Documents Prosecutorial Misconduct
Federal judges have repeatedly identified serious misconduct by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors, according to a six-month investigation published Sept. 23 by USA TODAY. This outstanding, authoritative and vitally needed article helps break down a code of silence whereby watchdog mechanisms within the DOJ, the courts, Congress and the traditional news media fail speak out against rampant abuses by authorities.
His claim to fame is that his investigations of corrupt legislators have so far sent several of them to jail. In this race, he has modeled himself on Chris Christie, the freshman governor of New Jersey, promising, as Christie did, to oppose new taxes and shrink state government.
Far from limiting government, Christie, right, wasted vast amounts of taxpayer funds to help himself and his cronies. Look no farther than his scheme as U.S. attorney to connive with Solomon Dwek, a big-time bank swindler and brothel operator, to crush political opponents with criminal charges timed to explode at the beginning of the 2009 Christie campaign.
$3.6 Billion Aftermath
Corporate turn-around expert William Procida and hedge fund founder Thane Ritchie were DC Update guests Sept. 2 on the My Technology Lawyer Radio network as they provided first-hand accounts of federal court irregularities in Minnesota that they claim victimize lenders and investors in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.
During the show, they told co-hosts from the Justice Integrity Project and network founder Scott Draughon about why they’re speaking out against federally orchestrated injustices hurting the fraud victims of Minnesota businessman Thomas J. Petters. The latter’s Ponzi
Victims of a massive financial fraud unveiled a documentary Aug. 25 in Minneapolis that portrays federal authorities as helping bankruptcy lawyers and the government feast on dwindling victim assets without adequate protections for fairness.
The Second Fraud, spiked last December from planned showings on four Minnesota TV stations with purchased time, tackles an especially sensitive story in that state: What happened after local financier Thomas Petters caused the estimated $3.65
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) hosted me Aug. 11 on a nationwide conference call to hear about our recent Justice Integrity Project (JIP) revelations about federal law enforcers. Open to the public, the core of the discussion within PDA’s highly active Accountability and Justice Group involved such familiar names as former
Several bloggers and editors promptly followed up on my report in Nieman Watchdog July 26 about the Justice Department’s apparent whitewash of its probe of U.S. attorney firings under George W. Bush. Harper's legal columnist Scott Horton wrote an online column suggesting the revelations further illustrated a whitewash.
Editor's Choice: Scroll below for our monthly blend of mainstream and alternative October 2021 news and views
Note: Excerpts are from the authors' words except for subheads and occasional "Editor's notes" such as this.
Oct. 16
Top Headlines
Washington Post, Biden: Justice Department should prosecute those who refuse Jan. 6 committee’s subpoenas
New York Times, Italy Puts in Force Tough New Law Requiring Workers to Test or Vaccinate
Virus Victims, Responses
New York Times, F.D.A. Panel Recommends Johnson & Johnson Boosters
Washington Post, 218 million U.S. vaccinated
Inside DC
Daily Beast, Assistant House Sergeant at Arms Arrested on Child Porn Charges
U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance
U.S. Courts, Law, Military, Rights
Washington Post, Robert Durst, real estate heir and murder convict, placed on ventilator after positive coronavirus test
World Conflict, Corruption
Media, Academic News
Washington Post, Apple fires employee who raised awareness of workplace misconduct allegations at the company
Top Stories
Shown above at center is a policeman battered to the ground defending the U.S. Capitol by the pro-Trump mob of insurrectionists on Jan. 6 seeking to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election and thereby allowing the Biden Presidency to proceed.
Washington Post, Biden: Justice Department should prosecute those who refuse Jan. 6 committee’s subpoenas, Amy B Wang, Oct. 16, 2021 (print ed.). President Biden said Friday that the Justice Department should prosecute those who defy subpoenas from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, the most he has weighed in on possible consequences for aides of former president Donald Trump who have refused to comply with the panel’s demands.
“I hope the committee goes after them and holds them accountable,” Biden told reporters Friday evening, when asked what should happen to those who defy subpoenas from the congressional committee.
The bipartisan panel is investigating the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob trying to stop the certification of Biden’s electoral college win, an attack that resulted in five deaths and left some 140 members of law enforcement injured.
The committee has subpoenaed records and testimony about activities related to the Jan. 6 insurrection from several former Trump advisers, including Mark Meadows, Kash Patel, Dan Scavino and Stephen K. Bannon. Through an attorney, Trump has instructed those advisers not to comply, arguing that such records are protected by “executive and other privileges.”
Washington Post, Publix heiress, funder of Jan. 6 rally, gave $150,000 to GOP attorneys general association, Beth Reinhard, Jacqueline Alemany and Tom Hamburger, Oct. 16, 2021. A wealthy Trump donor who helped finance the rally in Washington on Jan. 6 also gave $150,000 to the nonprofit arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, records show, funds that a person familiar with the contribution said were intended in part to promote the rally. The nonprofit organization paid for a robocall touting a march that afternoon to the U.S. Capitol to “call on Congress to stop the steal.”
On Dec. 29, Julie Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of the founder of the Publix grocery store chain, gave the previously undisclosed contribution to RAGA’s nonprofit Rule of Law Defense Fund, or RLDF, records reviewed by the Washington Post show. On the same day, the records show that Fancelli gave $300,000 to Women for America First, the “Stop the Steal” group that obtained a permit for the rally featuring former president Donald Trump.
Funding for the events in Washington that day is a focus of the House select committee investigating the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol that followed the rally. The panel is also interested in the role state officials, including attorneys general, played in encouraging people to go to Washington on Jan. 6 and in supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, according to people familiar with the committee’s work.
The leaders of Women for America First have been subpoenaed by the committee, as has Caroline Wren, a Republican fundraiser who was listed on that group’s permit as a “VIP ADVISOR.” Both of Fancelli’s donations were arranged by Wren, according to the records and the person with knowledge of the contributions, who like some others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“We have many questions about coordination and funding, and we are actively seeking records and testimony that will answer those questions,” said committee spokesman Tim Mulvey. “Many witnesses are already engaging with the committee, and we expect cooperation to help us get the answers we’re seeking.”
The documents sought by the subpoenas sent to rally organizers were due Wednesday.
Fancelli, who is not involved in Publix business operations, did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment, and it is unclear if she knew about the robocall ahead of time. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, which reported in January that Fancelli had given approximately $300,000 to support the rally, she said: “I am a proud conservative and have real concerns associated with election integrity, yet I would never support any violence, particularly the tragic and horrific events that unfolded on January 6th.”
Alex Jones, left, a far-right talk show host and conspiracy theorist who was involved in the Jan. 6 rally, has said that it cost “close to half a million dollars.” He has also said a donor he did not identify paid for 80 percent of the rally.
In a statement to The Post, Wren’s lawyer said: “Ms. Wren, in her role as an event planner, assisted many others in providing and arranging for a professionally produced and completely peaceful event at the White House Ellipse with hundreds of thousands of Americans who were in D.C. to lawfully exercise their first amendment rights, a primary pillar of American democracy. Ms. Wren was not present at the United States Capitol or the Capitol Grounds on January 6th.”
Related Stories:
Washington Post, Some of nation’s largest hospitals say vaccine mandates are working, Meryl Kornfield and Annabelle Timsit, Oct. 16, 2021. The controversy surrounding fired hospital employees, lawsuits and protests obscured a simple fact: The vaccine mandates worked, administrators say.
Most health-care systems that require vaccination have touted widespread compliance. In interviews, administrators at some of the nation’s largest hospital systems said the mandates worked: Officials said that they have very high vaccination rates they attributed to the requirement and that they have seen coronavirus infections — and sick leaves — noticeably drop.
At Novant Health, a 35,000-employee health-care system in four Southeast states, more than 99 percent of workers have complied with a vaccine mandate, spokeswoman Caryn Klebba wrote in an email.
“Without a vaccine mandate for team members, we faced the ...
Stop fretting about Trump and do something about it. Right now!
-- Dana Milbank, Washington Post
Andrew Kreig
JIP Editor
The Justice Integrity Project (JIP) researches official misconduct
Broadcast and lecture audiences can count on the Project's director to deliver blunt, entertaining and cutting-edge commentary about public affairs, with practical tips for the millions of Americans caught up in unfair litigation or regulation.
Based in Washington, DC, Andrew Kreig is an accomplished fighter for the public interest. Learn from his decades of reporting, analysis and advocacy:
• Shocking tales of recent corruption, deception and cover-up by both parties in communities ranging from small towns to world capitals; and
• Practical how-to tips for reformers on action that brings real-world results.
To book guest broadcast appearances on your station, write: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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