Political Randomness

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Holman
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

Having lost re-election and now facing possible prosecution for corruption, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has fled the country and taken refuge in a known haven for deposed authoritarians and other organized-crime types, Florida.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
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El Guapo
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by El Guapo »

I'm happy for Brazil, but at the same time it's pretty depressing how much better they are handling their would-be authoritarian losing reelection than we are, at least to date.
Black Lives Matter.
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Max Peck
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Max Peck »

Elmo sets yet another world record.

Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion
Elon Musk was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, breaching that threshold in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth.
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Smoove_B
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Smoove_B »

If you were wondering if the Santos story would get even crazier, it does:
The New York Times reports that law enforcement authorities in Brazil intend to reopen a 15-year-old fraud case involving Santos that had been shelved because police had for years been unable to locate him.

After Santos got elected to Congress last year and after the majority of his life story was exposed as a fabrication, he apparently came back under prosecutors' radars.

"Nathaly Ducoulombier, a spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro’s prosecutors office, said that with Mr. Santos’s 'whereabouts identified,' a formal request will be made to the U.S. Justice Department to notify him of the charges, a necessary step after which the case will proceed with or without him," the paper writes.
What's the story?
According to previous Times reporting, Santos is accused of using a stolen checkbook to spend $700 under a false name in a clothing boutique in the city of Niterói.

What's more, prosecutors in the country have proof of Santos admitting the crime to the checkbook's owner on a social media app, as he told the owner he knew he "screwed up" and vowed to repay him.
If they would just hurry up and seat him in the House, he could hand wave all this off as he'll instantly be immune to any consequences.
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malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

If you check out the new thread I started the Republicans are already taking actions to give folks like Santos cover. Worse they are being intelligent about the way they are dismantling things. Their coup may have failed on 1/6 but they are progressing the plan day by day in broad daylight as we speak.
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Alefroth
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Alefroth »

What's the replacement process for a representative if he happens to resign or isn't seated or whatever?
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Defiant
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Defiant »

Alefroth wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:14 pm What's the replacement process for a representative if he happens to resign or isn't seated or whatever?
IIUC, representatives are usually replaced using a special election, unless it's close enough to the general election that they have a vacancy until the end of the term.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Alefroth wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:14 pm What's the replacement process for a representative if he happens to resign or isn't seated or whatever?
In the House the Constitution requires the replacement to be elected so generally it'll require a special election.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Isgrimnur »

NBC News
Pro-Trump entertainer Diamond of Diamond and Silk dies at 51
...
Diamond of the pro-Trump entertainers Diamond and Silk has died, the former president as well as the duo's verified Twitter account announced Monday night. She was 51.
...
In late November, the Diamond and Silk Twitter account made a plea for prayers for Diamond. It was not clear exactly why. "Anyone who believes in the power of prayer please pray for Diamond," it said.
...
The pair parlayed their Trump World inclusion into contributor jobs at Fox News. The network ended the relationship in 2020 after the duo bought into the conspiracy, on-air, that Covid-19 death figures were being manipulated to make Trump look bad.

Diamond and Silk soon landed at fringe network Newsmax with "Diamond and Silk: Crystal Clear."
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Carpet_pissr
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Carpet_pissr »

“Pro-Trump entertainer”

The phrase alone entertains. Mission accomplished!

And to be fair, insert ANY politician’s name for Trump, and while not AS entertaining, still silly enough to make me smile and smirk.
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Unagi
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Unagi »

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Jan 11, 2023 9:48 pm NBC News
Pro-Trump entertainer Diamond of Diamond and Silk dies at 51
...
Diamond of the pro-Trump entertainers Diamond and Silk has died, the former president as well as the duo's verified Twitter account announced Monday night. She was 51.
...
In late November, the Diamond and Silk Twitter account made a plea for prayers for Diamond. It was not clear exactly why. "Anyone who believes in the power of prayer please pray for Diamond," it said.
...
The pair parlayed their Trump World inclusion into contributor jobs at Fox News. The network ended the relationship in 2020 after the duo bought into the conspiracy, on-air, that Covid-19 death figures were being manipulated to make Trump look bad.

Diamond and Silk soon landed at fringe network Newsmax with "Diamond and Silk: Crystal Clear."
I guess God really wanted her dead.
malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:43 amCombined with the official policy in many places not to prosecute shoplifting under $1000 and you basically have open season on retail. I've seen a few times someone just waking past the cashiers at Walgreens saying essentially, "Oh, I'm not paying, bye..."


SF:
After months of seeing its shelves repeatedly cleaned out by brazen shoplifters, the Walgreens at Van Ness and Eddy in San Francisco is getting ready to close.

The drugstore, which serves many older people who live in the Opera Plaza area, is the seventh Walgreens to close in the city since 2019. “The last day is November 11,” Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said.

“All of us knew it was coming. Whenever we go in there, they always have problems with shoplifters, ” said longtime customer Sebastian Luke, who lives a block away and is a frequent customer who has been posting photos of the thefts for months. The other day, Luke photographed a man casually clearing a couple of shelves and placing the goods into a backpack.

“I feel sorry for the clerks, they are regularly being verbally assaulted,” Luke said. “The clerks say there is nothing they can do. They say Walgreens’ policy is to not get involved. They don’t want anyone getting injured or getting sued, so the guys just keep coming in and taking whatever they want.”
The only thing keeping Walgreen's around is pharmacy. They lose by billions on regular retail.
Turns out Walgreens exaggerated the whole thing. Perhaps because their financials were soft. And the media went along with the story for the clicks. This is what I think through when I hear about moral panics about shoplifting, needles and feces, and why I have low trust in media stories that have a subjective, data-lite approach. We are constantly being manipulated for profits.

NY Times
A Walgreens executive said this week that the company, which cited “organized” shoplifting as a reason to close five stores in San Francisco in October 2021, might have overstated the effect of theft on its business.

“Maybe we cried too much last year,” James Kehoe, the company’s chief financial officer, said during a Walgreens earnings call with investors.

Mr. Kehoe also said that the company had “probably” spent too much on security measures and that it might have mischaracterized how much theft took place in its stores.

It was a remarkable admission, retail experts said. Walgreens and other retailers have in recent years complained about an increase in shoplifting, inflaming political debates about crime.
Note: This isn't a call out to you Lawbeefaroni just the results of a relevant search. :)
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Unagi
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Unagi »

So in an earnings call with investors, the CFO downplayed the degree of financial loss and exposure?
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Skinypupy »

Did we have a thread for the investigation into the Trump Org? I can't remember, so I'll put this here.

Trump Organization ordered to pay $1.6 million fine for criminal tax fraud

15 years of tax fraud amounted to one exec getting 5 months in jail and a monetary fine that is essentially pulling a couple nickels out of the couch cushions. Gosh, t is truly a mystery why companies keep doing it. :roll:
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by LawBeefaroni »

malchior wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:23 am
LawBeefaroni wrote: Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:43 amCombined with the official policy in many places not to prosecute shoplifting under $1000 and you basically have open season on retail. I've seen a few times someone just waking past the cashiers at Walgreens saying essentially, "Oh, I'm not paying, bye..."


SF:
After months of seeing its shelves repeatedly cleaned out by brazen shoplifters, the Walgreens at Van Ness and Eddy in San Francisco is getting ready to close.

The drugstore, which serves many older people who live in the Opera Plaza area, is the seventh Walgreens to close in the city since 2019. “The last day is November 11,” Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said.

“All of us knew it was coming. Whenever we go in there, they always have problems with shoplifters, ” said longtime customer Sebastian Luke, who lives a block away and is a frequent customer who has been posting photos of the thefts for months. The other day, Luke photographed a man casually clearing a couple of shelves and placing the goods into a backpack.

“I feel sorry for the clerks, they are regularly being verbally assaulted,” Luke said. “The clerks say there is nothing they can do. They say Walgreens’ policy is to not get involved. They don’t want anyone getting injured or getting sued, so the guys just keep coming in and taking whatever they want.”
The only thing keeping Walgreen's around is pharmacy. They lose by billions on regular retail.
Turns out Walgreens exaggerated the whole thing. Perhaps because their financials were soft. And the media went along with the story for the clicks. This is what I think through when I hear about moral panics about shoplifting, needles and feces, and why I have low trust in media stories that have a subjective, data-lite approach. We are constantly being manipulated for profits.

NY Times
A Walgreens executive said this week that the company, which cited “organized” shoplifting as a reason to close five stores in San Francisco in October 2021, might have overstated the effect of theft on its business.

“Maybe we cried too much last year,” James Kehoe, the company’s chief financial officer, said during a Walgreens earnings call with investors.

Mr. Kehoe also said that the company had “probably” spent too much on security measures and that it might have mischaracterized how much theft took place in its stores.

It was a remarkable admission, retail experts said. Walgreens and other retailers have in recent years complained about an increase in shoplifting, inflaming political debates about crime.
Note: This isn't a call out to you Lawbeefaroni just the results of a relevant search. :)
Target hasn't really changed their stance. At least not as recently as November.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Fiddelke, said inventory shrinkage – items that are stolen, lost, damaged or otherwise unaccounted for – has reduced Target's gross profit margin by more than $400 million so far in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. He said that figure is expected to exceed $600 million for the full year.

Fiddelke reiterated that it's "an industrywide problem that is often driven by criminal networks" and said Target is "collaborating with multiple stakeholders to find industrywide solutions." One such solution is legislation "to increase accountability and prevent criminals from selling stolen goods through online marketplaces," where many of them turn to offload swindled merchandise, he said.
I do think that 2020 and 2021 were exception years. Things were really crazy, at least here.
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malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 11:51 am Target hasn't really changed their stance. At least not as recently as November.
Yeah not saying it's true or not but we just found out one retailer was fibbing and for whatever reason actually admitted to it. The bigger problem is that these folks say things and the press just megaphones it -- mostly without filter. In Walgreen's case the SF Chronicle at least ran down some of the story and called it into question about SF. Good on them for doing the work but where it comes to financial reporting guidance there are real consequences if they outright lie but they have tons of space to distort and feed misinformation into an environment that loves sensational stories. So yeah...it's hard not to be super skeptical of all these moral panic tales as a consumer of information.

I do think that 2020 and 2021 were exception years. Things were really crazy, at least here.
That's the thing though. Was it really? It's hard to know what's real when we're being constantly manipulated. The police are constantly lying. The corporations are lying. The media megaphones their lies. Data is spotty and manipulated. I sometimes feel like we're in a softer version of Russia at this point. Everyone is lying except for some reason no one here has the same cynicism that they are always lying to us and somewhat believes them (edit: according to political affiliation naturally as well).
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by El Guapo »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 11:42 am Did we have a thread for the investigation into the Trump Org? I can't remember, so I'll put this here.

Trump Organization ordered to pay $1.6 million fine for criminal tax fraud

15 years of tax fraud amounted to one exec getting 5 months in jail and a monetary fine that is essentially pulling a couple nickels out of the couch cushions. Gosh, t is truly a mystery why companies keep doing it. :roll:
Apparently that's the maximum fine for the violations, which seems less than ideal.
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dbt1949
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by dbt1949 »

I see wear the Missouri House of Representatives is enacting a new rule that women have to wear long sleeves when in the House of Representatives.
:shock:
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Alefroth »

Seriously?
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Smoove_B
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Smoove_B »

Yes, mostly:
Lawmakers in the Missouri House of Representatives this week adopted a stricter dress code for women as part of a new rules package, and now requires them to cover their shoulders by wearing a jacket like a blazer, cardigan or knit blazer.

The addition, which was proposed by Republican state Rep. Ann Kelley, sparked outrage from some Democrats who said the change was sexist because the dress code for men was not altered.

Men in the Missouri House of Representatives are required to wear a jacket, shirt and a tie. The previous dress code for women required “dresses or skirts or slacks worn with a blazer or sweater and appropriate dress shoes or boots.”

Kelley, speaking on the House floor, said she felt compelled to offer the change that “cleans up some of the language … by mirroring the language in the gentleman’s dress code.”
Can have those sinful shoulders out.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by LawBeefaroni »

malchior wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:08 pm
That's the thing though. Was it really? It's hard to know what's real when we're being constantly manipulated. The police are constantly lying. The corporations are lying. The media megaphones their lies. Data is spotty and manipulated. I sometimes feel like we're in a softer version of Russia at this point. Everyone is lying except for some reason no one here has the same cynicism that they are always lying to us and somewhat believes them (edit: according to political affiliation naturally as well).
I saw it personally. We have a camera program and I pulled the video. I also saw the smashed storefronts in the neighborhood. Inspected the results of alley arson.

And citywide homicides peaked:
2022: 736 killed, 2,937 wounded
2021: 855 killed, 3,745 wounded
2020: 798 killed, 3,451 wounded
2019: 521 killed, 2,291 wounded
2018: 592 killed, 2,465 wounded
2017: 685 killed, 2,935 wounded
2016: 808 killed, 3,658 wounded
2015: 513 killed, 2,546 wounded
2014: 464 killed, 2,230 wounded
2013: 455 killed, 2,185 wounded
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malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 10:22 pm
malchior wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:08 pm
That's the thing though. Was it really? It's hard to know what's real when we're being constantly manipulated. The police are constantly lying. The corporations are lying. The media megaphones their lies. Data is spotty and manipulated. I sometimes feel like we're in a softer version of Russia at this point. Everyone is lying except for some reason no one here has the same cynicism that they are always lying to us and somewhat believes them (edit: according to political affiliation naturally as well).
I saw it personally. We have a camera program and I pulled the video. I also saw the smashed storefronts in the neighborhood. Inspected the results of alley arson.

And citywide homicides peaked:
2022: 736 killed, 2,937 wounded
2021: 855 killed, 3,745 wounded
2020: 798 killed, 3,451 wounded
2019: 521 killed, 2,291 wounded
2018: 592 killed, 2,465 wounded
2017: 685 killed, 2,935 wounded
2016: 808 killed, 3,658 wounded
2015: 513 killed, 2,546 wounded
2014: 464 killed, 2,230 wounded
2013: 455 killed, 2,185 wounded
Yeah I totally get what you are saying. Chicago is in its own class in many things. Chicago metro since what...the 70s has been the epitome of urban decline from a safety standpoint. Still that wasn't what I'm getting at. Where we have good data the narratives are clearer but not actually clear. Why have murders increased? You'll get various stories all driven out of misinformation land. And where the data is inconsistent or missing. It truly is the golden age of fraud.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Smoove_B »

I really don't know if this is a national story, but I've been trying to follow it locally and I'm quite confused:
Democratic leadership in the state Senate warned the newly-elected governor in early December that, of her seven-candidate shortlist for the judgeship, they could not guarantee the votes for LaSalle. Progressive members were deeply skeptical of the jurists’ values on abortion and labor rights.

Hochul nominated him anyway.

In doing so, the Democratic governor set up an unprecedented showdown with lawmakers over her choice for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals. She now faces the prospect this month that LaSalle will become the first top judicial nominee to ever be rejected by the state Senate.
For reasons I genuinely don't understand, the Democrats in NY state have full control but the Governor nominated a very conservative anti-abortion, anti-labor judge to the position. Between Cuomo and losing to Santos, what in the hell is happening in NY?
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malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 5:00 pm I really don't know if this is a national story, but I've been trying to follow it locally and I'm quite confused:
Democratic leadership in the state Senate warned the newly-elected governor in early December that, of her seven-candidate shortlist for the judgeship, they could not guarantee the votes for LaSalle. Progressive members were deeply skeptical of the jurists’ values on abortion and labor rights.

Hochul nominated him anyway.

In doing so, the Democratic governor set up an unprecedented showdown with lawmakers over her choice for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals. She now faces the prospect this month that LaSalle will become the first top judicial nominee to ever be rejected by the state Senate.
For reasons I genuinely don't understand, the Democrats in NY state have full control but the Governor nominated a very conservative anti-abortion, anti-labor judge to the position. Between Cuomo and losing to Santos, what in the hell is happening in NY?
It's becoming a national story because it is does have interactions with the GOP House takeover. I've been semi-obsessed with this story because several national Democrats are weighing in and it's a hot mess that has been a long-time coming. The boil down is that the NY Dem party was broken by Cuomo. Cuomo played a lot of games where he struck deals with everyone including the GOP to build out his power base which was the source of much of his impunity.

It sounds like Hochul tried to follow his playbook but couldn't quite pull it off. The real fatal error was not properly reading how people would react to court appointments post-Dodd which was in the past a non-issue in NY. The list of issues being thrown on the court include several House seats lost when the Conservative court imposed their own map. Many folks there are a bit on edge about the court's makeup so when she decided to nominate this guy it started an expected fight. He probably would have been a non-issue in a different year.

On top, this also interacts with how the party mishandled Santos and other candidacies. We can think of the LaSalle appointment as a last straw type thing. He has made several anti-abortion and anti-union rulings in the past. All the big guns including the labor unions are laying into her. And this has become a win it or be a lame duck fight for Hochul who kept doubling down for whatever reason.

Edit: By the way, I have to also comment that Politico has a very Pitchbot headline, "Progressives may tank Hochul’s pick to lead New York’s top court. She's fighting back." Such hot garbage.

They naturally frame this as a "Progressive" freak out despite it being a fairly well-rounded push back from a big part of the NY Democratic party. Heck from the PIECE ITSELF:
In doing so, the Democratic governor set up an unprecedented showdown with lawmakers over her choice for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals. She now faces the prospect this month that LaSalle will become the first top judicial nominee to ever be rejected by the state Senate.

The confirmation fight pits the moderate Hochul against the party’s progressives, but it is also dividing Democrats both in and out of the state Senate.

...


At issue for the unions, progressive advocates and a coalition of liberal legal minds are a handful of decisions that LaSalle, who currently presides over the New York Supreme Court’s Second Department in Brooklyn, had joined. Despite the larger nuances of the cases and their participants, opponents say the rulings suggest LaSalle does not support abortion and union rights.
Make up your mind Politico. Is this main thrust Progressives or not? Maybe they've now decided the Overton window has shifted enough that labor union representation is inherently progressive. IMHO this is just the usual boring 'radical centrist' take at work.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

NY Times
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s embattled nominee to become New York State’s top judge was rejected on Wednesday, an unprecedented repudiation that underscored a deep division among Democrats on the direction of the state’s judicial system.

After a combative hourslong hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-9 against the nomination of Justice Hector D. LaSalle, whose nomination was strongly opposed by progressives who saw him as too moderate.

The committee’s rejection — the first time that New York lawmakers have voted against a governor’s choice for chief judge — laid bare how vulnerable Ms. Hochul, a Buffalo-area Democrat, may be to a challenge from her own party. All 10 senators who voted against the judge were Democrats; two Democrats voted in favor of Justice LaSalle, while one Democrat and all six Republicans on the committee voted in favor “without recommendation.”

The rejection does not necessarily mean that the LaSalle saga is over. The governor has not ruled out taking legal action to force a vote on Justice LaSalle’s nomination on the full Senate floor, raising the specter of a constitutional showdown.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

CNN
Elizabeth Holmes made an “attempt to flee the country” by booking a one-way ticket to Mexico departing in January 2022, shortly after the Theranos founder was convicted of fraud, prosecutors alleged in a new court filing Friday.

Holmes was convicted last January of defrauding investors while running the failed blood testing startup Theranos. In November, she was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. She has appealed her conviction and does not start her prison sentence until this spring, a waiting period that prosecutors described as “generous” and due to her being pregnant.

...

In the filing, prosecutors argue Holmes has not shown convincing evidence that she is not a flight risk, as her lawyers have stated, and used the alleged 2022 incident to support their concerns that she could pose such a risk.

“The government became aware on January 23, 2022, that Defendant Holmes booked an international flight to Mexico departing on January 26, 2022, without a scheduled return trip,” the court filing states. “Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled.”

The filing adds that prosecutors anticipate Holmes will “reply that she did not in fact leave the country as scheduled” but said “it is difficult to know with certainty” what she would have done “had the government not intervened.” Now, in the wake of her sentencing, prosecutors say “the incentive to flee has never been higher” and Holmes “has the means to act on that incentive.”
My favorite part is this one. Sure. Her attorney is paid to make such arguments but come on. :lol:
The court filing includes an email from one of Holmes’ attorneys to the prosecution, claiming that the travel reservation was made before the verdict. In the email, Holmes’ attorney claims the former Theranos CEO hoped the verdict would be different and that she would be able to make this trip to attend the wedding of friends in Mexico.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Ugly stuff. Whether 100% true or not this is what is being kicked around by the GOP base. We have problems.

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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Jaymann »

The Grinch is exonerated.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Isgrimnur »

Well, that should be enough to open a criminal investigation.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Alefroth »

Comer is probably already on it.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

This is rocking the world views for some folks I know in the NYC ex-FBI community.

CNN

The former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York field office was charged in two separate indictments Monday for allegedly working with a sanctioned Russian oligarch after he retired and concealing hundreds of thousands of dollars he received from a former employee of an Albanian intelligence agency while he was a top official at the bureau.

Charles McGonigal, a 22-year veteran of the FBI until he retired in 2018, was arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport Saturday when returning from international travel, a source familiar with the arrest tells CNN.

The charges, announced by the US attorney’s offices in the Southern District of New York and Washington, DC, mark a dramatic fall for McGonigal. He is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan later Monday. His attorney said he will plead not guilty to the charges. His arraignment on the DC charges has not yet been scheduled.

McGonigal is facing charges in New York for violating US sanctions, conspiracy, and money laundering charges for working in 2021 with Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who was sanctioned for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. Prosecutors allege McGonigal and Sergey Shestakov, a former Russian diplomat who has most recently worked as an interpreter in New York federal courts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, violated US sanctions by digging up dirt on Deripaska’s rival at the time he was already sanctioned.

In Washington, McGonigal is charged with concealing connections he had with the person who decades earlier worked for an Albanian intelligence agency, including receiving $225,000 in payments.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Smoove_B »

It's so weird how money continues to be a theme in our political system, isn't it?

I just needed to submit my annual 12 page financial disclosure document to the state, but no one seems to notice the former head of FBI counterintelligence pulling in a quarter of a million that was unaccounted for.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Max Peck
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Max Peck »

Obviously someone noticed...
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malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:30 pm It's so weird how money continues to be a theme in our political system, isn't it?

I just needed to submit my annual 12 page financial disclosure document to the state, but no one seems to notice the former head of FBI counterintelligence pulling in a quarter of a million that was unaccounted for.
For real. It's disgusting. This is the type of largesse children learn about in history classes about how past nation's/empire's disintegrated. And we just pretend it isn't happening at a rapid pace.

This guy was in charge of investigating Russian bad actors yet waltzes out the door to go make big bucks advocating for them? This was fairly brazen and it's another major crisis for the FBI. Not mentioned in all this is that he worked for some time at ... Brookfield Properties (edit: they released a statement saying he left in Jan 2022). NYC real estate again in the center of a scandal with Russian fingerprints all over it. Looks like we need to add it to the list of cities like London which need a -Grad appended onto the end.
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Smoove_B
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Smoove_B »

malchior wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:42 pm This guy was in charge of investigating Russian bad actors
I think that's a bit of understatement having now just seen this:


Just to be clear, when the New York Times reported that the FBI saw “no link between Trump and Russia” — a week before the 2016 election — the FBI agent who was just arrested over ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska was heading up the investigation.
:?
Maybe next year, maybe no go
malchior
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

That's sadly just one angle (an important one but there are many). There is the pervasive money laundering. There is a shadow cyber war being waged against our nation by Russia. This should be a major scandal. If we had a functioning, accountable government there'd be real consequences. Biden should possibly fire Wray. We need a internal tiger team stood up to see how much damage there is because FBI runs on relationships. I'd be unsurprised to hear about agents who worked with him who went with him into the private sector. But this is the United States in decline so it could very well be forgotten in a few days.

Edit: Also I just remembered and dug this up - remember when #MoscowMitch worked to lift sanctions on this oligarch to build an aluminum plant in Kentucky? He totally divested his interest. Yeah that's the ticket. Nothing to see here folks.
In January, as the Senate debated whether to permit the Trump administration to lift sanctions on Russia’s largest aluminum producer, two men with millions of dollars riding on the outcome met for dinner at a restaurant in Zurich.

On one side of the table sat the head of sales for Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer that would benefit most immediately from a favorable Senate vote. The U.S. government had imposed sanctions on Rusal as part of a campaign to punish Russia for “malign activity around the globe,” including attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election.

On the other side sat Craig Bouchard, an American entrepreneur who had gained favor with officials in Kentucky, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bouchard was trying to build the first new aluminum-rolling mill in the United States in nearly four decades, in a corner of northeastern Kentucky ravaged by job losses and the opioid epidemic — a project that stood to benefit enormously if Rusal were able to get involved.

...

But the timing of their meeting shows how much a major venture in McConnell’s home state had riding on the Democratic-backed effort in January to keep sanctions in place.

By the next day, McConnell had successfully blocked the bill, despite the defection of 11 Republicans.

Within weeks, the U.S. government had formally lifted sanctions on Rusal, citing a deal with the company that reduced the ownership interest of its Kremlin-linked founder, Oleg Deripaska. And three months later, Rusal announced plans for an extraordinary partnership with Bouchard’s company, providing $200 million in capital to buy a 40 percent stake in the new aluminum plant in Ashland, Ky. — a project Gov. Matt Bevin (R) boasted was “as significant as any economic deal ever made in the history of Kentucky.”
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

TPM ran down an interesting angle too

It's paywalled so I'll summarize a little. Josh Marshall at TPM alleges that the crime McGonigal was charged with is related to a FARA filing in 2021. Essentially FBI was on this in November of 2021
In mid-November 2021 FBI interviewed Sergey Shastakov, a former Soviet diplomat who now works as a translator in the US, who is also charged in the indictment.
The FBI seized his electronics and McGonigal filed his FARA report about a week later.
Indeed, if you read the FARA filing you can easily identify a number of people in the indictment. People like Agent – 1, for instance, who appears to be Yevgeny Fokin. I was surprised to see so much of this revealed in a FARA filing more than a year ago.

But when you look at the FARA filing along with the indictment the picture gets more clear. In mid-November 2021 FBI interviewed Sergey Shastakov, a former Soviet diplomat who now works as a translator in the US, who is also charged in the indictment. They asked him about his relationship with McGonigal and Fokin. He lied to them. A short time later, on November 21st, the FBI seized Shastakov electronic devices. The FARA filing about his work with McGonigal and Fokin was filed on November 29th, 2021. I’m going to assume this wasn’t a coincidence.
Why is this important?
In 2018, prior to McGonigal’s retirement, Shastakov, put McGonigal in touch with Agent-1, who I’ve identified as Fokin. He was a former Soviet and Russia diplomat, a reputed former intelligence agent and now an employee of Deripaska. Shastakov asked McGonigal to get Fokin’s daughter a counter-terrorism and intelligence internship with the NYPD. McGonigal made it happen. He apparently explained to an FBI subordinate that Fokin was a Russian intelligence officer and McGonigal was trying to recruit him. An NYPD sergeant who briefed the daughter reported the encounter back to the NYPD and FBI because she “claimed to have an unusually close relationship to ‘an FBI agent’ who had given her access to confidential FBI files.”

The indictment doesn’t say any more than that. But it certainly sounds like we’re supposed to think or at least suspect that the Agent might be McGonigal.
The takeaway is that McGonigal might have been deeply embedded with the Russians for some time. This is looking pretty bad.
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waitingtoconnect
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by waitingtoconnect »

Tucker Carlson has (allegedly) killed all the cartoon M&Ms.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2023/01/tuck ... scot-team/

We are through the looking glass people :pop:
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Unagi
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Unagi »

waitingtoconnect wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:12 am Tucker Carlson has (allegedly) killed all the cartoon M&Ms.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2023/01/tuck ... scot-team/

We are through the looking glass people :pop:
I love their idea that Maya Rudolph is someone all of America can agree to. I’m sure they will learn they cannot win.
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pr0ner
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by pr0ner »

I'll laugh if this is just a Super Bowl commercial stunt.
Hodor.
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