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.”
“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.”
Wow… What a fucking cartoonishly evil piece of shit…
So another of Trump’s sycophants is committing crime that will get him arrested while Trump (who may or may not be behind or endorse the crime) gets away without consequences. How very typical.
And If memory serves, wasn’t the secret service originally invented to fight fraud? Either counterfeiting, mail fraud, or something?
And If memory serves, wasn’t the secret service originally invented to fight fraud? Either counterfeiting, mail fraud, or something?
Specifically counterfeiting yes. And they take it super seriously.
Truly no level these people won’t stoop to.
Punching down is like level 0 for them though. But I still agree with you.
Conservatives love SWATing
Like the movement it grew out of. trumpism is designed to be cruel. To be Sadistic. To be brutal. To be heartless. It is not a flaw in their thinking. It is a purposely chosen tactic. As it is something that is desired it will never be punished
Didn’t George Floyd get murdered because he paid with a counterfeit? And assholes like this are proud of it.
That is some dark shit to do to someone. The hardest hit people, that are usually mentally unstable, being setup. Fuck’d up
Cruelty is the goal.
So he’s a counterfeiter? I’m sorry, isn’t that a federal crime?
Strangely enough, the secret service covers stolen and counterfeit money
I learned that from Fallout 76, with the gold billions!
I’m on the fence, loved Fallout 4 though, should I play 76?
Uhm that’s why the secret service was notified.
Not everyone knows that the Secret Service also investigates counterfeiting crimes.
You could say it’s a secret service of theirs.
and even less people know that movie money isn’t prosecutable without proving it was intentional.
It can if you try to pass it off as real money.
someone would have to prove you did it on purpose knowing it was fake, and that requires getting arrested and charged in the first place and making it all the way to court
Or you just admit it like this moron in the article.
admit what? handing people prop money? there’s nothing illegal with that or even proof he actually did it. not trying to defend anyone but just saying. these strawmen are a bit silly IMO
The whole thing stinks as schoolboy level revenge fantasy. I doubt there’s truth to it.
Prop money has specific laws and guidelines and is very easily identifiable and therefore do not count as counterfeit.
If a $5 bill does find its way in the economy no one gets arrested probably, someone just made a stupid trade. Otherwise half the store owners would be in jail when attempting to deposit money that happens to contain a fake note here and there.
Manufacturing prop money for movie purposes isn’t illegal. Passing it as legal tender IS. Note that passing and creating are 2 separate crimes. Notably even though he is giving it away he has specifically stated that the aim of this scheme is for it to be used for commerce by unwitting victims.
you’re applying those terms to the wrong thing.
there’s nothing inherently illegal with saying you’re giving someone fake money so they’ll get arrested.
and trying to use movie money also won’t get anyone arrested.
Actually it is inherently illegal. It’s fraud.
Because like the previous person said, they’re attempting to pass it off as legal tender by getting the homeless person the money so they’ll use it.
that’s not what passing it off means.
you have to actually try to use the money yourself, knowing it’s fake, for there to be a crime in this situation.
Which is what he is doing when he gives it to the homeless person. Assuming we can take him at his word that he actually does this, of course, and with Trumpists, that’s a big if.
What part about giving a person $5 because they asked for it isn’t using the money? They’re asking for real money. You give them fake money, knowing it’s fake. You don’t tell them it’s fake.
Imagine donating fake money to a charity. Same thing.
it isn’t using because you’re not paying for goods or services
What if there’s gold fringe on the flag?
Look at that goalpost move!
A difference of opinion on subjective semantics is not inherently “moving the goalposts” IMO.
I got passed a fake $100 as a pizza delivery driver one time. Some secret service agents came to my store a few days later, and asked me about where I got it. They took the information I had, and continued their investigation to get to the person that made the thing. It was easy to tell them where I got it. That was the only $100 bill I had been handed in weeks.
How is this different from the assholes that spread these as “tips”?
Those cannot be reasonably mistaken for real currency. Carefully so, even.
This person allegedly (from his own mouth) intentionally passed off paper convincing enough to be used in films, as real currency, to people with a high likelihood of mental illness, in the express desire to trick them into using it as real currency so that they get arrested.
Who knows if any of this is true, but from the asses’ own mouth, that’s a world of difference in intent.
You’re right that no one would think they were real. When i worked at McDonald’s the bastards would pay this at the back window and try and zoom forward and get their food from the next window before the confused money taker could let the person handing out the food know lol
Not that anyone thought it was real though. You’re definitely still correct
I think the venn diagram closely resembles a single circle.
Alternate headline: Vapid idiot brags about his incessant need to punch down in order to sexually perform
They don’t care. The only way for a Trump aide to get fired is to mock them on SNL.
The video in question, since links in the article lead to nothing
Very disgusting. Glad the Secret Service has been notified.
By notified it means that they were tagged on social media. Persecution would probably require a victim to be found or come forward, or maybe get a warrant to search his vehicle for counterfeits and cocaine, unless they get him for a lesser charge like conspiracy to commit a crime.
Prosecution, but yeah. Persecute this shithead
I think that this is an attempt at a joke rather than something he actually did. He probably enjoys reading about how angry his political opponents are about it.
DEMOCRATS are the Swamp! Law And Order!
His intentions are evil, that’s a fact. But prop money isn’t counterfeit money.
Prop money is counterfeit money if you try to pass it as real money.
That’s exactly what he did with it, and then bragged about it stating his criminal intent.
Any money you try to pass off as real money is counterfeit money. Intent matters here.
Can anyone eli5 why the Secret Service would have anything to do with this? Up until now, I thought their sole role was protecting POTUS. Do they prosecute money fraud, too?
The Secret Service was created to investigate counterfeiting. The president stuff came later.
Well their original charter was to investigate counterfeiting. The presidential protection thing was kind of an add-on. But my impression was that the original function was moved to a different agency and the USSS, originally under the treasury department, moved to Homeland Security. So I don’t know why they would have anything to with this. Unless I remembered that wrong.
Their original job was to go after counterfeiting And it’s still their jam. (Along with other similar financial crimes.)
(Edit fuck autocorrect,)
Counter-fitting is the job of a carpenter.
Actually, a carpenter dealers with wooden structures like building frames and decks. A cabinet maker dealers with more intricate woodworking like furniture, countertops, and interior decorations. If you’re going to snarky, you better be correct.
A finish carpenter is still a carpenter.
If I was going to be specific I probably would have said joiner, though.
Norwiegian carpenters are better.