As Gov. Tim Walz seeks a promotion to second-in-command of the country, Congress is investigating how he allowed the largest COVID-era scam in the nation to unfold in Minnesota while serving as the head of the state.
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Plagued by Plagiarism Scandal, Harvard’s Political Donations Flood to Democrats
As Harvard faces increasing pressure to fire its embattled president, the university’s insular culture and one-sided politics are under the microscope.
Read the full storyCommentary: What The Washington Post Knew About Watergate and When They Knew It Was the Real Coverup
On the 50th anniversary of the still-fascinating Watergate scandal, the media continues to portray it untruthfully, albeit often unwittingly so, with the focus as always on the unattractive persona of Richard Nixon. But was Nixon—who, to be sure, did commit two relatively minor acts of obstruction—the person most responsible for withholding the true story from our country?
Read the full storyNational School Boards Association Executive Reportedly Knew About Attorney General’s Memorandum Targeting Parents Before It Was Published
A National School Boards Association (NSBA) executive reportedly knew about Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memorandum targeting concerned parents before it was published, according to new information obtained by Parents Defending Education.
Chip Slaven, then-interim executive director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) knew about Garland’s memorandum that called on the FBI to “use its authority” against parents who threaten or use violence against public school officials, according to an email obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE) through a public records request.
“I understand Chip knew about the U.S. AG Directives before they were published,” Alabama NSBA member Pam Doyle told Florida NSBA member Beverly Slough in an Oct. 5, 2021 internal email exchange. “So much for communicating with the BOD,” she added.
Read the full storyCommentary: The DOJ’s Whitmer ‘Kidnapping’ Case Faces Uncertain Future
The U.S. Department of Justice received an unwelcome Christmas gift from defense attorneys representing five men charged with conspiring to “kidnap” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020: a motion to dismiss the case.
The Christmas Day filing is the latest blow to the government’s scandal-ridden prosecution; defense counsel is building a convincing argument that the FBI used undercover agents and informants to entrap their clients in a wide-ranging scheme that resulted in bad press for Donald Trump as early voting was underway in the key swing state last year. What began as random social media chatter to oppose lockdown policies quickly morphed into a dangerous plan to abduct Whitmer as soon as the FBI took over.
A Michigan judge delayed the trial, now set for March 8, so defense attorneys could investigate the misconduct of FBI special agents handling at least a dozen government informants involved in the caper.
Read the full storySticky Baseballs: The Physics of Major League Baseball’s Latest Scandal
Cheating in baseball is as old as the game itself, and pitchers’ modifying the ball’s surface is part of that long history. Adding to the lore of cheating is a new scandal involving pitchers who may be applying sticky substances – what players refer to as “sticky stuff” – to baseballs.
Major League hitters are striking out this season nearly one in every four times they step to the plate, compared with one in six times in 2005.
As a sports physicist and longtime baseball fan, I’ve been intrigued by news reports that applying sticky substances to balls can make pitches spin faster. And if pitchers can throw their fastballs, curveballs and sliders with more spin than in previous years, their pitches will be tougher to hit. How does science explain all this?
Read the full storyLiberty University Hires Outside Firm to Investigate Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Tenure
Liberty University says it is conducting a forensic investigation of Jerry Falwell Jr. a week after he resigned as president.
Falwell resigned last Tuesday after amid conflicting claims about a sexual relationship his wife Becki Falwell had with a business partner, The Associated Press reported. Falwell reportedly participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.
Read the full storyUnsealed Choke Point Documents Show Obama Was Far From Scandal-Free
By Kelsey Harkness In February 2018, Barack Obama infamously claimed his presidential administration was scandal-free. “We didn’t have a scandal that embarrassed us,” Obama said about a year after leaving office, during closed-door remarks leaked to the press. Conservatives, however, often point to Operation Fast and Furious, the Benghazi terrorist attacks, the IRS tea party scandal, and many other embarrassing scandals to debunk this claim. But there’s another scandal that’s seldom mentioned but has ongoing repercussions: Operation Choke Point. The name says it all. The goal of Operation Choke Point, dubbed that and designed by the Justice Department under Obama’s first attorney general, Eric Holder, was to choke out of the banking system entire industries that the Obama administration didn’t like. By weaponizing regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the administration realized it could block entire industries from the banking system. This would make it difficult—if not impossible—for businesses to operate. Gun sellers, small-dollar lenders, and other legal businesses were all targets of the secretive program. Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department said the program was intended to root out fraud by cutting off “high risk” industries from the…
Read the full storyAttorney for Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Asks District Attorney Glenn Funk to Recuse Himself from Investigation of Her Conduct
In a hand-delivered letter to District Attorney Glenn Funk, Jerry Martin – Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s lawyer – asked late Thursday that Funk “revisit the issue of whether you and your office may have a conflict of interest” in the criminal investigation into possible wrongdoing surrounding the embattled Mayor’s two-year extramarital affair with her former bodyguard, retired Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest. A copy of the letter was obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, who report: That request came in a letter hand-delivered to Funk on Thursday. Later that night, Barry questioned Funk’s role in the case, including what she called a politically motivated decision to publicly release a damning TBI affidavit that implied investigators may have nude photos of the mayor. Barry’s attorney, Jerry Martin, wrote in the letter that Funk himself had raised the possibility of a conflict of interest back in early February. “I would respectfully ask you to revisit the issue of whether you and your office may have a conflict of interest,” Martin wrote in the letter obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates. “Understand that I raise this issue not only to ensure that my client gets a fair process but also to ensure that the…
Read the full storyNashville Mayor’s Attorney: TBI Now Has the Passcode for Megan Barry’s Personal Cellphone
Friday morning via a detailed statement released by her lawyer, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s attorney said he shared the passcode to Barry’s personal cell phone – at her direction – with the TBI, fulfilling their request in furtherance of the investigation into possible wrongdoing surrounding the Mayor’s years-long affair with her former security chief, Rob Forrest. “This morning I spoke with TBI Director Mark Gwyn to provide the TBI with the passcode for Mayor Barry’s personal cell phone,” attorney Jerry Martin said in a statement, noting, “This is her personal phone, not her Metro issued phone. I have confidence that Director Gwyn will ensure that the TBI limits its search of her personal phone to only items that are relevant to its investigation.” Martin continued, adding context and narrative to the reportage about the Mayor’s alleged ‘stonewalling’ saying that the “reports that the Mayor has been uncooperative during this process are untrue:” We have provided the TBI with thousands of pages of documents at its request. I would like to set the record straight to clear up any confusion related to the Mayor’s cooperation, especially as it relates to her personal cell phone. On February 15, 2018, I met with District…
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