This Just In – The fortunes of lying liars took a hard left turn toward the dumpsters this week. It seems that Karma is back from a long vacation.
According to his indictment, George Santos (or whatever his name is) is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. Santos has lied or misled the public about absolutely everything in his life (including the trick question of “what is your legal name?”) to scam his way into the House of Representatives.
Donald Trump, former president, was found liable in a civil lawsuit whose ripple effect is perhaps underestimated. He was sued by writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual battery and for lying about her when she went public with her accusations a few years ago. Trump assaulted Carroll in the late 1990s and a recent New York law allowed her to bring civil action against him for it despite the passage of time.
While Trump was president, Carroll described the attack in interviews and Trump responded to the accusations by lying about the incident and defaming her. Nothing new there in terms of his well-known strategies. What’s new here (and ground-breaking) is that Carroll, a well-known writer in NY circles, sued him for battery, but also for defamation.
Like Trump, Carroll is a public figure, so this action would have to establish the “actual malice” standard in proving defamation. Not just that Trump lied about her and damaged her with those lies … that he did so willingly and with reckless disregard for the truth.
By most accounts it was Trump’s own deposition video that convinced the jury that Carroll’s accusation was the credible side of the story. The account of an entitled man who volunteered that men who were “stars” have been assaulting women for “a million years” without consequence and that he was obviously such a man finally came to a jury of ordinary people.
Ordinary people are not okay with the rich and powerful just grabbing what they want.
Food for thought: Defamation against private citizens (like Georgia’s election workers) is MUCH easier to prove.
So we arrive at the new crossroad of American politics and culture – the reaction. With rare exception, Republicans are dashing away from cameras, not wishing to offer comments on these obviously damaged politicians and failed men.
Poor, poor Kevin (McCarthy) is now in the deepest end of the doo doo pool. With Santos under this cloud, it’s unlikely that he can hold off his expulsion from the House much longer. Earlier this year, reporters asked the new Speaker about pushing Santos out and he stood on the argument that Santos had not been charged with a crime, so it would be premature to take any action.
McCarthy left out the tiny detail that Santos represents a district that Joe Biden won handily and if that seat is vacated (especially by way of a scandal) it would likely flip back to a Democrat. The Santos vote is the ONE vote that made McCarthy Speaker.
So poor, dear, soulless Kevin cannot even stand up to the most egregious con man to ever serve in Congress and boy howdy – that is saying something. McCarthy also agreed to rules that will allow anyone to call for a no-confidence vote against him, pushing him out of the Speakership and paralyzing the House of Representatives.
In the bubbling concoction of Washington’s lying, cheating and stealing stew we also find the rank corruption of the Roberts so-called “Supreme” Court. This, too, is an opportunity for any/all Republicans to break away from their funders and declare that the Court must be held to at least the same standards as all federal judges in disclosing their income and avoiding the appearance of impropriety.
Crickets.
All of this is why Karma ended her vacation and returned to duty, serving up some long overdue smackdowns for those who richly deserve it. They’ll claim they’re victims. They’ll call it a witch hunt and a hoax.
There’s much more coming. Special Counsel Jack Smith and Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis have a couple of great big spoons and they’ll be stirring this pot all summer.
(featured image via AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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