Stocking the swamp.

 I was talking to a friend of mine today who happens to be black and works in law enforcement, and she told me in no uncertain terms that she was going to vote for Donald trump. Of course I wanted to know why. "A black person supporting Donald trump? Isn't that like a Turkey supporting Thanksgiving?" I was serious. I just couldn't understand that line of thinking. She then proceeded to tell me how the democrats want to defund police departments, how Donald trump is a friend of law enforcement, and how Joe Biden will cuddle criminals. I tried to explain and reason with her, but I could tell it was too late. The trump propaganda machine had already done it's job. 

Of course this young lady worked in law enforcement, and trump's us against them campaign has her thinking that as a law enforcement official she has to ride with team trump or lose her way of making a living. 

The irony of all this, of course, is that Donald trump is the most lawless president in the history of the United States. Just look at the people he surrounded himself with during his rise to power. Most of them are either in jail, served time in jail, or pled to crimes they committed. 

Today, yet another one of trump's cohorts was charged with a crime. 

"Washington — Former White House adviser Stephen Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering Thursday, after federal prosecutors in New York announced that Bannon and three others were indicted for allegedly defrauding donors to a $25 million fundraising campaign to build a wall along the southern border. 

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss said Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were arrested Thursday morning. Bannon was taken into custody by agents from the U.S. Postal Service off the coast of Connecticut on a 152-foot yacht registered to exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, law enforcement sources said. The indictment was unsealed Thursday morning. 

Bannon was released on $5 million bond Thursday afternoon, and must forfeit his passport. He can only travel to D.C., Maryland, Connecticut for work, and the Eastern and Southern district of New York."

It doesn't get anymore swampy than this, folks. Defrauding donors who wanted to build a wall because their political leader told them that it was the thing to do. 

Today Mr. trump denied knowing of the scheme, but I am sure we will soon learn that he is lying. It fits his modus operandi. We will see how far he throws Mr. Bannon under the bus. Or, if as he did with Roger Stone, he promises him  pardon if he is convicted.

"I haven’t been dealing with him at all. I know nothing about the project other than I didn’t like what I read about it,” Trump said. “I thought that was a project that was being done for showboating reasons. I don’t know that he was in charge. I didn’t know any of the other people either, but it’s sad. It’s very sad.”

After that, a reporter confronted Trump with a list of his former allies and campaign officials who have been convicted for criminal conduct over the course of his presidency. Specifically, the president was asked “what’s it say about your judgment” that he has a “culture of lawlessness” surrounding himself.

Trump dodged the question at first to speak about “the great lawlessness in the Obama administration,” but then he went back to stress that he was not involved in Bannon’s crowdfunding campaign. He went on to claim “we built a very powerful wall,” continued to disown Bannon’s campaign, and said the wall should be made by the government rather than a privately financed endeavor."

That didn't take long.