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Cruz’s latest fight with fellow Republicans is a reminder: Many don’t like the guy
Washington Post ^ | Apr. 28, 2016 | Sean Sullivan and Ed O'Keefe

Posted on 04/28/2016 6:46:32 PM PDT by Innovative

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To: Fungi

And then let other so-called conservatives complete the job.

Suddenly Cruz is savaged by the so-called conservatives because he did not work with McConnell! Do you believe that? McConnell the RINO! That was what attracted me to Ted when he had the guts to call McConnell a liar for...lying! McConnell had promised to not vote on the crony bank of exports, then he reneged on it and Cruz called him out on it from the floor of the Senate! It should have been glorious to any self-respected limited government conservative. Yet look at you now savaging Ted Cruz in support by an article by the ComPost!


21 posted on 04/28/2016 7:03:53 PM PDT by winner3000
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To: Aria

http://www.sltrib.com/
APR 28, 2016

Feds sue, allege Johnson illegally donated to Mike Lee, Harry Reid and former Utah A.G.

By TOM HARVEY | and Robert Gehrke | The Salt Lake Tribune connect

First Published Jun 19 2015 09:15PM • Last Updated Feb 17 2016 03:02 pm

Indicted St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson illegally funneled tens of thousands of dollars to Sens. Harry Reid and Mike Lee as well as then-Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, according to a new federal lawsuit.

In a complaint filed Friday in Salt Lake City’s U.S. District Court, the Federal Election Commission accused Johnson of giving about $50,000 to Lee’s 2010 campaign after John Swallow, Shurtleff’s top aide and handpicked successor, advised him that the Republican Senate hopeful, if elected, could influence the selection of Utah’s next U.S. attorney, who then could protect Johnson’s business interests.

“Johnson has reported that Swallow said to him: ‘[I]t is important that we raise this money and make Mike Lee our guy,’ “ according to the complaint. “ ‘[H]e is going to be choosing the next U.S. attorney and you gotta have him in your corner and you gotta have the U.S. attorney in your corner, especially while you are processing poker [payments] in this district.’ “

At the time, federal law limited campaign contributions to $2,400 per person, per election. The FEC alleges that Johnson gave tens of thousands of dollars to friends and associates to make so-called “straw donations” as a way to dodge those caps.

There is no indication in the complaint that Lee, Shurtleff or Reid knew Johnson was making illegal donations to their campaigns.

“At no time during the 2010 campaign, was Senator Lee or anyone associated with the Lee campaign aware of any unlawful contributions to the Lee campaign,” Boyd Matheson, Lee’s chief of staff, said Friday. “The documents obtained by investigators confirm that the scheme was known only to individuals who may have been involved as stated in the report.”

Shurtleff’s attorney, Richard Van Wagoner, said that his client “relied on his professional campaign finance staff to accept only legal contributions, and he had no knowledge of prohibited donations, if any, to his Senate campaign.”

“We know nothing about Mr. Johnson’s latest legal problems with the Federal Election Commission,” said Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman.

Swallow’s lawyer could not be reached Friday evening.

The FEC complaint says Johnson enlisted straw donors to kick in $20,000 to the 2010 re-election push of Nevada’s Reid, the Senate’s Democratic leader. The aim, again, was to shield Johnson businesses, which then included a southern Utah operation that processed online-poker payments.

Johnson said Friday that the FEC complaint stems from interviews he gave investigators pursuing multiple criminal charges against Swallow and Shurtleff.

“For my cooperation, I was guaranteed immunity. In other words, the information I shared in those confidential meetings with the FBI and state agents, I was told, would not be used to hurt me in any way. For reasons yet to be explained to me, that very information is now being used against me by the Federal Election Commission,” he said in an emailed statement. “I am stunned. I can’t imagine anybody who wouldn’t be outraged if they were in my shoes.”

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, who along with Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill investigated Swallow and is now prosecuting Shurtleff, backed, to some extent, Johnson’s version of events.

“There is more truth than fiction to Jeremy Johnson’s statement,” Rawlings wrote in an email late Friday. “In exchange for his significant cooperation, he is getting screwed by the United States government. I have demanded to know why and exactly who is behind this.”

Swallow acted as a chief fundraiser for Shurtleff, a former three-term attorney general, when the latter was exploring a run in 2009 against incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

Shurtleff dropped out of the race. By the time he did so, however, Johnson already had contributed about $100,000 to his campaign through straw donors, the FEC complaint alleges.

Swallow, who resigned amid a corruption scandal after less than a year as Utah’s attorney general, helped raise funds for Lee after Shurtleff quit the Senate contest.

Swallow now faces 13 felony counts and one misdemeanor after a sweeping investigation of allegations of bribery and corruption in the attorney general’s office. Shurtleff is starting at five felony charges and two misdemeanors.

This case is still going on...


22 posted on 04/28/2016 7:04:11 PM PDT by HarleyLady27 ('THE FORCE AWAKENS!!!' Trump; Trump; Trump; Trump; 100%)
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To: Aria

“Sen Mike Lee was defending Cruz. Is he the only guy who likes Cruz? Or does he just approve of his policies?’

I think he just got paid off by the GOPe, who is using Cruz to try to keep Trump from getting the R nomination, then they’ll get rid of Cruz too.

And the GOPe is in bed with the Dems for President Hillary.

See:

Tech billionaires (major Dem donors) plot with GOP leaders at exclusive island resort to stop Trump

http://nypost.com/2016/03/08/tech-billionaires-plot-with-gop-leaders-to-stop-trump-at-exclusive-island-resort/


23 posted on 04/28/2016 7:04:52 PM PDT by Innovative ("Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi)
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To: Vendome

I guess you missed Trump’s foreign policy speech in which he attacked globalism. And Cruz is a wack job dominionist, among other things.


24 posted on 04/28/2016 7:06:58 PM PDT by SVTCobra03 (You can never have enough friends, horsepower or ammunition.)
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To: Vendome
Yeah, Cruz likes to claim he is a ‘Constitutionalists’, but he demands to have his own special exemption from the Constitution. Cruz is a ‘natural born’ Cuban Canadian.
25 posted on 04/28/2016 7:11:25 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Jesus said Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: boycott

Wrong. You must never compromise with evil.

“When you compromise with evil, evil always wins. When you mix food with poison, who wins?”-—Ayn Rand


26 posted on 04/28/2016 7:13:55 PM PDT by huckfillary
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To: Vendome

Ask John Kasich what he thinks of Ted Cruz.


27 posted on 04/28/2016 7:13:58 PM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: Innovative

Trump, and even Cruz, have higher public approval ratings than the Washington Compost.


28 posted on 04/28/2016 7:14:21 PM PDT by TTFlyer
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To: Innovative

**Many don’t like the guy**

Gee, I wonder why? Because he lies? Because he cheats? Why?


29 posted on 04/28/2016 7:17:02 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

SO TRUE!

That’s when I truly started disliking Cruz, and proved to me that he was more for scoring political points than standing up for principles!


30 posted on 04/28/2016 7:23:56 PM PDT by LibFreeUSA
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31 posted on 04/28/2016 7:24:20 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Ted Cruz, "But it's what plants need!")
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To: HarleyLady27

pfft...... yep..... why has no one came out and said they like this guy? “i knew him and has a outstanding blah blah blah”...... no one


32 posted on 04/28/2016 7:26:37 PM PDT by sdpatriot ("Thank you very much, sdpatriot!! Smooch!" - from JR - send him a buck!!!!)
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To: Innovative

Running for president is all Ted’s got. After losing this it’s back to being the loneliest guy in the senate


33 posted on 04/28/2016 7:26:59 PM PDT by Sybeck1 (Ted Cruz's antics show he is playing for 2020 against Hillary)
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To: HarleyLady27

>>>I like him because he is an American,<<<

how refreshing.... lol.....

me too..


34 posted on 04/28/2016 7:29:39 PM PDT by sdpatriot ("Thank you very much, sdpatriot!! Smooch!" - from JR - send him a buck!!!!)
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To: HarleyLady27

Oh boy....

Another reason why Trump is the only one we can trust!


35 posted on 04/28/2016 7:29:57 PM PDT by Aria (2016: The gravy train v Donald Trump)
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To: Innovative

Ted, the kid your Mom made you invite to your birthday party.


36 posted on 04/28/2016 7:35:47 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: sdpatriot
pfft...... yep..... why has no one came out and said they like this guy? “i knew him and has a outstanding blah blah blah”...... no one

That is not completely true. Carly Fiorina says she likes him and even sang a lullaby to Ted's little girls. Ted's superpack did give Carly's people $500,000 for an unknown reason, and he did make her his running mate so it didn't come cheap, but she did go all out on that lullaby.

37 posted on 04/28/2016 7:36:38 PM PDT by fireman15 (The USA will be toast if the Democrats are able to take the Presidency in 2016)
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To: Innovative

It’s uncanny how Trump nails it every time he gives a nickname to an opponent. Ted spews lies faster than light.


38 posted on 04/28/2016 7:38:28 PM PDT by Kahuna
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To: Innovative

A true conservative and a true leader will bring people to the cause and bring people to support him. Look at Reagan. Cruz does the opposite. He drives people away. He doesn’t make the conservative movement bigger...he makes himself bigger on the backs of conservatives.


39 posted on 04/28/2016 7:43:47 PM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: Innovative

After Cruz’s debacle is over he should try out to be a backup singer with Prince.
Oh , wait.....


40 posted on 04/28/2016 7:47:40 PM PDT by COUNTrecount (Race Baiting...... "It's What's For Breakfast")
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