Free Republic

---SNIP--- In corrupt and contented Philadelphia, voter fraud is nothing new. In July, the feds charged Michael "Ozzie" Myers, a former U.S. Congressman, with eight counts of bribing a poll worker to stuff the ballot boxes with fraudulent votes for specific candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections. Myers. a blast from Philly's corrupt past, spent three years in prison in the early 1980s after he was convicted of attempting to bribe a phony sheik offering cash in exchange for political favors in the FBI's infamous Abscam investigation. "Money talks in this business and bullshit walks," Myers famously...

With the recent indictment of former Congressman and Abscam figure Michael "Ozzie" Myers for election fraud, the high profile FBI sting from 40 years ago was back in the news. And now eyes turn to former South Dakota Senator Larry Pressler, who is scheduled to be inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame this September. In 2014, Pressler was attempting to return to the Senate after an 18-year absence. Jonathan Ellis was a reporter covering the campaign for the Argus News Leader, the state's largest newspaper in Sioux Falls. I sent Ellis the transcript of the FBI undercover tape...

A former U.S. Congressman was charged Tuesday in an indictment unsealed today, with conspiring to violate voting rights by fraudulently stuffing the ballot boxes for specific candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections, bribery of an election official, falsification of records, voting more than once in federal elections, and obstruction of justice.Michael “Ozzie” Myers, 77, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is charged with conspiring with and bribing the former Judge of Elections for the 39th Ward, 36th Division, Domenick J. Demuro.   Demuro, who pleaded guilty previously in federal court in Philadelphia, was responsible for overseeing the entire election process...

A former congressman convicted in the 1970s Abscam investigation was charged Thursday with new allegations that he bribed a poll worker to stuff ballot boxes in local elections. Federal prosecutors alleged that U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers, now working as a campaign consultant, paid a South Philadelphia judge of elections to fraudulently add votes to candidates who had hired him to represent them in their races between 2014 and 2016 – a process he purportedly described as “ringing up votes.”

A group of former agents has written a letter to FBI Director Comey saying the “future of the bureau” hinges on what happens in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The letter from a group of retired agents in Long Island compares the Clinton email scandal to another famous FBI case known as ABSCAM. ABSCAM involved public corruption of politicians who were filmed taking bribes from a fictitious front company. Fox News published the letter over the weekend. It reads: Dear Director Comey,The Long Island Chapter of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, hereinafter called the Chapter, would...

Former FBI agents who worked the notorious 1970s sting operation known as ABSCAM have written FBI Director James Comey to warn that nothing less than the bureau's "reputation" is on the line as the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices enters a critical phase. The agents, in a March 16 letter obtained by Fox News, offered their support for Comey and the agents working the email case. But the letter cautioned the outcome would have long-lasting implications. "Decisions must be made on facts alone. Much is at stake here -- people's trust in the Bureau for years to come, as...

Every once in a while Hollywood produces a film that is not only well acted but extremely well written. "American Hustle," loosely based on the Abscam sting operation of the 1970s, will certainly be in the running for best picture. Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, again based loosely on con man Melvin Weinberg, who pretends to be a front for a "sheik" (played by Michael Pena---a Hispanic playing an Arab itself is a source of some good lines) to entrap congressmen and other public officials including "Mayor Polito," a friend of Rosenfeld's again based somewhat on Camden mayor Angelo Erricheti....

The U.S. Navy's Name GamePosted by Mark Thompson Sunday January 9, 2011 at 8:30 pm Prospective parents battling over the names of their unborn kids have nothing on the U.S. Navy, which is in the middle of a spat over the wisdom of naming a new ship for the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. In fact, it has kicked off a bigger battle over just who, or what, should be honored with their names on the great gray hulls of the nation's warships. "It comes down to two points," says military historian James Caiella. "Who and what we are as...

How do I feel? Click the Murtha tab to find out - but until then, our friend Phil can pass the good news.The Navy’s 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock will be named for Rep. John Murtha, the long-serving Pennsylvania Democrat who chaired the powerful House appropriations defense subcommittee before he died in February. According to a Navy memorandum obtained by Navy Times, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus notified Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead that he had selected “John P. Murtha” for the previously unnamed LPD 26. It’s the latest example of the Navy breaking a convention for naming...

Del Mar College proved to be an unlikely starting and ending point for an investigation by a citizen investigator and activist that resulted in the downfall of one of the most influential members of the US Congress. In the early 1980s, Congressman John Murtha and fellow house members were accused of participating in a scam, known as the infamous Abscam affair, a sting operation conducted by the FBI in which two FBI agents posed as advisors to a mysterious sheik named “Abdul” who was supposedly seeking asylum in the US. The agents said the sheik was willing to pay large...

November 19, 2009 Politics as Usual? A Glenn Beck case study Today's Show Segment Video-6:15

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS March 31, 2009 – 12:02 a.m. Did Murtha Say What He Meant? By Bill Pascoe, CQ Guest Columnist “If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district.” So said Rep. John P. Murtha , D-Pa., in a weekend interview with a home-state newspaper. What he was trying to convey was that the only thing his critics can complain about is his success in directing federal dollars to his district — if “taking care of” his district is a bad thing, well, then, he’s all for bad things. It’s a classic example of setting up...

Two years after Congressman John Murtha ambushed brother Marines for reportedly slaughtering cowering Iraqi civilians at Haditha, Iraq he is embroiled in another battle--this one for his political life. His unlikely opponent in Pennsylvania's 12th District is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel named William T. Russell, 47, a Desert Storm and Iraq war veteran who is barred by the Hatch Act from stumping until August 1 when his active duty stint ends. A Cinderella candidate running against the tide of Democratic hopefuls elsewhere, Russell is garnering national attention for his improbable early success. Speaking for Russell until he is free...

John Murtha, a fellow Marine, has been hung out to dry by The Washington Post. Deservedly so !

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Murtha predicted Monday that Democrats will not be able to pass any meaningful legislation to end the Iraq war until presidential primary elections are over next year. Murtha, a Vietnam veteran and war critic who chairs the appropriations subcommittee overseeing defense spending, conceded that not as many Republicans had broken with President Bush as many Democrats had predicted. "As soon as the primaries are over, you're going to see Republicans jumping ship," Murtha, D-Pa., said in a speech at the National Press Club. He said it will be difficult to get the 60 votes needed in...

WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania's Rep. John Murtha is still the king of the earmark. The Johnstown Democrat has snagged more than $150 million in pet projects in the massive 2008 defense appropriations bill, putting him ahead of all 434 other House members, according to an analysis this week from Taxpayers for Common Sense, or TCS, a watchdog group. Mr. Murtha's ascent is not surprising. When his party won control of Congress last year, Mr. Murtha, one of the most senior members, again became chairman of the House's powerful panel on defense spending. But Democratic leaders have called for a 50 percent...

I visited John Murtha's Congressional district office in Johnstown yesterday and delivered these emails, as promised, with Darryl Sharrett's on top of the stack. For the benefit of anyone new to this thread: On May 17, 2006, Congressman Murtha said Marines had, "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," in Haditha, Iraq. Darryl Sharratt lives in the district that Congressman Murtha represents. Mr. Sharratt's son, Marine Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, is under investigation for the November 19, 2005, deaths of civilians in Haditha. The investigating officer has strong recommended that the charges against LCpl Sharratt be dismissed. On July 10, 2007,...

Has Murtha no sense of decency? Recently, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, an investigator in the Haditha massacre case, issued a report recommending charges be dropped against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Not long ago, Congressman John P. Murtha locally declared the Marines guilty. This was done shortly after the incident hit the news and was based on the testimony of locals making the charges and before all the facts could be taken into evidence. The report specifically questions their credibility, since forensic results were inconsistent with the execution-style murders the locals claimed. In his abominable, politically motivated actions, Murtha acted as...

Funny how attempts at congressional ethics reform keep running into roadblocks like Rep. Jack Murtha. The Pennsylvania Democrat and chair of the House defense appropriations subcommittee is best known in this context as the man who once called the ethics package "total crap." He represents an economically depressed corner of southwest Pennsylvania whose largest city, Johnstown, has lost 5 percent of its population since 1990. Not even considering the man's unique personal qualities, one senses where this earmark story is headed. "Murtha has almost — but not quite — single-handedly created a new economy in his district," concludes Roll Call...

Pelosi Defends Murtha Vs. GOP Reprimand May 20 10:06 AM US/Eastern WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is defending a close Democratic ally whom Republicans want to reprimand for threatening a GOP lawmaker's spending projects. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she had "no idea what actually happened" during a noisy exchange in the House chamber last week between Reps. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "What I do know is that Congressman Murtha has—enjoys—an excellent reputation in the Congress on both sides of the aisle," said Pelosi in a broadcast interview taped Friday and aired Sunday. "He writes the...