Free Republic

Kamala Harris’ first significant political role was an appointment by her powerful then-boyfriend Willie Brown, three decades her senior, to a California medical board that has been criticized as a landing spot for patronage jobs and kickbacks. Then 30, Harris was dating 60-year-old Willie Brown, at the time the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly, when he placed her on the California Medical Assistance Commission in 1994. The position paid over $70,000 per year, $120,700 in current money, and Harris served on the board until 1998. The medical commission met twice a month, and Harris, a United States senator...

Defendants took numerous government-funded trips together, including 31 trips to Orlando BOSTON – An Uxbridge man and Maryland woman were charged with conspiring to defraud the government of thousands of dollars from 2014 to 2018.Thomas Bouchard, 57, of Uxbridge, Mass., was arrested yesterday, and Chantelle Boyd, 50, of Woodsboro, Md., was arrested on Monday, July 6, 2020, and charged with one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of theft of government funds. Boyd was also charged with false declarations before the grand jury.As alleged in the indictment, Bouchard was the Contracting Officer in charge of the U.S. Army Natick...

After leaving the Florida governorship, Jeb Bush often commanded tens of thousands of dollars for speaking engagements. Some of his bigger checks were signed by major corporations, private universities with considerable endowments, overseas business conferences -- and a church in Houston frequented for more than 50 years by his parents, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush. The former Florida governor charged one of his highest fees to St. Martin's Episcopal Church last year for a Sept. 30 event, according to a financial disclosure form with the Federal Election Commission. The fee of $50,000 was...

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is pushing back hard on a news report that he’s shirking his official state duties to campaign for his father’s presidential campaign. The Houston Chronicle on Sunday reported that Bush was out of the office for the equivalent of 23 of the first 50 workdays since his dad, Jeb, announced his White House bid. That tally came from an analysis of the younger Bush’s official schedule. But a Bush spokesman said in a lengthy, open letter that the report was “inaccurate” and that Bush had tended to state business for 50 of 63 days...

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has been out of the state or otherwise off of work nearly half of the time since his father entered the GOP race for president, despite pledges to remain focused on his elected office. The Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1OO7yh7 ) examined Bush's calendar, agency records and social media accounts to determine that he had been away on personal time related to the presidential campaign and other reasons for 23 of the first 50 work days since his father, Jeb Bush, announced his bid on June 15. According to the newspaper's analysis, George P. Bush took...

It's usually "like father, like son", but in the case of Jeb Bush's eldest son, George P. Bush, it was the younger generation who paved the way, rubbing shoulders with Hong Kong's top movers and shakers more than a decade ago. In 2001, the then 25-year-old law student George Prescott Bush came to Hong Kong for an eight-week stint at a law firm. The younger Bush made quite an impression, meeting up on several occasions with then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and striking up friendships with key influencers. "I've met Tung Chee-hwa on several occasions, Richard and Victor Li and...

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has been out of the state or otherwise off of work nearly half of the time since his father entered the GOP race for president, records show, raising questions about whether the scion is fulfilling his pledge to remain focused on his first elected office. Personal time - both related to the presidential race and for other reasons - took the commissioner away for the equivalent of 23 of the first 50 work days after father Jeb Bush announced his bid on June 15, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of records obtained under...

Those who don’t regularly follow politics might not be familiar with George P. Bush. But they’ve surely heard of his father, uncle and grandfather. The son of former Florida governor and 2016 White House hopeful Jeb Bush, George P. Bush will deliver the keynote speech at the Republican Party of Riverside County’s annual Liberty Dinner on Oct. 15. Having been elected Texas land commissioner in 2014, George P. Bush, 39, is the grandson of America’s 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and the nephew of the 43rd president, George W. Bush. “George P. Bush is a rising star in the Republican...

Clark County management has ordered Martin Bassick, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1107, to report for work at a county job in a move that reflects the county’s interpretation of a new state law concerning paid leave for union representatives. The county’s human resources department notified Bassick in a letter Thursday to report at his county public works job at 8 a.m. Monday, according to correspondence obtained by the Review-Journal. The letter cites a bill that the Legislature passed this session and Gov. Brian Sandoval signed into law. An attorney for the SEIU, the county’s largest union,...