Fraud trial juror reports getting bag of $120,000 and promise of more if she'll acquit

[Zorro]

Source: AP

A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.

“This is completely beyond the pale,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said in court on Monday. “This is outrageous behavior. This is stuff that happens in mob movies.”

These seven are the first of 70 defendants expected to go to trial in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. Eighteen others have pleaded guilty, and authorities said they recovered about $50 million in one of the nation's largest pandemic-related fraud cases. Prosecutors say just a fraction of the money went to feed low-income kids, while the rest was spent on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and property.

During the trial that began in April, defense attorneys questioned the quality of the FBI's investigation and suggested that this might be more of a case of record-keeping problems than fraud as these defendants sought to keep up with rapidly changing rules for the food aid program.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/fraud-trial-juror-reports-getting-172402539.html

[sarisataka]

1. Subtle

[mpcamb]

21. Did it have a Florida zip code attached?

[magicarpet]

36. Did she by chance find a bloody amputated horse's head under the covers when she climbed into bed ?

That's another bad sign sumthin ain't right quite right here.

Did she give the $120K to the court so forensics could take a peak at the stash and the drop bag of loot ?

Has trDUMP normalized tough guy bullshit stuff like this with his various courtroom schemes, stunts, and shenanigans to trash the legal system ? And has he given the Thug goon squad permission to freak out the entire court system with these Mafioso fear tactics ? Can you top this strongman, he man, tough guy, Thug behavior ?

Everything Shitler touches or remotely get near to - turns into a flaming bag of shit.

He is a clear, present, and immediate danger to this country.

A no non-sense intervention by the courts must take place to rein this Mafioso Thug to heel. His freedom can no longer be unsupervised. That realization should have dawned on us sometime ago.

Enough is enough. Lower the boom on this buffoon of a clown. Talk about vermin and poisoning American society - trDUMP is the king of the hill in that specific category.

He is incapable of acting upon the best human volitions. From day one when he was born to the present day trDUMP is only motivated by the worst and most evil human volitions, and that is all he practices, that is all knows.

This why he is found utterly recalcitrant and should be deemed a lost cause. It is too late in the game to rehabilitate him,.. that ship done sailed years upon years and decades upon decades ago.

He is damaged human goods - and sees no point or purpose to reedeem himself before he departs this earth.

There is a wise saying,...

"God helps those who are willing to help themselves".

If God takes this attitude and approach that there can not be a total lack of initiative - who are we to over rule that concept or argue with that decision ? To do otherwise is a mission toward failure, lasting disappointment, and tomfoolery.

We have been hoodwinked by the likes of Donald John Trump more than sufficiently. It is time to move on and attend to functional and effective governance without this albatross choking the oxygen from our body politics and bringing the country down in the worst ways imaginable.

Time to put "The Donald" upon the shelf and remove him from circulation - so he is not to meddle with the patriots who really give a damn about America - who seek to build a future we can be proud of as our legacy to future generations.

That's not asking too much or being selfish in any way, shape, or form.

We have a lot of work ahead to beat back and slay this Fascist fire breathing dragon.

It is about time we earnestly got to work to save this American Democracy - without question it is worthy of our efforts to do so.

[Ocelot II]

37. This case has nothing to with TFG.

Read the link. It’s a fraud case where a huge amount of money was siphoned from federal pandemic funds that were supposed to be spent on food for poor children. Not a Trump case.

[magicarpet]

42. I am well aware this is not a trDump court case personally.

They have not hauled his ass into court because of the Covid bank loan fraud. But he had a major hand in engineering this tax payer rip off.

I am saying he was at the helm in the Oval Office when this Covid loan fiasco transpired. Under the guise that this loan spigot be turned on full blast was the answer to save our failing Covid faltering economy.

trDUMP fucked up the Covid pandemic,

trDUMP cause the economy to crash way worse - than it might have otherwise with good management. But trDUMP has zero management and executive skills.

The Covid emergency bank loans were a gift to trDUMP MAGA minions to fraudulently game the system to procure mansions, fancy cars, private jets, and yachts.

They robbed the US Treasury blind while Mnuchin looked the other way, and likely got in on this fraudulent boondoggle of selfenrichment himself.

They robbed the US Treasury blind and the middle class and lower class got stuck with the tab.

That is the point I am trying to get across.

trDUMP won't suffer the repercussions of all this Covid fraud. But he was the king pin in charge during this Covid mismanagement fiasco. The buck for responsibility lands and sits squarely on his former Oval Office Resolute desk.

He owns the failures, the Covid frauds perpetrated, and his administration fuck ups. That is all part and parcel of his shamefully failed 45th Presidential portfolio.

[bluestarone]

46. No doubt about this.

I'm 100% with you.

[FakeNoose]

2. Charges are against a MN charity called Feed Our Future that bilked the government out of $250 million

... during the pandemic. The US Dept. of Justice has charged 48 people in Minnesota with fraud.

More info in this AP News story: https://apnews.com/article/sports-health-travel-education-70d77fb2757d0b6fbc2012bf2c534a34

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. There was so much fraud with the COVID funds

I realize that Congress was trying to keep businesses and non-profits afloat, but they made it entirely too easy for fraudulent applications to pass. The sad thing is many legitimate businesses that needed the funds weren't approved because they had run out of money.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. It was terrible legislation

Loaded at the top and the middle. And why did they need loans? Spending power in people's hands would have solved everything. In addition, all that money created inflation and empty supermarket shelves. Federal Reservie has been trying to mop up the mess ever since.

[peppertree]

24. Plus, of course:

"I'll be the oversight - we're gonna make good deals."

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4863258/user-clip-trump-oversight

He sure did.

[Traurigkeit]

31. What else did you expect from Trump ?

Bet those people track back to GOP and Trump Org.

[Ocelot II]

38. Probably not. All the defendants are Somali immigrants

who aren’t likely to have Trump connections. He isn’t the only crook in the world.

[Silent Type]

7. Both parties were scared chitless of an economic collapse. At time it was a good measure. Now it's time for those

who cheated and didn't use the money for paychecks.

I'm pretty sure a few people I know cheated.

[Auggie]

12. I understand the actual fulfillment process was handled by banks

Congress approved the money. Banks handled actual transactions (for a fee, or course), but likely didn't give a crap about accuracy or need. Proper vetting would have cut into profits.

[oldsoftie]

28. Some banks cared & took the training seriously. Others didnt. THEY should also be held accountable

A friend who is a banker told me how much training he got with his bank & told me about some of the people who came in with applications that he said "Were in no way legit & very obvious". Yet they went to another bank & got the loan. He told me back then that at some point "Someone is going to start looking". We had one case nearby where some idiot spent 55,000 of PPP money on a POKEMAN CARD. he's in jail now. South Florida was the hotbed of fraud & the Feds have been taking down a LOT of idiots.

[Auggie]

33. Thanks

[magicarpet]

40. Like liar mortgages bundled as class A,..

... premium investment vehicles sold world wide.

Card Blanche banking deregulation turns Wall Street into into the likes of a trDUMP Atlantic City Casino destined for failure.

This time is was Card Blanche Covid loans to stimulate a crashed economy courtesy of trDUMP. trDUMP and trDUMPie minions saw these Covid loans as akin to a fraudulent way to game the lottery while holding ten jackpot winning tickets just waiting to be cashed in.

No meaningful oversite in banking loan transactions is a recipe for fraud and gross self enrichment - especially with a Thug like trDUMP at the helm steering the ship of state during the Covid crash to the American and world economies.

One of the many reasons why a buffoon such as djt should absolutely not be seated in the Oval Office.

All he knows is how to screw things up royally. We do not need to experience a repeat performance with this buffoon in charge again.

[et tu]

13. if people were honest

there wouldn't be a problem

[John Shaft]

16. Honesty is for poor people

[Mblaze]

45. "The Evangelical thing is a cover."

Maybe that's why, in their book, when Jesus asks, "What profiteth a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul?", they answer by pointing to Donald Trump and explaining to us how he is a great businessman.

[orange jar]

18. Yep.

Last edited Mon Jun 3, 2024, 10:19 PM - Edit history (1)

* Edit: the people mentioned in the article are Somali immigrants. I jumped the gun a bit, my apologies.

[TexasBushwhacker]

35. I know a guy who pocketed a $90K

Restaurant Revitalization Grant. He let the business go under.

[Ocelot II]

39. Actually they are Somali immigrants.

[orange jar]

43. Huh. Interesting.

Thank you for the correction.

[viva la]

4. Now that's an honorable person.

I'd be like, "So the $ is my reward, right?"

[hamsterjill]

10. I agree. I assume she wanted to be dismissed.

If I were on trial, I’d want someone like her on the jury.

[Ligyron]

32. A person might be tempted to keep 20k or so ...

“Look, she gave me this bag with one hundred and fort.. err, I mean one hundred and twenty thousand…”

[rpannier]

44. That's what I was thinking

Yeah...yeah. I got this bag of one hundred fi...thir...twenty-fi... twenty thousand

[Ponietz]

6. Shithead's maladministration caused this

[ancianita]

8. At that time the USDA was a short drive down the road from Charles Koch's house and Koch Industries.

[EarthFirst]

9. bUht BiduHns sTudENt LoAn FeRgIvNess... nt

[GB_RN]

17. As A Nurse With Loans...

Don’t even get me started. And the jackasses have filed suit against Biden to stop the latest try. 🤬🤬🤬🤬

Stupid motherfuckers. And I’m being polite.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. This would be the MO for America after democracy.

[AZ8theist]

19. AFTER Democracy there would be no need for witness and/or jury tampering.....

[SupportSanity]

22. Yes. After Democracy it would be very Oligarchical. High dollar mob mentality.

[NBachers]

14. Was she the only one who got this offer . . .

[Attilatheblond]

26. That IS the question!

Not everybody would hand the bag of money over and tell the tale.

[TheRickles]

20. I started off thinking this was an Onion parody of Trump's $130k payoff to Stormy

(though the numbers didn't quite match). I wonder how much of this actually is happening in all these related cases

[riversedge]

23. "The 23-year-old juror said she immediately turned over the bag of cash to police. She said a woman left it with her

The 23-year-old juror said she immediately turned over the bag of cash to police. She said a woman left it with her father-in-law Sunday with the message that she’d get another bag of cash if she voted to acquit, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Defense attorney Andrew Birrell told the judge that the bag of cash is “a troubling and upsetting accusation.”

Before allowing the trial to continue with more closing arguments on Monday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel questioned the remaining 17 jurors and alternates, and none reported any unauthorized contact. Brasel decided to sequester the jury for the rest of the proceeding as a precaution.

“I don’t do it lightly,” Brasel said. “But I want to ensure a fair trial.”

[dickthegrouch]

41. In today's environment, that took enormous courage and fortitude.

Congratulations to the young woman involved.
Our thanks for not hesitating to do the right thing.
I hope the government does the right thing by her, in keeping her safe.

[The Wizard]

25. Go directly to jail

Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

[Marcuse]

27. BTW

[liberalla]

30. It's so unfair!

Unless it's for me!

[liberalla]

29. I'm so impressed that she turned it over right away, and reported the attempted bribe.

It shouldn't be such an impressive feat - to be honest and report it, but here we are! In a country where many people revere DJT, and seek to emulate him.... returning the money to the authorities is the LOSER move... Keeping it would've been, "smaaht, ya know whad I mean?"
(misspelled on purpose to sound like a mob guy)

[soldierant]

34. The bribers must have at least suspected that she might do so -

otherwise, approaching her through her father in law seems a little far fetched.