Posted on 03/13/2014 6:30:04 PM PDT by jazusamo
Agents quietly working with Utah prosecutors to make case in DOJ absence
FBI agents working alongside Utah state prosecutors in a wide-ranging corruption investigation have uncovered accusations of wrongdoing by two of the U.S. Senate’s most prominent figures — Majority Leader Harry Reid and rising Republican Sen. Mike Lee — but the Justice Department has thwarted their bid to launch a full federal investigation.
The probe, conducted by one Republican and one Democratic state prosecutor in Utah, has received accusations from an indicted businessman and political donor, interviewed other witnesses and gathered preliminary evidence such as financial records, Congressional Record statements and photographs that corroborate some aspects of the accusations, officials have told The Washington Times and ABC News.
But the Justice Department’s public integrity section — which normally handles corruption cases involving elected figures — rejected FBI agents’ bid to use a federal grand jury and subpoenas to determine whether the accusations are true and whether any federal crimes were committed by state and federal officials.
The information involving Mr. Reid and Mr. Lee is not fully developed but centers on two primary issues:
• whether both or either politician sought or received money or other benefits from donors and/or fund-raisers in connection with doing political favors or taking official actions;
• whether Mr. Lee provided accurate information when he bought, then sold a Utah home for a big loss to a campaign contributor and federal contractor, leaving his mortgage bank to absorb large losses.
“There are allegations, but they are very serious allegations and they need to be looked at by somebody,” Sim Gill, a Democrat who is the elected chief prosecutor in Salt Lake County, told The Washington Times. “If true, or even if asserted, they truly should be investigated and put to rest, or be confirmed.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Corruption bump for later......
Speaker John Boehner is shirking his Constitutional Duty by not issuing Articles of Impeachment for B. Hussein Obama.
Removal from Office by the US Senate can ONLY be accomplished AFTER a perp. is Impeached by the US House.
The House is the Police, and the Senate is the Judge and Jury.
First the House must Impeach the POS.
Then the Senate determines if the Impeached POS should be removed from office.
Most FReepers fall in the all or nothing camp and only want a clear path to removal.
Our Constitution makes it very clear: Impeach first by the House, and then have the Senate decide on Removal.
The objective is to punish all those who violate their sacred oaths to defend the US Constitution.
A bi-weekly Impeachment of B. Hussein Obama would be needed to punish him for all of his Constitutional violations over the last 5 years, but I will be satisfied with just one Impeachment.
Obama’s Removal from Office by the US Senate would be good for America, but Reid’s Senate has not yet demonstrated any interest in what is good for America.
Since the RINOs have control of the US House of Representatives in 2014, 2014 is the last year that we can be certain that Obama could be Impeached.
The RINOs assume that they will maintain control of the US House, but their usual desire to lose to Democrats is so strong, that their assumption may not be a valid one.
Impeach B. Hussein Soetoro-Obama in 2014, PERIOD.
Reid removed from office kicking and screaming...it makes me smile, it does.
Influence-peddling claim
One focus of the investigation is on allegations by federally indicted businessman Jeremy Johnson, who says he was asked by Mr. Swallow and other intermediaries to route hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and consulting payments to an associate of Mr. Reid and other companies in hopes that the senator would intervene on two matters.
The first was a dispute that Mr. Johnson was having with the Federal Trade Commission, which led to a fraud lawsuit against him.
Mr. Johnson says he was instructed by intermediaries to write a $200,000 check to one company and a $50,000 check to a personal friend of Mr. Reid in return for getting the senator to intervene with the FTC, an intervention that did not happen.
The second accusation involves the timing of Mr. Reid’s changing his opposition to legislation allowing Internet poker. Mr. Reid’s aides contend his change of heart was consistent with a broader shift underway in his state — and of the leading industry group, the American Gaming Association.
Mr. Johnson says Mr. Reid announced his new position in 2010 at a fundraiser with online gambling executives in a Las Vegas.
In a recorded conversation published last year by a Utah newspaper, Mr. Johnson is heard telling Mr. Swallow about the Las Vegas event.
Mr. Johnson says Mr. Reid told the gathering: “Look, I’ve polled my constituents and they don’t like online poker, bottom line. … It’s bad for jobs here in Las Vegas. But I’m going to back what you guys are doing here. I’m going to introduce a bill for you.”
On the recording, Mr. Johnson tells Mr. Swallow that, after Mr. Reid departed, Mr. Johnson himself pulled aside an online gambling official to ask about his announcement.
“I [Mr. Johnson] said, ‘How in the hell did you guys get him to do that?’ And he [the online gaming official] says, ‘Let’s just say he got a little something in his retirement fund.’ And I was like, ‘OK, that’s how it is.’”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/13/fbi-blocked-in-corruption-probe-involving-sens-rei/#ixzz2vuIm46mG
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Growing up Lee went to school with Senator Strom Thurmond’s daughter and lived three doors down from Senator Robert Byrd. He was friends with Harry Reid’s son Josh. Senator Reid was the Lees’ home teacher. Lee recalls as a child how Senator Reid once locked him and Josh in their garage as a practical joke. According to Lee the Reid family were the first Democrats he knew well and it was dealing with them that showed him the importance of being able to defend his political views in discussion with those who held other views.
In 2013, Lee proposed a bill with the aim “to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders” together with Dick Durbin (D) and Patrick Leahy (D). The bill would reduce some minimum sentences for drug-related offenses by half.
Thanks
bkmk
“....if the Republicans take the senate it will get interesting”.
Be careful what you wish for, there are a lot of closets in DC and elsewhere.
Worth reading again..!!
%^)
> Reid removed from office kicking and screaming...it makes me smile, it does.
Worth reading again..!!
%^)
If there’s anyone that is truly evil that’s sold his soul to the devil (other than his overlord) it’s Reid. How I despise that man...
Bet you're right.
Yep, that's the MO of many corrupt politicians, they get elected flat broke and become millionaires before long.
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