Latest news with #publiccorruption
CBS News
30-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife to stand trial in embezzlement case
Former Speaker of the Michigan House Lee Chatfield and his wife, Stephanie Chatfield, will stand trial for financial crimes, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday. Lee Chatfield is accused of illegally converting personal funds from the 501(c)(4) Peninsula Fund, his electoral political action committees — The Chatfield Majority Fund and The Chatfield Majority Fund 2 — and the state budget of the Michigan House of Representatives. Nessel alleges that Lee Chatfield used nonprofit funds to pay off his personal credit card, sought improper mileage reimbursements from the state House for travel to Lansing that allegedly never happened, started a check kickback scheme to move money from his political action committees through staff and back to him, and sublet an apartment that was paid for by the Peninsula Fund for his profit. Nessel charged the Chatfields in April 2024 with 13 felony charges. "Our investigation uncovered extensive evidence of elaborate schemes to embezzle and misappropriate private and public funds to bankroll Lee Chatfield's lifestyle during his time as Speaker of the House," said Nessel in a statement. "I am glad to see this case finally move forward to a trial in Circuit Court. My office will continue to pursue public corruption with every tool at our disposal and push for stronger transparency and good governance in our state." Lee Chatfield is charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, four counts of embezzlement from a nonprofit organization, three counts of embezzlement by a public officer, one count of conspiracy to commit embezzlement from a nonprofit organization, three counts of embezzlement and one count of a felony violation of the Charitable Trust Act. Stephanie Chatfield is charged with one count each of embezzlement from a nonprofit organization and conspiracy to commit embezzlement from a nonprofit organization. A former Republican state lawmaker representing northern Michigan, Lee Chatfield was House speaker in 2019 and 2020. He was previously investigated by Nessel's office after his sister-in-law, Rebekah Chatfield, accused him of sexually assaulting her. Lee Chatfield denied the allegations and said the two had a consensual affair. Nessel closed the investigation without filing charges. A pretrial date for the Chatfields has not yet been established.
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
FBI deputy director says agency will further investigate cocaine found in White House, Dobbs leak and DC pipe bomb case
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the agency will further investigate several unsolved incidents, including the discovery of cocaine at the White House, the DC pipe bombs case and the Supreme Court Dobbs decision leak. 'Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases,' Bongino said in an X post on Monday. The incidents are among those that have garnered media attention and public interest, particularly among conservatives. The investigation plans to look into an incident in 2023 where cocaine was discovered in the White House. The substance was found near the ground floor entrance to the West Wing, in a location where staff-led tours of the White House pass through on their way into the building. Sources had previously described the substance as a white powder found in a small, zipped bag. At the time, Secret Service personnel found the substance while conducting routine rounds of the building. Bongino's post also mentions the unsolved case of who planted two pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, the night before the Capitol riot. One was near the Democratic National Committee and the other near the Republican National Committee. The FBI has been unable to determine who placed the pipe bombs, despite well-publicized photos of a suspect wearing a hoodie and facemask, a substantial reward and a thousand interviews. The agency picked up its efforts in January when they released new video angles of the suspect near both locations as well as a new height estimate, hoping it may lead to more tips. The unsolved pipe bomb case fueled a wide range of conspiracy theories, including from Bongino who suggested on his popular podcast in January that the FBI was complicit in planting pipe bombs around Washington, DC. Bongino also said he plans to investigate who leaked a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade to the media. The leak became public in May 2022 when Politico published the draft opinion reversing the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court was unable to determine who leaked it when they issued their own investigative report in 2023. Investigators said they conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees, all of whom denied disclosing the opinion. They also conducted a fingerprint analysis, 'looked closely into any connections between employees and reporters,' and 'especially scrutinized any contacts with anyone associated with Politico.'
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
FBI deputy director says agency will further investigate cocaine found in White House, Dobbs leak and DC pipe bomb case
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the agency will further investigate several unsolved incidents, including the discovery of cocaine at the White House, the DC pipe bombs case and the Supreme Court Dobbs decision leak. 'Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases,' Bongino said in an X post on Monday. The incidents are among those that have garnered media attention and public interest, particularly among conservatives. The investigation plans to look into an incident in 2023 where cocaine was discovered in the White House. The substance was found near the ground floor entrance to the West Wing, in a location where staff-led tours of the White House pass through on their way into the building. Sources had previously described the substance as a white powder found in a small, zipped bag. At the time, Secret Service personnel found the substance while conducting routine rounds of the building. Bongino's post also mentions the unsolved case of who planted two pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, the night before the Capitol riot. One was near the Democratic National Committee and the other near the Republican National Committee. The FBI has been unable to determine who placed the pipe bombs, despite well-publicized photos of a suspect wearing a hoodie and facemask, a substantial reward and a thousand interviews. The agency picked up its efforts in January when they released new video angles of the suspect near both locations as well as a new height estimate, hoping it may lead to more tips. The unsolved pipe bomb case fueled a wide range of conspiracy theories, including from Bongino who suggested on his popular podcast in January that the FBI was complicit in planting pipe bombs around Washington, DC. Bongino also said he plans to investigate who leaked a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade to the media. The leak became public in May 2022 when Politico published the draft opinion reversing the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court was unable to determine who leaked it when they issued their own investigative report in 2023. Investigators said they conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees, all of whom denied disclosing the opinion. They also conducted a fingerprint analysis, 'looked closely into any connections between employees and reporters,' and 'especially scrutinized any contacts with anyone associated with Politico.'
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
FBI deputy director says agency will further investigate cocaine found in White House, Dobbs leak and DC pipe bomb case
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the agency will further investigate several unsolved incidents, including the discovery of cocaine at the White House, the DC pipe bombs case and the Supreme Court Dobbs decision leak. 'Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases,' Bongino said in an X post on Monday. The incidents are among those that have garnered media attention and public interest, particularly among conservatives. The investigation plans to look into an incident in 2023 where cocaine was discovered in the White House. The substance was found near the ground floor entrance to the West Wing, in a location where staff-led tours of the White House pass through on their way into the building. Sources had previously described the substance as a white powder found in a small, zipped bag. At the time, Secret Service personnel found the substance while conducting routine rounds of the building. Bongino's post also mentions the unsolved case of who planted two pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, the night before the Capitol riot. One was near the Democratic National Committee and the other near the Republican National Committee. The FBI has been unable to determine who placed the pipe bombs, despite well-publicized photos of a suspect wearing a hoodie and facemask, a substantial reward and a thousand interviews. The agency picked up its efforts in January when they released new video angles of the suspect near both locations as well as a new height estimate, hoping it may lead to more tips. The unsolved pipe bomb case fueled a wide range of conspiracy theories, including from Bongino who suggested on his popular podcast in January that the FBI was complicit in planting pipe bombs around Washington, DC. Bongino also said he plans to investigate who leaked a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade to the media. The leak became public in May 2022 when Politico published the draft opinion reversing the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court was unable to determine who leaked it when they issued their own investigative report in 2023. Investigators said they conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees, all of whom denied disclosing the opinion. They also conducted a fingerprint analysis, 'looked closely into any connections between employees and reporters,' and 'especially scrutinized any contacts with anyone associated with Politico.'
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FBI Opens New Probe Into White House Cocaine Scandal
The FBI is reopening—and growing—a series of investigations that have stirred outrage among Republicans and MAGA figures. Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, said the agency is doubling its efforts to examine 'potential public corruption' by relaunching probes into the 2023 discovery of cocaine in Joe Biden's White House, the still-unsolved 2021 D.C. pipe bomb case and the leak of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson opinion, which ultimately led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 'We made the decision to either reopen or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases,' Bongino posted on X Monday. 'I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly, and we are making progress.' The move arrives shortly after the FBI faced backlash from MAGA figures for not exposing any 'deep state' cover-ups or confirming conspiracy theories—including ones surrounding the death by suicide of billionaire child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—even though the agency is now headed by Donald Trump loyalists Bongino and Director Kash Patel. Each investigation mentioned by the FBI's No. 2 official has, at one point, been a major talking point on the right. The discovery of a bag of cocaine in a vestibule of the White House in July 2023 provided MAGA figures with days of talking points—not just to attack former President Biden, but also his son Hunter, who has publicly struggled with drug addiction. Several tried to suggest the cocaine belonged to Hunter Biden, despite no Biden family members being present at the White House that day. The Secret Service closed its investigation on July 12, citing the lack of fingerprint or DNA evidence meant they could not 'single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals' who passed through the area, where visitors leave their phones and other belongings, on the day the cocaine was found. Bongino, a former MAGA podcaster, had previously claimed, without offering evidence, that whistleblowers told him they were 'suspicious' that fingerprints taken from the bag could match someone in 'the inner Biden circle,' Reuters reported. The FBI is also digging into the leak of the Supreme Court's draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion. The draft was published by Politico in May 2022, sparking nationwide protests and political backlash. The Supreme Court launched an internal investigation, calling it 'one of the worst breaches of trust in its history,' but failed to identify the leaker. Trump expressed frustration that the case remains unsolved. In a January 2023 Truth Social post, he wrote that it won't be long before 'the name of this slime is revealed.' And the FBI is also pushing to solve the case of a suspect who placed two pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, the eve of the MAGA protests supporting Trump's false 2020 election fraud claims and subsequent riot at the Capitol. More than four years later, no one has been arrested in connection with the bombs, which were defused, despite substantial video evidence tracking the suspect's movements through the Capitol Hill area that night. Trump has repeatedly questioned why no arrests have been made, pushing the unfounded theory that left-wing protesters could have planted the bombs to incite violence and frame Trump supporters.
