Peter Flaherty

Trump Should Not Commute Blagojevich Prison Sentence

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

President Trump would be making a huge mistake in commuting the prison sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois.

Yesterday, Trump said, “I am thinking very seriously about commuting his sentence so that he can go home to his family after seven years…I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly.”

It is hard to see how Blagojevich was treated unfairly. Blagojevich is corrupt to the core. He is not the victim of anything except his own guile. If anything, he was underprosecuted. There were additional allegations of misconduct, some of which were uncovered by the National Legal and Policy Center, for which he was never prosecuted.

Let’s remember why Blagojevich is in prison. Among other crimes, he actually tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat. If he were not arrested in time, Blagojevich would have likely sold the seat to then-Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. for $1.5 million in campaign … Read More ➡

AOC Confirms FEC Probe; Attacks NLPC

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

In an “exclusive interview,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told New York Daily News reporters Chris Sommerfeldt and Jason Fisher that she and her former Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti are “in conversation” with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about a Complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center in March. (Matter Under Review #7575)

Of course, the FEC doesn’t have conversations with Respondents to Complaints. It conducts investigations. By confirming that she and the other Respondents are interacting with the FEC, Ocasio-Cortez confirmed the existence of an investigation, contrary to assertions of some of her supporters. From the article:

Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the complaint as a political hit job.

“All of these things were filed by these fringe, Republican groups. It’s a tactic they use and it’s very common,” she said. “It’s a form of legal trolling.”

The accusation that NLPC is a “Republican” group would come as a … Read More ➡

FEC Investigating Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Ex-Chief of Staff Chakrabarti

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the Washington Examiner by Alana Goodman:

Two organizations linked to Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her outgoing senior aides are the subject of a Federal Election Commission investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, the Washington Examiner has learned.

The FEC opened an official case on March 7 to examine complaints against Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, two campaign committees started by Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff Shaikat Chakrabarti, according to an FEC confirmation letter disclosed to the Washington Examiner. The matter was assigned a case number and remains open. Ocasio-Cortez also sat on the board of Justice Democrats from December 2017 to June 2018, the Daily Caller reported.

The original FEC complaint was filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, and claimed the Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress PACs were engaged in “an elaborate scheme to avoid proper disclosure … Read More ➡

NY Post: Feds Investigating AOC Campaign Finances

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the New York Post today by Mary Kay Linge and Jon Levine:

The Feds are looking into possible campaign finance misdeeds by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff and lead rainmaker, who suddenly resigned Friday, federal sources told The Post.

The inquiry centers on two political action committees founded by Saikat Chakrabarti, the top aide who quit along with Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent,the sources said. Trent left to join the congresswoman’s 2020 re-election campaign.

The two PACs being probed, Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, were both set up by Chakrabarti to support progressive candidates across the country.

But they funneled more than $1 million in political donations into two private companies that Chakrabarti also incorporated and controlled, according to Federal Election Commission filings and a complaint filed in March with the regulatory agency.

Also from the article:

The complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, … Read More ➡

Rep. Thornberry Protected Predatory Lenders While Wife Worked for Lobbyist

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the Washington Examiner today by Alana Goodman:

A powerful, long-serving Republican congressman blocked a federal crackdown on predatory lenders targeting military members while his wife was working for a firm that lobbied for one of the nation’s top lender trade associations, according to financial disclosures.

Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee when he pushed to delay new restrictions under Military Lending Act that sought to protect military service members from predatory lending practices. A study conducted by the Department of Defense found that 11% of military members had been subjected to predatory loans, leading to personnel discharges at a cost to the department of $14 million a year.

Under the rules, lenders, banks, and credit card companies were required to cap interest rates at 36% annually and are prohibited from providing continual payday loans or requiring service members to submit to mandatory … Read More ➡

Maryland AG Asked to Investigate Cummings’ Nonprofit

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the Washington Examiner, by Alana Goodman:

A watchdog group is asking the Maryland attorney general to investigate whether Rep. Elijah Cummings and his wife used a charity for improper self-enrichment, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, which leans conservative, filed the complaint on Monday against the Center for Global Policy Solutions, a nonprofit organization founded by Cummings’ wife, Maya Rockeymoore.

The complaint asked Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to investigate the financial relationship between the Center for Global Policy Solutions and Rockeymoore’s for-profit consulting firm, Global Policy Solutions LLC.

The similarly named entities shared an address, phone number, projects, funding sources, and had a cost-sharing arrangement that raises questions about a “potentially improper financial benefit to Ms. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings and her husband, Representative Elijah Cummings,” the complaint asserts.

Click here to read the rest … Read More ➡

Senator Hassan Has Not Notified Victims of Data Theft

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the Daily Caller by Luke Rosiak, including comment by NLPC’s Tom Anderson:

Sen. Maggie Hassan’s computer system was hacked in what prosecutors called the “largest data theft in Senate history,” yet there is no evidence she informed constituents who may be at risk of identity theft as a result — despite being one of the most vocal advocates for laws requiring hacking victims to do just that.

The New Hampshire Democrat’s former IT aide Jackson Cosko was sentenced to four years in prison June 19 for pilfering essentially all the office’s data by paying another Hassan staffer to help him break into the office late at night. One of Hassan’s key issues in the Senate has been requiring companies to notify Americans whose personal information they fail to protect. Hassan sponsored a federal law to that end, but it has not passed.

A 2006 New Hampshire law enacted while … Read More ➡

Flaherty Rips Alphabet/Google at Annual Meeting for Caving to ‘Left-Wing Mob’

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Today, I presented our shareholder proposal on combatting sexual harassment at the annual meeting of Alphabet in Sunnyvale, California. The resolution was opposed by the company. The text of my remarks are below this video of my presentation:

I can’t figure out why the company opposes this proposal on sexual harassment after pledging to do all it can about sexual harassment.

Well, maybe it’s because there is not an ounce of sincerity in any of the reasons Alphabet cites. The real reason is that this company, and most of the rest of corporate America, is not governed by what is in the interests of shareholders or society as a whole

Instead, it’s is governed by what the Left-wing mob demands. Alphabet will only support initiatives that advance an agenda.

In my supporting statement, I argued that more political and ideological diversity would create a more respectful workplace. I guess that … Read More ➡

IRS Complaint: Cummings Wife Paid Twice For Same Work

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Today, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed an amendment to its May 20 Complaint to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) group that she heads. Cummings is the wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The amendment is prompted by a news story on June 5, 2019 in the Daily Caller by Andrew Kerr titled “Elijah Cummings’s Wife Used Her Charity to Pay For-Profit Company, Documents Show.”

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings is also the only principal in Global Policy Solutions, LLC (GPS, LLC), a for-profit limited liability corporation that NLPC alleged in its May 20 Complaint to be “impermissibly entwined” with the nonprofit CGPS.

According to CGPS financial statements for 2014 and 2015 cited in the Daily Caller article, GPS, LLC received a fee of 5% … Read More ➡