The Republicans and Democrats have a different meaning for “the swamp.” Democrats believe that the creatures of the deep are those who commit crimes while in office or before. The GOP calls anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump swamp creatures.
Dems have believed that anyone who commits crimes or is seriously unethical while in the Trump administration or any future presidential administration is a swamp dweller. Bloomberg News’ Scandals: An Interactive Guide is an interesting way to track criminal activity in Trump world.
According to Bloomberg News, this was how people in the president’s immediate circle pannel out:
‘Family members, appointees and advisers who’ve been accused of conflicts of interest, misuse of public funds, influence peddling, self-enrichment, working for foreign governments, failure to disclose information, and violating ethics rules. Some are under investigation or facing lawsuits, others have resigned, and five have either been convicted or pleaded guilty, including three for lying to government officials’
During the last two months of the Trump presidential campaign, it had doled out over $1.2 million to Shannon Burns’ small-time Ohio telemarketing company, Victory Solutions. By then, the company was indebted to the Internal Revenue Service to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company was also besieged by any number of investor lawsuits.
In 2017, Victory Solutions filed for bankruptcy, reported The Daily Beast. Yet, the cases were dismissed, because Burns did not produce the necessary shareholders’ approval.
That was when the president invited the company’s owner to hold a top executive job. Interesting.
Shannon Burns’ job is an advance associate for the White House. This was a part-time job to schedule and manage “various official presidential appearances.” He had written on his Facebook page earlier:
‘I work for the WH on behalf of the President advancing his events and rallies around the nation. Have been doing it since last year.’
Burns has also done some work for Trump’s re-election campaign, the website reported. Earlier in 2019, Burns made this announcement on Facebook:
‘I work for the WH on behalf of the President advancing his events and rallies around the nation. Have been doing it since last year.’
In 2017, U.S. Marshals seized over 1,000 phones belonging to Victory. The court indicated that these should have been used to repay some of the company’s debt to a political technology firm it bought three years ago.
Both Burns and Victory have ended up in federal and Ohio state courts. Previous investors indicated that although the company was bringing in money hand-over-fist from the Trump campaign and other GOP candidates’ campaigns, they were not reimbursed.
Victory investors believed the telemarketer turned White House top associate’s spiel about work:
‘[For] former Florida Gov. Rick Scott, former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and former Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN).’
Edith Cord loaned her son and Victory co-founder Daniel Cord $15,000 for the two men’s startup in 2009. She had to file a lawsuit two years ago, because the company never repaid her. Daniel Cord died from brain cancer in 2010. The court awarded her $48,000 in June 2017.
Daniel Cord’s widow Leigh Hellner had to file another lawsuit and won a $48,000 judgment:
‘….alleging financial mismanagement and other impropriety against Burns, who was required by law to provide detailed information on the company’s finances to his late partner’s estate.’
Cords widow accused Burns of “enriching himself and forcing investors to file late tax returns because he withheld financial records.” The courts dismissed that lawsuit after Hellner and Burns failed to appear in court for the hearing. In fact, Burns failed to show a minimum of five times between 2015 and 2017.
As a result of all the lawsuits, the company had to file for bankruptcy in March 2018. That filing indicated that Victory owed over two million dollars. It said that the company owned approximately $183,000 in assets and took in three million dollars in 2016. Revenue dipped to under $560,000 in 2017
At that point in time, Victory owed $411,000 to the IRS and over $375,000 in employee back pay. That was when he looked good to Donald Trump.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
