What distinguishes the motivational controls an intelligence service case officer uses to recruit and control a traitorous spy from the controls a businessman or lobbyist uses to corrupt and control a public official?
Just as with the length of the horizontal line segments in the illusion above, there may be no difference at all. (more…)
Today the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) issued its 238-page report declaring that the National Security Agency’s program to collect bulk phone call records is illegal and recommending that it be discontinued. The precise title of the report is Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted Under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and On the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
This report is one of the results of NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s unauthorized release of classified NSA information. Snowden’s release of the information and his subsequent search for asylum has been a big news story for months, and it will continue to be so for months to come.
Equally important, or maybe even more important, is the answer to a question that has been quietly asked and largely unanswered: How did a relatively low-level employee of NSA contractor Booz Allen get placement and access to such a diverse and large quantity of extremely sensitive information? (more…)
The Washington Post is reporting that as a result of a federal corruption probe, “Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government.” Here is a link to the 43-page criminal indictment naming McDonnell and his wife and describing the allegations against them.
In our post on May 4, 2013, entitled Governor Being Investigated, we asked, “In terms of compromising the integrity of the office an official holds and the public’s trust in the official, does it really matter if the high-value items such as cash, gifts, or lucrative business contracts have been given to close family members rather than directly to the public official?”
For that matter, does the value of the items gifted really matter? How about an international cruise on a privately-owned yacht? How about an expensive (value >$50.00) belt buckle?
Fortunately, there is not one official in Idaho who has ever taken a gift with a value in excess of $50. Nope. Never happened.
And of course, there are no Idaho agencies who have ever written provisions into contracts that allow the private contractor to use the State’s name as a client in its advertising in return for a few tens of thousands of dollars to be returned to the State. Because that just might be seen as a kickback.
No, that kind of stuff only happens in Virginia. Or someplace else. But not Idaho.
ADDENDUM: January 23, 2014 — The January 23rd Washington Post online has an article entitled Legal experts: McDonnell trial will test line between political favors, official action. It’s a pretty good explanation about the challenges faced by both sides in corruption trials.
And for those in Idaho who think, “Well, that’s just in Virginia…”, read this New York Times article With ‘Virginia Way,’ State Thought It Didn’t Need Rules. Substitute “Idaho” for “Virginia” in the article. Maybe it’s time our three branches of Idaho government stop DWHUA.
This article in today’s Los Angeles Times caught our eye not so much for the headline, Two charged in illegal San Diego campaign contribution scheme, but for these two paragraphs buried deep in the article:
“According to the complaint, Encinas then approached a would-be candidate’s representative with an offer: masked contributions from the Mexican businessman, in exchange for the candidate, if elected, firing Police Chief Bill Lansdowne and letting Encinas pick his successor.
‘Encinas further stated that this was the one ‘guarantee’ he sought from Candidate 4 in exchange for the Foreign National’s campaign money,’ according to the complaint.“
The news article explains that “Encinas” is retired San Diego police detective Ernesto Encinas. Here is a link to the complaint against Ravneet Singh. Here is the news release distributed by the US Attorney for the Southern District of California.
The lesson to be learned, however, is that there can be the equivalent of “the Mexican businessman” in many communities throughout the United States. Controlling law enforcement executives, prosecutors, judges, and other elected officials may provide a useful and unique type of business insurance not necessarily offered by traditional companies. Just as elections have consequences, so do the appointments made by those elected officials.
On January 17, 2014, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed the question, “What First Amendment protections are afforded a blogger sued for defamation?”
The Court held, “…that liability for a defamatory blog post involving a matter of public concern cannot be imposed without proof of fault and actual damages.”
Here is a link to the Court’s for-publication opinion.
The Court’s ruling was summarized in an Associated Press story online written by Jeff Barnard and published January 17, 2014. The story was headlined Court: Bloggers Have First Amendment Protections.
The news story reports, “If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.” Here is a brief but useful introductory explanation of negligence.
OpenCdA is an opinion blog, certainly not a legal authority. Bloggers should discuss with their own attorneys the applicability of court decisions such as this one to their specific blogs.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho’s newly-installed Mayor Steve Widmyer is wasting no time in appointing his cronies to influential committees and commissions in Coeur d’Alene.
According to the City Council meeting packet prepared for this coming Tuesday’s meeting, Widmyer and the Rubber Stamps will approve several appointments. One of those is listed as “Garry Stark (representing NIC) — Parking Commission.” The North Idaho College Directory lists Garry Stark as NIC’s Assistant Director of Facility Operations.
You’re already familiar with Stark’s name if you read OpenCdA’s post on October 18, 2013, titled Steve Widmyer: Not Suitable for Mayor. See WIDMYER SUITABILITY ISSUE #2. (more…)
“You have to look for corruption to find it. It doesn’t walk in the door.”
Those words of remarkable common sense were spoken by Patricia Ferrick, the Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven, Connecticut, FBI Division in a New Haven Register article headlined New head of FBI in Connecticut to target corruption.
SAC Ferrick’s professional background, first with NYPD and then her assignments with the FBI, has clearly sharpened her focus on corruption. It appears that Deirdre Daly, the Acting US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has a shared commitment to investigating and prosecuting criminal conduct, including public corruption.
In contrast, look at the backgrounds of Mary F. Rook, SAC of the Salt Lake City FBI Division (responsible for Idaho), and Wendy J. Olson, US Attorney for the District of Idaho. (more…)
This morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press, our local skewspaper, ran an article headlined Video shows fatal shooting. The article includes a hyperlink to the video recording made from a Coeur d’Alene police officer’s body-worn camera with audio. The video with audio was made during a shooting involving the police officer.
The article contained this line: “The police department released the video in response to public records requests made by Spokane and Coeur d’Alene media outlets.” Hopefully the media outlets’ public records requests also sought and received copies of the investigative reports compiled by the Idaho State Police. To date, the skewspaper articles have not included any references from those reports. (more…)
“Politiqueras,” roughly translates into “politickers.”
The FBI has a slightly more detailed translation: “Politiquera: A person who works for a candidate to encourage people to vote, to bring voters to the polls, to ensure that voters select the appropriate candidate, and to pay voters for their votes.”
Wait. What? Pay voters for their votes? Pay them to vote for the appropriate candidate? Why, that would be illegal! That would be voter fraud! Yes, it was. (more…)
Powered by WordPress
Copyright © 2024 by OpenCDA LLC, All Rights Reserved
