The delusional raging narcissist-in-chief slush fund (Update #8)

benfell

This is really a nothing new issue. Sometimes, I’m just documenting shit.

Updates

  1. Originally published, December 3, 10:47 pm.
  2. December 4, 6:39 am:
    • Speaking of the utterly unsurprising, medical facilities are being slammed by the pandemic. Politicians are adopting a fatalistic approach in response to calls for statewide mask mandates: “At a media briefing Tuesday, [Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves] added, “I almost feel like there are those out there who really, truly believe if I were to write an executive order, a statewide prohibition against hurricanes in 2021, that we won’t have any hurricanes. It just doesn’t work that way.”[1] Pennsylvania does have a statewide mask mandate, which is widely ignored. Allegheny County reported a record-shattering 1,028 cases in the 24 hours ending yesterday (December 3).
  3. December 4, 8:08 am:
  4. December 5, 4:30 am:
    • Judges handed down a yet more defeats for Donald Trump’s legal team.[2] I tend to think that if you’re serious, you need a serious strategy, which Trump’s team seems not to have, with all these defeats,[3] but

      John Fetterman might be right, Trump certainly is delusional, and Trump certainly surrounds himself with sycophants who pursue frivolous claims, but I don’t know that Fetterman is right, and I don’t know how Fetterman can make that claim.

  5. December 5, 8:35 am:
    • Because it’s Pennsylvania, and it’s the Pennsylvania state legislature, Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania state legislature are sending a letter disputing the election results in the state to Congress.[4] Donald Trump can’t win in court,[5] the states do not seem to be appointing alternative electoral college delegations, and we do not have an electoral college tie, so the battle now shifts to getting Congress to reject state electoral college delegations.[6]
  6. December 5, 11:10 am:
    • The Allegheny County Health Department has just reported 1,197 new cases in the last twenty-four hours. This is high, but not a record.
    • Donald Trump’s effort to contest the election results has cost nearly $9 million,[7] but yielded over $207 million in campaign contributions.[8]
  7. December 6, 10:08 am:
  8. December 6, 10:25 am:

Donald Trump

You might have heard yet another explanation for Donald Trump’s insistence that the election was stolen from him, even as his claims of fraud get a cold reception in court.[9] He’s using those allegations to fundraise, with most of the money going to a slush fund that he can do pretty much whatever he wants to with.[10] I’ve actually been hearing about this for days, but this is the first article I’ve seen about it.

John Cassidy, “Donald Trump’s Latest Grift May Be His Most Cynical Yet,” New Yorker, December 3, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-latest-grift-may-be-his-most-cynical-yet

Simon Lewis, “Trump unveils $207 million fundraising haul after election in effort to overturn result,” Reuters, December 3, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fundraising/trump-unveils-207-million-fundraising-haul-after-election-in-effort-to-overturn-result-idUSKBN28E012

Aram Roston and Brad Heath, “Trump campaign spent more than $2 million on election lawyers, including Jenna Ellis,” Reuters, December 4, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-trump-expenses/trump-campaign-spent-more-than-2-million-on-election-lawyers-including-jenna-ellis-idUSKBN28E2VG

Transition

So it’s already pretty well established that Joe Biden is picking a bunch of neoliberal assholes for his cabinet.[11] But even the New Republic is now saying that Biden’s picks are a disaster for the Left and indeed that the Left has no effective voice in the Democratic Party.[12]

Osita Nwanevu, “Joe Biden’s Cabinet Is a Lost Cause for the Left,” New Republic, December 3, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/160432/biden-cabinet-progressive-defeat-2020

Pandemic

Lenny Bernstein, “With hospitals slammed by covid-19, doctors and nurses plead for action by governors,” Washington Post, December 3, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/doctors-demand-covid-restrictions/2020/12/03/88c1afc6-34e1-11eb-8d38-6aea1adb3839_story.html

  1. [1]Lenny Bernstein, “With hospitals slammed by covid-19, doctors and nurses plead for action by governors,” Washington Post, December 3, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/doctors-demand-covid-restrictions/2020/12/03/88c1afc6-34e1-11eb-8d38-6aea1adb3839_story.html↩
  2. [2]Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Donald Trump’s brutal day in court,” Politico, December 4, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/04/donald-trump-in-court-443010↩
  3. [3]Aaron Blake, “Trump lawyers suffer embarrassing rebukes from judges over voter fraud claims,” Washington Post, November 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-lawyers-suffer-embarrassing-rebukes-judges-over-voter-fraud-claims/; Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Donald Trump’s brutal day in court,” Politico, December 4, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/04/donald-trump-in-court-443010; Marjorie Cohn, “Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede,” Truthout, November 11, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-frivolous-lawsuits-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-his-refusal-to-concede/; Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva; Stephanie Saul, “Lindsey Graham’s Long-Shot Mission to Unravel the Election Results,” New York Times, November 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/lindsey-graham-georgia-trump-biden.html; Paula Reed Ward, “Federal judge to consider whether to dismiss case filed by Trump campaign in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/federal-judge-to-consider-whether-to-dismiss-case-filed-by-trump-campaign-in-pa/; Jon Swaine, “In scathing opinion, federal judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania,” Washington Post, November 21, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-judge-dismisses-trump-campaign-lawsuit-in-pa/2020/11/21/cc097fbe-2c50-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html↩
  4. [4]Stephen Caruso, “GOP leaders — once again — say they can’t overturn election results, but send letter disputing results to Congress,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, December 4, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/election-2020/gop-leaders-once-again-say-they-cant-overturn-election-results-but-send-letter-disputing-results-to-congress/↩
  5. [5]Aaron Blake, “Trump lawyers suffer embarrassing rebukes from judges over voter fraud claims,” Washington Post, November 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-lawyers-suffer-embarrassing-rebukes-judges-over-voter-fraud-claims/; Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Donald Trump’s brutal day in court,” Politico, December 4, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/04/donald-trump-in-court-443010; Marjorie Cohn, “Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede,” Truthout, November 11, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-frivolous-lawsuits-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-his-refusal-to-concede/; Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva; Stephanie Saul, “Lindsey Graham’s Long-Shot Mission to Unravel the Election Results,” New York Times, November 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/lindsey-graham-georgia-trump-biden.html; Paula Reed Ward, “Federal judge to consider whether to dismiss case filed by Trump campaign in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/federal-judge-to-consider-whether-to-dismiss-case-filed-by-trump-campaign-in-pa/; Jon Swaine, “In scathing opinion, federal judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania,” Washington Post, November 21, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-judge-dismisses-trump-campaign-lawsuit-in-pa/2020/11/21/cc097fbe-2c50-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html↩
  6. [6]Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Trump team eyes legal, political Hail Marys as options for comeback fade,” Politico, November 6, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/06/trump-legal-political-lawsuit-election-434786↩
  7. [7]Aram Roston and Brad Heath, “Trump campaign spent more than $2 million on election lawyers, including Jenna Ellis,” Reuters, December 4, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-trump-expenses/trump-campaign-spent-more-than-2-million-on-election-lawyers-including-jenna-ellis-idUSKBN28E2VG↩
  8. [8]Simon Lewis, “Trump unveils $207 million fundraising haul after election in effort to overturn result,” Reuters, December 3, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fundraising/trump-unveils-207-million-fundraising-haul-after-election-in-effort-to-overturn-result-idUSKBN28E012↩
  9. [9]Aaron Blake, “Trump lawyers suffer embarrassing rebukes from judges over voter fraud claims,” Washington Post, November 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-lawyers-suffer-embarrassing-rebukes-judges-over-voter-fraud-claims/; Marjorie Cohn, “Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede,” Truthout, November 11, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-frivolous-lawsuits-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-his-refusal-to-concede/; Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva; Stephanie Saul, “Lindsey Graham’s Long-Shot Mission to Unravel the Election Results,” New York Times, November 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/lindsey-graham-georgia-trump-biden.html; Paula Reed Ward, “Federal judge to consider whether to dismiss case filed by Trump campaign in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/federal-judge-to-consider-whether-to-dismiss-case-filed-by-trump-campaign-in-pa/; Jon Swaine, “In scathing opinion, federal judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania,” Washington Post, November 21, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-judge-dismisses-trump-campaign-lawsuit-in-pa/2020/11/21/cc097fbe-2c50-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html↩
  10. [10]John Cassidy, “Donald Trump’s Latest Grift May Be His Most Cynical Yet,” New Yorker, December 3, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-latest-grift-may-be-his-most-cynical-yet↩
  11. [11]Kate Aronoff, “The Obama Reunion Isn’t Nearly Enough to Stave Off Catastrophe,” New Republic, November 23, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/160358/obama-reunion-isnt-nearly-enough-stave-off-catastrophe; Jake Johnson, “Progressives Spurn Tanden’s Nomination to Office of Management and Budget,” Truthout, November 30, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/progressives-spurn-tandens-nomination-to-office-of-management-and-budget/; Holly Otterbein, “Bernieworld seethes over Tanden as OMB nominee,” Politico, November 30, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/bernie-supporters-seethes-neera-tanden-441603; Jeff Stein, Annie Linskey, and Seung Min Kim, “Biden’s pick to lead White House budget office emerges as lightning rod for GOP,” Washington Post, November 30, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/11/30/biden-omb-neera-tanden/; Sophia Tesfaye, “Has consummate insider Tony Blinken, Biden’s nominee for State, learned from his mistakes?” Salon, November 30, 2020, https://www.salon.com/2020/11/30/has-consummate-insider-tony-blinken-bidens-nominee-for-state-learned-from-his-mistakes/↩
  12. [12]Osita Nwanevu, “Joe Biden’s Cabinet Is a Lost Cause for the Left,” New Republic, December 3, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/160432/biden-cabinet-progressive-defeat-2020↩

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