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.”
I’m not sure why you missed this quote, but apparently you did:
He is blatantly admitting passing off fake money as real money.
“passing off” implies trying to spend it yourself, knowing it’s fake. which isn’t happening here.
I’m not sure why you think giving money to a homeless person isn’t spending it, but it is.
I don’t see where any of the definitions here apply: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/spending
So you are arguing that donating knowingly fake money to any sort of cause is legal? If you give the American Cancer Society $10,000 in Hollywood money, not letting them know it’s fake, and then admit it, there’s no legal issue there because it isn’t spending?
“Its simple. Its not illegal, because I support it. Duh.”
Of course since its a politician even if it did go to court this will probably pass as a valid legal argument that gets him off the hook. I’d think it would AT LEAST fall under some sort of entrapment or conspiracy or something, but since its a trumper nothing will probably happen.