Free Republic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A tearful Corrine Brown made her plea to the court Thursday afternoon, asking the judge to consider all she has done in her life and to show “mercy and compassion.” Brown, 71, was convicted in May of 18 counts of conspiracy, fraud and filing false tax returns. She said those charges run contrary to everything she's ever done in her life, and that she considers her decades of public service an honor and a privilege. Corrine Brown Headlines Corrine Brown with her attorney, James-Smith Corrine Brown's attorney: People 'deserve second chances' After tears, tough questions, Corrine Brown...

Kwame Kilpatrick guilty of racketeering conspiracy, extortion...

A Houston judge faces possible discipline for violating judicial ethics by reducing the bail of a recently arrested sheriff's deputy without notifying prosecutors, legal experts said. State District Judge Kevin Fine maintained that he acted within his authority when he reduced the deputy's bail by 90 percent, from $200,000 to $20,000, without notifying prosecutors. He took the action after the defendant's attorney approached him Thursday, Fine said. "I can lower the bond without any party present, sua sponte, on my own, I have that authority," Fine said. He said a $200,000 bail was essentially no bail. But legal experts said...

One word -- wow ! "If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district," Mr. Murtha said. "My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care of what we see is necessary.

Black Ordered not to Drink Alcohol; Must Remain in Western NC Former House Speaker Jim Black can't drink alcohol and has to stay in western North Carolina to await his sentencing next month. Those are the terms set down by a federal judge in a court document filed today. Black, his attorney, probation officer and U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle signed the change to the conditions of his release. No reason was given for the change. The Mecklenburg County Democrat pleaded guilty in February to one count of taking thousands of dollars in cash from chiropractors while promoting their industry's...

Norman's guilty, guilty, guilty BY SCOTT SHIFRELDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, February 24th, 2007 It was strike three yesterday for disgraced ex-Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Clarence Norman, as a third jury in 18 months found him guilty of corruption - this time for extorting a judicial candidate. The month-long trial included testimony from four judges, tales of last-minute election shakedowns and struck a blow to politics as usual, Brooklyn-style. "We were taking a creature that has been around politics for much too long and we have exposed it for the evil that it is," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes....

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former State House Speaker Jim Black will resign from office and plead guilty to a federal corruption charge, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday night.

On only the fourth day of the new year, we’ve decided that the 2007 “Some Nerve!” award goes to ... Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). You might think that a guy who’s still the subject of a federal bribery investigation would be more careful than to use taxpayer resources to raise campaign money. But nope, not Jefferson. And heck, he still hasn’t provided us with that “honorable explanation” he promised for the bizarro (and alleged) $90,000 in cash federal agents confiscated from a freezer in his Capitol Hill home. Last week, House Democrats were shocked to receive a letter from Jefferson...

A former aide to Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) pleaded guilty yesterday to bribing the congressman to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa. Brett M. Pfeffer, 37, of Herndon, a former president of a McLean investment firm, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official in 2004 and 2005.

Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily Volume XXII, No. 46 Monday, March 15, 2004 Founded in 1972 Produced at least 200 times a year © 2004, Global Information System, ISSA Role of US Former Pres. Carter Emerging in Illegal Financial Demands on Shah of Iran Exclusive. Analysis. By Alan Peters,1 GIS. Strong intelligence has begun to emerge that US President Jimmy Carter attempted to demand financial favors for his political friends from the Shah of Iran. The rejection of this demand by the Shah could well have led to Pres. Carter’s resolve to remove the Iranian Emperor from office. The linkage...

Springfield , MO - Former Greene County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Steven Stepp has been sued in Federal Court for conspiracy to deny civil and political rights and interference with the right to equal access at a public political event. On his order, the Springfield Police Department handcuffed and detained Claire McCaskill supporters at a Greene County Democratic Event in 2003. Stepp is joined in the lawsuit by co-defendants Springfield Police Department and Choice Hotels. Choice Hotels is the parent company of the Clarion Hotel in Springfield as described in the law suit. According to the Civil Suit, Stepp was...

In a not-too-surprising development, Democrats and their allies in the more radical elements of political activism believe they have penetrated the town hall forum and will be represented in the audience of so-called “swing voters” at tonight’s debate. According to the Gallop organization, who was responsible for selecting the voters in tonight’s debate audience, the participants may have opinions about the candidates. They may be leaning to one candidate or the other. But they must also have told a Gallup representative that they might still vote for the other guy. The participants were chosen at random through phone interviews conducted...

I have to take my hat off to New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey for his courageous move on Thursday August 12, 2004. The Governor came out as a having had an affair with another man, saying, “Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony,” he said “it was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable.” He stated that his ability to govern would be affected because of his sexuality and the affair. These left the governors office vulnerable! WABC-TV of New York reported that McGreevey was expecting a lawsuit by a...

Nervous New Jersey Democrats may dump scandal-scarred Gov. Jim McGreevey in favor of Sen. Jon Corzine in next year's gubernatorial election, sources said yesterday. McGreevey, buffeted by widening allegations involving two of his biggest fund-raisers — one of whom was charged this week with hiring prostitutes to blackmail potential federal witnesses — faces growing restlessness among fellow Democrats fearful a serious Republican challenger will soon emerge. "If a consensus emerges among the Democrats to dump McGreevey, Corzine just might do it," a longtime Democratic operative told The Post. A Democrat close to Corzine told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "If the circumstances...

<p>WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Paul Adler, a former chairman of the Rockland County Democratic Party and a Hillary Rodham Clinton fund-raiser, was sentenced Wednesday to 19 months in prison for tax evasion and mail fraud.</p> <p>"Mr. Adler failed to do an honest, principled job" as party leader, said federal Judge Charles Brieant, and his crime will discourage "idealistic men and women from going into local politics."</p>