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Ron Johnson -- worth $40 million -- derided as 'face of the opposition' to COVID relief
March 05, 2021
As the Senate began to officially debate the latest coronavirus spending measure on Thursday, a wide-ranging package worth roughly $1.9 trillion, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., drew sharp criticism from his Democratic colleagues for positioning himself as the central figure standing in the way of aid swiftly reaching struggling Americans.
<p>The Wisconsin Republican has vowed to delay the pandemic relief that includes provisions like individual $1,400 checks, extended unemployment benefits and housing assistance because of its size and scope. One of his tactics was to force Senate clerks to read the bill's more than 600 pages in its entirety — and force stenographers to retype the whole package — which could take up to 10 hours.</p><p>"I feel bad for the clerks who are going to have to read it, but it's just important. So often we rush these massive bills that are hundreds, if not thousands of pages long," Johnson told reporters. "All I'm trying to do is make this a more deliberative process and obviously shine the light on this abusive and obscene amount of money that's going to further mortgage our children's future."</p><p>Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others derided Johnson, who is estimated to be one of the top 20 wealthiest members of Congress, with a net <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/net-worth?cid=N00032546&year=2018" target="_blank"><u>worth of nearly $40 million</u></a>, for deciding "to make himself the face of the opposition."</p><p>The former CEO of a polyester and plastics manufacturer before his 2010 election to the Senate, Johnson has emerged as one of the chamber's most extreme Republican ideologues, despite his mild Midwestern demeanor. He has repeatedly rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, describing it as "lunacy," and as chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee last year invited several witnesses to expound on discredited fringe theories about COVID-19. He was staunchly loyal to Donald Trump throughout the former president's term, launching half-baked investigations he claimed would prove Joe Biden's "unfitness for office" and spreading incoherent rumors about an anti-Trump conspiracy within the Department of Justice and FBI.</p><p>Schumer tried to look on the bright side, despite ripping into Johnson for going to "ridiculous lengths" to obstruct the relief bill and for promoting various false narratives about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. (Johnson did not admit that Trump had lost the November election for more than six weeks, and has suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was somehow to blame for the attack on the U.S. Capitol.)</p><p>The majority leader also accused Johnson and many of his fellow Republicans of hypocrisy by their willingness to dish out money under the past president but changing their tune for the current one. "We are delighted that the senator from Wisconsin wants to give the American people another opportunity to hear what's in the American Rescue Plan," Schumer said. "We Democrats want America to hear what's in the plan."</p><p>The relief legislation, which was released in revised and presumably final form at the start of debate on Thursday afternoon, is moving through Congress via reconciliation, a budget process that would allow the bill to pass without any Republican support, on a 50-50 tie to be broken by Vice President Kamala Harris. But with that avenue comes a hellish process known as a "vote-a-rama," where any number of senators can offer an unlimited number of amendments and further stall the final passage.</p><p>Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for example, has <a href="https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1367563611300786179?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>said</u></a> he plans to force votes on all of his nearly two dozen amendments. Johnson distributed a sign-up sheet to Republicans so they could take shifts to ensure enough of their members would be on the floor at all times to further extend the marathon effort.</p><p>Some GOP senators, such as Rand Paul, R-Ky., have said they would make the vote-a-rama last indefinitely, if they could. But the expectation and goal of those like Johnson is to at least draw out the session until Sunday.</p><p>"It will come to an end," said Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "I don't know if it will be one day or five days, but it will come to an end. There will be a vote."</p><p>Johnson's ultimate goal is to sour the public's opinion on the relief package, which has unusually high bipartisan approval from voters, considering that so far the bill has not received the support of even one Republican senator. He has apparently modeled his strategy on the battle over a 1993 supplemental appropriations bill, which remained on the floor for 12 days and was significantly decreased in cost. </p><p>"I don't think we need any additional authorization right now when you have [money that] hasn't been spent yet," Johnson said. "Spend that first before you authorize any new dollars, but that's not what the Democrats want to do." </p>
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The creator of McAfee computer security software faces charges he cashed in on a "pump-and-dump" scheme, promoting cryptocurrencies on Twitter to drive up their value.
John McAfee, founder of the antivirus firm that bears his name, and Jimmy Watson face charges of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering in connection with schemes to trick cryptocurrency investors, according to an indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice.
<p>"McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception," US attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release.</p><p>McAfee, Watson, and other members of their "cryptocurrency team"are accused of raking in millions of dollars from investors they duped, according to Strauss.</p><p>Pump-and-dump schemes typically involve over-hyping the value of stocks or, in this case cryptocurrency, by holders so that they can be sold at artificially high prices.</p><p>"McAfee and Watson used social media to perpetrate an age-old pump-and-dump scheme," FBI assistant director William Sweeney said.</p><p>"When engaging in illegal activity, simply finding new ways to carry out old tricks won't produce different results."</p><p>McAfee and Watson also used Twitter to promote digital tokens on behalf of initial coin offerings without disclosing they were being paid for their efforts by the startups, according to the indictment.</p><p>McAfee, 75, is in custody in Spain pending a decision on his extradition to the United States where he is wanted for tax evasion.</p><p>He has been held at a prison near Barcelona since he was arrested in the Spanish city in October just as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul.</p><p>The arrest followed his indictment in June in the United States for tax evasion and wilful failure to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018, despite earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his life story.</p><p>Since making a fortune with his eponymous antivirus software in the 1980s, McAfee has become a self-styled cryptocurrency guru.</p><p>He has one million followers on Twitter, where he describes himself as a "lover of women, adventure and mystery".</p><p>McAfee made headlines after he moved to Belize and his neighbor in the Central American country was mysteriously murdered in 2012, a crime that remains unsolved. </p>
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Chamber of Commerce to resume donations to Republicans who voted for Trump's 'Big Lie'
March 05, 2021
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced on Friday that it would resume donations to Republicans who pushed Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about election fraud by voting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The same night as the fatal January 6th insurrection, 121 House Republicans and 6 Senate Republicans sided with the insurrectionists and voted to overturn the election results.
<p>But a new <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/issue-brief/memo-political-support-candidates-light-of-events-of-january-6th" target="_blank">memo</a> issued by Ashlee Rich Stephenson, the vice president and national political director for the Chamber says donations can resume for Republicans who voted to overturn the will of the voters.</p><p>"In the aftermath of the events of January 6, we announced that we would review the totality of actions of members. And take that review into consideration with respect to our PAC giving and political program," Stephenson explained. </p><p>"We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification. There is a meaningful difference between a member of Congress who voted no on the question of certifying the votes of certain states and those who engaged and continue to engage in repeated actions that undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institution," Stephenson announced. "For example, casting a vote is different than organizing the rally of January 6th or continuing to push debunked conspiracy theories. We will take into consideration actions such as these and future conduct that erodes our democratic institutions."</p><p>Prior to joining the Chamber of Commerce, Stephenson was the polling director for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign. The former New York City mayor was one of the biggest proponents of Trump's conspiracy theories about election fraud. </p>
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