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Did fentanyl sales help fund political campaign of New Mexico Republican charged in shootings? [1]
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Date: 2023-01-24
CBS News reports that officials are now investigating the financial contributions to Peña, who now faces a slew of charges after allegedly recruiting the men to shoot at the homes of a number of Democrats. One of these men, 21-year-old Jose Trujillo, had nearly 900 fentanyl pills in his vehicle, along with a large amount of cash, weapons, and ammunition. Notably, officials say that donations connected to Trujillo came to nearly $10,000, representing “nearly 40% of the money raised by Pena," the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said. Trujillo himself donated more than $5,100.
But while CBS News reports that Trujillo’s mother, Melanie Griego, donated another $4,000 to Peña’s campaign, she claimed to Albuquerque Journal that she never made the donation in question, saying she’s on a fixed income and isn’t involved in politics.
“I’m not a political person. I just barely got my voting rights back and I didn’t even go vote,” Griego claimed in the report. “I don’t follow the news. I’m not a Trump supporter. I’m not even a Biden supporter. I’m just a poor little Mexican girl from Albuquerque.”
In a statement reported by Albuquerque Journal, an APD spokesperson said detectives “learned through witness interviews related to the shooting investigation that Peña identified individuals to funnel contributions from an unknown source to his legislative campaign.” The spokesperson said investigators are seeking to “determine whether the money for the campaign contributions was generated from narcotics trafficking, and whether campaign laws were violated.”
Officials are just beginning their probe into the campaign donations. But clearly a big question now is whether the thousands of dollars in campaign donations were the result of illegal drug sales—like the fentanyl found in Trujillo’s vehicle. It would not be a shock if so, considering how often Republicans attack others for the very shit they do themselves. It would also come as Republicans have falsely tried to pin fentanyl distribution on immigrants, which is most certainly not the case. Government data clearly demonstrates that it’s overwhelmingly U.S. citizens who have been caught smuggling this drug.
NBC News reports that Peña has since been denied bond, after being arrested and charged with 15 counts, including “shooting at a dwelling and possession of a firearm by a felon.” The report further said that Peña’s defense attorney claimed that “Peña has not been in trouble with the law since his release from prison in 2016, other than two traffic citations.” Well, not in trouble with the law except for the, you know, part where he allegedly terrorized Democrats because he lost his election. In one of those shootings, a hail of bullets hit a bedroom where a 10-year-old child was sleeping. She was thankfully physically unharmed.
Let’s not pretend Peña’s some fringe guy, either. He is the Republican Party, espousing Big Lie beliefs that are no different than the former president who incited an insurrection because he too had lost his election. Since his release from prison and running for office, Peña was also talking about locking up political opponents of the insurrectionist president at Guantanamo Bay. The New York Times said that GOP leaders not only gave Peña their “full-throated endorsements,” they joined Trujillo and “opened their checkbooks to fund his race.” Birds of a feather.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/24/2148985/-Did-fentanyl-sales-help-fund-political-campaign-of-New-Mexico-Republican-charged-in-shootings
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