James48
James48's JournalPaul Manafort pressured by Russians to pay back debt while Trump's campaign chair
Source: CNN/ Time Magazine
Washington (CNN) Paul Manafort was pressured by a former Russian associate to pay back millions he owed during the time he was running Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, according to a new report from Time magazine.
Former Russian intelligence officer Victor Boyarkin was in touch with Manafort during the 2016 US presidential campaign on behalf of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to the Kremlin, the magazine reported Saturday.
Boyarkin told Time magazine that he contacted Manafort to collect the debt he owed to Deripaska.
"He owed us a lot of money," Boyarkin told Time this past fall. "And he was offering ways to pay it back."
Read more: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/12/29/politics/russian-former-spy-paul-manafort-trump-campaign/index.html
So now we know who Manafort, Trump’s Campaign Manager, was colluding with, and why- because of a multi-million dollar debt to key Russians.
$43 Million spent. Just 15 people hired.
The Administration Signed a Contract to Bring on 7,500 Border Personnel. It's Hired Just 15.
ERIC KATZ | NOVEMBER 26, 2018 4:49 PM ET
A consultant hired by the Trump administration to boost the number of border agents and customs officers has brought on just 15 of the 7,500 called for in its $300 million contract, according to figures provided by the agency.
Customs and Border Protection has so far obligated $43 million on the contract with Accenture, which is worth up to $297 million over five years. The agency invested $23.5 million in Accenture hires and an additional $19.1 million for start-up costs. The company has so far produced just 15 employees who have actually started working for CBP. Another 33 have accepted job offers.
CBP issued the contract to help fulfill President Trump’s mandate that the agency hire 5,000 new Border Patrol agents, which he issued through executive order shortly after taking office. Accenture was tasked with onboarding those 5,000, plus an additional 2,000 customs officers and 500 air and marine officers. Accenture gets paid on a per-hire basis, most of which comes when CBP sends an offer letter to a candidate and the remaining amount when the employee actually starts working.
The $43 million already obligated was slated for Accenture to help CBP bring on 600 employees. CBP is still confident the spending will bear fruit, with a spokesperson saying Accenture has 3,700 additional candidates in the hiring process. The contractor expects a “gradual increase of candidates to successfully exit the process in the coming months,” the spokesperson said.
More:
https://m.govexec.com/management/2018/11/administration-signed-contract-bring-7500-border-personnel-its-hired-just-15/153036/
Melania Trump Racked Up $174,000 In Hotel Bills For a Day Trip To Toronto
First Lady Melania Trump ran up a six-figure hotel bill for a one-day trip to Toronto last year, according to federal spending records.
Government spending data show at least six separate Toronto hotel charges ranging from just under $12,000 to nearly $49,000 for a total of roughly $174,000. She did not spend the night.
The total was roughly eight times what it cost to house the first lady’s advance team, whose $18,000 in hotel expenses were broken out separately; in addition to the hotel charges, the first lady’s trip involved $21,000 in transportation costs.
Reports from the press pool that accompanied Trump on her September 23, 2017, Canadian excursion showed that her schedule involved multiple hotel stops. Based on those reports, this was her itinerary for the day:
Source: GovExec.com
More:
https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2018/11/melania-trump-racked-174000-hotel-bills-day-trip-toronto/152884/
Democratic District Attorney was just ambushed and shot in the face
Source: Washington Press
A former Alabama state trooper has shot the district attorney for Alabama’s 17th Judicial Circuit, Greg Griggers, directly in the face today in an ambush attack, according to AL.com.
The local news site reports that the former trooper, Steven Smith, Jr., was killed by law enforcement responding to the crime scene after he shot the DA.
District Attorney Michael Jackson said that the dead assailant, Smith, has been investigated in the past in conjunction with a 1996 shotgun attack on the home of Sumter County Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway, the first black judge to preside over Sumter, Marengo, and Greene counties in the state. Greg Griggers, the victim of today’s shooting, was the district attorney for those same counties and a registered Democrat in deep red Alabama.
Read more: https://washingtonpress.com/2018/11/15/a-democratic-attorney-general-was-just-ambushed-and-shot-in-the-face_2/
No idea on the motive. Reports say the attack occurred as the D.A. Was sitting in his car.
More also at:
https://www.al.com/news/2018/11/former-state-trooper-killed-after-shooting-alabama-da-in-face.html
GOLDEN WINS
Source: LIVE feed
GOLDEN WINS THE INSTANT RUNOFF IN MAINE 2
DEMOCRAT JARED GOLDEN DECLARED VICTOR IN FINAL "INSTANT RUNOFF" MAINE # 2 Congressional District Election.
(LIVE FEED)
Democrat Jared Golden win Maine's 2nd District race
The final vote retabulation in the 2nd District race gave Jared Golden just over 50 percent of the vote.
AUGUSTA - State election officials declared Democrat Jared Golden the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District race against incumbent Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
A federal judge rejected U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin's request to force the Maine Secretary of State to stop the ranked-choice run-off on Thursday morning.
Sources: Associated Press/Secretary of State
Ranked-choice race for Congress:
Maine's 2nd District
STATUS: 100%
Jared Golden (D) 51% 139,231
Bruce Poliquin (R) 49% 136,326
A candidate must exceed 50 percent of the vote to be declared the winner. Because no one received a majority vote in the first round, last-place finishers are eliminated and their votes get redistributed based on their voters' second or third choices. Learn more here.
POLITICS
Democrat Jared Golden win Maine's 2nd District race
The final vote retabulation in the 2nd District race gave Jared Golden just over 50 percent of the vote.
Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/11/15/final-ranked-choice-vote-count-slated-for-noon/
Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/?relrelated
Congrats to the winner. You can bet that the republican is going to go to court to overturn, but voters in Maine twice approved ballot proposals to adopt rank choice voting.
Detroit- Precinct #129 NO WORKING MACHINES
Detroit Martin Luther King High School-
As of 08:30, STILL not open (should have opened at 7am). Precinct #129.
No working machines. They are telling people to come back later.
Machines were locked in a room and nobody can find key
Can we get a new category under Government?
I would like to suggest a new category-
Government Ethics-
To post about various government ethical violations, or breaking or upholding ethics rules.
Here is today’s contribution for such a category-
“For a second consecutive week, we are filing a complaint against a Trump administration official for illegally using an official position for partisan politics,” CREW executive director, Noah Bookbinder said. “Administrator Verma, who oversees benefits to millions of Americans, should be particularly sensitive about not abusing her position for politics, and she certainly should know better by now after the administration’s many previous violations. We are now left to assume that Trump administration officials are well aware of their obligations under the Hatch Act and simply have no intention of following the law.”
https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/crew-files-hatch-act-complaint-against-cms-administrator-seema-verma
Should a new category be created?
Vote:
How U.S. Law Enforcement Tracked Down Cesar Sayoc Jr. So Quickly
Source: Govexec.com
Cesar Sayoc Jr. was tracked down swiftly as the FBI joined forces with New York City police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and officers in Florida, Justice Department officials said Friday.
The 56-year-old former soccer player is in FBI custody and has been charged with sending bombs to prominent Democrats including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; CNN, and philanthropist George Soros. The 13 packages Sayoc mailed each contained PVC pipe, with an “energetic material”—something that can explode—and a clock, said Christopher Wray, the FBI director. “These were not hoax devices,” he said, an apparent reference to the right-wing conspiracy theories that packages were a “false flag” intended to make Republicans look bad.
Several of the packages also included photos of the intended target, with a red “X” over their face, according to a copy of the federal complaint against Savoy. They mirror decals on a van associated with Sayoc that was towed away in Plantation, Florida that show Hillary Clinton, filmmaker Michael Moore and others with a gun target over their faces. Officials say a “latent fingerprint” found on one of the two packages addressed to Maxine Waters, the California congresswoman, which led them to Sayoc, who had been previously arrested. There is also DNA on two of the devices that could connect them to the suspect, Wray said, but he did not elaborate.
A U.S. postal worker alerted officials to some of the packages, Gary Barksdale, the deputy chief inspector at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, told reporters.
Read more: https://www.govexec.com/defense/2018/10/how-us-law-enforcement-tracked-down-cesar-sayoc-jr-so-quickly/152374/
This is your government at work- a Postal Worker alerting authorities; the FBI finding fingerprints and DNA; the Justice Department processing arrest warrants.
Soon- the Federal Court System, and then Bureau of Prisons will have their day as well.
Thank goodness for Government workers.
Dow drops more than 500 points
Source: Yahoo news
Stocks slumped Wednesday while Treasury yields continued to rise.
Yields on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 3.214%, while the 30-year yield edged higher to 3.382%. The higher yields put downward pressure on stocks, with the S&P 500 posting decreases for its fifth straight day.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.98%, or 56.48 points at 2:10 p.m. ET. The Dow (^DJI) fell 1.96%, or 513.93 points. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) slipped 2.37%, or 180.1 points.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dow-drops-200-points-treasury-yields-move-higher-141746422.html
Ladies and gentlemen, stock market getting hammered today, now that tariffs are starting to kick in, and companies and individuals are getting hit hard with new Trump Tariff Taxes. (TTT)
this is what is known as
the beginning of the TRUMP TUMBLE.
Federal Official Boosted Use of Private Prisons; Now He Has a Top Job at One
Federal Official Boosted Use of Private Prisons; Now He Has a Top Job at One
ERIC KATZ | AUGUST 29, 2018 6:10 PM ET
A former federal official who earlier this year instructed the Bureau of Prisons to identify inmates to be transferred to private detention centers has left his government job for a position with one of the largest contractors housing federal prisoners.
In January, Government Executive reported that Frank Lara, then the bureau’s assistant director for correctional programs, sent a memorandum with the subject line “increasing population levels in private contract facilities” to agency leaders. In it, Lara tasked facility leaders with identifying inmates for transfer to private facilities, saying it would “alleviate the overcrowding at Bureau of Prisons’ institutions and maximize the effectiveness of private contracts.”
A few months later, Lara announced his retirement. Earlier this month, he began working at the GEO Group as its director of operations. The company is one of the largest contractors housing federal inmates. In fiscal 2018, for example, GEO Group has received $147 million in awards from the bureau, according to federal spending data. While Lara’s memo went out to all bureau leaders, it mentioned only one facility by name: Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton, N.C., which is owned and operated by the GEO Group.
The GEO Group did not respond to several emails, and when asked about the hiring over the phone, a company official hung up. Government Executive was unable to reach Lara directly.
Eric Young, president of the union local that represents bureau correctional officers, called Lara’s move, “The biggest damn conflict of interest that I’ve ever seen.”
Just prior to the memo’s release, dozens of bureau officials, including Lara, attended a conference hosted by the American Correctional Association. The conference was sponsored by the GEO Group, among others. The bureau said it spent $153,000 on travel costs associated with the conference. The Washington Post reported last year that GEO held its own annual conference at a Trump resort in Florida, and that it donated $225,000 to a pro-Trump super-PAC.....
More:
https://m.govexec.com/management/2018/08/federal-official-boosted-use-private-prisons-now-he-has-top-job-one/150911/
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