Latest news with #Mannina
Spectator
03-08-2025
- General
- Spectator
I flew to Florence to find my father's shoes
Just before my father died, he visited Mannina in Florence to have his feet measured for a pair of shoes. I'd found the handwritten receipt in his desk on thin yellow paper, stapled with small samples of leather. Online pictures of Mannina showed a glass-fronted shop of lacquered wood and brass, the name in beveled gold across the door. So after months without a holiday, I booked a cheap short haul flight from London to Italy, determined to track down these missing shoes. My father had been a tailor for much of his life, the third man in Pakeman Catto & Carter, an established men's clothing shop in the Gloucestershire town of Cirencester. 'At one point he'd dressed half the gentlemen of England,' my uncle said at his funeral, which is probably not far from the truth. I remember when I was at school seeing the emerald flash of a teacher's coat (green linings were Pakemans house style) and another parent's dotted navy handkerchief, stitched with their belt and dragon insignia. About a decade ago, Pakemans was bought out by Cordings. But my father always adored old-fashioned family-run establishments. When I was a teenager, he took me to get a pair of shoes at Ducker & Sons in Oxford, which shod J.R.R. Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh and Herbert Asquith. I remember him laughing and laughing with the man who ran the shop. Buying from such people was almost a civic duty. Duckers closed in 2016. But Mannina is still going after more than 70 years. It's on the southern side of Florence's Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that's lined with small shops overlooking the River Arno, on the main street leading to the Pitti Palace. I explained to the kind woman at Mannina why I had come and she led me through the back corridors and into the workshop. As we entered, I had a rush of nostalgia. Low lamps hung from the ceiling, people sat at vice benches covered by newspaper, the workshop filled with the smell of glue and leather. I have foggy memories of being a child and taken to the room above Pakemans where tailors with tape measures around their necks cut lengths of cloth. 'Mr Carter,' a man in a frayed leather apron said, 'I'm very sorry to hear about your father.' He brought out a sketch of the shoes they had designed together and a pair of lasts. What a strange thing to see the shape of his feet – identical to the wooden shoe trees still in his bedroom in Gloucestershire. I didn't really know what to say. 'He had paid for the shoes but we never finished the measurements. We can either make a new pair for you or you can pick two pairs off the shelf.' It would be bad luck if I chose the custom pair and then also popped my clogs. So we returned to the front of the building and I found myself hopping about the shop, trying on tasselled deerskin numbers and ornate perforated brogues. The owner, Antonio, was as Italian as you could imagine – floppy greying hair, immaculate cream chinos, a shirt collar that burst out from his lapels. 'From London, eh? You'll need something with a strong sole for all the rain!' He smiled as he brought out boxes and told me that his father had died recently too. I realised who it was in the photographs hung between the shelves – the same floppy hair, but greyer, the kindly face of Signor Mannina Snr. As Antonio encouraged me to try on yet more shoes, I imagined what my father's advice would be: get one sober pair for work, the second can be more relaxed. The first pair I chose were dark brown suede boots, all clean lines and perfect leather soles. The kind you could wear for a relaxed stroll up to the Pitti Palace for a Campari spritz. For the serious pair, I asked if Antonio had something in a slightly more English style, perhaps with rounded toes and without too much patterning (I have not inherited the same sense of sprezzatura as my Florentine friend). So we settled on simple Derbys with immaculately polished black toecaps and semi-rubber soles for that grim London weather. Antonio took the Derbys and bent them backwards, twisting the vamp to show me just how soft the leather was. They are, without a doubt, the most comfortable things I have ever put on my feet. Two and a half years after my dad's death and 900 miles from Gloucestershire, I was handed a bag containing what are surely the finest shoes in all of Italy. As I was leaving, Antonio turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said 'thank you' – as though I had just done him some great favour rather than the other way around. There is nothing in this world more decent than a family-run business.
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date. Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making 'inflammatory and damaging' remarks that could be recorded, 'manipulated' and posted online. Clips from their January conversations were spliced together to make it appear that Mannina was 'essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump,' and an article released online with the videos defamed Mannina by painting him as part of a 'deep state' effort with senior military officials to undermine Trump's presidency, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Mannina does not deny in the lawsuit making the comments. He says his words were taken out of context and were misrepresented in a description of the video that was posted on YouTube. O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 but was removed from the organization in 2023 amid allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent funds. He has continued to employ similar hidden camera stings as part of a new organization he established, O'Keefe Media Group, which also is named in the lawsuit. O'Keefe told The Associated Press that Mannina 'voluntarily' offered up the comments in the recording and that it was important for the public to hear Mannina's remarks. O'Keefe pointed out that the District of Columbia only requires the consent of one party, not both, for a conversation to be recorded. O'Keefe said the lawsuit was an 'attack on the First Amendment' and that he was prepared to fight it in an appeals court if necessary. 'He said what he said. We did not take him out of context. The words that we reported came out of his mouth,' O'Keefe said, adding, 'We stand by our reporting.' The lawsuit includes claims of defamation, false light, fraudulent misrepresentation and violations of the Wire Tap Act. Though the lawsuit acknowledges that the city's consent law for recording conversations, the filing asserts that the law nonetheless prohibits 'the interception and recording of a communication if it was for the purposes of committing a tortious act.' A recording that O'Keefe released shows Mannina being asked at one point by the woman, whose name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, about his 'overall assessment of Trump.' 'He's a sociopathic narcissist who's only interested in advancing his name, his wealth and his fame,' Mannina can be heard saying. Asked in the recording whether there was anything he could do to 'protect the American people,' Mannina replied that he was in conversation with some retired generals to explore what could be done. The lawsuit was filed by Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington lawyer who routinely represents government officials and whistleblowers. Zaid himself sued Trump last week after the president revoked his security clearance . 'Lying or misleading someone on a dating app, which no doubt happens all the time, is not what this lawsuit seeks to address,' Zaid said in a statement to The Associated Press. 'The creation of a fake profile for the specific purposes of targeting individuals for deliberately nefarious and harmful purposes is what crosses the line.' The complaint arises from a pair of dates that Mannina had in January. During their first date, the lawsuit alleges, the woman expressed her distaste for Trump and repeatedly pressed Mannina on his political views and about his work with the government. Mannina told her that included working as a 'spy catcher' several years earlier when he was an FBI counterintelligence agent. The lawsuit says Mannina and the woman met for lunch the following day, and as they left the restaurant, a man with a microphone approached Mannina and said, 'Jamie, you're a spy hunter, you say. Well, I'm a spy hunter, too, but I'm evidentially a better spy hunter than you.' The man was O'Keefe, the lawsuit says. The complaint says Mannina was swiftly fired from Booz Allen, where he worked as a contractor, after O'Keefe contacted the press office and presented at least parts of the videos. O'Keefe then released a video on his organization's YouTube channel titled, 'Pentagon Advisor Reveals Conversation 'to Explore What We Can Do' to 'Protect People from Trump.'' The lawsuit says the O'Keefe Media Group painted Mannina in a false light by misconstruing his words and his title, including by referring to him as a 'Top Pentagon Advisor' when he was actually just 'one of a countless number of defense contractors.' It says that characterization was intended to support 'fabricated claims that Mr. Mannina was essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump.' The lawsuit does not directly say why Mannina was targeted, but it does note that in 2017, when he was working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he published three articles in the Huffington Post and The Hill newspaper that were critical of Trump.
14-05-2025
- Politics
Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump
WASHINGTON -- A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date. Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making 'inflammatory and damaging' remarks that could be recorded, 'manipulated' and posted online. Clips from their January conversations were spliced together to make it appear that Mannina was 'essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump,' and an article released online with the videos defamed Mannina by painting him as part of a 'deep state' effort with senior military officials to undermine Trump's presidency, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Mannina does not deny in the lawsuit making the comments. He says his words were taken out of context and were misrepresented in a description of the video that was posted on YouTube. O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 but was removed from the organization in 2023 amid allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent funds. He has continued to employ similar hidden camera stings as part of a new organization he established, O'Keefe Media Group, which also is named in the lawsuit. O'Keefe told The Associated Press that Mannina 'voluntarily' offered up the comments in the recording and that it was important for the public to hear Mannina's remarks. O'Keefe pointed out that the District of Columbia only requires the consent of one party, not both, for a conversation to be recorded. O'Keefe said the lawsuit was an 'attack on the First Amendment' and that he was prepared to fight it in an appeals court if necessary. 'He said what he said. We did not take him out of context. The words that we reported came out of his mouth,' O'Keefe said, adding, 'We stand by our reporting.' The lawsuit includes claims of defamation, false light, fraudulent misrepresentation and violations of the Wire Tap Act. Though the lawsuit acknowledges that the city's consent law for recording conversations, the filing asserts that the law nonetheless prohibits 'the interception and recording of a communication if it was for the purposes of committing a tortious act.' A recording that O'Keefe released shows Mannina being asked at one point by the woman, whose name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, about his 'overall assessment of Trump.' 'He's a sociopathic narcissist who's only interested in advancing his name, his wealth and his fame,' Mannina can be heard saying. Asked in the recording whether there was anything he could do to 'protect the American people,' Mannina replied that he was in conversation with some retired generals to explore what could be done. The lawsuit was filed by Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington lawyer who routinely represents government officials and whistleblowers. Zaid himself sued Trump last week after the president revoked his security clearance. 'Lying or misleading someone on a dating app, which no doubt happens all the time, is not what this lawsuit seeks to address,' Zaid said in a statement to The Associated Press. 'The creation of a fake profile for the specific purposes of targeting individuals for deliberately nefarious and harmful purposes is what crosses the line.' The complaint arises from a pair of dates that Mannina had in January. During their first date, the lawsuit alleges, the woman expressed her distaste for Trump and repeatedly pressed Mannina on his political views and about his work with the government. Mannina told her that included working as a 'spy catcher' several years earlier when he was an FBI counterintelligence agent. The lawsuit says Mannina and the woman met for lunch the following day, and as they left the restaurant, a man with a microphone approached Mannina and said, 'Jamie, you're a spy hunter, you say. Well, I'm a spy hunter, too, but I'm evidentially a better spy hunter than you.' The man was O'Keefe, the lawsuit says. The complaint says Mannina was swiftly fired from Booz Allen, where he worked as a contractor, after O'Keefe contacted the press office and presented at least parts of the videos. O'Keefe then released a video on his organization's YouTube channel titled, 'Pentagon Advisor Reveals Conversation 'to Explore What We Can Do' to 'Protect People from Trump.'" The lawsuit says the O'Keefe Media Group painted Mannina in a false light by misconstruing his words and his title, including by referring to him as a 'Top Pentagon Advisor' when he was actually just 'one of a countless number of defense contractors.' It says that characterization was intended to support "fabricated claims that Mr. Mannina was essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump.' The lawsuit does not directly say why Mannina was targeted, but it does note that in 2017, when he was working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he published three articles in the Huffington Post and The Hill newspaper that were critical of Trump.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date. Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making 'inflammatory and damaging' remarks that could be recorded, 'manipulated' and posted online. Clips from their January conversations were spliced together to make it appear that Mannina was 'essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump,' and an article released online with the videos defamed Mannina by painting him as part of a 'deep state' effort with senior military officials to undermine Trump's presidency, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Mannina does not deny in the lawsuit making the comments. He says his words were taken out of context and were misrepresented in a description of the video that was posted on YouTube. O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 but was removed from the organization in 2023 amid allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent funds. He has continued to employ similar hidden camera stings as part of a new organization he established, O'Keefe Media Group, which also is named in the lawsuit. O'Keefe told The Associated Press that Mannina 'voluntarily' offered up the comments in the recording and that it was important for the public to hear Mannina's remarks. O'Keefe pointed out that the District of Columbia only requires the consent of one party, not both, for a conversation to be recorded. O'Keefe said the lawsuit was an 'attack on the First Amendment' and that he was prepared to fight it in an appeals court if necessary. 'He said what he said. We did not take him out of context. The words that we reported came out of his mouth,' O'Keefe said, adding, 'We stand by our reporting.' The lawsuit includes claims of defamation, false light, fraudulent misrepresentation and violations of the Wire Tap Act. Though the lawsuit acknowledges that the city's consent law for recording conversations, the filing asserts that the law nonetheless prohibits 'the interception and recording of a communication if it was for the purposes of committing a tortious act.' A recording that O'Keefe released shows Mannina being asked at one point by the woman, whose name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, about his 'overall assessment of Trump.' 'He's a sociopathic narcissist who's only interested in advancing his name, his wealth and his fame,' Mannina can be heard saying. Asked in the recording whether there was anything he could do to 'protect the American people,' Mannina replied that he was in conversation with some retired generals to explore what could be done. The lawsuit was filed by Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington lawyer who routinely represents government officials and whistleblowers. Zaid himself sued Trump last week after the president revoked his security clearance. 'Lying or misleading someone on a dating app, which no doubt happens all the time, is not what this lawsuit seeks to address,' Zaid said in a statement to The Associated Press. 'The creation of a fake profile for the specific purposes of targeting individuals for deliberately nefarious and harmful purposes is what crosses the line.' The complaint arises from a pair of dates that Mannina had in January. During their first date, the lawsuit alleges, the woman expressed her distaste for Trump and repeatedly pressed Mannina on his political views and about his work with the government. Mannina told her that included working as a 'spy catcher' several years earlier when he was an FBI counterintelligence agent. The lawsuit says Mannina and the woman met for lunch the following day, and as they left the restaurant, a man with a microphone approached Mannina and said, 'Jamie, you're a spy hunter, you say. Well, I'm a spy hunter, too, but I'm evidentially a better spy hunter than you.' The man was O'Keefe, the lawsuit says. The complaint says Mannina was swiftly fired from Booz Allen, where he worked as a contractor, after O'Keefe contacted the press office and presented at least parts of the videos. O'Keefe then released a video on his organization's YouTube channel titled, 'Pentagon Advisor Reveals Conversation 'to Explore What We Can Do' to 'Protect People from Trump.'" The lawsuit says the O'Keefe Media Group painted Mannina in a false light by misconstruing his words and his title, including by referring to him as a 'Top Pentagon Advisor' when he was actually just 'one of a countless number of defense contractors.' It says that characterization was intended to support "fabricated claims that Mr. Mannina was essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump.' The lawsuit does not directly say why Mannina was targeted, but it does note that in 2017, when he was working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he published three articles in the Huffington Post and The Hill newspaper that were critical of Trump.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date. Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making 'inflammatory and damaging' remarks that could be recorded, 'manipulated' and posted online. Clips from their January conversations were spliced together to make it appear that Mannina was 'essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump,' and an article released online with the videos defamed Mannina by painting him as part of a 'deep state' effort with senior military officials to undermine Trump's presidency, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Mannina does not deny in the lawsuit making the comments. He says his words were taken out of context and were misrepresented in a description of the video that was posted on YouTube. O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 but was removed from the organization in 2023 amid allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent funds. He has continued to employ similar hidden camera stings as part of a new organization he established, O'Keefe Media Group, which also is named in the lawsuit. O'Keefe told The Associated Press that Mannina 'voluntarily' offered up the comments in the recording and that it was important for the public to hear Mannina's remarks. O'Keefe pointed out that the District of Columbia only requires the consent of one party, not both, for a conversation to be recorded. O'Keefe said the lawsuit was an 'attack on the First Amendment' and that he was prepared to fight it in an appeals court if necessary. 'He said what he said. We did not take him out of context. The words that we reported came out of his mouth,' O'Keefe said, adding, 'We stand by our reporting.' The lawsuit includes claims of defamation, false light, fraudulent misrepresentation and violations of the Wire Tap Act. Though the lawsuit acknowledges that the city's consent law for recording conversations, the filing asserts that the law nonetheless prohibits 'the interception and recording of a communication if it was for the purposes of committing a tortious act.' A recording that O'Keefe released shows Mannina being asked at one point by the woman, whose name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, about his 'overall assessment of Trump.' 'He's a sociopathic narcissist who's only interested in advancing his name, his wealth and his fame,' Mannina can be heard saying. Asked in the recording whether there was anything he could do to 'protect the American people,' Mannina replied that he was in conversation with some retired generals to explore what could be done. The lawsuit was filed by Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington lawyer who routinely represents government officials and whistleblowers. Zaid himself was sued Trump last week after the president revoked his security clearance. 'Lying or misleading someone on a dating app, which no doubt happens all the time, is not what this lawsuit seeks to address,' Zaid said in a statement to The Associated Press. 'The creation of a fake profile for the specific purposes of targeting individuals for deliberately nefarious and harmful purposes is what crosses the line.' The complaint arises from a pair of dates that Mannina had in January. During their first date, the lawsuit alleges, the woman expressed her distaste for Trump and repeatedly pressed Mannina on his political views and about his work with the government. Mannina told her that included working as a 'spy catcher' several years earlier when he was an FBI counterintelligence agent. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The lawsuit says Mannina and the woman met for lunch the following day, and as they left the restaurant, a man with a microphone approached Mannina and said, 'Jamie, you're a spy hunter, you say. Well, I'm a spy hunter, too, but I'm evidentially a better spy hunter than you.' The man was O'Keefe, the lawsuit says. The complaint says Mannina was swiftly fired from Booz Allen, where he worked as a contractor, after O'Keefe contacted the press office and presented at least parts of the videos. O'Keefe then released a video on his organization's YouTube channel titled, 'Pentagon Advisor Reveals Conversation 'to Explore What We Can Do' to 'Protect People from Trump.'' The lawsuit says the O'Keefe Media Group painted Mannina in a false light by misconstruing his words and his title, including by referring to him as a 'Top Pentagon Advisor' when he was actually just 'one of a countless number of defense contractors.' It says that characterization was intended to support 'fabricated claims that Mr. Mannina was essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump.' The lawsuit does not directly say why Mannina was targeted, but it does note that in 2017, when he was working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he published three articles in the Huffington Post and The Hill newspaper that were critical of Trump.
