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This thread will detail an entirely new corruption scheme by Trump that provides evidence of bribery by the sugar industry to put profits over the health of the American people during the COVID19 pandemic
This is a long thread, but contains unreported information Buckle up!
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This is a long thread, but contains unreported information Buckle up!
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I’d like to establish that the SuperPac for Trump, “America First Action”, is his personal slush fund. As recently detailed by Eric Lipton at the NYT, it has been used to pay his legal bills.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/us/politics/trump-campaign-funds-legal-bills.html
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/us/politics/trump-campaign-funds-legal-bills.html
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America First is Committee 1 in the federal indictment against old friends Lev&Igor &may be guilty of other campaign finance violations.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-pro-trump-super-pac-at-the-center-of-the-ukraine-scandal-has-faced-multiple-campaign-finance-complaints
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https://www.propublica.org/article/the-pro-trump-super-pac-at-the-center-of-the-ukraine-scandal-has-faced-multiple-campaign-finance-complaints
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In further support of its sketchiness, this Super PAC is rife with corruption and unaccounted spending.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/politics/trump-super-pac-america-first/index.html
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https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/politics/trump-super-pac-america-first/index.html
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And lest we forget, this is the same Super Pac where Kelly Loeffler’s husband made his million-dollar bribe to keep is stock dumping wife out of jail (for now)
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/kelly-loeffler-trump-super-pac-272626
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https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/kelly-loeffler-trump-super-pac-272626
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For independent researchers like me, that donations are made public on the FEC website is a great resource:
https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?committee_id=C00637512&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020
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https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?committee_id=C00637512&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020
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I happened to stumble across a series of 5 donations. Totaling 250K$. All made out of Florida. Palm Beach specifically. And all made on the same date (Jul 1st). I noticed that some of these donations included farm/agriculture in their name.
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My immediate thought was perhaps these were meat-packing companies and corporate farms paying off Trump in return for cutting regulations (see later in the thread). However, this was corruption of a different nature. Specifically, in the sugar industry.
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Now for the background. A very underreported story is what is happening in the Glades (located in Palm Beach county). Vast fields of sugar cane stalks are being burned. This is a decades old but archaic and hazardous practice, particularly during the COVID19 pandemic.
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The problem is that it is children in minority areas that are affected by this high level of smoke and burn emissions. The entire story is detailed in this http://grist.org article. And let me tell you it is heart wrenching:
https://grist.org/justice/the-glades-florida-sugarcane-burn/
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https://grist.org/justice/the-glades-florida-sugarcane-burn/
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Quotes:
“former school nurse Anne Meehan had to stock a half dozen nebulizers in her closet to treat sick students every year”
“Ten miles north, in Pahokee, students have carried trash bags over their heads to protect themselves from falling ash when they walk to school”
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“former school nurse Anne Meehan had to stock a half dozen nebulizers in her closet to treat sick students every year”
“Ten miles north, in Pahokee, students have carried trash bags over their heads to protect themselves from falling ash when they walk to school”
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“A Sierra Club analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data estimates that the practice releases over 3,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants in the region every year, including carcinogenic chemicals like formaldehyde, benzene, and acenaphthylene.”
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How does this relate to COVID19?:
“The mortality rate from COVID-19 is nearly 80 percent higher in Palm Beach County than it is in Miami-Dade County, which has more than three-and-a-half times the caseload”
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“The mortality rate from COVID-19 is nearly 80 percent higher in Palm Beach County than it is in Miami-Dade County, which has more than three-and-a-half times the caseload”
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“in the particulate-choked Glades, where documented infection rates in some zip codes have been nearly three times higher than Palm Beach County’s rate overall.” The article elaborates way more on the severity of this situation. I will let you read more for yourself.
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However, the question that I am interested is who are companies responsible for these negligent actions? Buried in the article is this line: “Florida Crystals and Domino are two subsidiaries of West Palm Beach-based American Sugar Refining, Inc”. Meet Armando A. Tabernilla.
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Armando is the VP and General Counsel to Florida Crystals. He is also VP and General Counsel to Domino and C&H sugar.
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Remember those 5 identical corporate donations made to America First in July? Armando is linked to EVERY SINGLE ONE.:
Vandegrift Williams Farm: Company Agent
https://www.floridareg.com/company/155181/vandegrift-williams-farms-inc
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Vandegrift Williams Farm: Company Agent
https://www.floridareg.com/company/155181/vandegrift-williams-farms-inc
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Stofin Co Inc (Officer/Director)
https://visulate.com/rental/visulate_search.php?CORP_ID=185642
Cloister Farms Inc (Director)
https://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/West-Palm-Beach/closter-farms-inc-3966387.aspx
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https://visulate.com/rental/visulate_search.php?CORP_ID=185642
Cloister Farms Inc (Director)
https://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/West-Palm-Beach/closter-farms-inc-3966387.aspx
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Americas Export Corp (Director, VP, General Counsel)
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/M13991
Agro-Industrial Management (Director)
https://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/West-Palm-Beach/agro-industrial-management-inc-5138676.aspx
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https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/M13991
Agro-Industrial Management (Director)
https://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/West-Palm-Beach/agro-industrial-management-inc-5138676.aspx
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Putting this all together, we have established that Armando has paid Trump through what seem like shell corporations or LLCs and his company engaged in dangerous agricultural practices, linked to COVID19. But why donate to Trump particularly? What did Trump give him?
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In April of 2020, the Trump EPA declined to tighten air quality regulations focused on soot pollution. The EXACT kind of pollution that is occurring in minority communities in the Glades and Palm Beach County. Keep in mind this was done IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC.
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It is clear that Armando and his buddies directly benefited from this as they were able to burn their sugar cane for profit without repercussion.
Detailed by Reuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-soot/trump-epa-declines-to-tighten-soot-pollution-standards-idUKKCN21W1X8
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Detailed by Reuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-soot/trump-epa-declines-to-tighten-soot-pollution-standards-idUKKCN21W1X8
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Democratic and Independent Senators led by Sen. Hassan expressed their concern and noted that these actions would put Americans at risk. As have a number of experts noted in the article.
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We can see that the action taken in April to loosen regulations likely directly had an impact on the health of Floridians thru unregulated sugar cane burning. In the end, the Trump Campaign likely got paid for it by a series of shell companies with links to Armando et al.
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Now this evidence is just circumstantial and there may be an entirely innocent explanation for all this. But from my perspective this appears to be the classic quid-pro-quo scheme Trump is notorious for pursuing, and was impeached for.
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If true, this is nowhere near his worst scandal, but again helps to build a pattern where Trump and his enablers put profit and money over the sanctity of human life and health of the American people.
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Please ignore tweet 8 where I reference information later in the thread. I will save that for another thread.
Thanks for reading
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Thanks for reading
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