AoC: Violating the RICO act is not a crime!!!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Was going to toss this into mind-numbing stupidity, but anyway:

AOC's Gotcha Question for Bobulinski Backfires

During Wednesday's House Oversight Committee hearing on "Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office," witness Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden was bombarded with questions by Democratic witnesses. Even before that, he had been interrupted by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) in his opening statements, after Bobulinski called him out for lying.

obulinski faced another interruption from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), despite how the congresswoman asked the witness a direct question. As she ranted against the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden from House Republicans, AOC asked Bobulinski what crimes he had seen Biden commit. "Is it your testimony today that you personally witnessed Joe Biden commit a crime," the congresswoman demanded to know.

When he answered "yes," AOC asked for specifics, only to refuse to allow Bobulinski to continue when he gave an answer she did not like. Bobulinski mentioned "corruption statutes, RICO, conspiracy, FARA..." but AOC talked over him, demanding to know "what is the crime, sir, specifically?"

In the heated exchange, Bobulinski pointed out "you asked me to answer the question, I answered the question, RICO, you're obviously not familiar with, corruption statutes" leading to the Squad member becoming even more outraged.

"Excuse me, sir? Excuse me, sir, RICO, is not a crime, it is a category," she said, wildly gesturing and dramatically emphasizing her words. "What is the crime," she shouted at Bobulinski once more.

As they spoke over each other, Bobulinski tried to explain that "it's a category of crimes that you're then charged under," before he was finally able to get clarity from AOC that she was trying to get him to name "the exact statute under RICO." When he tried to answer her question, the congresswoman snapped at him that "I reclaim my time," refusing to let Bobulinski answer the question she had asked of him.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2024/03/20/aoc-asks-bobulinski-what-crime-biden-committed-wont-even-let-him-answer-n2636757

Ahem, Sandy Cortez:

RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) Statute - Implications for Organized Labor

Annotation
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970 seeks to strengthen the legal tools in evidence gathering by establishing new penal prohibitions and providing enhanced sanctions and new remedies for dealing with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized crime.

he power of RICO lies in its conspiracy provision, based on an enterprise rationale, that allows tying together apparently unrelated crimes with a common objective into a prosecutable pattern of racketeering. In addition, RICO provides for severer penalties and permits a defendant to be convicted and separately punished for both the underlying crimes that constitute the pattern of racketeering activity and for a substantive violation of RICO. Finally, injunctive relief provisions allow for the prohibition of further involvement with the labor organization of the convicted racketeering associates. Thus, RICO provides an effective method both for establishing the existence of organized crime's penetration into labor unions and for excising corrupt union officials from positions of leadership. The deterrent power of RICO enforcement over time should produce a more viable, democratically elected union leadership. 82 footnotes.

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/rico-racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-act-statute

[DefiantSix]

Ms. Occasional-Cortex is truly an embarrassment on the country - well, the state of New York anyway - but she certainly has entertainment value when she trots her stupidity out on stage for the whole world to see... 

[Ralph Wiggum]

For further elaboration:

What is RICO and why are prosecutors using it against Trump?

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Criminal charges filed against, opens new tab former U.S. President Donald Trump in Georgia state court include allegations that he violated an anti-organized crime law known as RICO that is more expansive than its federal counterpart.

U.S. lawmakers passed the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in 1970 to battle organized crime, notably the mafia. Most states enacted similar laws with various twists.

The main requirements under the federal RICO law are at least two underlying crimes and participation in a criminal enterprise over a long period of time.
Georgia's RICO law does not require criminal enterprises to be long running and lists nearly 50 underlying crimes that qualify as racketeering, compared with 35 under its federal counterpart.
Defendants who are found guilty of Georgia RICO charges face between five and 20 years in prison, and while federal law has the same maximum, it does not have a minimum.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-charged-under-law-used-prosecute-mafia-bosses-2023-08-15/

And the DUmp getting all moist and engorged regarding President Trump being charged with RICO crimes:

Fani Willis Appreciation Thread

gab13by13 (19,570 posts)

Fani Willis Appreciation Thread
I know one thing for sure about Fani Willis, she is an Attorney General who had the guts to start investigating Trump in March of 2021.

I know she tried to hire 2 prosecutors for the investigation who turned her down because they are afraid of Trump, she then hired the prosecutor who she supposedly had an affair with, so what?

Someone is going through a lot of trouble to get her removed from office, I am not jumping on that band wagon. I stand with Fani Willis until I see concrete evidence to convince me otherwise.

Botany (69,773 posts)
2. She is an adult and is allowed to have a social life. She did nothing wrong.

And with RICO laws she is busy rolling up Trump, Meadows, and Rudy’s phony electoral
voters scam. She has already flipped some of the conspiracies who don’t want to spend
5 years in locked up on RICO charges. D.A. Willis and her personal life has nothing to
do with her criminal investigation. This is classic distract and attack.

https://conservativecave.com/cave/index.php?topic=132748

It's all going to fall apart quickly for Trump and his allies on RICO

Tom Rinaldo (22,748 posts)


It's all going to fall apart quickly for Trump and his allies

Despite a virtually unified Republican front howling that all of the indictments are political hit jobs,the percentage of Americans who believe Trump and team committed real crimes keeps increasing. That number only goes up from here. At this point I have little doubt that Trump will stand trial, almost certainly in Washington, possibly in Georgia, and definitely in NY (unless that trial is pushed back to make room for others) well before the election. Coverage of actual trials will overpower the screams of partisan political spin doctors. Millions of Americans may be immune to actual facts, but millions more are not. It will only get worse for Trump.as more evidence emerges.

The Georgia indictments have pierced a false sense of invulnerability that once surrounded Trump. There were two main factors that previously had propped that up. One was fear of widespread civic unrest ensuing if the legal system made any serious moves toward jailing Trump. That damn has broken. That bluff has been called, and even if there actually was any substance to those fears which have not as yet materialized, the question is moot. The Rubicon has been crossed, there is no turning back, Trump is now being prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

It matters that Trump is facing RICO indictments in Georgia. It frames him as the boss of a criminal enterprise, which is exactly what he is. That framing will permeate all of Trump's legal travails from here on out, because it resonates as fundamentally true. For a one time President who wanted to fill his cabinet with players who looked like they chosen by central casting, he has become the one obviously drawn from that pool. And everything he does and says now reinforces his crime boss stereotyping. He can't help himself, Trump was born to play that role.

Georgia matters for another reason, one that many have commented on before. Trump faces State , not federal , charges in Georgia, and so do all of his conspirators. There are many, and over a dozen of them have already been named and indicted wit him. That aura of invulnerability that Trump once had was largely built on the power he held to pardon accomplices who remained loyal to him. Even out of office Trump vowed to regain that office and with it that power. His grip on the GOP base was so strong that most Republicans who sought the presidency for themselves instead still pledged to pardon Trump and associates once in office.

None of that matters in Georgia, and everyone knows it. Even the Republican Party in Georgia is not reliably under Trump's thumb. It will not change the laws in order to save him. That means that the pressure is on full force for Trump's associates to flip on him, and to do so soon. The minimum charge for a RICO conviction in Georgia is a 5 year prison sentence, to be served in a State, not a Federal, prison. No pardons are even theoretically possible under Georgia State law, before a convict serves his or her time. Once the flipping begins Trump's entire conspiracy will be exposed to the bare bones with irrefutable hard evidence. Lots of former Trump loyalists have all of the receipts. Any week now it becomes every "man" for "himself"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218192339

[Ptarmigan]

You gotta be kidding me.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Ms. Occasional-Cortex is truly an embarrassment on the country - well, the state of New York anyway - but she certainly has entertainment value when she trots her stupidity out on stage for the whole world to see... 

She probably thinks that Rico is the guy who runs the bodega on her street.

[Old n Grumpy]

She can’t wait to show how stupid she is at every opportunity. I’m still on the news that people in her district are pretty pissed at her and had enough maybe they’ll wake up and vote her out. She can go back to tending bar.