Free Republic

Democrats who now run Capitol Hill have come under fire from government watchdog groups and the issue involves one as old as politics itself – pay to play. A now defunct Washington, D.C., lobbying firm called The PMA Group is at the heart of what could be the Beltway’s next big money scandal. The FBI is looking into allegations that several lawmakers gave lucrative defense contracts to their campaign contributors. The three principle targets of this federal investigation are Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Peter Visclosky of Indiana and Jim Moran of Virginia. Investigators want to know for whose...

In a rare gesture, House intelligence committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes sent a letter this week to all CIA employees suggesting that Congress shared some blame for the CIA interrogation controversy and should play a more robust role in the intelligence policymaking process. The letter, which was sent Wednesday and made available to The Washington Times on Thursday, appeared to undercut remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that there was little Congress could do about harsh interrogations, including waterboarding. The Times reported last month that members of Congress, including Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, had been briefed on numerous occasions about the...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has had a bad week. Caught between her own involvement in the CIA interrogations now condemned as torture and her party’s inquisitions, Pelosi floundered. Her fear and frustration have apparently given way to panic after word reached her of the CIA’s reaction to the damage she, President Obama and other Democrats have done to the spy agency in the last three months. Pelosi -- as I wrote earlier in the week -- was one of the few members of Congress briefed in detail on the harsh interrogation methods and who could have stopped them but didn’t....

Teens held in rape of 89-year-old woman PORT RICHEY -- Two teens charged with beating and raping an 89-year-old woman and then trying to smother her with a pillow are being held without bail in the Pasco County Juvenile Detention Center. Carlos Fernandez, 15, of 7151 Tudor Lane in Port Richey, and Luis Reyes Jr., 14, of 11230 Areca Drive in Port Richey, face charges of burglary to a residence, grand theft auto, attempted first-degree murder and sexual battery. Pasco Sheriff Bob White has recommended they be charged as adults, though the final decision lies with prosecutors. The Sheriff's Office...

HP-1353 "Treasury Designates Additional FARC International Commission Members" SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated three international representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization. The OFAC action was taken pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), which applies financial sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and organizations, like the FARC. "Today's action exposes three additional members of the FARC's International Commission," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of OFAC. "The FARC is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine and continues to be...

After pursuit in Santa Rosa, 7 men arrested on weapons charges, 1 held for drugs Seven men carrying an illegal arsenal of assault weapons and an eighth man suspected of selling marijuana were arrested in Santa Rosa early Tuesday. Officials said the arrests were made just in time. "We believe they were going to commit a crime out of the county," said Lt. Tim Duke with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department. "A crime was stopped." Deputies received an anonymous tip just after midnight Monday that a Chevy Tahoe SUV and a pickup with multiple passengers who had illegal assault weapons...

U.S. authorities helped facilitate a $32,000 ransom payment in Mexico for a relative of a U.S. congressman who was kidnapped last week by gunmen in Ciudad Juarez..... Erika Posselt, a Mexican national described only as "a relative of the wife" of Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrat and powerful chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was abducted June 19 ......in Juarez. Held for three days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents - at Mr. Reyes' request - helped arrange her safe return. ........ the kidnappers negotiated with Mrs. Posselt's brother in Juarez and agreed to release her...

The bloodshed in Ciudad Juarez being fueled by the drug war must have triggered a major alarm in Washington, D.C., this past weekend when the sister-in-law of a prominent U.S. Congressman was kidnapped while on a shopping excursion in the Mexican border town.

TAMPA — It was Dec. 23, and a Temple Terrace police officer had just pulled Rebecca Reyes over for broken taillights, and all the Playboy model wanted to do was hide her boyfriend's Christmas present before he spotted it. One problem: She got out of her truck and ignored officers' orders to get back in. Then she mouthed off when one of them took hold of her arm. She ended up bruised and facing a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence.

Telephone Call from Chavez to "Reyes" Allowed Colombians to Locate FARC Camp Elpais.com.co-EFE A telephone call that the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, would have made to the guerrilla leader "Raul Reyes,"1 permitted location of the encampment, according to reports from Colombian intelligence, RCN Radio divulged today. The telephone call took place Wednesday the 27th of February, the day in which four Colombian Congressmen (Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Pérez, Orlando Beltrán, Jorge Eduardo Gechem), kidnapped for almost seven years, were liberated.2 "Chavez, emotionally moved by the liberation of the kidnapped prisoners, called Reyes (alias of Luis Edgar Devia) and told...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A single laptop can reveal much, and so it is with the digital treasure chest that Colombian commandos found in the jungle quarters of slain rebel leader Raul Reyes. Files in the computer seized in Saturday's raid into Ecuador that claimed the lives of Reyes and 23 of his comrades offer an intimate portrait of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's desire to undermine Colombia's U.S.-allied government. If authentic, the documents show that sympathies Chavez first aired publicly in January grew out of a relationship that dates back more than a decade. But Chavez is not one of...

Colombia's FARC guerrilla movement was trying to get hold of radioactive material to make a "dirty bomb," Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos said on Tuesday. Santos told the United Nations Conference on Disarmament that materials found on computers of Raul Reyes, the deputy commander of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), showed the group was in negotiations to get hold of radioactive matter for a bomb. (Reuters)

Alcee Hastings out as chair. Harman also out, accordingt to Fox. Second loss for Pelosi.

On Dec. 5, Newsweek magazine touted an interview with then-incoming House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes as an "exclusive." "In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq," the story began, Mr. Reyes "said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a 'stepped up effort to dismantle the militias.' " "We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and stabilize Iraq," the Texas Democrat said to the surprise of many, "I would say 20,000 to 30,000." Then came...

The Ultimate Oxymoron: House Intelligence By James Estrada January 3, 2007 A couple of weeks back Texas Democrat Sylvestre Reyes was appointed to head the House Intelligence Committee by Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi . Reyes was interviewed by a local paper that asked several questions on the make up of Al Qaeda and he missed every one. Once he realized his bad scoring Reyes asked the folks from the paper if they spoke Spanish, citing that his Spanish was better than his English and then in Spanish asked why the paper was asking those questions (1). Reyes was picked over the...

Much as been made of the demonstrated ignorance of Silvestre Reyes, the newly named chair of the House Intelligence Committee. But Reyes is far from alone in failing to have learned the most basic facts of the forces arrayed against us. Reyes' position requires that he provide oversight of our intelligence operations, and those in charge of those operations have demonstrated they know little more than Reyes does:

I'm a little tea pot, short and stout! This is my handle, this is my spout... ***House Chair-To-Be Reyes Fails Pop Quiz A pop quiz about national and international intelligence was given by a reporter with Congressional Quarterly to Rep. Silvestre Reyes, and that reporter said the soon-to-be chair of the House Intelligence Committee quite simply flunked. Tuesday KFOX had a chance to catch up with Reyes, and asked him about the pop quiz. "It's unfortunate that there has been so much attention that has been paid to it," said Reyes, a Democrat representing El Paso. Reyes said he actually...

Hint to reporters whose shtick is exposing the ignorance of government leaders: keep your facts straight yourselves.There's been a rash of stories in recent days about the shocking ignorance of various government officials when it comes to bread 'n butter facts about the war on terror. First there was a report by Lisa Myers of NBC revealing how little some top FBI officials knew about various terrorist groups and leaders.Just in the last couple days, Jeff Stein the National Security Editor at Congressional Quarterly, has been getting a lot of play with his story of similar ignorance on the part...

Monday, December 11, 2006 Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, who incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped to head the Intelligence Committee when the Democrats take over in January, failed a quiz of basic questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah, two of the key terrorist organizations the intelligence community has focused on since the September 11, 2001 attacks. When asked by CQ National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam -- Sunni or Shiite -- Reyes answered...

Reyes appearance on C-Span is very revealing about where he stands and what we can expect as he heads the intel committe in the House.

DHS also says the high-tech answer to border control will take 5 years to build WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's plan to build a high-tech ''virtual fence" along the Southwest border will require nearly $8 billion and five years to complete, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. The report, demanded by Congress, provided the most detailed timeline and cost estimate yet for completion of a Secure Border Initiative designed to bring the border under operational control by the end of 2011. The Department of Homeland Security concedes that it has effective control of 284 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile...

Remember the pre-election controversy with Curt Weldon (R)? The crushing blow, though, came in October, when news leaked of a federal investigation into whether Weldon used his office to steer business to a firm co-owned by his daughter. Weldon denied wrongdoing, but the damage was done, and Sestak surged to one of the widest victory margins among Democratic freshmen. Alcee Hastings out, Silvestre Reyes, another corrupt Democrat, in: But Reyes has been linked to past controversies. The inspector general of the government's General Services Administration looked into the serious failures of a $239 million network of cameras and sensors along...

Virtual Fence = Virtual Corruption? Speaker Pelosi's post-Hastings fallback choice to head the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, voted against building the 700 mile border fence. He prefers a system of video surveillance cameras, apparently. And gee, it seems that his daughter works for a firm that won a government contract to provide such surveillance services! What's more, according to WaPo's John Mintz (who broke the story) the firm did a really bad job. TPM Muckraker summarizes:

Dec. 5. 2006 - In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the soon-to-be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a stepped up effort to “dismantle the militias.”

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House speaker, sent a strong new signal on Friday that Democrats intend to confront the White House by naming a Texas congressman who opposed the war in Iraq as the next chairman of the House intelligence committee. Mrs. Pelosi chose him over Ms. Harman in part because he has repeatedly taken a more combative stance toward Bush administration policies like the invasion of Iraq, military tribunals for terrorist suspects, and the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program. Mr. Reyes voted against authorizing President Bush to go to war with Iraq, and in June he said...

WASHINGTON - House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has chosen a Border-Patrol-agent-turned-congressman to take over the House Intelligence Committee, according to congressional aides. The two aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they considered it an internal party issue, confirmed that Democratic leaders are contacting congressional and other political officials to tell them Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, will be the new chairman of the committee when Democrats take control in January. By seniority, California Rep. Jane Harman should lead the Intelligence Committee. The senior Democrat on that panel has served on it for eight years. Washington insiders saw Harman as the...

Reyes Testimony Stirs Concern For EP Dems February 8, 2005 -- El Paso County Democrats say they are in disbelief after watching the testimony of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes before the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations. "What he was saying doesn't make any sense," said Carmen Duarte, County Chair for the Democratic Party in El Paso. Duarte says they are concerned Congressman Reyes is downplaying the seriousness of border incursions, including the January 23rd incident in Hudspeth County where Hudspeth Sheriff deputies were at a stand-off with Mexican militants during a drug smuggling operation along the Rio Grande. "He wasn't...

Horry County police said Friday they were looking for a 29-year-old Loris man in connection with an attack on a woman who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and set on fire, according to a news release. The attack occurred earlier this week, police said. The woman remained hospitalized Friday and was being treated for burns, with the most severe injuries to her hands, Horry County police Sgt. Bob Carr said. Police are searching for Fortinato Santos Reyes, who has been charged in an arrest warrant with assault and battery with intent to kill, arson, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct, the release...

The first wave of National Guardsmen head to the U.S.-Mexico border next week. Besides troops, technology is a large part of President George W. Bush's plan to beef up border security. There are plenty of high-tech tools in place now, but do they work? Night vision capability, thousands of motion detectors, and more than 400 cameras line the border, as the federal government increasingly turns to technology for protection. "We are in the process of making our border the most technologically advanced border in the world," Bush said. However, representatives of the Border Patrol Council, the union for border patrol...

Press Release Source: House Committee on Homeland Security Homeland Sub-Chair Rogers: 'Border Surveillance System Does Not Work'Thursday June 16, 1:57 pm ET WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- House Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) delivered the following statement at today's Subcommittee on Management, Integration and Oversight hearing entitled Mismanagement of the Border Surveillance System and Lessons for the New America's Shield Initiative. "We're holding this hearing today to discuss the issue of border patrol surveillance technology."In 1998, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service launched the Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System, known as ISIS. This system was originally designed to detect...

WASHINGTON - A critical network of cameras and sensors installed for the U.S. Border Patrol along the Mexican and Canadian borders has been hobbled for years by defective, poorly installed equipment and by lax oversight by government officials who failed to properly supervise the project's contractor, according to government reports and public and industry officials. The problems with the $239 million Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System, or ISIS, which officials call crucial to defending the country against terrorist infiltration, are under investigation by the inspector general of the General Services Administration. That inquiry, into whether government officials allowed the contractor to...

All three children of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, worked in some capacity for defense contractors that were criticized by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. General Services Administration for installing faulty or incomplete equipment for a border security technology system. International Microwave Corp. and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. — through their political action committees and others — also gave Reyes about $17,000 in campaign contributions during the past five years. Reyes, who was in his El Paso district office Friday, said that while he was a proponent of the border technology system that the General Services...

LAURA Ingraham's long search for love is finally over. The blond conservative pundit is getting married in late May or early June to Washington businessman James V. Reyes. The two met on a blind date last Memorial Day weekend. Reyes "runs the Washington operation of a privately held family business," a friend said, adding that the couple will live in Washington and also have an apartment in New York. Both places will have room for Reyes' two children from a previous marriage.

Virginia Reyes -- the sister of Victor Reyes, Mayor Daley's key political operative -- was on the verge of snagging a contract as a minority-owned business to supply toilets and other plumbing items at O'Hare International Airport. But she had two problems. She needed City Hall to quickly certify her firm, Toltec Construction, as a minority vendor of plumbing supplies. And she needed plumbing supplies.

God Bless Debbie Reyes! LoyalAmerican • September 14, 2003 at 6:07 PM It's about time someone spoke out against this group! I deal with these as-sholes all the time.. Constantly making death threats against my users, in fact, IMHO, it's the preferred method of intimidation on the part of FreeRepublic members. It is real sad that the FBI refuses to so much as deal with Threats in Interstate Communications of terrorist nature from these Radical Right Wing Extremists at FreeRepublic. We have taken to posting all of the personal info we can find on the ones making the threats as...

<p>Human Relations Chief (Debbie Reyes) Draws Fire over 'Hate Group' Comment.</p> <p>Fresno Mayor Alan Autry can't suspend the city's Human Relations Commission, but his administration was still frustrated Monday by the commission chairwoman who labeled a local conservative organization a "hate group."</p>

Man charged in area girls' deaths Ohio child killer suspected in '80s slayings of Christi Meeks, Christie Proctor and Roxann Reyes 05/22/2003 By TIM WYATT and ROY APPLETON / The Dallas Morning News Plano police on Wednesday charged a convicted child killer in Ohio with capital murder in connection with the abduction and slayings of three Dallas-area girls more than 15 years ago. The trail in the strangulation deaths of Christi Lynn Meeks, 5, of Mesquite; Christie Diane Proctor, 9, of Dallas; and Roxann Hope Reyes, 4, of Garland had gone cold. But police revived the cases by bringing three...

<p>Public school districts and state education officials are failing to monitor the academic success and financial health of California's charter schools, state Auditor Elaine Howle said in a report released Thursday.</p> <p>The inch-thick report on the taxpayer-funded alternative schools also found that some public school districts may be collecting fees from charter schools they sponsor without using the money to hire and train staff members to conduct oversight.</p>