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corruption

Wednesday 24th of April 2024

Corruption The corrupt politician is he who brings into public service the traditions of a private career. Walter Lippmann, Drift and Mastery  © 2021 Kwiple.com
Corruption Don't you think a lot of these people would pay that when they can? I represented, I can't disclose who, I represented clients who paid substantially more than that. Rudy Giuliani, on Trump's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels [It's unclear whether he's referring to payments made in his private practice or payments made as a representative of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where he worked] © 2018 Kwiple.com
Corruption Every now and then,  an innocent man is sent to the legislature. Kin Hubbard © 2020 Kwiple.com
Corruption I mean, look, my wife is an entrepreneur herself. I love, she loves, we love Chick-fil-A as a franchise of faith. Scott Pruitt, explaining why he had an EPA employee contact a Chick-fil-A executive about a “business opportunity,” which turned out to be about getting his wife a Chick-fil-A franchise © 2018 Kwiple.com
Corruption I never thought $130,000 – I know this sounds funny  to people there at home – I never thought $130,000 was a real payment.  It's a nuissance payment. When I settle this – when it   was real or a real possibility – it's a couple million dollars, not – not $130,000. Rudy Giuliani, commenting on the hush money Trump paid to Stormy Daniels © 2018 Kwiple.com
Corruption If the accusations against Senator Robert Menendez are true — and it’s not looking good — old-fashioned bribery, payments to politicians in exchange for favors, hasn’t gone away.  But it’s probably not shaping party ideology.  Campaign contributions, on the other hand, definitely do shape ideology. Paul Krugman, New York Times, September 26, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Corruption If you offer money to a government to influence it, that is corruption. But if someone receives money for services rendered afterwards, that is a commission. Adnan Khashoggi, renowned international arms dealer © 2018 Kwiple.com
Corruption Is corruption less widespread in religious countries than in less religious ones? The answer is an unequivocal no—in fact  religious countries tend to be more corrupt than secular ones. … Religion may make people more punitive, but it does not make them less corrupt. This pattern also applies to other crimes, such as murder. As surprising as it may seem, the murder rate is more than ten times as high in the most religious countries as it is in the least religious countries. Ronald Inglehart, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Corruption The results of a survey released today by Transparency International show that compared to early 2016 more Americans now believe corruption is on the rise in the US and that the White House is the most corrupt of nine key institutions. Transparency International, December 12, 2017 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Corruption A rule-of-law state can withstand a certain amount of official corruption. What it cannot withstand is a culture of impunity. So long as officials believe that corruption will usually be detected – and if detected, then certainly punished – for just that long they will believe that corruption is wrong. It is for this reason that corrupt regimes swiftly evolve toward authoritarianism, and authoritarian regimes toward corruption. David Frum, Trumpocracy © 2019 Kwiple.com
Corruption  Third World leaders could not be bought; they could only be rented. Cold War adage of much wider applicabiity © 2022 Kwiple.com
Corruption The Trump administration spawned such abundant corruption, Bloomberg News launched an interactive guide to keep track if it, sortable by individuals and categories of scandal. Adam Jentleson, Kill Switch © 2021 Kwiple.com
Corruption You can't promote principled anticorruption action without pissing off corrupt people. George Kent © 2019 Kwiple.com
Dead-in-the-heads say Why shouldn't the president surround himself with successful people? Wealthy folks have no need to steal or engage in corruption. … And most of these folks aren't political. They won't be afraid to reach across the aisle for bipartisan solutions. And that includes Mr. Trump himself. Larry Kudlow © 2018 Kwiple.com
Dead-in-the-heads say You know what I did? A big favor. I caught the swamp. I caught them all. Lets see what happens. Nobody else could have done that but me. I caught all this corruption that was going on and noboby else could have dont it. Donald Trump © 2019 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Inequality breeds corruption © 2018 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Require American resource companies to disclose payments they've made to foreign governments to obtain drilling or mining concessions or to service operations © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lobbyists We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you're a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn't talk to you. If you're a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.  Mick Mulvaney, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Board, urging bankers to lobby Congress to screw consumers by castrating the Board © 2018 Kwiple.com
Money in politics The president reimbursed it over a period of several months. Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer, on Michael Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election © 2018 Kwiple.com
Money in politics The president repaid it … He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know, but he did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people. Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer, on Michael Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election © 2018 Kwiple.com
Pardons and commutations He [Giuliani] also asked Ms. Dunphy if she knew anyone in need of a pardon, telling her that he was selling pardons for $2 million, which he and President Trump would split. He told Ms. Dunphy that she could refer individuals seeking pardons to him, so long as they did not go through “the normal channels” of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, because correspondence going to that office would be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. From the verified complaint against Rudy Giuliani filed by Noelle Dunphy, his former Business Development director © 2023 Kwiple.com
Politics It's perfectly possible to conduct yourself with ethics, integrity, and no hint of scandal, even in politics, even in D.C., even in Ukraine. Politics don't corrupt people, people corrupt politics. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, during sentencing of Rick Gates © 2019 Kwiple.com
Presidency The greatest presidents  end up on our currency. Donald Trump could end up on our hush money. Stephen Colbert © 2018 Kwiple.com
Punt returners say That's not fair. Mob bosses know how to run a casino — allegedly . . . allegedly. Stephen Colbert responding to news that James Comey compared Donald Trump to a mob boss  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Republicans say Kill the messenger © 2018 Kwiple.com
Republicans say Repealing anti-corruption rules requiring energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments is change we believe in © 2017 Kwiple.com
Resisters say Pay Trump Bribes Here Message periodically projected in light onto the facade of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC © 2022 Kwiple.com
Selfie  I don't want to know what the law is, I want to know who the judge is. Roy Cohn © 2018 Kwiple.com
Selfie It's very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it. Donald Trump, when considering running for President as the Reform Party candidate in 2000 © 2016 Kwiple.com
Sleepers at the wheel say  I never thought anyone would ever do that © 2018 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Having never served his country before being elected President, he chose to serve his family instead. Donald Trump portrayed by Rudyard Kwipler © 2018 Kwiple.com
Snapshot The only time corruption bothers Donald Trump is when he's not in on it. Donald Trump portrayed by Bill Maher © 2019 Kwiple.com
Snapshot  If lying was his means for using power, corruption was his end. Donald Trump portrayed by George Packer © 2016 Kwiple.com
State of the union An adviser allegedly involved in a plot to force a migrant to return to his home country. An attorney general who seems conveniently forgetful when testifying before Congress. A president's son exchanging messages with an agent of a hostile foreign power. In past administrations any of these things would have caused shock, hand-wringing and, probably, Congressional hearings and sackings. But it's just another week in Donald Trump's America. The Economist, November 18, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
State of the union The Supreme Court has weakened the conflict- of-interest laws we have on the books. Trump and his Republican wrecking crew are ripping out the floorboards under the government ethics porgram. His administration has taught us the difference between theory and application and shown us what immunity to accountability looks like. What good are laws if no one in power will enforce them? Before Trump, our nation was admired for its anticorruption mechanisms, and its ethics program was considered the gold standard. No more. Once a model for other nations, we are now an object lesson for them. Walter M. Schaub. Jr. New York Review of Books, Juky 2, 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
State of the union Within the particular domain of independent political advocacy the principle of free speech now trumps the principle that previously inspired congressional regulation of campaign finance, namely that there is a public interest in preventing the appearance of corruption in electoral politics. Richard M. Valelly, American Politics © 2018 Kwiple.com
Surely you jest Trump International Hotel Washington DC has made a “hefty profit” since Trump took office. Who'd've ever thunk it?  © 2017 Kwiple.com
Trumpism If the first Trump presidency was, for the most part,  an improvised exercise in petty corruption, a second would likely consist of systemic abuse of the government.  There's a term to describe the sort of regime that might emerge on the other side: a Mafia state. --> Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, January/February 2024 © 2024 Kwiple.com
Trumpism The presidency and dishonesty have become synonymous. Alliances are founded on trust. When that goes, they begin to dissolve. Roger Cohen, New York Times, October 29, 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say I believe that Joe Biden will be found to be the most corrupt president in our nation's history. Elise Stefanik © 2024 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say The only possible violation there would be, was it a campaign finance violation – which usually would result in a fine, by the way – not this big stormtroopers [the FBI] coming in and breaking down his apartment and breaking down his office. Rudy Giuliani, on the FBI's warranted search of Michael Cohen's house, office and hotel room for documents related to Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels [Cohen said they knocked on his door] © 2018 Kwiple.com
 
Wannabe autocrats say I'll be the oversight. Donald Trump, volunteering to provide the oversight not called for in the proposed Republican stimulus package to combat coronavirus, which includes a $500 billion “corporate rescue fund” that his administration could dispense in secret to companies they deem worthy, like Trump International Hotels Management LLC in the hard-hit travel and leisure sector © 2020 Kwiple.com