John Edwards to be Indicted?

By GottaLaff

So far, the National Enquirer has been on target with this story:

The ultimate fall from grace, a Federal grand jury is about to indict John Edwards, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

In another shocker, close sources say Edwards' estranged wife Elizabeth could help send the former presidential candidate to jail!

I am so relieved he was not our candidate in 2008. His utter disregard for his family, the voters, his staff ... his country!... is stunning.

H/t: Taegan

Underpants Bomber indicted

By GottaLaff

Per MSNBC, Underpants Guy plead "not guilty" during a very brief (no pun) 3 minute court session. It was reported that he was "wearing khaki pants" and spoke English and was clearly understood.

The real question was, did he go commando?

Bygones.

I'm not sure how we got through this alive. After all, this took place in an American court. Did his terrorist cooties escape through the air conditioner vent? Did the grand jury turn into Al Qaeda operatives? Did the terrorists win... again... under President Obama's watch? After all, it was Obama who was responsible for the 9/11 attack.

But then again, you know that, because Team Cheney is out there lying about it.

Here's more:

A grand jury indicted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, on charges of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day. The Nigerian was indicted on 6 counts, including attempted murder of the other 289 passengers and crew aboard the plane, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

He faces life in prison.

Indicted: Man Who Threatened To Kill Obama, Scrawl "Fed ..." On His Chest

By GottaLaff

(click to enlarge, but warning, strong language... entire document here)

TPM has a scary-as-hell story about someone who apparently considered the Census Bureau Worker "Fed" Killer a role model:

[A] California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury after allegedly writing a deranged and racist email screed that urged recipients to "kill the 'president,'" and seemed to invoke the recent death of a Census Bureau worker in an apparent act of anti-government violence.

The scoffers who ridicule those of us who find the increasing crescendo of public hate speech and threats terrifying and worthy of reporting to the Secret Service, read this indictment in full.

It's pretty obvious that acts of violence trigger more acts of violence, that hate speech can push an unstable person into committing a crime, and that we're headed in a very wrong, very worrisome direction.

This has to stop. Memo to public officials: Let Americans know that it's time to tone down the toxicity. Now.

Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says

By GottaLaff

It's my last night of vacation, killing time in Sacramento, and suddenly the Twitterati have me hopping. Here you go:

A day after Alaska Gov. Sara Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation -- a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges.

Despite rumors of a looming controversy after Palin's surprise announcement Friday that she will leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity.

"There is absolutely no truth to those rumors, that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her," Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. "It's just not true."

Gonzalez added that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments that could exclude any kind of probe.

See? The Political Carnival: Fair and balanced.

H/t: Ryking

Palin update-- CNN source: Indictment pending

By GottaLaff

This is what I was waiting for. This kind of abrupt resignation doesn't happen because one needs to "spend time with the family":

This just in my inbox, from a source connected sometimes to CNN:

"Here's a quote I got from law enforcement here in Alaska yesterday afternoon regarding Palin "a criminal indictment is pending authorization."

Ding!

UPDATE:

The gist of the rumor is that an Alaska building company called Spenard Building Supplies (SBS) was awarded a contract by Palin to build a hockey arena in Wasilla, AK, and in return, SBS helped construct Palin’s home:

Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd steered lucrative contracts to the well-connected company in exchange for gifts like the construction of their home on pristine Lake Lucille in 2002. The home was built just two months before Palin began campaigning for governor, a job which would have provided her enhanced power to grant building contracts in the wide open state.

SBS has close ties to the Palins. The company has not only sponsored Todd Palin’s snowmobile team, according to the Village Voice’s Wayne Barrett, it hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004.

Though Todd Palin told Fox News he built his Lake Lucille home with the help of a few “buddies,” according to Barrett’s report, public records revealed that SBS supplied the materials for the house. While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin blocked an initiative that would have required the public filing of building permits—thus momentarily preventing the revelation of such suspicious information.

Just months before Palin left city hall to campaign for governor, she awarded a contract to SBS to help build the $13 million Wasilla Sports Complex. The most expensive building project in Wasilla history, the complex cost the city an addition $1.3 million in legal fees and threw it into severe long-term debt. For SBS, however, the bloated and bungled project was a cash cow. [...]

Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore writes, "For weeks the rumors of a criminal investigation against the governor have been brewing. They are rumors, but are swirling fresh again with Palin's resignation. I'm holding my breath for the other 'Naughty Monkey' to drop."

UPDATE FROM PADDY 7/4 930P EST- Now Palin's idiot sounding lawyer is threatening lawsuits against bloggers, MSNBC etc over these allegations. Moron.

Not Burris... yet: Feds indict Ald. Carothers on corruption charges

By GottaLaff

Burris will just have to wait his turn to get his very own indictment (if that even happens):

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), a staunch ally of Mayor Richard Daley, was indicted today on charges he accepted about $40,000 in improvements to his residence as well as meals and tickets to sporting events in exchange for backing a major project by a developer.

The developer, Calvin Boender, was also indicted.

Carothers, 54, was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return.

Boender was charged with four counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of violating federal campaign finance laws and one count of paying a bribe.

U.S. indictment of elected official expected

By GottaLaff

Somethin' big's a-comin'!

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said it will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. today to announce public corruption charges. Sources say it is expected to be an indictment of an elected official.

Details to come.

What took so long? Former NYPD Commish Kerik Indicted

By GottaLaff

What's that they say about the company you keep...?

[F]ormer NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges of making false statements to White House officials during his vetting for the position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The new indictment was handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Washington, and means Kerik will face trials in New York and Washington, D.C. [...]

According to the new indictment, Kerik, in 1999 and 2000 when he was NYPD commissioner, spoke to city regulators on behalf of contractors who were seeking one or more permits to do business in and with the city.

The contractors then spent more than $255,000 renovating Kerik's apartment in Riverdale. In 2004, when Kerik was under consideration by the White House for the Homeland Security position, he gave false and misleading answers to questions by White House officials about his relationship with the contractors.

The indictment alleges that Kerik falsely denied that there was any possible concern the president should have about his relationship with the contractors, and that as a public official he had had any financial dealings with individuals seeking to do business with the City.

It also alleges Kerik sent an e-mail to a White House official containing false and misleading statements concerning the renovations to the apartment in Riverdale.

Aww, come on, he's just a hard-workin' guy who's being misunderstood... you know, kind of like, ohhhh, Blagojevich?

Of course, Kerik is using that tired old "overzealous pursuit" of celebrities line:

"Today's indictment of Mr. Kerik -- the third separate prosecution against him arising out of the same purported corruption allegations from 10 years ago -- is the latest example of the Department of Justice's overzealous pursuit of high-profile public figures.

I bet he even thinks he can clear his name. Quel foolish notion:

"Mr. Kerik looks forward to finally clearing his name of these corruption charges at his federal trial in New York set for October..."

Throw him in the hoosegow and swallow the key!

If convicted Kerik could face up to five years in prison.

That's it? Up to? A measly five years? Up to...? So much for overzealousitude.

Indictment suggests Rahm Emanuel, brother were victims of extortion attempt

By GottaLaff

Get the feeling we'll be finding out a lot about a lot soon?

Rahm Emanuel appears to have been a victim of one of the extortion attempts with which former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was charged tonight.

Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment refers to two incidents involving "Congressman A": In one, Blagojevich discusses approaching the unnamed congressman to broker a deal for Obama's Senate seat.

In another, unrelated, charge, Blagojevich in 2006 allegedly demanded that the congressman or his brother -- Emanuel's high-profile sibling is super-agent Ari Emanuel -- hold a fundraiser for the governor in exchange for releasing $2 million to support a publicly funded school.

Blagojevich "wanted it communicated to United States Congressman A that United States Congressman A's brother needed to have a fundraiser" for Blago, the indictment says. [...]

The indictment notes that Emanuel did not, in fact, hold the fundraiser; the money was released anyway.

BREAKING: Rod Blagojevich indicted on 16 felony counts

By GottaLaff

Per MSNBC, he's charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion. More soon.

UPDATE, via BREAKING NEWS on Twitter:

FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S BROTHER, 2 FORMER AIDS AND TWO BUSINESSMEN ALSO INDICTED ON CORRUPTION CHARGES.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION INVOLVING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN STATE PENSION BONDS.

UPDATE:
Per David Shuster just now on MSNBC, part of the charge was a deal he was trying to make with Karl Rove to influence Fitzgerald to drop the charges.

While prosecutors went about their work, the impeached and ousted governor was apparently vacationing at a Disney World resort in Florida.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald had until Tuesday to produce an indictment replacing a criminal complaint filed against the former governor Dec. 9 after FBI agents arrested him at his Chicago home.[...]

Blagojevich, 52, was charged in the complaint with scheming to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and a host of other corruption. He denies wrongdoing. [...]

Fitzgerald has said he filed the criminal complaint instead of an indictment in December because he wanted to arrest Blagojevich immediately to stop what he called a "political corruption crime spree" by the governor. It would have taken much more time to present the evidence to a grand jury and get it to vote for an indictment. [...]

Besides the Senate seat allegations, an affidavit accompanying the complaint accuses Blagojevich of trying to squeeze companies for campaign money and pressure the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers calling for his impeachment.

UPDATE: 19 counts now?

UPDATE:

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob and Christopher Kelly, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, were all indicted today on corruption charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced.

Also charged in the indictment were Lon Monk, a lobbyist and former Blagojevich chief of staff; John Harris, also a former chief of staff to Blagojevich; and William Cellini, a Springfield insider for decades. [...]

The criminal complaint charged Blagojevich with attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama and seeking the firing of Tribune editorial writers in return for state help on the sale of Wrigley Field. The ballpark and newspaper are owned by Tribune Co.

Blagojevich's brother, Rob, took over as head of the governor's campaign fund last August, just two months before federal authorities won court authorization to wiretap the then-governor's home phone and campaign office.

Monk was also caught on the recordings.

This marks the third time Kelly has been charged by federal authorities but the first time for alleged wrongdoing with the former governor. In January the wealthy roofing contractor pleaded guilty to tax fraud for concealing his use of corporate funds to cover gambling debts, but just weeks later, he was charged in connection with a kickback scheme at O'Hare International Airport.

Authorities have alleged that Harris tried to carry out the governor's plan to have Tribune editorial writers fired for critical editorials of Blagojevich.

Citizen grand jury indicts Obama

By GottaLaff

The lunacy never ends:

President Obama has been named in dozens of civil lawsuits alleging he is not eligible to be president, with one man even filing a criminal complaint alleging the commander-in-chief is a fraud, and now a citizen grand jury in Georgia has indicted the sitting president.

This couldn't get much more meaningless, especially in light of this. I'd go on, but I'd just be repeating myself.

Hurricane Katrina fallout: Republican Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr indicted by the Feds for grant fraud

By GottaLaff

This is breaking as we speak:

This morning, the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Mississippi handed down a 16 count indictment accusing Republican Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr and his wife Laura Warr of illegally obtaining grant monies for personal use. If convicted on all counts, they each face a total of 210 years in federal prison and up to $4 million in fines. This has been a cooperative investigation between the FBI, HUD, Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, the US Attorneys Office and State Auditor Stacey Pickering’s office. [...]

Arraignment was held in front of Magistrate Judge John Roper in Gulfport this morning.

Here is a copy of the indictment. Interestingly, this indictment was handed down and sealed on November 6, 2008 and unsealed this morning.

At issue seems to be whether or not Warr used this beach house as a primary residence to comply with grant monies received for restoration. The Gulf Coast News has been all over the story since the beginning of last year. This [...] will center on whether or not Warr was a resident of the property for which he obtained a grant.

Five Blackwater guards indicted

By GottaLaff

Too little too late, but, well, it's something, and it's about time:

Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people close to the case said Friday. [...]

Six guards have been under investigation since a convoy of heavily armed Blackwater contractors opened fire in a crowded Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, 2007. Witnesses say the shooting was unprovoked but Blackwater, hired by the State Department to guard U.S. diplomats, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.

Young children were among the victims and the shooting strained relations between the U.S. and Iraq. Following the shooting, Blackwater became the subject of congressional hearings in Washington and insurgent propaganda videos in Iraq.

The exact charges in the indictment were unclear, but the Justice Department has been considering manslaughter and assault charges against the guards for weeks. Prosecutors have also been considering bringing charges under a law, passed as part of a 1988 drug bill, that carries a mandatory 30-year prison sentence for using a machine gun in a crime of violence. [...]

Regardless of the charges they bring, prosecutors will have a tough fight. The law is unclear on whether contractors can be charged in the U.S., or anywhere, for crimes committed overseas. The indictment sends the message that the Justice Department believes contractors do not operate with legal impunity in war zones.

I was all over Blackwater for some time when we were over at the Brave New Films bloggy, and with good reason. Here's a sample. Consider it a refresher course.

Indictments dropped against Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales

By GottaLaff

I knew it was too good to be true:

He and former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales were included in a Texas prisoner-abuse case, Cheney because he invests in a company that invests in prison firms.

A judge dismissed indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday and chastised the southern Texas prosecutor who brought the case.

Background here.

VIDEO: Texas DA Reveals Evidence That Led to Dick Cheney Indictment

By GottaLaff

"Greed will get you discovered ... every time, and that's what happened to Cheney." -- Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra

Dick Cheney owns shares in the Vanguard Group, an investment company that helps finance prison companies. Guerra estimates those shares are worth $85 million.

When inmate, Gregorio De La Rosa, Jr., was killed in one of the prisons Vanguard helps finance, Guerra says Cheney stopped the investigation so that the value of the shares he holds would continue to rise.

H/t

Arraignment set for Cheney, Gonzales in Texas

By GottaLaff

A little bitty Texas court has accomplished more than our own big bad Department of Justice has in eight years.

::slaps forehead:: Did I just imply that real justice could even be a twinkle in the Bush DoJ's severely blackened eye? My bad. Never mind:

A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.

Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person at the arraignment, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said.

In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday.

Half of the eight high-profile indictments returned Monday by a Willacy County grand jury are tied to privately run federal detention centers in the sparsely populated South Texas county. The other half target judges and special prosecutors who played a role in an earlier investigation of Guerra.

One indictment charges Cheney and Gonzales with engaging in organized criminal activity. It alleges that the men neglected federal prisoners and are responsible for assaults in the facilities.

The grand jury accused Cheney of a conflict of interest because of his influence over the county's federal immigrant detention center and his substantial holdings in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of stopping an investigation into abuses at the federal detention center.

I first posted about the indictments here.

UPDATE:

Jon Stewart on the Cheney-Gonzales indictment: "We can do that? And we're just thinking of it now?"

Cheney, Gonzales Indicted: The Video

By GottaLaff



More details here.

UPDATE from TPM:

I can't piece together from the news reports what the precise allegations are but they don't seem to implicate Cheney or Gonzales directly in any wrongdoing. In fact a little googling shows the district attorney down there has been embroiled in one controversy after another, including getting arrested himself at one point, though he was later cleared. So this one may be entertaining but not for the reasons the headlines might suggest.

Vice President Cheney and former Attorney General Gonzales indicted

By GottaLaff

Via Think Progress:

A South Texas grand jury has returned multi-count indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County’s federal detention centers:

The indictment accuses Cheney and Gonzales of engaging in organized criminal activity. It criticizes Cheney’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees by working through the prison companies.

Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.

One down, 17519718 to go. Add this to the mix:

Taxpayers to pay for Alberto Gonzales’ private attorney

This summer, six attorneys “rejected from civil service positions at the Justice Department filed a lawsuit” against “former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and three other top officials for allegedly violating their rights by taking politics into consideration” in the hiring process for the Honors and Summer Law Intern Programs. Today, McClatchy reports that the Justice Department has agreed to pay for a private lawyer to defend Gonzales, which could cost taxpayers up to $24,000 a month.

I wish them the same legal considerations* they've offered us over the past eight years.

*Rendition them. Torture them. Incarcerate them indefinitely.

H/t: Eve

GOP talking points on Ted Stevens

By GottaLaff

Via Jed:

From the Anchorage Daily News, here are some of the talking points about Ted Stevens given to Alaska delegates at the GOP convention:

On Stevens being electable:

-- Ted Stevens is our guy.

-- He is the only person, except Governor Palin, who can beat Mark Begich in November.

-- As long as he does not receive jail time he is legally capable of serving.

Of course. Anyone who is anyone is following those very same talking points:

Sarah first looked at [my wife] said hello, and I shook her hand. I asked, "Are supporting Ted Stevens this year?" She replied, "He's under indictment you know...his trial is in September." I replied, "But are you voting for him?" She walked away without answering.

I knew it all sounded too familiar.

Stevens Relinquishes Ranking Panel Posts

By GottaLaff

Here's the latest on Sen. Ted Stevens:

Stevens has released a statement declaring his innocence:

I have proudly served this nation and Alaska for over 50 years. My public service began when I served in World War II. It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator.

In accordance with Senate Republican Conference rules, I have temporarily relinquished my vice-chairmanship and ranking positions until I am absolved of these charges.

The impact of these charges on my family disturbs me greatly.

I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that.

Good luck with that, Teddy.