Tales Of The New Crown: Betsy DeVos & Her U.S. Marshal Silence On Education In The U.S. Federal Courts

Sometimes, the most restrictive environment can be your own home, but, hey, what do I know?

I know the U.S. Marshal has the ability to be deputized in special operations.

U.S. Marshal Operations Each year the USMS carries out hundreds of special missions related to its broad law enforcement authority and judicial security responsibilities. It also responds to homeland security crises and national emergencies. The USMS Special Operations Group is a specially trained, tactical unit comprised of Deputy Marshals, who can respond immediately to incidents anywhere in the United States or its territories.

Betsy has lots of pending litigation before the courts.

DeVos Michigan Et Al Lawsuit by Beverly Tran on Scribd

NAACP Sues Betsy DeVos Over Federal Aid Money For Private Schools

Betsy DeVos Sued By 22 States And DC Over Student Loan Forgiveness

California sues Betsy DeVos over rule steering coronavirus aid to private schools

I also know the U.S. Marshal does lots of other stuff.

Asset Forfeiture The USMS is responsible for managing and disposing of seized and forfeited properties acquired by criminals through illegal activities. Under the auspices of the DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture Program, the Marshals currently manage nearly $2.2 billion worth of property, and promptly disposes of assets forfeited by all Department of Justice agencies. The Program’s goal is to maximize the net return from forfeited property and then reinvest the proceeds for law enforcement purposes.  

Witness Security The U.S. Marshals ensures the safety of witnesses, who risk their lives testifying for the government in cases involving organized crime and other significant criminal activities. Since 1971, the Marshals have protected, relocated and given new identities to more than 8,500 witnesses and more than 9,900 of their family members. The successful operation of the Witness Security Program has been recognized as providing a unique and valuable tool in the government’s battle against major criminal enterprises and international terrorism. Witness Security Program personnel are the world’s leading authorities and foremost experts on witness security matters, providing guidance and training to numerous government officials throughout the world.

Cyberchatter has it she stiffed staff on the PPP frontlines essential workers.

#maytheheavensfall 

Betsy DeVos publicly absent as critical decisions are made on public school reopenings

As public schools grapple with the challenge of reopening during a pandemic, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is getting criticism for her low profile.

DETROIT — As public schools grapple with the challenge of reopening during a pandemic, public education advocates are criticizing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for working remotely from Michigan, where she owns a sprawling waterfront estate with a round-the-clock security detail paid for by taxpayers.

And while keeping herself largely physically distanced as the coronavirus continues to spread, DeVos has been a forceful advocate for President Donald Trump's demand that schools reopen in full and in person — potentially placing millions of teachers and students at risk of infection.

It's a striking bit of mixed messaging for DeVos, a billionaire heiress, major GOP donor and charter school advocate who had no experience with public education before she became education secretary. DeVos is the nation's top education official as school administrators deal with one the biggest health crises facing the nation: how to safely bring 51 million American children back into classrooms or administer virtual education during a pandemic.



As budgets are gutted, Betsy DeVos funnels money into private schools, educators say
AUG. 10, 202004:56
Questions persist as to why DeVos requires full-time protection from the U.S. Marshals Service, which NBC News reported she began receiving shortly after she was confirmed — the only Cabinet official with such an arrangement. In all, her security detail has cost taxpayers at least $25 million, NBC News has learned.

The Marshals Service wouldn't comment on the arrangement or any specific security threat DeVos faces.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Rather than actively offer guidelines to public schools as they struggle with the immense financial and logistical challenges of reopening, DeVos told the Washington Examiner in June that she was working mostly remotely from Michigan, her home state — where she owns the 22,000-square-foot estate on Lake Macatawa — with a public schedule that has been mostly empty for the past several weeks, including no events on her public schedule for this week.

Education Department spokeswoman Angela Morabito said DeVos has been dividing her time among Michigan, Washington and road trips.

DeVos has been holding events not listed on her public calendar, including several sponsored by the conservative Federalist Society, according to Federalist Society postings. She has also participated in a few events related to private schools and advocacy for vouchers, including a roundtable July 23 at a private Christian school in Ohio and two events in the Carolinas with Vice President Mike Pence.

Her press office said she has been in constant contact with governors and state superintendents virtually and in person. Yet NBC News couldn't find a record of similar events with public school officials; Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director for advocacy at AASA The School Superintendents Association, representing public school superintendents in 49 states, said the group hasn't heard from DeVos this year.

"We would stand ready to answer that call. That's my job, to be a direct liaison to the federal government," said Ellerson Ng, who said she facilitated many such meetings for previous education secretaries of both parties. The group has been critical of DeVos' proposed education budget cuts.

State officials are also pleading for more assistance.

With school reopening in three weeks, Gov. Ned Lamont, D-Conn., told MSNBC on Friday that he still doesn't know "what, if anything, the feds are going to do to help."

Days after DeVos' and Pence's visit July 29 to a classroom at Thales Academy, a network of private nonsectarian community schools in North Carolina, to highlight the school as a model for reopening, several fourth-grade students were asked to quarantine after a student tested positive for COVID-19. "Thales is a great example more schools could emulate," DeVos said during the visit. "You didn't wait for guidance from the Department of Education. You didn't ask for permission."

DeVos had no events on her public calendar last week.

Still, she continues to echo the president's demand that public schools reopen for in-person instruction, regardless of the levels of infection in their communities. She also insists that it isn't her job to help localities determine how to do so safely.

There was no mention of Betsy, but, then again, Emperor Pence was there, by Trump's side, in his Mephistophelesic fashion.

This is about Parental Rights.

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DEFANGO: The Marshall islands Trafficking Conspiracy Paul D. Petersen Defango TV Deep DIVE

Arizona is interesting.

Where is Joe Arpio?

It gets deeper.

Peaise the lord.

#perkinscoiesucks

Is Paul Petersen the Only Arizona Politician Trafficking Children? The Marshall Islands Scandal

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DOJ: Readout of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's & Kevin Whitaker's Trip to Bogotá, Colombia

Kevin Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to Columbia

From January 30 to February 1, 2019 in Bogotá, Colombia, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, along with Justice Department staff and U.S. Ambassador Kevin Whitaker, met with President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombian Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez Neira, Cabinet members, the Congressional Secretary General, and Colombian police officials to reaffirm the long-standing law enforcement relationship between the United States and Colombia and to strengthen judicial cooperation and goals for addressing transnational crime and supporting the return of democracy in Venezuela. 

In separate meetings, Acting Attorney General Whitaker met with U.S. Department of Justice components stationed at the U.S. Embassy, to include the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  They provided briefings on the U.S. government’s law enforcement partnership with Colombia in dismantling and disrupting transnational criminal organizations including combatting Clan del Golfo, which was designated by the Department of Justice on Oct. 19, 2018 as one of the top transnational organized crime threats.

On February 1, Acting Attorney General Whitaker visited the General Santander National Police Academy and gave brief remarks at a wreath laying ceremony in honor of the brave young men and women who lost their lives or were wounded in the line of duty during the Jan. 17 suicide car bomb attack at the officer cadet school by the narco-terrorist group ELN. To approximately 100 Colombian National police officers, AG Whitaker said he was directing all U.S. Department of Justice components stationed at the U.S. Embassy, to include DEA, FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and our DOJ Attaches, to make cases against ELN a top priority for the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Acting AG Whitaker pledged that the Department of Justice, together with the Colombian National Police and Attorney General’s Office, "will pursue these cases with the same investigative skill and prosecutorial resources, with which we’ve successfully pursued the Clan del Golfo.”

Acting AG Whitaker was also provided a Congressional briefing at the Colombian Congress <== right there!  It was the Attorney General and not the Secretary of State.

During the visit, American and Colombian officials discussed their shared mission of combatting narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism as well as illicit finances, foreign corruption, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation and arms trafficking.  Both sides look forward to continuing to work together to achieve their shared objectives, as well as continued progress on these issues.

Since the Acting AG and U.S. Ambassador to Colombia have the same last name, I thought it prudent to drop his background.

Ambassador to Colombia: Who Is Kevin Whitaker?

On April 1, 2014, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of career Foreign Service officer Kevin Whitaker as ambassador to Colombia. Whitaker had been nominated for the post by President Barack Obama on September 19, 2013. He was sworn in on April 28.

The son of a career Army officer, Lt. Col. Malvern Whitaker, Kevin Whitaker attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a B.A. in 1979.

Whitaker joined the Foreign Service right out of college, beginning with a tour in London. Most of his experience has been in Latin America. His early assignments included serving as desk officer for El Salvador and France, as well as working as political officer in Jamaica and Honduras.

From 2002 to 2005, Whitaker headed the Cuban Affairs Desk for the State Department. During a visit to Havana in December 2002, he met with dissidents and was expelled by Fidel Castro’s government.

In 2005, he was named deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, another country with which the administration of President George W. Bush was at odds. Whitaker served there until 2007.  At that point, he moved back to Washington to take a post as deputy executive secretary in the Office of the Secretary of State. In 2008, he was named director of the Office of Andean Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

In 2011, he was named deputy assistant secretary of state for South America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Whitaker created some controversy with a statement he made during his nomination hearing. The Colombian government fired the Bogotá mayor, and Whitaker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in response to a question that the firing could endanger peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebels. Some Colombians took offense, saying Whitaker was interfering in their country’s internal affairs.

Whitaker‘s wife, Elizabeth Whitaker, also worked in the State Department before moving to the private sector in 2008. They have three sons, Stuart, Thomas and Daniel.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Whitaker

Betsy Whitaker

Born in Buffalo, New York, Ms. Whitaker received her BA (in history) and MS (in education) from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.  She taught public school for seven years before joining the U.S. Foreign Service as a public diplomacy officer in 1984.  Her overseas tours included Portugal, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.  Her domestic tours included Director of Public Diplomacy for the Western Hemisphere, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada and Mexico.  Ms. Whitaker retired from the Foreign Service in 2007 at the rank of Minister Counselor, and went to work briefly for a division of L-3 Communications.  She was invited to return to the Department of State in 2009 to serve as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, and remained in that capacity until 2012.  Since then, she has worked part-time at the Department of State, and taught at the graduate level at George Washington University (2012 to the present) and Georgetown University (2013 to the present).

Ms. Whitaker has been married to Kevin Whitaker, a career Senior Foreign Service Officer, for over twenty years.  They have a son, Daniel, who is in his second year of studies at the Virginia Military Institute. 

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Form Michigan To Illinois To Texas To Tennessee - The MSU Nassar Case Expands

Slowly the cloak reveals the horrors of child welfare in the United States.

Steve Penny, former USA Gymnastics president, arrested for allegedly tampering with evidence in Larry Nassar case

Steve Penny, former president of USA Gymnastics, was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly tampering with evidence in the case of disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar.

Penny was arrested by the U.S. Marshals service in Tennessee on a warrant issued by the state of Texas. He was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of tampering with evidence, a felony, on Sept. 28.

He allegedly removed documents from the Karolyi Ranch, the U.S. gymnastics' training facility in Huntsville, Texas, related to Nassar's activity at the gym.

I bet those were financial docs of what they were doing with the tiny humans.

"The indictment further alleges that the removal of the documents was done for the purpose of impairing the ongoing investigation by destroying or hiding the documents," the U.S. Marshals said in a press release. He allegedly ordered the documents be sent to him at USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis. Those documents have never been recovered, authorities said.

U.S. Marshals Service ~ Nice modernization of the perp walk.

The U.S. Marshals Service shared a photo of former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny being arrested in Gatlinburg, Tenn., on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, for allegedly tampering with evidence in the Larry Nassar case.+

(MORE: Former USA Gymnastics head invokes Fifth Amendment rights at hearing about Nassar)

Penny was taken into custody at a cabin in rural Gatlinburg, Tennessee, by the U.S. Marshals and Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force, according to authorities. He is awaiting extradition to Texas.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.

The Karolyi Ranch was operated by Bela Karolyi and wife Marta Karolyi, the two people tasked with selecting and developing athletes for the U.S. national team. It served as the national team's training facility from 2001 until earlier this year. Nassar worked at the facility and several of his accusers said they were abused by him at the facility.

(MORE: USA Gymnastics CEO resigns amid fallout from Larry Nassar abuse scandal)

Penny resigned as USA Gymnastics president in March 2017 amid allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar. Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of child molestation, but more than 130 women and girls, including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, have accused him of assaulting them. Many of those accusers testified at a hearing in January when he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in two other cases — one pertaining to assault and another possession of child pornography — as well.

Rhonda Faehn, Penny's former deputy, testified to the Senate in June that she brought up allegations of misconduct to him and she was told to keep quiet. Penny, who appeared before the same committee, chose to plead the Fifth and not testify.

AFP/Getty Images, FILE

Former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stands in Ingham County Circuit Court on Nov. 22, 2017 in Lansing, Mich.

more +

In a statement, USA Gymnastics said that it had "learned of the charges filed against its former CEO Steve Penny, who resigned in March 2017. We support law enforcement's efforts and have fully cooperated with the investigations by the Texas Rangers, Congress and others, and will continue to do so to help the survivors and our community heal from this tragedy."

USA Gymnastics has been in near-constant turmoil since the Indianapolis Star broke the story in September 2016 of Nassar's abuse of gymnasts under his care, both with the U.S. national team, where he was the team doctor, and at Michigan State University, where he was a faculty member. Nassar had been dismissed from his job with the U.S. national team in 2015, but only said it was done due to "athlete concerns."

After Penny's departure in March 2017, he was replaced by Kerry Perry in November 2017. But Perry's tenure was marked by consistent criticism over the handling of the Nassar scandal as well. She resigned less than a year after being named as Penny's replacement.

(MORE: Aly Raisman joins criticism of interim USA Gymnastics President Mary Bono)

Perry was criticized by stars, like Raisman, over her lack of transparency about how the organization planned to protect athletes going forward. She resigned days after she hired Mary Lee Tracy, in part to replace the Karolyis, as the sport's top coach. The hiring of Tracy received condemnation from athletes because she supported Nassar in the immediate wake of accusations against him.

In this Tuesday, June 5, 2018 photo, former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny invokes his right not to answer questions in a Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

+

But the neverending parade of presidents didn't end with Perry's ouster.

Just this week, former Congresswoman Mary Bono, who was tasked with replacing Perry as interim president of USA Gymnastics, was forced out for a pair of scandals -- less than a week since her hiring. A day after her hiring, Biles criticized Bono, a Republican, for a photo posted on Twitter in which she was shown blacking out a Nike logo over the company's hiring of Colin Kaepernick as spokesperson. She publicly apologized for the photo.

(MORE: Simone Biles criticizes new USA Gymnastics President Mary Bono over anti-Kaepernick tweet)

A few days later, Raisman joined calls for Bono's ouster after discovering that Bono worked for the same law firm that worked with USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal and crafted excuses for his absences.

Bono was not directly involved in the law firm's representation of USA Gymnastics, but she stepped down nonetheless on Tuesday.

Penny is one of at least three people arrested in connection with the handling of the Nassar scandal. Debbie Van Horn, a trainer who worked with Nassar, was arrested last month in Walker County, Texas. She has denied charges, according to her lawyer, who spoke to the Houston Chronicle.

William Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University's osteopathic medical school and boss of Larry Nassar while he was a sports doctor there, was charged March 27 with neglect of duty and criminal sexual conduct. His case will go to trial at a yet-to-be-scheduled date.

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U.S. Marshal Conjugal Collaboration In Recovering A Portion Of Trafficked Children In Michigan Foster Care

Kids missing in Detroit?

Nooooo......

I wonder how many were foster kids?

I wonder how many had no formal identification?

I wonder how many of these kids who were found were being billed for child welfare services by Vista Maria?

I wonder how many more they did not know about.

Look to the waters, it goes deeper.

I wonder what the candidates have to say about this...oh wait, the 2018 Primary vote has yet to be certified in Michigan.

Just goes to show you what conjugal collaborations can do.

New USMS Child Recovery Unit Recovers 123 Children During 1-Day Operation

Detroit, MI – The U.S. Marshals Service - Detroit Missing Child Recovery Unit, U.S. Marshals Service Sex Offender Investigations Branch, Michigan State Police and law enforcement officers from Wayne County agencies participated in Operation MISafeKid, a missing juvenile sweep to identify and recover missing children from the area with an emphasis on locating victims of sex trafficking.

The one-day initiative took place Sept. 26 throughout Wayne County. The USMS DMCRU coordinated with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, HUD-OIG, Detroit Police Department and the Michigan State Police and investigated missing child case files prior to the operation. Participating officers were given the case files and began investigating their whereabouts by visiting last known addresses, friend’s homes and schools in hopes of finding them in a safe place.

Out of 301 files of missing children, 123 were identified and recovered safely during the operation. All 123 children were physically located and interviewed -- standard protocol for the Michigan State Police. All of the children located were interviewed about potentially being sexually victimized or used in a sex trafficking ring during their period of time that they were deemed missing. Three cases were identified as being possible sex trafficking cases, and one homeless teen was transported back to the command post after it was discovered that he had not had anything to eat in three days. He was then debriefed and turned over to Child Protective Services for aftercare.

This is the first time an operation of this kind has been conducted in Wayne County. USMS DMCRU was requested to assist on 30 missing child cases two weeks prior to the sweep. These cases were adopted by the U.S. Marshals Service and assigned to deputy U.S. marshals. DMCRU located and recovered nine children prior to the sweep and an additional seven during the operation. The Michigan State Police Clearing House has asked for continued assistance on the remaining 14 cases. Additionally, information was obtained by DMCRU on two missing children in Texas and one in Minnesota. DMCRU has been requested to assist on these recoveries and is actively investigating them at this time.

The Eastern District of Michigan is fully committed to assisting state and local agencies with locating and recovering missing children and the prevention of their falling victim to sex trafficking. The Detroit Missing Child Recovery Unit is tasked with investigating and recovering missing children upon request by a law enforcement agency currently attempting to locate a missing child. The message to the missing children and their families that we wish to convey is that we will never stop looking for you.

Agencies involved in the operation included the USMS Detroit DMCRU (SOIB), Michigan State Police, Allen Park Police Department, Canton Police Department, Dearborn Heights Police Department, Detroit Police Department, Detroit Public Schools Police Department, FBI, Flat Rock Police Department, Inkster Police Department, Northville Township Police Department, Plymouth Police Department, Redford Township Police Department, Riverview Police Department, Romulus Police Department, Trenton Police Department, Van Buren Township Police Department, Wayne Police Department, Wayne County Sheriff’s Department as well as the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and its Children’s Protective Services (CPS) and Vista Maria Juvenile Detention Center.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency 

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