Pelosi, Kardashian’s and other celeb companies got millions in forgiven PPP loans

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OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion

Government officials forced us to lock down, mask up, and they tried to deny us our freedom to choose and force vaccines into our bodies.

Some of those same government officials, and their celebrity supporters, got a lot of money in Covid relief funds, also.

Most pandemic restrictions have eased, including mask and vaccine requirements, and most Americans have returned to their routines, even though some experts believe it is still too early to consider the pandemic over.

Any reimplementation of pandemic restrictions or lockdowns would have a dire effect on an already beleaguered economy as Americans try to deal with extraordinarily high food and fuel prices, not to mention wages not keeping with historic inflation rates.

Now we’re learning that some big names made off like bandits with government funds, aka, taxpayer dollars.

Millions of dollars were lent to wealthy celebrities’ companies through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Small businesses were supposed to benefit from the program during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the loans were often not repaid.

PPP loans cost taxpayers $953 billion, and a University of Texas study estimated that around $76 billion was fraudulent.

“The Good American jean company of Khloe Kardashian, a member of the Kardashian-Jenner dynasty whose net worth is estimated by South China Morning Post to be about $50 million, received a roughly $1.25 million PPP loan, Pro Publica shows. The loan, including interest, has been forgiven,” Just the News reported.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tom Brady has an estimated net worth of $250 million, separate from his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen’s net worth of $400 million, but the legendary NFL quarterback’s TB12 health food company received a PPP loan worth more than $960,000 that has been forgiven.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi has an 8.1% share in the restaurant business EDI Associates, according to The Daily Mail. Financial disclosures show the California couple has a net worth of between $43 million and $202 million. EDI Associates took out two loans, worth more than $1.7 million in total, which were both forgiven, including interest.

There is no information available about some celebrity loans.

The Yeezy LLC clothing store owned by billionaire rapper Kanye West has received a PPP loan of more than $2.3 million. “Not Disclosed” is shown on the “status of the loan” section of the report.

“The PPP loan program was under scrutiny last year after it was discovered that up to $420 million may have gone to Chinese Communist Party-linked businesses,” the report added.

Millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief loans went to fraudsters as well, and the Justice Department even created the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to prosecute pandemic-related fraud.

The Daily Mail did a story on the PPP loans given to politicians and celebrities being forgiven. One reader commented:

And then they ALL boarded their private jets spewing and stepping on us little people with their Carbon footprints while lecturing us to eat insects instead of meat. That’s Rich.

It was the top-rated comment on the story.

“Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed a bill that will give the Justice Department more time to investigate and prosecute those who fraudulently collected PPP loans,” the Mail reported.

In March, Biden vowed, ‘We’re going after the criminals who stole billions in relief money meant for small businesses and millions of Americans.’

Will Biden go after the Pelosis and his celebrity supporters? Yeah, we’ll put that in the “things that will never happen” file.

Late in July, Nancy Pelosi was asked about her husband’s stock trading and said that he has never used insider information from her to decide on which stocks to buy or sell.

Of course, she laughed and smirked as she said it, basically saying, “of course he has.”

“‘Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he’s received from you?’ a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing,” the Daily Mail reported.

‘No,’ she scoffed. ‘Absolutely not.’ Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley announced in January that he would introduce legislation to bar insider trading in Congress.

Congressmen and their spouses would be banned from holding or trading individual stocks. Those members who are found to be in violation of the bill, the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, will have to return their profits.

Hawley stated at the time, “Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform the market, buying and selling millions in stocks of companies they’re supposed to be regulating.

Wall Street and Big Tech work hand-in-hand with elected officials to enrich each other at the expense of the country. Here’s something we can do: ban all members of Congress from trading stocks and force those who do to pay their proceeds back to the American people.

It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to Washington profiteering.”

In 2012, Congress passed the STOCK Act, which prohibited members from using ‘any nonpublic information derived from the individual’s position … or gained from performance of the individual’s duties, for personal benefit.’

Rather than once a year, lawmakers must report publicly every stock, bond, commodities future, and other security transaction within 45 days.

Senator Hawley’s Act would go much further and:

–Prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from holding, acquiring, or selling stocks or equivalent economic interests during their tenure in elected office. Any holdings in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bonds are exempt from the prohibition.

Source: The Republic Brief