The new House leader lists no bank accounts, including checking or savings, on financial disclosure forms going back to 2016.
In the week since Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the House, we’ve learned a tremendous amount about the Louisiana Republican, and virtually none of it has been good. For instance, the man the GOP just elevated to one of the most powerful jobs in the federal government tried to help Donald Trump steal a second term, is virulently antiabortion, thinks America doesn’t have a gun problem, very possibly does not believe in evolution, definitely doesn’t believe in separation of church and state, has claimed homosexuality is “sinful” and “destructive,” and is married to someone who founded a company that equates being gay with bestiality and incest. And now, for something totally different, we’ve learned the new House Speaker…doesn’t have any bank accounts listed on his financial disclosure forms.
The Daily Beast reports that in financial disclosures dating back to 2016, the year he joined Congress, Johnson never reported having a savings or checking account in his name, his spouse’s name, or in the name of any of his children. In his latest filing, which covers last year, he doesn’t list a single asset either. Which, given that he made more than $200,000 last year—in addition to his wife’s salary—is more than a little odd.
I'm not really arguing about what needs to or should be done, I tend to agree with you.
However, my understanding is that sting operations start with a suspect already under investigation. They don't start with the sting. It's a pretty important distinction because otherwise you get into entrapment territory. We're interested in obtaining and and maintaining appeal proof convictions against wealthy and well defended people here.
If you want more direct scrutiny over congress critters, you need stronger ethics and disclosure laws to be passed with real teeth.
General sweep stings happen all the time without any known suspects before the operation. Prostitution and human trafficking stings are a couple of examples that are often reported on in local news.
I fully admit that I'm no expert here, I'll have to look into it more. Thanks for the civil discussion.