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Northern Ireland27463 Posts
On May 19 2026 22:21 Introvert wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 08:57 Falling wrote:@oBlade I agree it would be considerably worse if Shirley did not say on camera that he was paying them. He is just as much a performative activist. Comparing him to Roger Stone's rats was probably hyperbolic and has gotten us off the main point. Partisan provocateur was my earlier descriptor and that stands. I'll settle for performative activist as a more accurate descriptor (using the mode of Just Asking Questions). Now that you have the context, what is your view on how Shirley represented his time Ukraine as well as his claims on where US support to Ukraine went? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's astonishing at how brazen it all is. Run a ten billion dollar lawsuit against your own government and when the justice system just starts to balk at Trump paying himself and whether there was any foundation... "A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls," the experts wrote in what is known as an "amicus brief". Trump turns around and says, no problem. I'll do you a solid and pay myself and my followers $1.7 Billion instead. Art of the Deal. High ball with no foundation, then low ball with no foundation and generously include your supporters. The basic facts still haven't changed, but he's 'compromised' in how much he plunders the government. How very benevolent of Trump. Art of the Grift. Art of the Looter. His 'compromise' also include an agreement that the IRS never audit Trump family members again. Also, I strongly suspected deliberate market manipulation with most of Trump's tariff war of 'will he won't he' announcements seemingly timed with when markets close (and really many of his big bombshell foreign policy announcements.) But this is definitionally insider trading https://www.notus.org/money/donald-trump-stock-investments-palantir-axom-nvidiaPresident Donald Trump personally bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stock in technology companies and government contractors early this year, according to new government records. Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million dollars worth of Nvidia stock on Feb. 10, only a week before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with AI and social media giant Meta. Trump previously purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on Jan. 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China. The Chinese AI market is a long-sought target for Nvidia since the federal government controls the sale of advanced AI chips to countries designated as foreign adversaries, such as China.
While the Trump administration spent billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts, Trump also invested in companies that contracted with immigration enforcement agencies.
Chief among them: Palantir Technologies. Trump purchased at least $260,000 worth of Palantir stock during the first three months of 2026.
In January alone, Trump bought $65,000 to $150,000 of Palantir stock. In February, Trump sold between $1.1 million and roughly $5.3 million of his Palantir stock. In March, Trump’s Palantir stock purchases totaled between nearly $200,000 and $500,000.
In February, Palantir struck a billion-dollar agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to use the company’s software in the president’s deportation surge. Palantir also has a contract surpassing a billion dollars with the Pentagon to develop AI systems that help orchestrate attacks.
He bought Axon shares before Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracted Axon to produce Tasers. His departments control which companies get the contract and he can buy stocks before the contract is announced or approved. A nice bipartisan bill that most Americans would support ought to restrict Congress AND the president from trading stocks in some way... blind trust? Index only? I don't know, but it's pretty wild as it stands now. And no doubt Congress restrictions would pass and somehow we would learn that the president cannot be restricted in this way as it would infringe on the executive somehow, even though past presidents did so voluntarily. But Trump is special. Plus the pay for pardons https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-corrupt-is-trump-here-are-the-numbers-trades-chips-nvidia-pardons-settlement-fundBut 1.7B to himself and is supporters and pay for pardons is the swamp, the vast Dead Marshes, that Trump built from the mud puddle from before. Just the newest version of sue and settle or other related techniques. Dems have been passing money out or changing rules using similar tactics for ages. Environmental activist orgs and the EPA in particular have done many dances like that over the years. A way to get what you want without changing the law and often biding your successors.
Oh come on, you can’t believe that equivalence here
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On May 19 2026 21:56 LightSpectra wrote:
I remember when Netanyahu's corruption trial was still in public consciousness that several Israeli voters were quoted as saying something like "he's doing such a great job, who cares if he skims a little from the top." Now, multiply that attitude by several orders of magnitude because Trump's base is a personality cult in every metric, and there you go.
It is strange that so many Americans want a selfish emperor over a public servant. I get selfish people wanting to be Trump or like Trump, but why would you want to be ruled by that type of guy?
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On May 19 2026 22:49 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 22:21 Introvert wrote:On May 19 2026 08:57 Falling wrote:@oBlade I agree it would be considerably worse if Shirley did not say on camera that he was paying them. He is just as much a performative activist. Comparing him to Roger Stone's rats was probably hyperbolic and has gotten us off the main point. Partisan provocateur was my earlier descriptor and that stands. I'll settle for performative activist as a more accurate descriptor (using the mode of Just Asking Questions). Now that you have the context, what is your view on how Shirley represented his time Ukraine as well as his claims on where US support to Ukraine went? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's astonishing at how brazen it all is. Run a ten billion dollar lawsuit against your own government and when the justice system just starts to balk at Trump paying himself and whether there was any foundation... "A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls," the experts wrote in what is known as an "amicus brief". Trump turns around and says, no problem. I'll do you a solid and pay myself and my followers $1.7 Billion instead. Art of the Deal. High ball with no foundation, then low ball with no foundation and generously include your supporters. The basic facts still haven't changed, but he's 'compromised' in how much he plunders the government. How very benevolent of Trump. Art of the Grift. Art of the Looter. His 'compromise' also include an agreement that the IRS never audit Trump family members again. Also, I strongly suspected deliberate market manipulation with most of Trump's tariff war of 'will he won't he' announcements seemingly timed with when markets close (and really many of his big bombshell foreign policy announcements.) But this is definitionally insider trading https://www.notus.org/money/donald-trump-stock-investments-palantir-axom-nvidiaPresident Donald Trump personally bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stock in technology companies and government contractors early this year, according to new government records. Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million dollars worth of Nvidia stock on Feb. 10, only a week before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with AI and social media giant Meta. Trump previously purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on Jan. 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China. The Chinese AI market is a long-sought target for Nvidia since the federal government controls the sale of advanced AI chips to countries designated as foreign adversaries, such as China.
While the Trump administration spent billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts, Trump also invested in companies that contracted with immigration enforcement agencies.
Chief among them: Palantir Technologies. Trump purchased at least $260,000 worth of Palantir stock during the first three months of 2026.
In January alone, Trump bought $65,000 to $150,000 of Palantir stock. In February, Trump sold between $1.1 million and roughly $5.3 million of his Palantir stock. In March, Trump’s Palantir stock purchases totaled between nearly $200,000 and $500,000.
In February, Palantir struck a billion-dollar agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to use the company’s software in the president’s deportation surge. Palantir also has a contract surpassing a billion dollars with the Pentagon to develop AI systems that help orchestrate attacks.
He bought Axon shares before Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracted Axon to produce Tasers. His departments control which companies get the contract and he can buy stocks before the contract is announced or approved. A nice bipartisan bill that most Americans would support ought to restrict Congress AND the president from trading stocks in some way... blind trust? Index only? I don't know, but it's pretty wild as it stands now. And no doubt Congress restrictions would pass and somehow we would learn that the president cannot be restricted in this way as it would infringe on the executive somehow, even though past presidents did so voluntarily. But Trump is special. Plus the pay for pardons https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-corrupt-is-trump-here-are-the-numbers-trades-chips-nvidia-pardons-settlement-fundBut 1.7B to himself and is supporters and pay for pardons is the swamp, the vast Dead Marshes, that Trump built from the mud puddle from before. Just the newest version of sue and settle or other related techniques. Dems have been passing money out or changing rules using similar tactics for ages. Environmental activist orgs and the EPA in particular have done many dances like that over the years. A way to get what you want without changing the law and often biding your successors. Oh come on, you can’t believe that equivalence here
The point is, collusion between two sides that really don't mind or actively want a particular outcome (monetary included) is not unusual but probably almost no one knows it happens. People just conveniently keep drawing the line right where Trump is. I'd take a few steps back. But there will always be excuses made instead.
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corruption is a both sides issue sure, but there is a light on Trump because this isn't in the same ball park, its not even in the same solar system.
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On May 19 2026 23:04 Billyboy wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 21:56 LightSpectra wrote:
I remember when Netanyahu's corruption trial was still in public consciousness that several Israeli voters were quoted as saying something like "he's doing such a great job, who cares if he skims a little from the top." Now, multiply that attitude by several orders of magnitude because Trump's base is a personality cult in every metric, and there you go. It is strange that so many Americans want a selfish emperor over a public servant. I get selfish people wanting to be Trump or like Trump, but why would you want to be ruled by that type of guy?
I was puzzled by that for a long time, but I think the answer for that is they want to live vicariously through him. Born rich, proudly ignorant, openly bigoted, gets to fuck kids with impunity, adoring masses of fools willing to die for him? They want to be him. Whenever Trump rips them off they feel like they're actually winning because that's what they'd do in his position.
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On May 19 2026 18:51 Velr wrote:
The staggering part is how sheepish the people just accept it.
If we find out the next Democrat nominee is exactly as corrupt as Trump and the next Republican is too, people here and otherwise wouldn't hesitate to accept voting for/supporting someone equally corrupt.
It basically boils down to any imaginable alternative being too scary.
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something rather important may have been lost when insanity is dutifully accepted and the race to the absolute bottom deemed business as usual.
I wonder if there are actully cases in the past 20-30 years coming even remotely close to this travesty of the Trump MAGA slush fund and its origin story?
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On May 19 2026 23:33 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 18:51 Velr wrote:
The staggering part is how sheepish the people just accept it. If we find out the next Democrat nominee is exactly as corrupt as Trump and the next Republican is too, people here and otherwise wouldn't hesitate to accept voting for/supporting someone equally corrupt. It basically boils down to any imaginable alternative being too scary.
me when I lie on the internet
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On May 19 2026 23:35 Doublemint wrote:
something rather important may have been lost when insanity is dutifully accepted and the race to the absolute bottom deemed business as usual.
I wonder if there are actully cases in the past 20-30 years coming even remotely close to this travesty of the Trump MAGA slush fund and its origin story?
Using media like the NYT to lie the country into a war killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people while enriching your friends was pretty bad. Perhaps not as personally profitable though?
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Great comparison. The U.S. District Court of DC found that the discrimination against Native American farmers was based in fact. Where's the independent finding that the DOJ under Biden was weaponized against anyone unfairly?
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On May 19 2026 23:26 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 23:04 Billyboy wrote:On May 19 2026 21:56 LightSpectra wrote:
I remember when Netanyahu's corruption trial was still in public consciousness that several Israeli voters were quoted as saying something like "he's doing such a great job, who cares if he skims a little from the top." Now, multiply that attitude by several orders of magnitude because Trump's base is a personality cult in every metric, and there you go. It is strange that so many Americans want a selfish emperor over a public servant. I get selfish people wanting to be Trump or like Trump, but why would you want to be ruled by that type of guy? I was puzzled by that for a long time, but I think the answer for that is they want to live vicariously through him. Born rich, proudly ignorant, openly bigoted, gets to fuck kids with impunity, adoring masses of fools willing to die for him? They want to be him. Whenever Trump rips them off they feel like they're actually winning because that's what they'd do in his position.
It has to be something like that. People who support Trump or the Republicans (and Dems when/if they have power) should be asking themselves, if the other team did this would I be happy. If the answer is no then it’s a bad policy and you’re being a manipulated sheep. And I bet less than 10% (maybe 2%) of Trumps policies would actually be supported by Republicans if Biden had done the exact same things. In fact they would be calling him treasonous and wanting him hanged. Trump does it and they kiss dear leaders ring
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On May 19 2026 23:45 LightSpectra wrote:Great comparison. The U.S. District Court of DC found that the discrimination against Native American farmers was based in fact. Where's the independent finding that the DOJ under Biden was weaponized against anyone unfairly?
Your interest in evidence has had a fucking conveniently timed rebirth right AFTER having said Trump ordered a $1.7b check cut for himself.
It's not a DOJ weaponization victims fund, it's not a Biden weaponization victims fund, it's a government weaponization and lawfare fund. DOJ isn't the only agency that can do either of those. Any government and any victims. Hunter Biden could apply. Mark Kelly could apply.
I'd say it's plausible at least one part of the government was weaponized against at least one more victim (besides the IRS leaking Trump's taxes). But some people might think government weaponization doesn't exist and there's no Democrat or Republican or otherwise rogue bad actors among it. Luckily that case is covered too:
If the money isn't used it goes back to the place it came from, which was established by Congress to pay out settlements in general. This is unlike Keepseagle where Obama just paid out the rest to NGOs when they ran out of people who could claim to be Native American and have been treated badly.
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So no independent body has found evidence of malfeasance, got it. That's called writing a check to yourself when you get to decide you're owed money by the taxpayer and you can use the taxpayer's checkbook as you see fit.
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the creation of a fund is what they have in common... the (political) beneficiary of a - rushed - settlement and the aggrieved party suing the IRS are the same in Mr. Trump(and family). I say rushed settlement because there was a high chance a judge would have thrown out the case of Trump suing the IRS for 10Billion dollars, a part of the government he is the head of.
before there was a Keepseagle fund, Keepseagle v. Vilsack went through the courts for over a decade, apparently the case was not a bad one for the native American farmers alleging discrimination when it came to gaining subsidies in comparison to their caucasian farmer counterparts.
not even a whiff of political impropriety or Democrats/Republicans at large benefitting from it.
a lazy counter example dare I say...I guess the good guys all left or got purged at the Trump DOJ.
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On May 20 2026 00:03 LightSpectra wrote:
So no independent body has found evidence of malfeasance, got it. That's called writing a check to yourself when you get to decide you're owed money by the taxpayer and you can use the taxpayer's checkbook as you see fit.
They haven't found any evidence because they haven't ruled on any claims. They haven't ruled on any claims because no claims have been submitted yet because this was created yesterday. They haven't even appointed the members yet. Let alone ruled in favor of someone and disbursed monetary compensation. You're alarmed they're sending money without evidence when no money has been sent. It's weird to say the least.
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So, who gets to decide if a claimant actually was discriminated by the government and deserves a cut of the fund? Independent judiciary? Nope, five-member panel chosen by the (acting) AG Todd Blanche, who was Trump's former personal attorney.
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Northern Ireland27463 Posts
On May 19 2026 23:33 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 18:51 Velr wrote:
The staggering part is how sheepish the people just accept it. If we find out the next Democrat nominee is exactly as corrupt as Trump and the next Republican is too, people here and otherwise wouldn't hesitate to accept voting for/supporting someone equally corrupt. It basically boils down to any imaginable alternative being too scary.
I mean this just doesn’t pass muster
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Northern Ireland27463 Posts
On May 19 2026 23:05 Introvert wrote:Show nested quote +On May 19 2026 22:49 WombaT wrote:On May 19 2026 22:21 Introvert wrote:On May 19 2026 08:57 Falling wrote:@oBlade I agree it would be considerably worse if Shirley did not say on camera that he was paying them. He is just as much a performative activist. Comparing him to Roger Stone's rats was probably hyperbolic and has gotten us off the main point. Partisan provocateur was my earlier descriptor and that stands. I'll settle for performative activist as a more accurate descriptor (using the mode of Just Asking Questions). Now that you have the context, what is your view on how Shirley represented his time Ukraine as well as his claims on where US support to Ukraine went? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's astonishing at how brazen it all is. Run a ten billion dollar lawsuit against your own government and when the justice system just starts to balk at Trump paying himself and whether there was any foundation... "A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls," the experts wrote in what is known as an "amicus brief". Trump turns around and says, no problem. I'll do you a solid and pay myself and my followers $1.7 Billion instead. Art of the Deal. High ball with no foundation, then low ball with no foundation and generously include your supporters. The basic facts still haven't changed, but he's 'compromised' in how much he plunders the government. How very benevolent of Trump. Art of the Grift. Art of the Looter. His 'compromise' also include an agreement that the IRS never audit Trump family members again. Also, I strongly suspected deliberate market manipulation with most of Trump's tariff war of 'will he won't he' announcements seemingly timed with when markets close (and really many of his big bombshell foreign policy announcements.) But this is definitionally insider trading https://www.notus.org/money/donald-trump-stock-investments-palantir-axom-nvidiaPresident Donald Trump personally bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stock in technology companies and government contractors early this year, according to new government records. Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million dollars worth of Nvidia stock on Feb. 10, only a week before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with AI and social media giant Meta. Trump previously purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on Jan. 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China. The Chinese AI market is a long-sought target for Nvidia since the federal government controls the sale of advanced AI chips to countries designated as foreign adversaries, such as China.
While the Trump administration spent billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts, Trump also invested in companies that contracted with immigration enforcement agencies.
Chief among them: Palantir Technologies. Trump purchased at least $260,000 worth of Palantir stock during the first three months of 2026.
In January alone, Trump bought $65,000 to $150,000 of Palantir stock. In February, Trump sold between $1.1 million and roughly $5.3 million of his Palantir stock. In March, Trump’s Palantir stock purchases totaled between nearly $200,000 and $500,000.
In February, Palantir struck a billion-dollar agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to use the company’s software in the president’s deportation surge. Palantir also has a contract surpassing a billion dollars with the Pentagon to develop AI systems that help orchestrate attacks.
He bought Axon shares before Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracted Axon to produce Tasers. His departments control which companies get the contract and he can buy stocks before the contract is announced or approved. A nice bipartisan bill that most Americans would support ought to restrict Congress AND the president from trading stocks in some way... blind trust? Index only? I don't know, but it's pretty wild as it stands now. And no doubt Congress restrictions would pass and somehow we would learn that the president cannot be restricted in this way as it would infringe on the executive somehow, even though past presidents did so voluntarily. But Trump is special. Plus the pay for pardons https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-corrupt-is-trump-here-are-the-numbers-trades-chips-nvidia-pardons-settlement-fundBut 1.7B to himself and is supporters and pay for pardons is the swamp, the vast Dead Marshes, that Trump built from the mud puddle from before. Just the newest version of sue and settle or other related techniques. Dems have been passing money out or changing rules using similar tactics for ages. Environmental activist orgs and the EPA in particular have done many dances like that over the years. A way to get what you want without changing the law and often biding your successors. Oh come on, you can’t believe that equivalence here The point is, collusion between two sides that really don't mind or actively want a particular outcome (monetary included) is not unusual but probably almost no one knows it happens. People just conveniently keep drawing the line right where Trump is. I'd take a few steps back. But there will always be excuses made instead.
By ‘conveniently’ you mean around an individual who is so brazenly corrupt that even people who accept a certain amount of corrupt churn think it’s a bit much?
Ridiculous deflection as per
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On May 20 2026 00:14 LightSpectra wrote:
So, who gets to decide if a claimant actually was discriminated by the government and deserves a cut of the fund? Independent judiciary? Nope, five-member panel chosen by the (acting) AG Todd Blanche, who was Trump's former personal attorney.
Oblade would be completely fine if Bidens personal attorney picked a 5 person panel to decide who gets 1.7 trillions dollars of government money. Don’t be so partisan, this is a super fair and above board type of thing.
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EPT
