The Patriot Post® · A Race-Based Case of Political Entitlement

There are some urban centers around the nation where the degree of “racial entitlement” and the resulting political corruption is astoundingly brazen. One of those Democrat-controlled cities is Memphis, Tennessee. This week Democrat state Senator Katrina Robinson was indicted on 24 counts of both embezzlement and wire fraud. That a politician was indicted for corruption is nothing new, but Robinson’s response to the indictment is noteworthy.

Fortunately, prosecutors with U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant’s office had the benefit of an impaneled grand jury with enough integrity to charge Robinson, who stands accused of stealing $600,000 in federal grants to her vocational school — much of that theft occurring after she was elected in 2018. Among the expenses she paid with those taxpayer funds: bills for her wedding and honeymoon and then, predictably, legal fees for her divorce; $170,000 in illegal salary payments to herself, personal debts; travel and entertainment; improvements to her personal residence; a vehicle for her daughter; clothing, accessories, and more.

Dunavant noted, “Protection of the U.S. Treasury and federal grant programs against theft, fraud, waste and abuse is a top priority of this office and the Department of Justice. We commend the F.B.I. and the HHS-OIG for their diligent and thorough investigation in this case.”

Reflecting Robinson’s warped sense of racial entitlement, she insists that this prosecution is the result of her race and that of her constituency. She claims, “It is believed that if I were not in the position that I’m in — that if I did not champion the voices, the views, and the faces that I represent — that I would not be in this moment right now.” Despite the charges, Robinson laughably added that she would continue to serve “with the same integrity, the same passion that I’ve demonstrated since you’ve elected me to this office.” In a social media post the day before her indictment, Robinson emphasized, “If 2020 has taught us nothing else, it has taught us the importance of electing good leaders. GO VOTE!”

Well, OK!

Apparently, she’s deploying the “victim of systemic racism” defense.

Robinson’s attorney, Janika White, set up Robinson’s entitlement defense, insisting the indictment “leads to what no one in this society wants, which is over-criminalization.” According to White, “That’s the idea where, sometimes, we criminalize activity that may not have any criminal intent.” In other words, “over-criminalization” is when a criminal believes she is so entitled that she does not perceive her criminal actions were a crime. That suggests the notion that theft is wrong must be a “white construct.”

Tennessee’s Senate Democratic Caucus issued a statement asserting: “Just like every other American, Senator Robinson deserves the presumption of innocence and due process under the law. Her case should be resolved by a court of law, not by the court of public opinion.” That is the kind of thing Democrats say when their Leftmedia propagandists can’t save one of their own from the “court of public opinion.”