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Did Santos discover the best way to buy a congressman? [1]

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Date: 2023-01-25  

This is of course pure speculation, but it would fit the facts.

To buy a congressman, you need to accomplish two things — first, get him elected; second, pay him off. The problem is that getting him elected costs money, which increases your expenses if you also want to pay him off. Another hurdle is that there are limitations on campaign contributions. To be sure, paying to get someone elected does confer a benefit and get you access, but it doesn’t necessarily get them in your pocket. Could Santos have come up with a better way?

Consider this: you give your guy a chunk of money, say around $700,000, with the stipulation that he put it into his campaign. (He is allowed to exceed the dollar limitations on his own contributions.) If you chose well and are lucky, that is enough to get him elected. Now, once your guy is in place, he has enhanced fundraising powers, and over the next couple of years he can raise that money from other people. If he claimed the money you gave him was a loan from him, he can then repay that directly back to himself.

The upside is that for a one-time payment of $700,000, you can get the double benefit of $700,00 to fund the campaign, plus another $700,000 (from others) to go straight back into your guy’s pocket. Kind of neat to fund your bribery through other people’s donations.) Sounds like the kind of deal someone who sells Ponzi schemes would be all over.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/25/2149266/-Did-Santos-discover-the-best-way-to-buy-a-congressman

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