(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . For $1 billion, Trump says you can avoid environmental regulations [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-10 More “Pwning the Libs”, because Trump’s all about asset-stripping the nation, and with JD Vance, the Trump regime will resemble an Ed Wood film. But there is zero chance the incoming GOP majority will continue down this road, which means it will be much harder for Democrats to compel these companies to illuminate the true nature of their transaction with Trump. With little fanfare, this investigation has been making progress: At least one major energy company confirmed that the gathering happened, and most of the other companies haven’t refuted the central allegation, according to a committee aide. Democrats have followed up with demands for company documents that might illuminate exactly what took place. First, Senate Democrats, who just lost majority control, are now bracing to hit a wall in their inquiries into Trump’s apparent quid pro quo dealings. The Senate Budget Committee has been investigating the aforementioned $1 billion solicitation from Big Oil executives, aiming to establish precisely what Trump promised them—he reportedly offered to systematically roll back President Biden’s green energy policies and other regulations—seemingly in direct exchange for campaign money. There are several reasons to fear this could amount to a level of oligarchic corruption that outdoes anything Trump did in his first term. In short, conditions are ripe for right-wing elites to try to loot the place from top to bottom. Now that Trump has won the presidency again, it’s worth revisiting these episodes as a guide to what might be coming. It’s often said that Trump campaigned expressly on a platform of authoritarian rule, but this also applies to corruption: He didn’t disguise his promises to govern in the direct interests of some of the wealthiest executives and investors in the country—and he won anyway. Trump and his allies will likely interpret this as a green light to engage in an extraordinary spree of unrestrained malfeasance. Last spring, Donald Trump presided over a meeting with the country’s top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The Washington Post, Trump promised to fulfill a wish list of policies sought by their industry—while explicitly soliciting $1 billion in campaign contributions from them. Trump made similar promises to other ultrawealthy donors, vowing to keep their taxes low while urging them to cut large campaign checks. (2018) Given how widespread Trumpian corruption has become, we thought it was time to make a list. It’s meant to be a definitive list of self-dealing by the president, his family, his staff or his friends — since he began running for president. To qualify, an incident needs to seem highly credible, even if it remains unresolved, and needs to involve making money. Compiling the list made us understand why some historians believe Trump’s administration is the most corrupt since at least Warren Harding’s, of 1920s Teapot Dome fame. Trump administration officials and people close to them are brashly using power to amass perks and cash. They are betting that they can get away with it. So far, Congress has let them. www.nytimes.com/… In the months preceding his death, allegations of corruption began to swirl around several members of the “Ohio Gang”—long-time political allies and poker buddies whom Harding had appointed to his cabinet and other powerful positions. Charles Forbes, head of the newly established Veterans Bureau, was accused of accepting kickbacks from contractors building veterans’ hospitals and illegally selling surplus medical supplies. Forbes resigned in February 1923 after an irate Harding reportedly grabbed him by the throat when he learned about the charges. A Senate investigation in 1924 found that Forbes and his associates stole more than $200 million (nearly $2.8 billion in current dollars) from the bureau. The following year, Forbes was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, conspiracy and bribery. Harry Daugherty, a political operative who was appointed attorney general after engineering Harding’s presidential nomination, stood trial twice for conspiracy of selling illegal permits and pardons but was never convicted. Daugherty’s private secretary, Jess Smith, committed suicide in May 1923, a day after Harding informed him of his pending arrest for corruption in a White House meeting. The most enduring stain on the Harding presidency was left by Secretary of Interior Albert Fall and the Teapot Dome Scandal. In 1921, Fall convinced Harding to shift oversight of strategic oil reserves set aside for the U.S. Navy to the Department of the Interior. Fall then secretly granted lucrative no-bid contracts for exclusive drilling rights to the federal reserves, which contained high-grade petroleum worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to a pair of longtime friends and oil tycoons. In return for leasing two California reserves, Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company founder Edward Doheny gave Fall a $100,000 interest-free, cash “loan” that his son, Ned, and Ned’s friend Hugh Plunkett delivered in a black parcel bag. After gaining the exclusive drilling rights to the reserve in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, Mammoth Oil Company owner Henry Sinclair gave Fall $300,000 in Liberty bonds and cash and delivered a large herd of livestock to his ranch. www.history.com/… [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/10/2291295/-Teapot-Drone-Warren-G-Trump-s-continuing-corruption?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/