Here Comes the Bribe

From Vanity Fair (September 6, 2016):

Donald Trump has long boasted that his past political contributions have given him unique insight into the way Washington is rigged. “I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me,” he bragged during the first presidential debate. Trump’s candor won him fans, and burnished the billionaire’s claim to be the one candidate who both understands how the donor-donee relationship really works while not being beholden to donors himself.

Now, with just two months until Election Day, the Republican presidential nominee’s claims to have worked the system to his advantage are coming back to haunt him. Over the Labor Day weekend, Trump faced renewed questioning about why his family foundation had donated $25,000 to a political group supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013—in violation of federal rules preventing foundations from donating to political candidates—at the same time that her office was considering whether to investigate Trump University for alleged fraud. Bondi, according to reporting by the Associated Press in July, “personally solicited” the political contribution, just before she declined to move forward with the Trump University case.

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Just Put Your Lips Together and Blow

From THINK PROGRESS ECONOMY:

A new Stop Snitchin campaign to deter would-be informants, in this case against people speaking up against crimes on Wall Street, is quietly taking shape, this time far from the media’s eye.

Financial experts and academics agree that strong whistleblower regulations could have prevented the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and indeed much of the financial crisis if employees at firms engaged in fraudulent activity had spoken up early or had reported complex crimes to the appropriate authorities. Employees at firms at the center for the financial crisis, including troubled lender Countrywide, have cited intimidation and other illicit tactics as the reason few people spoke up as whistleblowers. Since the old whistleblower laws provided for weak legal protections for informants and relatively rare rewards, the Dodd-Frank financial reform law passed last year revamped the system with new rights for informants blowing the whistle on financial crimes.

Bank lobbyists and Fox News, however, have made such protections enemy number one.

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I wouldn’t vote for her, I love lucid!

(CNN) — American politics has a photogenic new face with a troubled past of bad finances, potential fraud and a flirtation with witchcraft.

A previously unknown conservative activist named Christine O’Donnell is a sudden political sensation and Washington is trying to figure out what to make of her.

“Certainly she has some explaining to do,” Republican Congressman Mike Pence said this week.

Chrissssiiiiiiie!! You got some ‘splainin’ to do!!!!

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The Grapes are Sour in Floriduhhh, Must Be the Heat

From The Miami Herald:

Two days after he lost the Republican nomination for governor, McCollum still refuses to support winner Rick Scott, and continues to raise questions about his former rival’s character.

In his first public appearance since conceding the race, McCollum said Thursday that he called Scott to “congratulate him and wish him well.” But he didn’t bury the hatchet in one of the nastiest primary’s in state history.

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Who should go to jail? Fill in the Blank(fein).

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its marketing of a subprime mortgage product, igniting a battle between Wall Street’s most powerful bank and the nation’s top securities regulator.

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Fraud Chicken

From THE BRAD BLOG:

Unreleased raw footage reviewed by AG Jerry Brown’s investigation was obtained from Rightwing activists O’Keefe and Giles in exchange for immunity from prosecution

Contradicting MSM coverage,  O’Keefe ‘never claimed he was a pimp,’ ‘did not act as a journalist’…

Echoing the recent report of the Kings County, NY, District Attorney who completed a five-month probe finding “no criminality” seen in video tapes secretly taken of low-level ACORN and ACORN Housing workers last year in New York, California’s Attorney General has now reached a similar conclusion regarding videos recorded in three different cities in the Golden State last Summer, according to a report released today which finds the workers “committed no violation of criminal law.”

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For the Love of Pete

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

Intrigue. Deceit. And forbidden love on a sun-kissed tropical island — with billions of dollars on the line.

No, this isn’t a Danielle Steel bodice-ripper. Or Mark Sanford’s latest confession about crossing “the ultimate line”. Instead, it’s the story of the tangled, high-stakes relationship between Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and accused Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford.

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Bye, Bye Bernie

From newsday:

Bernard Kerik, New York City’s disgraced former police commissioner, went to jail Tuesday after a judge revoked his bail for disclosing sealed trial information that could poison his upcoming corruption trial.

At the end of a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Robinson in White Plains, Kerik took off his purple tie, emptied his pockets and removed a ring from his finger, giving his possessions to his lawyer before marshals led him away.

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