Insurrecting for Fun & Profit
If Trump can do it, why can’t they?
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Daniel Goodwyn of Texas is the latest domestic terrorist to plead guilty to partaking in the January 6, 2021 failed coup d’etat against the US government.
As if to prove to the world that his mea culpa was disingenuous and force-fed down his throat, he immediately showed up on Tucker Carlson’s now-defunct Fox News white power hour and urged supporters and fellow traveling white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and any other “sympathizers” and kindred souls to send money forthwith to him and other J-6 “political prisoners.”
Unfortunately for Goodwyn, Justice Department prosecutors caught Goodwyn’s act on Carlson’s show and promptly beseeched the court to impose a $25,000 fine, in addition to his prison sentence. $25K would just about cover and offset the amount of money that Goodwyn attracted during and immediately following his appearance with Carlson.
“He should not be able to use his own notoriety gained in the commission of his crimes to ‘capitalize’ on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” so sayeth a prosecutor in a court filing.
Goodwyn is scheduled to be sentenced for those crimes next month.
The DOJ not only sought to end Goodwyn’s profiteering from his crimes, but also to prevent other coup plotters and participants from following in his footsteps. After all, Justice told the court, these are folk who “shook the foundations of American democracy.”
The Associated Press reports that as per court filings, dozens of the over 1,000 insurrectionists have established online fundraising vehicles purportedly to garner help with legal fees. The feds readily acknowledge that seeking help for attorneys’ expenses is legal and normal. But these appeals cross a bright and glaring legal line since much of the money Goodwyn and his friends raised is going directly into their bank accounts rather to any attorneys. At best, that’s theft by deception; and at worst, it’s wire fraud.
Why would any attorneys go along with such a thing anyway? Because most of these defendants were given court-appointed lawyers and/or federal public defenders who are paid by…you guessed it…you and me, the long-suffering American taxpayers. That is, absolutely no…
