Trial Lawyer political donations. . .Time to start questioning the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund

I just want to put the following thoughts on the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund on the radar of anyone interested:

First, I’d like to give a brief background on the fund. I say "brief" because the fund is only a month old. The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was launched in response to the recent wave of sexual harassment and sexual assault claims coming primarily out of Hollywood (although not exclusively). Essentially, it's born from the #metoo movement.

Since it launched on GoFundMe, on December 20, 2017, the fund has raised almost $19 million dollars. GoFundMe

These donations will ultimately go to trial lawyers, for the most part, who apply to be a part of the fund’s network. As members of the network, the fund expects the following from its lawyers:

• You agree that the National Women’s Law Center can provide your name and contact information to women and girls who need legal assistance, identifying you as an attorney in their area willing to consider taking on sexual harassment and/or sex discrimination cases.

• You commit to undertaking an initial pro bono consultation when someone reaches out to you through the Network for assistance, and to make best efforts to respond to an initial inquiry with five business days and meet with them within 30 days of the inquiry.

• You agree to provide brief informational updates regarding these consultations and any representation arising out of them to the National Women’s Law Center at the following intervals: after the initial consultation, quarterly updates regarding significant events in the matter, and a final update after resolution of the matter. The National Women’s Law Center will email you quarterly to remind you about these informational updates.

• The National Women’s Law Center will provide opportunities for training and updates on key issues in the law of sex discrimination for Network attorneys and other interested parties.

• The National Women’s Law Center may reach out to you periodically in its efforts to identify compelling cases and individual stories that can be shared, with your client’s permission, to provide a human face for policy and advocacy initiatives.

• The National Women’s Law Center may reach out to you periodically with opportunities to demonstrate support for state and federal policies that provide strengthened protections for women and girls experiencing harassment and other forms of discrimination.

National Women's Law Center

However, it’s important to note that many (if not most) sexual harassment trial lawyers already provide free consultations to potential plaintiff clients. Many (if not most) already work on a contingency basis when they screen cases that are strong. IOW, they don’t get paid unless the case succeeds. And as it appears, oversight of the networked lawyers' efforts are minimal.

And, yet, here we find, in the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, an opportunity for concerned donors to actually donate money, in effect, TO TRIAL LAWYERS….and it’s tax deductible.

“Tax-deductible donations made to our GoFundMe campaign, working in partnership with The Direct Impact Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will help launch the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund.”

Now, I ask you to consider this: Lawyers are some of the biggest political donors, giving millions to candidates, parties, PACs, and super-PACs. Unsurprisingly, their donations heavily favor Democrats by 70%-30%.

AND, trial lawyers especially favor Democrats. I learned this when one of Hillary’s top donors, Steve Mostyn, committed suicide, recently. Mostyn was a trial lawyer in Texas that bankrolled hundreds of millions from lawsuits against insurers, following hurricanes. He also donated millions to mostly Democratic political causes. Link to ATS thread on Steve Mostyn's death

From Open Secrets we see the TOP contributor among trial lawyers is the American Association for Justice:

“The top contributor is the American Association for Justice, a group of plaintiffs' attorneys formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America whose main political priority is fending off changes to tort law pushed by conservatives. Since the 1990 election cycle, the AAJ has donated around $48 million, just seven percent of which has gone to Republicans.”

Open Secrets

Their support for Democrats comes largely from their policies against tort reform (particularly caps on damages and awards).

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Personally, I have long felt the Democratic party hijacks social justice issues to the benefit of the party and not to those impacted most by social injustices. That's largely why I left the party, in 2008, and registered 'Unffiliated.'

So, my concern is that perhaps the rolling out of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is really just a way for people to donate millions of dollars that are going to find their way into Democratic party coffers (and Republican party coffers, too, in much smaller numbers) — and it’s all tax deductible.

Political donations are not tax deductible.

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Is this fund really about helping women? Clearly, it remains to be seen and I will be keeping an eye on how this money is actually spent.

However, it did not escape my notice that the administrators of the fund intend to provide their networked lawyers (who are recipients of the fund’s monies) with this service:

• The National Women’s Law Center may reach out to you periodically with opportunities to demonstrate support for state and federal policies that provide strengthened protections for women and girls experiencing harassment and other forms of discrimination.

Also, in closing, considering the recent speculation about Oprah running, in 2020, I find her vocal & visible support for the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund to be very curious. She touted the fund in her *epic* Golden Globes speech and even interviewed some of the celebrity women who helped launch the fund. Variety

Perhaps Oprah has more (or a different) motive than just caring about social justice for women who have been sexually harassed and sexually assaulted…

…perhaps she is just fundraising for her 2020 presidential campaign by bringing awareness to this fund?

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To be clear, I support anyone who is fighting back against sexual harassment and sexual assault. I have been the victim of both. I found my trial lawyer using the phone and through a free consultation. He worked on a contingency basis. So, I am not heartless to the cause -- it's actually close to my heart. But, I also refuse to be guilted into saying something doesn't stink, when I have a whiff of something foul. There's much about the #metoo movement that has left me feeling a bit exploited. There are ordinary women who are much better role models for this cause than many of the women I am hearing from out of Hollywood.

Anyway, I hope this thread prompts others to keep a keen eye on where this fund goes and any other charities that may pop up in response to the #metoo movement, too.

a reply to: MotherMayEye

Who cares? People are free to spend their money the way they see fit, even if it does end up in the pockets of lawyers and politicians.

If it helps some people who have been truly wronged get justice, so be it.

In the end, it's none of my business.

a reply to: introvert

I care.

But thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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ETA: Ha...ok, I really, really do thank you for being the only one to reply!

a reply to: MotherMayEye

Regards "Direct Impact Fund:

The city of Las Vegas was struck with a devastating tragedy Sunday, Oct. 1, after a heartbreaking event claimed the lives of 58 victims and injured nearly 500 individuals. While we can never erase the distressing impact this has had on our city, it has been inspiring to see the unification of our community as locals and tourists quickly acted to offer relief to those affected in a variety of ways. These selfless demonstrations of unity validate the courageousness of our country as a whole, and our community will only grow stronger as a result.

As a way to assist those who were impacted by this tragic occurrence, Hakkasan Group will look to raise funds through this GoFundMe page as well as a Benefit Concert that will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at OMNIA Nightclub inside Caesars Palace.

All proceeds from the event and funds raised through this page will be donated the Direct Impact Fund, a 501(c)(3) which will take no fees or operating costs for their help in distributing relief to the victims.

GuFundMe

Regards Hakkasan Group:

Following another recent turning point in a now rapidly expanding international investigation, it has now been proven that at least $10 million of the funds used to finance Las Vegas nightclub Hakkasan were unlawfully transferred from Malaysian government entity 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Over the past year the 1MDB scandal has unfolded into global conspiracy of unprecedented magnitude, linking numerous politicians, bankers, venture capitalists and entertainers around the world to roughly $3.5 billion in misappropriated funds.

Regards 1MDB:

The U.S. complaints also lay out how a handful of global banks, while not accused of wrongdoing, were ensnared as hundreds of millions bounced between a web of shell companies. Money was pilfered from the government fund based on false representations made by 1MDB officials and representatives of the shell companies, prosecutors said. Even when bank officials raised questions about the beneficiaries of various accounts, compliance departments were unable to detect or halt the alleged fraud.

U.S. Maps 1MDB Fraud Trail From Kuala Lumpur to Hollywood - ATS thread by yours truly

And

The Luxembourg newspaper Luxemburger Wort reported Thursday that it has emerged that at the end of June no less than 90 police, accompanied by prosecutors and a federal judge launched a massive raid on the headquarters of the private bank Edmond de Rothschild (BPERE).

The scale of the operation against a financial institution was unprecedented the paper explained and it was linked to the bank’s involvement in 1MDB, described as “possibly the largest money laundering operations ever uncovered in the Grand Duchy”.

90 Federal Police Officers Raided Edmond de Rothschild Bank! How Aabar Scandal Could Dwarf 1MDB - another ATS thread by yours truly.

With associations like these, this fund is certainly something that should garner closer scrutiny.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

I don't know how I missed those threads by you!

Reading them now...

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Out of curiosity, I checked to see if the domain name OprahForAmerica.com had been registered.

This is what came up:

Domain Name: OPRAHFORAMERICA.COM
Registry Domain ID: 2101608334_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: www.godaddy.com...
Update Date: 2017-03-01T21:43:54Z
Creation Date: 2017-03-01T21:43:53Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2018-03-01T21:43:53Z

(AND...)

Registrant Name: GEORGE SEYMORE
Registrant Organization: Patriot Strategies, LLC.
Registrant Street: 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Registrant Street: Suite 1025
Registrant City: Washington
Registrant State/Province: District of Columbia
Registrant Postal Code: 20006
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.2025599048
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: GEORGE SEYMORE
Admin Organization: Patriot Strategies, LLC.
Admin Street: 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Admin Street: Suite 1025
Admin City: Washington
Admin State/Province: District of Columbia
Admin Postal Code: 20006
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.2025599048
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: george@PATRIOTSTRATEGIES.COM
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: GEORGE SEYMORE
Tech Organization: Patriot Strategies, LLC.
Tech Street: 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Tech Street: Suite 1025
Tech City: Washington
Tech State/Province: District of Columbia
Tech Postal Code: 20006

So, I went to PatriotStrategies.com, and found they are a PR Management firm:

About Us
What is most important is not us. It is you. For more than fifteen years, we have focused on understanding what makes each client unique and using those insights to create winning strategies. We have helped Fortune 500 companies, major trade associations, nonprofits corporate executives and political candidates advance their issues, interests and reputations in the public arena.

Patriot Strategies was founded on the strength of our grassroots capabilities and is now recognized as one of the nation's premier practices. Thanks to this core competency, we have a unique perspective on how "voices from home" can affect the success of any campaign. Whether you need to influence opinions in Washington or in your own backyard, our campaigns are tailor-made to fit your situation, your issue and your definition of victory.

Link

I took this snapshot of their client list:


Link

The Obama campaign, Clinton/Gore, Kerry/Edwards, DNC....

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Am I reading that domain info correct and this PR Management firm registered OprahForAmerica in March of 2017???

a reply to: MotherMayEye

That's what I read out of that.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

But how on earth could they have known that Oprah was going to give her *epic* Golden Globes speech and that the public would start calling on her to run way back in March 2017???

*heavy snark*

Big red flag for me about this whole thing, and i know it sounds flimsy but really says a lot.

Ivanka Trump (im not a fan of the Trumps at all) Tweeted in SUPPORT of this group and this fund, and the left absolutely went to town on her, lambasting her and just delivering a beat down.

If this was NOT political and was actually about WOMEN and helping victims and empowering women, that would NOT have happened and they would have welcomed her with open arms.

Nope my spidy sense is going off with this one.

Not to mention it was Spearheaded by some questionable people like Natalie Portman, who actually petitioned to have ROMAN PALANKSKY who raped a 14 year old, Pardoned so he could come back to the US and not have to face trial.

#Idontthinkso

I see some guy in Arkansas registered oprahwinfreyforamerica.com on January 8, 2018...a day after the Golden Globes.

He must not have been in on the plan to kick off the #metoo (astroturf, celeb) women's movement that has unofficially launched Oprah's 2020 campaign, like Patriot Strategies PR was.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
I see some guy in Arkansas registered oprahwinfreyforamerica.com on January 8, 2018...a day after the Golden Globes.

He must not have been in on the plan to kick off the #metoo (astroturf, celeb) women's movement that has unofficially launched Oprah's 2020 campaign, like Patriot Strategies PR was.

Probably just a case of people buying up domain names to later sell for a windfall

PS check your messages

originally posted by: SailorJerry

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
I see some guy in Arkansas registered oprahwinfreyforamerica.com on January 8, 2018...a day after the Golden Globes.

He must not have been in on the plan to kick off the #metoo (astroturf, celeb) women's movement that has unofficially launched Oprah's 2020 campaign, like Patriot Strategies PR was.

Probably just a case of people buying up domain names to later sell for a windfall

Well, yes...that guy was.

HOWEVER, OprahForAmerica.com was registered for her actual campaign -- in MARCH 2017 -- by a PR Management firm, Patriot Strategies, who also handled the Obama Campaign, Clinton/Gore, Kerry/Edwards, Howard Dean, and also lists the DNC as a client:



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ETA: I U2U'd back.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

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Am I reading that domain info correct and this PR Management firm registered OprahForAmerica in March of 2017???

So much for "Snappy" decisions.

All planned way ahead of time.

originally posted by: xuenchen

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

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Am I reading that domain info correct and this PR Management firm registered OprahForAmerica in March of 2017???

So much for "Snappy" decisions.

All planned way ahead of time.

Not just Oprah though...

The #metoo movement, which started in October 2017, and the 'Time's Up' fund, which launched in December 2017, were all machinated for the benefit of the Democratic party.

A grassroots women's movement that started spontaneously in Hollywood? Ha!

The problem is, women (and real feminists) that QUESTION who exactly is attempting to speak for them and why...we really have NO VOICE in all of this. We've been silenced by this fundraising ploy by the Democratic Party.

I f*cking hate feeling exploited.

I don't want people to get swept up in the intentional division. It's a distraction from the real motivations: MONEY & VOTES for Democrats.

Lawyers - politicians sure give them money they love you .
You are fooling your self if you believe they give one flying fart about helping anyone except them self .
The sex thing is the newest gravy train and every one and there mother is jumping on it .

a reply to: MotherMayEye

So the Times offering a way to donate politically in a tax deductible way, political donations not being tax deductible, is the contention?

I love ATS for the amount of arcane or simply not commonly known knowledge that it brings to light.

originally posted by: Jonjonj
a reply to: MotherMayEye

So the Times offering a way to donate politically in a tax deductible way, political donations not being tax deductible, is the contention?

I love ATS for the amount of arcane or simply not commonly known knowledge that it brings to light.

Yep. That is the certain outcome if 20+ years of past political donations from trial lawyers is any indication.

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ETA: And, yes, political donations are not tax-deductible. Donations to 'Time's Up' are.

So...Mark Wahlberg gave 1.5 million tax-deductible dollars to trial lawyers...

...who are very likely to turn around and donate hugely to Democratic party PACs, super-PACS, and candidates at a ratio of about 93% Democrat to 7% Republican. But it's all very obfuscated and so "who cares?"

It will be interesting to see how much the disbursements to trial lawyers from this fund are. Anything over $5000 should be heavily scrutinized.