Octopus Overlords

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:14 pm Saw that…and immediately remembered questioning why Paul was bending over backwards to support Russia not long ago.

The Justice Department touted the jury conviction of Jesse Benton, known for his work on campaigns for GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, in a press release Thursday. The department said Benton “acted as a straw donor and contributed $25,000 of the Russian foreign national’s money to the campaign, falsely identified himself as the contributor and pocketed the remaining $75,000.”

Zarathud wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:30 pm This is the $25,000 you know about. Corrupt politicians don’t just ask for one bribe. Or hit up one person. There is a pattern of conduct.

MMichael Capps, a former Kansas lawmaker who once sponsored a bill to put the words “In God We Trust” in every federal building, has been found guilty of committing COVID relief fraud and money laundering.

His career wasn’t supposed to end this way. In 2018, the Republican was appointed to the Kansas State House and won his own election bid later that year. Like other members of his party, he used his time in office to push Christianity on everyone. That’s why, in addition to his anti-trans and anti-abortion bills, Capps sponsored a bill to put “In God We Trust” in public buildings, including public schools.

Capps remains out on bond while he awaits his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for March 10. He could face millions of dollars in fines and decades in prison.

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-go ... rylink=cpy

New details have been revealed through recently unsealed Cook County court documents, showing how federal investigators in 2020 gained access to encrypted Telegram messages to uncover “a cross-country network of people sexually exploiting children.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents based in Arizona launched “Operation Swipe Left” in 2020 to investigate claims of kidnapping, livestreaming child abuse, and production and distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). That investigation led to criminal charges filed against at least 17 people. The majority of defendants were living in Arizona, but others charged were residents of Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington, DC, California, and South Africa. Ten children were rescued, including four children actively suffering abuse at the time of the rescue. The youngest victim identified was 6 months old, and the oldest was 17 years old.

At least one federal prosecutor told a judge that authorities never would have gained access; however, one of the defendants, Adam Hageman, “fully cooperated” with investigators and granted access through his account to offending Telegram groups.

Hageman is one of two defendants with ties to the Republican Party, the Sun-Times and other outlets have reported, while other defendants include a youth soccer coach, a grocery store employee, an amusement park employee, and a police officer’s son.

Hageman was a former Turning Point USA employee, appointed by the Trump administration to work for the US Department of Commerce. In 2020, he was arrested and pled guilty to receiving CSAM. After his arrest, Hageman agreed to grant federal investigators access to his group chats on Telegram, leading to charges filed against 12 others.

Hageman has since been sentenced to five and half years in prison for “receipt of child pornography.” Hageman’s attorney, Christopher Macchiaroli, told the Sun-Times that Hageman “immediately accepted responsibility” for making a “terrible mistake” and “is paying the consequences for it.”

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:00 am As much as the GOP is being infiltrated and tarnished by deviants, is it any wonder they hate the deviant left so much?

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:06 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:00 am As much as the GOP is being infiltrated and tarnished by deviants, is it any wonder they hate the deviant left so much?

Amplified projection. As always.

Unagi wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:16 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:06 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:00 am As much as the GOP is being infiltrated and tarnished by deviants, is it any wonder they hate the deviant left so much?

Amplified projection. As always.

It's possible they tea-leaved this whole thing and just knew a drag queen would be their demise?

Roy McGrath, the former chief of staff to ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan who became a fugitive after failing to appear at trial on wire fraud and embezzlement charges last month, was captured in Tennessee on Monday, law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News.

McGrath was located by the FBI in a car in Knoxville around 6:30 p.m. local time. During the arrest, an "agent-involved shooting" occurred, the FBI said in a statement.

"The subject, Roy McGrath, sustained injury and was transported to the hospital," the FBI said. McGrath's condition was not immediately clear.

A federal manhunt had been underway since McGrath failed to appear in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 13. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and the FBI soon searched his house in Naples, Florida, and interviewed his relatives.

McGrath was set to be tried on federal charges stemming from his time running the Maryland Environmental Service, a quasi-governmental state agency that provides services like wastewater management, composting and recycling. Prosecutors said McGrath fraudulently obtained a severance payment of $233,647 when he left to take the job as Hogan's chief of staff in 2020, and falsified a document purporting to show the governor had approved of the payment. He was also accused of falsifying time sheets while vacationing in Europe and stealing money for tuition for classes at Harvard.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s one-time chief of staff Roy McGrath has died after a nationwide manhunt for him ended Monday in a confrontation with the FBI in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to McGrath’s attorney.

“The FBI has confirmed that Roy succumbed to the injuries inflicted earlier in the evening. It is a tragic ending to three weeks of uncertainty,” Attorney Joseph Murtha told CNN in a statement. “I think it is important to stress that Roy never waivered about his innocence.”

William Brennan, an attorney for McGrath’s wife, also confirmed McGrath died at a Tennessee hospital after “a confrontation with the FBI” and told CNN that his client was “absolutely distraught.”

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 8:44 am What did he do?

Mr. McGrath sparked the search three weeks ago when he did not appear for his federal trial in the U.S. District Courthouse in Baltimore on March 13. The charges alleged that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state while he headed the government-owned nonprofit Maryland Environmental Service.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:19 pm https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/89349322 ... ery-scheme

FBI agents arrested Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder on Tuesday morning at his rural farm. Householder was taken into custody in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme allegedly involving state officials and associates.

That's gotta hurt.

Once one of the most powerful politicians in Ohio, Householder is now a convicted felon, guilty of racketeering conspiracy and breaking the public's trust. He was immediately taken into custody in federal court in Cincinnati.
...
Householder expressed no remorse for leading an extensive bribery scheme at the Ohio Statehouse but instead focused on the harm a prison sentence would impose on his relatives and loved ones. "I would give my life in a heartbeat for my wife and any of my sons," he said.

When Householder's attorney Steven Bradley made a similar argument right before the sentencing, Black interrupted: “The harm to his family was caused by him, not by the court."
...
Bradley argued that the damage to Householder's reputation would deter plenty of politicians.

Householder expressed no remorse for leading an extensive bribery scheme at the Ohio Statehouse but instead focused on the harm a prison sentence would impose on his relatives and loved ones. "I would give my life in a heartbeat for my wife and any of my sons," he said.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 3:16 pmBradley argued that the damage to Householder's reputation would deter plenty of politicians.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:00 am As much as the GOP is being infiltrated and tarnished by deviants, is it any wonder they hate the deviant left so much?

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 5:23 pm FFS

New Mexico: Failed election candidate paid me to shoot officials, gunman says

A man in the US state of New Mexico has pleaded guilty to helping a defeated Republican candidate carry out drive-by shootings at the home of Democrats.

The defendant, Demetrio Trujillo, says the candidate, Solomon Peña, hired him after failing to win a seat in the state legislature in November 2022.

Over the following weeks, the residences of several Democratic officials were attacked in Albuquerque.

Mr Peña has denied the charges against him and is due to stand trial in June.

Blackhawk wrote:Thank you. I'm not a fan of untitled links.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:39 am

Blackhawk wrote:Thank you. I'm not a fan of untitled links.

Trying to do url codes on a phone is a pain.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 10:29 am

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:39 am

Blackhawk wrote:Thank you. I'm not a fan of untitled links.

Trying to do url codes on a phone is a pain.

I put them into Text Replacement as a 2-character code [i, [b, [q, etc.

The Meal wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 10:34 am

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 10:29 am

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:39 am

Blackhawk wrote:Thank you. I'm not a fan of untitled links.

Trying to do url codes on a phone is a pain.

I put them into Text Replacement as a 2-character code [i, [b, [q, etc.

Genius! I also created a contact in my phone named “fuck fucking fucked fucker” to prevent some annoying autocorrects.