SCOTUS & The Right To Bear The Arms Of The United States Is A Parental Right To Be Terminated

This is not going to end well for the Justices because they already figured out that they have been

The Arm of the State of Michigan
#sealsmatter

wrong in the original intent of the constitution.

The Second Amendment is the default of the First Amendment.

The Second Amendment is about removing someone from office for breaching the children's trust, which is posterity of society.

It has absolutely nothing to do with guns.

This is about emoluments.

It is about the seals.

It is about foreign entities invading the United States through the rule of law of the Highest Court of the Land.

We are in Detroit.

#maytheheavensfall

The Right To Bear Arms Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Guns Because It Is About The Right To Bear Witness To Voting Rights

After ruling in New York gun rights case, more Second Amendment cases set for Friday conference

Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in a challenge to New York City’s ban on the transport of licensed handguns outside the city. Because the city had repealed the ban last summer, a majority on the court agreed with the city that the challengers’ original claims are moot – that is, no longer a live controversy. In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority in concluding that the case should go back to the lower court, but he also indicated that he shared the concern – expressed by Justice Samuel Alito in his dissenting opinion – that the lower courts “may not be properly applying” the Supreme Court’s most recent gun rights rulings, in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago. Therefore, Kavanaugh suggested, the Supreme Court “should address that issue soon, perhaps in one of the several Second Amendment cases with petitions for certiorari now pending before the Court.” The court’s electronic docket reveals that Kavanaugh’s suggestion may come to fruition soon: By the end of the day yesterday, the Supreme Court had distributed for consideration at Friday’s conference 10 cases that had apparently been on hold for the New York case.

Several themes emerge from the cases that the justices will now review on Friday. The justices are being asked to weigh in on (among other things) whether and to what extent the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense, whether state and local governments can ban assault rifles and large-capacity magazines and whether the federal ban on interstate gun sales is unconstitutional. A full list of the 10 cases distributed for Friday’s conference, as well as a brief description of the question presented in each one, follows the jump.

We expect orders from Friday’s conference on Monday, May 4, at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Mance v. Barr – Whether the federal ban on interstate handgun sales violates the Second Amendment or the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Rogers v. Grewal – In a challenge to New Jersey’s handgun carry permit scheme, whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense; and whether the government can condition the right to carry a handgun outside the home on the showing of a special need to carry a firearm.

Pena v. Horan – In a challenge to a California law banning most commonly used handguns, the petition asks the justices to weigh in on the scope of the Second Amendment.

Gould v. Lipson – In a challenge to Massachusetts’ handgun carry permit scheme, whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense; and whether the government can condition the right to carry a handgun outside the home on the showing of a special need to carry a firearm.

Cheeseman v. Polillo – Challenge to New Jersey handgun carry permit scheme.

Ciolek v. New Jersey – Challenge to New Jersey handgun carry permit scheme.

Worman v. Healey – Challenge to Massachusetts ban on the possession of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.

Malpasso v. Pallozzi – In a challenge to Maryland’s handgun carry permit scheme, whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense.

Culp v. Raoul – Whether the Second Amendment requires Illinois to allow nonresidents to apply for a concealed-carry license.

Wilson v. Cook County – Challenge to Cook County’s ban on assault rifles and large-capacity magazines, as well as to the Second Amendment analysis used by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to uphold the ban.

This post was originally published at Howe on the Court.

Posted in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, New York, Worman v. Healey, Malpasso v. Pallozzi, Culp v. Raoul, Wilson v. Cook County, Illinois, Mance v. Barr, Rogers v. Grewal, Pena v. Horan, Cheeseman v. Polillo, Ciolek v. New Jersey, Gould v. Lipson, Featured, Cases in the Pipeline

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Trump Emoluments On The Road To SCOTUS

Looks like we are going to SCOTUS....to be consolidated....to be continued....in Detroit.

SCOTUS: Trump Tax Returns - Stealin' The Land - Money Laundering - Magnitsky

The court recommended remand that the district court reverse its decision on writ of mandamus because the plaintiffs, Maryland and D.C. do not have Article II standing, or basically, they cannot demonstrate any harms.

How is a state harmed?

I can think of a few ways, like gerrymandering, better understood as stalin' the children, land & vote.

#maytheheavensfall

Federal court revives emoluments lawsuit against Trump over DC hotel

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday revived a lawsuit from the Maryland and Washington, D.C. attorneys general that accuses President Trump of violating the Constitution’s Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses by benefiting from use of the Trump International Hotel by foreign and U.S. officials.

The case previously had been ordered dismissed by a Fourth Circuit panel. But the full roster of judges reheard the case and, in a 9-6 decision, determined Trump cannot have the court overrule a lower court’s decision to deny him certification to appeal before trial.

“Notably, notwithstanding the President’s vigorous assertion that the court erred in its legal analysis, he does not contend that the district court denied certification for nonlegal reasons or in bad faith,” said Thursday’s opinion, written by Judge Diana Gribbon Motz.

Trump had asked the Fourth Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus, a drastic measure that would have ordered the district court to certify Trump’s appeal in the middle of the case. Trump’s challenge raised issues including whether D.C. and Maryland had standing to sue in the first place, and exactly what the meaning of the word “emoluments” is.

The Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits the president or anyone else in office from receiving “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without congressional approval. D.C. and Maryland claim that money earned as a result of foreign officials staying at his hotel to curry favor with the president constitutes such an emolument.

The Domestic Emoluments Clause says that the president cannot receive any emolument from the U.S. or any individual state other than his or her salary. The lawsuit alleges that Trump is receiving such emoluments when state officials stay at his hotel.

Trump’s request for a writ of mandamus also asked that if the Fourth Circuit does not force his appeal to go through, they should just order the district court to dismiss the case. Thursday’s ruling denied this request, saying that the president has not demonstrated a “clear and indisputable right to dismissal,” and that “reasonable jurists can disagree in good faith on the merits” of the lawsuit’s claims.

In a blistering dissenting opinion, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote that what is really “clear and indisputable” is “that this action should never be in federal court” in the first place. He said he would order the district court to dismiss the case entirely, and that “the federal judiciary has sorely overstepped its proper bounds” in the case.

The dissent notes that if the president is violating the law by receiving illegal emoluments, Congress has the power to impeach him for it, which they have not done.

“The majority is using a wholly novel and nakedly political cause of action to pave the path for a litigative assault upon this and future Presidents and for an ascendant judicial supervisory role over Presidential action,” Wilkinson wrote.

The dissent also questioned how the matter should even be handled if Trump were violating the Constitution by benefiting from his hotel, rhetorically asking if they should issue an injunction keeping foreign officials out, or force Trump to divest from the hotel or even close the hotel entirely while he is in office.

“I have not the slightest idea,” the judge wrote.

The case will now go back to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, where it will continue forward.

The D.C. Circuit Court previously dismissed a similar lawsuit brought by more than 200 Democratic lawmakers, stating they lacked standing.

U.S. Fourth Circuit Trump E... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Here is the cited case used in the opinion.

Congress Emoluments Clause ... by New Mexico Political Report on Scribd

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JUDICIARY: CHAIRMAN NADLER STATEMENT ON TRUMP HOSTING G7 AT HIS DORAL RESORT IN MIAMI - October 17, 2019

Washington, D.C.- Today, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's decision to hold the 2020 G7 Summit at Trump National Doral Miami, a potential violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses:

“The Administration’s announcement that President Trump's Doral Miami resort will be the site of the next G7 summit is among the most brazen examples yet of the President’s corruption.  He is exploiting his office and making official U.S. government decisions for his personal financial gain.  The Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution exist to prevent exactly this kind of corruption.  The Committee will continue investigating, litigating and legislating regarding these matters—including pressing for answers to our prior requests about the G7 selection process—but we will not allow this latest abuse of power to distract from Congress’ efforts to get to the bottom of the President’s interference in the 2020 election.”

Background: On September 6, 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on the Judiciary sent a series of letters requesting documents and other information regarding multiple efforts by the President, Vice President, and other Trump Administration officials to spend taxpayer funds at properties owned by the President in potential violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses.

Chairman Nadler and Rep. Steve Cohen, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, sent a letter to the White House Counsel and Secret Service seeking information about President Trump’s recent promotion and solicitation of foreign and U.S. government business at Trump properties—including pushing the Trump National Doral Miami as the next venue to host the G7 Summit.

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JUDICIARY: Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 3: The Role of Data and Privacy in Competition - Bioethics In Modern Day Human Trafficking

Iceland has a generational genetic repository.

Penn State University seems to run the bioethics portion of modern day human trafficking in support of Iceland's commercialization of really, really, tiny humans, like genomes for genomic predictive modeling crap.

Wayne State University has the blood bank.

University of Michigan has the library system of predictive modeling crap.

Michigan State University looks to be the keyman for all the human lab rat experiments.

WHO definitions of genetics and genomics
 Genetics is the study of heredity.1 Genomics is defined as the study of genes and their functions, and related techniques. 1,2 The main difference between genomics and genetics is that genetics scrutinizes the functioning and composition of the single gene where as genomics addresses all genes and their inter relationships in order to identify their combined influence on the growth and development of the organism.

Bioethics is just another reengineered component when it comes to the residuals of the peculiar institution, which is what shall eventually aid in the obviation of policy and law, specifically in the areas of procurement for inurement.

https://www.decode.com/

https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=801050160&SEARCH_TYPE=3

Michigan

It all started in Detroit.

Iceland Inc on the Ethics of Commercial Population Genomics by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Rick Sollars & Another Grand Jury Unsealment

There seems to be a trend when it comes to unsealing grand jury material and the requests, thereof.

Funny how that works.

I bet that sucks for Rick Sollars, and his sidekick Slim Shady.

FBI probe of Taylor mayor expands into election activities

"You can pick up the quiet title deed next week."

The FBI has subpoenaed documents about Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars' re-election fundraising while investigating the Downriver politician for racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering, according to a grand jury subpoena obtained by The Detroit News.

Investigators are focused on the use of the city-owned Lakes of Taylor golf course from 2016-18 and whether Sollars' re-election committee or a third party paid to use the facilities, according to the subpoena.

The subpoena provides new insight into an ongoing corruption investigation that emerged publicly in February when FBI agents raided City Hall, the mayor's home and cottage, and the home and office of a city contractor. Investigators seized campaign records and $206,493 from Sollars and later raided the home and business of a second businessman.

The grand jury subpoena was issued in April but revealed Tuesday when attorney Andrew Paterson obtained a copy via a Freedom of Information Act request.

"It is apparent from the newly released federal grand jury subpoenas that Mayor Sollars may be facing multiple federal felonies," Paterson wrote in an email to The News. "The detail contained in the newly released federal grand jury subpoenas seem to indicate that a number of city vendors have been spilling the beans with respect to Mayor Sollars and his campaign fundraisers."

Prosecutors have not filed any criminal charges since searching the locations, and Sollars remains in office.

An FBI spokeswoman declined comment and Sollars' attorney could not be reached immediately for comment Wednesday. Taylor city spokesman Karl Ziomek declined comment.

The golf course and banquet center has been a frequent setting for Sollars, who delivered his State of the City address at the facility two days after the FBI raids and professed his innocence. The grand jury subpoena sought documentation related to golf fundraisers and cigar parties Sollars' re-election committee held at the golf course since 2016.

Specifically, the subpoena requested copies of checks, credit card documents and records of any cash payments to the Lakes of Taylor related to the various events.

Sollars’ election committee has not filed a campaign statement since last year, according to county elections records. In October 2018, the committee reported a $162,382 balance.

Sollars’ campaign hired the Clark Hill law firm to review campaign finance reports and correct irregularities involving contributions and expenses, attorney Michael Pattwell wrote in an email to The News.

“Since this summer, the committee has been working with the Michigan Secretary of State to prepare amended campaign finance reports…,” Pattwell wrote. “Once the committee has amended those historic campaign finance reports it will turn its attention to preparing and filing the more recent reports which had not been filed due to the federal government seizing the underlying records in an unrelated matter.”

During the City Hall search, investigators were hunting for records linking the mayor to property management owner Shady Awad, records involving the mayor's personal and campaign finances, and his casino activity, according to search warrant records obtained by The News.

Sollars, 45, was elected mayor of the Downriver community 17 miles southwest of Detroit in November 2013 following two terms on the City Council and a career in private business as a partner of three Romulus-based manufacturing companies.

Federal prosecutors want to seize his home and vacation chalet in Lenawee County and have filed liens to have the approximately $600,000 worth of real estate forfeited to the government upon conviction.

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JUDICIARY: FIRST JUDICIAL SUBPOENAS SERVED IN FOREIGN EMOLUMENTS CLAUSE LAWSUIT LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY BLUMENTHAL, NADLER & 213 OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Dilly, dilly!

[WASHINGTON, DC] — After Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling allowing U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and more than two hundred Congressional plaintiffs to proceed with discovery in their effort to hold President Trump accountable for violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, thirty-seven judicial subpoenas were issued to a number of Trump business enterprises, including the Trump Organization, seeking information about foreign government payments accepted by six Trump properties, as well as trademarks granted to Trump businesses by foreign governments.

In a ruling rejecting President Trump’s attempts to delay discovery in the case, Judge Sullivan recognized that discovery and summary judgment briefing in the case can be complete by early next year. In response, Members of Congress moved swiftly in serving targeted document requests for financial documents necessary to prove the allegations in the complaint that President Trump is violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause, including corporate tax returns. The Members of Congress are represented in this case by the Constitutional Accountability Center.

“Our goal is simple and straightforward — stopping President Trump from putting a ‘For Sale’ sign in Russian on the door to the Oval Office. Now that we have been rightfully granted the opportunity to proceed with discovery, we are seeking a targeted set of documents to obtain the information that we need to ensure that the President can no longer shirk his constitutional responsibility,” Blumenthal said. “Thanks to the good work of the press, we already know of foreign emoluments that President Trump has and is receiving — we simply don’t yet know the full scope of his lawbreaking. Unsurprisingly, the Trump Administration is still seeking to delay, delay, delay, but we are confident that the D.C. Circuit will recognize the well-reasoned logic of the District Court, and allow discovery to proceed.”

“The President’s loyalty to the United States must be complete and undivided,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “President Trump has flagrantly ignored the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, but we do not yet know the extent of his violations. We are taking an important step towards obtaining key documents to understand the full scope of Trump’s foreign business dealings. The American people deserve to know whether their President is selling them out for his own personal benefit. With each passing day, we are closer to uncovering the truth.”

“The court has wisely rejected President Trump’s efforts to prevent enforcement of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, and allowed the plaintiffs to proceed with discovery into Trump’s foreign financial dealings. We have started this process by seeking information, including tax returns, from Trump’s many business interests that have reaped rewards from foreign governments during his presidency. While this is only the first step in the discovery process, it is a very important one, as we move toward transparency and accountability,” CAC President Elizabeth Wydra continued. “Meanwhile, as expected, the Trump Administration has made a last-ditch attempt to run out the clock on this effort to hold the President accountable to the Constitution during his current term in office. We are confident that the D.C. Circuit will reject this latest, groundless attempt to delay these proceedings and, as the District Court did, allow discovery to proceed.”

Congress Emoluments Clause ... by on Scribd

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Judiciary Jolly Jerry Prematurely Ejaculates Victory All Over The Emolument Lawsuit Discovery Order

Jerry is going to need one of these.

Poor Judiciary Jolly Jerry is prematurely being jolly.

Emmet Sullivan just ordered to proceed in discovery in the emoluments lawsuit.

That means Trump is just going to have to stop obstructing justice and pull that IG Report out from his backpocket, which would make Jolly Jerry, et al, very unjolly.

Onward to impeachment!

Dilly, dilly, Rashida!

IN A VICTORY FOR THE CONSTITUTION, JUDGE REJECTS DELAY & ORDERS DISCOVERY IN BLUMENTHAL V. TRUMP, LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY BLUMENTHAL, NADLER & 213 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

In a victory for the Constitution and 215 Congressional plaintiffs, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied President Trump’s request to delay the challenge brought by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and members of the Senate and House of Representatives to hold him accountable to the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, and ordered discovery to begin on Friday, June 28. The Members of Congress are represented in this case by the Constitutional Accountability Center.

“This tremendous victory assures that President Trump will be held accountable to the Constitution and the American people — a historic triumph for legally mandated transparency,” Blumenthal said. “In a thoughtful, well-reasoned opinion, Judge Sullivan articulated what the law makes clear: there is absolutely no reason to delay one more day in ensuring that President Trump is held accountable for his violation of the Constitution’s preeminent anti-corruption provision. For more than two years, President Trump has thumbed his nose at the American people in flagrant violation of the law. Today, the courts spoke: no longer.”

“The Constitution is clear: the President must obtain Congress’s consent before receiving foreign benefits,” said Chairman Nadler. “Yet again, the courts have ruled in our favor as we seek to uphold the Constitution and prove that no one is above the law. This is a great victory in our fight for transparency and accountability for the American people.”

“We’re gratified that Judge Sullivan has rejected President Trump’s effort to run out the clock on this important lawsuit,” said Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) Chief Counsel Brianne Gorod. “Our Constitution’s Framers adopted the Foreign Emoluments Clause to ensure that our nation’s leaders, including the President, would act in the national interest, not in their own financial self-interest, but for over two years, the President has been making sensitive foreign policy decisions under a cloud of potentially divided loyalty and compromised judgment caused by his enrichment from foreign states. It is therefore critical that this case be decided as expeditiously as possible, and as Judge Sullivan rightly recognized, the best way to ensure that happens is for this litigation to proceed in the district court. With the orders Judge Sullivan issued today, discovery can proceed, and we can begin to obtain the information that will enable us to prove our allegations that the President is violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause.”

Trump Emolument Lawsuit Order for Discovery 06-25-2019 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Congress Emoluments Clause ... by on Scribd

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Emoluments, Exculpatory Evidence & Elections: Marsha Blackburn Is Against Self Dry Snitching When It Comes To Foreign Influence - But Does This Exclude Foreign Information Of War Crimes?

Marsha & BiBi

Marsh Blackburn was right.

If her colleagues did not give this Bill, The Foreign Influence Reporting Act of 2019, special consideration in debate, probably behind closed doors, considering the majority of the U.S. Senate financed their campaigns from Israeli PACs, they may be found to be engaging in a legislative act of mea culpa.

Trump may be sitting on his obstruction of justice IG Report, but it seems Putin has his own Detroit Brady Impeachment Dilemma burning a hole in his back pocket, too.

No one has ever discussed a foreign government sitting on U.S. exculpatory evidence before.

There, I just did.

Trump thanks Blackburn for blocking requirement to notify FBI when foreign nations offer election aid

Bill Clinton Iranian Campaign Contribution

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn blocked a bill from Sen. Mark Warner that would require campaigns to report foreign offers of assistance to the FBI.

The bill from Warner, D-Va., known as the Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections Act, required unanimous consent in order to move forward, meaning that Blackburn's decision to object stopped the legislation in its tracks.

"I objected to the unanimous consent proposal presented on the floor because it was a blatant political stunt," Blackburn said in a news release Thursday. "My colleagues on the left tried to rush this legislation through the Senate without giving it a chance for the careful consideration and debate needed to address such an important issue. Of course action needs to be taken to protect the integrity of our elections, but let’s do this the right way."

President Donald Trump late Friday afternoon thanked Blackburn for blocking the bill and "fighting obstructionist Democrats."

"Democrats continue to look for a do-over on the Mueller Report and will stop at nothing to distract the American people from the great accomplishments of this Administration!" Trump tweeted.

Thank you Senator @MarshaBlackburn for fighting obstructionist Democrats led by Cryin' Chuck Schumer. Democrats continue to look for a do-over on the Mueller Report and will stop at nothing to distract the American people from the great accomplishments of this Administration!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 14, 2019

Soul of Ukraine International Foundation

U.S. Partnership with Soul of Ukraine

The move comes after President Donald Trump said in an ABC News interview that he would likely take information from foreign officials about his 2020 opponents, without reporting to the FBI.

Trump seemed to flip on the issue a day later in an interview with Fox and Friends. "Of course you give it to the FBI or report to the attorney general or somebody like that," Trump said.

After the Senate decision, Blackburn, R-Tenn., told reporters campaigns should report foreign contact to the FBI.

“All of us know, if you were to ever be contacted by a foreign entity, your first call is the FBI,” Blackburn said, according to Vox. “I don’t care if it’s Russia, Norway, China, whomever.”

A new low.@MarkWarner tried to pass the FIRE Act to require presidential campaigns to report interference to the FBI.

But Senator @MarshaBlackburn (R-TN) objected.

It is truly outrageous that this bill, which should bring all of us together, is being blocked by Republicans. pic.twitter.com/1efsLINqFf

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 13, 2019

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed Blackburn on Twitter after the failure of the legislation, referring to the objection as "a new low" and "outrageous."

On the Senate floor, Schumer called it "disgraceful" that Republicans would "cower before this president when they know that the things he does severely damage democracy."

Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections Act - BILL - 116th Congress 1st Session S.1562 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Cocktails & Popcorn: MIED FBI Taylor Public Corruption Photo Art Exhibit On Election, Campaign, Real Estate, Mortgage, Property Tax & Other Public Corruption Frauds

"Let justice be served,
though the heavens fall.
Praise the Lord."

On this exciting episode of Cocktails & Popcorn, MIED FBI are once again featured in this traveling photo journalism art exhibit of public corruption with the Mayor of the City of Taylor, and more than likely campaign finance fraud, mortgage fraud, property tax fraud, and handing out the spoils to friends and family.

As I shall be bold and consider this a traveling, live art exhibit on stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

I hope to see Christine Ferretti and George Hunter, along with their other photo journalist cohorts get together with other keepers of the photographic record of Detroit like Dale Rich, actually do a conjugal collaborative, similar to federal law enforcement, and actually make this a cyber interactive for learning.

This is pure, unadulterated art, but hey, what do I know.

I know that you had better have stocked up to share a few flukes of Ghettoblaster and popcorn.

Taylor mayor focuses on 'people's work' after feds raid home, City Hall

An FBI agent enters the Department of Development
office at Taylor City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.

Taylor — Hours after FBI agents searched Taylor City Hall and Mayor Rick Sollars' properties on Tuesday, Sollars said he remained focused on the "people's work" and would cooperate with a public corruption investigation.

In politics, he said, “you make a few enemies.”

“Taylor has always been somewhat of a political hot bed," Sollars said outside his home Tuesday during a news conference. "There’s always been detractors. If you look at what we’ve accomplished, that’s my focus.”

FBI agents searched multiple locations Tuesday during the public corruption investigation, including the home and vacation property of Sollars, The Detroit News has learned.

The exact nature of the investigation was unclear, but the searches come amid questions about Taylor police officers pocketing vehicle inspection fees and allegations that Sollars and a city councilman received kickbacks from a towing contractor.

The raids are the latest crackdown on public corruption in Metro Detroit in recent years, a crackdown that has produced 17 convictions and led to federal charges against 22 contractors and public officials, including Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland.

Records: FBI wiretapped more than dozen in corruption probe

A team of FBI agents arrived at City Hall around 10:30 a.m., FBI Special Agent Mara Schneider told The News. Agents were searching multiple locations, including Sollars' home and his vacation chalet in Cement City, about 80 miles west of Detroit and near Michigan International Speedway.

The FBI declined to reveal the focus of the investigation.

"And while I recognize the public’s right to know what the FBI is doing on its behalf, we have a responsibility to protect the integrity of our investigation and, as importantly, we have a responsibility to protect the rights of individuals who have not been charged with any crimes," Timothy Slater, the FBI special agent in charge of the Detroit office, said in a statement.

There have been no arrests, Schneider said.

Outside Sollars' house on Hunter Circle, Schneider confirmed federal authorities were executing a warrant.

FBI agents were spotted leaving Mayor Rick Sollars'
home after 2 p.m. carrying boxes and folders and a backpack. 

“We’re just executing a search warrant here," she said. "We have a number of them to do today, all related to the same investigation."

Schneider declined to specify other locations being searched by federal agents. Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, the search of the mayor’s home wrapped up.

Shortly before 2:45 p.m., attorney Todd Flood arrived at the home. He told a reporter he was not representing Sollars, then went inside.

Sollars told reporters gathered outside his home that he is cooperating with the investigation. He’ll also remained focused, he said, on the work of the city.

“I will continue to work hard on behalf of the residents of city of Taylor to make sure the people’s work gets done,” he said. “I ask that you please respect my family’s privacy and the integrity of this investigation.”

Sollars said he “did not see anything coming” and didn’t want to say more because “I don’t want to jeopardize the investigation.” 

He said he does not have an attorney because at this time he doesn’t need one.

Rick Sollars speaks to reporters
outside his home after FBI agents
carried out a search warrant there.

Solars again addressed the probe at a City Council meeting Tuesday night, repeating that he would "cooperate and assist in any way that I can."

City Council chairman Tim Woolley said: “We’re still not aware of everything that’s going on. We’re waiting on information as well.”

After the meeting, Sollars told reporters that he did not get a chance to read the search warrant and doesn’t know what federal officers are searching for.

Sollars, 45, was elected mayor of the Downriver community 17 miles west of Detroit in November 2013 following two terms on the City Council and a career in private business as a partner of three Romulus-based manufacturing companies.

Janet Nicholson has lived two doors down from Sollars for 13 years and said he’s been a good neighbor and city leader.

“I can’t believe it. He’s such a good family guy,” said Nicholson, 73, who said she chats with Sollars at homeowner association meetings. “He’s a very nice guy; so is his wife. He has done for Taylor like nobody’s business. He’s the best mayor we’ve ever had.”

Federal agents remove what appears to be a filing
cabinet from the office of Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars.

Nicholson, who has lived in the city since 1968, said the FBI’s presence in her neighborhood was “very unexpected.”

“I just hope it’s not true,” she said. “It’s such a shame.”

Neighbor Dorina Igna said she was in “disbelief” Tuesday that federal agents had raided the home of Sollars.

“They are very family oriented, a great family,” she said while driving past the house Tuesday afternoon.

Igna said she’s known the family for at least 16 years.

“They are very open. They are not guarded or closed off,” she said.

An unidentified man who arrived at the home Tuesday after authorities left declined to speak to media, saying, “it's private property.”

At City Hall, FBI agents were spotted inside the second-floor mayor's office and blocked access to the area. One agent in the office wore rubber gloves and was taking pictures with a camera.

While agents busied themselves in the mayor’s office, grim-faced city employees and police officers wandered through the corridors of City Hall, declining to comment. 

Some employees hung around the lobby, craning their necks to try to peer into the mayor’s office, as men in suits darted in and out.

Yellow caution tape, accompanied by a sign bearing the message “under construction,” prevented curious onlookers and reporters from going onto the second floor.

FBI agents carry boxes into Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars'
office at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.

Taylor Police Chief John Blair declined to comment, saying only "they’re cooperating with the FBI investigation.”

Agents also concentrated their search in the city's Development Services office, which handles the sale of city properties, Community Development Block Grants and other services.

City Treasurer Edward Bourassa was unsure why FBI agents were searching City Hall and the mayor's office. Bourassa, who was home sick Tuesday and who filed a federal employment lawsuit against the city last month, does not know if the search was prompted by anything related to city finances.

“I haven’t heard anything except for what’s in the media and on Facebook,” he said. “I don’t know anything that’s going on.”

The searches came amid questions about alleged fraud involving Taylor police officersaccused of pocketing money generated by vehicle inspections, allegations that sparked a federal lawsuit last month.

The vacation home of Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars
in Cement City raided by FBI agents Tuesday.

In April 2018, two Taylor police officers were placed on paid administrative leave amid a state investigation into the alleged fraud.

Councilman Herman “Butch” Ramik, a former Taylor police officer, said he blew the whistle on the alleged fraud when he discovered two officers weren’t turning in $100 fees paid to inspect salvaged vehicles.

One suspended officer, Patrick Raboczkay, sued the mayor, Ramik and the city last month in federal court. Raboczkay alleges he was investigated by the state as retaliation for speaking out about a company the mayor and Ramik wanted to award an exclusive towing contract.

"Upon information and belief, defendants Ramik and Sollars are receiving financial kickbacks from" the towing contractor, Raboczkay's lawyer Andrew Paterson wrote in the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, Paterson said he hoped the FBI searches "lead to much needed changes within Taylor's city government."

"The FBI's raid of the Taylor City Hall and Mayor Sollars' residence is of no surprise to those who have been unfairly subjected to the unethical and unlawful tactics of certain Taylor city officials, Paterson said in a statement.

Ramik defended his actions Tuesday.

“I’m still trying to figure out how I defamed them, since I never mentioned their names," he said. "I contacted the AG’s office because I knew the city salvage inspectors hadn’t been turning in money; I could find no record of them turning any money in. We’re up to almost $300,000 in missing money.” 

Neighbor Kary Watson lives across the street from Sollars’ vacation home overlooking Silver Lake.

He saw six FBI agents leave the home around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, some carrying folders. Sollars, who bought the home three years ago for $300,000, was an infrequent visitor to the lakefront home.

“I’ve never talked to him — he kept to himself,” Watson told The News. “I only saw him two or three times last summer. He shows up in a high-dollar (Chevrolet) Suburban, all tinted out, stays a half hour and leaves.”

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