Trump's NASA pick was once arrested, accused of passing bad checks to casinos

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

April 25, 2025, 6:04 p.m. ET


President Donald Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, was arrested on fraud charges in 2010 and faced lawsuits in two states for writing $2 million in bad checks to casinos, according to government records and court filings.

Isaacman is a billionaire pilot and astronaut who founded the Shift4 Payments company as a teenager and commanded the first civilian space crew in 2021 aboard a SpaceX capsule. Isaacman's nomination is scheduled for a vote by the Senate Commerce Committee on April 30.

'Fugitive' arrest

In a February 22, 2010, press release titled, "Nevada Fugitive Captured at Canadian Border," U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it arrested Isaacman on a warrant for alleged fraud at the Washington state line. He was taken to a county jail for extradition to Nevada, where Clark County, home to Las Vegas, had issued the felony warrant. No further detail on the alleged fraud was provided.

According to jail records, he was released the next day. In a questionnaire in connection with his nomination to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Isaacman said he was returning from the Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, in February 2010 when he was detained by CBP for "drawing and passing checks without sufficient funds."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/25/trump-nasa-pick-jared-isaacman-arrested-sued-casino-debts/83279745007/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump is running a crime syndicate, of course he hires only criminals.

Who else would a mob boss hire?

[mdbl]

5. Yes, Larceny is the first qualification he looks for in a candidate

[Irish_Dem]

6. Trump hires people with a criminal history, who will lie, cheat, steal for him.

[viva la]

2. Why wasn't he prosecuted?

Poor people go to prison for bouncing a check.

[Igel]

27. It was settled.

One case:

He said the arrest stemmed from a dispute with the Palms Casino resort in Las Vegas over a travel reimbursement the resort promised and failed to honor. Isaacman said he resolved the matter in less than 24 hours and the charges were dismissed. The court records were sealed, he said.

In a 2010 complaint filed in Connecticut, the Mohegan Sun said Isaacman had written four bad checks totaling $1 million. That action was eventually resolved and withdrawn, according to a court filing.

I usually wait until a jury's empaneled--or at least the person's arraigned--before concluding that the trial was actually held and a conviction secured.

[viva la]

28. I wonder what the story is.

Records sealed, so I guess we'll never know whether there were 4 bounced checks or it was "all a mistake."

[bucolic_frolic]

3. "It takes a check kiter to fly high as a kite!" .nt

[markodochartaigh]

4. "...was

once arrested, accused of passing bad checks to casinos."


Well, he certainly seems qualified for this administration, but does he have any other qualifications?

/s

[Onthefly]

7. Billionaire.

[lostnfound]

9. I'd guess "buddy of Elon's" given his role on the SpaceX mission...so he can sell off NASA for parts?

Probably DOGE will recommend privatizing anything that can turn a profit for him.

[Paladin]

8. How much money did trump make off this appointment?

That's the only question I want answered.

[Mysterian]

10. The space agency of the United States of America

Are you proud, trump bumpkins, to have degraded your once- proud nation into a laughingstock?

[travelingthrulife]

11. When does the media begin to say that every member of this maladministration is a crook.

Trump's a mob boss. It's how he keeps the cult in order.

[LiberalArkie]

12. Donald is still batting 1000

[Grins]

13. Sounds "Trump Qualified!" to me!! NM

[Crowman2009]

14. NASA is going to become the same money funnel that the DoD was during the Iraq war.

We're never going to Mars in our lifetime. It's just going to be a taxpayer money laundered to the South African Nazi.

[Bengus81]

23. Yeah...same thinking I have and have taken hits for saying it. Manned missions to Mars

are BS. Hell they'd need another one or two space stations to do that yet the only one we have is going to be dumped in the ocean in five years.

A manned mission would take years of weightlessness if all you did was fly there and come back. The last two people we got from the Space Station were like cripples when they got back Earth after nine months and even told not to shower for a period of time.

It's a pipe dream and Eloon and others wants to bag billions of $$$ of tax payer money playing around with this BS before they give up.

[Crowman2009]

30. Not to mention we don't have a propulsion system that will get a manned spaceship there fast enough.

We're not going to get very far on finite amounts of liquid propellant.

[Polybius]

15. If this were under 10 bad checks for food and clothes when he was a broke 19 year old, I'd give him a pass

But $2 million in bad checks? Oh hell no!

[not fooled]

16. And to casinos, no less

Not trying to pay for medical care for a loved one...not to try to save his business...but to cover gambling debts???

Yeah, congrats maggots for turning the USA into a laughingstock.

[Attilatheblond]

17. Gotta wonder: Bad checks to casinos, OR casino laundering $

And does Trump only appoint sketchy people because they will do sketchy things for him? Or are they easier to manipulate being as how they are sketchy and can be black mailed?

[LisaM]

21. I know. I saw "bad checks", but then....

$2,000,000 and casinos. I mean, c'mon.

[LudwigPastorius]

18. *sigh*

Another criminal con man elevated to a position so that he can destroy the institution he is entrusted to lead.

[twodogsbarking]

19. Trump's kind of guy. He probably put it on his resume.

How I wish this were

[AllaN01Bear]

20. such fine people.

[Jacson6]

22. As Costa Nostas says, Fer-get-about-it.

[Jit423]

24. Only the best criminals

[PedroXimenez]

25. a risk taker with poor judgement

perfect person to lead the space program

[Marcuse]

26. Hires only the best.

[Montauk6]

29. It's SO great to see our Executive Branch being led by The Best & The Brightest

[ramsethird]

31. what else is hidden about them

i dunno this is gossip compared to real content. There is actual emails and messages sent by jared out there right now. look at l@cky trigger book. There so much more to all this and barely even read a few pages. trump, elon, and isaacman all together in the story. What are peoples thoughts?

[marble falls]

32. Trust me: your concern is noted. Perhaps you'd like to expand your opinion?

[ramsethird]

34. too many concerns from his autobiogrpahy

Don't have many opinions about the guy, after reading his autobiography. I feel bad for him and wish he seeks serious help.

I like to stick to facts and stay grounded in reality. All I can say is there is lot more questions about everything when NASA gave this guy a chance. Same with TACO. I think its more important for you and everyone else to come up with their own conclusions after spending much time on it. If it doesn't interest you no worries, ignore it and live in bliss.

But if I were a NASA employee and somehow discovered his work ethics include flipping out on people, drugs, crazy partying, lot of questionable activities, association with sketchy people, you know I would probably immediately skedaddle out of there as far away from him as possible.

[marble falls]

35. I'd remember that his time is limited, that my skillset is valuable and that if he's like the rest of them ...

... I'll be there for the next Democratic administration. At worst it'll be over in 2028.

[fujiyamasan]

33. It looks like Isaacman's nomination was pulled a few days after the report

Maybe the nomination being pulled was partly the reason Musk went off the rails. Isaacman is a major Musk ally.