Why Conyers' Congressional Office Is Under Ethics Investigation

Being mad at all the Meanies

On July 31, 2017, in front of the Honorable Avern Cohn at the United States District Court, Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse, 231 W. Layfayette Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan, Room 225, at 11:00 a.m. there will be two motion hearings on Tran, et al., v. Detroit Land Bank Authority, et al.

The first will be a Motion for Withdrawal of Attorney, Crystal Hopkins.

The second will be a Motion of one of the Defendants.

This case deals with the False Claims Act.

See, it goes like this.

In order to be a whistleblower and force the U.S. Department of Justice to go after fraud under the FCA when no other federal agency will, or no one else will do it due to lack of knowledge, resources and basic political will, you must have an attorney because there is no pro se in qui tam.

In this case, the attorney, Crystal Hopkins filed notice of appearance on behalf of the pro se litigant.

Well, not trying to spoil the story, but it seems Crystal Hopkins thought it was more profitable to work with the defendant and its legal counsel and let the case get dismissed instead of just amending the complaint.

In order to find another attorney, Crystal Hopkins was supposed to petition the Court for grant of leave to lift the seal to speak to another attorney to replace her.

She refused to do anything.

That was very mean.

See, neither does the FCA provide for the right for the relator to file anything into the docket, including a response to Ms. Hopkins' motion to remove herself as attorney, of which she seems to be bereft of the procedural acumen of the Act.

Now, since I am statutorily disallowed to communicate to the court, I decided to take a global initiative and preserve the annals of history, preserve the public record, and speak directly to the international communities who have current and future concerns in this subject matter, via the internet.

As to the second motion to be heard, there is a bit of an issue.

Ms. Hopkins was notified that there is an inherent conflict of interest with the defendant attorney representing Title Source, Inc., Reggie Turner, but chose to do nothing, again.

Reggie Turner was mean to my friend.

Reggie Turner was mean to me.

Reggie Turner hooked up with Cynthia Martin in being mean to my friend.

Reggie Turner and Cynthia Martin were mean to my friend and me.

Reggie Turner, Cynthia Martin, and a few others, did really bad things to lots and lots of people.

So, I decided to make sure Reggie Turner and Cynthia Martin were in the annals of history, oh, and Crystal Hopkins, too!

ReggieTurner.com 

Ethics panel: Rep. Conyers under investigation

Office of Congressional Ethics Referral Regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin

On October 13, 2016, the Office of Congressional Ethics transmitted a referral to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin.

Nature of the Review

From May 2013 to September 2014, Cynthia Martin may have misappropriated $16,500 that was mistakenly transferred into her Congressional Federal Credit Union bank account. Subsequent to notification by both bank representatives and law enforcement, Ms. Martin initially refused to return the funds to their rightful owner. On March 30, 2016, Ms. Martin pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor under Washington, DC law. If Ms. Martin wrongfully obtained the property of another, then she may have violated Washington DC law, House rules, and standards of conduct.

From April to August 2016, Cynthia Martin received compensation from the House of Representatives at a time when she may no longer have been working for the House. If Ms. Martin accepted compensation that was not commensurate with the work she was performing, then she may have violated House rules and standards of conduct.

OCE Recommendation

The Board recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the allegation that Cynthia Martin violated Washington, DC law, House rules, and standards of conduct, as there is substantial reason to believe that she wrongfully obtained and refused to return the property of another.

The Board recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the allegation that Cynthia Martin accepted compensation that was not commensurate with the work she performed, as there is substantial reason to believe that she continued to receive compensation at a time when she was no longer providing services to the House, in violation of House rules and standards of conduct.

Committee Action

The Committee on Ethics made no public statement regarding this matter.

Public Disclosure

Pursuant to section 1(f)(1)(B) of H. Res. 895, on February 3, 2017, the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics voted unanimously to release the OCE’s report and findings concerning former House employee Ms. Cynthia Martin, as the Board determined that release was mandated by the Resolution and House rules.

OCE Referral Regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin. Rev. No. 16 1190 Referral 2-8-2017 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Office of Congressional Ethics Referral Regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin Exhibits, Rev. No. 16 1190 Exhibits 2-... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

The moral of the story is:

"Do not be mean to my Sweetie.  Period."

Stay tuned...on a mission...

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Day 238.6. Hillary's Leakers Hackers and Henchmen: Cynthia Martin, Congress & Ethics

Cynthia Martin at 166K a Year, House Judiciary Maven, and House Ethics Violation Reports 

Cynthia Martin, COS For John Conyers, Could Be an Awan By Salary and Credit Union Troubles, and Receiving Stolen Property 

Rep. John Conyers' Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to Receiving Stolen Property 

The chief of staff to the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, the News4 I-Team has learned.

In an affidavit, U.S. Capitol Police investigators said Cynthia Martin, top aide to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), had initially refused to repay $13,000 mistakenly deposited in her savings account.

Martin’s misconduct involved her savings account in the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union, a credit union with branches inside the Capitol and the Rayburn and Longworth House Office Buildings, investigators said.

In the court filings, the investigators said another credit union customer mistakenly routed $16,500 of his direct deposits to Martin’s account, by writing down the wrong account number when he opened the account.

In their filings with the court, the investigators said Martin was aware of the erroneous deposits, but at first refused to return the money.

The mistaken deposits were placed in Martin’s account every pay period, every two weeks, in $500 increments, investigators said in their court filings.

The mistaken deposits, they said, continued from May 2013 to September 2015.

According to the investigators, Martin began transferring money from her savings account to other credit union accounts in 2014 and made a $1,000 withdrawal from one of the credit union’s ATMs. Court filings said the victim is an employee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Federation of Independent Business.

They said the deposits were listed as “NFIB Office Pay,” when they appeared in Martin’s account.

In their court filings, investigators said the victim whose money was directed into Martin’s account sought to have it returned.

According to the court filings, Congressional Federal Credit Union policy only allowed the credit union to recover $3,500 of the $16,500 in erroneous deposits from Martin’s account.

According to those filings, investigators suspected Martin was aware of the policy and initially declined to turn over the rest of the money.

The I-Team reached Martin by phone. She declined to comment on the case. Conyers' spokeswoman told News4 the congressman just placed Martin on unpaid leave.

His office will further review the case. Court records show Martin pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property

Thursday. Martin was ordered to pay restitution.

She is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court in September for a hearing to update the court on her restitution payments.

Congressional records reviewed by the I-Team show Martin earned about $166,000 salary in 2015, serving as Rep. Conyers' chief of staff. Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Ethics panel still reviewing Conyers' pay to aide

Buckle up and let's get this show on the road!

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Ethics Committee said today it’s continuing to look at whether

Former Chief of Staff for
U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, wrongly paid his former chief of staff for four months she didn’t work.

The committee today released documents outlining its review of Conyers, which has been known about for some months. A report from the Office of Congressional Ethics raises the possibility that Conyers violated House rules when he paid Cynthia Martin more than $50,000 for work she did not do last year.

But Conyers — the longest-serving active member of Congress — argued through his lawyers in a response to the committee that the wages were paid to Martin as part of a termination settlement crafted on the advice of the U.S. House’s own internal employment counsel.

More: Publication says fight for John Conyers' committee spot is brewing

David Lazarus,
Perkins Coie

Brian Svoboda and David Lazarus of Washington law firm Perkins Coie wrote to the committee in June that Martin — who had worked for Conyers for nearly two decades, the last eight of which she was his chief of staff — was kept on payroll even after she was effectively terminated as a means to pay her accrued annual leave she was owed and two months’ severance pay.

Martin lost her job last year after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property in Washington, D.C., unrelated to her job as Conyers’ chief of staff. The charge involved some $16,000 wrongly deposited into her credit union account and her initial refusal to pay it back.

Conyers’ lawyers — who acknowledged he has refused to cooperate with the House Ethics Committee’s inquiry, believing he was not given proper notice and that is simply rehashes reviews already completed — said he believes the settlement agreement with Martin was proper.

“Mr. Conyers acted reasonably to separate from his longtime aide. … The criminal charge forced Mr. Conyers to make a difficult decision,” they said. “In effect, Ms. Martin was placed back on payroll in order for her to receive severance and accrued annual leave,” the lawyers added.

The lawyers also noted that House members are given wide latitude in determining compensation for their employees, though there are pay scale limits. At the time of her firing, Martin was making as chief of staff $13,333 a month.

The release of information by the committee noted that Conyers’ insistence aside, they will continue to review the money paid to Martin, noting rules that require House employees to be paid commensurate with the services they provide and that paying her for time she wasn’t working may be a violation.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/09/john-conyers-ethics-panel-aide/553210001/

Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings on John Conyers Compensating Cynthia Martin #17-7171 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Office of Congressional Ethics Exhibits of U.S. Representative John Conyers Compensation of Cynthia Martin... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Representative Conyers' Response Office of Congressional Ethics on Investigation of Cynthia Martin 17-7171 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Once again, the moral of the story is, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie. Period."

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Lisa Bloom To Represent Cynthia Martin In Conyers Sexual Harassment Allegations

Cynthia Martin, staffer accusing
John Conyers, Jr. of sexual harassment

UPDATE:  Flushing out disinfo campaign was a success.

Hey Lisa,

Lisa Bloom

I see you are to represent Cynthia Martin, the woman who is the staffer claiming to be a victim of sexual harassment by Mr. Conyers.

I thought I would assist by strong encouragment, to peruse my blog, just to get a grasp of how congress has been operating, because you seem to demonstrate a bit of a deficiency in relevant areas of law, pertinant to representing your client.

It is always a grand idea to get someone to speak out, to preserve the historic record.

Oh, and by the way, go ask Mike Cernovich where he got those docs...and how much he got paid.

Dilly, dilly!

Bees! GIF from Oprah GIFs

Lisa Bloom Calls On John Conyers To Release Accuser From Confidentiality Agreement

The high-profile attorney said “basic fairness and decency” dictates that her client should be able to speak out.

High-profile attorney Lisa Bloom announced Sunday that she’s representing a woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in 2014.

Bloom called on the embattled congressman, as well as the Office of Compliance, to release the woman from the confidentiality agreement she was “forced to sign” so she may “have a voice to tell her own story.” The woman hasn’t yet been publicly identified.

“Mr. Conyers and his attorney have spoken to the press and said that Mr. Conyers never sexually harassed anyone,” Bloom wrote in a press release issued Sunday. “My client was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement at the time the matter was resolved, which bars her from telling her side of the story.”

“Basic fairness and decency dictate that if Mr. Conyers can speak publicly about the matter, the woman should be free to do so as well,” she continued

BREAKING: I represent the woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against Congressman John Conyers. Here is my statement. pic.twitter.com/75wlx1AT9c

— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) November 26, 2017

Buzzfeed News broke the news Monday about a 2014 complaint against Conyers, in which the unnamed woman claimed he fired her because she rejected his sexual advances. The report also included testimony from several other female former staffers who made similar accusations throughout the years.

Conyers, who has denied all of the allegations, announced Sunday that was stepping down from his role as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee while the House Ethics Committee investigates the allegations.

In her statement Sunday, Bloom said she and her client would “fully cooperate” with any investigation into the matter.

“Regardless of confidentiality agreements, victims may speak if they are lawfully subpoenaed,” Bloom wrote, adding that she would “be happy” to help provide her client’s testimony to the ethics committee if subpoenaed.

A representative for Conyers did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

The Magical Doors Of The Kingdom Were Opened: Beverly Tran, et al, v. Detroit Land Bank Authority, et al, 7-31-2017

My court sketch because cameras are not allowed.

Once upon a time I went to court.

Well, actually, it was July 31, 2017, in the Michigan Easter District Court in front of Judge Avern Cohn in the case of Beverly Tran et al v. Detroit Land Bank Authority, et al.

See, what had happened was...

I was so excited, the mystery, the intrigue, the comedy, the justice, the romance!

So, in my favorite summer big black hat and in my prescient, soothsaying mood, I played out the scene in my dreams.

I did an early creep, to sit in the back of the courtroom, by the door of course for easy access of exit, to sit incognito, to listen to what people had to say before the hearing commenced.

Everyone always ignores my presence and intelligence, which is a really great thing because you can just sit there, looking dead in their faces, and listen to every single word they have to say about you.

Well, lo and behold, five power attorneys walk into a courtroom, go to the attorney table, and commence to talk about their legal technical procedural game plan of how they are going to take me to a full, blown out trial, complete with sanctions, because....hold on a second, this is really funny... (personal lol) to litigate against me, using the full, multi-million dollar collective resources of their clients and their firms, because I exercised my legal right to report federal fraud, perpetrated upon the people of Detroit, mainly for speaking out for the children of "The Poors" (always said with clinched teeth).

Then enters a gentleman.

He smiled at me.

He was the only one who smiled at me which made my mind start to reel.  "Who was this strange man, why is he smiling at me, and do I already know the answers to my own questions?"

The gentleman gingerly inquired, "Are you here for the Tran case?

I responded, "I am just here to take notes." showing him my blank sheets of paper.

He was adorable.  He was playing with me.

Anyway, now comes the attorney of record in my case. Crystal Hopkins.

Then, I heard the gentleman introduce himself to the five power defendant attorneys.  "Hi, I am the U.S. Attorney who declined intervention.  I am just here to witness."

I knew he had hidden in his hands the denoument of the hearing, but I kept my cool, as hard as it was to do.

(This is the part of the story where the comedy comes in.)

Crystal Hopkins walks in with her faithful sister, dumps mounds of files on her attorney table, then asks if I had 'checked in'.

I simply said, "This is your motion, not mine."

Then she got snotty, "Well, you have to check in."

I just stared at her, fully aware that she had lost her mind quite some time ago.

She is still attorney of record.  She is supposed to check in for me.

"Did you get the notice of appearance I sent you?" she quipped.

"Nope." and I made the gentleman across from me heard it, too.  I wanted to share a chuckle with him.

Besides, I was a bit disappointed that the Ypsilanti Police had not arrested her prior to walking into the courtroom, as rumor on the streets had it there was an active warrant out for her arrest, but hey, what do I know.

And then Judge Avern Cohn walks in.

Avern Cohn & Damon Keith
"The Old School Civil Rights Soldiers"

He was sooooooo cute because he had that "old soldier" kind of walk that I know so well, but I could not readily confirm my train of thought right then because I may have broken out into a high pitched squeal, like a giddy little school girl.

The five defendant attorneys all gave greetings and introductions to the Judge.

Then, Cohn asks, "Where is the attorney representing Hopkins & Associates?" which would be the time for Crystal Hopkins to respond.

Instead, she sat at her lil attorney table, with big stacks of files, shuffling paper back and forth, open file, close file, open file, close file, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle...hehehehe, even the mysterious gentleman sitting across from me was smirking as he would look over his shoulder to observe my reaction, of smirking right in synch with him.

It was a hearing at her request, so there was no need for any documents and that is why it was so funny.

Then she finally responds to the Judge, "Your honor, Beverly Tran did not check in,"

The second heralding for the attorney representing Hopkins & Associates came from the Judge.

Crystal responded, in the whine of a kindergartner."Your honor, Beverly Tran is in the courtroom."

A clerk of the court who, benignly enough, quickly guided Crystal to respond to the judge by making a a comment for her to speak up because the judge was hard of hearing, which I did not witness when the other attorneys spoke to the court.

Thrice, the Judge asked, "Where is the attorney for Hopkins & Associates?  Is he here?"

"Oh, I am the attorney representing Hopkins & Associates, I am a she.  Beverly Tran is in the courtroom, your honor."

Judge Cohn calls out to me, mind you, besides there was only the other gentleman and Crystal's sister in the gallery.

I raised my hand, high over my head and waved, "Hiya!"

"Beverly Tran, you should be up here.  Why don't you come up here." invited Cohn.

I felt as if the trumpeters were heralding the celestial announcement that I had finally been summoned to enter the magical kingdom, to be conferred with the powers to take out the Meanies.

The gentleman opening the door
to the magic kingdom for me.

As I was about to walk through the court partition to take my throne at the attorney's table, the gentleman from across the aisle, had leapt to his feet, and, in some sense, to me, genuflected, lowering his head in honor, as he opened and held the partition door for me.

I heard the angels herald my entrance.

Taking a dramatic pause to absorb the illumination of my romantic fairy tale, I graced my gentleman with a simple, "Merci."

Judge Cohn proceeded with the quickness. "Ms Hopkins, you filed a motion to remove yourself as attorney of the case."

"Yes, your honor"

"Granted, goodbye."  Crystal scuttled herself out the courtroom as fast as possible.

"Beverly Tran, do you have anything to say?"

"Not at this time."

"Beverly Tran, will you be representing yourself?"

"Your honor, I am indigent.  I cannot afford an attorney.  Pursuant to the statute, I would have had to have the attorney of record petition you for grant to lift the seal to speak with another attorney..."

Cohn cut me short, "I asked if you were going to represent yourself."

I looked across the courtroom to the observe the wide-eyed gang of five stare at me in disbelief and stated proudly into the record, "YES!"

The smiling gentleman from across the aisle jumped to attention and interjected into the record, "Your honor, I just want to make sure Beverly Tran knows the seal has been completely lifted on the case.  There is no seal."

Allow me to do an aside.

The judge had just allowed a pro se to proceed in a qui tam, which is the first time in the history of the False Claims Act.

The court referred to me by my full name, Beverly Tran, which is a legal move I shall expound upon later.

The U.S. Attorney's Office just gave me the green light to publish all docs and tell my epic, romantic tale.

Wow.  Just wow.

"I believe defendants have motions to be heard" stated the judge.

"Your honor, we would like to dismiss our motion for sanctions."

"Motion granted.  Next."

"Your honor, we would like to dismiss our pre-trial motion."

"Motion granted.  Anything else?"

"Your honor, we would like to motion for another 30 day extension."

"I just gave you 90 days to respond to the complaint.  Now you want another 30 days?  Fine.  Granted, you have 30 days to handle this matter."

The Pingree Monument, Detroit

It was at this point Cohn went into a court lecture, an historic legal lecture where he went into the story of the "Lawsuit King" named Hazen Pingree.

"Pingree used to file so many lawsuits against these big corporations, they finally erected a statute to him.  Do you want another statute to be erected?  I strongly encourage you to get together and chose one attorney to deal with Beverly Tran or you it is going to cost your clients thousand and thousands of dollars.  If there is nothing else before this court, we are adjourned."

The gang of five attorneys power walked out the court room, with me close behind where I was empowered to confront a Meanie, Reggie Turner, attorney for defendant Title Source, Inc., the same defendant who wanted to impose sanctions on me, a proud member of "The Poors" (clinched teeth), because I snitched to the U.S. DOJ about their fraudulent activities in stealing the Hardest Hit Funds that were originally intended for the victims of Detroit foreclosures.

Oh, you have no idea the lust for retribution I felt coursing through my veins to go off on this, this, this, licensed attorney, biting my tongue for what I really want to say about him.

In front of the other members of the gang of five, I confronted Reggie Turner and told him that he needs to disclose his relationship with me to his colleagues and demand he remove himself from the case.

"I have no relationship with you!" snarled Reggie Turner.

I said, "Do you really want me to put your dirt out there because I will and I have no problem doing it.  As a matter of fact, I already did.  beverlytran.com.  I do not like the nefarious activities you did to my friend.  I do not like what you did to Mr. Conyers."

"Fine, I was his campaign manager.  He won, didn't he."  as Reggie disappeared like a ghost,

Reggie Turner trying to slide up and ruin our moment,
in my photo pretending to be Mr. Conyers' campaign manager
when he was not wanted to even be there.

muttering to himself down the hallway, nervously laughing to himself, that I did not know what I was talking about.

This, "licensed attorney" Reggie Turner, was never the campaign manager for Mr. Conyers.

Ever!!!!

Michigan Senator Bert Johnson was the campaign manager for Mr. Conyers, which is an entirely different tale I shall tell at a later date.

Reggie Turner was working behind Mr. Conyers' back with Cynthia Martin, to take him out of office, at the behest of the "leader" of the Democratic National Committee.

Reggie Turner was going around holding fundraisers, laundering the money back to Cynthia Martin, where it was not reported to FEC, and they more than likely split the kickbacks.

How I felt about calling out Reggie Turner after court.

Reggie Turner was going around telling everyone that, not only was he the campaign manager, he was going to take over Mr. Conyers' seat because [sic] Mr. Conyers was going to hand it to him.

I made sure he would never run for my friend's seat; I bought out the domains.

http://reggieturnerforcongress.com

(Make sure to click the link or you will miss out on the fun!)

Cynthia Martin, former Chief of Staff for Mr. Conyers, is deep in the middle of an international investigation of, well, I am only going to drop one item relevant to this story, mortgage fraud.

Yes, mortgage fraud, in "tandem" for lack of a better term, with the Detroit Land Bank Authority with the assistance of Cynthia Martin.

Reggie Turner was trying to take out Mr. Conyers to ensure the property fraud scam, and false claims, my case, were continue to exist, whether knowingly or willingly, but guess what, I made sure that plan was smashed.

So, if Cynthia Martin is under federal investigation, something tells me that Reggie Turner might be, also, as his emails are in that cache of stuff my #Superfans are combing through, because, after all, his colleagues witnessed him state that he was the campaign manager for Mr. Conyers' re-election campaign, right?

How do I know all this information?

Stay tuned.

I have many, many more tales to tell.

It was at this point I felt the love surge in my spirit, extended my arms, and said to the now, gang of four, "Gentlemen, welcome to the annals of history.", and curtsied as glided away on cloud 9.

Then, there was one.

One alpha male in the gang of four swiftly heeded the advice of the court and took it upon himself to represent to gaggle of barristers and ask for my email.  Seriously?

These are supposed to be the creme de la creme of seasoned legal experts and they do not know how to vet me, prior to the hearing, for my contact information?

Google, dudes, Google 'Beverly Tran', I did not dedicate the last 10 years of my life optimizing search engines to generate extensive data for the search terms "Beverly Tran", "John Conyers" and a few other key terms, for nothing.

I was nice.  He was nice.  I gave him my email.

So, the moral of the story is, again,

"Do not be mean to my Sweetie.  Period."

On a mission...

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Cocktails & Popcorn: Imran Awan Gets Pretrial Diversion Just Like Cynthia Martin

Time to set this off in Detroit!!!!

Here is what is going on.

The Department of Justice has what is called a Pretrial Diversion Program.

Pretrial diversion (PTD) is an alternative to prosecution which seeks to divert certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into a program of supervision and services administered by the U.S. Probation Service. In the majority of cases, offenders are diverted at the pre-charge stage. Participants who successfully complete the program will not be charged or, if charged, will have the charges against them dismissed; unsuccessful participants are returned for prosecution.

While under the Pretrial Diversion Program, if you violate anything, and I mean anything, everything is back in play.

That means the DOJ will be watching because you do know we have everything already, right?

Of course, there are those who are saying, "How the heck does Beverly Tran know this stuff?"

Well, that is because there is another person who went through the exact same process, with the exact same entities, with the exact same situation, well, not exactly the same because she has not been mentioned in the public for a while.

Cynthia Martin.

She was paid compensation by the member during a time for services she performed which were not commensurate with her level of compensation.

Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings on John Conyers Compensating Cynthia Martin #17-7171 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Imran basically did the same thing.

Review No. 16-1190 Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics: Cynthia Martin by Beverly Tran on Scribd

The moral of the story is, once again, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie. Period."

Just get your popcorn.

The matters have been referred to the DOJ.

#perkinscoiesucks 

DOJ AGREES NOT TO PROSECUTE IMRAN AWAN FOR HOUSE CYBERSECURITY AND THEFT, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN

An assistant US attorney said Tuesday he would not prosecute Imran Awan, a former systems administrator for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other Democrats, for any crimes on Capitol Hill in a plea agreement that had him plead guilty to one count of bank fraud.

Only one person sat at the prosecutors’ table: J.P. Coomey, who unsuccessfully prosecuted New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez for corruption and was only added to the case Monday. There was no sign of Michael Marando, who had previously led the prosecution.

Coomey did not object to the removal of Awan’s GPS monitor, said he would not oppose a sentence of probation, and agreed to drop charges against his wife, fellow former systems administrative Hina Alvi.

 (RELATED: Capitol Police Accidentally Gave Evidence To House Hacking Suspect’s Defense Attorney)

The Department of Justice said it found “found no evidence that [Imran] illegally removed House data from the House network or from House Members’ offices, stole the House Democratic Caucus Server, stole or destroyed House information technology equipment, or improperly accessed or transferred government information.”

That statement appears to take issue — without explaining how — with the findings of the House’s Nancy Pelosi-appointed inspector general, its top law enforcement official, the sergeant-at-arms, and the statements of multiple Democratic aides.

In September 2016, the House Office of Inspector General gave House leaders a presentation that alleged that Alvi, Imran, brothers Abid Awan and Jamal Awan, and a friend were logging into the servers of members who had previously fired him and funneling data off the network. It said evidence “suggests steps are being taken to conceal their activity” and that their behavior mirrored a “classic method for insiders to exfiltrate data from an organization.”

Server logs show, it said, that Awan family members made “unauthorized access” to congressional servers in violation of House rules by logging into the servers of members who they didn’t work for.

The presentation especially found problems on one server, that of the House Democratic Caucus, an entity chaired at the time by then-Rep. Xavier Becerra of California.

On Feb. 3, 2017, Paul Irving, the House’s top law enforcement officer, wrote in a letter to the Committee on House Administration that soon after it became evidence, the server went “missing.”

The letter continued: “Based upon the evidence gathered to this point, we have concluded the employees are an ongoing and serious risk to the House of Representatives, possibly threatening the integrity of our information systems.”

Imran, Abid, Jamal, Alvi and a friend were banned from the House network the same day Kiko sent the letter.

The alleged wrongdoing consisted of two separate issues.

The first was the cybersecurity issues. In an April 2018 hearing spurred by the Awan case, Chief Administrative Officer Phil Kiko testified: “The bookend to the outside threat is the insider threat. Tremendous efforts are dedicated to protecting the House against these outside threats, however these efforts are undermined when these employees do not adhere to and thumb their nose at our information security policy, and that’s a risk in my opinion we cannot afford.”

The second was a suspected theft scheme. Wendy Anderson, a former chief of staff for Rep. Yvette Clarke, told House investigators she believed Abid was working with ex-Clarke aide Shelley Davis to steal equipment, and described coming in on a Saturday to find so many pieces of equipment, including iPods and Apple TVs, that it “looked like Christmas.”

In the hearing, Kiko described “egregious” behavior by Imran, saying the House “discovered evidence of procurement fraud and irregularities” on top of the “numerous violations of House security policies.”

“CAO’s Office of Acquisition Management detected and flagged unusual invoices originating from five shared employees who served more than 30 House offices,” Kiko said. “The invoices, as submitted, were structured in a way to avoid the House’s $500 equipment accountability threshold.

Upon further investigation into the five shared employees’ activities, the House IG discovered evidence of procurement fraud and irregularities, numerous violations of House security policies, and violations of the Committee’s Shared Employee Manual, etc.”

Yet Tuesday’s court document said:

The Govemment agrees that the public allegations that your client stole U.S. House of Representatives (“House”) equipment and engaged in unauthorized or illegal conduct involving House computer systems do not form the basis of any conduct relevant to the determination of the sentence in this case.  The Government conducted a thorough investigation of those allegations, including interviewing approximately 40 witnesses; taking custody of the House Democratic Caucus server, along with other computers, hard drives, and electronic devices; examining those devices, including inspecting their physical condition and analyzing log-in and usage data; reviewing electronic communications between pertinent House employees; consulting with the House Office of General Counsel and House information technology personnel to access and/or collect evidence; and questioning your client during numerous voluntary interviews.

It concluded that the “Government has uncovered no evidence that your client violated federal law with respect to the House computer systems,” but didn’t explain how it came to that conclusion.

The bank fraud to which Imran pleaded guilty involved withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars by lying on mortgage application and pretending to have a medical emergency that required draining Alvi’s congressional retirement account, court records show. That money was then wired to Pakistan in January 2017. Prosecutors previously said they believe the Awans knew they were under investigation when they made the money moves, and described Imran as a flight risk.

Though the bank fraud occurred in January 2017, Imran wasn’t arrested until July 2017, when he tried to leave the country and was taken into custody at Dulles airport. His lawyer is Chris Gowen, a former aide to Hillary Clinton.

Wasserman Schultz kept paying Awan after he was banned from Congress. A Capitol Police report shows that in April 2016, Imran left a laptop with the username RepDWS in a Capitol Hill phone booth late at night, and it was taken by police.

Police said they needed it as evidence, but Wasserman Schultz pledged “consequences” for the police chief. Wasserman Schultz’ brother, a prosecutor in the D.C. US Attorney’s office, has tweeted about the case under the handle “fedpros.”

Gowen said he felt “very strongly” that the RepDWS laptop should not be examined, and prosecutors never publicly challenged that request.

No one else connected to Imran that was banned from the House has been charged, yet the House has not re-instated them. Imran, Hina, Abid and Jamal have also shared IT duties with Haseeb Rana, former McDonalds worker Rao Abbas and Nataliia Sova, a Ukrainian who is married to Abid.

House officials told TheDCNF that the vast majority of evidence about misconduct allegations on Capitol Hill — including $120,000 in missing equipment from the office of Yvette Clarke — is actually against Abid, not Imran.

Capitol Hill officials involved in oversight of the case previously told TheDCNF  that the reason the DOJ was not pursuing the case was because the Democrats were refusing to press charges.

The agreement says:

After the entry of your client’s plea of guilty to the offense identified in paragraph 1 above, your client will not be charged with any non-violent criminal offense in violation of Federal or District of Columbia law which was committed within the District of Columbia by your client prior to the execution of this Agreement and about which this Office was made aware by your client prior to the execution of this Agreement, all of which is contained in the attached Statement of Offense. However, the United States expressly reserves its right to prosecute your client for any crime of violence.

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Ethics probe of Michigan congressman reaches a milestone this week

Now, who would ever lodge a complaint against such an adorably sweet, lovely and handsome gentleman such as John Conyers?

• 

  
  
  

  Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for a complaint lodged against him.

Detroit Congressman John Conyers may learn Wednesday if an ethics probe against him will continue or if it has reached its end.

Continue! Continue!

For months, the House Ethics Committee has been looking into a complaint lodged against the Democrat.

The exact nature of the complaint has not been made public.

Patience is a virtue.

But several news outlets say it may involve compensation paid to a former staffer for months after she left her job in his office.

I bet it was an involuntary leave.

The independent Office of Congressional Ethics recommended the investigation, based on a “substantial reason to believe” a violation occurred.

Either that or they had 'substantial reason to believe' they would face the wrath of castigation from the individual who filed the complaint.

A spokesperson for Conyers has said in the past that the congressman’s office has worked to comply with the rules. He also said that Conyers’ office has cooperated with the ethics committee’s investigation.

This week’s announcement could result in one of three options.  The more likely scenarios are either the committee releases its findings with no further action or announces it is continuing its review.

The third option is the committee could announce it is empaneling an investigative subcommittee to look deeper in the allegation.  Though it’s rare for the panel to do that.

Something tells me there is going to be an historic subcommittee empanelled to look deeper in the allegation.

Did I say "historic subcommittee"?

Conyers is considered the Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives, since he is the longest currently serving member of the House.

That's right and do not ever forget it.

http://michiganradio.org/post/ethics-probe-michigan-congressman-reaches-milestone-week

Stay tuned...much, much more to come.

On a mission...

OCE Referral Regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin. Rev. No. 16 1190 Referral 2-8-2017 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Office of Congressional Ethics Referral Regarding Ms. Cynthia Martin Exhibits, Rev. No. 16 1190 Exhibits 2-... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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What Do Trump & Conyers Have In Common?

Me eating my popcorn.

I will give you a hint:

Perkins Coie Sucks.

Stay tuned, the show is just about to start.

Dem calls for Conyers to give up top committee post

Another accusation surfaced Tuesday evening.

As first reported by Buzzfeed News, a former staffer sued Conyers in March, alleging sexual harassment in a complaint she withdrew after a federal court refused her request to seal the records to protect the congressman’s public reputation.

The woman alleged repeated and escalating harassment by the 88-year-old after she began working in his office as a scheduler in July 2015, saying she had been given extra responsibilities because of his “age and failing mental capacities.”

By the summer of 2016, Conyers was harassing her daily, she said in the complaint, accusing him of rubbing her shoulders, kissing her forehead and covering or attempting to hold her hand.

The Detroit News is not publishing the woman’s name due to the nature of her claims and decision to withdraw the suit. She did not return voicemails left on the phone number she listed in court records.

Buzzfeed previously published notarized affidavits from three other staffers dated 2014. The affidavits describe Conyers making advances toward female staffers that included requests for sexual favors, caressing their hands in a “sexually suggestive” way, and rubbing their legs and backs in an inappropriate manner while in the office or in public.

Conyers settled a complaint by one of the former staffers in 2015, denying her allegations but paying her through his Member’s Representational Allowance, a taxpayer-funded account that is supposed to be used for office operations.

Conyers put the former staffer back on his payroll in mid-2015, paying her $27,111.74 between June 16 and Sept. 15, according to salary data compiled by the website Legistorm.

Settlements for complaints filed with the Office of Compliance are typically approved by the Committee on House Administration. But former Rep. Candice Miller, a Harrison Township Republican who chaired the committee and now serves as Macomb County public works commissioner, said the Conyers’ settlement “did not come through the normal channels.”

“It never came through our committee,” Miller said. “He did it out of the normal channels. He paid for it through his budget.”

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday he is preparing legislation to unseal congressional settlement records, bar use of taxpayer dollars to pay claims and prohibit members from using office budgets to camouflage payments, calling the latter “a Conyers rule.”

“Members of Congress cannot be allowed to use the American people’s money as a personal slushfund to cover wrongdoing,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it will probe allegations that Conyers sexually harassed his employees, discriminated against staffers based on age or used official resources for “impermissible” personal use.

Several Michigan Democrats had called for the House investigation, and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon called the allegations “incredibly serious and disheartening.”

Conyers confirmed Tuesday that his office reached a financial settlement with a former staffer but denied accusations of sexual misconduct.

“In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so,” Conyers said in a statement.

His office settled the complaint “in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation,” he said, calling the $27,111.74 expense “an amount that equated to a reasonable severance payment.”

Asked about the 2017 lawsuit filed by his former scheduler, a Conyers spokeswoman simply noted the accuser “voluntarily decided to drop the case.”

The withdrawn complaint alleges a long-running series of inappropriate actions by Conyers, including harassment during a car ride to and at a White House event in April 2016. The woman said he urged her to “come home with him” and continued “to touch her against her wishes the entire evening.”

In one instance, the woman said, she was able to use a camera phone on her office desk “to catch some of these events on tape.”

The woman had asked the court to seal her complaint “to protect the reputation of the high profile person” she was suing. She withdrew the suit after Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused her request to shield court records from the public.

In her initial complaint, the woman said she had “extreme admiration and respect” for Conyers’ legislative work “as a Civil Rights icon.”

Separate records identify the woman as a possible relative of Cynthia Martin, Conyers’ former chief of staff whose tenure ended in controversy. The News was not able to reach either woman to discuss their connection.

The House Ethics Committee is already investigating whether Conyers authorized Martin to be paid for four months in 2016 — from April 20 to Aug. 25 — when she may not have done any official work.

Martin had pleaded guilty in April 2016 to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property after initially refusing to return $16,500 mistakenly transferred into her Congressional Federal Credit Union bank account. Martin agreed to pay $13,000 restitution, according to court records.

The withdrawn complaint from Conyers’ former scheduler alleged sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful termination, and reckless infliction of emotional distress.

The woman claimed Conyers’ wife, former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, called her a “whore” when she was hired and pushed staff to fire the woman after she did not provide a medical certificate when requesting medical leave in July of 2016.

The complaint referred to Monica Conyers as a “known brawler” and said the staffer felt threatened anytime the congresswoman’s wife was in Washington D.C. The woman allegedly told a colleague the situation was a “time bomb waiting to happen.”

Monica Conyers, who spent time in federal prison for bribery, filed for divorce in late 2015. The complaint suggests the congressman’s decision to hire the scheduler was a “partial cause.” John and Monica Conyers later reconciled and remain married.

The woman who filed the complaint said she has known Conyers since 2006. She previously worked in his campaign office, traveled with him to campaign events and worked as a House Judiciary staffer at his “behest” from 1997 to 1998.

She said Conyers did not “make an inappropriate advances or touch” her inappropriately until she worked in his office.

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CONYERS Attorney Arnold Reed States There Is No Resignation

Think once.

Think twice.

Think again.

It is not what you think.

Conyers not resigning over claims, says attorney

A lawyer for U.S. Rep. John Conyers said late Wednesday the Detroit Democrat will not resign amid an ethics probe into allegations of sexual harassment and a settlement with a former staffer.

Attorney Harold Reed, who is representing the 88-year-old lawmaker and longest-serving active member in the U.S. House, said Conyers takes the allegations “very seriously.”

However, “at this juncture, the congressman is not resigning over these allegations. They’re allegations, No. 1. And No. 2, if everybody was called upon to resign over allegations, half the House, half the Senate, including the president of the United States, would have to step down.”

“John Conyers wants individuals to know that he continues to serve and will continue to serve to the best of his ability.”

Accusations against Conyers first surfaced Monday when Buzzfeed News reported on a 2015 settlement he reached with a former staffer. On Tuesday, the site reported on a sexual harassment lawsuit a former staffer withdrew after a federal judge refused her request to seal the records to protect the congressman’s public reputation.

Conyers’ attorney also dismissed a Washington Post report Wednesday that another woman, Melanie Sloan, whom Conyers hired in 1995 as minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, said the congressman did not sexually harass her but acted inappropriately and abusively.

“There was nothing I could do to stop it,” Sloan said in a Post interview.

The report centered on Sloan, a high profile-lawyer and former executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Reed questioned Sloan’s timing and said he doubted her claims.

“This is the most powerful woman arguably in Washington when it comes to this behavior,” Reed said, adding her allegation was “fundamentally incongruous with the truth. ... Stories like that cast a pall over women who have legitimate claims.”

While they have not called for Conyers to step down, several Democratic colleagues asked for the House Ethics Committee investigation and at least one has called on Conyers to relinquish his role as ranking member of the prestigious House Judiciary Committee.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, said Wednesday it “would not be appropriate” for Conyers to remain in the powerful panel post given the ethics probe.

Conyers should “step down as the ranking member, with the opportunity if he defends himself and says and shows there is nothing there, that he could come back,” Meeks told CNN.

The ethics panel can examine “whether or not there’s a practice or pattern,” Meeks said, and additional considerations should be made when the committee completes its probe.

Meeks and Conyers are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which Conyers helped found in 1971.

In a withdrawn lawsuit that surfaced Tuesday, a former staffer alleged repeated and escalating harassment by Conyers after she began working in his office as a scheduler in July 2015, saying she had been given extra responsibilities because of his “age and failing mental capacities.”

By the summer of 2016, Conyers was harassing her daily, she said in the complaint, accusing him of rubbing her shoulders, kissing her forehead and covering or attempting to hold her hand.

The Detroit News is not publishing the woman’s name due to the nature of her claims and decision to withdraw the suit. She did not return voicemails left on the phone number she listed in court records.

Buzzfeed previously published notarized affidavits from three other staffers dated 2014. The affidavits describe Conyers making advances toward female staffers that included requests for sexual favors, caressing their hands in a “sexually suggestive” way, and rubbing their legs and backs in an inappropriate manner while in the office or in public.

Conyers settled a complaint by one of the former staffers in 2015, denying her allegations but paying her through his Member’s Representational Allowance, a taxpayer-funded account that is supposed to be used for office operations.

Conyers put the former staffer back on his payroll in mid-2015, paying her $27,111.74 between June 16 and Sept. 15, according to salary data compiled by the website Legistorm.

Settlements for complaints filed with the Office of Compliance are typically approved by the Committee on House Administration. But former Rep. Candice Miller, a Harrison Township Republican who chaired the committee and now serves as Macomb County public works commissioner, said the Conyers’ settlement “did not come through the normal channels.”

“It never came through our committee,” Miller said. “He did it out of the normal channels. He paid for it through his budget.”

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday he is preparing legislation to unseal congressional settlement records, bar use of taxpayer dollars to pay claims and prohibit members from using office budgets to camouflage payments, calling the latter “a Conyers rule.”

“Members of Congress cannot be allowed to use the American people’s money as a personal slushfund to cover wrongdoing,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it will probe allegations that Conyers sexually harassed his employees, discriminated against staffers based on age or used official resources for “impermissible” personal use.

Several Michigan Democrats had called for the House investigation, and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon called the allegations “incredibly serious and disheartening.”

Conyers confirmed Tuesday that his office reached a financial settlement with a former staffer but denied accusations of sexual misconduct.

“In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so,” Conyers said in a statement.

His office settled the complaint “in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation,” he said, calling the $27,111.74 expense “an amount that equated to a reasonable severance payment.”

Asked about the 2017 lawsuit filed by his former scheduler, a Conyers spokeswoman simply noted the accuser “voluntarily decided to drop the case.”

The withdrawn complaint alleges a long-running series of inappropriate actions by Conyers, including harassment during a car ride to and at a White House event in April 2016. The woman said he urged her to “come home with him” and continued “to touch her against her wishes the entire evening.”

In one instance, the woman said, she was able to use a camera phone on her office desk “to catch some of these events on tape.”

The woman had asked the court to seal her complaint “to protect the reputation of the high profile person” she was suing. She withdrew the suit after Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused her request to shield court records from the public.

In her initial complaint, the woman said she had “extreme admiration and respect” for Conyers’ legislative work “as a Civil Rights icon.”

Separate records identify the woman as a possible relative of Cynthia Martin, Conyers’ former chief of staff whose tenure ended in controversy. The News was not able to reach either woman to discuss their connection.

The House Ethics Committee is already investigating whether Conyers authorized Martin to be paid for four months in 2016 — from April 20 to Aug. 25 — when she may not have done any official work.

Martin had pleaded guilty in April 2016 to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property after initially refusing to return $16,500 mistakenly transferred into her Congressional Federal Credit Union bank account. Martin agreed to pay $13,000 restitution, according to court records.

The withdrawn complaint from Conyers’ former scheduler alleged sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful termination, and reckless infliction of emotional distress.

The woman claimed Conyers’ wife, former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, called her a “whore” when she was hired and pushed staff to fire the woman after she did not provide a medical certificate when requesting medical leave in July of 2016.

The complaint referred to Monica Conyers as a “known brawler” and said the staffer felt threatened anytime the congresswoman’s wife was in Washington D.C. The woman allegedly told a colleague the situation was a “time bomb waiting to happen.”

Monica Conyers, who spent time in federal prison for bribery, filed for divorce in late 2015. The complaint suggests the congressman’s decision to hire the scheduler was a “partial cause.” John and Monica Conyers later reconciled and remain married.

The woman who filed the complaint said she has known Conyers since 2006. She previously worked in his campaign office, traveled with him to campaign events and worked as a House Judiciary staffer at his “behest” from 1997 to 1998.

She said Conyers did not “make an inappropriate advances or touch” her inappropriately until she worked in his office.

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CONYERS Has Second Staffer Accuse Sexual Harassment

I bet that other woman is the sister of Cynthia Martin.

I bet she would be stressed being faced with charges of treason in the family, but hey, what do I know.

Oh, and Perkins Coie still sucks.

Stay tuned, on a mission...

There's Another W

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

oman Who Accused Rep. John Conyers of Sexual Harassment

Less than 24 hours after a report that Rep. John Conyers reached a settlement with a staffer who said she was fired from his office after rejecting his sexual advances, another sexual harassment allegation has come to light.

A former staffer who worked as a scheduler in Conyers’ office tried to file a lawsuit against him, his Chief of Staff Ray Plowden, and his district director Yolanda Lipsey, alleging Conyers repeatedly tried to make sexual overtures towards her, which perpetrated a hostile work environment, Buzzfeed reports. The staffer, who was not publicly revealed in the article, tried to file a sealed lawsuit, but the court would not let the complaint stay sealed, so she stopped the effort, according to Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed obtained and published the court documents, which were filed in DC District Court in March. The documents allege that Conyers hired the former staffer in July 2015. Four months later — after his wife had filed for divorce, which she partially attributed to her husband’s decision to hire the staffer — she alleges that she began to notice “random comments and lingering touches,”but thought they were innocuous. They continued, she said, and she told the Chief of Staff twice, who ultimately told her to start documenting them. However, she alleges, they were occurring too frequently for her to document them every time. That April, she requested formal counseling from the Office of Compliance.

“From May 2016 until July 2016, Defendant Conyers continued to, repeatedly and daily, harass both physically and emotionally and inappropriately touch the plaintiff by rubbing on her shoulders, kissing her forehead, covering and attempting to hold her hand, suggesting that she come to Detroit, causing the plaintiff severe anxiety and chest pains”

She ultimately decided to go on medical leave because of the stress, and alleges that a staffer stole documents that included a resignation letter and forwarded them to Plowden, the Chief of Staff. She was ultimately terminated.

A spokesperson for Conyers told TIME, “the former staffer voluntarily decided to drop the case.”

#FollowTheWhiteRabbit

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