US crime

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Virginia home of mother of January 6 police officer swatted

      by

      The home of the mother of Michael Fanone, a Washington DC police officer who nearly died in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, was “swatted” on Tuesday night.An unnamed person who had written a manifesto seen by NBC falsely claimed they had killed Fanone’s mother and would go to Fanone’s old high school on Wednesday and shoot people. The manifesto listed Fanone’s mother’s address in Virginia.Fanone’s father was also targeted in the manifesto but was out of the country at the time. He called swatting calls like the one aimed at his parents “incredibly fucking dangerous”.Fanone told NBC News: “How dangerous is it to send law enforcement to an address in which you essentially are describing an active shooter, in which the only person present is a 78-year-old fucking woman.”Fanone spoke of how horrified his mother was that night to open the door and be met with Swat team officers while in her nightgown.Fairfax county police assisted in an investigation into the swatting call.Fanone said the swatting incident likely happened as a “direct result” of the public appearances he makes speaking out against Donald Trump.Speaking at a Biden campaign event earlier on Tuesday outside the courthouse where Trump’s hush-money trial was taking place alongside the Capitol police officer Harry Dunn and the actor Robert De Niro, Fanone said Trump was an “authoritarian who answers to and serves only himself”.Fanone voted for Trump in 2016 but has since thrown his support behind Biden, and blames the Capitol attack on “Trump’s lies”.At the Tuesday press conference, Fanone said: “These supporters were fueled by Trump’s lies and the lies of his surrogates, lies that the 2020 election was stolen. Those same lies have been spewed by Donald Trump and his surrogates about what happened to me and so many other police officers on January 6, 2021 – that day, I was brutally assaulted.”Recounting the attack on the Capitol during which he was on duty, Fanone said he was pulled by the “violent mob” and beaten, almost stripped of his firearm and tasered on his neck.He was assigned a desk job for his safety after leaving the Metropolitan police department later in 2021.The swatting incident involving Fanone’s mother is one of several targeted at high-profile individuals in politics. Others have been aimed at the former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, the House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Florida senator Rick Scott, the Maine secretary of state Shenna Bellows, and the former House Republican from Wisconsin Mike Gallagher, who stepped down because of the threats against him and his family.Amid the spike in these types of threats, Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, said in January: “These threats of violence are unacceptable. They threaten the fabric of our democracy.” More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Bob Menendez corruption trial to begin: ‘I look forward to proving my innocence’

      by

      The criminal corruption trial of Democratic US senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is scheduled to get under way in a Manhattan federal court Monday, with prosecutors preparing a colorful tale of a greedy politician with a fondness for gold bullion, fast cars, and almost half a million dollars in cash found hidden around his home.Menendez, 70, insists he is innocent of the 16 felony charges brought against him by the US attorney’s office of the southern district of New York, including bribery, extortion, obstruction, and acting as a foreign agent.But prosecutors allege he used his considerable power and influence as chair of the Senate foreign relations committee to illegally smooth over lucrative business deals for several associates with the governments of Egypt and Qatar.And they say the 13 gold bars – and money found stuffed into jacket pockets, closets and a safe during a summer 2022 raid on his house in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, as well as a gleaming new Mercedes-Benz in the garage – were his rewards.Menendez resigned his committee post but refused to stand down as a senator, even after a superseding indictment in January leveled new allegations, including that he took gifts of more cash and gold, as well as Formula 1 tickets and high-end wristwatches, for promoting Qatari interests.The charges are wide-ranging. Prosecutors say he also divulged secret information to Egyptian officials about the number and nationalities of US embassy staff in Cairo – and that he tried to disrupt a New Jersey criminal case against another businessman friend.“What the government really has going for it in this case is the picture of a powerful senator renting his office to a foreign power,” Daniel Richman, an expert on federal bribery law at Columbia Law School, told the Washington Post.Politicians in his own party have been critical of Menendez, who will stand trial alongside his wife Nadine and three New Jersey businessmen, including Wael Hana, an Egyptian government representative alleged to have set up shell companies to transfer the money and some of the gifts.The Pennsylvania Democratic senator John Fetterman is among those demanding Menendez’s resignation and has repeatedly called the New Jersey senator “a sleazebag”. Fetterman told CNN last week: “He won’t be around much longer – that would be my bet.”Menendez has declared he will not be running as a Democrat in November for re-election to the New Jersey Senate seat he has held since 2006. But he has not ruled out a campaign as an independent.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAt a press conference last September, Menendez remained defiant, claiming the $480,000 found in the raid was for his personal use and insisting that he would not quit. Asked last week by CNN if he would resign from the senate if convicted, he replied: “I am looking forward to proving my innocence”.The trial, to begin Monday with jury selection, is expected to last several weeks.It is the second time in a decade that Menendez has faced bribery charges after a 2017 mistrial into separate corruption claims, including that he misused campaign donations from a Florida eye doctor and cavorted with prostitutes at the doctor’s home in the Dominican Republic.A jury was unable to reach a verdict after an 11-week trial, and prosecutors announced in February 2018 that they would not seek to retry him. Menendez was elected to the Senate for his fourth term later that year. More

    • 225 Shares139 Views

      in Elections

      Former US town clerk and her lawyer charged for allegedly accessing 2020 voter data in hunt for fraud

      by

      Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, announced felony charges Tuesday against Stefanie Lambert, an election-denying attorney, and Stephanie Scott, a former small-town election clerk , over an alleged 2020 voter data breach.Nessel’s office alleges Lambert and Scott allowed an “unauthorized computer examiner” to access private voter data from the 2020 general US election and that Scott illegally withheld voting equipment amid an order from the Michigan secretary of state to submit it for regular maintenance. According to a statement from Nessel’s office, Lambert transmitted voter data at Scott’s direction.“When elected officials and their proxies use their positions to promote baseless conspiracies, show blatant disregard for voter privacy, and break the law in the process, it undermines the very essence of the democratic process,” Nessel said in a statement. “Those who engage in such reckless conduct must be held accountable for their actions.”Lambert did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Lambert faces separate felony charges in Oakland county, Michigan for her role in allegedly tampering with election equipment. In March, Lambert was arrested for failing to comply with court orders in that case, including refusing to submit fingerprints.In the wake of the 2020 election, Lambert took on numerous cases challenging the election results and worked with the attorney Sidney Powell on a lawsuit seeking to overturn the election in Michigan. Since then, Lambert has used her platform to promote baseless conspiracy theories about elections, fundraising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support her work. She is currently representing former Overstock CEO and prominent election denier Patrick Byrne in his defense against a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.Last month, Lambert faced a hearing for possible sanctions after she handed over Dominion documents apparently obtained in discovery to the rightwing sheriff Dar Leaf of Barry county, Michigan.Meanwhile Scott, who faces five felony charges in connection with the alleged voter data breach, was recalled in May 2023 from her position overseeing elections in the rural Michigan community of Adams Township. But she has stayed active in local politics since then – even filing paperwork last month to run for the office of Hillsdale county clerk.“When I saw [the charges] I think my jaw dropped,” said Abe Dane, who is the current elections director for Hillsdale county and is running against Scott. “I’m pleased that they’re looking into it further, because I’ve wanted them to for a very long time.”Lambert’s attorney, Daniel Hartman, said in a statement that his client did not violate the law and that she “remains steadfast in her efforts to bring transparency to the people’s election data, processes and procedures”Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes over Donald Trump, a result confirmed by a Republican-led state Senate investigation in 2021. More

    • 175 Shares139 Views

      in US Politics

      Georgia will allow Trump to challenge order keeping Fani Willis on election interference case

      by

      The Georgia state court of appeals on Wednesday said it would consider an appeal from Donald Trump of an order allowing Fani Willis, the district attorney, to continue prosecuting his election interference case in Fulton county.In a one-page order, the appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge the decision not to disqualify Willis over her relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to lead the Trump case. Scott McAfee, the trial judge overseeing the case, ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade resigned. Wade subsequently resigned the same day McAfee issued his decision.Trump now has 10 days to file a notice of appeal, the court said. His legal team had asked the court of appeals to consider the case in March and clarify the standard for when a prosecutor should be disqualified.“President Trump looks forward to presenting interlocutory arguments to the Georgia court of appeals as to why the case should be dismissed and Fulton county DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s attorney, said in a statement.The decision to hear the appeal is a significant win for Trump. It decreases the chances that the case will go to trial before the November election and allows Trump and his lawyers to continue to undermine Willis’s credibility and keep questions about her judgment in the public eye. McAfee has already excoriated Willis for her conduct, saying she had a “tremendous lapse in judgment”.Trump’s attorneys may petition the court to stay the trial pending the outcome of their appeal. Otherwise, the appeal will not immediately impede the prosecution as McAfee takes up pending motions. But if the appeals court decides that Willis must be removed, it would reset the years-long case back to square one while a new prosecutor can be appointed to oversee the case.Last month, prosecutors urged the appeals court not to hear the appeal. “The present application merely reflects the applicants’ dissatisfaction with the trial court’s proper application of well-established law to the facts,” prosecutors wrote in a 19-page filing.Trump and more than a dozen of his allies were charged last year with racketeering over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump and his co-defendants tried to dismiss the case by alleging that Willis’s relationship, and statements she made at a Black church in Atlanta suggesting criticism of her was racist, meant she should be recused from the case.Wade defended his relationship with Willis in an interview with ABC News last weekend. “Workplace romances are as American as apple pie,” Wade said. “It happens to everyone. But it happened to the two of us.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“I regret that that private matter became the focal point of this very important prosecution,” Wade added. “This is a very important case.”The order comes one day after Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely delayed Trump’s trial in Florida for charges that he retained classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club. More

    • 150 Shares179 Views

      in US Politics

      Unsuccessful Biden challenger is first Democrat to call for Henry Cuellar’s resignation

      by

      The Minnesota congressman who unsuccessfully challenged Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary became the first member of their party to call on fellow US House representative Henry Cuellar to resign after federal bribery charges were unveiled against the Texas politician on Friday.In a post on X, Dean Phillips urged Cuellar to step down, along with other politicians faced with pending criminal cases – including Biden’s presidential predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump as well as Democratic US senator Bob Menendez.“While the bar for federal indictment is high, trust in our government is low,” Phillips’ post on X said. “That’s why office holders and candidates under indictment should resign or end their campaigns, including [senator] Bob Menendez, Donald Trump & [congressman] Henry Cuellar.”The remarks from Phillips came after federal prosecutors alleged on Friday that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, accepted about $600,000 in bribes in exchange for influencing policy in favor of Azerbaijan as well as a Mexican bank between December 2014 and November 2021.Imelda Cuellar used “sham consulting contracts”, front companies and intermediaries to launder the money, prosecutors contended. And in return for the bribes, Henry Cuellar – who has represented a swath of Texas’s border with Mexico in Congress since 2005 – steered US foreign policy to Azerbaijan’s advantage while pressuring unnamed “high-ranking” federal government executives to implement measures benefiting the bank.In a statement, Henry Cuellar maintained his and his wife’s innocence. “I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” the congressman’s statement said. “Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of south Texas.”Friday’s announcement from prosecutors prompted the House Democratic minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, to say that Cuellar would step down as the ranking member of a homeland security subcommittee while the case against him proceeded. Jeffries cited the party’s rules in the House.However, Jeffries made it a point to describe Cuellar as “a valued member of the House Democratic caucus” who was “entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process”.Phillips did not concur, in his estimation lumping in Cuellar with Menendez and Trump as politicians who did not deserve to hold elected office as they grappled with criminal charges.Menendez has pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges – he has said he doesn’t plan to run for re-election as a Democrat but hasn’t ruled out an independent candidacy.Trump has pleaded not guilty to nearly 90 felonies for trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Biden, improper retention of classified materials after his presidency and hush-money payments to an adult film actor that prosecutors allege were improperly covered up.The former president’s trial centering on the hush money concluded its third week on Friday. He is the Republican party’s presumptive nominee for November’s presidential race.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionOne indicted politician who recently did not leave his position on his own terms was George Santos, who was expelled from the US House amid fraud-related charges.Phillips mounted a long-shot bid to deny Biden from winning a second consecutive Democratic nomination seemingly against the advice of most of his party colleagues.Biden dominated the contest, and Phillips dropped out after losing his home state.His cause was not helped when a political operative working for the Phillips campaign – without permission from the candidate or his advisers – admitted being behind a artificial intelligence-created robocall that spoofed Biden’s voice on the eve of the primary’s start and urged Democrats in New Hampshire to avoid voting.Phillips was first elected to Congress to represent a wealthier suburban area outside Minneapolis in 2019 but gave up seeking re-election to his seat in November to pursue his challenge to Biden. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Congressman Henry Cuellar in court accused of receiving $600,000 in bribes

      by

      The US justice department on Friday accused the Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, of accepting about $600,000 in bribes in exchange for influencing policy in favor of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.The Cuellars had made their first appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Houston by the afternoon, but it was not clear how they pleaded. Earlier, the congressman, who has represented a swath of Texas’s border with Mexico in the US House since 2005, issued a statement denying unspecified “allegations” against him.“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said.He added that “I’m running for re-election and will win this November,” when Democrats are hoping to regain the majority in the House of Representatives.The justice department said that between December 2014 and November 2021, the Cuellars received bribes from an unspecified bank headquartered in Mexico City as well as an oil and gas company controlled by the government of Azerbaijan.Imelda Cuellar then allegedly used “sham consulting contracts”, front companies and intermediaries to launder the money.In return, the congressman influenced US foreign policy to Azerbaijan’s advantage and pressured unnamed “high-ranking” officials in the executive branch to take actions in favor of the bank.A statement from the House Democratic minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said that under the party’s rules in the chamber, Cuellar would step down as the ranking member of a homeland security subcommittee while he faces these charges.Jeffries added that Cuellar “admirably devoted his career to public service … is a valued member of the House Democratic caucus” and was “entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process”.Two years ago, the FBI raided Cuellar’s Laredo, Texas, home and campaign office as part of an investigation into US businessmen and their links with Azerbaijan. Cuellar said he was cooperating with their inquiry, and months later, an attorney for the lawmaker told Fox News that he was not a target of the investigation that led to the raid.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn his statement on Friday, the congressman said that “before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm. The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”Cuellar added that he had requested to meet with “the Washington DC prosecutors to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side”.Federal charges could complicate the re-election of 68-year-old Cuellar, who is seeking an 11th term in office. A moderate Democrat, he supported a bipartisan Senate bill that would have tightened immigration policy, and is the party’s sole House lawmaker opposed to passing federal legislation to guarantee abortion access.After the 2022 raid on his home and office, Cuellar narrowly won the Democratic primary against his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, then easily beat the Republican Cassy Garcia in the general election. More

    • 175 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      I left my suit in San Francisco: thieves swipe bags from Adam Schiff’s car

      by

      San Francisco has earned an unwelcome national reputation for car burglaries, which Adam Schiff was reminded of the hard way: the Democratic representative had his luggage swiped from his car while it was parked in a downtown garage.With his formal clothing gone, Schiff ended up at a fundraising dinner Thursday for his US Senate campaign dressed like he was headed to a Los Angeles Dodgers game – in shirtsleeves and an insulated vest. Others who attended the event were mostly decked out in suit jackets and ties.Schiff’s campaign confirmed the burglary and declined further comment, citing an ongoing investigation.“Yes, they took my bags,” the representative lamented to the San Francisco Chronicle.Statistically, reported auto break-ins are down in San Francisco, but vehicles with busted windows leaving sprinkles of broken glass remain a common sight in the city. Visitors and residents are constantly reminded to remove valuables from parked cars.It was advice Schiff neglected to follow.In August, the city’s police chief announced a crackdown on auto smash-and-grabs. The San Francisco police department reported nearly 900 break-ins in February, down from 1,850 in July. There were more than 3,000 reported thefts in September 2022. More

    • 125 Shares139 Views

      in US Politics

      Two Turning Point USA members admit to assaulting queer professor

      by

      Two employees of a rightwing youth organization who harassed and assaulted a queer professor last year agreed to a diversion program and admitted they were guilty of the acts.Turning Point USA’s Kalen D’Almeida and Braden Ellis accosted the Arizona State University (ASU) professor David Boyles last October, hounding him about his sexuality and the classes he teaches. Boyles is an English instructor and the co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona.At one point, D’Almeida pushed Boyles to the ground, bloodying his face. Boyles posted an image of his injuries online at the time, saying his physical injuries were “relatively minor” but that he felt “angry, violated, embarrassed and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence” against the LGBTQ+ community.Both D’Almeida and Ellis signed diversion agreements with prosecutors that acknowledge they committed the offenses and enter them into an educational program to avoid convictions, Phoenix TV station 12News reported.D’Almeida, who was charged with misdemeanors for assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, and Ellis, charged with misdemeanor harassment, had previously pleaded not guilty and, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the organization said Ellis, who works as its cameraman, would pursue charges against Boyles.Boyles told the Guardian he was “disappointed but not surprised” that the county attorney pursued “the lightest possible slap on the wrist” for the Turning Point employees, but that he was gratified to see that “the two hateful losers who stalked, harassed, and assaulted me at my place of work last October have admitted their guilt”.“I hope this incident has made people aware that Turning Point USA does not care about free speech or serious debate but instead trades in hateful and bigoted rhetoric solely to ‘create content’ for their endless tedious podcasts and to stoke fear and violence in the real world,” Boyles said in a statement. “And I hope administrators at Arizona State and other universities will work to protect their LGBTQ+ students, staff, and faculty by no longer indulging and coddling organizations like TPUSA.”Turning Point USA said in a statement that it was “uninvolved in this matter, and the decision on the correct legal course had been left entirely to our reporters and their counsel”.“To be clear, Kalen and Braden have not been found guilty of anything in court. Diversion is a legal tactic where all charges are dismissed, and the language is boilerplate and standard to all such cases,” a TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet, said. “The fact is our reporters would not be permitted a jury trial for such a low-level misdemeanor, but instead be subject to a bench decision from a judge, Tyler Kissell, who doesn’t even have a law degree, was vice-president of the ASU chapter of Young Democrats, ran for state senate as a Democrat, and whose recent work experience includes teaching pre-school. Given these realities, we entirely understand why they decided to pursue this route.”ASU’s president, Michael Crow, previously condemned the attack on Boyles and has tried to get Turning Point to remove the university’s professors from its “professor watchlist” because it prompted harassment and threats against them.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“We are looking at all of our options now that the TP employees have plead[ed] guilty to their crimes,” Crow said in an email on Tuesday. “This includes direct engagement with TP to see what they are doing with their criminal employees.”Turning Point USA plays a large role in Republican politics, especially in Arizona, where it is based. The group boosted Donald Trump’s candidacy and is aligned with the Maga movement. Its leaders, including founder and executive director Charlie Kirk, are prominent conservative commentators, and it has chapters on college campuses around the country. Multiple Arizona lawmakers have held jobs at the organization over the years, including state representative Austin Smith, who recently resigned from Turning Point after allegations he submitted forged signatures of voters in his petitions to run for re-election.The organization has also clashed with the university community in a few instances, including over an event that brought Kirk and other conservatives to campus to speak. More