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DOJ says federal agents arrested analyst involved in anti-Trump
‘Steele Dossier’
4 Nov, 2021 14:34
US agents have arrested the Russian analyst who served as the primary source for Christopher Steele’s dossier of salacious gossip about Donald Trump. The dossier was used to justify FBI wiretapping on Trump’s campaign.
Igor Danchenko was arrested on Thursday at the behest of Special Counsel John Durham, the New York Times first reported. The Department of Justice later confirmed the arrest and said Danchenko is scheduled to appear before a US magistrate judge.
Durham had been assigned by former President Donald Trump to investigate allegations of wrongdoing in the FBI’s so-called ‘Russiagate’ probe, which examined supposed links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
A former staffer at the Brookings Institution, Danchenko served as the primary source of much of the information that would make it into former British spy Christopher Steele’s now-notorious dossier.
The dossier ended up being used by the FBI to obtain permission to spy on Trump’s campaign, with this counterintelligence operation eventually spiralling into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ‘Russiagate’ investigation. Mueller would later find that no collusion occurred between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Another disgraceful exhibition of political corruption by the FBI!
Steele, who had been hired by a Democrat opposition research firm to dig up dirt on Trump, swallowed everything Danchenko fed him, even though Danchenko would reportedly tell the FBI that he never intended the gossip he fed Steele to end up being involved in a criminal investigation.
In 2019, the Justice Department’s Inspector-General heavily criticized the FBI for continuing to cite the dossier even after the agency interviewed Danchenko and learned that the information within was suspect.
This information included unproven claims that Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, flew to Prague to meet with Russian officials in secret, and scandalous allegations that the Russian government had recorded prostitutes urinating on Trump in a Moscow hotel room - the so-called “pee tape.”
Though the contents of the dossier have long been discredited, Steele told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos last month that he stood by the claims about Cohen, even though the FBI and Mueller’s investigation deemed them untrue. Steele also insisted that the pee tape “probably does” exist - but that Moscow hasn’t released it because “the Russians felt they’d got pretty good value out of Donald Trump when he was president.”
Why was the badly discredited Steele on ABC News? Where were the cancel culture people?
Danchenko was released on a $100,000 bond later in the day. He was ordered to surrender his passport and not travel outside the Washington, DC area, but will not have to wear an electronic monitor.
Before becoming involved in the Steele Dossier debacle, Danchenko had come to the attention of US authorities and was investigated by the FBI a decade earlier for allegedly serving as a “Russian agent” in the US. Danchenko denied the accusation.
Former president of Broward County Democratic Black Caucus
pleads guilty to $300,000 Covid relief fraud scheme
4 Nov, 2021 02:05
The ex-president of the Democratic Black Caucus in one of Florida’s largest counties has pleaded guilty to fraud, admitting she bilked the government for $300,000 in Covid-19 relief funds using a bogus front company.
Damara Holness, 28, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida entered a guilty plea to one count of fraud on Wednesday, according to the Department of Justice, which noted that the accused served as the head of the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus at the time of the fraud scheme.
Holness, who is also the daughter of Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, acknowledged that she applied for a federally guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan worth $300,000 in June 2020 under the pretext the funds would support her company. While she claimed her firm, Holness Consulting, employed 18 people and spent some $120,000 each month on payroll, “in fact, Holness Consulting had zero employees and no payroll expenses,” the DOJ said, adding that she used fraudulent tax forms on the application.
The former caucus president then spent several months creating an elaborate paper trail to give the appearance her company was paying out the PPP funds to employees as intended, enlisting others in the scheme to cash checks on behalf of non-existent workers and kick the money back to Holness. The accomplices received “a few hundred dollars” for their role in the plot while Holness kept the rest of the money for herself, amounting to around $1,000 per check, according to the DOJ.
Previous reporting by Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel, citing city records, showed that Holness’ company was originally created in 2018 and dissolved a year later – before the Covid-19 pandemic kicked off – but was re-established just five days before she applied for the PPP funds through an online form.
Holness, who was first charged in August, is set to be sentenced in January 2022. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted. Though the DOJ stated Holness is a “past president” of Broward’s Democratic Black Caucus, it is unclear when she stopped serving in that position. The organization’s website offers scant information about its leadership, and a Twitter page that appears to belong to Holness, which is now locked, still names her as president of the caucus in its bio.
Tory MP accused of corruption resigns from ‘cruel world’
of politics after govt U-turn
4 Nov, 2021 15:51
Conservative Owen Paterson has resigned as the MP for North Shropshire amid an ongoing lobbying scandal that forced the government into an embarrassing U-turn. Paterson has vowed to remain a “public servant.”
In a statement on Thursday, Paterson said that, after consulting with his family, he would be resigning from politics. The MP was deemed by the Commons Standards Committee to have broken the rules when he used his position as MP to lobby for two companies he worked for as an adviser. The roles paid him some £100,000 a year on top of his Commons salary.
“I maintain that I am totally innocent of what I have been accused of and I acted at all times in the interests of public health and safety,” he said in his resignation letter, adding that the current system did not give him the chance to clear his name. The MP described the decision as “painful” but the right one, adding: “I will remain a public servant but outside the cruel world of politics.”
Beyond having his integrity questioned, Paterson said the suicide of his wife, Rose, was ultimately “far, far worse.” According to emails leaked last month, the MP previously claimed there was “no doubt” that the “cruel” Commons inquiry into his alleged lobbying played a role in her suicide in June 2020.
In his resignation letter on Thursday, the politician claimed that the last few days have been “intolerable” for the family, noting that some MPs “publicly mocked and derided” his wife’s death. His children had asked him to resign from politics, he said.
It's astonishing how adolescent MPs can be. You would think they would be somewhat mature.
Parliament was in the process of deciding whether Paterson should be suspended for the lobbying. On Wednesday, the government proposed restructuring the way the Commons disciplinary process operates in an effort to back their MP. The government later U-turned after a public backlash, as it became apparent that there would be no cross-party consensus.
Earlier on Thursday, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, said that the government would give details on a new vote concerning the MP’s potential suspension in due course.
Last week, the Commons Standards Committee concluded that Paterson misused his position, following a critical report on his behaviour by Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone. The committee recommended that he be suspended for 30 sitting days.
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