Former Republican congressman slams 'slimy and unethical' Clarence and Ginni Thomas business enterprise
April 09, 2023
Former Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman (VA) cautioned critics of Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg's case against former President Donald Trump, noting that it's still not really known what all Bragg has because the specifics weren't included in the indictment or the statement of facts.
CNN's Jim Acosta began the segment with the recent ABC News poll saying that 64 percent of Americans agree that Trump acted illegally. Just 36 percent think he didn't act illegally.
"When you're doing something as we did on the J6 case, that evidence builds and builds and builds and builds," said Riggleman. "And even today, I think if we looked at all the data from J6, which we haven't been able to do yet, really, I think we would even see more of the key players. So when I hear an attorney talking about a client that you know all, it's a rancid ham sandwich. You know, for me, I'm, like, you don't know the data he has to message for his client. He's getting paid. So for me, you know, it's just somebody else sort of screaming into a popcorn box."
Acosta noted that the poll numbers are growing worse, noting that they're far worse than they were in 2020.
Trump has spent the last week telling his supporters that this isn't an attack on him but an attack on his MAGA followers. His advisers even equated Trump with Jesus Christ, taking the legal hit for his supporters. But Riggleman doesn't think that's how it works in this case because normal people don't have to pay off porn stars.
"You know, even if you don't get charged, I don't know if paying off porn stars is that sort of resume builder that you want as a POTUS," explained Riggleman. "So, I think that's what you get to is, you have a lot of individuals out there saying, hey, you know, was the indictment politically motivated, right? Some of you say it is, but it still should have happened. But again, when you're paying off porn stars, and you're using your sort of almost like a legal type of way of funneling that money, I think normal people, you know, they go to work every day around businesses like me, and you look at that and say, okay, you know what? I haven't even paid off any porn stars lately myself."
He said that it was pathetic.
When the two began talking about the recent report that Clarence Thomas' was getting free trips from a wealthy GOP donor that has cases before the court. Riggleman recalled working on the Jan. 6 committee, the text messages that they found from Mark Meadows' computer came from Ginni Thomas, the wife of the Supreme Court Justice that worked for far-right fringe groups and was pressing a number of efforts to take over the 2020 election.
"But when you see something like Harlan Crow, you wonder how much money he's given to GOP causes," said Riggleman. "I think there's a Dallas report — Dallas news — $13 million to the GOP. The fact that she funnels a lot of money through her lobbying efforts. You know, she's probably a member of seven, eight, or nine significant lobbying groups for the GOP since 2009. For me it looks like it's Clarence and Ginni have their own business models, like the Thomas Business Enterprise, right? That they're able to leverage her access based on the fact that she's married to the most probably the most powerful Republican in the country, right? A guy that's forever."
He went on to say that he's read her deposition many times from the Jan. 6 committee and that she's being incredibly vague in her statements around her participation of Jan. 6.
"We know that she was involved. And now we have an individual, you know, like Harlan Crow, who's a billionaire, right?" Riggleman continued. "Who's probably funneled millions of dollars right through vacations for the Thomases but also in constant contact with other people who are very high up in the GOP. Even if it's not illegal, it feels pretty slimy and unethical. But again, when you're talking about making money, what better way than to influence peddle, right? With the last name of Thomas, right?"
See the full segment below or at the link here.
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