Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was mocked online after she claimed “RICO is not a crime” during a heated exchange Wednesday with President Biden impeachment hearing witness Tony Bobulinski.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, whether he witnessed “the president commit a crime,” seeking to rebuff GOP narratives about the Biden family during the second public impeachment probe hearing.
“How much time do I have to go through it,” Bobulinski shot back before listing several items such as “corruption statutes, RICO and conspiracy, [Foreign Agents Registration Act].”
“What is the crime, sir, specifically,” the progressive darling pressed again.
“You asked me to answer the question. I answered the question. RICO, you’re obviously not familiar with. Corruption statutes. FARA,” Bobulinski replied.
“Excuse me, sir, RICO is not a crime. It is a category,” Ocasio-Cortez interjected in a somewhat condescending tone.
RICO refers to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which targets dishonest business activities such as money laundering as well as organized crime.
Former President Donald Trump and over a dozen of his allies were charged in a sprawling racketeering case out of Fulton County last August over alleged 2020 Georgia election tampering.
“Oh no, it’s a category of crime that you are then charged with,” Bobulinski rebutted.
“It’s funny, in this committee room — everyone’s not here — there’s over 18 lawyers that went to law school. I’ll leave it up to you guys to define the statute,” he added.
……Netizens quickly roasted the progressive star over the fiery exchange.
“And, of course… AOC’s favorite network has her back after she completely and totally embarrassed herself by arguing that RICO is not a crime,” media columnist Joe Concha said.
……Republicans had invited scandal-plagued Hunter Biden to testify Wednesday, but he turned them down. The first son testified behind closed doors before the panel on Feb. 28.
In addition to Bobulinski, Republicans invited fellow ex-Hunter Biden associates Jason Galanis and Devon Archer, who turned them down.
Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations:
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a federal law (codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-68) targeting organized criminal activity and racketeering. RICO enhances existing criminal punishments and creates new causes of action for acts done as a part of an organized criminal enterprise. The law was originally passed in 1970 as a part of a larger movement to curb organized crime and to allow victims of organized crime to recover. While the original statute was primarily targeted at the mafia who’s disconnected structure made conviction of high-ranking members difficult due to the inability to tie them directly to crimes, the use of the statute has now been used to take down many notable criminal enterprises. RICO imposes a maximum criminal penalty of 20 years in prison for violations of the statute. If sentenced the defendant must also forfeit all proceeds obtained while engaging in racketeering activity to the government. To be convicted under RICO, a pattern of racketeering activity is necessary. This means that at least 2 separate activities that can be classified as racketeering must have occurred within 10 years of each other. RICO allows for a private individual that was injured by a violation of the law to recover treble damages suffered by the wrongful activity of the offender. A criminal conviction under RICO against the defendant will estop them from defending the allegations if they are brought to civil court.
Those are pretty hefty penalties for a “category”.
The bright shiny new object in the Dem party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is an avalanche of socialist stupidity. She’s anti-Israel, utters some of the most idiotic statements , ever, and for someone who has a degree in economics, she doesn’t know squat about the subject.
Just think, this former bartender with the IQ of a fucking doorknob sits in Congress.
Another Obnoxious Commie proves – yet again – the validity of Robert A. Heinlein’s observation that: “The only Capital crime is stupidity; the sentence is death, to be carried out immediately and without appeal.”