Latest news with #Walczak
Kiwiblog
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Kiwiblog
Pay the donation and get out of jail
The NYT reports: As Paul Walczak awaited sentencing early this year, his best hope for avoiding prison time rested with the newly inaugurated president. Mr. Walczak, a former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election, submitted a pardon application to President Trump around Inauguration Day. The application focused not solely on Mr. Walczak's offenses but also on the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago. Ms. Fago had raised millions of dollars for Mr. Trump's campaigns and those of other Republicans, the application said. It also highlighted her connections to an effort to sabotage Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s 2020 campaign by publicizing the addiction diary of his daughter Ashley Biden — an episode that drew law enforcement scrutiny. … Still, weeks went by and no pardon was forthcoming, even as Mr. Trump issued clemency grants to hundreds of other allies. Then, Ms. Fago was invited to a $1-million-per-person fund-raising dinner last month that promised face-to-face access to Mr. Trump at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. Less than three weeks after she attended the dinner, Mr. Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon. Many Presidents have made bad or dubious pardons, but giving one three weeks after someone's mother donates $1 million is a new low.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Teen hits Cambridge Springs firetruck in weekend crash
ROCKDALE TOWNSHIP — A Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Department pumper truck sustained minor damage when a 17-year-old struck it in a crash over Memorial Day weekend, according to a report from Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville. Neither the two drivers nor two passengers in the firetruck were injured in the crash, which took place Saturday at about 9:46 a.m. on Miller Station Road just south of Mackey Hill Road, according to the report. When he saw a car coming fast around a curve toward the stopped firetruck he was driving, Chief Nathan Walczak had one thought on his mind. 'I was holding on, hoping they were going to stop in time, but they did not,' Walczak said, recalling the crash in a phone interview Thursday. 'It could've been way worse. Everyone got very lucky — nobody was hurt. That's the most important part.' The crash occurred when the 17-year-old girl was traveling south on Miller Station Road and the firetruck, a 2013 Spartan Motors pumper, was stopped in the northbound lane, police reported. The girl, traveling at a high rate of speed, tried to navigate a right-hand curve in the roadway but crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the truck before she could stop. Walczak said that Cambridge Springs firefighters had been on a training exercise with Rockdale Township staff members and were following their counterparts back to the Rockdale Township building, located near the intersection of Miller Station and Mackey Hill roads. As a Rockdale Township front loader was pulling into the township building, he saw the 17-year-old's car coming around the curve just north of where he was stopped. The girl's 1999 Toyota Corolla sustained functional damage in the crash, according to police, who did not release the driver's name due to her age. The fire truck sustained minor damage to its front bumper, Walczak said, and remains in service. In addition to Walczak, two other firefighters were riding in the truck, a 63-year-old man and a 28-year-old man. Both drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, according to police. The crash was recorded by security cameras at the Rockdale Township building, according to police. After reviewing footage of the incident, police charged the 17-year-old driver with failure to drive on the right side of the roadway. Walczak said it was the first time a department vehicle had been involved in a crash since he became chief in 2023.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Poll: Most Americans think Qatar is trying to bribe Trump with luxury jet ‘gift'
Most Americans (54%) believe the government of Qatar is trying to bribe President Trump by giving his administration a luxury jet, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. A mere 25% of Americans think the opposite: that the free Qatari jet is not intended as a bribe. The survey of 1,560 U.S. adults was conducted from May 22 to May 27, immediately after the Trump Administration officially accepted what may be the most lavish and expensive foreign gift in U.S. history: a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, valued between $200 and $400 million, that Trump plans to use as Air Force One for the rest of his term and transfer to his presidential library foundation after leaving office. Defending the move, Trump insisted earlier this month that only a 'stupid person' would 'turn down that kind of an offer.' 'I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane,'' the president told reporters. 'But it was — I thought it was a great gesture.' The new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that most Americans disagree. A majority (51%) disapprove of Trump's decision to accept the jet; less than a third (32%) approve. 'I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right,' pro-Trump pundit Ben Shapiro said when the president first announced the deal. 'President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.' Across the entire survey, Republicans are the only demographic group who think the jet is not a bribe attempt (54%) and approve of Trump accepting it (66%). Among Democrats, those numbers are just 6% and 5%, respectively; among independents, they are just 18% and 26%. And the Qatari jet is not the only corruption concern or possible conflict of interest swirling around Trump's second term. Emboldened by last year's Supreme Court ruling granting presidents immunity for their official actions, Trump has used his second stint in the Oval Office to openly enrich himself and advance his personal interests in ways that make the ethical complaints of his first term look quaint in comparison, experts say, while eliminating key protections against influence peddling and firing officials tasked with rooting out corruption. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive who recently pleaded guilty to funding his extravagant lifestyle, including a $2 million yacht, with the Social Security, Medicare and federal income tax money he withheld from his employees' paychecks — and who was about to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution and go to prison for 18 months. Initially, Walczak's pardon request was ignored. Then, less than three weeks after Walczak's mother attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club, it was granted. The new Yahoo News/YouGov poll was conducted before Walczak's pardon became public knowledge. But respondents were asked about another recent incident: Trump's decision to host an "intimate private dinner" for the top 220 anonymous investors in his cryptocurrency business, many of whom operate outside the U.S. — along with a 'Special VIP Tour' of the White House for the top 25 investors. Though Trump once called cryptocurrency 'a scam,' he changed his mind on the campaign trail last year, eventually pledging to transform the United States into 'the crypto capital of the planet.' In September, he launched a cryptocurrency firm called World Liberty Financial with his sons; its paper value is now nearing $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. The crypto industry went on to spend tens of millions of dollars to help Trump win the 2024 election, then donated $18 million to his inauguration. Just before returning to the Oval Office, Trump started selling $TRUMP, a so-called meme coin — that is, a type of cryptocurrency 'based on an online joke or celebrity mascot' with no real use 'beyond speculation,' according to the New York Times. Investors in foreign countries, some of whom openly admit they want to influence the president, rushed to stock up. At the same, the Trump administration disbanded a Justice Department unit dedicated to investigating cryptocurrency crimes; declared that meme coins are no longer subject to regulatory oversight; and agreed to pause a fraud case against a top crypto mogul who pumped $75 million into Trump tokens. How do Americans feel about this arrangement? Not great. According to the poll, more than twice as many of them disapprove (49%) than approve (23%) of Trump and his family being involved in "a cryptocurrency business valued at around $1 billion at the same time the Trump administration has loosened cryptocurrency enforcement and regulations.' And even more disapprove (53%) rather than approve (23%) of the private dinner Trump hosted last week for his memecoin investors. Trump's crypto endeavors aren't particularly popular among Republicans, either: just 44% approve of last week's investor dinner and the overall business — compared, again, to the 66% who approve of the president accepting a free jet from Qatar. Despite such data, Trump's recent corruption concerns haven't really changed how Americans perceive him. Before asking about the Qatari jet and Trump's cryptocurrency business, Yahoo News and YouGov asked half of respondents whether they think "Donald Trump and his family are corrupt.' The goal was to test how people feel in the absence of any potentially new information about the subject. A majority (51%) said yes, Trump and his family are corrupt; 34% said no. An additional 15% were unsure. To also test how people feel once they've encountered some potentially new information about the subject, the other half of respondents were asked the corruption question after they were asked about the Qatari jet and Trump's cryptocurrency business. The results weren't any different: 51% said yes, Trump and his family are corrupt; 35% said no. An additional 14% were unsure. Both sets of results closely match previous Yahoo News/YouGov polls. The last time the corruption question was asked, in September 2023, 51% of Americans said yes, 30% said no and 19% said they weren't sure. Across all Yahoo News/YouGov surveys from 2022 and 2023, responses averaged 49% yes, 32% no and 19% not sure. In other words, perceptions of corruption regarding Trump and his family are largely baked in at this point. One reason recent reports haven't altered these perceptions — or Trump's overall approval rating, which at 41% approve to 54% is effectively the same as it was last month — is that Trump's supporters are paying far less attention to the issue of corruption than his detractors. For instance, just 21% of Americans say they have heard "a lot" about "Trump and his family's involvement with cryptocurrency" — and that number is far higher among Democrats (31%) than Republicans (12%). Among those who've heard "a lot" about the cryptocurrency story, meanwhile, just 23% approve of how Trump is handling his job as president; a full 74% disapprove. In contrast, more Americans who've heard 'nothing at all' about Trump's crypto involvement approve (51%) than disapprove (41%) of his job performance. __________________ The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,560 U.S. adults interviewed online from May 22 to 27, 2025. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 election turnout and presidential vote, party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Party identification is weighted to the estimated distribution at the time of the election (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.9%.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump pardons tax cheat weeks after his mother attended $1M fundraiser
President Donald Trump has issued a pardon for a man who defrauded millions of dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle after his MAGA donor mom attended a ritzy $1million-per-head Mar-a-Lago gala. Paul Walczak was due hand himself over to authorities to begin his 18 month sentence and pay $4.4million in restitution for his crimes when Trump issued the pardon. In an application to be shown mercy, Walczak claimed that prosecutors targeted him due his his mother, Elizabeth Fago's political activity. Fago had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns and was involved in leaking Joe Biden's daughter Ashley's addiction diary ahead of the 2020 election in an effort to sabotage his chances. Initially, the pardon plea went ignored. Walczak (pictured right) was convicted of 13 counts of tax crimes, stealing more than $10million to fund his lavish lifestyle. But then Fago received an invitation to Trump's exclusive $1million-per-head fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago in April. The invitation promised unprecedented face-to-face access to the president as part of an intimate, candlelit dinner. Less than three weeks later, Trump issued Walczak a full and unconditional pardon, sparing him from paying the hefty restitution fee or turning himself over to authorities to be taken into custody. The White House told the New York Times that Walczak had been 'targeted by the Biden administration over his family's conservative politics' - echoing the same sentiment he himself had used in his pardon request. Walczak had joined his mother's nursing home business after dropping out of college, climbing the ranks to become chief executive. She sold the business in 2007 and the pair invested $18million into another healthcare venture in South Florida. But prosecutors said that by 2011, Walczak had stopped paying his own taxes, and then between 2016-2019 he withheld more than $10million from his employees' pay checks. He had insisted this money was being used for his employees' social secutity, Medicare and federal income taxes, when in reality it was funding the lavish lifestyle he had grown accustomed to. This money was used to purchase a $2million yacht, travel the world in luxury and go on shopping trips at Cartier and Bergdorf Goodman. By February 2023, he had been found and charged for his crimes. Walczak pleaded guilty in November 2024 - days after Trump was re-elected to the White House. Then, days after Trump's inauguration, he submitted his pardon request. His family had been in Trump's orbit for years prior. Fago and other relatives had spent the 2020 election night at a White House watch party. After Trump's defeat, they were invited back to the White House a month later to attend a Christmas party. Fago has been pictured alongside the president and attended his 2017 inauguration. Ms. Fago and other family members spent election night 2020 at a White House watch party. After Mr. Trump lost, they were invited back the next month to attend a White House Christmas party. Trump has been on a pardoning spree since returning to the White House. Most recently, he vowed to issue pardons for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were found guilty of defrauding banks out of $30 million. On Monday he issued a pardon for a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted last year of federal bribery charges, averting prison time for the officer while also blasting Biden's 'corrupt' Justice Department. 'Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL,' Trump posted. 'He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.' Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who served an area about two hours outside Washington, D.C., was convicted by a jury in December 2024 for accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointments as auxiliary deputy sheriffs. In March, Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Upon returning to the White House, Trump swiftly issued pardons for all January 6 rioters.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump tax cheat pardoned after his mom attended ritzy $1million dinner
President Donald Trump has issued a pardon for a man who defrauded millions of dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle after his MAGA donor mom attended a ritzy $1million-per-head Mar-a-Lago gala. Paul Walczak was due turn himself over to authorities to begin his 18 month sentence and pay $4.4million in restitution for his crimes when Trump issued the pardon. In an application to be shown mercy, Walczak claimed that prosecutors targeted him due his his mother, Elizabeth Fago's political activity. Fago had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns and was involved in leaking Joe Biden 's daughter Ashley's addiction diary ahead of the 2020 election in an effort to sabotage his chances. Initially, the pardon plea went ignored. Walczak was convicted of 13 counts of tax crimes, stealing more than $10million to fund his lavish lifestyle. But then Fago received an invitation to Trump's exclusive $1million-per-head fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago in April. The invitation promised unprecedented face-to-face access to the president as part of an intimate, candlelit dinner. Less than three weeks later, Trump issued Walczak a full and unconditional pardon, sparing him from paying the hefty restitution fee or turning himself over to authorities to be taken into custody. Paul Walczak was inching toward turning himself over to authorities to begin his 18 month sentence and pay $4.4million in restitution for his crimes when Trump issued the pardon The White House told the New York Times that Walczak had been 'targeted by the Biden administration over his family's conservative politics' - echoing the same sentiment he himself had used in his pardon request. Walczak had joined his mother's nursing home business after dropping out of college, climbing the ranks to become chief executive. She sold the business in 2007 and the pair invested $18million into another healthcare venture in South Florida. But prosecutors said that by 2011, Walczak had stopped paying his own taxes, and then between 2016-2019 he withheld more than $10million from his employees' pay checks. He had insisted this money was being used for his employees' social secutity, Medicare and federal income taxes, when in reality it was funding the lavish lifestyle he had grown accustomed to. This money was used to purchase a $2million yacht, travel the world in luxury and go on shopping trips at Cartier and Bergdorf Goodman. By February 2023, he had been found and charged for his crimes. Walczak pleaded guilty in November 2024 - days after Trump was re-elected to the White House. Then, days after Trump's inauguration, he submitted his pardon request. His family had been in Trump's orbit for years prior. Fago and other relatives had spent the 2020 election night at a White House watch party. After Trump's defeat, they were invited back to the White House a month later to attend a Christmas party. Fago has been pictured alongside the president and attended his 2017 inauguration. Ms. Fago and other family members spent election night 2020 at a White House watch party. After Mr. Trump lost, they were invited back the next month to attend a White House Christmas party. Trump has been on a pardoning spree since returning to the White House. Most recently, he vowed to issue pardons for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were found guilty of defrauding banks out of $30 million. On Monday he issued a pardon for a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted last year of federal bribery charges, averting prison time for the officer while also blasting Biden's 'corrupt' Justice Department. 'Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL,' Trump posted. 'He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.' Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who served an area about two hours outside Washington, D.C., was convicted by a jury in December 2024 for accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointments as auxiliary deputy sheriffs. In March, Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
