Free Republic

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank may have appeared sudden and unexpected on the outside. But the company and its chief risk officer parted ways in April 2022, and its risk committee more than doubled its meetings to 18, suggesting growing concern with the bank’s position, according to the company’s 2023 proxy statement. Depositors, advised by venture capital firms to pull their money after the company sought a $2.25 billion capital raise to shore up its equity position, withdrew some $42 billion in cash over 44 hours, creating the liquidity crisis that led the FDIC to take over the bank...

New York prosecutors on Thursday unveiled the first charges in their grand jury investigation into the Trump Organization, charging the former president’s company and its chief financial officer (CFO), Allen Weisselberg, with tax-related crimes. Prosecutors allege a 15-year scheme in which the Trump Organization compensated Weisselberg in a manner that allowed the company and the executive to evade taxes. The defendants deny any wrongdoing and argue that the charges are politically motivated. The allegations stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office that has involved prosecutors obtaining former President Trump’s tax returns. Thursday’s indictment doesn’t charge the...

The perception that only elite schools produce elite leaders needs to die. The No. 1 company in last year’s Fortune 500 was Walmart Inc., with $500 billion in revenue. That would make its chief executive, Douglas McMillon, a pretty important and powerful executive, don’t you think? Can you guess where he went to college? The University of Arkansas. He has an MBA, too. From the University of Tulsa. Second on the list was Exxon Mobil Corp. Its CEO, Darren Woods, went to Texas A&M. Third was Berkshire Hathaway Inc., run by the man many consider the greatest investor who ever...

Among other things, Morris Davis, retired United States Air Force Colonel, is an expert on military commissions. He served as Chief Prosecutor for the Guantanamo military commissions. He resigned from the position and retired from active duty last year and took a job with the Congressional Research Office (CRO) running the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division. Last month Davis wrote an op-ed for the WSJ where he criticized the Administration's decision to try some detainees via military commissions and others in civilian courts . Davis wrote: "The administration must choose. Either federal courts or military commissions, but not both,...