Free Republic

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison in the corruption case that drove him from power as a judge said she hoped to “send a message to Albany.” U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni sentenced Silver, 76, for the third time, acknowledging that a man who was once one of the three most powerful state officials came closer than ever before to properly expressing remorse. But she said it remained unclear as to whether “he really gets it,” and she shaved only six months off the seven-year prison sentence she announced in 2018,...

NEW YORK – A former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo was convicted on corruption charges Tuesday at a trial that further exposed the state capital's culture of backroom deal-making. A federal jury in Manhattan found Joseph Percoco guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of soliciting bribes after deliberating for parts of three weeks. "Joseph Percoco was found guilty of taking over $300,000 in cash bribes by selling something priceless that was not his to sell – the sacred obligation to honestly and faithfully serve the citizens of New York," Manhattan...

As I was writing my new book on TWA Flight 800 --TWA 800: The Crash, The Cover-Up, The Conspiracy, now available wherever you buy books -- I wondered how Hillary Clinton’s success would affect the book’s. On the up side, if Hillary were nominated, the book would be more relevant as she was at the quiet center of the action. On the down side, her nomination would increase the odds that a protective major media would continue to ignore the great untold story of our time. The media run the risk of being the only adults who do not know...