Corrine Brown under investigation for Ethics Violations

[The_Choose_1]

From the Times Union moments ago:

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a towering and polarizing figure in Jacksonville politics and government, pleaded not guilty Friday to 24 federal charges that she helped raise about $800,000 for a bogus scholarship fund that turned out to be little more than a personal slush fund for expenses like car repairs, airplane tickets and luxury box seats to a Beyonce concert.
In their 53-page indictment, prosecutors allege Brown and a small group of her longtime confidants funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations through outside organizations or bank accounts to obscure the fact that virtually none of the money went toward charitable causes. Instead, the money was later deposited in Brown's account or withdrawn as cash, paying for vacations in the Bahamas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.

Prosecutors say they were only able to find two scholarships awarded by the group, One Door for Education, totaling $1,200. Brown's close relationship to One Door — and the difficulty tracking charitable work the group had claimed — was the subject of a January Times-Union report and a series of stories since.

The government also accuses Brown of fabricating charitable donations on her federal tax returns from 2008-2014, and in several cases obtaining letters verifying those bogus contributions from an unnamed nonprofit that resembles one run by another close confidant, Jacksonville City Councilman Reginald Gaffney.

For full story click link below.


http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-07-08/story/brown-indictment-alleges-charity-was-slush-fund-trips-luxury-seats-events-car?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

We will see. But if she is found guilty or I will not lose any sleep over it. What I would like to know is why do you seem to dislike her so much? "I have personally spent over 12 years investigating her and her actions and know what she is facing."

I have spent more time than that researching her and interacting with authorities with regard to her actions. It is not personal.  It is about her corruption and corrupt politicians in general.  I do not cotton to corrupt politicians that make themselves rich via schemes and illegal dealings.  She has also held sway over the local election process for far too many years which has put her cronies and supporters into office in order to do her bidding while skirting campaign and election laws to do so. All of this comes at a cost to her constituents needs in many ways.  Hers is a very long story of corruption.  My question is why do more people not care about corruption in government enough to do the research and then work to expose those involved in underhanded dealings?  I have done that now for many, many years.  Its about right and wrong, not the individual.  There is a single politician who I do not like personally in addition to their politics and that is Rick Scott. It's a visceral thing for me with him.

I understand what your saying. But most people don't have the time to get involved in investigating corruption in government. Unless that is their job. I would love to investigate how & why the JSO doesn't go after some people in Jacksonville that have accused other people of a crime that were never arrested for, but their lives were screwed up. One would believe that a false police report charge would be given to the accused? But if you have Power in this town they get away with a lot. And the pee-on is forgotten. I heard on rush yesterday a caller, called in and said that 99.9% of the police in America were good cops. I broke out in laughter.  Now I bet more good cops out number bad cops. But it isn't 99.9% of them. If the police want more people to believe that a higher number of people like what they are doing. Show it!

[Cheshire Cat]

From the Times Union moments ago:

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a towering and polarizing figure in Jacksonville politics and government, pleaded not guilty Friday to 24 federal charges that she helped raise about $800,000 for a bogus scholarship fund that turned out to be little more than a personal slush fund for expenses like car repairs, airplane tickets and luxury box seats to a Beyonce concert.
In their 53-page indictment, prosecutors allege Brown and a small group of her longtime confidants funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations through outside organizations or bank accounts to obscure the fact that virtually none of the money went toward charitable causes. Instead, the money was later deposited in Brown's account or withdrawn as cash, paying for vacations in the Bahamas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.

Prosecutors say they were only able to find two scholarships awarded by the group, One Door for Education, totaling $1,200. Brown's close relationship to One Door — and the difficulty tracking charitable work the group had claimed — was the subject of a January Times-Union report and a series of stories since.

The government also accuses Brown of fabricating charitable donations on her federal tax returns from 2008-2014, and in several cases obtaining letters verifying those bogus contributions from an unnamed nonprofit that resembles one run by another close confidant, Jacksonville City Councilman Reginald Gaffney.

For full story click link below.


http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-07-08/story/brown-indictment-alleges-charity-was-slush-fund-trips-luxury-seats-events-car?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

We will see. But if she is found guilty or I will not lose any sleep over it. What I would like to know is why do you seem to dislike her so much? "I have personally spent over 12 years investigating her and her actions and know what she is facing."

I have spent more time than that researching her and interacting with authorities with regard to her actions. It is not personal.  It is about her corruption and corrupt politicians in general.  I do not cotton to corrupt politicians that make themselves rich via schemes and illegal dealings.  She has also held sway over the local election process for far too many years which has put her cronies and supporters into office in order to do her bidding while skirting campaign and election laws to do so. All of this comes at a cost to her constituents needs in many ways.  Hers is a very long story of corruption.  My question is why do more people not care about corruption in government enough to do the research and then work to expose those involved in underhanded dealings?  I have done that now for many, many years.  Its about right and wrong, not the individual.  There is a single politician who I do not like personally in addition to their politics and that is Rick Scott. It's a visceral thing for me with him.

I understand what your saying. But most people don't have the time to get involved in investigating corruption in government. Unless that is their job. I would love to investigate how & why the JSO doesn't go after some people in Jacksonville that have accused other people of a crime that were never arrested for, but their lives were screwed up. One would believe that a false police report charge would be given to the accused? But if you have Power in this town they get away with a lot. And the pee-on is forgotten. I heard on rush yesterday a caller, called in and said that 99.9% of the police in America were good cops. I broke out in laughter.  Now I bet more good cops out number bad cops. But it isn't 99.9% of them. If the police want more people to believe that a higher number of people like what they are doing. Show it!

It's a pity and it is frustrating as someone who has done the homework, investigation, fact checking and taken appropriate actions with authorities to deal with corruption for decades and decades.  Most folk skim a comment or news posting make a quick determination and form an opinion.  When I talk politics and politicians it is backed by years of work, insight and first person experience yet people respond as if my words are formed exactly like the formed their opinions with little done to vette the facts.  Further it is so unfortunate to me that people once having heard a fact or read information that they don't like or a agree with, decide to insult the person posting facts and opinion as opposed to address the facts and opinion themselves.  That I find telling of their ability to respond with fact or reason and instead simply chose the child's position which is to make an issue a personal attack.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'm posting the link if anyone want to read the entire story, but there's really nothing new here that hasn't already been covered.

http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/07/corrine-brown-fraud-indictment-one-door-education-foundation-103643

The last line of the story, to me, is what is wrong with so many things.  At the least it's just bad form, but at the heart of the comment, it truly shows that our elected officials are expected to be treated differently.  At least her attorney thinks so.

The attorney isn't really supposed to be part of the story, but if I were credentialed, I think I'd skip over Brown and ask Elizabeth White to clarify her statement and define what a 'common criminal' is?

Brown's other lawyer, Elizabeth White, who works at the same firm as Sheppard, said she thought the case was purely political.
"The government's decision to treat Congresswoman Brown like a common criminal instead of a member of Congress shows that this is a politically motivated prosecution," she said.

And this garbage about her missing 'key' votes is just that.  Her career missed vote percentage is 4x the average.  And this year alone she has already not voted nearly a quarter of the time.

[Cheshire Cat]

From the Times Union moments ago:

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a towering and polarizing figure in Jacksonville politics and government, pleaded not guilty Friday to 24 federal charges that she helped raise about $800,000 for a bogus scholarship fund that turned out to be little more than a personal slush fund for expenses like car repairs, airplane tickets and luxury box seats to a Beyonce concert.
In their 53-page indictment, prosecutors allege Brown and a small group of her longtime confidants funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations through outside organizations or bank accounts to obscure the fact that virtually none of the money went toward charitable causes. Instead, the money was later deposited in Brown's account or withdrawn as cash, paying for vacations in the Bahamas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.

Prosecutors say they were only able to find two scholarships awarded by the group, One Door for Education, totaling $1,200. Brown's close relationship to One Door — and the difficulty tracking charitable work the group had claimed — was the subject of a January Times-Union report and a series of stories since.

The government also accuses Brown of fabricating charitable donations on her federal tax returns from 2008-2014, and in several cases obtaining letters verifying those bogus contributions from an unnamed nonprofit that resembles one run by another close confidant, Jacksonville City Councilman Reginald Gaffney.

For full story click link below.


http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-07-08/story/brown-indictment-alleges-charity-was-slush-fund-trips-luxury-seats-events-car?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

We will see. But if she is found guilty or I will not lose any sleep over it. What I would like to know is why do you seem to dislike her so much? "I have personally spent over 12 years investigating her and her actions and know what she is facing."

I have spent more time than that researching her and interacting with authorities with regard to her actions. It is not personal.  It is about her corruption and corrupt politicians in general.  I do not cotton to corrupt politicians that make themselves rich via schemes and illegal dealings.  She has also held sway over the local election process for far too many years which has put her cronies and supporters into office in order to do her bidding while skirting campaign and election laws to do so. All of this comes at a cost to her constituents needs in many ways.  Hers is a very long story of corruption.  My question is why do more people not care about corruption in government enough to do the research and then work to expose those involved in underhanded dealings?  I have done that now for many, many years.  Its about right and wrong, not the individual.  There is a single politician who I do not like personally in addition to their politics and that is Rick Scott. It's a visceral thing for me with him.

I understand what your saying. But most people don't have the time to get involved in investigating corruption in government. Unless that is their job. I would love to investigate how & why the JSO doesn't go after some people in Jacksonville that have accused other people of a crime that were never arrested for, but their lives were screwed up. One would believe that a false police report charge would be given to the accused? But if you have Power in this town they get away with a lot. And the pee-on is forgotten. I heard on rush yesterday a caller, called in and said that 99.9% of the police in America were good cops. I broke out in laughter.  Now I bet more good cops out number bad cops. But it isn't 99.9% of them. If the police want more people to believe that a higher number of people like what they are doing. Show it!

It's a pity and it is frustrating as someone who has done the homework, investigation, fact checking and taken appropriate actions with authorities to deal with corruption for decades and decades.  Most folk skim a comment or news posting make a quick determination and form an opinion.  When I talk politics and politicians it is backed by years of work, insight and first person experience yet people respond as if my words are formed exactly like the formed their opinions with little done to vette the facts.  Further it is so unfortunate to me that people once having heard a fact or read information that they don't like or a agree with, decide to insult the person posting facts and opinion as opposed to address the facts and opinion themselves.  That I find telling of their ability to respond with fact or reason and instead simply chose the child's position which is to make an issue a personal attack.

So what was wrong about my comment. Because just reading yours was a lot of Double Speak to me.

Not a thing.  I was just supporting your view with my own experiences.  I agree with what you said.

[Cheshire Cat]

An insightful and informative piece from Mark Woods of the Times Union.


Mark Woods: Corrine delivers. But to whom?

The late Tom Slade, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, once made a comment about Congresswoman Corrine Brown that was both highly critical and complimentary.
"She may be the most ethically challenged member of the U.S. Congress, but when that sign board went up that said, 'Corrine Delivers,' she did," he said.

During her 23 years in Congress, that often has been Brown's reputation. On Friday, at the federal courthouse in downtown Jacksonville, it became something else. Her indictment.

The federal government unsealed a 53-page, 24-count indictment that says that Brown and her chief of staff were so ethically challenged that they used a noble cause — helping underprivileged children with education costs — to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a bogus charity in Virginia.

The indictment basically says that Corrine delivered all right. To herself.

It says Brown's chief of staff withdrew money from the One Door for Education bank account at ATMs near his residence — more than two dozen withdrawals, totaling tens of thousands of dollars — and deposited the cash directly into Brown's personal bank account, for her personal use.

It says that money supposedly headed to poor kids for scholarships actually ended up paying for things like a vacation to the Bahamas and use of a luxury box for a Beyonce concert.

It says that after raising more than $800,000 for One Door For Education, two scholarships were delivered: one for $1,000 in Virginia, the other for $200 in Florida.

For full article click the link below.
http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/mark-woods/2016-07-09/story/mark-woods-corrine-delivers-whom

[The_Choose_1]

From the Times Union moments ago:

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a towering and polarizing figure in Jacksonville politics and government, pleaded not guilty Friday to 24 federal charges that she helped raise about $800,000 for a bogus scholarship fund that turned out to be little more than a personal slush fund for expenses like car repairs, airplane tickets and luxury box seats to a Beyonce concert.
In their 53-page indictment, prosecutors allege Brown and a small group of her longtime confidants funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations through outside organizations or bank accounts to obscure the fact that virtually none of the money went toward charitable causes. Instead, the money was later deposited in Brown's account or withdrawn as cash, paying for vacations in the Bahamas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.

Prosecutors say they were only able to find two scholarships awarded by the group, One Door for Education, totaling $1,200. Brown's close relationship to One Door — and the difficulty tracking charitable work the group had claimed — was the subject of a January Times-Union report and a series of stories since.

The government also accuses Brown of fabricating charitable donations on her federal tax returns from 2008-2014, and in several cases obtaining letters verifying those bogus contributions from an unnamed nonprofit that resembles one run by another close confidant, Jacksonville City Councilman Reginald Gaffney.

For full story click link below.


http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-07-08/story/brown-indictment-alleges-charity-was-slush-fund-trips-luxury-seats-events-car?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

We will see. But if she is found guilty or I will not lose any sleep over it. What I would like to know is why do you seem to dislike her so much? "I have personally spent over 12 years investigating her and her actions and know what she is facing."

I have spent more time than that researching her and interacting with authorities with regard to her actions. It is not personal.  It is about her corruption and corrupt politicians in general.  I do not cotton to corrupt politicians that make themselves rich via schemes and illegal dealings.  She has also held sway over the local election process for far too many years which has put her cronies and supporters into office in order to do her bidding while skirting campaign and election laws to do so. All of this comes at a cost to her constituents needs in many ways.  Hers is a very long story of corruption.  My question is why do more people not care about corruption in government enough to do the research and then work to expose those involved in underhanded dealings?  I have done that now for many, many years.  Its about right and wrong, not the individual.  There is a single politician who I do not like personally in addition to their politics and that is Rick Scott. It's a visceral thing for me with him.

I understand what your saying. But most people don't have the time to get involved in investigating corruption in government. Unless that is their job. I would love to investigate how & why the JSO doesn't go after some people in Jacksonville that have accused other people of a crime that were never arrested for, but their lives were screwed up. One would believe that a false police report charge would be given to the accused? But if you have Power in this town they get away with a lot. And the pee-on is forgotten. I heard on rush yesterday a caller, called in and said that 99.9% of the police in America were good cops. I broke out in laughter.  Now I bet more good cops out number bad cops. But it isn't 99.9% of them. If the police want more people to believe that a higher number of people like what they are doing. Show it!

It's a pity and it is frustrating as someone who has done the homework, investigation, fact checking and taken appropriate actions with authorities to deal with corruption for decades and decades.  Most folk skim a comment or news posting make a quick determination and form an opinion.  When I talk politics and politicians it is backed by years of work, insight and first person experience yet people respond as if my words are formed exactly like the formed their opinions with little done to vette the facts.  Further it is so unfortunate to me that people once having heard a fact or read information that they don't like or a agree with, decide to insult the person posting facts and opinion as opposed to address the facts and opinion themselves.  That I find telling of their ability to respond with fact or reason and instead simply chose the child's position which is to make an issue a personal attack.

So what was wrong about my comment. Because just reading yours was a lot of Double Speak to me.

Not a thing.  I was just supporting your view with my own experiences.  I agree with what you said.

OK thanks.

[Cheshire Cat]

Standing outside of the Federal Court on Friday 7/9  while Corrine Brown was inside being indicted on 24 federal criminal counts, were a group of what appeared to be her supporters.  After most of the media left, the handmade signs were collected and in turn those folks received a cash payment.  Yup, this is how Corrine rolls.  Classic.

The above as reported by the Times Union and whose reporter witness it all. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/mark-woods/2016-07-09/story/mark-woods-corrine-delivers-whom?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

[spuwho]

Standing outside of the Federal Court on Friday 7/9  while Corrine Brown was inside being indicted on 24 federal criminal counts, were a group of what appeared to be her supporters.  After most of the media left, the handmade signs were collected and in turn those folks received a cash payment.  Yup, this is how Corrine rolls.  Classic.

The above as reported by the Times Union and whose reporter witness it all. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/mark-woods/2016-07-09/story/mark-woods-corrine-delivers-whom?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

Now, what does the Clinton Foundation do exactly? 

[Cheshire Cat]

Standing outside of the Federal Court on Friday 7/9  while Corrine Brown was inside being indicted on 24 federal criminal counts, were a group of what appeared to be her supporters.  After most of the media left, the handmade signs were collected and in turn those folks received a cash payment.  Yup, this is how Corrine rolls.  Classic.

The above as reported by the Times Union and whose reporter witness it all. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/mark-woods/2016-07-09/story/mark-woods-corrine-delivers-whom?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Florida_Times-Union

Now, what does the Clinton Foundation do exactly? 

A lot of people are asking that question and there is an official investigation into the foundation happening right now.  I can tell you what it won't do though.  You won't see the Clinton's bailing Corrine Brown out of this mess. 

[Cheshire Cat]

Corrine Brown's investigation is now a trial and it began today.  She faces up to 357 years in prison and and a 4.8 million dollar fine.  This is reflective of 24 counts of wrongdoing filed against her.  The prosecution list is quite impressive including Corrine's own daughter who says she will plead the 5th.  The only person of note on the defense is Jesse Jackson.  Corrine has lived a life of entitlement until now.  She will not walk away from this situation and for the first time in her life face the ramifications of her own hidden wrongdoings.

From today's news:
Prosecutor Tysen Duva told jurors the story of Corrine Brown is one of "lying, cheating and stealing" and it started long before One Door for Education.

"You wish that was the end of the story; that was all that could be said. But sadly, it's not. That's far from it. There's another side: corruption, greed and a significant entitlement attitude," said Duva in his opening remarks.

For full story click the link below:

http://news.wjct.org/post/corrine-brown-trial-begins-jacksonville

[thelakelander]

So you think she's going to do some hard time?

[spuwho]

Tomorrows T-U headline,

"Duva downs the diva!"

[Tacachale]

So you think she's going to do some hard time?

I think the prosecutor's got his work cut out for him proving that Brown did all they're claiming she did. It would be pretty easy to just say the aides who actually moved the money were the ones responsible, and she was in the dark about it and thought it was on the up and up.

[Cheshire Cat]

So you think she's going to do some hard time?

Yes, I do.  She has lost most of her buddies in high places that have influence.

[Cheshire Cat]

So you think she's going to do some hard time?

I think the prosecutor's got his work cut out for him proving that Brown did all they're claiming she did. It would be pretty easy to just say the aides who actually moved the money were the ones responsible, and she was in the dark about it and thought it was on the up and up.

They have taken their time and done the homework.  When her long time aid and buddy flipped on her, that was the opening they needed.  The records don't lie and they have records.