Secret Service notified as Trump aide brags about 'causing innocent people to be arrested'
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."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-mcentee-secret-service/Open linkView original on lemmy.world976
Comments131
Truly no level these people won't stoop to.
Conservatives love SWATing
Punching down is like level 0 for them though. But I still agree with you.
Didn't George Floyd get murdered because he paid with a counterfeit? And assholes like this are proud of it.
He decided water-skiing on a frozen lake wasn’t a good idea.
But why were the police even called?
All I'm saying is, the consequences aren't as simple as "some homeless lowlife goes to jail lol" like the guy in the article seems to feel in his heart. Sometimes a counterfeit bill results in a 9- minute long public execution followed months of societal pain.
ETA: Johnny McEntee! That's the asshole's name. Johnny McEntee is the asshole that is trying to get homeless people into situations involving police over counterfeit money. Police that sometimes decide murder is a best path to justice for poor people with counterfeit money legal issus. Fuck that guy.
Well that's what the situation escalated to, yes, but what was the instigating factor. I know cops really don't need one in practice, but usually they at least make one up.
That's a very interesting question you're asking. Does the guilt lie with the police for the murder, or with the person that put him in the path of the cops? If you set a dog on children, and they get horribly mauled, is it the dogs fault? Does the guilt lie with the person pulling the switch, or with the lunatic that tied them to the trolley tracks in the first place?
I understand why the op here would reframe that question, as it could quite reasonably be interpreted as shifting responsibility for their actions away from the (quite guilty) cops. It's still a good question to ask though, especially in the current context of someone intentionally trying to dangle vulnerable people in front of the cops like a steak to a guard dog.
(Personally I think guilt lies with everyone, but that calculating the exact degree of EDIT (for clarity): I mean calculating each individual person's guilt, as in all of society. Just to clarify that the cops are absolutely guilty. But calculating the guilt of everyone in society is impossible.)
Both is an acceptable (and accurate) answer.
Most situations aren't entirely binary.
A key point in your statement is 'person'. Though it's not universal, humans are understood to have better... Well, understanding of their actions. A vicious dog doesn't understand that they're vicious, they just rip and tear. A human is supposed to have that inner monologue to say "No."
So, you release a dangerous animal on someone, you're at fault. You kill someone, you're at fault.
In George Floyd's case, the cop is responsible. 1000%. I've been in situations, I've pointed a gun and I waited. Even when someone might be rigged to blow, you don't just shoot them. Whomever called the cops isn't responsible because the Cop should've been expected to be a human and not some deity who can do no wrong. Yes, everyone in America at this point should know that cops aren't your friend but some people don't know that.
(I was taking a bit of a jab at cops by implying they aren't capable of free agency, which could have been more clear.)
I'm not sure if you understood my point. An absolutist approach isn't representative of the real world, which is fine because representations don't have to be perfect (by definition, I think). The question isn't where do you draw the line, as with all trolley problem questions it's why do you draw the line. Did the person who called the cops get him killed? Well, in an absolutist view, yes they did. They put him in the situation to get him killed. The cops are also guilty of killing him, as is the person who made the hypothetical counterfiet money.
But since we do not live in a truly accurate representation nor too a strict absolutist one, where do we draw that line? Its not a question of where in the legal code do we draw that line, or if their behavior was excusable or inexcusable, it's a question about how we determine the answer to those questions.
When someone commits crimes it is legal, ethical, moral, and reasonable that you call the cops on them. It's also reasonable to expect that the cops arrest them not summarily execute them. You can't make the people responsible for the cops behavior.
You are taking this a great deal more literally than I intended for it to be taken. This is a hypothetical question that asks how we decided that it is legal, ethical moral etc. to call the cops. It's not a question about the specifics of this case except where they serve to exemplify the concepts.
... I could have been more explicit about that, I realize.
It is legal ethical moral and reasonable to call the cops because it is the only practical way to make people stop breaking the law. If the cops don't want to be prosecuted or hated they can stop overreacting and hurting people. If the people want to avoid the risk of excess harm they can stop committing crimes or vote for politicians who hold cops accountable. None of this is my problem.
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.
It's like give sick people a deadly virus on purpose. I hope they investigate him and he goes to jail.
Was it Mcentee Money? Was he in Minnesota? Did he give George Floyd the fake money? I'm just asking questions.
Alternate headline: Vapid idiot brags about his incessant need to punch down in order to sexually perform
FTFY
He doesn't consider them to be fellow Americans.
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?
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.
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
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.
Look at that goalpost move!
A difference of opinion on subjective semantics is not inherently "moving the goalposts" IMO.
What if there’s gold fringe on the flag?
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.
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
You mean like making a video where you say you are hoping people will try to use it as legal tender, and are distributing it for that express purpose?
which part of that is illegal?
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
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter25&edition=prelim
Yes
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
Bruce Rivers built his name off of self-snitchers lol. Heck of a guy + lawyer, he's great
Rapp Snitch Knishes
Rap snitches, tellin' all their business Sit in the court and be their own star witness "Do you see the perpetrator?" Yeah, I'm right here Fuck around, get the whole label sent up for years....
Tf? How low is the bar for evidence in these cases that rap lyrics can count as evidence?
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.
https://www.secretservice.gov/investigations
Counterfeiting of United States currency, bonds, checks, and other financial obligations and securities. Distributing or passing of counterfeited, forged, or altered U.S. currency and other financial obligations and securities. Criminals sometimes use online forums to sell bulk counterfeited U.S. or foreign currency.
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.
Right. I always thought the FBI was responsible for hunting down counterfeiting. The whole point of the FBI is to be federal level police, and our currency is a federal concern.
I understand why you would think that, but it's wrong. The secret service is absolutely still in charge of investigating counterfeit money.
I handled a lot of cash for an old job and I had to submit a form to the secret service whenever I reported counterfeits.
They basically handle counterfeit money cases, so people spending counterfeit money provided by this asshole would have been investigated by the secret service.
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.
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
The people who pass these out are huge assholes...but do honestly need it explained to you why tricking a homeless person into using fake money so they are arrested is not the same as some religious nutter attempting to trick you into reading their proselytization?
You just activated my fight or flight
I think the venn diagram closely resembles a single circle.
What a weird coincidence. I posted this same image in an entirely different thread yesterday.
Well, it was the best pic I could find in Google. :)
Right, but it was on a totally different subject. Religious "tippers" in restaurants.
Maybe not totally different. Both discussions are about self-righteous people being assholes to others.
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
The video in question, since links in the article lead to nothing
Less annoying link
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?
Specifically counterfeiting yes. And they take it super seriously.
Wow who knew that these obvious piece of shit scumbags were obvious piece of shit scumbags. They're a detriment to our society and republicans elect them to positions of power where they can become even larger detriments to our society.
Arrest this dumb fucker and throw away the key
Shows how stupid this guy is. Obviously it isn't illegal for someone to own "Hollywood money" or else he wouldn't admit to owning it himself. If a homeless person gives it to a store and they accept it, that's on them.
It clearly states on the bills "For Motion Picture use Only", doesn't feel right, and isn't the right size.
If a homeless man accepts a Hollywood bill, believes it genuine, and tries to spend it - they're not at fault for most of the currency related laws. Simply handing a homeless person a fake bill with the intent that they believe it is genuine is the super illegal thing. There's a large mens rhea component to most crimes but especially around fraud... the basis of most fraud cases is inequal information: you purposefully don't disclose a significant quality of the goods being transferred.
I hope this shitheel learns thoroughly that the secret service are really fucking serious about their non-bodyguard duty.
(Also, shout out to Warehouse 13 for being a fucking hilarious premise right in this area)
The person handing them out, passing the fake bills off as real money to the homeless(even as a donation) is the illegal thing. Spending a counterfeit bill without having known it was fake is not illegal in the US afaik, but you can still be arrested for it because the police don't have to believe that you didn't know.
George Floyd was executed by police for using a suspected counterfeit bill.
That's ridiculous. He was executed for being black. The counterfeit bill was just the excuse.
I mean it isn't counterfeit. Counterfeit is making a bill yourself that looks exactly like an actual bill. These specifically state they aren't real.
I didn't know about giving it out as a donation though.
The quality of the item is only a consideration if its unreasonable for a regular person to mistake it for real (a good example is bills printed in red). If someone could mistake it for genuine and you're falsely presenting it as genuine - then you've got fraud.
Counterfeit is something that looks close enough that someone could believe it's something it isn't.
Hollywood money has to look real at a distance, the fact it says "not legal tender" in small print doesn't make it not possible to be used as a counterfeit. If it's crumpled or folded up, the obvious tells that it's fake might be hidden. A person with poor eyesight or numb fingers can't sense it well. When mixed in a pile of change and 1 dollar bills it can be missed.
Someone intentionally donating movie money to the homeless is using those bills as counterfeit bills. And that person then attempting to buy something with it is passing counterfeit currency, knowingly or not.
Hollywood money is highly regulated, and secret service is very strict about it. Adam Savage recently made a YouTube vid about movie money, which has stories about the secret service at the beginning of the video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=drLzVcgnBfI
It's absolutely not legal. But you'd need a lawyer, and the homeless don't have a lawyer. The wealthy and well to do love this trick... Punching down is kind of their thing.
They don't care. The only way for a Trump aide to get fired is to mock them on SNL.
This guy has been getting the piss mocked out of him on TikTok for months. Every video he makes and every comment section is filled with people shitposting about Five Nights at Freddie’s - it’s pretty funny.
I’m sure he will offer to part in anyone who gets arrested during his campaign. Then conveniently forget about it should he get elected
He only knows the best people.
Is it wrong to hope that he someday finds himself destitute and homeless?
His intentions are evil, that's a fact. But prop money isn't counterfeit money.
Any money you try to pass off as real money is counterfeit money. Intent matters here.
DEMOCRATS are the Swamp! Law And Order!
This article is about a Republican.
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.
Ah the old "That horrific story you heard about me was actually fabricated by me, so this is actually a win haha gotcha" defense.
Is this guy a Drake ghostwriter?
What does it matter if Trump wins or not.
Us politicians are already bought and sold by capitalist pigs out of control.
Its only a matter of time that inflation keeps getting worse and worse and China is going to keep undermining US economy.
The CEOs have already secured their lifeboats, and the future of capitalism out of control is that it will hollow out the economy.
The USA has entered a death spiral of poverty by capitalist design, the CEOS are too blinded by greed to see what they have done. And the politicians are in there pockets.
It will keep getting worse and worse.
Fascism is not the solution to neoliberalism.
where did I say facism was the solution
In supporting apathy you're supporting who would win if the good go apathetic ie. Fascists.
Oh the forced labeling. I am just saying this is the end, beautiful friend
This sort of comment can only come from someone in a position of privilege.
what would a comment from the suitable class of your choice be
I have absolutely no idea what your question is, but do please let me know the way in which you are not in a position of privilege.
Maybe you shouldn't have skipped those reading comprehension classes
I hope something nice happens to you today
The usual "both sides" fallacy bs.
I don't wana hear it the comment
Protip: to avoid hearing you are posting bothsideser bullshit, simply do not post bothsideser bullshit.
Maybe i like bullshit, which is why I like you
George Carlin said it best. Its a big club and you and I ain't in it. Red or blue the outcome is controlled by those that control the narrative and both red and blue are their subjects.
Systems ens come and go, yours is being dismantled internally.