Transparently Corrupt

Billionaires and Centimillionaires are parasites. They are the only reason they exist in the first place. And there's no way for any sentient being to justify any of it.

if we tax the shit out of them now,

we won't have to eat them later

Epstein Epstein Epstein

The Trumplefucks love to crow about "transparency".

Their only claim to fame on that one is that they're totally transparent in their corruption. Everything else, they're about as transparent as lead-infused concrete - or they try to be.



Greene says Trump told her his ‘friends will get hurt’ by Epstein files

The congresswoman also told The New York Times the president rejected her suggestion to invite the Epstein survivors to the Oval Office, saying they had not earned the honor.

President Donald Trump told Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene this year that he opposed the release of the Epstein files because his “friends will get hurt,” Greene said in a New York Times Magazine profile published Monday.

Trump also told Greene, R-Ga., that he would not invite the Epstein survivors to the Oval Office because they had not earned that honor, according to Greene, who was once among Trump’s biggest boosters but has broken with him.

Greene said the president made the comments in the last conversation he had with her, in a phone call after she appeared at a September news conference with Epstein survivors on Capitol Hill. During the call, which the soon-to-be-ex-representative says Trump initiated, the president yelled at her as she listened on speakerphone, the Times said.

“Congresswoman Greene is quitting on her constituents in the middle of her term and abandoning the consequential fight we’re in,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Times and MS NOW. “We don’t have time for her petty bitterness.”

The Justice Department began releasing the Epstein files earlier this month. They included an email stating that Trump flew on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet at least eight times in the mid-1990s. The Justice Department said in a statement that some of the files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump that the FBI received before the 2020 election. The released files also contained images of Trump posing with unidentified women whose faces were blacked out.

Other files included in the document dump included images of former President Bill Clinton alongside Epstein, his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and others whose identities were redacted; Trump adviser Steve Bannon; Microsoft founder Bill Gates; director Woody Allen; and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. All of those men have distanced themselves from Epstein and denied wrongdoing, as has Trump.

The DOJ said it has more than a million other documents related to the Epstein investigation to review and release.

Trump has said he was concerned people’s reputations could be damaged if they were merely named in the files without proof of wrongdoing.

The details featured in the Times story offer new insight into Greene’s remarkable break with Trump after being one of his staunchest supporters since she took office in 2021.

Greene began speaking out against the president earlier this year, criticizing his foreign policy decisions — including speeding up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and launching strikes on Iran — which she argued ran counter to the “America First” platform he campaigned on.

Their public bickering turned into a full-blown breakup after Greene became one of only four Republicans to sign on to a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the Justice Department to release all documents related to its investigation of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

Greene told the Times that her support for releasing the Epstein files was the final straw for Trump: “Epstein was everything,” she said.

In mid-November, as pressure to pass the bill ramped up, Trump railed against Greene in a Truth Social post, calling her a “traitor” and a “Lunatic” and announcing he was withdrawing his support for her. Greene has said those posts led to death threats against her and members of her family. She told the Times that she wondered: “Am I going to get murdered, or one of my kids, because he’s calling me a traitor?”

Greene said she texted Trump about the death threats, but he only insulted her in response, the Times wrote, citing an anonymous source familiar with the conversation.

Sounds a lot like the shit he said to Kevin McCarthy during the attempted coup on Jan6

McCarthy: "They're trying to fucking kill me!"

Trump: "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

A week after Trump’s angry posts, Greene announced she was resigning from office in January and said Trump’s opposition to her advocacy to release the Epstein files played a key role in her decision.

“The Epstein files represent everything wrong with Washington,” Greene told the Times. “Rich, powerful elites doing horrible things and getting away with it. And the women are the victims.”

Greene also called herself “naive” in her once unblinking support of Trump. But she rejects the claim that she has changed.

“I haven’t changed my views,” Greene told the Times. “But I’ve matured. I’ve developed depth.”

“I’ve learned Washington, and I’ve come to understand the brokenness of the place,” she added. “If none of us is learning lessons here and we can’t evolve and mature with our lessons, then what kind of people are we?”

To No One's Surprise

FIFA Bribery Charges Dropped After Trump Given Peace Prize Under Scrutiny

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. moved to drop charges in a long-running international soccer bribery case on Tuesday, days after President Donald Trump received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.

The news has prompted scrutiny online, though there is no evidence of any connection between the award and prosecutors' move to dismiss the charges.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department told Newsweek in an emailed statement: “These prosecutions are not consistent with the current prosecutorial priorities of the United States, which direct the Department of Justice’s resources into Making America Safe Again.”

Why It Matters

Prosecutors' move to drop the charges is the latest turn in a high-profile case involving corruption at the highest levels of international soccer.

While there is no evidence of wrongdoing, the timing of the move—so soon after Trump's award—has prompted speculation.

"No evidence of wrongdoing" ? 

What the fuck is any president doing accepting anything of any value from somebody who has business before that president's DOJ?

U.S. prosecutors asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to drop bribery charges against Hernan Lopez, a former Fox executive, and the Argentine sports marketing company Full Play Group.

Lopez was convicted in 2023 of conspiring to pay millions in bribes to secure broadcast rights for South American soccer tournaments, while Full Play was accused of coordinating and facilitating the bribes on behalf of broadcasters.

The charges were part of a wider U.S. probe into bribery schemes involving officials in FIFA-affiliated regional bodies, though FIFA itself was not charged.

Prosecutors said the government had determined that "dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice."

Lopez told the Associated Press that he was relieved by the move to dismiss what he called baseless charges.

In Washington, D.C., on Friday, Trump was awarded the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 World Cup—which is scheduled to take place next summer in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented Trump with the award, which the organization says is intended to "reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world."

Commenting on the news that prosecutors had moved to drop the charges, CNN reporter Aaron Blake wrote on X: "A week after FIFA gave Trump a newly created award and made him a focal point of the World Cup draw. And with no real explanation."

Reporter Sam Stein wrote on X, "Amazing what a made up trophy can get you these days."

The award itself has drawn scrutiny, with a human rights group asking FIFA's Ethics Committee to investigate whether awarding Trump breached FIFA's rules on political neutrality.

Earlier this year, FIFA opened an office in Trump Tower in New York City, further signaling its growing relationship with the president.

What People Are Saying

Hernan Lopez said in a statement to the Associated Press: "The charges were baseless from the start, and I have fought for five years to clear my name."

FIFA President Gianni Infantino wrote on Instagram after the World Cup draw: "I was honored and delighted to present the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize—Football Unites the World award to U.S. President Donald J. Trump for his unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world through his notable leadership and action."

What Happens Next

The Supreme Court is now set to consider prosecutors' motion to return the case to a lower court, where a judge is expected to formally dismiss the indictment.

Bulwark Takes

You know you're in a really bad place when the most important profit center driving your business - and your business decisions - is the guy monitoring Trump's social media feeds.

Don't Go Numb

Take a minute. Step back. Catch your breath. Then get back to it. There's a long way to go, and lots of heavy lifting to do.

embrace the suck

stay in the fight

The "Ballroom"

Overheard on a friends FB page (Andrew Kerr):

Here's why the new White House ballroom project is not real. (The demo is obviously real)

Some background - I am a licensed Architect with 20+ years of experience. I have worked on multiple Federal projects with sensitive building programs that required background checks.

1. With a projected size of 90,000 sq ft, and a newly revised budget of $300M, the cost per square foot would be $3,333. No building costs anywhere near that. $1,000/sq ft is astronomical.
2. Let's assume, since we are drawing in the classical, style, that the proportions of the building adhere to the Golden Ratio. A 90,000 sq ft would be a building with a footprint roughly 380' x 235'. Longer than a football field and 1.5 times as wide.
3. The building is projected to accommodate 999 people. 15 sq ft/person is required for a banquet area; 20 sq ft/person is pretty comfortable. What you see in the rendering below is closer to 20 sq ft/person. That's only 20,000 sq ft, or a space that is 200'x100'. It's supposed to be a ballroom, so let's be extraordinarily generous and provide 10,000 sq ft for the ballroom support functions, and another 10,000 sq ft for pre-function. Extraordinarily generous. That's STILL only 40,000 sq ft, not even half of the supposed building. 
4. There are no drawings for the building. The renderings are poorly coordinated - exterior views do not match the interior views. See below - the White House is 70 feet tall, to the roof. The interior renderings show a room that is roughly 100' x 200', with a ~20 foot ceiling. The exterior renderings show a building footprint of 4.5x that amount.

Those are renderings that could be produced by young staff in a week or two, at most. Nothing else exists.

About That Ballroom

White House tours have been discontinued - prob'ly so nobody can see the Russian agents planting their little spy gadgets everywhere.

But on the "bright side", once we're rid of President Yamtits McShitstain, we can gut that stupid monument to one man's fragile ego, and turn it into some useable office space for a legit government.

East Wing

before

East Wing

after

Donald Trump is a one-man plague of locusts.

The Laundry

My contention is that Trump's ballroom is another Laundry for bribe money.

Parnas has a list of "donors", and now we'll have to wait and see what they get in return for their generous "gifts".

Pissed Off Bartender

MermaidMamaMaggie

Trump Sucks

In case you needed more evidence that Trump is pretty, vindictive, and crooked.

FBI seized computers, papers labeled ‘Trump’ during Bolton search

Search warrant records show that prosecutors are seeking to build a case under statutes barring unauthorized removal of classified documents and Espionage Act violations.

FBI agents seized computers, phones and reams of documents — including some in folders labeled “Trump I-IV” and “statements and reflections to allied strikes” — in the search of the home and office of former national security adviser John Bolton, according to court papers unsealed Thursday.

Search warrant records released by a federal magistrate judge in Maryland confirmed prosecutors are seeking to build a case against Bolton for alleged unauthorized removal of classified documents and violations of the Espionage Act involving improper transmission of national defense information. The most serious of those crimes carries potential punishment of up to a decade in prison.

The warrants, signed a day before the Aug. 22 raids on Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, and his D.C. office, authorized agents to seize any documents that appeared “to be classified” or “relate to his former position as national security adviser” in 2018 and 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term.

The records do not say whether agents found any items bearing classification stamps or other markings indicating that they were improperly in Bolton’s possession. They also do not say whether investigators found any such material on the two phones, three computers and two USB thumb drives that were seized.

“Law enforcement is actively reviewing evidence and interviewing witnesses,” prosecutors said in filings surrounding the warrant material’s release, which came in response to a request in court by a coalition of media organizations including The Washington Post.

Prosecutors said in those filings that they would also agree to unseal a redacted version of the affidavit agents drafted to secure the Bolton search warrants. Such documents typically contain a more detailed accounting of the allegations under investigation.

But as of late Thursday, the government had not filed formal paperwork with the court to unseal that document.

Bolton, a veteran diplomat and security expert who has more recently emerged as one of the president’s fiercest critics, has not spoken publicly about the investigation. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, characterized the probe as one driven by a politicized Justice Department “under pressure to satisfy a president out for political revenge.”

“The materials taken from Amb. Bolton’s home are the ordinary records of a 40-year career serving this country,” Lowell said in a statement Thursday. “Any thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton.”

Law enforcement officials familiar with the probe previously told The Post that the Justice Department is investigating recent accusations that Bolton leaked sensitive material — making him the latest of Trump’s political enemies to find themselves targeted by federal investigators. In recent months, prosecutors have launched criminal inquiries into Trump critics including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), former FBI director James B. Comey, ex-CIA director John Brennan and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department also pursued an investigation of Bolton for allegedly divulging classified government material in his 2020 book, “The Room Where it Happened,” which offered a withering portrait of Trump as an “erratic” and “stunningly uninformed” leader.

That inquiry did not result in charges at the time. But the officials who described the current probe of Bolton’s activities said its scope included both concerns over Bolton’s book and newer allegations involving disclosures of sensitive material.

According to the records unsealed Thursday, the new investigation is being conducted by prosecutors under Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, as well as lawyers in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the investigation last month in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” and denied that Bolton is being targeted because of his criticism of Trump.

“We don’t think that we should throw people — even if they disagree with us politically, maybe especially if they disagree with us politically … in prison,” he said. “You should let the law drive these determinations, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Today's Rich

Trump is a fuckin' crook.

Undocumented My Ass

DHS has an extra $150B for their budget, and they've been spending it lavishly on 50-thousand-dollar signing bonuses for new ICE agents, who'll start at $100K a year.

They're buying fleets of cars and vans, helicopters and airplanes and weapons and gear.

All for the purpose of rounding up brown people. And when I say "all", I mean it's a safe bet that some of it is coming off the top and going straight into the boss's pocket.

Anyway, we're spending way more than we should - way more than we need to be spending.

So let's do something radical and make the whole mess a lot more cost-effective.

Let's send those ICE guys out to find all those undocumented people and - uh - you know - document them.

Boston Legal

They Have No Honor

Mike Johnson called for the censure of Alex Padilla yesterday. Maybe he should pay a little more attention to his own guys.

It's The Corruption, Stupid

Trump slaps a heavy tariff on something I have to have for my billion-dollar business, so I go hat-in-hand to the White House to buy an exemption, which I'll pay for by "investing" in his $hitcoin. 

@wepolitics Jonah Goldberg. #politics #politicaltikok #politicalnews #trump #donaldtrump #liberal #conservative #tariffs ♬ original sound - wepolitics

For Sale

If you've got the money, the law doesn't apply to you. Just order up the Million-Dollar Surf-n-Turf and you're good to go.

@mrglobaltoo #viral #foryoupage #foryoupageofficiall #fypage #fyp #fypシツ #fypシ゚viral #trump #@MeidasTouch @Aaron Parnas ♬ original sound - Mr Global

And while we're at it, let's go find some hungry foxes to guard the chickens.

Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer

Several nominees have clearly partisan backgrounds, including two with controversial histories and two with ties to the agency they would be investigating.

President Donald Trump’s pick to investigate waste, fraud and abuse at the Labor Department, Anthony D’Esposito, is a former Republican congressman who lost his New York seat after he was accused of putting his mistress and fiancée’s daughter on his payroll.

The inspector general nominee for Health and Human Services, Thomas March Bell, previously resigned from a government job over an allegation of mishandling taxpayers’ money and has pursued cases against abortion clinics as a GOP attorney.

And Trump’s choice for Veterans Affairs watchdog, Cheryl Mason, said in a Senate questionnaire that she had continued to be a senior adviser to Secretary Douglas A. Collins after she was nominated to become the inspector general monitoring his agency.

After firing inspectors general at 19 agencies in an unprecedented purge, Trump has named six replacements in recent weeks, including three with clearly partisan backgrounds. Two of those have controversial histories and two have ties to the agency they would be responsible for investigating.

Government ethics experts, including some former inspectors general, expressed concerns about the qualifications of several of the nominees, warning that the positions require independence and that installing loyalists would erode public trust. All six will require confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate.

“The cardinal sin for an inspector general is bias,” said Mark Greenblatt, a former chairman of the council of federal inspectors general and the Trump-nominated Interior Department watchdog from August 2019 until Trump fired him Jan. 24. “There will be questions about whether programs under [former president Joe] Biden are getting a fair shake and whether those under Trump are getting unwarranted good reviews.”

Five of the six nominees did not respond to requests for comment.

In response to a query sent to D’Esposito, Department of Labor spokeswoman Courtney Parella said the agency “respects the independent role of the Inspector General, and we look forward to working with the nominee, once confirmed, to uphold that mission.”

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that Trump’s inspector general nominees are “highly-qualified and accomplished individuals.”

“It is ironic for The Washington Post — notorious peddlers of fake news — to attack the credibility of President Trump’s highly qualified selections for Inspectors General,” she said. “These so-called experts cited in this story are clearly suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome who hate that President Trump is restoring integrity and transparency to our federal government.”

Congress was explicit when it passed the 1978 law governing inspectors general: They should not be selected based on partisan affiliations. “Each Inspector General shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or investigations,” the law says.

But critics of Trump’s shake-up say several of those nominated seem to fit one requirement: Loyalty to the White House.

Then-Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-New York) speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11 to announce the formation of the bipartisan Aviation Safety Caucus on the anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
This is not the first time Trump has taken aim at federal watchdogs. In the final year of Trump’s first term, he fired five inspectors general over two months and criticized their oversight.

This time, the fired inspectors general were told by the White House personnel office that they no longer aligned with the president’s priorities, said Hannibal “Mike” Ware, who was watchdog at the Small Business Administration and acting inspector general for the Social Security Administration.

“That means that these nominees will all be expected to align with Trump’s priorities,” Ware said.

Eight of the watchdogs removed at the start of Trump’s second term are fighting their dismissals in federal court, arguing that the White House violated the law by not providing a detailed reason for their termination and 30 days’ notice. They are seeking reinstatement.

Faith Williams, the director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight, said that while it was widely expected that Trump would clean house, his choices for replacements are puzzling.

“As diverse as these candidates on paper appear to be, what threads through them is that there are basic thresholds that you need to meet in order to be a good inspector general — have you managed a big office before, have you done investigations before, have you worked in this community — and these folks don’t seem to meet that threshold,” Williams said.

The lack of replacements for other inspector general positions has also worried the government watchdog community, especially as Trump and Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have dramatically overhauled agencies without oversight. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), the top Democrat on the committee overseeing governmental affairs, released a report last week showing that the fired inspectors general had effectively rooted out billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse before Trump removed them.

The White House did not respond to a question from The Post about when Trump would fill other vacancies.

When President Barack Obama in 2012 delayed filling 10 inspector general slots, then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) joined other Republicans in criticizing Obama, writing at the time that all federal agencies should “have proper oversight through highly qualified, permanent inspectors general.”

D’Esposito, Trump’s choice for labor watchdog, has been the most politically visible of the nominees. A former congressman and ex-NYPD detective, he lost reelection in 2024 after increasing scrutiny over his use of taxpayer dollars for questionable staffing arrangements, including allegations that he placed a mistress and his fiancée’s daughter on his official payroll.

D’Esposito was the subject of several investigations for misconduct, including working as a disc jockey and serving alcoholic beverages without permission, while he was a New York City police detective. Investigators determined the accusations were “partially substantiated.”

Trump has also made the nontraditional choice to select some people who have worked within the agencies they will be tasked with investigating.

Bell, the inspector general nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services, worked in the agency’s Office of Civil Rights during Trump’s first term after serving as an attorney for congressional Republicans. He has previously led House Republicans’ efforts to investigate Planned Parenthood based on heavily doctored videos by antiabortion activists and debunked claims that the group was profiting from the sales of fetal tissue.

Bell resigned as deputy director of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality in 1997 after a legislative audit found he couldn’t justify an almost $8,000 payment to a former employee. He was also previously a special counsel for the Justice Department.

Senate Finance Committee leading member Ron Wyden criticized Bell as “completely unqualified.”

“This action shows how little the Republican Party actually cares about taking on genuine waste, fraud and abuse in the American health care system,” Wyden said in a statement.

Mason, Trump’s pick for VA inspector general, is an attorney who had a role in the agency for years before Trump’s second term, when she returned as a member of Trump’s VA transition team, and then as special adviser in the secretary’s office at agency headquarters. Until 2022, Mason led the Board of Veterans’ Appeals as a political appointee during Trump’s first term after serving as a career official at the board. The board plays a nonpartisan role in adjudicating appeals when a veteran’s claim for benefits is denied. The White House required candidates to disclose their party affiliation and other details about their political leanings and only Republican-leaning candidates were selected, The Post reported at the time.

Mason is likely to face questions from Democrats on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about her role as Collins’s senior adviser. Leading member Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said in a statement that Mason was “exactly the wrong choice to be the VA Inspector General — a role requiring nonpartisan, independent oversight.”

“This nomination is especially problematic because Ms. Mason has been point person in muzzling VA workers and directing them to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements,” Blumenthal said. “As Special Advisor to Secretary Collins, she’s playing a leading role in slashing the VA workforce by 83,000. Veterans deserve an Inspector General who will conduct investigations free of interference and collusion from Collins and the Trump Administration.”

In response to questions from The Post about Mason’s positions as senior adviser to Collins and nominee to be his watchdog, VA spokesman Peter Kasperowicz pointed to Collins’s testimony before a House panel on May 15, when he noted that she had served in two administrations. Kasperowicz did not respond to questions about whether Mason has stepped down from her role as an administration official since her nomination.

One of Trump’s new nominees does have previous experience in an inspector general’s office: William Kirk, the nominee for inspector general at the Small Business Administration, was in the inspector general’s office at the Environmental Protection Agency from 2022 until recently, when he was detailed to the Department of Education’s general counsel office, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Meanwhile, Peter M. Thomson, nominated as CIA inspector general, is a former prosecutor and white-collar defense attorney. Thomson was previously nominated for the same post in Trump’s first term and cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee.

But Thomson’s nomination was ultimately sent back to the White House after the Senate didn’t schedule a confirmation vote for him.

The sixth new nominee, Christopher Fox, has been tapped to be the intelligence community inspector general and has not yet completed paperwork required of Senate-confirmed positions, according to a Senate aide familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.

Of course, there's a level of corruption that goes with practically every political office - and every organization in general.

Warren G Harding

Ulysses S Grant

The Florida Finagle

I don't like thinking I'm adding to the problem of the Fire Hose Of Shit, but when practically every day gives us another major grift, I don't know how I can just brush it off, and let it become part of a very ugly process of normalizing official corruption.

So - sorry - here's today's shit.

Overheard

Color me unsurprised.

When will it be enough?

The Trump State Department

tried to sneak $400M to Tesla.

They got caught.

Then, according to

Congressman Greg Casar,

they lied about it.

Reform, my dyin' ass -

that's straight up

bald-faced corruption.

And It Might Be Legal

Trump is the King of SmarmSpace.

The Art Of The Scam