Tag: corruption

A Guilty Plea Implicates ‘Almost the Entire’ Albuquerque DWI Unit in Longstanding Police Corruption

From 2008 to through 2023, federal prosecutors in New Mexico say, Albuquerque police officers conspired with a local defense attorney, Thomas Clear, and his investigator, Ricardo Mendez, to make DWI cases disappear in exchange for bribes. Mendez pleaded guilty on Friday to eight federal charges in connection with the long-running scheme, which prosecutors say mainly involved officers assigned to the Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI unit but also included employees of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and the New Mexico State Police (NMSP).

The details of this massive corruption scandal have been slowly emerging since January 2024, when FBI agents searched Clear’s office. The federal investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), which also involved searches of officers’ homes, resulted in the dismissal of some 200 DWI cases and an internal probe. So far, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports, “at least a dozen Albuquerque police officers have been placed on leave,” and many of them have dodged interviews with internal investigators by resigning. But Mendez’s guilty plea is the first public confirmation of criminal charges in the case, and it reveals more extensive corruption than the initial press reports suggested.

According to the charges against Mendez, which include racketeering, bribery, and “interference with commerce by extortion,” he and his boss, Clear, had a mutually beneficial arrangement with Albuquerque cops who specialized in nabbing drunk drivers. The officers would generate business for Clear by referring arrestees to his office. Those clients, who typically paid Clear in cash, were amazed and delighted at his ability to make their cases go away, sparing them prosecution and revocation of their driver’s licenses. But federal prosecutors say that impressive track record was not due to Clear’s legal skills so much as his payoffs to the cops, who conveniently failed to show up at pretrial interviews or court hearings, allowing the aptly named Clear to seek dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the crucial witnesses against his clients were absent.

Initially, those no-shows involved pretrial interviews (PTIs) of witnesses that defendants were entitled to arrange. After March 24, 2022, when the New Mexico Supreme Court suspended PTIs for cases filed in Bernalillo County Municipal Court, the must-miss events were motion hearings and trials. As a reward for their poor attendance record, prosecutors say, officers “were often paid in cash but, at times, also received other benefits and things of value,” including “free legal services, gift cards, hotel rooms, and other gifts.”

According to prosecutors, Albuquerque officers sometimes would, contrary to department policy, refrain from charging DWI suspects and instead provide their contact information or their driver’s licenses to Mendez. Those drivers “were asked to pay several thousand dollars in U.S. currency in exchange for the APD officer not filing charges against the DWI Offenders.”

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America’s Most Crooked Sec of State Jocelyn Benson Accused of Breaking The Law AGAIN—This Time, While Announcing Her Ridiculous Campaign For MI Governor

Last week, America’s most dishonest Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson (Soros Democrat), held a press conference at the Richard H. Austin building in Lansing, MI, to announce her candidacy for governor.  The unpopular Democrat SOS is running to replace Michigan’s equally unpopular Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited.

The problem is, as she has done so many times before, it appears Jocelyn Benson violated the law. Benson’s announcement to run for governor violated Michigan campaign finance law when she announced her candidacy from a public, taxpayer-funded building, something that a woman who likes to flaunt her Harvard law school degree should have known was against the law.

On Jan. 22,  the Soros-funded SOS shared a video on X that depicted her as a caring mom and compassionate public servant as she ran through the streets of Detroit in a campaign video to announce her run for governor in 2026. For the record, Detroit Police clearly stated there were no visibly armed protesters outside her home after the 2020 election, yet Jocelyn Benson continues to perpetuate this lie. Unfortunately, there are no honest journalists in Michigan willing to call her out on this often-repeated lie that paints her as an imaginary victim.

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The Compromised FDA Knows Exactly What It’s Doing

The sneaky bastards at the FDA did this a year ago, right under our noses. In January 2024, the FDA finalized a rule permitting Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to waive or even alter informed consent requirements for clinical investigations deemed “minimal risk.” TTR guest author Jon Fleetwood, as always, brings us this news in his excellent reporting. Read his entire article here.

IRBs. Informed Consent. What does it all mean? If you don’t do research, you likely won’t know.

What is an IRB?

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a panel of individuals who review and oversee research studies that involve human participants. The IRB ensures that the studies are ethical and that they comply with all regulations. The IRB’s primary function is to protect the rights and welfare of the human research participants, making sure they are treated fairly, ethically and safely.

Anyone doing research must have an IRB, and that not only applies to direct human research (meaning the human is actually being given a drug or using a device), but also for indirect studies where the patient isn’t “touched” so to speak or actively involved. A direct example would be a clinical trial where a new drug is being tested. The human participants actually enroll in the trial and are given test doses of the medication. Even if a human participant is given a placebo, that research must be covered by an IRB to ensure the patients’ physical and psychological well-being. An example of an indirect study is one in which a company or other research entity is just using data from patients, with no direct patient interaction. In some cases an IRB is still needed to use data that may potentially identify who the subjects are.

The bottom line is that an IRB is needed for any drug, device assessment, survey or other study. And this is what makes the FDA’s ruling so unbelievable. Fleetwood says the implications are staggering, and he is absolutely right:

“Under this waiver, any person’s health data, biospecimens (such as blood or tissue samples), or medical records can be accessed and used for FDA-regulated research if it meets vague and highly subjective criteria.”

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America’s worst mayor frantically tried to cover up how much money she blew on glam sessions and parties, report finds

An independent investigation detailed how Tiffany Henyard allegedly mismanaged millions of dollars worth of taxpayer funds during her controversial tenure as the mayor of Dolton, Illinois. 

On Monday, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally revealed the findings of her independent investigation into the alleged wrongdoings of Henyard, who also serves as the supervisor of nearby Thornton Township.

Lightfoot narrated her findings during a town meeting that was packed with aggrieved residents, though there was no sign of the so-called ‘Super Mayor’, FOX32 reported.

‘At least as early as late 2021, there was a concerted, systematic effort on behalf of Mayor Henyard and others in her administration to hide the true financial condition of the Village of Dolton from the trustees and from members of the public,’ Lightfoot said at the meeting.

Lightfoot’s 73-page report explained that there was a whopping $779,638 charged to town credit cards in 2023, with little to no tracking of the actual expenses.

More than $50,000 spent on artificial ice tiles, which could have been used to build the town ice skating rink Henyard promoted on Instagram in February 2023.

At least six government credit cards were also used to pay for glamorous getaways Henyard took to Las Vegas in May 2022 and May 2023, according to the report.

‘Financial records from the village and Thornton Township reflect that a number of people traveled to Las Vegas on both of these trips,’ Lightfoot said. ‘And the expense of their travel, their lodging, their meals and entertainment were paid for on village and township credit cards.’

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Biden’s Pardons are Unconstitutional

The basis for pre-emptive pardons being unlawful can be found in ancient English constitutional law, see the Prince of Orange’s 1688 Declaration of Reason that preceded England’s 1688 Bill of Rights. This carries over to USA via the 9th Amendment “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” A pre-emptive pardon also violates due process of law, see 5th & 14th Amendment and can therefore only be done after conviction, see this passage from the Prince of Orange’s (Future King William IIIs) Declaration of Reason.

“For though the King may pardon the Punishment that a Transgressor has incurred, and to which he is condemned; as in Cases of Treason or Felony; yet it cannot be, with any Colour of Reason, inferred from thence, that the King can intirely suspend the Execution of those Laws relating to Treason or Felony, unless it is pretended, that he is cloathed with a despotick and arbitrary Power, and that the Lives, Liberties, Honours, and Estates of the Subjects, depend wholly on his goodwill and Pleasure, and are intirely subject to him; which must infallibly follow on the King’s having a Power to suspend the Execution of Laws, and to dispense with them.”

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Damning statistics reveal how ABC, CBS and NBC obsessed over January 6 but ignored Biden’s family pardons

The mainstream media spent an average of 46 minutes covering Donald Trump‘s January 6 pardons but just three minutes covering Biden’s pardoning of his own family, new analysis has found. 

Between January 20 and January 22, ABC, NBC and CBS devoted 15 times as much airtime to Trump’s pardons than they did Biden’s, the analysis by The Media Research Center found. 

The anchors who led the coverage included ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. 

Biden issued a series of preemptive pardons for family members James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden in the final hours of his administration.

He also pardoned younger brother James’ wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie; her husband, John; and his younger brother, Francis Biden, for ‘nonviolent’ actions dating back 10 years. In December, Biden pardoned son Hunter, despite vowing not to.

But newscasters barely covered it. Instead, they obsessed over the controversy surrounding Trump, the MRC found. 

The study comes days as CNN and NBC recover from sweeping layoffs.  

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Schiff Considering Rejecting Biden Pardon For J6 Committee Amid Blowback

California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff is considering rejecting a pardon that former President Joe Biden issued to all the people involved in the Congressional investigation into the January 6 riot, including himself.

During an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Schiff spoke about potential “blowback” from accepting a pardon because he spent years claiming — when President Donald Trump was serving in his first term — that accepting a pardon was an “admission of guilt.”

“And of course President Biden did issue pardons to members of the January 6th Committee. You were on the January 6th Committee. It came after President Trump said that he thought the entire January 6th Committee should go to jail. What’s interesting, Senator, you had been quite vocal. You didn’t want President Biden to give you a pardon. You went so far as to convey that to the White House. So, what are you going to do about the fact that you’ve now been given a pardon? Are you going to accept it, or are you planning to look for some type of legal recourse to reject it?” Welker asked Schiff.

“We’re looking at it. I’m not sure there’s much to be done given that it went to the whole committee. This is also, I think, unprecedented. You know, in the first instance it was a result of the president threatening – wrongfully threatening to go after people who oversee this misconduct in a legitimate committee process. Nevertheless, we’ll have to look at this as a committee to see if there’s anything to be done,” Schiff responded.

“What does that mean, you’re going to ‘look at it’? Does that mean that you’ll make a decision collectively about whether to accept these pardons?” Welker asked.

Schiff responded: “We have tried to operate together as a committee. And I think the law is unclear because this is, frankly, uncharted territory, whether pardons of this nature are like a law in which you’re powerless to say yea or nay, or there’s something different.”

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Pfizer Agrees to $60 Million Settlement in Kickback Scandal for Allegedly ‘Bribing’ Doctors to Promote Migraine Drug — Defrauding Medicare and Other Federal Health Programs

Big Pharma Pfizer has agreed to a hefty $59.7 million settlement to resolve allegations of a kickback scandal that has defrauded Medicare and other federal healthcare programs.

The scandal revolves around Biohaven Pharmaceutical, a company acquired by Pfizer in October 2022, which engaged in unethical practices to push prescriptions of its migraine medication, Nurtec ODT, also known as Rimegepant.

Whistleblower Patricia Frattasio, a former sales representative at Biohaven, played a crucial role in bringing these malpractices to light, leading to a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice disclosed that from March 2020 through September 2022, Biohaven manipulated the healthcare system by offering kickbacks—including speaker honoraria and lavish meals at upscale restaurants—to healthcare professionals.

Allegations include that Biohaven paid some healthcare providers over $100,000 to boost prescriptions of their migraine medication, Nurtec ODT, resulting in fraudulent claims to federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

This egregious scheme involved not just ordinary incentives, but also repeated, unnecessary educational programs that offered no real benefit to attendees, turning these events into mere facades for bribery.

This practice, aimed at increasing Nurtec ODT prescriptions, breached anti-kickback statutes designed to keep medical decisions free from financial influence.

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New Documents: Hunter Biden’s Name, Signature Tied To $60 Million Fraud Investigation

Recently pardoned Hunter Biden has once again found himself at the center of controversy, as newly surfaced bank records and corporate documents indicate that a shared bank account linked to the future first son was used in a fraudulent bond transaction tied to Burnham Asset Management. The firm was involved in a million-dollar securities fraud that saw two of Biden’s business partners arrested and convicted – while Hunter escaped accountability, Just the News reports.

Hunter’s former business partners, Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, were convicted for their roles in a scheme that defrauded an Oglala Sioux Native American tribal entity of tens of millions of dollars. Federal authorities found that instead of investing the funds as promised, Archer, Galanis, and their associates misappropriated the bond proceeds.

While Archer and Galanis faced prosecution, Hunter quickly faded into the bushes, telling lawmakers in his impeachment inquiry deposition that his proposed role in the company “never came to fruition.” However, bank records and a signature analysis reveal that Biden was more entangled with the firm than he has publicly acknowledged.

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“Closer To Disinformation”: Ex-Politico Reporters Reveal How “Cowardly Editors” Helped Biden Win 2020 Election

Two former Politico reporters revealed how “cowardly editors” at their former publication carried water for Joe Biden in the 2020 election by actively working to suppress stories that were unflattering to Biden.

“Politico did that terrible, ill-fated headline: 51 intelligence agents, or former intelligence agents, say that the Hunter Biden laptop was disinformation, or bore the hallmarks of disinformation,” said Marc Caputo, now the senior politics editor at Axios. “Turns out that story was closer to disinformation because the Hunter Biden laptop appeared to be true.”

The other ex-Politico reporter, Tara Palmeri – who interviewed Caputo on her “Somebody’s Gotta Win” podcast, recalled how social media giants colluded to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, while Caputo noted that (pre-Musk) Twitter “punished” the New York Post for its accurate reporting – locking the outlet out of its account following a pressure campaign from the Biden DOJ.

“I was covering Biden at the time,” Caputo told Palmeri, adding: “And I was told this came from on high at Politico: Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop.”

Caputo added that he was working on a story about Hunter Biden’s shady dealings with Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, which Politico editors “killed” during the 2020 Democrat primaries.

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