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real-human
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 Posted: Wed May 10, 2023 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/3-companies-to-pay-615-000-in-ny-attorney-general-investigation-over-faked-net-neutrality-comments/ar-AA1b0OKy?cvid=0749d21cc42c4731b1e77af55d4a4f78&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=4
3 companies to pay $615,000 in NY attorney general investigation over faked net neutrality comments
| Quote: |
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Three companies accused of falsifying millions of public comments to support the contentious 2017 federal repeal of net neutrality rules have agreed to pay $615,000 in penalties to New York and other states, New York's attorney general said Wednesday.
The penalties come after an investigation by the New York state Office of the Attorney General found the fake comments used the identities of millions of consumers, including thousands of New Yorkers, without their knowledge.
“No one should have their identity co-opted by manipulative companies and used to falsely promote a private agenda," said New York Attorney General Letitia James in an announcement Wednesday.
Two of the California-based companies, LCX Digital Media and digital marketing company Lead ID, LLC., were hired by the broadband industry to enroll consumers in a campaign to support repeals to Obama-era net neutrality rules. Instead, they each independently fabricated responses for 1.5 million consumers. The third, marketing company Ifficient Inc., supplied more than 840,000 fake responses.
All three companies provide digital lead-generation services, meaning they collect personal information from consumers and then sell it to third parties for leads to generate business.
Related video: DOJ antitrust chief Kanter: Antitrust laws exist to promote a competitive, resilient economy (CNBC)
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The investigation also found the companies worked on other unrelated campaigns to influence public officials and regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.
This is the second series of agreements secured by James with companies that supplied fake comments to the Federal Communications Commission. The nation’s largest broadband companies had funded a campaign to generate more than 8.5 million of fake comments submitted to the FCC, with more than half a million fake letters sent to Congress, her office said.
The FCC, a government agency, is supposed to use the comments it receives, from industry and public-industry groups and the public, to shape how it makes its rules.
Net neutrality is the principle that internet providers treat all web traffic equally, without blocking, slowing down, or giving preference to any content. Regulations for net neutrality were designed to prevent internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and Charter from favoring some sites and apps over others.
LCX and its principals will pay $400,000 to New York and $100,000 to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. Lead ID, LLC., and its principal will pay $30,000 to New York. Colorado-based Ifficient Inc. will pay $63,750 to New York and $21,250 to Colorado.
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Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.
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real-human
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2023 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fbi-veterans-admit-to-taking-money-from-ex-trump-aide-kash-patel-at-gop-hearing-on-government-weaponisation/ar-AA1bpK6B?cvid=f53f06dd512e4a0d977074d3e4d8075a&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=16
FBI veterans admit to taking money from ex-Trump aide Kash Patel at GOP hearing on government ‘weaponisation’
| Quote: | Apair of federal law enforcement veterans who accused the FBI of drumming them out of service because of their conservative political beliefs have admitted to receiving money from a prominent ex-aide to former president Donald Trump, Kash Patel.
The shocking admission came during a Thursday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponisation of the Federal Government. The GOP-led panel has largely devoted its time to investigating conspiracy theories about social media companies’ cooperation with law enforcement, as well as advancing allegations that the Department of Justice probes into prominent Republicans who may have committed crimes are politically motivated.
The Thursday session was chaired by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R - Ohio) and was devoted to exploring allegations that the FBI has unlawfully retaliated against alleged whistleblowers who have complained about the bureau’s treatment of suspects charged with crimes stemming from the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
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Two of the witnesses invited to give evidence by the GOP-led panel, former FBI special agent Steven Friend and current (but suspended) Special Agent Garrett O’Boyle, alleged in their testimony that the FBI singled them out because they espoused conservative political viewpoints and evaded whistleblower protection laws by suspending their security clearances.
Mr Friend, who has resigned from the bureau and now works for a pro-Trump think tank, the Centre for Renewing America, told the subcommittee members that he was retaliated against for what he described as “protected whistleblower disclosures” concerning how the FBI was tracking and classifying cases arising out of the January 6 attack.
He also alleged that the FBI used excessive force against a cooperative January 6 defendant when they dispatched a Swat team to arrest that defendant, a known member of the Three Percenters extremist group.
Mr O’Boyle, whose clearance was suspended in September of last year and is currently undergoing a review to determine whether it will be revoked, also claimed to have made whistleblower disclosures which entitle him to protection.
While the witnesses claimed to have come forward because of a sincere desire to inform lawmakers about politicisation of federal law enforcement, their claims to be non-political withered under questioning from New York Representative Daniel Goldman.
Mr Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to the House Intelligence Committee during Mr Trump’s first impeachment, asked both men about allegations that they’d received cash payments from Mr Patel, a former prosecutor and GOP House staffer who served in multiple capacities in the Trump administration.
Since the end of Mr Trump’s term in the White House, Mr Patel has remained loyal to the former president even as he has been ensnared in the ongoing DoJ probe into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information and his alleged efforts to obstruct that investigation.
In October, he spent several hours at a Washington DC federal courthouse where he reportedly gave evidence before a federal grand jury after receiving a limited grant of immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Mr Goldman began five-minute question period by asking Mr O’Boyle if he knows Mr Patel and whether he received money from the ex-Trump staffer or his organisation.
Mr O’Boyle replied: “I have”.
He subsequently told Mr Goldman that Mr Patel had not been present during meetings between the suspended FBI agent and Republican subcommittee members and staff.
Under Mr Jordan’s leadership, the GOP majority has flouted House rules by denying the subcommittee’s Democratic members the ability to sit in on witness interviews or access documents provided by witnesses, which has prevented the minority members of the panel from having much — if any — information about the subcommittee’s investigative efforts.
Turning to Mr Friend, Mr Goldman again asked whether the ex-special agent had ever received money from Mr Patel.
Mr Friend replied that Mr Patel had “gave me a donation last November”.
When Mr Goldman asked whether the former law enforcement officer was “a charitable organisation,” Mr Friend said he had been “an unpaid, indefinitely suspended man trying to feed his family” when he took money from the controversial former Trump staffer.
He added Mr Patel had “reached out to me and said he wanted to give me a donation”. The November donation from Mr Patel came at the same time Mr Friend began appearing on right-wing media outlets to accuse the DoJ of targeting him for his political views.
House Republicans launched the House Judiciary subcommittee after taking control of the chamber in January.
The panel’s work has largely been a response to the federal government launching multiple probes into Mr Trump in the two-plus years since he left office. Special Counsel Jack Smith is currently leading the investigations not only into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents, but also his actions attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including his actions on January 6.
Democrats sharply criticised the fact that many of the witnesses at the hearing on Thursday had espoused hard-right views denigrating the FBI and other federal law enforcement and conspiracy theories.
“We learned who the hearing witnesses is from British tabloids,” ranking member Stacey Plaskett (D - Virgin Islands) said in her opening remarks. “This hearing is evidence, as if we needed any more, that MAGA Republicans are a threat to the rule of law in America.”
Ms Plaskett said the hearing was an example of Republicans doing Mr Trump’s bidding.
“My colleagues on the far right are on a mission to attack, discredit, and ultimately dismantle the FBI. This is defund the police on steroids,” she said.
From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here. |
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real-human
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| Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:38 am Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/federal-jury-awards-17-7-million-to-kraft-other-suppliers-after-major-price-fixing-conspiracy/ar-AA1kUb7s?cvid=800a6b66777b4fdbf8442c4d805eeb59&ocid=winp2fptaskbar&ei=10
Federal jury awards $17.7 million to Kraft, other suppliers after major price-fixing conspiracy
[quote]Afederal jury awarded $17.7 million in damages to Kraft and other major food suppliers on Friday for a price-fixing conspiracy that claims egg producers were trying to limit the egg supply in the U.S., according to Reuters.
Last week, a jury ruled that the egg producers used several methods to limit the domestic supply of eggs to increase the price of products during the 2000s.
While the exact time frame of the alleged conspiracy was debated throughout the case, jurors eventually concluded damages occurred between 2004 and 2008.
Food manufacturers joining as plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the egg producers are Kraft Foods Global, Inc., The Kellogg Company, General Mills, Inc. and Nestle USA, Inc.
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real-human
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 7:55 am Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/here-are-the-corporations-who-donated-over-108-million-to-election-deniers-since-jan-6/ar-AA1mPvEt?cvid=bb02afc9be3f4e63be7db3ea27adc13b&ocid=winp2fptaskbar&ei=5
Here are the corporations who donated over $108 million to election deniers since Jan. 6
| Quote: | In the wake of the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in which a mob of far-right rioters attempted to violently disrupt Congress' certification of the 2020 Electoral College count, numerous corporations vowed publicly to stop donating to Republicans who supported the rioters' cause.
However, a new report from nonpartisan campaign finance research group Open Secrets shows that corporations have been flooding the campaign war chests of Republican election deniers in Congress, with more than $108 million donated since the insurrection.
"Companies pledged to pull back, but we have not seen that play out," Open Secrets investigations manager Anna Massoglia recently told the New York Times.
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To come to that amount, Open Secrets tracked donations to the campaigns of the 147 House and Senate Republicans (also known as the "Sedition Caucus") who voted to overturn the 2020 election the same day supporters of former President Donald Trump ransacked the US Capitol, killing five police officers and injuring hundreds more in the process. Researchers then zeroed in on donations that came from approximately 1,400 business political action committees and trade associations.
Related video: What's next for federal authorities investigating Jan. 6 rioters (MSNBC)
to identify individuals connected with the January 6th attacks.
According to Open Secrets, PACs and trade groups donated roughly $91.4 million to the Sedition Caucus in the three years since the insurrection, and funded leadership PACs affiliated with Sedition Caucus members to the tune of $16.7 million more. Some of the biggest donors include the National Association of Realtors — a trade group for the real estate industry — the American Bankers Association and United Parcel Service. Other major corporate donors to election deniers include military contractors like Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and General Atomics.
Notably, many of these donations came from the very same companies that pledged to stop supporting the Sedition Caucus. As journalist Judd Legum reported in his newsletter Popular Information, household name brands like Airbnb, Amazon, AT&T, Boeing and Pfizer publicly vowed to cut off donations to election deniers in 2021. However, Open Secrets found that all of those companies quietly resumed donations, in addition to other companies that pledged to stop supporting 2020 election conspiracy theorists like Comcast, Deloitte, General Motors, Home Depot, Marathon Petroleum, Raytheon and SpaceX, among others.
"Support for these organizations does not represent an endorsement for all issues that the organization supports," General Motors said of a 2021 donation to the Republican State Leadership Committee, which signed a statement in support of election denialism. |
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real-human
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/biden-crackdown-hauls-in-520-billion-in-back-taxes-from-the-ultrawealthy/ar-AA1mT7vw?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=e1634c657aca4ab99c29de30a622a81a&ei=83
Biden Crackdown Hauls In $520 Billion In Back Taxes From The Ultrawealthy
| Quote: | Millionaires who were overdue on their taxes have coughed up more than half a billion dollars since the Internal Revenue Service stepped up its enforcement of the tax code against the ultrawealthy, the IRS revealed on Friday.
Using new funding earmarked for the IRS to target wealthy and corporate tax cheats, the IRS since mid-2022 has collected more than $520 million from about 1,600 households with income of more than $1 million and that are known to have unpaid tax bills of more than $250,000.
By late October, the IRS crackdown had hauled in $160 million. The agency has recouped an additional $360 million from the delinquent millionaires in the months since.
“The IRS continues to increase scrutiny on high-income taxpayers as we work to reverse the historic low audit rates and limited focus that the wealthiest individuals and organizations faced in [previous] years,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “The additional resources the IRS has received is making a difference.”
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real-human
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2024 1:02 am Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-doles-out-millions-to-lawyers-here-s-who-s-getting-the-most/ar-BB1hCY7w?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=dd978d3542ee4d1dd6c58e9bec420fd2&ei=19
Trump doles out millions to lawyers: Here’s who’s getting the most
| Quote: | Former President Trump’s fundraising committees doled out cash to dozens of attorneys last year, a major expense for the Republican front-runner’s campaign as he stares down four criminal indictments and various civil lawsuits.
Trump’s groups spent roughly $50 million on legal consulting in 2023, including $30 million in the second half of the year, newly filed federal records show, reminiscent of how his campaign and legal woes are growing increasingly intertwined.
The records reveal how Trump has ponied up millions to lawyers attempting to get his 91 criminal charges tossed, while other top-paid lawyers have appeared in cases like the sweeping civil fraud trial brought by New York’s attorney general.
Trump even expensed to his leadership PAC $7,500 he paid to a bail bondsman last summer after being indicted in Georgia. It remains unclear if Trump paid any of his lawyers’ additional funds out of his pocket.
Here’s a look at the law firms that took in the most money from Trump’s political committees last year.
Chris Kise: $8.97 million
Chris Kise, a Florida-based lawyer who was once the state’s solicitor general, was Trump’s top-paid lawyer of 2023, bringing in nearly $9 million to his eponymous office, Chris Kise & Associates, and the law firm Continental PLLC.
Kise has served as Trump’s lead lawyer in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case against the former president, which accuses him of falsely altering the value of the Trump Organization’s business assets for tax and insurance benefits.
Related video: Report: Trump spent $50 million in donor money on legal bills
As the primary trial lawyer, Kise repeatedly hammered in Trump’s core defenses — that banks wanted to work with the Trump Organization, did due diligence with his statements of financial condition and found no fraud.
He also fought against a gag order imposed by the judge barring Trump and his counsel from making comments about the judge’s staff, launching a separate legal matter to resolve the conflict.
Kise also represents Trump in the federal criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, a matter that is going through federal court in Miami.
Clifford Robert: $5.29 million
Robert & Robert earned nearly $5.3 million for representing the Trumps and their business.
Clifford Robert, principal of the firm, represented Trump’s adult sons and other entities that are parties in the New York attorney general’s fraud case.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, both executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization, were accused by the state of being complicit in allowing their father’s falsely altered financial statements to be sent to banks and insurers to secure loans and deals.
One of the trial’s stand-out moments came during Robert’s cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer and personal attorney. Cohen opened his testimony by telling the judge Trump directed him and another executive to “reverse engineer” Trump’s net worth to reach a number the former president liked.
But when questioned by Robert, Cohen backtracked.
“Mr. Trump never directed you to inflate the numbers in his personal statement. Yes or no?” Robert asked Cohen.
“Yes,” Cohen replied, later explaining his apparent contradiction by saying Trump’s attorneys were “cherry-picking” words in his testimony.
In addition to defending the Trump sons, Robert handled several appeals throughout the trial, including that of the gag order. He also represented the Trump Organization for at least part of Cohen’s case against Trump’s business over unpaid legal fees. They settled that case in July for an undisclosed amount.
Harmeet Dhillon: $4.61 million
In early 2023, California attorney Harmeet Dhillon unsuccessfully attempted to challenge Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Dhillon’s firm in the months since has become one of the top-paid firms by Trump’s entities, including working for the former president as he defends against various efforts to take him off the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban. Dhillon’s firm is part of the legal team that will represent Trump at the Supreme Court next week for oral arguments about the former president’s ballot eligibility.
The firm also represented Trump in Stormy Daniels’s failed defamation suit against the former president, winning more than $600,000 in attorney fee awards as of April and has also worked for Trump in multiple other civil lawsuits.
Alina Habba: $4.03 million
Trump’s entities paid Habba Madaio & Associates more than $4 million in 2023, the records show.
Alina Habba, the firm’s managing partner, represents Trump in multiple of his cases and also serves as the former president’s legal spokesperson.
Along with fellow partner Michael Madaio, the firm represented Trump in his two civil trials brought by longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s.
Carroll won a $5 million verdict last spring over the alleged sexual assault itself and defamation, and on Friday, she won an additional whopping $83.3 million over additional defamation claims. Trump is appealing both verdicts and has said he is shopping around for new lawyers to handle the matters.
Habba is also an attorney in the New York civil fraud case.
Like the others, most of the funds disbursed to Habba’s firm came from Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC. But Habba’s firm also received about $265,000 from Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump.
John Lauro: $2.65 million
John Lauro, plus lawyers Greg Singer and Filzah Pavalon, received some $2.65 million for defending the former president against federal charges he sought to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump’s primary advocate in the Washington, D.C., courtroom, Lauro has already butted heads with U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who on numerous occasions told him to “take the temperature down” during early courtroom arguments over the case.
Lauro has also championed Trump outside the courtroom in media interviews, though sometimes tapering the former president’s zealous social media promises.
After Trump said his counsel was “immediately asking for recusal” of Chutkan, Lauro appeared on a podcast to proclaim “we haven’t made a final decision on that issue at all.” Trump’s D.C. legal team eventually requested Chutkan’s recusal, which she denied.
Evan Corcoran: $2.63 million
Attorney Evan Corcoran played a central role as special counsel Jack Smith investigated the former president over his handling of classified documents after leaving office.
Corcoran was part of the team that responded to a subpoena for classified records at Mar-a-Lago last year, and he reportedly told authorities he was waved off of searching Trump’s office, where numerous classified records were eventually found when officials executed a search warrant.
Corcoran removed himself as Trump’s lawyer in the case after a judge pierced attorney-client privilege by determining that Trump may have misled Corcoran, enabling prosecutors to receive Corcoran’s notes from the time.
Corcoran’s firm, Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White, received $2.63 million from Save America last year, federal election records show. All of the payments were made in the first half of the year, before Trump was indicted in the case.
Todd Blanche: $2.33 million
Within months, white-collar attorney Todd Blanche became one of the top lawyers helping Trump defend against his historic criminal charges.
Just as Trump was hit with his first indictment, a hush money probe into payments made to Stormy Daniels, Blanche left his firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, and began representing the former president alongside attorney Emil Bove.
Beyond the hush money case, the duo has since come to represent Trump in his federal 2020 election subversion indictment and his classified documents indictment.
Save America disbursed about $345,000 to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft before doling out more than $2.32 million to Blanche Law later in the year.
Joe Tacopina: $1.77 million
New York-based trial lawyer Joe Tacopina’s firm, Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo, took in about $1.77 million last year as he also represented Trump in the hush money indictment and one of the cases brought by Carroll, the advice columnist.
A former Brooklyn prosecutor, Tacopina has a reputation for cultivating high-profile clients and added the former president to a list that includes Michael Jackson and Alex Rodriguez. Just after the new year, however, Tacopina withdrew from Trump’s legal team without explanation.
Steve Sadow: $1.52 million
Hours before he surrendered to authorities in Georgia upon being indicted in that election interference case, Trump shook up his legal team in the case and hired Atlanta-based defense attorney Steve Sadow to replace another attorney.
Sadow, known for wearing his signature alligator boots to court, previously represented high-profile clients like radio host Howard Stern and former NFL player Ray Lewis.
Trump’s Save America made $500,000 payments to Sadow for each of the first three months he was on the team, the records show. Save America later disbursed an additional $16,456 just before Christmas.
Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-very-expensive-not-so-great-lawyers-are-funded-by-an-unreliable-money-well/ar-BB1i9G4U?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=af5ccf7eea294a53e1b8b90426c1dcfa&ei=20
Trump's very expensive, not-so-great lawyers are funded by an unreliable money well
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