The movement has begun...

Legislator Calls for Clarifying Copyright Law

LARRY ROHTER

Arguing that Congress has an obligation “to preserve fairness and justice for artists,” the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has called for a revision of United States copyright law to remove ambiguities in the current statute about who is eligible to reclaim ownership rights to songs and sound recordings.


“For too long the work of musicians has been used to create enormous profits for record labels, radio stations and others, without fairly distributing these profits to the artists,” said Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, who was chairman of the committee until January. Because “copyrights are a tool to be used by creators to earn a living from their work,” he added, it is important to ensure “a fair marketplace.”

When copyright law was revised in 1976, recording artists and songwriters were granted “termination rights,” which enable them to regain control of their work after 35 years. But with musicians and songwriters now moving to assert that control, the provision threatens to leave the four major record companies, which have made billions of dollars from such recordings and songs, out in the cold.

As a result the major record labels — Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner — are now fighting the efforts of recording artists and songwriters to invoke those rights. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the interests of the labels, maintains that most sound recordings are not eligible for termination rights because they are “works for hire,” collective works or compilations created not by independent performers but by musicians who are, in essence, employees of the labels.

With years of costly litigation looming, groups that represent the interests of recording artists and songwriters said they found Mr. Conyers’s remarks encouraging. But given the issue’s legislative history any amendment process in Congress is likely to be long and complicated.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, whose more than 70,000 members include many recording artists and composers, said it was “deeply appreciative” of Mr. Conyers’s “continued focus in working to ensure that our copyright system recognizes the rights of artists for their creative contributions and which fairly compensates artists for the exploitation of their music.” In a statement the group’s national executive director, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, said it looked “forward to learning more about any recommendations to enhance the rights of artists as they prepared to reclaim their rights in their musical works, and we are working to ensure that there is an effective system by which musical artists fully benefit from their rights under law.”

But the Republicans are the majority party in the House, and some lawyers and artist managers see them as more friendly to the record labels and other big media companies. For that reason the lawyers and managers have expressed doubts that a bipartisan agreement can be reached on the main issues relating to music copyrights, like defining who qualifies as the author of a work and under what circumstances, if any, a song or sound recording should be considered a work for hire.

“Since I’m going to have to be working with them, I don’t want to tell you they are conservative and corporate oriented,” Mr. Conyers said when asked about the Republican position. “That won’t help. I’ll be going to Lamar Smith after Labor Day to talk to him about this, about getting a little fairness into the entertainment industry,” he said, referring to his Republican successor as the committee’s chairman.

Mr. Smith, of Texas, declined a request for an interview. Instead, his staff issued a general statement in his name, saying that legislation that “stimulates U.S. job growth and furthers the interests of creators, innovators and consumers is a top priority of the Judiciary Committee,” and that Mr. Smith was personally committed to legislation that “protects America’s innovators.”

Those creators and innovators could presumably include both recording artists and songwriters. But Mr. Smith’s staff did not respond to a request to clarify his views or to arrange an interview with Republican staff members on the committee who might be able to explain the party’s position on termination rights and related copyright matters.

When Congress passed the copyright bill in 1976, it created an important exception to the general principle that the person who creates a work of art is its author. At the behest of book publishers and other companies that feared their interests would be adversely affected, the law declared that when a work has been “made for hire,” the employer, not an employee, should be considered its author.

The law generally defined a work made for hire as anything “prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment,” like a newspaper article. It also stated that “a work specially ordered or commissioned as a contribution to a collective work,” like a motion picture, a translation or an atlas, should be considered a work for hire. Sound recordings, however, were left off of that list.

But in 1999 language that would have explicitly included sound recordings as works for hire was inserted into an omnibus bill and was approved virtually without debate. A few months later the congressional aide reported to be responsible for that action, Mitchell Glazier, then the copyright counsel to the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, moved to the recording industry association to become its chief lobbyist, and he continues to work for the group.

“That amendment was essentially passed in the middle of the night,” said William F. Patry, a former law professor and congressional staffer who is the author of several books on copyright. Congressional procedure allows for such changes, but only if they are merely technical matters, he said, “and clearly this wasn’t technical.”

In response recording artists, led by Don Henley of the Eagles and the singer Sheryl Crow, mobilized to overturn the amendment, which would have given the record labels control over their master recordings in perpetuity. A year later the artists were able to persuade Congress to undo the work-for-hire language for songs and recordings, and that seemed to have settled the issue.

“We were concerned with a lot of issues in recording contracts that we considered to be unfair, and this was one of the most glaring,” Mr. Henley said in a recent interview. “Work for hire was never intended to apply to sound recordings. That came about because of movies and books,” he continued, and “sound recordings somehow got added to the list and then taken off again.”

But the recording industry group, which declined to make Mr. Glazier available for an interview, does not see it that way. “By its own terms the statutory language makes clear that the law on termination was simply being restored to its previous state, and that Congress’s action was to have no effect on its interpretation,” the group said in a written statement.

Neither the record companies nor the artists seems to be relishing a confrontation in court. For the labels, already reeling from the sharp decline in sales of CDs over the past decade, any definitive judicial ruling that is adverse could be especially costly.

“It’s not in anybody’s interests to have years and years of litigation,” said Lisa A. Alter, a lawyer with the New York City firm of Alter & Rosen who represents numerous artists or artists’ estates on copyright matters. “The intent of Congress was clearly to protect authors who make bad deals in their eagerness to get their work out there.”

New York Shreds Evidence of Fraud

Here is another classic example of child welfare fraud and the extent that administrations will go to cover it up.

The purpose of shredding is to destroy all opportunity to examine evidence of fraudulent billing. If there are no records, then it is impossible to substantiate fraud:

Fraudulent child abuse accusations.

Kiddy Kickbacks

Embezzlement

Phantom services

Double billing

False statistics

And all this fraudulent activity is provided for through university training, funded by Social Security and nationally advocated by elected officials.

NY denied thousands accused of child abuse the chance to clear their name
By John O'Brien / The Post-Standard
March 22, 2010, 6:00AM

Syracuse, NY - The state Office of Children and Family Services in 2004 had a backlog of requests for hearings from people accused of mistreating children.

Three women had recently sued the agency over the delays that were costing them jobs working with kids because they couldn’t get their names cleared.

The agency had a solution to the thousands of pending written requests that would come under scrutiny by the lawsuit, according to sworn testimony from state workers: Shred.

For a month in 2004, the workers were under orders to take carts of the requests for name-clearing hearings and shred them after hours in their Albany offices, according to the testimony. They shredded about a thousand a day for a month, one OCFS worker testified.

The revelation came in a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit last month that could affect 25,000 people across the state who are listed in a statewide database as reported child abusers. Under the settlement, anyone who requested a hearing on child abuse or maltreatment charges but never got it regained the right to the hearing.

Employers such as day care centers check the database to see if a job applicant was ever accused of child abuse. Those accused could request a hearing with OCFS to clear their names. More than half of those challenges result in the accused person being cleared, according to Thomas Hoffman, a lawyer for the three women who sued the state over the lengthy delays.

Those women claimed they lost opportunities for jobs working with children because the state took up to two years to give them a name-clearing hearing. By then, the potential employer had filled the job opening.

Four years after the suit was filed, a whistleblower who works for OCFS called Hoffman, he said. She told him how the agency was getting rid of the written requests for hearings, then marking the case “waived” or “withdrawn” on the database, court papers said. The state never told the accused. To the inquiring employer, it would appear that the person had given up on their request for a hearing, and the child abuse accusation stood.

The backlog of hearing requests was much longer than two years — some requests had been sitting around for seven years, court papers said.

The whistleblower came forward in February 2009. Hoffman then took testimony of 18 or 19 OCFS workers about the handling of the requests for hearings, he said.

In some cases, workers called the prospective employers with whom the accused person had applied for a job, according to the workers’ testimony. If the employer was no longer interested, the state workers were told to mark the file “waived,” according to the testimony of six OCFS workers. The accused person was never notified in those cases. The written requests were shredded or thrown in the garbage, at least three of the workers testified.

If the whistleblower hadn’t come forward about the shredded cases, Hoffman would never have known the extent of the backlog, he said.

Cathy Dufty, a clerical worker in the office, testified that supervisor David Peters ordered her to gather a bunch of temp workers and start shredding.

“I would go down to his office about 3:30 and I would take the cart back, and it would be, ‘These are to be shredded, and these over here are to be refiled,’” Dufty testified last year.

Peters was then the director of the statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. He has since retired. In his deposition for the lawsuit, Peters denied that his agency did anything improper, Hoffman said. Peters could not be reached for comment.

The assistant state attorney general who represented the state in the lawsuit, Robert Kraft, refused to comment. A spokeswoman for OCFS, Pat Cantiello, said no one from the agency could comment because the settlement has not yet been approved by a federal judge.

The whistleblower, who still works for OCFS, also would not comment.

Under the proposed settlement, the state would have to send notices to the 25,000 people on the central register whose requests for hearings were ignored between 2003 and 2007. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin will hold a hearing in April in Manhattan, then decide whether to approve the settlement.

As part of the settlement, the state agreed to stop the practice of calling potential employers to see if they still wanted to hire the person accused of child abuse. The state agreed that the accused person has a right to a hearing whether the employer is interested or not, Hoffman said.

The settlement only applies to people who requested a hearing and never got one. It doesn’t affect anyone who never requested a hearing or who withdrew his or her hearing request.

Once the settlement is approved, Hoffman will submit a bill for legal services to the court. The state will pay those costs, but will not pay damages under the proposed settlement. Anyone who might be affected should check Hoffman’s Web site on the case: registryclassaction.com.

The state gets about 350,000 inquiries a year from prospective employers, including child care centers, foster care agencies, juvenile detention centers and other employers who work with children. The register is accessible only to employers who are required to check a job applicant’s background.

’’The employer doesn’t know why you’re on the list,” Hoffman said. “You could be a pedophile or it could be something benign.”

John O’Brien can be reached at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.

© 2010 syracuse.com. All rights reserved.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch and HHS Secretary Burwell Announce National Healthcare Fraud Takedown but Forgot Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare

If health care fraud is so rampant for adults and veterans, then, it is only logical to assume that Medicaid fraud in child welfare, also, exists.

If the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units are so pivotal in ending health care fraud, then why is it these units have absolutely no powers to address Medicaid fraud in child welfare, alone launch investigations.

So, according to HHS, the H.E.A.T. advanced analytics have assisted the DOJ to go after fraud, under the ACA.

Great.

Unfortunately, it looks like Medicaid fraud in child welfare will flourish for a few more years because the White House has only just came up with the idea to #HackFosterCare by making billing high tech and use data predictive models.

My question would be, "How can one externally observe the internal validity of billing if the industry of child welfare is secretive, by law, and privatized through contract.

TRICARE also has child welfare programs.

This was a $900 million take down of 300 individuals.  Child welfare is much larger.

National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges against 301 Individuals for Approximately $900 Million in False Billing

Most Defendants Charged and Largest Alleged Loss Amount in Strike Force History

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today an unprecedented nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 36 federal districts, resulting in criminal and civil charges against 301 individuals, including 61 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $900 million in false billings.  Twenty-three state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s arrests.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is suspending payment to a number of providers using its suspension authority provided in the Affordable Care Act.  This coordinated takedown is the largest in history, both in terms of the number of defendants charged and loss amount.  

Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Burwell were joined in the announcement by Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Associate Deputy Director David Bowdich, Inspector General Daniel Levinson of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), Acting Director Dermot O’Reilly of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS Center for Program Integrity Shantanu Agrawal M.D.

The defendants announced today are charged with various health care fraud-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.  The charges are based on a variety of alleged fraud schemes involving various medical treatments and services, including home health care, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment (DME) and prescription drugs.  More than 60 of the defendants arrested are charged with fraud related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program known as Part D, which is the fastest-growing component of the Medicare program overall.

“As this takedown should make clear, health care fraud is not an abstract violation or benign offense – It is a serious crime,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “The wrongdoers that we pursue in these operations seek to use public funds for private enrichment.  They target real people – many of them in need of significant medical care.  They promise effective cures and therapies, but they provide none.  Above all, they abuse basic bonds of trust – between doctor and patient; between pharmacist and doctor; between taxpayer and government – and pervert them to their own ends.  The Department of Justice is determined to continue working to ensure that the American people know that their health care system works for them – and them alone.”

“Millions of seniors depend on Medicare for essential health coverage, and our action shows that this administration remains committed to cracking down on individuals who try to defraud the program,” said Secretary Burwell.  “We are continuing to put new tools and additional resources to work, including $350 million from the Affordable Care Act, for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts.  Thanks to the hard work of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, we are making progress in addressing and deterring fraud and delivering results to help ensure Medicare remains strong for years to come.”

According to court documents, the defendants allegedly participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided.  In many cases, patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and other co-conspirators were allegedly paid cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never performed.  Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company owners and others charged are accused of submitting a total of approximately $900 million in fraudulent billing.

“The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a model of 21st-Century data-driven law enforcement, and it has had a remarkable impact on health care fraud across the country,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “As the cases announced today demonstrate, the Strike Force’s strategic approach keeps us a step ahead of emerging fraud trends, including drug diversion, and fraud involving compounded medications and hospice care.”

“These criminals target the most vulnerable in our society by taking money away from the care of the elderly, children and disabled,” said Associate Deputy Director Bowdich.  “The FBI is committed to working with our partners and the public to stop fraud and ensure that healthcare dollars are used to help the sick, and not line the pockets of criminals.”

“While it is impossible to accurately pinpoint the true cost of fraud in federal health care programs, fraud is a significant threat to the programs’ stability and endangers access to health care services for millions of Americans,” said Inspector General Levinson.  “As members of the joint Strike Force, OIG will continue to play a vital role in tracking down these criminals and seeing that justice is done.”

“DCIS, in partnership with our fellow federal investigative agencies, will continue to uncompromisingly investigate and bring to justice the people who perpetrate these criminal acts,” said Acting Director O’Reilly. “Their actions threaten to cripple our vital national health care industry, and place our citizenry at risk.  We will remain vigilant.”

“Taxpayers and Congress provided CMS with resources to adopt powerful monitoring systems that fight fraud, safeguard program dollars, and protect Medicare and Medicaid,” said Deputy Administrator and Center for Program Integrity Director Agrawal.  “The diligent use of innovative data analytic systems has contributed or led directly to many of the law enforcement cases presented here today.  CMS is committed to its collaboration with these agencies to keep federally-funded health care programs safe and strong for all Americans.”

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.  The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations and since its inception in March 2007 has charged over 2,900 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $8.9 billion. 

Including today’s enforcement actions, nearly 1,200 individuals have been charged in national takedown operations, which have involved more than $3.4 billion in fraudulent billings.  Today’s announcement marks the second time that districts outside of Strike Force locations participated in a national takedown, and they accounted for 82 defendants charged in this takedown.

*********

For the Strike Force locations, in the Southern District of Florida, a total of 100 defendants were charged with offenses relating to their participation in various fraud schemes involving approximately $220 million in false billings for home health care, mental health services and pharmacy fraud.  In one case, nine defendants have been charged with operating six different Miami-area home health companies for the purpose of submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, including for services that were not medically necessary and that were based on bribes and kickbacks.  In total, Medicare paid the six companies over $24 million as a result of the scheme.

In the Southern District of Texas, 24 individuals were charged in cases involving over $146 million in alleged fraud.  One of these defendants is a physician with the highest number of referrals for home health services in the Southern District of Texas.  This physician has been charged with participating in separate schemes to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary home health services that were often not provided.  Numerous companies that submitted claims to Medicare using the fraudulent home health referrals from the physician were paid over $38 million by Medicare.

In the Northern District of Texas, 11 people were charged in cases involving over $47 million in alleged fraud.  In one scheme, a physician allowed unlicensed individuals to perform physician services and then billed Medicare as if he performed them.  Additionally, the physician certified patients for home health care that was often medically unnecessary.  Home health companies submitted approximately $23.3 million in billings to Medicare based on the physician’s fraudulent certifications.    

In the Central District of California, 22 defendants were charged for their roles in schemes to defraud Medicare of approximately $162 million.  In one case, a doctor was charged with causing almost $12 million in losses to Medicare through his own fraudulent billing, including performing medically unnecessary vein ablation procedures on Medicare beneficiaries.  

In the Eastern District of Michigan, 19 defendants face charges for their alleged roles in fraud, kickback, money laundering and drug distribution schemes involving approximately $114 million in false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never rendered.  Among these are owners of a physical therapy clinic who lured patients through the payment of cash kickbacks and medically unnecessary prescriptions for Schedule II medications for the purpose of stealing more than $36 million from Medicare.   

In Tampa, Orlando and elsewhere in the Middle District of Florida, 15 individuals were charged with participating in a variety of schemes including compounding pharmacy fraud and intravenous prescription drug fraud involving $17 million in fraudulent billing.  In one case, the owner of several infusion clinics allegedly defrauded the Medicare program of over $8 million through a scheme involving reimbursement claims for expensive intravenous prescription drugs that were never purchased and never administered to patients.

In the Northern District of Illinois, six individuals were charged in cases related to three different schemes involving bribery and false and fraudulent claims for home health services and disability benefits.  The charged defendants include individuals who owned or co-owned the fraudulent providers and a medical doctor.  In total, these schemes resulted in over $12 million being paid to the defendants and their companies. 

In the Eastern District of New York, 10 individuals were charged in six different cases, including five individuals who were charged for their roles in a scheme involving over $86 million in physical and occupational therapy claims to Medicare and Medicaid.  In that case, the defendants are alleged to have filled a network of Brooklyn clinics that they controlled with patients by paying bribes and kickbacks.  Once at the clinics, these patients were subjected to medically unnecessary therapy.  The defendants then laundered the proceeds of the fraud through over a dozen shell companies. 

In the Eastern District of Louisiana, three defendants were charged in connection with a health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy involving a defunct home health care provider.  This scheme centered on the payment of kickbacks through patient recruiters in exchange for patients who oftentimes never received nor qualified for home health care as billed.  Once admitted, patient medical records were routinely fabricated and altered to support false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

*********

In addition to the Strike Force, today’s enforcement actions include cases brought by 26 U.S. Attorney’s Offices, including the unsealing of search warrants in investigations being conducted by the Eastern District of North Carolina, Southern District of Georgia, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Texas, Southern District of West Virginia, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Minnesota, and the Northern District of Alabama.

In the Northern District of Georgia, nine defendants were charged for their roles in two health care fraud schemes involving $7 million in fraudulent billings.  Eight defendants were charged in a scheme where bribes and kickbacks were allegedly paid to a state of Georgia official in exchange for falsifying applications and licensing requirements and recommending the approval of unqualified mental health providers.

In the Middle District of Alabama, two defendants were charged for their roles in a mental health services scheme allegedly involving $246,000 in fraudulent billings.

In the Middle District of Tennessee, a doctor was charged for his role in an illegal kickback scheme under which he allegedly referred patients to a certain DME supplier in exchange for cash kickbacks.

In the Western District of Kentucky, a business entity was charged for its role in a health care fraud scheme.

In the Southern District of Ohio, two defendants were charged for their roles in a $7.5 million home healthcare fraud scheme.

In the Western and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, three defendants were charged for their roles in drug diversion and embezzlement schemes.

In the Southern District of New York, a pharmacist was charged for his role in a scheme involving over $51 million in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billings. 

In the Districts of Maine, Alaska, Kansas, Connecticut and Vermont, five defendants were charged for their roles in Medicaid-related schemes.

In the Eastern District of Missouri, four defendants, including a doctor and pharmacist, were charged for their roles in schemes involving over $3 million in billings.

In the Southern District of California, eight individuals were charged in health care-related cases.  In one case, five individuals, including a doctor and a pharmacist, were charged in a scheme to pay bribes and kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing expensive durable medical equipment and compound pain creams that were not medically necessary.  The indictment alleges that approximately $27 million in false and fraudulent claims were submitted to insurers.

In the District of New Mexico, two defendants were charged for their roles in a Medicaid fraud scheme.

In the Northern District of Iowa, a settlement agreement was reached with a corporate entity for its role in a health care fraud scheme in a juvenile residential treatment facility.

In the District of Oregon, one defendant was charged for his role in a $1.7 million optometry services scheme.

In the District of Puerto Rico, civil demand letters were issued to six individuals for their roles in a scheme to defraud the Medicaid program.

In addition, in the states of Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana, New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Oregon, Kentucky and Alaska, 49 defendants have been charged in criminal and civil actions with defrauding the Medicaid program and 57 sites were searched, pursuant to search warrants.  These cases were investigated by each state’s respective Medicaid Fraud Control Units. 

The cases announced today are being prosecuted and investigated by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, along with Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of Texas, Central District of California, Eastern District of Louisiana, Northern District of Texas, Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida; and agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG, Drug Enforcement Administration, DCIS and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

A complaint or indictment is merely a charge, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The court documents for each case will posted online, as they become available, here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/documents-and-resources-june-22-2016-medicare-fraud-strike-force-press-conference.

The Affordable Care Act has provided new tools and resources to fight fraud in federal health care programs.  The law provides an additional $350 million for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts, which has allowed the department to hire more prosecutors and the Strike Force to expand from two cities to nine.  The act also toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances provider and supplier screenings and enrollment requirements and encourages increased sharing of data across government.

In addition to providing new tools and resources to fight fraud, the Affordable Care Act clarified that for sentencing purposes, the loss is determined by the amount billed to Medicare and increased the sentencing guidelines for the billed amounts, which has provided a strong deterrent effect due to increased prison time, particularly in the most egregious cases.

Since January 2009, the Justice Department’s Civil Division, along with U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country, has recovered a total of more than $29.9 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $18.3 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

A Village Person Tests the Copyright Law

The prefab, gaudily costumed 1970s group the Village People and its big hit “Y.M.C.A.” are enduring symbols of the disco era. But now this campy and eternally popular song has become the centerpiece of what could be a significant test of copyright law.

Related

• Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights (August 16, 2011)

• ArtsBeat Blog: Don Henley Urges Artists to Know Their Rights(August 16, 2011)

Blog

ArtsBeat

The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.

• More Arts News

Enlarge This Image

Victor Willis World/ Associated Press

Victor Willis in 2007.

Victor Willis, the original lead singer of the group, filed papers this year to regain control in 2013 over his share of “Y.M.C.A.,” whose lyrics he wrote, under a copyright provision that returns ownership of creative works to recording artists and songwriters after 35 years. His claim to “Y.M.C.A.” and 32 other Village People compositions, however, is being contested by two companies that administer publishing rights to the songs.

The companies, Scorpio Music, a French business, and Can’t Stop Productions, one of its American affiliates, do not deny that Mr. Willis, who dressed as a police or naval officer in the group’s live performances, is one of the writers of several of the songs, which have made many millions of dollars. But they have asked a court in Los Angeles to deny his attempt to exercise what are known as “termination rights,” arguing, among other things, that the two companies “employed defendant Willis as a writer for hire, and he therefore has no rights” to any share of ownership of the songs.

“This is going to be an important case because they claim my client was a worker for hire,” said Mr. Willis’s lead lawyer, Brian D. Caplan of the New York firm Caplan & Ross. “We are quite confident there will not be finding of work for hire, and that the rationale of such a decision will have implications for many other cases.”

Lawyers for the two companies, however, dispute the facts and significance of the case and have asked a court to declare Mr. Willis’s filing “void and of no force.” They say his situation has nothing in common with those of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, the Eagles and other pop stars of the same era, some of whom are beginning to invoke termination rights on their recordings or compositions.

“This is totally different, and outside the scope of these termination rights issues,” said Stewart L. Levy, of the New York firm Eisenberg Tanchum & Levy, who is representing the publishing companies. “The Village People were a concept group, created by my clients, who picked the people and the costumes. It was probably no different than the Monkees when they started. We hired this guy. He was an employee, we gave them the material and a studio to record in and controlled what was recorded, where, what hours and what they did.”

In 1976 Congress revised copyright law, inserting a provision that allows musicians and songwriters to regain control of work initially registered with the United States Copyright Office after Jan. 1, 1978. Artists must file termination notices at least two years before the date they want to recoup their work, and once a song or recording qualifies for termination, its authors have five years in which to file a claim; if they fail to act in that time, their right to reclaim the work lapses.

Mr. Levy said that Mr. Willis, now 58, also does not qualify for termination rights because he is only one of several creators of a “joint composition,” and that a majority of the writers must want termination for the claim to take effect. He also said that in some cases Mr. Willis was merely a translator or “adapter of French songs” that are not subject to American law and that were originally written by his clients.

“Victor Willis does not speak French, so he could not have translated anything,” Mr. Caplan said in response. “And I dare you to go to Paris and find a Y.M.C.A.”

Of the 33 songs that Mr. Willis is seeking to reclaim, the most valuable is clearly “Y.M.C.A.” One of the best-known compositions of the disco era, the song is even today frequently found on film and television soundtracks, is played in baseball and football stadiums, is available as a telephone ringtone and is even used in Xbox games.

Under copyright law, termination rights can be invoked on both sound recordings and authorship of songs. But Mr. Willis’s lawyers and advisers said they had chosen to focus on the song publishing aspect because the issues are “clearer and cleaner,” as Mr. Caplan put it, and because it promises to be more lucrative.

Linda Smythe, a spokeswoman for Mr. Willis, said that royalties from Village People recordings currently earned him from $30,000 to $40,000 a year, a figure that she said would “triple or quadruple” if he succeeded in gaining rights to recordings made when he was a member of the group.

On the other hand, the song “Y.M.C.A.” alone, she said, earns “upwards of $1 million a year” because of its widespread use, making authorship rights a much more important issue.

Mr. Willis’s second-most-popular song, “Macho Man,” is not eligible for termination because it was registered with the copyright office late in 1977, just before the change in law went into effect. But “In the Navy” and “Go West,” which at the moment is being featured in the hit Broadway show “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” together earn another million dollars or more annually, Ms. Smythe said.

Since leaving the Village People for good in 1983, Mr. Willis, who now lives in the San Diego area, has had a career with more downs than ups. He hit bottom in 2006, when he was sentenced to three years’ probation on drug possession charges and agreed to enter the Betty Ford Center for a rehab.

Since then Mr. Willis, who declined a request for an interview for this article, has often gone to court or threatened legal action in pursuit of what he sees as his rights to the music and image of the Village People. He has taken action against the Sun Bowl football game and Hallmark cards, winning settlements, and this month he vowed to sue the Tampa Bay Rays for using his voice and image as stadium entertainment.


Learn more about copyright fraud at funkprobosci.com

The Great Detroit Election Facepalm: Public Corruption, Election Fraud & Campaign Finance Schemes

The Great Detroit Election Facepalm,

You would think, these people would have read the Detroit Memo.

You would think these people would have read the stories in the media about the international, federal, state and local investigations going on about elections, campaign finance and public corruption.

You would think these people would remember what happened in the federal investigation into the largest municipal fraud investigation in history, which just so happened to be here, with the same exact people who are now, or have still been under federal investigation when it comes to campaign finance fraud, election manipulation, and anything else these "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) over there at the Detroit Land Bank Authority, et al are doing.

My vote was not counted in the
2016 General Election.

You would think these people would actually absorb the information I share on my blog.

I know they read my blog because I can see them, hear them and the hate is thick.

You would think that they would just stop stealin'.

But no.

But I will tell you this, there was election fraud in District 7 General Election of 2016.

I decided to challenge the entire concept of election fraud in Detroit, again, and did a write-in for the Presidential election, John Conyers, Jr.

Then, I sat back and waited for the Wayne County Board of Canvassers to publish its write-in report for the election.

I read the report.

Wayne County Board of Canvassers did not report my vote for my Sweetie.

I got saddy face.

But it is not the first time the Wayne County Election Clerk, Third Judiciary Circuit Court of Wayne County, Michigan, and a few other "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) did a number on me.

Besides, I always keep my expectations extremely low when it comes to public administration and governance in Michigan but I have a sneaky suspicion the same nefarious actors were behind this fraudulent play for power through a sham election.

I only make the aforementioned statement because William Isaac Robinson works for Gabe Leland.

I apologize for the digression but promise to revisit these subjects (extreme castigation intended).

I just so happen to live in District 7, which is an historic district.

FUN FACT! Hardest Hit Funds were never designated for historic districts.

Anyway, Detroit Land Bank Authority is notorious for demolishing properties it never legally acquired, not just because it never incorporated, but because once the property is gone, there is no legal claim and the land is then transferred to another entity as an intellectual property issue.

I have met a few other individuals who just, "lost" their family homes and business to demolition.

It breaks my heart.

Like I always say, "Steal it, tear it down and bill the feds...it is cheaper than eminent domain and you never get caught because you are a Corporate Shape Shifter."

There is so much more I could tell, but for now, I do the Great Detroit Election Facepalm.

They just refuse to stop.

Make it stop.

Please.

Suit: Councilman Leland tried to extort $15K

Detroit – A Detroit businessman says he wore a secret recording device for the FBI after alleging City Councilman Gabe Leland tried to extort $15,000 from him, according to a federal court lawsuit filed late Wednesday.

Businessman Robert Carmack said he delivered $7,500 cash in an envelope to a Leland campaign worker in late summer 2017, according to the lawsuit filed against the councilman, Mayor Mike Duggan, the Detroit Land Bank and Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree.

The lawsuit appears to help explain why Leland was included in a list of FBI targets named in a sealed wiretap affidavit obtained first by The Detroit News in December. The full scope of the ongoing FBI investigation is unclear, but the affidavit indicates agents have focused on campaign finances and Leland’s ties to towing titan Gasper Fiore, who was ensnared in a related corruption investigation.

The lawsuit’s allegations date to a few weeks before the August 2017 primary election in Detroit.

Leland was running for re-election and Carmack was trying to resolve a dispute involving property he owned at 8124 Michigan Ave. Carmack alleges the city illegally demolished his commercial building using federal funds and was trying to sell the property.

“Leland demanded and requested...$15,000 for his reelection campaign,” Carmack’s lawyer Andrew Paterson wrote in the lawsuit.

Carmack says he ignored the request.

Leland could not be reached for comment immediately Thursday.

Rod Liggons, a spokesman for the land bank, did respond, saying: "The Detroit Land Bank Authority does not comment on pending litigation, and we will have no further comment at this time. Thank you."

In the weeks since The News published details about the sealed wiretap investigation, several politicians and public officials – including Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon and Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans – have received assurances that they are no longer considered targets of the FBI corruption probe.

Leland is notable among politicians on the list who have not been cleared by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Leland, who chaired a City Council committee responsible for community development, promised not to sell the property in exchange for $15,000, Carmack alleges.

Carmack feared he was being extorted so he approached the FBI, according to the lawsuit. The FBI is investigating widespread corruption involving politicians, police officers in Detroit, Macomb County and across southeast Michigan.

“The FBI asked (Carmack to) wear a recording device and to pay defendant Leland as defendant Leland demanded,” Carmack’s lawyer wrote in the lawsuit.

The day after Leland asked for $15,000, Leland called the businessman and said he would be sending someone to pick up the cash, according to the lawsuit.

That same day, a woman who Carmack believed to be a Leland campaign worker met him on a side street near a bank on East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, the lawsuit alleges.

“During the exchange, (Carmack) explains to the female campaign worker that the cash in the envelope was for defendant Leland and the female campaign worker responds by (stating) that it was not for her and that she would be delivering the money to defendant Leland immediately,” the lawsuit alleges.

The next day, Carmack said he met with Leland.

“Leland responded that he had in fact received the money from the campaign worker,” Paterson wrote.

Carmack was free to do whatever he wanted with the commercial property, Leland said, according to the lawsuit.

FBI spokesman Tim Wiley declined comment about whether the bureau’s investigators asked Carmack to wear a wire.

“I would say anyone who has information about public corruption is asked to call the FBI’s hotline at (313) 965-2222,” Wiley said.

After receiving the money, Leland made more demands, Carmack claims.

“Leland asked (Carmack) to fix his secretary’s car for free, and, in accordance with the FBI’s instructions, plaintiff obliged and fixed defendant Leland’s secretary’s car for free,” according to the lawsuit.

Then, Leland double-crossed Carmack, according to the lawsuit.

“A few weeks later, (Carmack) learned that defendant Leland had in fact placed on the (City Council) agenda the sale of plaintiff’s property,” Paterson wrote.

Carmack wants a federal judge to rule that Leland extorted him and that the city illegally took his property. Carmack wants at least $1.3 million.

The lawsuit describes Carmack’s attempts to secure a separate land deal during former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s administration. Carmack says former Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller demanded a $50,000 payment to finalize a deal for the Revere Copper & Brass property near Historic Fort Wayne and the Riverfront.

In March 2015, Carmack complained during a City Council meeting that the Duggan administration was not honoring the deal.

On Thursday, the city’s top lawyer Lawrence Garcia accused Carmack of misrepresenting facts.

Wayne County foreclosed on the Michigan Avenue property in 2010 and the city later purchased it and demolished the unsafe building in 2016, Garcia said in a statement.

“Now, two years later, (Carmack) files this lawsuit because he could not get special treatment from the administration in his effort to reclaim the property he had lost through a legal process,” Garcia wrote.

“As it relates to the Revere Copper & Brass property, Mr. Carmack is upset that this administration did not honor a sweetheart deal for that land he had struck with the Kilpatrick administration,” Garcia added. “The City no longer operates that way.”

Duggan’s administration acted properly and appropriately, Garcia said.

“We believe the claims against the administration are frivolous and we will be defending them vigorously,” Garcia said.

Leland, meanwhile, was re-elected in November to his second, four-year term on Detroit’s City Council. He first took office in January 2014 and formerly served six years in the state House.

The sealed wiretap affidavit obtained by The News last year outlined a broad corruption investigation by the FBI. Agents were interested in payments Fiore apparently made to Leland, and the councilman's interest in a separate FBI investigation involving towing companies and body shops.

In May 2016, FBI agents were tapping Fiore’s phone and overheard the towing mogul discuss fundraising for Detroit city council members and candidates. One conversation touched on several council members, including Andre Spivey, Council President Brenda Jones and Leland.

At the time, Leland was dating Fiore’s daughter Jennifer.

The FBI was investigating whether Detroit police officers accepted bribes from body shops and towing companies, according to the affidavit.

In one wiretapped conversation, Fiore talked to his ex-wife Joan Fiore about the towing investigation and Detroit Police Chief James Craig, according to court records.

"In Fiore’s conversation with Joan, it appears that Chief Craig briefed Gabe Leland about the towing case, and Leland has briefed the Fiore family about it,” FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman wrote in a court filing.

In an interview with The News in December, Craig insisted he never told Leland anything about the investigation. He said he contacted the FBI after a 2016 meeting with the Detroit city councilman.

“He said he wanted to meet with me for the purpose of discussing something unrelated to towing, but once he gets into the meeting with me, he starts asking about the towing investigation,” Craig told The News. “It’s not my investigation, so I didn’t have anything to give him. I never felt comfortable with him, so I made sure to have a witness in the room with me during this meeting.

“I was not comfortable with Leland’s questions, and I immediately contacted the FBI as soon as he left the room and told them he was asking me questions about the towing investigation.”

Fiore’s wiretapped conversations describe his distaste for Leland.

“He's another guy that -- there with a tight suit on, with a cheap tie and got a hole in the side of his pants on the pocket cuz he don't want to buy a pair of pants,” Fiore said in one recorded conversation.

In another conversation, Fiore labeled the Detroit councilman a "mooch."

In a May 2016 conversation, Fiore complained about paying for unspecified items for Leland.

The FBI monitored text messages that month as Fiore and Leland arranged a meeting at Big City Bar & Grill in Detroit on May 27, 2016.

After the meeting, Fiore called his daughter.

Fiore complained about Leland pressuring him to hire political consultant Marcellus Brice, whose wife. Joyell Lewis, is a community affairs director in Leland's office, according to the wiretap affidavit.

Brice had been under investigation previously based on allegations he used his City Hall connections to try to extort someone, the FBI agent wrote in a court filing.

The FBI agent listened to Fiore's call and concluded Brice was offering to pay people on Fiore's behalf to get political results, according to the FBI affidavit.

"I don't need him," Fiore said.

"Fiore is saying that if someone needs money, Fiore will pay the person himself, and he does not need Brice as a middleman," Beeckman, the FBI agent, wrote in the wiretap affidavit. "I'm tired of the ------- guy. Wants me to hire somebody just to give him a ------- job. I said, 'You give him a job. You can hire people.'"

Rober Carmack v. Detroit Land Bank Authority, Detroit & Mayor Mike Duggan, Councilman Gabe Leland, Wayne Co... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland Foreclosure District 7 Newsletter Winter 2018 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

The Psyoptic Of Michael Jackson - Stealin' Of Legacies - Do You Know Where The Congressional Black Servers Are?

https://www.michaeljacksonslegacy.org/

Michael Jackson gave to the Congressional Black Caucus, but there is no record of what they did with the money?

Do you know where the Congressional Black Caucus servers are?

If you do, I would strongly encourage you to call DC Capitol Police, or the FBI if you are out in District for summer recess.

Not one penny went to any civil rights organizations, scholarships or children's charities he set up?

His legacy was attacked but not diminished.

It is an American tradition when it comes to stealin' legacies, under the law of the chattels.

If they can use child welfare NGOs for stealin' the children, the land and the votes, well, why not Raymone Bain?

She is calling for a boycott if HBO does not stop promoting its propaganda about Michael Jackson.

I know the Michael Jackson sex scandal strategically broke out at the same time of the largest settlement in U.S. history on copyright theft with the original writer of the Terminator.

We all knew it was a cover op because the media buried the story.

The ruling is, below.

Very few know of the fight of Works For Hire.

Raymone Bain's press conference reportedly centers around a mandate made by the late pop star in 2006, three years before his death. No further details have been released other than that the mandate has to do with preserving the controversial star's legacy.

As the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed, I am calling this Operation Stealin' - #coloredrevolution for the following reasons:

• The press conference was empty;
• Michael Jackson has never used the african american label;
• She advocated a boycott with no other organizational or individual support;
• Jesse Jackson does not like me and I do not like Jesse Jackson;
• The website is cheezy; 
• The foundation has pictures of Haiti shacks and Sponsor a Child on the same page; 
• It is registered in the UK; 
• It is a foreign corporation, just like the foreign corporations that stole his money; 
• Michael Jackson would never approve of anything this tacky; 
• His family was not there; 
• She used a cut out of Michael Jackson;
• She dropped Trump's name;
• She stated that Michael Jackson was working on bringing HIV drugs to Haiti and Africa, which is probably CHAI;
• I smell Her Flatulent Boviness because she talked about how much he gave to the Congressional Black Caucus;
• And Raymone Bain previously sued Michael Jackson's estate for $44,000,000 and lost.

For these reasons alone, I am calling this stealin'  and a #coloredrevolution.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Raymone+Bain

Michael Jackson's Former Publicist Raymone Bain: There Was No Intervention

Raymone Bain, the former longtime publicist for Michael Jackson, has said there is no truth to rumors that have surfaced in the media since the pop star's death, claiming that members of the Jackson family staged a failed intervention for the pop star in 2007.

"It is not true," Raymone told Access Hollywood'sBilly Bush in a new interview.

Raymone, who filed suit against the King of Pop earlier this year for $44 million over claims he failed to pay her for her publicity services and more, said a meeting with the family took place in 2007, but it was business related.

"I recall in February, there was a meeting with Mr. Jackson and his sisters and brothers about a concert," she recounted. "There was a concert promoter who accompanied them there. That is the meeting that I… am aware of… I know nothing else about any other intervention."

Raymone also shot down rumors that Michael's family members – including his mother Katherine – were shut out of the pop star's life after the alleged intervention, telling Billy the family were always involved in Michael's life.

"During the time that I represented Michael Jackson, he had communications all of the time with his mother and his family," she said. "I don't know of a time when Michael Jackson did not have access to his mother — under my watch. I cannot speak for last year and prior to or after my tenure with Mr. Jackson. But I do know that he loved his mother, he loved his father, he loved his sisters and brothers unconditionally. And Mrs. Jackson and his family had access to Michael Jackson."

Matrix and Terminator copyr... by Daniel Ballard on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Cocktails & Popcorn: Barbara McQuade, Judiciary, Amrock, DACA With Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Featuring Michael, Jolly Jerry's Son

"Old fashioneds, it is all about the timing."

The timing is just impeccable.

Here you have Barbara McQuade saying the same thing I just said the other day.

Now, why would Jolly Jerry of Judiciary call for hearings about "obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power" when Mueller is about to release his investigative report, and other things, on "obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power"?

That sounds so redundant to me, a waste of taxpayer dollars, dilatory distractions, shucking & jiving, you know, your standard clowning right before everyone realizes that all heaven is about to break loose, but hey, what do I know?

I know it looks a bit awkward now that we know that Jolly Jerry's son, Michael Nadler got a job with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in 2018, which just so happens to be the main law firm suing Trump about protecting their trafficking tiny humans operations, oh, I mean, DACA, but that is not what has me questioning impeccable timing.

In March 2018, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher just so happened to have been representing Amrock in the Canary House Corporate Shape Shifter $706 million dollar fraud judgment, that was just struck down in appeal, as Amrock started crying about blowing the whistle.

I wonder where they got that idea.

We should definitely ask Michael Nadler.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this riveting piece of civil art, created by Barbara McQuade, encouraging Jolly Jerry to embrace the fact that Mueller is very attentive to the proceedings of House Judiciary, and probably the former proceedings of House Judiciary, but hey, what do I know?

I know Barbara McQuade is a Detroit Super Star because she had an entire smear campaign launched against her...that never filed any 990s nor annual reports.

The House’s Sweeping New Probe May Be the Biggest Threat to Trump Yet

Barbara McQuade & her cyber-smear
(When you know you are a Detroit Super Star)

Members of the House Judiciary Committee have an opportunity to provide an important service to the American public – as long as they don’t blow it.

On Monday, the committee opened a sweeping investigation into “obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power” relating to President Donald Trump by requesting documents from 81 sources. The committee’s probe could potentially uncover more misconduct than Special Counsel Robert Mueller ever will. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler vowed to “hold hearings for the public to have all the facts.” The challenge will be to conduct the investigation effectively without compromising Mueller’s work.

In many ways, the congressional investigation offers advantages that Mueller’s probe lacks.
According to the mandate issued by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Mueller has been investigating links between Russia and the Trump campaign relating to interference with the 2016 presidential election, matters arising in that investigation, and any obstruction of justice that might occur along the way. The House Judiciary Committee, on the other hand, has the power to investigate a much broader scope of possible misconduct. Congress can investigate anything over which it has power to legislate, and committees may explore matters that do not amount to crimes. As Nadler pointed out, his committee is charged with a number of responsibilities, including the duty to investigate “abuses of executive power.”

In addition to the broader scope of its powers, the congressional inquiry also differs from Mueller’s probe in its transparency. While Mueller is bound by grand jury secrecy rules and Department of Justice policies to prevent public disclosure of matters under investigation, congressional committees operate largely in the public. In fact, one purpose of the Judiciary Committee’s probe may be to avoid a scenario in which Mueller ends his investigation without any further public disclosure of his findings, as the special counsel regulations seem to permit. The Committee’s document requests stated that the recipient could limit his initial production to documents already disclosed to the special counsel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, law enforcement, other congressional committees, or in civil or other litigation. By collecting the same material that Mueller has already gathered, Nadler’s committee may be seeking to replicate Mueller’s investigation, but with materials that can be shared with the public.

With this opportunity before them, the Judiciary Committee needs to avoid missteps that could interfere with Mueller’s work or harm the effectiveness of its own investigation. To that end, here are three pieces of advice for Nadler.

First, hire professional help to conduct questioning. How many more hearings must we endure in which members of Congress take turns grandstanding to make political points, only to be parodied on Saturday Night Live? Asking questions in five-minute bursts provides no opportunity for effective follow-up and allows the witness to filibuster away the allotted time. House Democrats should hire counsel with the training and experience to conduct effective questioning. They should also pool their time so that the questioner can proceed as a prosecutor would at a grand jury session by methodically asking the essential who, what, when, where, and why of important matters, demanding explanations and details along the way, and pinning down witnesses to establish facts from which they cannot later walk away.

Second, be careful whom you immunize. Congress has the power to grant immunity to witnesses who invoke their Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate themselves. By granting immunity, the Committee can then legally compel the witness to testify because their statements may not be used against them. As we saw in the case of Oliver North, however, immunity granted by Congress can prevent prosecutors from using the witness’s statements, or any leads derived from their statements, against them in criminal proceedings. After the former Marine Corps. lieutenant colonel was convicted for his role in obstructing the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair, North’s conviction was vacated because it was tainted by the use of information derived from his immunized congressional testimony.

If the House Judiciary Committee wants to question witnesses, it should avoid immunizing anyone who might be a target of Mueller’s investigation. Donald Trump Jr., for example, has reportedly not met with Mueller, a sign that he may be a target of the special counsel’s investigation. Offering him immunity to testify before Congress could make it much more difficult for Mueller to charge him criminally. Instead, the Judiciary Committee might focus on witnesses who have already been convicted by Mueller, such as Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and even Paul Manafort.

Congress could also call as witnesses people who were in positions to have committed less egregious misconduct, yet possess valuable information, such as Trump’s former communications director Hope Hicks or his longtime assistant Rhona Graff. These witnesses are unlikely to be high priorities for criminal charges. Or, better yet, the committee should clear with Mueller any witness that the committee might want to immunize.

Third, don’t just copy Mueller’s work, create your own roadmap. The evidence that Watergate Independent Counsel Leon Jaworski turned over to Congress is sometimes referred to as a roadmap for impeachment. While Nadler appears interested in obtaining and memorializing Mueller’s work, he should not end there. Mueller is limited to looking for federal crimes. But just because conduct does not amount to a violation of the criminal code does not mean that Congress should permit it to occur unchecked. For example, while lying to the public is not a crime, if the lie is egregious enough, it might be sufficient to disqualify a president from office. Additional lines of inquiry outside of Mueller’s mandate would be well within the scope of proper congressional inquiry, such as foreign influence on the president’s businesses, profits from his businesses that may constitute prohibited emoluments or use of the presidency to enrich family members and associates. Were Jared Kushner or Erik Prince attempting to form back channels of communication with Russia and the UAE? And if so, why? The House Judiciary Committee can find out the answers to all of these questions, even if they are outside the realm of potential criminal misconduct.

Nadler has a job to do, but he must do it well. The stakes of this investigation are high because the House Judiciary Committee has one power that all other entities lack – the power to initiate impeachment proceedings.

EXCLUSIVE: Jerry Nadler’s Son Works For Firm Suing Trump, Which Presents Conflict of Interest

https://www.gibsondunn.com/

Democrat congressman Jerry Nadler, leading the investigative charge against President Donald Trump, has a son whose firm is trying to get access to Trump documents for their clients in numerous lawsuits against President Trump.

“Congressman Jerry Nadler has a big conflict,” our source tells Big League Politics in Washington, D.C.

“His son (Michael Nadler) got a job with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in 2018.  That’s convenient because Jerry Nadler and the Democrats just won control of the House in 2018.  Gibson Dunn & Crutcher hire Jerry’s son and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher are the main Nemesis against Trump and the Trump Administration on numerous lawsuits.  Now the Nadler family will gain access to thousands of Trump documents via Jerry’s subpoenas!,” our insider stated.

https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/nadler-michael-l/

Gibson Dunn represented CNN’s Jim Acosta in his lawsuit against the Trump White House after President Trump revoked Jim Acosta’s press credentials for creating a disturbance in a press briefing and making physical contact with a female White House intern. In December Gibson Dunn announced that it was representing the Center for Reproductive Rights in its lawsuit against the Trump State Department concerning abortion language in Trump administration human rights reports.

Gibson Dunn’s global co-chairman Ted Boutros sued President Trump in a bid to protect the DACA Dreamer program.

Such an arrangement — Jerry Nadler investigating Trump with his son’s firm trying to get access to documents in other cases — violates ethics rules for federal investigators.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©