REGISTER: ‘Trump-Russia/Money Laundering 101’ with Martin Sheil — A Bette Dangerous Speakeasy Series
Bette members—please register for our 3-part Speakeasy series with retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil as we follow the money in the world of Trump/Russia — beginning Sunday Jan. 18
***Bette members will find the registration links below the paywall. To join our community events and to help support independent investigative journalism in a time of grave peril, please upgrade to a paid membership.***
I am reminding myself to breathe.
I hope this reminder reminds you to also breathe.
We are bearing witness to this time in history for a reason, and we all have roles to play.
Despair is the enemy of action, and when we come together in this community, it is always with that in mind.
Our newly launched multi-part Speakeasy series has been a raging success.
We launched with Ukrainian historian Tetiana Boriak, and I believe this report based on Part Two in her series is one of the most important reports I’ve written:
Our three-part series with author Craig Unger was epic. I will be releasing print reports as fast as my fingers can type.
Follow the Money
I am pleased to announce our next Bette Dangerous Speakeasy Series launches on Sunday, January 18, at 11 am Pacific, with retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil, who will give us a money laundering tutorial, a Trump-Russia ‘follow the money’ briefing, and a Q&A on what we’ve learned.
I developed the series after a recent realization that pro-democracy writers are competing for headline attention against very well-financed and coordinated ‘clickbait fascism’ and to write one-off reports on a subject that deserves multi-part exploration is to surrender in advance.
So please calendar these upcoming events. And if you are not yet a paid member, please consider upgrading.
The following series is open to all levels of paid membership. You will find each event’s registration below the paywall at the very bottom of this post:
Sunday, January 18: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 1 — Money Laundering 101
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Sunday, January 25: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 2 — Trump-Russia/Following the Money
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Sunday, February 1: Bette’s Speakeasy Series with Martin Sheil, Part 3 — A Q&A session
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern
Registration for all events can be found by scrolling all the way to the end of this post.
Quotes from Marty about the Series:
On January 6, 2026, the anniversary date of the infamous 1/6 Capitol Insurrection that Trump instigated with his clarion call on the Ellipse to his many MAGA followers to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell!” - the Quanon Shaman renounced his support of Trump due to the DOJ’s lack of release of the Epstein files, despite bipartisan Congressional legislation signed by Trump mandating DOJ release of all Epstein related files.
Trump has spent his time since 1/6 unsuccessfully laundering his political reputation particularly via his impotent directions to DOJ (see Martin’s substack - Trump DOJ A retribution Feast or Can’t indict a ham sandwich).
Trump’s historical legacy will likely be forever stained by his ill-fated relationship with past bestie - the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Marjorie Taylor Greene MTG - a major MAGA mover and shaker recently engaged the Trumpster in a heated telephonic dispute wherein she urged the Trumpster to release the Epstein files, and he furiously refused exclaiming “My friends will get hurt!
It seems that when it comes to folks like Trump and Epstein - it’s not about sex but it is all about the Money! (read more about this is an upcoming piece in Martin’s substack entitled “My friends will get hurt!”)
Speaking of money… how did Epstein launder all the money involved in his human trafficking criminal enterprise? How did Epstein pay his girls? (shameless Marty promo - read Martin’s substack titled Epstein Money Laundering - Smurf City to find out.)
What does Trump know about money laundering?
Trump Jr. was famously quoted back in the day that “We (Trump Org) see a lot of Russian money coming in!”
What exactly is money laundering?
What is smurfing?
How do banks launder?
How is real estate used to launder illicit proceeds?
How are casinos used to launder?
What is off-shoring?
What is a shell company?
What is layering?
Marty has all the answers to the above questions.
Marty is a retired Supervisory Special Agent for IRS Criminal Investigation
Author’s note: lol.-hsc
More about Mary here:
Martin J. Sheil is a retired supervisory agent for IRS Criminal Investigation with 30 years experience, including service as coordinator of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) for the Gulf Coast Region, Branch Chief for the North Texas District (Dallas), Special Agent in Charge for the South Texas District (San Antonio) and as Director of IRS CI Asset Forfeiture in Washington, D.C. Sheil supervised the largest most successful undercover money laundering operation ever conducted against organized prostitution called Operation Outcall.
After retirement from the IRS, he was hired as a contractor by Deloitte to work a contract between Deloitte and OCDETF — Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces — which led to Sheil being embedded in DEA offices in Chicago with the one-line mission objective to follow Cartel money wherever it took him for the purposes of seizing and forfeiting to the Feds as much drug money as possible.
He would like you to know that his favorite takeout is TexMex, and he advised that you have not lived until you have experienced a breakfast burrito from the food truck parked in front of the Federal building in Lubbock Texas!
Most of you know Marty, a regularly featured guest at Bette events for the past three years, so I had to ask him to add a line about sports:
While Martin laments the annual abject failure of most professional Chicago sports teams he embraces an eternal optimism about the possible future success of his beloved Chicago Cubbies…
For a guy who helped put away people with names like Fat Larry, he’s all heart.
A heartfelt your memberships at the full annual fee and to those who continue to support me at the Founding Member level. Your support means everything to me and allows this project to continues.***
Those on a tight budget, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at bettedangerous/gmail as I offer a discount for fixed income members and those dedicated to activism.
Also, sincere gratitude to those of you who offered additional support in our membership + donation drive. You keep this project going.
Please keep scrolling below the paywall for the registration links.
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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members.
I expose the corruption of billionaire fascists, while relying on memberships for support.
Thank you in advance for considering the following:
Share my reporting with allies
Buying my ebooks
A private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous/gmail. 🥹
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Her Hot Type column appears in Byline Supplement. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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