Donald Trump and his family have spent the last four years making the airtight case that they view the presidency as simply a means to enrich themselves and their associates. They probably don’t particularly like that reputation and, yet, it hasn’t stopped them from funneling taxpayer money to their private business, gouging the Secret Service, and raising legal defense funds that the fine print says could go directly to their pockets. Oh, and, according to a new report, setting up a shell company that spent hundreds of millions of campaign dollars to pay Trump family members along with other expenditures it seemingly wanted to keep under wraps.

According to Business Insider, first son-in-law Jared Kushner personally approved the creation of the company, incorporated as American Made Media Consultants Corp. and American Made Media Consultants LLC, in April 2018. From there, Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, was named president, with Mike Pence’s nephew John Pence serving as vice president. If you’re wondering why the shell company, described as Business Insider as acting “almost like a campaign within a campaign” was necessary, well, it’s not entirely clear, but it sure sounds like the express purpose was the ability to shield “financial and operational details from public scrutiny,” as it allowed the campaign to avoid federally mandated disclosures concerning what it was spending considerable amounts of money on. And by considerable we mean nearly half of the $1.26 billion raised for Trump’s reelection. Which seems like a lot!

Campaign-finance records showed Trump's reelection effort and its affiliated committee with the Republican National Committee spent more than $600 million through American Made Consultants since its formation. For months, some of Trump’s top advisers and campaign staff told Insider they had no idea how the shell company functioned, which cast an air of mystery around the operation…. Some of those same advisers said they didn’t learn about John Pence’s and Lara Trump’s involvement until Insider contacted them for this story.

Campaign-law experts have long accused the Trump team of using a corporate pass-through to hide payments. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, led by former Republican Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter, filed a civil complaint with the FEC in July accusing the Trump campaign of “disguising” about $170 million worth of campaign spending in large part “by laundering the funds” through AMMC. Brendan Fischer, the Campaign Legal Center’s director of federal reform, said the payments to AMMC were a “scheme to evade telling voters even the basics on where its money is really going” and a “shield to disguise the ultimate recipients of its spending.”

Within the larger campaign, some leaders told Business Insider they were in the dark regarding the AMMC arrangement, saying that they were generally aware the company was used to purchase TV, radio, and digital advertising but had no idea exactly how much each vendor was keeping for itself. While some advisers have accused former campaign manager Brad Parscale of mismanaging money, the bulk of the cash spent by AMMC—$415 million—occurred after Parscale was fired on July 15. (Parscale has defended his spending as campaign manager.)

As for what Parscale’s successor, Bill Stepien, knew of the situation, a Republican close to the White House suggested to Business Insider that Stepien may have purposely kept himself in the dark so as not to anger Kushner. Another source, though, believed the first son-in-law may have been the one keeping the information from Stepien. “Nothing was done without Jared’s approval,” the source said. “What Stepien doesn’t know is because Jared doesn’t want him to know.”

Legally, it’s unclear what the blowback on Kushner—reportedly in line for a presidential pardon—and other concerned parties could be, and it’s possible no laws were broken. As Business Insider notes, the FEC can issue fines to political committees if it’s determined they broke the law, while the Justice Department can open criminal investigations if it suspects a “knowing and willful” violation of election law. Such investigations are apparently uncommon, though former DOJ and FEC officials have told Business Insider they believe Justice officials could “already be discreetly investigating Trump’s reelection activity.” (While the situation differs, Kushner knows a little something about the violation of election laws, as his father, Charles Kushner, was sentenced to prison for up to 24 months after being convicted of illegal campaign contributions, in addition to tax evasion, and witness tampering, the latter involving Kushner the Elder’s brother-in-law, a prostitute, and a camcorder.)

A spokesman for Kushner did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. The Trump campaign said Friday that “Lara Trump and John Pence resigned from the AMMC board in October 2019 to focus solely on their campaign activities, however, there was never any ethical or legal reason why they could not serve on the board in the first place. John and Lara were not compensated by AMMC for their service as board members.”

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L.A. Times: Rich people are trying to bribe their way into an early COVID-19 vaccine

Well this was inevitable:

With the first doses in short supply, California has laid out a strict order of vaccinations based on need and risk: Healthcare workers and nursing home residents, then essential workers and those with chronic health conditions, then, finally, everyone else. But to those with power, money and influence, rules can always be bent. California’s stern messaging about serving the neediest first hasn’t stopped the rich from trying to leap ahead of teachers, farmworkers and firefighters. Dr. Jeff Toll, who has admitting privileges at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the first hospitals to stock the vaccine, recalled a patient asking: “If I donate $25,000 to Cedars, would that help me get in line?’” Toll said no.

On the other hand:

Guidelines that prioritize people who work in essential industries, have underlying health conditions, or are older than 65 are massive gray areas. In California alone, nearly 12 million people—two thirds of the state workforce—work in essential industries. That ambiguity creates opportunities for the well-connected to argue that an underlying health condition or a C-suite level position at an essential company should push them toward the front of the line, said Glenn Ellis, a bioethicist and a visiting scholar at Tuskegee University.

“With enough money and influence, you can make a convincing argument about anything,” said Ellis, the rub being that, unlike outbidding someone on a house or taking some other kid’s place at a private school, getting an early dose meant for someone else could literally cost someone their life.

Incidentally, neither Johnson nor his colleagues had any concern about the deficit when they were voting for deficit-busting tax cuts

In related news, experts say that even if Congress reaches a stimulus deal, an estimated 12 million people will temporarily lose their jobless benefits thanks to Mitch McConnell and company dragging out relief talks this long.

The Trump administration sees your charges of rank incompetence and giant national security risk…

And raises you an abrupt freeze on cooperation between the Defense Department and Biden transition, days after news of an unprecedented hack that reportedly breached the U.S.’s nuclear stockpile. Per The Wall Street Journal:

President-Elect Joe Biden’s transition team said it was informed Thursday that meetings with the Defense Department were being put on hold, adding it had met with “isolated resistance” in some parts of the government ahead of the January 20 inauguration. Yohannes Abraham, the Biden-Harris transition’s executive director, said Friday that transition teams that are working with agencies to prepare for the January handoff had received cooperation from the Trump administration for the most part. But he said they had issues with some officials, “including from political appointees within the Department of Defense.”

Mr. Abraham said the transition was “concerned to learn this week about an abrupt halt in the already limited cooperation” at the Defense Department. In a statement Friday morning, acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said that a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” would take place. Mr. Abraham said there was no agreement from the transition group to stop holding meetings. “We expect that decision to be reversed,” he said.

According to Axios, “fury at the Biden team among senior Pentagon officials escalated” after The Washington Post ran a story revealing how much money could be saved if Biden stopped the construction on Trump’s border wall. The officials apparently blame the leak on the Biden team, though, as Axios notes, “they have no evidence of this, and both reporters on the byline cover the Trump administration and have historically been prolific beneficiaries of leaks.” Also? It’s not as though this is in anyway new information to anyone with internet access or a newspaper subscription. But good to know the depths of the Trump administration’s pettiness is limitless.

Fact-check: true

Elsewhere!

December Is Set to Be COVID’s Deadliest Month in the U.S. by Far (Bloomberg)

This Is What It’s Like to Be Evicted in a Pandemic (NYT)

Stanford doctors say university excluding frontline residents from first round of vaccinations (Washington Post)

Rupert Murdoch Gets Vaccine as Tucker Carlson Pushes Vaccine Skepticism (TDB)

House passes two-day funding bill to avoid government shutdown (Axios)

Trump Bows to Reality, Asks Confidants: Should I Do The Apprentice Again? (TDB)

The Martini’s Contribution to Civilization (WSJ)

Illegal winery discovered at Alabama sewage plant (NYP)

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