Trump Greed and Desperation: Attacks Congress Critter’s Fundraising

Republican Congressman Keven Hern has landed himself in Trump/MAGA jail. It seems he used a Trump family photo in a fundraising pitch without getting permission. Permission being giving Trump whatever percentage of what got raised that Trump demanded.

We all know how freaking GREEDY Trump is. He always has been. He’s cheated and lied his entire life and screwed over any and everyone (and financial institutions) to put money in HIS pocket. We also know he has never been as rick as he claimed to be. In fact, we keep learning more and more how despite all that daddy gave him, despite the way he screwed over his relatives to control what his dad left behind after dying, and despite the money from a hit TV show his financial house has for decades been a house of cards. He’s juggled debt and given that he’s had to declare multiple bankruptcies those tiny hands with their stubby fingers and thumbs don’t juggle well.

Having to maintain his image of being “really rich” meant hooking up with some folks almost everyone knows better than to get mixed up with. Including as we can be sure Russian oligarchs acting on Putin’s orders. U.S. mobsters might have had some qualms about breaking Trump’s legs (or worse) to collect when he was a well-known NYC figure, but Russians? That’s a whole different matter. But becoming President got Trump breathing room, at least for a while. Putin’s disastrous choice to try and take over Ukraine has cause him and the oligarchs enough trouble that Trump and the money HE owes them has been pushed down their list of priorities.

Meanwhile, the more time he spent in the WH the more control Trump took of the GOP. Any President is of course the head of their Party while in office and even the RNC and DNC defer to a President of their Party on any number of matters. Including fundraising and which races to spend money on. Trump swallowed the RNC and its fundraising operation whole, like inhaling a big ole slice of his “beautiful chocolate cake.” ALL the money was to go to him and HE would decide whether to send any out to help GOP candidates. Trump has been every bit as stingy on that as you’d expect. So much so that major conservative donors mostly stopped giving to the RNC because their money would wind up in Trump’s hands. They’ve chosen to instead fund preferred candidates directly through their PACs. Trump is one very unhappy camper over that.

As far as Trump is concerned every dollar raised from a Republican should be given to him. He doesn’t like it when people give directly to candidates and he doesn’t get his cut of the action. For damned sure he won’t tolerate someone even implying, much less saying Trump supports them in direct fundraising pitches. As The Messenger reports Oklahoma Congress Critter Kevin Herm has been running a “dishonest scam” by name-dropping Trump:

“Your appeal goes so far as to mislead those who received the solicitation into thinking their donation would help President Trump and his children fight off a weaponized Department of Justice when, in fact, it does not,” Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote in a letter to Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, his House Conservative Victory Fund committee and his consultant, TAG Strategies.

Frankly, I don’t know if Hern’s people used a photo that was taken by some Trump photographer and was licensed/copyrighted to Trump of picked one of countless public domain photos or paid a fee to some pool reporter who took some pictures of Trump. It wouldn’t matter to Trump. As far as he’s concerned, if a picture taken by ANYONE including some person with a telephoto lens from afar is of him or I guess his family is is his and his alone. And he will get his fee or create a living hell for anyone who doesn’t pony up his cut.

The linked article notes that many months ago Team Trump sent out a letter warning all GOPers not to use Trump images without prior approval, and that recipients included TAG Strategies and I’m sure Kevin Hern. So like a corporation (Disney in infamous for going after people for copyright infringement) being as big a shark’s butthole as possible Trump acts the same way. He is OFFENDED by golly. How DARE someone “run a scam” using his “good” name without getting his permission? (Again, permission being pay an exorbitant fee for the “privilege”) How offended, how butt-hurt is Team Trump? Check this out:

“With your most recent violation,” Trump’s camp wrote in its letter, “you have decided to openly and flagrantly disregard our clear guidelines which leaves us no choice but to denounce any political entities and vendors associated with you. We will not allow you or a scam PAC to mislead the American people in order to steal their hard-earned money through dishonest and deceptive tactics usually employed by other scam PACs.”

Yeah, I found the last part of that pretty funny. Trump accusing someone else of being some dishonest scam artist.  Poor ole Irony has just been dug up from the grave for another flogging. All this does make me think Trump really is running scared. This public trashing of Hern is meant for all conservatives. Donations are meant to go to Trump. Period. And for damned sure don’t use his name or likeness without paying his fee to do so.

Trump I think really does worry he’s screwed financially. He’s lost his civil trial in NY – the current proceedings are simply about how big his fine will be. The more important point for him is loss of control (and money from) of the Trump Org which in turn makes his ability to keep all the “I owe money to this person or that bank or oligarch” running chainsaws in the air as he tries to juggle them. He’s bleeding cash hand over fist in legal fees, and with no end in sight. As PZ’s Murfster has pointed out in the past he’s got close to four hundred millions in loans (that we know about) coming due in the spring of 2024. And he’s almost certainly going to be a convicted felon once his DC trial is done. For all the polling and even perhaps the delegates he’ll have racked up for the nomination THAT might be a game changer. Enough that the GOP convention will finally give the networks their wet-dream of a brokered convention with epic fighting (literal fighting, some of it on the floor where TV cameras will catch it) that will make Democrat’s 1968 convention look like a love fest.

Trump needs complete control of all GOP fundraising and he’s made it clear no Republican had better so much as claim he’s in their corner without first paying him off. Basically, I think this smackdown of Hern shows how dire Trump thinks his situation has become. We know he’s got financial problems. “Bigly” ones. They might well be far worse than we know.