Source: CounterPunch
by John W Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead
“Pay-to-play schemes. Protection rackets. Extortion. Corruption. Self-enrichment. Graft. Grift. Brutality. Roaming bands of thugs smashing car windows and terrorizing communities. Immunity for criminal behavior coupled with prosecutions of whistleblowers. This is how a crime syndicate operates — not a constitutional republic. What we are witnessing today is the steady transformation of the federal government — especially the executive branch — into a criminalized system of power in which justice is weaponized, law is selectively enforced, and crime becomes a form of political currency.” (11/19/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/19/profiteering-protection-rackets-a-pay-to-play-presidency/