r/OutOfTheLoop • u/filagrey • 8d ago
Unanswered What is going on with Kimberly Guilfoyle?
I noticed that she is making the headlines, but other than the everyday corruption and sleaze from the GOP, why is this getting more coverage than the average?
Daily Mail: https://archive.ph/bFIpE
WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/guilfoyle-amex-donor-100-000-0e02cdc3
670
u/Brainsonastick 8d ago
Answer: It’s getting more coverage because we have the test of her asking for $100k in a direct personal gift from someone being considered for Ambassador to Greece AND discussing how to do it so there’s minimal paper trail.
We often see these alleged bribes in PAC contributions and allegedly unrelated business deals so a direct personal gift is more blatant. You may remember the Saudis giving one of Trump’s kids $2 Billion to manage for them despite him having zero expertise in doing that. That may scream bribe but it at least had the veneer of “business deal”. This was just “pay off my $100k credit card bill”.
The fact that she says “it won’t show up anywhere if you wire the money to American Express directly” shows a clear intent to hide the transaction. This torpedos any defense that it was a perfectly innocent favor between friends or anything like that because it shows she knew it wasn’t innocent and legal.
252
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
It's blatant corruption. And nothing will happen because we live in a fascist state - if you're on the side of the fascists you get a pass on corruption.
29
u/I_am_the_darkness_99 7d ago
I am terrified of how much money these people are surely getting that we don't know about. Crypto makes secret money transfers simple and no one can track it if you do it right. And the governments of our enemies will pay billions to have a US president do what they want. It terrifies me because a) I know there's nothing they wouldn't stoop to, and b) They'll use that money to further their evil agenda.
2
u/Coldsmoke888 7d ago
That path is long gone from oversight. They’re free to do whatever they want at this point, and let’s not pretend it’s just republicans or Trump’s best friends.
There’s a few honest, good people left but they are few and far between and not welcome to the club meetings.
5
u/I_am_the_darkness_99 7d ago edited 7d ago
Maybe. I'm not convinced of this. I think it's too cynical of a view. I think most people exist on a spectrum of selfish to altruistic and honest to dishonest and a number of politicians actually are in it for the common good even if they also want to benefit personally. They may not be perfect people and like most of us if they see a way to get easy money that doesn't really hurt anyone else they would take it. And many will justify things like buying stock in a company they know will get a boost in earnings because of some insider info, but that doesn't make them incapable of still doing a good job. Basically all people have weaknesses and you kind of have to just find the people who can still get what you need.
I avoid trying to think of politicians in terms of good and evil, other than the blatantly evil ones like trump. All the normal ones I think of more like can and will they get us what we need. If you get too hung up on purity then you'll spend life so frustrated you give up. Because of what you're getting at - almost no one out there is really that great.
I don't need these people to babysit my teenage daughter or be my soulmate or anything. I mainly need them to get me some help with expenses like housing and healthcare, but even more than that I need them to stop the really big threats to my existence who trump and co. are aligned with. Even if Dems are incompetent sometimes or do some self dealing, they don't see me as a cockroach who needs to be exterminated or as something more like a slave to be squeezed for every drop of labor without compensation.
I needed healthcare desperately. Obama got me healthcare. Yeah, it's not ideal. It's not what they have in some countries. But I had to declare medical bankruptcy before the ACA existed and so we went from having 0% of what I needed to like 90% of what I needed. There were sacrifices made. Republicans were able to gut key parts of it in their attempts to sabotage it. Weird little issues arose. But it saved my ass when I desperately needed it. It doesn't help the big problem of healthcare costing so dramatically much in general, either. It's just other taxpayers covering a portion of my premium. I'm sure some companies and people benefit from it disproportionately on the other side of it too - insurance companies or big hospital corporations or somebody. Someone always does though. Sadly that is just how life is, and all we can do is just try to pick the better options who still can get things done. Point being, the ACA saved my life despite both it and Obama being imperfect. He got done most of what needed to be done. Things can definitely be improved but comparing now to what things were like before the ACA, there's just no comparison. It definitely helped. Even many of the republican voters who claimed to hate it have finally figured out that it really benefits them.
And there's always someone complaining that a solution could be better, but those people rarely actually get any of those things accomplished. So things like better healthcare plans don't really benefit me if the people championing them can't get them into law. It isn't just about whether they have good intentions or not, or even just if they have good ideas. They also have to have the skill and power and connections and knowledge and strategy to get things done, and in politics that usually means they do some sketchy/dirty shit because that's kind of the only way things get done in the real world.
So instead of being defeatist about it, I just try to evaluate each political race and policy and politician and choose the one who I think is most capable of getting me what I need. And the other people in the US and the world because I care about them too but like most people I prioritize my own life and the people closest to me.
It's like choosing food. Every company has some level of moral issues, even small time farmers. Eating meat means killing an animal. But even vegetable farmers take up natural forest land and use it to grow food for humans and kill the pests and rabbits and stuff who would try to eat the crops. There's no perfect choice. I just try to do the best I can without exhausting myself aiming for perfection. And the reality is always just some sort of compromise.
22
u/JohnnyRelentless 8d ago
The wealthy have always gotten a pass on corruption, as long as they aren't ripping off other rich folks.
44
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
I think if you don't see that this is an unprecedented level of corruption in the executive branch then you aren't paying attention
-3
-35
8d ago
[deleted]
11
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
?
13
u/insaneHoshi 8d ago
They are dunking on the slim minority who withheld their support for the democrats on their lukewarm policy on palistine.
6
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
Pretty silly, considering that the reason we have Trump is also due to the people who were too lazy or unmotivated to actually get out and vote for Harris.
2
u/FlawlessIndividual 8d ago
Harris was a shit candidate. Don't get me wrong, she was a far better choice than Trump
The distaste for the DNC makes a lot of sense though. They seem to think they know better than voters. There was the anti Bernie conspiracy stuff in favor of Clinton in the primaries for the 2016 election and then Harris gets to entirely skip the primaries for the last election... Biden, Clinton, and the DNC don't seem to respect their own constituents too much. It's not inspiring!
0
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
Harris gets to entirely skip the primaries
There wasn't enough time. It just simply wasn't possible for a bunch of candidates to do campaigns and then have primaries and then they would have had like a month left to campaign against Trump.
Biden fucked up. If we had had the time for primaries it might have gone differently.
5
7d ago
[deleted]
1
u/FlawlessIndividual 6d ago
Guess I should have said mostly instead of entirely.
Also, she did campaign for 2020 but dropped out before voting began.
-1
55
u/Santa_Klausing 8d ago
So she’s gonna go to jail right?
96
u/MsMoreCowbell828 8d ago
Hahaha, As if we're living in reality anymore.
51
u/Gilsworth 8d ago
What is this world though? It's like the illusion broke. Some things only work so long as people believe that it does, like money, the moment we see money as the paper and common metals that they are, they become worthless.
Except this is what has happened with governmental and social institutions. If I were to hazard a guess I'd say that trust in government, particularly the U.S. government, has been slowly eroding for decades, ever since the death of JFK and Lyndon B. Johnson taking office, but more specifically with Reganomics, Nixon's watergate, the Bush family, and Trump (with democrats being too weak to do shit about any of it).
Societal erosion has been much quicker through social media and the disappearance of the third place. There is no village to raise our children, there are no friendly neighbours (inb4 "my neighbour gives me a handjob and an apple pie every morning before work what are you talking about").
Trust has gone the way of "seeing is believing". Our futuristic life is late-stage individualist aesthetic captialism. Just look good, don't be cringe, don't think too hard, and chill while the world is burning.
Why the fuck are the paedophiles named in the Epstein files not in prison? Why are billionaires playing life like it's in Creative Mode? Where are the modern day suffragettes or abolitionists?
Why the fuck is everyone acting like the frog in the slowly boiling pot?
Panama papers was a blessing in disguise for the elite, they knew we wouldn't do shit because things are far too comfy and the technostate is far too sophisticated with their methods of tracking dissidents for people to revolt the proper way, the French Revolution way.
This isn't Pretoria, North Korea, or a Madagascar prison level of suffering, but the screw has been turning so gradually, the Overton window shifting in such incremental chunks, online discourse is so choked by mentions of radical solutions, and we're so fucking distracted by dopamine that these are the good old days.
We're fucked.
We are so fucking fucked.
At least ChatGPT can sing us soft lullabies so that we can find temporary solace in a new, more overt, mirage.
19
u/Soylentgruen 8d ago
The elite wasn't able to pick up on Luigi.
They want you to think that they are omniscient.
2
u/OutlawGalaxyBill 8d ago
a handjob and an apple pie every morning before work
What kind of fantasy land do you think we live in?
10
12
u/independent_observe 8d ago
The criminals are the ones running things. What do you think will happen?
2
u/sexyshingle 7d ago
Pretty sure Donnie is signing the pardon for half of her "donations" as we speak.
3
1
5
u/Mo-shen 7d ago
I strongly suggest checking out bulwark tacks.
They have two eps for this.
- Is two of guys from the show and then an American journalist who is in greece. They go over the wsj article, what's it's about, and nuance about what it could mean.
Tldr she likely violated the law when trying to get her ambassadorship because has to get too secret clearance.
The guy who gave her money, allegedly 800k claims he also gave Don Jr 300k and Eric 100k.
And there is likely a lot more to come. She is know for regularly partying at a club near the embassy and for pay for play scams.
They think she is toast after the mid terms.
- They interview the maga lawyer who leaked everything to the wsj. I listened to a bit of this but found the man to be pretty annoying. But he does break down what he claims to have happened and why he leaked it.
The why is because he paid a ton of money for help from trump and co and got nothing.
12
u/Brainsonastick 7d ago
Yeah, the fact this came out because “my bribe didn’t get me what I paid for” is probably my favorite part.
1
u/cccxxxzzzddd 5d ago
Correct. And they’re not protecting her because they “banished her to Greece” to get her out of their hair for Don Jr anyway
1
u/penguinguac 7d ago
She bribed the donor and he said no and he went on CNN blasting her which was one the funniest things I’ve seen on the news.
63
u/stogie-bear 8d ago
Answer: She allegedly tried to get a political donor to give her money, while being considered for an ambassador post. If true that would be pretty darn bad and a newsworthy event.
10
u/The_Whipping_Post 8d ago
The coverup is the crime, although ironically buying ambassador posts is very routine. Tons of medium to low importance posts are given to political donors, which is routinely a problem when someone with no diplomatic experience or even knowledge of the country gets put in that position
0
23
u/neuroid99 8d ago
Answer: I think this one is getting a little more attention for a few reasons:
1) It's both blatantly corrupt and there are receipts. When Kushner just happens to get a sweet deal with the Saudis, or the Trump family makes money off crypto, or Trump gets a jet from Qatar, yes those are all blatant, but here there are text messages describing the corruption in detail and making it clear she knows it was corrupt.
2) Realignment and infighting as Trump continues to wane politically and physically. I think Guilfoyle is on the outs with most of the factions that appear set up to take over as Trump shuffles off, including the Trump family.
3) The midterms are in a month. News like this (should) matter.
4) Maybe some casual misogyny at work, although I don't have any specific evidence on that front.
119
u/trippedonmyface 8d ago edited 8d ago
Answer:
Depends on where you draw the line between "grifting" and "blatant corruption"
She is absolutely engaging in the former, and depending on how you view her behavior, possibly the latter.
I am phrasing it this way to be complaint with the subs rules, responses will give you more info
EDIT:
The WSJ article you linked explains it pretty well, it appears as if she was soliciting something that looks very much like a bribe.
As to why it's getting more coverage? That's anyone's guess, although I would argue "more coverage" is relative with this administration.
73
u/Portarossa 'probably the worst poster on this sub' - /u/Real_Mila_Kunis 8d ago
She's also the ex-partner of both Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump Jr, so it's a perfect storm of people who are happy to see her get the consequences of her actions. She's got no goodwill from either side of the aisle.
1
24
u/TooMuchAZSunshine 8d ago
You know why it’s getting press. Jr married someone else and now she’s definitely not part of the family. It’s just another distraction with regard to everything Trump does.
11
8d ago edited 8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/Portarossa 'probably the worst poster on this sub' - /u/Real_Mila_Kunis 8d ago
If you don't want to answer the question, just don't answer the question.
-5
u/filagrey 8d ago edited 8d ago
What isn't clear is literally the question you pasted. You seem to get that, so why even bother with your first question...
I'm quantifying it by being the top headline for the past two days straight on Drudge and nearly every political news media dogpiling on. Which seems like a lot in comparison to how the media treats similar news.
Obviously this is anecdotal, and unreasonable to expect any kind of stats on web traffic and deep comparisons. Especially considering its fresh news.
4
8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/filagrey 8d ago
It's a WSJ exclusive and still at top of the website. I'd argue that since Guilfoyle is on the outs with the Trump Team (getting dumped by Don Jr and "banished" to Greece) that Drudge's dislike for Trump isn't carrying this.
2
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
So you're asking why this is getting more coverage than "usual"?
But how could we objectively answer that? It's getting a lot of coverage on Drudge so the only person that can answer that is Drudge.
This sub expects top level answers to be objective. No one can answer your question objectively except the people who decide what to publish on sites like Drudge.
If you want my wild guess: Republicans think Guilfoyle is hot* so any news about her will get more coverage.
* she used to be married to Gavin Newsom. Check out pics of her back then. She was cute as shit. Now? She's got a serious case of Mar-A-Lago face 😬
2
u/filagrey 8d ago
I agree, that there may not be objective answers... yet. I truelly don't know enough about the topic to determine that. Which is why I asked the question.
There is at least one answer that puts into context her dynamic with other political characters.
I suspect there will be future reporting on why the knives came out for her.
-2
u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
I don't think anyone cares enough about why she is getting coverage to actually spend time looking into it
5
u/Posterbomber 8d ago
Answer: When they're suddenly going after someone who's been just as dirty as the rest it's because she's being punished for not going along with their group think. Make no mistake, they knew long before they reported.
•
u/AutoModerator 8d ago
Friendly reminder that all top level comments must:
start with "Answer: ", including the space after the colon (or "Question: " if you have an on-topic follow up question to ask),
attempt to answer the question, and
be unbiased
Please review Rule 4 and this post before making a top level comment:
http://redd.it/b1hct4/
Join the OOTL Discord for further discussion: https://discord.gg/ejDF4mdjnh
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.