Former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell isn’texactly known for her measured political commentary, and has been excessively critical of both President Donald Trump and the GOP for years now. On Tuesday, however, she kicked it up a notch: she just might have committed a felony.
In the lead-up to the vote on tax reform, O’Donnell tweeted that she would promise to give Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) $2 million each if they voted against the bill. O’Donnell said that “NO I WILL NOT KILL AMERICANS FOR THE SUOER [sic] RICH” and implored both senators to “DM” (direct message) her on Twitter. She said she would pay them in cash.
so how about this
i promise to give
2 million dollars to senator susan collins
and 2 million to senator jeff flakeif they vote NO
NO I WILL NOT KILL AMERICANS
FOR THE SUOER RICHDM me susan
DM me jeffno shit
2 million
cash
each— ROSIE (@Rosie) December 20, 2017
She doubled down later, targeting Collins specifically. O’Donnell asked Collins if she felt that her family was proud of her for the vote, and included a picture of the extended Collins family. The tweet seemed particularly sexist on the surface, but it’s okay—O’Donnell added a #NOTSEXIST tag to the tweet let everyone know that she was not being especially hard on the “woman – mother – grandmother – sister – daughter” due to her gender*. (Collins is neither a mother nor a grandmother.)
susan – 2 million dollars cash
call if u want to negotiatedo u think your family is proud of u @sennatorcollins
woman – mother – grandmother – sister – daughter
u have betrayed us alldear god
ask for forgiveness
redeem ur soul tomorrow #NOTSEXIST pic.twitter.com/wa0QcMXNk2— ROSIE (@Rosie) December 20, 2017
Small issue with these tweets: bribing a public official is a pretty serious crime and this specific act is punishable with up to 15 years in prison or a fine of three times the bribe–in this case, $12 million.