Thread: Texas Gov. Perry indicted for coercion for veto threat

Governors seem to be a big target right now.
(This one is a Democrat.)

Subpoenas arrive as Oregon governor announces departure

Published February 14, 2015 Associated Press



NOW PLAYINGOregon governor resigns over alleged corruption scandal

Just hours after Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announced his decision to resign, a subpoena arrived in a state office building confirming that federal agents are looking into the influence-peddling scandal that led to the abrupt end of a four-decade political career.

The Democratic governor gave in to mounting pressure Friday, abandoning his office amid suspicions that is live-in fiancée used her relationship with him to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business.

His resignation, which takes effect Wednesday, cleared the way for Secretary of State Kate Brown to assume Oregon's highest office and become the nation's first openly bisexual governor.

"This is a sad day for Oregon. But I am confident that legislators are ready to come together to move Oregon forward," said Brown, also a Democrat. Unlike most states, Oregon does not have a lieutenant governor. The secretary of state is next in line to succeed the governor.

When Kitzhaber closes the door on his life in public office, the scandal that toppled Oregon's longest serving governor will still linger. Subpoenas delivered to the Department of Administrative Services Friday request a massive array of documents from Kitzhaber's administration.

The subpoena was the first acknowledgment of a federal investigation against Kitzhaber and his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes. It seeks records pertaining to 15 other people besides Kitzhaber and Hayes, including Kitzhaber's chief of staff, policy advisers, Kitzhaber's lawyer and secretaries.

The subpoena orders the agency to produce documents for a federal grand jury before March 10. An agency spokesman, Matt Shelby, said it would provide whatever requested records are in its possession.

Kitzhaber insisted he broke no laws.

"Nonetheless, I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life," he said in a statement.

The announcement of the planned resignation capped a wild week in which Kitzhaber seemed poised to step down, then changed his mind, but ultimately bowed to calls from legislative leaders that he quit.

It's a stunning fall from grace for a politician who left the governor's office in 2003 and then mounted a comeback in 2010 and returned to his old job.

In a long statement announcing his decision, a defiant Kitzhaber cast blame on the media and on "so many of my former allies" who did not stick up for him. His staff released an audio recording of him reading the statement. Near the end, his voice trembled and he seemed to choke back tears.

Kitzhaber handily won re-election in November to a fourth term after surviving the botched rollout of Oregon's online health care exchange.

But the allegations surrounding the work of his fiancée were more damaging, dominating headlines in the state following his victory.

A series of newspaper reports since October have chronicled Hayes' work for organizations with an interest in Oregon public policy. At the same time, she was paid by advocacy groups and played an active role in Kitzhaber's administration, a potential conflict of interest.

The spotlight on Hayes led her to reveal that she accepted about $5,000 to illegally marry a man seeking immigration benefits in the 1990s. Later, she admitted she bought a remote property with the intent to grow marijuana.

A fiercely private person, Kitzhaber has been forced to answer embarrassing and personal questions about his relationship. In response to questions at a news conference last month, Kitzhaber told reporters that he's in love with Hayes, but he's not blinded by it.

Kitzhaber, 67, met Hayes, 47, before the 2002 election, when he was governor and she was a candidate for the state Legislature. She lost her race, but they later reconnected after Kitzhaber's term ended.

Hayes used the title "first lady," though the couple never married, and she took an active role in his administration. They were engaged last summer.

"One thing I hope people know about me is that I love this state and its people, its rivers, its mountains and its landscapes with every fiber of my being," Kitzhaber said in is parting statement. "It is because of that love that I tender my resignation."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015...ces-departure/

I have a question. These are state politicians in most cases. What role does the FBI have in state or local political corruption cases? Isn't that or shouldn't it be outside their range and scope and left up to the states?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal..._United_States

Well there seems to be some federal statutes to back up what they're doing. Interesting. They won't arrest a federal illegal alien on a state drunk driving charge who could kill someone on a federal highway but they'll take down a city mayor for taking bribes for local zoning permits to clear the way for new investment and job creation.

Interesting conundrum, and another sad irony of our times.

Home • About Us • What We Investigate • Public Corruption

It’s our top priority among criminal investigations—and for good reason.

Public corruption poses a fundamental threat to our national security and way of life. It impacts everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected…to verdicts handed down in courts…to the quality of our roads, schools, and other government services. And it takes a significant toll on our pocketbooks, wasting billions in tax dollars every year.

The FBI is singularly situated to combat this corruption, with the skills and capabilities to run complex undercover operations and surveillance.

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FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. government,
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http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/corruption

All cases involving immigration are assigned to I.C.E.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety." (read more)

Originally Posted by Newmexican

All of these articles show how the left and the progressives are licking their chops to get Perry. He bucked them on their open borders and he is a threat. JMO

Rick Perry on Immigration

. . . You don't have a heart if you don't educate immigrant kids. (Sep 2011) A 2000-mile fence makes no sense; need boots on the ground. (Sep 2011) Discounted in-state tuition regardless of immigration status. (Sep 2011) Let illegals contribute to society & pursue citizenship. (Sep 2011) Import farm workers from Mexico. (Sep 2001) . . .

http://www.alipac.us/f9/rick-perry-issues-309544/

Subpoenas arrive as Oregon governor announces departure


http://www.alipac.us/f19/oregons-kat...vernor-317611/

Her sexuality has never been a prominent issue in Oregon, where Portland recently had an openly gay mayor in Sam Adams and where the current speaker of the House, Tina Kotek, is a lesbian...

http://www.alipac.us/f12/texas-first-pass-state-%91dream-act%92-268620/ (in 2001)
​
In 2001, Texas lawmakers passed (almost unanimously) and Gov. Rick Perry signed into law a measure allowing certain immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children to attend state colleges and universities at the tuition rates charged to legal in-state residents. . .

It is a shame to see the flip flops for power that are occurring at all levels.

New York assembly ex-speaker Silver indicted on corruption charges

NEW YORK Thu Feb 19, 2015 1:44pm EST


Sheldon Silver speaks at microphones as he leaves the federal court in New York January 22, 2015.
CREDIT: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON

(Reuters) - A grand jury indicted Sheldon Silver, the former New York State Assembly speaker and one of the most powerful state politicians for two decades, on federal corruption charges on Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

Silver, who has resigned as speaker but remains the assemblyman for Manhattan's Lower East Side, was indicted on two counts of "honest services mail fraud" and one count of using his office for extortion.

Silver's lawyers said in a statement on Thursday that he is not guilty.

Silver was originally charged with five counts relating to bribery and kickback schemes on Jan. 22 and it was not immediately clear why two of the counts appear to have been dropped.

Silver had long listed New York personal injury firm Weitz & Luxenberg on his financial disclosure forms as a source of income for representing its clients in cases.

A licensed lawyer, Silver is accused of wrongly earning more than $3 million for referring asbestos sufferers from a doctor whose research had been secretly provided $500,000 in state funds at Silver's direction, as well as other benefits.

Prosecutors said Silver also received $700,000 in kickbacks by steering real-estate developers with business before the legislature to another law firm, identified by its defense lawyer as Goldberg & Iryami.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0LN1WE20150219