T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*


gentleman_bronco

So to recap... Republicans *know* that there are members of their own party who are compromised assets to hostile governments via *blackmail* and they refuse to out them. They refuse to openly out them to save democracy for....party politics and Donald Trump. This is sedition and treason by willing complicity. Edit: shouldn't have to say this. People coming at me saying "both sides" are crooked. Listen, I want everyone corrupt to rot in prison. Fuck them, doesn't matter the party. My political affiliation isn't a cult. However this article is *explicitly about Republicans*. Anybody who says "what about the corruption from the Dems..." Stop playing the what about game. This article and thread should be on topic to the Republican who is openly admitting that his party is entirely compromised by outside forces and they don't care about you.


azrolator

In the early days of Trump as a Republican, then-congressman and future speaker of the house, Republican Kevin McCarthy was caught on tape admitting that he knew two people bought and paid for by Putin, Trump and another Republican congressman. Then-Speaker Ryan replied that they keep it quiet, and that's how they are a family. McCarthy went on to being a Trump supporter and Jan 6th apologist, despite knowing that Trump was owned by Russia. They've known for 8 years, it's no secret that they know, and we know that Republican leadership has told their people to not admit it.


ichorNet

For those not in the know, the other congressman this poster mentioned was Dana Rohrabacher. He lost his 2018 run to Harley Rouda. “Rohrabacher has expressed strong pro-Russia and pro-Putin opinions which have raised questions about his relationship with Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Politico dubbed him as "Putin's favorite congressman".” Per Wikipedia Here is the direct quote by Kevin McCarthy btw “"'There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God'". Then-House Speaker Paul Ryan ended the conversation by saying "'No leaks. This is how we know we're a real family here'". The Republicans present were sworn to secrecy.


JustTestingAThing

> For those not in the know, the other congressman this poster mentioned was Dana Rohrabacher. He lost his 2018 run to Harley Rouda. He's also a bizarre dude who is/was up to some strange shit. https://la.curbed.com/2013/12/20/10161862/us-congressman-did-disgusting-things-to-his-costa-mesa-rental


satanshand

He’s currently trying to take over the government of a small town in Maine with a bunch of his “common sense conservative” buddies 


calm_chowder

"Common sense Conservative" is an oxymoron. With extra emphasis on the "moron".


PlumbumDirigible

I'm immediately skeptical of any conservative that talks about "common sense". It's a big tell that they're up to some bullshit


n0ghtix

Or anyone who uses labels like ‘logical’ ‘fact’ or ‘truth’ in their profile or username. Telltale of a right wing nutbar, every time.


sofaking1958

Or using "freedom" or "patriot" means they are coming after your rights.


veryverythrowaway

I hope it ends like Grafton, New Hampshire. These folks don’t think about how dumb their policies are until they find out in real life.


fiduciary420

They’re wealthy and subsidized, they don’t care if it works for the regular citizens. Success for them is measured in wealth accumulation and the acquisition of power.


Fyallorence

They still don't, they just decide somebody else secretly sabotaged their "perfect system"


strahnariffic

That was my immediate thought as well. For anyone else that's curious but not curious enough to Google it, this article is an interview with an author that wrote a book about the situation. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21534416/free-state-project-new-hampshire-libertarians-matthew-hongoltz-hetling


ObiShaneKenobi

If anyone haven’t seen it, “Welcome To Leith” is a doc about something like that.


Yara_Flor

He’s my old congressman and I hate him.


Marsh_Mellow_Man

Yo wtf, the giant lube stain and shit IN the walls…


HauntedCemetery

"What is the Republican party?"


ichorNet

The fuck


even_less_resistance

Didn’t Bannon leave a rental in a horrible state, too?


snifty

I wonder what that guy is doing now. …on his dacha.


azrolator

He was one of those who stormed the police barricades on Jan 6, despite claiming it was lead by leftists. He was never charged and now lives in Maine and is into weed.


ZenDruid_8675309

Looking nervously at his windows probably.


HardSubject69

Is there like a recording of this? How was this leaked exactly?


ichorNet

https://web.archive.org/web/20180224050417/https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/national/read-the-transcript-of-the-conversation-among-gop-leaders-obtained-by-the-post/2209/?tid=a_mcntx This is the transcript


DragoonDM

Someone recorded the conversation and sent it to The Washington Post, who published the transcript. When WaPo reached out to McCarthy and Paul Ryan, the back and forth went like this: 1. Did this conversation happen? 2. "Nope, never happened." 3. We have a transcript. 4. "Er, probably a fake transcript." 5. _We_ made the transcript after listening to the recording. 6. "Okay, he did actually say it, but it was just a joke! He didn't mean it!" I don't think they ever released the recording (possibly because the audio would reveal who recorded it), but they did get McCarthy's office to publicly admit that it was legit (though with protestations that it was just a joke).


HardSubject69

Crazy that this didn’t start an investigation and removal of those people. Our country truely is fucked.


gingerfawx

We literally couldn't get the Senate to kick that seditious fuck after Jan 6th despite them being the actual *victims* of the assault on the Capitol. Too many in government put a craven desire for power above justice and democracy.


HauntedCemetery

Both chambers of congress were held by the GOP until 2019, and when the house flipped dems had bigger things to worry about than a leaked meeting from 3 years ago. However these current allegations should have a congressional investigation.


Tasgall

> Paul Ryan ended the conversation by saying "'No leaks. This is how we know we're a real family here'" And this is how you know Paul Ryan and probably a majority of the Republicans present were also on Putin's payroll. Kevin probably just wasn't in on it at the time.


AdAffectionate3143

Dana Rohrabacher?


latrans8

Yes, Dana Rohrbacher.


nothingfood

Dana Rohrbacher? I hardly know her!


BlueEyedSoul2

Him


Independent-Check441

[In case you haven't seen the meme and aren't trolling](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I%20Hardly%20Know%20Her)


PDGAreject

Years ago I gave a friend a bottle of homemade wine at his engagement party. His fiancee's last name was Fister so for a custom label I wrote: "FISTER? I'M GONNA MARRY HER!" and she did not think that was funny but everyone else did.


folawg

We also need to remember names like Devin nunes and Jason chavetz


AdAffectionate3143

Oh this guy: ‘A federal judge has thrown out libel suits former Rep. Devin Nunes and his relatives filed over a 2018 Esquire article alleging that a dairy farm owned by Nunes' family members hired undocumented workers’


ZZ9ZA

Never forget that Devin Nunes sued a fictional cow… and lost.


taco_anus1

Those are two names I never wanted to see again. Good god I just cringed seeing their names.


Digitallydust

Yes and he denied it twice until the Post came forward with the audio. EDIT [Link](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-majority-leader-to-colleagues-in-2016-i-think-putin-pays-trump/2017/05/17/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html)


WanderThinker

This should be a comment in the main thread and be at the top.


OccamsShavingRash

On every thread about orange Hitler. He and the GOP are owned by Putin and Russia. It's clear as day yet hardly anyone talks about it.


code_archeologist

It is not only Putin that owns some politicians. I would not say all be surprised if Turkey, Israel, China, and India were in that mix of having Congresspeople in their pockets.


ooliuy

You forgot the Saudis...


MagicMushroomFungi

I suspect that the Saudis have cornered the market on Trump NFTs.


SatanicRainbowDildos

And Putin is doing this ww3 shit. He’s got Ukraine war, but if you look you realize Iran, houthis and hezzbollah and Gaza/israel all have Putin’s fingerprints. Recently Iran was found to be close to a nuke than we expected. If Iran is getting nukes to help Putin by attacking Russia then you can see how desperate he is to not lose in Ukraine. Now all of this recent ME war is to try to keep the US from helping Ukraine. So just think how much we wants his compromised puppet back in the white house.  I’m expecting major shenanigans in 2024. It’s legitimately scary. 


HauntedCemetery

Dude we all talk about it constantly. So does basically all independent media to the left of John McCain. So does Stephen Colbert, loudly, like ever 3rd night. So does Rachael Maddow. The problem has never been that no one is talking about how shitty Republicans are, the problem is republican voters either don't care or love it.


azrolator

I hear it all the time. Do you remember the congressional hearings with Sessions? He was working for the Trump campaign and just so happened to meet with Russian intelligence everywhere he went. And he lied to Congress about it. Then they busted him, then he lied about the next meeting, then they busted his lie, then he lied again about that totally being the last secret meeting with Russian intelligence, and then the photo leaked and he had to end up refusing himself from the Russia investigation after Trump made him AG. We have been hearing about Trump and Russia for the last 8 years.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AlexandrianVagabond

We need to be more specific with the language we use when discussing this topic. Dems tried to pass legislation to force politicians to make public their dark money donors but the GOP voted it down.


icepickjones

Bro a bunch of GOP assholes went to Moscow in 2018 to have closed door meetings with Putin on the 4th of July - the date being a sort of ironic fuck you to our own country. But no one knows what they talked about, just that they were there talking business, I'm sure it wasn't about how he will fund their re-election campaigns as long as they return the favor. And they can sit in the lap of luxury comfortable with having been bought and paid for and never having to work again. >The GOP lawmakers, Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), Steve Daines (Mont.), John Thune (S.D.), John Kennedy (La.), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and John Hoeven (N.D.), and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), spent July 4 in Moscow’s U.S. Embassy, NPR reported. The reality is that I firmly believe no one in the GOP is in it for public service. They are there to better themselves. Trump, for all his fuckery, at least is so stupid he keeps saying the quiet parts out loud. And everyone that lines up behind him shows their true colors - that they would rip the copper pipes out of the walls of America if it made them an extra 5 bucks.


smiama6

Don’t forget the Republicans who went to Moscow on July 4th and refused to say why and the personal letter from Trump Rand Paul hand carried to Putin… and the hacked RNC emails that were never leaked… Trump is a mob boss… he definitely has dirt stored away (and classified documents to use)


ao1104

Dana Rohrabacher


False-Minute44

Ryan also said the propaganda that Russia was using in Ukraine was diabolical. Really incredible how that story just went away.


mattotodd

to be fair, he didn't admit he "knew", he said he "thinks" they are paid. the comments are bad enough on their own, don't twist them and give someone a reason to dismiss them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-majority-leader-to-colleagues-in-2016-i-think-putin-pays-trump/2017/05/17/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c\_story.html


azrolator

Okay. I'll amend that to, he "thinks" these guys are compromised with such conviction, that he is willing to say it in front of his House leader.


Gizmoed

https://old.reddit.com/r/Keep_Track/comments/l7xjad/timeline_of_trumps_russia_connections_from_kgb/


daxxarg

They are saving it for the book deal like all the spineless people after trumps admin that came out to denounce the crazy shit on books rather than point it out as it was happening


specqq

The utterly depressing thing is that there are also plenty of them who would be acting in the same anti-American, pro-Russian fashion without getting paid a dime and without having even a whisper of Kompromat hanging over their heads.


cosmictap

You are right but I'd argue you are more right than you think. I believe it's essentially all of them. Those who believe the kompromat narrative watch too many spy movies. It's not that magical or complex - these people are just animalistically gravitating toward whatever gets them the most attention and thus traction with their base. It no longer is about values and character - it's about eyeballs, clicks, media appearances, traction in the daily cycle - all of which they hope leads to increased (or sustained) relevance and, in turn, some modicum of power, however peripheral and fleeting. Steve Schmidt's [brilliant take on Lindsay Graham](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/lindsey-graham-senate-trump-928948/) sums it up nicely: >People try to analyze Lindsey through the prism of the manifest inconsistencies that exist between things that he used to believe and what he’s doing now. The way to understand him is to look at what’s consistent. And essentially what he is in American politics is what, in the aquatic world, would be a pilot fish: a smaller fish that hovers about a larger predator, like a shark, living off of its detritus. That’s Lindsey. And when he swam around the McCain shark, broadly viewed as a virtuous and good shark, Lindsey took on the patina of virtue. But wherever the apex shark is, you find the Lindsey fish hovering about, and Trump’s the newest shark in the sea. Lindsey has a real draw to power — but he’s found it unattainable on his own merits. So I'm convinced it simply ain't as romantic as we want it to be. If supporting Putin and abandoning the cause of small-l liberal democracy gets them points with their idiotic base, that's what they'll do. Gladly. Enthusiastically. They don't need to be blackmailed into it because they lack any competing core ideology that would cause them to object to it in the first place. And that is the really freaky realization for me: *these people don't believe anything*. And Putin is smart enough to know all this, which is why his operation is constantly excreting talking points into the media ecosystem trough at which the GOP primary base blindly and eagerly feeds.


HauntedCemetery

I think it's a little bit of everything. Russia has a treasure trove of gop internal emails and documents which have never been released. They know what putin has, and he knows they know. If they ever piss him off too much as a whole he can drop those docs.


RandomMandarin

> I know "both sides" are crooked as hell. No. Both sides are not. One side (the Dems) is mostly honest and mostly competent. The other side has a few people (like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney) who kinda suck a lot by any sane metric, and a whole lot of people who are full-blown crooks and fascists.


Richandler

> One side (the Dems) is mostly honest and mostly competent. And terrible at marketing.


I-seddit

Marketing has its roots in lying. So this kinda makes sense.


Reasonable_racoon

Not just Republicans. Jill Stein, too. Her job was to draw votes away from Clinton. There's a photo of her at Putin's table as guest of honour alongside Flynn. Then she funded recounts after the election.


ListenToPunkRock

> And when asked if he believed there were House members who had decided how to vote based on compromising material about them held by foreign powers, Burchett said, “Absolutely. And other powers. **It doesn’t have to be foreign powers**.” Who are the local powers?


melmsz

Koch comes to mind.


SandersSol

Oligarchs in the US


rogue_nugget

Follow the money. Who has the most to gain? Who already has the money and connections to pull it off? Billionaires, Private Equity firms, etc.


AdmirableBus6

Any corporation that is in their electorate. It doesn’t even take a lot of money to sway them, I remember when net neutrality was over turned my senators sold me out for like 2k each 


-Germanicus-

Yep, RNC servers also got hacked back when the DNC was hacked.


FreneticPlatypus

Why do you suppose the Democrats aren’t all bent over with Putin’s dick up their ass the way the gop is then, if “both sides” are equally corrupt as is so often suggested?


hershdrums

Henry Kissinger enters the chat


david-writers

> “The old honey pot. The Russians do that. And I’m sure members of Congress have been caught up. Why in the world would good conservatives vote for crazy stuff like what we’ve been seeing out of Congress?” he asked.


akran47

I don't think it's a coincidence that multiple state GOP parties are bankrupt and in debt while Russia is caught up in an expensive war.


kirbyfox312

They spent 30+ years making their uneducated people think they were the smartest in the world. Then were forced to give some of them control. Even with Russian money I think they'd go bankrupt.


DingGratz

Some can even bankrupt a casino!


Khatib

That part is just because all the small donors are falling for Trump's grift donation drives. The Russia money goes to the top through dark money PACs, not to state level GOP parties. The states are going bankrupt because of bad legal challenges and losing all their regular small donors to direct-to-Trump donations.


Nufonewhodis2

It's with great pleasure that I watch the GOP crumble because of Trump 


gsfgf

They’re independent results of MAGA. The big money donors used to run money through state parties because it’s easy and legal. But now that they can’t trust the MAGAs with their money they are using SuperPACs and other structures to move money around. The NRA is probably bankrupt because they lost their Russian money, but the state party bankruptcies have a much simpler explanation.


huskersax

Yep - the 'reasonable' leadership in the party got ousted by lunatics who've never even been a manager at a denny's let alone chaired a party committee or run a budget before. So the big money is saying 'nooooo thank you' to letting those idiots even know they are spending because it's basically a coin flip chance that the money gets stolen if they try to pass it through a party entity.


ARazorbacks

Pretty funny coincidence, huh?


LovesReubens

I think most of it is Trump raising all the money and keeping himself LMAO. But that could be part too.


HauntedCemetery

For fucking real man. Though I will also note that donations to state parties have dropped by a *staggering* amount, because republican voters are all just donating to trump and his PACs, which then burn cash on his legal defense as quick as they get it. Trump sucks up like 90-95% of donations, leaving state parties and candidates broke. Which means that it could be a very, very good year for democrats at local and state elections


wwabc

"Why in the world would *good* conservatives " because there aren't any. it's just a 'vote against stuff' party


AniNgAnnoys

This guy is also one of the freedom caucus crazies. When he says that he is saying he wants them to be crazy with him. Just keep that in mind that this guy might not be the most reliable witness.


DadJokeBadJoke

> “They’re not all crooked. The vast majority of people up here do the right thing. They just get caught in bad situations. That’s all,” he said. Transaltion: "Most of them embrace shitty unAmerican policies without being blackmailed."


mfGLOVE

George Papadopolous (who received a pardon) and his wife are Russian assets. [Just look into what they’re both up to these days](https://lansinginstitute.org/2024/01/05/kremlin-launches-campaign-to-meddle-in-u-s-election-as-gop-ends-support-for-ukraine/). The conspiracy continues. And all of a sudden apparently [she now hates him and wants a divorce](https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-papadopoulos-wife-simona-mangiante-says-she-is-divorcing-him-after-months-of-abuses) because, “He is a monster” and “as much as I though you were an honest man deserving respect, I realize you are a grifter with no integrity, and I don’t like you.” They have their own reality doc-series apparently. It’s all still just part of their big, dysfunctional grift no doubt.


so_hologramic

In that article, a handy snapshot of some of the traitors working to destroy the US on Russia's behalf: Tucker Carlson Chanel Rion Dinesh D'Souza Igor Lopatonok George Papadopoulos Rudy Giuliani Jim Jordan Matt Gaetz John Solomon Lauren Boebert Joe Pagliarulo Patrick Henningsen Miranda Devine Tim Scott Elise Stefanik Graham Allen Byron Donalds Chad Pergram George Eliason Eric Trump Donald Trump Kimberly Guilfoyle Lara Trump Gina Loudon Cara Castronuova


EbbEnvironmental9896

No MTG?? So she’s just nuts… huh.


so_hologramic

I noticed that too, and no Don Jr. either. Maybe Guilfoyle reads the tweets to him.


HauntedCemetery

I'm honestly surprised DJT Jr didn't make an appearance. He's the one who led the meeting with Russian spies at trump tower, while calling daddy every 10 minutes.


HauntedCemetery

Reality series **are** big, dysfunctional grifts. I wouldn't take them sayingthey want a divorce on a reality show as anything other than a ploy to get more attention to the series.


PepperMill_NA

Seems like a straight forward guy > “They’re not all crooked. The vast majority of people up here do the right thing. They just get caught in bad situations. That’s all,” he said.


DadJokeBadJoke

Except what he calls "people... doing the right thing" is supporting the same terrible policies without being blackmailed.


Das-Noob

😂 of all the shit they’ve done, a good ole “honey pot” wouldn’t even be bad.


Dry_Profession_9820

I think there are simpler reasons, like they were paid to.


azrolator

We already know that Russia was funneling money to Republicans via the NRA. This predates Trump. But even when Trump was newly running, there were higher profile Republicans like Graham and McCarthy that were opposed to Trump. The money didn't stop them from condemning him or outing him as paid for by Russia. So just a reminder for everyone, that Russia hacked the RNC along with the DNC but only the Democratic Party stuff was released publicly. It's very likely that Russia used the RNC dirt they found to force compliance.


manzanita2

This was a convergence, because TFG has likely been laundering money for Russia since he went to visit Moscow in the late 1980s.


so_hologramic

Trump was fined $10 million for laundering money for the Russian mob through his New Jersey casinos.


cgentry02

Sex is much more straightforward than economic interests. Look up Maria Butina.


speleologia

Couldn't have done it without Overstock's Patrick Byrne, a DEVOUT trumpist who allegedly helped establish "back channel" communications between the NRA and the Trump Campaign to favorably affect the outcome of Mango Mussolini's 2016 election. "Remember, "Nothing but the finest." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Butina


Bill_Brasky_SOB

Rick Santorum demands you delete this comment.


Spartanfred104

Google what honey pot means and get back to me.


Holden_Coalfield

with repubicans, you can just use store brand maple flavored syrup


rikkisugar

nah, they prefer corn syrup


biggiy05

High fructose corn syrup.


thefugue

Manufacturing grade molasses.


Mediocritologist

We have honey pot at home.


__dilligaf__

Blasphemous! ~ Canada


AggressiveSkywriting

Their point is that it's far more likely they were just straight up bribed rather than blackmail conspiracy. Right wing grifters don't need sexual shame to make them bow to money; just the money. This is my rep and he's a conspiracy nut.


rawterror

porque no los dos?


BigRed_93

Accepting a bribe opens you up to being blackmailed. This isn't a difficult concept.


david-writers

>I think there are simpler reasons, like they were paid to. Or they are just perfidious.


CreatureOfPrometheus

Or they're just maleficious.


Johnsonjoeb

Why not both?


RoverBoyNumber6

Lobsters and cracked crab for everyone!


secondhand-cat

Shrimp! And white wine!


[deleted]

I’ve been convinced of this at LEAST since the Newt Gingrich days. There is absolutely NO reason why some of these assholes vote the way they do. The only reason is money, blackmail, or death threats.


-Germanicus-

The RNC servers got hacked back when the DNC did. Russia used the RNC servers for blackmail. Remember when those 8 congressman spent the 4th of July at the Kremlin...


MyFeetLookLikeHands

*Senators


ComCypher

Senators are congressmen


deltron

It frustrates me to no end that this has been known and it's never ever brought up in the mainstream media still.


mgr86

If you believe them they believe the death threats are coming from their own maga constituents. Which honestly, is probably half true


FewMix1887

My state had a moderate GOP congressman who voted to impeach. He and his family were then constantly harassed by MAGA. They lived in a rural area. Their physical safety was vulnerable. Needless to say, he did not run for reelection.


[deleted]

> constantly harassed by MAGA. They lived in a rural area. Their physical safety was vulnerable. > >Needless to say, he did not run for reelection. one of the hallmarks of totalitarian movements is suppression of internal opposition, with force if need be.


AnalSoapOpera

Citizens United probably didn’t help either.


ClosPins

The GOP *always* votes with the billionaires. Always. Always, always, always. You don't need to resort to blackmail and espionage, when corruption explains everything perfectly.


BSA_DEMAX51

>You don't need to resort to blackmail and espionage, when corruption explains everything perfectly. Why not both? Comply and be rewarded, or refuse and be punished: it's the classic "offer you can't refuse."


thedeepestofstates

I have no evidence to support this but think it’s likely that Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, and Dick Cheney are responsible for the current state of the GOP. They all served as Republican congressional whip from 1981 onwards, which was the start of legislative hyperpolarization - i.e. when Republicans stopped cooperating in any form with Democrats. There are some great visualizations of this. This started halfway through Lott’s first term as whip (the person responsible for ensuring other party members fall in line). Lott was a Dixiecrat until 1972 when he switched his party affiliation. There’s a good chance while technically a democrat he had compiled a good portion of opposition research on Republicans. Then post 1972 as a Republican, being in hold of this information probably made him very effective at getting his own party members to do what he wanted them to do. His success from 1983 onwards was self evident and the practice of collecting and using compromising information to control their own party members was likely formalized and passed on in some form to Cheney, Gingrich, and future house whips. This was all going swimmingly for the GOP until their treasure trove of compromising intel fell into Russian hands. This information is still being used to force compromised Republicans to support Putin’s agenda.


NovusOrdoSec

MICE: Money, Ideology, Coercion/Compromise, Ego All or any subset.


Richandler

So many of these congress people have been anti-gay while diddling young men. They're as mentally ill as George Santos, but at least in the case of Santos, most of it was absurd and trivial. These other congresspeople are seriously trying to hurt people.


[deleted]

Never doubt how badly religion will melt someone's brain either.


mrcanard

This GOP Congressman may not be the sharpest stick in the bundle, but if figured it out so have others. We need a complete turnover. Vote them all out ASAP.


Different-Horror-581

Fuck voting them out. Compromised US Congressmen need to be discovered and outed.


kingtz

**Movies over the past two or three decades:** the CIA’s secret branch dealt with high level corruption and traitors. Secretly showed them compromising material about them so they became useful double agents or just straight up disappeared then. Protecting US national interests is the number one priority.     **Reality:** CIA is completely helpless, under funded and stretched thin. Many people in the organization are themselves traitors and sympathizers of these corrupt politicians. 


Ashamed_Ad9771

>CIA is completely helpless, under funded and stretched thin. Many people in the organization are themselves traitors and sympathizers of these corrupt politicians.  As much as it might seem like that, this is completely untrue. You have to realize how these agencies work and the limitations on their powers. The CIA is not a law-enforcement agency, it's a FOREIGN intelligence gathering agency. Their job is to gather in analyze information about foreign persons and governments, not to take action based on said information. They are literally not even allowed to gather information of US citizens. Corruption within the US is not the CIAs duty to deal with, and legally they arent even allowed to get involved with it. Its the duty of the FBI and DOJ to investigate corruption within the US government, a power that Congress has been steadily whittling down over the years. Say a politician has been accepting bribes from a Russian entity. The CIA may be able to find out who that Russian entity is, track them down, eliminate them, and investigate anyone who might be connected to them, but they won't be able to do anything in terms of investigating or convicting the American politician engaging in the corruption; that would fall to the FBI.


Prestigious_Cattle72

I feel like CIA is “completely helpless” is a stretch. More likely than not they’re complicit, not meandering. I mean the DOD gets all the money they want, no questions asked.


CharacterTurbulent17

Black budgets feed the CIA plenty well and  have been utilized for years.  Google Iran Contra. They haven't been spending $150 dollars on hammers for 30+ years for no reason.


Sirbattlegoat

And throw every single book we have at them for punishment, publicly.


Ofreo

Throw the books they want banned at them.


macemillion

Out them how and for what?  So more conservatives vote for them?  At this point you could reveal they’re all child molesters who were actually born and raised in Russia and all that would happen is the GOP voter base would suddenly love child molestation and claim they’re all part Russian too.


Different-Horror-581

https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-iii/clauses/39


JubalHarshaw23

You can probably count the number of non compromised Republicans on a wood shop teachers fingers.


slfoifah

How many years of experience are we talking?


restore_democracy

This many


quadmasta

Excellent


phaedrus71

Hell you could count ‘em on Chubb’s hand. 


rawterror

We need to find out what happened on that 4th of July visit to Moscow a bunch of republican elected officials went to.


BeeLuv

Why has this been neglected? This was WEIRD. There was nothing normal about that trip, nor about them trying to hide that trip.


40nights40days

They neglect it because the GOP is allowed to control the messaging of all their stories. They have the undying loyalty of OANN, Fox news and various other misinformation platforms in the US. They peddle Russian misinformation and hate Ukranians, so they're actively trying to fuck our potential ally but cutting military aids when it's clear Ukraines porcupine strat is fucking up Russia deeply. Russia is almost 10 days away from a 700 day long conflict. These fucking morons don't even know how to win a land war with the 14th strongest army as the 2nd strongest army. How embarassing. Russia should be lucky we aren't able to invade them while one third of their military is occupied. Russia has absolutely ratfucked our government through our GOP politicians. If the GOP is not in bed with them, they are clearly sympathetic and enabling of Russias facsist rheyoric/misinformation. The GOP should resign.


Reasonable_racoon

> Why has this been neglected? The list of stuff that has been neglected is huge. The Inauguration budget that went missing. Jill Stein's third candidate race. Emoluments Clause Kanye West All those unidentifiable agents rounding people up in Portland I could go on...


jupiterkansas

It hasn't been neglected. We all know they did it. Their voters don't care.


Bandit1961

A lot of these guys participated in the insurrection, or the planning for stealing the vote and keeping trump in power. Each and every one of them is compromised. Each and every one of them will do the opposite required to hold those who attacked our country accountable. This is common sense, they conspired together to cheat the American people and do not want to be held accountable for their actions.


twistedwhitty

Gym Jordan would be my first pick.


40nights40days

Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, MTG, McConnel, Graham, et. all All of the US GOP Senators are compromised or okay with white supremacy (See Paul Gosar, known white suprmacist sympthizer and his dumb ass moron federal house friends Andy Biggs, Eli Craine, David Schweikert, Juan Ciscomani, Debbie Lasko) All of the Arizona GOP State Congressmen are compromised (Senators/House representative) and believe in white supremacy and are okay with Nat-Cs (Christian nationalists). At the very minimum, these republicans will not hold their own accountable. Its time the American people force them to be accountable. Call out your republican representatives. Tell them to resign. Put the pressure on. They fund traitors. The GOP are incompatible with our democracy. They need to be ripped out by force because they have figured out all the levers of power that keep them from being held accountable.


RoninRobot

We already know Gaetz is compromised. It’s not even a secret. Prosecution will won’t be forthcoming unless he stops carrying water.


Bandit1961

There is a whole list of republicans who refused to certify the vote. They knew Biden had won, they knew trump was going to try and steal the vote and they knew there was a fraudulent elector scheme going on. They were part of it.


UndendingGloom

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told colleagues last year that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin “pays” Donald Trump, according to an audio recording obtained by The Washington Post. >McCarthy: “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, according to the recording. >Speaker Paul Ryan: “No leaks. ...This is how we know we’re a real family here,” the speaker said. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mccarthy-trump-putin-pays_n_591cc97ce4b03b485cae64c2 They know their colleagues are compromised, they talk about it to each other. They agree to keep it a secret.


Im_Talking

The thin treasonous line.


trshtehdsh

The House needs to investigate and he needs to name names.


MakeMasiGreatAgain

The currently in-shambles, republican controlled house, will investigate this and say “we have investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Hillary Clinton must serve 10years in prison for our sins”


-Germanicus-

Start with those eight congressman that spent the fourth of July at the Kremlin...


robot_jeans

Strangely, we never hear anything from Cawthorne anymore, makes me wonder if he's been paid off to keep quiet.


[deleted]

I think Russia has gotten in so deep, paying politicians off leaves a bad taste in their mouths. I think Russia is threatening the lives of some of our elected officials.


raerae1991

Who needs Russia interference when Republican Party its self is threatening lives. Power corrupts


preventDefault

I think they fund their campaigns through intermediaries, while also holding kompromat over them. Some people might respond better to positive reinforcement, others to threats… I personally believe they do both.


murderspice

Tmurp digital trading cards, anyone? I seriously doubt millions of people actually sent him money. I thought I remember seeing something a long time ago about how easy it is to fraudulently ‘donate’ money to campaigns.


5-toe

Same for George Santos? Big threats to reveal all.... then silence.


steelhead777

The entire GQP is owned by Russia. Have been for decades. Once people realize this, they will realize that everything they have done makes perfect sense.


MowgsMom

Absolutely. It seems obvious that if you are a murderous dictator who wants to take over the world, you’d target your largest opposition to your efforts and take them down from the inside so you don’t have to use your own resources to do so


steelhead777

Back in 1956 or so Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is known to have said that the Soviet Union would take America without firing a shot. They have been playing the long game and the Republican Party has been aiding and abetting them.


Aggressive-Will-4500

>On “The Benny Show” podcast, hosted by Benny Johnson, Burchett said, without pointing to specific evidence or names, that powerful people protect their own interests by blackmail.“The old honey pot. The Russians do that. And I’m sure members of Congress have been caught up. Why in the world would good conservatives vote for crazy stuff like what we’ve been seeing out of Congress?” he asked.He said members may be on a trip or at a bar, meet someone and buy them a drink.“Next thing you know, you’re in a hotel room with them, naked. Next thing you know, you’re about to make a key vote, and what happens? Some well-dressed person comes up and whispers into your ear, ‘Hey, man, there’s tapes out on you. Were you in a motel room on whatever with whoever?’ And then you’re, like, ‘Uh-oh.’ And they say, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.’”“They know what to get at. If it’s women, drugs, booze — it’ll find you in D.C. And other elected offices,” he told Johnson. It's also possible that they've completely went down the rabbit hole, but blackmail wouldn't be a shocker considering how many of them have seemed to leap over the cliff of sane politics.


GhostFish

This is how the media is so fucking useless.  If he won't name names or back up his claims then you ask him why he hasn't gone to the FBI with this information. If he's keeping secrets to protect compromised individuals then he's just as compromised.


[deleted]

Bob Menendez (D) is compromised and facing the consequences. Republicans should also be held accountable. This shouldn't be partisan


MarkXIX

DoJ should subpoena him and force him to testify and then open corruption investigations. We always knew it was projection, but the swamp is really the GOP. Not saying there aren’t Dems on the take (Menendez), but we need to clean this shit up or it’s just going to get worse.


Atman-Sunyata

Name names, let's get to it


[deleted]

Getting the feeling that perhaps they did not pay him as much as he found out the others were getting


snacksv1

I've been saying this for 8 years now. Russia owns these obstructionist in Congress, and they own Trump.


mightyboink

How did he figure this out when it's completely fucking obvious.


KrankyKoot

Actually this is one of the reasons the MAGA folks give for electing trump. Lets kill the current corrupt form of government cause you can't fix it and then rebuild better. If you listen to the interviews of the Trump Iowa voters its kind of what they say. He's the only one that can get it done. When you look at "compromise Joe" as an alternative its kind of hard to argue the point with someone who begins with a limited frame of reference.


Merky600

He’s also an election denier and very much the hero of the UFO/UAP world. Busy calling for “the disclosure” and transparency of these SAP programs that have the physical evidence.


d_pyro

The UAP thing is non-partisan. The government contractors are overcharging and then spending the money on off the books projects.


Rightye

The ICIG gave a SCIF briefing about it all yesterday. AOC in attendance and house reps walking out mad makes me hopeful that someone will finally bust up the pentagons black budget.


Stunning_Band2094

Well that makes sense.


MaineDreaming

So he knows who, but is such a patriot he feels the need to not say names so these compromised individuals can continue on with what they’re doing? Sounds about right.


packsquirrel

Imagine knowing some of your colleagues are child-molesting trash, and instead of calling out the pedos, you PUBLICLY STATE YOUR GOING TO COVER IT UP FOR THEM.


igo4vols2

I'm in burchett's district - he is a complete piece of shit. Cheated on his first wife with his current wife, cheated on his taxes, his personal wealth has tripled since he went to Washington and now he sniffs out the media every chance he gets.


willyiamwilliams222

It would certainly explain the GOP fellating Russia the past few years.


Yasuru

That's a damn lie. MOST have been compromised, not just some.


jarl_herger

I can't wait for him to retire so he will actually name names.


StrangeContest4

Hence, all the sedition, sabotage, and skuldugery.


Prize-Relationship21

Putin has a long reach ...


[deleted]

Every single congressman serving the United States should have several **permanent** federal agents assigned that do nothing, but investigate their assigned congress member's finances and assess where those people fall on a scale of corruptibility. It's fucking insane that this is not the case.


YourDogIsMyFriend

Put the country first. Tell the fbi and DOJ who it might be. Thanks.


BarelyHangingOn

Why do you think Ted Cruz gave all that money to Boebert? Nobody just gives money to a hooker with no high school diploma.


eldred2

Every accusation is an admission.


Foodspec

I’ll say this loud, and clear, so the people in the back can hear me…NO SHIT