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Tag: Bribery

  • Hundreds protest against the Malaysian government after deputy premier’s graft charges were dropped

    Hundreds protest against the Malaysian government after deputy premier’s graft charges were dropped

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    Hundreds of people rallying in the Malaysian capital have ended their protest peacefully after several hours, despite police saying the gathering was unlawful

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 16, 2023, 8:42 AM

    FILE – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, right, speaks to the media at the UMNO headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. At left is deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Hundreds of people rallying in the Malaysian capital have ended their protest on Saturday peacefully after several hours, despite police saying the gathering was unlawful. Protesters accuse Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of helping his key ally to escape prosecution in exchange for political support. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

    The Associated Press

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Hundreds of people staged an anti-government rally Saturday in the Malaysian capital, accusing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of helping his key ally escape prosecution in exchange for political support.

    Prosecutors unexpectedly dropped 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Sept. 4, late in the process of his trail. The court approved the application for dismissal but refused to grant Zahid a full acquittal, which means he can be recharged.

    Speakers addressing the crowd Saturday in Kuala Lumpur accused Anwar’s government of interfering with the case to let Zahid off the hook in return for political support. Some protesters in the opposition-backed rally wore white shirts emblazoned with the words “Fight Corruption.” They marched in the city center chanting, “Charge Zahid,” “Reform is dead” and “Down with Anwar.”

    Protester Muhamed Yahya said there was a “hidden hand at work” that led to the charges against Zahid being dropped.

    “They used the back door,” he said.

    Prosecutors said Zahid’s case was temporarily halted because further investigation was needed. Anwar has said it was former Attorney General Idrus Harun’s decision just before he retired and denied interfering in the case. The dropped charges have led to renewed calls for reforms that would separate the attorney general’s roles as the government’s legal adviser and its public prosecutor.

    Zahid heads the United Malays National Organization party, and his support has been pivotal in helping Anwar form a unity government after November’s general election led to a hung Parliament. The dismissal of charges sparked new criticism, particularly in light of the Anwar government’s anti-corruption stance.

    A lot of promises were not fulfilled by Anwar’s government, said protester Zolazrai Zolkapli.

    “Their promises were all lies. When we have been cheated by their propaganda and cheated by their manifesto, we come here to show our support” for the rally, he said.

    Police had declared the gathering unlawful, as no permission was granted to hold it, but they didn’t stop the protest, which ended peacefully after several hours.

    Zahid was detained on graft charges in 2018 after UMNO lost power, facing 12 counts of criminal breach of trust, 27 counts of money laundering and eight counts of bribery involving more than 31 million ringgit ($6.7 million) from his family foundation. Prosecutors alleged that money intended for charity was misappropriated for his personal use, including to shop and pay off his credit cards. More than 110 witnesses have testified in his case.

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  • Connecticut mayor who regained office after corruption conviction wins another primary

    Connecticut mayor who regained office after corruption conviction wins another primary

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    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who went to prison for corruption and then regained his old job back eight years ago in a remarkable political comeback, has won the Democratic nomination for another term.

    Ganim, 63, defeated John Gomes, the city’s former chief administrative officer, by a narrow margin Tuesday in a party primary.

    Gomes declined to concede and could possibly run again in the general election, but the Democratic nominee is expected to have a big advantage. Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city, hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1991.

    Ganim’s campaign claimed victory late Tuesday, crediting his win to the “remarkable transformation” of Bridgeport under the mayor’s leadership. The campaign said Ganim had helped the city become more financially stable and developed it as an entertainment hub.

    First elected mayor in 1991, Ganim was in office 12 years, then quit when he was caught accepting bribes and kickbacks. Convicted of racketeering, extortion and other crimes, he spent seven years in prison, but then won his old job back in an election in 2015. He won reelection again four years ago.

    His second stretch in office hasn’t been trouble free. In 2021, Bridgeport’s former police chief, Armando Perez, was sentenced to a year in prison for rigging a 2018 police chief examination to ensure he’d be selected.

    Gomes, 52, who immigrated from the Cape Verde Islands, announced he was running for mayor against his old boss after losing his city job last year.

    Speaking to supporters at around midnight, Gomes said he wasn’t ready to quit.

    “This time our voice will not go silent. All I can say is stay tuned. I have not conceded,” he said.

    Besides Gomes, if he decides to run, Ganim now faces Republican attorney David R. Herz in the general election. Lamond Daniels, a Democrat who failed to get on the primary ballot, has also qualified to appear on the ballot as an independent but has yet to announce his plans.

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  • How an extramarital affair factors into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial

    How an extramarital affair factors into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial

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    AUSTIN, Texas — How much does an extramarital affair matter to whether Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton keeps his job? An answer may arrive soon.

    The question hangs over the Republican’s impeachment trial that resumes Tuesday and is approaching the final stretch of testimony before a jury of state senators decides whether Paxton should be removed from office on charges of corruption and bribery. Most of the senators are Republicans and one is his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, although she will not have a vote in the verdict.

    But she has attended the entire trial so far, including Monday, when she sat in the Senate chamber as one of her husband’s former employees gave an account of the affair in the most public detail to date: How the relationship took a toll on staffers, how she urged Paxton to consider the risks and how she asked him to tell his wife about the woman.

    “Just because somebody has an affair doesn’t mean they’re a — quote — ‘criminal’ does it?” Tony Buzbee, Paxton’s attorney, asked when it was the defense’s turn to respond.

    “I would not associate that directly,” said Katherine Cary, a former chief of staff in Paxton’s office, who is now one of six ex-employees to testify against their former boss since the trial began last week.

    The exchange capped one of the most distinctive moments of witness testimony so far after five days of former Paxton aides giving various — but at times overlapping — accounts of how one of Texas’ most powerful figures allegedly abused his power to help a local real estate developer named Nate Paul, who was under FBI investigation at the time. Paul was indicted this summer on charges of making false statements to banks. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Paul, who once gave Paxton a $25,000 campaign contribution, also employed the woman with whom Paxton had the affair.

    A verdict in the trial could come as early as this week.

    The affair is one of 20 articles of impeachment, alleging that Paul received favorable access as Paxton benefited from Paul employing the woman. Jeff Mateer, Paxton’s former second-in-command, testified last week that the relationship connected the dots as to why Texas’ top lawyer appeared so determined to help Paul look into claims that he had been wronged by FBI agents and a judge.

    Lawmakers leading the impeachment have also previously alleged that Paxton, who was elected to a third term in November despite years of criminal charges and alleged scandal, had a political motivation to hide the affair.

    “The affair is important because it goes to Ken Paxton’s political strength. He knows that with his folks he is family values,” Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson said in May, moments before the House overwhelmingly voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton.

    Cary, the former chief of staff, said on the witness stand Monday that she told Paxton the affair carried political and ethical risks. She alleged that Paxton at first lied about who the woman was and that the affair took a toll on staff who were forced to worked long and odd hours as the relationship unfolded.

    She said Angela Paxton sometimes called the office with questions about her husband’s schedule and that the conversations made staff uncomfortable.

    “I told General Paxton quite bluntly it wasn’t my business who he was sleeping with, but when things bleed over into the office and into the state work, it becomes my business,” she said.

    When it came to Angela Paxton, Cary said, “My heart broke for her.”

    Ken Paxton, who has pleaded not guilty, is not required to be present for testimony and was again not in the Senate on Monday.

    Angela Paxton took notes at her desk as Cary testified about the affair that began in 2018, the year Angela was won her senate seat. She cruised to reelection last year and said on the eve of the impeachment trial that she would seek third term, making the announcement alongside Ken Paxton at a Labor Day picnic near their home in suburban Dallas.

    Before becoming a senator, Angela Paxton would entertain crowds at her husband’s political events with a guitar and song, singing, “I’m a pistol-packin’ mama and my husband sues Obama.” She and all senators are under a gag order to not speak about the impeachment trial while the proceedings are ongoing.

    A two-thirds majority — or 21 senators — is required for conviction. That means that if all 12 Democrats vote against Paxton, at least nine Republicans would have to join them.

    “Imagine if we impeached everyone in Austin who had an affair,” Buzbee said. “We’d be impeaching people for the next 100 years.”

    ___

    Find AP’s full coverage of the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at: https://apnews.com/hub/ken-paxton

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  • Felony convictions vacated for 4 Navy officers in sprawling scandal

    Felony convictions vacated for 4 Navy officers in sprawling scandal

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    SAN DIEGO — The felony convictions of four Navy officers in one of the worst bribery cases in the maritime branch’s history were vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct Wednesday, the latest misstep in the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to a defense contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard.

    U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino called the misconduct “outrageous” and agreed to allow the four men to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each.

    The surprising turn of events occurred at a sentencing hearing in federal court in San Diego for the former officers.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ko, who was brought on after the officers were tried last year, admitted to “serious issues” with prosecutorial misconduct and asked the judge to vacate the men’s convictions.

    He said his office does not agree with all of the allegations of misconduct but some were true.

    “There were pretty obviously serious issues that affect our ability to go forward” defending the convictions or seeking a new trial, Ko told the judge.

    The officers — former Capts. David Newland, James Dolan and David Lausman and former Cmdr. Mario Herrera — were previously convicted by a federal jury on various counts of accepting bribes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Francis, who admitted to bilking the Navy out of more than $35 million by buying off dozens of top-ranking officers with booze, sex, lavish parties and other gifts.

    On Wednesday the four men pleaded guilty to a charge of destruction of government property, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

    Defense attorneys had long accused the prosecution of lying to the court and unfairly pressuring witnesses to testify on the stand to a narrated script.

    Francis fled from house arrest in San Diego nearly a year ago in what was also seen as a misstep by the prosecution for allowing him to not be held behind bars. He was later captured in Venezuela, where he remains.

    More than two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others have been convicted on various fraud and corruption charges in the case, which spanned years. It was not immediately clear whether Wednesday’s development may jeopardize the other convictions.

    A decade ago, Francis was arrested in a San Diego hotel as part of a federal sting. Investigators say he and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, bribed officers so he could overcharge for supplying ships or charge for fake services at ports he controlled in Southeast Asia.

    The case, which delved into salacious details about service members cheating on their wives and seeking out prostitutes, was an embarrassment to the Pentagon. The U.S. attorney’s office handled the prosecution, offering independence from the military justice system.

    The U.S. Attorney’s office in San Diego did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press also left messages with lead prosecutor Mark Pletcher and two other prosecutors involved in the case.

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  • Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

    Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

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    A Malaysian court has dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 4, 2023, 2:44 AM

    FILE – United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and Barisan National (National Front) coalition President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, foreground, waves coalition flags during an event naming general election candidates at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov. 1, 2022. A Malaysian court on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

    The Associated Press

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian court on Monday dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial.

    Zahid told a news conference afterward that the High Court discharged him but refused to grant him a full acquittal, which means he can still be recharged. But he said he was grateful that the “political-motivated accusations against me have ended.”

    Zahid heads the United Malays National Organization, and his support has been pivotal in helping Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim form a unity government. Zahid’s dismissal could further hurt the anti-corruption stance of Anwar’s government. Opposition leaders have alleged Zahid had supported Anwar so the charges against him could be dropped.

    Monday’s court ruling came just weeks after local elections in which the Islamist-Malay nationalist opposition bloc won strong support to make further inroads in government-ruled states.

    His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said prosecutors sought to drop the proceedings partly because further investigation was needed. He said the defense will apply for a full acquittal. The dismissal came despite the court’s ruling in January 2022 that prosecutors’ had proven a case against Zahid and ordered him to enter his defense.

    Zahid. 70, was charged after the long-ruling UMNO-led coalition lost the 2018 general elections amid public anger over corruption. Then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged in several graft cases and is serving a 12-year jail term after losing a final appeal in one of the cases.

    Zahid faced 12 counts of criminal breach of trust, 27 counts of money laundering and eight counts of bribery involving more than 31 million ringgit ($6.7 million) from his family foundation. More than 110 witnesses have testified. Prosecutors alleged that money meant for charity were misappropriated for his personal use, including to pay off his credit cards and for shopping.

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  • Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

    Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

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    A Malaysian court has dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 4, 2023, 2:44 AM

    FILE – United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and Barisan National (National Front) coalition President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, foreground, waves coalition flags during an event naming general election candidates at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov. 1, 2022. A Malaysian court on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

    The Associated Press

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian court on Monday dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial.

    Zahid told a news conference afterward that the High Court discharged him but refused to grant him a full acquittal, which means he can still be recharged. But he said he was grateful that the “political-motivated accusations against me have ended.”

    Zahid heads the United Malays National Organization, and his support has been pivotal in helping Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim form a unity government. Zahid’s dismissal could further hurt the anti-corruption stance of Anwar’s government. Opposition leaders have alleged Zahid had supported Anwar so the charges against him could be dropped.

    Monday’s court ruling came just weeks after local elections in which the Islamist-Malay nationalist opposition bloc won strong support to make further inroads in government-ruled states.

    His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said prosecutors sought to drop the proceedings partly because further investigation was needed. He said the defense will apply for a full acquittal. The dismissal came despite the court’s ruling in January 2022 that prosecutors’ had proven a case against Zahid and ordered him to enter his defense.

    Zahid. 70, was charged after the long-ruling UMNO-led coalition lost the 2018 general elections amid public anger over corruption. Then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged in several graft cases and is serving a 12-year jail term after losing a final appeal in one of the cases.

    Zahid faced 12 counts of criminal breach of trust, 27 counts of money laundering and eight counts of bribery involving more than 31 million ringgit ($6.7 million) from his family foundation. More than 110 witnesses have testified. Prosecutors alleged that money meant for charity were misappropriated for his personal use, including to pay off his credit cards and for shopping.

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  • A decade after vigilante uprising, extortion and threats against lime growers return to west Mexico

    A decade after vigilante uprising, extortion and threats against lime growers return to west Mexico

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    MEXICO CITY — The kind of mass threats and extortion of lime growers in the western Mexico that sparked a civilian vigilante uprising a decade ago have returned, and growers say they can’t get their crops to market.

    One lime grower who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons said Thursday that the local drug cartel had increased the price of protection payments five-fold in the space of weeks.

    The government of Michoacan state said Wednesday that it had launched a criminal investigation into the shake-downs. The situation threatens a mainstay of Mexican cuisine, and recalls the darkest days of the country’s 2006-2012 drug war.

    The grower said that in the last week to 10 days, the cartel has increased its demands from just over a penny per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of limes to about 6 cents. It may not sound like much, but that could be a quarter of the prices farmers are paid.

    On Tuesday, Carlos Torres, the Michoacan state interior secretary, said the government was launching a formal criminal investigation.

    “We are going to continue supporting growers so they can carry out their activities as normal. There will be no impunity,” Torres said.

    But the response seemed belated, at best.

    Photos had circulated on social media for the last week of leaflets passed around in the so-called “hot lands” of Michoacan, which read, “Nobody gets out of paying the quota, don’t try to look for a padrino,” a protective godfather.

    “Those of you who have packing houses in Buenavista, you know how to make the payment, and what happens to those who don’t pay,” according to the leaflet. Authorities have confirmed there have been threats, but have not confirmed the authenticity of the leaflet.

    The threats appeared to reference what happened in 2010-2012, when the the Familia Michoacana and later the Knights Templar cartels burned down packing houses. imposed crop prices, demanded protection money and even told growers on which days they could harvest their crop.

    That sparked an armed uprising in 2013 and 2014 by angry farmers. That vigilante movement largely kicked out the old cartels, only to see them replaced by others.

    By then, most of the vigilantes were either disarmed or infiltrated by drug gangs.

    The government moved in after the vigilantes were disarmed in 2014, and in the nine years since attacks on growers and packers had declined to the point that some new packing houses were built to replace those that had been left in charred ruins by the gangs.

    However, in recent months, there appears to have been a split in the United Cartels, an umbrella drug federation that included the violent Viagras cartel, which had largely taken over the region, and remnants of the old Knights Templar cartel.

    That split apparently set the gangs against one another and increased their desire to make enough money to carry out turf battles and fight incursions by the Jalisco cartel.

    By late June, it became clear that gang warfare had returned to the agricultural region. The last remaining untainted leader of the uprising, Hipolito Mora, was shot to death along with three of his followers in a drug gang ambush.

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  • American imprisoned in Russia faces espionage charges, reports say

    American imprisoned in Russia faces espionage charges, reports say

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    A Russian-born U.S. citizen in prison on a bribery conviction now faces charges of espionage, according to Russian news agencies

    MOSCOW — A Russian-born U.S. citizen already in prison on a bribery conviction now faces charges of espionage, according to Russian news agencies.

    The reports said a Moscow court on Thursday authorized holding Gene Spector on the charges, but did not give details of the case against him.

    Spector, formerly an executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison last September for enabling bribes to an aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for taking bribes of two expensive overseas vacation trips.

    Dvorkovich was a deputy prime minister under Dmitry Medvedev in 2012-2018. He is also board chairman of Russia’s state railways and head of the international chess federation FIDE.

    There was no immediate comment from the United States about the report.

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  • Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin acquitted of four graft charges

    Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin acquitted of four graft charges

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    Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been acquitted by the high court of four corruption charges, days after his opposition bloc expanded its influence in local elections

    FILE – Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin poses for media outside courthouse, after charged with corruption and money laundering, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 10, 2023. Muhyiddin was acquitted by the high court of four corruption charges on Tuesday, Aug. 15, just days after his opposition bloc expanded its influence in local elections. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

    The Associated Press

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was acquitted by the high court of four corruption charges on Tuesday, just days after his opposition bloc expanded its influence in local elections.

    Muhyiddin, 75, said the high court struck down four charges of abusing his power to obtain 232.5 million ringgit ($50 million) in bribes for his Bersatu party. He was charged in March and still faces three charges of money laundering involving 200 million ringgit ($43 million).

    “From the start, I have said that these are politically motivated charges. I have not done anything wrong … and today it has been proven that these were false allegations,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.

    His lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said the court agreed with the defense contention that the charges were defective legally and lacked details on how the offenses were committed. With the collapse of the four main charges, Teh said they were confident the other three money-laundering charges would not stand. The graft charges revolved around the award of contracts to selected ethnic Malay contractors allegedly in return for bribes, and approving an appeal by a business tycoon over the cancellation of his tax exemption.

    Prosecutors said they would appeal the court’s decision.

    Muhyiddin is the second former leader charged with crimes after ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak, who received multiple charges after losing a 2018 general election. Najib began a 12-year prison term last year after losing his final appeal in the first of several graft trials.

    Muhyiddin’s legal victory came just days after fiercely contested state elections returned the status quo. But his Malay nationalist Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc, which includes a conservative Islamic party, further expanded its influence among the country’s majority ethnic Malays.

    Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has rejected accusations that the charges against Muhyiddin were politically motivated and noted the investigations were carried out independently by the anti-graft agency. After taking power in November, Anwar ordered a review of government projects approved by past administrations including Muhyiddin’s government from March 2020 until August 2021. Anwar has said many of the projects were overpriced and awarded without tenders.

    Two senior members of Muhyiddin’s Bersatu party were also charged with graft. The anti-graft agency also froze Bersatu’s party accounts.

    Anwar and Muhyiddin fought for the premiership after November’s general election produced a hung parliament. Muhyiddin’s PN bloc received stronger-than-expected support from Malays, who account for two-thirds of Malaysia’s 33 million people. The king later appointed Anwar as prime minister after he formed a unity government with former rivals.

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  • Biden to announce historic Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

    Biden to announce historic Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

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    TUSAYAN, Ariz. — President Joe Biden will use his visit to Arizona on Tuesday to formally announce a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, making Native American tribes’ and environmentalists’ decades-long vision to preserve the land a reality.

    Biden is expected to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) just outside Grand Canyon National Park, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi confirmed a day earlier. It will mark the president’s fifth monument designation.

    Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

    Tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the mining industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.

    Biden arrived Monday evening at Grand Canyon National Park Airport, where he was greeted by Democratic congressmen Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego. Biden embraced them when he got off Air Force One and the trio chatted for a few minutes. Grijalva, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly introduced legislation to create the monument.

    He will be speaking in an area that is between Pinyon Plain Mine, which is being developed and has not opened, and Red Butte, a site culturally significant to the Havasupai and Hopi tribes.

    Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president’s remarks. Among them are Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.

    “It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” Uqualla said. “It’s not going to stop.”

    The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012.

    A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.

    In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona’s Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.

    Opponents of establishing a monument have argued it won’t help combat a lingering drought and could prevent thinning of forests and stop hunters from keeping wildlife populations in check. Ranchers in Utah near the Arizona border say the monument designation would strip them of privately owned land.

    The landscape of Arizona’s political delegation has since changed considerably. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, are all on board. Hobbs, a Democrat, has openly urged Biden to issue a designation. In a letter sent to Biden in May, Hobbs claimed that she heard from people across the political spectrum, including sporting groups and outdoor groups, in support of a monument.

    Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business remain vehemently opposed. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and there should have been another hearing on the matter. He doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

    “We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

    No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.

    After Arizona, Biden will go on to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs. He’ll then visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He’ll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city.

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  • Biden to announce historic Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

    Biden to announce historic Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

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    TUSAYAN, Ariz. — President Joe Biden will use his visit to Arizona on Tuesday to formally announce a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, making Native American tribes’ and environmentalists’ decades-long vision to preserve the land a reality.

    Biden is expected to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) just outside Grand Canyon National Park, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi confirmed a day earlier. It will mark the president’s fifth monument designation.

    Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

    Tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the mining industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.

    Biden arrived Monday evening at Grand Canyon National Park Airport, where he was greeted by Democratic congressmen Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego. Biden embraced them when he got off Air Force One and the trio chatted for a few minutes. Grijalva, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly introduced legislation to create the monument.

    He will be speaking in an area that is between Pinyon Plain Mine, which is being developed and has not opened, and Red Butte, a site culturally significant to the Havasupai and Hopi tribes.

    Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president’s remarks. Among them are Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.

    “It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” Uqualla said. “It’s not going to stop.”

    The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012.

    A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.

    In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona’s Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.

    Opponents of establishing a monument have argued it won’t help combat a lingering drought and could prevent thinning of forests and stop hunters from keeping wildlife populations in check. Ranchers in Utah near the Arizona border say the monument designation would strip them of privately owned land.

    The landscape of Arizona’s political delegation has since changed considerably. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, are all on board. Hobbs, a Democrat, has openly urged Biden to issue a designation. In a letter sent to Biden in May, Hobbs claimed that she heard from people across the political spectrum, including sporting groups and outdoor groups, in support of a monument.

    Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business remain vehemently opposed. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and there should have been another hearing on the matter. He doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

    “We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

    No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.

    After Arizona, Biden will go on to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs. He’ll then visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He’ll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city.

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  • Biden will tout long-sought Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

    Biden will tout long-sought Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit

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    PHOENIX — President Joe Biden will announce a new national monument to preserve land around Grand Canyon National Park and limit it from mining, White House officials said Monday.

    White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi confirmed during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One that Biden will call for the designation during his visit to northern Arizona on Tuesday, making it his fifth national monument.

    A dozen tribes “stepped up” and asked for this monument, Zaidi added.

    Advocates for limiting mining around Grand Canyon National Park had expressed hope that this would be the reason behind the presidential visit.

    Biden ‘s new national monument designation would preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) for future generations.

    Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president’s remarks. Among them are Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.

    “It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” said Uqualla. “It’s not going to stop.”

    Nygren is on board with the new monument if it means protecting land for Navajo and other tribes. Uranium mining in particular left a legacy of death and disease on the Navajo Nation, where more than 500 mines that supported Cold War weaponry were abandoned and haven’t been cleaned up.

    “I’m all for it because we’ve had such a bad experience with it, why would we try to entertain it again?” he told The Associated Press on Monday.

    The tribe to this day is still fighting for compensation for people who lived and worked in and around the mines, he added.

    Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

    Tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the mining industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.

    The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012. Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva repeatedly has introduced legislation to create a national monument.

    A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.

    In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona’s Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.

    Opponents of establishing a monument have argued it won’t help combat a lingering drought and could prevent thinning of forests and stop hunters from keeping wildlife populations in check. Ranchers in Utah near the Arizona border say the monument designation would strip them of privately owned land.

    The landscape of Arizona’s political delegation has since changed considerably. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent, are all on board. Hobbs, a Democrat, has openly urged Biden to issue a designation. In a letter sent to Biden in May, Hobbs claimed that she heard from people across the political spectrum, including sporting groups and outdoor groups, in support of a monument.

    Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business have been vehemently opposed. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and there should have been another hearing on the matter. He doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

    “We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

    No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.

    After Arizona, Biden will go on to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs. He’ll then visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He’ll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city.

    ____ Associated Press reporters Chris Megerian aboard Air Force One, Darlene Superville in Arlington, Virginia, and Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.

    __

    An earlier version of this story attributed the confirmation of Biden’s plans to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Climate adviser Ali Zaidi was the speaker.

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  • Fact check: Republicans make false, misleading claims at first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing | CNN Politics

    Fact check: Republicans make false, misleading claims at first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is holding its first hearing Thursday in the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden – and Republicans on the committee have made a series of false and misleading claims, as well as some other claims that have left out critical context.

    Below is a CNN fact check. This article will be updated as additional fact checks are completed.

    Republican Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in his opening remarks at the hearing on Thursday that the committee has uncovered how “the Bidens and their associates created over 20 shell companies” and “raked in over $20 million between 2014 and 2019.”

    Facts First: The $20 million figure is roughly accurate for Joe Biden’s family and associates, according to the bank records subpoenaed by the committee, but the phrase “the Bidens and their associates” obscures the fact that there is no public evidence to date that President Joe Biden himself received any of this money. And it’s worth noting that a large chunk of the money went to the “associates” – Hunter Biden’s business partners – not even Biden’s family itself.

    So far, none of the bank records obtained by the committee have shown any payments to Joe Biden. And a Washington Post analysis in August found that, of about $23 million in payments the committee had identified from foreign sources, nearly $7.5 million went to members of the Biden family – almost all of it to Hunter Biden – and the rest to people Hunter Biden did business with. (The Post also questioned the use of the vague phrase “shell companies,” noting that “virtually all of the companies” that had been listed by the committee at the time had “legitimate business interests” or “clearly identified business investments.”)

    A Republican aide for the House Oversight Committee disputed the Post’s analysis on Thursday, saying that bank records obtained by the panel actually show that, of $24 million in payments between 2014 and 2019, $15 million went to members of the Biden family and $9 million went to associates. CNN has reached out to the Post for comment; the committee has not publicly released the underlying bank records that would definitively show the breakdown in payments.

    The records obtained by the committee have shown that during and after Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president, Hunter Biden made millions of dollars through complex financial arrangements from private equity deals, legal fees and corporate consulting in Ukraine, China, Romania and elsewhere. Again, Republicans have not produced evidence that Joe Biden got paid in any of these arrangements.

    Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio repeated a false claim about Hunter Biden that CNN debunked when Jordan made the same claim last week.

    Jordan claimed that Hunter Biden himself said he was unqualified to sit on the board of directors of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings.

    “Hunter Biden’s not qualified, fact number two, to sit on the board. Not my words, his words. He said he got on the board because of the brand, because of the name,” Jordan said Thursday.

    Facts First: It’s not true that Hunter Biden himself said he wasn’t qualified to sit on the Burisma board. In fact, Hunter Biden said in a 2019 interview with ABC News that “I was completely qualified to be on the board” and defended his qualifications in detail. He did acknowledge, as Jordan said, that he would “probably not” have been asked to be on the board if he was not a Biden – but he nonetheless explicitly rejected claims that he wasn’t qualified, calling them “misinformation.”

    When the ABC interviewer asked what his qualifications for the role were, he said: “Well, I was vice chairman on the board of Amtrak for five years. I was the chairman of the board of the UN World Food Programme. I was a lawyer for Boies Schiller Flexner, one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. Bottom line is that I know that I was completely qualified to be on the board to head up the corporate governance and transparency committee on the board. And that’s all that I focused on. Basically, turning a Eastern European independent natural gas company into Western standards of corporate governance.”

    When the ABC interviewer said, “You didn’t have any extensive knowledge about natural gas or Ukraine itself, though,” Biden responded, “No, but I think I had as much knowledge as anybody else that was on the board – if not more.”

    Asked if he would have been asked to be on the board if his last name wasn’t Biden, Biden said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. Probably not.” He added “there’s a lot of things” in his life that wouldn’t have happened if he had a different last name.

    A side note: Biden had served as the board chair for World Food Program USA, a nonprofit that supports the UN World Food Programme, not the UN program itself as he claimed in the interview.

    Jordan cited new documents obtained from IRS whistleblowers, made public by House Republicans on Wednesday, to argue that the Justice Department improperly blocked investigators from asking about Joe Biden in a 2020 search warrant related to Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings.

    “We learned yesterday, in the search warrant…examining Hunter Biden electronic communications, they weren’t allowed to ask about Political Figure 1,” Jordan said. “Political Figure number 1 is the big guy, is Joe Biden.”

    Facts First: This is highly misleading. The Justice Department official who gave this instruction said Joe Biden’s name shouldn’t be mentioned in the search warrant because there wasn’t any legal basis to do so. Furthermore, this occurred during Trump’s presidency, so it doesn’t prove pro-Biden meddling by the Biden-era Justice Department.

    The August 2020 email from a deputy to now-special counsel David Weiss, the Trump-appointed federal prosecutor who is leading the Hunter Biden probe, said the warrant was for “BS,” an apparent reference to Blue Star Strategies, a lobbying firm that represented Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company where Hunter Biden was on the board.

    The Weiss deputy said in the email that “other than the attribution, location and identity stuff at the end, none if it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant” and that “there should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here,” according to emails released by House Republicans. Another document released by the GOP confirm that Joe Biden is “Political Figure 1.”

    Before obtaining a search warrant, investigators need to establish probable cause and secure approval from a judge. If federal prosecutors believed the references to Joe Biden weren’t within the legal scope of what the warrant was looking for, it wouldn’t have been appropriate or lawful to include them.

    Comer said in his opening remarks that the committee recently uncovered “two additional wires sent to Hunter Biden that originated in Beijing from Chinese nationals; this happened when Joe Biden was running for president of the United States – and Joe Biden’s home is listed on the beneficiary address.”

    Facts First: This lacks important context. Comer was correct that the committee has found evidence of two wire transfers sent to Hunter Biden from Chinese nationals in the second half of 2019, during Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, but he did not explain that Joe Biden’s home being listed as the beneficiary address doesn’t demonstrate that Joe Biden received any of the money. Nor did he explain that there may well be benign reasons for the inclusion of the address. Hunter Biden has lived at his father’s Wilmington, Delaware, home at times and listed that address on his driver’s license; Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said in a statement to CNN this week that the address was listed on these transfers simply because it was the address Hunter Biden used on the bank account the money was going to, which Lowell said Hunter Biden did “because it was his only permanent address at the time.”

    “This was a documented loan (not a distribution or pay-out) that was wired from a private individual to his new bank account which listed the address on his driver’s license, his parents’ address, because it was his only permanent address at the time,” Lowell said in the statement. “We expect more occasions where the Republican chairs twist the truth to mislead people to promote their fantasy political agenda.”

    White House spokesman Ian Sams wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday: “Imagine them arguing that, if someone stayed at their parents’ house during the pandemic, listed it as their permanent address for work, and got a paycheck, the parents somehow also worked for the employer…It’s bananas…Yet this is what extreme House Republicans have sunken to.”

    Comer told CNN this week his panel is trying to put together a timeline on where Hunter Biden was living around the time of the transfers, which occurred in July 2019 and August 2019. Joe Biden was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary at the time.

    Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina claimed at the Thursday hearing, “We already know the president took bribes from Burisma,” a Ukrainian energy company where Hunter Biden sat on the board of directors.

    Facts First: Mace’s claim is false; we do not “already know” that Joe Biden took any bribe. The claim about a bribe from Burisma is a completely unproven allegation. The FBI informant who relayed the claim to the FBI in 2020 was merely reporting something he said he had been told by Burisma’s chief executive. Later in the hearing, a witness called by the committee Republicans, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, called “the bribery allegation” the most concerning piece of evidence he had heard today – but he immediately cautioned that “you have to only take that so far” given that it is “a secondhand account.”

    According to an internal FBI document made public by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa earlier this year over the strong objections of the FBI, the informant said in 2020 – when Donald Trump was president – that the CEO of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, had claimed in 2016 that he made a $5 million payment to “one Biden” and another $5 million payment to “another Biden.” But the FBI document did not contain any proof for the claim, and the document said the informant was “not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity” of the claim.

    Republicans have tried to boost the credibility the allegation by saying it was in an FBI document and that the FBI had viewed the informant as highly credible. But the document merely memorialized the information provided by the informant; it does not demonstrate that the information is true. And Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee earlier this year that he had not been aware of any such payments to the Bidens; Archer characterized Zlochevsky’s reported claim as an example of the Ukrainian businessman embellishing his influence.

    Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, falsely claimed that Hunter Biden never paid taxes on his foreign income.

    He said Hunter Biden “failed to pay any taxes” on the millions of dollars he got from Ukrainian companies, and that this shows how “the Biden family doesn’t have to” pay taxes.

    “Who’s going to write the check for the money Hunter Biden didn’t pay?” Burchett asked, adding that “hardworking Americans” would end up footing the bill.

    Facts First: This is false. Hunter Biden repeatedly missed IRS deadlines, and his conduct was so egregious that federal investigators believe it was criminal, but he eventually belatedly paid all of his back taxes, plus interest and penalties, to the tune of about $2 million.

    Documents from Hunter Biden’s criminal cases indicate that he repeatedly missed tax deadlines, even though he had the funds and was repeatedly warned by his accountant and business partners. He was prepared to plead guilty to two misdemeanors in July, for failing to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018, before the plea deal collapsed.

    But there’s a difference between failing to pay taxes on time and failing to pay taxes at all. In 2021, while the criminal investigation was still underway and before any charges were filed, Hunter Biden paid roughly $2 million to the IRS to cover all the back taxes, plus penalties and interest.

    Hunter Biden was able to make the massive payment thanks to a roughly $2 million loan from a friend and attorney who has been supporting him during his legal troubles, according to court filings.

    Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York accused a Republican member of the committee, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, of cutting out “critical context” from an image of a purported text message that Donalds displayed earlier in the Thursday hearing. Ocasio-Cortez also said that Donalds had displayed a “fabricated image.”

    The dispute was over an image Donalds showed of a purported 2018 text message from the president’s brother James Biden to the president’s son Hunter Biden – provided by IRS whistleblowers and released by House Republicans on Wednesday – in which James Biden purportedly wrote, “This can work, you need a safe harbor. I can work with you father [sic] alone !! We as usual just need several months of his help for this to work.”

    After showing the image, Donalds asked a witness at the committee, “If you saw a text message like this between the president’s brother and the president’s son, wouldn’t you be concerned about them trying to give plausible deniability for the president of the United States to not have any knowledge of said business dealings?”

    Facts First: Donalds didn’t invent the James Biden text message, but Ocasio-Cortez was correct that Donalds left out critical context – specifically, context that showed there was no sign that the purported text exchange between James Biden and Hunter Biden was about business dealings. The information released by House Republicans this week appeared to show that James Biden’s purported text about getting “help” from Joe Biden came in direct response to a purported Hunter Biden text saying he could not afford alimony, school tuition for his children, food and gas “w/o [without] Dad.” Donalds did not display this purported Hunter Biden text at the Thursday hearing.

    In other words, when James Biden purportedly mentioned the possibility of several months of help from Joe Biden, he gave no indication he was referring to some sort of business transaction, much less the foreign transactions that House Republicans have been focused on in their investigations into the president. But Donalds didn’t make that clear.

    With that said, Ocasio-Cortez herself could have been clearer about what she meant when she claimed the image Donalds showed was “fabricated.”

    The contents of the purported James Biden text Donalds displayed were not made up, according to the IRS whistleblowers. What appeared to be novel was the graphic Donalds used; he showed the text in a form that made it look like a screenshot from an iPhone text conversation, with white words over a blue background bubble. The House Republican spreadsheet that the words were taken from did not include any such graphics, and, again, it did include the preceding purported Hunter Biden message that Donalds didn’t show.

    Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas said at the Thursday hearing, “In an interview back in 2019 with The New Yorker, even Hunter admitted that he talked to his dad about business, specifically Burisma.”

    Facts First: This needs context. The 2019 New Yorker article in question reported that Hunter Biden said he recalled Joe Biden discussing Burisma with him “just once” in a brief exchange that consisted of this: “Dad said, ‘I hope you know what you are doing,’ and I said, ‘I do.’”

    It’s fair for Fallon to say that this counts as Joe Biden discussing business with his son, but Fallon did not mention how brief and limited Hunter Biden said the purported discussion was.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Does the US prosecute more Republicans or Democrats? Here’s some data | CNN Politics

    Does the US prosecute more Republicans or Democrats? Here’s some data | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted Friday for the second time in 10 years on bribery and corruption charges.

    In this new case, federal authorities allege he and his wife accepted a luxury Mercedes, envelopes full of cash and multiple bars of gold in exchange for influence and favors. It’s wild. Read CNN’s report.

    Menendez denies the allegations, and he has a track record of beating bribery charges. The last time the government took him to court, a jury deadlocked, a judge acquitted him of some charges and the government finally dropped that separate set of bribery charges. Menendez was able to win reelection.

    He’s up for reelection again next year, and Democrats badly need to keep his New Jersey seat if they have any hope of maintaining control of the Senate.

    The case, if nothing else, is a serious complication to former President Donald Trump’s often-repeated claim that he is the subject of a partisan “witch hunt.”

    An unusually feisty Attorney General Merrick Garland rejected any such claim during testimony on Capitol Hill this week.

    Watch Garland’s response to GOP accusations

    “Our job is not to do what is politically convenient,” he said. “Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress or from anyone else about who or what to criminally investigate.”

    The prosecution, again, of Menendez, which is a major headache for Democrats, could help prove this point. So should the prosecution of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in a gun case that is rarely brought as a standalone charge.

    But it is worth looking at the recent history of Department of Justice prosecutions of lawmakers. Is one party targeted more than another?

    Here’s a look at active and recent federal cases against federal lawmakers and governors. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it is what I could find going back to 2000 in CNN’s coverage and from other news outlets.

    There is one against a Republican, Rep. George Santos of New York, and one against a Democrat, Menendez.

    There is also a non-prosecution to mention. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican, was informed this year by the DOJ that he would not be charged in a long-running sex trafficking probe.

    These are federal cases against current or former federal lawmakers. I was able to find nine targeting Republicans and eight targeting Democrats.

    Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska – Found guilty in 2022 of three felonies in a case that centered on campaign contributions.

    Former Rep. TJ Cox, a Democrat from California – Still awaiting trial after his 2022 indictment, including for fraudulent campaign contributions.

    Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California – Sentenced to 11 months in prison for misusing campaign funds, but later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. Chris Collins, a Republican from New York – Sentenced to 26 months in prison for insider trading, but later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat from Florida – Served more than two years for setting up a false charity.

    Former Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican from Texas – Sentenced to 10 years in prison for multiple felonies including fraud and money laundering, but pardoned by Trump after serving part of his sentence.

    Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York – Sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting with a minor.

    Former Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Pennsylvania – Sentenced to 10 years in prison for racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

    Former Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York – Pleaded guilty and sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion. Attempted to run again for Congress.

    Former Rep. Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona – Sentenced to three years for corruption. Pardoned by Trump after he served time.

    Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey – Acquitted by a judge and other charges dismissed after a jury deadlocked in a bribery case.


    Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Democrat from Illinois – Sentenced to 30 months in prison for misusing campaign funds.

    Former Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska – Conviction by jury for lying on ethics forms was later set aside over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

    Former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana – Sentenced to 13 years for corruption and soliciting bribes. There was video of him taking $100,000 from an African official. Served multiple years in prison, but many of the charges were later vacated by a judge based on a US Supreme Court decision.

    Former Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican from Ohio – Sentenced to 30 months after a guilty plea for corruption tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

    Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican from California – Sentenced to eight years in prison after a guilty plea for bribery. Later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. James Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio – Sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption after defending himself during trial. Was later expelled from the House.

    Two Republican governors and two Democratic governors have been convicted in federal courts in recent decades:

    Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, was convicted for bribery and corruption. But the US Supreme Court changed the rules in corruption and bribery cases when it threw out the case against McDonnell.

    Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was convicted for trying to sell his power to appoint a replacement to Barack Obama’s Senate seat. His sentence was later commuted by Trump.

    Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted by a jury of bribery and corruption and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

    Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, was convicted on corruption charges after an FBI sting.

    Did we miss a federal lawmaker convicted or charged? Let me know at zachary.wolf@cnn.com.

    Local prosecutions – like the state or local cases against former Rep. Trey Radel, the Republican from Florida, for cocaine possession in Washington, DC, or former Sen. Larry Craig, the Republican from Idaho, for lewd behavior in the Minneapolis airport – don’t really fit here since they were not conducted by the Department of Justice.

    Some notable recent DOJ prosecutions have focused on Democrats at the state level, like Andrew Gillum, the Democrat and former Tallahassee, Florida, mayor who ran for governor and lost to Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2018. Gillum was recently acquitted of lying to the FBI.

    Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, also a Democrat, was sentenced to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme in which local nonprofit organizations bought her self-published children’s book.

    Trump likes to argue he’s the subject of a conspiratorial “witch hunt” engineered by a deep state.

    Why, he will often say, was Hillary Clinton not prosecuted for her email server while he is being prosecuted for mishandling classified material?

    This forgets the history of the 2016 election, which Clinton has said she lost because of then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the investigation of her emails. Comey did not charge her before the election but did criticize her, and then, 11 days before Election Day, he said the investigation had been reopened.

    These whataboutisms can go on and on without changing anyone’s mind.
    This story has been updated to include additional details.

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  • Bob Menendez remains defiant amid bribery charges and calls to resign | CNN Politics

    Bob Menendez remains defiant amid bribery charges and calls to resign | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey remained defiant on Monday after being indicted on bribery charges at the end of last week, saying he believes he will be exonerated as he responded to some of the specific charges and evidence outlined by prosecutors.

    Menendez’s comments come amid a flurry of calls for his resignation – including from his own party and from his Senate colleagues. On Monday, Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Peter Welch of Vermont became the latest Democrats in the chamber call on Menendez to step down, joining Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.

    In a statement delivered to reporters, Menendez offered some of his first public defense against some of the evidence discovered by investigators during their search of his home, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, which he argued he had on hand for emergencies and described as an “old-fashioned” habit derived from his family’s experience in Cuba.

    “For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” said Menendez. “Now this may seem old fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years.”

    According to the indictment, searches of Menendez’s home and safe deposit box that federal agents conducted in 2022 turned up nearly $500,000 in cash, including in envelopes inside jackets emblazoned with Menendez’s name. Prosecutors say some of the envelopes had the fingerprints or DNA of one of the business contacts from whom the senator is accused of taking bribes.

    Menendez has been charged with three alleged crimes, including being on the receiving end of a bribery conspiracy. The conspiracy counts also charge his wife and three people described as New Jersey associates and businessmen.

    The group is accused of coordinating to use Menendez’s power as a US senator to benefit them personally and to benefit Egypt.

    On Monday, Menendez defended his record as it relates to Egypt, saying, “If you look at my actions related to Egypt during the period described in this indictment, and throughout my whole career, my record is clear and consistent in holding Egypt accountable for its unjust detention of American citizens and others, its human rights abuses, its deepening relationship with Russia, and efforts that have eroded the independence of the nation’s judiciary, among a myriad of concerns.”

    Menendez has been called upon to resign by a growing list of prominent Democrats – including the New Jersey governor and six members of the state’s congressional delegation. Rep. Andy Kim announced Saturday plans to challenge Menendez in the Democratic primary next year should Menendez run again for his US Senate seat.

    And on Monday, Brown and Welch joined Fetterman to become the second and third Senate Democrats to call for Menendez to step down.

    “Senator Menendez has broken the public trust and should resign from the U.S. Senate,” said Brown, who is running for reelection next year.

    Welch said in a statement later in the day that “the shocking and specific allegations against Senator Menendez have wholly compromised his capacity to be that effective Senator,” adding: “I encourage Senator Menendez to resign.”

    Fetterman, who first called for Menendez’s resignation over the weekend, will return $5,000 in donations his campaign received from Menendez’s political action committee, according to the Pennsylvania Democrat’s office.

    The New Jersey senator has denied wrongdoing and pushed back on calls to resign.

    On Monday, Menendez accused those who “rushed to judgment” of doing so for “political expediency.”

    “I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet,” Menendez said, referencing the legal battle ahead. “But as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Former Mozambique finance minister is extradited to the US to face trial over $2 billion scandal

    Former Mozambique finance minister is extradited to the US to face trial over $2 billion scandal

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    JOHANNESBURG — A former Mozambique finance minister who has been held in prison in South Africa for nearly five years was extradited Wednesday to the United States to face a fraud and corruption trial over a $2 billion scandal involving fraudulent government loans.

    South African authorities said that Manuel Chang, who was Mozambique’s finance minister from 2005 to 2015, was handed over to U.S. authorities after his last-ditch court effort to avoid extradition failed in May.

    Chang is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

    It brings to an end a nearly five-year legal battle by Chang to avoid facing trial in the U.S. and be extradited instead to his home country, where rights groups have protested that he would likely be treated leniently.

    He is accused of receiving bribes of up to $17 million during a scheme that secured loans for Mozambican state-owned companies from foreign banks and financiers for maritime projects. The money was looted through kickbacks and other corrupt dealings, according to U.S. prosecutors.

    Chang was indicted in federal court in New York over his involvement in the scheme, which U.S. authorities allege defrauded American and international investors. He has not commented on the charges against him.

    The loans totaling $2 billion were intended for the purchase of fishing vessels and naval patrol boats and other resources to help Mozambique’s fishing industry, but it’s alleged that never happened.

    “The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services confirms that the Republic of South Africa’s law enforcement agencies successfully surrendered Mr Manuel Chang to the United States of America on July 12, 2023,” the ministry said.

    The scandal caused a financial crisis in Mozambique when the International Monetary Fund withdrew its support for the country after the so-called “hidden debts” were revealed in 2016.

    Chang was arrested at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg in 2018 on a U.S. warrant.

    The Mozambican government’s own attempts to have him face trial in Mozambique have been dismissed by several South African courts.

    In 2021, Swiss bank Credit Suisse agreed to pay at least $475 million to British and American authorities to settle bribery and kickback allegations stemming from their involvement with the corrupt loans.

    At least 10 people have already been convicted and sentenced to prison by a Mozambican court over the scandal, including Ndambi Guebuza, the son of former Mozambican president Armando Guebuza. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for receiving up to $33 million from the corrupt deal.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed.

    ___

    Associated Press Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • Masked men burn a market in a Mexican city plagued by gang violence, killing 9 people

    Masked men burn a market in a Mexican city plagued by gang violence, killing 9 people

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    TOLUCA, Mexico — Masked gunmen set fire to a public market in the central Mexican city of Toluca on Monday, killing nine people, authorities said.

    Prosecutors said the attackers arrived, opened fire, and then doused part of the market with a flammable substance before setting it on fire and fleeing. They said three of the dead appeared to be under 18, but identifications were still pending.

    A statement said prosecutors were investigating private security guards for abandoning their posts at the time of the attack.

    No one claimed responsibility for the attack in Toluca, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Mexico City. Toluca, capital of the State of Mexico, is a city of almost a million inhabitants and is considered part of the capital’s metropolitan area, with some residents commuting to the capital to work.

    Fires at public markets in Mexico are often set by gangs demanding protection payments from vendors, but some have also been set by vendors disputing the possession of spaces within the markets.

    The statement from state prosecutors said that “one of the first lines of investigation is that events may have been related to internal disputes over the possession of commercial spaces” at the market.

    Toluca was set on edge last week by the discovery of at least two hacked-up bodies, and signs claiming responsibility by the violent Familia Michoacana drug cartel.

    The gang originated in the neighboring state of Michoacan in the early 2000s, and while it has been largely chased out of its home state, it has found a new lease on life in the State of Mexico and neighboring Guerrero state.

    The Familia Michoacana has become known for carrying out ruthless, bloody ambushes of police in Mexico State and local residents in Guerrero.

    The attack on the Toluca market came as prosecutors in Guerrero confirmed that four taxi drivers were shot death, and at least one of their cars set on fire, over the weekend in and around the state capital of Chilpancingo.

    That city was the scene of horrific drug gang violence in late June, when pieces of seven dismembered bodies were left on a downtown street, along with a threatening message from a gang.

    The situation in Chilpancingo remained violent Monday, as hundreds of protesters from an outlying town entered the city to demand the release of fellow inhabitants arrested on drug-related charges.

    Protesters briefly blocked the main highway that leads from Mexico City to Acapulco, prosecutors said. According to video broadcast by local TV stations, the demonstrators then commandeered a police armored truck and used it to ram open the gates to the state congress building, which they entered. Legislators were apparently not in session at the time.

    Guerrero is the scene of a bloody turf war between the Familia Michoacana and several other gangs, one of which is believed to be responsible for the killings in Chilpancingo.

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  • Ex-Ohio GOP chair, lobbyist Matt Borges shows remorse, gets 5 years for role in $60M bribery scheme

    Ex-Ohio GOP chair, lobbyist Matt Borges shows remorse, gets 5 years for role in $60M bribery scheme

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    CINCINNATI — Ohio lobbyist Matt Borges was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for his part in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history. He avoided the much harsher sentence received a day earlier by former House Speaker Larry Householder, the scheme’s mastermind, by accepting responsibility and apologizing before the judge.

    “Nothing makes it feel more stark than knowing I could have walked away from this at the very beginning,” the 51-year-old Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, told U.S. District Judge Timothy Black.

    Black nonetheless rebuked Borges for his role in preventing Ohioans the chance to repeal a tainted nuclear plant bailout bill.

    “Larry Householder was a crook and you knew it. ‘ An unholy alliance ‘ is what you called it,” Black said.

    “You didn’t care that you were aiding an Ohio House speaker to undermine the very foundation of our democracy,” he told Borges. “You just saw everyone else getting fat and rich, and you wanted a piece of it.”

    Black admitted to being moved by Borges’ contrition, however, which may have contributed to him escaping the top of the 5- to 8-year range federal prosecutors sought. But the judge rejected any notion that Borges should only get the six months offered to cooperative witnesses or the 1 1/2 years sought by his attorneys, and ordered him into immediate custody.

    As a handcuffed Borges left the courtroom, he looked back at his wife Kate, who had delivered an impassioned plea for leniency to the judge, and could be heard saying, “Bye, babe.” She blew him a kiss.

    A jury convicted Householder and Borges in March, determining that Householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies and pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout. Specifically, Borges was found to have offered a bribe in exchange for inside information on a referendum campaign aimed at repealing the bailout law.

    Householder, 64, was sentenced to 20 years, the maximum allowed, on Thursday.

    During the trial, Borges sought to distance himself from Householder — once one of Ohio’s most powerful Republican politicians — with his defense team highlighting his absence from meetings held by Householder’s allies and Borges quipping audibly in the courtroom that he didn’t even like the man.

    After Householder confirmed on the stand during their trial that Borges was not among his confidantes, the younger Republican opted against testifying on his own behalf at that time.

    Black said Friday that Borges’ expunged conviction years ago in a state government pay-to-play scandal didn’t play a significant role in his sentence this time.

    Borges, who served as a campaign staffer and chief of staff to then-Republican State Treasurer Joe Deters, pleaded guilty in 2004 to one count of improper use of a public office. He was fined $1,000, but avoided jail time of up to six months.

    Borges was charged with giving 10 brokers who had contributed to Deters’ campaign fund an advantage in getting contracts with the office of the treasurer — Ohio’s chief investment officer. A Deters fundraiser and a lobbyist who served as a go-between to the preferential treatment also were convicted.

    Though Deters was never directly connected to the scheme, it stymied his career in state politics for almost two decades. That was, until GOP Gov. Mike DeWine named him in December to an open seat on the Ohio Supreme Court.

    Because of his association with Borges, Deters has recused himself from a separate state case against FirstEnergy stemming from the scandal that’s been appealed to the high court.

    U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker said he was gratified that Borges showed remorse during Friday’s hearing, including saying how disappointed he was in himself and apologizing in open court to adversaries he lashed out at through a dedicated website.

    “That’s the first step to rehabilitation, so I was glad to see that,” Parker said. “He, and only he, knows whether or not it was genuine. But that’s the first step to making things right, inside and outside.”

    Householder and Borges were among five people arrested by federal authorities in July 2020, charged along with a dark money group, for their roles in the wide-ranging scheme. A federal investigation remains ongoing.

    Two others — Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth — have pleaded guilty and are cooperating as they await sentences of up to six months in prison. A third man, the late Statehouse superlobbyist Neil Clark, pleaded not guilty before dying by suicide in 2021. Generation Now, the 501(c) nonprofit through which much of the money flowed, also has pleaded guilty to racketeering.

    FirstEnergy also has admitted to its role, admitting in an agreement with the government to using dark money groups to fund the effort and agreeing to pay a $230 million fine and meet other conditions in order to avoid prosecution.

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  • Ex-GOP Ohio House speaker sentenced to 20 years for role in $60M bribery scheme; appeal expected

    Ex-GOP Ohio House speaker sentenced to 20 years for role in $60M bribery scheme; appeal expected

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    CINCINNATI — Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the largest corruption scandal in state history.

    The 64-year-old Republican appeared before U.S. District Judge Timothy Black, who meted out the punishment, about an hour after he and his wife Taundra arrived at the federal courthouse.

    Householder had pleaded for mercy ahead of the sentencing — not on behalf of himself, but his wife of 40 years, sons and friends. His wife, son Nathan and other friends and family were present.

    Black instead delivered a blistering rebuke, accusing Householder of abusing voters’ trust.

    “You were a bully with a lust for power who thought he was better than everyone else,” he said.

    Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, were both convicted in April of a single racketeering charge each, after a six-week trial. Borges is set to be sentenced Friday.

    Householder also received one year of probation and before being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as he was remanded into the custody of U.S. Marshals.

    Jurors found that Householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies, pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants owned by a FirstEnergy affiliate and then to use a dirty tricks campaign to stifle a ballot effort to overturn the bill.

    Federal prosecutors had recommended Householder receive 16 to 20 years, holding in a sentencing memo that he “acted as the quintessential mob boss, directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme.” That strategy, they said, gave Householder ”plausible deniability.”

    His own attorneys had recommended just 12 to 18 months, reporting to the judge that he is “a broken man” who has been “humiliated and disgraced” by the ordeal of his widely reported arrest, high-profile prosecution and seven-week trial by jury.

    Householder was one of Ohio’s most powerful politicians, a historically twice-elected speaker, before his indictment. After Householder’s arrest in July 2020, the Republican-controlled House ousted him from his leadership post, but he refused to resign for nearly a year on grounds he was innocent until proven guilty. In a bipartisan vote, representatives ultimately ousted him from the chamber in 2021 — the first such expulsion in Ohio in 150 years.

    All told, five people and a dark money group have been charged so far for their roles in the scheme. A federal investigation remains ongoing.

    During the trial, the prosecution called two of the people arrested — Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth, who both pleaded guilty and are cooperating — to testify about political contributions they said were not ordinary, but rather bribes intended to secure passage of the bailout legislation. Generation Now, the 501(c) nonprofit through which much of the money flowed, also has pleaded guilty to racketeering.

    Cespedes and Longstreth face up to six months in prison each under their plea deals. Neither has been sentenced.

    The last person arrested, the late Statehouse superlobbyist Neil Clark, was heard on tape in the courtroom. Clark had pleaded not guilty before dying by suicide in March 2021.

    All the alleged members of the conspiracy benefited personally from the scheme, using sums that an FBI agent described colloquially as “bags of cash” from FirstEnergy. Householder spent around $500,000 of FirstEnergy money to settle a business lawsuit, pay attorneys, deal with expenses at his Florida home and pay off credit card debt. Another $97,000 was used to pay staff and expenses for his 2018 reelection campaign.

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  • Ex-GOP Ohio House speaker sentenced to 20 years for role in $60M bribery scheme; appeal expected

    Ex-GOP Ohio House speaker sentenced to 20 years for role in $60M bribery scheme; appeal expected

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    CINCINNATI — Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the largest corruption scandal in state history.

    The 64-year-old Republican appeared before U.S. District Judge Timothy Black, who meted out the punishment, about an hour after he and his wife arrived at the federal courthouse.

    Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, were both convicted in April of a single racketeering charge each, after a six-week trial. Borges is set to be sentenced Friday.

    Householder also received on year of probation and was remanded into the custody of U.S. Marshals.

    Jurors found that Householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies, pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants owned by a FirstEnergy affiliate and then to use a dirty tricks campaign to stifle a ballot effort to overturn the bill.

    Federal prosecutors had recommended Householder receive 16 to 20 years, holding in a sentencing memo that he “acted as the quintessential mob boss, directing the criminal enterprise from the shadows and using his casket carriers to execute the scheme.” That strategy, they said, gave Householder ”plausible deniability.”

    His own attorneys had recommended just 12 to 18 months, reporting to the judge that he is “a broken man” who has been “humiliated and disgraced” by the ordeal of his widely reported arrest, high-profile prosecution and seven-week trial by jury.

    Householder was one of Ohio’s most powerful politicians, a historically twice-elected speaker, before his indictment. After Householder’s arrest in July 2020, the Republican-controlled House ousted him from his leadership post, but he refused to resign for nearly a year on grounds he was innocent until proven guilty. In a bipartisan vote, representatives ultimately ousted him from the chamber in 2021 — the first such expulsion in Ohio in 150 years.

    All told, five people and a dark money group have been charged so far for their roles in the scheme. A federal investigation remains ongoing.

    During the trial, the prosecution called two of the people arrested — Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth, who both pleaded guilty and are cooperating — to testify about political contributions they said were not ordinary, but rather bribes intended to secure passage of the bailout legislation. Generation Now, the 501(c) nonprofit through which much of the money flowed, also has pleaded guilty to racketeering.

    Cespedes and Longstreth face up to six months in prison each under their plea deals. Neither has been sentenced.

    The last person arrested, the late Statehouse superlobbyist Neil Clark, was heard on tape in the courtroom. Clark had pleaded not guilty before dying by suicide in March 2021.

    All the alleged members of the conspiracy benefited personally from the scheme, using sums that an FBI agent described colloquially as “bags of cash” from FirstEnergy. Householder spent around $500,000 of FirstEnergy money to settle a business lawsuit, pay attorneys, deal with expenses at his Florida home and pay off credit card debt. Another $97,000 was used to pay staff and expenses for his 2018 reelection campaign.

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