Latest news with #publiccorruption
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Jim speaks with Mayor Javier Fernandez, of the city of South Miami, about his lawsuit challenging Florida immigration law
Jim goes one-on-one with the Mayor of South Miami to talk about his lawsuit challenging Florida immigration law. Guest: Mayor Javier Fernàndez/City of South Miami MIAMI — CBS News Miami's Jim DeFede continues scrutinizing the three-plus decades during which Katherine Fernandez Rundle has led the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Not doing enough to prosecute public corruption cases has been — according to some — a weakness of Rundle. This week, Jim's guest is South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez.
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
FBI deputy head says he'll ‘never be the same' after what he's learned
The deputy director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said he is 'shocked to [his] core' by findings in ongoing internal investigations, adding that he will 'never be the same' after becoming aware of certain facts. The bureau is currently facing pressure to release files on Jeffrey Epstein, a deceased US financier convicted of sex trafficking who died in federal custody in 2019. The circumstances of his death – officially ruled a suicide – and the government's reluctance to publish all associated files have fueled years of speculation, including allegations of misconduct or a cover-up. Posting on X on Saturday, Dan Bongino said the FBI is investigating 'public corruption and the political weaponization of both law enforcement and intelligence operations.' He did not elaborate on the targets or scope but called the inquiries 'properly predicated and necessary.' During my tenure here as the Deputy Director of the FBI, I have repeatedly relayed to you that things are happening that might not be immediately visible, but they are happening. The Director and I are committed to stamping out public corruption and the political weaponization… 'We cannot run a Republic like this,' Bongino wrote. 'I'll never be the same after learning what I've learned.' Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released over 11 hours of surveillance footage from Epstein's New York jail cell. The footage reportedly contains an unexplained 60-second gap, fueling public suspicion of a cover-up. The US House of Representatives has launched an oversight probe. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate and former girlfriend, was recently interviewed by the DOJ under a limited immunity deal. Lawmakers have since subpoenaed her for a closed-door deposition, but her legal team says she has not agreed to testify and that her immunity does not apply to Congress. President Donald Trump, who returned to office in January, pledged during his campaign to fully release sealed files related to the Epstein case. However, he has since appeared to backtrack on that promise, provoking divisions among his political supporters amid rumors that his name may appear on the so-called 'client list.' Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and conservative media figure, was appointed FBI deputy director in March 2025. According to The Wall Street Journal, he has clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the scope of disclosures, with Bongino reportedly pushing for full transparency and Bondi favoring a more cautious approach.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bongino vows to uncover ‘truth' in cryptic message: ‘We cannot run a Republic like this'
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino vowed on Saturday to uncover the 'truth' in a cryptic post on the social platform X, proclaiming that 'we cannot run a Republic like this.' Bongino said that he and FBI Director Kash Patel are committed to 'stamping out public corruption and the political weaponization of both law enforcement and intelligence operations.' 'It is a priority for us. But what I have learned in the course of our properly predicated and necessary investigations into these aforementioned matters, has shocked me down to my core. We cannot run a Republic like this. I'll never be the same after learning what I've learned,' the deputy director wrote. It is unclear what Bongino was referring to. The Hill has reached out to the FBI for additional comment. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and podcaster, was at the center of the debate over the files related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein earlier this month. The FBI and Justice Department (DOJ) said in a joint, unsigned memo that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in prison while awaiting trial and that he did not keep the so-called 'client list.' Bongino was frustrated with the leaders at the DOJ and the handling of the Epstein files earlier in July. He clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the issue and has reportedly weighed resigning from his post. A few days later, despite the infighting, President Trump told reporters he still has confidence in Bongino and that he is in 'good shape.' Bongino also wrote on Saturday's X post that the FBI will conduct 'these righteous and proper investigations by the book and in accordance with the law.' 'We are going to get the answers WE ALL DESERVE,' Bongino wrote. 'As with any investigation, I cannot predict where it will land, but I can promise you an honest and dignified effort at truth. Not 'my truth,' or 'your truth,' but THE TRUTH.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Thomas A. Durkin, Civil Liberties Lawyer for the Reviled, Dies at 78
Thomas Anthony Durkin, an old-school yet progressive criminal defense lawyer who relished skewering the U.S. government as he represented unpopular defendants in national security, public corruption and civil liberties cases, died on Monday in Chicago. He was 78. The death, in a hospital, was confirmed by Bernard E. Harcourt, a Columbia law professor with whom Mr. Durkin defended social justice cases. Mr. Durkin was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer this month, Mr. Harcourt said. Mr. Durkin, who was based in Chicago, had a wide-ranging clientele that included accused terrorists, businessmen, high-level drug dealers, free-speech protesters, a white supremacist and a Catholic priest charged with helping a mobster. He filed lawsuits against presidents, including Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. His son James — who, like two of his siblings, became a lawyer — said in an interview that Mr. Durkin's 'heart was with the outcasts no matter what their creed, color or mind-set was.' He called him 'an outspoken critic of the war on drugs' and a 'pro bono zealot for protesters.' Mr. Harcourt described Mr. Durkin as a dedicated defender of the unpopular and a liberation theologian at heart whose work was influenced by his Irish Catholic upbringing and informed by his opposition to the death penalty, and to government overreach. 'He represented the damned of the earth,' Mr. Harcourt said. 'This was his life's mission. And it came out of his faith and his politics, but also it came out of his philosophy of life.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Reuters
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US Justice Department 'weaponization' reviews spark calls to drop prosecutions
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - As the federal public corruption prosecution of former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada neared trial this spring, his lawyers made one last effort to kill the case, by petitioning senior Justice Department officials that it was "weaponization," according to three people familiar with the matter. Under President Donald Trump, the department in February created a "Weaponization Working Group" meant to identify improper politically motivated cases, a response to what the Republican says without evidence was the misuse of prosecutorial resources against him under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. In court filings, prosecutors said that Casada's lawyers met with a senior Justice Department official on March 24, where they alleged the "Deep State" had initiated a "weaponized" prosecution and they sought dismissal of the charges. The plan almost worked, according to three people familiar with the matter. With the Deputy Attorney General's office poised to kill the case, prosecutors in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section pushed back, reviewing their evidence with the higher-ups, the sources said, adding that the Nashville U.S. Attorney's office and the Criminal Division also supported the case. The request was rejected the next week, according to court filings. Both Casada and the DOJ declined to comment. The case is among at least seven Reuters identified where defense attorneys or Justice Department officials have sought to have prosecutions reviewed for possible dismissal, citing Trump's "weaponization" argument or making other arguments about weaknesses in the cases. In a Tuesday speech, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti urged defense attorneys to be "conscientious about what, when and how" they appeal prosecutors' decisions. "Seeking premature relief, mischaracterizing prosecutorial conduct, or otherwise failing to be an honest broker actively undermines our system," Galeotti said. The increase in lobbying started not long after the Weaponization Working Group was created, and after the department's February decision to dismiss criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, six sources familiar with the dynamic told Reuters. To date, the Adams case is the only one to be dismissed over 'weaponization,' three of those sources told Reuters. The lobbying wave comes as the Trump administration has dramatically scaled back the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, reduced the size of its foreign bribery unit and advised department attorneys that tax enforcement is "not a priority," two of the people familiar with the matter said. A department spokesman said the DOJ will "continue to enforce our nation's tax laws." Trump has said the changes are necessary to root out Justice Department lawyers he derides as 'hacks and radicals' for prosecuting him and some supporters while he was out of power. The working group is empowered, opens new tab to review any 'civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States' exercised under Biden. A lawyer for Robert Burke, a former Navy admiral who was convicted in May on bribery charges, wrote to the department ahead of trial raising concerns about witness credibility, which failed to convince prosecutors to drop the case. Now the lawyer, Tim Parlatore -- a former Trump defense lawyer -- plans to seek a pardon. "I would be crazy not to at least inquire about a pardon," Parlatore said. Another example is a case involving billionaire Britannia Financial Group founder Julio Martín Herrera-Velutini, who is facing an August trial alongside Puerto Rico's former governor on bribery charges. Herrera-Velutini is represented by former Trump defense attorney Chris Kise, who has sought to convince the Justice Department to dismiss or reduce the charges, though the outcome of such efforts is unclear, three people familiar with the case told Reuters. Kise did not return requests for comment, and Reuters could not determine what arguments he has made to the department about the case. While many of the reviews of cases are spurred by aggressive lobbying, some requests are coming from within the DOJ. In early February, prosecutors in the department's Tax Division were ordered by senior Justice Department officials to write a memo explaining why the prosecution of Paul Walczak was not an example of "weaponization," two of the people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Walczak, of Florida, pleaded guilty in November to not paying employment taxes and not filing his individual income tax returns, and the trial team was preparing for his sentencing. Prosecutors were baffled, the people said, and only discovered after a few Google searches that Walczak's mother Elizabeth Fago was a Trump donor who, according to a New York Times report, hosted a political fundraiser where portions of a diary written by Biden's daughter Ashley were circulated. The department let the case proceed, and Walczak was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Trump in April spared him any prison with a pardon, which according to the New York Times, was handed down shortly after Fago attended a $1 million fundraising dinner for Trump. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the pardon. An attorney for Walczak said he was unaware of any interactions by the defense team with the Weaponization Working Group. In a statement, the Fago and Walczak families said media reports have painted an "incomplete and inaccurate" picture of the pardon application, and that Trump had "ample grounds to grant the pardon on the merits." Although no criminal prosecutions have been dismissed, prosecutors are bracing for impact since Trump in May named Ed Martin, a supporter of Trump's false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud, to lead the working group and serve as pardon attorney. Martin has already successfully encouraged Trump to approve pardons for some of the president's supporters, according to his social media posts. Casada, who was convicted at trial in May on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and bribery, is now expected to seek a pardon, a person familiar with the matter said. "We've also been getting more folks coming forward within the government as well as outside, saying, 'Can you look at this? Can you look at that?'" Martin recently told reporters. "It's a problem that seems to be growing faster than we can capture it."
