Did A U.S. Senate Candidate Ask Me For A Bribe?
What I learned at the Republican Attorney General Association retreats
Some years ago, I donated some money to the Republican Attorney Generals Association (RAGA). I did it because I was made to believe that the way to get my companies contracts was to donate to the Grand Old Party. I was very happily wrong.
Besides, my companies — the non-compromised of which have now done very well under the Biden government — didn’t really need these lobbyists in the first place. In fact they may well have made my companies worse off! One of the former executive directors at RAGA went off and joined Clearview.AI where she employs a number of not so competent people. That’s probably why Clearview isn't doing so well. Shoulda listened, Hoan but you were too busy building a monument unto yourself.
Anyway, being stupid, which I often am — don’t let this blog fool you! — I thought when people said that they were for law and order they were for law and order, but I’ve come to learn it just means that they want to define law and order in their own way. People who tell you they are for law and order usually deliver neither. Sometimes when Attorneys General are suing a company for misbehavior what they are really doing is negotiating a larger bribe from the offending company. The bribe is called a campaign contribution. This is the parasitism of politics — the shakedown of mob rule. “Campaigns cost money,” they tell us. But why?
Some years ago I concluded that to the extent I wanted to be politically effective in whatever meager money I donated I ought to make a plan of it.
I began backing the most conservative (or most liberal) members of each delegation. There probably aren’t many people who have donated to both AOC and Steve King, to both Matt Gaetz and Karen Bass, or to Ted Cruz and Sheldon Whitehouse. I tend to like iconoclasts. RAGA had my attention when I learned that AG stands for “Aspiring Governor,” (Or is it “Almost Governor”?) though more than a few seemingly ended up as Senators. Politics can be confusing that way.
The executive director of the RAGA was a nice, competent guy by the name of Adam Piper. I have nothing negative to say about Adam Piper and consider him a friend despite whatever differences we may have. Naturally he was scapegoated for the events of January 6th and left RAGA and politics altogether. The real money behind RAGA came from Leonard Leo, whom we have discussed elsewhere but who is backed by Chisraeli billionaire Barre Seid and Peter Thiel.
Meeting all of the Attorneys General afforded a real opportunity to see politicians up close and behaving badly. I saw this firsthand at the two RAGA events I went to in Phoenix and Sea Island, Georgia
There was U.S. Attorney General Sean Reyes who seemingly palled around with a number of Chinese spies — one of his close friends was a man named Alan Crooks — and who was said to be under FBI investigation. There was Ken Paxton who also is/was under FBI investigation over allegations that he used his political power for his mistress. Paxton asked me for a bribe to his legal defense fund whilst we were in his office.
The AG I most clicked with was Jason Ravnsborg of South Dakota. He and I spoke a little bit about Twitter being a den of foreign spies. He seemed particularly interested in Governor Kristi Noem, who was also there with Corey Lewandowski. The two seemed to be dating despite being married to other people.
Ravnsborg was said to be investigating Noem for corruption, especially over her ties to a billionaire pedophile. No, I haven’t gone Q Anon on you. There is actually a billionaire pedophile. He’s in loan sharking credit cards because of course he is.
Ravnsborg was removed as attorney general after a mentally ill man jumped in front of his car and died. Noem, seizing on the moment, worked to successfully and controversially impeach Ravnsborg. This turn of events, though, hasn’t stopped Ravnsborg’s from looking into Noem’s alleged corruption. Who will win in the end, I couldn’t say but I do know who I am rooting for and who I will support should he ever run for office again.
I was introduced early on to Eric Schmitt — the Attorney General of Missouri currently running for U.S. Senate. Schmitt was among the attorneys general who was offering up solutions to the pandemic. Indeed, he sued China for the costs of the pandemic—and promptly was laughed out of court.
I asked Schmitt what he planned to do about the Chinese mob activity in Missouri. He denied that there was a problem. I didn’t know at the time that he had voted to allow the Chinese to buy up Missouri farm land.
We discussed a little about genomics and facial recognition and a few other things when I realized that he was pretty sloshed.
“If you support me, I’m confident I can get your tech to the right people,” he said, after a few drinks.
Was this a quid pro quo? It sure felt that way. But its sheer plausible deniability made me wonder. As I said, though, I’m stupid.
Someone, probably the DOJ, should check it out. Missouri sure is a strange place.
Charles, I think you would find Zev Shalev and Eric Garland's recent reporting on Eric Schmitt and the situation in Missouri very interesting.