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The Iranian Web of Influence in the United States   By Hassan Daioleslam FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, April 02, 2008 On March 21, 2008, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced its decision to penalize three Iranian-connected companies as "they knowingly exported three U.S. origin aircraft to Iran in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and are preparing to re-export three additional U.S. origin aircraft to Iran in further violation of the EAR."1The principal firm among these is Balli Group PLC based in London. Iranian brothers Vahid and Hassan Alaghband own the company. Balli owns...

More than 100 members of Congress—past and present—as well as congressional campaign committees and the national parties benefited from political donations from the political action committee or employees of Stanford Financial Group since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm’s head, R. Allen Stanford, on Tuesday with orchestrating a $8 billion fraud. Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal reported on Stanford’s status as an “international cricket sponsor, Washington political donor and private banker to Latin America’s wealthy.” President Barack Obama was the third-ranking recipient among lawmakers, with $31,750 collected from company employees during...

What could the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) possibly have in common? CAIR founders had close ties to Hamas, Palestinian Sunni Islamic extremists. NIAC and its main spokesman, Trita Parsi, have become apologists for the regime in Tehran, which exports a rival Shiite brand of Islamic extremism. Sunnis and Shias. We all know the story. They hate each other worse than Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. Right? Well, no. As I pointed out in Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran, Sunnis and Shias get along just fine when it...

Ayatollahs’ Lobby In Washington Offering Human Rights as a Negotiating Item By Hassan Daioleslam Binding accountability for Iran’s suppression of its population to nuclear issues and Iran’s meddling in Iraq amounts to doing the bidding of the ruling ayatollahs. The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and its president Trita Parsi have organized a panel in the US House of Representatives on July 26th, 2007, titled “Human Rights in Iran and US Foreign Policy Options.”1 According to the published agenda, representatives from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch will participate. The sponsors of the program (NIAC and Trita Parsi) are key...

Iran's Oil Mafia April 16, 2007 Frontpagemagazine.com Hassan Daioleslam Robert William (Bob) Ney is a current federal prisoner and a former Ohio Congressman from 1995 until November 3, 2006. Ney pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff lobbying and bribery scandal. Ney reportedly received bribes from Abramoff, other lobbyists, and two foreign businessmen - a felon and an arms dealer - in exchange for using his position to advance their interests. Conspicuously missing from this dossier of disservice to the country was Ney’s assistance in the creation of a Washington-based lobbying...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2006 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Jack Abramoff, Former Lobbyist – 2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 3. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) 4. Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) 5. Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) 6. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-IL) 7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) 8. Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson (D-LA) 9. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) 10. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) 6 Dishonorable Mentions: 1. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 2....

Seems like just yesterday Republicans were warning Democrats not to count their hicks before they were catched. Democrats said they had a plan to get the guys with the Confederate flags, but Republicans said you can’t con those folks into loving federal overreach. Democrats said they could draw pro-life votes, but Republicans scoffed: “We’re the pros. Get a life!” Democrats said they could attract budget-balancers and Republicans countered: “That is our constituency and you can’t budge it.” Well, bite your tongues, all you RNC guys and gals with the starched collars. Them there rubes done drug you out the door....

WASHINGTON - Republicans decided long ago their party won't pay a significant price at the polls for the scandal spawned by lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It's a proposition likely to be tested anew in the aftermath of Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record)'s agreement to plead guilty to corruption charges. Within minutes of the disclosure of Ney's signed plea bargain papers on Friday, House Democrats circulated a list meant to suggest guilt by association. It highlighted the names of more than 60 Republican incumbents who have accepted political donations from the six-term lawmaker. "Americans are ready for a new direction...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 — Representative Bob Ney, Republican of Ohio, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges related to his dealings with the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, lawyers and others with knowledge of the investigation said Thursday. A guilty plea would make Mr. Ney, a six-term congressman, the first member of Congress to admit to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers who had been close to the former lobbyist. People with detailed knowledge of the investigation said Mr. Ney had entered an in-patient rehabilitation facility...

The Jack Abramoff scandal that rocked Capitol Hill last winter claimed its second electoral victim as Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney announced Monday he will abandon his re-election race. But as Republicans try to hold onto the seat, questions are arising over the “sore loser” provision in Ohio election law. Ney, a 12-year incumbent, has not been charged. He has been named in several guilty pleas of Abramoff associates and federal officials have told him he is a target of the probe. Last month, Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition director and another Abramoff associate, lost a Republican primary lieutenant...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), enmeshed in a congressional corruption scandal, abruptly abandoned his race for re-election Monday after months of prodding from Republican leaders worried about losing his seat this fall. Ney said in a statement he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and had acted for the sake of his family. "I must think of them first, and I can no longer put them through this ordeal," he said. The six-term lawmaker has long been involved in the influence-peddling investigation spawned by Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and is the second congressman to announce his...

U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, dogged by an influence peddling probe in Washington, will not seek re-election, state Sen. Joy Padgett said early Monday. Ney called Padgett on Saturday and asked the fellow Republican to run in his place, saying that defending himself has been a strain on his family, she said. "It's a very sad time," Padgett said of Ney's decision, first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on its Web site. She said Ney told her, "that there's only so much he can take. He said, 'I have to do this.'" Padgett told The Associated Press she would run for...

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under federal investigation for possible insider trading, will have a nice nest egg to fall back on when he retires from Congress in January, recording income last year of more than $5 million from his largest blind trust. Frist, R-Tenn., is hardly the richest member of the millionaires' club of Congress, but he and numerous other lawmakers whose financial dealings have been questioned were under scrutiny as House and Senate lawmakers disclosed their finances Wednesday. Rep. Alan Mollohan (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., steered millions in federal money to nonprofit groups in his...

WASHINGTON - For the first time since the Abscam scandal a quarter-century ago, multiple lawmakers face criminal and ethics investigations that are tarnishing Congress, already low on public approval. Three separate bribery investigations by the Justice Department were bad enough news for lawmakers. But the woes only increased last week when the House ethics committee broke a 16-month partisan gridlock and announced investigations into the same matters. "We have an entire generation who imagines their member of Congress in an orange jumpsuit," said Paul Light, a New York University professor of public service, referring to the common prison uniform. "It's...

WASHINGTON - In a burst of activity that ended 16 months of inaction, the House ethics committee on Wednesday opened investigations of a Republican and a Democrat who are subjects of federal bribery inquiries. One lawmaker is connected to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, who had strong ties to Abramoff and accepted favors from him, will be investigated along with Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La. A former aide to Ney pleaded guilty last week, admitting he tried to corrupt the congressman. Two businessmen have pleaded guilty to bribing Jefferson. The...

A former chief of staff to Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday in the Jack Abramoff scandal, admitting he participated in a conspiracy to corrupt Ney, his staff, and other members of Congress with trips, free tickets, and meals. Neil Volz, 35, admitted that he engaged in the conspiracy for more than four years, both while he was Ney's chief of staff and after he left to go work with Abramoff.

WASHINGTON - A former congressional chief of staff to Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday in the Jack Abramoff influence peddling scandal, admitting he participated in a conspiracy to corrupt Ney, his staff and other members of Congress with trips, free tickets and meals. Neil Volz, 35, admitted that he engaged in the conspiracy for more than four years, both while he was Ney's chief of staff and after he left to go to work for Abramoff. Volz's admissions during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle are part of a widening influence...

The U.S. senator says he expects such a fallout from the lobbying scandal. WAGONER -- U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn said Friday that he expects six congressmen and a fellow senator to go to jail on corruption charges in the wake of investigations involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others. The Oklahoma Republican declined to name any of the seven, but said, "if you've been keeping up with things, you've got a pretty good idea." Coburn's remarks came during a town hall meeting at the Wagoner Civic Center attended by about 30 people, and were made in relation to his attempts to...

The paper trail seems so obvious it makes you wonder whether anyone ever worried about getting caught. When Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and his wife flew from Houston to a golf resort in Scotland in June 2000, the first-class airfare cost $14,001, a big-ticket item for a public servant. But someone else paid. The American Express bills of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January, show he footed the bill for the tickets, in an apparent violation of House ethics rules. "The source of the travel expenses may not be ... a registered lobbyist," according to...

WASHINGTON -- National Democrats failed three times to recruit experienced elected officials to run against the Ohio Republican at the center of a lobbying scandal, leaving them with lesser-known contenders in a race they've been touting for months. Three men with more experience in countywide elected office and greater name recognition than the four Democrats who are running turned down offers by the party's national House campaign organization last year to challenge GOP Rep. Bob Ney. Ney is a top target for Democrats in the 2006 elections because of his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. When Abramoff pleaded guilty...

Writing in Roll Call, Stuart Rothenberg gives us his top ten list of most endangered House incumbents. All but one are Republicans. Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) Rep. Mike Sodrel (R-IN) Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) He says it was a tough list to compile. "Many of the incumbents on this list have proven their political mettle before, and in normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be in all that much trouble. Others find themselves in...

Embattled Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) said Thursday he will run for re-election even if he is indicted for his connections to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The sudden news that Rep. Bob Ney (R.-Ohio) would relinquish his chairmanship of the powerful House Administration Committee during the probe into his ties with disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff did not cause too many tears among conservatives. Although Ney had voted a generally conservative line during his nearly twelve years in Congress (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 92%), the Buckeye State lawmaker has cast several key votes in opposition to most conservatives among House GOPers; Ney, for example, has consistently supported increases in the minimum wage and last year, signed a letter with a group of Republican House Members...

U.S. Representative Bob Ney may be giving up his position. A spokesman for Ney says he will temporarily step aside as chairman of a committee that oversees lobbying. The Ohio Republican is at the center of the Justice Department's ongoing corruption probe. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff said in his guilty plea earlier this month that he bribed Ney on behalf of his clients. A spokesman says Ney needs a few days to think about whether to give up his post on the House Adminstration Committee.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), an Ohio Republican implicated in a lobbying corruption investigation, said Sunday he will step aside temporarily as chairman of the House Administration Committee. "Unfortunately it has become clear to me in recent days that the false allegations made against me have become a distraction to the important work of the House Republican Conference and the important work that remains ahead for the House Administration Committee," Ney said in a written statement. That was a reference to a scramble by Republicans in the House and Senate to come up with a new...

Well, it is official. The Republican Party is now run by wimps! Fox News Channel has just flashed an alert. Congressman Ney is temporarily stepping down from his House Admin seat because of the Abramoff issue. Another Republican thrown to the wolves, even though he has been found guilty of nothing. It is an amazing difference. Democrats close ranks and circle the wagons when one of their's is in media heat. Republicans cave like a House of cards and throw their own to the sharks. All of this, while NOT ONE Democrat has been attacked for their links to Abramoff....

-- Republican Bob Ney is in talks to quit a key committee chairmanship, which would make him the 2nd casualty of the Abramoff scandal. Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com and watch FREE video, plus live, commercial-free video with CNN Pipeline. More Americans watch CNN. More Americans trust CNN.

Up to a half dozen people, including two members of Congress, could face charges after high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff's plea deal with the Justice Department, sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN. Abramoff has been cooperating with Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents for several months in their investigation of his dealings, including his allegations of exchanging gifts for political favors. Authorities have focused on about 20 people who possibly committed wrongful acts, government sources have previously told CNN. The number is a moving target as new information comes in. Sources with knowledge of the investigation say at least...

Former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s guilty plea yesterday 01/03 could spell doom for Rep. Bob Ney (R-Bellaire). According to the LA Times, the unnamed federal lawmaker in court documents who exchanged legislative favors in Abramoff’s behalf for gifts from Abramoff is Bob Ney. But Ney has contiuned to deny any wrongdoing or even acknowledging being aware of Abramoff’s illegal actions. But Abramoff’s guilty plea could mean his eventual cooperation with federal investigators and an indictment of Bob Ney.

Gambling doesn't destroy people. People destroy people. The gentleman or gentlewoman who decides to gamble makes that decision of his own free will. It's a free market industry, and that appeals to conservatives. --Michael Scanlon AT ABOUT 8 p.m. on the night of September 26, a homicide detective with the Ft. Lauderdale police department entered the home of Anthony Moscatiello in the Howard Beach section of Queens, New York. Once inside, he placed the 67-year-old "caterer," aka "Big Tony," under arrest. Around 11 p.m., a thousand miles away in North Miami Beach, police stormed the condominium where Anthony Ferrari lived...

Ohio GOP Continues Downward Slide by John Gizzi Posted Aug 26, 2005 As scandals continue to swirl around Ohio Republicans, chances are increasing that next year Democrats will capture the governorship, a Senate seat, and at least one seat in the U.S. House. Republican Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest this week to four misdemeanor charges that he failed to disclose, as legally mandated, 52 gifts of golf outings, meals and hockey tickets. Taft could have been sentenced to two years in jail, but a judge let him off with a $4,000 fine. Taft’s crimes, however, are sure to haunt...

House Democrats said Tuesday that they would run newspaper advertisements this week criticizing the ethics of six House Republicans, including Representative Randy Cunningham of California, who is under investigation by a grand jury looking into his ties with a military contractor.... Mr. Wade paid $1,675,000 for the house and sold it nearly a year later for $975,000, for a loss of $700,000 in one of the hottest housing markets. Mr. Cunningham said he "showed poor judgment" in selling his house to a friend who did business with the government. Moreover, he said, "I showed poor judgment in not listing the...

COLUMBUS, OH – U.S. Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) today issued the following statement: "Access to quality health care and the growth of small businesses are two of the most important issues facing Ross County and the state of Ohio today. Yet, time and again, John Kerry and John Edwards have opposed common-sense health care reforms designed to provide greater access for rural communities and instead, supported their trial lawyer friends and the junk lawsuits that are overwhelming America's courts. Time and again, John Kerry and John Edwards have supported, and continue to support, higher taxes and increased regulations on small...

The Iran Connection By Richard Leiby Thursday, January 29, 2004; Page C03 Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who helped put "Freedom Fries" on House restaurant menus in the run-up to the Iraq war, is championing a new patriotic cause. He wants Fox News to fess up about the controversial past of one of its commentators on Middle Eastern affairs. In a letter last week to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Ney identified Alireza Jafarzadeh as the head of an Iranian exile group that the U.S. government lists as a terrorist organization. It's a Marxist Islamic outfit called the Mujaheddin el-Khalq, once allied...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 — House and Senate negotiators said today that efforts to pass a bill that would clean up the nation's voting procedures were falling apart as partisan disagreements grew with the approach of the fall elections. Large bipartisan majorities of the House and the Senate voted for different versions of the legislation, intended to prevent ballot disputes like those that bedeviled the 2000 presidential election. Among other things, the bills would provide money to help states buy new voting machines. Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, an architect of the Senate measure, said the outlook for enactment...