Politicians pulling maneuvers in their official or campaign capacities to benefit family members is generally illegal. That falls under conflict of interest statutes. But they often get away with it and authorities don’t bother prosecuting them.

Slate Mailers

It seems like a no-brainer not to put your children on your payroll or pay their bills if you’re running for office, doesn’t it? Not for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). Waters uses campaign funds to make payments on debts to her daughter. She has made the payments for several years, for services her daughter rendered on her campaign involving endorsement mailers, known as “slate mailers.” The controversial practice involves candidates paying Waters to send out mailers in support of them. The candidates pay Waters thousands of dollars for her endorsement. The vast majority contribute more than $2,700, the maximum individual contribution allowed by federal law to a candidate. Waters’ daughter has made hundreds of thousands of dollars doing these slate mailers since 2006.

Although complaints have been filed against Waters over the practice, so far the FEC hasn’t cracked down on her. John Wonderlich, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said it could constitute unjust enrichment of a family member.

Complicating things is an FEC ruling from 2001 that says family members can be paid to work on political campaigns if they receive a fair-market salary. In this latest round of payments, Waters’ daughter received $50,000 for work during the first quarter of 2019. That’s a lot of money for just three months of work.

Joe Biden’s Son

Joe Biden is currently under scrutiny for taking action that may have illegally benefited his son. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings. That is a Ukrainian energy firm. The country’s top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was looking into the company’s owner. The elder Biden put pressure on Kiev to fire Shokin. So in March of 2016, the Ukrainian Parliament fired him. The new prosecutor cleared Burisma.

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys, was so disgusted with the maneuver that he asked the new prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, to re-open the probe. Lutsenko did so in March.

Hillary Clinton’s Daughter and Son-in-law

Then there’s Hillary Clinton. She illegally shared classified information to help her son-in-law out when she was secretary of state. Marc Mezvinsky invested in hedge funds. They predicted bailouts of the Greek banking system would pump up the value of the country’s distressed bonds. Emails released from Clinton in 2012 revealed how she shared classified information with her family. It revealed how German leadership viewed the prospects for a Greek bailout. This made it easy for Mezvinsky to figure out when to buy low and sell high.

Clinton also used the Clinton Foundation to benefit her daughter Chelsea. The foundation raised money to donate to Haiti disaster relief and other charitable causes. But an email leaked to Wikileaks from an aide to Bill Clinton said those funds went for Chelsea’s wedding. This is nonprofit fraud.

Yet there has been no attempt to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Republicans who have engaged in the same activity have gone to prison. Former Rep. Steve Stockman was convicted of stealing funds from his nonprofit and using them for personal expenses. (I believe he is innocent.) He is now serving a 10-year prison term.

The problem is these three Democratic politicians are so powerful no one dares challenge them. Clinton has gotten away with wrongdoing for years. This is nothing new. No one wants to get on the Clintons’ bad list, including prosecutors. Waters is so powerful that politicians pay for her endorsement in order to avoid getting on her bad side. And Biden is now in the lead in the Democratic primary for president. So he’s untouchable. The mainstream media hardly cover the stories, and go out of their way to find how such actions are defensible. Sadly, we have a two-tiered justice system.

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC. Send tips to rachel.alexander@stream.flywheelstaging.com.