Sovereign Citizens

Sovereign Citizen Resists Traffic Stop Arrest As A 'Free Citizen On A Free Highway'

Jillian Rayfield | May 18, 2011, 11:05AM

Michael Creath Jones

A sovereign citizen in Virginia was arrested and charged with five misdemeanors after a bizarre encounter with a state police officer where he called himself a "free citizen on a free highway" and gave multiple fake names.

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Human-Chipping

Potential Senate Candidate Thompson Was Human-Chipping Advocate

Eric Lach | May 18, 2011, 10:50AM

Tommy Thompson

Former Wisconsin Governor and Bush-era Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who is reportedly getting in the race for the Senate seat of retiring Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl (D), was once an advocate of microchipping human beings, The Huffington Post reports. Thompson once sat on the board of VeriChip, a company that makes small, implantable microchips (also known as RFIDs) that can be used for a variety of purposes.

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James Bopp Jr.

Is New Republican 'Super PAC' Legal?

Ryan J. Reilly | May 18, 2011, 9:10AM

RNC Committee Member James Bopp Jr.

Republican lawyer James Bopp has been chipping away at federal campaign regulations for years. He's the guy affiliated with the Republican National Lawyers Association who was behind the Citizens United case, which allowed for unlimited corporate campaign spending to influence elections. But his latest plan for a "Republican Super PAC," say good government groups, clearly violates federal law, and they're warning GOP members they'd be breaking the rules if they solicit unlimited contributions on behalf of the group.

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Jack B. Johnson

Ex-Pol Admits Telling Wife To Stuff Cash In 'Panties' In Court Docs Showing Bribery Scheme

Ryan J. Reilly | May 18, 2011, 9:00AM

Former Prince George's County (Md.) Executive Jack Johnson had to sign court documents admitting he told his wife to take cash and "stuff it down your panties" as FBI agents knocked on the door prepared to search their home.

But aside from the embarrassing details that made Johnson and his wife Leslie a punchline, the facts that Johnson admitted to in a plea agreement filed Tuesday show he was taking in some serious bribes from developers in exchange for political favors.

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Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck Auctions Off His Obama-Bashing, Historical Paintings

Jon Terbush | May 17, 2011, 4:22PM

Ever thought that a visual representation of Glenn Beck's rhetoric would be the perfect thing to really tie your room together? Well, if you had an extra $10,000 lying around last weekend, you could have made that wish come true.

That's because Beck auctioned off six paintings over the weekend, several of which he painted solo or with the help of an artist, and one that was given to him as a gift. The paintings sold for up to $10,300 each, with the proceeds going to an as yet undisclosed charity.

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Ben Stein Writes Bizarre Defense Of Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Eric Lach | May 17, 2011, 3:04PM

Ben Stein

In a column for The American Spectator, Former Nixon speechwriter and TV game show host Ben Stein called the U.S. public's reaction to the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York City this weekend "shameful," and wondered aloud if "[Strauss-Kahn] is such a womanizer and violent guy with women, why didn't he ever get charged until now?"

"If he's found guilty, there will be plenty of time to criticize him and imprison him," Stein wrote. "But nothing has been proved yet except that the way this case has been handled so far is an embarrassment to this country."

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Supreme Court

Supreme Court: Police Can Search If They Hear Evidence Being Destroyed

Eric Lach | May 17, 2011, 2:23PM

In an 8-1 decision Monday, the Supreme Court said that police did not violate the Fourth Amendment barring "unreasonable searches and seizures" when they smelled marijuana outside a Lexington, Kentucky apartment, knock loudly, announced themselves and -- after hearing what they thought was the sound of evidence being destroyed -- entered without a warrant.

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Jesse Jackson Jr.

Jackson Jr. Denies Telling Fundraisers To Funnel Donations To Blago

Ryan J. Reilly | May 17, 2011, 10:55AM

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL)

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) told the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday that he didn't direct fundraisers to give $1.5 million in campaign contributions to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich if he agreed to let Jackson fill Barack Obama's seat in the Senate back in 2008.

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Jack B. Johnson

Jack Johnson To Enter Guilty Plea In Prince George's County Bribery Case

Ryan J. Reilly | May 17, 2011, 9:50AM

Jack Johnson

Former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, brought up on eight federal charges related to allegations he was bribed by developers and businessmen, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of extortion and one count of evidence tampering at a hearing in federal court in Maryland.

Six counts against him will be dropped, reports ABC7.

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FEC

Ethanol Producer Wants To Make It Easier For Corn Farmers To Fund PAC

Ryan J. Reilly | May 17, 2011, 8:26AM

The world's largest ethanol producer wants to put a check box on their contracts with corn farmers to make it easier for them to donate to their political action committee.

POET wants permission from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to start an initiative called the POET PAC Cultivator Club, which would allow farmers to contribute to POET PAC at a per bushel rate.

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Mosques

Houston Fire Department Investigating Mosque Arson

Jillian Rayfield | May 16, 2011, 3:27PM

The Houston Fire Department says it is investigating an attempted arson at a mosque over the weekend, after two masked men reportedly poured gasoline on prayer rugs and attempted to set them on fire.

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John Ensign

FEC Official On Ensign 'Gift' Of $96K: 'Maybe We Should Not Be So Trusting'

Ryan J. Reilly | May 16, 2011, 1:45PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

A Federal Elections Commission official told the New York Times that the commission took former Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) at his word when he told them the $96,000 payment his parents gave to his mistress and her husband was a "gift" and not "severance," which would have made it illegal.

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Sovereign Citizens

Sovereign Citizen Apologizes After Trillion-Dollar 'Paper Terrorism' Scheme

Jillian Rayfield | May 16, 2011, 12:17PM

A sovereign citizen in upstate New York apologized for harassing government officials with "paper terrorism," which resulted in a sentence of 21 months in federal prison for mail fraud.

Ed Parenteau was sentenced last week and ordered to pay about $8,000 to Ulster County, after he, along with two other sovereign citizens, was convicted of mail fraud after filing fake indictments and sending fake bills, totaling $1.24 trillion, to government officials. "I have learned my lesson and I will never do anything like this again," he told District Judge Thomas McAvoy Friday.

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