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Tag: justice
George Santos

Judge Orders Disclosure Of Wealthy Benefactors Who Posted $500K Santos Bond

On Tuesday, Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields ordered the release of the identities of three people who signed on to help copiously indicted Republican Rep. George Santos post a $500,000 bond. Judge Shields gave Santos’ legal team until Friday at noon to appeal the decision.

The decision comes one day after Santos’ lawyer, Joseph Murray, said that his client would rather go to jail than release his benefactors’ identities. Murray argued that Santos was protecting these wealthy patrons’ safety, writing, “We truly fear for their health, safety and well being.”

Santos, a well-documented liar, faces 13 counts of fraud, including wire fraud, unemployment benefits fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying to Congress. There are also other outstanding investigations into Santos’ activities not covered in this specific case.

Shields’ decision is not surprising since it has been standard for the public to have access to judicial documents, including financial ones that are tied to the individual being charged. Add to this that Santos is a public official who is compelled by law to disclose his finances.

As Insider points out, in the recent high-profile case of Ghislaine Maxwell, associate of serial rapist and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, offers poured in from people to post her bond. Those identities were released, as were the identities of Sam Bankman-Fried’s bond backers in his fraud case.

As to the three still-unknown names on the George Santos bond-backing list, there has been speculation that at least one of them could be indicted alleged fraudster and exiled Chinese billionaire Ho Wan Kwok. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe Guo Wengui or one of his four other aliases does? Wengui is the name connected to Steve Bannon and that knucklehead’s own indictment.

Whether or not he is connected to Santos’ case remains to be seen. But considering how untoward Santos, Bannon, Guo, Trump, and the entire Republican establishment are at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Oath Keepers Chief Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison For Capitol Insurrection

Oath Keepers Chief Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison For Capitol Insurrection

Washington (AFP) - The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia was handed an 18-year prison sentence Thursday for seditious conspiracy in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, the toughest penalty given yet over the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Elmer Stewart Rhodes was one of more than 1,000 people charged over the attack which, encouraged by then-president Donald Trump, aimed to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the November 2020 election.

"Seditious conspiracy is among the most serious crimes an American can commit," said Judge Amit Mehta in pronouncing the sentence.

"You present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country," Mehta told Rhodes, who led the Oath Keepers and organized their participation, with a stockpile of arms, in the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

"You are smart, charismatic and compelling and that is frankly what makes you dangerous," Mehta said -- rejecting Rhodes' claim that he was a "political prisoner."

The sentence fell short of the 25 years the government had sought, although Mehta accepted the argument that the Oath Keepers' plan to violently block Biden from becoming president amounted to terrorism.

Just ahead of the sentence, Rhodes, wearing an eye patch and dressed in his orange prison jumpsuit, defiantly defended his group and their actions in support of Trump.

"My only crime is opposing those destroying our country," he declared, comparing himself to the famed Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Blame Trump

But his group's stockpiling weapons just outside the city and wearing combat-style gear in an organized push into the building showed a level of planning and preparation for violence not present with many of the others in the crowd.

Rhodes, 57, and Kelly Meggs, 53, leader of the Oath Keepers' Florida chapter, were convicted by a Washington jury in November of the rarely pursued charge of seditious conspiracy -- plotting to overthrow the government or unlawfully opposing its authority.

In the same trial, three other Oath Keepers were convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, as the rioters shut down the Congress and sent lawmakers and vice president Mike Pence fleeing to safety.

During the trial, prosecutors said the Oath Keepers "concocted a plan for an armed rebellion... plotting to oppose by force the government of the United States."

Rhodes' attorneys argued that he himself never entered the Capitol building and that he did not support others doing so.

But Mehta rejected that as mitigating the sentence.

Rhodes was unequivocally the leader of the group and summoned them to Washington with a cache of arms for the violent assault, Mehta said.

"Stewart Rodes is a Yale Law grad and a pretty smart guy," the judge said. "He was the one giving the orders... They were there because of him."

Rhodes' attorney Phillip Linder however said he should not be held responsible for the Capitol attack and pointed his finger at Trump.

"I think what happened on January 6 was deplorable," Linder told the court.

But Rhodes did not plan the uprising, he insisted.

"We need to look at what caused this... Who got the Million Maga rally started?... Who got January 6 started?" Linder said.

"He's not the one that started that rhetoric that got the people ginned up."

Police And Journalists Greet Trump -- But Most New Yorkers Don't Bother

Police And Journalists Greet Trump -- But Most New Yorkers Don't Bother

New York (AFP) - Hoards of reporters, police and barriers greeted Donald Trump when he arrived at his Manhattan residence Monday -- but only a small group of supporters.

Just before midday, authorities closed off Trump Tower to the public, as a heavy police presence and barricades surrounded the building situated on Fifth Avenue.

A tiny group of Trump supporters staged a demonstration that relied mostly on a large banner emblazoned with "Finish the Wall Trump 24," referring to the former president's bid to construct barriers on the US border with Mexico.

Among them was Vito Dichiara, 71, who resides in nearby suburban Long Island and told AFP he formerly worked for the right-wing outlet Fox News.

He accused New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg of engaging in a political conspiracy to prevent Trump from retaking the White House next year, and repeated long-debunked claims that the Democratic Party stole the election from Trump when Joe Biden upset him in 2020.

"I'm here to support Donald Trump, the former president of the United States and the next president of the United States," he said.

A couple of anti-Trump demonstrators also turned out, including Marni Halasa, who dressed as a devil.

Her red dress was covered with fake 100-dollar notes, she said to represent "the hush money" at the heart of the historic indictment against Trump over a payment to a porn actress.

But they were all outnumbered by journalists.

Despite the media excitement and small demonstrations, life went on in the city used to the gaze of outsiders.

Amid the towers adjacent to Manhattan's iconic Central Park, it was business as usual for the yellow taxis streaming by, as delivery cyclists and trucks skirted the hoopla.

A passerby smirked as he passed the crush of journalists who'd been at the ready for hours with cameras.

"It's the best show in town," he said before disappearing into the cityscape. "Even Shakespeare can't do that."

Trump is famously unpopular in Democratic-leaning New York, where he made his name as a brash real estate developer-turned reality TV star.

"It is kind of good to show that somebody isn't above the law, because Trump used to say he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it," 67-year-old retiree Nancy Andrews told AFP near Grand Central station.

"It's good to see that that mindset is being challenged," she added.

New Yorker Lea Sturley said: "I think the country is very divided at this point. So I think it's important that we understand that this is not about sides. It's about justice."

Justice Department: Documents 'Likely Concealed' To Obstruct Trump Probe

Justice Department: Documents 'Likely Concealed' To Obstruct Trump Probe

Washington (AFP) - Documents at former President Donald Trump's Florida home were "likely concealed" to obstruct an FBI probe into his potential mishandling of classified materials, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday.

The filing provides the most detailed account yet of the motivation for the FBI raid this month on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, which was triggered by a review of records he previously surrendered to authorities that contained top secret information.

Before the raid, the FBI uncovered "multiple sources of evidence" showing that "classified documents" remained at Mar-a-Lago, the filing says.

"The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed... and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation," the filing adds.

The DOJ said it provided the detailed background on the build-up to the raid "to correct the incomplete and inaccurate narrative set forth in (Trump's) filings."

The filing responds to Trump's request last week for an independent party, or "special master," to screen files seized in the FBI raid for materials protected by personal privilege.

Naming a special master could potentially block investigators' access to the documents, especially if he or she accepts Trump's claims that most were privileged.

The filing argues that the court should not appoint a special master, "because those records do not belong to (Trump)."

The "appointment of a special master is unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests," the filing adds.

Trump, who is weighing another White House run in 2024, has accused the Justice Department under Democratic President Joe Biden of conducting a "witch hunt" and said the judge "should never have allowed the break-in of my home."