Latest news with #politicalcorruption
New York Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
New Orleans Mayor Joins Long Line of Louisiana Politicians Accused of Corruption
Hundred-dollar bills stashed in a freezer. Riverboat casino licenses sold to the highest bidder. Truckloads of granite traded in a quid pro quo. Louisiana has a long and colorful history of political corruption allegations, which for decades have ensnared lawmakers at many levels of government. The most recent was Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans, who was indicted on Friday after a lengthy federal investigation. According to the charges laid out in the indictment, Ms. Cantrell abused public funds to facilitate a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, a city police officer, and then sought to cover up the personal time they spent together in New Orleans and on out-of-state trips while he claimed to be on duty. Ms. Cantrell's lawyer said on Friday that he needed to review the indictment before commenting; he declined to comment again on Saturday. Here's a look back at some of the most significant corruption scandals in Louisiana history: Richard Leche After the assassination of Huey Long, a popular Louisiana governor turned United States senator, in 1935, Richard Leche emerged as his successor. But Mr. Leche's single term as governor came to an early end when he resigned in 1939 amid corruption allegations. His resignation failed to stave off charges, and in 1940, he was convicted of mail fraud in a plot that prosecutors said involved a dealer selling trucks to the state's Highway Department at excessively high prices, and then giving Mr. Leche a kickback. He served five years in prison before President Harry S. Truman pardoned him in 1953. Huey and Earl Long Earl Long, the lieutenant governor under Leche in 1939, was swept into the state's highest office when his predecessor resigned. Mr. Leche's scandals loomed over Mr. Long's first term, and in 1940, Long was himself charged with embezzlement. The charges didn't stick, however, and Mr. Long would go on to win the governorship in two elections, holding office from 1948 to 1952 and from 1956 to 1960, in a career defined by personal excess and eccentric behavior. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Texas Democrats running for U.S. Senate focus their campaigns on Trump, messages against political corruption
The two Democrats running for U.S. Senate say they agree with people who say the political system in Washington, D.C. is rigged against them. In a video launching his campaign July 1, former Democratic Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas said he planned to run against the political corruption. He repeated that theme during an interview for Eye On Politics. "I know that Washington is broken. I know that our system is rigged. I know what we need to do to unrig it." Retired NASA Astronaut and U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Colonel Terry Virts launched his campaign for U.S. Senate in late June. In an interview for Eye On Politics, he told CBS News Texas that the political system is unfair to a lot of people. "Especially young people today have just given up on the system" said Virts. "They think it's completely rigged. So, we need to build a system that's fair. Of course, people need to pay their taxes. Of course, wealthy people need to pay their taxes. Trump has been going out of his way to make sure that wealthy people don't have to pay their taxes." In a poll released by the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin last month, political corruption topped the list of concerns by Texans. Overall, 17 percent said that's the biggest problem facing the state, which is more than inflation and prices and immigration and border security. When it comes to Democrats, 31 percent said this is the number one issue. Dr. Joshua Blank, Research Director at the Texas Politics Project spoke to CBS News Texas about the poll and its impact on the political campaigns. Blank told Jack that usually Democrats are split between issues such as climate change, gun control, education, abortion policy, and others. "With Donald Trump entering office, what you see is the Democrats have essentially all been focused on Donald Trump," Blank said. "Even though we've just had a Texas legislative session in which Texas Government has been front and center. The President inserted himself into that session. Repeatedly, he endorsed both the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House during the sessions for their next election. He got involved in the voucher debate. He's called for the Legislature to come back and redistrict, and so ultimately the closeness with which Texas Republican officials are, you know, cultivating with the President for their own voters is actually turning off a lot of Democratic voters here in the State. And again, there's really nothing that unifies democratic voters like Donald Trump. And that's what you're seeing in those numbers right now. And it's something that I think you know Democratic candidates, including, you know, obviously here former Congressman Allred, are looking to capitalize on." Three other Democrats are considering entering the race: former Congressman Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, and State Representative James Talarico of Austin. The winner of the Democratic primary will face either Republican incumbent John Cornyn who is seeking a fifth term or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's ahead in the early polls among Republican primary voters. After Allred's loss to Senator Ted Cruz in November by eight and a half percentage points, Virts told Jack that he doesn't believe Allred can win the primary. "What we need to do is not do the same thing over hoping for a different result." Virts said he has respect and voted for Allred in the last election but said, "If you lose a Senate race you don't win again." Blank said he doesn't believe that is historically the case. "Now it's the fact that candidates don't run multiple times ," said Blank. "Part of the issue here has been the fact that someone, like Allred normally, would essentially run once for statewide office and then go off into his law practice or something else. With that all the experience that he gained running the first time, and that goes beyond just the experience of being a campaigner which is important, but also the lists he's built, the infrastructure. He has the knowledge he has from running one time that he can apply to the next race. Really, the criticism has actually been the Democrats aren't running often enough in some ways, that there's too much reticence among people like the Castros, maybe amongst less so Beto O'Rourke, but amongst maybe a Wendy Davis to essentially just run again." Allred told CBS News Texas he's not taking anything for granted. "I don't expect anyone to support me based on the last election or anything like that. I want to earn folks' votes in this election about what I'll do... There are some things that we absolutely have to do differently from the last election, but also that I think most Texans are sitting there hoping that somebody's going to talk about what's going on in their lives and will have plans to try and help them get ahead. That's what I think they're going to make their decision based on." Candidates can begin filing their paperwork to run in the March 2026 primary on Saturday, November 8. The deadline is Monday, December 8.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump taps 30-year-old with little government experience and links to Holocaust denier to lead federal agency
President Donald Trump has nominated a 30-year-old with little government experience — as well as a connection to a well-known Holocaust denier — to lead the independent agency that protects whistleblowers. Paul Ingrassia, nominated by Trump in May to lead the Office of Special Counsel, has a history of racist language and promoting conspiracy theories, including denying the Holocaust, according to a new report from The Office of Special Counsel was created after the Watergate scandal and intended to be politically independent to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and end government and political corruption. Previous heads overseeing the office of about 140 people have included longtime prosecutors or other federal employees, including former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. Ingrassia graduated Cornell Law School in 2022 and was admitted to the bar in New York last summer. Since then, he has worked as a White House liaison at the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, according to his LinkedIn. According to the report, which reviewed comments Ingrassia made from 2019 to 2024, the 30-year-old not only brings much less experience than previous occupants of the position, but a history of inflammatory remarks about a variety of subjects. While Ingrassia has publicly shown support for notorious White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, CNN found the two had a much deeper connection than previously known. Ingrassia has shared comments from Fuentes on his personal social media pages in addition to accounts for his podcast, Right on Point. He also came to Fuentes' defense when he was banned from X, arguing for his reinstatement in an April 2023 Substack post titled 'Free Nick Fuentes.' More recently, he was photographed attending a June 2024 rally in Detroit in support of Fuentes. However, Ingrassia later denied his attendance was intentional, telling NPR, 'I had no knowledge of who organized the event, observed for 5-10 minutes, then left.' Both Fuentes and Ingrassia have criticized the conservative organization Turning Point USA for supposedly being too pro-Israel and insufficiently pro-White, according to the report. There is also evidence pointing to anti-Israel sentiment in posts shared by his podcast, including a since-deleted post from December 2020 that read, 'Stop shilling for Israel, @GOP,' and criticizeing US foreign aid with a tweet falsely stating, 'The $500 trillion to Israel adds salt to the wound.' Ingrassia became known as a pro-Trump commentator online as early as 2019, when he was just 24 years old. In addition to his connection to Fuentes, he has also publicly promoted conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11. The Department of Homeland Security dismissed CNN's findings as an 'attempted smear campaign,' with a spokesperson saying in a statement that Ingrassia 'has served President Trump and Secretary Noem exceptionally well at the Department of Homeland Security and will continue to do so as the next head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.' The White House also expressed support for Ingrassia, and DHS sent a statement from an unnamed senior administration official, who said, 'He has the support of many Jewish groups, and has been a steadfast advocate for Jewish causes and personnel thus far during his time working for the Trump administration.' The Independent has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump taps 30-year-old with little government experience and links to Holocaust denier to lead federal agency
President Donald Trump has nominated a 30-year-old with little government experience — as well as a connection to a well-known Holocaust denier — to lead the independent agency that protects whistleblowers. Paul Ingrassia, nominated by Trump in May to lead the Office of Special Counsel, has a history of racist language and promoting conspiracy theories, including denying the Holocaust, according to a new report from The Office of Special Counsel was created after the Watergate scandal and intended to be politically independent to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and end government and political corruption. Previous heads overseeing the office of about 140 people have included longtime prosecutors or other federal employees, including former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. Ingrassia graduated Cornell Law School in 2022 and was admitted to the bar in New York last summer. Since then, he has worked as a White House liaison at the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, according to his LinkedIn. According to the report, which reviewed comments Ingrassia made from 2019 to 2024, the 30-year-old not only brings much less experience than previous occupants of the position, but a history of inflammatory remarks about a variety of subjects. While Ingrassia has publicly shown support for notorious White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, CNN found the two had a much deeper connection than previously known. Ingrassia has shared comments from Fuentes on his personal social media pages in addition to accounts for his podcast, Right on Point. He also came to Fuentes' defense when he was banned from X, arguing for his reinstatement in an April 2023 Substack post titled 'Free Nick Fuentes.' More recently, he was photographed attending a June 2024 rally in Detroit in support of Fuentes. However, Ingrassia later denied his attendance was intentional, telling NPR, 'I had no knowledge of who organized the event, observed for 5-10 minutes, then left.' Both Fuentes and Ingrassia have criticized the conservative organization Turning Point USA for supposedly being too pro-Israel and insufficiently pro-White, according to the report. There is also evidence pointing to anti-Israel sentiment in posts shared by his podcast, including a since-deleted post from December 2020 that read, 'Stop shilling for Israel, @GOP,' and criticizeing US foreign aid with a tweet falsely stating, 'The $500 trillion to Israel adds salt to the wound.' Ingrassia became known as a pro-Trump commentator online as early as 2019, when he was just 24 years old. In addition to his connection to Fuentes, he has also publicly promoted conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11. The Department of Homeland Security dismissed CNN's findings as an 'attempted smear campaign,' with a spokesperson saying in a statement that Ingrassia 'has served President Trump and Secretary Noem exceptionally well at the Department of Homeland Security and will continue to do so as the next head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.' The White House also expressed support for Ingrassia, and DHS sent a statement from an unnamed senior administration official, who said, 'He has the support of many Jewish groups, and has been a steadfast advocate for Jewish causes and personnel thus far during his time working for the Trump administration.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
After al-Sadr's Boycott, al-Abadi Withdraws from Iraq's Upcoming Elections
Following the decision by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement to uphold its boycott of Iraq's parliamentary elections, former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has also announced that his Victory Coalition will withdraw in protest against 'political money' and the lack of safeguards to prevent its misuse. Al-Sadr has repeatedly declared that systemic financial and political corruption is the main reason his movement refuses to participate. Al-Abadi's coalition echoed similar concerns, saying the upcoming November vote has been overshadowed by unrestrained spending and vote-buying. Despite efforts by political forces to convince the Sadrists to reconsider, al-Sadr remained resolute. While he did direct his supporters to update their voter records, it is still unclear whether he will ultimately endorse any of the electoral lists reportedly registered under different names by allied groups. The Victory Coalition formally notified its partners in the National State Forces Alliance that it will not field its own candidates, becoming the second major Shiite bloc to step aside. In a statement, the coalition said it remains committed to democratic principles but refuses to legitimize an election 'driven by political money, lacking serious enforcement of legal measures to prevent manipulation, vote-buying, misuse of public resources, and foreign funding.' The coalition stressed that a political entity's credibility stems from its conduct, which defines its true influence. Meanwhile, the Independent High Electoral Commission has begun reviewing candidate lists submitted by parties and alliances after the nomination period closed. Commission spokesperson Imad Jameel confirmed that officials are verifying documents to ensure candidates meet eligibility criteria, with background checks to be completed within 15 days. As millions of Sadrist supporters face the likelihood of sitting out the election, traditional Shiite factions are positioning themselves as the natural political heirs and preparing to court disillusioned voters, particularly in Baghdad. Separately, an official source revealed that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, leader of the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, plans to run about 470 candidates nationwide. Al-Sudani will hold the top slot in Baghdad. Former Speaker of Parliament and Taqaddum leader Mohammed al-Halbousi also plans to contest Baghdad rather than Anbar, seeking to secure a strong Sunni presence in the capital. These moves signal an intense contest for dominance in Baghdad, as al-Sudani may capitalize on Sadrist absence to expand Shiite support, while al-Halbousi's campaign could reshape the sectarian balance in Iraq's political heartland.
