General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: AOC's Chief-Of-Staff Wears T-Shirt Featuring Nazi Collaborator [View all]Celerity
(43,339 posts)WaPo reported on it AFTER the story from came out from RW sources, and it was a RW non profit who filed the complaint.
The National Legal and Policy Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Legal_and_Policy_Center
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) is a right-leaning 501(c)(3) non-profit group that monitors and reports on the ethics of public officials, supporters of liberal causes, and labor unions in the United States. The Center files complaints with government agencies, legally challenges what they view as abuse and corruption, and publishes reports. The NLPC is described as conservative in nature.The NLPC's current chairman is Peter Flaherty.
The NLPC was founded in 1991 following the release of the Senate Ethics Committee report into the Keating Five.
snip
Lawsuit v. Hillary Healthcare Task Force
NLPC was a plaintiff in the successful 1993 lawsuit to open the meetings and records of Hillary Clinton's health care task force.
On February 24, 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton and the six Cabinet members serving on the task force were sued under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by NLPC, along with two other groups, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the American Council for Health Care Reform. FACA requires government task forces to conduct its affairs in public if non-government employees, or "outsiders," take part.[5]
On March 10, 1993, Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the task force had to open its meetings to the plaintiffs and the media.[6] Lamberth ruled that the "official" members of the task force, meaning the First Lady and the Cabinet Secretaries who comprised its membership, could not meet in secret because Clinton was not a government employee. But Lamberth also ruled that all the other people working on the plan, who were organized into "sub-groups," could continue to work in secret, because FACA was never meant to apply to staff.
Lamberth's ruling was appealed by the White House, and was overturned on June 22, 1993 after the task force had supposedly already disbanded on May 30. Justice Department lawyers argued that since Hillary Rodham Clinton "functions in both a legal and practical sense as part of the government," her participation in the task force should not trigger FACA. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed.
snip
Auto Bailout and 2014 General Motors Recall
NLPC was a high-profile critic of the bailout of the auto industry by the United States government. NLPCs spokesman was Mark Modica, a former Saturn dealer business manager and wiped-out GM bondholder. Following a demand by NLPC, General Motors in 2014 recalled 1.3 million vehicles with a steering loss defect uncovered by Modica.
Senator Robert Menendez
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted in April 2015, along with Dr. Salomon Melgen, his largest campaign contributor, partly on the basis of information made public by NLPC through a front-page New York Times story on February 1, 2013. Melgen is a wealthy south Florida eye doctor who was born in the Dominican Republic and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The charges related to Menendez attempts to derail a Medicare fraud investigation into Melgens practice and securing visas for three Melgen girlfriends. The indictment also alleged that Menendez pushed a port security deal in the Dominican Republic that would have provided a windfall for Melgen. In return, the indictment alleges Melgen provided Menendez with private jet ride rides, Dominican vacations, and donations to his legal defense fund. Information on the port security deal was provided by NLPC to the Times.
The Justice Department chose not to retry Menendez after his trial ended in a mistrial on November 16, 2017. On August 8, 2018, NLPC filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the prosecution and the decision not to retry Menendez. Then-NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm suggested that Menendez was the beneficiary of political influence by pointing out that Menendez lawyer is Abbe Lowell, who also represents Jared Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law. Kushner and his family are longtime donors to Democratic politicians in New Jersey, including Menendez.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
NLPC filed a Complaint with the Federal Election Commission on March 4, 2019 against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, alleging that they orchestrated an extensive operation to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign spending during the 2018 campaign.
Rep. Maxine Waters
NLPC filed two Complaints, currently pending, against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with the Federal Election Commission alleging campaign finance violations in relation to her so-called slate mailer.
The first, filed on July 26, 2018, alleges that Waters violated federal election law by accepting a payment to her campaign fund from the Democratic State Central Committee of California (DSCCC) in the amount of $35,000 for the inclusion of then-Senate candidate, and now Senator Kamala Harris, on Waters slate mailer. Whereas candidates like Harris may legally pay Waters campaign for the proportional costs of their inclusion on her slate mailer, it is not legal for such payment to be made by a third party like the DSCCC.
The second, filed in October 2018, alleges that Waters violated federal election law by accepting a $25,000 payment to her campaign fund from a group called Families and Teachers for Antonio. The payment was to include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the mailer, who was running for Governor. Whereas candidates like Villaraigosa may legally pay Waters campaign for the proportional costs of their inclusion on her slate mailer, it is not legal for such payment to be made by a third party.[26][27][28]
Rep. Elijah Cummings
On May 20, 2019, NLPC filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS), a nonprofit headed by Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Mrs. Cummings is also the principal in Global Policy Solutions, LLC, a for-profit Limited Liability Corporation that the Complaint charges is impermissibly entwined with the nonprofit.
Constitutional Challenge to Mueller Authority
NLPC is providing financial and logistical support to a constitutional challenge to Special Counsel Robert Muellers appointment and authority by Andrew Miller, a former aide to indicted GOP operative Roger Stone, who has been subpoenaed in the case. Miller is represented by constitutional and appellate attorney Paul Kamenar, who is working on a partial pro bono basis.
NLPC Chairman Peter Flaherty told the New York Times on June 28, 2018, The founders feared exactly what we see in Mueller: a runaway federal official. We hope to see Muellers operation disbanded, once and for all.
snip
AOCs chief of staff ran $1M slush fund by diverting campaign cash to his own companies
by Alana Goodman
| March 04, 2019 03:34 PM <<<< BEFORE WaPo and a RW rag
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/ocasio-cortezs-chief-of-staff-ran-1m-slush-fund-by-diverting-campaign-cash-to-his-own-companies
also before (I can go on and on)
WND
COMPLAINT: OCASIO-CORTEZ'S CHIEF OF STAFF RAN $1M SLUSH FUND
FEC alerted to alleged diversion of campaign cash to his companies
Published: 03/04/2019 at 6:27 PM <<<< BEFORE WaPo and a RW site
https://www.wnd.com/2019/03/complaint-ocasio-cortezs-chief-of-staff-ran-1m-slush-fund/
and going deeper (and this is what kicked off the RW firm to file a complaint in the first place)
PAC aligned with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paid boyfriend $6G for marketing work
Published February 21
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pac-aligned-with-ocasio-cortez-paid-6g-her-boyfriend-for-marketing-work
these RW POS keep running with all this bullshit even though most all of it is bebunked
here is a debunking BEFORE Fox New ran with that last one
No, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Didn't Hire Her Boyfriend Riley Roberts As A Staffer
ANDREA GONZÁLEZ-RAMÍREZ
LAST UPDATED FEBRUARY 15, 2019, 8:00 PM
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/02/224559/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-boyfriend-riley-roberts-congress-staff-email
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found herself at the center of another right-wing Twitter conspiracy Friday morning, after a Republican strategist falsely claimed that she had employed her longtime partner Riley Roberts as a paid congressional staffer. The New York congresswoman and her team corrected the record, saying this is not true.
Conservative podcast host Luke Thompson first made the claims. Taking a screenshot from an unknown source, he tweeted: "While you were having a nice Valentine's Day, @AOC decided to put her boyfriend on staff - drawing a salary on the taxpayer's dime. Nice to see her adapting to the swamp so quickly." (The tweet was temporarily taken down because the screenshot, which includes Roberts' email and phone number, was said to be in violation of Twitter's terms of service.)
Ocasio-Cortez was quick to debunk the claim, clarifying that Roberts obtained an official House email address in order to get access to her calendar. "Actually this cal designation is a permission so he can have access to my Google Cal. Congressional spouses get Gcal access all the time. Next time check your facts before you tweet nonsense," she tweeted.
Link to tweet
snip
the whole thing is RW bollocks from the start