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☆ RFK Jr. touted bitcoin, but said he wasn't an investor. Financial records show otherwise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, speaks during the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami Beach, Florida, US, on Friday, May 19, 2023. Since the conference, Kennedy has continued to tout bitcoin. Kennedy said at the Miami bitcoin conference that if he were to become president he would "make sure that your right to hold and use bitcoin is inviolable." Kennedy, 69, is the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s. In May, days before he took the stage the Miami bitcoin conference, Kennedy tweeted: "Cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin, along with other crypto technologies are a major innovation engine.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Virginia Canter, Cheryl Hines, Canter, Hines, I'm, Gamble, Mr, Joe Biden's, Gary Gensler, headwinds, Biden, John F, Kennedy's, Jack Dorsey, David Sacks, Chamath, Omeed Malik, bitcoin Organizations: Democratic, CNBC, Procter, Miami bitcoin, Securities, Exchange, SEC, Biden, Quinnipiac, Children's Health Defense, CHD, U.S Locations: Miami Beach , Florida, Miami, bitcoin, Washington, cryptocurrencies, U.S

The exemption is allowed so long as Super PACs stay independent of the campaign they are supporting. This year's record spending by outside groups has been fueled in part by massive transfers by political groups tied to the candidates. "We've never had anything quite like this before in campaign finance," said Saurav Ghosh, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center. 'DISASSOCIATED'The Trump and DeSantis campaigns did not respond to requests for comment, but both Super PACs said the transfers were legal. "Campaign Legal Center is a fringe leftist organization that exists to file frivolous complaints," said MAGA Inc spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer.

Persons: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis, MAGA, Stuart McPhail, We've, Saurav Ghosh, Alex Pfeiffer, Trevor Potter, John McCain, McPhail, Jason Lange, Nathan Layne, James Oliphant, Scott Malone, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Florida, Republican, Inc, Federal, Commission, MAGA Inc, Citizens, MAGA, Republicans, Democrats, Social Security, Trump, DeSantis, Super PAC, Thomson Locations: Florida, Washington, Wilton , Connecticut

☆ How Jeffrey Epstein turned the US Virgin Islands into a pedophile's playground and helped elect a sitting member of Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Court filings show how Jeffrey Epstein exerted power in the US Virgin Islands, two of which he owned. A financier worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Epstein owned two islands in the US Virgin Islands (there are roughly 50 islands overall). He had donated generously to Democratic politicians from the US Virgin Islands for years. With the assistance of the US Virgin Islands' first lady, Epstein navigated the territory's political waters unscathed. The court records show that, at least in the US Virgin Islands, he exerted influence with little friction.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Stacey Plaskett, —, Plaskett, Epstein, James, Lesley Groff, Scott Applewhite, Stacey, Thomas, didn't, Groff, maxed, Shawn, Michael Malone, Gabriel Lopez Albarran, Cecile de Jongh, John de Jongh Jr, de Jongh, Malone, De Jongh, Darren Indyke, Richard Kahn, Kahn, Groff didn't, Stuart McPhail, McPhail, Jeffrey Epstein's, Erika Kellerhals, Hi Jeffrey, Rick Friedman, Corbis, de, JPMorgan Chase, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's, Maxwell, She's, Mary Erdoes, Jamie Dimon's, Jes Staley, Epstein's thrall, Jongh, Denise George, Albert Bryan Jr, Bryan, Jed Rakoff, Emily Michot, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Trump's, De, Epstein doled, John de Jongh's, Kenneth Mapp, John de Jongh, John, wasn't Organizations: Virgin Islands, Service, Democratic, US, Islands, Democratic Congressional, AP, Federal, Commission, Democratic Party, Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, Southern Trust Co, de, Indyke, Democrat, Getty Images JPMorgan, US Virgin Islands, JPMorgan, Virgin, Hyperion, Barclays, Authorities, United States Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands Senate, Gov, New York Times, US Virgin, Deutsche Bank, U.S ., Miami Herald, Tribune, Getty, Federal Government, Mapp's PAC Locations: Virgin, Washington, Puerto Rico, Little St, Palm Beach , Florida, St, Croix, Manhattan, Islands, US Virgin, New York, U.S, U.S . Virgin Islands, Jongh, Tortola

☆ Clarence Thomas: Appellate judge defends justice in new book, rejects 'pot shots' at Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A federal appeals court judge previously on short lists for the Supreme Court is taking the rare step to broadly and publicly reject allegations that Justice Clarence Thomas has been improperly influenced by lavish gifts provided by a conservative billionaire, dismissing “pot shots” at the Supreme Court in general. Thapar this past week released a new book about Thomas entitled “The People’s Justice,” in which he explores the justice’s favored judicial philosophy of originalism. “You can judge their works, and what they do, against what they’ve done in the past,” Thapar told CNN. Ethics and financial disclosuresThapar rejects suggestions that Thomas should have disclosed the hospitality provided by Crow on annual financial disclosure forms. They have called Justice Thomas ‘the cruelest justice,’ ‘stupid,’ and even an ‘Uncle Tom’ a traitor to his race,” Thapar writes.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Amul Thapar, Thapar, Thomas, originalism, Thomas ’, Thomas ’ originalism, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Harlan Crow’s, ” Thapar, Ginni, Crow, ” Virginia Canter, ” “, ” Canter, hadn’t, “, –, ”, Thomas’s, Thomas ‘, ’, Tom ’, Elizabeth Wydra, ” Wydra Organizations: CNN, Eastern, Eastern District of, ProPublica, Citizens, Crow, Administrative, Center Locations: Cincinnati, Eastern District, Eastern District of Kentucky, Washington

☆ A luxury project in Oman, which includes a Trump hotel and golf course, is being built by migrants earning as little as $340 a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Migrant workers in Oman are constructing a new luxury "city" that includes a Trump-branded hotel. They are laboring in extreme heat for as little as $340 a month, The New York Times reported. Critics of the project note that Oman is not regarded as a safe and welcoming environment for foreign labor. "Migrant workers are often not paid their full wages, forced to work excessively long hours, and denied adequate food and living conditions," according to a 2021 report from Human Rights Watch. Over a thousand migrant workers, many hailing from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, work 10-hour shifts before retiring to trailers that line the under-construction city.

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, of Oman —, Donald Trump, Trump's, Jared Kushner, Virginia Canter Organizations: Trump, New York Times, watchdogs, Service, Trump Organization, —, White, Getty, Human Rights Watch, Workers Locations: Oman, Saudi, of Oman, Washington, Muscat, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

☆ Trump’s Indictment Is Unavoidably Political
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the United States of America v. Donald J. Trump is obviously not a typical case. Perhaps its most unusual aspect is the reality that the defendant could become the president of the United States before the case has finished. For that reason, this case is both legal and unavoidably political. It is also the American public, who will decide whether Trump ultimately has the power to overrule a verdict. “But making a public case is part of what’s going on here.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ” Noah Bookbinder, ” Organizations: Justice Department, American, Citizens Locations: United States, America, Washington, what’s

☆ State leaders targeting climate investing have quiet stakes in the fossil fuel industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Fitzpatrick is among a group of powerful Republican state leaders who have waged similar fights against environmentally conscious investing as they held personal investments in, or saw political support from, the fossil fuel industry. Some of the state officials have received campaign donations from fossil fuel companies or their executives. "He has never 'had private briefings tied back to the fossil fuel industry' nor does he personally direct or execute trades himself. Hegar co-signed an open letter in 2021 with other state financial officers that was addressed to the U.S. banking industry and defended the fossil fuel industry. He also co-signed the 2022 letter to Biden from a slate of other state financial officers defending the fossil fuel industry.

On that unredacted form, Kacsmaryk reported owning about $2.9 million in stock in the Florida-based supermarket company Publix. Federal judges are only required to report financial holdings in ranges, and don’t have to provide exact figures. One possible source of the Publix stock Kacsmaryk reported in 2017 is the judge’s grandmother. In 2020 and 2021, less than 4% of officials required to file judicial financial disclosures requested redaction, according to reports from the Administrative Office of the US Courts. In any case, experts said, the judge’s redacted report prevents transparency that litigants deserve.

An Insider review found that his company has sold to foreign governments, including a $228 million dollar contract. What Mills didn't advertise was Pacem's munitions contracts with foreign governments. The company's chief legal officer Joseph Schmitz said all of Pacem's foreign munitions sales are approved by the Department of State. Mills's influence over American military spending while having ties to a munitions company poses the potential for conflicts of interest, an ethics watchdog said. In Congress, Mills sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, which oversee military spending and foreign weapons sales.

☆ Google stacks its legal team with former DOJ employees as it faces antitrust cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Former DOJ employees make up both its in-house team and members of outside counsel firms it employs. Google also uses four different outside counsel firms loaded with nearly 20 former DOJ officials, many of whom worked in the Antitrust Division at various times. The DOJ made the accusation in a legal filing after Epic Games raised the concern in its own antitrust litigation against Google. Those firms collectively have around 20 former DOJ employees on their staff, many of them working in antitrust. For example, DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter previously worked for clients including Microsoft and Yelp which have complained of Google's allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

☆ House weaponization panel seeks to eclipse January 6 committee's $18M+ budget despite rocky start
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House weaponization panel chair Jim Jordan is already seeking more money from leadership. Jordan requested a $19 million budget, which is roughly what the January 6 select committee spent. His pitch for an additional $17 million in resources, first reported by Axios, includes doubling his initial $2 million budget and carving out a $15 million "reserve fund" the new political investigation unit can draw from as needed. Between the select committee disbanding after releasing its politically damning final report and House Republicans rearranging things on every committee after narrowly reclaiming control of the chamber last fall, tracking every select committee financial statement has gotten tricky. Sherman scolded House GOP leaders for demanding budget cuts elsewhere, but then throwing money at poorly received pet projects like the "flameout that the weaponization committee just experienced with its so-called whistleblowers hearing."

☆ Donald Trump releases song with Capitol riot prisoners called 'Justice for All'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump has released a song with a choir of men imprisoned over the Capitol riot. The prisoners sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" while Trump recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Proceeds from the song are due to go to the families of January 6 defendants. The song "Justice for All" by Donald J Trump and the J6 Prison Choir was released on Friday and is now available on streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. The song intersperses the choir singing "The Star-Spangled Banner," with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and ends with the prisoners chanting "U-S-A!

☆ GOP lawmakers vilify ESG moves at BlackRock, Vanguard but take their money nonetheless
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But Republicans have vilified BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street for leading the push on Wall Street to promote clean energy and what GOP lawmakers often title "left-wing social priorities." Still, many Republican lawmakers received money from the very firms their party is criticizing. It was the third election cycle in a row that both lawmakers took donations from the firm's PAC. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., received $10,000 from BlackRock and a combined $6,500 from Vanguard and State Street in the 2022 cycle. Huizenga's spokesman Brian Patrick said the donations won't affect the lawmaker's position on ESG issues.

☆ Trump and Kushner's Saudi Ties Are an Ethical Minefield: Watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Weeks after leaving office, Jared Kushner obtained a $2 billion investment from the Saudi government. The Saudi support came despite the kingdom's own financial advisers urging against any investment in Kushner's new company, citing the "inexperience" of its top brass. Let's start with Jared Kushner before we get into the LIV Golf situation. You have John Bolton, Trump's own national security advisor, making it very clear that you had somebody, like Jared — and President Trump, apparently — working to promote their business interests. Trump, not only did he keep his company, the Trump Organization, but he's a transactional president, right?

☆ Josh Hawley needles Nancy Pelosi by renaming his congressional stock trading ban bill after her
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Josh Hawley is trying to taunt Nancy Pelosi by renaming a stock trading ban bill. His PELOSI Act is a retread of a proposal that garnered no support in the last Congress. House lawmakers recently reintroduced a bipartisan stock trading proposal with broader backing. Pelosi famously pushed back against any stock trading prohibitions during the 117th Congress — "We're a free market economy." Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas have reintroduced a more comprehensive stock trading ban bill (H.R.

☆ George Santos hints that $500k 'personal' loan to campaign wasn't his own money, raising campaign-finance violation concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The amended filings reveal that a $500k "personal" loan to his 2022 campaign wasn't personally funded. Experts say the amended filings add to the mystery of Santos' questionable financial disclosures. The initial filing showed a box for "personal funds of the candidate" was checked on the entry for the hefty campaign loan, whereas the amended filing leaves that box empty. Campaign-finance experts told The New York Times that the revised filings only add to the mystery of Santos' financial disclosures. Brett G. Kappel, an elections lawyer who focuses on campaign finance and ethics, told The Times that the amended filings raise the possibility of illegality.

☆ Republicans said they chose Trump's DC hotel out of convenience. They've spent almost nothing there since he sold it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP officials, politicians and PACS spent millions at Trump International Hotel in DC. Insider corroborated its findings through examining FEC spending records. The Trump International Hotel, housed in DC's famed Old Post Office building, closed its doors in May last year, and reopened as the Waldorf Astoria a couple of weeks later. Workers remove the signage for the Trump International Hotel on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Since the start of Trump's presidency, GOP figures spent around $2.5 million at the hotel while he owned it, FEC records show.

[1/3] U.S. Representative George Santos (R-NY) departs his office to attend a House vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 12, 2023. "If 142 people ask for me to resign, I will resign," he said. Santos has repeatedly said he will not resign, even as pressure has grown within his own party for him to do so. On Wednesday, more than a dozen Republicans officials, many of them from Santos' New York City-area district, demanded the newly elected congressman's resignation. An online petition calling for Santos' resignation has been started by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit ethics watchdog organization.

☆ George Santos took campaign donation from an Italian who was caught smuggling undocumented migrants into the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Santos accepted a campaign contribution from an Italian people smuggler, per The Daily Beast. Rocco Oppedisano was caught trying to smuggle 14 undocumented migrants into the US in 2019. Oppedisano's family runs a restaurant to which Santos' campaign has made some unusual payments. The donation also raised the spotlight on other questionable financial conduct related to Santos, Oppedisano, and Oppedisano's family members. Rocco Oppedisano's brother Joseph, and niece Tina, run an Italian restaurant in Little Neck, New York, The Beast reported.

☆ George Santos campaign paid staffer nearly $100k to pretend to be Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff and get money from donors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A fundraiser for George Santos allegedly posed as Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff, per CNBC. According to FEC filings, the fundraiser was paid almost $100k by Santos' campaign. According to CNBC, Santos' campaign paid Miele almost $50,000 for fundraising during the embattled lawmaker's failed 2020 run for Congress. Meyer, McCarthy's office, and Santos' campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. The non-partisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center (CLC) also filed a complaint with the FEC on Monday, alleging that Santos and his 2022 campaign violated campaign-finance laws by engaging in a "straw donor scheme."

☆ 'We were duped': How George Santos raised money from wealthy GOP donors while lying about his resume
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

His name was actually Sam Miele, and he worked for Santos raising money for his campaign, according to one GOP donor who contributed to Santos' campaign. In raising money for his campaign, Santos fed donors the same falsehoods he gave voters, campaign fundraisers and others say. "We were duped," said a Republican political strategist close to GOP donors and the leadership of the Republican Jewish Coalition. The RJC is considered the most prominent group of Jewish Republican donors, making gatherings such as the Hanukkah event key networking platforms for politicians. Vallone gave $17,900 in August between Santos' campaign, his leadership PAC and a joint fundraising committee, according to FEC records.

☆ How Anti-Abortion Activists Bought Access to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

In exchange for as little as a few thousand dollars in contributions to the nonprofit, these people received easy access to events where Supreme Court justices would be. Supreme Court Historical society trustee Jay Sekulow, center, represented President Trump during the latter's impeachment trial in 2020. Anti-abortion advocates cheer in front of the Supreme Court after the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was announced in 2014. Alito did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in the Supreme Court Historical Society. Supreme Court justices, though, aren't even required to stay within those weak guardrails because no code of ethics governs justices' behavior.

☆ Jan. 6 report Trump cameos and criminal referrals may impact 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Noah Bookbinder | Noah Bookbinder Is The Executive Director Of Citizens For Responsibility | Ethics In Washington. He Is A Former Federal Corruption Prosecutor. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

On Monday, the Jan. 6 committee made history by approving a criminal referral for former President Donald Trump. Today, the committee will release its full report on the insurrection — hundreds of pages packed with evidence, witness statements and bombshells. It is crucial that courts and secretaries of state simultaneously remove Trump from the presidential ballot in 2024. While federal prosecutors should move forward with investigating and charging Trump for criminal insurrection, it is crucial that courts and secretaries of state simultaneously remove Trump from the presidential ballot in 2024. In fact, it’s been used to disqualify someone from office for participating in the very insurrection Trump incited.

☆ Incoming GOP congressman George Santos appears to have lied about his job history, educational background, and even possibly his home address. But House Republicans have no incentive to stop him from
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A recent New York Times report details how Representative-elect George Santos misrepresented his past. The avenues the GOP can take to address Santos are few and unlikely. Santos' attorney, Joseph Murray, responded to the New York Times' allegations by attacking the publication and using a misattributed Winston Churchill quote. Schaub also noted that Republicans in Congress could deny Santos committee assignments, an action that could affect Santos' future reelection chances. "According to the New York Times story, none of those were verifiable.

☆ How FTX founder SBF and friends quietly donated to political groups and relatives
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is led by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police force following his arrest. The disgraced CEO donated to his brother Gabe Bankman-Fried's nonprofit organization, Guarding Against Pandemics. Alameda Research donated more than $12 million to Gabe Bankman-Fried's nonprofit since late last year, according to California state campaign finance records. California state campaign finance records show Alameda donated $5 million to Guarding Against Pandemics last year and $7.1 million this year. Guarding Against Pandemics also paid political communications and media company GMMB just over $690,000 last year for advertising and production, its tax form says.

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