Follow the Money With Martin Sheil — Rikers Edition
Retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil weighs in on Trump’s addiction to Trump, as Sheil reminds our readers of the Trump family tradition—$grift$—and how Trump’s CFO just did a Rikers stretch
I am still recovering from the news of Bandy Lee’s loss — a loss for everyone who speaks truth to power. But as I re-center myself into that place of steely neutrality where I do my best work, I hear church bells ringing and birdsong, and my heart softens. As I wrote on the morning Roe was reversed — after years of warning everyone it was coming — “Birds still sing under fascism.” I will enjoy this exquisite moment of aural soothing, forcing the necessary psychic shift to stay away from the danger of despair.
Luckily, I got friends. I woke up to a message from Marty, with the heads up he was sending the Bette Dangerous community his latest Follow the Money missive, and he did not disappoint.
As much hay is made about President Joe Biden’s son’s untimely tax filings, Martin Sheil — who as a criminal investigator for the IRS helped put away guys with names like Fat Larry — reminds our readers of the facts.
Below is a note from Marty with facts about the Trump Organization and the Trump Family’s history of financial malfeasance:
Only the Trumpster could claim Hunter got a sweetheart deal or a traffic ticket for his tax violation.
Hunter paid over $100K for each of the two years he failed to timely file his tax returns due to his addictions.
At last look, the Donald has not paid any personal income taxes in decades.
The Trump Organization however was found guilty of evading New York State income taxes and the Trump Organization's CFO Allan Weisselberg was until recently sitting in a jail cell in Rikers Island for falling on his Trump issued sword with regard to — you guessed it — tax evasion.
And let’s not forget the NY Times epic series delineating Donnie's masterminding of his father's Gift Tax Evasion with regard to the tax free transfer of assets to the Trump children.
So to summarize the Trumpster's financial status - Trump claims massive Net Operating Losses from his business for years, which negates any personal tax liability and despite incurring massive annual losses for decades and owing hundreds of millions of dollars to Deutsche Bank and others, the ‘Teflon’ Don manages to procure multiple golf courses in Scotland and pay millions in legal fees to his army of attorneys to defend him in a multitude of lawsuits.
One laughable irony is that one of those lawsuits has everything to do with the Trumpster's directing that Michael Cohen submit false invoices to the Trump Organization in the name of "legal fees," to disguise the reimbursement provided Cohen for "hush money" payments to Stormy Daniels. Did that trickery result in any tax malfeasance on the part of Trump, Cohen, Stormy or anyone else? The Manhattan DA has made a mysterious reference to taxes in his factual resume summarizing the Trump hush money indictment.
Stay tuned for that trial which represents the next episode in the ongoing series we can call ‘Trump's Grift!’
When Trump loses that trial and attends the Sentencing Hearing to ascertain his fate, the big question will be - ‘Does Trump make a Full Acceptance of Responsibility,’ which would make for a large downward departure in Sentencing?
I posit the answer is ‘Yes,’ and he will bring in Mental Health Expert Opinions that Trump's criminal malfeasance can be attributed to Trump's addiction to
wait for it...
wait for it...
Trump!
Trump’s addiction to Trump is all encompassing and does not leave him time for anything — much less abiding by the law ... any law.
marty
So we end where we started — with the reminder that the brave and brilliant Bandy Lee warned us about the dangers of Donald Trump. My friend Dr. David Reiss was among the mental health experts who contributed to the ‘Dangerous Case of Donald Trump’ book that Lee edited. In the many interviews I did with him in 2017 and 2018, he warned that Trump’s malignant narcissism would pose a grave danger to America.
As we witness the Congressional Chaos Agents of the Insurrection Caucus create junk distractions, it is imperative we have minds like Marty’s, Lee’s, and Reiss’ to bring us necessary clarity.
I once had dinner with Dr. Reiss in 2018 — as we were part of the Real Resistance. I asked him how all this ends.
He said, “With a revolution. Trump won’t leave office willingly.”
He was not wrong — the US had a violent coup — we came so close to more bloodshed. People like my podcast partner Jim Stewartson warned everyone to stay home, leaving the MAGA brainwashed to assault police officers, who defended our democracy from its overthrow. Trump did not leave office willingly, and continues to promote the Big Lie, even as he faces multiple life sentences in prison for espionage.
As with all authoritarians, this is all cover for corruption.
“Trump is uniquely criminal and so dangerous,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat in a recent Lucid meeting.
We all have a duty to warn.
Stay loud.
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For more on Marty’s Follow the Money series, go here. That link has a compilation of Marty stories at the bottom, and is only accessible to paid members.
If you are not yet a paid member, please enjoy the Independence Special, and join our community to receive event invites and access to all archives — free content is locked after two weeks but available to paid members.
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Our next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Sunday, July 2, 4 pm PT with the return of Martin Sheil! Marty will update us on Trump’s various legal entanglements and his likely path to unfreedom; Paid members also receive invites to our weekly Bette’s Happy Hour, a wellness checkin every Tuesday, which often features surprise guests. This Tuesday, our checkin is at 5 pm PT.
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“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.
“May the viral hope for truth and humanity wash away the chaos of these years.”-S.C., Bette community member
“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, who can hear the invitation of Truth…”-words from a Bette Dangerous community member
“Nothing but blue skies from now on…”-Irving Berlin
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