Surprise: Donald Trump’s GOP Primary Picks Have Dropped Over $400,000 at Mar-a-Lago

While Donald Trump hated the actual job of president, one thing he apparently really, really liked about the gig was the many opportunities it gave him to monetize the federal government, the US taxpayers and anyone who wanted to kiss the ring. During his four-year tenure, he made it a regular habit to stay (and pimp) his profitable properties, where we learned Monday that the Secret Service paid nearly $2 million for, as the watchdog group CREW put it, “the right to protect him and his family.” (This will probably come as a shock to anyone who gets their news from Eric Trump, who previously claimed that agents stayed on Trump properties “for free.) Of course, that figure doesn’t even count against the money the other parts of the administration had to spend on several visits, including meetings with heads of state during which Trump, meanwhile, was a public secret among Republican politicians, foreign officials, corporate executives and anyone who wanted to grease the wheels that their money would go far in the Trump International Hotel Washington, DC, which was one of several companies the 45th president refused to divest after being inaugurated and profiting of it during his term of office. “Why not stay in his hotel blocks from the White House so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his town and say, ‘I’m staying with your competitor?’” a diplomat said. The Washington Post in 2016.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that many of the GOP candidates Trump approved for Tuesday’s primaries also sent money straight into the ex-president’s pocket, but it’s nice to have a dollar figure on it. to make.

CNBC reports that federal and state campaign funding data shows that the campaigns of seven of the Republican candidates Trump has backed have brought in more than a combined $400,000 at Mar-a-Lago this election cycle. Brian Schwartz, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walkerhis campaign has brought in by far the most money, spending nearly $200,000 at the Palm Beach resort so far. times, and suggesting the jury is still on evolution, he is expected to win.) Other candidates who spent thousands in Trump’s club include the former Georgia senator David Perdue (over $20,000); Representative Jody Hice (over $38,000); and the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (over $45,000), according to campaign finance data Marjorie Taylor Greene, former representative of the state of Georgia Vernon Jones, and former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have also reportedly spent campaign money to rent space at the Florida club.

In a text, Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich suggested to CNBC that none of this was even remotely inappropriate, and that any Republican candidate who wants to raise money is practically obligated to do so at one of the former president’s for-profit companies. “In Republican politics today, there are only two seasons that matter: Mar-A-Lago season and Bedminster season, because candidates, organizations and backers want to be there,” he said.

To receive the Levin report in your inbox daily, click here subscribe.

Lachlan Murdoch: People with legitimate criticism of all the terrible things Fox News does are just haters

“I think when you’re in the news business, and you’re number one… you get a lot of heat and it’s just part of the territory,” Fox Corporation CEO and eldest son of Rupert Murdoch Axios, apparently refusing to consider that the network’s love of disinformation about COVID, electoral lies, right-wing conspiracy theories and blatantly racist programming are bad for society: “I think the world is more divided and on edge than it was, you know, for a really long time,” Murdoch added. “I think because of the noise around it, so much of it has been politicized… And so you have to be strict about it.” his father and other Fox News executives last week Chuck Schumer, in which the Senate Majority Leader asked them to “immediately stop the reckless reinforcement of the so-called ‘Great Replacement’ theory on your network’s broadcasts,” calling Tucker Carlson Murdoch told Axios by name, “Unfortunately, it’s part of the territory. You have to kind of realize what it is and how some very organized attacks are – very coordinated – but it is what it is.” As a reminder, the suspect in the Buffalo shooting wrote in his manifesto that he believed Democrats are trying to replace whites, a racist conspiracy theorist that Carlson has spent more than 400 shows on amplifying.

Rudy Giuliani takes a break from shaving in restaurants to appear before the January 6 committee

You may not be surprised to learn that Trump’s former attorney wasn’t as helpful as he could have been:

Donald Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani testified Friday before the House selection committee that thoroughly investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but denied Congressional Republicans involvement in efforts to reverse the 2020 election result. , according to sources familiar with the case. by Giuliani for refusing to provide insight into Republicans’ involvement, his appearance could mean that his appearance only marginally advanced the investigation into his ploy to get the then vice president, Mike Pens, illegally keeping Trump in office after he lost to Joe Biden.

Giuliani claimed the privilege and work-product doctrine to decline to respond when asked to provide details about the role House and Senate Republicans played in the plan to push Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory over January 6, 2021, the sources said. The panel did not expect Giuliani to disclose damning information about Trump, as the commission’s counsel had agreed with Giuliani in advance that he would not violate any legitimate claims to privilege he might have as a lawyer for the former president.

According to the guard, Unsurprisingly, Giuliani spent much of the statement “arguing over the debunked election fraud allegations that underpinned Trump’s allies’ drive to put him back in power,” because yes, these people are holding out. somehow still full that Trump won.

Q: Was Boris Johnson’s office just a non-stop booze-soaked lockdown-violating COVID fest for all of 2020?

A: It seems so! the guard†

Revelers in Downing Street were so packed at a farewell party attended by Boris Johnson that some were forced to sit on each other’s laps, it is alleged. No 10 officials who spoke anonymously to BBC Panorama said they sometimes arrived at work to find bins with empty bottles from parties the night before and guards who tried to stop an illegal gathering were laughed at. Their testimony comes as the prime minister braces himself for new embarrassment with the long-awaited publication of a top official’s report Sue Gray, likely to be completed on Wednesday.

Some of those who worked in Downing Street said social events became routine during the pandemic, despite strict laws banning indoor and outdoor mixing. Lee Cain, in November 2020, as England went into lockdown for the second time, one of those in attendance told the BBC: “There were about 30 people if not more in a room. Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, some people on each other’s laps.”

While 126 fines have been issued, Johnson reportedly dodged one ahead of the November 2020 meeting “despite new photos surfacing Monday of Johnson roasting Cain in front of a table littered with empty alcohol bottles” and sources telling the BBC he “initiated the meeting”. and poured drinks for the staff.”

Elsewhere!

Putin made a “big strategic mistake”, NATO chief saysThe Washington Post†

White House issues police warrant on anniversary of Floyd’s deathThe Washington Post†

Jen Psaki Announced as MSNBC’s newest host (VF†

Another Omicron subvariant is now the dominant form in new US cases (NYT†

McCormick drags Dad. Senate vote battle to court (Politico)

Adam NeumannNew Business Plan (More Intelligent)

Elon Musk plans a 24-hour Tesla restaurant in Hollywood (Fortune†

BNP sued after vetoing boss’s proposal to work remotely from French Riviera (Bloomberg)