Latest news with #campaignfinance
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump commutes sentence for donor Imaad Zuberi
President Trump has commuted the sentence of top political donor Imaad Zuberi, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 after giving illegal campaign contributions to former President Biden and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). A White House official confirmed Trump commuted his sentence to The Hill's sister network NewsNation on Wednesday. Zuberi had pleaded guilty in 2019 and 2020 to tax evasion, lobbying top U.S. officials while working as a foreign agent, campaign finance violations and obstruction of justice. Alongside the 12-year sentence, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered Zuberi to pay close to $16 million in restitution and a nearly $2 million fine. 'I'm deeply sorry and, of course, humiliated,' Zuberi previously told Phillips. 'I have no excuse for what I've done.' Zuberi has also been accused of putting together meetings with U.S. and foreign politicians as well as being behind a straw donor plot. 'Everyone wants to come to Washington to meet people,' Zuberi said in a decade-old email in which he was attempting to put together a meeting between the president of Guinea and a congressman, according to the AP. 'We get request(s) for meeting(s) from all scumbag of the world, warlords, kings, queens, presidents for life, military dictators, clan chiefs, tribal chiefs and etc.' The New York Times previously reported that Zuberi donated over $1.1 million in the three months following Trump's first election to committees linked with the president and the GOP after previously backing former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her 2016 bid for the presidency. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Commutes Sentence of Major Donor to his 2017 Inauguration
President Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of a California venture capitalist and major political donor who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating lobbying, campaign finance and tax laws, and obstructing an investigation into Mr. Trump's 2017 inaugural committee. The donor, Imaad Zuberi, 54, had been a major supporter of Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, before shifting his support to Mr. Trump after his 2016 victory. In the three months after the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Mr. Trump and the Republican Party, scoring coveted invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Mr. Trump's inauguration. In the process, he posted photos of himself with the president, as well as Mr. Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Priebus and various cabinet nominees. In 2020, Mr. Zuberi pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Mr. Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016. In 2019, Mr. Zuberi pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign donations during the Obama administration, including some funded by foreign sources, as part of a scheme to gain access to American politicians for foreign clients. He also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka to help burnish the country's reputation in Washington amid human rights concerns. And he pleaded guilty to failing to report and pay taxes on $5.65 million he was paid for the Sri Lankan lobbying campaign, much of which, prosecutors say, he diverted for personal use. During some of the criminal proceedings, Mr. Zuberi was represented by David Warrington, who is now Mr. Trump's White House counsel. The White House did not immediately respond to a question about whether Mr. Warrington recused himself from deliberations about the commutation. Part of Mr. Zuberi's defense involved arguing that some of the activity with which he was charged stemmed from his work as a longtime intelligence source for the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Zuberi was sentenced in 2021. In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to pay nearly $16 million in restitution and $1.75 million in fines. He had been held at a low-security federal correctional institution in California and was scheduled to be released in 2030, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Santos's Treasurer Avoids Prison for Her Role in His Schemes
George Santos's campaign treasurer and right-hand woman, Nancy Marks, was sentenced to probation on Wednesday for her role in the former congressman's campaign finance schemes after pleading guilty to one count of criminal conspiracy. Ms. Marks's admission was crucial in helping federal prosecutors build their case against Mr. Santos, who pleaded guilty last year and admitted to committing identity theft, filing false reports and stealing donors' money, among other crimes. He was sentenced last month to more than 7 years in prison. Appearing before Judge Joanna Seybert in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., Ms. Marks, 59, apologized for her role in Mr. Santos's schemes and vowed to have no further involvement in politics. The sentence, three years' probation and $178,000 in restitution, coupled with a heavily redacted sentencing memorandum and repeated delays in the sentencing, fueled speculation that Ms. Marks had cooperated with prosecutors. Asked whether Ms. Marks had done so, her lawyer, Raymond Perini, was coy. 'I'm going to leave that an enigma,' he said. Ms. Marks was once the go-to bookkeeper for some of Long Island's most prominent Republicans. Her business dealings had drawn federal prosecutors' interest, but it was her partnership with Mr. Santos, whose outrageous lies revealed serious misdeeds, that led to her downfall. In October 2023, five months after Mr. Santos was indicted, she pleaded guilty before prosecutors had filed an indictment against her. In their sentencing memo, the prosecutors asked for an 18-month prison sentence, the lowest end of the range recommended by the U.S. Probation Department. Standing before her family in court, Ms. Marks appeared nervous. She spoke of late-night phone calls with Mr. Santos, whom she described as both a friend and something like an abusive spouse. It was 'heartbreaking' to learn that his life story was a lie, she told the judge. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the sentencing for the longtime veteran of local, state and federal campaigns was her promise that she was done with politics. 'She's not a threat to the political world anymore,' Mr. Perini said. 'That's done.' As she delivered the sentence, Judge Seybert sought to impress upon Ms. Marks the seriousness of what she had done. 'This will be a lesson for people in local politics, that there will not be any more leniency for Nancy Marks,' Judge Seybert warned. 'This is it.' As Mr. Santos's treasurer, Ms. Marks was at the center of his political operation from his first unsuccessful run in 2020 through to his election to Congress in 2022. She oversaw the flow of funds in and out of the campaign, as well as reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. She was compensated handsomely, earning nearly $240,000, including reimbursements from Mr. Santos's campaign and associated political action committees. But shortly after Mr. Santos's election, The New York Times reported that he had fabricated nearly every part of his biography, prompting investigations by federal and local law enforcement authorities and an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. That committee found that Mr. Santos had 'sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,' according to its report. The panel found that Mr. Santos had spent campaign funds at Hermès and Ferragamo, as well as the adult website OnlyFans. He was later expelled from Congress by a two-thirds vote of his colleagues. In pleading guilty, Ms. Marks admitted she had doctored reports to include fake donations from family members and friends and a fake $500,000 loan. The ruse had made the campaign look significantly more successful on paper than it was in reality. The reports were littered with irregularities, including constantly amended expenses, mysterious donations and dozens of payments addressed to 'Anonymous' in the precise amount of $199.99, just below the threshold at which receipts were required. Once a sought-after treasurer for Republican and Conservative Party candidates, the self-taught Ms. Marks built something of an empire from her converted garage in Shirley, N.Y. Amid a cloud of cigarette smoke, she handled the books of countless judges, political action committees and politicians. Her clients included Edward P. Romaine, the Suffolk County executive; the former State Senate majority leader, John Flanagan; and former Representative Lee Zeldin, who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the financial irregularities that attracted prosecutors' interest to Mr. Santos also appear in reports she filed for other clients, most notably Mr. Zeldin's 2020 congressional campaign. In March 2023, Mr. Zeldin amended his reports, which had included a number of $199.99 payments to unnamed recipients. Her work for Mr. Santos was not the only instance of Ms. Marks drawing the attention of federal prosecutors, however. Her business practices attracted scrutiny on at least two occasions, once for brokering the sale of a ballot line, and once in response to complaints that she had stolen from clients. Neither inquiry resulted in charges. Some clients, including Mr. Zeldin, cut ties with Ms. Marks and her company, Campaigns Unlimited, after her role in Mr. Santos's schemes became public. Others stayed on. In the first few months of 2024, federal campaign filings show that Ms. Marks handled the books for a conservative television commentator running for Congress in Florida, and for a political action committee focused on electing people to school boards who oppose the teaching of racial history and gender identity. In court on Wednesday, Ms. Marks portrayed herself as a reformed woman. She said she was caring for her mother, had taken a night job at a warehouse and was going back to school. 'I have learned from my mistakes,' she said, 'and I am trying to start my life over again.'
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
George Santos' former treasurer sentenced to probation over bogus campaign finance reports
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — George Santos ′ former campaign treasurer was sentenced Wednesday to three years' probation for her role in fabricating campaign finance reports for the disgraced ex-congressman from New York. Nancy Marks was also ordered to pay more than $178,000 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert. The veteran Long Island political operative, who resigned as Santos' campaign treasurer in 2023, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges last year. 'I thought I had found a friend in George Santos,' she said Wednesday. 'But everything about him was a lie. I thought it was a true friend and a true person. He was not.' She has admitted to helping Santos inflate his campaign donations during the 2022 election cycle in order to hit the fundraising thresholds needed to qualify for backing from the national Republican Party. Prosecutors say Marks filed campaign finance reports that listed a number of false donors, including at least 10 members of her family and Santos' family. The reports to the Federal Election Commission and the GOP National Committee also falsely claimed Santos had loaned his campaign $500,000 when in reality he didn't have the money to make that kind of loan. Marks faced up to five years in prison. In a filing ahead of Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors had recommended the Shirley resident be sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $178,000 in restitution. Marks' lawyers filed their sentencing request under seal, meaning it wasn't revealed prior to her appearance in Central Islip federal court. Marks worked on more than 150 Republican campaigns on Long Island, including for the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, during his successful campaigns for Congress and a failed gubernatorial run. Santos was sentenced last month to more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He's due to report to prison July 25. Sam Miele, a former fundraiser for Santos, was sentenced in March to one year and one day in prison for his role in the campaign fraud, which included impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide. Santos served less than a year in Congress before becoming just the sixth member of the House to be ousted by colleagues after it was revealed he'd fabricated much of his life story. The political unknown had painted himself as a successful business owner who worked at prestigious Wall Street firms, when in reality he was struggling financially. The revelations led to congressional and criminal inquiries into how he had funded his campaign. ___ Follow Philip Marcelo at
Fox News
4 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
DOJ reaches plea deal with Dem donor who sought to bribe her way to Kennedy Center seat
A Los Angeles County woman, who served on a presidential advisory committee under the Biden administration and has an extensive history of donating to Democrats, reached a plea agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for making tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to reportedly secure a seat on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, the DOJ announced Wednesday. Teena Maria Hostovich, 66, was charged Wednesday with making contributions in the name of another aggregating to more than $10,000 in a year, which is a felony, the DOJ reported. She revealed in her plea agreement that she carried out the scheme in part to secure a spot on the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees, the DOJ stated in the press release. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts serves as the national cultural center of the U.S. and is located in Washington, D.C. Hostovich is an insurance broker who used the identities of 11 other people, including co-workers and family members of co-workers, to illegally contribute more than $75,000 to political candidates between 2020 and 2023, the DOJ stated in a press release. "According to her plea agreement, from May 2020 through 2023, Hostovich knowingly and willfully made a total of $75,700 in contributions to federal candidates' principal campaign committees and federal joint fundraising committees in the names of other people," the DOJ said in a press release. "For the calendar years 2021 through 2023, Hostovich's conduit contributions aggregated to more than $10,000 during each of those years." Hostovich agreed in a court filing Wednesday to plead guilty to the federal criminal charge and pay a $43,500 fine. Her scheme included contacting co-workers, their family members and other people "who performed personal services for Hostovich and her family" to ask them to make a donation to a political campaign or fundraising committee, according to the press release. She would then use PayPal to reimburse the individual for the contribution or pay them up front before the contribution was made, the Justice Department explained. "To execute these conduit contributions, Hostovich sometimes explicitly stated that she would advance the money for the contribution or pay the person back for that contribution," the press release outlined. "Other times, the person had an implicit understanding that Hostovich would advance the money or reimburse them based on her history of advancements and reimbursements of political contributions. Hostovich generally advanced or reimbursed these individuals in amounts that exceeded the exact contribution amount but often the amounts were very close to the contribution amount." Fox News Digital reviewed a website promoting a book Hostovich wrote in 2024 on climbing America's corporate ladder, which also touted Hostovich as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and that former President Joe Biden appointed her to serve on the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts. "She is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and the White House Historical Association. President Biden recently appointed her to the President's Advisory Committee for the Arts, and she is the Co-Chair of the Advisory Council to the Kennedy Center's President and Chairman," the bio states, which is accompanied by photos of Hostovich with high-profile Democrats such as Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Biden. Fox News Digital reached out to the Clinton Foundation for comment but did not immediately receive a reply. An archived official White House press release from 2023 under the Biden administration detailed Hostovich's position on the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts, including touting her "corporate governance responsibility, political activism, and philanthropic work." "She has combined her lifelong passion for the arts, history, and education with her corporate governance responsibility, political activism, and philanthropic work," the bio states. "In addition to serving on the Board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for over a decade, she has been one of the Chairs (along with her husband and son) of Hollywood Bowl Opening Night many times (including 2023) honoring significant artists and showcasing the LA music community while raising money for Music Matters benefitting music/arts programs in public schools." It is unclear how donations made in other people's names would bolster her reported efforts to secure a spot on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. The president appoints general trustees to the board, while other members are appointed by Congress. A representative for Hostovich told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement Tuesday morning that "Teena Hostovich has agreed to plead guilty to one count of making contributions in the name of another, involving five donations of $2,900 each in 2021. In doing so, she is accepting responsibility for her conduct early and swiftly." The statement continued that Hostovich's "mistakes are out of character," arguing that her "career, accomplishments, and numerous charitable deeds reflect a lifetime of hard work and generosity." "Her generosity and commitment to her community led to her involvement in donating and fundraising for causes and candidates that she believed would champion fairness, equality, and improve society," the spokesperson continued. "She deeply regrets that her ardent support of some candidates led to lapses in judgment in a fraction of the donations she helped to raise and make. She is even more remorseful for the shadow that this investigation may cast on the candidates to whom the donations were made, as they had no knowledge of any wrongdoing." "Throughout this process, Ms. Hostovich has cooperated fully and worked transparently with law enforcement authorities. She is committed to making the appropriate amends." The DOJ did not identify in its press release which political party Hostovich favored, though Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by Fox News show Hostovich made hundreds of donations across the years to Democrat politicians, the Democratic Party and left-wing political action committees. Hostovich has nearly 1,000 entries on the FEC's database regarding donations she made under her own name stretching back to 2008 through the 2024 election cycle. The FEC data shows she donated to campaigns and groups such as the Obama Victory Fund, Democratic Party of Virginia, Pasadena, California, area United Democratic Headquarters and Chris Coons for Delaware during the 2008–2012 period. More recent data from the 2024 election cycle shows she donated to groups such as the North Carolina Democratic Party – Federal, the Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the Democratic State Committee (Delaware). Searching for donations made to groups or campaigns containing the name "Republican" or "GOP" yielded zero results, Fox News Digital found. The FBI carried out an investigation into Hostovich before she was charged and reached a plea agreement, the DOJ said. The DOJ told Fox Digital on Tuesday that Hostovich is scheduled to appear in court on June 13 in Los Angeles.
