Dakota Beacon

There is an old adage that helps us understand political jockeying – “Follow the money.”

How is it that politicians of modest means are elected to office, enter the Washington, DC’s culture, and become wealthy? In most instances the practice is quite legal and not due to loopholes. When in office long enough many politicians learn to game the system and parlay their position to their financial advantage. Term limits anyone?

Two recent books are a must read for anyone intent on understanding money, politics, and corruption. Both are authored by Peter Schweizer. The first recommendation is “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” The second recommendation is “Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends.”

Schweizer’s professional goal focuses on uncovering political corruption. One of his earliest books, “Throw Them All Out,” exposed congressional insider trading. His alert led to the passage of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) of April 4, 2012. It passed both houses of Congress unanimously with little debate. Odd. Wonder why?!

Another of Schweizer’s early books was “Extortion” in which he illustrated the crime syndicate tactics used by politicians to reap wealth for themselves.

Then came Schweizer’s blockbuster book “Clinton Cash” describing the blurry interplay of politics, philanthropy, and business involving the Clinton foundation formally known as The Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Their activities have been called variously pay-to-play, influence peddling, and a public-private partnership. In any case, the graft and corruption smell to high heaven. Tammany Hall and the Huey Long family of Louisiana are chump change compared to the Clinton family activities.

It works like this. Bill Clinton visits “friends” in a third world country. A deal is made, usually involving natural resources such as oil, uranium, or timber. Secretary of State Hillary finagles the legal niceties skirting federal law. In anticipation of being anointed President of the US, the “friends” in the third world country contribute to the Clinton Foundation in hopes of favorable treatment once she becomes President.

There are over 60 pages of source material in Schweizer’s book cataloging years of incidents of financial malfeasance by the Clintons.

Corruption never takes time off. In his most recent book, “Secret Empires,” Schweizer describes a new type of corruption. This new practice involves much larger sums of money than ever previously encountered. It makes Congressman William Jefferson’s (D-LA) bribery conviction in which the FBI found $90,000 of “cold” cash in Jefferson’s Washington, DC home freezer look like child’s play.

Schweizer has a wide open venue because no one else in the media is covering the corruption scene. Other journalists have barely glanced at problematic deals made by people close to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and others. Their behavior is the stuff of third world regimes. Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, gained fame and fortune while his father was US Vice President and facilitated Hunter’s financial fortune via the Ukraine’s oil business.

President Obama jimmied regulations in the energy sector to depress certain stock prices. Then, friends of Obama, including George Soros, bought the stocks. Regulations were then eased again allowing the stock prices to rise and the owners could then sell at a profit with the expectation of contributions to Obama’s coffers.

Based on Schweizer’s book, even Senator Mitch McConnell could come under federal scrutiny with the suggestion that he has taken official actions benefiting his wife, Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, and his Chinese relatives.

Tucker Carlson of Fox News was interviewed by Matthew Boyle of Breitbart News on December 28, 2019. In the interview, Carlson astutely voiced the premise that people across the US do not see either Republican or Democrat leaders doing anything for them. These political leaders have not borne fruit for the American public. The American perception is that these leaders do not care about the US but only about themselves and how they can profit from public service. And that is why “outsider” Trump is now president. The “swamp,” as Carlson sees it, is more defined than ever. Politicians cannot be trusted.

If Peter Schweizer’s research bears any validity, and surely it must, then it is certainly borne out by Carlson’s visualization of the American landscape and the bipartisan failure of our political leadership.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).