Michael Cohen, who participated, denied and went to prison for Trump's lies says the it's all very simple. The big lie is actually the big grift. Trump cranks up the outrage machine and had all those red hat, anti vax, tax hating patriots send money to his political action committee, where it becomes laundered and unlimited. He doesn't spend it on MAGA candidates or causes. The only thing he does with it is spend it on himself. The events he hosts at Maralago? Paid by the Pac to him. The salaries of the pac people? All in house. This is why the GOP had such a hard time with him. They couldn't call him out for diverting their donations because they made him THE party.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.