July/August 2019 Issue

A Quick Guide to Who’s Making Money Off Trump Paranoia

Some notable resistance hucksters.

Peter Ryan

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The Trump era has been a bonanza for investigative journalism and Democratic fundraising. But it’s also inspired a host of opportunists who have capitalized on fears about Trump to hawk their own podcasts, premium Twitter accounts, and books (for children and adults). Here are a few leading lights:

 

Brian and Ed Krassenstein

Credentials: Twins, cryptocurrency speculators, and Florida men once raided by the feds as part of a possible fraud investigation

Known for: Inserting themselves into Trump’s Twitter replies

Profit center: A $19 donation to their Patreon account to fund their podcast, The KrassenCast, gets you a copy of their satirical children’s book, How the People Trumped Ronald Plump.

 

Seth Abramson

Credentials: Creative writing professor, poet

Known for: Extremely long Twitter threads about collusion. Wrote a 451-tweet thread in response to Mueller report.

Profit center: His New York Times bestseller Proof of Collusion. (A sequel, Proof of Conspiracy, is out this summer.)

 

Louise Mensch

Credentials: Former Tory MP and author of the novel Sparkles

Known for: First reporting that Trump aides had been snared in a FISA wiretap. (Whoa!) First reporting that Steve Bannon might face the death penalty for espionage. (D’oh!)

Profit center: A crowdfunded Russia blog called Patribotics

Eric Garland

Credentials: Futurist

Known for: Being the guy who kicked off a 120-tweet thread on Russian election meddling with “It’s time for some game theory.”

Profit center: Sold access to his “premium” Twitter account for $10 a month

 

Claude Taylor

Credentials: Clinton White House staffer, travel photographer

Known for: His Twitter account @TrueFactsStated, where he claimed that Trump was secretly indicted in 2017

Profit center: His Mad Dog PAC, which paid him $72,000 in 2018 for fundraising and social media consulting

 

John Schindler

Credentials: Former NSA staffer turned Naval War College professor (until he resigned after texting a dick pic to a Twitter follower)

Known for: Using his NatSec background to speculate about what Mueller really knows

Profit center: Charges $10 a month for his “premium” Twitter feed (SFW)

 

Image credits: Krassenstein: Youtube; Abramson: M. Scott Bauer/Simon & Schuster; Mensch: Andrew Parsons/i-Images/ZUMA; Garland: Eric Garland; Taylor: Twitter; Schindler: U.S. Naval War College

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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