Current Events > Trump aide brags about 'causing innocent people to be arrested'

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-mcentee-secret-service/

TLDR: Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025, gives Hollywood money to homeless people in hopes they try to spend it and get arrested for trying to spend fake money. He claims to be doing it as a means to "clean up the community".

Video in question: https://www.tiktok.com/@daterightstuff/video/7365946036235324718

Donald Trump's former White House aide is under fire after a video showed him claiming to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.

Johnny McEntee, formerly the White House Presidential Personnel Office under the former president, posted a video on TikTok in which he discusses the purported scheme to "clean up the community."

"So I always keep this fake Hollywood money in my car, so when a homeless person asks for money, and I give them like a $5 bill, I feel good about myself, they feel good," said McEntee, also a senior advisor to Project 2025. "And then when they go to use it, they get arrested, so I'm actually helping to clean up the community and get them off the street."

Law professor Orin Kerr responded to the video, "Causing innocent people to be arrested is good, according to Trump aide."

Another law professor, Jennifer Taub, replied that "ignorance of 18 U.S.C. 2 is no defense."

Reed Galen, former campaign manager for Sen. John McCain and Lincoln Project co-founder, suggested it was part of a pattern.

"Spoke to a friend recently who's worked as civil servant for years and dealt with Trump people," Galen said. "He said, 'Here's the thing: They literally don't care if something is illegal. Oh, that's illegal? It'll be fine.'" Galen then added, "BTW, @SecretService, FYI."

Galen wasn't the only one. Social media is flooded with individuals tagging the Secret Service and FBI, with several of them demanding an investigation into the alleged misconduct by McEntee, who is no stranger to financial crime investigations.

This the kind of bullshit you really want with Project 2025?

Actual saturday morning cartoon villain shit.

So how is he coming into possession of fake money

Both sides though?

Biden has to earn your vote, though!

Not the message you want to spread when you are the "law and order party"

Only hires the best people.

With Trump having difficulty paying his fines I wonder how long before he tries using that money the aide keeps in his car.

All the more reason to keep Republicans out of office. Vote blue en masse.

Technically he's distributing forged money. He should be arrested.

What the actual fuck?

Secret service needs to arrest him for passing fake bills

This is 100% illegal. Why isn't be being arrested.

It's reprehensible what he's saying and clearly shows he's human garbage. Unfortunately I doubt he suffers any serious repercussions from this because he'll just claim it was a "joke for the video".

creativerealms posted...

Not the message you want to spread when you are the "law and order party"

"Party of law and order"
"Party of small government"
"Party of fiscal responsibility"
I think I'm starting to notice a pattern here...

Sounds like a crime.

yall it's 100% illegal

he probably will be arrested by the secret service in the next week

Having fake money is not a crime, if it's labeled and you are using it in a stage play (or something similar). Distributing it to homeless people as if it's real, in order for said homeless to use it to buy something and be arrested?

What kind of psycho does that?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

It's VERY illegal. He's an accessory to a crime by inducing it.

Lock him up.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

How will you prove it, though? If an investigation is launched, he'll just get rid of any money and claim he was telling a colorful story.

darkmaian23 posted...

How will you prove it, though? If an investigation is launched, he'll just get rid of any money and claim he was telling a colorful story.

He literally bragged about it on TikTok and self-snitched.

Literal evil.

Even if this was only a joke its a pretty scummy thing to say still.

Tanthalas posted...

Technically he's distributing forged money. He should be arrested.

This

Reimu posted...

He literally bragged about it on TikTok and self-snitched.

You need actual evidence to corroborate it, not just his word. I can only hope that he's just as stupid as they all seem to be. The real difficult part, in my opinion, is if they even really go after him in earnest. I can only hope the Secret Service is as hyper focused on this as they always seem to be.

King_Rial posted...

You need actual evidence to corroborate it, not just his word. I can only hope that he's just as stupid as they all seem to be. The real difficult part, in my opinion, is if they even really go after him in earnest. I can only hope the Secret Service is as hyper focused on this as they always seem to be.

All you have to do is find some of the cash he handed out, either in the possession of homeless or in a business, and dust for fingerprints.

He notes it as Hollywood money, which makes me assume it's Prop Money, which isn't illegal to have.

And because he isn't using it to purchase goods or services, he isn't using it in any way that could get him charged with counterfeiting. Prop money is also marked as prop money, so he basically can dust his hands clean of it and say it isn't his fault no one looked at it before trying to spend it.

Dick move all around, but nothing illegal.

Senta posted...

He notes it as Hollywood money, which makes me assume it's Prop Money, which isn't illegal to have.

And because he isn't using it to purchase goods or services, he isn't using it in any way that could get him charged with counterfeiting. Prop money is also marked as prop money, so he basically can dust his hands clean of it and say it isn't his fault no one looked at it before trying to spend it.

Dick move all around, but nothing illegal.

Distributing as if it were real money, with the hope someone tries to use it so they get arrested, is definitely illegal.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-mcentee-secret-service/

King_Rial posted...

You need actual evidence to corroborate it, not just his word.

A simple lookup of the arrest data from police departments would be able to do this.

mystic_belmont posted...

Distributing as if it were real money, with the hope someone tries to use it so they get arrested, is definitely illegal.

It should be, but it probably isn't.

Trumble posted...

It should be, but it probably isn't.

It's at least aiding and abetting.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-2471-18-usc-2

Tanthalas posted...

Technically he's distributing forged money. He should be arrested.

That's why people are tagging the Secret Service. Their original purpose was to investigate counterfeiting, and it's still mostly what they do.

Senta posted...

He notes it as Hollywood money, which makes me assume it's Prop Money, which isn't illegal to have.

And because he isn't using it to purchase goods or services, he isn't using it in any way that could get him charged with counterfeiting. Prop money is also marked as prop money, so he basically can dust his hands clean of it and say it isn't his fault no one looked at it before trying to spend it.

Dick move all around, but nothing illegal.

That's not how it works. You cannot distribute prop money and portray it as real money, no matter to who or for what purpose. He also clearly believes it looks real enough that anybody who doesn't know would logically try to spend it, since he states that his intention was for them to try to spend it.

EDIT: At the very least, since he made clear his intention was for people to try to spend it, he can't "dust his hands clean" because his intended end game was having fake money be spent, which makes him accessory.

It doesn't matter. He won't be punished. They live by different rules. Laws are merely suggestions. Breaking them is a slap on the wrist on a bad day.

LinkDaLunatic posted...

It doesn't matter. He won't be punished. They live by different rules. Laws are merely suggestions. Breaking them is a slap on the wrist on a bad day.

I doubt he'll get away with it. this guy is no one, and he doesn't work in Hollywood so the secret service will be interested in where he's getting the fake money to hand out

even just the first couple paragraphs of his wikipedia entry is a fun ride

He began as a body man and personal aide to the president but was dismissed by White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly in March 2018 after failing a security clearance background check, which discovered he was under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security due to debt-related issues from gambling.[3][4][5][6]
After Kelly was dismissed in December 2018, Donald Trump rehired McEntee and named him Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in February 2020.[7][8][9][10] After leaving the White House, McEntee founded The Right Stuff, a dating app for conservatives, which he led as CEO.

Trump literally hiring people to work in the White House and not doing background checks until two years later. That sure does explain a lot.

GrandConjuraton posted...

Biden has to earn your vote, though!

"Donnie and his stupid friends couldn't successfully overthrow the government so I'm fine with saying any other plans they have will also be stopped and therefore I don't care if he wins again. Nothing bad will happen to ME!" - super serial super posters

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/13/politics/john-mcentee-white-house-security-clearance

Fired from the White House over a financial crime investigation in 2018, immediately joined Trumps re-election campaign.

But dont worry folks, Im sure well get him this time! /s

Deej posted...

"Party of law and order"
"Party of small government"
"Party of fiscal responsibility"
I think I'm starting to notice a pattern here...

Projection is a form of confession.

"Look at all the crime they do! See how godless they are! Ultrasounds for everyone, literally everyone..." and on and on.

Rank hypocrisy, at its nicest.

Dudes a good [redacted].

Deej posted...

"Party of law and order"
"Party of small government"
"Party of fiscal responsibility"
I think I'm starting to notice a pattern here...

No double standard matters at all to Trumpers.

They believe anything they do is allowable, and people they don't like should not be allowable.