In an effort to smear Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, The New York Times relied on input from a supposedly impartial authority on ethics in government. Supposedly.
The article targeted Duffy&#8217;s recent Department of Transportation project, a YouTube series titled &#8220;The Great American Road Trip.&#8221; Kathleen Clark, an attorney and law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, was described by the NYT simply as someone &#8220;who specializes in government ethics.&#8221;
Weighing in on the fact that Duffy&#8217;s family members were brought along for the ride and featured in the YouTube series, Clark argued that because those family members were not officially contracted to the DOT and were taking part in the project anyway, they were essentially receiving &#8220;gifts&#8221; from the series sponsors.
&#8220;Gifts to the secretary’s family are absolutely not gifts to the department,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is really gift laundering &#8230; This is an incredibly corrupt endeavor, and it’s dangerous, because it affects public safety.&#8221;
But the NYT left out a few key details when describing Clark&#8217;s credentials.
Clark, in her capacity as an attorney, served as counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1991-1993 — during then-Sen. Joe Biden&#8217;s (D-DE) tenure as committee chair (1987-1995).
The Washington University Professor has also served on the board of directors (as Secretary) of American Oversight, Inc. — a nonprofit organization that also claims to be nonpartisan but has a clear bias against President Donald Trump — since its formation in 2017.
The group&#8217;s listed &#8220;priorities,&#8221; according to <a href="https://americanoversight.org">its own website</a>, are described as follows: &#8220;We were founded in 2017 in response to the unprecedented challenges that the Trump administration posed to our nation’s democratic ideals and institutions.&#8221;
Headlines posted on the American Oversight Inc.&#8217;s website in the last several weeks read like a typical left-leaning advocacy group:
<ul>
<li>ICE&#8217;s work with local police departments is being kept secret</li>
<li>American Oversight launches investigation into Trump admin&#8217;s politicized prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center</li>
<li>Statement from American Oversight and historians on today&#8217;s hearing to block Trump&#8217;s efforts to evade presidential records law</li>
</ul>
Clark&#8217;s page on Washington University&#8217;s website adds another layer to the story: while her history up to 2017 includes several ethics-based academic publications, she has none listed since that year. In addition, she has no media listings prior to 2025. But beginning in February of 2025, she has been sought out several times to provide comments to various outlets. Every one came after President Trump was sworn in to begin his second term. Every one is an attack either on someone serving in Trump&#8217;s administration or on the president himself.
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-04/kash-patel-s-800-000-trump-media-award-raises-conflict-questions-for-fbi-pick?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczODY5MDQ1NywiZXhwIjoxNzM5Mjk1Mj" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Kash Patel’s $800000 Trump Media Award Raises New Conflict Questions (opens in new tab)">Kash Patel’s $800000 Trump Media Award Raises New Conflict Questions</a></li>
<li><a href="https://contrarian.substack.com/p/musks-inexcusable-conflicts" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Musk’s Inexcusable Conflicts (opens in new tab)">Musk’s Inexcusable Conflicts</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5293124/special-government-employee-trump-musk-doge" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Trump Hired Musk as a ‘Special Government Employee.’ Here’s What That Means (opens in new tab)">Trump Hired Musk as a ‘Special Government Employee.’ Here’s What That Means</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/14/elon-musk-public-financial-disclosure-form/78533975007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Elon Musk Has to Fill Out a Public Financial Disclosure Legal Experts Say. Where Is It? (opens in new tab)">Elon Musk Has to Fill Out a Public Financial Disclosure Legal Experts Say. Where Is It?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/health/dr-oz-medicare-finances-conflicts.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Dr. Oz: How His Millions Collide With Medicare (opens in new tab)">Dr. Oz: How His Millions Collide With Medicare</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.wsj.com/sports/golf/augusta-national-masters-emails-tickets-643b189b?st=JLy9Qe&amp;reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="A Masters Tradition Unlike Any Other: Gifting Tickets to Government Officials (opens in new tab)">A Masters Tradition Unlike Any Other: Gifting Tickets to Government Officials</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/qatar-gifting-trump-400m-luxury-jet-raises-ethical-and-legal-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Qatar gifting Trump $400M luxury jet raises ethical and legal concerns (opens in new tab)">Qatar gifting Trump $400M luxury jet raises ethical and legal concerns</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/21/trump-ballroom-donor-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="Trump fought to keep the ballroom fundraising contract secret. Here’s what’s in it. (opens in new tab)">Trump fought to keep the ballroom fundraising contract secret. Here’s what’s in it.</a></li>
</ol>
And Duffy brings her count up to nine.
And while one might be able to excuse away some of that by pointing out the fact that even some Republicans raised ethical questions about some of those same topics, Clark&#8217;s social media footprint is &#8230; just the Left foot.
Her X handle, which hasn&#8217;t posted since 2024, directs would-be followers to lefty-haven BlueSky — but her old posts include a slew of criticisms aimed at Trump ally Elon Musk. One <a href="https://x.com/clarkkathleen/status/1829953371601846524">thread</a> from August 2024 bashes Vice President JD Vance over a 2021 interview. She reposted several comments comparing Trump to former President Richard Nixon and trashing the Supreme Court over its ruling on presidential immunity. And she criticized Justice Samuel Alito for <a href="https://x.com/WashULaw/status/1796897053101916369">refusing to recuse himself</a> from January 6-related cases over his wife&#8217;s decision to hang a Revolutionary War-era flag at their home.

The New York Times Co. Post An 82 Percent Decline In 2nd Quarter Profi

New York Times ‘Impartial’ Ethics Expert Is Anything But

Donald Trump

Ethics

Media

New York Times

Politics

California Democrat Rep. Jim Costa faced a probe over allegations that he made inappropriate advances toward interns, according to a new report. 
A former House Democrat staffer filed a complaint in 2023 accusing Costa of making unwanted advances toward her in February 2020 when she interned for a different lawmaker, NOTUS <a href="https://www.notus.org/congress/jim-costa-allegations-ethics-committee-investigation">reported</a> Monday. The complaint was later dismissed by the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct after they found they did not have sufficient evidence to proceed. 
The revelation comes amid a flurry of sexual misconduct claims involving members of Congress. Former Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) resigned last month over claims of sexual misconduct. Costa has denied any suggestion of wrongdoing, pointing to the conclusions of ethics investigators.
One incident involving Costa allegedly took place during an event at the California State Society when the woman was 22, and he was 67. The woman told the Office of Congressional Conduct that Costa approached her outside the event as she got ready to leave and tried to get her to stay before he asked her to dance with him.
“First, he greeted me, and then said, are you here alone? I said, yes. I said, I’m waiting for my bag. I’m going home. He said, oh no, why would you go home? It’s such a nice night. Don’t you want to dance? I was like, I’ve already danced. He’s like, well, I didn’t dance with you,” she told investigators. 
The woman then said he asked her if she “knew how to shimmy.” She said she did, and they danced while she waited to leave. 
“Every time I leaned back, it seemed like he got farther forward. So I was grateful that I could do a back bend. It was a very uncomfortable situation,” she said. 
“That’s a scary situation. Especially when you’re an intern and you don’t know what relationships that you could mess up,” she added. “Yeah, I guess he started the conversation. I was gracious and responded. And then he immediately asked me to shimmy. I don’t know about you, but it’s a very sexual and awkward dance move.”
The woman later claimed that Costa gave her his personal cell phone number and told her he could help with her career or grab dinner sometime. During a later encounter, the woman said that he asked if she was dating and later ghosted her after she proposed they meet for coffee instead of dinner. 
The woman told NOTUS she only filed the complaint when she felt like her career had enough “cachet” to survive any fallout. She also recounted another incident where he allegedly danced closely with another young intern at a California State Society event. The woman said she and another person broke up the dancing. 
Costa’s office pointed NOTUS to the dismissal of the allegations by ethics investigators. 
“Rep. Costa fully cooperated with a review conducted by [OCC] and the House Committee on Ethics several years ago. The OCC recommended dismissal, and the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to dismiss the matter,” his office said. “The actions of the OCC and the Ethics Committee speak for themselves.”
Four decades ago, Costa issued an apology after he was cited for soliciting a prostitute while traveling in a state-leased vehicle with a prostitute, the Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-05-mn-13503-story.html">reported</a>.

US-NEWS-CALIFCONGRESS-CAMPAIGN-FUNDRAISING-FR

Another Democrat Caught Up In Scandal — This Time With Interns

California

Congress

Sex Scandal

Republicans are on the cusp of expelling Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) for pocketing millions in federal disaster relief funds and funneling them into her campaign. The House Ethics Committee has already found her in violation of House rules, and it will meet on Tuesday to determine her punishment. Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled the full House will take up her expulsion soon. That vote, if it passes, would hand Republicans a sufficient margin in the House to do what needs to be done and expel Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL).
The Florida Republican is a walking disaster. In February, police responded to a disturbance at Mills’ D.C. penthouse. His girlfriend was found in the lobby, physically shaking and scared, with fresh bruises on her arm. She later walked back her account and no charges were filed, but the episode exposed more mess: Mills was still married at the time, a fact his own staff didn’t know. Another person who was blindsided was his other girlfriend, former Miss United States Lindsey Langston, who quite reasonably looked at Mills’ conduct and decided to break things off. Mills responded by threatening to release explicit videos of her if she dated anyone else, according to texts reviewed by The Blaze.
But domestic violence and threats to release revenge porn barely scratch the surface of Mills’ scandals; there’s also the matter of stolen valor. Mills has repeatedly told voters he is an Army Ranger. He is not. He has claimed attendance at military sniper school and described being “blown up” twice in Iraq, including in campaign videos. Colleagues who served alongside him in contractor roles told investigators the claims were false. He lacked basic sniper knowledge that any graduate of the sniper school would possess. In one IED incident he cited, he wasn’t even in the vehicle that was hit and suffered no injuries. And when DynCorp, the contractor he worked for, demanded proof of the claims he made on his resume, Mills reportedly left his gear on his bed and walked off the job rather than produce documentation.
Add to that: his marriage (which he treated so cavalierly) was performed by a radical Islamist cleric, and there are serious questions about whether he converted to Islam around the same time. The scandals have piled up for months. Any one of them would be disqualifying for most professions. Together, they paint a picture of a man whose personal conduct makes him a permanent liability.
Mills’ recent votes prove it. Last September, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) brought a censure resolution against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after Omar suggested Charlie Kirk brought his own assassination on himself. The resolution should have passed with unanimous Republican support. Omar’s comments were grotesque, and yet the resolution failed. Mills was one of only four GOP members to vote no. He proffered frivolous First Amendment arguments to justify his vote and even implied Charlie himself would have agreed. No one who watched the vote believed that for a second.
The real reason was obvious: Axios reported days earlier that Democrats planned to counter by threatening Mills with his own censure resolution. Mace herself later said Mills texted her threats after the vote. He wasn’t defending free speech; he was protecting his own hide. When the personal risk to Cory Mills went up, the interests of his constituents and his party went out the window.
This is not an isolated lapse. Mills has a pattern of self-dealing with his votes on censure resolutions. Lawyers get disbarred for putting their own interests ahead of their clients’. Members of Congress take an oath to their constituents and the Constitution. When personal scandals create an irreconcilable conflict that distorts their votes, the remedy is the same: removal.
Mills will not resign on his own. He has shown zero interest in an honorable exit. The only path left is for the House to do what it must. Expel him. Let Florida voters choose a replacement who can serve without a cloud of personal scandals dictating every vote. The Republican Party will be better for it.
 * * *
Will Chamberlain is senior counsel at the Article III Project.

Former President Donald Trump’s Hush Money Trial Continues In New York

Cory Mills Has Become A Liability Republicans Can’t Ignore

censure

DW Opinion

Expulsion

Florida

Nancy Mace

U.S. House of Representatives

A Democratic House seat could be on the line after lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee held a rare public hearing on allegations that a Florida Democrat illegally funneled millions of dollars into her campaign. 
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) appeared before the committee&#8217;s adjudicatory panel on Thursday during a six-hour hearing marked by repeated clashes between lawmakers and her attorney. The Justice Department charged Cherfilus-McCormick in November 2025 with allegedly stealing $5 million in FEMA funds that were mistakenly sent to her family’s health care company. She has denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty. 
After the marathon hearing that stretched into the night, Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-MS) said lawmakers will move behind closed doors to decide whether Cherfilus-McCormick should be found guilty of ethics violations. 
The decision will be made by eight lawmakers, including four Republicans and four Democrats. Guest said the committee will vote in private and announce its decision at a later time. 
If the lawmakers vote to advance the case, it could move to the full House, where Cherfilus-McCormick could face censure or expulsion. Former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from Congress after being indicted on federal criminal charges. 
Before considering punishment, committee members must first decide whether to adopt a <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Statement-of-Alleged-Violations.pdf">detailed report</a> outlining the allegations. The report is the result of a two-year review of more than 30,000 documents and 28 witness interviews. 
The report lays out 27 allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick, including claims that she illegally funneled money into her congressional campaigns, misled the public about the source of those funds, and committed multiple campaign finance reporting violations. 
One allegation says that Cherfilus-McCormick and her consulting company received $6,682,776.96 from Trinity Health Care Services, a company owned by her family, and then funneled that money into her campaign. 
“The timing and flow of funds transferred from Trinity to Respondent and SCM Consulting indicate the funds were transferred for the purpose of financing Respondent’s election campaign,” the committee report said. “Respondent’s ability to make loans to her campaign was based on money obtained from Trinity to which she was not entitled.”
Cherfilus-McCormick&#8217;s attorney, William Barzee, argued that she was entitled to the funds and said she had a profit-sharing agreement with Trinity. He also suggested business practices in the Haitian-American community may differ, with agreements sometimes made informally. 
&#8220;The way that you and I would handle business is not the way everyone handles a business,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And in the community, in the Haitian-American community, it is not unusual for these types of agreements to be made orally, or to be made with a handshake, to be made with a family trust.&#8221;
Committee lawyers said they were never provided any evidence of a profit-sharing agreement despite repeated requests. 
During the Thursday hearing, Barzee called for a “pause” on the proceedings while the congresswoman&#8217;s criminal case moves forward, arguing that any action by lawmakers could prejudice a jury and violate her constitutional right to a fair trial. 
The subcommittee declined to delay the proceedings or grant Barzee additional time to respond to the allegations. Since the investigation began two years ago, Cherfilus-McCormick has had a revolving door of lawyers, and lawmakers noted that she has had ample time to respond to the allegations. 
Guest pushed back on Barzee&#8217;s claim that the Florida Democrat had not been given an opportunity to defend herself, saying the committee had repeatedly sought documents and testimony. 
&#8220;For you to allege that all this information is new&#8230; I find that offensive,&#8221; Guest said, adding that the committee has gone &#8220;above and beyond&#8221; to ensure fairness.
Ethics Committee lawyer Sydney Bellwoar echoed that criticism, saying Cherfilus-McCormick had &#8220;wasted valuable time&#8221; by &#8220;feigning cooperation&#8221; with investigators.

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Faces Public Ethics Trial Over Allegations Of Stealing FEMA Funds

Democrat Seat On The Line As $5M FEMA Scandal Sparks ‘Offensive’ Hearing Clash

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick

LIVE COVERAGE: Cameras Roll As Dem Faces $5M FEMA Scandal, Party Fights To Keep Seat

FEMA

A voting rights group started by twice-failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams should be stripped of its tax-exempt status for “blatant disregard” of non-profit rules, a watchdog organization argued Tuesday. 
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a <a href="https://65db7681-e755-4cff-abe7-1d9e373df4db.usrfiles.com/ugd/65db76_5ed5e2641c3e44a5b6d9fb9eac79d12b.pdf">complaint</a> with the IRS, saying that Fair Fight Action should be investigated for bankrolling an expensive election lawsuit it argues was only for Abrams’s personal benefit. The complaint comes just months after another one of Abrams’s election non-profit organizations was penalized for illegally spending millions to back her campaign. 
The lawsuit in question, Fair Fight Action v. Raffensperger, challenged Georgia officials over various election integrity measures in place during Abrams’ 2018 race against Republican Brian Kemp. After several years of litigation, Fair Fight Action lost its case when an Obama-appointed judge <a href="https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/georgia/gandce/1:2018cv05391/257857/916/0.pdf?ts=1664630826">ruled</a> that Georgia’s election laws were constitutional and did not violate the Voting Rights Act. 
During the suit, Fair Fight Action was represented by a law firm operated by Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, one of Abrams’s <a href="https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/06/05/friends_with_benefits_stacey_abrams_funneled_millions_to_her_lawyer_1114621.html">close friends</a>.
“The law is clear that organizations with tax-exempt status must operate for the public good, not for the personal benefit of one individual,” FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold told The Daily Wire. “Fair Fight Action’s activities, including funding what appears to be a failed politically motivated lawsuit that paid millions to a close personal friend, demonstrate a blatant disregard for these rules.”
Over the course of five years, Fair Fight Action paid the firm of Lawrence-Hardy over $20 million, according to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/471427359">tax filings</a>. Fair Fight Action paid the firm $3,062,292 in 2019, $6,363,615 in 2020, $4,441,206 in 2021, $5,034,464 in 2022, and $1,300,280 in 2023.
Arnold argues that Fair Fight Action launched its lawsuit solely for Abrams’s benefit. 
“After she lost her first election for governor of Georgia in 2018, Fair Fight Action engaged in what appeared to be political activity and brought a lawsuit challenging Abrams’ election loss,” Arnold wrote in a letter to the IRS obtained by The Daily Wire. “The organization has served as an arm of Abrams’ political campaigns, notably funding a lawsuit directly challenging her first campaign loss and serving as a bridge between her two runs for governor.”
Once described by the New York Times as a “fundraising powerhouse for Democrats,” Fair Fight Action has struggled in recent years. In January 2024, it was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/us/politics/fair-fight-layoffs-stacey-abrams.html">reported</a> that the group was cutting 75% of its staff and was millions of dollars in debt. 
“In essence, an organization interested in providing a ‘common good’ for the citizenry would not put its existence or efficacy at risk to benefit a single individual,” Arnold told The Daily Wire. 
In her letter, Arnold pointed to the New Georgia Project, another one of Abram’s linked voting organizations that has faced scrutiny. The organization, which Abrams founded in 2013, agreed to pay $300,000 after the State Ethics Commission <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000194-6ae1-d7e4-af9d-eaf5fa010000">found</a> that the organization likely violated state campaign finance laws by failing to report over $7 million spent in support of Abrams. 
Arnold wants the IRS to impose a financial penalty and revoke Fair Fight Action’s tax-exempt status if merited by an investigation. 
“The facts above certainly indicate that the sole motivation of Fair Fight Action and its conduct has been to benefit a few individuals — not the community as a whole,” she wrote.

Stacey Abrams In Conversation With Dr. Carla Hayden

Another Stacy Abrams Nonprofit Could Be In Trouble

Brian Kemp

Elections

Georgia

Stacey Abrams

Lina Khan, the head of the Federal Trade Commission under former President Joe Biden and one of the administration&#8217;s most far-left members, billed taxpayers for a luxury car service while barnstorming the country on the eve of the presidential election, according to an inspector general probe.
As part of a &#8220;Charge Card Act review,&#8221; the FTC&#8217;s inspector general <a href="https://oig.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2025-07/2025-07-08_Final_Redacted_Version_FTC%20OIG%20management%20advisory_ground%20transportation.pdf">found</a> &#8220;unusually high expenses for travel,&#8221; including nearly $19,000 for booking a private car service during 16 trips to other cities, plus additional costs for using the service to get around Washington, D.C. It found that Khan had used the service for &#8220;ease of transportation,&#8221; without addressing &#8220;a less expensive alternative.&#8221; On one trip to Denver, Khan spent $1,128 on a private chauffeur service when she could have rented a car for $407, it said.
Some of the expenses billed to taxpayers may have come as she was accused of using her government position to campaign for Democrats ahead of the November 2024 election.
On October 2, 2024, <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/ftc-lina-khan-campaigns-with-democrats/">Punchbowl News</a> said Khan was &#8220;zig-zagging&#8221; the country to appear with Democrat politicians, where &#8220;Khan&#8217;s events with lawmakers have nominal policy themes&#8230;but the timing so near the election is hard to ignore.&#8221; That included an event in Chicago with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and in Wisconsin with Rep. Mark Pocan. The car service fees highlighted by the inspector general include October 2 travel in Chicago at $1,021, and October 3 travel in Madison, Wisconsin, for $2,215.
The findings come as Khan, who has consistently attacked the greed of large corporations and CEOs, has prominently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/opinion/lina-khan-mamdani-democrats-small-business.html">boosted</a> the campaign of socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York.
FTC management replied to the inspector general that the spending did not violate existing rules, but highlighted a need to update the agency&#8217;s policies. The inspector general recommended &#8220;enhanced requirements for the justification and documentation of these travel expenses.&#8221;
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) faulted the politically tinged trips even before the luxury car service was known about, saying Khan had a pattern of playing fast and loose with rules. He <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024-10-21%20JDJ%20Lee%20to%20Khan%20re%20Hatch%20Act.pdf">wrote</a> in October 2024 that &#8220;Federal law and FTC ethics rules prohibit you from participating in political events, and from using appropriated funds for any political activity&#8230; This concern is particularly significant given your history of ignoring agency ethics advice concerning the appearance of partiality, including ignoring the advice of the agency&#8217;s Designated Agency Ethics Official.&#8221;
Khan faces additional questions after she placed a Democrat political appointee into a top long-term job at the FTC in the final hours of the Biden administration, essentially infiltrating the incoming Trump administration. Nathaniel Segal worked as Special Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris until January 18, 2025, when he was placed in a non-political FTC job after Khan personally overrode staff&#8217;s concerns, three Trump officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-harris-aide-under-doj-investigation-falsifying-paperwork-to-get-musk-buyout">previously told</a> The Daily Wire.
As someone who had just started his job at the FTC, Segal should have been on new-employee probationary status. But he was falsely put on the FTC&#8217;s payroll as a non-probationary employee, making it harder for Trump administration officials to fire him. When the Trump administration fixed the error, which would have made Segal worry that he would be laid off, he created false, backdated paperwork to try to get paid through Elon Musk&#8217;s &#8220;Fork in the Road&#8221; buyout offer, for which he was not eligible and had not actually applied, according to the officials.
The Segal situation is now the subject of a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors, and it could implicate not just Segal, but also Khan.
Since The Daily Wire broke that story, it has uncovered more questions about Segal&#8217;s hiring, finding no record that the FTC ever advertised the job to the public (most openings are required to be advertised on USAJobs.gov). That would mean that Khan gave a civil service job to a Democrat insider without giving the public any chance to apply.
Converting political appointees to career employees at the tail end of an administration is known as &#8220;burrowing&#8221; and is only permitted with permission from the Office of Personnel Management, which said it had no record of approving the move.
Some Biden administration officials schemed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/labor-department-fires-kamala-aide-exposed-by-the-daily-wire-for-burrowing-in-trump-workforce">evade</a> those regulations by creating &#8220;three-year term&#8221; positions that would implant a Democrat operative through the bulk of the Trump administration, but which they argued didn&#8217;t count as burrowing because the job wasn&#8217;t permanent. But such positions also need to be advertised to the public, and wouldn&#8217;t be eligible for the buyout, which was designed to get rid of employees who could otherwise be on the payroll for decades.
Khan&#8217;s possible abuse of the civil service for partisan purposes is particularly egregious as Democrats claim it is a conspiracy theory for conservatives to believe in a &#8220;deep state.&#8221;
Although no job postings appear to show the FTC giving others the chance to apply to the Deputy Technology Officer job that went to Segal, they do show a frenzy of attempted hiring activity in the FTC&#8217;s tech and information departments between the election and inauguration. Those include:
<ul>
<li>A <a href="https://www.usajobs.gov/job/825540600">cyber adviser</a> at up to $191,900, posted December 21</li>
<li>An <a href="https://www.usajobs.gov/job/825528200">IT specialist</a> at up to $88,926 posted December 23</li>
<li>A &#8220;Supervisory Information Technology Specialist (Mission Success Manager)&#8221; at up to <a href="https://www.usajobs.gov/job/827928800">$195,200</a> posted January 15</li>
</ul>
Khan, now on the faculty of Columbia University, did not return a request for comment.

US-POLITICS-COMMERCE-SCIENCE-TRANSPORTATION-HEARING

Socialist-Praising Biden Honcho Billed Luxury Travel To Taxpayers, IG Finds

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Zohran Mamdani

A non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), has filed a complaint against Georgia Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff, accusing him of violating Senate ethics rules by directly linking official action to a request for campaign contributions.
FACT sent a<a href="https://65db7681-e755-4cff-abe7-1d9e373df4db.usrfiles.com/ugd/65db76_c14ec0e53bc2448e9a98a4a0e4c00122.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> letter</a> to Ethics Committee Chairman Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Vice-Chairman Chris Coons (D-DE) in which they stated:
<blockquote>
On March 14th, 2025, Senator Ossoff sent out an email that contained only two subjects: (1) that he planned to vote against a specific bill; and (2) a request for a campaign contribution. The email began with the statement, “I will vote ‘NO’ on the Trump/Musk/Johnson ‘CR.’” Following several statements about the bill, he then makes a direct request for a campaign contribution: “If you can afford it, please rush $5 to Jon Ossoff’s re-election campaign today. If you’ve stored your info with ActBlue, we’ll process your contribution instantly.” 
</blockquote>
“Senate Ethics Rules specifically prohibit Senators from soliciting campaign contributions based upon any action taken in their official capacity,” the letter continued. &#8220;By linking a promise of official action with campaign contributions, a Senator violates a ‘basic principle&#8217; of Senate Ethics that guards against conflicts of interest.”
“Voting on legislation is one of the primary jobs of a Senator, which simply cannot be tied to campaign fundraising. The ethics rules forbid certain practices in campaign fundraising, and linking it to official action is one that is simply not allowed–and for good reason. This fundraising tactic dangerously incentivizes Senators to take official action based on their estimation of what will raise the most campaign funds. Senators, who are nearly always raising campaign funds, will be rightly seen as making important official decisions based on what will bring in the most money—not on the merits of an issue,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
Ossoff won his seat in the Senate in 2021 in a run-off election after GOP candidate David Perdue defeated him in the November 2020 general election but narrowly missed getting 50% of the vote. His victory in the run-off election, along with Raphael Warnock’s win in another run-off, gave Georgia two Democratic U.S. senators and gave the Democrats a majority in the Senate. Ossoff is up for re-election in 2026, and there’s a good chance he will be opposed by Georgia’s enormously popular GOP governor, Brian Kemp.

Democratic Congressional Candidate In Georgia’s Special Election Jon Ossoff Campaigns In Georgia

Non-Partisan Watchdog Group Files Complaint Against Ossoff, Says He Violated Senate Ethics Rules

Jon Ossoff

Senate

A prominent ethics watchdog has filed an IRS complaint against two organizations affiliated with failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, The Daily Wire has learned.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a nonprofit that promotes ethics and transparency in government, filed the complaint against the New Georgia Project (NGP) and its lobbying arm, the New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGPAF). Abrams founded NGP, which was meant to register new voters, in 2013, when she was still in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Abrams left the organization in 2017, leaving it to Raphael Warnock, who left when he was elected to the United States Senate.
Because of its 501(c)(3) status, NGP is “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/restriction-of-political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501c3-tax-exempt-organizations#:~:text=Under%2520the%2520Internal%2520Revenue%2520Code,candidate%2520for%2520elective%2520public%2520office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the IRS</a>. The NGPAF, as a 501(c)(4), must not engage in political activity as its primary activity and must be “operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare,” which it can do by “promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the people of the community,” according to IRS statute.
&#8220;Federal law is very clear and strict in that when an organization receives the benefits of nonprofit status, those running it are absolutely prohibited from using it as a political campaign organization,&#8221; said FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold. &#8220;This is a straightforward case because the nonprofits admitted to raising and spending millions of dollars for campaigns.&#8221;
FACT wrote in its complaint letter to the outgoing IRS commissioner that a recent case before the Georgia State Ethics Commission established that NGP and its lobbying arm engaged in campaign activity on behalf of Abrams during her failed 2018 gubernatorial bid, as well as other candidates.
“[A]dvocating for Representative Stacey Abrams’ election for Governor of the State of Georgia during the primary and general election, also with Sarah Riggs-Amico, John Barrow, and Charlie Bailey and other state wide candidates for public office during the general election,” case documents say, according to FACT. “These expenditures included, but were not limited to canvassing activities, literature expressly advocating for the election of candidates, social media engagement, and operating field offices with paid staff where those electioneering activities were organized.”
The Georgia State Ethics Commission found that NGP and NGPAF violated multiple state laws, and the organizations admitted to these violations. The committee found that the organizations failed to disclose more than $4 million in campaign contributions and another $3 million in expenditures during the 2018 election cycle.
The organizations agreed to pay a $300,000 fine for those violations, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/nonprofit-founded-stacey-abrams-pay-record-georgia-fine-violating-stat-rcna187885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in mid-January.
Following the fine, dozens of people have been laid off from the organizations, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/stacey-abrams-founded-voter-activist-group-hit-mass-layoffs-after-record-breaking-ethics-fine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Now, FACT wants an IRS investigation into the organizations.
“The illegal nature of this extensive activity also demonstrates that New Georgia Project Action Fund’s primary purpose was political activity,” the organization wrote in its complaint. “As established in the State Ethics case, the groups are not acting in accordance with federal law and we respectfully request the IRS investigate this matter fully and, if appropriate, revoke the organizations’ status as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and (4) organizations and impose financial penalties.”
NGP did not immediately respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
<h3><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/FACT-letter.pdf">READ THE FULL FACT LETTER HERE</a></h3>

EXCLUSIVE: Ethics Watchdog Files IRS Complaint Against Stacey Abrams’ Nonprofits

EXCLUSIVE: Ethics Watchdog Files IRS Complaint Against Stacey Abrams’ Nonprofit Organizations

U.S.

Former Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Gaetz</a> (R-FL), who left Congress during a short-lived bid to become President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s attorney general, delivered a fiery response on Wednesday after it was revealed that the House Ethics Committee <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/18/politics/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-committee/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secretly voted</a> to publicize a report on his alleged sexual misconduct.
The news came as a surprise as the panel was previously said to have <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-expected-vote-whether-release-matt-gaetz-ethics-report-rcna182952" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted against</a> disclosing the report after Gaetz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-matt-gaetz-withdraws-name-from-ag-consideration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew from consideration</a> to become attorney general last month, leading to former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi getting the nomination. A release is expected to happen after the final votes of the year, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/house-ethics-committee-release-report-matt-gaetz-investigation-rcna184675" target="_blank" rel="noopener">possibly later this week</a>.
&#8220;The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes,&#8221; Gaetz said in a <a href="https://x.com/mattgaetz/status/1869406920768917618" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> to X, adding, &#8220;I was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-chooses-not-to-charge-matt-gaetz-in-sex-trafficking-investigation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged with nothing</a>: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me.&#8221;
He continued: &#8220;Then, the very &#8216;witnesses&#8217; DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued.&#8221;
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The House Ethics Committee &#8220;will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body,&#8221; Gaetz said before discussing the period during which the alleged misconduct took place.
&#8220;In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated &#8211; even some I never dated but who asked,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court &#8211; which is why no such claim was ever made in court.&#8221;
Gaetz said his 30s &#8220;were an era of working very hard &#8211; and playing hard too.&#8221; He added, &#8220;It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.&#8221;
Then, the former congressman ended his post with a swipe at Congress, alluding to the 1,547-page <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congress-reveals-another-stopgap-bill-to-avert-government-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continuing resolution</a> (CR) that seeks to provide funds to various departments through March 14, 2025, allocate more than $100 billion in disaster aid, and more.
&#8220;But at least I didn’t vote for CR’s that f*** over the country!&#8221; Gaetz said.
With a follow-up post to X, Gaetz prompted speculation about whether he might try to make a brief comeback to the House.
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Someone suggested the following plan to me:
1. Show up 1/3/2025 to congress 2. Participate in Speaker election (I was elected to the 119th Congress, after all…) 3. Take the oath 4. File a privileged motion to expose every “me too” settlement paid using public funds (even of…
&mdash; Former Congressman Matt Gaetz (@FmrRepMattGaetz) <a href="https://twitter.com/FmrRepMattGaetz/status/1869443479052362133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Matt Gaetz

Gaetz Fires Back After Revelation That House Panel Voted To Release Ethics Report

If you were to guess at the number of people signing up for legal assisted suicide in Canada, you probably guess a few people a year, right? Maybe a few dozen at most?
Try 45,000 people — the population of Palm Springs, California.
That&#8217;s how many people have killed themselves through Canada&#8217;s Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) program since assisted suicide was legalized in 2016.
The number of deaths is still exploding, with thousands more people taking advantage of the program each year.
A total of 44,958 people have ended their lives through MAID over the seven years from 2016 to 2022, the last year with available data, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/medical-assistance-dying/annual-report-2022/annual-report-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Health Canada.
In the first year, 1,018 people died. That number nearly tripled the next year to over 2,800 people. Over the next few years, deaths continued to skyrocket, sometimes thousands each year. By 2020, the number of people killed had topped 10,000, and by 2022 the number had reached a whopping 13,241 people, 4.1% <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/medical-assistance-dying/annual-report-2022/annual-report-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of all</a> deaths in Canada that year.
Canada&#8217;s program has come under scrutiny for its liberal approach to approving applicants, especially people suffering from mental illness.
At first, only adults whose natural death is “reasonably foreseeable” could get approved. In 2021, Canada expanded it to adults whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable,” such as those with non-terminal illnesses and disabilities. In 2027 the program <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/ad-am/bk-di.html#:~:text=On%20February%201%2C%202024%2C%20the%20Government%20of%20Canada%20introduced%20a,and%20immediately%20came%20into%20force." target="_blank" rel="noopener">will be</a> expanded further to people whose sole reason for wanting to die is a mental health condition.
Already though, Canadians with a history of mental illness have been allowed to end their lives.
Alan Nichols, 61, was hospitalized in 2019 over fears he might be suicidal and asked his brother to “bust him out” as soon as possible. However, within a month he had applied for assisted suicide and was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a>. He listed &#8220;hearing loss&#8221; as the one reason he wanted to die.
Another man, Amir Farsoud, 54, was living with agonizing chronic back pain and took depression and anxiety medication. He wanted to end his life using MAID in 2022 as he was unable to work and lived on government checks and felt there was no way to avoid homelessness when the shared house he rented was listed for sale.
He changed his mind, however, only after good Samaritans stepped up and raised more than $60,000 for him.
“I’m a different person,” Farsoud <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canadian-man-changes-mind-about-assisted-suicide-after-good-samaritans-step-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “I had nothing but darkness, misery, stress and hopelessness. Now I have all the opposite of those things.”
Recently, a chilling exchange between Dr. Ellen Wiebe, who runs an assisted suicide clinic in Canada, and Liz Carr, a comedian, actress and disability rights campaigner made the rounds on social media.
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The Canadian doctor Liz Carr interviews in this is one of the most frightening people I have ever seen. <a href="https://t.co/K9jL057Nyi">pic.twitter.com/K9jL057Nyi</a>
&mdash; Billy Bragg (@Serena_Partrick) <a href="https://twitter.com/Serena_Partrick/status/1842623436700450990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Carr has used a wheelchair ever since an illness when she was just seven years old and is a vocal opponent of assisted suicide. She is concerned about vulnerable people requesting assisted suicide or even feeling compelled to do so.
&#8220;Apart from the fact I don&#8217;t have the desire, I think probably I would be eligible under the Canadian law,&#8221; Carr <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68951037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Wiebe.
Wiebe, who also runs an abortion clinic, said she has been involved in more than 400 deaths and called it &#8220;the very best work&#8221; she has ever done.
The clinician has <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ive-helped-hundreds-to-die-my-patients-are-so-grateful-t5dzd5ssz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> a businesswoman diagnosed with dementia in her fifties, a military veteran with PTSD and chronic pain, and even a 56-year-old woman with advanced multiple sclerosis who starved herself to make sure her death was “reasonably foreseeable” back when that was a requirement of MAID.
Wiebe injects her patients with a lethal cocktail of drugs that causes unconsciousness, then cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Canada is not the only country where mentally ill people have been euthanized.
In the Netherlands, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-45117163" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several</a> different women in their 20s have been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netherlands-sex-abuse-victim-euthanasia-incurable-ptsd-assisted-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> to die by assisted suicide based on mental suffering alone as well as a 28-year-old autistic woman who <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2024/02/02/lauren-hoeve-assisted-dying-suicide-postnatal-depression/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered</a> from chronic fatigue.
However, Canada&#8217;s law is one of the most loosely regulated, and the criticism has been fierce, swift, and global.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/27/canada-maid-euthanasia-death-assisted-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> Canada to &#8220;rethink&#8221; its &#8220;risky expansion&#8221; of euthanasia, saying the upcoming expansion to mental illness &#8220;goes too far.&#8221;
&#8220;Many in the grips of psychiatric distress view, temporarily, suicide as their only way out, only to later be grateful they did not kill themselves in the depths of their suffering,&#8221; the editorial board wrote.
Canada’s law is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> Tim Stainton, director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia.
Even Pope Francis spoke out against the law during his trip to Canada, lamenting the “patients who, in place of affection, are administered death.”
Meanwhile, the bodies are piling up.

Side view of a man sitting in bedroom – negative emotion

Canada Will Soon Allow Assisted Suicide For Mental Illness. Deaths Are Already Exploding.

Assisted Suicide

Canada

Death

Euthanasia

Health Care

A former county clerk in South Carolina who worked on the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is facing 76 counts of ethics violations, many pertaining to that trial.
Rebecca “Becky” Hill, who resigned in March, faces the ethics charges in part for spending thousands of county dollars on bonuses, meals, and gifts, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-becky-hill-ethics-complaint-1d9acf592ae759f851059fbd11e28deb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Hill was the Colleton County Clerk of Court when Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.
In a 25-page complaint obtained by the AP, Hill is accused of letting a photo of Murdaugh sitting in a holding cell be taken so that she could use it to promote her book on the trial. She’s also accused of using county money to give herself bonuses, and buy dozens of lunches for her staff, prosecutors, and even a vendor.
She also made an arrangement with a documentary maker to use the county courtroom in exchange for promoting her book, the AP reported. She later admitted that passages of the book were plagiarized.
A hearing will be held on the ethics violations in December, the AP reported, unless Hill and her attorneys settle the case earlier. Hill may have to reimburse the county for unethical transactions and may have to pay additional fines as well. If the commission believes she broke any laws through her actions, she may be referred to prosecutors.
The State Law Enforcement Division told the outlet that an investigation into whether Hill tampered with the Murdaugh jury is still underway. Murdaugh’s attorneys attempted to use claims of tampering to get him a new trial, but the request <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-loses-bid-for-new-trial-despite-juror-saying-county-clerk-influenced-verdict" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was denied</a> in January.
South Carolina Judge Jean Toal denied Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial while condemning Hill in her remarks about her ruling, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/us/judge-jean-toal-murdaugh-jury-tampering-clerk-rebecca-hill/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Toal said Hill was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” and that she “wanted to write a book about the trial and expressed that as early as November 2022, long before the trial began.”
Hill has denied the allegations against her, but Toal determined that Hill had told another clerk and others of “her desire for a guilty verdict because it would sell books.”
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“She made comments about Murdaugh’s demeanor as he testified and she made some of those comments before he testified to at least one and maybe more jurors,” Toal said, according to CNN. “Did clerk of court Hill’s comments have any impact on the verdict of the jury? I find that the answer to this question is no.”
Toal added that the jurors determined Murdaugh to be guilty “without fear or favor,” but that Hill “allowed public attention of the moment to overcome her duty.”
“I simply do not believe that the authority of our South Carolina Supreme Court requires a new trial in a very lengthy trial such as this on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-influenced clerk of courts,” Toal said, according to CNN.
Toal further explained that she had personally interviewed each juror and that 11 of them said that they either hadn’t heard any comments from Hill or, of those who had, that those comments did not affect their judgment. The 12th juror, according to Toal, was “ambivalent” during testimony and only said she felt pressure from other jurors.
That juror, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227691743/alex-murdaugh-juror-says-clerk-made-him-seem-guilty-murder-appeal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to NPR</a>, testified that Hill made comments that indicated that Hill thought Murdaugh was guilty. Brian Entin, senior national correspondent for NewsNation, <a href="https://twitter.com/brianentin/status/1751992831109947720?s=12&amp;t=zEuer7j4Ff8TVIcpiUO1KA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted on X</a> during the hearing that the juror “said her verdict WAS influenced by the clerk of court.”
CBS <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-murdaugh-bid-to-prove-jury-tampering-murder-conviction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the juror, identified only as Juror Z, answered “Yes ma’am,” when the judge asked if Hill’s comments affected her vote. The juror later told the judge that she stood by an earlier sworn affidavit that said the other jurors influenced her to vote guilty more than Hill’s comments.
In his closing arguments, Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin cited case law while arguing that any communication from court staff to jurors is considered prejudicial, and that the defense proved Hill had prejudicial communications with jurors. He argued that “one of those jurors says it influenced my verdict. How is that not prejudice?”
Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole for the 2021 murders of his wife and son. He has denied killing his wife and son, but pleaded guilty to various financial crimes and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-sentenced-to-27-years-for-financial-crimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was sentenced</a> to 27 years in prison. In addition, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-sentenced-to-40-more-years-in-prison-for-federal-financial-crimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was sentenced</a> to 40 years in federal prison for various financial crimes. He is appealing that sentence along with the murder conviction.

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