Every evangelical Christian who gives to what they believe is their cause must see this. And as AM Joy points out, some partaking in that abuse of evangelicals now goes straight through the White House.
AM Joy Panel exposes Trump’s lawyer and the evangelical pilfering cabal
This AM Joy panel did not hold back as they shined the light on the pack of crooks that are feasting on the hard earned income of many evangelical Christians. Joy-Ann Reid was referencing the excellent Guardian article titled “Trump lawyer’s firm steered millions in donations to family members, files show” that illustrates Trump’s Attorney Jay Sekulow systematic pilfering of the poor who gave him and his companies millions of dollars. The article’s first three short paragraphs say it all.
More than 15,000 Americans were losing their jobs each day in June 2009, as the US struggled to climb out of a painful recession following its worst financial crisis in decades.
But Jay Sekulow, who is now an attorney to Donald Trump, had a private jet to finance. His law firm was expecting a $3m payday. And six-figure contracts for members of his family needed to be taken care of.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show Sekulow that month approved plans to push poor and jobless people to donate money to his Christian nonprofit, which since 2000 has steered more than $60m to Sekulow, his family and their businesses.
Charlie Pierce, a writer for Esquire Magazine and Frank Schaeffer, author of “Why I Am An Atheist Who Believes In God” and former leader of the evangelical Christian movement had a lot to say.
“From selling indulgences and saints heads to Jim Baker and the 700 Club to Ralph Reed’s weird connection to Jack Abramoff,” Charlie Price said. “Christianity has always been a fine environment for eager entrepreneurs. But this bunch, I mean that’s a lot of dough they are talking about. And they seem to be pitching themselves at the elderly and the terrified or the terrified elderly. That I find not exactly consonant with the gospel.”
Joy-Ann Reid then pointed out the obscene amount of millions of dollars that were transferred in effect from these poor evangelicals to Sekulow’s family members. She asked Schaeffer why evangelical Christians are not offended by the pilfering.
“Joy it is part of the fall out of the culture war,” Frank Schaeffer said. “And they have decided that everyone is the enemy. It is the same with Donald Trump when he talks about any story that is against him is fake news. They assume that when they hear things like this somehow this is the Liberal Media again saying things that are not true. They have built a system around themselves to guarantee only seeing one point of view. You have to understand, my father, Francis Schaeffer, was one of the founders of the religious Right. And I met with Pat Robertson back in the days when Jay Sekulow was just sort of a kid hanging around. He had recently converted from Judaism to Christianity and he saw the opportunity to join this band of grifters. These folks who are essentially con artists. And it just amazes me some thirty years later now that I am out of the movement, as you know, to see how these kinds of people find each other. I mean look, go figure. Pat Robertson’s sidekick who started a bunch of legal foundations to essentially con evangelicals into sending money so he could ‘save America from Liberals,’ now is the defense counsel for this con artist President who either is selling you bad steaks, or a non-university university. It’s just stunning how these guys belong together. It would all be sort of a sick joke on evangelical Christians and the 81% of white evangelicals who voted Trump except for one thing. It shows such bad judgment on the part of this idiot president of ours that once again you really have to say do you know who you just hired. Was it someone who you saw on Fox for two minutes and liked because he was kissing up to you. Or do you know he is just another Ralph Reed con man Donald Trump type himself.”
Enough said.