Robert Mercer
A billionaire computer scientist and hedge-fund manager, considered a primary money man for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, has bankrolled a PAC with ties to a fringe Republican operative -- one with a criminal record and a documented history of trolling online for gay sex.Given the criminals and sketchy figures already in Trump's orbit, you might think Robert Mercer would distance himself from a character like Ali (Akbar) Alexander, who has been the subject of multiple posts at Legal Schnauzer (see here, here, and here) and appears to have launched attacks on Alabama progressives, such as Dana Jill Simpson and yours truly, perhaps via his ties to right-leaning scoundrels at the Alabama State Bar.
Mercer has made a fortune via his computer expertise and the Renaissance Technologies hedge fund, and he even played a key role in the United Kingdom's Brexit withdrawal from the European Union. But he has shown poor judgment by aligning himself with a number of sketchy individuals and entities -- including former Trump adviser and Breitbart News exec Steve Bannon, Karl Rove and his American Crossroads Super PAC, and the Koch brothers' political donor network.
Jumping in bed with Ali (Akbar) Alexander might prove to be another dubious move from Mercer. Observer.com recently reported on the alliance in an article titled "Robert Mercer Bankrolled PAC Advised By Notorious Fringe ‘Philosopher’ Ali Alexander." From the observer.com article:
Billionaire Robert Mercer gave money to a PAC advised by a self-proclaimed “interpreter of energy.”
The spiritualist in question is Ali Alexander, formerly known as Ali Akbar, a GOP political operative with a notorious reputation that allegedly includes fraud.
“On the eve of the 2016 election, Robert Mercer donated $60,000 to a PAC Alexander advises,” reported Politico . . . “Alexander, who identifies himself as black and Arab, brings a more new-age approach to the culture wars, calling himself an ‘interpreter of energy for this period.’”
Noting Alexander's "spiritual" side is only scratching the surface of the disturbing stuff that seeps from under the rock where he seemingly resides. Online reports list Baton Rouge, LA, as Alexander's current home base, and he also has ties to Forth Worth, TX. A good ole Southern boy.
Ali Akbar mugshots
Observer.com notes that Alexander's background "allegedly includes fraud." But there is nothing alleged about Alexander's run-ins with the law, and that likely explains efforts to change his name over the past year or so. Public records make it clear Ali Akbar has a criminal history from his days before the surname "Alexander" entered the picture, and the Web site Breitbart Unmasked (BU) has led the way in uncovering the ugliness on Akbar's "resume." From a July 2015 Legal Schnauzer post, based largely on BU's reporting:How did Ali Akbar rise to a prominent role in the Republican media galaxy, despite his criminal record? That also is hard to figure, given the GOP's stance as the supposed "law and order" party.
According to a report at the progressive Web site Breitbart Unmasked, (BU) Akbar was convicted in 2007 of theft of property and in 2008 of credit-card abuse. Both charges, in Texas, were felonies.
Borrowing from public records, BU describes the theft case as follows:
Five MP3 Players, Twenty CD’s, Three Camcorders, Two DVD Players, One Back Massager (How ghetto is this thief?) One Clock, Four Shirts, Two Belts (WTF?) and a Piece of Luggage, which had the value of over 1500.00 USD but less than 20,000.00 USD. This theft was obtained pursuant to one scheme or a continuing course of criminal conduct which began on or about November 1st 2006, and continued until on or about November 29th 2006. In other words, he was stealing from this person more than once, and over a course of time that lasted almost a full month before it came to an end.
That's quite a crime spree--and the ugliness doesn't end there. BU reports that Akbar also was charged with burglary of a vehicle, but that charge was dropped in a plea bargain that resolved his theft and credit-card cases.
That doesn't even count Akbar's tendency to troll for gay sex on the Grindr geo-social app. From our 2015 post:
We've presented evidence that members of a right-wing bloggers club might have been involved in, or at least had knowledge of, my unlawful incarceration. Would it be a surprise if members of the group, called the National Bloggers Club (NBC), engaged in such underhanded activity? Given that the club president has a history of engaging in underhanded activity--including some that might be described as downright sleazy--the answer probably is no.
Ali Akbar at the Grindr gay-sex app.
NBC president Ali A. Akbar threatened to sue me for reporting accurately and fairly about a letter Alabama lawyer Jill Simpson wrote to Obama re-election counsel Robert Bauer in 2012. In the letter, Simpson wrote that her investigation turned up evidence that Akbar and Republican electoral guru Karl Rove had engaged in a homosexual relationship. Under the "neutral reportage doctrine," Akbar had no case for defamation against me--and his lawyer Baron Coleman, of Montgomery, Alabama, should have known that.
Threatening baseless lawsuits is pretty underhanded in itself. But that is a mere blip on the radar compared to the other shady stuff in Akbar's background, which includes trolling for gay sex online--plus multiple criminal convictions, including felonies.
Let's start with the online trolling because that's what prompted Simpson to take a closer look at Akbar. She obtained a copy of an ad Akbar placed at Grindr, a geo-social networking application "geared toward gay, bisexual, and bi-curious men." According to Simpson's letter, Akbar's ad stated that he "was looking for bisexual sex with men who were Republican, political, and loved to discuss politics and philosophy and just wanted to hang out and chill with them."
Akbar has a substantial criminal record and a history of trolling online for gay sex, but he's supposed to be a rising "conservative" media star? Perhaps that's a sign the GOP, in the age of Trump, has given up the masquerade of portraying itself as a party of "values."
The Trump administration might be on the verge of implosion, but Ali Akbar has managed to worm his way into the action -- a fraudster drawn by a White House built on fraud? -- so maybe he will wind up in the rubble.
Want a feel for the goofiness behind the Ali Akbar charade -- the one that apparently conned Robert Mercer, Foster Friess, and other GOP money men? We invite you to check out the video below. This is what passes as deep conservative "thought" these days. Where have you gone, George Will?
