Tag: fraud

Netanyahu indicted for corruption, denounces “attempted coup”

Axios logoIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted in all three corruption cases against him — for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He has claimed the indictments are “an attempted coup” to topple him and his right-wing government.

Why it matters: This is the first time in Israeli history that a sitting prime minister has faced criminal charges. Israel’s attorney general sent the indictments to Netanyahu’s lawyers and to the speaker of the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — in order to begin the process of stripping him of his parliamentary immunity, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

The backdrop: The most painful charge for Netanyahu stems from “Case 4000,” which concerns his and his wife’s relationship with Israel’s leading telecommunications tycoon.

  • According to a police statement, Netanyahu, who at the time was also the telecom minister, allegedly gave Shaul Elovitz regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In return, Netanyahu and his wife were allegedly allowed to demand positive coverage from one of Israel’s major news websites, owned by Elovitz.
  • Flashback: Police recommended charges in two other bribery cases in February. One involves Netanyahu allegedly taking “gifts” worth $200,000 from businessmen in return for promoting their interests (Case 1000). The other is an alleged bribe deal between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Israel’s largest newspaper (Case 2000).

View the November 21 article by Barak Ravid from Israel’s Channel 13 news on the Axios website here.

As He Departs, Paul Ryan Will Leave A Residue Of Failure And Fraud

The following article by Joe Conason was posted on the National Memo website April 11, 2018:

Evidently realizing that he might drown in the blue wave that is inundating Wisconsin, Paul Ryan announced his retirement today.

He has suggested that he might quit before, but now the Speaker faces the real prospect of involuntary ejection from Congress. He is showing the white feather, running from a midterm fight that his party appears increasingly likely to lose. Continue reading “As He Departs, Paul Ryan Will Leave A Residue Of Failure And Fraud”

Trump is cooking the books of the American economy

The following article by Bryce Covert was posted on the ThinkProgress site February 21, 2017:

Rather than fix the problems the economy has, the administration is trying to get the numbers it wants.

President Trump arriving at the White House on Monday. CREDIT: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

President Trump won the White House talking about the ills of the economy and how he would fix them. But to fix what’s broken, first you need to measure where things stand. So far, it appears that the Trump administration is manipulating official data to paint the picture it wants, rather than the way things actually are.

All presidents release their own economic growth forecasts as part of the budget process. That process is currently underway in the Trump administration, and the forecasts are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Many presidents seek to make the numbers look as positive as possible. But according to sources who spoke with the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, the Trump administration is going much further. It told White House economic advisers to start with a GDP growth target of between 3 and 3.5 percent a year for the next decade and then backfill numbers in their models to make that prediction work. Continue reading “Trump is cooking the books of the American economy”