Several co-defendants in a federal corruption trial against former Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila have agreed to testify against him.
Three of five co-defendants reached plea agreements on Friday, days after another co-defendant — former Acevedo aide Eneidy Coreano — agreed to testify and have her charges dropped. The agreements leave Acevedo increasingly isolated ahead of the trial for alleged campaign finance violations.
Acevedo, who left office this month after losing a bid for a second term, has no intention of pleading guilty himself and will face trial in February, defense attorney Harry Anduze said.
In all, 12 people were indicted along with Acevedo. Along with those entering pleas Friday, one suspect indicated he is planning to plead guilty as did another accused this week.
The charges against Acevedo and 12 other defendants stem from an alleged scheme to illegally raise money to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign debts from Acevedo's terms as the island's U.S. congressional delegate from 2000 to 2004. Acevedo has repeatedly asserted that the investigation was politically motivated.
Acevedo is the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges since the island became a semiautonomous U.S. commonwealth in 1952. He has received more than $300,000 in donations in response to his plea for assistance with attorney fees.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Let's play "Name That Party"!
I know, I know - call on me! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/24/2009 0:12 Comments ||
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#2
Old Spook, as s lifelong resident of Pa allow me to say we are not all beyond stupid and corrupt. That particular malady exists mainly in the urban areas (Philly, Harrisburgh, Pittsburgh, et al).
#3
clarification - the people in murtha's district that continually vote in that piece of lying shit into office each election cycle are beyond stupid & corrupt.
#2
The Leader of the Western World has gone into high dungeon about media infotainment heckling -- on what? Day four? I am already pining for the days back when we had a real president.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/24/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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#6
Given the current crop of GOP posers, it's pretty clear they stopped listening to Rush, or any other conservative a long time ago.
That said, I think Noobama is the only person with thinner skin then McCain.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/24/2009 10:25 Comments ||
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#7
Is this a "Play" by BHO to get the "Fairness Doctrine" rolling?. We can't show dissidence in the ranks.
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/24/2009 11:37 Comments ||
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#8
The GOP, at least the establishment, blue-blood part of it that gave us Bob Dole and John McCain (and Jorge Arbusto), hasn't listened to Limbaugh for ages.
Obama is pretexting for "Fairness Doctrine".
And also shows he is worried about Limbaugh (as he shoudl be): nothing hurts a fraud so much as a man with the truth and the courage to speak it loudly and fight for it.
Hey Dems, what ever happened to "speaking truth to power"?
#9
Noobama is making a play at coopting as many Republicans as he can. Essentially, get with my program or get left out in the cold. No bipartisanship, zero negotiation. He's governing like a dictator, commanding people where to get there info, and what to think.
There is no room for opposition - only resistence.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/24/2009 12:15 Comments ||
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#10
They can take Rush from me, but the can't take Dreamboat Annie or anyone else in Townhall.com
Stay strong, Obama. You may silence Rush one day but you will never silence conservatism.
#11
Rex, this is what happens when you have the presidency, the House and a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. You tell the other side to play along or shut up. Repubs did pretty much the same thing in 2005 (and look what happened two years later).
No worries, the Dhimmis will over-play their hand. They always do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2009 13:04 Comments ||
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#12
A newbie mistake. Why direct your audience to your enemy? And where is the above-the-fray gravitas? He just can't keep his mouth shut.
#13
From the article:
The timing was no coincidence: after a rocky first week in office, the Obamists are also faced with a resurgent Fox News Channel, where ratings have been climbing since the moment he took office.
In particular, Hannity's Limbaugh interview, which took place in the latter's Florida studios, scored fantastic audience figures for the former's network. In overall viewers, Thursday's Hannity nearly trebled his MSNBC competition and almost doubled CNN's Larry King.
#15
I don't remember the Repubs ever having the brass sacks to tell the Dems to "shut up". Doesn't mean it didn't happen, but if they did the Dems obviously just laughed in their face and went about business as usual, and the 'pubs never backed up their words.
All the while, Bush was still playin' nice. Bush took 8 years of insufferable personal attacks from the MSM and Hollyweird and never issued an ad hominem let alone defend himself. It took Noobama only 2 days to lash out.
I still hold the game has changed and the GOP is sleepwalking itself in subservience, taking the rest of us with 'em.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/24/2009 16:32 Comments ||
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#16
Rush responds:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTU5MjE3MmQ0NWU1Zjc1YzYyMDE1NzNmZmM2MzYxMmI=
The beginning:There are two things going on here. One prong of the Great Unifiers plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters and supporters by making the argument about me and not about his plan.
.
.
The end:If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of the trillion dollar debacle.
One more thing, Byron. Your publication and website have documented Obama's ties to the teachings of Saul Alinksy while he was community organizing in Chicago. Here is Rule 13 of Alinksys Rules for Radicals:
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."
#17
who knew an empty suit could have such thin skin? A natural narcissistwho's bought into the cult of personality, he won't tolerate those who don't worship at Teh One's feet. Gonna be a loooong 4 years before this tool is removed
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2009 18:43 Comments ||
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#18
Rex's comment was spot on - McCain is just as bad
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2009 18:44 Comments ||
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#19
At least McCain has earned the right to be a dumbass on the national stage. What has Obama ever done for his country?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2009 21:27 Comments ||
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#21
AzCat is onto the main point. Always avoid looking back, but when McCain is bad, he's pretty bad, but when he's good, he's very good. He faltered as a campaigner, and takes the responsibility for his loss, but BHO's first weeks (and pre-inaugural actions) show a lot of talk, natural posturing, and reveal that when he actually says something meaningful, he draws flak since there's no record to balance it.
Wait until he actually begins doing things instead of saying them. I don't fear as much as many seem to, but his biggest problem could turn out to be that he's a very popular and very ineffective leader. We haven't had one of those for a long time - most overcome the ineffectiveness in some way, but there's simply no telling how BHO will do so.
#23
Wow. Prediction: Rush will be jailed or dead within the year. The Obamination will also outlaw fire, firearms, and nationalize production of produce into co-ops run by minorities while outlawing personal gardens and livestock. Maybe not within the first year, but you gotta get those red states somehow.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams remained out of the public eye as City Hall work went on without him Thursday, but he said Portlanders should expect a decision "within days" about whether he'll resign or fight for his job.
He spent the day on "discussions of a personal nature" with people such as his pastor and his mentor, former Mayor Vera Katz.
"It's important I learn the lessons that need to be learned, regardless of what I decide," Adams said. "That's what I'm talking to folks about right now. Clearly, tell the truth no matter what is one of those. These people I talked with today were blunt. They were brutally honest.
"I need to do more of the hard work before I decide," he said. "I'm not going to be able to sit down with everyone in the city, but I want to have as many conversations as possible. I'm going to be making a decision soon. I'm not going to keep people waiting."
With support from big-name backers and a longtime colleague who had remained silent up to now, Adams seemed to gather momentum in the court of public opinion for the first time since he admitted earlier this week that he had sex with a teenager when he was a city commissioner.
Adams, 45, said Monday he had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old legislative intern in 2005 but lied about it and persuaded the young man to lie about it, too, in 2007 as he began his campaign for mayor.
At the request of local authorities, the state attorney general's office has opened a criminal investigation of Adams, who said he's hired a lawyer.
The City Council met Thursday for the first time since the scandal broke, and councilors seemed relieved to get down to some business that didn't involve answering questions about whether Adams should stay or resign.
Though television news crews staked out the chamber and a handful of demonstrators -- for and against Adams -- paraded outside, only a small audience gathered, and no one mentioned Adams at the short meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Fred, do we get to play "guess the party affiliation"?
#3
Hang around Sammy, and they will immortalize you in movies like "Milk." Nimble Semble -- the "name the party affiliation" game is rigged: bangin under-aged interns is part of both the state and national Democrat platform.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/24/2009 9:04 Comments ||
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#4
Liberal, gay Democrat? I think I know which way he's gonna go.
"I CAN'T LET THE RIGHT WING HATE MONGERS WIN!"
Kinda like that, right, Sam?
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank yesterday defended helping Boston's OneUnited Bank land $12 million in federal funding, despite regulatory complaints its executives were getting "excessive" pay and even a Porshe for its CEO.
Frank, head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, acknowledged that last fall he inserted into the government's $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program bill specific language to help OneUnited, New England's only black-owned bank.
He also said he contacted someone at the Treasury Department about OneUnited's application for emergency TARP funds, though he insisted he never asked Treasury to bend any rules on behalf of OneUnited. "I believe it would have been a very big mistake to put the only black bank out of business," Frank said in an interview.
OneUnited was financially reeling from the federal government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which had their shares wiped out by the government action. OneUnited owned substantial shares in the two mortgage giants, Frank said. "It was a case of the federal government causing the problem," he said.
But OneUnited was also facing regulatory scrutiny last fall from other government agencies, which later slapped a cease-and-desist order on OneUnited due to "unsafe and unsound banking practices."
Regulators also complained of "excessive" executive pay at OneUnited - including a Porsche for use by CEO Kevin Cohee. OneUnited has disputed charges it had practiced "unsafe and unsound" banking practics.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Hell $12 million, peanuts, Citi could have spent that much on 1 bonus.
#2
I agree. It pales in comparison to the fact that Barney Frank and Fanny Mae executive Herb Moses were...um...'depositers' for a number of years when they dreamed up the sub-prime mortgage mess.
Joseph L. Bruno, the former State Senate majority leader, was indicted on Friday in Albany on charges that he reaped millions of dollars from companies seeking business from the state or from labor unions, capping a long-running investigation into one of New York's most powerful political figures.
In an eight-count indictment, federal prosecutors accused Mr. Bruno of collecting more than $3 million over a 13-year period, beginning in 1993, from a handful of companies seeking state contracts and grants, as well as contracts to manage pension fund investments for at least 16 labor unions.
In addition to cash payments disguised as consulting fees, he also had undisclosed interests in a racehorse partnership and a computer software firm that had contracts with state agencies, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said Mr. Bruno used his position in the Senate to take "official action on legislative, funding, contract and regulatory issues" benefiting those who were paying him, although they did not cite any specific examples.
Mr. Bruno, 79, was charged under an anti-corruption law making it a crime to deprive citizens of honest services from their elected officials.
Andrew T. Baxter, the acting United States attorney for the Northern District of New York, said the payments to Mr. Bruno were in essence gifts because Mr. Bruno "did not perform legitimate consulting service commensurate with these substantial consulting fees." He made his comments at a press conference in the federal courthouse, where about an hour earlier Mr. Bruno entered a not-guilty plea and was released without bail.
"Mr. Bruno exploited his office by concealing the nature and the source of substantial payments that he received from parties that benefited from his official actions," Mr. Baxter said.
Not long before Mr. Baxter spoke, Mr. Bruno appeared before reporters and issued a fiery condemnation of the charges against him. He called the investigation a politicized "three-year fishing expedition" that was "profoundly unfair" and "really stinks, in plain English."
"I did nothing wrong. I broke no laws," he said, adding, "I've been a fighter and I don't plan on changing now."
"There is a frightening message to all elected officials who are not wealthy and who have to work to make a living," Mr. Bruno continued. "You, too, can become target practice with a statute that can infer, insinuate and imply because they can't find the facts to make a criminal case."
The three-year investigation, which became public in December 2006, has spanned a range of subjects, from Mr. Bruno's overlapping business and political ties to a longtime friend, Jared E. Abbruzzese, to his purchases of real estate and thoroughbreds, to his relationship with a Connecticut investment company that was seeking to expand its pension business among New York labor unions.
Federal investigators have also scrutinized what work was done by Capital Business Consultants, an enterprise that the senator ran out of his residence, and flights by Mr. Bruno on a private jet that were arranged by Mr. Abbruzzese.
During the investigation, federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to business executives, Senate staff members, thoroughbred owners, labor leaders and lobbyists.
Throughout the inquiry, Mr. Bruno has maintained his innocence.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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...in another exciting episode of Name That Party!
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2009 10:52 Comments ||
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He is indeed an R. And he is one of the triumverate that have been locked in a power battle in Albany for over a decade. It's no coincidence that Spitzer sent the state troopers to snoop illegally on Bruno.
Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he will boycott his upcoming impeachment trial, not as an act of defiance but rather to protest what he believes is an unfair process.
At a news conference this afternoon in Chicago, an animated Blagojevich said he would not attend the trial, set to start Monday in Springfield, because under state Senate rules he would not be able to call certain witnesses or sufficiently challenge the charges, making the proceedings a "trampling of the Constitution."
"It's a scary thing if they get away with doing this," Blagojevich said of state legislators. "Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?" he asked.
The governor said the real reason his impeachment trial is being pushed is because state leaders are tired of fighting his efforts to thwart tax increases. Today he accused the state's lawmakers of "just waiting to get me out of the way to raise the income tax."
As he has done since his Dec. 9 arrest on corruption charges, including allegedly attempting to sell President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat, Blagojevich today again maintained his innocence.
"Notwithstanding mistakes and errors in judgment from time to time," Blagojevich said, "most of the decisions I've done as governor have been the right thing."
Continuing to ignore repeated calls for his resignation, he cautioned that removing a governor from office without allowing witnesses to testify on his behalf sets a dangerous precedent.
"If you can throw a governor out with mere allegations & then no governor will be able to take on the General Assembly," he said.
Noting that he was a fan of old Western Cowboy movies, Blagojevich said, "under these rules, I'm not even getting a fair trial -- they're just hanging me."
At the Senate trial, neither the governor nor the prosecution would be allowed to call witnesses that federal prosecutors say could jeopardize the criminal corruption trial against the governor.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Today he said the average large corporation's income tax in IL was $151 and the average citizen's 1500. Said he would publish the list of corporations paying low tax on medium and above incomes.
Responding to questions about Gov. Rod Blagojevich's claims Friday that Democratic lawmakers are trying to oust him so they can raise taxes, Mayor Richard M. Daley said the governor was "cuckoo."
He noted that he has called Blagojevich "cuckoo" once before. The earlier comment came in September, when Blagojevich questioned financial statements by the head of the Chicago Transit Authority. "I've said 'cuckoo' once. I'll say it again," Daley said. He chirped another "Cuckoo!" to reporters before leaving his Friday morning news conference.
Meanwhile, Blagojevich said Friday afternoon that his choice not to attend his impeachment trial in the Illinois State Senate was "not an act of defiance," but a protest against what he again characterized as a violation of constitutional civil liberties. Blagojevich and his attorneys have said they are boycotting the impeachment trial and will not be there to participate because the rules are unfair. They restrict his calling witnesses or challenging the report prepared by at House impeachment hearings. "To participate in a process that denies fundamental due process, and to be part of a process that doesn't allow for calling of witnesses, and worse than that, doesn't allow for me or any citizen to challenge charges that are brought against me, is a fundamental violation of the constitution," Blagojevich said. "It is a trampling of the constitution."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Jeez... ya gotta wonder just how absurd this is gonna get...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/24/2009 8:41 Comments ||
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#3
with that hair and the jogging suits? pretty bad
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2009 8:45 Comments ||
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#4
Destroying the credibility of the witness is an old dem theme. No argument at all. Blago's a little chimp loser who would feel right riding around town with Tony Soprano. I just hope he lives long enough to sing on the whole lot. I keep cheering for him for this purpose alone.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he will boycott his upcoming impeachment trial, not as an act of defiance but rather to protest what he believes is an unfair process. 
Responding to questions about Gov. Rod Blagojevich's claims Friday that Democratic lawmakers are trying to oust him so they can raise taxes, Mayor Richard M. Daley said the governor was "cuckoo." 
