Marco Rubio is a politician who likes to quote Bible verses to distract the audience from his unChristian assault on people he does not like, he has never met, and who have done him no harm. As a self-described religious politician, he is doubly cursed by cash — which he needs to stay in office to enable him to keep up his assault on ordinary Americans and wannabe citizens.
Money attracts con artists, snake-oil sellers, and opportunistic pocket pickers of all stripes. Frauds, mountebanks, and other rotters have long infested religion. Even the Bible warns.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Timothy 6:10
The first bit is spot on. The middle part keeps up the good work. But the end is wishful thinking as many of these coveters live happy lives on their ill-gotten gains. Especially if they can buy judges. Let me explain.
Nobody needs cash more than an American politician. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are people, that money is a synonym for speech, and that legal entities could protect the identity of people who bend the political system to their advantage. The effects are evident. It used to be that House races cost $100,000s and Senate races a few million. How quaint.
In 2020, the two Georgia Senate race cost over a half-billion dollars. The midterm elections this year have already seen $6.4 billion spent. And AdImpact, a non-partisan analytics company, estimates the total will be $9.7 billion — during an off-year. Trump has defied all logic by convincing the MAGAs to give him $500 million — and he is not an announced candidate for anything.
By these standards, Rubio is relatively small potatoes, with only $36 million raised for his Senate race. But 36 is not 0 - and the money had to come from somewhere. So let us look at Rubio’s dear friend, the suboptimal mortgage lender and payday loan shark, Bernie Navarro.
(Note: Much of the factual detail following comes from a Salon article available here. The commentary is mine)
Navarro’s company, Benworth Capitol, gave Rubio a bridge loan of $850,000 on January 18, 2021, so he could buy a new house while his old house was still on the market. In most cases, this would be an unremarkable transaction. But as a politician, Rubio was obligated to report it. It took him 18 months to do so. He finally admitted to the deed in his August 31, 2022, financial disclosure.
Three months after Navarro gave Rubio his loan - and way before he reported it - Rubio appointed Navarro to the Southern District Judicial Advisory Commission, which was responsible for picking finalists for critical federal appointments in south Florida. These included U.S. district judges, U.S. marshals, and the U.S. attorney, even though Navarro had no law degree - and no legal experience.
I would like to see the conditions of the loan. In most cases, six months is the term of a bridge loan, although it could extend to a year. The Salon article does not indicate if Rubio has repaid the money.
Navarro and Rubio are entangled by more than this one transaction. In April 2015, Navarro hosted an intimate gathering for Rubio and a group of friends, family members, and political allies at Navarro's suburban Miami home, celebrating the senator's announcement by introducing him as "the next president of the United States."
Navarro hosted several fundraisers for Rubio, first for his short-lived presidential campaign and then for his 2016 re-election to the Senate, serving as finance chairman for both campaigns. Navarro has contributed over $25,500 to Rubio's campaigns and associated PACs throughout his career.
He has also donated more than $56,000 to Republican candidates and PACs as well as $14,200 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
What sort of guy is Navarro? He is what you would expect from a guy who makes bridge loans with "a less stringent approval process" for real estate buyers with "less than perfect credit."
In 2020, he registered Benworth as a "woman-owned business," in an attempt to fast-track receipt of emergency COVID relief funds under the Paycheck Protection Program. Salon could not determine whether one or more women own at least 51% of the company, which is the federal government's definition of that term.
Navarro's two companies, Benworth Capital and Presto Payday, received at least $308,000 in COVID relief while his firm processed PPP loans. There is no evidence he cheated.
However, he has been a player in some ‘unfortunate’ events. In 2017, Benworth foreclosed on the family home of a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Her parents had stopped making monthly payments, saying they had been "misled into taking out a high-interest, short-term loan ... that they could not afford to pay back," the Miami Herald reported. Ultimately, the family was allowed to stay in their home after Benworth agreed to a settlement of $240,000 — nearly $100,000 more than the original loan amount.
Republicans will say that it was the family’s fault for not studying the paperwork closely. However, a reputable company would outline the true costs of the loan rather than hide it in the small print on a high-numbered page while strong-arming unsophisticated borrowers into needlessly expensive commitments.
Conservatives slam liberals for being “too woke”. But accusing someone of having too much empathy is a slur only for those who do not give a shit about their fellow human beings. People like Rubio and Navarro. It is especially odd when coming from people who worship Jesus Christ, possibly the most woke person who ever lived.