How absolutely definitive of Trumpism

On the eve of the last presidential election, NBC’s “Nightly News” broadcast featured two skinny college students in jackets and ties, discussing the future of American politics.

They were co-founders of Students for Trump, a grassroots group that had tapped the social media power of Donald Trump’s populist movement — and of photos of bikini-clad co-eds in MAGA hats — to become the real estate mogul’s standard-bearer on college campuses around the country.

[...]

Last month, [one of them, John] Lambert, now 23, showed up in the news again. This time, he had been indicted for alleged wire fraud. According to the federal government, at the same time he was building a nationwide political network and serving as one of the most visible young faces of Trump’s populist movement, Lambert was also posing online as a high-powered New York lawyer, eventually making off with tens of thousands of dollars in fees he stole from dupes seeking legal services.

Lambert’s rise to prominence and recent indictment offer a cautionary tale of an ambitious young man caught up in Trump’s allure — a get-rich-quick fantasy of the American dream — who allegedly managed to create his own reality on the internet, only to have the real world come barging in.

It also shines a spotlight on the chaos and confusion of Trump’s ramshackle 2016 campaign, and the cast of characters who sought fame and fortune by riding in his slipstream. Trump ran as a “law and order” candidate. But time and again, the mogul has drawn into his fold outlaws and alleged outlaws, from former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and personal fixer Michael Cohen all the way down.

[...]

Guido Lombardi, a friend and neighbor of Trump’s from New York, was among the first in the mogul’s orbit to engage with the group.

Lombardi, an Italian-born Mar-a-Lago member and Trump Tower resident, set up hundreds of Facebook affinity groups—with names like “Bikers for Trump” and “Latinos for Trump”—at the outset of the mogul’s campaign.

When the “Students for Trump” Twitter account created by Lambert and Fournier began to take off, the pair became the natural choices to take over the “Students for Trump” Facebook page Lombardi had already created.

A Trump campaign intern, in consultation with Lombardi, made the Campbell students administrators of the Facebook group. An early version of the Students for Trump website lists Lombardi, then in his mid-60s, as the group’s national director. Letterhead used by the group bears Trump Tower’s Manhattan address.

[...]

“The Trump campaign did not coordinate or affiliate with Students for Trump in the 2016 campaign,” said Tim Murtaugh, director of communications for Trump’s reelection campaign, in a statement. “In fact, the campaign sent cease and desist letters to Fournier and Lombardo that specifically disavowed their deceptive activities and demanded that they stop presenting themselves as official representatives of the campaign. They may have attended campaign events, but only in their personal capacities.”

[...]

Pictures of young women in Trump gear were indeed a top draw for the social media-driven group. One photo—of twin sisters standing outside in several inches of snow, sporting American flag bikinis, one of them wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat—earned news coverage as far away as Australia.

One of those sisters, Sarah Hagmayer, served as the group’s national spokeswoman, and an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education described her as Lambert’s girlfriend, the pair having met through the group. Hagmayer did not respond to requests for comment.

[...]

A statement on the Students for Trump website issued in response to Lambert’s indictment condemns Lambert and states that he cut ties with the group after Trump’s election.

  Politico

Just coffee boys.

In an interview, Lombardi—who more recently has acted as a liaison between Trump and leaders of the European far right—distanced himself from Students for Trump, saying he stepped away not long after the students took over the Facebook group. Lombardi also criticized the group’s leadership. “It was clear to me already that some of the people in the organization were not necessarily there to promote the president, as much as to promote themselves,” Lombardi said. “There is only one superstar—his name is Trump. Donald doesn’t like to have prima donnas in the campaign.”

There can be only one.

Lambert was also entrepreneurial. He started a social media management business while still in high school, and friends remember him voraciously watching the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The 2013 flick dramatizes hard-charging investor Jordan Belfort’s rise from obscurity to riches. It ends with Belfort’s descent into infamy for masterminding a securities fraud scheme.

The film is a morality play—the lesson being that cheaters eventually get caught. But his indictment suggests that Lambert took it as an inspiration.

[...]

Along with an unnamed co-conspirator, Lambert allegedly created a business, called Headline Consulting, offering legal services over the internet and proceeded to create a profile on a freelancing platform under the alias “Eric Pope,” who was initially described as a legal consultant. Later, Lambert allegedly changed the profile to describe Pope as an attorney.

[...]

In October, Lambert headlined a Millennials for Trump rally at Georgia State University alongside Milo Yiannopoulos, a protégé of Trump campaign chairman Steve Bannon and at the time the tech editor of Breitbart News.

[...]

[Campbell University] says he was last enrolled in 2016, and that he did not graduate.

But he allegedly kept himself busy. Using “Eric Pope” and another alias, Lambert and his co-conspirator — who has been cooperating with the government — allegedly began roping in clients. Though prosecutors say he was operating out of North Carolina, Lambert allegedly used phone spoofing services to list numbers with New York area codes in order to further the perception he was operating out of Manhattan.

[...]

At some point, prosecutors say, Lambert created a website for a fictional New York law firm, Pope & Dunn. The fake firm’s slick site lists an address in New York’s financial district and declares, “Pope & Dunn have been known as a leading firm for innovation and traditional efficiency for decades.” It also lists a stable of fake attorneys with credentials from top schools.

[...]

Some of the fake attorney bios appear to have been copied and pasted directly from those of real lawyers on the website for Cravath, Swain & Moore, a top-flight New York law firm, according to New York Law Journal.

Around the summer of 2017, Lambert allegedly landed a client who was having problems with a credit reporting agency. Over the next several months, the government says, the client drained their retirement savings account to pay Lambert fees totaling more than $10,000, only to have Lambert stop responding to the client’s emails. Another dupe allegedly paid Lambert $1,500 for help drafting a will. Lambert also allegedly bilked money from an accountant working on behalf of an IT company in Texas, from a skin-care company and from a printing company. All told, the government says, the PayPal account used by Lambert in the scheme took in more than $50,000.

[...]

Lambert appeared in court in New York in late April and was released on $20,000 bail. He stands charged of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each of which carries up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted, though the maximum sentence is rarely imposed. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on May 29.

[...]

Despite Lambert’s personal problems, and the campaign’s disavowal, the group he launched continues to enjoy the president’s seal of approval. On Saturday, Trump retweeted a message from Students for Trump to his 60 million followers. “With President Trump leading us,” it read, “America is a BETTER and SAFER place.”

I imagine Trump would think Lambert is a "smart guy".

By the way...

“At a young age his parents taught values of morality and deep fiscal responsibility to him,” according to a bio that had been posted on the Students for Trump website. “He comes from a family of multigenerational business owners who helped to build the infrastructure of America.”

He was into cars, and when he was old enough to drive, a friend recalls, his mother bought him a brand-new BMW.

Is that how you teach deep fiscal responsibility?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.