American tax officials

Chapter 377 The Audacious David

"Are you sure you can resolve this quickly?"

David watched him with great interest.

"I have some 'connections' with those people in the Legislative Council, so I believe there shouldn't be any problems!"

If Josh, who has served as the House Whip for so many years, couldn't even handle a mere committee, then he might as well give up.

"Okay, if you can handle this, I will definitely treat you well in the future. But you have to be quick. You know that the Freemasons are currently spending money like crazy and using all sorts of methods to win over those councilors. I don't have much time to drag this out."

If Josh can resolve this matter quickly, it will save him a lot of trouble, allowing him to focus on other things!

"No problem, give me a day, and I'll definitely get this done!"

"Great, it's a pleasure doing business with you!"

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

Having reached an agreement and received their respective commitments, the two sides shook hands happily.

"Inspector David, there's no time to lose, I'll go take care of this matter now!"

Go!

Without another word, Josh got up and left swiftly.

Soon, only David and Church remained at the scene.

"Chief Inspector David, once Josh has settled this matter, the bill will enter the debate and improvement phase. They won't be able to hold us back at this stage, and we'll have a smooth path to the vote. But what I want to know is, are we... really sure we have enough votes?"

Church had confidently assured Josh that he had enough votes, but that was just a ploy to get Josh to abandon his wavering and join him.

In fact, he was still somewhat worried about the situation of those members of parliament.

"According to my team's count, we currently have 228 votes. Adding Josh's vote, that makes 229 votes. However... as things stand, many of these votes involve double agents, so there will still be some uncertainties when it comes to the actual voting stage."

Church was naturally pleased to hear the first part of David's words, but he became secretly worried about the second part.

Logically speaking, securing 229 votes in the House of Representatives would already be a significant advantage.

However, in the voting process for bills, there have been instances where legislators who had already lobbied suddenly switched sides, causing the bills to fail.

Moreover, the three major Freemason groups are currently spending enormous amounts of manpower and resources lobbying these members of parliament.

Since David has already said that there are quite a few two-faced people among them, it indicates that the hidden dangers are indeed considerable.

"But don't worry too much, I'll try my best to get it sorted out in a few days, and try to reduce the number of people who defect at the last minute. Anyway, as long as we can get 218 votes, that's fine."

Hearing David's words of comfort, Church nodded at first, then seemed to remember something and asked, "Based on the current vote count, and with Inspector General David's next steps, I think there shouldn't be any problem with passing the House vote."

"If all goes smoothly, it's highly likely that the Senate will pass it."

"My only worry is, when it's presented to the president, will he actually sign it?"

His concerns were not unfounded.

Despite not having made any public statements yet, and judging from various sources, Patten seems to actually hope that the bill will pass.

However, the three major Freemason groups are still very powerful. If the bill passes both houses of Congress, these three groups will definitely try to make a fuss about Paton.

Whether Paden can withstand the pressure at that time is hard to say.

"If Patten refuses to sign, we'll need a two-thirds majority in the legislature for the bill to pass, which might be a bit difficult..."

Judging from the current situation, there is a good chance that this bill will pass both the House and Senate.

However, winning a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress will likely be quite difficult.

Moreover, the three major corporations aren't Muggles, so how could they let you win over so many members of parliament?

Church grew increasingly worried about the issue. He looked up and stared intently at David, wanting to hear David's opinion on it.

To everyone's surprise, David showed no worry or frown; his expression remained calm and composed.

It was as if everything had already been within his expectations.

"We've come this far, no one can stop this bill from passing, not even the president. If he refuses to sign it, I have ways to make him sign it, or... it's not impossible to have someone else sign it in his place!"

David's words startled Church.

What does it mean to have someone else sign for him?

Could it be that David is plotting to assassinate the president?

But that's not possible. According to the U.S. Constitution, a president cannot be subject to any legal proceedings while in office.

Could it be... that's right!

Impeach!

Church's train of thought changed instantly.

The president of the United States cannot be sanctioned through legal proceedings, but he can be sanctioned through impeachment by Congress.

If the impeachment is successful, the president will have to step down.

For example, Nicholas Nehwald, who was involved in the Watergate scandal.

But I have to say, this Inspector General David is really audacious. He even dares to mess with the president. That's just too crazy!

"Go ahead, contact me if anything comes up."

"Okay, then I'll take my leave."

Church put aside his chaotic thoughts, said no more, and got up to leave.

……

As expected, Josh was not exaggerating. The very next day, David saw the Congressional announcement on television: the off-site tax avoidance bill had officially received its legislative code.

After obtaining the code, Church and his team naturally did not slack off and immediately announced that a committee meeting would be held to discuss the bill in order to debate and improve it!

The process will take several days, so there's no rush.

"Go tell Elvis to gather some 'relevant information' about the president!"

In the office, David gave instructions to Munson.

Upon hearing this, Munson was initially startled, then asked timidly, "Inspector General, that's the President, you see...?"

The word "president" carries a powerful influence on anyone in America, and he was no exception.

"It's just a quick search, there won't be any problems, go ahead!"

He's been working on this bill for so long, he certainly won't allow any mishaps in any part of it.

As for the presidential signature, even if Church hadn't mentioned it yesterday, he had already been preparing for it for some time.

If nothing is done in advance, and the White House refuses to sign, who knows what unexpected changes might occur.

Therefore, by making some preparations in advance, if the White House really hesitates, he can use this to exert some pressure and get them to sign the bill into effect as soon as possible.

Seeing David's resolute tone, Munson dared not say anything more and quickly turned and left.

A few hours later, Munson returned, holding a document in his hand, which he placed in front of David.

David picked it up and looked at it for a while, his expression becoming playful.

Patten himself doesn't have any major problems, but the reason I say he doesn't have any major problems is because those trivial matters are unlikely to put pressure on him, the First Man of America.

However... his son has a much bigger problem.

According to the information, his son is a spoiled brat.

He indulged in all sorts of vices, including eating, drinking, gambling, and smoking, and was arrested by law enforcement agencies multiple times. It was only because his father, the president, cleaned up his messes that he has been able to remain at large until now.

Furthermore, according to the information, his son has long held a senior management position in a commercial company in Ukraine and has many business dealings with countries such as the British Empire and Israel.

According to intelligence obtained by the CIA, these dealings were very likely personally instructed by Paten.

But intelligence is intelligence; it's not direct evidence. So for the Paden father and son, it was at most a "splash of dirty water," and it couldn't do anything to them.

As for whether the CIA has any direct evidence of their wrongdoing?

The answer is no.

But that's normal.

As president, how could Patten possibly allow the CIA to gain leverage over him?

It seems the key lies with his son!

I need to find some time to meet with his son.

We can secretly get some useful information from this spoiled brat, and then use it to put pressure on the White House if it really wants to block his bill from being signed!

Of course, there is another urgent thing to do now, which is to first give a warning to those members of parliament who might be turned against their party.

With that in mind, David immediately picked up the phone and began arranging his itinerary...

……

Senado Island

In the conference room, Henrietta sat in the main seat, flanked by the seven major families on either side of him.

Opposite Henrietta and the seven families were the other Freemasons, as well as Nancy, who had been invited there.

Nanxi seemed to know very well why the Freemasons had invited her here, so upon arriving, she did not take the initiative to ask, but waited for them to speak.

"What did you do, Speaker of the House of Representatives? How did they get the legislative number so quickly?"

Joshua of the Morgan family was the first to make a move, while the others present, though not directly criticizing him, also showed signs of dissatisfaction.

In truth, Nanxi bears a great deal of responsibility for this matter.

After all, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, it was truly unacceptable that she couldn't control her own committees and allow that bill to obtain a legislative number so quickly.

"I do bear some responsibility for this. I didn't expect Josh to suddenly launch an attack, and I certainly didn't expect him to get the committee under control so quickly. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late..."

Although Nanxi was apologizing in words, her expression was cold and indifferent, showing no remorse whatsoever.

"What good is it if you take responsibility? If they hadn't gotten the legislative number so quickly, we would have had more time to persuade those swing voters..."

"alright!"

Before Joshua could finish speaking, Henrietta interrupted him, saying, "Now that their bill has received its legislative number, it will soon go to the House of Representatives for a vote. So, how many votes do we have in total?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent instantly.

Legislative numbers and such are actually not important at all; the number of votes in Congress is what matters most!

"According to the statistics, we currently have a total of 221 votes, but..."

Upon hearing the first part of the sentence, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

As mentioned before, in the House of Representatives, whoever controls 218 votes has the final say!

But when the word "however" appeared at the end, everyone immediately sensed something was wrong.

"But what?"

Henrietta asked immediately.

"These 221 votes are only the official tally. As everyone knows, in the voting process in Congress, preliminary counts are useless. Many members may support us today, but they could vote for the other side tomorrow..."

Clearly, the Freemasons can poach good politicians that David can persuade, and David can also poach good politicians that they can persuade.

On the surface, both the Freemasons and David's side appear to have the upper hand in terms of votes.

But until the actual vote, no one can guarantee which of those legislators are human and which are scoundrels.

"This won't do. David's greatest skill is scheming. Didn't we fall for his tricks during the assassination attempt last time? It's possible that the 221 votes we have now are something he deliberately made us count to mislead us!"

"That's right. If we had an absolute advantage, like 250 or 260 votes, we wouldn't be afraid of their defection. But right now, the official statistics only show a few votes ahead, which is too risky!"

"We've spent nearly $200 billion in various states these past few days, how come we only got this many votes?"

The Freemasons present immediately became worried.

"That's enough!"

Just as everyone was still performing their duties, a voice rang out, silencing everyone.

Because the one who made that sound was none other than Henrietta, the head of the group.

"Speaker Nancy, the situation is so dire for us right now. I urge you to stop holding back and help us resolve this bill. Rest assured, as long as you're willing to do your utmost to help me, whatever you want, our three major groups will do their best to fulfill it!"

Henrietta was perfectly clear about this.

Although Nanxi ostensibly helped them manipulate the legislative numbering process behind the scenes, he himself still had reservations about dealing with David.

He simply couldn't believe that the head of the House of Representatives would actually watch helplessly as David obtained the legislative number.

Regardless, Nancy remains the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

If she were to intervene fully in this court, it would certainly increase the chances of victory for the major corporations.

(End of this chapter)