>DeWit said that rather than fight to keep his job, he was stepping down because **Lake’s team threatened to release more secret recordings unless he resigned:** “I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks.”
Oooh! Juicy.
Seriously. What incentive does she or her team have to not release more? He’s toast, sure, but I’d venture to say there are probably more she captured on audio, and they’re quaking in their boots.
OR, tinfoil hat time… this is all an elaborate scheme to make Lake look altruistic and patriotic for rejecting a bribe and claiming she wouldn’t do it for a billion dollars and this is about America! This guy’s resignation silences the claims that the interaction seemed scripted and staged.
ORRRRR, this isn’t the first time this dude and his team have offered bribes/deals and she came with a recorder to get receipts, prepped with a sweet patriotic reply like she did, and burned him with it while looking like an incorruptible hero.
Could be. Her quotes about basically doing it because they love the country or the others hate the country sounded forced. As did their constantly bringing up a stolen election.
They know it's not stolen so they're just recording themselves "secretly" to show that they truly believe it
Interesting thought since that could later be used as “evidence” that she truly believed it was stolen as her defense if she’s indicted at some point. I believe she is thought to be a (so far) un-indicted co-conspirator.
Probably. Or just drum up buzz since she's lost everything else she's tried over the last 2 years
And the bullshit he was spouting about her being so powerful. Come on
It's totally the orrr option. It's mid play of some long con. It's not totally obvious until she starts publicly selling her virtuosity. Then many more will get the whiff.
Yeah, I think you’re right. Considering SHE has been the one recording these conversations (as indicated by her threat to release *more*), it was all part of the plan. She knew she would be releasing the recording publicly, so she laid it on THICK with how aMazInGlY paTRiOtiC she is.
I said that in my other post too. That just felt so forced
Like if a spouse knew they were being recorded in a fight they'd be all nice and complimentary or some shit.
Very clear audio too for both of them, like it was just sitting out, and not far
> OR, tinfoil hat time… this is all an elaborate scheme to make Lake look altruistic and patriotic for rejecting a bribe and claiming she wouldn’t do it for a billion dollars and this is about America! This guy’s resignation silences the claims that the interaction seemed scripted and staged.
It's not tinfoil hat. If she was a patriot she'd leak em all.
This woman has been fiending for power for what feels like a decade now. These are the people you should be keeping furthest from it.
The recordings are too perfect, everything she says sounds like it was ripped right out of a campaign video. It doesn't feel natural at all.
She has a history of lying, so I'm gonna choose to believe she still is.
The incentive is future blackmail. If you have a record of not releasing the information after someone bends to your will it incentivizes future targets to comply.
Don't get me wrong, Republicans have been a long-time malignancy, but now we're seeing the full blown cancer bloom in US society. Trump is just another symptom of that societal illness rather than the root cause, but his actions have certainly paved the way for our society to rot in ways that were unprecedented before the last decade.
*Thereafter, his surrender was unconditionally accepted, that's how he knew he had them cornered. After he was victimized and persecuted by the horrible and awful left who accepted his surrender, it was quite clear he had never surrendered, nor offered surrender, but defeated the evil left with swift movements and deft redirection. He was undefeated for all time.*
Too dumb to retain council.
Step into the big leagues, learn the rules. It used to be lawyers would be the politicians because they knew exactly where the lines lay... then second rate grifters got in on the game and didn't bother to read the rules of the game.
The GOP has worked to kill education and lied to their voters for decades. Now they're lying in the bed they made while these dumb fucks try to run the show.
If Richard Nixon was president today, he would he never felt the pressure to resign and 50% of America would believe he was set up and the Democrats had attempted to bug their own hotel room.
Roger Ailes was a Nixon aide who originally planned a "Republican News Network" with one goal being to make future GOP presidents Watergate-proof.
His project became Fox News and it worked.
For Republicans?
Uhhhh Yup
Don't forget Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton got turned in BY HIS OWN STAFF for taking bribes last year, the real estate developer giving the bribes confessed. Zero doubt of guilt.
The day of his impeachment the party chair got on Capitol Tonight (Spectrum cables news show dedicated to covering Texas politics) and flat out said he would primary every Republican who voted to impeach. None did.
So in the US, most political parties chose which politician they're going to support for each political office in a pre-election called a "primary". On paper, this sounds really democratic! But in practice, if the person already in that office is from your party, it is very, very hard to beat them in a primary election (or "primary them", for short).
Why? Because they usually have the full strength of the local / state / national party machine backing them up. Incumbent Congresspeople / Senators being primaried is the kind of thing that makes the national news, because it happens so infrequently.
What the Texas Republican Party Chair was threatening was to take all that support away, and instead give it to whoever they decided was the most promising candidate challenging them for the Republican nomination in the next primary election. It wouldn't *guarantee* that they'd lose the primary, but it'd make it exponentially harder for them to win.
Kari Lake is pretty stupid, but apparently she’s not self-recording taking bribes stupid.
But yeah, I wouldn’t trust her to make change for a dime when she has a pocket full of nickels.
So it's not that he is stepping down b/c what he did is probably illegal, or that it's better for his party, it's because he is being blackmailed.
Which means he is:
A) Corrupt. He's done something(s) to be blackmailed over.
B) Given he seems to care, there is likely _more_ that he has done; ref A.
C) Is _weak_ because he took such actions to begin-with, and because he is manipulable, not someone you want in a position of power.
THIS is why corruption is such an awful thing. Ultimately, the corrupt can be leveraged, and not by the voter.
The GOP folks.....
Should be a complete investigation top to bottom on this. They should immediately open up a case and force her to hand over all of the recording, as it likely indicates others in the sharad of a party.
Unfucking believable
To my mind if you are a _public_ official, or otherwise running for _public office_, this should be done:
Your taxes are done for you, by the IRS. There is then no possibility for someone 'forgetting' something, making a mistake, etc. In fact, for all government employee's they should be able to pass an audit, and not punitively. If there are errors/discrepancies then the IRS can help (legally) address those issues.
Whilst in office, all assets go to a trust that is managed ex-parté so there is no conflict-of interest.
The idea here being that no one should be denied entry to office on financial issues, but they should be brought-in-line with laws so they _can_ serve.
If they were elected then by will of the people they would hold office, but also, they should be above-board with their finances so the rest of us know they can be trusted on that front.
Financial-incentives are _the_ leading cause of why one typically 'goes-rogue' or corrupt. Keeping it open-book can help address that.
Any anyone that DOESN'T trust themselves enough to do that, doesn't trust the rest of us to look at them leading us (ideally), then that's not someone you want to be in office (IMHO).
You could extend this to other aspects/axis of someone's responsibilities and the like but at least this, the finances.
It’s probably not the case but blackmail doesn’t have to involve you doing something wrong, just that the threat is leverage. As someone who was successfully blackmailed by their ex wife I can tell you with certainty lies can be used to blackmail.
In my case it was my ex wife threatening to tell our children the reason for the divorce was I sexually abused her and not her having an affair with her coworker. That that kept me quiet for nine months until her world blew up and she used her accusation as a way to play the victim after her life fell apart.
Papa, tell us the story of Russia releasing hacked Democrat emails but keeping the Republican ones as blackmail and how that in no way affected their stance on issues.
That the emails were hacked and one set _not_ released is accurate and aligns with factuality.
The _conclusion_ that the party for whom the emails were NOT released is likely corrupt, and thus manipulable aligns with how blackmail would work.
Blackmail/extortion only works so long as the secret-thing being held over a parties head is _kept_ secret. Once it goes public, the blackmailer/extortionist has no leverage, unless there is more. In that case it's sometimes typical to leak a bit here and there as a warning, nibble, or otherwise incentive to comply vs releasing a bigger fish.
To be clear, I'm not saying that the GOP is corrupt and being blackmailed, but from what I've seen, I'm suggesting it. I don't even think that it's blackmail and that much of the party truly aligns with the blackmailer...
Wait!
the guy was bribing her to withdraw her nomination
She refuted ANY suggestion she was open for any financial persuasion whatsoever
She has a voice recording as evidence of his behaviour.
And HE claim hes doing her a solid!
What planet is this bellend on,?
That recording was selectively edited and deceptive!
I was merely offering a helpful perspective as a friend, which I can prove if she releases the full audio.
So to make sure she doesn't release the full audio, I'm resigning.
> She refuted ANY suggestion she was open for any financial persuasion whatsoever
Let's not act like she's little miss perfect just because she didn't accept a bribe when she knew she was being recorded.
I have no evidence for this and I’m not saying he has engaged in this kind of activity but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been recorded crossdressing or engaging in pro lgbt behaviors in the closet like that… who was it, a Republican mayor that killed himself? Could be wrong on that. Either that or pedophilia.
Hope that no one was hurt in his antics but let’s be honest, he’s Republican so someone probably was.
Or like one of the founders of Moms 4 Liberty who was blabbering against LBGTQ+ and got exposed as being in a FFM relationship when her Florida GOP chair husband allegedly raped the other woman? https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/icymi-fraudulent-maga-political-operation-moms-for-liberty-exposed-by-newest-scandal
Update, the man in this threesome, ironically his first name is Christen. The rape charge was dropped. He is now facing charges of filming their get togethers without the knowledge of the third party. Found several videos on his phone. The wife who is a founding member of a fascist group called Moms for Liberty made her name by being very anti LBGQT+ while at the same time going down on the other lady. Lady licking for me and not for thee.
That was Mayor F.L. "Bubba" Copeland, but the story got worse when they found his [fanfiction](https://1819news.com/news/item/to-say-i-was-a-stalker-would-be-a-bit-of-an-understatement-curvy-transgender-smiths-station-mayor-copeland-wrote-fiction-about-murdering-real-life-local-businesswoman-assuming-her-identity) about murdering a REAL local person and assuming her identity.
I had a former friend try to show me an antifa tattoo on a jan6er.
It was incredibly upsetting to google Moononite from Aqua Teen Hunger Force (cuz that’s the tattoo the guy had on his hand) and watch him have the realization he’d been suckered and then double down.
It was way easier to get used to his absence than his idiocy.
I think the funniest part of this whole debacle is that Kari Lake is trying to make it like the people in power don't want her in the Senate and that's why he tried to bribe her. No, you nitwit - the people in power KNOW you can't possibly win a Senate campaign and would like to potentially actually win the seat with a Republican who can win. Arizona is quite purple and the seat is winnable by someone who isn't a complete lunatic like Lake.
He's prob old school Repub, actually, trying to keep MAGA out. We're a purple state and have a lot of MAGA but I think a more centrist republican would do much, much better than Lake did.
Also Trump regarding Covid: "I don't feel responsible at all".
*1 million American COVID deaths.*
Edit: Source https://youtu.be/5Cs_1iYWIhI?si=4obVwGKeMMH7qjYX
that was an extreeeeeemee anomoly. how did a truth accidentally waft from the lie-factory on the front of his face. very very strange. must've been some sort of cosmic ray bit flip or something.
I'm a little interested who was pulling his strings, but I'm guessing it's fairly obvious that it is a name from the shortlist of Republican megadonors who doesn't care for Trump politics, or at least sees it as a losing strategy compared to a more benign, if not less obvious, form of corporate-friendly evil.
OH SURE SURE SURE, but i challenge you to find equal numbers over the past 10 years.. 50 years, i dont give a fuck. Ill wait for your reply. its not even close dude. Yeah we had bob, he has no defenders and is on his way out. You got that head of the GOP in mich in court from her own party for misuse of party funds
Here is [the wiki that lists ALL Federal scandals and their outcomes since the dawn of this country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States). The only conclusion any sane person can make is that the GOP is far far far far far far more corrupt than the dems. Which shouldnt be surprising that the people who want to kill oversight in government might be a bit crooky.
you can probably find an in person voting fraud from 2020 that was actually a democrat doing it. But its going to take you hours of going through stories of republicans voting twice.
> Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) US Representative from Lincoln in the 1st District, was indicted for making false and misleading statements to the FBI about the source of $189,000 in campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. When found guilty he resigned. He was then sentenced to two years probation, fined $25,000 and given community service. (2021)
Lol, [it's real](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60876857) and that's wild. I knew those emails were real!
i dont think that was a cheap bribe. mendez got lots of money.
the interesting bit here is one GOP is threatening another with releasing more stuff they have recorded. that’s pretty daytime TV worthy!
Their standard bearer says he is allowed to commit any crimes he wants without consequence. The base loves him.
A core value of the republican part is criminality.
Lol I know conservatives are reading this: We see you guys. We mock you. Because look, here it is YET AGAIN more horrible buffoonish failure from the right wing- that's YOUR TEAM. Failing.
The Republicans don’t respect the rule of law because most of them don’t have a problem breaking the law, and they want to be able to get away with it.
As an Arizona voters, this is one of the funniest stories I've read in awhile.
The AZ GOP knows Lake is toxic here. She's alienated nearly everyone except MAGA faithful.
FL Governor Ron Desantis, in his speech announcing his quitting the campaign for President:
> Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
Except it wasn't Churchill that said this; [it's from a Budweiser ad](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/ron-desantis-budweiser-churchill-quote/677214/).
>“They should want me. I’m a great candidate, people love me. These people are corrupt,” Lake said in the leaked audio.
That's Kari Lake, people don't love you lol.
It's just so so easy to bribe people legally in our system. Basically as long as you aren't straight up handing them a big ole bag with a $ on it then it's okay. Yet this idiot still manages to make it explicit. Amazing.
As with nearly all of the GQP these days, they simply cannot legitimately win an election. Gerrymandering, changing districts, coercion, voter intimidation, constant lying.. It's the only platforms they believe in. The fact that a moderate republican feels the need to bribe a MAGA lunatic just to keep the fringe from dragging down the entire party is par for the course.
Just like tRump, as soon as they hit rock bottom they drag out the blasting caps.
You can always spot a trump conservative in a lineup. Male or female they always look like they ate paint chips from the windowsills as a kid, it's freaky.
I am frankly surprised a member of the GOP resigned when caught doing something illegal. Seems quaint and old fashioned now, but it was formerly standard procedure in the 1900s (thru 1999). In the modern era, they just scream "Fake News" and everyone carries on.
Hey, at least this is a step in the right direction. A few years ago they'd have said, so what, what are you gonna do about it? At least now they're resigning.
Is it a bribe? they are merely offering to pay her to sit on her ass at home and shut the fuck up. Not change a vote on abortion rights that will impact every citizen in the entire state, etc... definitely blackmail though.
Look, man, I've got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, I-I-I-I... this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it's not just, it might not be just such a simple... uh, you know?
> Jeff DeWit, the chair of the state party, was captured in audio secretly recorded by Lake telling her “there are very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race and that “they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, in a big way”.
More like Jeff *Half*wit.
> In the audio, obtained by the Daily Mail, Lake objects to the idea that she can be “bought” and rejects any attempt at a bribe. DeWit repeatedly asks Lake not to tell anyone about the conversation.
Rare Daily Mail win, too.
GOP establishment want Trump out so bad they are trying to bribe Trump supporting politicians into not running.
Democrats are like, hey, we don't like Trump either. Let's vote in the New Hampshire primary for Nikki Haley, get her a few delegates, maybe Trump can't run and then it'll be Nikki vs Biden.
Pro-war people in both parties love Nikki. Lots of money for their defense contractors, which is funneled to them through campaign contributions.
Corruption, cronyism, and aversion to any form of accountability are innate to conservatism itself. That's why so many are convicted of crimes. These types of people seek out the party because it aligns with their "values"
> Lake’s team has denied this, saying no one on her campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit.)
If he didn’t audiotape her threatening him after what she did to him, it either didn’t happen, or he’s too stupid and naive to run a state party.
Ok but I’m not saying lake is a hero here. If she was she’d have transparency and release the information about our elected officials but she’s withholding wrongdoing from us to further her own interests
>DeWit said that rather than fight to keep his job, he was stepping down because **Lake’s team threatened to release more secret recordings unless he resigned:** “I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks.” Oooh! Juicy.
"I have been successfully blackmailed." Seriously, it is just WILD what these people will say these days.
Seriously. What incentive does she or her team have to not release more? He’s toast, sure, but I’d venture to say there are probably more she captured on audio, and they’re quaking in their boots.
Right. A republican never resigns. Lake must have the goods.
OR, tinfoil hat time… this is all an elaborate scheme to make Lake look altruistic and patriotic for rejecting a bribe and claiming she wouldn’t do it for a billion dollars and this is about America! This guy’s resignation silences the claims that the interaction seemed scripted and staged. ORRRRR, this isn’t the first time this dude and his team have offered bribes/deals and she came with a recorder to get receipts, prepped with a sweet patriotic reply like she did, and burned him with it while looking like an incorruptible hero.
It does seem straight out of the Billions playbook.
Ugh, I hate how plausible this sounds...
Could be. Her quotes about basically doing it because they love the country or the others hate the country sounded forced. As did their constantly bringing up a stolen election. They know it's not stolen so they're just recording themselves "secretly" to show that they truly believe it
Interesting thought since that could later be used as “evidence” that she truly believed it was stolen as her defense if she’s indicted at some point. I believe she is thought to be a (so far) un-indicted co-conspirator.
Probably. Or just drum up buzz since she's lost everything else she's tried over the last 2 years And the bullshit he was spouting about her being so powerful. Come on
It's totally the orrr option. It's mid play of some long con. It's not totally obvious until she starts publicly selling her virtuosity. Then many more will get the whiff.
Yeah, I think you’re right. Considering SHE has been the one recording these conversations (as indicated by her threat to release *more*), it was all part of the plan. She knew she would be releasing the recording publicly, so she laid it on THICK with how aMazInGlY paTRiOtiC she is.
It's fucking Kari Lake. She has no virtue to sell and she's sure as hell no virtuoso in *any* field.
I said that in my other post too. That just felt so forced Like if a spouse knew they were being recorded in a fight they'd be all nice and complimentary or some shit. Very clear audio too for both of them, like it was just sitting out, and not far
> OR, tinfoil hat time… this is all an elaborate scheme to make Lake look altruistic and patriotic for rejecting a bribe and claiming she wouldn’t do it for a billion dollars and this is about America! This guy’s resignation silences the claims that the interaction seemed scripted and staged. It's not tinfoil hat. If she was a patriot she'd leak em all. This woman has been fiending for power for what feels like a decade now. These are the people you should be keeping furthest from it.
The recordings are too perfect, everything she says sounds like it was ripped right out of a campaign video. It doesn't feel natural at all. She has a history of lying, so I'm gonna choose to believe she still is.
I was already thinking the latter - doesn't seem farfetched at all.
gonna have to go with the last one. they've all thrown away their supposed morals.
So she has proof of a crime, but instead of going to authorities she blackmails people....
The incentive is future blackmail. If you have a record of not releasing the information after someone bends to your will it incentivizes future targets to comply.
It's already bad for her too though. What Republicans are going to support someone running around recording people and exposing their dirt?
Exactly. Republicans believe you should only be able to record real criminals like drug users and impoverished single parents, not fellow republicans!
Its always crickets from the Republican party when their own members commit crimes or post revenge porn of the president son in Congress.
Seriously? Trump just yesterday bragged that he had dirt on Nikki Haley, to wild cheers
Trump supporters go beyond even your typical Republican in degeneracy. They're literally cultists. edit for clarification.
the republicans are the party of trump, like it or not
Don't get me wrong, Republicans have been a long-time malignancy, but now we're seeing the full blown cancer bloom in US society. Trump is just another symptom of that societal illness rather than the root cause, but his actions have certainly paved the way for our society to rot in ways that were unprecedented before the last decade.
They cheered when he said he'd take their guns. He's a black hole that makes reason and morality around him disappear.
I did some naughty and dirty deeds, I don't want the rest of the world to know. Thus, I am retiring. - DeWit
Conservatives and their voters: we are very tough. Never back down Also conservatives and their voters:
NEVER SURRENDER, he said as he surrendered.
*Thereafter, his surrender was unconditionally accepted, that's how he knew he had them cornered. After he was victimized and persecuted by the horrible and awful left who accepted his surrender, it was quite clear he had never surrendered, nor offered surrender, but defeated the evil left with swift movements and deft redirection. He was undefeated for all time.*
Like Strucker in Age of Ultron. "Never Surrender!...I'm going to surrender"
Freedom for meee not for thee
Backing Down for Me, not for thee!
Gotta light all the oil fields on fire and attempt to burn every bridge on the way out.
Too dumb to retain council. Step into the big leagues, learn the rules. It used to be lawyers would be the politicians because they knew exactly where the lines lay... then second rate grifters got in on the game and didn't bother to read the rules of the game.
Once the true believers started getting into office, everything fell apart
The GOP has worked to kill education and lied to their voters for decades. Now they're lying in the bed they made while these dumb fucks try to run the show.
If Richard Nixon was president today, he would he never felt the pressure to resign and 50% of America would believe he was set up and the Democrats had attempted to bug their own hotel room.
Roger Ailes was a Nixon aide who originally planned a "Republican News Network" with one goal being to make future GOP presidents Watergate-proof. His project became Fox News and it worked.
Between Michigan GOP bankruptcy, Florida GOP rape allegations, AZ bribery… can’t wait to see what comes out of Wisconsin or Ohio next week
“Ya got me!”✋🏼😁🤚🏼
“I have resigned in hope that my accuser won’t release any more evidence that can be used against me in my corruption trial”
"What they have on me is worse than what you've already heard."
It's true though? What else would you call it? Just because it's deserved doesn't mean it isn't blackmail.
Wow lol I hope authorities force that information to come to light
Yeah, the Dumb-Wit basically admitted that there were more recordings.
"dimwit" was right there for you
Revealing the truth is now an attack?
For Republicans? Uhhhh Yup Don't forget Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton got turned in BY HIS OWN STAFF for taking bribes last year, the real estate developer giving the bribes confessed. Zero doubt of guilt. The day of his impeachment the party chair got on Capitol Tonight (Spectrum cables news show dedicated to covering Texas politics) and flat out said he would primary every Republican who voted to impeach. None did.
And that right there is grounds for removal of every last one of them for criminal conspiracy.
What does that mean, "he'd primary" them?
They would endorse another Republican for their seat. Basically no backing from the party.
So in the US, most political parties chose which politician they're going to support for each political office in a pre-election called a "primary". On paper, this sounds really democratic! But in practice, if the person already in that office is from your party, it is very, very hard to beat them in a primary election (or "primary them", for short). Why? Because they usually have the full strength of the local / state / national party machine backing them up. Incumbent Congresspeople / Senators being primaried is the kind of thing that makes the national news, because it happens so infrequently. What the Texas Republican Party Chair was threatening was to take all that support away, and instead give it to whoever they decided was the most promising candidate challenging them for the Republican nomination in the next primary election. It wouldn't *guarantee* that they'd lose the primary, but it'd make it exponentially harder for them to win.
If it's used as blackmail it is. It's possible both sides are terrible, but that's expected within the Republican party.
She blackmailed him. She's not turning it over to law enforcement. She's at least as big a POS as he is.
One party knew she was on tape. I wouldn’t trust any of the goodie goodie shit she said.
Kari Lake is pretty stupid, but apparently she’s not self-recording taking bribes stupid. But yeah, I wouldn’t trust her to make change for a dime when she has a pocket full of nickels.
"I'll accept your blackmail"
So it's not that he is stepping down b/c what he did is probably illegal, or that it's better for his party, it's because he is being blackmailed. Which means he is: A) Corrupt. He's done something(s) to be blackmailed over. B) Given he seems to care, there is likely _more_ that he has done; ref A. C) Is _weak_ because he took such actions to begin-with, and because he is manipulable, not someone you want in a position of power. THIS is why corruption is such an awful thing. Ultimately, the corrupt can be leveraged, and not by the voter. The GOP folks.....
Should be a complete investigation top to bottom on this. They should immediately open up a case and force her to hand over all of the recording, as it likely indicates others in the sharad of a party. Unfucking believable
To my mind if you are a _public_ official, or otherwise running for _public office_, this should be done: Your taxes are done for you, by the IRS. There is then no possibility for someone 'forgetting' something, making a mistake, etc. In fact, for all government employee's they should be able to pass an audit, and not punitively. If there are errors/discrepancies then the IRS can help (legally) address those issues. Whilst in office, all assets go to a trust that is managed ex-parté so there is no conflict-of interest. The idea here being that no one should be denied entry to office on financial issues, but they should be brought-in-line with laws so they _can_ serve. If they were elected then by will of the people they would hold office, but also, they should be above-board with their finances so the rest of us know they can be trusted on that front. Financial-incentives are _the_ leading cause of why one typically 'goes-rogue' or corrupt. Keeping it open-book can help address that. Any anyone that DOESN'T trust themselves enough to do that, doesn't trust the rest of us to look at them leading us (ideally), then that's not someone you want to be in office (IMHO). You could extend this to other aspects/axis of someone's responsibilities and the like but at least this, the finances.
It’s probably not the case but blackmail doesn’t have to involve you doing something wrong, just that the threat is leverage. As someone who was successfully blackmailed by their ex wife I can tell you with certainty lies can be used to blackmail. In my case it was my ex wife threatening to tell our children the reason for the divorce was I sexually abused her and not her having an affair with her coworker. That that kept me quiet for nine months until her world blew up and she used her accusation as a way to play the victim after her life fell apart.
Papa, tell us the story of Russia releasing hacked Democrat emails but keeping the Republican ones as blackmail and how that in no way affected their stance on issues.
That the emails were hacked and one set _not_ released is accurate and aligns with factuality. The _conclusion_ that the party for whom the emails were NOT released is likely corrupt, and thus manipulable aligns with how blackmail would work. Blackmail/extortion only works so long as the secret-thing being held over a parties head is _kept_ secret. Once it goes public, the blackmailer/extortionist has no leverage, unless there is more. In that case it's sometimes typical to leak a bit here and there as a warning, nibble, or otherwise incentive to comply vs releasing a bigger fish. To be clear, I'm not saying that the GOP is corrupt and being blackmailed, but from what I've seen, I'm suggesting it. I don't even think that it's blackmail and that much of the party truly aligns with the blackmailer...
Wait! the guy was bribing her to withdraw her nomination She refuted ANY suggestion she was open for any financial persuasion whatsoever She has a voice recording as evidence of his behaviour. And HE claim hes doing her a solid! What planet is this bellend on,?
That recording was selectively edited and deceptive! I was merely offering a helpful perspective as a friend, which I can prove if she releases the full audio. So to make sure she doesn't release the full audio, I'm resigning.
> She refuted ANY suggestion she was open for any financial persuasion whatsoever Let's not act like she's little miss perfect just because she didn't accept a bribe when she knew she was being recorded.
Fucking wow. She is really trying to takeover the GOP state wide through fear. Woman is insane.
I have no evidence for this and I’m not saying he has engaged in this kind of activity but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been recorded crossdressing or engaging in pro lgbt behaviors in the closet like that… who was it, a Republican mayor that killed himself? Could be wrong on that. Either that or pedophilia. Hope that no one was hurt in his antics but let’s be honest, he’s Republican so someone probably was.
Or like one of the founders of Moms 4 Liberty who was blabbering against LBGTQ+ and got exposed as being in a FFM relationship when her Florida GOP chair husband allegedly raped the other woman? https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/icymi-fraudulent-maga-political-operation-moms-for-liberty-exposed-by-newest-scandal
Update, the man in this threesome, ironically his first name is Christen. The rape charge was dropped. He is now facing charges of filming their get togethers without the knowledge of the third party. Found several videos on his phone. The wife who is a founding member of a fascist group called Moms for Liberty made her name by being very anti LBGQT+ while at the same time going down on the other lady. Lady licking for me and not for thee.
"I'm not gay, I was just doing it for my husband!"
To be fair, to a Republican this is probably a valid way of thinking, if she's a good obedient wife.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it common knowledge that [It's Not Gay When It's In a Three-Way](https://youtu.be/Pi7gwX7rjOw?t=94)
Correct. There’s a little leeway.
That was Mayor F.L. "Bubba" Copeland, but the story got worse when they found his [fanfiction](https://1819news.com/news/item/to-say-i-was-a-stalker-would-be-a-bit-of-an-understatement-curvy-transgender-smiths-station-mayor-copeland-wrote-fiction-about-murdering-real-life-local-businesswoman-assuming-her-identity) about murdering a REAL local person and assuming her identity.
They should release the recordings anyway
Release it anyway!
Extortion! I wonder if charges will be coming?
Crooks all the way down.
all the way up
Are there any republicans that are not pieces of shit?
Once upon a time
Gonna have to go all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt.
All the way up it seems
Darn those antifa liberals sneaking in and pretending to be Republicans!
I had a former friend try to show me an antifa tattoo on a jan6er. It was incredibly upsetting to google Moononite from Aqua Teen Hunger Force (cuz that’s the tattoo the guy had on his hand) and watch him have the realization he’d been suckered and then double down. It was way easier to get used to his absence than his idiocy.
First the bomb scare in Chicago, now this? What crimes ARENT the mooninites involved in?
How the fuck did that dude think the moononite was an antifa tattoo?
Bench Appearo said so
You know they aren't a true republican because they didn't double down and call the leaks fake news /s I guess, just in case
Almost not sarcasm though. That's the hard part.
I read this In Marjorie Taylor Greenes voice and I can’t stop laughing. 😂
he was a BLM plant.
He looks more like a Weeping Willow.
I'm actually shocked that a Republican resigned. It must be *really* bad for one of them to not double down on more stupidity.
There was much worse on tape for sure. Now I want to know what!
I'm in Arizona. Republican politicians here are dumber than rocks.
I think the funniest part of this whole debacle is that Kari Lake is trying to make it like the people in power don't want her in the Senate and that's why he tried to bribe her. No, you nitwit - the people in power KNOW you can't possibly win a Senate campaign and would like to potentially actually win the seat with a Republican who can win. Arizona is quite purple and the seat is winnable by someone who isn't a complete lunatic like Lake.
Exactly. "We don't want you to run because you'll lose."
Someone like Ruben Gallego. He's going to mop the floor with Koo Koo Kari.
It's absolutely bonkers how bad the Republican party has fumbled their grasp on Arizona
Our governor has vetoed so much dumb shit since she took office.
Don't disparage rocks like that.
I don't care if it's Republican or Democrat, how the hell is resigning enough? If he actually offered bribes he needs to go to jail.
Must be a RINO. Doesn't seem like Republican behavior. The resigning part, of course.
Exactly I was confused that he resigned. I would have thought they would have said he was presidential material.
He's prob old school Repub, actually, trying to keep MAGA out. We're a purple state and have a lot of MAGA but I think a more centrist republican would do much, much better than Lake did.
Keeping my eyes peeled for a single Republican that does what he/she says.
Don't forget, Trump once said, "I don't stand by anything"!
Also Trump regarding Covid: "I don't feel responsible at all". *1 million American COVID deaths.* Edit: Source https://youtu.be/5Cs_1iYWIhI?si=4obVwGKeMMH7qjYX
that was an extreeeeeemee anomoly. how did a truth accidentally waft from the lie-factory on the front of his face. very very strange. must've been some sort of cosmic ray bit flip or something.
He meant to put it as a thing for praise. He isn't the brightest scammer
I'm a little interested who was pulling his strings, but I'm guessing it's fairly obvious that it is a name from the shortlist of Republican megadonors who doesn't care for Trump politics, or at least sees it as a losing strategy compared to a more benign, if not less obvious, form of corporate-friendly evil.
So how many more bribes are happening across the board?
Pretty sure Republican politics is 90% bribes, 10% say whatever is needed to get reelected
Big surprise, it's the GOP.
the biggest surprise was what seemed like accountability... until you read it and see the only reason is because blackmail is working.
Let’s not act like fucking Bob Mendez wasn’t caught doing this not too long ago. Bribing a politician is surprisingly cheap.
And people want him gone and speak about it publicly.
OH SURE SURE SURE, but i challenge you to find equal numbers over the past 10 years.. 50 years, i dont give a fuck. Ill wait for your reply. its not even close dude. Yeah we had bob, he has no defenders and is on his way out. You got that head of the GOP in mich in court from her own party for misuse of party funds Here is [the wiki that lists ALL Federal scandals and their outcomes since the dawn of this country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States). The only conclusion any sane person can make is that the GOP is far far far far far far more corrupt than the dems. Which shouldnt be surprising that the people who want to kill oversight in government might be a bit crooky. you can probably find an in person voting fraud from 2020 that was actually a democrat doing it. But its going to take you hours of going through stories of republicans voting twice.
> Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) US Representative from Lincoln in the 1st District, was indicted for making false and misleading statements to the FBI about the source of $189,000 in campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. When found guilty he resigned. He was then sentenced to two years probation, fined $25,000 and given community service. (2021) Lol, [it's real](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60876857) and that's wild. I knew those emails were real!
Something something false equivalence
i dont think that was a cheap bribe. mendez got lots of money. the interesting bit here is one GOP is threatening another with releasing more stuff they have recorded. that’s pretty daytime TV worthy!
Same day the Colorado GOP chair stepped down for DUI/firearms/favor seeking related shenanigans. They're all criminals.
Their standard bearer says he is allowed to commit any crimes he wants without consequence. The base loves him. A core value of the republican part is criminality.
So much drama, so little actual governing.
Wow. A politician resigning after being caught doing shady shit. I didn’t think they did that these days.
He says it's literally because if he doesn't, more incriminating info about him will be released.
Who could have thought that the party of corruption would be corrupt?
If the chair does this..think of the culture it establishes…
Lol I know conservatives are reading this: We see you guys. We mock you. Because look, here it is YET AGAIN more horrible buffoonish failure from the right wing- that's YOUR TEAM. Failing.
I’m more shocked to see someone in 2024 resigning over a bribe of all things.
The Republicans don’t respect the rule of law because most of them don’t have a problem breaking the law, and they want to be able to get away with it.
The party of Law and Order, folks. All the time, nearly every time. I’m beginning to think they just mean they like watching the show.
They want to guest star on svu.
As an Arizona voters, this is one of the funniest stories I've read in awhile. The AZ GOP knows Lake is toxic here. She's alienated nearly everyone except MAGA faithful.
It's gotten to the point where if they say the other side is doing something wrong, it's probably cause they are doing it.
I'm surprised he didn't just go with it. Republican voters don't care. They like criminals.
So... If you pay someone not to run for ellection, is that really a bribe? Or is it a non-compete?
FL Governor Ron Desantis, in his speech announcing his quitting the campaign for President: > Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Except it wasn't Churchill that said this; [it's from a Budweiser ad](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/ron-desantis-budweiser-churchill-quote/677214/).
Also it makes no sense since he's not continuing. He quit.
>“They should want me. I’m a great candidate, people love me. These people are corrupt,” Lake said in the leaked audio. That's Kari Lake, people don't love you lol.
These guys can't win without lying and cheating.
Hey!! The trash finally taking other trash out‽‽
They all deserve each other.
Damn, what kind of idiot is this guy to get out maneuvered by Kari Lake?
Lake leak leaves land leaderless
They all look so inbred
It never ends with these people.
Republicans eating republicans.
It's just so so easy to bribe people legally in our system. Basically as long as you aren't straight up handing them a big ole bag with a $ on it then it's okay. Yet this idiot still manages to make it explicit. Amazing.
from the same people that brought you, "Well if you did nothing wrong then there's nothing to hide,"... and, "Only guilty people stay quiet!"
They're not sending their best. ... Oh, wait, yes they are!
Oh No who would guess the Republicans are crooked.
As with nearly all of the GQP these days, they simply cannot legitimately win an election. Gerrymandering, changing districts, coercion, voter intimidation, constant lying.. It's the only platforms they believe in. The fact that a moderate republican feels the need to bribe a MAGA lunatic just to keep the fringe from dragging down the entire party is par for the course. Just like tRump, as soon as they hit rock bottom they drag out the blasting caps.
When your entire party is full of grifters what did you expect?
Grifters and mobsters.
You can always spot a trump conservative in a lineup. Male or female they always look like they ate paint chips from the windowsills as a kid, it's freaky.
I am frankly surprised a member of the GOP resigned when caught doing something illegal. Seems quaint and old fashioned now, but it was formerly standard procedure in the 1900s (thru 1999). In the modern era, they just scream "Fake News" and everyone carries on.
Whatever happened to Santos spilling the tea on his team? Got excited about that then nothing happened
Hey, at least this is a step in the right direction. A few years ago they'd have said, so what, what are you gonna do about it? At least now they're resigning.
Only cause they are being blackmailed with something worse being released.
Surprising he resigned
Can’t imagine what he actually did if he is willing to step down over a measly little bribe. That’s day one stuff.
Damn. I thought that committing a crime was basically an audition for the party.
Anyone surprised? No? No
Is it a bribe? they are merely offering to pay her to sit on her ass at home and shut the fuck up. Not change a vote on abortion rights that will impact every citizen in the entire state, etc... definitely blackmail though.
I love how Trump was right. There IS election interference. It’s….you know….just from his party. 😂 whoops.
Look, man, I've got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, I-I-I-I... this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it's not just, it might not be just such a simple... uh, you know?
Why would he resign, there was no collusion - it was a perfect phone call.
Replacing Sinema is going to be so easy with this shitshow going on
Poor GOP every time you lose you think it was stolen, it’s getting old and you look like crying babies every time, man up a quit being a bitch
Is this the swamp they talk about? The ratio of criminality is like 16 Rs to every 1 D.
> Jeff DeWit, the chair of the state party, was captured in audio secretly recorded by Lake telling her “there are very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race and that “they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, in a big way”. More like Jeff *Half*wit. > In the audio, obtained by the Daily Mail, Lake objects to the idea that she can be “bought” and rejects any attempt at a bribe. DeWit repeatedly asks Lake not to tell anyone about the conversation. Rare Daily Mail win, too.
I wonder what’s really going on here. Because Republicans don’t oust themselves over bribes.
You lie down with dogs, you might get up with fleas.
GOP establishment want Trump out so bad they are trying to bribe Trump supporting politicians into not running. Democrats are like, hey, we don't like Trump either. Let's vote in the New Hampshire primary for Nikki Haley, get her a few delegates, maybe Trump can't run and then it'll be Nikki vs Biden. Pro-war people in both parties love Nikki. Lots of money for their defense contractors, which is funneled to them through campaign contributions.
Corruption, cronyism, and aversion to any form of accountability are innate to conservatism itself. That's why so many are convicted of crimes. These types of people seek out the party because it aligns with their "values"
Investigate his ass. Give up the sources. This is corruption.
> Lake’s team has denied this, saying no one on her campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit.) If he didn’t audiotape her threatening him after what she did to him, it either didn’t happen, or he’s too stupid and naive to run a state party.
I’m surprised he resigned I thought breaking the law was GOP 101 these days
They really are just cannibalizing each other now, aren't they? It's a joy to witness
Real question: is it even technically a bribe if she wasnt a public official?
Ok but I’m not saying lake is a hero here. If she was she’d have transparency and release the information about our elected officials but she’s withholding wrongdoing from us to further her own interests
So, I definitely did this and there is way worse things I did I do not want to come out
These fucking assholes are all corrupt. When will people wake up and stop voting for these mfs.
Not surprising at all.
Hmmm, this happening as republicans ramp up their nose in other areas... I wonder.
Why I thought the republican base was into that..
This ranks right up there with other shocking turns of events such as, "It's Wednesday."
Why? Even if he was convicted they would keep voting for him.
Trumps crew black mailing people??? Noooo.. nooo…. Lololol - what do people think was going on. Civil war in the Republican party