Well, while the news media continue to try and keep this dying Russian collusion alive, there was a Democrat who was recently arrested for actually accepting checks from said country. Joy Cooper, the mayor of Hallandale Beach, Florida, is out on $12,000 bond after she was arrested for accepting illegal campaign contributions from Russians in a FBI sting. She’s currently awaiting trial.
The transaction occurred during her 2012 re-election campaign, where she thought the money was coming from a real estate firm that was actually set up by the FBI. This operation began in May of 2012, with agents hiring Alan Koslow, a south Florida lawyer, to represent them in this transaction; they wanted to contact Cooper to inquire about areas that could be developed in Hallandale Beach. The mayor met with the undercover agents that July. A deal was struck in which she would get the votes to approve their projects in return for a sizable campaign contribution. The Free Beacon boiled down the rest:
Koslow showed Cooper a proposed donation and asked if it was a "good number."
"No," Cooper said. "Add a zero."
"Three zeros. Is that fine?" Koslow responded.
"Yes," she replied, according to the affidavit.
Later that month, Koslow and Cooper agreed on a $10,000 contribution in exchange for her support for the development project. The contribution would come in two installments.
In August, the undercover FBI agents posing as the developers gave Koslow the first payment—$100 bills totaling $8,000 in a Dunkin' Donuts bag, according to the affidavit. They agreed that Koslow, still unaware of the developers' true identities, "would channel these funds" to Copper and her two allies on the city commission.
Because of the $500 limit on local campaign contributions, of which Koslow was aware, the lawyer told the agents that he would funnel the funds through his connections to two Russian organizations, which would write checks to Cooper's campaign.
The mayor then met Koslow at a fashion show organized by the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce in September to collect 20 checks totaling $5,000.
Copper called the process "fantastic," acknowledging that the donations came from Russians living in the United States.
Cooper listed the donors as "teachers" and one "retiree" in her campaign treasury report.
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To no one’s shock, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has suspended Ms. Cooper due to this serious legal matter. To add to the humiliation, there’s been an allegation that she was drunk during a commission meeting in November, which CBS News clipped below. In the meantime, there is still zero evidence that shows the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians during the 2016 campaign.
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