Tag: george soros
Applauded By Antisemites, Trump Posts Thuggish 'RICO' Threat Against Soros

Applauded By Antisemites, Trump Posts Thuggish 'RICO' Threat Against Soros

President Donald Trump is ramping up his legal crusade against his perceived enemies, this time targeting billionaire George Soros and his son.

In a Wednesday Truth Social post, and seemingly unprompted, Trump threatened to slap them with racketeering charges—a legal weapon historically used against members of organized crime—under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO Act.

The move fits neatly into his playbook: criminalize critics, intimidate opponents, and transform federal law enforcement into a blunt instrument of personal vengeance.

In his post, Trump claimed Soros and his son should face prosecution for supporting nationwide protests.

“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America,” he wrote, offering no evidence for his claim, as usual.

Soros has long been the right’s favorite villain, blamed for everything from protests to campaigns opposing the Supreme Court. He has been turned into a caricature by the far right: a Jewish philanthropist portrayed as the mastermind of an imagined global plot to destroy “Western civilization.” Antisemitism is baked into the narrative, but that hasn’t slowed Trump or his allies one bit.

In 2018, Trump alleged that demonstrators were “paid for by Soros and others.” During the Women’s March, Black Lives Matter protests, and even recent town halls, Trump has dismissed grassroots dissent as the work of Soros-backed “paid ‘troublemakers.’” And the conspiracy theories resurfaced this summer, when MAGA social media accounts pushed images of stacked pallets of bricks as supposed proof that Soros was arming Los Angeles demonstrators against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump piled on, branding them “Paid Insurrectionists.”

Now he’s arguing such paranoid claims are sturdy enough to justify criminal charges.

“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE,” Trump posted on Wednesday. “Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends.”

And then, like a mob boss delivering a warning, Trump added: “Be careful, we’re watching you!”

The Open Society Foundations, the Soros philanthropy network, quickly fired back, saying it does “not support or fund violent protests,” and blasting Trump’s claims about George and Alex Soros as “outrageous.”

Ironically, Trump himself is familiar with RICO: He was initially charged under the statute in the Georgia election interference case. Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from trying to flip the script and wield it against his foes.

Predictably, Trump’s allies are cheering him on. Tech billionaire and noted antisemite Elon Musk weighed in on Wednesday morning.

“High time action was taken against Soros directly,” he said.

This latest broadside comes as Trump escalates his vendetta against former allies who have turned critics. For example, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, found himself in Trump’s crosshairs over the decade-old “Bridgegate” scandal.

“For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!” Trump wrote on Sunday. He later deflected the question of a possible probe into Christie, telling reporters that the decision was Attorney General Pam Bondi’s to make. This is a worrying sign since Bondi has aimed to protect the president rather than uphold the independence of the Justice Department.

Other perceived political enemies of Trump have been caught up in his wrath recently. John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, saw his home and office raided last week. Trump publicly claimed he had nothing to do with the order, but he bragged he could have given it himself as “the chief law enforcement officer” of the nation.

It’s a clear pattern: Trump floats the threats and leaves his DOJ to do the dirty work.

While the president insists he’s no authoritarian, he’s acting like the textbook definition of a dictator. The result is something darker: a justice system warped into his own form of mob rule.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Rudy Giuliani

Kooky Giuliani Claims George Soros, 92, Personally Tried To Kill Him At Airport

George Soros is a 92-year-old Jewish Hungarian immigrant who escaped the Nazi occupation of his homeland, and who huddled in a basement during the 1945 Russian siege of Budapest before escaping to France and then England. While enrolling as a student, Soros worked as a waiter and as a railway porter and has often said he was encouraged into a life of philanthropy when he received £40 from a Quaker charity with the help of a teacher at his school. In 1956, already a successful investment banker, Soros moved to the United States on what he expected to be a temporary assignment for his British company. He’s been in the U.S. ever since.

Oh, and apparently he tried to kill Rudy Giuliani on the tarmac of an airport in Ukraine.

We know this because, as The Washington Post reports, Giuliani laid out the murder scheme on his podcast. Giuliani was back in Ukraine along with One America News “personality” Chanel Rion in 2019. That ran afoul of Soros’ infinite network of agents, who apparently had the power to “cause trouble.” That sent Giuliani in search of escape by private plane only to learn at the last moment (dum dum dum) that Soros owned the airport! As the plane is just getting ready to leave the runway, a sinister vehicle pulls up with Soros himself inside.

GIULIANI: “It’s like right out of Casablanca, and his car—and, actually, she saw him.

Thankfully, Giuliani and Rion escape at the last moment from Soros’ evil clutches. Though Giuliani thinks they have a picture of the car. Maybe.

This particular trip to Ukraine came months after Donald Trump had tried to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into lying about then-candidate Joe Biden. Giuliani's claims about Biden’s actions in Ukraine had already been debunked repeatedly by that point, but when you’re knowingly trying to get people to lie, what difference does a debunking make?

We’ve all seen Rudy Giuliani. It makes perfect sense that he might be terrified of a physical confrontation with a 92-year-old. But of course, it’s pretty easy to confirm that Soros wasn’t there, doesn’t own the airport, and also doesn’t control the Ukrainian government. None of that matters, anyway.

Here are Donald Trump and dozens of other Republicans claiming that New York Attorney General Alvin Bragg is controlled by Soros.

Here’s Texas Gov. Greg Abbott claiming that Soros is trying to take over the government of Texas.

Here’s former Rep. David Brat claiming that Act Blue is a “Soros-funded resistance group.”

Here’s a San Diego prosecutor accusing Soros of “funding anti-fascists to increase crime,” and specifically of being behind “antifa” protestors who brawled with Trump supporters at a rally.

Here’s Candace Owens insisting that Soros owns Black Lives Matters and pays people to protest.

Here’s The New York Post declaring Soros “the most dangerous man in America” and a whole stack of people, starting with Breitbart, claiming that Soros promised to “destroy America.”

If that last one sounds like it should be the capper for all this, hang on, because transcripts of testimony released in January feature one of the founders of QAnon declaring that the right has been duped by … well, take it away, Jim Watkins:

A: Well, QAnon is a boogeyman that's invented by the propaganda wing of likely—you know, I don't know who's running it, but I know that George Soros finances it.

Watkins even insists there is a secret paragraph that if included in a story will guarantee a check from Soros. Frustratingly, he doesn’t share that paragraph.

But wait! That’s not all.

Here’s Alex Jones also claiming that Soros and the Southern Poverty Law Center hired actors to "dress up as white supremacists" and stage the deadly racist march in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Seriously, it does go on. Including into claims that Soros was secretly a Nazi. Because of course it does. He’s also been tied to the Rothschilds, the Freemasons, and the Illuminati, as well as that big Jewish shadow government that the right wing knows is out there.

Funding criminals, creating QAnon, running antifa and Black Lives Matter, just generally being very dangerous and Jewish … Soros is in more places than Savoir Faire. (You don’t have to be as old as Soros to get that joke, but it helps.)

Which is all pretty amazing for a guy who up until 2003 was as likely to donate to a Republican candidate as a Democratic one. Soros—in spite of his increasing wealth—only sporadically gave a donation to candidates or organizations associated with either party. Instead, he concentrated on helping to fund nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that brought assistance to countries emerging from authoritarian rule in Eastern Europe.

However, George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq spurred Soros to donate millions to organizations such as MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress in an effort to defeat Bush’s reelection. Since then, he’s donated over $32 billion to nonprofit organizations, leaving himself with a net worth around $8 billion and earning him the title of “the most generous giver” on Forbes’ list of philanthropists.

Most of that money has gone out through the Open Society Foundations, which primarily serve as a conduit for grants to NGOs in 37 countries. The stated goals are support of “advancing justice, education, public health and independent media.” In practice, Open Society has provided donations to many groups seeking to help immigrants, promote racial equality, and to oppose authoritarian governments.

So put it all together and George Soros is a Jewish immigrant who is trying to help other immigrants, fight authoritarianism, end racism, and promote transparency. Little wonder he has become a boogeyman for the right.

New conspiracies featuring Soros pop up with such frequency that sites like Reuters have a running update on the latest Soros-themed claims. Wikipedia has not just a Soros page and an Open Society page, but a George Soros Conspiracies page. PolitiFact debunked no fewer than 92 Soros conspiracies—one for every year of his life.

If you’re wondering what the right is going to do when Soros is gone, don’t worry. To misquote Jeff Goldblum, antisemitism always finds a way.

In the meantime, if Soros could take the time out to fight the 78-year-old Giuliani, that would be quality television.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Rudy Giuliani

'What About Bill Clinton?': Giuliani Erupts Over PossibleTrump Indictment

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and erstwhile defense counsel for ex-President Donald Trump, pulled the whataboutism card in an appearance on Newsmax's Saturday Report.

Giuliani was incensed over reports that Trump is likely to be arrested and indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) next week for allegedly paying $130,000 in so-called hush money to adult film entrepreneur Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election in order to keep her from talking about their purported personal relationship.

Trump's long-time attorney-turned-state's witness Michael Cohen went to prison for facilitating the illicit transaction (along with other crimes) which experts believe violated campaign finance laws. Since his release in 2021, Cohen has vociferously demanded that Trump be held accountable for commanding the illegal payoff.

There is also burbling speculation that if Trump is indeed prosecuted in New York, a cascade of additional charges may be close behind. These include Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' (D) investigation into Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election in her state as well as the United States Department of Justice's ongoing probes into the hoard of classified documents that Trump took to Mar-a-Lago from the White House toward the end of his term and Trump's ringleading of the January 6th, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

But Giuliani, whom Trump "ordered" to represent him for free, is insisting that Trump is an innocent victim of political persecution at the hands of Bragg and Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros, one of the right-wing's favorite boogeymen.

"Bragg in his office must have a, a thousand non-disclosure agreements, and plus this is a personal sexual situation. What about Bill Clinton? That wasn't worse? This guy allegedly, and I'm telling you, it's untrue as his personal friend. I'm gonna tell you categorically, she's lying, categorically, and I don't know why I'd say that all the time," Giuliani sniped. "I can tell you, and I can tell you personally why I know that she's a damn liar."

Trump "also recovered money from her. This is ridiculous. It's completely ridiculous," Giuliani continued. "It's a complete indication that Bragg – when he, uh, declared he wasn't gonna enforce the law – about half of them should have been dismissed. And meanwhile, let's not forget the fact that Manhattan has suffered under unbelievable levels of crime under this incompetent and communist."

Giuliani then referred to Bragg as a "Soros-paid-for piece of, I don't know what. This is the – this has gotta be the nail in the coffin of this DA."

Watch below or at this link.



Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Kari Lake

Kari Lake Targets Former Crush DeSantis, Claiming Soros Endorsed Him

Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is now taking aim at Florida Gov. Ron. DeSantis (R) despite praising him for being a prototype for her political party.

Lake's remarks came on Thursday, February 16 when she shared an article published by the Gateway Pundit which featured a headline that read: “The Kiss of Death – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Endorsed by George Soros (VIDEO).”

According to Mediaite, Soros has not publicly endorsed DeSantis, but predicted that he would likely end up clinching the Republican presidential nomination over Trump.

“He is likely to be the Republican nominee,” said Soros, who described DeSantis as “shrewd, ruthless and ambitious.”Lake's latest remarks are a distinct change in tone considering her previous admiration for the popular Republican leader.

Per the news outlet: "Previously, Lake had not only generously speculated on DeSantis’s anatomy, but observed that 'Every GOP Governor in the country looks to DeSantis for leadership on how to run a state.' At one point during her doomed campaign, she argued that the fact that DeSantis had endorsed her told voters 'everything' that they needed to know."

Lake's attack leveled at DeSantis comes just months after she lost the Arizona gubernatorial election to her Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs.

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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