KUSHNER'S CUSHY DEAL (billionaire Dim donor's contempt for US justice)

We should be used to this by now. One set of laws for the 'elites', and one for us, the 'serfs'. Also, if you have $$, you can almost buy your way out of any crime/charges.

In March 2004, Kushner pled guilty to a massive New Jersey bundling operation. Companies, partnerships and individuals connected to Kushner have given over $1 million ($1,008,600) to federal candidates and national party committees in 1999-2000:

(a) Democratic National Committee ($383,300);
(b) Committee For Working Families ($140,000), a federal PAC linked to then-Woodbridge Mayor Jim McGreevey.
(c) Hillary Clinton ($79,250);
(d) Jon Corzine ($72,000);
(e) Senator Robert Torricelli ($57,000);
(f) former Vice President Al Gore ($51,000); and
(g) Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ($100,000, of which $38,000 was returned).

Partnerships/companies Kushner illegally listed as employer or donor of $25,000 or more included:
(A) Kushner Companies,
(B) Bruckner Plaza Associates,
(C )Elmwood V Associates,
(D) Long Brook Associates,
(E) Montgomery Associates,
(F) Mt Arlington Apartment Associates,
(G) Quail Ridge Associates,
(H) Riverside Park Industrial Associates, and,
(I) Wallkill Apartment Associates.

The Kushner employee relationship, timing and bundling of the campaign donations raised questions about who controlled the money and if the money was laundered by the use of "straw" donor names.

For instance, in the case of the Committee for Working Families, eighteen donations ($90,000) came in on the same day, May 2, 2000. In the case of Mayor Giuliani, thirty-three donations ($63,000) came in on March 31, 1999, and thirty-five donations ($35,000) came in on December 29, 1999. In the case of Hillary Clinton, sixty-eight donations ($68,000) came in on June 29, 2000.

In the case of Sen. Torricelli, eighteen donations ($18,000) came in on January 22, 1999, and thirty-eight donations more ($38,000) came in on February 19, 1999.

In the case of Al Gore, thirty-three donations ($33,000) came in on December 30, 1999, and twenty-five more ($25,000) on February 10, 2000.

In the case of JON CORZINE, thirty donations ($30,000) came in on February 24, 2000, and eighteen more ($18,000) on March 6, 2000, and twelve more ($12,000) on March 31, 2000.

Individuals making the largest number of donations were: George Gellert (29 for $60,250), Murray Kushner (25 for $36,900), Charles Kushner (22 for $38,000), Mrs. Rae Kushner (22 for $26,000), Richard Stadtmauer (21 for $30,000) Linda Laulicht (20 for $37,000), and Dara Kushner (15 for $33,000).

There is a federal prohibition against giving in the name of another, and using corporate funds to reimburse employees for contributions to federal political campaigns.

The man shows no remorse for his crimes, obstructing justice with a prostituite, campaign and business fraud.....who knows what they didn't nail him on

Kushner's elitist, umitigated contempt for US law, and for the rest of us, is disgusting.

And remember, this lowlife Kushner made his meat in the US (violating who knows how many laws).

Sources:

Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=186966

‘The Congressman, the Senator, and the Mafia’
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_242.html

‘Murder - American Style: Atypical Murder Cases and the Evolution of Organized Crime’
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_4.html

During the 1990s and into the new Millennium, numerous politicians and their associates from the State of New Jersey became caught up in scandals that primarily dealt with campaign finance irregularities. Key among these were Senator Robert Torricelli and Governor James McGreevey and their mutual top fundraiser, real estate mogul Charles Kushner. By the time the scandals had run their course, Torricelli and McGreevey would quit their political careers and Kushner would plead guilty to campaign finance violations as well as blackmailing his own sister and her husband with a secretly-recorded sex tape.

Robert Torricelli was born in New Jersey in 1951. His father, Salvatore, was a lawyer from Corleone, Sicily. Torricelli followed in his family traditions, obtaining a law degree from Rutgers in 1977 and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard in 1980. In 1982 Torricelli was elected to Congress. Torricelli quickly received notoriety because of his championing of conspiracy theories about the Central Intelligence Agency; in 1995 Torricelli claimed the CIA was involved in a conspiracy to cover-up the actions of an alleged asset in Guatemala accused of complicity in two murders; in 1996 Torricelli claimed the CIA was conspiring against him by offering assistance to his Republican opponent in their U. S. Senate race.

The first investigation of Torricelli was launched not by the FBI but rather a public interest watchdog group, Common Cause. In 1990 Common Cause released a report on ‘Torricelli PAC,’ a Political Action Committee set up by Torricelli in New Jersey. The Common Cause report detailed how Torricelli spent $147,000 of ‘Torricelli PAC’ funds during 1987-1990 on such items as speeding tickets of his Aides, dues for Torricelli’s private Club, The Harvard Club, meals in fancy restaurants, overseas trips, gifts for friends from upscale Department Stores, and over $1,300 in florists bills. The contributor listed who gave the most money to ‘Torricelli PAC’ was a businessman with a controversial background, Grover Connell, who gave Torricelli $35,000.

Grover Connell is a multi-millionaire with business interests in agricultural commodities and real estate who has donated millions of dollars to politicians during the last four decades. In 1978 Connell was indicted by the Feds for his role in the infamous "Koreagate" scandal in which several members of Congress were caught on videotape accepting bribes from Korean officials. Charges against Connell were eventually dropped.

A loan to Torricelli by Connell of $100,000 in 1992 would lead to the first of many investigations of Torricelli, according to a report by John Solomon of the Associated Press. Torricelli used the money to invest in a new financial institution owned by friends, First Savings Bank. The loan was unsecured, meaning Torricelli would not have to pay it back if he defaulted. This deal between friends gave the Congressman a quick profit of $144,000.

Concerned that Torricelli may have broken Federal laws in the Connell/First Bank deal, FBI agents in New Jersey began an investigation, eventually questioning Torricelli Under Oath in 1995. However, as reported by the Associated Press, officials in the U. S. Attorney’s office in Newark turned down several FBI subpoena requests for documents, which the agents perceived to be stonewalling by that office to the benefit of Torricelli. The U. S. Attorney in Newark, Faith Hochberg would later recuse herself from the investigation once she was nominated as a Federal Judge, a position Torricelli lobbied for her to receive, and the case was assigned to her Deputy Robert Cleary. Torricelli later used his political influence to lobby for the promotion of Cleary as U. S. Attorney. Frustrated FBI agents then took the unusual step of turning over evidence from their stymied probe to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducts investigations into the nominations of Judges and U. S. Attorneys.

In 1995 Torricelli began his campaign for a seat in the U. S. Senate, waging a bitter and controversial contest against his opponent while utilizing a variety of fundraisers of various backgrounds to assemble his war chest. One fundraiser for the Torricelli Senate campaign was the $2,000 a plate event held at the home of convicted felon Francis Walsh, owner of Walsh Trucking Company. In 1988 Walsh was indicted in a landmark prosecution of the Teamsters Union and the Genovese Mafia Family. The indictments listed a veritable "Who’s Who" of mobsters, including Genovese Family Godfather "Fat Tony" Salerno, capo "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, Vincent "Fish" Cafaro, James "The Little Guy" Ida, and Teamsters officials Tony Provenzano and Stephen Andretta. Provenzano has been identified by the FBI as the person responsible for the abduction and murder of former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.

In 1996 Torricelli was caught on an FBI wiretap soliciting contributions over a telephone at a Florida pizza parlor under surveillance for suspected Mafia ties, the Associated Press’ John Solomon would later report. Among those captured speaking with Torricelli were Francis and Sam Roti, the nephews of Fred Roti, a Chicago politician convicted in 1993 of racketeering, bribery, and extortion with members of the Chicago Mafia Family and the Laborers Union. On the FBI tapes Torricelli asks for $1,000 contributions from the Rotis and their associates and the Rotis then suggest that their native Chicago would be a good place for Torricelli to raise funds, even though Chicago is a thousand miles away from the constituents in New Jersey Torricelli would represent.

Nicolas Castronuovo, the owner of the pizza parlor and his grandson Nicholas Melone later pleaded guilty to evading the government of $100,000 in taxes, according to a Miami Herald-Tribune report. Sam Roti was indicted in 1993 on Federal tax charges, which were later dropped, according to an ABC News report.

Two years after this tapped pizza parlor conversation, a Federal Task Force investigating Torricelli and his finances was ready to announce the first of several indictments of individuals involved in Torricelli’s campaign finances. Those eventually indicted for these crimes were:

1. Mario Crespo, indicted on charges alleging conspiracy, mail fraud, tax evasion, false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and illegal contributions to several Democratic campaigns. By that time Crespo had fled to his native Philippines, where, with the help of President Joseph Estrada, he was elected to that country’s House of Representatives.;
2. Lawyer Berek Don, a top Republican leader in New Jersey political circles admitted he laundered through the Torricelli campaign $11,000 given to him by his associate David Chang. Don also pleaded guilty to Federal charges of defrauding two real estate partners of over $100,000;
3. Don’s partner in his law firm, Carmine Alampi, who pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions;
4. South Korean national Cha-Kuek Koo, who pleaded guilty to contributing $20,000 in the names of other people to the Torricelli campaign. These funds were then reimbursed by David Chang, a businessman born in Communist China who has a history of financial dealings with the Communist North Korean regime;
5. Audrey Yu, a co-defendant of David Chang, pleaded guilty to lying to a Grand Jury about her knowledge of destruction of documents relating to charter flights arranged for Torricelli’s campaign trips by Chang;
6. In June 2000 the Bergen Record reported that David Chang had pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired with others to make illegal donations of over $50,000 to the 1996 Torricelli campaign, as well as Obstruction of Justice charges and Solicitation of Perjury before a Grand Jury.

After Chang pleaded guilty, the foreign money manipulator made a series of startling allegations regarding Torricelli, including his claim that Torricelli advised him to flee America to escape prosecution once the Federal investigations had started. In addition to the thousands of dollars of contributions, the New York Times reported that Chang told investigators he gave Torricelli an $8,000 Rolex watch, 10 Italian made suits worth thousands of dollars, and other gifts of cash and goods. Torricelli angrily denied Chang’s allegations.

When Chang was sentenced to prison, documents became public which alleged that in January, 2001, Torricelli and another man followed Chang into a 7-11 convenience store in Ft. Lee, New Jersey in an apparent attempt to threaten Chang into not co-operating with the on-going Federal investigation of Torricelli’s fund raising ventures. Chang averted the confrontation by slipping out the back door of the store. The next day agents of the FBI confiscated the store’s surveillance videotape which reportedly shows Chang followed into the store by Torricelli and his associate. To date, the mystery man who accompanied Torricelli has only been described in Media reports as a contractor in the waste disposal industry.

In April 2001 agents of the U. S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan searched Senator Torricelli’s home in New Jersey. Torricelli admitted in a television interview that his attorneys personally escorted the agents through his home to assure them that there were no documents or items in his residence of interest to their investigation.

In response to the growing investigations of Torricelli campaign financiers, Torricelli founded in 2000 a separate Legal Defense Fund. One of the first controversial associates of Torricelli to donate money to this fund was Charles Kushner, whom, with 3 relatives, each contributed $10,000. Grover Connell also donated the maximum $10,000 to Torricelli’s defense fund.

According to Federal Election Commission documents, waste management contractors Frank and Peter DiTommaso also contributed $10,000 to this fund. Their gift is even more generous given the statement issued by a spokesperson for the Senator, who alleged Torricelli does not even know these two men. At the time of the donations, the DiTommaso brothers, owners of Interstate Industrial Corporation, were the subjects of a Federal, New York City, and New Jersey Casino Control Commission investigation into allegations of ties to the American Mafia.

The Federal investigation of the DiTommaso brothers concerned their purchase of a Staten Island waste disposal station controlled by Edward Garafola, who is married to the sister of former Gambino Family Underboss Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. Garafola was indicted in March 2000 along with Lawrence Ray, an executive of the DiTommaso brothers’ Interstate Industrial Corporation, and Daniel Persico, nephew of Colombo Family Godfather Carmine "The Snake" Persico, on Federal charges involving a $40 million stock ‘pump and dump’ scam. Interstate Industrial Corporation was also denied a contract by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 2000 to perform work on an Atlantic City gambling casino.

The Washington Post would later report that Torricelli had spent an incredible $1.5 million on lawyers defending him in the various investigations, despite the fact that the Senator had not yet been charged with a crime. In the end, Senator Torricelli was not charged with a crime, but resigned from his bid for re-election after his poll numbers plummeted as a result of the intense Media scrutiny of his finances. Some of the information that negatively impacted on Torricelli was first widely reported by AmericanMafia.com.

As Robert Torricelli’s political career was eclipsing, James McGreevey’s star was rising. McGreevey was born in Jersey City in 1957. McGreevey earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University, a law degree from Georgetown University, and a Master’s Degree from Harvard. The New Jersey native was elected Mayor of Woodbridge in 1991 and served in the State Assembly in 1990-91 and the State Senate from 1994-1997.

In the year 2000, Mayor McGreevey was among a delegation of New Jersey officials who made a pilgrimage to Israel. It was there that McGreevey met Golan Cipel, a former Israeli Naval Officer. Cipel knew the New York-New Jersey area well, having graduated from the New York Institute of Technology and having worked as a spokesperson for the Israeli Consulate in New York.

McGreevey’s top fundraiser Charles Kushner then sponsored Cipel for a temporary Work Visa and gave Cipel a job as a public relations consultant. Cipel worked as a campaign advisor to McGreevey during the Mayor’s successful bid to win the Governor’s position during the elections of 1991. Once Governor, McGreevey attempted to name Cipel as the Director for Homeland Security for the State at a taxpayer-funded salary of $110,000 a year. State Republicans balked, noting that Cipel was not qualified for this sensitive position. The FBI then refused to give Cipel a security clearance, noting that he was a foreign national.

Newly elected Governor McGreevey also appointed Charles Kushner to the Board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that conceived and built the World Trade Center. McGreevey then lobbied to have Kushner named Chairman of the agency. Once again, Republican lawmakers both in New Jersey and Washington stopped the Governor from this clear act of patronage.

The Kushner nomination by McGreevey was just one of many actions taken by the Governor early on in his Administration that attracted the attention of his political rivals, as well as members of the Media and law enforcement. By the start of the Summer of 2004, the results of McGreevey’s machinations had coalesced into events that would quickly lead to his downfall .

On June 16, 2004 Federal authorities in Manhattan indicted Gary Taffet on numerous charges of Insider trading. Taffet was McGreevey’s former Chief of Staff.

On July 7, McGreevey fundraiser David D’Amiano was indicted on extortion charges, alleging he demanded money from a New Jersey farmer in exchange for a promise to obtain a favorable deal for the sale of the farmer’s land to a State-funded farmland preservation program. Governor McGreevey admitted to the Media that he was the "State Official 1" referred to in the indictment. McGreevey admitted to using the word "Machiavelli" in a conversation with the farmer, but claimed it was just a literary reference and not the ‘code word’ "Machiavelli" D’Amiano had said would signal a government official’s participation in the extortion plot.

The Governor has claimed he was simply referring to the best-seller "The Prince" written by Niccolo Machiavelli in the 16th Century. This book is considered a classic treatise on the ruthless, cold-blooded tactics politicians must resort to in order to deceive and manipulate their constituents in order to maintain power over them.

On July 13, 2004 Charles Kushner was indicted by the Feds in Newark on charges that he violated campaign finance laws. Kushner was also charged with obtaining the services of a prostitute who was videotaped having sex with the husband of Kushner’s sister. Kushner then had the videotape sent to his sister in an attempt to blackmail his sibling and her husband from testifying against Kushner before a Federal Grand Jury investigating his illegal campaign contributions.

Kushner then hired famed attorney Benjamin Brafman to fight the charges, which Brafman categorically denied to the Media were true. Brafman is renown for his defense of Sammy the Bull Gravano, Vincent Gigante, and many other members of the American Mafia.

On August 12 Governor McGreevey stunned a nationwide television audience when he announced he was gay and would resign from office. The Media quickly identified Golan Cipel as the man McGreevey claimed he had an affair with. McGreevey officials were also quick to accuse Cipel of trying to blackmail the Governor. Cipel then fled to Israel and denied he was gay and tried to portray himself as someone who had been sexually harassed by Governor McGreevey.

Law enforcement sources then told the Media that the FBI was investigating the blackmail charges. Then, came further details of the story that caught the interest of the national Media. At first, attorneys for Cipel were alleged to have demanded millions of dollars from McGreevey in exchange for his not filing a sexual harassment lawsuit. Then, just hours before McGreevey called his press conference, Cipel’s demands allegedly included help by the Governor in allowing Touro College to build a campus in New Jersey. Among the members of the Board of this Medical institute are Charles Kushner, with Robert Torricelli having been hired by the College to lobby on their behalf. An associate of Torricelli involved in the lobbying effort told the Media that neither he nor Torricelli had met with or spoken to Cipel.

Only 6 days after Governor McGreevey’s stunning announcement, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to the campaign finance violations and blackmail charges involving his sister and her husband.

The New York Post reported on August 25 that Federal investigators do not expect to charge anyone with attempting to extort Governor McGreevey. State charges reportedly could be forwarded to officials in regards to official acts taken by Governor McGreevey in regards to his hiring practices of Cipel.

Re: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1582049/posts?page=5#5

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1561650/posts

Mr. Cleanface’s Dirty Laundry: Harry Reid’s Mob Money

>>>--Joseph Alioto, a San Francisco politician related to Milwaukee Mafia boss John Alioto; alleged by informer Jimmy “the Weasel” Fratianno to be associated with San Diego Mafia boss Frank “the Bomp” Bompensiero, a charge Alioto denied; implicated in the Koreagate Congressional bribe scandal.<<<

ping

good example of SLIME

First of all. NJ is corrupt. EVERY institution is riddled with corrupt officials and none dare disagree. The Sopranos rule here.

Noticed that last week Corslime announced that he was interested in revisiting the Tuoro College issue.

Good! That is the third time I've noticed a type of positive flip flop with him.

Maybe there are some real, not horse and pony shows, investigations going on and maybe Corzine knows he has to pull some real weight vs. rewarding his contributors.

Did you see what OldFriend posted?

Do you know Touro has a 124-acre site in Rishon Lezion?

Yeah, I knew from a previous post.

BTW, Touro has "campuses" in Russia as well.

A FReeper had first hand experience with Touro---child studied there---says it's the most corrupt institution.

NJ medical school, my Aunt Tilly. They want to get their filthy hands on billions of Medicare/Aid monies.

It was all downhill from here:

On August 12 Governor McGreevey stunned a nationwide television audience when he announced he was gay and would resign from office. The Media quickly identified Golan Cipel as the man McGreevey claimed he had an affair with. McGreevey officials were also quick to accuse Cipel of trying to blackmail the Governor. Cipel then fled to Israel and denied he was gay and tried to portray himself as someone who had been sexually harassed by Governor McGreevey.

Law enforcement sources then told the Media that the FBI was investigating the blackmail charges. Then, came further details of the story that caught the interest of the national Media. At first, attorneys for Cipel were alleged to have demanded millions of dollars from McGreevey in exchange for his not filing a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Then, just hours before McGreevey called his press conference, Cipel’s demands allegedly included help by the Governor in allowing Touro College to build a campus in New Jersey. Among the members of the Board of this Medical institute are Charles Kushner, with Robert Torricelli having been hired by the College to lobby on their behalf. An associate of Torricelli involved in the lobbying effort told the Media that neither he nor Torricelli had met with or spoken to Cipel.

Only 6 days after Governor McGreevey’s stunning announcement, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to the campaign finance violations and blackmail charges involving his sister and her husband.

The New York Post reported on August 25 that Federal investigators do not expect to charge anyone with attempting to extort Governor McGreevey. State charges reportedly could be forwarded to officials in regards to official acts taken by Governor McGreevey in regards to his hiring practices of Cipel.

Thanks for the ping! Good thread, and nice work putting some pieces together on Koreagate. I'm convinced there is a trail from there, ABSCAM, and other Carter-era scandals to some of the stuff that's coming out now. Even some of the players are the same, as also illustrated by the key role of Tongsun Park in Oil-for-Food.

>>>Tongsun Park

I saw an old archive on this. Did you or Alamo girl write it up?

I've posted on him here and there, but if it's a full-fledged archive you're probably thinking of something Alamo-Girl has on her wonderful website :-)

You are probably right on both. I do cross reference her site.

>>>Tongsun Park

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1563634/posts
Lobbyist indicted over oil-for-food

Thank you both for the encouragement - but alas, Tongsun Park is not on my radar.