Posted on 03/18/2002 3:06:32 AM PST by Lloyd227
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:07 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
On March 1, FBI agents had a clear plan to catch a man wanted in a bank robbery. What unfolded was a remarkable series of mix-ups with a near-fatal outcome.
The order from an FBI commander to a SWAT team waiting outside a Glen Burnie 7-Eleven was simple and direct.
"Follow the red car."
To FBI Special Agent Christopher Braga, it signaled that the man inside the car, the one wearing the white baseball cap, was the bank robbery suspect agents had been tracking. Braga, with other members of the elite FBI team, moved in to make the arrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Both of these individuals are as sleazy and corrupt as the day is long.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice back in mid 2001 was investigating the former U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Lynne Battaglia, her Chief of White Collar Crime,Dave Kelberman, and the head of the Maryland State Police, David B. Mitchell for alleged corruption. When the U.S. Attorney is corrupt so go the FBI, my guess is that Battaglia was instrumental in Lynne Hunt becoming head of the FBI.
Annapolis, MD. (Anne Arundel County) is the heart of Maryland politics, Annapolis is also a haven for organized crime, white collar criminals and corrupt politicians because all the local, state, & federal law enforcement agencies, like good little lap dogs can be made to "roll over" and "lay down".
If you want to read more about corruption in Maryland try www.marylandcorruption.com
In other words, typical armed federal bureaucrats.
Actually I think I could still be pretty fierce for about 10 seconds, then I would be sucking wind.
My wife would be mad if she knew I said this, but although I am not as good as I once was, I am as good once as I ever was.
I think this one is not going away although it might take a major news org to do a story for it to really take off.
Angelos could probably broker a deal behind closed doors and help the FBI save face.
Any answer one or over passes the dangerousness test.
Peter G. Angelos (with Georgia K.)
March 5, 2001
Peter Angelos wanted to be a politician, but he didn't get very far. Though he was briefly elected to the Baltimore City Council, voters rejected his bids for Maryland's state senate in the 1950s and for mayor in the '60s. But Angelos remains a politician at heart. The former criminal defense attorney has been called the "most powerful private citizen in Maryland." And as his campaign contributions and court cases demonstrate, his reach extends far beyond his home state.
Angelos has refashioned himself as attorney to the little guy, representing consumers and workers in class-action suits against the likes of Philip Morris and Motorola. The turning point in his career came in the early 1980s, when labor leaders cajoled him into accepting a suit on behalf of asbestos workers. Within a decade, asbestos had made Angelos a very rich man. His firm has reportedly made more than $100 million on asbestos rulings alone, and still handles as many as 500 cases each year.
His profile as a class-action litigator, and his fees, have since skyrocketed. As Maryland's lead counsel against the tobacco industry, he signed on for a 25 percent fee -- which turned out to be nearly $1 billion. (The state has since held up payment, arguing that Angelos' take was simply too large.) Angelos has also sued manufacturers of lead paint and the diet drug fen-phen, and is currently representing a man who claims that using a cell phone gave him brain cancer. The suit, which seeks more than $800 million in damages, worries cell phone providers like Motorola and Verizon Wireless. Though similar suits have failed, RCR Wireless News notes that the industry "has never faced a lawyer with the expertise, financial resources, and political firepower of a Peter Angelos."
Angelos, who led a group of investors that purchased the Baltimore Orioles in 1993 for a then-record $173 million, wields considerable financial and political clout at home. When he wants something from state lawmakers, the measures he supports are referred to simply as "Angelos bills." The state assembly gave lawyers like Angelos more time to sue by extending the statute of limitations on asbestos cases; the measure was sponsored by state Senator Norman Stone Jr., who later accepted a position with Angelos' firm. The assembly also created more judgeships to speed asbestos cases along; the bill passed after Angelos brought Orioles' superstar Cal Ripken Jr. for a photo opp with state legislators. "The idea that one person could provide all this major legislation has been amazing," House Minority Leader Robert Flanagan (R) told the Baltimore City Paper.
Angelos has extended his reach to international issues. In 1999, he became the first professional baseball owner to orchestrate a game with Cuba, reportedly securing a State Department waiver for his team's trip to Havana following a White House meeting with then-National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. He also drew the ire of Republicans last May by refusing to sign Cuban defectors to his ball club. Senator Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.), not known for his opposition to discrimination, demanded a federal probe of the Orioles to safeguard the rights of "Cubans who manage to flee the repressive regime of Fidel Castro." Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee, also expressed outrage that Angelos would "turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed by Castro's totalitarian state."
Republicans have other reasons to dislike Angelos. The trial lawyer has denounced GOP efforts to limit jury awards against corporations that harm consumers or workers. "I am opposed to a party which indulges in lawyer-bashing irresponsibly in order to collect campaign contributions from corporations," he has said. During the last election cycle, Angelos and his wife, Georgia, gave all of their donations to Democrats, including like-minded congressional candidates such as Michael Ciresi, one of Minnesota's tobacco lawyers, and Edward O'Brien, a steelworkers union official from Pennsylvania.
Angelos makes no apologies for the controvery his influence generates. "Whenever you do something unconventional, there will be protests and honest disagreements," he told Business Week. "If you're convinced it's the right thing to do, move forward."
-- Pam Smith
I wonder why the people's hero, Maryland Attorney General, Joseph Curran Jr. hasn't weighed in on this shooting on behalf of the citizen's of the State of Maryland.
Maybe he is just keeping his mouth shut because the DOJ is crawling all over his buddies,Lynne Battaglia and David B. Mitchell.
There will be a huge cash payout to Schultz, but no punishment for Braga.
This is how Angelos will get the FBI into his pocket where he keeps the Maryland legislature.
But I guess an assault rifle in FBI SWAT hands is okay with him, even if it blows an innocent kid's face off.
I think you hit the nail on the head.
The 12th of Never?
But history rarely sails along in straight lines; the unexpected crash-gybe is almost the norm.
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