004: Russia & Israel Infiltrated US Law Enforcement
Pro-Trump FBI, Giuliani took out the 5 families for Russia, sheriffs illegal SIGINT and deputies caught gun running for the cartels. Chabadniks are behind prison telecom kickback scheme.
Sources and Media Assets:
Mob Privilege - Divided & Conquered (substack.com)
Is the F.B.I. Truly Biased Against Trump? | The New Yorker August 14, 2023
Special Agent Johnathan Buma, of the Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, holds a unique perspective on the origin of two interconnected political scandals. A former biochemist who was trained in Russian by the agency, Buma has spent fifteen years cultivating human sources in investigations of money laundering, public corruption, and foreign attempts to influence elections. In January, 2019, information from one of Buma’s sources set in motion the Bureau’s first inquiries into potential undisclosed lobbying and tax evasion by Hunter Biden—President Joe Biden’s son and, at the time, a director of the Ukrainian company Burisma. Buma also played a pivotal role in a Bureau investigation into possibly illegal foreign-lobbying activity and campaign-finance violations by Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, who oversaw a sprawling effort to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian ties…
FBI Raids Home of Prominent Bureau Whistleblower – Mother Jones NOVEMBER 14, 2023
Federal agents on Monday raided the Los Angeles-area home of an FBI whistleblower who has alleged that bureau higher-ups thwarted an investigation of Rudy Giuliani, two sources said. The whistleblower, FBI agent Johnathan Buma, has said that Giuliani “may have been compromised” by Russian intelligence while working as a lawyer for Donald Trump…
Former FBI counterintelligence chief sentenced to more prison time over undisclosed foreign cash | CNN Politics
A former senior FBI counterintelligence official, previously sentenced to federal prison for his association with a Russian oligarch, has been ordered to serve additional time in a separate case involving the receipt of foreign cash, according to the US Justice Department.
Charles McGonigal, a 22-year veteran of the FBI who oversaw national security investigations at the bureau’s New York field office, was sentenced Friday “to 28 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his undisclosed receipt of $225,000 in cash from an individual with ties to the Albanian government while McGonigal was supervising counterintelligence investigations,” the DOJ said.
Kerik Loan Activity Is Brought to Light After Indictment - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
But interviews with people who have been briefed on the transaction indicate that the industrialist was an Israeli billionaire and philanthropist, Eitan Wertheimer, whose family’s vast holdings include companies with United States Defense Department contracts. The Brooklyn businessman was Shimon Cohen, a marble and stone merchant who has been a friend of Mr. Kerik’s for several years…
Mr. Wertheimer met Mr. Kerik through Mr. Cohen, a longtime friend, according to associates, and the two spent time together during Mr. Kerik’s trip to Israel in August 2001.
KERIK OFF TO ISRAEL FOR CRIME CONFABS (nypost.com)
New York’s top cop is heading for Israel to trade advice about NYPD anti-terrorism tactics in exchange for help in cutting off the Big Apple’s supply of the club drug “ecstasy.”
Israeli officials will roll out the red carpet for Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik when he arrives in Jerusalem for four days of meetings with officials, including a state dinner with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon…
This will be the first official visit to the Holy Land for Kerik, who said he spent a few days in the country nearly 20 years ago while working as a bodyguard for Saudi Arabia’s royal family.
Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11 - The Village Voice
How Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani took down The Five Families in Netflix's Fear City | Radio Times
Undercover Look Inside The Russian Mob - CBS News
Russian mafia boss still at large after FBI wiretap at Trump Tower - ABC News (go.com)
What 1,000 top US cops have learned in Israel, and why it's controversial | The Times of Israel 20 July 2020
The delegations to Israel began in the 1990s and ramped up after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The sponsoring organizations and their Israeli partners frame the trips as an opportunity for American police to learn from a country and police force with many decades of experience protecting civilian populations from attack.
Memphis Police Chief Trained With Israel Security Forces (theintercept.com) February 2, 2023
The death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers last month once again ignited outrage over the violent, militarized nature of U.S. law enforcement and placed scrutiny on police departments’ bloated budgets…
Some of the Memphis Police Department’s top brass, including current Chief Cerelyn Davis, participated in the programs. Davis, who previously helmed the police department in Durham, North Carolina, completed a leadership training with the Israel National Police in 2013. While an officer with the Atlanta Police Department, Davis also established an international exchange program with Israeli police and coordinated department leaders delegations to Israel, according to an old résumé.
From Ferguson to Palestine: The Jewish Secret to Overcoming Oppression | Gavriel Horan | The Blogs (timesofisrael.com) DEC 2, 2014
Several months ago, Iranian activist Trita Parsi made a more direct connection, when he tweeted: “Wondering why the excessive police violence? Here’s a guess: #Ferguson police chief got training in Israel… #Gaza.” The post was retweeted by civil rights lawyer and columnist Glenn Greenwald, who added, “St. Louis County Police Chief, in 2011, on visiting Israel to learn about police tactics from the Israelis.” Besides the fact that the police chief mentioned, Chief Timothy Fitch, has been retired since last February, he went to Israel to participate in a counter-terrorism seminar hosted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) – not to learn “police tactics.”
Parallels between Minneapolis and Jerusalem are more than skin deep | Middle East Eye 11 June 2020
Many dozens of Minneapolis police officers were trained by Israeli experts in “counter-terrorism” and “restraint” techniques at a conference in Chicago in 2012.
Derek Chauvin’s chokehold, using his knee to press down on Floyd’s neck, is an “immobilisation” procedure familiar to Palestinians. Troublingly, Chauvin was training two rookie officers at the time he killed Floyd, passing on the department’s institutional knowledge to the next generation of officers.
Riverside sheriff's deputy accused of ties to Mexican drug cartel (desertsun.com) Sep 25, 2023
Prosecutors filed two felony charges Monday against a Riverside County sheriff's deputy accused of carrying more than 100 pounds of fentanyl in his vehicle. They also alleged for the first time that he had likely ties to a Mexican drug cartel.
Jorge Oceguera-Rocha, 25, was charged with one felony count each of possessing fentanyl for sale and transporting narcotics. He's also accused of being armed with a loaded firearm during a drug offense, which could get him a longer sentence if convicted…
Last week the sheriff's department said in a news release that it had been investigating a drug ring when it identified one of its own employees, Oceguera-Rocha, as playing a central role in transporting narcotics in the county.
Arizona county assessor accused of human smuggling, sale of a child in adoption scheme (nbcnews.com) Oct. 10, 2019
An Arizona politician ran an adoption fraud scheme that promised pregnant women thousands of dollars to lure them from a Pacific Island nation to the U.S., where they were crammed into houses to wait to give birth, sometimes with little to no prenatal care in what prosecutors called a human smuggling case.
Paul Petersen, the Republican assessor of Arizona's most populous county, was charged in Utah, Arizona and Arkansas with counts including human smuggling, sale of a child, fraud, forgery and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
FBI Investigated White Supremacists in Police – The Intercept January 31 2017
In a heavily redacted version of an October 2006 FBI internal intelligence assessment, the agency raised the alarm over white supremacist groups’ “historical” interest in “infiltrating law enforcement communities or recruiting law enforcement personnel.” The effort, the memo noted, “can lead to investigative breaches and can jeopardize the safety of law enforcement sources or personnel.” The memo also states that law enforcement had recently become aware of the term “ghost skins,” used among white supremacists to describe “those who avoid overt displays of their beliefs to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.” In at least one case, the FBI learned of a skinhead group encouraging ghost skins to seek employment with law enforcement agencies in order to warn crews of any investigations…
Johnson singled out the Oath Keepers and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association for their anti-government attitudes and efforts to recruit active as well as retired law enforcement officers. “That’s the biggest issue and it’s greater now than it’s ever been, in my opinion.” Johnson added that Homeland Security has given up tracking right-wing domestic extremists. “It’s only the FBI now,” he said, adding that local police departments don’t seem to be doing anything to address the problem. “There’s not even any training now to make state and local police aware of these groups and how they could infiltrate their ranks.”
More evidence of deputy gangs revealed at LA County sheriff oversight commission – Daily News June 10, 2022
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission received more evidence from its attorney Friday, June 10, that a violent gang of sheriff’s deputies known as the Banditos controls virtually every aspect of the East L.A. Station, including scheduling and training, and intimidates those who refuse to follow orders…
“One witness with the familiarity of the operation of East L.A. has recounted the control of the station by the Banditos and how by control of scheduling and assignments the Banditos have superseded the official hierarchy,” he said. “The witness has said the behavior of Banditos mimics the behavior of criminal street gangs in their language, a discrimination against Blacks, against women and non-Mexican Latinos.”
Middle District of Louisiana | Former West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Employee Pleads Guilty to Theft of Over $150,000 in Official Funds | United States Department of Justice June 1, 2023
United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr., announced that Mandy Nicole Miller, age 44, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pled guilty before U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to a Bill of Information charging her with Federal Program Theft.
According to admissions made as part of her guilty plea, while employed at the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, Miller stole cash paid for traffic tickets and hid the thefts by recording fraudulent journal entries in the Sheriff’s Office accounting system. Miller’s scheme began on or about July 1, 2018, and continued through in or about September 2022. In all, Miller embezzled, stole, and converted to her personal use more than $150,000 in official funds.
El Chapo Highlighted Mexican Corruption, but Drug Money Also Lubricates U.S. Border - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Feb. 18, 2019
McALLEN, Tex. — The former president of Mexico was accused of taking a $100 million bribe from El Chapo. A former sheriff in South Texas took far less from El Gallo — about $100,000.
El Gallo — Tomas Reyes Gonzalez, a drug trafficker now in federal prison — supplied the cash to the former Hidalgo County sheriff, Guadalupe Trevino, for his re-election campaign. Another former Hidalgo County sheriff took bribes to allow a convicted drug dealer to have conjugal visits at the county jail, including in the jail library and in the sheriff’s private office. Yet another former sheriff in neighboring Cameron County protected and assisted cocaine dealers, and is now Federal Inmate No. 51689-179.
The corruption that took down those three border sheriffs in 1994, 2005 and 2014 continues today. Next month, the former police chief in the town of La Joya is scheduled to go on trial, after he was indicted on drug charges and accused by federal authorities of helping a drug-trafficking organization transport narcotics while working as a police sergeant in Progreso, Tex.
Villanueva unit accused of targeting political enemies - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com) SEPT. 23, 2021
On paper, the deputies are scattered around the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in various assignments. One is supposed to be working patrol in Lancaster, another in West Hollywood. A third is assigned to a gang crime unit.
In reality, though, the group of nine men and women make up a little-known team of investigators formed by Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other top sheriff’s officials.
Much of what they do, by design, is a mystery to the public and even to most within the department. But as some of the investigations handled by the team have come to light, a common thread has emerged: Their targets are outspoken critics of Villanueva or the department.
16 St. Louis Sheriff’s Deputies Must Stand Down, Judge Orders | St. Louis | St. Louis Riverfront Times Aug 10, 2023
A St. Louis judge issued an order yesterday stating that 16 new sheriff’s deputies must hand over their badges because they were not properly hired by Sheriff Vernon Betts.
According to state law, deputies hired by the department need to be approved by a majority of the judges of 22nd Circuit Court, whose courtrooms the deputies handle security for, as well as pass a background check.
Eastern District of Virginia | CEO Sentenced for Bribing Former Norfolk Sheriff | United States Department of Justice February 25, 2022
NORFOLK, Va. – A Franklin, Tennessee man was sentenced today to three years in prison and a $35,000 fine for conspiring to commit honest services mail fraud by paying bribes to secure medical services contracts for the Norfolk City Jail.
Office of Public Affairs | Sheriff and Three Men Charged in Bribery Scheme Involving Purchase of Law-Enforcement Badges and Credentials | United States Department of Justice June 29, 2023
According to court documents, from at least April 2019, Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins, 51, of Culpeper, accepted cash bribes and bribes in the form of campaign contributions totaling at least $72,500 from Rick Tariq Rahim, 55, of Great Falls; Fredric Gumbinner, 64, of Fairfax; James Metcalf, 60, of Manassas; and at least five others, including two FBI undercover agents.
District of Maryland | Frederick County Sheriff and Gun Dealer Indicted for Scheme to Illegally Acquire Machineguns | United States Department of Justice April 5, 2023
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Charles Austin Jenkins, age 66, of Thurmont, Maryland, and Robert Justin Krop, age 36, of Frederick, Maryland, with conspiracy and false statements in order to acquire machineguns. Krop is also charged with illegal possession of machineguns. No court appearance is scheduled for the defendants at this time.
Arkansas Hot Spring County Sheriff Scott Finkbeiner stripped of duties (usatoday.com) Dec. 18, 2023
Former Missouri sheriff sentenced to 6 months in fed prison | AP News April 29, 2019
Former Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson was originally charged with 28 federal counts but pleaded guilty in November to just two: wire fraud and identity theft. Hutcheson resigned after the guilty plea and is forbidden from working as a law enforcement officer ever again.
Federal prosecutors say that during a three-year period from when Hutcheson was a deputy through the first months of his tenure as sheriff, he uploaded fraudulent documents to a law enforcement database to obtain the location of more than 200 cellphone users. The process known as “pinging” was used to track the whereabouts of a judge, a former sheriff and several others in law enforcement. Hutcheson has never explained his motive.
Former Missouri Sheriff Gets Prison Time for Illegal Cell Phone Tracking | Prison Legal News
The fall from grace of Cory Hutcheson, 36, the former sheriff of Mississippi County, came as a result of a federal investigation into his practice of tracking cell phones without a warrant. Beginning in 2014, Hutcheson, who was then a deputy, applied for thousands of searches and illegally accessed information on 200 mobile phone users, according to federal prosecutors.
He abused a service provided by prison telecom company Securus Technologies that allows law enforcement agencies to obtain the GPS coordinates of cell phones. That service requires search warrants, which Hutcheson never obtained. Instead, he uploaded fake documents that he sometimes notarized himself.
“Further, the defendant had the audacity to upload entirely irrelevant documents including his health insurance policy, his auto insurance policy, and pages selected from Sheriff training manuals,” prosecutors wrote in a court pleading. This went on for three years, even after he was interviewed by FBI agents.
Tom Gores Bio: Billionaire King of Buyouts and Basketball - Business Chronicler
In 2018, the company was accused of inflating the cost of calls based on the exclusivity deal acquired in exchange for a bribe collected by the office of the Bristol County Sheriff.
Moreover, in the same year, The New York Times revealed that Securus could track the location of phones in a matter of seconds through one of its products. That leads to speculations on illegal surveillance.
District of Massachusetts | Two Florida Men Arrested and Charged in Insider Trading Scheme | United States Department of Justice December 8, 2021
Two Florida men were arrested today in connection with their roles in an alleged insider trading scheme that generated at least $4 million in profits.
Kris Bortnovsky, a/k/a “Kris Bort,” 40, of Surfside, Fla., and Ryan Shapiro, 44, of Bay Harbor Island, Fla., were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The defendants will make an initial appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida later today. They will appear in Boston at a later date.
Relative of wealthy US retail family gets prison for insider trading | Reuters March 21, 2023
Prosecutors said David Schottenstein also tipped Bortnovsky, the co-founder of hedge fund Sakal Capital Management, and Shapiro, who founded inmate money transfer service provider JPay and sat on the board of a Florida synagogue with Schottenstein.
While prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against Bortnovsky and Shapiro, a civil case by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission remains pending. They deny wrongdoing.
Insider trading case ends in a whimper (regcompliancewatch.com) Jan. 22, 2024
Custom-made Judaism - OU Life
It isn’t hard to imagine that David wasn’t cut out for school. A born entrepreneur from a family of successful businessmen (his uncle helped finance the Artscroll English Talmud), by the time he started high school, David had already launched several businesses. During his junior year, he amassed a small fortune in the stock market and even got into trouble for selling cigars to high school seniors at an NCSY Shabbaton. However, unlike his high schools, NCSY never thought about kicking him out. Instead, they welcomed him in every region, no matter his level of observance…
Eventually, he landed at an understanding Chabad yeshiva in Brooklyn where he settled down and married his high school sweetheart Eda. He put his boundless energy to work launching his first official company, Astor & Black, which sold affordable high-end custom clothing. After he and Eda married, they moved to Ohio where they promptly helped out the local NCSY chapter that stewarded him through his tumultuous years.
MO officer secretly recorded sex acts with 15-year-old: feds | Kansas City Star JUNE 14, 2023
Officer secretly recorded sex acts with 15-year-old from Illinois group home, feds say
Former Missouri sheriff sentenced to 6 months in fed prison | AP News
Son of Far-Right Group Leader Charged with Child Sex Abuse (thedailybeast.com)
Where the Judiciary Prosecutes in Front of Itself: Missouri's Unconstitutional Juvenile Court Structure - Missouri Law Review
Why are Missouri Sheriffs Given More Power Than Federal Agents? (substack.com) Signals Intelligence is supposed to be limited to the NSA or FBI search warrants. Why did Missouri's rural jail employees have that capability?
EXCLUSIVE: Special Agent Buma's FIRST Memo to Congress About the FBI Protecting Giuliani (substack.com)
A new, earlier memo from Special Agent Johnathan Buma to Congress has emerged. A number of bureaucrats in the FBI protected Giuliani and Trump more than we knew.