by Rajan Laad
Getting rich and immune from prosecution in so many ways...
Just yesterday, Fox News reported about top House Democrats such as Maxine Waters and James Clyburn generously paying family members from campaign funds.
Karen Waters, Maxine’s daughter received more than $1.2 million from Waters’s campaign for the past two decades.
What was Karen's function? Her firm, ‘Progressive Connections’ organized ‘slate-mailing operations’ to bolster Maxine's re-election in 2003. A Federal Election Commission (FEC) notice filed by Citizens for Waters shows that Karen Waters received a total of $16,000 from the committee this quarter for "slate mailer management fees."
Slate mailing is a practice where campaign pamphlets with a list of candidates and the issues they stand for are mass-mailed to voters. Critics have branded them deceptive and misleading.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Waters campaign had paid $1 million to other family members for the past eight years.
Next is House Majority Whip James Clyburn.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings revealed that Clyburn paid his grandson Walter A.C. Reed a sum of $21,000 in campaign funds since April 1. Reed also received a $500 "travel stipend" in August and a $223.87 payment for "vehicle repair" in September from the campaign. The 'Friends of Jim Clyburn' a PAC for Clyburn paid Reed $75,000 since October 2021.
Clyburn’s campaign also paid $7,500 in rent in August to 49 Magnolia Blossom LLC, a firm controlled by Clyburn’s daughter, Jennifer Clyburn Reed. Clyburn’s campaign has paid Magnolia Blossom more than $70,000 since March 2020.
Clyburn's campaign also distributed more than $20,000 in checks to Angela Hannibal, Clyburn’s daughter, for canvassing, truck rentals, catering and voter outreach programs between April 2018 and October 2019, according to his committee's records.
Angela's husband, Cecil, has also received money from the campaign, pocketing nearly $70,000 for community and district outreach and travel reimbursements between 2010 and 2012.
FEC records also revealed that Clyburn has paid over $260,000 to family members since 2010 via the ‘Friends of Jim Clyburn' PAC.
Next is Democrat Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes.
FEC records also revealed that Hayes paid her son David Crenshaw $18,283 and her daughter Asia Clermont $ $21,299 from her campaign funds since entering Congress in 2019.
Hayes’s campaign committee “Friends of Jahana Hayes” paid $15,000 to Crenshaw and $2,551 to Hayes’ daughter, Asia Clermont.
Hayes also reimbursed herself $250 dollars for “petty cash” perhaps violating the FEC regulation about petty cash reimbursements.
Now for the Squad.
Socialist AOC’s campaign paid her boyfriend handsomely for "services." AOC also engaged in questionable fundraising practices.
Ilhan Omar paid $2.9 million of her campaign fund to her husband’s political consulting firm. The payments were for advertising, campaign mailings, consulting, and travel, according to the campaign records.
It isn't just family members, Democrats never fail to repay their campaign donors upon being elected.
Last month, the New York Post reported that Gov. Kathy Hochul granted a government contract to a New Jersey-based firm called Digital Gadgets for COVID-19 tests that charged twice the price other test vendors were offering.
Digital Gadgets was paid around $637 million for millions of tests by Hochul’s administration. Digital Gadgets also donated nearly $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign.
Hochul backed the Penn Station redevelopment project that could offer more than $1 billion in tax breaks to Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate investment firm. The head of Vornado, Steve Roth, donated $68,700 to Hochul’s campaign.
Hochul also backed an $850 million, taxpayer-funded deal to build a $1.4 billion stadium for the Buffalo Bills. The deal includes a potential contract with Delaware North, the major food concessionaire at the current Buffalo Bills’ stadium.
Some media outlets reported that Kathy's husband, Bill Hochul, is senior vice president and general counsel at Delaware North. Bill eventually recused himself from Delaware North’s work in New York.
The above are blatant examples of conflict of interest and corruption.
But since the violators are Democrats, there isn’t much media outrage.
The examples provide an insight into the functioning of the self-serving, self-promoting, self-preserving, corrupt, and nepotistic Washington Democrat Establishment.
The establishment enables and supports its members in exchange for their loyalty.
The establishment also facilitates shady quid pro quo among members.
A prime example is the Clyburn-Biden deal.
Clyburn's endorsement of Joe Biden for president ahead of Super Tuesday revived Biden’s faltering ‘campaign’ and caused his victory in South Carolina in the Super Tuesday states a few days later. This helped Biden clinch the Democrat presidential nomination. In exchange, Biden’s agencies ignore Clyburn's misuse of his campaign funds. Biden appointed Clyburn’s daughter to lead a federal group supposedly targeting southeastern U.S. poverty.
These above-mentioned instances are the few that have come to light, there have to be myriad other cases that are not even detectable. Perhaps campaigns slyly pay proxies who then reroute the money to relatives.
Now about campaigns.
Every elected or aspiring to be elected representative runs a campaign. The word 'campaign' makes it sound like a small group of people, squeezed into a tiny office littered with campaign banners and other paraphernalia. This is light years away from the truth.
Most modern campaigns, especially those of politicians of experience are multimillion-dollar organizations and are a front for legalized corruption.
The donor seeking favors contributes generously to a campaign. The representative returns the favor of passing laws or removing regulations or granting government contracts that benefit the donor.
Over the years, the art of lawful fraud, (the words may seem like an oxymoron), has been mastered.
Politicians hire their family members, relatives, and friends for their campaigns and give them impressive job titles that justify their handsome salaries. At times, contracts are awarded to firms run by friends or family members. Personal expenses are billed to the campaign
They do not even have to be ‘employed.’
Hunter Biden's ‘art’ was sold for $500,000, a price that the works of masters receive. The buyers of these Hunter Biden "masterpieces" are obviously anonymous, hence we will never know what they received in exchange. Hunter also struck myriad shady business deals in China and Ukraine while his father was vice president.
At times, retired and active politicians receive lucrative speaking fees or publishing contracts, or podcast deals. The institutes or publishing firms or podcast platforms offering these deals are mere fronts. It is perhaps the unknown investors of the outfits who are paying the bribes.
While regular people suffer due to inflation and high gas prices, politicians, their family members, and cronies remain insulated.
While regular people could be rendered unemployed due to the faltering economy or COVID lockdowns or poor performance, allies and relatives of politicians are always shielded.
It is obvious why they stood in unison against President Trump for presenting a challenge to this gravy train.
What is worse is that these talentless parasites who feed off this establishment have the audacity to preach morality and insult regular people calling them bigots and fascists.
This two-tier system causes people to be very cynical and suspicious about government.
They often have absolute power with absolutely no accountability.
Worse, the likes of Clyburn, Waters, and AOC are expected to win during the midterms.
This is probably caused George Bernard Shaw to once remark, paraphrasing Samuel Johnson, that politics is the last resort for the scoundrel.
Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Rajan Laad
Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/10/top_democrats_enrich_themselves_and_their_family_members_with_campaign_funds.html
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