Tag: guilty

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Trump Considering ‘Preemptive’ Pardons For As Many As 20 Allies

The list of possible “preemptive” pardons from Donald Trump is apparently even longer than originally thought. From Politico:

President Donald Trump is considering preemptively pardoning as many as 20 aides and associates before leaving office, frustrating Republicans who believe offering legal reprieves to his friends and family members could backfire.

Trump’s strategy, like much of his presidency, is nontraditional. He is eschewing the typical protocol of processing cases through the Justice Department. And he may argue that such preemptive pardons for his friends and family members are necessary to spare them from paying millions in legal fees to fight what he describes as witch hunts.

Those up for clemency include everyone from Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to several members of his family — all people who haven’t been charged with a crime.

The Donald is reportedly concerned that pardoning these folks ‘would look like an admission of guilt.’ Which, by the way, is what it would be.

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Former Judge Calls DOJ Attempt To Drop Flynn Charges ‘Gross Abuse Of Power’

Michael Flynn (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
A former federal judge asked to look into the Justice Department’s highly unusual request to drop its criminal case against Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s first national security advisor, did not demure in his assessment calling the move a “gross abuse of prosecutorial power.” From CNBC:

“The Government has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President,” the ex-judge, John Gleeson, wrote in a scathing legal filing opposing the proposed dismissal. Trump has strongly criticized the prosecution of Flynn.

Gleeson, who was assigned by the judge in Flynn’s case to advise him on several questions, also wrote that the retired Army lieutenant general “has indeed committed perjury” in his statements to the case judge during proceedings in the case, “for which he deserves punishment.”

But Gleeson added that while federal Judge Emmet Sullivan has the power to hold Flynn in criminal contempt for perjuring himself during a plea hearing and another hearing conducted by Sullivan, the judge should “not exercise that authority.”

“Rather, [Sullivan] should take Flynn’s perjury into account in sentencing him on the offense to which he has already admitted guilt,” Gleeson wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Twice under oath, Flynn admitted to lying to FBI agents about his discussions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States prior to Trump’s inauguration. In the end, all of this won’t matter. Trust and believe, the Donald will issue a pardon for Flynn. #LockHimUp

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Trump ‘Considering A Full Pardon’ For Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
In a surprise to no one, Donald Trump said on Sunday he is “considering a full pardon” for his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Flynn admitted he lied to the FBI in December 2017 about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then the Russian ambassador to the United States, in the weeks before Trump took office. NBC News reports the Justice Department reversed its original position in January and recommended that Flynn be sentenced to up to six months in prison. Attorneys for Flynn then filed papers to withdraw his guilty plea claiming federal prosecutors violated his rights and tricked him into pleading guilty. Referencing an unspecified report that the Justice Department had “lost” records pertaining to Flynn, Trump tweeted, “I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!”

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GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter Pleads Guilty To Stealing Hundreds Of Thousands From Campaign

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA50)
GOP Congressman Duncan Hunter pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from campaign funds for his personal use. Expenditures included a weekend-long bachelor party and a $140,000 family vacation to Italy. Not an accounting mistake; not a ‘witch-hunt’ as he previously claimed. From the Department of Justice:

U.S. Representative Duncan D. Hunter pleaded guilty in federal court today to the major count in his indictment, admitting that he knowingly and willfully stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds that he and his wife used to maintain their lifestyle.

According to the plea agreement, Hunter and his wife, Margaret, who pleaded guilty in June 2019, illegally converted more than $150,000 in campaign funds from 2010 through 2016 to purchase goods and services for their personal use and enjoyment, and engaged in 30 or more illegal transactions using campaign funds for personal use.

As detailed in the indictment, the Hunters stole money from the campaign for items as inconsequential as fast food, movie tickets, and sneakers; as trivial as video games, Lego sets and Playdoh; as mundane as groceries, dog food, and utilities; and as self-indulgent as luxury hotels, overseas vacations and plane tickets for their family pet rabbits, Eggburt and Cadbury – all while their family was otherwise deeply in debt.

During the course of the conspiracy, the Hunters overdrew their bank account more than 1,100 times in a seven-year period resulting in $37,761 in “overdraft” and “insufficient funds” bank fees. They racked up $24,600 in finance charges, interest, and other fees related to late, over the limit, and returned payment fees for their credit cards. Hunter returns to court on March 17, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. for sentencing where he’ll face possibly five years in prison and $250,000 fine.

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Felicity Huffman Plus 13 Will Plead Guilty To College Scandal

Felicity Huffman (image via Wikimedia)

Former Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman will plead guilty in the recent college admissions scandal.

According to Variety, Huffman was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The criminal complaint alleges she paid $15,000 to a college admissions consultant, William Singer, to improve her daughter’s SAT score.

Huffman arranged to have her daughter take the SAT at the West Hollywood Test Center, which Singer controlled.

Huffman was also able to obtain extra time for her daughter to take the test. Singer admitted to hiring a proctor to correct answers on students’ exams.

Huffman’s daughter got a 1420 on the test, a 400 point improvement on her PSAT result.

The Oscar-nominated actress issued a statement about the guilty plea:

“I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions.

“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”

“My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”

(image by Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Former NV Senate Majority Leader Pleads Guilty To Spending $250K Of Campaign Funds For Personal Use

Former Nevada lawmaker Kelvin Atkinson

Former Nevada Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson pleaded guilty today to withdrawing nearly $250,000 from campaign funds for his personal use.

Atkinson resigned from his Senate seat last week. He was Nevada’s first openly gay Senate leader, and only the third African-American  to hold the position.

From Fox5Vegas:

Prosecutors said Atkinson used the funds to operate a Las Vegas night club, make payments on personal credit cards and lease a luxury car, among other expenses, the release said.

Atkinson, 49, represented District 4. He was elected to the Nevada Senate in November 2012 and named majority leader in November 2018, the release said.

Atkinson admitted that between January 2010 to December 2017, he devised a scheme to mislead donors contributing to his campaign by falsely telling them he would use the donations for lawful campaign purposes, but instead used his campaign account for personal expenses, the release said.

Because of the manner in which Atkinson withdrew the money, an exact amount is not known, the release said. But Atkinson admitted to spending nearly $250,000 of unreported withdrawals on personal expenses. His personal spending of campaign funds included $100,000 in payments on his personal credit cards, $75,000 toward opening and operating a night club and $20,000 on leasing a Jaguar SUV, among other expenses.

The statutory maximum sentence for wire fraud is 20 years, the release said. Atkinson has agreed to pay $249,900 in restitution.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.

Atkinson famously came out during a 2013 debate in the Senate regarding repealing Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The following year, he and his husband were among the first same-sex couples to be married in Nevada.

As a proud gay Democratic Nevadan, living in Las Vegas for 15 years, I’m disgusted that Atkinson would be so unethical.

There are no excuses for such a blatant disregard for the law and personal integrity.

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Florida Man Pleads Guilty To Secretly Recording Hookups And Selling To Porn Sites

Bryan

Earlier this summer, I reported on the arrest of Bryan Deneumostier, a Florida man who tricked men into being blindfolded for sexual encounters he secretly filmed for a porn website.

According to the Miami Herald, the victims would connect with Deneumostier via Craigslist and then head to a home in South Miami-Dade for an anonymous sex-capade with a ‘bored military housewife.’

The men apparently agreed ahead of time to be blindfolded or wear blackout goggles. What they didn’t realize was the ‘bored housewife’ was actually 33-year-old Deneumostier who, once the men were unable to see and had their hands tied to a chair, would perform various sex acts like oral sex and record the episodes for a website called ‘Straightboyz.’

Over the course of four years, Deneumostier was paid $3,000 a month for video content by the porn site.

The Miami New Times now reports that Deneumostier admits that more than 80 of the men didn’t know they were being recorded.

In June, Deneumostier was charged with two felony counts of recording people without their consent, as well as three counts of keeping improper records for his porn site.

However, on Thursday, he agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors which only included charges of recording two victims in May and July 2015.

Deneumostier now faces up to ten years in prison.

That’s not the end of legal woes for Deneumostier, though.

In May, police arrested the 33-year-old in a hotel room with an underage boy who had been reported missing.

After seeing leather handcuffs, lubricant and other sex toys in the room, Deneumostier copped to spending two days having sex with the boy after giving him alcohol and drugs.

He was charged in state court for having sex with a minor.

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Manafort Plea Deal Single-Handedly Pays For Special Counsel Investigation

Manafort will forfeit many of his assets as part of the deal, including money in several bank accounts, an apartment in Trump Tower, and one in downtown Manhattan; worth about $46 million, these assets single-handedly cover the cost of the Mueller investigation.
Donald Trump

For over a year, Donald Trump has ranted that the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is a “witch hunt” and an expensive waste of taxpayer money.

Actually, that “witch hunt” has now seen FIVE Trump associates plead guilty to felony charges.

A lot of witches out there, huh?

This week, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort joined that elite group of Trumpers who have copped to felony charges.

The previous four are: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.

And about that “waste of money” charge?

Check this from NY Magazine – a little nugget that was slightly overlooked by many in the heat of the news of Paul Manafort’s plea deal this week.

Manafort will forfeit many of his assets as part of the deal, including money in several bank accounts, an apartment in Trump Tower, and one in downtown Manhattan; worth about $46 million, these assets single-handedly cover the cost of the Mueller investigation.

Keep in mind, at last count, Trump’s excessive golf habit has cost the American taxpayers $77 million in less than two years.

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Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort To Plead Guilty To Reduced Charges

Donald Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort

UPDATE – Looks like I spoke too soon.

Talking Points Memo reports that the plea deal between Manafort and Special Counsel Robert Mueller includes an agreement to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

That will not sit well with the Trumpster.

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Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.

According to reports, he will cop to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

This would make Manafort the fifth Trump campaign team member to plead guilty to criminal charges.

The charges stem from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.

From The New York Times:

In documents filed with the United States District Court in Washington, prosecutors from Mr. Mueller’s office charged Mr. Manafort with one count of conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The prosecutors dropped five other charges encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law.

So far, four former Trump aides have pleaded guilty to charges related to the special counsel investigation: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.

Mr. Manafort, who has repeatedly insisted that he would not cooperate with the special counsel, has been reassessing his legal risks after last month’s trial. He was found guilty in that case of eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account, crimes that legal experts predicted were likely to result in a prison term of six to 12 years.

The Times goes on to say the agreement will include government seizure of four of Manafort’s homes as well as the funds in several bank accounts.

A document filed by federal prosecutors indicates Manafort will admit to funneling millions of dollars in payments into offshore accounts to conceal his income from the Internal Revenue Service which resulted in “cheating the United States out of over $15 million in taxes.”

There have been no reports that Manafort plans to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing-investigation.

I maintain that Manafort is “keeping his nose clean” in regard to his relationship with Donald Trump with the expectation that the president will step in and pardon Manafort.

Mark my words.

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ABC News Reports Manafort Reaches Plea Deal With Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Paul Manafort

ABC News is reporting former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort may have come to a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller just before his second trial is to begin.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming trial, sources familiar with the negotiations tell ABC News.

The deal is expected to be announced in court Friday, but it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid the stress and expense of trial, according to three sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Manafort was found guilty of 8 felony charges last month.

I still say Manafort is counting on a pardon from Donald Trump.