Mark Meadows is neck-deep in Georgia criminal probe

Subtlety was never one of his stronger suits:

In late December, as then-U.S. President Donald Trump falsely alleged that rampant voter fraud caused his Georgia election loss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made an unexpected visit to an Atlanta suburb, hoping to observe an audit of thousands of voter signatures.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office said it had just 45 minutes notice of Meadows’ arrival in Cobb County, and it barred him from the room where state investigators were examining the absentee ballot signatures.

The term "hubris" comes to mind, but it's more than just that. Meadows spent a great deal of his time in Congress strong-arming fellow Representatives into doing his bidding, outside of normal leadership channels, eventually leading him to try a failed coup of John Boehner. Who has since described Meadows as an "Idiot and anarchist." And it's looking more and more like the hard-press of Georgia's Secretary of State was instigated by Meadows himself, as opposed to just doing what Trump wanted:

Meadows likely being probed by FEC for campaign spending violations

I call dibs on the new nickname Gourmet Cupcakes for Mark, but only if it makes him cry:

In October, the nonprofit government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) requesting an investigation into Meadows, based on a Salon report that detailed a series of apparent violations of the prohibition on using campaign funds for personal expenses.

Those payments covered gourmet cupcakes, grocery store purchases, a cell phone bill, posh meals and lodging at Donald Trump's Washington hotel, according to filings with the FEC. Meadows' campaign also spent thousands of dollars on "printed materials" at an upscale Washington-area custom jeweler on the day he left Congress for the White House. (The jewelry retailer has said it sells nothing that could be categorized that way.)

This is bad, but it's not as bad as using taxpayer dollars to golden parachute a serial sexual harasser. An FEC probe is nothing to scoff at, but it looks like Meadows may be facing more serious charges down the road from the Justice Department:

Mark Meadows definitely knew about Russian bounties on U.S. troops

Even if Trump didn't know (unlikely), his Chief of Staff most assuredly did:

A former American official said the national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, and the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, would have been involved in any decision to brief Mr. Trump on Russia’s activities, as would have the intelligence analyst who briefs the president. The director of the C.I.A., Gina Haspel, might have also weighed in, the former official said.

Ms. McEnany cited those three senior officials in her statement saying the president had not been briefed.

The most likely scenario is that Trump was (verbally) briefed on the issue, as well as having it included in his daily intelligence packets (which he probably didn't read). But whether Trump knew or not, his current position of, "I don't believe it, it's not credible," is a direct assault on the integrity of our intelligence community and Special Operations who put themselves in harm's way to uncover this deadly plot:

Mark Meadows wants to cut wages for migrant farm workers

Because apparently toiling in the fields to supply our food pays too well:

New White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is working with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see how to reduce wage rates for foreign guest workers on American farms, in order to help U.S. farmers struggling during the coronavirus, according to U.S. officials and sources familiar with the plans.

The effort to provide "wage relief" to U.S. farmers follows an announcement Friday by the USDA to develop a program that will include direct payments to farmers and ranchers hurt by the coronavirus. Trump said Friday he's directed Perdue to provide at least $16 billion in relief.

Welp, so much for the idea that getting him out of Congress was a net benefit. It takes a special kind of jerkweasel to categorize cutting already low pay as "relief." And once again I find myself waiting (in vain) for the Free Market heroes at Civitas and JLF to step forward and observe that those wages are determined by the labor market and should be left alone, or we may end up with food rotting in the fields. John? Jon? Anyone? Bueller? Even the anti-immigration folks are against this policy move:

Notes from the Kakistocracy: Meadows oozing into Chief of Staff position

Yes, the Trump administration can get more incompetent:

When it comes to filling the chief of staff role after the impeachment dust settles, Trump has suggested his first choice remains retiring Rep. Mark Meadows, sources familiar with the talks said. During Thursday's post-acquittal speech, Trump thanked Meadows at length for his support during the impeachment proceedings and called him "an extraordinary guy" and "very special."

Meadows, in turn, was the only other person who spoke during the President's address -- rising from his seat in the audience to praise Trump. "I just wanted to say that this reflection today is a small reflection of the kind of support you have all across the country," Meadows said. "We've got your back."

And there goes my gag reflex. With the prospect of Meadows being in charge of pretty much everybody who works in the White House, now is as good a time as any to remind people of his lack of concern and leadership when his own office was a stalking ground for a serial sexual harasser:

Tillis and Meadows: Abandon ship ... or go down with the ship?

It's not often two national politicians can be tied together with a single fancy ribbon, but Thom Tillis and Mark Meadows certainly can. They're both hyper-partisan shills for Donald F. Trump, fluffing the Orange One with no regard for truth, decency, or constitutional responsibility. Each has a daily Twitter presence that sings Trump's praises while denigrating fully half of their constituents with accusations of being part of a liberal mob.

Mark Meadows: The anatomy of a brown-noser

Being a towel-boy for Trump must be exhausting:

“Congressman Meadows is in regular contact with the White House and the president’s legal team and is a crucial ally who amplifies the president’s views and the president’s case to the American people,” said a source familiar with his involvement, who added that Meadows has been to the White House at least once in the last week.

The White House counsel’s office and Meadows and his staff are also in touch by phone. Meadows has made multiple media appearances, a willing interview at a time when many senators are avoiding the press. He went on Fox News on Thursday morning, accusing House Democrats of “intentionally misleading” the American people about Trump’s actions.

We should probably start ignoring Meadows, since he's not running to keep his seat this year. Way too many other moles to whack. But when I see crap like this:

Meadows uses sleight-of-hand to choose his successor

But it's par for the course for this dude:

Later that day came a campaign launch by Lynda Bennett, a local GOP activist and real estate agent who is friendly with Debbie Meadows, the congressman's wife, according to sources who know both women. Wary Republicans in the state quickly speculated that she had advance notice of Meadows' retirement.

Online records revealed her campaign website domain had been registered on Oct. 28 by a Scott Meadows, who appears to be the brother of the congressman. The campaign's Facebook page was created on Dec. 18, a day before the retirement. And shortly after midnight on Dec. 19 — about five hours before Meadows announced — Bennett posted photos of herself with the congressman and his wife at local GOP events in the state.

You know what? All those Republicans who feel shafted by Mark Meadows' little stunt can go suck on a lemon. He's been pulling backhanded crap like this since he was first elected, bullying other Representatives and golden-parachuting a sexual harasser. The NC GOP should have already had a viable candidate ready and willing to oppose that bad behavior in a Primary, but now you've got his choice to fill that seat. I was going to say something about "learning from your mistakes," but that doesn't seem to happen very often within the GOP ranks.

The very definition of "delinquency."

NC GOP in hot water with FEC over Mark Meadows spending

Being a money launderer can be complicated:

This letter is prompted by the Commission's preliminary review of the report referenced above. This notice requests information essential to full public disclosure of your federal election campaign finances. Failure to adequately respond by the response date noted above could result in enforcement action. Additional information is needed for the following 1 item(s):-

The limitation on making coordinated party expenditures on behalf of a House candidate in the State of North Carolina for the 2018 general election is $49,700. Your reports, however, disclose apparent coordinated party expenditures made on behalf of "Meadows, Mark" totaling $85,512.30, which appear to exceed the limitations under 52 U.S.C. §30116 (d) ( formerly 2 U.S.C. §441a(d))

Those expenditures were made in several lumps over a two day period, and it looks like they were for television ads. Which of course he didn't need, because his District (11) had been gerrymandered into an R+14 nightmare. Meaning, this money was likely given to the NC GOP specifically for Meadows, by somebody trying to dodge campaign contribution limitations, giving us one more good reason to totally revamp that system.

BlueNC

Mark Meadows