What Trump did when people tried to tell him the law about inauguration spending

[dixiegrrrrl]

Michael Lewis's book The Fifth Risk recounts some of Christie's transition efforts in 2016 before Trump won the election—and then literally and figuratively trashed every shred of work Christie had done. Keep in mind that party nominees are legally required to form transition teams. Trump didn't want one but Christie explained he must have one and he could either pay for it himself or pull from campaign funds. Trump refused to do either, so Christie was forced to fundraise for the committee in order to pay its hundred-plus staffers.

Trump almost entirely ignored the transition work until he read an article reporting that Christie had raised several million dollars toward the effort. That's when Steven Bannon walked into Trump's Trump Tower residence to find Christie getting an earful from Trump. Lewis writes:

Trump was apoplectic, actually yelling, You're stealing my money! You're stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?? Seeing Bannon, Trump turned on him and screamed, Why are you letting him steal my fucking money? Bannon and Christie together set out to explain to Trump federal law. To which Trump replied, Fuck the law. I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money.

Bannon and Christie tried to explain that Trump couldn't have both his money and a transition.

Shut it down, said Trump. Shut down the transition.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819189/-Christie-snubs-Trump-on-chief-of-staff-post-payback-for-Trump-s-transition-greed

That book is my night time read this evening.

[Hoyt]

1. Wish somebody recorded this kind of trump behavior.

[pecosbob]

2. Now this sounds like Donald J. Trump...

Trump was apoplectic, actually yelling, You're stealing my money! You're stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?? Seeing Bannon, Trump turned on him and screamed, Why are you letting him steal my fucking money? Bannon and Christie together set out to explain to Trump federal law. To which Trump replied, Fuck the law. I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money.

Also...props to DJT for getting called out for being greedy by the POS that shut down a bridge as political retaliation.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Yeah, but that POS did make the trip to the WH this week

to tell trump NO about that Chief of Staff position.
Which makes him a slightly smaller POS than before.

[2naSalit]

22. And only for a minute or two...nt

[Pepsidog]

64. Nothing but a money grubbing grifter bastard

[UpInArms]

3. Gee .... you think anything has changed?

To which Trump replied, Fuck the law. I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money.

[erronis]

36. Same old, same old. Same old dump, same old gop. nt

[RVN VET71]

58. Mob boss screaming at his lieutenants

But, hey, Don Corleone would have been more gracious.

Trump is and always has been a low-life, amoral, thug. It's becoming apparent that he didn't understand his obligations and, as here, attacked any and all who tried to educate him. If ever a POS deserved public humiliation and indefinite imprisonment, it's Individual-1.

[RockRaven]

4. Somebody, likely SDNY, is going to get Bannon and Christie under oath about this moment

and either someone gets exposed as lying to Michael Lewis, or this serves as the paradigmatic example of Trump's behavior vis-a-vis every law governing politicians and money.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. I read everything that Lewis writes.

If he says it happened, it did, and I suspect it was Christie who told him. So maybe, happily, christie might wanna testify at some point. Soon.

[underpants]

53. I agree.

Lewis doesn't need to embellish anything at this point. Between books and movie rights he's set.

BTW if you remember Tabitha Soren on MTV News in the early 90's, that's Michael's wife.

[dixiegrrrrl]

63. thanks for that tidbit...

One of my no tv decades, but out of curiosity, I'll look her up.

[JI7]

5. i want trump to suffer so badly.

[iluvtennis]

10. +100

[smirkymonkey]

17. +1000

Oh, so do I. So very much.

[Solly Mack]

19. Me, too.

[2naSalit]

23. Same here...

and his horrid spawn too.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

27. "Beware of those in whom the urge to punish is strong." - Goethe N/T

[SunSeeker]

32. So, Comatose Spaghetti, do you think Trump shouldn't be punished?

[SammyWinstonJack]

28. Right there with you.

[Scarsdale]

33. I want him to

regret the day he even THOUGHT of running for president. Hopefully, he will have plenty of free time in prison to think about his "glory days" flying on AF1, golfing for free, accusing Hillary and others of being "crooked". Fat, repulsive, ugly orange blob is a total waste of space as a human. His "kids" are not far behind.

[rlegro]

57. Orange blob in an orange prison suit -- he'll be invisible.

Just the way it should be.

[MyOwnPeace]

51. I want.....

LIVE COVERAGE of the "dead man walking" march out of the White House - in cuffs!!!!

(Faux "News" will be doing re-runs of Bengazi hearings.......... )

[calimary]

56. I still can't help but suspect he's gonna bug out in the middle of the night.

He won’t want that kind of publicity, or those terrible photos like the one of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker being dragged out, half sobbing, half collapsing, with big strong lawmen holding him up at the armpits as they walked him toward facing the music.

He doesn’t think anything is wrong because this is ALWAYS how he’s done “business” in the private sector - where nobody cared that much and he offered plenty of pop culture amusement and American taxpayers weren’t personally on the hook for all his expensive misdeeds, manipulations, lies, and corner-cutting.

This is how he’s always done business! He was never held accountable before. Tight little family niche business. Nobody cared that much. And there were always bigger fish for the feds to fry. So he could blithely do cameos in movies and TV, and run his mouth off with Howard Stern, and nobody cared. Nobody HAD TO care! Until now.

[Quixote1818]

6. To fit in every scandal into the Trump movie, it may end up longer than the LOTR's trilogy.

I believe those were like ten hours.

[erronis]

37. If they make a documentary series on this it should be required watching for high-school students.

[lunatica]

46. A limited series would be perfect

Whoever makes it could actually explore other characters and their crimes. Like Ivanka and Jared, Don Jr., Manafort, Butina, the members of the GOP, the Russian Ambassador, the Saudi Prince, etc. and it could flesh out characters like Mueller.

It could be riveting if done right and would serve to make a difficult subject of legal spaghetti unravel into an understandable subject. Throw in disgusting bits like the Kavanaugh hearings and the cruelty of throwing children into cages and the obvious GOP corruption and you can keep people’s attention, as well as educate them.

It can be done.

[JI7]

7. didn't Pence Take Over the Transition Team ?

so what happened then ?

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Oh, yes, Manafort's favorite animatron was stuck with the job.

So he is smack dab in the middle of the cross hairs in the investigation.

[yardwork]

31. And now we know that Trump refused to pay for it, so where did the money come from?

Did the Russians or another foreign country give Pence the money needed for all those transition staff salaries?

[dixiegrrrrl]

50. Trump finally gave in, so the money collected was spent.

Now. of course, the Feds are probing HOW/WHO of the spending.

[harumph]

8. Ya know - when he says this is a "witch hunt" ...

sometimes I wish it was a witch hunt - a real 17th century type witch hunt,
complete with the customary climax.

[winstars]

9. tRump: Fuck You, Pay Me!!!! A bit too real IMHO....

[dalton99a]

14. Trump's motto: "Fuck the law. I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money."

Last edited Sun Dec 16, 2018, 10:26 AM - Edit history (1)

[Squinch]

30. That phrase is a perfect encapsulation of this presidency/criminal enterprise.

[dflprincess]

60. I take this as a sign of just how close to being broke he is

He is desperate for cash and doesn't care what he has to do to get it

[SWBTATTReg]

62. I'll never again trust anyone like this near my checkbook, or for that matter, any public office...

He's a crook, plain and simple.

[Honeycombe8]

15. Yes, Donald. We know you don't care about the law. And we hope you are held accountable for that.nt

[Midnight Writer]

16. Thanks for posting this. I told someone about this but couldn't remember where I read it.

This sounds like a good Michael Lewis book. I will treat myself this for Christmas.

[Hamlette]

18. yet evangelicals love him, and think God sent him to say "I don't give a fuck about the law."

The book is an excellent read. I red it when it first came out and keep returning to it to read parts over again. The title comes from a ranking of risks to the nation. I don't remember the three four, but four is destruction of the electric grid. Number 5 is poor management. the ranking system evaluates how likely it is to happen and how much damage can/will be done if it does happen. The lower the number the most dangerous. When you see how horrible Trump is at managing the country, you understand why it is such a scary risk.

[ansible]

20. This should've come out earlier

Not sure it'll make too much of an impact now

[Chemisse]

26. It may have a legal impact, demonstrating a pattern of behavior.

And I bet this is only the tip of the iceberg. Mueller likely has a multitude of these little anecdotes to enrich the pile of evidence he has accumulated.

Also, more than the legal details, these are the tales that may someday break the spell he has over his cult members.

[Ciaphas Cain]

21. Jokers Wild

I look forward to more stories like this, especially from Bannon.

I don't think about him very much otherwise. I forgive him considering everyone hates him and he looks like the biggest clown ever.

[2naSalit]

24. He's also been

spreading his agenda around the planet and helping all those fascists get elected in the past year, since he was kicked out of the WH for looking slimier than shitler and sucking up the news feed and pissing off the jarvanka.

[dameatball]

35. Yes. He is still a menace. I won't forgive him, cuz he ain't done yet.

[2naSalit]

38. Until his wardrobe becomes orange jumpsuits

he will remain at large and dangerous.

[keithbvadu2]

47. "and pissing off the jarvanka."

"and pissing off the jarvanka."

Donald had to tell Breitbart to knock off the anti-Jew stuff about Jared.

[Achilleaze]

25. republicans have cursed the USA with their greedy, ignoble Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

republicans will be remembered in history as having betrayed America for "fucking money."

[BSdetect]

29. More repulsive news each day. We may never recover fully from this horror.

[Ferrets are Cool]

34. Along with others, I would give almost anything to have this recorded.

It would be priceless on tape. (yes, I know that term is outdated)

[zentrum]

39. Would like to know if Trump

....thinks The Wall will make money for him.

[tblue37]

49. Kickbacks from construction company cronies. nt

[Ink Addict]

59. Bin Laden concrete wall footers "9/11 fly 'em outta here ASAP" connection?

I tried to "dig it up" but didn't find any specific leads toward that end, and there's the..."but the official" story, but the "official" story, but...

[ancianita]

40. Do we know if Lewis is quoting either Christie or Bannon?

[dixiegrrrrl]

66. I don't know.

No quote given as far as I have read, and this excerpt is towards the beginning.

I would kind of figured anyone who was in the WH mix isn't gonna wanted to be quoted, at least not yet.

[Pepsidog]

41. Lewis is a great author.

[usaf-vet]

42. This has to be the most telling and believable meme I have read about Trump!

"I want my fucking money!"

My money! Exactly, it is now and has always been about money.

He sees the U.S. Treasury as his private piggy bank.

[czarjak]

52. Learned from W.?

[Scurrilous]

43. K&R

[octoberlib]

44. Lewis's book is excellent. Highly recommend!

Lewis’s sources are current and former members of the Depts. of Energy, Commerce etc. Obama had each department write up detailed reports so the incoming new department heads would up to snuff on everything. The reports ended up getting trashed without being read and Trump aides walked through the Dept. of Energy insulting and ridiculing scientists and other people who worked there.

[mellow]

45. Oh, if only ...

... if only they *had* "shut down the transition."

[keithbvadu2]

48. "I want my f'ng money"

"I want my f'ng money"

https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1290570/44-money-uganda

Idi Amin told his treasury guy to print more.

[underpants]

54. So he saw it simply as a con. Another source of money not to be spent but to go into his pocket.

Not surprising but still remarkable

[dixiegrrrrl]

67. We are slowly beginning to see that he has been the same way even back in 1980's.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, bless her heart, is investigating that far back for state crimes.
certainly what we have learned about Fred Trump's tax evasion suggests that will be a fruitful investigation.

In short, the Dotard we know is how he has always been. None of these self serving money games is new.

[Jarqui]

55. Stuff like that is how you know Trump is in deep trouble

He's done this kind of thing his whole life.

He is like a spoiled, ignorant little kid having a tantrum for a chocolate bar in the grocery store with the difference being that there has never been a strong adult in enough control to firmly say no.

As such, all these investigations :


have a much better chance than normal of bearing the fruits of criminal evidence.

Financial crimes are much tougher to lie about because of the paper/digital trail financial transactions require and leave. Couple that with the immunity deals his CFO Weisselberg cut and Cohen's millions of pieces of evidence along with his immunity and the spoiled brat is not going to get away.

[The Genealogist]

61. "I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money."

Why this isn't Trump's official motto is beyond my comprehension. He should have it stamped on coins and embroidered on his tacky hats. After all, this slogan truly encapsulates his entire term of office.

[FakeNoose]

65. It wasn't ever Cheeto's money

According to Michael Lewis, the money was raised by Chris Christie through donations for the express purpose of managing the transition team that was required by law. The money was never meant for Cheeto or his campaign. Either something else was going on, or Cheeto was seriously delusional about this money being "his."

Ultimately he did an end run around Christie by firing him and figuring out ways to embezzle from the Inauguration funds. After the transition and inaugural, there was still money leftover which was supposed to be returned to the original donors. Instead, he declared his "2020 Re-election Campaign" and transferred the leftover cash into his new campaign war chest. It's just 24/7/365 grifting.