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The 2011 downing of a helicopter in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of 30 American troops—including 17 Navy SEALs, a number of whom were members of the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden—was not compromised but did suffer from faulty planning, a defense official said on Thursday. Some of the families of the fallen said they appreciated the controversial hearing where the official testified. However, they said the testimony left them unsatisfied and vowed to press for more answers. The contested mission known as Extortion 17 involved a CH-47D Chinook helicopter shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)...

A band of Dartmouth College students has sent an extortion letter to the school’s administration. The group, self-described as “concerned Asian, Black, Latino, Native, Undocumented, Queer, and Differently-Abled students,” wants Dartmouth to yield to its demands under threat of “physical action.” The un-named collection of radicals demand a number of steps be taken by Dartmouth to “eradicate systems of oppression as they affect marginalized communities on this campus.” Taken verbatim, their list of demands are as follows: • Racial enrollment quotas for Black and Latino students to “at least 10 percent each” • “Ensure that 47 percent of post-doctoral students...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Former Arkansas treasurer Martha Shoffner pleaded not guilty Thursday to mail fraud charges alleging that she misspent campaign funds — counts that won't be part of her upcoming bribery and extortion trial. Shoffner, a Democrat, didn't speak during her arraignment in federal court on the new charges, 10 counts of mail fraud. The charges allege that she misspent $9,800 in campaign funds on clothing, cosmetics and other personal items. The judge set a March 31 trial date. Shoffner is scheduled to stand trial Monday on the bribery and extortion charges. In that case, she is...

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been pulled into a lawsuit between two local chapters of the Service Employees International Union, which represent health care workers, and nursing homes. At issue is whether a campaign to pressure the management of the nursing homes during labor disputes crossed the line into extortion. ... both lawmakers are now in the uncomfortable situation of being deposed by lawyers representing the nursing homes and are forced to provide a wide array of documents relating to their interactions with the SEIU. The subpoenas, obtained by the Washington Examiner, require them...

Feds Charge Philadelphia Ironworkers with Extortion, Arson and Racketeering Federal prosecutors today announced an indictment charging 10 members of the Philadelphia Ironworkers Union Local 401 with extorting and forcing businesses to hire their colleagues and defending their turf from non-union workers with violence. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Zane Memeger announced the charges at a press conference this morning after the 10 union members named in the indictment were arrested. According to the indictment, members of the Ironworkers would approach foremen at construction sites where iron work was being done and “implicitly or explicitly threaten the foreman...

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the Economic Growth Subcommittee, sent a harsh letter to Attorney General Holder Wednesday accusing the Department of Justice of abusing its power and intimidating banks through its "Operation Choke Point." In the letter, Issa and Jordan stated, "[t]he [House Oversight and Government Reform] Committee is concerned that both the goal and mechanisms of Operation Choke Point may constitute a serious mismanagement and abuse of the Department´s FIRREA [Financial Institution Reform and Recovery Act of 1989] authority." Breitbart News broke the

War On Banks: Attorney General Eric Holder has opened up a new front against car lenders and has forged an alliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to frame them for racism, too. We don't use the term "frame" capriciously, certainly not like Holder uses the charge of racism. His department and the president's new consumer credit watchdog agency, CFPB, have announced a new settlement with Ally Bank for nearly $100 million. It's the largest fair lending deal against the auto industry and the third-largest ever to resolve charges of lending discrimination. Throw in four new mortgage-lender settlements over equally...

Eric Holder’s idea of implementing justice is to shake down banks on trumped up charges based on vague statistics and leftist theories. Holder’s Department of Justice recently leveled a $100 million fine against Ally Bank for “racist” lending practices without a shred of evidence. And Ally’s not the only victim of Obama/Holder Inc.’s protection racket. Apparently, the post-racial presidency of Barack Obama has decided to extort almost a billion dollars from capitalist institutions under the unjustified pretense of ‘race-based’ predatory lending. The recent settlement made between Ally Bank and the DOJ’s Orwellian named Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is one of...

Members of the University of Michigan Black Student Union said they would have to resort to “physical action” if a list of seven demands issued on Martin Luther King Day are not met within seven days, The Ann Arbor News reported. “If negotiations are not complete we will be forced to do more, beginning to increase valiantly our activism for social progress and take physical actions on the University of Michigan’s campus,” said senior Shayla Scales to a group of students gathered on campus, according to the Ann Arbor News. The seven demands, read aloud by an activist associated with...

Some of the world’s most famous people became such by challenging conventional wisdom. Who does not know the name Galileo? He was scorned as a heretic in his day. Or what American does not know of Jonas Salk, who developed a nonconventional process and saved the world from the dreaded polio disease. Now comes along a man challenging conventional wisdom. The subject is not as lofty as curing polio or defining the center of the universe, but it challenges an accepted orthodoxy that has been beaten into our brains for decades. Though campaign finance reform dates back to 1867 when...

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Statesville police put extra officers on patrol Friday night in case a fourth bomb threat is called into the Walmart store there. Someone has called the store the last three nights in a row demanding money and claiming they've planted a bomb inside. Elizabeth Levitt was driving to the store when she saw people racing from the parking lot, and dozens of others standing outside the store. "There were a lot of people getting out as fast as they could," she said. "All the employees were huddled together away from the store. It's kind of scary. All...

esse Jackson has decided to weigh in on the inflammatory comments that Phil Robertson made to GQ about gays and African Americans. In an interview with Drew Magary, the “Duck Dynasty” star said the Nazis needed Jesus, that he never saw the mistreatment of African Americans while growing up in Louisiana before the civil rights era and that homosexuality was a sin. A&E has already suspended Robertson, but Reverend Jackson, his Rainbow PUSH Coalition and GLAAD are demanding to meet with network execs, along with Cracker Barrel’s CEO, to discuss the future of all “Duck Dynasty” memorabilia or content.

Smellin' a Pay Day:Jesse Jackson throws in his 2 nonsensical cents 'Duck Dynasty' star's comments Jesse smells money in the Louisiana water! Chicago Tribune reports Jesse Jackson Sr. has jumped into the controversy surrounding comments by Phil Robertson, star of A&E’s backwoods reality TV show, “Duck Dynasty.” In an announcement sent out Tuesday, Jackson Sr. compared Robertson’s recent comments about African-Americans, gay people and women to comments made by the driver of Rosa Parks’ bus. "At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law,” he said in the...

Author’s Note: This column is a continuation of my previous column “Bribery and Extortion,” which serves as an extended review of Peter Schweizer’s excellent new book Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets. In the wake of the tragic December, 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Vice President Biden criticized more than just the gun industry. He also criticized the video game industry. He argued specifically that video games contribute to a national culture of violence. He stated immediately that he didn’t know what the government was going to do about it. Nonetheless, he said,...

In today's video, Christopher Morrison of News Dredge, 'The Voice of Independents,' reports on Washington Times' expose detailing the tragic story of Extortion 17 and the deadliest day in Afghanistan.

As a criminology professor, one of the biggest challenges I face is explaining the difference between similar yet distinct criminal offenses. When students struggle, I usually help them with criminal law hypotheticals. For example, when explaining the difference between bribery and extortion, I tell them to imagine the following scenario: "A man is pulled over by a State Trooper for driving 100 miles per hour. As the Trooper approaches and asks for his wallet, the man pulls out a $100 bill and says 'I bet you $100 that you're going to give me a ticket.' The Trooper smiles, takes the...

(Pictured: Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino with President Obama) You may have your suspicions about what’s going on behind closed doors at the White House. But according to one of President Obama’s former body guards it’s much worse than we can even imagine. Dan Bongino has protected numerous Presidents over his career, including President Obama. He has been within ear-shot of many a discussion in the Oval Office, but up until this administration has stayed out of the lime light. Apparently, however, the activities of this administration are so abhorrent that he could no longer keep quiet. Bongino is so...

The NFL is investigating the situation in Miami involving Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin and some serious hazing gone wrong. The Dolphins said Monday they'll comply with that investigation. On Tuesday the NFLPA weighed in as well. The union said that it would monitor the proceedings and "will insist on a fair investigation for all involved." "We expect that the NFL and its clubs create a safe and professional workplace for all players and that owners, executives, coaches and players should set the best standards and examples," the union said in a statement. "It is the duty of this union to...

The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS) has filed a lawsuit today in federal court to halt the unlawful revisions to ObamaCare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). The separation of powers required by the Constitution prohibits the executive branch—the Obama Administration—from rewriting laws passed by Congress. Yet that is what Obama has done by changing key parts of ObamaCare in order to implement it. The AAPS lawsuit, which was filed today in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, asks the Court to enjoin the Obama Administration from imposing its "individual mandate" while delaying the "employer mandate." The law...

A West Palm Beach woman threatened to distribute naked pictures of her roommate unless the roommate forked over $1,500, police said. LaTasha Currington, 38, told the alleged victim, a teacher, that an exchange of cash would be way the only way to stop her from distributing the nude photographs to the woman's colleagues and students, according to a West Palm Beach police arrest report.