Tag Archives: corruption

NEW YORK: Former Top Cuomo Aide Guilty Of Bribery

Bloomberg reports: A former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo was convicted on corruption charges Tuesday at a trial that further exposed the state capital’s culture of backroom deal-making. A federal jury in Manhattan found Joseph Percoco guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of soliciting bribes after deliberating for parts of …

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Junior Partners With Donor Who Pitched Feds

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump Jr. has a previously undisclosed business relationship with a longtime hunting buddy who helped raise millions of dollars for his father’s 2016 presidential campaign and has had special access to top government officials since the election, records obtained by The Associated Press show. The president’s eldest son and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach …

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REVEALED: At Least 187 Trump Appointees Are Former Lobbyists, Many Now Oversee Their Former Industries

ProPublica reports: When the Trump administration took office early last year, hundreds of staffers from lobbying firms, conservative think tanks and Trump campaign groups began pouring into the very agencies they once lobbied or whose work they once opposed. Today we’re making available, for the first time, an authoritative searchable database of 2,475 political appointees, including Trump’s Cabinet, staffers in …

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MISSOURI: Revenge Porn Defense Fund Launched For GOP Governor, Separate Charity Scandal Unfolds

The Kansas City Star reports: Supporters of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens have started a defense fund following his indictment on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge related to a 2015 extramarital affair. Internal Revenue Service records show the Republican governor’s backers started the nonprofit Friday. It can take unlimited donations, but those contributions must be publicly reported. The nonprofit is called the …

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Trump Insider Dumped $31M In Steel Stock Last Week

ThinkProgress reports: Billionaire investor and longtime Trump confidant Carl Icahn dumped $31.3 million of stock in a company heavily dependent on steel last week, just days before Trump announced plans to impose steep tariffs on steel imports. In a little-noticed SEC filing submitted on February 22, 2018, Icahn disclosed that he systematically sold off nearly 1 million shares of Manitowoc …

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Nunes Hit With Ethics Complaint Over Leaked Texts

ABC News reports: A government watchdog group filed a new ethics complaint against House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and majority committee staff on Thursday following a report that Senate investigators have determined House Republicans leaked private text messages related to the ongoing probe of Russian election interference. According to the New York Times, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence …

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Dr. Stabby Cancels Order For $31K Dining Set

Talking Points Memo reports: A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Urban Development told TPM Thursday that Secretary Ben Carson had ordered the agency to rescind an order for $31,561 worth of dining room furniture. “At the request of the Secretary, the agency is working to rescind the order for the dining room set,” HUD spokesperson Raffi Williams told …

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Hope Hicks: I’ve Told “White Lies” For Donald Trump

The New York Times reports: Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies. But after extended consultation with her lawyers, she insisted that she had not lied about matters material to the investigations …

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ARKANSAS: Former Judge Get Five Years For Dismissing Charges Against Men In Return For Sexual Favors

Courthouse News reports: A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison for dismissing minor criminal cases in exchange for nude photographs or sexual favors from male defendants. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker also fined 72-year-old Boeckmann $50,000 and sentenced him to three years of supervised release after he does his time. O. Joseph Boeckmann, a …

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ISRAEL: Netanyahu To Be Indicted For Bribery

Haaretz reports: Israel Police will recommend indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in two corruption investigations. The two cases are the so-called “Case 1000” – in which Netanyahu is suspected of accepting lavish gifts from wealthy benefactors in return for advancing their interests. The second investigation, “Case 2000”, alleges that Netanyahu tried to strike a deal that would have provided him …

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WEST VIRGINIA: Woman Dragged Out Of Fracking Bill Hearing After Listing Big Oil Donations To Reps [VIDEO]

Common Dreams reports: Lissa Lucas traveled the 100 miles from her home in Cairo, West Virginia to the state capitol in Charleston Friday to testify against an oil and gas industry sponsored bill (HB 4268) that would allow companies to drill on minority mineral owners’ land without their consent. Lucas began to testify to the House Judiciary Committee, but a …

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Feds Subpoena Deutsche Bank For Kushner’s Records

The New York Times reports: Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have sought bank records about entities associated with the family company of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, according to four people briefed on the matter. In recent weeks, prosecutors from the United States attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York subpoenaed records from Deutsche Bank, the …

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Former State Pol Busted In $1M Bribery Scheme That Included Hundreds Of Pounds Of Dunkin Donuts Coffee

Boston’s CBS affiliate reports: Former Massachusetts Sen. Brian Joyce “violated the public’s trust” and “decided to take the path of greed” by using his office for personal profit to accept up to $1 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for official actions, federal investigators said Friday. Joyce, a longtime attorney and Milton Democrat who was arrested Friday, is accused …

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Flynn Promised Business Partner That Russian Sanctions Would Be “Ripped Up” Once Trump Took Office

The New York Times reports: Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, told a former business associate that economic sanctions against Russia would be “ripped up” as one of the Trump administration’s first acts, according to an account by a whistle-blower made public on Wednesday. Mr. Flynn believed that ending the sanctions could allow a business project he …

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Leaked Docs Show Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross Holds Undisclosed Stake In Company Run By Putin’s Family

NBC News reports: Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary in the Trump administration, shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position. Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment …

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New Court Filing By Robert Mueller: Paul Manafort Holds Three US Passports And Poses Significant Flight Risk

The Washington Post reports: Onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort keeps three U.S. passports with different identification numbers and submitted 10 passport applications in as many years, the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III disclosed in a new court filing Tuesday arguing that Manafort poses a significant flight risk. The 17-page filing came one day after Manafort and …

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Trump Campaign Money Begs Off Manafort Arrest

USA Today reports: Less than two hours after President Trump’s former campaign manager was indicted Monday, the Trump re-election campaign decided to send out a fundraising email. The email, entitled “Still Standing” and from presidential son Eric Trump, describes the “opposition” to the administration. “The mainstream media continues to play politics, creating division and turning the American people against one …

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Paul Manafort Hit With 12 Felony Charges: Conspiracy Against United States, Money Laundering, Lying To Feds

The BBC reports: The FBI special counsel’s spokesman has just given us this statement: “Paul J. Manafort, Jr., 68, of Alexandria, Va., and Richard W. Gates III, 45, of Richmond, Va., have been indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 27, 2017, in the District of Columbia. “The indictment contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to …

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Zinke Pleads Ignorance On Energy Contract: Dishonest Media Is Blaming Me But I Had Nothing To Do With It

Talking Points Memo reports: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday said he welcomed all investigations into Whitefish Energy Holdings, an electric company based in his hometown that was recently awarded a $300 million contract to repair Puerto Rico’s badly damaged electricity infrastructure. “I had absolutely nothing to do with Whitefish Energy receiving a contract in Puerto Rico,” Zinke said in …

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$300M No-Bid Contract For Tiny Energy Company Bars Feds From “Auditing Or Reviewing” Costs And Profits

The Hill reports: A deal reached between the government and a small Montana energy company located in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown prohibits the government from reviewing labor costs or profits related to the company’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico, according to a leaked copy of the contract. A copy of the deal obtained by reporter Ken Klippenstein reveals that …

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