Dem Cheri Bustos Diverts Post Office Aid Cash to Own Campaign
The latest fundraising plea from Democratic congresswoman Cheri Bustos tells potential donors their money is desperately needed to fund struggling post offices—but every dollar raised is going straight to her campaign.
A Sunday email from Bustos, an Illinois lawmaker who was chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last cycle, painted a dire picture of operations at the USPS, and begged recipients to chip in. "We need EVERYONE reading this email to do their part to help us raise $3,420 TODAY and save USPS," Bustos wrote in the fundraising email, pointing to an NPR report on mail delivery delays. "Please chip in $5 or whatever you can afford right now."
Fundraising email from Friends of Cheri Bustos
Any concerned donor who clicked to help post offices, however, arrived on Bustos‘s ActBlue fundraising page, where she was pleading for money to help fight Republicans in Congress. And links to NPR's story on mail delays didn't lead to a news report but, rather, to the same request for contributions.
Bustos's ActBlue fundraising page
The bizarre fundraising attempt comes as Bustos fights to cling to her House seat—after winning reelection by more than 20 percentage points in both 2016 and 2018, she won reelection this November by only about 12,000 votes.
One shortcoming was her inability to raise money from Illinois constituents. Campaign finance disclosures show Bustos received only 9 percent of her contributions for the entire 2020 cycle from inside the 17th Congressional District she represents. In her latest campaign finance filing, she failed to register a single contribution from inside her district, and only three donations totaling $692 from anyone who lists an Illinois zip code.
The latest fundraising email from the Illinois congresswoman also does not contain a single reference to anything in Illinois.
Bustos did not respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday afternoon, Bustos followed up on her plea to save the post office, complaining that not enough people were donating. "We were sure that Good Democrats would do the right thing and chip in to save the Post Office," her email read. "But donations have screeched to a halt!"
"Now more than ever, we need to be able to receive prescriptions, send mail, and stay connected with our loved ones," it said. "Please rush a donation of any size to SAVE the Post Office."
The donation links, again, went to Bustos's campaign.
THE GREATEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH IN U.S. HISTORY OCCURRED DURING THE BANKSTER REGIME OF BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN.
The Next Hunter? Kamala Harris’s Stepdaughter Cashes in on Biden Presidency
Brooklyn 'artist' Ella Emhoff scores modeling deal with firm run by Democratic donors
Hunter Biden's gravy train may be stalled on the tracks until federal authorities conclude their investigation into his finances, but that doesn't mean other Biden-Harris family members can't cash in on their proximity to power.
Ella Emhoff, the 21-year-old stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, recently scored a major modeling contract with IMG Models, a firm with deep ties to the Democratic Party.
Prior to signing with IMG, the Brooklyn-based "artist" was best known for wearing a weird coat to the inauguration ceremony, and for the inability of journalists to contain their excitement in response to said coat. For example:
- "Ella Emhoff, Second Daughter, Is The First Style Icon of the Biden Presidency" (Glamour)
- "Meet Ella Emhoff, the U.S. presidential inauguration's breakout fashion star" (CNN)
- "Ella Emhoff, Kamala Harris's Stepdaughter, Showed Everyone Else Up at the Inauguration" (Town & Country)
- "Ella Emhoff's Inauguration Day Stylists Share the Story Behind Her Instantly Iconic Miu Miu Coat" (E! Online)
- "There's a Lot More to Ella Emhoff, Inauguration Star, Than Her Fabulous Coat" (Daily Beast)
Here's how the New York Times described the Second Stepdaughter's alternative appeal in an article announcing her new modeling gig:
Ms. Emhoff throws a crocheted grenade at the image of typical D.C. political offspring, with a style that could be termed Wes Anderson chic. In her selfies, she doesn’t wear much makeup and doesn’t carefully blow-dry her naturally curly hair. She shows off her armpit hair and cartoonish tattoos, which include eggs and bacon in the shape of a smiley face and a cow.
As Ivan Bart, president of IMG Models, explained in an interview with the Times, being a model is "not really about shape, size or gender anymore." Emhoff was a perfect fit for the organization, Bart said, because she exudes "cheekiness" and "joy," and "communicates this moment in time."
While most journalists seemed to agree with that assessment, there were a few exceptions. Slate published an article expressing frustration with "the way Emhoff’s deal has been conveyed and celebrated" as a norm-destroying coup, pointing out that there isn't anything particularly revolutionary or diverse about being a rich, white, tall, thin, female Brooklynite with tattoos and armpit hair.
See for yourself:
Bart was an early max donor to Harris's failed presidential campaign, according to federal election records. He reportedly met Emhoff at the fundraiser where he presumably wrote the check for $2,700.
In the summer of 2020, around the time Joe Biden picked Harris as his running mate, Bart and Emhoff began discussing the possibility of a modeling contract with IMG. It would seem, however, that a final decision wasn't made until Harris was sworn in as vice president.
IMG is part of an entertainment conglomerate run by Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel, the former Obama chief of staff, and Patrick Whitesell, a prolific Democratic donor who contributed more than $150,000 to Democratic candidates and committees in the 2020 election cycle.
Emhoff isn't the only member of Harris's family cashing in on the success of the Biden-Harris ticket.
Kamala's niece, Meena Harris, published a Kamala-themed children's book in 2020, and a second book released on the eve of the inauguration. She also started her own apparel company specializing in #Resistance swag, including this $52 Anthony Fauci mug. Lawyers for the Biden-Harris transition team were concerned enough to warn the ambitious niece against profiting off her aunt's image.
Hunter Biden's ongoing legal challenges haven't stopped other members of the Biden family from blatantly exploiting their ties to the president for financial gain. Joe Biden's younger brother, Frank Biden, promoted his relationship with the president in an ad published on Inauguration Day in a Florida business journal.
"My brother is a model for how to go about doing this work," Frank Biden says in the ad for the Florida-based litigation firm where he works as a non-attorney senior adviser. The younger Biden has previously bragged about his success in lobbying his brother on behalf of moneyed interests during the Obama administration.
THESE ARE THE BIGGEST CORPORATE MONSTERS PLUNDERING AMERICA TODAY!
Tanden’s financial ties, as head of the Center for American Progress, include $5,000 to $499,999 donations from Apple, AT&T, BlackRock, CVS Health, Comcast NBCUniversal, Goldman Sachs, Lyft, Verizon, Uber, Walmart, the Bank of America, Amazon, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Facebook, Google, JP Morgan Chase, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, and Wells Fargo.
Megadonors Pour Record Amount of Money Into ‘Get Out the Vote’ Effort for Dems
A rapidly growing $800 million dark money network helped anonymous donors pour a record amount of money into voter registration groups focused on increasing Democratic Party turnout ahead of the 2020 election.
The Tides Foundation, an organization that allows left-wing donors to fund political activism anonymously, raised over $800 million across its nonprofit network in 2019, a dramatic rise over previous figures.
Much of that money went to "Get Out the Vote" (GOTV) campaigns in the 2020 election cycle, including the Voter Registration Project, Rock the Vote, and the Voter Participation Center, which exploit IRS nonprofit rules to register new voters in Democratic-leaning areas that helped deliver key battleground states to President Joe Biden. The IRS considers voter registration a "charitable" activity for 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits, provided it isn’t explicitly partisan.
But when self-identified progressive organizations target Democratic-leaning constituencies in battleground states during election years the effect is anything but nonpartisan. Their tax-deductible funding comes from undisclosed sources on the left and is passed through Tides, which caters strictly to left-wing political groups, and voter registration groups on the left vastly outnumber similar groups on the right. The vast sums poured into these efforts also run counter to the narrative on the left that it abhors dark money in politics.
Anna Massoglia, an investigative researcher for the Center for Responsive Politics, told the Washington Free Beacon that the "key issue is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit’s intent."
"It may raise questions if a 501(c)(3) nonprofit attempted to determine a potential voter's candidate preference or political party affiliation before encouraging them to vote," Massoglia said. But whether a nonprofit’s voter registration efforts were entirely nonpartisan is difficult to verify, unless it opts to publicly release that information.
The Voter Registration Project (VRP), which received $850,000 from Tides, targets African-American, Latino, Native American, low-income, and other likely left-leaning constituencies for mobilization. VRP also channels grants to state-based allies doing similar drives, including One Arizona, New Florida Majority, and New Georgia Project, founded by Stacey Abrams, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate and influential Democratic activist.
The Tides Foundation granted another $206,000 to Rock the Vote and its lobbying arm, Rock the Vote Action Fund, which turn out young and far-left voters. Despite claiming to be nonpartisan, Rock the Vote has accused Republicans of fueling "dangerous conspiracy theories and hate." The group also supports abolishing the Electoral College. Tides has channeled at least $2 million to Rock the Vote since 2006.
Tides also gave $180,000 to the Voter Participation Center (VPC), a GOTV group that targets "unmarried women, millennials, [and] minorities" and spent at least $582,000 on pro-Democratic independent expenditures in the 2020 election. VPC has received roughly $2.1 million from Tides since 2008.
Other Tides grants in 2019 went to ACRONYM, whose data app Shadow Inc. infamously bungled the Iowa Democratic caucuses in February 2020; Catalist, a leading data company formed by Clinton family operatives that’s been accused of illegally offering left-wing groups services below market rates; and the Black Voters Matter Fund, a far-left GOTV group aligned with the socialist-led movement Black Lives Matter. The Tides Center, a branch responsible for spawning new advocacy organizations, took control of a top Black Lives Matter group (the BLM Global Network Foundation) last July, putting the far-left movement squarely in the middle of Tides’ professional activist network.
Since 2007, the Tides network has spent over $4.3 billion this way, almost all of it to the benefit of left-wing political groups.
Few of Tides’ donors are known. Previously identified donors to the network include the Ford Foundation, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, all major donors to left-leaning causes and politically active nonprofits. But because Tides isn’t required to publicly disclose its donors—only its own grant recipients—the ultimate source of these grants is virtually impossible to identify, making the pass-through network one of the largest "dark money" donors on the left and a valuable service to liberal donors looking to support political causes anonymously.
The flow of "dark" dollars from anonymous donors to activists using a pass-through is a hallmark of the professional left, which boasts hundreds of such groups that form an outer web surrounding the Democratic Party. This echo chamber pushes the party further to the left on issues ranging from abortion on demand to gun control and campaign finance. Just how much Tides raised in 2020—which won’t be released until early next year—is expected to be even higher.
THESE ARE THE BIGGEST CORPORATE MONSTERS PLUNDERING AMERICA TODAY!
Tanden’s financial ties, as head of the Center for American Progress, include $5,000 to $499,999 donations from Apple, AT&T, BlackRock, CVS Health, Comcast NBCUniversal, Goldman Sachs, Lyft, Verizon, Uber, Walmart, the Bank of America, Amazon, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Facebook, Google, JP Morgan Chase, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, and Wells Fargo.
Watch: Biden OMB Nominee Neera Tanden Grilled for Taking Millions from Wall Street, Big Tech
President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Neera Tanden, was grilled by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for her financial ties to Wall Street firms and tech corporations.
Tanden, currently the CEO of the left-wing Center for American Progress and a longtime ally of failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was questioned by Hawley for the organization’s donor list, which includes Wall Street investors, Big Tech, and foreign governments.
“Do you think that Wall Street and Big Tech companies have too much influence in our economy and society today,” Hawley asked Tanden to which she responded “Yes.”
Hawley then asked Tanden to explain how she would “advocate for working people given this history of soliciting tens of millions of dollars from the biggest and most powerful corporations on the planet?”
The exchange went as follows:
HAWLEY: I also … I am glad you say that, I agree with you and I’ve talked for years now about these concentrations of power, how they stifle small business owners, and ultimately hurt working people. I want to ask you about a report from the New York Times and other outlets suggesting that you solicited tens of millions of dollars in donations from Wall Street and Silicon Valley companies as president of the Center for American Progress, including very large contributions from Mark Zuckerberg.
I understand that in early 2019, Sen. Sanders actually wrote to your organization, suggesting that these corporate interests may be inappropriately influencing your work. Can you just give a sense of how you will, if you’re confirmed as OMB Director, how you will advocate for working people given this history of soliciting tens of millions of dollars from the biggest and most powerful corporations on the planet?
TANDEN: Senator, if the role of OMB is to serve the public and I am 100 percent committed to that role, and let me say that just to be clear, I believe that the Center for American Progress took funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation, not Mark Zuckerberg directly. But I completely take the point about concerns about funding. I can commit to you that I will always uphold the highest ethical standards, I will work with career folks at OMB to do so but I will also say that no policy position I have taken has been determined by the financial interest of any single person.
HAWLEY: $665,000 from the personal foundation of Mr. Zuckerberg. Millions of dollars from Wall Street financiers, big banks, foreign governments, Silicon Valley, a million dollars from the managing partner at Bain Capital, $2.5 million from the UAE. That was between 2016 and 2018, given this record, how can you assure us that you’ll work to see that these Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms don’t exercise undue influence — frankly, influence that they’ve already got in the making of government policy and control of our economy.
How can you assure us that you’re going to be an independent actor when you’ve been so close to them and raised so much money over all these years.
TANDEN: I really appreciate that question and I would say that I and the Center for American Progress aggressively … take on the role of Facebook and tech companies, I’ve called for higher taxes on companies, regulations of Wall Street, financial transaction tax. I’m proud of the record of the Center for American Progress and policies that will limit the power of Wall Street, limit the power of tech companies. I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on those ideas because I do agree with you that corporate special interests have too much power in our discourse.
So whether it’s a financial transaction tax or other proposals, obviously I would take my role as OMB Director as one in which I follow the tax policy of the president, but it’s my orientation that we need to rebalance power in our economy and I hope we can work together in those areas.
HAWLEY: Good. I’ll hold you to that.
Tanden’s financial ties, as head of the Center for American Progress, include $5,000 to $499,999 donations from Apple, AT&T, BlackRock, CVS Health, Comcast NBCUniversal, Goldman Sachs, Lyft, Verizon, Uber, Walmart, the Bank of America, Amazon, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Facebook, Google, JP Morgan Chase, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, and Wells Fargo.
Some of the Center for American Progress’ biggest donors in 2019 — ranging from $1 million or more and $500,000 to $999,999 donations — came from billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, hedge fund billionaire John Arnold’s Arnold Ventures LLC, and the Ford Foundation.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.
Bidens of all sorts are under federal investigation for tax evasion, money-laundering, and unregistered agent foreign ties, as this Politico report citing Hunter notes.
THE BIDEN KLEPTOCRACY
RIDING THE DRAGON: The Bidens' Chinese Secrets (Full Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRmlcEBAiIs
Chris Hedges: How Republicans, Democrats, and the Media Have Weakened US Democracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2jyzp09_g8
Schweizer: ‘It’s Going to Be Business as Usual’ for Hunter’s Dealings
20 Jan 20212,342
0:52
On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer said he reads President Biden’s statements about his son Hunter’s deals as a declaration that “it’s going to be business as usual in the Biden administration as far as these deals are concerned.”
Schweizer said, “Joe Biden has said there are going to be no sketchy overseas deals during his second term. Here’s the problem: He does not believe that the early deals that Hunter was involved in, the China deal, Burisma, he’s never described those as sketchy. So, I read that as saying, it’s going to be business as usual in the Biden administration as far as these deals are concerned.”
Corrupti-looza: Biden family wastes no time profiting from public office
In one-party states such as the old PRI-ruled Mexico, the stealing tended to start late. Before a Mexican president was escorted out for the next, he and his would sweep the presidential palace for everything not nailed down -- the lightbulbs, the toilet seats, the doorknobs and more. There were exceptions, but it was generally the known narrative. In more than one Latin American country, the last-minute asset grab on the way out actually had a name -- "La Pinata." After all, as former PRI mayor of Mexico City, Carlos Hank Gonzalez, used to say: "A politician who's poor is a poor politician."
Which brings us to Joe Biden, and his family's unusually fast scramble to profit from his public office right out the gate.
Son Hunter still has his 10% China equity fund stake, contrary to what had been reported, and a new art gig just perfect for bringing in money from non-transparent sources, as the New York Post, in this excellent report notes, all because his blow-pipe 'art' done as his personal art therapy is somehow so very valuable.
Brother Frank, meanwhile, is advertising his connections to old Joe for Florida law firm he's connected with, using Joe's name in a bid to drum up business. As New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin reported:
The latest sordid example involves one of Joe’s younger brothers, Frank Biden, appearing in a Florida law firm’s ad — on Inauguration Day no less. The ad used the president’s name to draw attention to the Berman Law Group’s class-action suit against sugar cane growers.
“The two Biden brothers have long held a commitment to pushing environmental issues to the forefront,” says the ad. “The president-elect has vowed to rejoin the Paris Agreement and wants to set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.”
The ad, first reported by CNBC, appeared in the Daily Business Review and carried a picture of Frank Biden and quotes him saying, “My brother is a model for how to go about doing this work.”
How touching. And shameless.
Brother James hasn't changed any, still under federal investigation for a hospital company that feds say isn't being run properly.
Bidens of all sorts are under federal investigation for tax evasion, money-laundering, and unregistered agent foreign ties, as this Politico report citing Hunter notes.
And it seems to be having a knock-on effect as Vice President Kamala Harris's stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, an art student (which generally isn't the most employable of professions), has suddenly gotten a fancy modeling contract, to be a 'style icon,' which hadn't been her forte until the establishment noticed she was close to power. Now they're gushing about her, selling her as stylish as emperor's new clothes. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, might just owe someone a favor.
It's happening, Goodwin observes, because the Bidens have been doing it for decades, and never with any consequences. Now that Joe's 'the big guy' and not a mere vice president, for them it's all the better.
Which is true enough as far as it goes, but still doesn't entirely explain the speed of the influence-peddling and pocket-lining -- why, contrary to the Mexican and Latin American model -- did the rush to grab money start on day one?
With these questionable acts starting early -- despite Joe's call to brother Frank to 'watch yourself,' what seems a distinct possibility is that the family members think the gig is not going to last so the time to act is now.
Maybe they're betting Joe isn't going to last for one reason or another. That might explain why they are rushing to scarf up all they can without covering their tracks. They're like fund managers divesting a stock --- quickly, and all at once. Fund managers buy stocks quietly and gradually on expectations the price will go up, but when they think it's heading down, they don't play around, they dump it all at once and don't care who's watching.
That kind of desperation seems to be evident in House Biden's quick bid to cash in all at once, too. Do they know something we don't? Do they expect their window of opportunity will be short? How is it they can jump up so fast to cash in, even against warnings from Joe, who after all, assured the voters last fall with this malarkey:
“My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, with inappropriate distance from the presidency and government,” he said.
Even with the spotlight on, for them, it's as if the walls are closing in and Gotterdammerung is beckoning. If that's not a vote of low confidence in the durability of Joe and his presidency, what really is?
Image: Screen shot from a camera aimed at a television set, processed with FotoSketcher.
BIDEN AND KAMALA HAVE LONG WATCHED BILLARY AND HILLARY AND THE OLD WHORE FEINSTEIN SUCK OFF THE BRIBES AND DEALS THAT MADE THEM FILTHY RICH TRAITORS
THERE IS NO GREATER PARASITIC CLASS FEEDING ON AMERICA THAN THE LAWYER CLASS! JUST ASK LAWYER JOE BIDEN, LAWYER HUNTER BIDEN LAWYER FRANK BIDEN AND LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS AND HER LAWYER PARASITE HUSBAND.
Frank Biden’s law firm, The Berman Law Group, promoted his relationship to President Biden in an advertisement on Inauguration Day.
Report– Joe Biden Warned Brother Frank: ‘For Christ’s Sake, Watch Yourself’
28 Jan 2021109
1:45
President Joe Biden cautioned his brother Frank about potential business dealings during his campaign for president, according to a report.
“For Christ’s sake, watch yourself,” Biden said according to a report in Politico. “Don’t get sucked into something that would, first of all, hurt you.”
Politico cited a “person with knowledge of the conversation” in its report and said that Biden was “jocular and serious” in his comment to his brother.
Biden’s intention, Politico reports, was to protect his brother from “being hurt and vilified” because of his connections to the president.
Since Biden’s inauguration, questions about members of his family have been raised regarding their business dealings, especially after Republicans questioned his son Hunter Biden’s business deals with foreign countries during the campaign.
Frank Biden’s law firm, The Berman Law Group, promoted his relationship to President Biden in an advertisement on Inauguration Day.
“The two Biden brothers have long held a commitment to pushing environmental issues to the forefront; the president-elect has vowed to rejoin the Paris Agreement and wants to set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, for example,” the ad read.
A White House official responded to the story by warning that Joe Biden’s name should not be used in any commercial advertisement.
“It is this White House’s policy that the President’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activities to suggest, or in any way that could reasonably understood to imply, his endorsement or support,” the official told CNBC in January.
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