U.S. Examines Whether Blackwater Tried Bribery

By GottaLaff

All my posts on Blackwater are here. Blackwater for Dummeez is here, should you need a primer on who these thugs are.

Jeremy Scahill is your go-to guy for all things Blackwater, and I posted about this back in November, but in the meantime, here's the latest:

The Justice Department is investigating whether officials of Blackwater Worldwide tried to bribe Iraqi government officials in hopes of retaining the firm’s security work in Iraq after a deadly shooting episode in 2007, according to current and former government officials.

The officials said that the Justice Department’s fraud section opened the inquiry late last year to determine whether Blackwater employees violated a federal law banning American corporations from paying bribes to foreign officials.

One day, if we're lucky, one day this bunch will be behind bars.

VIDEO: CNN's Rick Sanchez ambushes Ensign on sex scandal

By GottaLaff

Gotcha:



Aww, someone had to answer actual questions from an actual Tee Vee Machine questioner with actual Tee Vee Machine questions? Unheard of!

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) does his first CNN interview expecting to discuss terrorism but gets grilled on his sex scandal instead. It's must-watch video.

"Sir, that's an illegality." Why, it most certainly is.

Wait. What? Confrontation? Attempts to get the truth? On a "news" program? Other than on The Rachel Maddow Show?

Of course, that doesn't mean Sanchez got answers... but kudos!

Ex-Veco boss Bill Allen's alleged sex-for-gifts with underage girls

By GottaLaff

Bill Allen

I came across this by accident, just scrolling through sites. Why hasn't this been given more attention?

Anchorage resident Lisa Moore says she traded sex with then-Veco boss Bill Allen in 1996 for an apartment, money and jewelry. He was 59; she was 19.

She also says she introduced him to a 15-year-old girl who became his sex partner.

But the next year, an ex-boyfriend of Moore's got into legal trouble and threatened to blow the whistle on Allen's relationship with Moore and other teens, including the 15-year-old, Moore said, triggering a string of alleged cover-ups that now threaten to undermine the Alaska political corruption investigation.

Excuse me?

But long before the authorities got involved, Allen reportedly went to great lengths to keep his sexual activities secret. When Moore told Allen she expected to be called as a witness at her ex-boyfriend's trial and forced to reveal Allen's seamy and possibly criminal private life, Allen immediately sent her, her brother and her fiance on the lam to California to prevent her from being subpoenaed, Moore told an Anchorage police detective and elaborated in recent interviews with the Daily News.

That trip, characterized as a "potential obstruction of justice" when first made public in a federal court filing last month, are among the issues cited by former state House Speaker Pete Kott in his effort to throw out his conviction on corruption charges [...]

Allen has told FBI agents he never asked anyone to lie under oath or tried to hide witnesses to avoid subpoenas. [...]

Allen, after pleading guilty in 2007 to bribery and other corruption charges, was also the key witness in the trials of former state Rep. Vic Kohring and U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. [...]

Defense attorneys in the corruption cases weren't allowed to raise the issue of Allen's sexual conduct. [...]

But the new material raises questions about how far Allen would go to protect himself. If Allen schemed to prevent a witness from testifying about his sexual conduct or tried to get two witnesses to lie under oath, that could give defense attorneys new ammunition to attack his credibility.

Allen was sentenced to three years in prison for bribery.

What a catch. Between his nefarious activities and the head shot above, who could resist hooking up with a guy like Bill Allen?

There is a whole lot more here.

The fun never ends.

John Ensign Hits Airwaves, Refuses to Resign

By GottaLaff

Via Roll Call, which is subscription only, so this is all we get until I can track down more information:

Embattled Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) on Monday rejected calls for his resignation based on an extramarital affair with a former aide, saying to do so would take the focus off Republican efforts to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Never mind that this isn't just about an affair, right C Street John? No, it's about so much more:

From The Rachel Maddow Show Oct. 7, 2009. Yet another shoe drops on Sen. John Ensign. We just had the news on Tom Coburn apparently negotiating bribes for Sen. Ensign, and now this.

VIDEO- Countdown: What Senate holdouts get for moving health care bill forward

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Last night Lawrence O'Donnell ticked off what the holdouts would get in exchange for letting the debate move forward.

Keep in mind, this is just to let debate begin... not voting for a bill. How generous of them. How democratic.

Sen. Mary Landrieu just announced she'll vote "yes" to move the bill forward, but is now speaking critically of the public option as I type this.

VIDEO: Jeremy Scahill talks to Rachel Maddow about latest Blackwater revelations

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Jeremy is all over this, as I posted yesterday. Here he is on The Rachel Maddow Show.

Blackwater must go. Period. How our government can still employ them, pay them kajillions, and not immediately and seriously distance themselves is beyond me.

For those who haven't seen it yet, here is my Blackwater For Dummeez primer, a crash course in who these monsters are.

Blackwater Attempted to Bribe Iraqi Officials

By GottaLaff

Jeremy Scahill will be on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight, so by tomorrow, we'll have video. Meantime, check out this bombshell:

[T]op company officials including then-president Gary Jackson “authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support,” according to the New York Times.

Yup. More here, like this little tidbit, to which I keep asking, WHY??

At present, Blackwater works in Afghanistan for the State Department, the CIA and the Defense Department.

Sarah Palin accused of attempted bribery

By GottaLaff

Ohhh say it ain't so Sarah the Quitter. Yet another charge claim? What is that, 20 now?

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who left office in disgrace July 26th under a cloud of ethics charges, is now being accused of a federal claim of attemped bribery. See federal claim (PDF 52 kb)

To clarify a previous complaint, the motion also accuses Palin of a violation of Alaska's constitution.

From the motion to amend:

"2.Plaintiffs wish to add a very serious federal claim of attempted bribery and other violations of similar federal and state statutes under supplemental jurisdiction....

....offering state funds and support of legislation to third parties in exchange for them convincing Plaintiffs to drop this lawsuit in federal or state court."

Oh my. Big fat federal claims. Bribery. This can't end well. Tisk, tisk.

Sarah the Quitter better watch her step or next thing she knows, she may have to go before a death panel.

(click on image to enlarge)

H/t: Cody, cbn2

Max Baucus reels in big healthcare donations

And people wonder why he's thrown up so many roadblocks?

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- Healthcare industry lobbyists have showered the Democratic U.S. senator leading reform efforts with $1.5 million in donations, records indicate.

Many of the donations have come to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., during at-times extravagant fundraising events, such as a $2,500-donation fly fishing event in Big Sky, Mont., and a $10,000-per-plate dinner at a San Francisco mansion, held while liberals angered by "giveaways" to the healthcare industry marched outside, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Since he began steering congressional efforts to achieve healthcare industry reforms, Baucus' contributors have included Schering-Plough, New York Life Insurance, Amgen, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and such individual executives such as Merck chief executive Richard Clark, most of whom strongly oppose a establishing a public insurance option, the Post said.

Baucus declined to comment to the newspaper, but spokesman Tyler Matsdorf said Baucus "is only driven by one thing: what is right for Montana and the country."

John Conyers' wife resigns after conviction

By GottaLaff

Not good news for the Mister either:

Monica Conyers, wife of Rep. John Conyers, the 23-term Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, announced her resignation from Detroit’s City Council this morning, three days after pleading guilty to charges of accepting cash in return for support of an enormous recycling contract. From the Detroit Free Press:

Conyers’ resignation comes after her Friday guilty plea in U.S. District Court to a felony charge of accepting a bribe in exchange for a yes vote on the $1.2 billion Synagro Technologies sewage sludge recycling contract and other unspecified actions while a member of one of the city’s pension boards. It also ends perhaps the most turbulent tenure for a council member in memory.

John Conyer's wife convicted of taking bribes

Not good at all. ADDED- She pled guilty and has been convicted. She faces up to 10 years in jail. Update here.

DETROIT (AP) — Prosecutors have charged Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of a congressman, with accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company.

Conyers is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly accepting two payments from a Synagro Technologies official in late 2007, including one in a McDonald's parking lot.

She's the most prominent person snagged in an investigation of corruption in a sludge-recycling deal with Synagro. Two people who worked for the company have pleaded guilty.

Conyers' husband is John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee in Congress

John Sidney McCain offering "rewards" for spamming web sites

By GottaLaff

So this is why we're getting more trolls lately, huh? And J Sid says he doesn't understand the WeberTubes...

Sen. John McCain's campaign is urging supporters to spam blogs and forums with official talking points, according to the Washington Post. If you do a good job, you can even win prizes.

So he's paying people off to support him. That inspires confidence, doesn't it?

"That, in essence, is the McCain campaign's pitch to supporters to join its new online effort, one that combines the features of 'AstroTurf' campaigning with the sort of customer-loyalty programs offered by airlines, hotel chains, restaurants and the occasional daily newspaper."

"People who sign up for McCain's program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain's webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express."

You'd think his "supporters" would want to talk him up without having to be bribed.

Bush "Pioneer" and WH Advance man caught soliciting bribes on tape

By Paddy


Woweee wow wow. Will the media let him get away with it? Video and much more here.

A lobbyist with close ties to the White House is offering access to key figures in George W Bush’s administration in return for six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush’s presidency.

Stephen Payne, who claims to have raised more than $1m for the president’s Republican party in recent years, said he would arrange meetings with Dick Cheney, the vice-president, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and other senior officials in return for a payment of $250,000 (£126,000) towards the library in Texas.

Payne, who has accompanied Bush and Cheney on several foreign trips, also said he would try to secure a meeting with the president himself.