Chaos in Congress

[Voronwë the Faithful]

SMH

[N.E. Brigand]

Rep. George Santos claims that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told him "Hang in there, buddy" on Tuesday, but her office denies that.

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Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, and "the first Mexican American woman to represent Florida in Congress," is being referred to as a "new George Santos" after reports that she previously presented herself as having a different name, personal history, and family history than she now claims. Overall, she sounds like a fabulist but not nearly in the same league as Santos (or Donald Trump), although they both apparently have falsely claimed to have Jewish ancestry. In Luna's case, she defended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene against charges of anti-Semitism with the argument that she, Luna, was a Jew and had been endorsed by Greene. Not only is Luna not Jewish, but, well:

"​​Immigration records reviewed by The Post also revealed that Luna's paternal grandfather — Heinrich Mayerhofer — identified as a Roman Catholic when he immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1954. Other family members who spoke with The Post said Heinrich Mayerhofer served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany when he was a teenager in the 1940s."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Luna, you may recall, accused a reporter of sexually harassing her because he tried to ask her questions during the speaker election debacle.

[N.E. Brigand]

I did not recall that! Wow.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

GOP congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna says she was 'sexually harassed' while leaving Capitol office

[N.E. Brigand]

In exchange for electing Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, one item the more extreme members of his party got was a subcommittee meant to investigate the supposed "weaponization" of the U.S. government to hurt conservatives. The top Democrat on that subcommittee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, explained its true purpose in the first hearing yesterday, as shown below:



If you watch, be sure not to miss the surprise appearance at the end by my favorite allegedly handsy Republican activist.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Sunsilver]

What took them so long?

[N.E. Brigand]

Rep. George Santos claims that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told him "Hang in there, buddy" on Tuesday, but her office denies that.

In the 2020 election thread, I linked to today's news about the arrest of Steve Bannon's billionaire backer, Guo Wengui, on charges of "leading a complex conspiracy to defraud his online followers out of more than $1 billion." The Reuters article I cited says that Guo "cheated thousands of followers by promising 'outsized' investment returns, but diverted much of their money to fund lavish lifestyles for himself and his family," adding that his ill-gotten purchases include a $37 million yacht -- among much else. You may remember that when Bannon was arrested (by the U.S. Postal Police) in 2020 on charges of defrauding contributors to a U.S.-Mexico border-wall project (charges for which President Donald Trump pardoned him), he was apprehended aboard a yacht belonging to Guo.

Not to be (too much) outdone, Congressman George Santos is also in the news today with a story about an expensive yacht:

"Sold: Yacht With a Waterfall. Price: $19 Million. Broker: George Santos." (New York Times)

"Just before his House election, Mr. Santos helped two of his largest donors reach a private deal on a $19 million boat, mixing his political and personal interests." The FBI is investigating, possibly on the theory that the sale was arranged as a way of donating money to Santos while skirting campaign finance laws. Curiously, this appears to be one of the few times that Santos has told the truth about his finances, or at least hinted at it. When journalists asked him a couple months ago about why his net worth jumped from $55,000 in 2020 to nearly $1 million in 2022, Santos said: "If you’re looking at a $20 million yacht, my referral fee there can be anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000."

[N.E. Brigand]

Rep. George Santos claims that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told him "Hang in there, buddy" on Tuesday, but her office denies that.

In the 2020 election thread, I linked to today's news about the arrest of Steve Bannon's billionaire backer, Guo Wengui, on charges of "leading a complex conspiracy to defraud his online followers out of more than $1 billion." The Reuters article I cited says that Guo "cheated thousands of followers by promising 'outsized' investment returns, but diverted much of their money to fund lavish lifestyles for himself and his family," adding that his ill-gotten purchases include a $37 million yacht -- among much else. You may remember that when Bannon was arrested (by the U.S. Postal Police) in 2020 on charges of defrauding contributors to a U.S.-Mexico border-wall project (charges for which President Donald Trump pardoned him), he was apprehended aboard a yacht belonging to Guo.

Not to be (too much) outdone, Congressman George Santos is also in the news today with a story about an expensive yacht:

"Sold: Yacht With a Waterfall. Price: $19 Million. Broker: George Santos." (New York Times)

"Just before his House election, Mr. Santos helped two of his largest donors reach a private deal on a $19 million boat, mixing his political and personal interests." The FBI is investigating, possibly on the theory that the sale was arranged as a way of donating money to Santos while skirting campaign finance laws. Curiously, this appears to be one of the few times that Santos has told the truth about his finances, or at least hinted at it. When journalists asked him a couple months ago about why his net worth jumped from $55,000 in 2020 to nearly $1 million in 2022, Santos said: "If you’re looking at a $20 million yacht, my referral fee there can be anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000."

CNN reports that George Santos has made a deal from Brazilian prosecutors in which he will formally confess to "defrauding a Rio de Janeiro area clerk of $1,300 over clothes and shoes in 2008" and will pay restitution.

[N.E. Brigand]

Rep. Scott Perry, Republican of Pennsylvania and insurrection-adjacent Chair of the House Republicans' "Freedom Caucus," whose votes were needed for Kevin KcCarthy to secure his position as Speaker, said today that his caucus will only vote to avert a debt ceiling crisis if the bill also repeals the Inflation Reduction Act that passed last August.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Dave_LF]

Criminal charges have been filed against Rep George Santos; details under seal but probably related to campaign finance:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/politics ... department

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[N.E. Brigand]

Pretty fast work. Is there any indication that Santos was even under investigation before this all blew up five months ago?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Pretty fast work. Is there any indication that Santos was even under investigation before this all blew up five months ago?

Yes, see this post that I made last January.

That being said, this is extraordinarily fast. They must have extremely solid documentary evidence. The indictment also suggests that they have significant cooperating witnesses.

[Dave_LF]

“Significant cooperating witnesses” Well there’s the guy who said this yesterday:

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I feel pretty confident in saying that he is not one the cooperating witnesses referenced in the Indictment. And if he is, he is an idiot.