Tag: corruption

Rules for Thee, Fraud for Me: Letitia James Prosecuted Mortgage Fraud Case Mirroring the Charges Against Her

Attorney General Letitia James, the architect of New York state’s mortgage-fraud crackdowns, now finds herself in the position of her former defendants, accused of exploiting the very system she once claimed to defend. The hypocrisy is undeniable.

Any attempt by Letitia James to claim ignorance of the law as a defense in her mortgage fraud indictment is all but gone.

In June 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James stood before the cameras to hail a conviction she called a triumph against mortgage fraud.

The case involved a $1.3 million scheme by Brooklyn couple John F. Iacono and Shpresa Gjekovic, whom James accused of “a deliberate scheme to enrich themselves at the expense of hardworking New Yorkers.”

At the time, she declared the prosecution was proof that “no one is above the law”.

But today, now under indictment for mortgage fraud herself, that speech reads less like a moment of triumph and more like an act of projection.

The accompanying quote from Attorney General James remains striking for its tone of moral absolutism.

“Iacono and Gjekovic falsified document after document in order to pad their own pockets,” James said. “Let this serve as a warning to all of those who try to carry out such deliberate schemes: There is no place in this state for individuals who try to cash in at the expense of hardworking New Yorkers.”

Those words, “no place in this state,” once echoed across newsrooms as the declaration of a moral crusader.

Her CUFFS Initiative (Combatting Upstate Financial Frauds and Schemes) was marketed as a model for restoring faith in financial integrity, pairing state police with prosecutors to “expose deceitful plots” and reinforce public trust.

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NJ Gubernatorial Candidate Needs To Tell The Truth About Her Cheating Scandal

Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat congresswoman and candidate in the competitive race for the New Jersey governorship, is under fire for serious ethical lapses. One of those is her still unexplained but suspicious involvement in a widespread cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). She still refuses to provide a full public accounting by stonewalling any release of USNA’s disciplinary records that would show the nature and extent of both her and her husband’s involvement in the cheating scandal.

Sherrill’s continued cover-up raises even more questions that only she can clear up.

A Stolen Exam and the Investigation

The cheating in which Sherrill was implicated occurred in December 1992. As The Baltimore Sun has reported, a master copy of the final exam for the electrical engineering course (EE 311) was stolen days before the exam was scheduled. Copies of the stolen exam were then circulated and even sold to some midshipmen, not all of whom have ever been identified. According to The Sun, “more than 130 midshipmen were implicated by the Navy’s inspector general in the theft and distribution of the exam.”

After several midshipmen sent emails to faculty the day of the exam, telling them that the exam had been compromised, the Navy inspector general launched a formal investigation.

The investigation was complicated and lengthened by the decisions of many midshipmen not to cooperate and even to lie to investigators. It concluded on Jan. 20, 1994, with a 30-page report of investigation. The report notes numerous instances where midshipmen refused to answer questions either because they wanted to protect themselves or because they did not want to “bilge” their classmates by giving truthful answers about the cheating.

Sherrill was interviewed, but the record of her interview is still being withheld.

The IG’s report details how some midshipmen lied repeatedly to investigators, even when under oath. Others retained attorneys who advised them to “plead the Fifth” by refusing to answer questions, even after the academy superintendent dropped a criminal investigation and granted them immunity from criminal charges. The IG also found “much evidence that midshipmen conspired to conceal their involvement” in the cheating scandal, including efforts “to coordinate and perfect the testimony they would give.”

All of this hindered the search for the truth.

The report was finalized and approved by the secretary of the Navy just weeks before the 1994 graduation. His final disciplinary decisions included 29 expulsions and other punishments for 42 others.

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Public Health Destroyed Its Own Credibility Long Before RFK Jr. Arrived

“The actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation,” declared six former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush in a Oct. 7 op-ed at The Washington Post. “The profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored,” the surgeons general declared. Whatever the merits of such criticisms of RFK, its alarmism is undermined by decades of the medical establishment wantonly kowtowing to harmful policies promoted by leftist ideologues.

It would be easier to countenance such admonitions if this isn’t precisely what the American medicine and scientific establishment has done when it comes to abortion, transgenderism, or the Covid pandemic.

The Conceit of Abortion as ‘Good Medical Practice‘

Though the American medical establishment was historically opposed to abortion, in 1970, the American Medical Association formally reversed its earlier position on abortion and voted in favor of legal abortion. Was this because of overwhelming evidence overturning scientific consensus regarding life in the womb being uniquely human, or analysis that abortions would not result in negative consequences for the women who underwent the procedures? Of course not.

Both simple logic and developments in scientific research are sufficient to know that life in the womb is human — with heartbeats beginning at the end of the fourth week of gestation — and thus deserving of legal protection. Arms, hands, fingers, feet, and toes are fully formed by week ten. And can we really believe that the medical establishment would think that a violent, invasive procedure that destroys a living organism inside a woman’s body, that her body is intimately united to and shares her DNA, would not in some sense harm that mother?

No, the medical establishment changed its position on abortion because of rising public pressure and social norms stemming from the sexual revolution. The feminist movement for female equality and empowerment demanded that women have more control over their bodies, enabling them to assume (and maintain) a competitive place in the workplace and attain more power in sexual relationships. Babies were (and remain) an obstacle to professional and personal development. Thus, suddenly, the AMA decided that “reproductive care is health care.”

This, despite the fact that a bevy of peer-reviewed quantitative analysis demonstrates that post-abortive women had an 81 percent higher risk of mental-health problems when compared with women who had not had an abortion, as authors Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis have noted. Studies show that after an abortion, women suffer higher rates of anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse and suicidal behaviors, and marijuana abuse. And, obviously, abortions are catastrophic for the health and well-being of life in the womb. Nevertheless, the AMA to this day decrees that abortion is “good medical practice.”

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VP J.D. Vance Torches Democrats for Hypocrisy — Dems Ignore Democrat AG Candidate Fantasizing About Killing Republicans While Young GOPers Are Publicly Crucified Over LEAKED Private Group Chat ‘Jokes’

Vice President J.D. Vance is lashing out, and with good reason.

While Democrats remain strangely silent about the resurfaced texts from Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, in which he fantasized about murdering Republican lawmakers and their children, the party is leading the charge to annihilate young Republicans for off-color “jokes” in private group chats.

Last week, the National Review and other outlets published a set of private texts from 2022 in which then–Virginia delegate Jay Jones allegedly wrote to Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner:

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
“Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot … Gilbert receives both bullets every time.”

Additional messages include Jones doubling down after calling Coyner, claiming that politicians “must feel pain themselves,” like the agony that parents feel when they watch their children get killed.

Jones also said he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might move to the left politically. Infuriated by his wretched remark, Coyner hung up the phone.

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Local Democrat Party To Host ‘Solidarity’ Fundraiser With Jay Jones After Assassination Fantasies Scandal

A local Democrat Party in Virginia is slated to host a fundraiser featuring attorney general candidate Jay Jones after reported text messages and phone calls showed the Democrat fantasizing about assassinating a Republican lawmaker and wishing death on his children.

According to the event calendar on its website, the Stafford Democratic Committee (SDC) is scheduled to hold a “Defending Democracy” fundraiser in neighboring Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Friday, Oct. 17. The gathering — in which “[a]ttendees will be treated to a buffet dinner” — is expected to include three featured guests: U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Jones.

The event post includes an RSVP link that takes users to a donations page hosted by ActBlue, a Democrat-aligned fundraising platform currently under investigation by Congress and the Trump administration over allegations related to illegal “straw” donations and foreign contributions in U.S. elections.

“Our democracy is under attack and the more that Trump chips away at our rights and freedoms at the national level, the more emboldened others will become at the state and local levels. The Stafford Democratic Committee supports candidates and causes that will prevent those threats from becoming a reality here in Stafford,” reads an excerpt on the SDC’s ActBlue donations page for the event.

The SDC also posted a flyer for the scheduled event on its Facebook page earlier this month, which includes a QR code that takes users to the aforementioned donations page. The document also boasts a statement that reads, “The Stafford Democrats invite you out for a night of music, movement, and solidarity.”

The event flyer was posted to the SDC’s Facebook page hours before National Review reported a series of 2022 text messages sent by Jones to a GOP state lawmaker, in which he fantasized about killing then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. As The Federalist’s Breccan Thies summarized, “Jones … presented a hypothetical … where he had only two bullets and three options to kill people: violent Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, responsible for millions of deaths; Adolf Hitler, another violent dictator responsible for millions of deaths; or Gilbert, a Republican who served in the state House for nearly 20 years.”

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote in the text messages. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

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This is the mortgage document New York AG Letitia James signed that has her facing 60 years in prison

A one-page mortgage document signed by New York state Attorney General Letitia James is at the center of the federal criminal charges for which she now faces 60 years in federal prison.

In the “second home rider” for her mortgage, which was obtained by The Post, James attested that the property would be a second home occupied primarily by her.

It allowed her to secure a better mortgage rate from Old Virginia Mortgage/Annie Mac — netting her nearly $19,000 in mortgage savings, according to federal prosecutors.

In reality, James’ serial criminal grandniece, Nakia Thompson, moved in soon after she closed on the house, according to the New York Times.

Much of the strength of the case — which alleges James committed federal bank fraud and made misstatements to a financial institution — could rest on whether Thompson was paying rent.

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100+ unqualified immigrants were hired as corrections officers in Washington jails, whistleblower claims

An anonymous whistleblower claimed that a Washington corrections department illegally hired unqualified immigrants as corrections officers.

According to Fox News Digital, the individual wrote to the Criminal Justice Training Commission in August, stating that the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention violated a state statute that requires all peace officers and corrections officers to be United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, or recipients of deferred action for childhood arrivals.

“It has come to my attention, that, over the past several years, the King County DAJD has knowingly hired individuals as corrections officers who do not meet these legal requirements,” the letter to the commission read.

The whistleblower claimed that in some instances, individuals with temporary work visas or expired work authorization were hired to guard detention centers.

“This practice not only undermines the integrity of Washington’s criminal justice system but also presents significant legal and security concerns,” the whistleblower remarked, urging the commission to investigate the claims promptly.

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The Rise and Fall of Scientific Journals and a Way Forward

Scientific journals have had enormous positive impact on the development of science, but in some ways, they are now hampering rather than enhancing open scientific discourse. After reviewing the history and current problems with journals, a new academic publishing model is proposed. It embraces open access and open rigorous peer review, it rewards reviewers for their important work with honoraria and public acknowledgement, and it allows scientists to publish their research in a timely and efficient manner without wasting valuable scientists’ time and resources.

The Birth of Scientific Journals

The printing press revolutionized scientific communication in the 16th century. After a few years of thinking and pondering, or maybe a decade or two, scientists published a book with their new thoughts, ideas, and discoveries. This gave us classics that laid the foundation for modern science, such as De Nova Stella by Tycho Brahe (1573), Astronomia Nova by Johannes Kepler (1609), Discours de la Methode by René Descartes (1637), Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton (1686), and Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus (1735). For more rapid communication, scientists relied on handwritten letters to each other.

Until they published a book, which took considerable effort and resources, scientists could only communicate with a few close friends and colleagues. That was not efficient. This gave rise to the scientific journal, an invention with profound impact on the development of science. The first one, Journal des Sçavans (Journal of the Learned), appeared in France in 1665. A decade later, this journal published the calculation of the speed of light by Ole Romer. The fastest thing in nature was communicated at a speed previously unavailable to scientists.

Over the next few hundred years, scientific journals became increasingly important, overtaking books as the primary means of scientific communication. As scientists became more specialized, so did the journals, with subject matter periodicals such as Medical Essays and Observations (1733), Chemisches Journal (1778), Annalen der Physik (1799), and Public Health Reports (1878). Printed journals were sent to scientists and university libraries around the world, and a truly international scientific community was created.

Without journals, science would not have developed as it did, and those early journal editors and printers are unsung heroes of scientific progress.

Commercial Publishers

In the mid-20th century, academic publishing took a turn for the worse. Starting with Robert Maxwell and his Pergamon Press, commercial publishers understood that the monopoly situation in scientific publishing could be very profitable. When a paper is only published in one journal, major university libraries must subscribe to that journal no matter how expensive it is, to ensure that their scientists can access the whole scientific literature.

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Samantha Power secretly colluded with Israel to enhance UN role, leaked emails show

Behind closed doors, the noted ‘humanitarian interventionist’ successfully lobbied for Israel’s inclusion on important UN committees even after the Human Rights Council accused it of targeting civilians in Gaza.

The leaked emails also reveal that Israel furnished Power with a dodgy dossier on Syrian chemical weapons as she pushed regime change in Damascus.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power secretly coordinated with a top Israeli diplomat to secure Israel’s access to multiple prestigious UN committees, leaked files show.

Several unsolicited emails sent by Power to the then ambassador of Israel to the UN, Ron Prosor, show the diplomat celebrating her role in polishing Israel’s image on the global stage.

The emails between the two diplomats reveal how the US-Israeli special relationship operates at a granular level, and help map out the personal interactions which ensure Israel enjoys constant diplomatic cover at an international level. They are among the latest batch of hacked files belonging to Israeli government officials which were leaked by the Handala hacking collective.

A November 2013 email exchange between Power and Prosor reveals how the US ambassador helped secure Israel entry to the UN’s Western European and Others Group (WEOG). Three days before the vote succeeded, Prosor predicted “a Hanukkah miracle,” telling Power, “I know what [a] crucial role you played in making this happen. This success will last way beyond our time and will always carry your figure [sic] print on it.”

Power replied by thanking him for sending “such a nice note,” and agreed that Israel’s ascension to WEOG was “so overdue and so ridiculous that it has taken this long.”

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Chicago’s Ex-Top Cop Busts Gov. Pritzker for ‘Ironic’ Safe Neighborhood Video

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy mocked Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker for a video in which he claimed to feel safe in a dangerous Chicago neighborhood — after Trump cleaned out the criminals.

“JB Pritzker today put out another video in Little Village talking about how safe he feels,” McCarthy said when the governor put out his video. “Well, Little Village is primarily a Hispanic neighborhood here in Chicago. That district is down about 55% so far this year in murder. Well, where do you think ICE has been working in Chicago since January?”

McCarthy, who was Chicago Police Department (CPD) superintendent from 2011 to 2015 under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, recently appeared on the Will Cain show and ridiculed Gov. Pritzker’s video in which the governor claimed to “feel safe” in Chicago’s often violent and crime-ridden Little Village neighborhood.

In his video, Pritzker said that he was freely walking around in Little Village, feeling safe, and visiting residents and small businesses. He then claimed, “No emergency, so Donald Trump understands there’s no emergency to send troops in.” He then told  Illinoisans that ICE has no right to “take people away.”

But McCarthy found the video to be hypocritical. Pritzker could feel safe in Little Village, the former top cop suggested, because ICE has already been working in the area and taken many criminals into custody, pointing out the irony of the situation.

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