How Misleading Mike Lawler Uses False Claims of Anti-Semitism To Advance His Career (Part 1)
In Part 1 of our double header, we take a look at how Congressman Mike Lawler uses disinformation and claims of anti-semitism to keep that AIPAC money rolling in.
Before we get into this, I need to touch on three things quickly. All related to today’s story:
1. This Saturday, May 3rd, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm, Monroe is getting its first Indivisible protest. People will be gathering at the corner of 17M and Lake Street. This local protest is part of the nationwide string of May Day protests, which will run from May 1st to the 3rd. If you’d like to participate in a May Day (May 1st) protest, the nearest event is a march for Workers’ Rights in Newburgh. That event is on Thursday, May 1st, from 12 pm to 3 pm at Downing Park. More information on the March for Workers’ Rights in Newburgh can be found here.
Misleading Mike Lawler and the un-American MAGA seditionists are desperately trying to paint Indivisible as a Far-Left group of extremists. This is classic MAGA tactics: Accuse your enemy of doing the exact thing you’re doing. And, of course, the facts don’t bear out this claim at all. For example, here is the most recent Indivisible mass call. Please do tell me if these people sound like a bunch of “Radical Left Lunatics" to you:
Misleading Mike Lawler has even gone out of his way to imply or otherwise outright refer to Indivisible Rockland and its members as antisemitic. Why? Because one protester had a Donald Trump Mask with a Hitler mustache on it. Another had a sign with swastikas, correctly calling out that when you kidnap and traffic someone to a tax-payer funded concentration camp, you’re doing Nazi shit. Remember: According to the definition provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the CECOT prison in El Salvador meets the definition of a concentration camp.
If Mike Lawler is going to call things anti-semitic, maybe he should take a trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum and understand what actual anti-semitism looks like. If you ask me, it looks a fuck of a lot like this:
And, just so we’re all clear: When you kidnap and transport someone against their will — including two US citizens, both children, both battling cancer — without due process, that’s not deportation. That’s kidnapping and trafficking. You know, the same stuff all these MAGA Brained Morons have been telling the world they’re obsessed with since Pizzagate? I guess trafficking kids is ok when your side does it, huh?
Deportation Implies Due Process.
Just another one of those fun things people should understand in our current Trump World Order. There is no due process going on here, much like when the corporate media says, “It’s a constitutional crisis,” but what they should be saying is that it’s insurrection.
When the Supreme Court, including three Trump-appointed Justices, tells you in a 9-0 decision to get Kilmar Abrego Garcia out of your taxpayer-funded concentration camp, and you ignore them? That’s an act of insurrection.
2. Whenever I talk about Congressman Mike Lawless, someone inevitably goes, “Hey! Shut up. Talk about your own Congressman.” Well, yes. You’re right. I do actively track Palantir Pat Ryan. Here was our most recent post, where we included a script for Pat Ryan constituents to call his office. As of this writing, Palantir Pat has not given back the $76,538 he’s received from White Supremacist adjacent billionaire — and Elon Musk Pal — Peter Thiel. For those concerned about the Trump administration's domestic surveillance, not to mention everything ICE is doing, Palantir Technologies is providing the software to make it all possible.
As of this writing, Congressman Pat Ryan has not pledged to no longer accept any money from Peter Thiel and Palantir.
And he has not, as of this writing, publicly pledged to endorse HJR54, which is the We the People Amendment. This would be the 28th Amendment to the Constitution and overturn the Citizens United v. FEC decision. That Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates for corporate money in our elections. If you’re unfamiliar with the Citizens United decision, here is a good explainer from the non-partisan Brennan Center. The Monroe Gazette reached out directly to Congressman Pat Ryan and Daniel Torres, Pat Ryan’s Deputy Chief of Staff. We hope The Monroe Gazette is given the same hands-on care and attention with our questions as Congressman Ryan provides Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein in South Blooming Grove. Both men are factually at the center of active FBI and EPA investigations. If we hear back from Congressman Ryan or Mr. Torres, we will update this post with their comments.
Remember How Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Policy Decisions Helped Kill 15,000 People?
If you’re following the New York City mayoral race and wondering why Andrew Cuomo is back — fresh off contributing to the deaths of 15,000 New Yorkers during the height of the pandemic through his policy choices — it’s because of the Citizens United decision. People weren’t exactly clamoring for a Cuomo Comeback here. But in the United States, the person who spends the most money (usually) wins the election.
The New York City 2025 mayoral race is an ongoing example of corporate money's reality-warping effects on our politics. In the event you wanted an example involving the Democrats.
Do you want a current and ongoing example involving the Republicans? Keep reading.
3. Finally, there’s no way to get through the rest of this post without talking up front about Israel and Gaza.
That’s because, in 2024, Congressman Mike Lawler’s largest donor was AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).
AIPAC is a Super PAC that was about supporting and defending Israel, but has now become much more interested in funneling money to Republican candidates. As well as Democrats, they think they can tilt to the Right, such as Ritchie Torres. Torres, for example, received over $200,000 from AIPAC in the Fall of 2023. Now, AIPAC has a loyal lapdog representing the South Bronx. That doesn’t seem right, does it?
In the first quarter of 2025, as we previously reported, AIPAC will again be Congressman Mike Lawler’s largest donor. That’s why he talks about anti-semitism as much as he does. It has nothing to do with Jews like me. It has everything to do with wanting to keep that flow of AIPAC money coming. So when Misleading Mike Lawler talks about anti-semitism, what he is really talking about is criticism of Israel. That’s what the AIPAC money gets you.
Get it? Good. Because Misleading Mike Lawler talks about anti-semitism a lot.
At this point, it’s worth reiterating some things before we proceed:
-AIPAC isn’t about Israel anymore. AIPAC is now about being a front for wealthy Trump donors to funnel money to the candidates that’ll best match their corporate interests. Many Jewish American groups oppose what AIPAC has become. Many American Jews, including me, do as well. I think we can also all agree that, regardless of what country it is, foreign governments should not be involved in influencing and persuading our politicians. This is something George Washington warned America about as far back as 1796. George Washington said explicitly that “foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.” So, if George Washington was warning us about groups like AIPAC 229 years ago, don’t you think it’s about time we started to listen? AIPAC should not be a thing. Period.
-You are free to criticize the Benjamin Netanyahu regime. You are free to criticize Israel. Although in the latter case, I and most Jews will look at you skeptically unless you are clear and specific about what you’re criticizing. Because there’s a lot to criticize. (Ditto when it comes to our Haredi brothers and sisters.) But if you’re just going off on Israel “because the Jews live there,” then that’s a problem. Make sense? Criticism of Israel and being specific, like “I don't like genocide,” is not anti-semitic. We all should call out acts of genocide, especially when our tax dollars fund it. Since World War 2, Israel has been the largest recipient of foreign aid from the United States. After the horrific October 7th terrorist attack, the United States sent Israel a $20B weapons package. That’s all shit you paid for. You have every right to criticize how that aid and those weapons are used.
Criticism of Israel in a vague, general sense? That’s where you might run into trouble.
Ok, But Is It Genocide?
Yes.
Amnesty International, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, among others including this Israeli Historian, and this Israeli Holocaust Scholar, have described what Netanyahu is doing as genocide. So it is not “extreme” (as recently declared by The New York Times) to call what is happening in Gaza a genocide. More than 300 Holocaust survivors agree that it’s genocide.
So, I know I’m repeating myself, but specific criticism of Israel is not anti-semitic. And calling Israel’s actions in Gaza are not anti-semitic either. This is really important, because Misleading Mike Lawler and some real bad actors want you to think otherwise, which is the focus of our story.
-Now, whenever I say this, someone goes, “But what about October 7th? To which I say, you should know that, in addition to Netanyahu, the International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif. I want every fuckhead responsible for the terrorist attack tracked down and killed. But I do not want people being bombed indiscriminately. I do not want an apartheid state. I do not want my people to inflict the kind of Nazi shit that was done to them on to others. The Nazis murdered my grandmother’s family. They’re not here to speak up against this sort of thing, but I am. Judaism as a religion rests on a foundation of justice. What is happening in Gaza right now is not justice. It’s vengeance. And I’m fairly certain the Torah instructs against Vengeance. For one example, see Leviticus 19:18 which literally says “You shall not take vengeance …”
-You should take a good look at this picture.
Because some of our Haredi brothers and sisters talk a good game about defending Israel, and wanting to fight the terrorists (we’ll get to that in our main story.) But then, when our Haredi brothers and sisters are asked to join the IDF … Well, the picture speaks for itself, doesn't it?
So, we got a lot of real faux tough guys out there. Particularly in Brooklyn who are going to feature prominently in this story. Should you ever encounter some of these faux tough guys, you should say, “Yeah man. Let’s kill the terrorists. When are you signing up to fight for the IDF?”
Watch how fast that conversation changes.
What I just shared with you is only a small taste of Israeli politics. But if you live in our coverage area of Orange and Rockland, you should familiarize yourself with Israeli politics. I use the term Haredi and not Hassidim for this exact reason. Because the kind of stuff that happens in New York that a lot of you have an issue with all happens in Israel too. All the time.
By using the term Haredi, we’re able to demonstrate a consistent pattern of behavior among some — not all! — of our Haredi brothers and sisters that is fundamentally undemocratic, un-American, and dangerous. Dina d'malkhuta dina is a central tenet of Judaism that translates to “the law of the land is the law.” Unfortunately, in Israel, much like here in Southern Orange County, and much like in Rockland County, that tenant is ignored. Here’s a great example from South Blooming Grove.
The reason is simple: politicians allow this tenant to be ignored. Something I find particularly galling in Orange County where Joel Teitelbaum, the founder of Kiryas Joel, explicitly said that the law of the land is the law and that it should be followed. (His nephews disagreed.)
This brings us back to AIPAC and Mike Lawer.
Mike Lawler, and we’ll talk about this in a future post, talks a big game about wanting to cut waste and fraud in Medicaid. But you’ll notice in Rockland County — where 44% of the population receives Medicaid — he’s not said anything about constant allegations of Medicaid Fraud among the Haredi community.
That’s not to suggest that the fraud exists. Or at least, not in the numbers Rockland residents might think.
I personally feel that non-Haredi often exaggerate the amount of perceived Medicaid fraud in Rockland. Often, in the way most Americans don’t understand how little we give in foreign aid, versus how much they actually think we do. But regardless, here’s a guy in Congress. Talking about Medicaid Fraud. All the time. Where almost half of his constituents in Rockland receive Medicaid. And he has not once said, “Hey. Rockland County District Attorney. Maybe you should look into this?” Don’t you find that odd? I do. Here’s something else I find odd about Mike Lawless: Trump fired a bunch of Inspectors General. Do you know what their job is? To find waste and fraud in government programs like Medicaid. You know who hasn’t once publicly called on President Trump and real President Elon Musk to bring back the Inspectors General? You guessed it: Mike Lawler.
One last thing …
MAGA is a traitorous, seditionist movement that must be eradicated. The only way to do that is through non-violent and peaceful means. I can prove that to you, right now. Ready? Lugi Mangione. Killed that United Healthcare CEO. Did he change anything? Do we suddenly have Universal Healthcare?
Nope.
How about United Healthcare? Has he changed how that company operates?
Nope.
So, violence doesn’t solve anything. Power does.
And power comes from a grassroots movement that’s built from the bottom up. You’re not going to attract people to your movement if you’re a bunch of violent assholes. A point we’ll return to also in Part 2.
I hope you’ll join us.