President Donald Trump’s disturbingly corrupt fund to disburse nearly $1.8 billion to traitorous insurrectionists and other Trump loyalists who tried to steal the 2020 election may be on the rocks, as even the sycophantic Republicans in Congress know that letting Trump pay people who broke the law is political suicide.
But what if I told you there are people who actually deserve some of the $1.776 billion that Trump “negotiated” with himself to give out to people who have been the target of a weaponized Department of Justice?
None of them are the domestic terrorists who beat up law enforcement officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Nor are they Trump allies who conspired with him to steal the election. Those people were correctly prosecuted for their conduct, and were not victims of the DOJ, as Trump and other Republican monsters have deludedly convinced themselves.
Instead, the people who deserve compensation are the perceived “enemies” that Trump has either threatened with criminal investigations or actually indicted for the apparent “crime” of not supporting Trump.
They are also the average Americans who Trump’s out-of-control and actually weaponized DOJ has tried to jail for the non-crime of protesting his immigration goons or daring to be born into a minority group.
The following list is not exhaustive. In fact, you may think of others that I missed, and I encourage you to list them in the comments. (For example, New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) could easily have made this list, but for the sake of brevity were left out.)
Nevertheless, here are just some of the people who should get some of Trump’s slush fund.
1. Maureen and James Comey
Former FBI Director James Comey and his daughter, Maureen Comey, have both been the target of Trump’s weaponized DOJ.
James has now been indicted by Trump’s DOJ twice—both on bogus charges.
The first indictment was on a bullshit charge of lying to Congress about the Russia investigation. That indictment was thrown out after a judge ruled that the incompetent attorney who sought the charges—now-former United States Attorney Lindsay Halligan—was illegally appointed, and thus the indictment she obtained was also unlawful.
Yet Trump never gave up his desire to punish Comey, and the former FBI director was indicted again in April on yet a new and even dumber fake charge.
The second indictment was over an Instagram post in which Comey published an image of the numbers “86 47” made out of seashells in the sand. The DOJ ridiculously claimed that the image constituted a “threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.”
Even Republicans say the charge is bogus, and amounts to a violation of Comey’s First Amendment right to free speech. Like the first charge, this too will likely be thrown out.
Nevertheless, the weaponized DOJ is costing Comey time and money to fight Trump’s malicious prosecutions, and thus he should be compensated by the slush fund Trump created.
Meanwhile, Maureen was unjustly fired from her job as a federal prosecutor—where she successfully prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell—simply because she shares the same last name as her father.
She is suing the DOJ for her wrongful termination. And she should win.
2. New York Attorney General Letitia James
As New York’s top prosecutor, James successfully prosecuted Trump on charges that he falsified business records in the Empire State, which will ensure that Trump in perpetuity will be known as a convicted felon.
And that enraged Trump, who sought revenge on James by indicting her on made-up charges of mortgage fraud.
Like Comey’s indictment, James’ charges were thrown out by a judge, as the same dumb and illegally appointed prosecutor obtained the indictment.
Unlike Comey, James has not been indicted again—at least as of yet. Still, for having to challenge her indictment, James should be awarded compensation for her time and money.
3. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton
Bolton served in Trump’s first administration as his national security adviser. But he left on bad terms and has since accused Trump in a book of being a malignant narcissist who abused the power of the presidency and gave aid and comfort to America’s enemies.
That book riled up Trump, who not only criticized Bolton but sought his indictment over the very book that made Trump so mad. The DOJ accused Bolton of taking classified information to write the book.
This case has not been thrown out, and Bolton has vowed to fight the charges in court.
“I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power,” Bolton said after the charges were brought.
4. Former Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell
Trump sicced sloshed sycophant Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who he appointed as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on Powell likely as a way to get Powell to resign early.
Pirro said that the DOJ was investigating Powell over cost overruns for renovations at the Federal Reserve Bank. Trump wanted Pirro to launch the bogus investigation because he loathed Powell, who did not bend to Trump’s will on lowering interest rates.
Indeed, Trump threatened to fire Powell multiple times. But when the stock market reacted negatively to Trump’s attempts to nix the Federal Reserve’s independence, he instead took the mob-boss route of threatening to make Powell’s life so miserable that Powell would view resigning as a better move than sticking around.
Powell, however, held firm and stuck around while he challenged the probe.
And one lone GOP senator’s protest ultimately helped push the DOJ to drop the probe into Powell. But for the stress of being the target of an unjust investigation, Powell should be compensated.
5. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Not content with ousting just Powell, Trump also decided to go after Federal Reserve Board members who also do not support his desire to lower interest rates at a time of high inflation.
Last August, Trump tried to fire Cook, accusing her of the same fake mortgage fraud as he charged Letitia James with. Cook, however, refused to step down. She challenged her firing in court, and won. And for that time and effort, she should be compensated.
6. Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Perhaps no one has been treated worse than Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom Trump falsely accused of being a criminal and wrongly deported him to a torture prison in El Salvador.
Garcia successfully fought the accusations and made his way back to the United States.
But since his return, he has been tormented by Trump, who has continued to falsely accuse him of being a criminal. And Trump’s immigration goons have continued their effort to try to deport Garcia to horrible places where he would face extreme danger, although a judge finally dismissed his bogus human smuggling charges on Friday.
His treatment amounts to torture, and he should be compensated for his suffering.
7. ChongLy Thao
Trump’s incompetent immigration goons created a lasting and disturbing image when they marched ChongLy Thao out of his home in freezing temperatures wearing just boxer shorts and a blanket after they wrongly confused Thao of being a wanted undocumented immigrant.
Thao was, however, not the person ICE was seeking. Instead, he is a law-abiding naturalized U.S. citizen who was ripped from his home by authorities who didn’t even have a warrant. Even worse, the person ICE was seeking to arrest was already in jail.
Thao has said he will sue the government for violating his civil rights. And he should win.
8. D.C. sandwich thrower Sean Dunn
Sean Dunn became a pop culture icon, after he was captured on video hurling a sandwich at federal immigration officers trying to abduct people off the street in the nation’s capital.
Trump’s Department of Justice charged him with felony assault for “forcefully” throwing the sandwich at officers.
“I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony,” former Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that is somehow real and not an Onion article. “This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ. You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
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