Trump Shifted Campaign-Donor Money Into His Private Business After Losing The Election

Plus: Trump Shifted Campaign-Donor Money Into His Private Business After Losing The Election

President Trump’s campaign regularly moved money into his properties and businesses throughout his presidency, a practice he continued even after losing the election. His campaign and one of its joint fundraising committees have shifted at least $410,000 into the Trump Organization via payments to his hotels and restaurants since Nov. 3.

Following The Money

While QAnon’s prophesied second Trump term failed to materialize in January, hardcore believers have projected their hopes onto a new inaugural date, March 4th. The rationale for the move is thin—even by QAnon’s standards—but the Trump Organization appears to be cashing in on the opportunity, offering rooms at Trumps’ Washington, D.C. hotel for jacked-up prices.

Meanwhile, the debate grinds on regarding Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan. Liberals in Congress are hoping to use budget reconciliation to get the final bill through the Senate, but even getting all Democrats on board remains a challenge. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, opposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

This week, U.S. senators also have Trump’s impeachment trial on their agenda, discussing the role he played on the January 6 violence. In Silicon Valley, Sheryl Sandberg was apparently not very forthright about Facebook’s role in facilitating the riot. A Forbes review of the charging documents found that rioters principally used Facebook to plan the march on the Capitol.

Fox News’ ratings fell behind CNN and MSNBC in January, the month Trump left office. In response, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, heir to his family’s $22 billion fortune, adjusted the network’s programming accordingly, increasing its evening opinion coverage in an apparent attempt to fend off right-leaning competitors like Newsmax
and OANN.

Far-left Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and far-right Republican Ted Cruz actually agree on something, that Robinhood’s decision to freeze trading on GameStop and other “meme” stocks warrants investigation. The biggest winner of the saga might be billionaire Don Foss, who invested heavily in GameStop several years ago based on its fundamentals, not hype.

Cashing In On Contracts

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the U.S. government has spent more than $1.73 trillion in response to Covid-19. One of the top contractors of the crisis is vaccinemaker Moderna, which has received more than $2 billion from the federal government, including nearly $955 million to develop a vaccine and more than $1.2 billion to provide 100 million doses across the country. Given the Biden administration’s interest in increasing the number of doses to vaccinate Americans by early fall, the company is slated to rake in even more money. Moderna’s current federal contract shows that it can make up to $8.1 billion by March 2022. In the past year, stock in the Massachusetts-based company skyrocketed 670%, turning at least two Moderna early investors and its CEO into billionaires.

What They Own

Call it the eastern White House. President Biden has an oceanside escape of his own, a 6-bedroom home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He and First Lady Jill Biden bought the place in June 2017 for $2.7 million. An expired real estate listing says it has “lovely views of the Atlantic Ocean,” “a kitchen any gourmet chef would die for” and “three indoor fireplaces”. The Bidens have also installed a pool.

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