Tag: lawmaker

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Politics

Lawmaker to Name for Renewed Push to Free Paul Whelan, U.S. Marine Jailed in Russia

Lawmaker to Call for Renewed Push to Free Paul Whelan, U.S. Marine Jailed in Russia

Paul N. Whelan, the former US Marine who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage charges, has been unable to contact his family or the US embassy since July 4, and relatives and members of Congress are increasingly concerned about his welfare. His.

“No one has heard from him,” said Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who represents Mr. Whelan, in an interview. “We haven’t heard from him or really been able to speak to him since the beginning of July.”

Ms. Stevens and the family members of Mr. Whelan and Trevor Reed, another former Marine who has been sentenced to prison terms in Russia, will hold a press conference to discuss detention conditions and press for new Congressional resolutions calling for their release.

Speaking to the Capitol on Thursday, Ms. Stevens said Mr. Whelan had to work in a prison clothing factory six days a week, injuring his arm and being held by Russia for 944 days.

“That’s 944 days he’s been away from his friends and family,” Ms. Stevens said at the press conference. “It’s 944 days too long.”

In early June, Mr Whelan interviewed CNN, after which the Russian authorities restricted his access to cell phones, although he was still allowed to call his family. President Biden raised the cases of Mr Whelan, 51, and Mr Reed, 30, during his June summit with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.

Mr. Whelan called his parents in early July and then a second on July 4th.

“At that time he said, ‘If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, there will be trouble,'” said Elizabeth Whelan, his sister, in an interview.

Since then, neither the US embassy in Moscow nor Mr. Whelan’s parents have been able to contact him, Ms. Whelan said.

Joey Reed, Mr Reed’s father, said Thursday that his son had Covid and that he hadn’t heard from him in more than two weeks. “We are very concerned about his health,” he said. “Both of our families are concerned that Paul and Trevor might die in a Russian prison because of the poor conditions and lack of medical care.”

Evidence against Mr Whelan is thin, and nothing Russian prosecutors have produced has convinced American officials that he was spying on Russia.

Mr Whelan was arrested in late 2018 and, following his conviction last year, was detained in the IK-17 labor camp in Mordovia, about eight hours from Moscow.

Ms. Whelan said she believed her brother was returned to camp after being taken to hospital for treatment for an arm injury. But Mrs. Stevens said it was not clear where the Russians were holding him now. She also said that he was in solitary confinement.

Ms. Stevens, the Congresswoman, said, “The reality is that there has been no contact with him. This reaches another crucial moment. ”

Congress passed a resolution on Mr Whelan in 2019, but new action is in order, Ms Stevens said. She added that a vote would hardly force Mr Whelan’s release, but would demonstrate bipartisan opposition to Moscow’s tactics and “get under the skin of Russia.”

Rep. August Pfluger, the Texas Republican who represents the district Mr. Reed is from, urged Mr. Biden to step up pressure on Russia.

“We won’t compromise until we get Trevor and Paul home,” he said. “We will not tolerate American citizens being illegally detained by the Putin regime.”

Ms. Stevens said Moscow was trying to use Mr. Whelan and Mr. Reed to its own advantage.

“Americans absolutely cannot be used as political pawns for other countries, period, end of story, unacceptable,” she said. “These are the Russians who engage in the dark arts of political interference. I think this is part of an attempt to play with the inner psychology of our political structure. “

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Politics

Melinda Gates divorce lawyer joins Connecticut lawmaker struggle with Morgan Stanley exec

Melinda Gates divorce lawyer joins Connecticut lawmaker fight with Morgan Stanley exec

Senator Alex Bergstein

Source: ALEX for the Senate | Youtube

An already controversial divorce case between a Connecticut senator and her top Morgan Stanley husband has gotten even hotter with the arrival of a senior new attorney – who is also representing Melinda Gates in her mega-billion dollar bankruptcy with the Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The new divorce attorney, Robert Cohen, also restored former President Donald Trump’s first two wives, Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

Cohen is now working on the newly expanded legal team of Senator Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, who this week fired a legal shot that threatens to drag other Morgan Stanley employees and the firm itself into divorce cases.

Kasser’s attorneys asked a judge to allow them to question three Morgan Stanley employees under oath, indicating the investment bank’s recent improper efforts to obtain personal financial information from her, even if her estranged husband, Seth Bergstein, remains there as a senior Managing Director and is Head of Global Services.

“Plaintiff [Kasser] is in possession of evidence suggesting that the accused [Bergstein] abused his authority at Morgan Stanley … against these subordinates, “reads a new file drawn up by Cohen’s legal partner, John Farley.

“He also appears to have encouraged MS staff to use false and coercive communications to the plaintiff to induce her to disclose personal financial information to which he was not entitled and appear to have taken an undue advantage in ongoing controversial divorce proceedings in this court attain “said the filing says.

Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management and risk management staff at the end of April gave Kasser “false information” about FINRA regulations, court orders, and Connecticut law as part of that effort.

The investigation referred to a joint report at Morgan Stanley that Kasser has shared with Bergstein for two decades. Permanent employees claim it has been “marked in red” and excluded from Kasser’s tax refund check “until we can confirm the account holder’s total net worth.”

Kasser’s attorneys also suggest that Bergstein may have acted illegally in July 2016 by asking a Morgan Stanley notary to certify a document executed for him for one of his trusts without him or his brother actually signing that document.

“As a result, the accused appears to have committed a crime by giving a knowing instruction to a subordinate to commit an illegal act,” Farley wrote on the file.

This request to the notary is documented in an email attached to a new Stamford, Connecticut, Superior Court motion to begin divorce proceedings against Bergstein and Kasser in August.

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Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Other emails filed by Kasser’s attorneys in court point to the changing explanations Morgan Stanley employees have given her for inquiries about her assets and the lack of direct responses to questions Kasser asked them about them Has made inquiries.

In one of those emails from Howard Gofstein, Executive Director of Private Wealth, Kasser was told that the query of her net worth was based on FINRA’s anti-money laundering regulations and for the knowledge of your clients. The message added that “we need to update when we know, but at least every three years.[sic]””

Farley’s court record states, “There is also no regulatory requirement that a bank ‘update … at least every three years’.”

“The Court should also be aware that misapplication of securities laws can have serious regulatory consequences for financial institutions and their employees,” wrote Farley.

A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley and Bergstein’s attorney Janet Battey declined to speak to CNBC.

Kasser, who previously worked as a lawyer for the white shoe company Skadden Arps, also declined to comment.

A bitter breakup

The new allegations have reinforced what was a bitter case from the start, filed more than two years ago when Kasser split up with Bergstein, with whom she has three children.

After that, she began a romantic relationship with another woman – Nichola Samponaro – who also happened to be the campaign manager for her 2018 Senate race.

CNBC detailed in 2019 how court records showed Bergstein, before his wife left him, proposed in 2018 that Samponaro, as a member of Kasser’s legislative staff, be paid with money he was willing to provide. Bergstein suggested channeling the money through a private company, which at one point belonged to Kasser’s mother, or through a Shell company, records show.

Bergstein never paid the money, the files say.

Samponaro left Kasser’s employees in her Senate office shortly after the Senator took her seat when questions were asked about Samponaro’s salary, which was paid directly by Kasser.

Kasser has since changed her last name, which used to be Bergstein, and continued her relationship with Samponaro.

Kasser also made headlines for citing a bill in Connecticut legislation known as Jennifer’s Law to add the concept of “coercive control” to the legal definition of domestic violence.

Obsessional control is defined as a partner who does things like withholding money or engaging in threatening behavior to prevent the other partner from leaving the relationship.

Kasser’s bill was passed almost unanimously by the Senate on Tuesday.

Last autumn, Kasser completed the re-election for her seat with a lead of only 0.8%. Their borough includes Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan. Before she won for the first time in 2018, that seat hadn’t been occupied by a Democrat in nearly 90 years.

Great background

Meanwhile, Kasser’s divorce case has flown largely under the media’s radar for the past two years.

That could change, however, with the recent unreported arrival of New York marriage lawyers Cohen and Farley as new members of Kasser’s legal team. The group included veteran Connecticut divorce attorneys.

Cohen’s marriage clients included Trump’s first wife, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, KKR & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis, and supermodel Christie Brinkley. He is currently representing Melinda Gates, who jointly announced their split from Bill Gates earlier this month after 27 years of marriage. Bill Gates’ net worth is estimated at north of $ 134 billion.

Central Islip, NY: Christie Brinkley and Attorney Robert Cohen speak to the media following a divorce settlement settlement with Peter Cook during the press conference at the Courthouse in Central Islip, New York on July 10, 2008.

Alan Raia | Newsday LLC | Newsday | Getty Images

Cohen declined to comment on this article.

However, another well-known New York City divorce attorney suggested Kasser made a wise decision to hire Cohen.

“He’s a fantastic lawyer,” said Marilyn Chinitz, whose celebrity married clients included actors Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas. “He’s talented, he’s aggressive.”

Chinitz is currently involved in four marriage cases in which Cohen is representing the other party.

“A case with Bob can be challenging, but it’s good to have a case with someone who knows the law and he’s a good trial attorney,” said Chinitz.

“He’s creative in solving a case.”

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Business

Individuals will ‘attempt to kill us,’ says GOP lawmaker on going in opposition to Trump

People will 'try to kill us,’ says GOP lawmaker on going against Trump

Michigan Republican Congressman Peter Meijer was one of only nine new GOP lawmakers who voted to uphold the November 3 election results. He told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith that his life may now be in danger.

“We are aware that this was a vote that has endangered our security and I assume that there will likely be more political violence in the future,” said Meijer. “My expectation, and the expectation of some of the people I speak to who are trying to vote our conscience about it, there will be people trying to kill us and that is what we have to deal with every day.”

Meijer added that this threat of violence, in turn, has forced and will continue to intimidate some of his Republican counterparts into voting on the Trump administration’s side. In a comment, Meijer wrote that another lawmaker protested President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over fears that President Trump’s supporters would come after his family.

“That was what weighed on the colleague’s conscience and the last thing that person said to me was concern for the safety of that person’s family if that person voted to confirm the election,” Meijer said. “That’s where rhetoric got us. That’s the level of fear that was created.”

The House of Representatives is now on the verge of indicting Trump for the second time. The House Democrats introduced an impeachment article accusing Trump of inciting the insurgent mob that stormed the Capitol last week. Five people died, including a police officer.

The article accuses Trump of “showing that if he is allowed to stay in office, he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the constitution.” The vote on impeachment is scheduled for Wednesday. Meijer said he is “thinking hard about” indicting Trump.

“I’ve had colleagues who objected, timing concerns, process concerns, and reception concerns,” said Meijer host Shepard Smith. “I haven’t heard anyone raise concerns on the matter and I believe the president’s actions last Wednesday disqualified him and made him unfit for office.”

Sources said minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told House Republicans on a conference call that President Trump had some responsibility for the deadly uprising. Meijer said the future of the GOP was in balance. He added that the Republican Party faces the lie that November 3rd was a landslide victory for Trump and that many Republican voters were deceived by those in power.

“Instead of telling people in America and their supporters what to hear, too many politicians have told us what to hear,” Meijer said. “That kind of reactive leadership will never turn the Republican Party into a party trusted to rule this country again, and we need to fix it.”