American Tax Officer-Chapter 747 - 374: The Audacious David_2

Chapter 747: Chapter 374: The Audacious David_2

Church dismissed the messy thoughts and rose to leave without saying more.

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…

Josh certainly did not over-promise, and the very next day, David saw through the television that Congress had officially announced the Offshore Tax Avoidance Bill received its legislative number.

Once the bill had its number, Church and his cohort wasted no time announcing that a committee discussion would be held for the bill, to debate and refine the legislation!

The procedural steps involved would take several days to complete; there was no need to rush.

“Go tell Elvis to help me gather some ‘relevant documents’ on the President!” David instructed Manson in his office.

...

Upon hearing this, Manson was initially shocked, then hesitantly asked, “Chief Inspector, that is the President we’re talking about, do you think…”

The word “President” carried an intimidating force for anyone in America, and he was no exception.

“It’s just gathering information; there won’t be any problems. Go on!”

He had been busy with this bill for so long and certainly would not allow any part of the process to fail.

And as for the President’s signature, even if Church hadn’t mentioned it yesterday, David had already planned to prepare.

If nothing was prepared in advance, and the White House stalled on signing, who knew what complications could arise?

Therefore, it was better to be prepared. If the White House hesitated when it came time to sign, David could use the information collected to exert pressure and ensure the bill would be signed into law promptly.

Seeing David’s determined tone, Manson dared not say more and quickly left.

A few hours later, Manson returned with a document in hand, which he placed in front of David.

David picked it up and began to read, his expression turning amused.

Payden himself seemed to have no major issues, but that was because the trivial matters could not be used to pressure the most powerful individual in America.

However… his son was a different story.

According to the information, his son was nothing but a prodigal.

Engaging in all sorts of debauchery, including eating, drinking, prostitution, gambling, and drug use, and he had been arrested by law enforcement multiple times. Only because his father, the President, personally intervened, had he been able to continue his carefree ways.

Furthermore, the files indicated that his son had long held an executive position at a commercial firm in Ukrania and had many financial dealings with the British Empire and other countries.

According to intelligence obtained by the CIA, it was very likely these dealings were instigated by Payden himself.

But intelligence is just that, not concrete evidence, so at most, it could only cast aspersions on the Payden father and son, incapable of truly affecting them.

As for whether the CIA held any direct incriminating evidence against them?

The answer was no.

But that was to be expected.

As the President, how could Payden let the CIA have leverage over him?

It seemed the breakthrough would have to come through his son!

It was about time to meet this wayward son and quietly obtain some useful information from him. If the White House really tried to block his bill from being signed, he could use this information to apply pressure.

Of course, there was another urgent matter at hand—to approach and sway the congressmen who might be persuaded.

With this thought, David immediately picked up the phone to begin arranging his schedule…

…

Senado Island

Inside the conference room, Henrietta sat at the head, flanked by members of The Seven Great Families.

Across from Henrietta and The Seven Great Families sat the other members of Freemasonry, along with the invited Nancy.

Nancy seemed well aware of why Freemasonry had invited her here, so upon her arrival, she showed no intention of asking proactively; instead, she waited for the other party to speak.

“What happened, Speaker Nancy, how did they get the legislative bill number so quickly?”

The first to confront her was Joshua from the Morgan Family. Although no one else directly blamed her, they all appeared dissatisfied.

When it came down to it, the responsibility largely fell on Nancy.

After all, as the Speaker of the House, she had failed to control her own subordinates’ committees, allowing the bill to obtain a legislative number so quickly, which was truly unacceptable.

“I do bear some of the responsibility for this matter. I didn’t expect Josh to suddenly make a move, and even less that he would so quickly get the committee sorted out. By the time I realized, it was already too late…”

Although Nancy was apologizing, her demeanor was cool and detached, devoid of any sense of guilt.

“What’s the use of the responsibility falling on you? If they hadn’t secured the legislative number that quickly, we would have had more time to persuade those swing voters…”

“Enough!”

Before Joshua could finish, Henrietta interrupted him sharply, “Since their bill has already obtained a legislative number, the vote in the House of Congressman will follow very soon. How many votes do we currently control?”

Upon hearing this, everyone at the meeting fell silent.

The legislative number was, in fact, unimportant; the actual vote count in Congress was what truly mattered!

“According to our tally, we currently control 221 votes. However…”

After the first half of the sentence, everyone felt a slight relief.

As mentioned before, in the House, controlling 218 votes meant having the deciding power!

But the emergence of the word “however” immediately caused alarm.

“However what?” Henrietta immediately asked.

“These 221 votes are only the apparent count. I’m sure everyone is well aware that during the congressional voting process, preliminary counts are unreliable. Many congressmen may say they support us today, but tomorrow they could cast their votes for the other side…”

Obviously, Freemasonry had its members convince David’s persuaded legislators, just as David could convince those they had secured for their side.

And now, at face value, both Freemasonry and David’s faction seemed to hold an advantage in the number of votes.

But until the actual vote, no one could guarantee which legislators were allies and which were foes.

“We can’t go on like this; David’s greatest talent is backstabbing. Weren’t we once victim to his assassination attempt? It’s quite possible that he led us to count these 221 votes to mislead us!”

“Exactly, if we had an absolute majority, say 250 or 260 votes, we wouldn’t fear their subversion. But right now, our apparent majority is a mere few votes, and that’s far too insecure!”

“We’ve nearly spent 20 billion US Dollars in various states these past days, and that’s all the votes we have?”

The Freemasonry members present began to express their concern.

“Enough!”

As everyone continued to cast blame, a voice cut through, silencing them all.

Because it was none other than the group leader, Henrietta, who had spoken.

“Speak, Nancy, Speaker of the House, given our current dire situation, I beg you to drop any reservations and help us quash this bill. Rest assured, if you’re willing to assist us with all your might, The Big Three Groups will do everything we can to satisfy your wishes!”

Henrietta understood clearly.

Despite Nancy’s apparent assistance in tampering with the legislative numbering, she still had reservations about confronting David.

He truly did not believe that the venerable Speaker of the House was powerless to watch David secure the legislative number.

But no matter what, Nancy was still the Speaker of the House.

If she were to fully intervene in the workings of the chamber, it would assuredly boost the Big Three Groups’ odds of success substantially.