Photograph shows conservative activist handing slip to Darin McCann and Marlene Brady holding a similar paper
Controversy has engulfed Wyoming’s state legislature after a conservative activist was photographed handing checks to Republican lawmakers on the state house floor, in an incident that has highlighted intra-conservative divisions and the role of money in the Cowboy state’s politics.
The political storm started on 9 February, when Karlee Provenza, a Democratic lawmaker, took a photo showing Rebecca Bextel, a conservative activist and committeewoman for the Teton county Republican party, handing a check to Darin McCann, a Republican representative, on the legislative floor. Marlene Brady, another Republican representative, stands in the photo’s background, a similar piece of paper pinched between her fingers.
“You have a person from the richest county in the country coming down to Cheyenne to hand out checks on the house floor,” Provenza said. “I have never seen something so egregious.”
“These legislators, myself included, are now guilty until we can prove that we’re innocent. How is that right in this country? Isn’t that a little bit backwards?”
It really is.
This dude was so close to accidentally having empathy for immigrants.
American politicians lining their pockets. What’s so suddenly unique about that?
The fact that they think they don’t need to hide it anymore.
That’s what’s new. And the consequences for everyone else are pretty fucking dire. Before, they had to pretend to be honest, and some were, if only because they feared repercussions, like a big investigation that would kill their reelection. And a federal investigation would likely mean actual jail time. It’s happened before, not often, but it has happened.
The threat of a federal investigation is gone, so any hesitancy to rob the public coffers is also gone.
Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll investigate any Democrats committing crimes.
“Handing checks to lawmakers” is a weird fucking way to say bribe
But is it a bribe or a gratuity?
A gratuity is just a bribe after the fact
“good job voting my way. keep it up and there will be more checks like this”
just because a packed court said gratuities are fine doesn’t mean it’s fine
Y’all know about libel?
Is it libel if there’s a picture of the deed?
Assuming they’re Americans talking, it’s basically impossible to get convicted of defamation against a politician here. Like, it’s genuinely impressive that Candice Owens is managing it. It requires you make statements that are defamatory to them, presented as clear statements of fact, and display reckless disregard for the truth. And in edge cases courts tend to lean with free speech over defamation. That’s just for any public figure, for politicians the courts are even more cautious to avoid chilling political speech.
And the legal definition of bribe is not what it used to be.
Jesus Christ, not even decent enough to hide it in a folder, or a McDonald’s bag
When was the vote they were being reimbursed for? Believe it or not, that matters. If they got a check before a vote that’s a bribe, and a big no-no. But if they got it after the fact, that’s a gratuity, and A-OK, according to the Supreme Court
There’s always a next vote. That must have slipped the minds of 6/9 of the court.
Eh more like that decision was the supreme court’s version of a valet standing around and saying “ahem” before taking your car away
i mean afterwards seems worse. you could still not vote their way if they do before.
Hm, “political storm”.
How some imprisonment?
This should be a regular practice for the GAO against politicians. If i have to spam test email at work, they can be tested for bribe susceptibility. If they accept, they are expelled from their position. Who’s with me?
I’m with you. It’d be better than the current system where if they take the bribe they get a position in the Trump administration.
The White House stood behind “border czar” Tom Homan on Monday following reports that he had accepted $50,000 from undercover agents posing as business people during an undercover FBI operation last year, leading to a bribery investigation that was shut down by the Trump administration Justice Department.
absolutely fucking egregious and shameful that they would do this without first passing it through the middlemen that make it legal. what will become of the PACs and lobbyists if we allow this?
c’mon everyone he was just handing a check to someone. that’s the proper wording to describe this event, absolutely.
