Author | Lightnews

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 3h

Honestly, the headline should be: Trump sold a pardon in crypto to make a crypto money laundering crime go away.

www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Exclusive | Trump Pardons Convicted Binance Founder

The pardon follows months of efforts by Changpeng Zhao to boost Trump crypto company.

www.wsj.com

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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 2h

Kind of goes without saying but it’s crystal clear now that Trump’s pardons are communicating that you can break any law as long as he personally benefits in some way from the crime.

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Raw Story @rawstory.com · 2h

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange Binance, received a pardon after months of boosting a crypto venture owned by President Donald Trump's family.

Billionaire money launderer pardoned after months of boosting Trump's crypto venture

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange Binance, received a pardon after months of boosting a crypto venture owned by President Donald Trump's family.According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump signed off on the pardon on Wednesday. Advisers said that the president sympathized wit...

bit.ly

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 2h

I'm not fond of performative impeachment filings--bc they diminish the groundwork you'll eventually need if you do want to impeach.

But this pardon might be worth it. Add in all the Jan6 pardons and Santos and all the other people whom Trump paid and make it 300 pages long and read it all.

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 2h

Here's the kind of sanctions avoidance Changpeng Zhao facilitated, from his sentencing memo.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Zhao also admits that between August 2017 and October 2022—according to the
company’s own data—“Binance caused . . . at least $890 million in transactions between
U.S. users and users Binance identified as Iranians,” plus “millions more in transactions
between U.S. users and users in other comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions, including
Cuba, Syria, and the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk.” Id. ¶ 9.o. The
company “profited significantly from its violations of law,” including through the
“significant fees” it earned “on transactions between U.S. customers and customers in
comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions.” Id. ¶ 9.p. The hundreds of millions of dollars
involved in trades that violated U.S. sanctions, and the fees that Binance earned from
processing those trades, became proceeds of unlawful activity. Binance facilitated later
transfers of those proceeds, including when its customers withdrew their funds from the
exchange. Zhao knew about the users in comprehensively sanctioned areas, did not direct
Binance to implement controls that would have prevented Binance from matching U.S.
users with users subject to U.S. sanctions to conduct cryptocurrency transactions, and those
transactions were a clear and foreseeable result of Zhao’s decision to prioritize profit and
growth over compliance with the BSA.

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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 2h

JUST IN: The ENTIRE East Wing of the White House has officially been DEMOLISHED, per AP.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

"When Democrats or liberals question the morals of Trump voters, the press treats it as a major scandal. But Trump expresses a desire to cover protestors with feces — essentially saying that anyone who disagrees with him is shit — the media is barely willing to talk about it. Why?"

Trump shits on America. Why doesn’t the media care?

For many news orgs, Trump’s fascist coalition is uniquely legitimate.

www.publicnotice.co

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 7h

Good: Jamie Raskin tells me he's formally demanding any/all internal communications between WH and DOJ on Trump's $230 million payoff.

More Dems should talk this way about Trump's criming. He's turning the presidency into a massive Bribe Delivery System.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2021...

Trump’s Vile New $230 Million Shakedown of DOJ Just Got Even Worse

It’s bad enough that Trump wants—and DOJ will likely fork over—this tribute payment. Now, get this: It can probably be done at first without even being revealed publicly.

newrepublic.com

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 6h

Trump is turning the presidency into a massive Bribe Delivery System, or BDS. He's creating many new avenues for media companies, law firms, universities, etc to channel tribute payments as he directs. Feeding the BDS is the cost of doing business in Trump's America.

newrepublic.com/article/2021...

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Umbrae Soulsbane @umbrae.bsky.social · 5h

Geez, I wonder why a newsroom that has publicly paid tons of money in bribes to the administration it is supposed to cover would be losing money?

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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 14h

$300 million for this shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump defends East Wing demolition, raises ballroom price to $300 million

The president said the new building would be connected to the White House with a glass bridge.

www.washingtonpost.com

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John Lipponen 🇫🇮 🇦🇹 @lippoenen.bsky.social · 14h

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Umbrae Soulsbane @umbrae.bsky.social · 5h

A @resist.bot entry for those who have GOP representatives...

resist.bot/petitions/PF...

Demand GOP Leadership to Prevent Government Shutdown

Text SIGN PFRTVK to 50409 to send this to your officials.

resist.bot

1

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 2d

Cost of the Argentina bailout Trump is trying to finance: $40B.

That same amount could fund almost two years of extended ACA subsidies, or two years of full SNAP benefits, or nearly all of the annual Medicare cuts from Trump's Big Ugly Bill.

Priorities.

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Max Flugrath🗳️ @maxflugrath.bsky.social · 21h

🚨Trump’s team is plotting to declare a fake "national emergency" to hijack elections.

One operative says they can “take steps without Congress” and mandate state election rules.

Independent, state-run elections are the last firewall between democracy and authoritarian rule.

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Umbrae Soulsbane @umbrae.bsky.social · 7h

If only people appreciated all the money I am making off the extreme taxes I placed on them.

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Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ @padresj.bsky.social · 11h

It doesn't matter how many times you vote for him, how often you praise him, how much money you give him, or how well you support him

... EVERYBODY but Donald goes under the Trump bus.

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Raw Story @rawstory.com · 9h

OPINION: This is far worse than shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.

Trump mused about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. This is much worse

This is far worse than shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.President Donald Trump is demanding nearly a quarter of a billion U.S. tax dollars to satisfy a claim of his — a frivolous, absurd and specious claim — that he had been maliciously prosecuted by the Department of Justice. He wasn’t. But that wo...

bit.ly

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 15h

I should probably have just published this in the morning, but I had some thoughts about the East Wing — particularly given something Trump said during his 2020 speech accepting the GOP nomination. www.pbump.net/o/the-presid...

The president has never understood that the White House (and government) aren’t his

Even if only intuitively, Donald Trump knows that the White House is a storehouse of power. He understands that, like the government itself, it is an institution that our impartial democratic system h...

www.pbump.net

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John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 8h

SNAP benefits are about to lapse for 42 million people, because nothing says “save the children” like starving them.

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Umbrae Soulsbane @umbrae.bsky.social · 7h

Remember when the US government used to brag and post pictures of drug seizures. You know the stuff that proves you are actually catching drug dealers? Funny how we don't get that anymore.

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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 1d

look, one reason workplaces started making us all go to HR's "be polite to others" class is because you alienate people when you're a bigoted asshole, and that can lose you both talent and business www.ft.com/content/8e6d...

Sequoia COO quit over Shaun Maguire’s comments about Islamism

Sumaiya Balbale left the venture firm after it decided not to discipline outspoken investor for posts about Zohran Mamdani

www.ft.com

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 7h

Yup. It's really the perfect metaphor for all his crimes:

Abuse of process
Open corruption
Destruction of the notion of "public"
Bad taste

All during a government shutdown necessitated by tax cut for some of the zillionaires who paid for the ball room.

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 7h

Trump has done many many many many many things that are worse than this, but I bet this is one of the things that turns people.

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Raw Story @rawstory.com · 7h

Archbishop Stephen Wood, the senior-most official of the Anglican Church in North America, has been accused of sexual misconduct, while another top official has been accused of allowing men with troubling backgrounds to serve as church leaders.

Anglican archbishop accused of sexual misconduct as bishop faces trial for abuse of power

Archbishop Stephen Wood, the senior-most official of the Anglican Church in North America, has been accused of sexual misconduct, while another top official has been accused of allowing men with troubling backgrounds to serve as church leaders.A former children’s ministry director accused the 62-yea...

bit.ly

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Chris Murphy: "There's a lot of history that has taken place in the East Wing & it was just destroyed without any conversation in the public, without any consent of Congress. It's absolutely illegal. That visual is powerful b/c you're watching destruction of the rule of law as those walls come down"

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Kyle Pfannenstiel @pfannyyy.bsky.social · 19h

After the FBI denied "children were zip-tied or hit with rubber bullets" in a raid in Wilder, Idaho, the FBI said no "young" children were.

The updated statement came after KIVI-TV sent FBI photo reportedly showing 14-year-old U.S. citizen in zip ties.

FBI backtracks on denying children were zip tied in Idaho raid, saying instead no ‘young’ kids were • Idaho Capital Sun

After the FBI denied "children were zip-tied or hit with rubber bullets" in raid in Wilder, Idaho, FBI says no "young" children were.

idahocapitalsun.com

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