The president’s offshore account, history erased and no indictments

The president’s offshore account, history erased and no indictments

Trump’s offshore account

Did you know that the president is putting the money generated from the sale of Venezuelan oil in several bank accounts, the largest being in Qatar? Pardon me if I think this is a bit weird? What is wrong with putting the money in the US Treasury? But no. the U.S. has now completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil for $500 million and deposited most of it in Qatar. Qatar? The official Trump apologists are saying that putting the money in Qatar rather than in U.S. banks means that this is a neutral location from which the funds could be freely and safely moved without risk of seizure. Huh? Seizure by whom? Is some country going to hack the US Treasury or are these so-called officials talking about US commercial bank deposits being subject to seizure? This makes no  sense. Recall that the president had earlier said that the US would get the proceeds from the sale and that he personally would decide what to do with it. Well it looks like he decided to put the money in an offshore account.

Well only the Congressional democrats are demanding oversight of the Venezuelan oil proceeds asserting that this is a situation ripe for corruption. Where are the Senate republicans? Only the democrats introduced legislation that the White House submit to independent accounting of the funds and their uses. Maybe the republicans were getting a cut. The democrats want the administration to close the offshore accounts and use domestic financial institutions that would be subject to congressional oversight. Elizabeth Warren said “There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military. That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to.” This may be the first time I have agreed with Warren. But of course, the president will veto the bill.

Hey, maybe this is just a bit of quid pro quo for the $400 million jet that Qatar had gifted to the president. Remember that?

More history my way

In its continuing effort to counter the democrats where everything was about race in American history, the Trump administration has taken the opposite approach – trying to ignore it. The latest effort being the Interior Department removing all information about George Washington being a slaveholder at his Philadelphia house. Washington lived in that house at the founding of the United States and its government. The department was ordered by a federal judge to stop the removal of the information and to restore what was removed earlier by the National Park Service commemorating the nine slaves who served Washington’s household on the site. Those items were removed by the Trump administration as part of a broader effort to use its control of the park system to rewrite American history by eliminating materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” Translation: let’s’ try to purge slavery and black history American government officials and their actions. Not being a lawyer, I presume that the ruling only applies to the Philadelphia house and not to any other site where the Trump administration is continuing to whitewash American history.

Another grand jury loss for the Administration

A federal grand jury has refused to indict Mark Kelly and 6 other democrat legislators for advising troops to disobey “illegal” orders. All of the democrats were veterans. Trump had said in his ransom note “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” Those were marching orders for Jeanine Pirro (of Fox’s The Five) who is now the US attorney for the District of Columbia obliging her to bring criminal charges against the democrats – else she be fired. She lost. It is very rare for a grand jury to decline an indictment sought by prosecutors, because it only hears the government’s version of events and doesn’t require unanimity. It is even rarer for a grand jury not to have a single member vote for the indictment but this was the case here. I once wrote that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. But apparently not Trump’s ham sandwich. Speaking of sandwich, remember them trying to prosecute the guy who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal agent? This was another loss for the administration. Earlier a grand jury in Virginia did not return an indictment against New York attorney general Lititia James. At least they got James Comey indicted but the charges were promptly dismissed because Trump’s replacement prosecutor – one of his personal attorneys – was improperly appointed.

This is now a pattern where the president insists on prosecuting his enemies and his attorneys try to find charges under which to indict regardless of the merit of the cases. As demonstrated in Virginia, if the attorney refuses to indict Trump fires that attorney and replaces with another, even if the choice is completely unqualified. Another example is the spurious investigation of Fed chairman Jerome Powell ordered by Trump. Pirro’s office is tasked with trying to find some charges on which to take before another grand jury. Want to bet that no indictment will be forthcoming? But these indictments will continue because most of Trump’s people like their jobs and know that if they tell the president something that he doesn’t want to hear, that they are out the door.

I know that there are those who deflect the blame from Trump and his attorneys to say that all this is a result of “activist” judges and grand juries composed of Trump haters. But the search for a punishable crime is evident amongst the Trump legal team. In fact, one judge chastised Piro and her attorneys taking her office to task for a series of major errors during what he described as a “rush” to charge individuals during Trump’s takeover of the DC police department accusing them of “playing cops and robbers like children.” Importantly, Trump’s “Justice” Department is losing credibility. One former prosecutor has said that now “The judges do not trust the AUSAs (assistant US attorneys) to make good faith presentations in the most important cases, and the public now routinely refuses to issue indictments in the grand jury.” 

Also the judge in the Mark Kelly indictment was no liberal activist and was obviously appalled by the charges brought against the senator. While acknowledging that first Amendment rights are less rigorous for active duty military, the judge ruled that full protections exist for those who are retired – especially members of the Congress who exercise responsibility over the military. In essence, the judge said that separation of powers meant that members of Congress were free to express their views without fear of reprisals from the Executive Branch. Again this was no activist judge but rather a conservative one citing the fundamental foundations of this country.

13 thoughts on “The president’s offshore account, history erased and no indictments”

  1. While the “no Kings” parade was indeed a charade, it’s only a charade if our president is operating inside the boundaries of his authority. Trump is classically a CEO, creating mandates from on high, and expecting everyone to follow or be fired. The idea of not carrying out the boss’s orders is anathema – follow or be fired. I’ve heard that’s not how it works in our government. Really? Details you’ve exhaustively covered below…the money offshore, the Qatar airplane gift (where is it?), the indictments, et al – all attempts to circumvent visibility and headlines. When I get close to agreeing with Elizabeth Warren, we’re approaching the apocalypse.

    Trump time needs to be over. He has run his course and the game is old and exposed now. Poll indications are indicating a blue wave of some height rising. If that comes to pass, his presidency will be over. Every EO will be challenged in court, and as you indicated, the judges – even conservative appointed -⎌cannot tolerate the baseless thin-skinned claims of this DOJ.

    As for the whitewashing of history…what are we afraid of? The culture of the times created a brainer fog that many of these otherwise seemingly devout Christian’s’ judgment. Society tends to create taboos that prohibit certain practices over time and inhibit heinous behavior. If we can’t reflect on it, we remove the taboos and return to old norms that we rightly look on today with shock and shame.

    and then, there’s Jesse Jackson. Loyal to MLK until he realized that racism could be an industry, and his heritage a weapon. Hustler, huckster and shake down artist. The Reverend Al now carries the mantle.

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  2. While the “no Kings” parade was indeed a charade, it’s only a charade if our president is operating inside the boundaries of his authority. Trump is classically a CEO, creating mandates from on high, and expecting everyone to follow or be fired. The idea of not carrying out the boss’s orders is anathema – follow or be fired. I’ve heard that’s not how it works in our government. Really? Details you’ve exhaustively covered below…the money offshore, the Qatar airplane gift (where is it?), the indictments, et al – all attempts to circumvent visibility and headlines. When I get close to agreeing with Elizabeth Warren, we’re approaching the apocalypse.

    Trump time needs to be over. He has run his course and the game is old and exposed now. Poll indications are indicating a blue wave of some height rising. If that comes to pass, his presidency will be over. Every EO will be challenged in court, and as you indicated, the judges – even conservative appointed -⎌cannot tolerate the baseless thin-skinned claims of this DOJ.

    As for the whitewashing of history…what are we afraid of? The culture of the times created a brainer fog that many of these otherwise seemingly devout Christian’s’ judgment. Society tends to create taboos that prohibit certain practices over time and inhibit heinous behavior. If we can’t reflect on it, we remove the taboos and return to old norms that we rightly look on today with shock and shame.

    and then, there’s Jesse Jackson. Loyal to MLK until he realized that racism could be an industry, and his heritage a weapon. Hustler, huckster and shake down artist. The Reverend Al now carries the mantle.

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  3. Venezuelan money banked outside US? Outside the control of Democratic bureaucrats maybe? Would it be responsible to trust Congress with Venezuelan funds? These funds likely belong to World Oil companies who were robbed by the Chavez socialist government. This puts it outside their immediate eyes. As far as cries of Dem corruption. Until they are willing to have verified US citizens voters deciding American elections, what serious American takes their opinion for more than a grain of salt? First remove the beam from thine own eye…..

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    1. Sorry. I thought this administration was the paragon of transparency. These funds need to be in the US Treasury. Last time I looked the republicans were in control of the government. There needs to be an accounting for every penny.

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      1. Is the oil being purchased by the US govt? Then I would agree. But Congress does not have jurisdiction over revenues generated by other countries do they?

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    2. Drummer- I’ve been looking into the Dem party as elections near..

      I will say the local issues are not seen much different than the Republicans : make the developers rich, lie about affordable housing, make sure alcohol is everywhere, eliminate our currency- for a currency of liquidity not patriotism..

      Whether Dem or Rep— every one of them will leave office rolling in money or “ you owe me a favor” thuggery , despite saying they just want to serve the public.

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      1. I just feel sad when I read this article. That anyone could be actually believe this trivial nonsense.

        1. Qatar is a very important ally of the USA. Actively helping us with Hamas/Hezbollah, Iran and China. As long as the money is fully accounted for, there should be zero issue. Clearly there are Geo Political issue to Bank the money there.
        2. Why must we continue to have Slavery a talking point when discussing George Washington? It didn’t significantly contribute to his life accomplishments. Which is what we are trying to celebrate. He didn’t invent slavery. It was an extremely common practice since the beginning of man. Thank God it was finally ended by white men. After existing since before written history. We don’t need a slavery lecture every time we celebrate the greatness that was George Washington.
        3. Mark Kelly made a video trying to provoke potential sedition. It should not be taken lightly. The video he was a part of was in very poor taste at the very least. As a Miltary Officer he should know better.

        Trump has implemented very important quality policies. His leadership is leading to less domestic crime and Financial and Geo Political Security.

        Very few want the open borders and lawlessness Democrats expose

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      2. Let’s just disagree on the Qatar money. There are other ways to align with them. Those funds should be held in the Treasury. Want to bet that there won’t be accountability issues? Slavery does not define George Washington. He even hated that he was bound to it for financial reasons. But let’s not deny it either. I have said the same about Kelly and have no problem with him being demoted and pension reduce as a retired military officer. But to indict him as a member of Congress is a different matter.

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      3. Thomas- you just agreed with my Army friend..
        BTW: we should always read the events of slavery, esp autobiographies..

        For if we don’t, others will write history, like how great slavery was, for the UNsaved Black race..

        The exception is Muhammad Ali- who said he was glad to be born in America, not Africa. What does this rich man, this globalist know about desert tribalism . Or being a field slave tied to a plantation scaffolding.

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      4. While our currency is fiat based at least one know source prints it legally. As far as crypto to me that is a joke. But hey I don’t like using credit cards either, As far as local politics, Not a fan of Larsen Jay. I believe Kim Frazier (I did vote for her) was unable to turn the development tide or the forces behind it. That’s why I will vote for Ms Henderson for county mayor at least in the primaries. As far as alcohol, we never imbibed and raised our children that our nation falls by drink. But once they left the house they made their own choices. My prayer is one day they will open their eyes an realize alcohol never provided anything but false escapes from reality and for some, absolute ruin. But that is not something politicians have a lot of control over. Abhorrent traffic loading is a local issue. Underperforming schools likewise.

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  4. Pat- despite the opinion, I’m glad you brought up Rev Jackson’s name. I won’t dissect the deceased- but I will say —this is the time —to remember all the others who went before:

    Mel King, who didn’t want to promote any one race, but make America everyone’s country..
    I remember him always with white people, so his efforts were called the Rainbow —and he knew JJ, let JJ build on the name;

    Roy Wilkins, whose legacy solidified the Jewish sympathies in the Civil Rights era.
    That may be why Black intellectuals think more about sympathy for Israel than their own neighborhoods..

    My friend who retired fm the Pentagon :
    So….the Middle East are the superior race, according to this career army vet.
    Not Jews but the Muslims. And Islam and its people will make America rich…
    And Christian nationalism won’t be a factor…

    What does the Pentagon know that we don’t know?

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