The Great Resurrection: U.S. House Judiciary May Get A May Double Birthday Suprise In The Detroit Grand Jury Unsealed Material

"Oups! J'ai dit une bêtise"

via GIPHY
#maytheheavensfall 

Appeals court won't halt order for DOJ to hand over sealed Mueller documents

A federal appeals court said it wouldn't put a hold on its order for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide redacted grand jury materials from former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to Congress, but extended the deadline to allow the administration to appeal.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals gave the Trump administration until May 11 to seek a stay from the Supreme Court, denying the DOJ's request for a longer stay. The order was set to go into effect on Friday.

The move essentially leaves it up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to halt the order to hand over the materials.

The Justice Department had told the court that it intends to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case after a D.C. Circuit panel ruled that the House Judiciary Committee was entitled to the sealed materials as part of its impeachment inquiry.

"Whether and under what circumstances Congress may resort to the courts to seek grand jury materials generated in a criminal investigation in aid of an impeachment inquiry is plainly a question of great significance to all three branches of government, as well as to the functioning of the grand jury system in high-profile, politically-charged matters," the Justice Department wrote in a filing last month.

A three-judge panel on the circuit court had ruled 2-1 earlier this year that the House investigation justified the lawmakers obtaining the special counsel materials they were seeking.

"The Department has objected to disclosure of the redacted grand jury materials, but the Department has no interest in objecting to the release of these materials outside of the general purposes and policies of grand jury secrecy, which as discussed, do not outweigh the Committee's compelling need for disclosure," Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee, wrote in an opinion for the majority.



"Special Counsel Mueller prepared his Report with the expectation that Congress would review it," Rogers added.

The document request is part of a handful that have led to a surge in court fights between the Democratic-led House and the Trump administration.

This week, the D.C. Circuit scrutinized the Justice Department's position that congressional subpoenas are essentially legally unenforceable, in a case challenging a House subpoena for former White House counsel Don McGahn.

Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a set of cases revolving around subpoenas for President Trump's tax returns.

 Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

DOJ Unseals Venezuelan Government Officials Indictments But Seals The Fake Seals Of U.S. Elections

The U.S. is prosecuting another government, Venezuela, the same government we took out and installed our own democratic choice of leadership.

That means another government can prosecute the US.

Quid pro quo!

How come we are not indicting the U.S. officials who participated in these drug activities, like the Navy?

They transport.

What about Haliburton?

What about Detroit?

What about all the political campaigns funded through this network?

We should definitely invite El Chappo to Detroit.

#sealsmatter

But, what if the U.S. Department of Justice has a "certification of the oath of office" situation, Boo Boo Barr just fails to address?

We most certainly invite Boo Boo Barr to Detroit, once those seals are unsealed, to ask him about the use of seals by the Department of Justice when it comes to election certifications and oaths of office.

We need to ask U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts about the signatures when it comes to certification of the oath of office and the filing of such in the Great Repository of the Great Seal of the United States.

Voting rights matter, too.

Just saying.

Where is my Jeffy Sessions because I believe we have one of those constitutional crisis a-brewing.

Epic fentanyl bust leads to kingpin, cartel and oddball cast, feds say

Detroit — A pediatrician from Mexican drug lord El Chapo’s home turf says he oversaw a shipment of what became the third-largest seizure of pure fentanyl in U.S. history after being threatened at gunpoint by cartel henchmen, according to federal court records.

"It was all done in the best interests
of the children,"said the pediatrician.

The records provide a backstory to an epic seizure in suburban Detroit in July 2017 and identify the accused kingpin who headed a nationwide drug ring that sold kilograms of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine since 2014. Prosecutors say the leader is a long-time fugitive who laundered profits through a rap label and used female drug couriers to haul cash and drugs to Metro Detroit and beyond.

The criminal case emerged three years ago with the seizure of more than 10 kilograms of fentanyl, more than $500,000 cash and the arrest of an oddball cast — a pediatrician, a barber and a horse groomer. The seizure — including enough fentanyl to kill 5 million people — and arrests drew widespread attention amid the global opioid crisis.

In recent months, the case has widened with a nationwide manhunt and arrests of 14 other members of an alleged drug ring disrupted after investigators found a clue on the box of a Sony PlayStation.

Several members of the drug ring are pushing to be released from custody while awaiting trial or sentencing, citing the COVID-19 global pandemic, as new details emerge about the pediatrician who says he was forced to oversee the ill-fated fentanyl shipment.

“Three heavily armed people came to my practice and threatened me with death,” pediatrician Adolfo Verdugo Lopez, 53, told U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg. “They threatened me and my family with death, that I had to come to the United States in order to do an errand, to do a favor for them.”

The Novi drug deal that would entangle Lopez was being finalized on July 3, 2017.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Lopez worked as a pediatrician at Sinaloa Pediatric Hospital in Culiacan, Sinaloa, a squat white building painted in a whimsical pink and yellow pattern.

The hospital is a seven-minute walk from the Guadalupe neighborhood that served as headquarters for El Chapo's Sinaloa cartel. El Chapo escaped from a government raid in 2014 via an elaborate tunnel hidden under his bathtub at his home a few blocks from Sinaloa Pediatric Hospital.

"Crime is so terrible in my city," Lopez said. "Other colleagues of mine were murdered before...The same fate that other murdered doctors have endured would happen to me, and that otherwise they would kill me and — and — unless I did not wish to see my young children in the future. This was caused by the organized crime in my city."

Still, Lopez said no.

Two days later, more visitors and guns arrived.

"Another four people came heavily armed; that unless I would go by the weekend to take some pictures, they would kill me and my family," Lopez said.

The armed men gave Lopez $2,500 and instructions to fly to California before traveling to Detroit, he said.

Lopez told the story while preparing to plead guilty in October 2018. His claims of being forced at gunpoint to join the conspiracy troubled the judge, who halted the hearing.

"I don't want you to admit to something that you feel in your heart you cannot admit to," the judge said.

More than a year would pass until November. That's when Lopez pleaded guilty to a drug crime and was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison under a deal that makes no mention of armed men or threats.

Prosecutors and Lopez agree, however, the pediatrician flew to California and met Manual Barajas, a 21-year-old horse groomer who worked at Los Alamitos Race Course near Los Angeles.

Barajas was in charge of supervising almost 30 kilograms of heroin and fentanyl being hauled to Metro Detroit.

On July 10, 2017, the men arrived on a red-eye flight in Detroit, rented a car and drove to the Novi condo where the cocaine and fentanyl were stored in cardboard boxes of Prime Selecta Mexican shrimp.

Lopez was in charge of photographing the drugs. The heroin, fentanyl, and a kilogram of cocaine found in a car, were worth $4.5 million.

"Lopez knew that the drugs he was sent to photograph would be distributed by others," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Beck and Andrea Hutting wrote in a court filing.

By the time Lopez arrived in Novi, an undercover federal investigation was underway.

On March 24, 2017, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized 600 grams of heroin following a drug deal in the parking lot of a Walmart Supercenter between Grand River Avenue and Interstate 96 in Novi.

Agents were monitoring the drug deal thanks to a court-approved wiretap on the drug buyer's phone. The buyer was arrested after leaving Walmart and, during the arrest, agents found the heroin packaged inside an otherwise empty Sony PlayStation box.

The box still contained the gaming system's serial number, so investigators subpoenaed Sony for details about the PlayStation's purchase.

Agents learned that someone paid cash for the PlayStation at the same Walmart nine days earlier.

Using the PlayStation's serial number, investigators obtained a subpoena to determine who had activated the gaming console and whether it had been connected to the internet.

Officials with internet service provider Bright House told agents the PlayStation was connected to the internet at a condominium three miles north of the Walmart. That's the same condo on Joyce Lane in Novi, where Lopez and Barajas were handling the drug shipment with Andre Lee Scott, 25, a barber from San Bernardino, Calif.

Agents raided the condo on July 10, 2017. Lopez was found in the living room, several feet from the fentanyl and $515,715 heat-sealed and packaged in boxes. All three were charged, convicted and sentenced to federal prison.

Investigators say they just missed James "Bug" McGlory, 34, a trucking company employee from Los Angeles described by prosecutors as a pivotal figure in the coast-to-coast drug conspiracy. McGlory had flown to Detroit from Baltimore, and investigators would soon learn why.

McGlory traveled around the country collecting drug money from distributors while working as the right-hand man for a national drug dealer based in California, prosecutors said. The organization has hubs in Alabama, Baltimore, Jackson, and Novi, where members stored and packaged drugs and money, according to prosecutors.

During the Novi raid, investigators found text messages from McGlory referencing drugs and money, prosecutors said. And when DEA agents checked the kilogram of cocaine found in Scott's car parked outside the Novi condo, they found McGlory's fingerprints, according to court records.

Agents started analyzing McGlory's history of flights around the country.

In early April 2018, investigators learned McGlory was flying to Maryland. So they followed him.

On April 13, 2018, agents spotted McGlory and another man outside a Baltimore apartment building. The other man dumped a trash bag, which investigators later searched, finding a label addressed to an apartment within the building, heat-sealed bags and rubber gloves consistent with the type used for narcotics trafficking, according to court records.

Investigators obtained a warrant to search the apartment later that day. Inside, agents found two couches, turned them over and found the majority of a drug stash that totaled more than 14 kilograms of cocaine, more than 3 kilograms of fentanyl, heroin and almost $140,000.

McGlory was arrested alongside a second man, Baltimore resident Shawn Oliver, who smiled at the federal agents.

"That’s great and all, but I have another two to three million hidden,” Oliver, 45, said, according to prosecutors.

There is no concrete connection between McGlory and drugs seized by investigators, defense lawyer Kevin Bessant previously said.

“By no means whatsoever is Mr. McGlory a major drug player in this,” Bessant said.

McGlory is being held at Milan federal prison while awaiting a June trial, and last week lost a request to leave on bond. He argued hypertension left him susceptible to COVID-19.

Oliver, meanwhile, ran the drug ring's Baltimore hub and sold kilograms of drugs to other dealers in the city, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge in July as investigators hunted his boss.

Agents also found a clue inside the Baltimore stash house. In the kitchen, on the counter, near a kilo press, behind an ashtray shaped like an assault rifle, was a white sign reading "Money Gang Meal Clique."

Investigators allege Money Gang Meal Clique is a rap label and promotional business linked to a California drug felon, Maurice "Loc" McCoy, 38, of Moreno Valley, Calif., east of Los Angeles.

Hutting, the prosecutor, said the rap label was used by "McCoy and other members of the conspiracy used to launder drug money."

The rap label has a minimal online presence. Its Instagram page features photos of cash, jewelry, cash piled next to jewelry, and bottles of Champagne. The page has less than 1,300 followers while the label's 2016 release "The Meal Ticket" has zero reviews on Amazon.com.

Investigators would spend the next 17 months investigating and hunting McCoy.

The investigation also focused on his girlfriend, Teeauna White, 32, a self-styled entrepreneur who posts on social media about luxury cars, Louis Vuitton purchases and money-making ventures, including liposuction in a bottle.

One Instagram photo features a Money Gang Meal Clique diamond chain.

In March 2018, White incorporated White Way Trucking and listed McCoy as a truck driver, prosecutors said.

"The government believes White Way Trucking was established in an attempt to appear to operate a legitimate business to account for McCoy and White’s inexplicable income," Hutting wrote in a court filing.

Despite White's affluent social-media image, she received a court-appointed lawyer when she was arraigned on a money laundering conspiracy charge in Detroit in June. Her lawyer Allison Kriger declined comment.

McCoy was indicted alongside his girlfriend in May 2019, but agents couldn't find the accused kingpin.

They spent three months hunting McCoy before finding him in central California. McCoy was riding in his girlfriend's car when federal agents tried to arrest him.

McCoy ran, prosecutors said, but investigators caught him and brought him to Detroit. He is imprisoned at the Sanilac County Jail while awaiting a June trial on conspiracy charges that could send him to prison for more than 20 years.

His lawyer, Otis Culpepper, declined comment.

White, meanwhile, is free on bond and pushing for McCoy's release on social media.

On her Instagram page, White posted a GIF of her mowing the lawn outside her $600,000 California home.

The lawn and 4,800-square-foot house could soon belong to the government.

Prosecutors want the home forfeited upon conviction.


Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

The Standing Armies Of General Attorneys Herald A Proclamation

There are many methods to herald when you
invoke the original purpose of the Second Amendment.

This is so powerful.

McQuade Announces The League Of Old School Civil Rights Legal Dogs

They all took oaths.

DOJ Alumni Statement on the Events Surrounding the Sentencing of Roger Stone

We, the undersigned, are alumni of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) who have collectively served both Republican and Democratic administrations. Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice.
As former DOJ officials, we each proudly took an oath to support and defend our Constitution and faithfully execute the duties of our offices. The very first of these duties is to apply the law equally to all Americans. This obligation flows directly from the Constitution, and it is embedded in countless rules and laws governing the conduct of DOJ lawyers. The Justice Manual — the DOJ’s rulebook for its lawyers — states that “the rule of law depends on the evenhanded administration of justice”; that the Department’s legal decisions “must be impartial and insulated from political influence”; and that the Department’s prosecutorial powers, in particular, must be “exercised free from partisan consideration.”

All DOJ lawyers are well-versed in these rules, regulations, and constitutional commands. They stand for the proposition that political interference in the conduct of a criminal prosecution is anathema to the Department’s core mission and to its sacred obligation to ensure equal justice under the law.
And yet, President Trump and Attorney General Barr have openly and repeatedly flouted this fundamental principle, most recently in connection with the sentencing of President Trump’s close associate, Roger Stone, who was convicted of serious crimes. The Department has a long-standing practice in which political appointees set broad policies that line prosecutors apply to individual cases. That practice exists to animate the constitutional principles regarding the even-handed application of the law. Although there are times when political leadership appropriately weighs in on individual prosecutions, it is unheard of for the Department’s top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case. It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did here — after the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court.

Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice. In this nation, we are all equal before the law. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

We welcome Attorney General Barr’s belated acknowledgment that the DOJ’s law enforcement decisions must be independent of politics; that it is wrong for the President to interfere in specific enforcement matters, either to punish his opponents or to help his friends; and that the President’s public comments on DOJ matters have gravely damaged the Department’s credibility. But Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign. But because we have little expectation he will do so, it falls to the Department’s career officials to take appropriate action to uphold their oaths of office and defend nonpartisan, apolitical justice.

For these reasons, we support and commend the four career prosecutors who upheld their oaths and stood up for the Department’s independence by withdrawing from the Stone case and/or resigning from the Department. Our simple message to them is that we — and millions of other Americans — stand with them. And we call on every DOJ employee to follow their heroic example and be prepared to report future abuses to the Inspector General, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and Congress; to refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office; to withdraw from cases that involve such directives or other misconduct; and, if necessary, to resign and report publicly — in a manner consistent with professional ethics — to the American people the reasons for their resignation. We likewise call on the other branches of government to protect from retaliation those employees who uphold their oaths in the face of unlawful directives. The rule of law and the survival of our Republic demand nothing less.

If you are a former DOJ employee and would like to add your name below, click here. Protect Democracy will update this list daily with new signatories.

Signatories have been vetted to the best of our ability.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

An International Day Of Peace 2020 - May The Heavens Fall

I will make the world say your name, with such a delight.

#sayhisname

"The Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed is ready for the heavens to fall. I bet she has cocktails & popcorn."

Sometimes, I derive joy from the smallest things in life.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

A Day of Peace

In honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and in honor of the gentle spirit who authored John Conyers, Jr., I present this piece, again, to pray for all to recognize that we, as humans, are many in body, but may only become united under the universal care for the peaceful health of society.
this legislation,

The issues surrounding unruly town hall meetings and angry mobs were addressed over 200 years ago in the Federalist Papers, specifically #9, Hamilton and #10 Madison.

Hamilton #9: The utility of a Confederacy, as well to suppress faction and to guard the internal tranquillity of States, as to increase their external force and security, is in reality not a new idea. It has been practiced upon in different countries and ages, and has received the sanction of the most approved writers on the subject of politics.

What Hamilton basically says is that an insurgent faction disrupts consolidation and consensus of groups, better known as a republic. This idea was expounded and refined in Madison #10.

Madison identified the "inner tranquility" of the consolidation and consensus of groups as the "majority".  He further spoke of the futility of non-peaceful protests as they disregarded established legislative processes, having elected government representatives.

"Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people."

Historically, civil disobedience only works when functioning under the policy of peace. These protests are not peaceful in language or activities, an early presentation of failure of the insurgence.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.The Bill of Rights: First Amendment

The key word is "peace". Once this tenet of the First Amendment is violated, peace, the government is empowered to protect the people, pursuant to the General Welfare Clause in the U.S. Constitution. The following is an excerpt of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, called the General Welfare Clause:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

Violence, be it verbal, emotional, physical, or economic, becomes grounds for government intervention, or rather the calling of the police to maintain the peace. When this happens you have an insurrection, pursuant to the General Welfare Clause. Under this light, health care as commerce, or rather Universal Health Care, is seen as a "provision for the common defense social disease, meaning maintainability of individual and social health, becoming interchangeable with the temporal terminology of General Welfare.

Quintessentially, Universal Health Care is one in the same with the Common Defense and General Welfare of the people of the United States of America. Here is a visual model for greater understanding:

Universal = Common

Health = Defense

Care = General Welfare

There is a lack of organization and understanding, as the insurrections constantly demonstrate a significant failure in mastering a rudimentary education of the social mobilization.

Peace.

https://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-of-peace.html

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Cocktails & Popcorn: Sayoc Gets 20 Years For Threatening A Public Official - A New Sentencing Baseline For Being Mean To My Sweetie

It is not funny to wish death upon anyone, particularly my Sweetie.

Cocktails & Popcorn: When Snail Mail Attacks Go Horribly Wrong - Another Transposable Model Of The Legal Geniuses

Florida Man Who Mailed Bombs To Democrats, Media Gets 20 Years In Prison

Cesar Sayoc, the Florida bodybuilder and nightclub bouncer who mailed inoperative pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and media figures seen as critical of President Trump, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in New York on Monday.

Sayoc, 57, had been arrested in October 2018 and pleaded guilty in March to mailing 16 improvised explosive devices to 13 targets around the country, including 11 current or former U.S. government officials, in the weeks prior to the 2018 congressional elections.

"I wish more than anything I could turn back time and take back what I did," Sayoc told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. "But I want you to know, Your Honor, with all my heart and soul, I feel the pain and suffering of these victims."

Sayoc blamed his behavior on his mental illness and excessive use of steroids, adding, "I should have listened to my mother, the love of my life."

According to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in March, Sayoc's intended victims were former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CNN, Robert De Niro, Sen. Kamala Harris, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former President Barack Obama, George Soros, Thomas Steyer and Rep. Maxine Waters.

None of Sayoc's devices exploded. At his sentencing hearing Monday, Sayoc said that although his homemade devices looked like pipe bombs, he did not intend for them to explode.

Sayoc's attorneys, all federal public defenders, argued that Sayoc was motivated by his obsession with Trump and his anger at Democrats, whom he blamed for the vandalism of his van, which displayed Trump stickers.

Rakoff concluded that the design flaws in Sayoc's bombs were intentional and indicated that he did not intend to actually harm his victims.

A sobbing Sayoc thanked the judge when he announced the 20-year sentence. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence.

Cesar Sayoc Pleads Guilty to 65 Felonies for Mailing 16 Improvised Explosive Devices in Connection with October 2018 Domestic Terrorist Attack

Sayoc Pleaded Guilty to 65 Felonies, Including Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Interstate Mailing of Explosives

Cesar Altieri Sayoc, aka “Cesar Randazzo,” “Cesar Altieri,” and “Cesar Altieri Randazzo,” pled guilty today to a 65-count Superseding Information in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.  In connection with the guilty plea, Sayoc admitted to mailing 16 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to 13 victims throughout the country, including 11 current or former U.S. government officials, and that he intended to use the IEDs as weapons and to cause injuries.  Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York, Assistant Director Michael McGarrity of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office and Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill of the NYPD made the announcement.

“Cesar Sayoc has admitted to acts of domestic terrorism that are repulsive to all Americans who cherish a society built on respectful and non-violent political discourse, no matter how strongly held one’s views,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers.  “Our democracy will simply not survive if our political discourse includes sending bombs to those we disagree with.  I applaud the efforts of so many in our law enforcement community whose alertness and tirelessness led to the prompt arrest of the defendant before he was able to injure anyone, as well as those whose efforts led to today’s plea.”

“For five days in November 2018, Cesar Sayoc reigned terror across the country, sending high-ranking officials and former elected leaders explosive packages through the mail,” said U.S. Attorney Berman.  “Thankfully no one was hurt by these dangerous devices, but his actions left an air of fear and divisiveness in their wake.  Sayoc has taken responsibility for his crimes, and will soon be sentenced to significant time in prison.”

“This case shows that the FBI will be tenacious in pursuing all those who wish to intimidate those they disagree with by threatening violence,” said Assistant Director Michael McGarrity of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.  “When it comes to identifying and stopping those who terrorize our communities, we won’t hesitate to bring the full force of our combined resources of the FBI and our partners.”

“Sayoc's crimes were intended to incite fear among his targets and uncertainty among the general public, leading to a significant deployment of various law enforcement resources in a nationwide search to find him,” said Assistant Director Sweeney.  “When called upon, our FBI JTTFs across the country—along with our partner agencies—did what we do best, working swiftly, and side by side, to bring him to justice.  Unlike most of our investigations, this case played out in plain view from beginning to end.  The announcement of today's plea is as good a time as any to remind the public that our JTTFs are working behind the scenes on a daily basis, in much the same way, to keep our communities safe.”

“The NYPD and our law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to keep New York City safe from threats of terror,” said Commissioner O’Neill.  “I commend the members of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Southern District of New York for their work in this case.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint, Superseding Information, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings: 

In October 2018, Sayoc mailed from Florida 16 padded envelopes, each containing an IED, to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Atlanta, and California.  Sayoc packed each IED with explosive material and glass shards that would function as shrapnel if the IED exploded.  Sayoc also attached to the outside of each IED a picture of the intended victim marked with a red “X.”  As Sayoc admitted today during his plea, he designed the IEDs for use as weapons and mailed them understanding that they were capable of exploding and causing injuries and property damage.  In alphabetical order, Sayoc’s intended victims were former Vice President Joseph Biden, Senator Cory Booker, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CNN, Robert De Niro, Senator Kamala Harris, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former President Barack Obama, George Soros, Thomas Steyer, and Representative Maxine Walters.  Between Oct. 22 and Nov. 2, 2018, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service recovered all of the 16 IEDs mailed by Sayoc.

The FBI arrested Sayoc in Plantation, Florida, on Oct. 26, 2018—less than five days after the October 22 recovery of the first IED, which Sayoc mailed to Soros in New York.  The FBI seized a laptop from Sayoc’s van, which contained lists of physical addresses that match many of the labels on the envelopes that Sayoc mailed.  The lists were saved at a file path on the laptop that includes a variant of Sayoc’s first name:  “Users/Ceasar/Documents.”  A document from that path, titled “Debbie W.docx” and bearing a creation date of July 26, 2018, contained repeated copies of an address for “Debbie W. Schultz” in Sunrise, Florida, that is nearly identical, except for typographical errors, to the return address that Sayoc used on the packages.  Similar documents bearing file titles that include the name “Debbie,” and creation dates of Sept. 22, 2018, contain exact matches of the return address used by Sayoc on the 16 envelopes. 

Sayoc’s laptop also revealed extensive Internet search history related to his investigation of the intended victims and his desire to injure or kill them.  For example, Sayoc conducted the following Internet searches, among others, on the dates indicated in 2018:

• July 15: “hilary Clinton hime address”
• July 26: “address Debbie wauserman Shultz”
• Sept. 19: “address kamila harrias”
• Sept. 26: “address for barack Obama”
• Sept. 26: “michelle obama mailing address”
• Sept. 26: “joseph biden jr”
• Oct. 1: “address cory booker new jersey”
• Oct. 20: “tom steyers mailing address”
• Oct. 23: “address kamala harris”

*                      *                      *

Sayoc, 57, of Southern Florida, pled guilty to four sets of charges related to each of the 16 IEDs:  (1) sixteen counts of using a weapon of mass destruction; (2) sixteen counts of interstate transportation of an explosive device; (3) sixteen counts of conveying a threat in interstate commerce; and (4) sixteen counts of the illegal mailing of explosives with the intent to kill or injure another.  Sayoc also pled guilty to using an explosive to commit a felony, which relates to felonies committed in connection with the use and mailing of all 16 IEDs.  A chart identifying the charges and maximum penalties applicable to Sayoc is below.

Counts	Charge	Penalties Per Count
1 – 16	Using a weapon of mass destruction	Maximum per count: life
17 – 32	Interstate transportation of an explosive	Maximum per count: 10 years
33 – 48	Conveying a threat in interstate commerce	Maximum per count: 5 years
49 – 64	Illegal mailing of explosives with intent to kill or injure another	Maximum per count: 20 years
65	Carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony	Mandatory minimum: 10 years to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed

The maximum and minimum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.  The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Rakoff on Sept. 12, 2019.

Mr. Demers and Mr. Berman praised the outstanding efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Mr. Demers and Mr. Berman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Florida, the District of Columbia, the District of Delaware, the District of New Jersey, the Central District of California, the Eastern District of California, the Northern District of California and the Northern District of Georgia for their assistance in the investigation.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Emil J. Bove III, Jane Kim, and Jason A. Richman are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney David Cora of the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

Sayoc Plea Agreement - 3-18-2019 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

JUDICIARY: Continuing Challenges to the Voting Rights Act Since Shelby County v. Holder -

Q: "What was the worst voter violation in Georgia?"

A: "Land Banks".

Was it just me or did anyone else notice that Stacey Abrams did not mention real estate property foreclosures as a plausible explanation for the purging of the voters rolls?

It seems Stacey is pushing that new U.S. German Marshal reparations economic development hustle because TARP money ran out and those land banks are moving into the land of the children's trusts.

Louie Gohmert said his name and gave due respect to his work on voting rights.

That was nice.

Witnesses

The Honorable Stacey Abrams 
Founder and Chair, Fair Fight Action

• Abrams Testimony
• Abrams Truth in Testimony
• Abrams Bio

Ms. Kristen Clarke 
President and Executive Director, National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

• Clarke Testimony
• Clarke Truth in Testimony
• Clarke Bio

The Honorable Kyle Hawkins 
Solicitor General of Texas, Office of the Texas Attorney General

• Hawkins Testimony
• Hawkins Truth in Testimony
• Hawkins Bio

Ms. Leah Aden 
Deputy Director of Litigation, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.

• Aden Testimony
• Aden Truth in Testimony
• Aden Bio

Documents

• Witness List

116th Congress

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Cocktails & Popcorn: The Legal Geniuses Thicken The Plot - Barr Welcomes Durham Back To The War Crimes Fun

Oh, this is going to be champagne buffet-style worthy because he never went away.

DOJ is coming from all directions, even from the pension side.

We already know what he is going to find, because he already found it, which is why the real show is going to be the art of the inquiry, because you already know there are going to be #coloredrevolutions and #clownfests, for they have no clue of what is coming....but hey, what do I know?

I know why Trump is obstructing justice by keeping that IG Report in his back pocket.

#sayhisname

Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry

John H. Durham
"Grrrrrr....ok, but this is the last time,
 so let's finally get it right."

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to examine the origins of the Russia investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter, a move that President Trump has long called for but that could anger law enforcement officials who insist that scrutiny of the Trump campaign was lawful.

John H. Durham, the United States attorney in Connecticut, has a history of serving as a special prosecutor investigating potential wrongdoing among national security officials, including the F.B.I.’s ties to a crime boss in Boston and accusations of C.I.A. abuses of detainees.

His inquiry is the third known investigation focused on the opening of an F.B.I. counterintelligence investigation during the 2016 presidential campaign into possible ties between Russia’s election interference and Trump associates.

The department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, is separately examining investigators’ use of wiretap applications and informants and whether any political bias against Mr. Trump influenced investigative decisions. And John W. Huber, the United States attorney in Utah, has been reviewing aspects of the Russia investigation. His findings have not been announced.

Additionally on Capitol Hill, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said he, too, intends to review aspects of law enforcement’s work in the coming months. And Republicans conducted their own inquiries when they controlled the House, including publicizing details of the F.B.I.’s wiretap use.

Thomas Carson, a spokesman for Mr. Durham’s office, declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the Justice Department. “I do have people in the department helping me review the activities over the summer of 2016,” Mr. Barr said in congressional testimony on May 1, without elaborating.

Mr. Durham, who was nominated by Mr. Trump in 2017 and has been a Justice Department lawyer since 1982, has conducted special investigations under administrations of both parties. Attorney General Janet Reno asked Mr. Durham in 1999 to investigate the F.B.I.’s handling of a notorious informant: the organized crime leader James (Whitey) Bulger.

In 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey assigned Mr. Durham to investigate the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes in 2005 showing the torture of terrorism suspects. A year later, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expanded Mr. Durham’s mandate to also examine whether the agency broke any laws in its abuses of detainees in its custody.

Mr. Barr has signaled his concerns about the Russia investigation during congressional testimony, particularly the surveillance of Trump associates. “I think spying did occur,” he said. “The question is whether it was adequately predicated. And I’m not suggesting that it wasn’t adequately predicated. But I need to explore that.”

His use of the term “spying” to describe court-authorized surveillance aimed at understanding a foreign government’s interference in the election touched off criticism that he was echoing politically charged accusations by Mr. Trump and his Republican allies that the F.B.I. unfairly targeted the Trump campaign.

Last week, the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, defended the bureau, saying he was unaware of any illegal surveillance and refused to call agents’ work “spying.” Former F.B.I. and Justice Department officials have defended the genesis of the investigation, saying it was properly predicated.

Yet Mr. Durham’s role — essentially giving him a special assignment but no special powers — also appeared aimed at sidestepping the rare appointment of another special counsel like Robert S. Mueller III, a role that allows greater day-to-day independence.

Mr. Trump and House Republicans have long pushed senior Justice Department officials to appoint one to investigate the president’s perceived political enemies and why Mr. Trump’s associates were under surveillance.

Mr. Trump’s calls to investigate the investigators have grown after the findings from Mr. Mueller were revealed last month. Mr. Mueller’s investigators cited “insufficient evidence” to determine that the president or his advisers engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia.

The Mueller report reaffirmed that the F.B.I. opened its investigation based on legitimate factors, including revelations that a Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, had told a diplomat from Australia, a close American ally, that he was informed that the Russians had stolen Democratic emails.

“It would have been highly, highly inappropriate for us not to pursue it — and pursue it aggressively,” James Baker, who was the F.B.I.’s general counsel in 2016, said in an interview on Friday

As part of the early Russia inquiry, the F.B.I. investigated four Trump associates: Mr. Papadopoulos; Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman; Michael T. Flynn, the president’s first national security adviser; and Carter Page, another campaign foreign policy adviser.

Mr. Flynn and Mr. Papadopoulos later pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. as part of the inquiry; Mr. Manafort was also convicted of tax fraud and other charges brought by the special counsel, who took over the investigation in May 2017, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors also obtained approval from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap Mr. Page after he left the campaign. Mr. Trump’s allies have pointed to the warrant as major evidence that law enforcement officials were abusing their authority, but the investigation was opened based on separate information and the warrant was one small aspect in a sprawling inquiry that grew to include more than 2,800 subpoenas, nearly 500 search warrants and about 500 witness interviews.

Law enforcement officials have also drawn intense criticism for using an informant — a typical investigative step — to secretly report on Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos after they left the campaign and for relying on Democrat-funded opposition research compiled into a dossier by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who was also an F.B.I. informant.

Investigators cited the dossier in a lengthy footnote in its application for permission to wiretap Mr. Page, alerting the court that the person who commissioned Mr. Steele’s research was “likely looking for information to discredit” the Trump campaign.

The inspector general is said to be examining whether law enforcement officials intentionally misled the intelligence court, which also approved three renewals of the warrant. The last application in June 2017 was signed by Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who defended the decision last month in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Horowitz is also said to be scrutinizing how the F.B.I. handled Mr. Steele and another informant, Stefan A. Halper, an American academic who taught in Britain. Agents asked Mr. Halper to determine whether Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos were in contact with Russians. Mr. Barr has said the inspector general could finish his inquiry in May or June.

Mr. Durham is also investigating whether Mr. Baker made unauthorized disclosures to the news media, according to two House Republicans closely allied with Mr. Trump, Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who disclosed in a letter to Mr. Durham in January that they had learned of that inquiry.

While they implied that it was related to the Russia investigation, another witness in Mr. Durham’s inquiry into Mr. Baker, Robert Litt, the former general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, came forward to say that he had been interviewed and that the investigation has nothing to do with Russia. Mr. Baker said last week that he was confident he had done nothing wrong and would be exonerated.

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