Harry Browne on personal responsibility…
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A Post-Clemency Prosecution Shines a Light on a Broken System
A month before he left office, then-President Donald Trump freed Philip Esformes, a Florida nursing home operator who had served nearly five years of a 20-year sentence for bilking Medicare and Medicaid. Despite that commutation, the Justice Department plans to retry Esformes for the same conduct that sent him to prison in the first place.
Critics of that unprecedented move say it undermines the pardon power and violates the Fifth Amendment’s ban on double jeopardy. As witnesses at a recent congressional hearing emphasized, the case also illustrates the sorry state of the federal clemency system, which in recent decades has become increasingly stingy, inefficient, and haphazard.
Esformes was arrested in 2016 and charged with numerous crimes related to a scheme that prosecutors said involved bribes, kickbacks, and medically unnecessary treatments, all of which helped fund a “lavish lifestyle.” After an eight-week trial in 2019, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. directed the jury to acquit Esformes of six charges, including two counts of health care fraud, deeming the evidence underlying them insufficient as a matter of law.
The jury convicted Esformes of 20 other charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering, payment and receipt of kickbacks, and obstruction of justice. But it failed to reach verdicts on six counts, including the central charge of conspiring to commit health care fraud.
Based on the 20 convictions, Right on Crime Executive Director Brett Tolman noted in his congressional testimony, “Mr. Esformes was facing 5 years in prison.” But prosecutors successfully urged Scola to sentence Esformes as if he had been convicted of health care fraud, which “increased Mr. Esformes’ sentence by 15 years.”
Although it defies conventional notions of justice, federal judges are allowed to punish defendants for crimes that have not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, Scola explicitly said he considered the six undecided counts in determining Esformes’ sentence.
The Justice Department nevertheless wants to take another stab at convicting Esformes of those crimes. It argues that the commutation Esformes received does not preclude another prosecution, because it says nothing about the unresolved counts.
Trump explicitly left in place three years of post-release supervision, plus restitution and forfeiture totaling about $44 million. But it is hard to believe he thought he was leaving the door open to a trial that could send Esformes back to prison. That prospect instead seems to be the result of a mistake that could have been avoided if Trump had been better advised.
Circle the Wagons: The Government Is On The Warpath
“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”—Harry S. Truman
How many Americans have actually bothered to read the Constitution, let alone the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights (a quick read at 462 words)?
Take a few minutes and read those words for yourself—rather than having some court or politician translate them for you—and you will be under no illusion about where to draw the line when it comes to speaking your mind, criticizing your government, defending what is yours, doing whatever you want on your own property, and keeping the government’s nose out of your private affairs.
In an age of overcriminalization, where the average citizen unknowingly commits three crimes a day, and even the most mundane activities such as fishing and gardening are regulated, government officials are constantly telling Americans what not to do.
Yet it was not always this way.
It used to be “we the people” giving the orders, telling the government what it could and could not do. Indeed, the three words used most frequently throughout the Bill of Rights in regards to the government are “no,” “not” and “nor.”
Compare the following list of “don’ts” the government is prohibited from doing with the growing list of abuses to which “we the people” are subjected on a daily basis, and you will find that we have reached a state of crisis wherein the government is routinely breaking the law and violating its contractual obligations.
For instance, the government is NOT allowed to restrict free speech, press, assembly or the citizenry’s ability to protest and correct government wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the government continues to prosecute whistleblowers, persecute journalists, criminalize expressive activities, crack down on large gatherings of citizens mobilizing to voice their discontent with government policies, and insulate itself and its agents from any charges of wrongdoing (or what the courts refer to as “qualified immunity”).
The government may NOT infringe on a citizen’s right to defend himself. Nevertheless, in many states, it’s against the law to carry a concealed weapon (gun, knife or even pepper spray), and the average citizen is permitted little self-defense against militarized police officers who shoot first and ask questions later.
The government may NOT enter or occupy a citizen’s house without his consent (the quartering of soldiers). Nevertheless, government soldiers (i.e., militarized police) carry out more than 80,000 no-knock raids on private homes every year, while maiming children, killing dogs and shooting citizens.
The government may NOT carry out unreasonable searches and seizures on the citizenry or their possessions, NOR can government officials issue warrants without some evidence of wrongdoing (probable cause). Unfortunately, what is unreasonable to the average American is completely reasonable to a government agent, for whom the ends justify the means. In such a climate, we have no protection against roadside strip searches, blood draws, DNA collection, SWAT team raids, surveillance or any other privacy-stripping indignity to which the government chooses to subject us.
The government is NOT to deprive anyone of life, liberty or property without due process. Nevertheless, the government continues to incarcerate tens of thousands of Americans whose greatest crime is being poor and not white. The same goes for those who are put to death, some erroneously, by a system weighted in favor of class and wealth.
Far-left activist accuses conservatives of ‘violence’ for referring to cross-dressing, BLM-supporting Philly mass shooting suspect as ‘trans’
In the wake of a mass shooting in Philadelphia which claimed the lives of 5 adults, injuring 2 children, far-left activists held a press conference to, in part, correct the media narrative on the alleged shooter’s identity.
“I want to discuss, very briefly because there is a nasty, violent– in terms of verbal and written words– spewed by the conservative press regarding the shooter,” the activist said.
“There certain pictures that are circulating–some of you may are be aware of those pictures–have the shooter in one pitcher as male and other pictures dressed in female attire or female outfits. They have used those pictures to attack trans people in particularly trans women of color, which are extremely vulnerable to violence in our community,” he continued.
“I want to set the record straight,” he continued, “because language is extremely important when we’re talking about anything dealing with violence and [the] trans community. The suspect or the shooter has not identified themselves as trans. They have only identified themselves as male. And that’s the language that will be used until further developments if they change that type of language.
“But the language that is spewed out by the conservative press is violent and is dangerous and is targeting trans women of color. It’s rallying the community to be violent. And we’re better than that. We’re better than that. We have our trans women and our trans men living in these communities working thriving in the communities. They are not killers, they are the most vulnerable to violence. They want to live their lives, and they have every right to do so. And we will not allow conservative bigots to use that type of language to attack trans [people],” he said, in footage shared by Julio Rosas.
Kimbrady Watson Carriker, a 40-year-old male who is expressed support for the BLM movement on his Facebook page, was arrested on Monday evening after allegedly shooting and killing five people and injuring two children in the Kingsessing neighborhood. Police said they apprehended a male suspect who was wearing a ballistic vest.
Additional photos show Carriker wearing female clothes, though the Facebook page does not indicate that the suspect personally identified as transgender.
Biden’s DOJ Is Pressuring Journalists to Help Build Its Case Against Assange
THE DEPARTMENT OF Justice and FBI are pressuring multiple British journalists to cooperate with the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, using vague threats and pressure tactics in the process. I know because I am one of the British journalists being pressured to cooperate in the case against him, as someone who used to (briefly) work and live with him, and who went on to blow the whistle on WikiLeaks’ own ethical lapses.
Assange is facing extradition to the United States from the U.K., where he is currently in Belmarsh prison in south London, over charges related to dissemination of material leaked by Chelsea Manning and published by WikiLeaks and a coalition of five newspapers through 2010 and 2011.
That material exposed details of the conditions and deteriorating mental and physical health of Guantanamo Bay’s detainees. And it revealed the details of hundreds of thousands of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, including shedding new light on the deaths of two Reuters journalists via the shocking Collateral Murder video.
Under Barack Obama, the DOJ decided it could not prosecute Assange without threatening U.S. journalists and their First Amendment protections — given that the 2010 charges relate to the handling and publication of classified documents in conjunction with reporters and organizations including The New York Times and other major outlets. But first under Donald Trump and then Joe Biden, the department has reversed itself.
The first approach to get me to cooperate with the Assange prosecution came via London’s Metropolitan Police in December 2021. On legal advice, I had stayed quiet about these attempts at the time. But now more journalists have told me that police have turned up on their doorsteps, too, in the last month. Those approached are former Guardian investigations editor David Leigh, transparency campaigner Heather Brooke, and the writer Andrew O’Hagan.
The prosecution of Julian Assange is already a threat to the free media, even before his first day in a U.S. courtroom. Law enforcement trying to coerce journalists into aiding that prosecution makes matters even worse. So I’ve decided to speak out.
‘Missing’ Biden corruption case witness Dr. Gal Luft details allegations against president’s family in extraordinary video
The “missing witness” from the Biden corruption investigation, Israeli professor Dr. Gal Luft, has laid out his bribery allegations against the president’s family in an extraordinary video filmed in an undisclosed location while he’s on the run.
In the 14-minute recording, obtained exclusively by The Post, the fugitive former Israeli army officer claims he was arrested in Cyprus to stop him from testifying to the House Oversight Committee that the Biden family received payments from individuals with alleged ties to Chinese military intelligence and that they had an FBI mole who shared classified information with their benefactors from the China-controlled energy company CEFC.
The self-proclaimed fall guy says he provided the incriminating evidence to six officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice in a secret meeting in Brussels in March 2019 — but alleges that it was covered up.
“I, who volunteered to inform the US government about a potential security breach and about compromising information about a man vying to be the next president, am now being hunted by the very same people who I informed — and may have to live on the run for the rest of my life on the run …”
“I’m not a Republican. I’m not a Democrat. I have no political motive or agenda … I did it out of deep concern that if the Bidens were to come to power, the country would be facing the same traumatic Russia collusion scandal — only this time with China. Sadly, because of the DOJ’s cover-up, this is exactly what happened …”
Giant stone artefacts found on rare Ice Age site in Kent
The excavations, which took place in Kent and were commissioned in advance of development of the Maritime Academy School in Frindsbury, revealed prehistoric artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley.
The researchers, from UCL Archaeology South-East, discovered 800 stone artefacts thought to be over 300,000 years old, buried in sediments which filled a sinkhole and ancient river channel, outlined in their research, published in Internet Archaeology.
Researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain.
The excavations, which took place in Kent and were commissioned in advance of development of the Maritime Academy School in Frindsbury, revealed prehistoric artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley.
The researchers, from UCL Archaeology South-East, discovered 800 stone artefacts thought to be over 300,000 years old, buried in sediments which filled a sinkhole and ancient river channel, outlined in their research, published in Internet Archaeology.
Amongst the unearthed artefacts were two extremely large flint knives described as “giant handaxes”. Handaxes are stone artefacts which have been chipped, or “knapped,” on both sides to produce a symmetrical shape with a long cutting edge. Researchers believe this type of tool was usually held in the hand and may have been used for butchering animals and cutting meat. The two largest handaxes found at the Maritime site have a distinctive shape with a long and finely worked pointed tip, and a much thicker base.
Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey (UCL Institute of Archaeology), said: “We describe these tools as ‘giants’ when they are over 22cm long and we have two in this size range. The biggest, a colossal 29.5cm in length, is one of the longest ever found in Britain. ‘Giant handaxes’ like this are usually found in the Thames and Medway regions and date from over 300,000 years ago.
“These handaxes are so big it’s difficult to imagine how they could have been easily held and used. Perhaps they fulfilled a less practical or more symbolic function than other tools, a clear demonstration of strength and skill. While right now, we aren’t sure why such large tools were being made, or which species of early human were making them, this site offers a chance to answer these exciting questions.”
Former U.S. officials have held secret Ukraine talks with prominent Russians
A group of former senior U.S. national security officials have held secret talks with prominent Russians believed to be close to the Kremlin — and, in at least one case, with the country’s top diplomat — with the aim of laying the groundwork for potential negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, half a dozen people briefed on the discussions told NBC News.
In a high-level example of the back-channel diplomacy taking place behind the scenes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with members of the group for several hours in April in New York, four former officials and two current officials told NBC News.
On the agenda of the April meeting were some of the thorniest issues in the war in Ukraine, like the fate of Russian-held territory that Ukraine may never be able to liberate, and the search for an elusive diplomatic off-ramp that could be tolerable to both sides.
Sitting down with Lavrov were Richard Haass, a former diplomat and the outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, current and former officials said. The group was joined by Europe expert Charles Kupchan and Russia expert Thomas Graham, both former White House and State Department officials who are Council on Foreign Relations fellows.
Declassified JFK Documents Reveal Swedish Man Predicted JFK’s Assassination, 10 Days Beforehand Said ‘Within Two Weeks President Kennedy Would Be Assassinated on a Trip Among His Own People’
On June 27th, the Biden administration released 1,103 documents pertaining to JFK’s assassination in accordance to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act.
Despite releasing some documents the Biden admin ultimately decided to postpone releasing all of the classified documents.
In the latest JFK file dump, a document that originated from the CIA revealed an American from New Jersey named Jay Albrecht who was residing in Stockholm, Sweden entered the US embassy in Stockholm on November 29th 1963 and asked to speak to an embassy officer.
After being arranged a meeting with an embassy officer, Albrecht told an officer that his former girlfriend Charlotte Aberg (Swedish citizen) told him that her boyfriend Karl-Erik Ridderstrale (Swedish citizen) said ‘Within two weeks President Kennedy would be assassinated while on a trip among his own people’.
Albrecht claimed Ridderstrale made these statements while drunk on November 15, 1963 just seven days before Kennedy’s assassination.
Albrecht later shared Ridderstrale was a “left winger and strong supporter of Fidel Castro.”
Drug Busts Are Linked to More Overdoses and Deaths
As the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) celebrates its 50th birthday, new research highlights how counterproductive its mission is. Published in the American Journal of Public Health, the research links drug busts to a spike in overdoses in nearby areas.
The cross-university team of researchers started out with this hypothesis: “Law enforcement efforts to disrupt local drug markets by seizing opioids or stimulants are associated with increased spatiotemporal clustering of overdose events in the surrounding geographic area.”
To test this hypothesis, they looked at data from Marion County, Indiana, on drug seizures and overdoses—including fatal overdoses, emergency medical calls for nonfatal overdoses, and naloxone administration—in 2020 and 2021. Marion County is the largest county in Indiana and contains the state capital, Indianapolis.
They found a significant association between “opioid-related law enforcement drug seizures” and an increase in drug overdoses in surrounding areas (that is, within 100, 250, and 500 meters). This association held at one week, two weeks, and three weeks from the drug bust data.
“For example, the expected number of fatal overdoses within 500 meters and 21 days of opioid-related drug seizures ranged from 18.0 to 22.7 per 100 drug seizures, so the observed rate of 23.6 was higher than expected,” the paper states.
Stimulant-related drug seizures were also associated with an increase in drug overdoses, albeit to a lesser extent than with opioid-related drug seizures. The significant association here only held “at a distance of 100 meters within 7 days,” and was stronger for nonfatal overdoses.
During the two-year study period, there were 2,110 opioid-related and 3,039 stimulant-related seizures—an average of seven per day. There were 1,171 overdose deaths recorded during that period (an average of 1.6 per day) and 12,590 nonfatal overdoses (an average of 17.2 per day).
“Supply-side enforcement interventions and drug policies should be further explored to determine whether they exacerbate an ongoing overdose epidemic and negatively affect the nation’s life expectancy,” the researchers suggest.
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