alternet--2020-10-21--Trump used his campaign war chest like an ATM. Now it's dead broke — and GOP donors are furious

Suckers .
That 's clearly how major GOP donors feel after realizing that Trump 's campaign is basically dead broke , he 's dragging down the entire party , and he 's even put Democrats in position to potentially take back the Senate .
`` The Senate majority is the most important objective right now , '' said Dan Eberhart , who has given over $ 190,000 to Trump 's reelection effort , according to the AP .
`` It 's the bulwark against so much bad policy that the Democrats want to do if they sweep the elections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state of Trump 's campaign war chest has come into clearer view in the final months of the race .
Some Republicans donors even founded a separate pro-Trump super PAC , Preserve America , that was explicitly not run by Trump 's people because he 's clearly not sending his finest .
Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson recently poured $ 75 million into that PAC instead of just handing it over to the Trump campaign .
`` You could literally have 10 monkeys with flamethrowers go after the money , and they would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy told the AP of the Trump campaign 's spending habits .
On the one hand , the Biden campaign is spending more than twice as much in the closing days of race— $ 142 million to the Trump campaign 's coordinated buy with the Republican National Committee ( RNC ) of $ 55 million .
On the other , Trump and his campaign aides burned through $ 1 billion like they were on a drunken Beverly Hills lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous bender .
There 's the already reported $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the campaign so Trump could feel powerful before Democrats had even settled on a nominee .
There 's also more than $ 310 million in spending that 's concealed by a web of limited liability companies , notes the AP .
And somehow , former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale managed to purchase a Ferrari , a Range Rover , a $ 400,000 yacht , and several million-dollar-plus condos after siphoning some $ 40 million from the Trump campaign alone .
But really , that 's just the tip of the iceberg .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Trump camp and RNC , according to the AP : — Nearly $ 100,000 to prop up the release of Donald Trump Jr. 's book , `` Triggered , '' pushing it to the top of The New York Times ' bestsellers list .
— Over $ 7.4 million spent at Trump-branded properties since 2017 — At least $ 35.2 million spent on Trump merchandise — $ 38.7 million in legal and `` compliance '' fees , including the legal costs of his impeachment proceedings — At least $ 14.1 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was relocated several times and ended up being a mostly virtual event — A $ 250,000 ad run during Game 7 of the 2019 World Series after Trump was booed by spectators for attending Game 5 — $ 1.6 million on TV ads so Trump could see himself in the Washington , D.C. , media market , where Biden is polling at about 87 % Perhaps the best strategic decision was back in May , when Parscale unleashed $ 176 million in spending to drag down Biden in public polling .
That @ @ @ @

Suckers. That's clearly how major GOP donors feel after realizing that Trump's campaign is basically dead broke, he's dragging down the entire party, and he's even put Democrats in position to potentially take back the Senate.
"The Senate majority is the most important objective right now," said Dan Eberhart, who has given over $190,000 to Trump's reelection effort, according to the AP. "It's the bulwark against so much bad policy that the Democrats want to do if they sweep the elections."
Eberhart and others feel burned after the state of Trump's campaign war chest has come into clearer view in the final months of the race. Some Republicans donors even founded a separate pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America, that was explicitly not run by Trump's people because he's clearly not sending his finest. Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson recently poured $75 million into that PAC instead of just handing it over to the Trump campaign.
"You could literally have 10 monkeys with flamethrowers go after the money, and they wouldn't have burned through it as stupidly," veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy told the AP of the Trump campaign's spending habits.
On the one hand, the Biden campaign is spending more than twice as much in the closing days of race—$142 million to the Trump campaign's coordinated buy with the Republican National Committee (RNC) of $55 million. On the other, Trump and his campaign aides burned through $1 billion like they were on a drunken Beverly Hills lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous bender.
There's the already reported $10 million Super Bowl ad bought by the campaign so Trump could feel powerful before Democrats had even settled on a nominee. There's also more than $310 million in spending that's concealed by a web of limited liability companies, notes the AP. And somehow, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale managed to purchase a Ferrari, a Range Rover, a $400,000 yacht, and several million-dollar-plus condos after siphoning some $40 million from the Trump campaign alone.
But really, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Here're some other choice purchases made by the Trump camp and RNC, according to the AP:
— Nearly $100,000 to prop up the release of Donald Trump Jr.'s book, "Triggered," pushing it to the top of The New York Times' bestsellers list.
— Over $7.4 million spent at Trump-branded properties since 2017
— At least $35.2 million spent on Trump merchandise
— $38.7 million in legal and "compliance" fees, including the legal costs of his impeachment proceedings
— At least $14.1 million spent on the Republican National Convention, which was relocated several times and ended up being a mostly virtual event
— A $250,000 ad run during Game 7 of the 2019 World Series after Trump was booed by spectators for attending Game 5
— $1.6 million on TV ads so Trump could see himself in the Washington, D.C., media market, where Biden is polling at about 87%
Perhaps the best strategic decision was back in May, when Parscale unleashed $176 million in spending to drag down Biden in public polling. That worked out well.


alternet--2020-10-21--Ted Cruz still thinks he can be president

With an eye toward his 2024 presidential ambitions , Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is staking out his extreme right territory and once again trying to make waves .
He 's got half a dozen senators signed onto a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent a change in the size of the Supreme Court .
Yes , he only has five other senators , and yes a constitutional amendment requires support of two-thirds of each chamber of Congress and three-quarters of the individual states .
He has a second proposal that would be less stringent , requiring a supermajority in the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the courts .
`` Make no mistake , if Democrats win the election , they will end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court , expanding the number of justices to advance their radical political agenda , entrenching their power for generations , and destroying the foundations of our democratic system , '' he said as his party is about to ram a radically conservative , unqualified ideologue onto the Supreme Court where she 'd potentially be positioned to help Donald Trump cling to office by subverting the will of the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take action before Election Day to safeguard the Supreme Court and the constitutional liberties that hang in the balance . ''
That 's not likely to happen , since McConnell wants to do one thing above all—get Barrett on the court—and then leave town for the remainder of the campaign .
Cruz does n't really care about this happening , before or after the election .
This is n't about the sanctity of the courts .
It 's about Ted Cruz wanting to be president and taking whatever hard line he thinks will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How do we know ?
Here 's Ted Cruz in 2016 , when he was n't just justifying the Republican blockade against President Barack Obama 's Supreme Court nominee , Merrick Garland , but about blocking a potential President Hillary Clinton 's nominees : `` There is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices .
I would note , just recently , that Justice [ Stephen ] Breyer observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job .
That 's a debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' It was n't a problem to change the size of the court four years ago , not if it meant fulfilling the number one goal of the extremist Republicans , a goal that 's now within their reach—a wack-job Supreme Court majority .
We 've seen the lengths they 'll go to to gain that , and presuming a miracle does n't happen and Barrett advances , to preserve that .
This effort from Cruz is part and parcel of that .
But it 's mostly Cruz claiming his spot as Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the courts will remain the key objective of those setting the Republican agenda : corporate interests and far-right evangelicals .
That 's where the money and the base voters , respectively , all come from .
Which is one more reason for Democrats to blow it all up in 2021—get rid of the filibuster and expand the courts and cut Cruz off at the knees , figuratively .

With an eye toward his 2024 presidential ambitions, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is staking out his extreme right territory and once again trying to make waves. He's got half a dozen senators signed onto a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent a change in the size of the Supreme Court. Yes, he only has five other senators, and yes a constitutional amendment requires support of two-thirds of each chamber of Congress and three-quarters of the individual states. He has a second proposal that would be less stringent, requiring a supermajority in the Senate to consider making changes in the size of the courts.
"Make no mistake, if Democrats win the election, they will end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court, expanding the number of justices to advance their radical political agenda, entrenching their power for generations, and destroying the foundations of our democratic system," he said as his party is about to ram a radically conservative, unqualified ideologue onto the Supreme Court where she'd potentially be positioned to help Donald Trump cling to office by subverting the will of the people. Cruz added that "We must take action before Election Day to safeguard the Supreme Court and the constitutional liberties that hang in the balance." That's not likely to happen, since McConnell wants to do one thing above all—get Barrett on the court—and then leave town for the remainder of the campaign.
Cruz doesn't really care about this happening, before or after the election. This isn't about the sanctity of the courts. It's about Ted Cruz wanting to be president and taking whatever hard line he thinks will get the Republican base behind him. How do we know? Here's Ted Cruz in 2016, when he wasn't just justifying the Republican blockade against President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, but about blocking a potential President Hillary Clinton's nominees: "There is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices. I would note, just recently, that Justice [Stephen] Breyer observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job. That's a debate that we are going to have."
It wasn't a problem to change the size of the court four years ago, not if it meant fulfilling the number one goal of the extremist Republicans, a goal that's now within their reach—a wack-job Supreme Court majority. We've seen the lengths they'll go to to gain that, and presuming a miracle doesn't happen and Barrett advances, to preserve that. This effort from Cruz is part and parcel of that.
But it's mostly Cruz claiming his spot as Trump's inheritor for 2024, knowing that the courts will remain the key objective of those setting the Republican agenda: corporate interests and far-right evangelicals. That's where the money and the base voters, respectively, all come from. Which is one more reason for Democrats to blow it all up in 2021—get rid of the filibuster and expand the courts and cut Cruz off at the knees, figuratively.


alternet--2020-10-21--Mark Meadows' election filings raise questions of unlawful spending and campaign coordination

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reported spending tens of thousands of dollars through his campaign and leadership PAC on what appear to be personal expenses , including gourmet cupcakes , a cell phone bill , grocery purchases , lavish meals , thousands of dollars at a Washington jeweler and lodging at the Trump International Hotel , according to FEC filings .
A number of the expenses align with Lynda Bennett 's failed campaign to fill the North Carolina seat left vacant in the U.S. House of Representatives by Meadows , both before and after Trump named Meadows for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsed Bennett , a friend and ally , and when the Republican primary in that district grew unexpectedly contentious in the wake of Meadows ' resignation , local Republicans began to suspect that the chief of staff was putting his thumb on the scale .
Salon 's investigation now raises questions about whether Meadows ' support ventured into the financial realm as well .
Meadows announced late last December that he would not run for re-election in his North Carolina congressional seat , but his campaign went on to spend more than $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a leadership PAC .
In that same time his campaign raised just $ 300 .
He created Freedom First PAC in early July , and it has since spent more than $ 14,000 , federal filings show , including on cupcakes , Costco , a cell phone and lodging at President Trump 's Washington hotel .
Despite its spending , Freedom First has reported raising no money at all , which is highly unusual for any PAC , especially in the run-up to a national election .
It is illegal to spend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as groceries and meals .
`` After Meadows announced he would not seek re-election , then took a job in the White House , his campaign account continued to spend large sums of money on food and beverage and lodging , including at the Trump Hotel , even though it was no longer fundraising , '' Jordan Libowitz , of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics and Washington ( CREW ) , told Salon .
This pattern , he continued , `` raises serious questions '' about the purpose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hunter , a California Republican , `` is going to prison for using his campaign account for personal expenses , including at restaurants and hotels , '' Libowitz added .
`` Meadows needs to explain what these expenses were for . ''
Brendan Fischer , director of regulatory oversight at the Campaign Legal Center , agreed .
He told Salon , `` Campaign funds may be used to support one 's candidacy or duties as an officeholder , but after a person is no longer a candidate or congressional officeholder , campaign expenditures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Between January and March of this ear , the Meadows campaign reported spending a total of $ 5,570 in donor funds on food and beverage items .
About $ 1,600 of that went to the Capitol Hill Club , a mainstay hangout for House Republicans , just around the corner from Republican National Committee headquarters , including an $ 1,100 purchase on Jan. 13 — the same day Hunter resigned from the House for manifold campaign finance violations .
Hunter 's campaign had spent more than $ 100,000 at the Capitol Hill Club @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign reported spending about half that amount at the GOP haunt in 109 separate expenditures since 2012 , though most of those reports came in the four years after Trump 's election : more than $ 37,000 since 2017 .
`` There are plenty of possible reasons for this , especially because he was still a candidate for most of it , '' Libowitz explained of the meals , which ranged from several thousand dollars to very small sums , a handful below $ 20 .
`` He could be having fundraising meetings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Or he could , like Duncan Hunter , be using the campaign card to pick up his own tab , '' Libowitz continued .
( The campaign reported raising just $ 786 gross between January and April , $ 292 of that in net contributions — and nothing at all thereafter . )
`` In and of itself , it does n't prove anything , '' he added , `` but it does at least ask for explanation . ''
A week after that serendipitous Capitol Hill Club expense , the campaign reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at The Grove Park Inn & Resort , a four-star country club in Asheville , North Carolina , in Meadows ' home district .
It expensed a $ 15 parking fee for the same affair .
Campaign filings also show a $ 84 campaign expense at Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Alexandria , Virginia , on Feb. 12 , and last month his leadership PAC — the direct extension of his campaign committee — dropped another $ 70 at the same bakery in two visits a week apart , with a $ 400 lodging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Meadows campaign also told the FEC that it spent a total of $ 1,100 on food and drinks at Trump 's Washington hotel , after Meadows had announced the end of his campaign .
This included $ 500 on March 3 of this year — Super Tuesday in the Democratic primary race .
( Hotel insiders know Tuesdays as `` lobbyist night . ''
) Trump named Meadows his new chief of staff three days after that .
On March 30 , the day that Meadows officially resigned from the House — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he would not run for re-election — his campaign reported spending $ 2,650 on `` printed materials '' from Washington custom jeweler Ann Hand .
`` I have no legitimate explanation for that one , '' Brett Kappel , campaign finance expert at Hammon Curran , told Salon .
`` It 's illegal to make a false statement to the FEC .
If he used campaign funds to buy jewelry for someone , that could be another personal use violation .
The FEC allows campaigns to use campaign funds to buy gifts for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be disclosed as such . ''
The purchase , however , is not flagged as a gift , something Meadows did for previous purchases .
While Hand 's website does not advertise printed products such as stationery , the store , which deals predominantly in politically-themed jewelry and accessories , sells printed American Eagle silk scarves at $ 350 apiece .
The site also showcases a number of custom and individualized pieces , including some made for members of Congress and the White House .
A single Trump-Pence pin studded with Swarovski @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of what Meadows expensed .
In October 2019 , the campaign reported spending $ 925 on `` Logo Lapel Pins with Magnets '' from Coates Designers in Franklin , North Carolina .
Photos show that Meadows ' wife , Debbie , wore a necklace to the Republican National Convention event on the White House lawn which matches an Ann Hand design .
The purchase underscores the unusual phenomenon : Meadows was no longer campaigning , but his campaign still racked up expenses .
While it 's normal for campaigns that have ended to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loose ends , many of the disbursements that Meadows listed are difficult to understand in those terms , since he was no longer a political candidate .
For instance , Meadows paid campaign associate Henry Mitchell more than $ 5,000 for `` field representative mileage '' in five installments between January and March .
`` There 's still campaign work that can be done as a campaign winds down .
It 's not out of the ordinary to keep someone around to help out , '' Libowitz said of those expenses .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back-of-the-envelope math has it at 900 miles some weeks .
That 's a ton of driving . ''
It 's not clear why Mitchell was putting on so many miles , or where .
However , the Republican primary to replace Meadows had already grown chaotic by February , with Bennett , his friend and hand-picked successor , facing a number of candidates , some to her right .
At the time , local Republican operatives speculated that Meadows had been trying to tip the scales in her favor , according to Politico @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expense at Trump hotel , Meadows ' campaign reported giving $ 4,000 to Bennett 's campaign : $ 2,000 for the Republican primary ; and $ 2,000 for the general election .
Trump had announced Meadows would be hired as chief of staff the previous day , and as mentioned above , he officially resigned from Congress at the end of the month .
Furthermore , FEC filings show that the Meadows campaign continued to spend campaign money in the months after his resignation and before he filed to create Freedom First PAC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phone bills , in-flight internet , food , groceries and consulting .
In mid-April , two weeks after Meadows signed on with the White House , his campaign reported a $ 360 meal expense at the Capitol Hill Club , in the middle of coronavirus lockdowns .
That week the Capitol Hill Club , which had been shuttered , posted a mailer about delivering charity meals to frontline workers .
Asked if the Meadows campaign could have expensed meals as a charity gift , Kappel said it was possible , but pointed out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have indicated that .
`` The FEC would probably allow that , but it would have to be reported more specifically than this .
A memo entry would be sufficient — something like 'charitable contribution of food for hospital workers ' — but the receipt does n't show that , '' he said .
In the end , Meadows ' efforts did not sustain Bennett , who lost her June 23 primary to pro-Trump political newcomer Madison Cawthorne .
That same day , the Meadows campaign reported a $ 2,300 payment to Henry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for `` management consulting . ''
( Mitchell was formerly the chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party , in Meadows ' district . )
A week later , on the last day of the Meadows ' campaign 's official existence , his campaign reported a $ 600 expense at a Safeway grocery store .
Furthermore , the Meadows and Bennett campaigns , along with Right Women PAC , which was founded by Meadows ' wife , are the only three political committees in the U.S. to report payments to a company called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meadows ' brother — who apparently registered Bennett 's campaign domain in October 2019 , according Politico .
Additionally , Meadows ' campaign lists political expenditures that on their face do not seem to fit the needs of a candidate who has already announced he will no longer be seeking elected office .
For instance , the campaign reported paying pollster McLaughlin & Associates $ 11,200 on Jan. 7 , three weeks after Meadows announced he would no longer be campaigning .
That same day the campaign reported a $ 3,000 payment to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' with another $ 3,032 consulting payment to the company on Jan. 10 , filings show .
`` The only legitimate answer is that Meadows asked his campaign vendors to submit any outstanding invoices or receipts so that they could be paid , but if he had done that you would expect one lump sum payment , '' Kappel told Salon .
`` If Meadows had polling done in the interest of a candidate he wanted to replace him , that would be an excessive in-kind contribution . ''
Although Meadows made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported that skeptical North Carolina Republicans noticed a number of coincidences surrounding Barrett 's entry into the race — among them the October domain registry , as well as other indications she had a heads-up on Meadows ' announcement , the timing of which caught other GOP hopefuls off guard .
It is unclear why Meadows paid a polling company weeks after announcing his retirement from Congress , and possibly months after having made the decision , as Politico 's reporting suggests .
Similarly , it seems Meadows would owe an explanation for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a dead campaign that went on to raise less than $ 300 in net contributions for all of 2020 to date .
`` While some of the campaign 's expenses in the first quarter might be justified , '' Brendan Fischer of the CLC told Salon , `` those meal and grocery expenses from the period after Meadows resigned from Congress raise the most red flags for me .
Those post-April expenses for meals at the Capitol Hill Club and groceries can not possibly be connected to Meadows ' candidacy or congressional duties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nor a congressman at that time . ''
The spending continued after Meadows established his new PAC , Freedom First , which has not raised any money since its July 1 inception .
It remains unclear exactly what could legitimize the $ 14,500 in campaign expenses reported since then .
Those expenditures include several meal purchases , including $ 1,000 at the Capitol Hill Club on July 21 .
Remarking on that expense , Fischer pointed out that the FEC , in response to a CLC complaint , fined former Rep. Cliff Stearns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for using his old campaign account to pay for Capitol Hill Club dues and meals , among other things .
Then , in August , Freedom First reported its largest expenditure : A $ 10,000 PAC donation , the maximum amount allowable under election law , made to Ralph Sexton Ministries on Aug. 10 .
The Meadows campaign had previously reported only one other contribution to the organization , of $ 1,000 in April 2019 .
Sexton ran a church in Asheville that Debbie Meadows and Lynda Bennett both attended .
He introduced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jordan 's wife , Polly , to a crowd of churchgoers this winter , according to local outlet the Mountaineer .
Sexton announced his retirement from the church on Saturday , two months after the $ 10,000 contribution from Freedom First .
Bennett 's campaign finished $ 70,000 in debt , and she still needs to return the Meadows campaign 's $ 2,000 general election contribution , since she lost the Republican primary and is not on the ballot in November .
Her campaign has $ 1,000 cash on hand , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share of Bennett 's outstanding debt is owed to herself : She loaned her campaign $ 80,000 on the last day of 2019 , days after Meadows announced his retirement .
Freedom First has still not raised any money after all of this activity , but it continued to spend into September , including at the Trump International Hotel in Washington .
In August it filed a series of payments to Tower Digital , Meadows ' brother 's company , as well a $ 240 payment to Costco and $ 1,000 to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You ca n't use campaign funds to buy your groceries at Costco , '' said Kappel .
Freedom First 's most recent payment was reported on Sept. 24 : an Uber ride , for $ 80.32 .
Lynda Bennett 's campaign did not reply to Salon 's detailed request for comment .
The White House did not reply to multiple detailed requests for comment .

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reported spending tens of thousands of dollars through his campaign and leadership PAC on what appear to be personal expenses, including gourmet cupcakes, a cell phone bill, grocery purchases, lavish meals, thousands of dollars at a Washington jeweler and lodging at the Trump International Hotel,according to FEC filings.
A number of the expenses align with Lynda Bennett's failed campaign to fill the North Carolina seat left vacant in the U.S. House of Representatives by Meadows, both before and after Trump named Meadows for the White House job.
Meadows had endorsed Bennett, a friend and ally, and when the Republican primary in that district grew unexpectedly contentious in the wake of Meadows' resignation, local Republicans began to suspect that the chief of staff was putting his thumb on the scale. Salon's investigation now raises questions about whether Meadows' support ventured into the financial realm as well.
Meadows announced late last December that he would not run for re-election in his North Carolina congressional seat, but his campaign went on to spend more than $60,000 before he officially converted the committee to a leadership PAC. In that same time his campaign raised just $300.
He created Freedom First PAC in early July, and it has since spent more than $14,000, federal filings show, including on cupcakes, Costco, a cell phone and lodging at President Trump's Washington hotel. Despite its spending, Freedom First has reported raising no money at all, which is highly unusual for any PAC, especially in the run-up to a national election.
It is illegal to spend campaign and PAC funds on personal expenses, such as groceries and meals.
"After Meadows announced he would not seek re-election, then took a job in the White House, his campaign account continued to spend large sums of money on food and beverage and lodging, including at the Trump Hotel, even though it was no longer fundraising," Jordan Libowitz, of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics and Washington (CREW), told Salon. This pattern, he continued, "raises serious questions" about the purpose of that spending.
Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, "is going to prison for using his campaign account for personal expenses, including at restaurants and hotels," Libowitz added. "Meadows needs to explain what these expenses were for."
Brendan Fischer, director of regulatory oversight at the Campaign Legal Center, agreed. He told Salon, "Campaign funds may be used to support one's candidacy or duties as an officeholder, but after a person is no longer a candidate or congressional officeholder, campaign expenditures can look much more questionable."
Between January and March of this ear, the Meadows campaign reported spending a total of $5,570 in donor funds on food and beverage items. About $1,600 of that went to the Capitol Hill Club, a mainstay hangout for House Republicans, just around the corner from Republican National Committee headquarters, including an $1,100 purchase on Jan. 13 — the same day Hunter resigned from the House for manifold campaign finance violations.
Hunter's campaign had spent more than $100,000 at the Capitol Hill Club dating back to 2008. The Meadows campaign reported spending about half that amount at the GOP haunt in 109 separate expenditures since 2012, though most of those reports came in the four years after Trump's election: more than $37,000 since 2017.
"There are plenty of possible reasons for this, especially because he was still a candidate for most of it," Libowitz explained of the meals, which ranged from several thousand dollars to very small sums, a handful below $20.
"He could be having fundraising meetings. Or meeting with campaign staff. Or he could, like Duncan Hunter, be using the campaign card to pick up his own tab," Libowitz continued. (The campaign reported raising just $786 gross between January and April, $292 of that in net contributions — and nothing at all thereafter.) "In and of itself, it doesn't prove anything," he added, "but it does at least ask for explanation."
A week after that serendipitous Capitol Hill Club expense, the campaign reported spending $312 on food and beverage at The Grove Park Inn & Resort, a four-star country club in Asheville, North Carolina, in Meadows' home district. It expensed a $15 parking fee for the same affair.
Campaign filings also show a $84 campaign expense at Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Alexandria, Virginia, on Feb. 12, and last month his leadership PAC — the direct extension of his campaign committee — dropped another $70 at the same bakery in two visits a week apart, with a $400 lodging expense at Trump International in between.
The Meadows campaign also told the FEC that it spent a total of $1,100 on food and drinks at Trump's Washington hotel, after Meadows had announced the end of his campaign. This included $500 on March 3 of this year — Super Tuesday in the Democratic primary race. (Hotel insiders know Tuesdays as "lobbyist night.")
Trump named Meadows his new chief of staff three days after that.
On March 30, the day that Meadows officially resigned from the House — more than three months after announcing that he would not run for re-election — his campaign reported spending $2,650 on "printed materials" from Washington custom jeweler Ann Hand.
"I have no legitimate explanation for that one," Brett Kappel, campaign finance expert at Hammon Curran, told Salon. "It's illegal to make a false statement to the FEC. If he used campaign funds to buy jewelry for someone, that could be another personal use violation. The FEC allows campaigns to use campaign funds to buy gifts for donors or volunteers — but they have to be disclosed as such."
The purchase, however, is not flagged as a gift, something Meadows did for previous purchases. While Hand's website does not advertise printed products such as stationery, the store, which deals predominantly in politically-themed jewelry and accessories, sells printed American Eagle silk scarves at $350 apiece.
The site also showcases a number of custom and individualized pieces, including some made for members of Congress and the White House. A single Trump-Pence pin studded with Swarovski crystals costs $65 — two percent of what Meadows expensed. In October 2019, the campaign reported spending $925 on "Logo Lapel Pins with Magnets" from Coates Designers in Franklin, North Carolina.
Photos show that Meadows' wife, Debbie, wore a necklace to the Republican National Convention event on the White House lawn which matches an Ann Hand design.
The purchase underscores the unusual phenomenon: Meadows was no longer campaigning, but his campaign still racked up expenses. While it's normal for campaigns that have ended to have a grace period to wrap up loose ends, many of the disbursements that Meadows listed are difficult to understand in those terms, since he was no longer a political candidate.
For instance, Meadows paid campaign associate Henry Mitchell more than $5,000 for "field representative mileage" in five installments between January and March.
"There's still campaign work that can be done as a campaign winds down. It's not out of the ordinary to keep someone around to help out," Libowitz said of those expenses. "But at 58 cents a mile, back-of-the-envelope math has it at 900 miles some weeks. That's a ton of driving."
It's not clear why Mitchell was putting on so many miles, or where. However, the Republican primary to replace Meadows had already grown chaotic by February, with Bennett, his friend and hand-picked successor, facing a number of candidates, some to her right. At the time, local Republican operatives speculated that Meadows had been trying to tip the scales in her favor, according to Politico.
Two days after his Super Tuesday expense at Trump hotel, Meadows' campaign reported giving $4,000 to Bennett's campaign: $2,000 for the Republican primary; and $2,000 for the general election. Trump had announced Meadows would be hired as chief of staff the previous day, and as mentioned above, he officially resigned from Congress at the end of the month.
Furthermore, FEC filings show that the Meadows campaign continued to spend campaign money in the months after his resignation and before he filed to create Freedom First PAC on July 1. These expenses include phone bills, in-flight internet, food, groceries and consulting.
In mid-April, two weeks after Meadows signed on with the White House, his campaign reported a $360 meal expense at the Capitol Hill Club, in the middle of coronavirus lockdowns. That week the Capitol Hill Club, which had been shuttered, posted a mailer about delivering charity meals to frontline workers.
Asked if the Meadows campaign could have expensed meals as a charity gift, Kappel said it was possible, but pointed out that if so, the filing should have indicated that.
"The FEC would probably allow that, but it would have to be reported more specifically than this. A memo entry would be sufficient — something like 'charitable contribution of food for hospital workers' — but the receipt doesn't show that," he said.
In the end, Meadows' efforts did not sustain Bennett, who lost her June 23 primary to pro-Trump political newcomer Madison Cawthorne. That same day, the Meadows campaign reported a $2,300 payment to Henry Mitchell, the aforementioned field representative, for "management consulting." (Mitchell was formerly the chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party, in Meadows' district.)
A week later, on the last day of the Meadows' campaign's official existence, his campaign reported a $600 expense at a Safeway grocery store.
Furthermore, the Meadows and Bennett campaigns, along with Right Women PAC, which was founded by Meadows' wife, are the only three political committees in the U.S. to report payments to a company called Tower Digital, which was founded by Meadows' brother — who apparently registered Bennett's campaign domain in October 2019, according Politico.
Additionally, Meadows' campaign lists political expenditures that on their face do not seem to fit the needs of a candidate who has already announced he will no longer be seeking elected office.
For instance, the campaign reported paying pollster McLaughlin & Associates $11,200 on Jan. 7, three weeks after Meadows announced he would no longer be campaigning. That same day the campaign reported a $3,000 payment to Hammond & Associates for "Fundraising Consulting," with another $3,032 consulting payment to the company on Jan. 10, filings show.
"The only legitimate answer is that Meadows asked his campaign vendors to submit any outstanding invoices or receipts so that they could be paid, but if he had done that you would expect one lump sum payment," Kappel told Salon. "If Meadows had polling done in the interest of a candidate he wanted to replace him, that would be an excessive in-kind contribution."
Although Meadows made his retirement announcement in December, Politico reported that skeptical North Carolina Republicans noticed a number of coincidences surrounding Barrett's entry into the race — among them the October domain registry, as well as other indications she had a heads-up on Meadows' announcement, the timing of which caught other GOP hopefuls off guard.
It is unclear why Meadows paid a polling company weeks after announcing his retirement from Congress, and possibly months after having made the decision, as Politico's reporting suggests. Similarly, it seems Meadows would owe an explanation for $6,000 in fundraising consulting expenses for a dead campaign that went on to raise less than $300 in net contributions for all of 2020 to date.
"While some of the campaign's expenses in the first quarter might be justified," Brendan Fischer of the CLC told Salon, "those meal and grocery expenses from the period after Meadows resigned from Congress raise the most red flags for me. Those post-April expenses for meals at the Capitol Hill Club and groceries cannot possibly be connected to Meadows' candidacy or congressional duties, since he was neither a candidate nor a congressman at that time."
The spending continued after Meadows established his new PAC, Freedom First, which has not raised any money since its July 1 inception. It remains unclear exactly what could legitimize the $14,500 in campaign expenses reported since then.
Those expenditures include several meal purchases, including $1,000 at the Capitol Hill Club on July 21. Remarking on that expense, Fischer pointed out that the FEC, in response to a CLC complaint, fined former Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, in 2019 for using his old campaign account to pay for Capitol Hill Club dues and meals, among other things.
Then, in August, Freedom First reported its largest expenditure: A $10,000 PAC donation, the maximum amount allowable under election law, made to Ralph Sexton Ministries on Aug. 10. The Meadows campaign had previously reported only one other contribution to the organization, of $1,000 in April 2019.
Sexton ran a church in Asheville that Debbie Meadows and Lynda Bennett both attended. He introduced the two women, along with Jim Jordan's wife, Polly, to a crowd of churchgoers this winter, according to local outlet the Mountaineer. Sexton announced his retirement from the church on Saturday, two months after the $10,000 contribution from Freedom First.
Bennett's campaign finished $70,000 in debt, and she still needs to return the Meadows campaign's $2,000 general election contribution, since she lost the Republican primary and is not on the ballot in November. Her campaign has $1,000 cash on hand, according to filings.
However, the lion's share of Bennett's outstanding debt is owed to herself: She loaned her campaign $80,000 on the last day of 2019, days after Meadows announced his retirement.
Freedom First has still not raised any money after all of this activity, but it continued to spend into September, including at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. In August it filed a series of payments to Tower Digital, Meadows' brother's company, as well a $240 payment to Costco and $1,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
"You can't use campaign funds to buy your groceries at Costco," said Kappel.
Freedom First's most recent payment was reported on Sept. 24: an Uber ride, for $80.32.
Lynda Bennett's campaign did not reply to Salon's detailed request for comment. The White House did not reply to multiple detailed requests for comment.


alternet--2020-10-21--State Department employees outraged after Pompeo addresses group supporting 'ex-gay' therapy

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is consistently among the most Trump-like of the impeached president 's corrupt , trollish officials—and he continued to cement that status after reportedly ignoring internal protests from his own department employees in order to address a right-wing religious organization that supports so-called `` ex-gay '' therapy , the Miami Herald said .
The report said that Pompeo 's speech to the Florida Family Policy Council , a group also affiliated with several other anti-LGBTQ organizations , was covered in red flags , including staffers finding links to conversion therapy—which is torture—on the group 's site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the location where the speech was to take place .
So Mike—ever-conscious about his employees and his department 's alleged pro-LGBTQ efforts—cancelled the speech , right ?
Nah .
He not only continued on with it , he promoted it .
The Miami Herald reports that `` [ o ] ne source described several aides as 'appalled ' the event still took place despite the concerns , and that afterward , the secretary highlighted his appearance in his latest 'Miles with Mike ' message to department employees . ''
A State Department spokesperson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by later claiming that Pompeo honestly had no idea about the concerns , which maybe someone somewhere would believe if this administration did n't lie like it was going out of style .
Then there 's also Mike 's record .
`` Before joining the Trump administration , first as CIA director and then as secretary of State , Pompeo made his views on LGBTQ rights explicit , '' Mother Jones noted , `` opposing same-sex marriage and once alluding to homosexuality as a 'perversion . '
'' During a Senate confirmation hearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Booker pressed Pompeo on the term , and asked him if he stood by it .
`` Senator , when I was a politician , I had a very clear view on whether it was appropriate for two same-sex persons to marry , '' Pompeo replied .
`` I stand by that . ''
Of course , working for a thrice-married adulterer is apparently just fine and dandy .
Anyway , that Republicans still continue to tout this administration as pro-LGBTQ is laughable , and made all the more ridiculous considering one pro-LGBTQ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the previous administration .
Awkward .
`` [ T ] here was of course no policy that the Trump administration created to fight decriminalization of homosexuality overseas , '' writer and activist Michelangelo Signorile noted this past summer .
`` As I wrote in The Washington Post , the Trump administration is simply continuing existing State Department policy put in place by the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in particular—in stark contrast to most domestic pro-LGBTQ polices , which the Trump administration rolled back . ''
But hey , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the term `` LGBTQ '' at a `` Trump Pride Event '' in Florida this past weekend , where she claimed , `` I know what my father believes in .
Prior to politics , he supported gays , lesbians , the LGBQIIA+ community . ''
Okay .
Maybe whatever this `` LGBQIIA+ '' is might support him—do n't think we did n't notice you dropping the `` T '' there , Tiffany—but when it comes to the LGBTQ community , new polling has 74 % of registered LGBTQ voters supporting Democratic presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 92 percent said they were 'definitely or probably ' voting in the presidential election—and over 80 percent said they felt more motivated to vote now than in any other recent election , '' the polling said .

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is consistently among the most Trump-like of the impeached president's corrupt, trollish officials—and he continued to cement that status after reportedly ignoring internal protests from his own department employees in order to address a right-wing religious organization that supports so-called "ex-gay" therapy, the Miami Heraldsaid.
The report said that Pompeo's speech to the Florida Family Policy Council, a group also affiliated with several other anti-LGBTQ organizations, was covered in red flags, including staffers finding links to conversion therapy—which is torture—on the group's site, as well as anti-gay flyers at the location where the speech was to take place. So Mike—ever-conscious about his employees and his department's alleged pro-LGBTQ efforts—cancelled the speech, right? Nah. He not only continued on with it, he promoted it.
The Miami Herald reports that "[o]ne source described several aides as 'appalled' the event still took place despite the concerns, and that afterward, the secretary highlighted his appearance in his latest 'Miles with Mike' message to department employees." A State Department spokesperson tried to soothe alarm over the speech by later claiming that Pompeo honestly had no idea about the concerns, which maybe someone somewhere would believe if this administration didn't lie like it was going out of style.
Then there's also Mike's record. "Before joining the Trump administration, first as CIA director and then as secretary of State, Pompeo made his views on LGBTQ rights explicit," Mother Jones noted, "opposing same-sex marriage and once alluding to homosexuality as a 'perversion.'" During a Senate confirmation hearing in 2018, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker pressed Pompeo on the term, and asked him if he stood by it. "Senator, when I was a politician, I had a very clear view on whether it was appropriate for two same-sex persons to marry," Pompeo replied. "I stand by that."
Of course, working for a thrice-married adulterer is apparently just fine and dandy. Anyway, that Republicans still continue to tout this administration as pro-LGBTQ is laughable, and made all the more ridiculous considering one pro-LGBTQ effort the administration touts actually belonged to the previous administration. Awkward.
"[T]here was of course no policy that the Trump administration created to fight decriminalization of homosexuality overseas," writer and activist Michelangelo Signorile noted this past summer. "As I wrote in The Washington Post, the Trump administration is simply continuing existing State Department policy put in place by the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in particular—in stark contrast to most domestic pro-LGBTQ polices, which the Trump administration rolled back."
But hey, the Trump campaign enlisted Tiffany Trump to mangle the term "LGBTQ" at a "Trump Pride Event" in Florida this past weekend, where she claimed, "I know what my father believes in. Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQIIA+ community." Okay. Maybe whatever this "LGBQIIA+" is might support him—don't think we didn't notice you dropping the "T" there, Tiffany—but when it comes to the LGBTQ community, new polling has 74% of registered LGBTQ voters supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
"Of them, 92 percent said they were 'definitely or probably' voting in the presidential election—and over 80 percent said they felt more motivated to vote now than in any other recent election," the polling said.


alternet--2020-10-21--On-duty Miami cop wore a pro-Trump mask to a polling location — and it may cost him his job

Early voting kicked off in Florida on Monday , Oct. 9 .
On Tuesday morning , the chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party , Steve Simeonidis , tweeted out a photo he reportedly took of Miami Police Officer Daniel Ubeda inside of an early polling location .
The image showed that the fully uniformed and armed law enforcement officer was wearing a `` Trump 2020 : No More Bullshit '' face mask .
NBC Miami reports that the location of the image was the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami .
This is , of course , wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If he were wearing a Biden mask and carrying a gun , it would be problematic .
But there is also a very specific set of Florida statutes that Mr. Ubeda is violating .
Specifically , 102.101 , which clearly states : `` Sheriff and other officers not allowed in polling place .
No sheriff , deputy sheriff , police officer , or other officer of the law shall be allowed within the polling place without permission from the clerk or a majority of the inspectors , except to cast his or her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of said officers to comply with this provision , the clerk or the inspectors or any one of them shall make an affidavit against such officer for his or her arrest . ''
Sheriff Ubeda should only be there in his full uniform if he is voting or has been asked by the clerk or elections inspectors to remove a person like … Sheriff Ubdea himself .
The fact that he 's wearing a Trump mask that includes profanity is just icing on the cake .
: The City of Miami Police released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` This behavior is unacceptable , a violation of departmental policy , and is being addressed immediately . ''
That 's some weak sauce .
It 's a level of poor judgment so extreme that I 'm not sure why he is even allowed to have the job he has in the first place .
Deputy Police Chief Ron Papier told the Miami Herald that officer Ubeda is in `` clear violation of our department policy regarding campaigning while on duty , '' Papier said .
`` Additionally , the mask has offensive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of department policy . ''
When law enforcement is taught that they are above the law they act like they are above the law .

Early voting kicked off in Florida on Monday, Oct. 9. On Tuesday morning, the chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, Steve Simeonidis, tweeted out a photo he reportedly took of Miami Police Officer Daniel Ubeda inside of an early polling location. The image showed that the fully uniformed and armed law enforcement officer was wearing a "Trump 2020: No More Bullshit" face mask. NBC Miami reports that the location of the image was the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami.
This is, of course, wrong for so many, many reasons. If he were wearing a Biden mask and carrying a gun, it would be problematic. But there is also a very specific set of Florida statutes that Mr. Ubeda is violating. Specifically, 102.101, which clearly states: "Sheriff and other officers not allowed in polling place. No sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, or other officer of the law shall be allowed within the polling place without permission from the clerk or a majority of the inspectors, except to cast his or her ballot. Upon the failure of any of said officers to comply with this provision, the clerk or the inspectors or any one of them shall make an affidavit against such officer for his or her arrest."
Sheriff Ubeda should only be there in his full uniform if he is voting or has been asked by the clerk or elections inspectors to remove a person like … Sheriff Ubdea himself. The fact that he's wearing a Trump mask that includes profanity is just icing on the cake. :
The City of Miami Police released a statement to news outlets saying: "This behavior is unacceptable, a violation of departmental policy, and is being addressed immediately."
That's some weak sauce. It's a level of poor judgment so extreme that I'm not sure why he is even allowed to have the job he has in the first place. Deputy Police Chief Ron Papier told the Miami Herald that officer Ubeda is in "clear violation of our department policy regarding campaigning while on duty," Papier said. "Additionally, the mask has offensive language, which is also a violation of department policy."
When law enforcement is taught that they are above the law they act like they are above the law.


alternet--2020-10-21--Pat Robertson: 'The Lord told me' Trump will be reelected — and help set off the Apocalypse

Christian fundamentalist evangelical and televangelist Pat Robertson is predicting that President Donald Trump will win reelection and usher in the end of the world .
The 90-year-old Robertson , this week on his long-running show , `` The 700 Club , '' predicted , `` I want to say , without question , that Trump is going to win the election… .
He 's going to win ; that , I think is a given . ''
Robertson went on to say that after Trump wins in November , major wars will follow .
Those wars , according to Robertson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times — and Christians who vote for Trump can help to bring that about .
The far-right evangelical argued , `` We 've never seen the likes of it before , but I want to relate to you again : there is going to be a war .
Ezekiel 38 is going to be the next thing down the line .
Then , a time of peace and then , maybe the end .
But nobody knows the day or the hour when the Lord is going to come back .
He said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and only the Father knows it . ''
Trump 's reelection , according to Robertson , will be part of a series of events in which Jesus Christ returns to Earth .
`` I am saying that if things that people thought would be during the millennial time with the coming of Jesus , they are going to happen in our lifetime , '' Robertson told viewers .
`` And the next thing is the election that 's coming up in just a few weeks — at which time , according to what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president is going to be reelected . ''
Robertson continued , `` I 'm saying by all means , get out and vote .
Vote for whoever you want to vote for , but let your voice be heard .
But it 's going to lead to civil unrest and then , a war against Israel and so forth… .
I think it 's time to pray .
But anyway , that is the word .
You ask what 's going to happen next , and that 's what 's going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most prominent figures in the far-right evangelical movement , Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in the early 1960s and launched `` The 700 Club '' in 1966 .
Robertson , the son of the late Democratic Sen. Absalom Willis Robertson , ran for president in 1988 but lost to Vice President George H.W .
Bush in that year 's GOP presidential primary .
Robertson has a long history of predicting the Apocalypse , going back to at least the 1970s .
In 1976 , Robertson predicted that the Apocalypse would occur in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happen , Robertson predicted , in 1990 , that 2017 would be the year of the Apocalypse .
But since the End Times did n't come about in 2017 , Robertson now has high hopes that a second Trump term will mean the end of the world .

Christian fundamentalist evangelical and televangelist Pat Robertson is predicting that President Donald Trump will win reelection and usher in the end of the world.
The 90-year-old Robertson, this week on his long-running show, "The 700 Club," predicted, "I want to say, without question, that Trump is going to win the election…. He's going to win; that, I think is a given."
Robertson went on to say that after Trump wins in November, major wars will follow. Those wars, according to Robertson, will be part of the End Times — and Christians who vote for Trump can help to bring that about.
The far-right evangelical argued, "We've never seen the likes of it before, but I want to relate to you again: there is going to be a war. Ezekiel 38 is going to be the next thing down the line. Then, a time of peace and then, maybe the end. But nobody knows the day or the hour when the Lord is going to come back. He said the angels don't know it, and only the Father knows it."
Trump's reelection, according to Robertson, will be part of a series of events in which Jesus Christ returns to Earth.
"I am saying that if things that people thought would be during the millennial time with the coming of Jesus, they are going to happen in our lifetime," Robertson told viewers. "And the next thing is the election that's coming up in just a few weeks — at which time, according to what I believe the Lord told me, the president is going to be reelected."
Robertson continued, "I'm saying by all means, get out and vote. Vote for whoever you want to vote for, but let your voice be heard. But it's going to lead to civil unrest and then, a war against Israel and so forth…. I think it's time to pray. But anyway, that is the word. You ask what's going to happen next, and that's what's going to happen next."
One of the most prominent figures in the far-right evangelical movement, Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in the early 1960s and launched "The 700 Club" in 1966. Robertson, the son of the late Democratic Sen. Absalom Willis Robertson, ran for president in 1988 but lost to Vice President George H.W. Bush in that year's GOP presidential primary.
Robertson has a long history of predicting the Apocalypse, going back to at least the 1970s. In 1976, Robertson predicted that the Apocalypse would occur in 1982 — and when that didn't happen, Robertson predicted, in 1990, that 2017 would be the year of the Apocalypse. But since the End Times didn't come about in 2017, Robertson now has high hopes that a second Trump term will mean the end of the world.


alternet--2020-10-21--RNC, Trump donor Elliott Broidy pleads guilty to acting as unregistered foreign agent

Elliott Broidy , an influential donor for both the Republican National Committee ( RNC ) and President Donald Trump , is expected to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge after acting as an unregistered foreign agent who accepted millions of dollars to lobby the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese interests and a Malaysian businessman caught in the middle of a massive money laundering scheme .
Broidy , who served as the Republican National Committee 's national deputy finance chair and worked to help raise millions for President Trump 's election campaign , was at the center of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Broidy was accused of creating `` back-channel , unregistered campaigns '' as a means of influencing the Trump administration .
Although Broidy is expected to enter a guilty plea , it is still unclear whether or not the plea will be accepted by the judge .
The latest development comes two weeks after Broidy was formally charged .
On Oct. 6 , Broidy was charged with a one felony count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act .
U.S. prosecutors have accused Broidy of `` secretly arranging to be paid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million to end a U.S. investigation into a multibillion dollar embezzlement of a Malaysian state investment fund , '' per The Washington Post .
Broidy is also accused of working on behalf of a senior Chinese security minister to help Chinese exile Guo Wengui return to his home .
Court records reportedly show that Broidy made direct entreaties with top Trump administration officials and others who work closely with the administration .
During a plea hearing in Washington , D.C. , on Tuesday , Broidy appeared before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unregistered foreign agent .
Kollar-Kotelly released Broidy under a supervision stipulation .
At the request of Broidy 's defense team and the government , he was also allowed to keep his passport so he can `` travel internationally to meet business obligations with a court order . ''

Elliott Broidy, an influential donor for both the Republican National Committee (RNC) and President Donald Trump, is expected to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge after acting as an unregistered foreign agent who accepted millions of dollars to lobby the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese interests and a Malaysian businessman caught in the middle of a massive money laundering scheme.
Broidy, who served as the Republican National Committee's national deputy finance chair and worked to help raise millions for President Trump's election campaign, was at the center of a years-long investigation. According to court records, Broidy was accused of creating "back-channel, unregistered campaigns" as a means of influencing the Trump administration.
Although Broidy is expected to enter a guilty plea, it is still unclear whether or not the plea will be accepted by the judge.
The latest development comes two weeks after Broidy was formally charged. On Oct. 6, Broidy was charged with a one felony count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. U.S. prosecutors have accused Broidy of "secretly arranging to be paid a bounty of more than $80 million to end a U.S. investigation into a multibillion dollar embezzlement of a Malaysian state investment fund," per The Washington Post.
Broidy is also accused of working on behalf of a senior Chinese security minister to help Chinese exile Guo Wengui return to his home. Court records reportedly show that Broidy made direct entreaties with top Trump administration officials and others who work closely with the administration.
During a plea hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Broidy appeared before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly where he plead guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Kollar-Kotelly released Broidy under a supervision stipulation. At the request of Broidy's defense team and the government, he was also allowed to keep his passport so he can "travel internationally to meet business obligations with a court order."


alternet--2020-10-21--GOP Senate election committee restructures $20 million loan so it can withdraw $6 million line of cr

GOP Senate election committee restructures $20 million loan so it can withdraw $6 million line of credit

Amid tight financial straits and a narrowing electoral map , the official Senate election committee of the Republican Party restructured a $ 20 million loan so it could withdraw a $ 6 million line of credit , according to an FEC filing submitted on Tuesday .
The National Republican Senate Committee ( NRSC ) , the national GOP organization dedicated to supporting Republican candidates for Senate , took out the new line of credit from Chain Bridge Bank .
For collateral , the group put up its deposit accounts but apparently had to augment those with its donor list , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million , the filing shows .
While Tuesday 's filing shows the NSRC took out the original loan March 18 , 2020 , it also appears to be the only record of it .
The committee did not include the loan in its monthly report from March , and its financial summary does not show any loans at all over the last two years .
The group reported payments on a prior line of credit from the same bank in 2019 .
The FEC fined Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Tx.
, $ 35,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just over $ 1 million in loans during his ill-fated 2016 presidential bid .
`` I 'm thinking the NRSC is going to get a letter from the FEC asking why this loan was n't disclosed earlier , '' campaign finance expert Brett Kappel told Salon .
`` Of course , given where the election cycle is , that wo n't happen until after the election . ''
Republican purses have become strained as Senate races tighten across the country , with Democratic candidates exploiting national dissatisfaction with the Trump administration to expand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once pinned their hopes on a few toss-up states in the early months of 2020 , but now Republican incumbents in conservative strongholds like Georgia , Montana , and South Carolina — plus Alaska and Texas — have had to field competitive races .
Democrats are now favored to take back the Senate , according to election experts .
That wave has put new pressure on Republicans to preserve whatever down-ballot seats possible .
Where the NRSC was once able focus spending on a handful of vulnerable candidates — Susan Collins in Maine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Martha McSally in Arizona — funds have diluted as Democrats expanded the map .
For instance , longtime incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , whose 2014 campaign set fundraising records , has been outraised by Democratic rival Jaime Harrison , who has so far drawn more than $ 58 million in his bid to flip the Palmetto State seat .
Graham has used a number of recent Fox News appearances to beg for money as he plays defense .
Last week , the Republican appeared to have violated both federal campaign finance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stumped for cash in the halls of the upper chamber after a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett .
The NRSC gave the Graham campaign $ 44,600 at the end of September before it withdrew the new line of credit , according to filings .
Four other candidates received committee funds that month , all of them in that amount : Bill Cassidy in Louisiana ; John Cornyn in Texas ; Mark Ronchetti in New Mexico ; and Tommy Tuberville in Alabama .
As Election Day approaches , NRSC funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of states .
In September alone , the NRSC put $ 570,582 into ads boosting Gardner 's race in Colorado ; $ 2.4 million into defending McSally 's seat ; $ 3.1 million into Steve Daines ' Montana bid ; $ 3.3 million into Collins ' fight in Maine ; and nearly $ 4 million into Sen. Joni Ernst 's unexpected bout with Theresa Greenfield in Iowa , campaign filings show .
The GOP has also tapped other ways to channel money from megadonors who have maxed out their allowable contributions through what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of money laundering .
The Republican National Committee ( RNC ) can disperse funds to races across the country as needed , but individual donors can only give the RNC so much .
However , megadonors can give over the limit by `` washing '' bundled contributions through state parties first , a process the FEC does not technically view as a direct individual contribution .
For instance , billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife , Miriam , each maxed out their annual limit to the RNC in February .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Victory , a joint fundraising committee between the Trump campaign and RNC , the same month .
However , if Trump Victory had sent that money from its account straight to the RNC , the RNC would have had to refund the Adelsons .
But Trump Victory has a way around that , by holding on to the money and later washing it through an affiliated state party — and on Sept. 4 , it did just that .
First , Trump Victory made a $ 579,707 transfer to the Maine Republican Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same day , the Maine Republican Party transferred exactly $ 579,707 from its account to the RNC .
Smuggled in those pools of money was the Adelsons ' combined $ 20,000 from February , which records show was among the funds sent by Trump Victory to Maine on Sept. 4 .
Trump Victory smuggled $ 701,697 to the RNC through the Michigan Republican Party , also on Sept. 4 .
The committee 's filings show it moved millions of dollars to the RNC this way , through 20 other state Republican parties — @ @ @ @ @ @

Amid tight financial straits and a narrowing electoral map, the official Senate election committee of the Republican Party restructured a $20 million loan so it could withdraw a $6 million line of credit, according to an FEC filing submitted on Tuesday.
The National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), the national GOP organization dedicated to supporting Republican candidates for Senate, took out the new line of credit from Chain Bridge Bank. For collateral, the group put up its deposit accounts but apparently had to augment those with its donor list, which together were valued at $39.3 million, the filing shows.
While Tuesday's filing shows the NSRC took out the original loan March 18, 2020, it also appears to be the only record of it. The committee did not include the loan in its monthly report from March, and its financial summary does not show any loans at all over the last two years. The group reported payments on a prior line of credit from the same bank in 2019.
The FEC fined Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., $35,000 for failing to report the source of just over $1 million in loans during his ill-fated 2016 presidential bid.
"I'm thinking the NRSC is going to get a letter from the FEC asking why this loan wasn't disclosed earlier," campaign finance expert Brett Kappel told Salon. "Of course, given where the election cycle is, that won't happen until after the election."
Republican purses have become strained as Senate races tighten across the country, with Democratic candidates exploiting national dissatisfaction with the Trump administration to expand the map of flippable states. Democrats once pinned their hopes on a few toss-up states in the early months of 2020, but now Republican incumbents in conservative strongholds like Georgia, Montana, and South Carolina — plus Alaska and Texas — have had to field competitive races. Democrats are now favored to take back the Senate, according to election experts.
That wave has put new pressure on Republicans to preserve whatever down-ballot seats possible. Where the NRSC was once able focus spending on a handful of vulnerable candidates — Susan Collins in Maine; Cory Gardner in Colorado; and Martha McSally in Arizona — funds have diluted as Democrats expanded the map.
For instance, longtime incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whose 2014 campaign set fundraising records, has been outraised by Democratic rival Jaime Harrison, who has so far drawn more than $58 million in his bid to flip the Palmetto State seat.
Graham has used a number of recent Fox News appearances to beg for money as he plays defense. Last week, the Republican appeared to have violated both federal campaign finance laws and Senate ethics rules when he stumped for cash in the halls of the upper chamber after a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
The NRSC gave the Graham campaign $44,600 at the end of September before it withdrew the new line of credit, according to filings. Four other candidates received committee funds that month, all of them in that amount: Bill Cassidy in Louisiana; John Cornyn in Texas; Mark Ronchetti in New Mexico; and Tommy Tuberville in Alabama.
As Election Day approaches, NRSC funds have bankrolled ad buys in a number of states. In September alone, the NRSC put $570,582 into ads boosting Gardner's race in Colorado; $2.4 million into defending McSally's seat; $3.1 million into Steve Daines' Montana bid; $3.3 million into Collins' fight in Maine; and nearly $4 million into Sen. Joni Ernst's unexpected bout with Theresa Greenfield in Iowa, campaign filings show.
The GOP has also tapped other ways to channel money from megadonors who have maxed out their allowable contributions through what experts described to Salon as a legal form of money laundering.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) can disperse funds to races across the country as needed, but individual donors can only give the RNC so much. However, megadonors can give over the limit by "washing" bundled contributions through state parties first, a process the FEC does not technically view as a direct individual contribution.
For instance, billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, each maxed out their annual limit to the RNC in February. They also gave $10,000 to Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the Trump campaign and RNC, the same month. However, if Trump Victory had sent that money from its account straight to the RNC, the RNC would have had to refund the Adelsons.
But Trump Victory has a way around that, by holding on to the money and later washing it through an affiliated state party — and on Sept. 4, it did just that.
First, Trump Victory made a $579,707 transfer to the Maine Republican Party, according to FEC filings. That same day, the Maine Republican Party transferred exactly $579,707 from its account to the RNC. Smuggled in those pools of money was the Adelsons' combined $20,000 from February, which records show was among the funds sent by Trump Victory to Maine on Sept. 4.
Trump Victory smuggled $701,697 to the RNC through the Michigan Republican Party, also on Sept. 4.
The committee's filings show it moved millions of dollars to the RNC this way, through 20 other state Republican parties — all on the same day.


alternet--2020-10-21--Trump's business appears to have cut Matt Gaetz a RNC hotel discount that went unreported to the FEC

The campaign to re-elect Rep. Matt Gaetz , R-Fla. , a reliable ally of President Donald Trump , appears to have received a deep discount on lodging at Trump International Hotel in Washington during the Republican National Convention in August , federal records show .
Such a discount would violate federal election law barring corporations from contributing directly to campaigns , according to campaign finance experts .
Recent Federal Election Commission ( FEC ) filings show the Gaetz campaign made four separate payments , ranging from $ 216.20 to $ 261.47 , for lodging at Trump 's hotel on Aug. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the convention when Trump gave his acceptance speech from the White House lawn .
On that evening , the price for rooms for one adult through Hotels.com began at $ 795 and ran as high as $ 2,070 , The Daily Beast reported .
On the three convention dates prior to Trump 's keynote address , the hotel priced its cheapest room at $ 695 a night .
( Rates for rooms this week range from $ 695 to $ 895 . )
It appears the hotel cut the Gaetz campaign a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the campaign had booked the cheapest room available , it appears to have paid about one-third of the market rate , saving anywhere between $ 470 and $ 530 .
Such a discount would represent an in-kind donation to the Gaets campaign , courtesy of Trump Old Post Office LLC .
( The FEC treats any item of value as money . )
A photo of Gaetz at the hotel alongside White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and New Jersey convention delegate Joseph Belnome was posted to the latter 's Instagram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ payments .
Corporate contributions to candidates are illegal under federal election law .
It is also illegal for companies to cut campaigns a special deal not given to other customers .
When campaigns pay below normal prices , they must report the discount as a contribution .
Per the Federal Election Commission : The Gaetz campaign did not report a discount in its latest filing .
While it is possible that the Gaetz campaign booked the rooms in advance , it is unlikely to have made much of a difference .
First , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made with much advance notice .
Trump , who canceled his previous plans to accept the nomination in Jacksonville , Fla. — itself a back-up to the original location of Charlotte — was still weighing in early August whether to give his speech from the White House or Gettysburg , Penn .
Plans for the D.C. portion of the convention were not announced until Aug. 13 .
Even if Gaetz — who recently accused Sen. Kelly Loeffler , R-Ga. , of trying to bribe Trump for his support — was given an early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alone .
Everson , an independent journalist who reports extensively on the Trump Hotel , first noticed the price hike on Aug. 6 .
If Gaetz somehow had the foresight to book the rooms months in advance , the rates would still be improbably low , according to Everson .
As the Trump hotel reportedly hiked its prices , other luxury D.C. hotels were cutting their rates .
Accommodations for single adult rooms on Aug. 27 started at $ 367 at the Mandarin Oriental and $ 263 at the Fairmont Washington , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 's 2020 financial disclosures show the president made $ 40.5 million last year from the luxury hotel , which occupies the federally-owned Old Post Office building .
The government controls the Trump Organization 's lease , which the company has sought to offload .
Gaetz , one of the president 's most ardent supporters , recently appeared at a Trump campaign rally in his home state of Florida , where the president repeatedly called him `` Rick . ''
Jordan Libowitz , of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that a steep discount for Gaetz would not surprise him .
`` Gaetz is particularly close to Trump and has been to Trump properties more than any other Representative — tied with Kevin McCarthy , '' Libowitz said .
`` But he 's still behind Senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul . ''
`` So how he got a discount is really a question he 'd need to answer , '' Libowitz added , pointing out that standard room rates at the hotel range from the high-300s to mid- to high-400s .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from earlier this year , when the Office of Congressional Ethics ( OCE ) probed nearly $ 200,000 in taxpayer funds that the panhandle conservative paid over the years to a campaign donor to rent the entire sixth floor in a historic building in downtown Pensacola .
Watchdogs considered the price to be below market rate .
The OCE ended its investigation in early July without reporting any wrongdoing .
Gaetz ' campaign reported a $ 3,786 payment on Sept. 4 to the law firm he tapped during the inquiry , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after his hotel stay .
While it is unclear what that payment concerns , Politico reported in late July that Gaetz appeared to have violated House ethics rules after funneling taxpayer money to Darren Beattie , a consultant and former Trump aide .
Beattie was ousted in 2018 after it was revealed that he had spoken at a conference featuring prominent white nationalists .
Gaetz and the Trump International Hotel did not reply to Salon 's request for comment .

The campaign to re-elect Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a reliable ally of President Donald Trump, appears to have received a deep discount on lodging at Trump International Hotel in Washington during the Republican National Convention in August, federal records show. Such a discount would violate federal election law barring corporations from contributing directly to campaigns, according to campaign finance experts.
Recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show the Gaetz campaign made four separate payments, ranging from $216.20 to $261.47, for lodging at Trump's hotel on Aug. 27, the last of four nights of the convention when Trump gave his acceptance speech from the White House lawn.
On that evening, the price for rooms for one adult through Hotels.com began at $795 and ran as high as $2,070, The Daily Beast reported. On the three convention dates prior to Trump's keynote address, the hotel priced its cheapest room at $695 a night. (Rates for rooms this week range from $695 to $895.)
It appears the hotel cut the Gaetz campaign a discount far below market rates. Even if the campaign had booked the cheapest room available, it appears to have paid about one-third of the market rate, saving anywhere between $470 and $530. Such a discount would represent an in-kind donation to the Gaets campaign, courtesy of Trump Old Post Office LLC. (The FEC treats any item of value as money.)
A photo of Gaetz at the hotel alongside White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and New Jersey convention delegate Joseph Belnome was posted to the latter's Instagram page on the day of the hotel payments.
Corporate contributions to candidates are illegal under federal election law. It is also illegal for companies to cut campaigns a special deal not given to other customers. When campaigns pay below normal prices, they must report the discount as a contribution. Per the Federal Election Commission:
[A]nything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office is a contribution . . .
For purposes of this section, the term anything of value includes all in-kind contributions. . . [T]he provision of any goods or services without charge or at a charge that is less than the usual and normal charge for such goods or services is a contribution . . .
If goods or services are provided at less than the usual and normal charge, the amount of the in-kind contribution is the difference between the usual and normal charge for the goods or services at the time of the contribution and the amount charged the political committee.
The Gaetz campaign did not report a discount in its latest filing.
While it is possible that the Gaetz campaign booked the rooms in advance, it is unlikely to have made much of a difference. First, the reservations were unlikely to have been made with much advance notice. Trump, who canceled his previous plans to accept the nomination in Jacksonville, Fla. — itself a back-up to the original location of Charlotte — was still weighing in early August whether to give his speech from the White House or Gettysburg, Penn. Plans for the D.C. portion of the convention were not announced until Aug. 13.
Even if Gaetz — who recently accused Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., of trying to bribe Trump for his support — was given an early heads-up, he may not have been alone. Everson, an independent journalist who reports extensively on the Trump Hotel, first noticed the price hike on Aug. 6. If Gaetz somehow had the foresight to book the rooms months in advance, the rates would still be improbably low, according to Everson.
As the Trump hotel reportedly hiked its prices, other luxury D.C. hotels were cutting their rates. Accommodations for single adult rooms on Aug. 27 started at $367 at the Mandarin Oriental and $263 at the Fairmont Washington, the Daily Beast reported on Aug. 6.
Trump's 2020 financial disclosures show the president made $40.5 million last year from the luxury hotel, which occupies the federally-owned Old Post Office building. The government controls the Trump Organization's lease, which the company has sought to offload.
Gaetz, one of the president's most ardent supporters, recently appeared at a Trump campaign rally in his home state of Florida, where the president repeatedly called him "Rick."
Jordan Libowitz, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which also noted the disbursements, told Salon that a steep discount for Gaetz would not surprise him.
"Gaetz is particularly close to Trump and has been to Trump properties more than any other Representative — tied with Kevin McCarthy," Libowitz said. "But he's still behind Senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul."
"So how he got a discount is really a question he'd need to answer," Libowitz added, pointing out that standard room rates at the hotel range from the high-300s to mid- to high-400s.
The deal echoes another scandal centering around Gaetz from earlier this year, when the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) probed nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds that the panhandle conservative paid over the years to a campaign donor to rent the entire sixth floor in a historic building in downtown Pensacola. Watchdogs considered the price to be below market rate.
The OCE ended its investigation in early July without reporting any wrongdoing. Gaetz' campaign reported a $3,786 payment on Sept. 4 to the law firm he tapped during the inquiry, according to his FEC filings, or one week after his hotel stay.
While it is unclear what that payment concerns, Politico reported in late July that Gaetz appeared to have violated House ethics rules after funneling taxpayer money to Darren Beattie, a consultant and former Trump aide. Beattie was ousted in 2018 after it was revealed that he had spoken at a conference featuring prominent white nationalists.
Gaetz and the Trump International Hotel did not reply to Salon's request for comment.


alternet--2020-10-21--This polling expert saw warning signs for Clinton in 2016 — now he sees few hints of hope for Trump

Dave Wasserman , a polling expert with the Cook Political Report , closely watches polling at the district level in the United States .
And in 2016 , he saw signs in the data that Donald Trump was performing better than many expected in areas like New York 's 22nd District — where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were tied in 2012 .
Those warnings turned out to be prescient when Trump eked out a narrow win in three key swing states while losing in the popular vote .
Now , though , Wasserman has said he sees little sign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even as Democrats continue to fear that former Vice President Joe Biden 's polling lead will evaporate in the coming days : An important point about his claims is that Wasserman , a nonpartisan analyst , is privy to a lot of information that is n't publicly available .
While there 's a lot of public national and state-level polling , district-level polls are harder to come by .
Many pollsters keep this info private , though they will share it with people like Wasserman .
This data can give a closer glimpse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electorate that other polls may be missing .
But according to Wasserman , this data should give Trump no solace .
It 's consistent with Biden 's estimated 10-point lead in the FiveThirtyEight national polling average .
He explained his findings in an interview with Greg Sargent of the Washington Post .
`` In 2016 , district-level polling in late October showed flashing red warning signs for Clinton in districts dominated by White non-college voters , '' he said .
`` It was n't being detected so much in state-level polling , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
But in 2020 , Wasserman is seeing a consistent pattern , and it 's not good for Trump .
`` Trump is underperforming his 2016 margins by eight to 10 points in most competitive districts .
If Trump won a district by three last time , he 's probably losing it by six this time .
It 's a pretty consistent pattern , '' he explained .
There are some exceptions and variations , but overall , it 's a brutal picture for the president .
He won by the skin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he is dramatically underperforming that race .
Trump is doing worst in `` upscale suburbs , '' Wasserman explained , while he has improved somewhat in his support in some Latino communities .
Biden is doing better than Clinton did in districts that are predominately populated by `` blue-collar Whites , '' though not as well as the Obama-Biden ticket did in 2012 .
But Biden is improving most in areas dominated by college-educated white people , and that demographic may well be decisive on Nov. 3 .
It also means Trump has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the hole he 's in .
`` Trump needs to boost turnout of non-college Whites by five points nationally , just to offset their declining share of the population since 2016 .
But he also needs to increase the share of those voters he 's winning , '' said Wasserman .
`` Trump 's gains among non-Whites can only get him so far , because there 's really not much of a Hispanic vote in Pennsylvania , Michigan and Wisconsin .
So he 's got to solve this riddle with both persuasion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more White voters — both college and non-college — to stick with him .
And he really needs to boost non-college White turnout . ''
It 's not impossible that Trump could pull it off , but it 's hard to see it happening .

Dave Wasserman, a polling expert with the Cook Political Report, closely watches polling at the district level in the United States. And in 2016, he saw signs in the data that Donald Trump was performing better than many expected in areas like New York's 22nd District — where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were tied in 2012. Those warnings turned out to be prescient when Trump eked out a narrow win in three key swing states while losing in the popular vote.
Now, though, Wasserman has said he sees little sign of hope for Trump's re-election, even as Democrats continue to fear that former Vice President Joe Biden's polling lead will evaporate in the coming days:
An important point about his claims is that Wasserman, a nonpartisan analyst, is privy to a lot of information that isn't publicly available. While there's a lot of public national and state-level polling, district-level polls are harder to come by. Many pollsters keep this info private, though they will share it with people like Wasserman. This data can give a closer glimpse into trends and demographic changes in the electorate that other polls may be missing.
But according to Wasserman, this data should give Trump no solace. It's consistent with Biden's estimated 10-point lead in the FiveThirtyEight national polling average. He explained his findings in an interview with Greg Sargent of the Washington Post.
"In 2016, district-level polling in late October showed flashing red warning signs for Clinton in districts dominated by White non-college voters," he said. "It wasn't being detected so much in state-level polling, because the state polling chronically under-sampled those voters."
But in 2020, Wasserman is seeing a consistent pattern, and it's not good for Trump.
"Trump is underperforming his 2016 margins by eight to 10 points in most competitive districts. If Trump won a district by three last time, he's probably losing it by six this time. It's a pretty consistent pattern," he explained.
There are some exceptions and variations, but overall, it's a brutal picture for the president. He won by the skin of his teeth in 2016 — and he is dramatically underperforming that race.
Trump is doing worst in "upscale suburbs," Wasserman explained, while he has improved somewhat in his support in some Latino communities. Biden is doing better than Clinton did in districts that are predominately populated by "blue-collar Whites," though not as well as the Obama-Biden ticket did in 2012.
But Biden is improving most in areas dominated by college-educated white people, and that demographic may well be decisive on Nov. 3. It also means Trump has a difficult path forward to claw back from the hole he's in.
"Trump needs to boost turnout of non-college Whites by five points nationally, just to offset their declining share of the population since 2016. But he also needs to increase the share of those voters he's winning," said Wasserman. "Trump's gains among non-Whites can only get him so far, because there's really not much of a Hispanic vote in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. So he's got to solve this riddle with both persuasion and turnout. He needs to persuade more White voters — both college and non-college — to stick with him. And he really needs to boost non-college White turnout."
It's not impossible that Trump could pull it off, but it's hard to see it happening.


alternet--2020-10-21--White House documents expose the truth: Trump lied — and people died

President Donald Trump has known for over a month that new coronavirus infections have been soaring even as the White House has lied about the seriousness of the surge , documents released Tuesday by a leading Democratic lawmaker show .
HuffPost reports Rep. Jim Clyburn ( D-S.C. ) , chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis , published six weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports ( pdf ) —dated August 16 , August 23 , August 30 , September 6 , September 13 , and September 20—proving the administration has known since early September that Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead of being forthcoming with the American people and the world , Trump opted to hide the reports while spuriously claiming that the virus `` affects virtually nobody '' — even as it caused record infections and deaths in numerous states in September .
Not only did the administration fail to honestly inform the nation , Trump held several so-called superspreader rallies and other events in September , including in states hit hard by surging Covid-19 infections , such as Minnesota , North Carolina , and Wisconsin .
On October 1 , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic is in sight . ''
The following day , he announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus .
The reports also show that the White House was fully aware that the number of states in the so-called `` red zone '' —where new coronavirus cases rose above 100 per 100,000 people and where more than 10 % of test results were positive—soared from 18 on September 13 to 31 on October 18 .
On October 19 , Trump told campaign staffers on a phone call that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ People are saying , 'Whatever .
Just leave us alone . '
They 're tired of it .
People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots , '' a reference to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci .
Clyburn released a statement on Tuesday calling the reports proof that `` Trump 's contempt for science and refusal to lead during this crisis have allowed the coronavirus to surge . ''
`` Contrary to his empty claims that the country is 'rounding the turn , ' more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' than ever before , '' Clyburn said .
`` It is long past time that the administration implement a national plan to contain this crisis , which is still killing hundreds of Americans each day and could get even worse in the months ahead . ''
Indeed , according to prominent University of Minnesota epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm , `` the darkest part of the pandemic [ will occur ] over the course of the next 12 weeks . ''
According to Johns Hopkins University , there have been more than 8.2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths in the United States , representing just under 20 % of the global death toll of 1.12 million people .

President Donald Trump has known for over a month that new coronavirus infections have been soaring even as the White House has lied about the seriousness of the surge, documents released Tuesday by a leading Democratic lawmaker show.
HuffPostreports Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, published six weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports (pdf)—dated August 16, August 23, August 30, September 6, September 13, and September 20—proving the administration has known since early September that Covid-19 infections were rising rapidly.
However, instead of being forthcoming with the American people and the world, Trump opted to hide the reports while spuriously claiming that the virus "affects virtually nobody"— even as it caused record infections and deaths in numerous states in September.
Not only did the administration fail to honestly inform the nation, Trump held several so-called superspreader rallies and other events in September, including in states hit hard by surging Covid-19 infections, such as Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
On October 1, Trump declared that "the end of the pandemic is in sight." The following day, he announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus.
The reports also show that the White House was fully aware that the number of states in the so-called "red zone"—where new coronavirus cases rose above 100 per 100,000 people and where more than 10% of test results were positive—soared from 18 on September 13 to 31 on October 18.
On October 19, Trump told campaign staffers on a phone call that "people are tired of Covid... People are saying, 'Whatever. Just leave us alone.' They're tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots," a reference to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Clyburn released a statement on Tuesday calling the reports proof that "Trump's contempt for science and refusal to lead during this crisis have allowed the coronavirus to surge."
"Contrary to his empty claims that the country is 'rounding the turn,' more states are now in the 'red zone' than ever before," Clyburn said. "It is long past time that the administration implement a national plan to contain this crisis, which is still killing hundreds of Americans each day and could get even worse in the months ahead."
Indeed, according to prominent University of Minnesota epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, "the darkest part of the pandemic [will occur] over the course of the next 12 weeks."
According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 8.2 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and nearly 221,000 deaths in the United States, representing just under 20% of the global death toll of 1.12 million people.