Free Republic

A federal grand jury in Maryland has charged the chairman of the Senate's powerful budget panel and two former supermarket executives with bribery, extortion and other criminal offenses in an 18-count indictment. In announcing the charges Wednesday, prosecutors said Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Democrat, had misused his influence for personal gain while helping Shoppers Food Warehouse expand in Maryland. "Government officials cross a bright line when they accept payments in return for using the authority of their office, whether they take cash in envelopes or checks labeled as consulting payments," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. When...

Investigators raided the home of a prominent Maryland black Democrat for the second time in three weeks Tuesday. State prosecutors searched Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's house for several hours in the morning, apparently continuing a two-year probe of her financial dealings as City Council president. The investigators removed documents from Mrs. Dixon's Southwest Baltimore home, but would not confirm the focus of the investigation. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, expanded their investigation into state Sen. Ulysses Currie this week, requesting records from the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, both of which own land near a mall in...

Federal agents seized bank statements, tax records and correspondence, and found marijuana during a search at the home of state Sen. Ulysses Currie, according to court documents. The documents show agents found marijuana and "drug packaging materials" in a bag on a dresser and in other bags on the floor of a room in the house last week. * * * Currie, 70, is one of the most influential lawmakers in Maryland. The Democrat leads the budget-writing committee that steers state spending.