[Justice.gov] A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a former subordinate for their alleged theft of proprietary software and confidential databases from the U.S. government as part of a scheme to defraud the U.S. government.
The indictment charges Charles K. Edwards, 59, of Sandy Spring, Maryland, and Murali Yamazula Venkata, 54, of Aldie, Virginia, with conspiracy to commit theft of government property and to defraud the United States, theft of government property, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The indictment also charges Venkata with destruction of records.
According to the allegations in the indictment, from October 2014 to April 2017, Edwards, Venkata, and others executed a scheme to defraud the U.S. government by stealing confidential and proprietary software from DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), along with sensitive government databases containing personal identifying information (PII) of DHS and USPS employees, so that Edwards’s company, Delta Business Solutions, could later sell an enhanced version of DHS-OIG’s software to the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a profit. Although Edwards had left DHS-OIG in December 2013, he continued to leverage his relationship with Venkata and other DHS-OIG employees to steal the software and the sensitive government databases.
The indictment further alleges that, in addition to stealing DHS-OIG’s software and the sensitive government databases, Venkata and others also assisted Edwards by reconfiguring his laptop so that he could properly upload the stolen software and databases, provided troubleshooting support whenever Edwards required it, and helped him build a testing server at his residence with the stolen software and databases, which contained PII. As further part of the alleged scheme, Edwards retained software developers in India for the purpose of developing his commercial alternative of DHS-OIG’s software.
[MOBILE.REUTERS] Former United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones was charged on Thursday with embezzling more than $1 million of union funds amid a U.S. corruption probe that has raised the specter of a federal government takeover of the union.
Jones, 62, of Canton, Michigan, was charged in an information, a court document typically used when the government has reached a plea deal with a defendant. J. Bruce Maffeo, a lawyer for Jones, declined to comment. The documents were filed previously and unsealed on Thursday.
The UAW said in a statement that members should be angry at Jones, calling the actions he was charged with "a violation of trust."
Matthew Schneider, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said federal officials would continue to investigate any corruption allegations, and a takeover of the union remained an option.
"We are not done," he said at a presser. "That's one of the options... whether or not federal government oversight of the UAW is necessary."
The charging of Jones and other senior UAW leaders has shaken the union and led General Motors Co (GM.N) to file a racketeering lawsuit against its smaller rival, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N). FCA has brushed off the lawsuit as groundless.
Jones resigned his post and UAW membership in November after the union removed him from office, as U.S. prosecutors widened a criminal investigation of illegal payoffs in which at least 13 people have pleaded guilty.
Jones, a certified public accountant, was charged with conspiracy to embezzle funds from the UAW from 2010 through September 2019, and with conspiracy to defraud the United States by failing to pay taxes on the money prosecutors charge he stole. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
h/t Instapundit
[PJ] - On Friday, the Trump campaign filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN over false claims regarding collusion with Russia. The suit demands "compensatory damages in the millions of dollars," along with punitive damages. This is the third such lawsuit against major media outlets regarding allegedly "false and defamatory" articles about Russia collusion. The campaign sued The New York Times last month and The Washington Post earlier this week.
"Today the President's re-election campaign has filed suit against CNN for false statements, claiming that the campaign ’assessed the potential risks and benefits of again seeking Russia's help in 2020 and has decided to leave that option on the table.’ The statements were and are 100 percent false and defamatory," Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement. "The complaint alleges CNN was aware of the falsity at the time it published them, but did so for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign, while misleading its own readers in the process."
The lawsuit points to tweets from Larry Noble, former general counsel of the FEC and a CNN contributor, demonstrating animus against Trump. It also cites the Project Veritas sting videos against CNN.
"In the Project Veritas footage, Nick Neville, a Media Coordinator at CNN, admits that CNN's chief executive, Jeff Zucker, has a personal vendetta against the President," the lawsuit notes. "John Bonifield, a Supervising Producer at CNN, states in the Project Veritas footage that CNN's coverage regarding Russia's alleged interference with the 2016 election was 'mostly bulls**t' and that the President 'is probably right to say...you are witch hunting me.'"
It is important to note that President Donald Trump did not bring this lawsuit and he is not a party in it, but his campaign is.
#1
This is about getting the issue of libel before SCOTUS to overturn the unequal treatment before the law of individuals. Either we're equal before the law or not. Make up your mind or show your hypocrisy of claiming it as a rationale for many of your opinions.
The Woke era has produced an orgy of defamation, of nonstop malicious lying and slander and libel of not just OrangeMan but anyone the Wokesters deem to be a Class Enemy: non-lefty judges, schoolboys on a trip to the Washington DC Mall, grocers in Ohio.
This must stop. The step is for SCOTUS to provide some guidance about the nation's defamation law. The old rulings are not strong enough and give far too much leeway to the Cancel Culture warriors.
#6
True Glenmore, but that's my point. We decry two systems of justice. Libel is just the same. One system for all. Force them to make it obvious or change.
#7
#5. Love me some Mollie. One day she'll wake up to know we are meant for each other and dump that happy marriage to Mark H. :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/07/2020 11:10 Comments ||
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#8
Millie's key point about these deliberately distorted and dishonest media comparisons of Schumer's and Kavanaugh's use of the biblical phrase about sowing the whirlwind: Schumer promised to HIMSELF bring the whirlwind down on Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. He made a direct threat against two men.
Kavanaugh warned that he was AFRAID for the NATION that lying, slandering, outrageous behavior by Congress would put our democracy in jeopardy.
It's the difference between saying, "Please stop playing with matches; I fear you will set the house on fire" and "I'm gonna burn down your house, sucker!"
Nearly the entire media lied-- yet again, knowingly, blatantly, crudely-- in presenting Schumer's mafioso threat to do harm as somehow no different from Kavanaugh's polite, well-reasoned, earnest plea NOT to do harm.
#9
A Los Angeles jury ruled today that The National Enquirer libeled the actress Carol Burnett in a 1976 gossip column. It ordered the Florida-based publication to pay her $1.6 million in damages.
This was nearly 50 years ago. It can be done. The ante has gone up quite a bit since then.
#10
#4 Don't you think Trump employs good enough lawyers to know when they've a chance? If I noticed something about Trump is that he's not given to Quixotic gestures.
#11
Bringing back dueling will help too, and don't allow anyone to 'stand' in their place either. Besides, C-Span or whatever channel carrying all the duels in Congress would be highest rated in the nation. Oh and so called journalists and reporters are NOT EXEMPT. Make it a constitutional amendment, then nobody can can 'overrule' it. Only pres and VP are exempt WHILE in office.
#12
The standard for defaming a public figure is "actual malice" (you really in your head have to have been out to get the guy) or reckless disregard for the truth. The complaint as summarized in this article is aimed at meeting the actual malice standard (CNN made false statements "for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign.") CNN's problem is that if the compaint survives a motion to dismiss, then we're on to discovery, and the CNN players named in the article have to give depositions about how their editorial views are formed, what they think about the Trump campaign, etc. And, by the way, they are now under a duty not to destroy potential evidence. (That's called "spoliation" and has become a really big no-no in the era of discovery of electronic records.)
Posted by: Matt ||
03/07/2020 14:28 Comments ||
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#13
Matt, it would seem quite challenging to prove actual malice; unless the defendant was so stupid as to put it into writing it would require mind-reading, wouldn't it? Even if we all could pretty much see it, it would not be proven?
#17
Glenmore, without going full geek here, a judge or jury could infer actual malice from a given set of facts short of a direct statement by the defendant. (Although here the suit seems to say that there were direct statements, and as Lex points out who knows what's on these folks' social media.) But it is a higher standard than most. If someone rear ends you can collect damages without having to prove that he meant to rear end you because he hated your guts.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/07/2020 17:33 Comments ||
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#18
The lawsuit is to give U.S. voters legitimacy, which the Dims wish to take away.
[THEHILL] The House is asking a full appeals court to rehear its case for subpoenaing former White House counsel Don McGahn after a divided three-judge panel ruled last week that congressional subpoenas of the executive branch are legally unenforceable.Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee warned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a court filing on Friday that if the decision were to stand, it would undermine Congress's constitutional role.
"This unprecedented ruling compels the attention of the full Court. The panel decision conflicts with D.C. Circuit precedent, prevents the House from carrying out its function as a check on the power of the Executive, and undermines Congress’s authority to fulfill its Article I responsibilities," the filing reads. "Present circumstances‐in which the President has announced broadscale defiance of Congress’s oversight power‐underscore how dramatically this ruling could upset the constitutional balance of powers."
A panel of D.C. Circuit judges ruled 2-1 last week that Congress cannot sue to enforce its subpoenas of the executive branch, reasoning that the courts are forbidden from resolving disputes between different branches of government.
The two judges who sided with President Trump's appeal were both appointed by Republicans, and the lone dissenting judge was appointed by former President Clinton.
"If we order McGahn to testify, what happens next? McGahn, compelled to appear, asserts executive privilege in response to the Committee’s questions," Judge Thomas Griffith wrote in the majority opinion. "The Committee finds those assertions baseless. In that case, the Committee assures us, it would come right back to court to make McGahn talk.
"The walk from the Capitol to our courthouse is a short one, and if we resolve this case today, we can expect Congress’s lawyers to make the trip often," he added.
[THEHILL] Sen. Willard Mitt Romney, aka Pierre Delecto ...former governor of Massachussetts, the Publican nominee for president in 2012, now Senator from Utah. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney has a record as a successful businessman, heading Bain Capital, and he rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from the midst of bribery and mismanagement scandals. He is currently a trans Republican and a member in good standing of the Never Trump Party, attempting to assume the mantle of the late John McCain... (R-Utah) will vote to subpoena a former consultant linked to Burisma Holdings, as part of a GOP probe into Hunter Biden and the Ukraine gas company.
Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for Romney, said Friday that in a committee vote he would support the subpoena ‐ which is expected to request documents and an interview with former Blue Star Strategies consultant Andrii Telizhenko ‐ after getting assurances from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
"Senator Romney has expressed his concerns to Chairman Johnson, who has confirmed that any interview of the witness would occur in a closed setting without a hearing or public spectacle. He will therefore vote to let the Chairman proceed to obtain the documents that have been offered," Johnson said.
Romney's support means Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is expected to have the simple majority on the panel needed to subpoena Telizhenko.
Romney's decision is a blow to Democrats, who have warned that Johnson could inadvertently help spread Russian misinformation or use the investigation to target former Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden ...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020... as his presidential campaign has a burst of new momentum.
Romney's decision comes after he voted to convict President Trump on one article of impeachment, abuse of power, in February. President Trump was impeached by Democrats over a July 25, 2020 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he mentioned potentially corrupt practices by Joe and Hunter Biden.
"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it...It sounds horrible to me," Trump said. So Trump brought to light that Biden had a quid pro quo deal with Ukraine. He did the right thing and gets impeached. WTH! There's something very wrong with this picture. And now Romney reluctantly agrees to subpoena information about Hunter's work in Ukraine after voting to convict Trump for doing the right thing.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday afternoon requesting documents related to former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
Graham wants to know the details of phone calls made between Vice President Joe Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about a prosecutor Biden demanded he fire in 2016. During that time, the prosecutor was reportedly investigating Burisma, where Hunter Biden was making $83,000 per month for sitting on the board. Hunter Biden has no expertise in the oil and gas industry.
I can also see it as a weapon against the 'professional establishment' of psychologists who seem to make the news about how Trump is unbalanced. Why the silence on slow Joe?
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] A ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Wednesday mistakenly said Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm which hired British ex-spy Remington Christopher Steele in 2016, was looking for dirt on former Secretary of State Crooked Hillary Clinton ...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away... rather than on then-candidate Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... The court fixed the glaring error only after the Washington Examiner brought it to its attention.
Continued on Page 49
#2
"Thank you for pointing this out," David Sellers, a public affairs officer for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, told the Washington Examiner when the factual inconsistency was relayed to the court. "It is an error that will be corrected."
Not unlike the 17 'significant errors or omissions' discovered by the DOJ Inspector General. If "correction" does not include complete elimination of the process, we will likely see a future recurrence.
Black robed tyrant complicity? Yes, my guess as well.
[TheTruthAboutGuns] In the wake of Senator Chuck Schumer’s threat against two Supreme Court Justices...
"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions."
Gun Owners of America have sent a letter and "red flag" order application to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo requesting a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order for the Senator.
Which Alinsky rule was it to make them live up to their own rules?
It should be interesting to see if a judge will simply dismiss this as unfounded, ruling that Schumer’s public statement was mere political hyperbole. Even after the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court has called Schumer’s statement was "threatening" and "dangerous."
It might be hard for even a New York judge to conclude that Schumer’s tirade wasn’t an actual threat when the Chief Justice and a top lefty law prof have acknowledged that’s exactly what it was.
Naturally, a confiscation order will have to disarm Senator Schumer’s security detail as well, just because he might get access to those guns.
Of course, since this application is based on actual evidence ‐ Schumer’s own recorded words ‐ rather than unsubstantiated feelings, a red flag order isn’t really needed. His very public threat happens to be a violation of New York Consolidated Law § 240.30(1)(a).
A person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree when:
1. With intent to harass another person, the actor either:
(a) communicates, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, by computer or any other electronic means, or by mail, or by transmitting or delivering any other form of communication, a threat to cause physical harm to, or unlawful harm to the property of, such person, or a member of such person’s same family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law, and the actor knows or reasonably should know that such communication will cause such person to reasonably fear harm to such person’s physical safety or property, or to the physical safety or property of a member of such person’s same family or household; or
Threatening is a Class A misdemeanor good for 12 months in jail. Or, since this threat went out to the world ‐ interstate ‐ 18 U.S. Code § 875 could apply. That one is good for five years.
The other well known problem with red flag orders is that not only do they leave the dangerous person on the street to threaten more people, they don’t get the disturbed Senator the help he so clearly needs.
Hopefully, that state will also invoke § 9.39(a)(2) in order to take him into custody for mental health evaluation and treatment.
2. a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by homicidal or other violent behavior by which others are placed in reasonable fear of serious physical harm.
Let’s sit back and watch the two-tier legal system at work. Will Schumer’s threat draw the same law enforcement attention you would attract if you tweeted that same statement about a couple of highly placed officials in the judicial branch (i.e., a guaranteed contact from the FBI)? I doubt this will go anywhere, but can you imagine this being allowed to go forward? The left would die of a collective hissy fit.
#1
It was clearly and unmistakably a specific threat made to a howling mob, on the Supreme Court steps, against two sitting Justices whom this thug called out by name.
This is serious stuff.
Deadly serious. Shouldn't be allowed to stand.
#4
Looks like the best thing that can be done is to vote Schumer out of office. He has a history of somewhat veiled threats; some not so veiled as with SCOTUS threats.
#6
I could be wrong but I don't believe that senators get Secret Service protection. Disarming the senator and his security detail would most certainly have a chilling effect on him. Of course, 12 months in jail would cool his jets too.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/07/2020 13:22 Comments ||
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#7
The left will attack the court as long as it's majority conservative. If it were majority liberal the left would defend the court with equal viciousness.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/07/2020 13:41 Comments ||
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#8
Senior Members of the Congress are authorized US Capitol Police Protective details. They are federal police officers with concurrent jurisdiction throughout the entire US and are armed with full police powers. think federal marshals for the legislative branch.
#9
Re the statute, from the request for a Red Flag order:
Senator Schumer’s threats violate 40 U.S.C. section 6134 which states: “It is unlawful to ... make a harangue or oration, or utter loud, threatening, or abusive language in the Supreme Court Building or grounds.”
The penalty for violation of that statute is a fine or imprisonment of not more than 60 days, or both. See 40 U.S.C. section 6137(a). The American people await the action of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in enforcing that criminal statute.
President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... is visiting Nashville and parts of middle Tennessee that were devastated by deadly tornadoes that ripped through during the night. President Trump flew into Nashville Friday morning.
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.
[MOBILE.REUTERS] Former United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones was charged on Thursday with embezzling more than $1 million of union funds amid a U.S. corruption probe that has raised the specter of a federal government takeover of the union.
[THEHILL] The House is asking a full appeals court to rehear its case for subpoenaing former White House counsel Don McGahn after a divided three-judge panel ruled last week that congressional subpoenas of the executive branch are legally unenforceable.Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee warned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a court filing on Friday that if the decision were to stand, it would undermine Congress's constitutional role.
[THEHILL] Sen. 
...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020...
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as 
[TheTruthAboutGuns] In the wake of Senator Chuck Schumer’s threat against two Supreme Court Justices...
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
