Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) put out a statement calling on his former boss Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to resign immediately after allegations of bribery and abuse of his office.
Top Aides Want Texas Attorney General Investigated
“Top aides of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) have asked federal law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations of improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential crimes against the state’s top lawyer,” the Austin American Statesman reports.
“Their decisions to report possible illegal activity involving their employer represents a stunning development in an agency that prizes loyalty, particularly from within Paxton’s inner circle. It places a renewed spotlight on Paxton, who is already under indictment for alleged securities fraud.”
Paxton is also the co-chair of Lawyers for Trump.
Parscale Under Investigation for ‘Stealing’ Campaign Funds
“Donald Trump’s demoted campaign boss Brad Parscale is under investigation for ‘stealing’ between $25-$40 million from Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign,” the Daily Mail reports.
“The 44-year-old is also being investigated for ‘pocketing’ nearly another $10 million from the Republican National Committee.”
Meanwhile, Business Insider reports that “before Parscale’s meltdown on Sunday that landed him in police custody, his spending as a top Trump campaign official had been under scrutiny.”
“It’s unclear whether a campaign-spending audit and scrutiny over his luxurious purchases precipitated Parscale’s latest troubles.”
Trump Has 3,400 Conflicts of Interest
A new report says President Trump has engaged in “more than 3,400 conflicts of interest since taking office.”
Ex-GOP Congresswoman Under Investigation
Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is under federal investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly spending campaign money on personal trips and vacations for her and her family, CBS Miami reports.
“In recent weeks, former members of her staff have been subpoenaed to either provide records or appear before a grand jury regarding tens of thousands of dollars of expenditures by Ros-Lehtinen, including a 2017 trip to Walt Disney World with her children and grandchildren.”
Ex-Judge Calls Michael Flynn Reversal ‘Corrupt’
A retired judge appointed to review the Justice Department’s motion to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn said on Friday that calling the agency’s actions “irregular,” which he did in June, “would be a study in understatement,” Axios reports.
Said Judge John Gleeson: “In the United States, Presidents do not orchestrate pressure campaigns to get the Justice Department to drop charges against defendants who have pleaded guilty — twice, before two different judges — and whose guilt is obvious… There is clear evidence that this motion reflects a corrupt and politically motivated favor unworthy of our justice system.”
Justice Department Zeroing In On Longtime GOP Donor
“Federal prosecutors are preparing to charge longtime GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy in connection with efforts to influence the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests, a result of a sprawling, years-long investigation that involved a figure who helped raise millions for Donald Trump’s election and the Republican Party,” the Washington Post reports.
Trump’s Campaign Is Corrupting the Entire Government
Jonathan Chait: “Events are moving quickly, and we do not have perfect information about what all this means. It may add up to less than what it appears at the moment. Many times before, career officials or even political appointees have reeled back Trump’s most corrupt or dangerous orders.”
“But there is a pattern in all these events: They describe recent actions by the federal government; they all serve the purpose of enabling Trump’s election; and they all conscript the power of the federal government in novel ways.”
“It has the appearance of coordinated action — as if Trump has ordered every arm of the government to generate whatever tools can be placed at the disposal of his reelection.”
Ex-Ohio Speaker Faces 162 Charges
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R) and his allies face 162 violations of state campaign finance laws in connection with allegations of a nearly $61 million bribery scheme, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Wife of Ex-GOP Lawmaker Sentenced for Corruption
The wife of former Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was sentenced in U.S. court to eight months of home confinement after pleading guilty to misusing more than $150,000 in campaign funds in a corruption case that ended her husband’s career, the AP reports.
Government attorneys noted Margaret Hunter’s cooperation with the prosecution of her husband in arguing against putting her behind bars and for allowing her to serve the sentence at home.
Bonus Flashback of the Day
“The Clintons have sold out their own people for cold cash. They are grifters.”
— Steve Bannon, in a 2016 interview on Breitbart News Radio, while adding the Clintons were running “a money laundering operation.”
Bannon today was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors.
Trump Asked Ambassador to Get Him British Open
“The American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that President Trump had asked him to see if the British government could help steer the world-famous and lucrative British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland,” the New York Times reports.
“The ambassador’s deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, advised him not to do it, warning that it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain… But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try.”
Ohio Speaker Charged In $60 Million Bribery Scheme
A federal complaint charges that Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s (R) political operation accepted more than $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy Corp. to secure the company a $1.3 billion public bailout, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Householder, chief political aide Jeff Longstreth, and lobbyists Matt Borges, Neil Clark, and Juan Cespedes used the bribe money to expand the speaker’s political power and enrich themselves by millions of dollars through a ‘web’ of dark-money groups and bank accounts.”
Ohio House Speaker Arrested by Federal Agents
Police activity is being reported at Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s (R) farm and the U.S. Attorney’s office said it is holding a 2:30 p.m. press conference today related to $60 million in bribes paid to a state official, the Dayton Daily News reports.
A source said Householder and four others are in federal custody.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: “It’s not the first time the FBI has looked into Householder’s activities. In 2004, during the Republican’s first stint as speaker, the FBI opened an investigation into Householder after receiving an anonymous tip that the speaker and aides received kickbacks from vendors doing business with the Ohio House GOP’s campaign arm. That investigation closed in 2006 without any charges being filed.”
Ex-New York Speaker Will Finally Go to Prison
“Sheldon Silver (D), the once dominant New York State Assembly speaker who for nearly five years fended off prison after being convicted twice on corruption charges, lost a final bid for freedom on Monday when he was sentenced to 78 months in prison,” the New York Times reports.
Madigan Drawn Closer to Federal Corruption Probe
Chicago Tribune: “The extent of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s power over Democratic politics was evident from the muted responses of a number of members of his own House majority after federal prosecutors implicated the nation’s longest-serving statehouse leader as the beneficiary of a near-decadelong bribery and influence scheme conducted through Commonwealth Edison.”
“As federal subpoenas were delivered to Madigan’s large third-floor office at the State Capitol, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who deferred much of his first-term agenda to the speaker, said Madigan owed the public an explanation and should resign if allegations of wrongdoing are true. Pritzker’s remark was echoed by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, who heads the county Democratic Party, as well as by a few of Madigan’s Democrats in the House.”
Corruption In Plain Sight
David Frum says we have witnessed the “most conspicuous scandal in American history.”
“Although crucial details remain concealed, the core narrative has been visible from the start. An American private citizen worked with foreign spies to damage one presidential candidate and help the other. That president accepted the help. When caught, the private citizen lied. When the private citizen was punished, the president commuted his sentence.”
Naked Corruption
Lawfare: “President Trump’s commutation of the prison sentence of his long-time confidante Roger Stone is wholly unsurprising. Indeed, given Trump’s repeated teasing of the matter over the life of the case against Stone, it would have been something of surprise had he not intervened so that his felonious friend was spared time behind bars.”
“But the predictable nature of Trump’s action should not obscure its rank corruption. In fact, the predictability makes the commutation all the more corrupt, the capstone of an all-but-open attempt on the president’s part to obstruct justice in a self-protective fashion over a protracted period of time. That may sound like hyperbole, but it’s actually not. Trump publicly encouraged Stone not to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s investigation; he publicly dangled clemency as a reward for silence; and he has now delivered. The act is predictable precisely because the corrupt action is so naked.”
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