The SEC has subpoenaed them, and the state of New York has filed fraud charges against them.
Someone has been a very bad boy.
Category: Corruption
McCain’s Campaign Co-Chair Tied to Corrupt Lobbyist
Stephen Payne, who was caught on tape selling access to the White House, and tied to McCain’s senior foreign policy guy, has now also been tied to his campaign co-chair, and major fund raiser, Fred Zeidman.
He was a senior member of, Payne’s efforts lobbying on behalf of corrupt autocratic oil rich regimes.
Another day, another bit of Republican slime.
Military Stonewalling on Rape
This is a serious problem, but ordering your top official on sexual abuse to ignore a Congressional subpoena only makes it look like you are trying to cover up the problem….because you ARE covering up the problem.
The only real question is whether this is a systemic problem with the military, or an artifact of the military being broken by Iraq.
Still the statistics, 41% of female veterans saying that they have been raped and an 8% prosecution rate, are mind boggling if only half accurate.
Ft. Detrick Scientist Targeted in Anthrax Probe, Commits Suicide
His name was Bruce Ivins, and it appears that his arrest was imminent.
More important than the possibility, and no evidence has been presented, that the Anthrax mailer has been identified is the question about who lied to the press about the presence of Bentonite in the spores.
Not only was this completely untrue, there were none in the samples, but it was used to point a finger at Iraq, which, unlike the US, used Bentonite in its bio-weapons program.
Glenn Breenwald has a rundown of how the press, ABC in particular, were used to finger Iraq for the Anthrax by mentioning non-existent Bentonite.
Who were the government sources who were lying to the press? Was Bruce Ivins one of them? Was this a part of a concerted effort to gin up support for the attack on Iraq?
Waxman Looking to Take Out Blackwater
Henry Waxman (D-CA) is Blackwater International’s misrepresentation of itself as a small business to get contracts.
If fraud can be shown, they could be declared ineligible for future government contracts, which would, thankfully, put them out of business.
As Waxman explained in a memo (PDF) accompanying the launch of the three investigations, they each hinge on Blackwater’s self-classification of its workers as contractors rather than employees. Waxman argues that classifying security personnel as contractors has allowed Blackwater to apply for small business contracts for which it wasn’t eligible, underpay income taxes and workers benefits, and avoid complying with DOL anti-discrimination requirements for federal contractors.
As useless as Pelosi is sometimes, it’s good for Waxman to have subpoena power.
Trent Lott May Be Involved in Witness Tampering
It’s tied into the Ricky Scruggs case, and a deposition where Zack Scruggs, Lott’s nephew, took the 5th in response to the question, “Has it been your custom and habit in prosecuting litigation to have Senator Lott contact and encourage witnesses to give false information?”.
It’s nice that Scruggs and Lott got along so well…I would have figured some tension, as Scruggs was a big Democratic Party supporter in Mississippi.
Our Mercenary Pentagon
Chalmers Johnson has an excellent essay on how the privatization of our Pentagon is both dysfunctional and a threat to democracy.
Go read.
State of Connecticut Sues Ratings Agencies
They are suing over their giving lower ratings to government bonds than equivalent corporate bonds, which they actually call, “a secret Wall Street tax on Main Street”.
The disparities in ratings means either higher interest rates, or carrying monoliner insurance, both of which accrue to the benefit of Wall Street.
Washington AP Chief Interviewed for a Position with the McCain Campaign in 2006
Yet another reason to continue to maintain my boycott of the Associated press.
It should be noted that while Karl Rove was concocting the phony story about Pat Tillman’s death, Ron Fournier wrote him a mash note, telling him to, “Keep up the fight.”
Olmert as Kadima Head Out in September
Thank God.
No matter what your opinion on his peace initiatives, it’s clear that a person who is negotiation with an eye toward redeeming himself from charges of corruption is less likely to cut a deal that will last.
Elections will be sometime early next year.
Desperation does not make for good statesmanship.
More Evidence that Arbitration is a Racket
This sad tail of corruption as a feature, not a bug, in arbitration courtesy of Jane Bryant Quinn.
Short story, people screwed over in auction rate security deals will likely have to be heard by arbitrators whose own companies are the subjects of actions by people screwed over in auction rate security deals.
This will be an issue that I will start dunning candidates on, because binding arbitration is a racket.
Lock Rove in the House Basement
There is a cell there, and since Mukasey has said that he refused to enforce contempt citations you can have the Congressional sergeant at arms arrest him and lock himup.
Otherwise, the fact that the House Judiciary Committee vote to hold him in contempt means absolutely nothing.
You have the authority to do so, and it was done as late as 1934.
No Bail for Wilkes
Brent Wilkes, who was convicted of bribing Randy “Duke” Cunningham, has been told that if he has a friend who wishes to post the $1.4 million for bail, his name must be made public.
This person, referred to as a former business associate, whoever he or she is, has made it clear that they would lose their job if their name became public, so I guess he stays in jail pending appeal.
If anyone has an idea who this person is, I want to know.
Ted Stevens Indicted
I’ll avoid the “tubes” and the “incredible hulk” jokes, as most of the ‘net does snark better than me.
In any case, he has been indicted on 7 counts related to concealing income from gifts from lobbyists and their firms, once again proving that it’s the cover-up that will get you.
Interestingly enough, the Republicans in Alaska are so corrupt they don’t have a replacement, with the most likely replacement, Sarah Palin, who is under investigation about misuse of power to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the State Police.
Also note that the party can replace Stevens up to 48 days before the general election, so he could drop out.
That being said, I’ll enjoy some Schadenfreude, and you can donate to the Democratic challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich at my ActBlue page.
Blackwater May Have Broken Federal Laws???? Pshaw!!!
It looks like many of the contracts they secured were as a result of Blackwater fraudulently claiming to be a small business.
I’m stunned…not.
DHS Plans to Use Color Coding to Help ‘Phants in November Elections
The Department of Homeland Security is declaring a Period of Heightened Alert (POHA) for the election season.
This means that Bush and His Evil Minions™ will take the smallest rumor of a terrorist threat, inflate it beyond all credibility, and then try to scare the general public into voting Republican.
Monica Goodling Thought that Partisan Politics Trumped Anti-Terror Efforts
Which is she passed over an experienced counterterrorism prosecutor because his wife was a Democrat.
Seriously, nothing trumps politics for Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.
Department of Justice Broke Law on Hiring
Representatives of Bush and His Evil Minions™ at the Justice Department routinely broke the law in the hiring of career lawyers.
In particular Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson aggressively selected on the basis of partisan affiliation.
Bush’s butt boy at the DoJ, Michael Mukasey, released a statement that he is, “disturbed” by these developments, but I see no suggestion of actual prosecution.
There can be no greater threat to the nation than when political partisanship is used to corrupt the administration of justice.
And the Noose Tightens Around Kurt Weldon
You may recall that I wrote about lobbyist friend of former Congressman Curt Weldon Cecelia Grimes, who dumped her Blackberry in the trash at a at an Arbys.
Well, now she has pled guilty on destruction of evidence, and faces as much as 20 years in the slam.
The fact that she has pled out implies some sort of deal, and I think that Kurt, who currently spends his days trying to cut shady deals on Russian military equipment, is going down.
And the Always Reliably Clueless Michelle Malkin Strikes Again
(No link to her, not ever)
It appears that Michelle Malkin is screaming * about the fund raising success of a challenger to John Murtha for congress, one William Russell.
The guy hasn’t campaigned, but he’s raised nearly $1 million, so Michelle Malkin is jumping around like a cheerleader with cerebral palsey.†
The kicker is that this money has come from a corrupt Republican direct mail fund raising outfit called BMW direct, which has a history of raising lots of money for long shot candidates, and then eating up pretty much all of the money raised through their fees, and for fees from consultants close to the firm:
In the most recent quarter Russell raised $669,534, almost all from out-of-state donors who presumably are on BMW Direct’s list of self-styled conservatives with a good track record of responding to direct-mail fundraising.
At the same time, he spent $442,990, almost all of it on expenses related to the direct mail effort and paid to BMW Direct and its affiliates (some of which share the same downtown Washington office).
The only expenses that appear to be spent on an actual campaign totaled about $20,000 for Web site design, a low-budget video and a campaign consultant based in Pennsylvania rather than Washington.
He reports having $269,953 in cash on hand. But he also reports debts totaling $242,521 — almost all for direct mail expenses to BMW Direct and its vendors.
So that leaves him only about $27,431 ahead — not much for a guy who’s raised a total of nearly $1 million this election cycle.
Of course, if Ms. Malkin really thought about what would benefit the Republican party, though she’s not paid to think, she would realize that folks like BMW direct are a cancer on her party, and direct some of her venom against them.
*Yes, I know, she’s always screaming.
†Actually she does “jumping around like a cheerleader with cerebral palsey” bit a lot. Have you seen the video of her in a cheerleader outfit‡ cheering “Defeatocrats”?
‡As to why she has a cheerleading outfit when it’s clear that she was never a cheerleader, that’s between her and Jesse Malkin, her husband, and I really don’t want to know the details.