Free Republic

A wide spread scale over the secret network used to move Iran's oil revenues around international sanctions has [received] criticism. Senior officials have discovered that [corrupt intermediaries] have misappropriated at least $1.6 billion, with some fleeing the country. The controversy has expose the unofficial network of so-called trusts: companies and intermediates entrusted with receiving and transferring oil revenues outside the international banking system. Speaking on state television on Sunday, the head of Iran's State Inspection Organization, Zabihollah Khodaeian, said one intermediart alone had failed to return $200 million in state funds before leaving the country. Khudaeian added that judicial authorities...

Democratic Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke was indicted by a grand jury on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports stemming from a bribe she allegedly took as a state lawmaker in 2022. The indictment alleges that local businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum offered Luke a $35,000 bribe connected to a COVID-19 testing contract a company he recommended had with the state. Solidum was also indicted as part of the state attorney general’s probe, along with former state representative Ryan Yamane, Hawaii’s Transportation Department official Ford Fuchigami, and Leo Asunción, a former official for...

Daniel Burrell was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Friday on a fugitive from justice court warrant, according to court records.A former senior adviser to John Kerry’s presidential campaign was arrested Friday on Nantucket on a warrant out of Las Vegas following the sale of his foreclosed mansion on the island, multiple outlets reported. Daniel Burrell was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Friday on a fugitive from justice court warrant, according to court records. He was ordered to be committed to Barnstable County Correctional Facility after not posting bail, which was set at $10,000 cash... Burrell, a businessman in private equity...

Fatah, the “moderate” ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, has admitted on live television that Hamas steals humanitarian aid and kills aid workers in the Gaza Strip. The admission, captured by Palestinian Media Watch, confirms what Israel has been saying all along — and goes further, stating that Hamas is not only responsible for endangering aid workers by hiding among them, but also asserts that Hamas has been killing aid workers directly. Palestinian Media Watch reported (original emphasis):

According to a Department of Justice press release, 45-year-old Zottola hired 37-year-old hitman Himen Ross, who also received a life sentence, to kill both his father and brother in an effort to keep the family’s two dozen Bronx multi-family rental and commercial properties valued at $45 million. On Oct. 4, 2018, known New York City mobster Sylvester was gunned down in what law enforcement described as a mafia-style assassination at a Bronx McDonald’s drive-thru while ordering a cup of coffee. A reputed associate of New York’s Bonanno crime family, Sylvester was waiting in his vehicle to pick up his order...

DNC: Nearly $500,000 of equipment was lost or stolen in Charlotte To stage last year’s Democratic National Convention, the local host committee raised millions of dollars, much of it for computers, phones and other communication devices. Now it appears a sizable amount of that equipment was lost, stolen – or perhaps kept by the staffers it had been assigned to. The Democratic National Convention Committee said it recently sent the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department a spreadsheet detailing $496,000 worth of missing equipment. CMPD created an incident report in May. Among the missing items: MacBook Pro laptops, iPads, iPod Nanos, computer printers,...

In the Tar Heel State, where Democrats will converge next year to dutifully renominate him for a second term, "Obama's most ardent supporters in Durham's black community worry that waning enthusiasm among African-Americans may prevent him from repeating his razor-thin North Carolina victory of 20008," writes Boston Globe reporter Tracy Jan. Ms. Jan quotes a 52-year-old black woman standing in line at the employment office, saying she "can't muster the will to support Obama for a second term." "I don't see what he's done. I'm not even going to waste my time and vote," this Democrat said. In Durham...

They are simply hysterical defending Kennedy's statements! Try calling for a good laugh.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- State Sen. John Whitmire said he is returning to Houston tonight in a move that could potentially end the holdout of Texas Democratic senators who fled Austin on July 28 to stop a vote on congressional redistricting. Whitmire, who had not even unpacked his bags after returning today from Houston where he spent the Labor Day weekend, said his decision to return to Houston was not well-received by his fellow Democrats. "There were varying degrees of disappointment is all I can say," he said. "The bottom line is that, redistricting is real important but there are other...