Free Republic

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez interceded on behalf of an Ecuadorian woman who was banned from traveling to the U.S. because of allegations she had engaged in visa fraud. The woman, Estafania Isaias, is the daughter of a fugitive from Ecuador convicted in absentia for bank fraud and whose relatives in Florida made significant campaign donations to the New Jersey Democrat's 2012 campaign and the Democratic Party. Current and former U.S. government officials tell NBC 4 New York that Estefania Isaias was barred from traveling to the U.S. in 2007 because she allegedly lied on visa applications to bring immigrant...

If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism? President Obama just did. On Dec. 9, Obama nominated Mari Del Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, despite the fact that in the late 1990s, the FBI discovered that she was working with Cuban intelligence officers. According to Insight Magazine, "When the FBI eventually questioned her about her involvement with Cuban intelligence, she reportedly refused to cooperate." Why would Aponte escape the Obama administration's scrutiny?...

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2004 1:09 p.m. EDT Billionaires Secretly Met in Aspen to Defeat Bush In the days following the Democratic National Convention in Boston this past August, several billionaire Democratic activists secretly met at the famed Aspen Institute in Colorado. The purpose of their clandestine meeting was "to use their fortunes to engineer the defeat of President George W. Bush," The New Yorker magazine reports in its most recent edition. Details of the meeting remain sketchy, but the magazine described the Aspen conference this way: "Five billionaires joined half a dozen liberal leaders in a lengthy conversation about the...

NBC-owned television stations in cities across the nation just teamed up with a nonprofit “journalism” group funded by a billionaire husband and wife team who not only spent millions campaigning for President Obama but also topped donor lists to groups like ACORN and MoveOn.org. The nonprofit, ProPublica, will contribute to the news operations of all NBC owned-and-operated stations, including those in such cities as Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, the network announced Monday. The NBC affiliates will get early access to investigative reports from ProPublica, which describes itself as an “independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public...

Bank of America has agreed to pay Freddie Mac $404 million in a mortgage settlement over 716,000 loans, many purchased from Countrywide. This is one of many lawsuits by the Federal government over Countrywide and related mortgages. One wonders when the litigation will end. Here is the thing. These suits are largely about representations and warranties between the loan seller and the loan purchaser concerning underwriting standards. The reps and warranties provide relief to the loan purchaser if the underwriting of the loans by the loan seller proves to be misleading or false. But there is another issue called causality....

ProPublica on Monday reported that the same IRS division that targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny during the 2012 election cycle provided the investigative-reporting organization with confidential applications for tax-exempt status. That revelation contradicts previous statements from the agency and may represent a violation of federal guidelines. Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS sector that reviews tax-exemption applications, told a congressional oversight committee in April 2012 that IRS code prohibited the agency from providing information about groups that had not yet been approved. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Jim Jordan...

A vast reservoir of clean-burning natural gas could be available at reasonable cost in the coming years, freeing us from some of our dependence on imported energy. Yet there are those who consider such a development a threat. A small group of billionaires (and mere multimillionaires), formed under the aegis of the Democracy Alliance, has amassed a great deal of political influence in America on behalf of the Democratic Party and Democratic politicians. Among the more important members of this "club" are George Soros and his liberal allies, Herbert and Marion Sandler. The latter two are billionaire beneficiaries of the...

Press Releases Media Contact:   Mark Folk (704) 383-7088 October 20, 1997First Union Capital Markets Corp., Bear, Stearns & Co. Price Securities Offering Backed By Affordable Mortgages Unique Transaction To Benefit Underserved Housing Market CHARLOTTE - First Union Capital Markets Corp. and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. have priced a $384.6 million offering of securities backed by Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans - marking the industry's first public securitization of CRA loans. The affordable mortgages were originated or acquired by First Union Corporation and subsidiaries. Customers will experience no impact - they will continue to make payments to and be...

<p>The punishment regime imposed on Cyprus is a trick against everybody involved in this squalid saga, against the Cypriot people and the German people, against savers and creditors. All are being deceived.</p>

Bicycles instead of cars? Dense apartment clusters instead of single homes? Community rituals instead of churches? "Human rights" instead of religious freedom? The UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which met June 3-14 [1996]in Istanbul, painted an alarming picture of the 21st century community. The American ways-free speech, individualism, travel, and Christianity-are out. A new set of economic, environmental, and social guidelines are in. Citizenship, democracy, and education have been redefined. Handpicked civil leaders will implement UN "laws", bypassing state and national representatives to work directly with the UN. And politically correct "tolerance"-meaning "the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism"...

‘Fast and Furious’ Linked to Immunity Deal Between U.S. and Sinaloa Cartel, Trafficking Defendant Alleges in Court PapersA Mexican drug trafficker awaiting trial in a Chicago federal court claims that the notorious Sinaloa cartel received weapons from "Operation Fast and Furious" under an alleged immunity agreement that the U.S. government made with cartel leaders, in exchange for information on rival gangs.The defendant in a trafficking case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Vicente Jesus Zambada-Niebla, also claims the immunity deal allowed the criminal cartel to "continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs" into the United...

Anyone else get a check from the pick-a-payment settlement administrator on some class action lawsuit? I did not even know there was a lawsuit going on and yet is says I have no further right to sue Wells Fargo or Wachovia. I know we have laws in this country where two parties cannot contract with each other burdening or charging a third party they are not aware of.

Wachovia apparently funneled enormous amounts of drug money form Mexico. Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

On 10 April 2006, a DC-9 jet landed in the port city of Ciudad del Carmen, on the Gulf of Mexico, as the sun was setting. Mexican soldiers, waiting to intercept it, found 128 cases packed with 5.7 tons of cocaine, valued at $100m. But something else – more important and far-reaching – was discovered in the paper trail behind the purchase of the plane by the Sinaloa narco-trafficking cartel. During a 22-month investigation by agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and others, it emerged that the cocaine smugglers had bought the plane with money...

Bank policy: No Christmas trees ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Wachovia Bank won't be putting up Christmas trees in their banks this Christmas. FOX 35 news received a call from someone upset after hearing about this policy and we went to check it out. Customer Wilhelmina Cox says, "To be honest with you, that kinda offends me. I might think about changing banks." We asked Wachovia's corporate office for a statement on why no trees. They sent us this statement, "At Wachovia, we respect the diversity of our customers and team members therefore we are decorating our stores with...

Dear FReepers, Many posts have begun to expose the empire built upon corruption, leftwing politics and destruction of liberal democracies by George Soros. Soros has apparently inspired a company of fellow travellers who's role model for untold wealth mimics the radical behavior of George Soros. Yes, Soros is merely the leading figure among a group of vile, evil fraudsters who work together to ruin and destabilize the political process and inspire violent revolutions. In short, Soros and his radical extremists love playing God with the lives of everyday Americans.

Financial Crisis Commission Examining WachoviaSeptember 1, 2010 Rick Rothacker The panel investigating the U.S. financial meltdown will put Charlotte's Wachovia Corp. under the microscope on Wednesday. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Monday said former Wachovia chief executive Bob Steel will be one of the witnesses at a hearing in Washington. He will be joined by Scott Alvarez, the Federal Reserve System's general counsel, and John Corston, acting deputy director of supervision and consumer protection at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. CEO Dick Fuld is slated to testify in an afternoon session. Federal Reserve Chairman...

Catasauqua loses last bankThe Wachovia branch, a borough landmark structure, closes its doors. By Devon Lash, OF THE MORNING CALL 6:42 p.m. EDT, August 10, 2010 After emptying its vault, boarding up its ATM, and sealing its deposit drop box, the last bank in Catasauqua closed its doors for good on Tuesday afternoon. And a landmark building that had housed a bank for more than 100 years, was vacant for the first time in its history. The Wachovia branch at Second and Bridge streets wasn't seeing enough business to justify keeping it open, corporate spokeswoman Barbara Nate said. The accounts...

If you or I was involved in drug laundering of as little as 2 dollars and fifty cents we would be in prison. Wachovia bank, now part of Wells Fargo via a merger, has laundered countless sums of Mexican cartel drug money and will get off with a slap of the wrist. The reason ...Wells Fargo is too big to fail. Please consider Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal Just before sunset on April 10, 2006, a DC-9 jet landed at the international airport in the port city of Ciudad del Carmen, 500 miles east of Mexico...

Called Wachovia early this morning to reorder checks. In the process, I must have hit a button I wasn't supposed to. The next thing I hear is a recording. "As of November First, all emergency procedures will be in place, and all Wachovia personnel should stay with their families. If you have any questions, please contact your Sector Supervisor." Now, I'm not a nut, but the next thing I know an operator came on the line and asked me, by name what they could help me with. Got me looking over my shoulder, and I don't have nerves, just nerve.