Salon.com > Corruption

House Finance chair hits slopes with Wall Street lobbyists

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:00 +0000

In January, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, ascended to the powerful chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. Six weeks later, campaign finance filings and interviews show, Hensarling was joined by representatives of the banking industry for a ski vacation fundraiser at a posh Park City, Utah, resort.

The congressman’s political action committee held the fundraiser at the St. Regis Deer Valley, the “Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts” known for its “white-glove service” and for its restaurant by superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

New York City bribery scandal gets twistier

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Queens City Councilman Daniel Halloran, arrested just last week over an alleged plot to rig the New York City mayoral race, also reportedly had an affair with his 21-year-old staffer, according to the New York Post.

From the Post:

Dan Halloran, 41 — who is charged in a bribe scheme to get state Sen. [Malcolm] Smith into the mayoral race — repeatedly hooked up with Meaghan Mapes, then 21, in her Queens home between 2010 and 2011, sources said.

She served as his deputy chief of staff during that same period, earning $30,000.

The relationship was the final straw for Halloran’s wife, Cynthia, and the two were locked in divorce proceedings by early 2011.

New York pol resigns after helping to indict fellow Assemblyman

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:38:00 +0000

New York Assemblyman Nelson Castro resigned Thursday after helping federal officials indict one of his colleagues in the Assembly, Eric Stevenson, who was arrested earlier in the day on corruption charges.

Castro, a Democrat from the Bronx, announced that he will be stepping down from his seat after working as an informant for law enforcement since July, 2009. Stevenson was arrested and charged Thursday with allegedly taking bribes from local businessmen.

“On July 31, 2009, I was indicted by a Bronx County Grand Jury for committing perjury in a 2008 civil matter, held prior to my election to the Assembly," Castro said in a statement. "I appreciate the seriousness of my misconduct. Thereafter, I agreed to cooperate with …. various investigations aimed at rooting out public corruption.”

Another New York politician arrested on corruption charges

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:10:00 +0000

Another New York politician, Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, was arrested Thursday, and charged with taking bribes from local businessmen.

Four others and were arrested in connection with the Stevenson probe on Thursday. According to the complaint, another unnamed New York Assemblyman has been cooperating federal officials since at least early 2012, and will resign from office.

“Stevenson is accused of taking bribes in exchange for official acts, which included drafting, proposing, and agreeing to enact legislation that would benefit the co-defendants’ businesses,” said a press release from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office. “Two of the other defendants are also charged in connection with their payment of a bribe to another Assemblyman, who was actually cooperating with the Government at the time. The charges include conspiracy to deprive New York State and its citizens of Eric Stevenson’s honest services, federal programs and Travel Act bribery conspiracy, federal programs bribery, and Travel Act bribery conspiracy.”

On Tuesday, New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens city councilman Daniel Halloran were arrested and charged with trying to bribe Republicans to get Smith's name on the ticket for the New York City mayoral race.

New York pols arrested in federal corruption probe

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:15:00 +0000

Two New York legislators and four others local politicians were arrested in connection with federal corruption probe of an alleged plot to rig this year's New York City mayoral race.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Democrat from Queens, and City Councilman Dan Halloran, a Republican also from Queens, were arrested by the FBI Tuesday morning. Two Republican county chairman, Joseph Savino from the Bronx, and Vincent Tabone of Queens, as well as the mayor and deputy mayor of Spring Valley in Rockland County, were also arrested, NBC New York reports.

From NBC New York:

Law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York Smith was allegedly involved in a plot to try to get onto the GOP mayoral ballot by offering payments to Republican county chairmen. Any candidate seeking to be added to a ballot would need to be approved by three of the five county chairmen for a particular party.

William Shakespeare: Legendary playwright and exploitative businessman

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:52:00 +0000

If there is such a thing as a big scandal in the literary community, this may be it: New academic research has found that William Shakespeare was a cut-throat businessman who often engaged in illegal activities at the expense of the very community he represented in his plays.

From the Daily Mail:

William Shakespeare was threatened with prison for dodging tax and illegally hoarded food to sell on at inflated prices, new research has revealed.

An academic study looking into Shakespeare's 'other life' as one of Warwickshire's biggest landowners has uncovered a less than savoury side to Britain's greatest playwright.

The allegation he exploited famine has also lead to suggestions that his 'Coriolanus,' for years regarded as a plea for the starving poor, was in fact his way of trying to expunge a guilty conscience.

The paper, written by Jayne Archer, a researcher in Renaissance literature at Aberystwyth University, Richard Marggraf Turley, a professor in the department and Howard Thomas, a professor of plant science found that by "combining both illegal and legal activities, Shakespeare was able to retire in 1613 as the largest property owner in his home town."

"His profits — minus a few fines for illegal hoarding and tax evasion — meant he had a working life of just 24 years."

Idea for Supreme Court: Focus on law, not politics

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:45:00 +0000

Are discriminatory laws, like big financial institutions, Too Big to Fail? After the statements of Supreme Court justices during yesterday's hearing on California Proposition 8, this is the single biggest unanswered -- and still unasked -- question in the fight for equal rights.

To appreciate how that single radical jurisprudential theory of Too Big to Fail connects issues as disparate as financial regulation and same-sex marriage, remember that the last few weeks has seen America's normally opaque government for the first time articulate that theory in public. As you may recall, the attorney general, the assistant attorney general and President Obama's nominee to head the Securities and Exchange have all admitted that prosecutors take into account external factors (macroeconomic effects, shareholder losses, etc.) when deciding whether to charge lawbreaking financial institutions with serious crimes.

Michelle Rhee: Wrong again

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Most who are reading these words will probably agree that our country is facing a democracy crisis, thanks, in part, to the dominance of money in our political process. Many who read these words will also probably insist that our country is facing an education crisis (though many try to deny the actual cause of that crisis).

Getting past the denial stage and acknowledging both of these problems is certainly a step toward one day fixing them. However, there's another more subtle and self-reinforcing form of denial that makes getting to those solutions more difficult. That denial -- or perhaps cognitive dissonance -- evinces itself in an American psyche that tends to perceive the democracy and education emergencies as separate and distinct.

Who will be paying Hillary?

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:19:00 +0000

The news yesterday that Hillary Clinton is going through the revolving door to make huge money on the speaking circuit is an important reminder of one of the most pernicious forms of political corruption -- the kind that holds out the promise of later riches to those who follow corporate orders while still in office.

At this point, the Clintons are the shining example of how this quiet but nonetheless powerful corruption system works. As USA Today this week noted, Bill Clinton has become one of the wealthiest presidents in American history, thanks to the fact that since leaving office, he "has earned more than $125 million before taxes, with the vast majority of that coming from speaking fees."

That term "speaking fees" is a sanitized phrase that evokes images of earnest college lectures and graduation orations. But for the most part, the term really refers to a corporate payoff, either for a job well done in office, or for a former politician to add his name to the corporate brand.

Choice nuggets from the New York Times’ huge China story

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:39:00 +0000

China has blocked NYTimes.com following the paper's expose on the nation's ruling elite, which has enriched itself during the Middle Kingdom's prolonged economic boom. Among other revelations, the piece found that family members of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are making a fortune in lucrative Chinese business deals.

The prime minister's mother made $120 million in just one investment five years ago. His wife, the "Diamond Queen" of China, has amassed great wealth through her diamond and gem businesses. The prime minister denies involvement and appears unhappy with his family's greed, but, as the Times found out, his political position perhaps sowed the seeds for their business ventures.

Here are the four most ground-shaking parts of the article.

Reporter David Barboza shows how Wen's position aided his family members in a country where the line between private and public is increasingly blurred:

As prime minister in an economy that remains heavily state-driven, Mr. Wen, who is best known for his simple ways and common touch, more importantly has broad authority over the major industries where his relatives have made their fortunes. Chinese companies cannot list their shares on a stock exchange without approval from agencies overseen by Mr. Wen, for example. He also has the power to influence investments in strategic sectors like energy and telecommunications."

NYPD block off whole JPMorgan building to arrest three teens

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:24:00 +0000

The entire 60 floors of JPMorgan Chase's downtown New York office building were temporarily blocked off Wednesday so that three high-schoolers could be arrested, according to a news release from anti-corruption activists.

The students were staging a sit-in protest at the bank headquarters, "demanding full disclosure of the bank’s anonymous political expenditures," reported an announcement from 99Rise, the anti-corruption group of which the three young people are members. "The students, who delivered a petition to the bank over three weeks ago articulating their demand, refused to leave the bank’s premises until the requested information was handed over to the public. The bank instead chose to shut down the entire 60 floor building have them arrested," the release read. A live Twitter feed from the group reporting on the small sit-in noted that police set up barricades around the building, closing entrances to the public.

99 Rise describes itself as "a new anti-corruption movement to get Big Money out of American politics." The three students have reportedly been taken to a police station in the Bronx.

Campaign finance reform wins in Montana

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:10:00 +0000

At least for this election cycle, the last shots have been fired in one of the biggest under-the-radar campaign finance battles of the post-Citizens United era -- the fight over Montana’s robust campaign finance regime -- when the Supreme Court decided yesterday to leave the state’s contribution caps in place. Amid a few high-profile victories for interests bent on dismantling campaign finance laws, this is one of a handful of smaller but important wins for reformers.

For decades, Montana has had unusually strong campaign finance regulations, including a low cap on contributions from individuals and political committees ($600 for governor and lieutenant governor, $300 for other statewide offices). But last year, a group of Republican lawyers and businessmen challenged the state’s laws as a violation of free speech, a similar argument to the one used in the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which blew away limits on corporate political giving. They challenged various pieces of Montana’s law, including a ban on corporate contributions, the contribution limits, and political speech disclaimer requirements.This summer, the Supreme Court sided with the conservatives and overturned the ban on corporate donations, saying it didn’t comply with Citizens United.

Tom DeLay to make case to appeals court

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:13:00 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former U.S. House Majority Leader and GOP heavyweight Tom DeLay is getting ready to make his case to an appeals court that his 2010 conviction for taking part in a scheme to influence Texas elections should be overturned.

Attorneys for DeLay, who once held the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives and the Travis County District Attorney's Office, were set to make oral arguments Wednesday before the 3rd Court of Appeals.

DeLay, 65, was found guilty in November 2010 of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering for helping illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but that was put on hold while his case was appealed.

The former Houston-area congressman has maintained his prosecution was politically motivated by Ronnie Earle, the now-retired Democratic Travis County district attorney in Austin.

Prosecutor Holly Taylor has said politics did not play a role in DeLay's case and his trial was a legitimate prosecution.

Detroit’s former mayor faces corruption trial

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:10:00 +0000

DETROIT (AP) — After a last-ditch effort to move the case out of Detroit failed, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is returning to court for the start of a corruption trial that will last months and could land him in prison for more than 10 years.

Kilpatrick, who was forced out of office in a different scandal in 2008, is accused of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, kickbacks and other favors. His father, Bernard, is a co-defendant in yet another sordid turn for what once was one of Detroit's most powerful political families.

The 100-page indictment describes Kwame Kilpatrick muscling contractors, rewarding pals and repeatedly reaping illegal benefits — cash, travel, golf, even yoga — while running an ailing city that struggled more than most during the economic downturn.

Opening statements are set for Friday after U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds rejected a request by defense lawyers to move the trial to another city.

"What is extraordinary here is just the volume of evidence, the breadth of the indictment," said David Steingold, a defense attorney not involved in the case. "I can't speak to it, but it looks as though they're just trying to overwhelm Mr. Kilpatrick. They're trying to throw so much mud at him."