Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers pleaded guilty this morning to conspiring to commit bribery and is free on personal bond. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said, "The defendant now stands convicted."
The one count of conspiring to commit bribery is punishable by up to five years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
In court, Conyers' combative demeanor was gone, replaced by soft-spoken resignation as the judge and his staff several times asked her to speak up. Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman U.S. Rep. John Conyers, appeared before Cohn to answer charges in connection with the wide-ranging probe of wrongdoing at Detroit city hall. She will probably continue to serve on the city council until sentencing.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
06/26/2009 15:17 ||
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Instead of meeting with House Democrats Thursday to argue in favor of passing a controversial climate change bill, former Vice President Al Gore has decided to meet one-on-one with them via phone calls.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had decided not to impose on the former vice president after the list of undecided lawmakers narrowed Wednesday. Gore had been scheduled to meet with Democrats on Capitol Hill at 1 p.m. ET. Thursday and was going to speak with the press at 2 p.m. ET.
"It was a question of what was energy efficient for the vice president," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference Thursday, explaining the absence. "We were narrowing the list of the undecided and thought perhaps another occasion we could call upon his time to come here."
Pelosi added that it was more energy efficient for Gore to continue coordinating efforts from Tennessee.
Senior Democratic sources told FOX News that in addition to the time commitment issue, they thought it was better if Gore worked the phones with targeted lawmakers. Gore is specifically reaching out to more liberal lawmakers who don't think the bill goes far enough, the sources said.
But speculation is swirling that Gore's presence would have been radioactive and could have caused more of a problem, a source told FOX News.
Senior Democratic leaders are pushing skeptical lawmakers to side with them to approve a measure that could have significant economic impact on the energy bills of many Americans and could even drive up the price of food by forcing utility companies to buy credits to pay for their carbon output.
Gore, who is well-known for his environmental views, has authored books on climate change an produced the Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2005.
Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband Mark Sanford's political career is "not a concern of mine" and that the gander would she'd be just fine -- regardless of whether their marriage survives.
She would not speculate whether her husband would resign as South Carolina governor. No need. We can guess how that's going to turn out.
"His career is not a concern of mine," she told reporters as she departed the family's vacation home in Sullivans Island, South Carolina. "He's going to have to worry about that. I'm worried about my family and the character of my children." Ooh, "my family". That's going to leave a mark.
She added that she would be fine, with or without her P.O.S. husband. "I have great faith and great friends and great family. We have a good Lord in this world and I know that I'm going to be fine and not only will I survive, I'll thrive," she said.
"I don't know if he'll be with me, but I'm going to do my best to work on my marriage because I believe in marriage. I believe in raising good kids is the most important thing in the world," she said.
After disappearing from the public eye for nearly a week, Gov. Mark Sanford, 49, admitted to having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. He also admitted Wednesday that he had not hiked the Appalachian Trail during his absence -- as his staff had said earlier -- but had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina hiking up his girlfriend's skirt.
Jenny Sanford would not reveal whether she was headed back to the family's home in Columbia. "Right now we're taking it a day at a time. Right now we're going out on a boat." Better check behind you if you go near the rail, Gov.
Gov. Sanford, leaving the family home in a different car, was in a far less talkative mood. "I'm going back to Columbia," he said.
The State, the Columbia-based newspaper that acquired what it said were e-mail exchanges between Sanford and the woman in Argentina, acknowledged Thursday that there would likely be people who would call for the governor's resignation. "We are not ready to join them at this point," its editorial said. We've got to talk to our lawyers first, because it's hard to tell what's right and wrong these days.
#3
Good for his wife. I'm so sick of seeing these women like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Edwards trotted out to the podium like stage props. Finally, a woman with a spine.
#4
How lovely for him, Cyber Sarge. That does not excuse the pain his choices inflicted on others. He should either have divorced his wife, with all that entails, or kept his love within conventional bounds.
#6
Looks like it is just part of the divorce settlement.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/26/2009 10:28 Comments ||
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#7
Of course, this idiot will make himself out to be the victim. I hope she holds her ground and sticks to her terms. The guy is a complete moron.
Posted by: Art ||
06/26/2009 10:34 Comments ||
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#8
I thought getting women was the main reason men go into politics in the first place (except for Blarney Frank).
Posted by: some guy ||
06/26/2009 11:32 Comments ||
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#9
For some reasons Americans seem to believe that politicians who DON'T cheat on their wives (or are not caught doing so) are more honest than those who do cheat.
I think we don't believe that on our side of the ocean so we pretty much don't care that.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/26/2009 21:50 Comments ||
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Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to return to work Friday, despite calls for him to resign because of a sex scandal. Where have we seen this before?
"After spending Thursday with his family in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford has returned to Columbia and plans on holding a Cabinet meeting on Friday," his office told CNN by e-mail Thursday, a day after he admitted having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. "Oops! My bad! See ya next Monday after my vacation!"
After disappearing from the public eye for nearly a week, Sanford, 49, acknowledged Wednesday that he had not hiked the Appalachian Trail -- as his staff had said earlier -- but had been in his girlfriend in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sanford said Thursday that he would reimburse South Carolina for the Argentina leg of a state-funded trade mission last year because he saw the woman he had an affair with on that trip, someone he described as "a dear, dear friend."
CNN's sources in Buenos Aires and in South Carolina identified the woman, whose name was also widely reported in Argentine media, as Maria Belen Chapur. Sorry, couldn't find a photo. I'll bet she's hot, though. If she isn't, he'd better resign. She's easy on the eyes. He needs to resign anyway.
The governor's disclosure prompted one newspaper in South Carolina and one of the state's top Republicans to call for his resignation.
Sanford "cannot navigate a deep and painful personal crisis and lead the state through its economic crisis at the same time," an editorial in The Spartanburg Herald-Journal said. Sure he can. He'll just join that growing support group comprised of all kinds of power-hungry hypocritical politicians who don't have the decency to just go home when they should.
The paper said South Carolina needed a spokesman who could talk to potential employers without having to answer questions about his personal life. "And the state needs a leader it can trust as it deals with the troubled economy. Sanford has destroyed that trust," it said.
A key South Carolina Republican cited Sanford's past criticism of Bill Clinton and accused the governor of hypocrisy. Hey, that was long ago. Before he was a hypocrite.
"He was saying our elected leaders need to stand firm on principles and values, and one of those is strong family values," Glenn McCall, a member of the Republican National Committee, told CNN by phone. "What he said is hypocritical if he doesn't step down, because he was right with what he said about Clinton and others. When you are an elected leader, we hold you to higher standards."
The State, the Columbia-based newspaper that acquired what it said were e-mail exchanges between Sanford and the woman, acknowledged Thursday that there would likely be people who would call for the governor's resignation. "We are not ready to join them at this point," the editorial said.
The State said it acquired the e-mails in December. The governor's office confirmed their authenticity Wednesday, the newspaper told CNN. When contacted by CNN, a spokesman for the governor would neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the e-mails.
The affair began in the past year and was discovered five months ago, Sanford said Wednesday without elaborating. He added that he and his wife were trying to work through it.
He implied that he had ended the affair, saying, "And the one thing that you really find is that you absolutely want resolution. And so oddly enough, I spent the last five days of my life begging crying in Argentina." Don't cry for him, Argentina. [Note: I will not go to my room unless Sanford resigns first. Hmph.]
Thursday, the governor said he would repay South Carolina for the Argentina leg of the trade mission last year with the Department of Commerce.
"While the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with," Sanford said. Over, and over, . . . .
Good lord, the man should resign immediately on account of the grammar errors in that sentence.
"That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip." The South American swing took Sanford and several commerce officials to Brazil and Argentina for one week, beginning on June 21, 2008.
According to state expenditure reports, Sanford's expenses for out-of-state travel with the Department of Commerce were $21,487 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. Governors commonly travel out-of-state or abroad to stir up investment in their home states.
It was not immediately clear how much of the expenses the Argentina part of the trip comprised.
Sanford said in the news conference Wednesday that he footed the bill for his most recent trip to Buenos Aires, which occurred in the past week. After he figured he couldn't get away with it anymore.
I'll bet Mrs. Sanford was not pleased about the burden on the family budget.
#2
He needs to resign, for two reasons: first, he broke the trust. He was out of country without making arrangements, and had originally planned to be gone 10 days. Governors can't do that.
And second, he's moon-struck. He's got a lot of 'issues', the biggest of which is that his heart, his brain, and lil' Mark aren't all on the same wavelength. He needs time to sort things out, and time is something he won't have as governor.
Spare us the angst and pain. Resign and go back to private life.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/26/2009 8:42 Comments ||
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#3
The paper said South Carolina needed a spokesman who could talk to potential employers without having to answer questions about his personal life.
In other words, "Hiding behind his secretary".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/26/2009 9:04 Comments ||
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. Adding to the intrigue, classified American intelligence documents related to Saudi finances were leaked anonymously to lawyers for the families. The Justice Department had the lawyers copies destroyed and now wants to prevent a judge from even looking at the material.
#5
This leak is long overdue, making one wonder "what took you so long?" Sadly, while the MSM might have lapped this up under the hated "Bushitler" administration, actions to keep this in the shadows by the Zero administration as well as the content itself, will be utterly ignored by the MSM. Wouldn't want to get sued by those with billions of petro-dollars now would we? makes that old saw about "...picking a fight with people who get ink by the barrel" look less sage.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Instead of meeting with House Democrats Thursday to argue in favor of passing a controversial climate change bill, former Vice President Al Gore has decided to meet one-on-one with them via phone calls.
