NY Democrat Facing Possible Criminal Charges

Don't worry, he'll just play the race card. It's worked wonders for Chuckie Rangel.

A House ethics probe of Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks is focusing on possible criminal charges for his failure to report a $40,000 payment from a businessman that investigators say appears to have been an illegal gift -- and not a loan, as he has claimed.

The bipartisan Ethics Committee yesterday announced it would investigate Meeks over the $40,000 he was given by businessman Ed Ahmad in 2007, and it released an investigator's report that blasted Meeks for being uncooperative with the probe.

The investigation will try to determine whether Meeks "failed to disclose a payment he received in 2007 in a timely manner," the panel announced in a statement released yesterday.

The House bars lawmakers from accepting gifts and has strict rules for loans -- including requirements that they include interest payments and collateral.

The committee also released an April report from the House's Office of Congressional Ethics, which conducts preliminary investigations, cataloguing serious charges against Meeks.

The report found:

* Meeks refused to cooperate with investigators and refused to turn over loan documents.

* There is "substantial reason" to believe he failed to disclose the gift, in violation of House rules and federal law.

* There was "no evidence" that there were "normal" indicators of a "legitimate loan," and drew a "negative inference" that he got the "$40,000 gift" "on a basis other than a legitimate loan."

Meeks has said the $40,000 was a loan from Ahmad -- although he did not disclose it on his 2007 or 2008 personal financial-disclosure documents.

He revealed it only in 2010 -- after the FBI had questioned Ahmad, whom the feds arrested last month and charged with mortgage fraud. Ahmad is now free on $2.5 million bail.

Meeks paid off the loan by getting another loan, for $59,000, from another New York supporter, Dennis Mehiel, a principal at Four M Investments.

Are there any New York Democrats who aren't corrupt?

Disgraced Democrat Edwards Facing Indictment

He'll probably thrown himself on the mercy of the court claiming grieving widow status.

The United States Department of Justice has green-lighted the prosecution of former presidential candidate John Edwards for alleged violations of campaign laws while he tried to cover up an extra-marital affair, ABC News has learned.

A source close to the case said Edwards is aware that the government intends to seek an indictment and that the former senator from North Carolina is now considering his limited options. He could accept a plea bargain with prosecutors or face a potentially costly trial.

Edwards is so full of himself he'll probably cop a plea in return for little if no time and begin setting his sights on his future job at CNN or MSNBC.

'A Threat to Our Democracy'

Looks like the Democrats have some explaining to do.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate criticizing GOP groups for allegedly funneling foreign money into campaign ads have seen their party raise more than $1 million from political action committees affiliated with foreign companies.

House and Senate Democrats have received approximately $1.02 million this cycle from such PACs, according to an analysis compiled for The Hill by the Center for Responsive Politics. House and Senate GOP leaders have taken almost $510,000 from PACs on the same list.

The PACS are funded entirely by contributions from U.S. employees of subsidiaries of foreign companies. All of the contributions are made public under Federal Elections Commission rules, and the PACs affiliated with the subsidiaries of foreign corporations are governed by the same rules that American firms' PACs or other PACs would face.
...
Republicans with groups under fire from the White House say the hefty campaign contributions illustrate Democratic hypocrisy.

“Barack Obama criticized the Supreme Court and his adversaries over the bogus charge of foreign money tainting elections – while leaders in his own party had taken more than a million dollars from the foreign cookie jar,” said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for American Crossroads, the political group at the center of the controversy.

“The hypocrisy here is just stunning,” he said.

Obviously this foreign money is some kind of threat to out democracy, right?

Of course not. But made up smears against the Chamber of Commerce have led to that absurd statement.

On "Meet the Press" Sunday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs directly called out the executive vice president for government affairs at the Chamber, challenging him to prove the group's claim that foreign money isn't used in the funding of its political ad campaigns.

"Bruce Josten could simply open up the books," Gibbs said. "It's a pretty easy solution to simply show the American people where the money is coming from."

Host David Gregory asked Gibbs whether Democrats' assertions about the Chamber funding ads with foreign dollars are "more smoke than fact."

"Absolutely not," Gibbs fired back.

Axelrod responded to a question about whether voters would prefer that Democrats focus on issues such as the economy by maintaining it was an issue of the economy, as Republican wins could mean danger for the administration victories of healthcare and Wall Street reform.

"Ask these folks why they feel it's necessary to keep these funds secret," he said. "We tried to make them public, even the Democratic funds -- Democratic-leaning funds. We don't think anybody should keep these things secret."

He called the financing controversy "a threat to our democracy."

He has zero evidence to support his ridiculous claim, yet here it's documented his own people are raking in foreign contributions.

Thanks to Hot Air for the links here and here.

'Get a Doctor to Fake the DNA Results'

Good grief, the depravity of this man is just off the charts. To think the media enabled this behavior for years, proving they have as much credibility as he does.

A flunky for philandering former Sen. John Edwards says the failed presidential candidate ordered him to arrange a fake paternity test.

Andrew Young's claim came as Edwards, who has repeatedly denied fathering a daughter with his mistress, finally admitted he lied.

Edwards' lie was exposed as NBC News reported that he and his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, had separated.

Seems the Edwards admission is nothing more than a pre-emptive strike of sorts.

Edward's admission came a week before ABC News' "20/20" was to air an exclusive interview with Young, who at one point in the scandal tried to take the fall for his boss by claiming he was Quinn's daddy. He later admitted that too was a lie.

Young told ABC News' Bob Woodruff that Edwards was desperate to distance himself from Quinn.

"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him. "And he asked me ... to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this indeed his child."

You know what would be nice? For Edwards to spend a little time behind bars.

A former senator from North Carolina and fallen Democratic Party star, Edwards still faces a federal grand jury investigation into whether he used campaign money to buy Hunter's silence. He has denied raiding campaign coffers to shut his honey up.

When In Doubt, Blame the Media

The hopelessly corrupt Charlie Rangel lashes out at the media for his problems. Well, not all the media, just the NY Post, for exposing all his corrupt shenanigans.

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) was asked about his failure to disclose about $700,000 in assets this weekend in Harlem by my pal Azi Paybarah of PolitickerNY -- and responded by saying he was a victim of a New York Post smear campaign.

The charming, churlish House Ways and Means chairman, who is the subject of several ethics committee probes, blasted away at the Murdoch-owner tab -- even though the disclosure story was reported by POLITICO and other news outlets.

"I think it's totally unfair for the New York Post to send investigative reporters to my family's homes and to do that type of thing," he said during a rally in Harlem over the weekend. "I guess it's all selling papers."

Aides have said it was an oversight that broke no rules, but Rangel wouldn't talk about it.

Rangel is, of course, being highly selective in his shootings of messengers.

True, the Post has been a harsh, harsh critic -- and did snap the infamous photo of him sprawled, belly to the sun, at his Punta Cana beach property, which is now the subject of an ethics committee investigation.

But where were Rangel's harsh words for the New York Times, Washington Post and Buffalo News, whose editorial writers have called for him to step down as chairman? And why not go after the Times for its expose of his sweetheart apartment deal?

Well, it's simple. They for the most part protect Democrats and he probably hopes after their initial reportage that they'll call off the dogs, which they usually do.

The Post responds to his whining.

Obviously, he's miffed -- for starters -- by the paper's pictures and stories of his secret Caribbean rental property, which he failed to disclose to Congress and on which he failed to pay taxes.

But The Post's reporting has proved 100 percent accurate -- buttressed, in fact, by reports from other news outlets.

There have also been reports about his countless other schemes: his four rent-stabilized apartments, for instance, and his apparent pay-to-play deal involving a City College center named for him.

"I want to maintain the good name, honesty and integrity that I've enjoyed for over 50 years," Rangel added.

Fine. Then start living up to that goal.

Alas, Rangel seems likely to pay little price for his sins, The Post's exposés notwithstanding. That's because his cowardly fellow Democrats, who run Congress, refuse to call him on it.

Honesty and integrity. Now that's a hoot.

Meanwhile, I can't help but notice while he's talking you can see the words "Democratic Dick" on the signage behind him.

How appropriate.