American Police Force

Hardin Official Fights 'Outlandish' APF Rumors

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2009, 5:32PM

A Hardin Montana official is trying to quell rumors that the town is "becoming a police state, having private paramilitary security forces, building gates at the town entrances, taking residents to the detention center that refuse to get swine flu shots, registering your firearms, and blocking off our main street," among other fears.

In a statement, Al Peterson of the city's economic development agency, the Two Rivers Authority (TRA), responds to fears stoked by Hardin's deal with American Police Force, a mysterious private security contractor, to provide prisoners for an empty prison in town.

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Global Warming

Members Revolt Over Chamber's "Extreme" Stance On Global Warming

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2009, 2:17PM

As the Senate gets set to take up climate change legislation, one of the key opponents of serious efforts to stop global warming may find its clout on the issue badly weakened.

That's because in recent weeks, several high-profile members of the Chamber of Commerce have gone public over their disagreement with the group's position, with some leaving the Chamber altogether over the issue.

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Death Penalty

Texas Governor Stymieing Panel Probing Flawed Death Penalty Case?

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2009, 12:35PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

Even by the standards of Texas's enthusiasm for state-sanctioned killing, this is pretty shocking...

A Texas scientific panel has been looking into possible missteps in a criminal investigation of a 1991 arson case which led to the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. A recent New Yorker story about the case laid out compelling evidence that Willingham may well have been wrongly put to death.

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American Police Force

Montana AG Probing American Police Force Deal

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2009, 9:50AM

Could the party be over for American Police Force?

Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is investigating the mysterious security contractor's deal to run an empty jail in the tiny town of Hardin, reports the Billings Gazette. And he doesn't appear to be messing around.

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John Ensign

Flouting Lobbying Ban, Ensign Helped Hampton Clients: Report

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 6:27PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

We knew there was another shoe waiting to drop in the story of Nevada GOP senator John Ensign's affair with a top aide's wife.

And now it's dropped. A lengthy investigation by the New York Times reveals that Ensign was far more involved than previously known in trying to get a job for Doug Hampton -- his mistress's husband -- after the affair had been discovered. And that Ensign then used his influence in government to try to do favors for Doug Hampton's new employers -- apparently in violation of lobbying rules.

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George Will

George Will Bamboozling Again On Global Warming

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 5:01PM

George Will

With efforts to stop climate change back in the news, the Washington Post's George Will has re-started his efforts to bamboozle on the topic.

In a new column, Will denounces the "alarmists" on the issue, and, as if this were 1987, calls for "a national commission appointed to assess the evidence about climate change." Seriously.

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Michael Hilton

"Captain" Michael? APF Official Admits Title Is Bogus

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 3:33PM

Michael Hilton

Earlier we told you about Michael Hilton, the American Police Force official with a lengthy criminal record and a history of alcoholism, who inked a deal to have his mysterious security company take over a Montana jail.

And here's a hilarious little indication of just what kind of a Gatsby-esque character -- to put it very charitably -- Michael Hilton appears to be.

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Al Peterson

Hardin Official On APF Deal: "What Have We Got To Lose?"

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 2:52PM

Michael Hilton

Michael Hilton, the American Police Force official who signed a deal to have APF take charge of a prison in Hardin, Montana, may have a lengthy criminal record and a history of alcoholism -- but everyone deserves a second chance.

That's the charitable view of Al Peterson, the Hardin economic development official involved in striking the deal with Hilton and APF.

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American Police Force

Montana Town Reassures Public On APF: "There Are No Commandos In The Streets"

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 2:13PM

Fear and paranoia are running so high over Hardin, Montana's decision to put a shady private security contractor in charge of a local prison that the town agency behind the deal has posted a message on its website saying that "there are no commandos in the streets," and seeking to knock down other outlandish rumors.

A message on the website of the Two Rivers Authority, Hardin's economic development arm, reads:

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American Police Force

Reporter-Turned-APF-Flack: "I Made A Great Career Choice"

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 12:07PM

Becky Shay

Reporters who go to work in public relations often encounter a bit of skepticism from their former colleagues (see Wolffe, Richard.) But that skepticism may be especially pronounced when the company on whose behalf the former reporter is spinning is a mysterious private security force that has won a contract to take over an empty jail and won't reveal the source of its backing, and whose leader shows up in town wearing a military-style uniform, offering three Mercedes SUVs for use by local law enforcement, and dragging a long criminal record, including jail time for fraud, behind him.

Meet Becky Shay, the American Police Force's new director of public relations. Shay had been a reporter for 20 years, and had been covering the APF story for the Billings Gazette. She filed her last story Thursday night, apparently without telling her editors that she had been in negotiations for a job with the company she was covering. Then she abruptly quit the paper and announced that she had signed on with APF.

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American Police Force

American Police Force Offers Fugitive Tracking, 'Covert Pregnancy Testing' and More!

Rachel Slajda | October 1, 2009, 11:24AM

When reading TPMmuckraker's coverage of American Police Force, the shadowy private security firm that's taken over a prison in Montana, you might wonder what other services APF offers. Surely, you think, they do more than run empty jails for mysterious reasons?

Indeed they do. According to its web site, the company offers a wide range of services, including "Check Your Mate" cheating spouses investigations, "fugitive recovery" for fugitives hiding in one of those pesky non-extradition countries and help if a loved one is kidnapped and held for ransom.

Or is it the other way around?

Our highly trained staff will discover information that fits your needs to get the answers you need. Some of our services include Kidknapping & Ransoms for ransom, INTL Air Marshalls, Security for convoys in Iraq, Pakistan + More!

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American Police Force

American Police Force Leader's Long Criminal Record

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2009, 11:17AM

American Police Force logo

The American Police Force, that mysterious security company that just took over an empty jail in Hardin, Montana, is looking shadier than ever.

Since yesterday, details have been emerging about the background of the man behind APF -- a California-based grifter, who has said he's a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Montenegro, and uses the name Michael Hilton.

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Alan Mendelsohn

Lobbyist's Political Fundraising Paid For Mistress's Gifts, Kids' School Fees, Say Feds

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 5:01PM

Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) and Alan Mendelsohn

The nature of the complex fraud allegedly orchestrated by Florida lobbyist Alan Mendelsohn -- who pleaded not guilty today in court -- is getting a bit clearer.

Based on the indictment filed today -- and with help from this AP story -- here's how it worked:

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Medicare

Connecticut Insurance Dept. Launches Investigation Of Misleading Medicare Mailer

Justin Elliott | September 30, 2009, 4:55PM

Medicare Mailer from Target Leads

The Connecticut Insurance Department has begun an investigation into that Medicare mailer we told you about yesterday that tries to scare seniors into buying extra insurance by claiming that Congress has cut benefits -- right when the health care debate is dominating the news.

A copy of the mailer that went to a senior in Washington was sent by a direct mail firm, but listed an insurance agent, Tim Manry, who is apparently the Seattle branch manager for CT-based Futurity First.

Dawn McDaniel, spokeswoman for the Connecticut Insurance Department, which is responsible for regulating the insurance industry, sends along this statement:

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Alan Mendelsohn

Feds: Indicted Florida Lobbyist Used Political Funds For Shag Pad

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 3:19PM

Alan Mendelsohn

Alan Mendelsohn, the indicted Florida lobbyist and Charlie Crist supporter, diverted some of the money he raised through political contributions to buy a love-nest for himself and his girlfriend, and a car for her, according to documents filed today by federal prosecutors.

From the indictment:

Between in or about April 2003 and continuing through February 2005, Mendelsohn caused approximately $60,000 in checks to be sent directly to his mistress on a monthly basis, and additional checks to be sent to his mistress through a corporation she created at Mendelsohn's suggestion in March 2004 to receive the funds covertly....

According to the indictment, Mendelsohn is married. In a handwritten addition, prosecutors refer to "$100,000 personal surety to be co-signed by wife, sister and brother-in-law."

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American Police Force

Mysterious Private Security Firm Gets Control Of Empty Jail In Small Montana Town

Justin Elliott | September 30, 2009, 3:16PM

American Police Force logo

A shadowy private security company that has no known clients but claims to have helped foreign governments combat terrorism and will protect anything from cruise ships to Pakistani convoys has taken over a jail in a small Montana town, with plans to build a law enforcement training facility on the property.

The state legislature is looking into the matter and residents of Hardin, MT, were alarmed last week when executives from the firm, American Police Force, showed up in the town, which does not have its own police department, with Mercedes SUVs bearing "City Of Hardin Police Department" decals.

And the town has had to tamp down reports on conspiracy Web sites that APF plans to impose experimental H1N1 vaccines on residents under threat of quarantine in the jail.

Under a lease signed with Hardin, APF, based in Santa Ana, California, and incorporated just six months ago, is now in control of a 400-bed detention facility the town built a few years ago but never used, a town official confirmed to TPMmuckraker today. The town reportedly stands to make over $2 million per year.

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Alan Mendelsohn

Crist Wrote Recommendation Letter For Now-Indicted Lobbyist's Son

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 2:35PM

Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) and Alan Mendelsohn

We knew that Florida governor Charlie Crist was tight with indicted lobbyist and fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn. The politically connected eye doctor has raised big bucks for Crist, a Republican, and in 2006 was named to the governor-elect's transition team as the director of healthcare issues.

But it turns out the two were so close that Crist also did a more personal favor for Mendelsohn. In February 2007, Governor Crist wrote a letter to the University of Florida's admissions office, urging it to admit Mendelsohn's son Benjamin to the university's medical school. The younger Mendelsohn was later admitted, even though he hadn't taken the MCAT and had been rejected by the university's selection committee.

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Alan Mendelsohn

Mendelsohn Hosted "Marco Rubio U.S. Senate Kickoff"

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 1:00PM

Alan Mendelsohn

It's not just Charlie Crist who has ties to indicted Florida fundraiser and lobbyist Alan Mendelsohn.

In March, the Miami Herald reported (via Nexis):

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Charlie Crist

Feds: Crist Ally Falsely Claimed He Thwarted Probe Of Insurance Company

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 12:25PM

Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) and Alan Mendelsohn

The Miami Herald runs down the back-story to the indictment of Alan Mendelsohn, the Florida doctor and lobbyist -- and close ally of Governor Charlie Crist -- who's been charged with running fraudulent lobbying and political fundraising schemes.

Mendelsohn's alleged crimes center around his ties to Mutual Benefits Corp., a Fort Lauderdale life insurance company which was being investigated by the state for defrauding investors. Mutual Benefits operates by selling the life insurance policies of people dying of AIDS and other diseases -- a line of business that, a recent New York Times report suggested, may replace sub-prime mortgages as the basis for the next investment bubble.

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Lobbyists

Close Crist Ally Indicted In Alleged Fundraising And Lobbying Scheme

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 11:34AM

Alan Mendelsohn

A lobbyist who's a close ally of Florida governor Charlie Crist has been indicted for allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent fund-raising and lobbying scheme.

Federal prosecutors say that Alan Mendelsohn funneled to himself over $350,000 from contributions to political organizations he controlled. They also allege that, in order to get around lobbying disclosure rules, Mendelsohn had his lobbying clients make $274,000 in payments to third parties -- including tuition payments to his children's schools -- on his behalf.

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Defense Contractors

Oversight Reports Slam Dysfunction At Defense Contract Audit Agency

Justin Elliott | September 30, 2009, 10:08AM

Delta IV Medium rocket

The office in charge of auditing Pentagon contracts is beset by incompetence and possibly malfeasance that has allowed big defense contractors to line their pockets at taxpayer expense, according to two new government oversight reports.

Last year, the obscure but important arm of the federal government called the Defense Contract Audit Agency looked at $501 billion in contractor costs.

Which is, as it sounds, a pretty important job. But the DCAA isn't doing the job so well, concludes the Defense Department's Inspector General, whose 96-page report on the DCAA was unsealed yesterday and can be read here (.pdf), and the Government Accountability Office, whose own damning report is here.

Let's look at a case that shows how auditor malfeasance can line the pockets of big defense contractors with millions in taxpayer dollars.

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Health Care

Health-Reform Foe Runs Firm Serving Patients Who Would Benefit From Public Option

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 9:57AM

Rick Scott, Conservatives for Patients Rights

Salon has a lengthy profile of Rick Scott, the head of Conservatives for Patients Rights and the public face of the anti-healthcare-reform movement.

At this point, Scott's track record as a zealous promoter of for-profit health-care -- including the fact that the company he founded paid an almost $2-billion fine for Medicare fraud -- has been well-documented. But Salon compellingly frames the central fact of Scott's role in the current debate over reform:

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Norman Hsu

Democratic Fundraiser Hsu Gets 24 Years In Fraud And Campaign Finance Cases

Justin Elliott | September 29, 2009, 4:49PM

Norman Hsu

Norman Hsu, the Democratic fundraiser whose criminal past became a scandal for Hillary Clinton during the primary in 2007, was sentenced to over 24 years in prison today for committing fraud and violating campaign finance laws, the AP reports.

Prosecutors said that Hsu used "straw donors" who he reimbursed to get around campaign finance limits. The Clinton campaign gave back over $800,000 in donations from sources linked to Hsu.

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Medicare

Are Insurers Exploiting Health Care Debate To Mislead Seniors And Drum Up Business?

Justin Elliott | September 29, 2009, 4:00PM

A mailer being sent by health insurers to seniors, and obtained by TPMmuckraker, seeks to exploit fears about Congressional changes to the health care system to sell supplemental insurance. And it contains false claims about "new" reductions in Medicare benefits imposed by Congress.

Yesterday, 66-year-old Donna Price of Battle Ground, Washington, received this official-looking mailer in a pull-apart envelope from direct mail firm Target Leads (aka TL Service Center).

It announces: "IMPORTANT: NEW MEDICARE CHANGES." And continues:

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U.S. Attorneys

US Attorney's "Convenience Store Initiative" Probed Middle Easterners For Terror Ties

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2009, 3:35PM

In the period after 9/11, law-enforcement agencies around the country suddenly made rooting out anyone with possible ties to terrorism a top priority. But did one Bush appointee take that zeal too far by targeting people based on little more than an Arabic-sounding name?

The Convenience Store Initiative was the farcical-sounding name of a program launched by the office of Jim Greenlee, the US attorney for Mississippi's northern district, according to documents obtained by the state's Clarion-Ledger newspaper.

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Bill Sparkman

Sparkman's Son: "He Didn't Do This To Himself"

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2009, 3:33PM

Bill Sparkman

The Associated Press has tracked down the son of the Bill Sparkman, the Census Bureau worker found dead earlier this month in rural Kentucky. And Josh Sparkman, 19, has no doubt his father was murdered.

"I look at it as disrespectful to be still throwing suicide and accident around," he said. "He didn't do this to himself. That's dishonorable. My dad was a good man. No person on this planet is going to fight cancer like he did, then turn around and kill himself a year or so later."

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Allen Stanford

Stanford Gets Prison Transfer To Pore Over Mass Of Case Docs

Justin Elliott | September 29, 2009, 11:48AM

A judge will allow accused fraudster Allen Stanford to be transferred from a private Texas jail to a federal prison in downtown Houston so he can better prepare his case, Bloomberg reports.

Stanford, who as of last night was still in a prison infirmary after suffering injuries in a fight, will be closer to court-appointed lawyers at the Houston facility.

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Jack Abramoff

Former Rep. Doolittle Named As Unindicted Co-Conspirator In Trial Of Abramoff Crony

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2009, 11:07AM

Fmr. Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)

Former California GOP congressman John Doolittle has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of Jack Abramoff crony Kevin Ring.

Ring, a former top aide to Doolittle, was indicted last year for allegedly bribing lawmakers and members of the executive branch, after he left Capitol Hill and went to work for Abramoff. The indictment charged that, among other crimes, Ring provided lavish meals and events tickets to members of Doolittle's staff, and that Ring provided Doolittle's wife, Julia, with a lucrative non-profit job, arranged by Abramoff. Julia Doolittle has also been named as a co-conspirator.

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FBI

From FBI Agent's Affair List: 'Lori M. Sex While On The Job. Jeopardized Case'

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 6:45PM

John Guandolo

The FBI says it's reviewing why it didn't reveal to prosecutors in the corruption case of Congressman William Jefferson that an agent on the case had an affair with a key government informant, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

And in a court filing unsealed today, first noted by the Times-Picayune, Jefferson prosecutors detail more about the FBI agent, John Guandolo, and the list of sexual conquests he wrote.

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Gary Kreep

Man Behind Birthermercial First Teabagged In Mid-1970s

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 5:49PM

Gary Kreep

The attorney behind the first-ever Birther infomercial started teabagging way before it was cool.

Back in the mid 1970s, Gary Kreep spearheaded a national tea bag-based movement to protest the Ford Administration's tax policies, he confirmed to TPMmuckraker today.

"To protest unreasonably high taxes, people stapled tea bags to their tax returns," explains Kreep, now director of the United States Justice Foundation, but then a law student and an officer in the California chapter of the Reaganite Young Americans for Freedom.

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voter fraud

At Last! Local NY Race Turns Up Some Real (Alleged) Vote Fraud

Zachary Roth | September 28, 2009, 5:35PM

Start your engines, Hans Von Spakovsky and John Fund...

Every election cycle, Republicans scream about Democratic voter fraud -- without providing any evidence that fraudulent votes have actually been cast. Now, in an obscure local election in upstate New York, the GOP may finally have unearthed the holy grail -- credible allegations of actual bogus voting. But the story appears to be a lot more intricate than partisans on both sides may want to admit.

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Orly Taitz

Judge To Taitz: You're Not Off The Hook On $10K Fine For Frivolous Filings

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 4:18PM

Orly Taitz

Judge Clay Land today granted Birther attorney Orly Taitz's motion to withdraw as counsel for her ex-client, but said he was not authorizing any breach of attorney-client privilege, and reminded her that she still must respond to his threat of sanctions for frivolous filings.

Land, of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, writes in the order today:

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Bill Sparkman

Witness: Sparkman Was Bound, Gagged, And Naked When Found

Zachary Roth | September 28, 2009, 2:25PM

Bill Sparkman

When Census worker Bill Sparkman was found dead earlier this month, he was naked and gagged, with duct tape over his eyes. Duct tape also bound Sparkman's hands and feet.

That's according to the man who found him, Jerry Weaver, who spoke to the AP over the weekend. Weaver, who lives in Ohio, was in Clay County, Kentucky for a family reunion, and was visiting some family graves with his wife and daughter when he found Sparkman's body on September 12th.

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Michael Gerson

WaPo Columnist Should Have Checked Out The Guestbook At Nazi Propaganda Exhibit

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 2:19PM

From Holocaust Museum guest book 9/13/09

Michael Gerson started his Friday Post column, "Banish the Cyber-Bigots," this way:

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War In Afghanistan

The (Coming) Surge In Afghanistan: Brought To You By Kim And Fred Kagan?

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 11:39AM

AEI's Frederick Kagan and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal

Frederick Kagan, the neoconservative think-tanker best known as the architect of the surge in Iraq, continues to have access to Gen. Stanley McChrystal as an adviser after serving as part of a team producing the recent assessment of the Afghan war, a spokesman for the general tells us.

It had been reported that Kagan and his wife, military historian Kimberly Kagan, were part of the group that advised McChrystal on the high-profile assessment that warns of "mission failure" if more troops are not sent. But it wasn't previously known that Kagan's work with McChrystal extended beyond the review.

It's striking that Kagan, who writes for the Weekly Standard, guest blogs at National Review, and advised the Bush Administration on Iraq, is now advising President Obama's top commander in Afghanistan.

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Orly Taitz

New Filing From Birther Taitz: Case Is Now A 'Quasi-Criminal Prosecution' Of Me!

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 9:59AM

Orly Taitz

When we last checked in on the Birther lawsuit Attorney Orly Taitz is pursuing in federal court, Taitz's client, Army Capt. Connie Rhodes, was denouncing Taitz and threatening her with a bar complaint. And the judge had given Taitz until October 2 to explain why he shouldn't fine her $10,000 for repeated frivolous filings.

Now, in a new motion filed Saturday in U.S. district court in Georgia, Taitz "respectfully" requests that she be allowed to withdraw as Rhodes' counsel. (Rhodes, who has deployed to Iraq, already requested that Taitz no longer represent her.)

But here's the twist: Taitz says her motive for seeking to withdraw as counsel is to be able to divulge "privileged attorney-client communications" and to "offer evidence and call witnesses whose testimony will be adverse to her (former) client's most recently stated position in this case."

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Allen Stanford

Stanford Hurt In Prison Brawl

Zachary Roth | September 28, 2009, 9:54AM

Allen Stanford's jail woes continue. The accused $7 billion Ponzi schemer sustained minor injuries after getting into a fight last week, reports the Houston Chronicle.

It's not clear how the fight between Stanford and the other inmate got started. But the one-time billionaire banker looks to have gotten the worst of it -- he was the only one taken to the hospital, with bruising and other superficial injuries.

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