Steve Stockman is going to jail for a very long time now that he's been convicted of 23 felonies connected with his misuse of nonprofit funds.
Stockman was convicted of soliciting donations of $1.25 million from two wealthy donors from May 2010 to October 2014, and then spending the money on his fun.
Not only didn't Stockman use those funds for the purposes he claimed he would, he also was convicted of diverting the money to pay personal and campaign expenses — including the funding of "a covert surveillance project targeting a perceived political opponent," according to the DOJ.
You know, it's really hard for corrupt Congressmen to be convicted for their obvious corruption in Texas, but Stockman earned the prize for being blatant, greedy and stupid.
Some of those purchases included "hot air balloon rides, kennel bills and several purchases from one of those once-ubiquitous SkyMall catalogues — not to mention a new dishwasher, a pricey New Orleans hotel, flights to Africa, rehabilitation for alcoholism, an undercover intern and a trip to Disneyland," according to the Texas Tribune.
Stockman is known here at Crooks and Liars for his bizarre and flamboyant right-wing lunacy, as I noted when he was first charged.
But if you're not into Russian conspiracy theories, there's plenty more fun Steve Stockman stories. Like the time he compared desperate migrant children from Central America to the U.S. Army invading France. Or that time he said liberal tears were the best gun lubricant around. Or the time he threatened anyone who published his mugshot with federal prison. And he really, really wanted to impeach President Obama for daring to use executive orders to limit gun ownership in the teeniest, tiniest way.
The Russian conspiracy theory referenced is Stockman's claim he missed out on a meeting with Putin while secretly in Russia.
It is always possible that the petrochemical money addled his brains, but he'll have lots of time to sort that out while he's in prison.
