Last Call For It's Not Always The GOP

Not that long-time readers will disagree with me here, but not every single terrible, corrupt politician in America has an (R) besides their name.

 

Former Louisiana Democratic Party leader Karen Carter Peterson, who resigned from the state Senate last year year citing depression and a gambling addiction — and later pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud — was sentenced on Wednesday to 22 months in prison.

Peterson, who served in the Louisiana Legislature for 22 years, admitted in August to taking more than $140,000 in funds from her reelection campaign and from the state Democratic Party. The ex-lawmaker spent a “substantial amount” of that money on casino gambling, according to court documents.

Peterson, who made restitution, was tearful and apologetic in court. “I want to tell everyone who contributed to my campaign and the Democratic Party, I am sorry,” she said to WWL-TV.

In court filings and in Tuesday’s arguments, defense attorneys had argued for probation rather than time in prison. They cited Peterson’s long record of public service, her Christian faith, her first-offender status and a long struggle with gambling addiction that caused what they called “diminished mental capacity.”

She would be unlikely to be able to continue the individual therapy she needs in prison, her attorneys argued.

Prosecutors said prison time was appropriate. “Peterson’s addiction does not excuse her actions,” they said in one court brief.

They added that it was “imperative that the court acknowledge the severity of Peterson’s betrayal of the public trust and exploitation of the awesome power she wielded as a candidate for public office and leader of a major political party to seek personal pecuniary gain.”

The pre-sentence report prepared by probation officers called for a sentence of 41 to 51 months, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

 

Here's the thing: Democrats who get caught actually face consequences.  Republicans don't, as evidenced primarily by the number of January 6th insurrectionists, human traffickers, and campaign finance cheats still serving in Congress and in state parties in places like Ohio. 

Let's compare the 22 months Peterson gets to how much former Ohio state GOP Speaker Larry Householder gets for his multi-billion corruption slush fund trial starting this month if he gets convicted at all.

It's not always the GOP, but it's the vast majority.

Fantasma Santos, Con't

The calls for Rep. George Santos (R-Protean Shapeshifter) to resign over his total inability to tell one factual thing about themself are growing louder, and increasingly they're coming from Republicans.

 

Local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage.

“His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives,” Joseph Cairo Jr., chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said at a news conference. “He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters.”

Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call for him to resign, saying, “I will not.”

Cairo and other Republicans said Santos deceived voters and the Nassau County GOP and they were particularly incensed by his lies about having Jewish ancestry.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, another Republican newly elected to represent Long Island, spoke at the news conference via video from Washington and joined Cairo’s call for his colleague’s resignation.

The local party has no mechanism to remove Santos from office. He was sworn in to the U.S. House last week.

The move comes a day after two Democrats from New York asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, in a letter to the committee, said Santos also failed to file “timely, accurate and complete” financial disclosure reports and the reports he did file are “sparse and perplexing.”

 

Santos of course is refusing to resign, and Kevin McCarthy says "It's up to the voters to decide" which is useless horseshit twaddle even for him. Oh and since the House Ethics Committee has been all but destroyed, there will be no accountability for Santos anytime soon. Even if he's tried and convicted, I suspect he'll remain in the Circus of the Damned as one of the main attractions for years to come.

The Circus Of The Damned, Con't

House Republicans are wasting no time in their legislative and investigatory masturbation as invitations for the circus are being sent.

 

The chairman of the new Republican-led House Oversight Committee has issued a flurry of letters as part of the panel's first formal steps toward a long-promised investigation targeting President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and social media companies that they allege sought to suppress negative stories about the president's son that they claim could have impacted the 2020 presidential election.

The letters, issued by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and obtained by ABC News, request testimony from multiple former Twitter executives who were involved in the company's handling of news reporting that surfaced from leaked data obtained from a laptop reportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.

The panel is also requesting financial information from the Department of Treasury regarding Hunter Biden and his associates.

In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Comer requested records related to potential suspicious activity reports, or SARs, on Hunter Biden and other members of the president's family, as well as multiple businesses and business partners. SARs are reports filed by financial institutions to flag questionable banking transactions, but do not amount to allegations of crimes.

In response to the letters, a White House spokesperson told ABC News, "In their first week as a governing majority, House Republicans have not taken any meaningful action to address inflation and lower Americans' costs, yet they're jumping out of the gate with political stunts driven by the most extreme MAGA members of their caucus in an effort to get attention on Fox News."

"The President is going to continue focusing on the important issues the American people want their leaders to work together on, and we hope House Republicans will join him," the statement said.

A representative for the Treasury Department declined to comment when contacted by ABC News, and representatives for Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Beyond their interest in Hunter Biden and his business endeavors, the panel's primary focus is finding out whether his father, President Biden, was more involved in those dealings than previously known.

 

Keep in mind that the goal here is to leak as much of the investigation material involving Hunter Biden as much as possible, and then dare the Justice Department to do something about it. CNN has already shown it will play ball on anything that looks like President Biden is just like Donald Trump as far as corruption goes, so the Circus will have a fertile ground to sow with bullshit.  FOX News is already going along and has for years.

The organ music is starting, and the show is about to begin.

Send in those clowns!