'Someone's Gotta Tell the Freakin' Truth': Jerry Falwell's Aides Break Their Silence

[UpInArms]

Source: Politico

... snip ...

Over the past year, Falwell, a prominent evangelical leader and supporter of President Donald Trump, has come under increasing scrutiny. News outlets have reported on business deals by Liberty University benefiting Falwell’s friends. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen claimed that he had helped Falwell clean up racy “personal” photographs.

Based on scores of new interviews and documents obtained for this article, concerns about Falwell’s behavior go well beyond that—and it’s causing longtime, loyal Liberty University officials to rapidly lose faith in him.

... snip ...

“We’re not a school; we’re a real estate hedge fund,” said a senior university official with inside knowledge of Liberty’s finances. “We’re not educating; we’re buying real estate every year and taking students’ money to do it.”

Liberty employees detailed other instances of Falwell’s behavior that they see as falling short of the standard of conduct they expect from conservative Christian leaders, from partying at nightclubs, to graphically discussing his sex life with employees, to electioneering that makes uneasy even those who fondly remember the heyday of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., the school’s founder and Falwell Jr.’s father, and his Moral Majority.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/magazine/amp/story/2019/09/09/jerry-falwell-liberty-university-loans-227914

[Scarsdale]

1. FINALLY, the code of silence is being broken.

Falwell is a fraud, like many so-called "religious leaders" are. It is easy to understand why they like tRump so much. Another con man like themselves. So happy to hear this. Open the flood gates wide. Bring this hypocrite down, then on to Franklin Graham.

[ck4829]

25. Very good

[SayItLoud]

2. "A Picture says a thousand words"

When the media starts publishing the threesome pix even the fake Evangels will take notice. Pool boy, "trainer...

[UpInArms]

6. Here are a few pics for you

Last edited Mon Sep 9, 2019, 09:23 AM - Edit history (1)

Left: A zoomed-in close-up of Jerry Falwell Jr. in the crowd at WALL nightclub in Miami Beach, taken from the photo at the start of this section. Right: Also at the club that night were Trey Falwell and his wife, Sarah. | Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com


In a Dec. 10, 2013, Instagram post, Becki Falwell and Michael Cohen pose for a photograph during a visit to New York City. "Wonderful seeing my great friend @michaelcohen84 in NY," Falwell wrote. "He's the best." | Instagram


President Donald Trump and Jerry Falwell Jr. onstage during Liberty's May 2017 commencement ceremony. | Getty Images


Ahead of Trump’s speech at Liberty’s 2017 commencement, Becki Falwell wrote an email to several high-ranking Liberty officials: “It’s great advertising for Liberty to be on products with Trumps name.” The school ended up printing and selling Trump t-shirts and hats. The shirts, in MAGA red with white type, read “TRUMP” in large block letters, with “Liberty University Commencement 2017” in a much smaller typeface. Another design, used on both hats and t-shirts, borrowed Trump’s campaign slogan and signature style: an all-caps “Making America Great Again,” then in a script font: “One degree at a time.” | Obtained by Brandon Ambrosino

[dalton99a]

14. +1. They might as well call it Trump University

[eggplant]

19. That name was already taken.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University

[Marcuse]

33. Not anymore.

[muntrv]

52. You mean the Falwells do not consider dancing a sin?

[calimary]

55. Dancing with the Devil, that is.

[UpInArms]

57. And, being tRumplovers, the also do not consider

Lying
Taking the lord’s name in vain
Coveting
.....

Nope ...

They all carry their get out of hell free cards

[FiveGoodMen]

58. You'd think so...

but kidnapping children doesn't bother them.

Porn star payoffs don't bother them.

This won't either.

There. Is. Nothing. That. Will. Make. Them. Think.

Take that to the bank.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. This country is being ruled by mobsters.

But when you are a faux Christian mobster, you are more likely to be surrounded by real Christians who have not been brainwashed to think that telling the truth equals "finking".

[blm]

4. Exactly why it was easy to embrace Russian mob

looking to take over and absorb the GOP mob factions.

[Kid Berwyn]

7. Don't forget the Moonies!

[blm]

38. 👍🏼

[underpants]

42. Yep. Moon saw Jerry as the face he couldn't be

White southern evangelical

Jerry was bleeding money when floated him with a crazy low interest loan. CNN started putting Jerry on the air just as Moon wanted.

[UpInArms]

45. Lots of moonie ties

Bush Sr. To Celebrate Rev. Sun Myung Moon – Again

Next month the Washington Times, the conservative newspaper with close ties to every Republican administration since Reagan, celebrates its 25th anniversary. Former President George H.W. Bush will be the headliner.

And the former President deserves the honor. Barbara Bush ought to get a rousing cheer as well. The two of them have been beating the bushes for Reverend Sun Myung Moon for years.

Moon and his Unification Church came to America in the 1970s and quickly plunged into Washington politics. “In the 1970s, church officials organized prayer breakfasts and rallies in support of President Richard M. Nixon, dispatched young female members to infiltrate congressional offices and had extensive ‘operational ties’ with the Korean Central Intelligence Agency as part of the agency’s efforts to influence U.S. officials, according to a 1978 report by a House subcommittee,” the Washington Post would later report.

Those ties became fodder for the 1976 Koreagate scandal, which centered around the figure of Washington lobbyist Tongsun Park, a man legendary for his lavish parties and gifts of cash in white envelopes. He, too, was long suspected of being connected to Korean intelligence; he was also an influence peddler of great renown, and anywhere from 30 to more than 100 members of congress were said to be under his thumb at the time. Park was never charged with any crime in connection with Koreagate, but last year he was convicted on conspiracy charges for his role in Saddam Hussein’s United Nations oil-for-food machinations.

Moon was not prosecuted in connection with Koreagate, but he later became a target of an IRS investigation and in 1982 was convicted of conspiracy and filing false tax returns. He spent 18 months in federal prison. It was also in 1982 that he launched the Washington Times, which—with its access to conservative figures and reporters drawn from the newsroom of the defunct Washington Star —soon became essential reading for political news junkies.

Through the early 80s, while Bush served as Vice President, Moon operatives were building ties with the New Right—flying Hill staffers to junta-ruled El Salvador, and supporting the Nicaraguan contras’ fight against the Sandinista government. The late Terry Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) and often credited with pioneering the modern political attack ad, helped Moon burrow into the conservative mainstream.

[keithbvadu2]

53. Yes, Sun Myung Moon Was a Messiah. No, He Won't Be Resurrected.

Yes, Sun Myung Moon Was a Messiah. No, He Won’t Be Resurrected.

Followers believe that Jesus served as the messiah until Moon took up the role as the second coming, approximately 2,000 years later. “The second coming of the lord is not the physical return of Jesus Christ,” she added, “but the anointing of a person who inherits the mission of the messiah.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/107091/yes-sun-myung-moon-was-messiah-no-he-wont-be-resurrected

[Farmer-Rick]

17. The FBI noted that the little man in Russia bribed evangelical leaders as well as the NRA

How much did this mobster take from Putin.

[blm]

39. Good question

[gademocrat7]

5. Failwell Jr. is a disgusting hypocrit.

A man who has no moral compass.

[Miguelito Loveless]

8. It is just my opinion,

but I believe huge parts of the political/evangelical Rights are massive financial fraud schemes. Evangelicals are using their tax exempt tax status to create dodgy tax shelters for their donors, and TrumpCo/GOP is a massive insider trading ring.

And Putin, on top of all his massive criminal wealth, has a huge blackmail/extortion operation that reaches worldwide into politicians, celebrities, and plutocrats.

[UpInArms]

11. Welcome to DU, Miguelito Loveless

[Miguelito Loveless]

20. Thanks!

[jmbar2]

16. +1000

Just another branch of the mob.

[Miguelito Loveless]

27. Paging Mr. Banzai, Mr. Buackaroo Banzai, white courtesy phone please!

[ck4829]

24. They really are

[Newest Reality]

28. On spot!

Welcome to DU!

[AJT]

32. Watch out....Arti and Jim are on to you.

Welcome to DU.

[Miguelito Loveless]

43. Oh, I've retired from Mad Science

and plotting to take over the world. Too much work. I now leave it to the younger generation.

[AJT]

46. Oh bwain(as pinky would say)

[blm]

41. Pretty certain that is more fact than opinion, M L

[calimary]

56. Welcome to DU, Miguelito Loveless! I think it was Pat

Robertson whose international holdings were so obscenely lavish that they included a diamond mine in Africa. So tell me, since when does a purported man of God own a diamond mine? Even the Vatican doesn’t have one of those.

That we know of, anyway.

[eShirl]

9. frikking evangelicals

[Aristus]

12. Not for nothing, but things will go better here if you don't have the Confederate battle flag

in your avatar.

[Sherman A1]

36. Agreed

[Danascot]

37. It's Mississippi's official state flag

which is problematic in and of itself. But most people wouldn't know that so I agree with your point about displaying it on DU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mississippi

[Aristus]

40. I know.

If one wants to express pride in being from Mississippi, I'm sure there are avatars in our system that don't include the Confederate symbol.

[dalton99a]

13. Excellent article.

[AllaN01Bear]

15. falwell sr was a fraud too

my late mom said " the moral majority is either and neither ".
me saying this , the moral majority has and will never represent me as a christian. and kudos to the people who blew the lid off this continuing scam.

[ck4829]

23. +1. A whole family of frauds

[JHB]

18. He's also got a cozy contract to sell aviation fuel to the government

From back in March:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142294310

mahatmakanejeeves Thu Mar 28, 2019, 12:51 PM

Source: The Hill

Liberty University landed Pentagon contract after inauguration: report
BY ZACK BUDRYK - 03/28/19 11:26 AM EDT

A company owned by Liberty University won a jet fuel contract with the Pentagon, its first such contract, within months of President Trump’s inauguration, according to the Daily Beast.

The Defense Department signed a contract to buy jet fuel from Freedom Aviation, which is wholly owned by the university, in May 2017, according to the publication, and has since bought more than $400,000 worth of fuel from the company.

Freedom Aviation owns six planes, which is maintains at the university’s Lynchburg, Virginia flight school. It provides both charter flights and private aircraft used by the university’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr. The Trump campaign reportedly paid the company more than $19,000 in air travel expenses in 2016 after Falwell Jr. endorsed Trump. ... The value of the award itself is $889,087, according to the contract. Its last date to order is listed as March 30, 2021.

Falwell Jr. is a major political supporter of Trump and has reportedly axed student newspaper articles critical of the president. In October he called for conservatives and Christians to “stop electing nice guys,” saying the country instead needs “street fighters” like Trump at every level of government. ... Liberty did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/436252-liberty-university-landed-pentagon-contract-after-inauguration-report

----
Hat tip, Joe.My.God.:

Liberty University Got Pentagon Jet Fuel Contract

https://www.joemygod.com/2019/03/liberty-university-got-pentagon-jet-fuel-contract/

[ck4829]

22. Interesting

[FBaggins]

31. No he didn't

The company would actually have made far more without the contract.

Nor does it appear to be anything new. The company is the only fuel provider at the local airport. They've been selling fuel (at government-mandated rates) for years... with the highest annual spending occurring during the Obama administration.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

35. Thanks for bringing that up. I had forgotten all about that.

I'm off to see today's toons....

[ck4829]

21. K&R

[Iliyah]

26. Who knew he is as much

corrupt as shithole, and a sexual deviate like shithole.

And he claims to be a Christian?

[WhiteTara]

29. Thanks

It's great that light is going to shine on that cockroach infested property. Maybe there is a ray of hope after all.

[Cerridwen]

30. son of a grifter is himself a grifter. Who could have known? /s

Loathed by liberals, Falwell was force among right-wing

• Falwell turned to politics after the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973
• The decision that granted abortion rights moved Falwell to found Moral Majority
• Moral Majority was credited with helping to elect right-leaning politicians
• Group's platform: Pro-life, anti-gay rights and return to conservative values

<snip>

On the heels of 1973's Roe v. Wade case, the Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to have an abortion, Falwell was spurred to create the Moral Majority in the late 1970s. (Watch how Falwell was a major influence on evangelical voters in American politics Video)

Using the organization as a pulpit to rail against abortion, pornography and a host of other issues he deemed in defiance of God's will, Falwell became a lightning rod for controversy, famously saying AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuality. (Watch how Falwell "changed the face of the earth" Video)

Falwell joined singer Anita Bryant's 1977 campaign to revoke a South Florida ordinance that gave equal rights to gays and lesbians.

The Moral Majority aligned itself with the Republican party, taking credit for helping to elect Ronald Reagan in 1980.

<snip>

In the 1990s, Falwell used his television and radio shows to promote a videotape called "The Clinton Chronicles," which alleged that then-President Bill Clinton was at the center of a criminal conspiracy involving drug dealing and murder.

<snip to link>

It's almost as if there is some sort of vast right-wing conspiracy.

Wow, quell surprise. /s

[Soph0571]

34. As the late great Christopher Hitchens once said...

“If you gave [Jerry] Falwell an enema he could be buried in a matchbox.”

[SpankMe]

44. A huge religious institution going corrupt. Color me surprised. n/t

[oldsoftie]

47. "racy personal pictures"? Great, now my imagination is damaged.

[dlk]

48. As the Saying Goes, the Moral Majority is Neither

Falwell is just another con artist & religion is his snake oil. His tax exempt status should be revoked.

[Rabrrrrrr]

49. Sadly, it's never been a school - they should have known from Day 1 that Jerry Falwell

would never create a school that's an actual school.

It's a rightwing indoctrination and mind control machine, and a profit center for the assholes who run it.

[Blue Owl]

50. May the Mighty Fallwell

n/t

[WhoWoodaKnew]

51. I read that article. Where's the beef?

[keithbvadu2]

54. Without the evangelicals, the rent-boy business would go bankrupt.

Without the evangelicals, the rent-boy business would go bankrupt.

Lots of luggage to be carried.