On the last day of April, after a nationwide search that lasted almost two years, law enforcement officials from Ohio finally nabbed “Bobby Thompson,” one of America’s most-wanted fugitives, a man suspected of stealing millions from the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a charity whose stated mission was to help veterans and members of the U.S. armed forces. But even now that he’s behind bars, awaiting trial on a host of charges, no one knows who Bobby Thompson really is.From the early 2000s until 2010, Thompson — an alias — and at least one other associate took in almost $100 million in donations from people in forty-one states for the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, which was a sham organization. Along the way, Thompson attended fundraisers and meet-and-greets where he stood shoulder to shoulder and took photographs with the most powerful Republican politicians in the country, including President George W. Bush, then-House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Thompson also gave generously to the campaigns of several Republican political candidates, like Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who later gave the donations away to real charities. (There’s no indication they knew they were getting money from a conman.)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=98856