The great, new rallying location for the freedumb fighters? Mar-I-Lieo. The fix and Deathsantis are in.
SCOOP: PALM BEACH MAKES CONTINGENCY PLANS IN CASE TRUMP IS INDICTED — Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla.,have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney CY VANCE could indict former President DONALD TRUMP while he’s at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions.
Among the topics discussed in those meetings: how to handle the thorny extradition issues that could arise if an indictment moves forward.
An obscure clause in Florida’s statute on interstate extradition gives Gov. RON DESANTIS the ability to intervene and even investigate whether an indicted “person ought to be surrendered” to law enforcement officials from another state — which means that asMar-a-Lago prepares to close down for the season and Trump relocates to Bedminster, N.J., it isn’t just the Florida heat he’s leaving behind: He could lose a key piece of political protection.
“The statute leaves room for interpretation that the governor has the power to order a review and potentially not comply with the extradition notice,” says JOE ABRUZZO, clerk of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, the official who would be in charge of opening a potential fugitive-at-large case.
One wrinkle to Abruzzo’s potential role in all of this: He is a former close associate of President JOE BIDEN’S younger brother, FRANK. Abruzzo tells Playbook that despite his friendship with the Biden family, “the full extent of the law will be followed and carried out appropriately, without bias.”
If an indictment comes down while Trump is in Bedminster for the summer, this could all play out very differently.New Jersey’s extradition statute is similar to Florida’s, giving the governor the power to investigate an out-of-state warrant. But its governor is Democrat PHIL MURPHY, who is no fan of Trump’s, and would not likely intervene to stop Trump’s extradition. In the event of an indictment, Trump’s lawyers could also negotiate a condition of surrender, which could cut local law enforcement out. An attorney for Trump declined to comment.
With Trump settling down in New Jersey for the next few months, Florida is unlikely to have to sort through this any time soon. But the clock is ticking on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation: On March 12, Vance said in a statement that he will retire at the end of 2021, and speculation abounds that his office — which is currently investigating whether Trump and his businesses committed banking and tax fraud, among other lines of inquiry — could issue indictments before passing the case along to his successor.
And that means that Palm Beach County may yet have to get involved— depending on whether Trump is indicted, of course, and whether that happens after Mar-a-Lago reopens in the fall.
Company: Ex-Trump lawyer raiding nonprofit for personal use
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Today
Former Trump attorney and self-proclaimed “Kraken releaser” Sidney Powell has told prospective donors that her group, Defending the Republic, is a legal defense fund to protect the integrity of U.S. elections.
But the company suing Powell over her baseless claims of a rigged presidential election says the true beneficiary of her social welfare organization is Powell herself.
Dominion Voting Systems claims Powell has raided Defending the Republic's coffers to pay for personal legal expenses, citing her own remarks from a radio interview. The Denver-based voting technology vendor sued Powell and others who spread false claims that the company helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump.
“Now, Powell seeks to abuse the corporate forms she created for her law firm and fundraising website to hide funds that she raised through her defamatory campaign, shielding those funds from the very company that was harmed by the defamatory campaign,” Dominion lawyers wrote in a May 5 court filing.
The dispute shines a light on how Trump allies continue to support, spread and allegedly profit from lies about fraud in the 2020 election. Although the election is settled, and all major court challenges have been dismissed, Powell's legal defense fund continues to raise money, with help from conspiracy-minded supporters like QAnon adherents.
Her group will receive a cut of proceeds from ticket sales for a Memorial Day weekend conference in Dallas called the "For God & Country Patriot Roundup," the event's website says. Some leading purveyors of far-right conspiracy theories are headliners, including Powell, pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood and former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.
Event organizer John Sabal, known as “QAnon John" to followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, declined to explain the decision to financially support Powell's nonprofit, also known as DTR, but said the money isn't for her personal benefit.
“As far as I know, DTR is benefiting a bunch of different causes. Those I will not speak on, but you can talk to her about that,” he said.
Powell didn't respond to interview requests, but one of her attorneys said she denies Dominion’s accusations. Powell's personal legal bills are covered by her malpractice carrier, and her nonprofit has a proper corporate structure with a board of directors, said her lawyer, Howard Kleinhendler.
“She does not have unfettered control over its funds or how the funds are spent," Kleinhendler wrote in an email. “DTR intends to comply with all federal and state filing requirements when they are due. At that time you as well as the rest of the world will see the necessary financials.”
Trump and his allies filed more than 50 lawsuits in multiple states over the election and lost at every turn. Powell and Rudy Giuliani were among the lawyers behind the cases claiming a conspiracy by Democrats, despite Republican state leaders, and Trump’s own attorney general and other administration officials, publicly stating there was no major election fraud. Powell appeared with Giuliani at a press conference and made multiple TV appearances.
But after Powell threatened to “blow up” Georgia with a “biblical” court filing, the Trump legal team distanced itself from her, saying she was not working on their behalf. She later made the comment on how she would release “the Kraken," an apparent reference to the film “Clash of the Titans” in which Zeus gives the order to release the mythical sea monster.
In a November interview, Powell noted she was not being paid by the Trump campaign but "by the people of the United States of America.”
Tickets for the Dallas conference cost $500 for general admission and $1,000 for VIP passes. The event's website doesn't name other beneficiaries or specify how much money goes to Powell's nonprofit. Much of the conference was supposed to be held at a complex called Gilley’s Dallas, but Sabal said the venue canceled his booking after news coverage of the event’s QAnon connections.
QAnon followers believe Trump has been secretly fighting a cabal of Satan-worshipping "deep state" enemies, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites operating a child sex trafficking ring.
Logan Strain, a conspiracy theory researcher who co-hosts the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast, said Powell has appeared on QAnon promoters' YouTube channels and is viewed as a “hero of the republic” among QAnon followers. It wouldn't surprise Strain if Powell is trying to harness the movement as a fundraising source.
“There is a great deal of money to be made in promoting and catering to QAnon,” he said. “This is why a lot of people suspected it was sort of a money-making grift, at least in part, from the beginning.”
Defending the Republic describes itself as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, but it isn’t listed in an IRS database of tax-exempt organizations. Groups recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) are exempt from paying taxes on income, including donations, but those donations aren't tax deductible as charitable contributions.
Powell's website says donors can mail checks to an address in West Palm Beach, Florida, that corresponds with a UPS Store. Under the same address, Defending the Republic Inc. registered in February with Florida's Division of Corporations as a nonprofit formed for “social welfare purposes.”
Records link other leading conspiracy theorists from Trump's orbit to Powell's nonprofit. Powell, Wood, Flynn and Flynn's brother, Joseph, were named as directors of Defending the Republic in December 2020 filings with the Texas secretary of state’s office.
Joseph Flynn said in a text message that he's no longer a director but declined to explain why.
“We are not interested in talking to the fake news media,” Flynn wrote.
Wood recalls Powell asking him to serve as a director, but said he hasn't done any work on the nonprofit.
“She didn't follow up with me about it,” he said,
Articles of incorporation filed in Florida in February listed MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell as a director. But Lindell said he asked to be removed as a director of Defending the Republic after less than one week because he decided to form his own legal defense fund. Lindell is also being sued by Dominion.
“I went on my own because I don't have time for other people's stuff. I want to focus on what I’m doing," Lindell said.
Defending the Republic’s chairman and CEO is former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, whose comments about the “deep state” led to his resignation from the company in 2019.
To support its claim that Powell is using nonprofit money for her personal legal defense, Dominion cited her remarks during a Dec. 29 appearance on “The Rush Limbaugh Show." Powell told the radio show's guest host that listeners could go to her website to donate to the nonprofit “that is working to help defend all these cases and to defend me now that I’m under a massive attack from the attorney general of Michigan and the city of Detroit and everything else."
Michigan’s governor, attorney general and secretary of state — all Democrats — have urged state bar officials in Texas and Michigan to permanently disbar Powell for ethical violations over election lawsuits.
Meanwhile, Eric Coomer, Dominion’s security director, has filed a separate defamation suit in Colorado against Powell, her law firm, Defending the Republic and others. Another voting technology firm, Smartmatic USA Corp., sued Powell in New York over her bogus election-fixing claims.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, asked a federal court to order Powell and other lawyers who challenged Wisconsin’s election results to cover $106,000 in state legal fees. Powell called it a frivolous request. A judge hasn't resolved the dispute yet.
Dominion sued Powell in federal court on Jan. 8, seeking over $1.3 billion in damages against her, her law firm and her fundraising website. The company claimed Powell treated Defending the Republic “as her personal funds, redirecting them to the law firm she controls and dominates ... and raiding them to pay for her personal legal defense.”
A nonprofit organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, as Defending the Republic claims to be, can engage in some political activities provided that's not its primary activity. Unlike political committees, tax-exempt social welfare groups don’t have to disclose donors. Forms notifying the IRS of a group's intent to operate as a 501(c)(4) aren't public records, according to an IRS spokesman.
Samuel Brunson, a tax law professor at Loyola University in Chicago, said the IRS bars 501(c)(4) groups from spending money for the benefit of private individuals. Doing that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, he added.
“In general, the IRS doesn’t police it very closely,” Brunson said.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I take offense to this considering I rode a short bus. I will not be painted in a derogative manner for the transportation I was provided to and from my vocational school...
I take offense to this considering I rode a short bus. I will not be painted in a derogative manner for the transportation I was provided to and from my vocational school...
before the pandemic, I rode a short bus to work occasionally. lol. (small transit bus that serves only one tiny community to and from downtown).
Post edited by HughFreakingDillon on
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I take offense to this considering I rode a short bus. I will not be painted in a derogative manner for the transportation I was provided to and from my vocational school...
before the pandemic, I rode a short bus to work occasionally. lol. (small transit bus that serves only one tiny community to and from downtown).
I take offense to this considering I rode a short bus. I will not be painted in a derogative manner for the transportation I was provided to and from my vocational school...
before the pandemic, I rode a short bus to work occasionally. lol. (small transit bus that serves only one tiny community to and from downtown).
That is not a short bus...
This was my chariot!
I know it's not a "short bus" short bus, but it's literally a short bus. shorter than all the other transit busses. short bus for adults, I suppose.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I take offense to this considering I rode a short bus. I will not be painted in a derogative manner for the transportation I was provided to and from my vocational school...
before the pandemic, I rode a short bus to work occasionally. lol. (small transit bus that serves only one tiny community to and from downtown).
That is not a short bus...
This was my chariot!
I know it's not a "short bus" short bus, but it's literally a short bus. shorter than all the other transit busses. short bus for adults, I suppose.
Oh the things we would do on that bus ride... If those windows could talk.
What a slimy piece of trash. Special needs people are worthy of respect and empathy. He has no right to compare them to the treasonist, insurrectionists that stormed the Capitol. My wife is a Special Education teacher, and that kind of talk around her would result in an ass chewing that would render the person unable to sit down for a long while.
What a slimy piece of trash. Special needs people are worthy of respect and empathy. He has no right to compare them to the treasonist, insurrectionists that stormed the Capitol. My wife is a Special Education teacher, and that kind of talk around her would result in an ass chewing that would render the person unable to sit down for a long while.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
" I know I am going to sound like an insensitive A-hole and insult a bunch of people who don't deserve it comparing them to my criminal client and his fellow treasonists, but here we go." And I agree, there a lot of people who talk like that and nobody bats an eye.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
yeah, there's only one guy I know still who still occasionally uses the word "retard" and he's not the highest class individual.
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
yeah, there's only one guy I know still who still occasionally uses the word "retard" and he's not the highest class individual.
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
I'll take a guess that you don't dwell in old man bars or construction sites?
My IQ goes down when I am at either.
In traveling I encounter people like this all the time. So to me ,it's not shocking. It's like saying that there aren't racists around.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
yeah, there's only one guy I know still who still occasionally uses the word "retard" and he's not the highest class individual.
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
I'll take a guess that you don't dwell in old man bars or construction sites?
My IQ goes down when I am at either.
In traveling I encounter people like this all the time. So to me ,it's not shocking. It's like saying that there aren't racists around.
how often do you hear lawyers talking like this?
how often do you hear lawyers talking like this to a judge?
i'm gonna guess seldom/never and never. of course we know people talk like this all over the place. it's shocking where it's coming from and the context it's said in.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
yeah, there's only one guy I know still who still occasionally uses the word "retard" and he's not the highest class individual.
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
I'll take a guess that you don't dwell in old man bars or construction sites?
My IQ goes down when I am at either.
In traveling I encounter people like this all the time. So to me ,it's not shocking. It's like saying that there aren't racists around.
Not in some time, but I also don't think those two examples / demographics are reflective of "much of the US".
My old man is a retired carpenter, and I know for a fact he & his friends don't sit around using that language... at least not to the extent that attorney did, and these guys are the furthest thing from PC or woke or whatever you want to call it.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
I couldn't believe that was actually a fucking lawyer that said that, ON THE RECORD.
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
He did say that it wouldn't sound very good but to drive his point home he did.
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
If that's the case, then I'm living in quite the bubble; the amount of people I know who would talk like this in even an unprofessional setting is few & far between, never mind in a professional capacity.
yeah, there's only one guy I know still who still occasionally uses the word "retard" and he's not the highest class individual.
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
I'll take a guess that you don't dwell in old man bars or construction sites?
My IQ goes down when I am at either.
In traveling I encounter people like this all the time. So to me ,it's not shocking. It's like saying that there aren't racists around.
how often do you hear lawyers talking like this?
how often do you hear lawyers talking like this to a judge?
i'm gonna guess seldom/never and never. of course we know people talk like this all over the place. it's shocking where it's coming from and the context it's said in.
I am not shocked by anything anymore. Whole damn world has gone apey to quote Oh Brother where art though.
This is part of their tactics now, to talk like this, on purpose.
It’s all coming together quite nicely, see? What’s today? The 10th, why of course. What month is it? The 6th, for sure. What does 10 + 6 equal? Why 16 of course but you need to stay with me. What else was today? Why Pearl Jam’s newsletter day. And you call yourself a fan? Okay, so, how many words in the name “Pearl Jam?” Two you dolts! What’s 16 divided by 2? Yes, yes, yes, now you’re getting it! 8! And what month is the 8th month? C’mon, use your fingers if you need too, c’mon now! Yes! Yes! Yes! That’s it! AUGUST! POOTWH returns to his rightful Oval in August! See? All coming together. You’re a believer now, I’ll bet!
It’s all coming together quite nicely, see? What’s today? The 10th, why of course. What month is it? The 6th, for sure. What does 10 + 6 equal? Why 16 of course but you need to stay with me. What else was today? Why Pearl Jam’s newsletter day. And you call yourself a fan? Okay, so, how many words in the name “Pearl Jam?” Two you dolts! What’s 16 divided by 2? Yes, yes, yes, now you’re getting it! 8! And what month is the 8th month? C’mon, use your fingers if you need too, c’mon now! Yes! Yes! Yes! That’s it! AUGUST! POOTWH returns to his rightful Oval in August! See? All coming together. You’re a believer now, I’ll bet!
OMG I laughed so loud at this. It's sad that I laugh because people really do think that this is real...
You want some real grotesquery? I stumbled upon this POOTWH burrow. Rat burrow that is. And this was the tamer one. Fucking guy pops up at wakes blathering about how he’ll be back in August. Fuck.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Comments
SCOOP: PALM BEACH MAKES CONTINGENCY PLANS IN CASE TRUMP IS INDICTED — Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney CY VANCE could indict former President DONALD TRUMP while he’s at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions.
Among the topics discussed in those meetings: how to handle the thorny extradition issues that could arise if an indictment moves forward.
An obscure clause in Florida’s statute on interstate extradition gives Gov. RON DESANTIS the ability to intervene and even investigate whether an indicted “person ought to be surrendered” to law enforcement officials from another state — which means that as Mar-a-Lago prepares to close down for the season and Trump relocates to Bedminster, N.J., it isn’t just the Florida heat he’s leaving behind: He could lose a key piece of political protection.
“The statute leaves room for interpretation that the governor has the power to order a review and potentially not comply with the extradition notice,” says JOE ABRUZZO, clerk of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, the official who would be in charge of opening a potential fugitive-at-large case.
One wrinkle to Abruzzo’s potential role in all of this: He is a former close associate of President JOE BIDEN’S younger brother, FRANK. Abruzzo tells Playbook that despite his friendship with the Biden family, “the full extent of the law will be followed and carried out appropriately, without bias.”
If an indictment comes down while Trump is in Bedminster for the summer, this could all play out very differently. New Jersey’s extradition statute is similar to Florida’s, giving the governor the power to investigate an out-of-state warrant. But its governor is Democrat PHIL MURPHY, who is no fan of Trump’s, and would not likely intervene to stop Trump’s extradition. In the event of an indictment, Trump’s lawyers could also negotiate a condition of surrender, which could cut local law enforcement out. An attorney for Trump declined to comment.
With Trump settling down in New Jersey for the next few months, Florida is unlikely to have to sort through this any time soon. But the clock is ticking on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation: On March 12, Vance said in a statement that he will retire at the end of 2021, and speculation abounds that his office — which is currently investigating whether Trump and his businesses committed banking and tax fraud, among other lines of inquiry — could issue indictments before passing the case along to his successor.
And that means that Palm Beach County may yet have to get involved — depending on whether Trump is indicted, of course, and whether that happens after Mar-a-Lago reopens in the fall.
Good Thursday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook, where we honor all legitimate extradition requests. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
POLITICO Playbook: How Palm Beach is preparing for a possible Trump indictment - POLITICO
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Former Trump attorney and self-proclaimed “Kraken releaser” Sidney Powell has told prospective donors that her group, Defending the Republic, is a legal defense fund to protect the integrity of U.S. elections.
But the company suing Powell over her baseless claims of a rigged presidential election says the true beneficiary of her social welfare organization is Powell herself.
Dominion Voting Systems claims Powell has raided Defending the Republic's coffers to pay for personal legal expenses, citing her own remarks from a radio interview. The Denver-based voting technology vendor sued Powell and others who spread false claims that the company helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump.
“Now, Powell seeks to abuse the corporate forms she created for her law firm and fundraising website to hide funds that she raised through her defamatory campaign, shielding those funds from the very company that was harmed by the defamatory campaign,” Dominion lawyers wrote in a May 5 court filing.
The dispute shines a light on how Trump allies continue to support, spread and allegedly profit from lies about fraud in the 2020 election. Although the election is settled, and all major court challenges have been dismissed, Powell's legal defense fund continues to raise money, with help from conspiracy-minded supporters like QAnon adherents.
Her group will receive a cut of proceeds from ticket sales for a Memorial Day weekend conference in Dallas called the "For God & Country Patriot Roundup," the event's website says. Some leading purveyors of far-right conspiracy theories are headliners, including Powell, pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood and former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.
Event organizer John Sabal, known as “QAnon John" to followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, declined to explain the decision to financially support Powell's nonprofit, also known as DTR, but said the money isn't for her personal benefit.
“As far as I know, DTR is benefiting a bunch of different causes. Those I will not speak on, but you can talk to her about that,” he said.
Powell didn't respond to interview requests, but one of her attorneys said she denies Dominion’s accusations. Powell's personal legal bills are covered by her malpractice carrier, and her nonprofit has a proper corporate structure with a board of directors, said her lawyer, Howard Kleinhendler.
“She does not have unfettered control over its funds or how the funds are spent," Kleinhendler wrote in an email. “DTR intends to comply with all federal and state filing requirements when they are due. At that time you as well as the rest of the world will see the necessary financials.”
Trump and his allies filed more than 50 lawsuits in multiple states over the election and lost at every turn. Powell and Rudy Giuliani were among the lawyers behind the cases claiming a conspiracy by Democrats, despite Republican state leaders, and Trump’s own attorney general and other administration officials, publicly stating there was no major election fraud. Powell appeared with Giuliani at a press conference and made multiple TV appearances.
But after Powell threatened to “blow up” Georgia with a “biblical” court filing, the Trump legal team distanced itself from her, saying she was not working on their behalf. She later made the comment on how she would release “the Kraken," an apparent reference to the film “Clash of the Titans” in which Zeus gives the order to release the mythical sea monster.
In a November interview, Powell noted she was not being paid by the Trump campaign but "by the people of the United States of America.”
Tickets for the Dallas conference cost $500 for general admission and $1,000 for VIP passes. The event's website doesn't name other beneficiaries or specify how much money goes to Powell's nonprofit. Much of the conference was supposed to be held at a complex called Gilley’s Dallas, but Sabal said the venue canceled his booking after news coverage of the event’s QAnon connections.
QAnon followers believe Trump has been secretly fighting a cabal of Satan-worshipping "deep state" enemies, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites operating a child sex trafficking ring.
Logan Strain, a conspiracy theory researcher who co-hosts the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast, said Powell has appeared on QAnon promoters' YouTube channels and is viewed as a “hero of the republic” among QAnon followers. It wouldn't surprise Strain if Powell is trying to harness the movement as a fundraising source.
“There is a great deal of money to be made in promoting and catering to QAnon,” he said. “This is why a lot of people suspected it was sort of a money-making grift, at least in part, from the beginning.”
Defending the Republic describes itself as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, but it isn’t listed in an IRS database of tax-exempt organizations. Groups recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) are exempt from paying taxes on income, including donations, but those donations aren't tax deductible as charitable contributions.
Powell's website says donors can mail checks to an address in West Palm Beach, Florida, that corresponds with a UPS Store. Under the same address, Defending the Republic Inc. registered in February with Florida's Division of Corporations as a nonprofit formed for “social welfare purposes.”
Records link other leading conspiracy theorists from Trump's orbit to Powell's nonprofit. Powell, Wood, Flynn and Flynn's brother, Joseph, were named as directors of Defending the Republic in December 2020 filings with the Texas secretary of state’s office.
Joseph Flynn said in a text message that he's no longer a director but declined to explain why.
“We are not interested in talking to the fake news media,” Flynn wrote.
Wood recalls Powell asking him to serve as a director, but said he hasn't done any work on the nonprofit.
“She didn't follow up with me about it,” he said,
Articles of incorporation filed in Florida in February listed MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell as a director. But Lindell said he asked to be removed as a director of Defending the Republic after less than one week because he decided to form his own legal defense fund. Lindell is also being sued by Dominion.
“I went on my own because I don't have time for other people's stuff. I want to focus on what I’m doing," Lindell said.
Defending the Republic’s chairman and CEO is former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, whose comments about the “deep state” led to his resignation from the company in 2019.
To support its claim that Powell is using nonprofit money for her personal legal defense, Dominion cited her remarks during a Dec. 29 appearance on “The Rush Limbaugh Show." Powell told the radio show's guest host that listeners could go to her website to donate to the nonprofit “that is working to help defend all these cases and to defend me now that I’m under a massive attack from the attorney general of Michigan and the city of Detroit and everything else."
Michigan’s governor, attorney general and secretary of state — all Democrats — have urged state bar officials in Texas and Michigan to permanently disbar Powell for ethical violations over election lawsuits.
Meanwhile, Eric Coomer, Dominion’s security director, has filed a separate defamation suit in Colorado against Powell, her law firm, Defending the Republic and others. Another voting technology firm, Smartmatic USA Corp., sued Powell in New York over her bogus election-fixing claims.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, asked a federal court to order Powell and other lawyers who challenged Wisconsin’s election results to cover $106,000 in state legal fees. Powell called it a frivolous request. A judge hasn't resolved the dispute yet.
Dominion sued Powell in federal court on Jan. 8, seeking over $1.3 billion in damages against her, her law firm and her fundraising website. The company claimed Powell treated Defending the Republic “as her personal funds, redirecting them to the law firm she controls and dominates ... and raiding them to pay for her personal legal defense.”
A nonprofit organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, as Defending the Republic claims to be, can engage in some political activities provided that's not its primary activity. Unlike political committees, tax-exempt social welfare groups don’t have to disclose donors. Forms notifying the IRS of a group's intent to operate as a 501(c)(4) aren't public records, according to an IRS spokesman.
Samuel Brunson, a tax law professor at Loyola University in Chicago, said the IRS bars 501(c)(4) groups from spending money for the benefit of private individuals. Doing that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, he added.
“In general, the IRS doesn’t police it very closely,” Brunson said.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://apple.news/A-Tki_nmgSde8bCex-uje7Q
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
-EV 8/14/93
This was my chariot!
-EV 8/14/93
-EV 8/14/93
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
-EV 8/14/93
ABOUT HIS CLIENT......
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Meh, much of the US still talks like this and shouldn't be a surprise.
-EV 8/14/93
and possibly my mother, but you know...different generation.
-EV 8/14/93
My IQ goes down when I am at either.
In traveling I encounter people like this all the time. So to me ,it's not shocking. It's like saying that there aren't racists around.
how often do you hear lawyers talking like this to a judge?
i'm gonna guess seldom/never and never. of course we know people talk like this all over the place. it's shocking where it's coming from and the context it's said in.
-EV 8/14/93
My old man is a retired carpenter, and I know for a fact he & his friends don't sit around using that language... at least not to the extent that attorney did, and these guys are the furthest thing from PC or woke or whatever you want to call it.
This is part of their tactics now, to talk like this, on purpose.
Mad world we live in. Mad.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
https://instagram.com/trump.family45?utm_medium=copy_link
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/why-are-right-wing-conspiracies-so-obsessed-with-pedophilia/
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©