FBI

In $1.2 Million Fraud Plot, Four Women Invented A Man Then Killed Him Off

Ryan J. Reilly | September 3, 2010, 6:17PM

Just how low did four California women go to make a quick buck ripping off insurance companies? Six feet under.

Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters today highlighted a recent conviction in a scheme by four individuals in the Los Angeles area to invent a man out of whole cloth, hold his funeral, and then reap in the insurance benefits from his death.

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Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe: Feds Should Be Thanking Me, But They Declared War (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | September 3, 2010, 3:18PM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- sued by the Justice Department on Thursday for not cooperating with an investigation into civil rights violations -- said Friday that federal officials should be thanking him for enforcing immigration laws instead of declaring "war against Arizona."

Arpaio, who has been a magnet for controversy with stunts such as his parading of prisoners donning pink underwear outside of the country jail, said on MSNBC that his office was "trying to negotiate" with DOJ, but wanted to be given a clear reason why DOJ wanted certain documents before turning anything over.

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Terrence Lakin

Judge: 'Birther' Docs Are Irrelevant To Army Doctor's Refusal To Deploy

Ryan J. Reilly | September 3, 2010, 1:45PM

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin

The Army Lieutenant Colonel who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because he does not believe President Barack Obama was born in the United States faced a legal setback, after a judge ruled yesterday that evidence and witnesses related to the President's citizenship were irrelevant to the soldier's case, CNN reports.

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Office of Congressional Ethics

Half A Dozen Reps Being Investigated For Use Of Travel Funds

Ryan J. Reilly | September 3, 2010, 11:11AM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Six members of the House of Representatives are being questioned by congressional investigators over the possibility they kept the remainder of the per diem payments they receive when traveling overseas on official trips.

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Tom DeLay

Timing Is Key In Investigations Of Donations From Financial Interests

Ryan J. Reilly | September 3, 2010, 9:40AM

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)

When news came out this week that three members of Congress had been referred to the House ethics committee for further investigation into possible ethics violations because of fundraisers they held ahead of a vote on financial reform, observers were surprised that the Office of Congressional Ethics based the decision on the appearance of impropriety rather than solid evidence that anything was done wrong.

But according to House ethics guidelines, looks do matter.

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Democratic Governors Association

Democrats Accuse Fox News Of Illegal Support To Ohio Republican Candidate

Ryan J. Reilly | September 2, 2010, 4:06PM

Former Rep. and current candidate for Governor John Kasich (R-OH)

Democrats allege in a legal filing that, by plugging an Ohio gubernatorial candidate's website in a chyron, Fox News illegally contributed to the Republican's campaign.

A seven-page complaint filed Thursday by the Democratic Governors Association with the Ohio Elections Commission accuses Fox News of making an illegal in-kind contributions to gubernatorial candidate John Kasich (R-OH), reports Sam Stein.

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Office of Congressional Ethics

Is Appearance Of Impropriety Now Enough To Open An Ethics Investigation?

Ryan J. Reilly | September 2, 2010, 1:51PM

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)

The Office of Congressional Ethics told the Ethics Committee that the conduct of three members of the House in the time leading up to the vote on the Financial Regulatory Reform warrants further investigation. But OCE also dismissed similar investigations against five other members. So what's the difference between a legal campaign contribution and a "legislation-for-contribution" scheme that violates the honest services law -- and does the OCE really believe that the three members they referred to the Committee violated it?

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Justice Department

Justice Department Sues Sheriff Joe For Not Cooperating With Investigation

Ryan J. Reilly | September 2, 2010, 12:33PM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

The Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona for refusing to fully cooperate with the department's investigation of alleged national origin discrimination in the course of immigration enforcement.

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Bret Schundler

Christie Administration Swings Back At Schundler Over Firing

Ryan J. Reilly | September 2, 2010, 11:44AM

NJ Gov.-elect Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration is firing back at his former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who said yesterday that he was defamed by the Governor.

Christie said Schundler was fired because he misled the governor about the events leading up to the state's loss of a $400 million education grant. But a timeline released by Schundler yesterday made the case that he had been honest with Christie about the mistake, and told the Governor not to say at at news conference last week that Schundler had tried to submit additional information to correct the mistake.

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Eric W. Deaton

Tea Party Candidate Accused Of Sex With A Minor Met The Girl At Church

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 5:58PM

Ohio candidate for U.S. Senate Eric W. Deaton

Eric W. Deaton -- the Ohio Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate who was indicted on Tuesday for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor -- met the victim at a church where he was an elder, a police official told TPMMuckraker.

The pastor of the church first brought concerns about the relationship between the girl, now 18, and 42-year-old Deaton to authorities and an investigation started last October, according to Bob Bowman, the sheriff of Perry Township.

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Chris Christie

Schundler: Christie Calling Me A Liar Is 'The Last Straw'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 2:47PM

Former New Jersey Education Secretary Bret Schundler

In an e-mail and statement provided to reporters this afternoon, former New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler (R) defended himself against charges by Gov. Chris Christie (R) that Schundler deliberately misled the governor over the events leading up to the state's loss of a $400 million grant. Although he would have been able to accept being fired over the error that cost the state money, Schundler said he was unwilling to accept any further character assassination.

"I will not accept being defamed by the Governor for something he knows I did not do," he wrote. "The Governor called me a liar this week. That was the last straw."

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Birthers

Retired Three-Star Lieutenant General Backs 'Birther' Army Doctor

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 11:22AM

Ret. Air Force General Thomas McInerney

Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney has officially joined the legions of birthers, after writing an affidavit in support of Army Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because he does not believe President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Lakin faces a court martial on Oct. 13 for his refusal.

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Bret Schundler

Christie And Schundler Trade Accusations Of Dishonesty After New Jersey Loses $400 Million

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 10:39AM

The charges keep flying in New Jersey as fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler (R) and Governor Chris Christie (R) continue to spar over whether Schundler should have been fired over his explanations as to why New Jersey lost out on $400 million in federal education funding due to a mistake on a grant application.

Who's telling the truth and who is just trying to cover themselves? TPMMuckraker looks into the charges and counter charges and breaks it down.

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Wikileaks

Investigation Reopened Into Rape Allegations Against WikiLeaks Founder

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 10:07AM

Australian journalist Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.org

A top Swedish prosecutor on Wednesday reopened an investigation into allegations that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange raped two women, the Associated Press reports.

Assange has denied the allegations against him.

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Eric W. Deaton

Tea Party Backed Senate Candidate Says Underage Sex Charge 'Politically Motivated'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 9:27AM

Ohio candidate for U.S. Senate Eric W. Deaton

The Ohio Constitution Party's candidate for U.S. Senate Eric W. Deaton was indicted on Tuesday for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, The Dayton Daily News reported.

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Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Rev. Moon Regains Control As Washington Times Is Bought For $1

Ryan J. Reilly | September 1, 2010, 8:45AM

Rev. Sun Myung Moon

A Unification Church company controlled by leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon is buying back The Washington Times -- the conservative newspaper he started in the 1980s -- for the price of $1 and the assumption of the company's debt, according to an internal memo obtained by U.S. News & World Report.

Insiders at The Washington Times told U.S. News & World Report they were happy about the deal because they expect that church industry funds -- which unexpectedly stopped in July 2009 -- will resume and will keep the paper afloat. "It will turn the spigot back on," one insider said.

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi Pulled Strings For Man Who Funded Edwards' Mistress

Ryan J. Reilly | August 30, 2010, 3:02PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly pulled strings to help a major Democratic donor, Fred Baron, get access to an experimental drug after the manufacturer refused to give permission to use the drug to treat his bone marrow cancer. Though it wasn't public at the time, Baron was simultaneously bankrolling the relocation of John Edwards' pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Fred Baron, known as the "King of Toxic Torts," built a fortune suing on behalf of asbestos victims, and died shortly before Election Day 2008 at age 61. He served as financial chief for John Edwards and it later came out that he'd been funneling money to Hunter. At the time Pelosi intervened, his role in bankrolling Hunter and her daughter with Edwards was unknown.

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Stephen Jin-Woo Kim

Ex-Federal Contractor Indicted For Leaks To Fox News

Ryan J. Reilly | August 30, 2010, 2:45PM

A typical U.S. classified document. Credit: Wikimedia

A former contractor for the State Department has been indicted on charges he leaked national defense information to a national news organization, according to an indictment unsealed late Friday.

Stephen Jin-Woo Kim -- a former senior adviser for intelligence who was on a detail to the arms control compliance bureau in the State Department -- allegedly gave national defense information to a reporter. The news organization is believed to be Fox News, and the information was about North Korea, according to news reports.

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Pamela Geller

Anti-Mosque Agitator Pam Geller: Mosque Supporters Ginned Up The Cabble Slashing

Ryan J. Reilly | August 30, 2010, 9:16AM

Conservative activist Pamela Geller

Pamela Geller, the blogger behind the movement to stop an Islamic center from being built a couple of blocks from Ground Zero, told TPMMuckraker that she doesn't know who is behind the attack on the taxi cab driver -- but noted the attacker worked with a company that was pro-Park51.

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Citizens United

DCCC Accuses Americans For Prosperity of Violating Tax Law (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | August 30, 2010, 8:37AM

Democrats are charging that Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)(3) group with ties to the Tea Party, is violating its tax-exempt status by running ads that are "political in nature" and cross the line into political campaigning.

AFP is the subject of a complaint about ads in Kansas, Missouri and Michigan filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with the IRS, the New York Times reported Friday. A copy of the complaint was provided to the Times.

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