Category Archives: The Denise Simon Experience

Fraud/Theft on Govt Contractor for Puerto Rico Hurricane

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Not only do individuals not do the research and proper vetting of people and information, but when the Federal government is guilty, things are really bad. The Federal government has people, technology and the resources to ‘get it right’ when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars but again, we get fleeced.

So we have this cockamamie contractor that in the end was just not real and no one up or down the system to figure that out. So, 475,000 tarps that were to be delivered to Puerto Rico, never happened but the money…well that is gone too. Yikes.

Puerto Rico: Where Americans live without roofs - CNN

Just for fun, read the contract here.

Now for the story that began burning in 2017 and continues.

The owners of the Textile Corporation of America promised the government that they could deliver 1,000 new jobs to residents of Pikeville, Tennessee, and millions of dollars of supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. And federal and state leaders lined up to support them, helping them secure millions of dollars in contracts and grants.

But two years later, the company is the subject of a federal criminal investigation alleging that its executives bilked taxpayers out of those millions.

According to affidavits filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a federal court in Tennessee in October and February, the Textile Corporation of America (TCA) fabricated evidence of work performed at a Pikeville, Tennessee, textile plant in order to draw grants from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—a federally owned corporation—and the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development.

The FBI alleges that the company’s owners pocketed much of that money for personal use.

But more than a million dollars of the grant money, investigators say, went towards the purchase of tarps to fulfill a $30 million Federal Emergency Management Agency hurricane relief contract. The TCA sister company to which FEMA awarded that contract, Master Group USA (MGUSA), used more fraudulent paperwork, including fabricated copies of invoices and wire transfers, to conceal the fact that it was purchasing those tarps from China, in violation of federal sourcing laws, the FBI alleges. FEMA awarded MGUSA nearly $4 million before canceling the contract, after the tarps failed to meet quality requirements.

Some information about the scheme has trickled into public view over the past year. But the existence of a federal criminal investigation into TCA and MGUSA, and the full extent of their alleged fraud, as spelled out in a pair of FBI affidavits, has not been previously reported. Those affidavits, filed in November and February, sought the seizure of millions of dollars from the companies’ Pakistani-American owners, brothers Karim and Rahim Sadruddin, and search warrants for their email accounts and those of a number of family members allegedly involved in the scheme.

No criminal charges have yet been filed, and the Justice Department declined to comment. But the allegations against the Sadruddin brothers go beyond a typical case of procurement fraud, given the roster of high-profile politicians who lent their support to their companies over the past two years.

The Sadruddin brothers, and the family members allegedly party to the scheme, did not respond to requests for comment on the investigation. Nor did Troy King, the former attorney general of Alabama and TCA’s chief counsel.

King was one of a number of high-profile public figures who lined up to support TCA’s plans to buy, renovate, and revitalize the Pikeville textile plant. At an unveiling ceremony in July 2017, King, flanked by then-Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and an aide to Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), said the project “represents the renaissance of America, the return of America as a global manufacturing center.”

“This is a great story,” DesJarlais said of the project. “A local entrepreneur made an investment in his community.”

“Textile Corporation of America’s commitment to create 1,000 jobs in Bledsoe County, a Tier 4 Distressed county, will have an incredible impact on the community and surrounding area,” promised Haslam. “We appreciate the company’s investment in our state and look forward to building a lasting partnership in the future.”

As of early this year, no work had been done at the site, and its gates had been padlocked.

A month before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, TCA received a $3 million “fast track” development grant from the state, $850,000 of which was to go towards purchasing the Pikeville facility, with the rest earmarked for redeveloping it. The company brought on a local contractor, Cagle Development, to assist with the project.

The structure of the grant stipulated that TCA would finance its own work at the site, then submit paperwork to a local development agency, which was charged with administering the grant funds. The agency would then use those funds to reimburse TCA for work performed.

In October 2017, TCA submitted its first tranche of paperwork for reimbursement: a $1.4 million invoice for work performed by Cagle on the site and records of a wire transfer from TCA’s bank account to Cagle’s. “

Ed Cagle, the contractor’s owner, recalled seeing a copy of the invoice in the company’s records and immediately recognizing that it was fraudulent. “He made up the invoice and put Cagle Development up top,” Cagle told The Daily Beast in an interview on Friday.

Cagle immediately called up the Pikeville mayor, who was one of TCA’s biggest boosters at the time and whom Cagle knew personally. “I never did receive this money,” Cagle told him. “I don’t know why somebody fabricated this but this is not me.”

Cagle would eventually tip off federal and state authorities to the apparent fabrication as well. “The FBI got involved, they came in and checked all my records,” he recalled. “They saw that I never did get the money,”

The FBI checked bank records as well and concluded that “the wire transfer record submitted by Karim Sadruddin to obtain a reimbursement… is, in fact, fraudulent.”

By the time authorities realized that TCA had already received reimbursement checks for both that $1.4 million and another $850,000 for the purchase of the Pikeville facility. In November 2017, Karim Sadruddin drove from his home in Atlanta to Pikeville, picked up the checks, and deposited them in a bank account with a prior balance of just $500.

Later that month, he submitted another invoice—also fraudulent, according to the FBI—for work ostensibly performed by Cagle and financed by TCA. In January, the company received a check for $728,000, every last penny available under the Pikeville grant.

Around the same time, the Sadruddins began hitting up the TVA for money as well. TCA had received a $230,000 performance grant from the federally owned company, and in January 2018, Rahim Sadruddin sent an email to the agency falsely claiming that the Pikeville facility was “in operation from this week onwards,” and that he wanted “to get in touch with you regarding the grant funds.”

In June, the Sadruddins officially certified that the Pikeville plant had been up and running for months. They secured the $230,000 in TVA grant money as a result.

In fact, according to the FBI, “the Pikeville facility was not commercially operational as a textile manufacturing plant. No textiles were being produced.” Instead, the affidavits allege, they were simply using the Pikeville facility as a warehouse to store tarps purchased to supply their sister company MGUSA’s $30.8 million FEMA contract, under which the company agreed to provide 475,000 tarps to areas hit by hurricanes in 2017, chiefly in Puerto Rico.

The Sadruddins had already begun transferring TCA’s grant money to MGUSA in order to purchase those tarps, according to the FBI. FEMA awarded the contract in November 2017, as TCA was drawing down its Pikeville grants. The FBI estimates that more than $1 million of TCA’s grant funds, or more than a third of the total, eventually went towards the purchase of tarps under the FEMA contract.

Soon after the contract was awarded, a FEMA representative reached out to MGUSA to verify that the tarps being provided complied with the Trade Agreements Act, which contains restrictions on countries of origin for such purchases. MGUSA documentation showed the tarps were being shipped from China, a nation barred by those sourcing restrictions.

To allay FEMA’s concerns, MGUSA provided copies of purchase orders and wire transfers designed to show that the tarps were purchased from a company in Taiwan and simply shipped through China to minimize transit costs. Those documents, the FBI alleges, were also fraudulent.

The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, which conducted its own investigation into the FEMA contract, determined that the Taiwanese company listed on those purchase orders didn’t actually exist. The IG also determined that the wire transfer records submitted to the agency were fraudulent.

The tarps were, in fact, coming from China. FBI investigators determined that the Sadruddins even visited the Chinese facility where they were being produced. Investigators interviewed that supplier, who told them that, “Karim wanted the tarps to be from a TAA compliant country, but the supplier explained to Karim that a factory in China was the only source which could produce the tarps in the needed time period, and after a couple of days, Karim Sadruddin agreed to take the tarps from China.”

MGUSA eventually provided more than 58,000 tarps under the contract, for which the company was paid more than $3.7 million, before FEMA suspended the work, citing concerns about the quality of the goods provided, and their Chinese sourcing. It’s not clear how many actually made it to Puerto Rico.

As it pursues a criminal investigation against the Sadruddins, the FBI has also sought to recoup the millions of dollars they say were illegally extracted by their two companies. But the frequent transfers of money between various bank accounts owned by the Sadruddin brothers and the family has apparently made recouping that money difficult.

The FBI attempted to seize more than $815,000, for instance, from a bank account in the name of Rahim Sadruddin’s wife, Fatima. But according to court filings, the bank could only locate about $130,000 of those funds.

For the residents of Pikeville, the cost of the Sadruddins’ alleged fraud can’t be measured just in dollar terms.

“What really upset me was offering people over there 1,000 jobs,” said Cagle of TCA’s textile project. “These people really put a lot of hope into that. So to see somebody come in and steal all their grant money, and them living like kings, that’s what bothers me the most.”

Cagle sighed. “I wish I’d never met them.”

Hey Social Media, Here Comes Anti-Trust Scrutiny

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It has started with Google and this site has warned users of the Internet to stop using Google for years for various reasons. Now there are more. Oh, the Department of Justice may not stop with Google, so watch out Facebook, Yahoo News, Apple, Amazon and Twitter. Why?

Have you noticed how twisted news stories are? Have you noticed selective search engine results? Have you noticed search intrusions? Have you noticed censorship that may affect politics, truths or even voting habits?

How to Become a Social Media Marketing Pro for Less Than ...

Well, it begins with these social media/tech companies stopping competition, free speech and lying by omission. Reliance on these investigative activities begin with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This is a law where the Federal government opposes monopolies when it comes to contracts, trade and commerce. Add in the Federal Trade Commission Act and consider the timing as we move towards the 2020 General Election(s).

A short definition of the Antitrust Laws is found here.

In part from C-Net:

The move by the Justice Department comes as Google and other Silicon Valley giants face renewed antitrust scrutiny in the United States. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has made it a key part of her platform to break up the big tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. Earlier this month, Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, also called for the breakup of the company he helped create.

In February 2018, President Donald Trump had signaled via his Federal Trade Commission leadership choice that he was open to investigating big tech companies.

Former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last September reportedly met with state attorneys general to discuss whether Google and Facebook could be suppressing conservative views, after forming a task force to look into problems in the tech industry. However, once Sessions stepped down in November, the plan to follow up with the Justice Department was shelved.

The Journal report follows reports in March that Google could be facing an investigation over violations of antitrust or consumer protection regulations.

Google has also faced antitrust pressures from regulators in Europe. In March, the search giant was hit with a $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission for “abusive” online ad practices. The Commission said Google exploited its dominance by restricting its rivals from placing their search ads on third-party websites.

Last year, the EU’s executive arm fined Google a record $5 billion for unfair business practices around Android, its mobile operating system. The investigation focused on Google’s deals with phone manufacturers, requiring them to preload specific Google apps and services onto Android phones. After the EU announced the fine, Trump tweeted, “I told you so.”

***

Earlier Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission will examine how Facebook’s practices affect digital competition. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Amazon has come under heightened scrutiny by U.S. regulators. And on Friday, the Journal reported that the Justice Department is preparing a probe of Google, sending shares of parent company Alphabet down more than 7% Monday.

The possible Apple probe is linked to the Google probe, Reuters reported, and stems from meetings between the DOJ and the FTC.

The headlines together paint a daunting picture for Silicon Valley and the stock market’s most valuable companies. Big tech has long faced scrutiny from European regulators, but has so far shrugged off calls for government regulation in the U.S.

Apple has drawn increased criticism in recent months for what some — including streaming giant Spotify — see as anti-competitive behavior in the App Store. Apple owns and operates the online marketplace, collecting subscription fees from developers.

The so-called “Apple tax” accounts for a sizable percentage of Apple’s burgeoning services revenue segment, but draws the ire of developers who, in some cases, compete with Apple’s own apps in the store.

Spotify’s EU complaint against Apple, filed in March, is pending investigation by European authorities. More here.

Historic Navy Ships Rotting at the Docks

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There are several aircraft boneyards with the largest being 2600 acres.

360 degree VR Aerial Views of Davis-Monthan AMARG courtesy of AerialSphere, LLC Reclaiming parts from grounded aircraft has allowed an estimated 3200 aircraft to continue flying. But what about historic navy ships with long histories? Photo essay

There has to be several more options to preserve these mighty ships. Your comments are encouraged.

Thanks to Chris Woodyard:

LOS ANGELES – The Lane Victory is one of the last of hundreds of hastily built cargo ships that helped win World War II, a testament to Rosie the Riveter and thousands of workers – women and men – who toiled on the homefront.

Today, the retired armed Merchant Marine freighter fights age, rust and deterioration.

 

Around the country, many naval memorials – proud decommissioned naval ships that played a key role in America’s 20th-century wars – languish in increasingly desperate shape, eaten away by corrosion that their volunteers do their best to keep out of sight of tourists, such as the throngs expected this Memorial Day weekend.

They include the battleship USS Texas, the only large warship left in the USA to not only have served in the First World War but to have lived on long enough to blast the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Now the dreadnought’s only battle is a daily struggle to keep from sinking in its berth near Houston.

Or the destroyer USS The Sullivans, named for five brothers killed when their cruiser was torpedoed and exploded during World War II. There is a fundraising campaign for the Fletcher Class-ship on display in Buffalo, New York, to patch the hull, which leaks. The seagoing greyhound was given a thin steel skin for speed, not expected to last 75 years.

For America’s veterans and others trying to keep the vessels shipshape, the lack of money can be heartbreaking.

“You fall in love with the damn thing,” explained Chris “Frenchy” Marmaud, a volunteer on the Lane Victory. “It’s big and ugly and old, just like the crew. It’s a challenge to keep it alive.”

Often, it’s too big a challenge.

The Navy and other government agencies allowed groups around the country to take ships to use for museums rather than sending them straight to the scrapyard. In some cases, veterans groups wanted them as tributes to military service. In others, cities sought to make them the centerpiece of waterfront attractions.

Amid the enthusiasm for putting them on display, there’s been scant attention given to the sky-high costs of maintenance.

So many ships were doled out that they compete for volunteers and visitors within a few miles of each other. The Lane Victory shares the Port of Los Angeles with another, more recent-vintage museum ship, the battleship USS Iowa, which is about 5 miles from a nonmilitary floating attraction, the retired 1930s ocean liner Queen Mary in Long Beach.

“The Navy released ships to different cities because it was a great recruiting tool, and no one was looking at the end game,” said John Brady, CEO of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, home to the cruiser USS Olympia, flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War in 1898, and the retired submarine USS Becuna.  “The people responsible for these ships are very committed to them, (but) they are competing for a very limited funding pool.”

Floating moneypits

The biggest problems are financial. A statue in a park or town square to commemorate a general, a battle or a war can last generations with minimal maintenance. Ships require periodic trips to shipyards to have their hulls cleaned, painted and patched. The ravages of water exposure, exacerbated by salt, means a never-ending fight against rust. Trips to drydock can run into the millions of dollars – then the refurbishing lasts only about 25 years, depending on the ship.

Many of the ships might be deemed national treasures, but the museum groups said they’ve largely gone without offers of federal funding from the Navy or elsewhere. The Navy says the 47 museum ships under the country that it no longer owns are now the responsibility of the states or nonprofits that took them. The groups must fend for themselves, looking mostly to ticket and gift store sales or corporate and individual donations for support.

Though some ship memorials are big successes – the retired aircraft carriers USS Midway in San Diego and USS Intrepid in New York and the battleship USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor are popular attractions – it’s often the less-visible ships that are in the deepest trouble.

Veterans filed suit to try to stop a plan to tow the submarine USS Clamagore, on display in Charleston, South Carolina, out to sea and sink it. That way, at least divers could enjoy what’s left of it.

Tom Lufkin joined a group to try to save the Clamagore. Though the sub looks distressed on the outside, where pieces of its deck have been removed, its inner hull is intact, he said.

“She is not in bad shape,” he said.

Mac Burdette, executive director of the Patriots Point Development Authority that operates the Clamagore along with the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Laffey, is in a bind. He said he either needs to spend $8 million to restore the sub or $3 million to have it towed out to shallow water and sunk.

“You can’t save every ship,” Burdette said. “The best thing we can do to end this suffering is to turn her into a veterans’ memorial off the coast of South Carolina where she can continue on patrol forever.”

His larger problem is the Yorktown. He said it would cost $50 million over the next 20 years to deal with holes and corrosion near the waterline. The authority owes millions it borrowed from the state for renovating Laffey a few years ago.

“You cannot sell enough tickets and T-shirts to make that work out,” Burdette said.

Patriots Point has an advantage: 400 acres of property that can be developed, creating income streams to help cover a large part of the ship renovation tab.

Other ship museums get creative in scrounging for money. USS Hornet, the retired aircraft carrier that recovered the Apollo 11 capsule after the moon landing in 1969, rents out its cavernous hangar deck on San Francisco Bay for high school proms and other community events.

The Lane Victory has generated revenue over the years from TV and movie productions and as a training venue for law enforcement SWAT teams.

It has big bills to pay and a lot of yard work that needs to be done. It needs repairs to one of its steam engines, a trip to drydock for painting and hull cleaning and to settle debts it has accumulated. Total costs are sure to run upward of $6 million. The ship needs a paint job, and rust is visible on the masts.

The freighter was built in the port, close to where it is docked today. It transported supplies at the end of World War II. The ship’s proudest moment came in the next war, Korea, when it and another Victory ship evacuated thousands of refugees.

Out of hundreds of Victory ships built, the Lane Victory is one of only three that still exist in the USA. Until 2014, it hosted day sailings that included food, a 1940s-style band and vintage fighters that staged mock attacks to show off the ship’s anti-aircraft guns.

Since an engine problem occurred, the Lane Victory has languished dockside as its motley crew of mostly retirees tries to make repairs and raise money to get the ship back out to sea.

One veteran seaman, Issie Deitsch, 91, who said he endured three sinkings during World War II, said he was invited to join the Lane Victory crew, “and I stayed on ever since. I love ships, and I love working on ships.”

‘Piece of history’

No one who knows the ship doubts its significance.

“It’s a vital piece of history,” said David Jones, who leads the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II in preserving the ship and offering tours.

But many don’t know that history.

“For the younger generation, they don’t understand why these ships are important,” said Jonathan Williams, board president of the Historic Naval Ships Association. “World War II for today’s generation is almost like the Civil War to the generations of the 1930s and 1940s.”

Williams, who heads the organization that runs the battleship Iowa, is reorienting the ship to try to generate excitement around a modern subject – showcasing the Navy’s surface fleet – rather than just history.

The group trying to save the Texas looked at using holograms to re-create life during the battleship’s long history. But those efforts are overshadowed by just trying to keep the 105-year-old vessel afloat.

The dreadnought may get a lucky break. Though no federal money is available, the state may come through. The Texas Legislature is considering a measure that could deliver funds to save the historic landmark.

If it passes, it won’t be a moment too soon. Leaks have become so severe that every day, the pumps struggle to discharge about 250,000 gallons of seawater. “She is dying a slow death,” said Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation.

Almost $60 million has been spent shoring up or replacing the battleship’s ribs and internal support. To seal the leaks, the hope is that a steel hull can be applied at a cost that could exceed $35 million.

Scrapping the battleship would be no bargain, either. As an old ship that might not be capable of being towed, it might have to be cut up in place at a tab of $30 million.

“On one hand, you have the undoable, and on the other, you have the unthinkable,” Bramlett said.

He is sure of one thing: If nothing is done, “it’s just a matter of time. Salt water wins the fight every single time.”

 

Terrorist Arrested in Basking Ridge, NJ

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He fully supported HAMAS, wanted to bomb Trump Tower and set off explosives at a pro-Israel event. His name? He uses Jonathan Xie.

The chilling criminal complaint is here.

A 20-year-old New Jersey man who allegedly sent money abroad to Hamas militants in an effort to support the terror group also spoke of bombing Trump Tower and attacking the Israeli Consulate in New York, authorities say.

He also spewed hatred against Jewish people, allegedly vowing in an Instagram Live video that he would go to a pro-Israel march and “shoot everybody.”

The suspect, identified as Jonathan Xie, of Basking Ridge, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated terror group, making false statements and transmitting a threat of interstate commerce. Though he spoke of the attacks, authorities say there was no specific plot. Xie is expected in federal court in Newark later Wednesday.

One official tells News 4 Xie has a history of mental issues, but his alleged actions, threats — and the fact investigators found three guns in his family home — were part of the reason they moved forward with the criminal terror charges. It wasn’t immediately clear if the weapons were legally obtained.

According to a criminal complaint, Xie lied in an effort to enlist in the U.S. Army for training earlier this year. Prosecutors say he went as far as completing a Security Clearance Application for National Security Positions in February and answered “no” to the question “Have you ever associated with anyone involved in activities to further terrorism.” An error occurred in the application processing and he had to do it again 10 days later. Again, he answered no to that question.

Xie allegedly said he wanted to join “to learn how to kill … so I can use that knowledge” and “Idk if I pass the training … If I should do lone wolf.”

Last month, FBI surveillance saw Xie outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, according to Instagram records, he posted two photos to his account, one with the words “[S]hould I bomb Trump Tower,” a “Yes/No” poll and an emoji of a bomb imposed over the Trump Tower building image.

Records show Xie then posted on Instagram, “Okay, so I went to NYC today and passed by Trump Tower and then I started laughing hysterically . . . s*** I forgot to visit the Israeli embassy in NYC … i want to bomb this place along with trump tower,” according to the criminal complaint.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Xie appeared in an Instagram Live video in April wearing a black ski mask and said he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment. He allegedly said he would “find a way” to go join Hamas if he could, then displayed a Hamas flag and got a handgun. “I’m gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I’m going to shoot everybody,” officials say he said in that video.

In later Instagram posts, Xie allegedly said, “I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators . . . you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people . . . all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage . . . I do not care if security forces come after me, they will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me.”

The money to Hamas was sent last year, officials say. Xie allegedly sent $100 via Moneygram to a person in Gaza he believes to be a member of a Hamas faction that has conducted suicide bombings against civilian targets in Israel.

At about the same time, he allegedly posted on Instagram, “Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn.” He also allegedly sent a small Bitcoin donation last month just to see if it went through.

The investigation revealed other social media accounts for Xie, including a YouTube account which contained a playlist containing videos, many of which advocated or propagandized Soldiers for Allah, the war in Syria, Hezbollah (a foreign terrorist organization), and the Houthi movement in Yemen, as well as support for Bashar al Assad, Saddam Hussein, and North Korea.

“Homegrown violent extremists like Xie are a serious threat to national security,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement. “The actions that he took and planned to take made that threat both clear and present, and we commend our law enforcement partners for working closely with us to stop him before he could carry out his plans to commit violence on American soil. We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard our country and its citizens from the threat of terrorism, whether that threat comes from abroad or – as here – from within.”

Each count of attempt to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The false statements and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce counts each also carry hefty prison time and fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Information on a possible attorney for Xie wasn’t immediately available.

Rubio Wants DoJ to Investigate Kerry and Logan Act/FARA

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Yippee!

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether former Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s actions since leaving office related to the Iran nuclear deal violate the Logan Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Rubio previously urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the matter.

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Attorney General Barr:

I write to make you aware of a September 18, 2018 letter I sent to your predecessor regarding potential violations of the Logan Act (18 U.S.C. § 953) and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq.) by former Secretary of State John F. Kerry.  As you know, former Secretary Kerry’s actions since leaving office have come under scrutiny as they related to the Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The full letter to your predecessor is attached.

The American people deserve to know that U.S. laws are enforced regardless of any individual’s past position. The Department of Justice should therefore make a determination on whether or not former Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s recent actions related to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran potentially violate the Logan Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

*** The Boston Globe reported factually that John Kerry had met with Javad Zarif at least 3-4 times since leaving his post as Secretary of State. In fact, this is not news by any means, calls for attention to John Kerry working against the Trump administration goes back to at least May of 2018. Did John Kerry bother to announce his activity to anyone in the Trump administration? Nah…

Kerry’s Iran diplomacy in cross hairs of partisan battle ...

In fact, Democrats in Congress knew about the activities of John Kerry because he called them trying to get their help too.

Kerry’s little team (called Diplomacy Works) of people included Wendy Sherman, Jon Finer, Jen Psaki, David Wade, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, Susan Rice, Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Fedrica Mogherini, Emmanuel Macron, Ernest Moniz and Wendy Sherman. This Kerry organization has been writing articles, op-eds, producing and airing television and radio ads and blasting them to policy-makers as well as foreign policy experts.

Now this is shadow government and policy…right?

But don’t believe John Kerry’s mission is just exclusive the Iran nuclear deal. Indeed, it also deals with North Korea and China.

On the Board of Directors of ‘Diplomacy Works’ are names such as Tony Blinken, Nicolas Burns, Michele Flournoy, Matt Olsen, Nancy Soderberg and yikes Robert Malley.

Robert Malley is fully anti-Israel. His biography/resume demonstrates that as well as his concocted campaign to defeat ISIS while he worked for the Obama White House. His family considered Yassir Arafat to be a close and reliable friend. He was a trusted advisor to Susan Rice. In 2001 Malley moved over to the policy and think tank world, continuing his involvement with Middle East issues. He was Senior Policy Advisor at the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, and is now with the Soros-funded International Crisis Group, where he serves as Middle East and North Africa Program Director.

***

Oh yeah, Kerry’s organization has a legislative agenda that includes climate change, democracy and human rights, gender equality, global health, refugees, trade and the United Nations. He and his staff clearly advise only Democrats in both chambers of Congress after reviewing the names listed on the website.

Someone tell Hannity, Laura Ingraham or Peter Schweizer to give all this some airtime…please…