism. And reports indicate that just like many of the bearing the name of the current president, Lahren’s clothing is being made in China.
Lahren’s is but one of many on the right-wing side of things which has embraced merchandising, and linked its sale to support of conservatism and patriotism in America. Trump himself has basically been using his position to grift supporters out of their money in selling t-shirts, straws, and other knick-knacks, and this has been true among other conservative special interests as well. The fact there are people attempting to make money off of bullshit is not new, or is it unexpected. But it is interesting to ponder the market for products whose only distinctive appeal is based on ideology, and the thought-process of the dummies who buy into all of this mess, especially in a country where the values people care about are becoming more divergent among different political ideologies.
When I went to a Trump rally back in 2016, one of the things which stood out was something which happened whil walking into the rally. Around the entrance to the event, there were a throng of vendors selling MAGA hats, Trump books, and other assorted crap which would give trash a bad name. But the juxtaposition between right-wing jagoffs screaming: “Get your ‘Bomb the shit out of ISIS’ buttons,” not far from a Girl Scout troop who had decided to use the rally to sell cookies, seemed to say it all about the combination of projected American values and unseemliness. And that combo has held true into the Trump presidency and become more and more the defining quality of the conservative movement. It comes from the same disgraceful place where the same people who want to defend the American flag from NFL players who kneel in protest then support every policy which defiles what that flag represents, even when it means concentration camps and support for white nationalist rhetoric.
The sale of conservative merchandise embraces the same “fake news” resentment of reality and what is true, and then asks the same group of people who vote against their own interests to now personally spend their money in the same way.
From Christina Zhao on Newsweek:
Lahren, 27, announced her new clothing line,“Freedom,” on Instagram last week. “Some have told me I’m too ‘controversial’ to have an athleisure line, that conservatives should just stick to politics and Trump cheerleading,” the Fox personality wrote, alongside a poster advertising the new brand. “My response? Watch me. Introducing Freedom by Tomi Lahren by @alexoathleticafull line available now.” Designed to represent patriotism, the line boasts clothing in red, white and blue as well as some items decorated with stars to loosely resemble the American flag. The line was created with active wear brand Alexo Athletica, a company known for producing clothing featuring gun holsters.
Shortly after Freedom’s launch, social media users quickly moved to accuse Lahren of producing her line in China. Freelance writer Robyn Pennacchia tweeted a screenshot of a conversation between someone selling a Alexo Athletica piece online and a potential buyer. When asked to list the materials used, the vendor responded: “It’s 95 percent polyester and 5 percent spandex. Made in China though.” … Twitter user @JordanUhl pointed out that Lahren’s allegedly made in China clothing line comes just one month after the television personality called on companies to make their products in America during a Fox Nation “Final Thoughts” segment on July 17th.
“As it stands, products used for government projects can carry the ‘Made in America’ logo with parts made of 50 percent foreign components but not under this president,” Lahren said in the segment. “Trump signed an executive order raising the percentage of American components to 75 percent. That’s right baby, made in the U.S.A.” … “He talks the talk and walks the walk. In America, it’s Americans first. We should come first in our own dang country and in under this president, we do,” the 27-year-old host added
Robyn Pennacchia
?
@RobynElyse
I am shocked, shocked to find out that Tomi Lahren's Athleisure line for women who don't hate America is... Made In China.
View image on TwitterView image on Twitter
2,729
This sort of merchandising is very common among right-wing morons.
Another Fox shithead,Ben Shapiro, has been using his talk-show to market dietary supplementswhich use antioxidants, prebiotics, and probiotics.
The king of merging politics and overpriced supplements is conspiracy loon Alex Jones, who urged his viewers to buy more supplements to show their disapproval of recent bans from social media platforms. Beyond iffy and unscientific claims, Jones will now have to deal with new scrutiny from the FDA going forward.
Paul Krugman
?
@paulkrugman
- Aug 21, 2018
Replying to @paulkrugman
I first learned about the close affiliation between right-wingers and direct-order scams from @rickperlstein: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-long-con …
The Long Con
Mitt Romney is a liar. Of course, in some sense, all politicians, even all human beings, are liars. Romney’s lying went so over-the-top extravagant by this summer, though, that the New York Times…
thebaffler.com
Paul Krugman
?
@paulkrugman
Alex Jones fits the model perfectly http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/05/how-does-alex-jones-make-money.html …
The Whole Point of Infowars Is to Sell Diet Supplements
How does Alex Jones make money? It’s not advertising, and it’s not subscriptions.
nymag.com
While it’s shouldn’t be surprising a guy which has been in court about the Emoluments Clause and wants to pimp his own golf resort for an international conference would attempt to make money off of the presidency, the Trump campaign resorting to selling plastic straws to MAGA idiots for a $1.50 per straw in order to stoke the Republican base’s anger towards companies trying to be environmentally friendly by switching to environmentally friendly paper straws struck a nerve earlier this year. It was the sort of spiteful “fuck the environment because it’ll piss the other side off” move which has defined the past three years
A Medellin, Colombia-based direct marketing company, FlowActiv, sold “The Shepherd’s Diet” to Christian conservatives and MAGA Republicans on the claim it was Biblically based and recommended by Jesus, when in fact it was basically just a warmed-over version of the Keto and Paleo diets.
From Jed Oelbaum at Vice:
The marketing pitched the diet to a holy trinity of older Americans, religious people, and the heart of MAGA America, with ads that sold it as “Donald Trump’s Plan to Make America Thin Again,” advertorials on sites like Teaparty.org, and spots that warned of “leftist food corporations” that are “terrified” of consumers taking up the diet.
Other pitches clearly targeted Christians with pop-up ads and “one weird trick”–style offers touting the program as a secret technique “hidden in the bible” that “burns fat overnight.” One bit of ad copy claimed “2,000-year-old nutritional scrolls that biblical scholars recently uncovered are bringing new hope to Americans who struggle with knowing what to eat.” Also marketed with alternate brand names like “Biblical Belly Breakthrough” and “The Truth About Fats,” at one point the program was seemingly renamed, switching from primarily “The Shepherd’s Diet” to “The Shepherd’s Code.” (In Spanish, the plan goes by “La Dieta de Jesus.”)
Less than a year later, the Shepherd’s Diet, was gone, leaving a trail of misleading ads, questionable charges, and broken weight-loss dreams. Some fans of the diet say it helped them lose weight and get in shape. But other customers told VICE News that it’s a “scam” targeted at Christian consumers. Either way, its story is a glimpse into the growing online landscape of unaccountable businesses hawking shady products to Christians and conservatives in the Trump era.
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camp sells plastic straws 500K$ ?!
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https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/private-gofundme-border-wall-effort-now-under-criminal-investigation/
John Lambert is the 23-year-old co-founder of Students for Trump. He gained national attention in the 2016 campaign, particularly in North Carolina where the New York Daily News reports he even got to meet high-profile Trump advocate and future Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the campaign.
Now he’s likely prison-bound after a guilty plea in a New York courtroom. From the New York Daily News:
...
https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/students-for-trump-founder-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-after-posing-as-a-lawyer-and-taking-46654-in-fees/
==
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https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/scammers-dont-cheat-because-they-need-the-money-they-cheat-because-theyre-cheaters/
...
In other words, some people may be born with a propensity to cheat others out of their money. If so, then environmental factors like poverty and opportunity are not the reason for cheating – they are an excuse to explain bad behavior.
eg
Following in the well-worn footsteps of their leader, an entire new generation of grifters and fraudsters has arrivedto bilk Americans out of their hard-earned savings.Fortunately, though, sometimes the law catches up to them.
A Tennessee man charged by New York prosecutors with pretending to be a Manhattan lawyer and taking thousands from would-be clients was the co-founder of Students for Trump, a national group that mobilized college campuses in the run-up to the 2016 election and plans to do so again in 2020.
John Lambert, 23, was arrested last week and charged by Southern District of New York prosecutors with wire fraud for having invented a lawyer persona named “Eric Pope” that he used to solicit legal work online. ALM reported last week that the fake firm website he created appeared to have attorney biographies cribbed from senior partners at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
‘Students for Trump’ wasorganizedin 2015 by two Campbell University students, Ryan Fournier and the above-described John Lambert, as a vehicle for students apparently enthralled by the possibility of a serial con man occupying the White House. Campbell, a school affiliated with North Carolina’s Baptist state convention, is a “conservative” campus (meaning the parents of the kids who attend are more than likely hard-core Republicans who have passed those belief systems down to their children). While most of their contemporaries at Campbell during the 2015-2016 campaign had already fallen in line behind Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz, Fournier and Lambert doggedly persisted on social media, developing an online platform that ultimately grew to realize 300 campus chapters and boasting tens of thousands of social media followers (some even outside the Russian federation). Eventually they were contacted by the Trump campaign which assisted them in expanding their online footprint. Lambert eventually wound up giving interviews on Fox News and co-hosting speaking engagements speaking with right-wing misogynst Milo Yiannopoulos.
The organization founded by these two was notably responsible for a campaign called “The Chalkening,” which urged students across the country to scrawl messages of support for Trump, such as “Build the Wall,” in chalk at various locations on college campuses. Since the primary message of the Trump campaign was one of exclusion, hate and racism, the effect of this effort, which was coordinated with the Trump campaign itself, was to create an atmosphere of intimidation among those whose racial background aligned with those whom Trump wished to “wall off” from America.
Minority students at several colleges, including Emory University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, spoke out against the campaign. They said the pervasive scrawling of “Trump 2016” and “Build the Wall” messages, invoking a candidate whose name had become synonymous with racially tinged attacks, represented a threat to their safety.
Fournier and Lambert described this reaction at the time as “funny.”
The fact that people were getting angry about it was funny, Mr. Fournier said. “If they’re afraid of chalk, something that can be washed away with water — I really don’t know what they’re doing on a university campus in the first place.”
The pair also complained that they were threatened and that this made them feel “horrible.” Despite this persecution, however, the two found ample time to give interviews, characterizing themselves as “some of the most informed Trump supporters on policy.”
“If we can create a healthy job market,” Mr. Lambert said, “a lot of these issues that face us” — such as skyrocketing student debt — “are going to solve themselves.” Mr. Fournier said he’s tired of seeing the United States lose jobs to countries like China, Mexico, and Vietnam, and he’s excited that Mr. Trump “is committed to bringing jobs back to America.”
Mr. Lambert also praised Trump for his supposed “honesty.”
If Mr. Trump is elected, “we can actually know the politician who is running the country,” Mr. Lambert said. “It’s no more smoke and mirrors.”
The fraud alleged to have been perpetrated by Lambert involved bilking over $16000 in fees from would-be clients to whom Lambert had represented himself as a practicing attorney.
…In some cases, Lambert, under the fictional identity of lawyer “Eric Pope,” simply abandoned his clients, authorities said.
As of Wednesday morning, a profile for “Pope and Dunn,” Lambert’s purported law firm, was still available on the freelancing website Upwork. The profile linked to a defunct website whose archived version from 2017 includes a snazzy logo and claims the firm “protected” more than $380 million for more than 2,000 clients. It also lists five “attorney” profiles that appear to have been partly copied from Cravath’s website.
One of the supposed lawyers, Howard Whittington, is described as helping banks “in a wide variety of domestic and international financial transactions, including financing of mergers, acquisitions, recapitalizations and spin‑offs, working capital financings and various special‑purpose financings.” That phrase appears word-for-word on the Cravath profile of retired partner James Cooper.
According to the New York Law Journal, Lambert was living in North Carolina while perpetrating the scam but “spoofed” New York telephone numbers to make himself appear legitimate. In one circumstance a consumer took out 10,000 from his 401k to pay the fictitious law firm.
Lambert is currently out on bail. He is scheduled to appear for hearing in New York on April 29th.
donny ferguson and dan BACKER
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https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/01/31/20642/meet-true-source-those-viral-donald-trump-tv-ads
:{
}:
Twitter is abuzz over
that urges viewers to call a toll-free number and “pledge your support to defend Donald Trump.”
“We need every Trump supporter to pick up the phone now!” the ad’s as he also slams “liberals in the Democratic Party” and the “crooked media” for attacking the newly inaugurated president.
The narrator continues: “They think they are going to destroy Trump’s presidency, but they are wrong! … Make your voice heard and help drain the swamp!”
The ad became too much for “@Jess4_RK,” an unverified Twitter user, then with a few hundred followers.
On Saturday, she tweeted a video of herself watching the ad on CNN and included this all-caps commentary: “WHAT IN THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH???????????????????????????WHEN HAS A PRESIDENT EVER DONE THIS???! IM SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Legions of people — including celebrities — began retweeting @Jess4_RK and commenting on her post, which garnered more than 30,000 retweets before she blocked public access to her account.
“WTF?!?!?” tweeted actress Debra Messing.
“This is just pathetic. Sounds like a commercial for aluminum siding you see on AMC in the middle of a Gunsmoke marathon,” snarked musician Mikel Jollett.
Many outraged commenters believe that Trump himself — or those within Trump’s inner circle — were responsible for the ad.
They are mistaken. Not only is there no connection to Trump, the ad is made possible by a group that employs a one-time Trump hater who is making a pretty penny.
Who’s behind it?
As noted in the fine print displayed in the ad’s final few seconds, the ad is sponsored by the “Committee to Defend the President.”
As it described itself in its own fine print, the Committee to Defend the President is a“project of Stop Hillary PAC” and “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” (On Saturday, Stop Hillary PAC officially changed its name to “The Committee to Defend the President,” according to federal records.)
Stop Hillary PAC, for its part, is a hybrid super PAC that formed on May 16, 2013 —more than two years before Trump announced his presidential run.
[pix]Guy Short, vice president of fundraising for political consulting firm Campaign Solutions, is a Stop Hillary PAC consultant and, according to an advertising disclosure document filed on January 16 with the Federal Communications Commission, “founder.”Campaign Solutions, it so happens, is also Stop Hillary PAC’s top vendor, according to federal records.
Short, who made headlines earlier this decade for his political work with ex-Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is never mentioned in Stop Hillary PAC’s public communications to supporters and potential donors. And he’s no unabashed supporter of Trump.
For example, Short last year served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention — and pledged to back Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican U.S. senator who ran against Trump. Short last year also called Trump a “liar,” telling Reuters in April that he “spent thousands of dollars of my own money campaigning to become a delegate because it's that important to make sure Donald Trump is NOT our nominee."
In an opinion piece published last year in the Colorado Statesman, Short further accused Trump of “spewing his usual fiction” and trafficking in “insults, lies, distortion and vulgarity.” He also lamented: “It’s very worrisome to wonder how a man like Trump would exercise the powers of the presidency.”
In an email Monday, Short noted that he and many other Republicans, including Trump’s general election campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, didn’t support Trump during the party’s primary.
“After the primary was over and my preferred candidate lost the nomination, I worked hard to defeat Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump — just like I have in the past five presidential cycles when my preferred candidate didn’t win,” Short said, adding that he contributed $5,000 to Trump’s transition committee. “The President has my full support. This is about as common in politics as its gets. I fail to see how this is newsworthy.”
Dan Backer— a Virginia-based lawyer and political consultant who serves as Stop Hillary PAC’s treasurer — confirmed Short has worked with Stop Hillary PAC since its inception in 2013.
“Guy regularly talks to media vendors on behalf of [the Committee to Defend the President] to ensure digital and non-digital communications are in sync,” Backer said. “He was tasked with point on this particular project.”
Initially, Stop Hillary PAC made its most notable mark on politics by feuding with the Federal Election Commission over whether it could even use its own name.
Federal law stipulates: “No unauthorized committee shall include the name of any candidate in its name." And while the FEC prodded Stop Hillary PAC to comply, it refused, even after Hillary Clinton in April 2013 announced she’d seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
Then, last year, Stop Hillary PAC raised eyebrows when it emailed fundraising pleas — signed by “Donald and Ted,” sans last names — at a time when Trump and Cruz were still battling to win the Republican presidential nomination.
The PAC later explained to the Center for Public Integrity that “Donald” is Donald Ferguson, the PAC’s political director, and “Ted” is Ted Harvey, its chairman.
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mma 419
Right-wing commentator Herman Cain previously sent sponsored emails touting the alleged benefits of investing in precious metals, including a message from a gold company which claimed that a return to the gold standard “could provide the biggest wealth building event of our lifetime.” Cain is President Donald Trump’s pick for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, which helps set the country’s monetary policy.
Cain was previously the chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a Republican presidential candidate. He dropped out of the race in December 2011 after several women reported him for sexual misconduct. The Washington Post reported that one of those women, Sharon Bialek, has said she is “willing to testify before the Senate Banking Committee if called upon. And she said Cain’s past behavior with women, including three others who have accused him of sexual harassment, should disqualify him from the Fed post.”
His financial opinions have also come under scrutiny. Washington Post reporter Matt O’Brien recently wrote that “Cain spent the Obama years advocating for a return to the gold standard” -- which ties currency to the value of gold -- and explained why adopting such a policy would be problematic. He added that “literally every top economist in the University of Chicago Business School’s poll of them would tell you that the gold standard is a bad idea.”
Cain has used his email list to send paid advertisements which push gold and the gold standard. He sent a sponsored email on December 24 for the precious metals company Advantage Gold. The email, which was written by Advantage Gold Managing Director Kirill Zagalsky, claimed that House Resolution 5404, which is titled “To define the dollar as a fixed weight of gold” (also known as the gold standard), “could provide the biggest wealth building event of our lifetime” and “could double or even triple your retirement.” (The bill had no cosponsors and did not pass in the now-concluded 115th Congress.) Here’s an excerpt from the email:
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Clicking on the link in the email leads the readers to a form requesting that they enter their name, email address, and telephone number so they can receive a “secret” book chapter regarding gold.
In 2015, Cain similarly sent a sponsored email touting the supposed benefits of investing in gold and silver. The email, which was written by precious metals company Goldco, carried the subject line: “Your IRA or 401K Is Now Worthless.” It then claimed: “Just a few months ago,governments and central banks from all over the world met at the G20 Summit to decide the fate of your savings account should the worlds banks crash. Their decision? Your savings account is up for grabs. … But by using 1 simple & legal IRS Loophole you can protect your retirement dollars by adding physical assets like gold & silver to your retirement account.”
Media Matters has documented Cain’s other email grifts in light of his potential seating on the Federal Reserve Board:
Cain promoted anti-vaxxer and medical conspiracy theories through email list
Cain promoted numerous now-virtually-worthless penny stocks through his mailing list
Cain frequently promoted scammy financial emails