POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY: Why Tom Barrack Exemplifies All The Problems of Trump Inauguration Donors
Sheldon Whitehouse is right... we need a Disclose Act for counterintelligence purposes!
One of the great joys I have is the email that you, my lovely readers, send me. Your encouragements, gentle rejoinders — even your put downs — are cherished totally. When you’ve been smeared publicly — and you sue all the way to the Supreme Court over it! — and harmed privately nothing anyone says about you makes much of an impact.
The danger is that in shining and donning a suit of armor that you find it hard to breathe or forget to take it off. The success of this Substack — read as it is by college students, billionaires, fellow investors, congressmen, my parents (!), law enforcement, school teachers, the general public, etc. — has emboldened me to keep going. I am particularly grateful to those new friends I’ve met and to those who share the posts. Thank you!
I work quite hard in my day jobs — yes, day jobs — and so this has been a labor of love, done largely at night and into the small hours. Never fear: those who know me best know that I am powered by green tea and historical documentaries — a sort of prisoner of the Potomac.
Each and every one of us, particularly those of us who have become successful at a young age, owe an obligation to make an account of ourselves and to give back. Success comes with it the duty to be accountable. We are left with false choices, though. One of the problems is that one camp — the far left — wants responsibility without privilege whilst the far right wants privilege without responsibility. Neither approach works. Each of us can be a saint or a statesman. The first duty of both the saint and the statesman is to teach by example. Both seek to provide against preventable evils.
I first met Tom Barrack — where else? — in the Trump Hotel. I saw him moving through the crowd. I told him I recognized him as Trump’s inaugural chairman.
Rick Gates — his consigliere — stopped me afterward and told me that “Tom doesn’t really talk to anyone who isn’t a billionaire.”
I laughed and said, “Well, the guy I’m with is a billionaire.”
“No shit,” says he.
“Yes shit,” says I.
“Well, here’s my card,” says he.
I sent Gates and Barrack an email and wished them well and then (fortunately) never heard from either of them again.
This past week Barrack has gone on trial for using his ties to the White House to help the financial and political interests of the United Arab Emirates. And they are using his emails to get him.
Here’s Bloomberg today:
“Trump is the man,” Barrack said, suggesting “HH” could pack his bags.
Federal prosecutors have alleged “HH” is “His Highness,” in this case, UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, or MBZ. And they argue the email was part of Barrack’s efforts to ingratiate himself with the Gulf State by suggesting he could steer US policy in its favor. Other emails appear to show Barrack trying to arrange a meeting between Trump and MBZ.
…
In the indictment, prosecutors said Barrack worked to “establish himself as the key communications channel” for the campaign and the UAE, eventually boasting in one email that he was “the only channel” to Trump.
I suspect and predict Barrack will be jailed. He will not be alone.
A friend and I often debate how criminal many of the Trump inner circle is. He says Trump’s not a crook and I agree but he does seem to know a lot of crooks and a lot of crooks seem to be drawn to him.
I enlisted a friend to take a gander at what happened to all those who were donating to the inaugural fund.
Some of these men and women I met and knew socially — including some of the criminals. A few of them I even like. One I consider a friend.
So here they are…
Served Time/Court date TBD
Fined/Forced to register/on trial
Left the Country
Time Served/Settled
Tied to Other Crimes
Generally Suspicious/Under Investigation
Sheldon Adelson
Julio Gonzalez
Jeff Miller
Greg Mosing
Anthony Scaramucci
Am I missing anyone?
Many of these players have real ties to foreign intelligence.
It’s all the more reason we need a DISCLOSE Act.
If you allow unlimited money into politics, you invite in foreign influence.