Brooklyn lawyers plead guilty to a charge in Molotov cocktail case tied to George Floyd protest

Source: CNN

(CNN)Two lawyers who federal prosecutors say took part during an anti-police brutality protest last year in making a Molotov cocktail and throwing it at an empty New York Police Department vehicle have each pleaded guilty to one charge related to the incident.

Colinford Mattis, 34, and Urooj Rahman, 32, each pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Brooklyn courtroom to a count of knowingly making and possessing a destructive device -- one of several charges brought by prosecutors.

Each attorney could face up to 10 years in prison, US District Judge Brian Cogan said, adding the two would face "virtually certain disbarment." Both have been free on bond.

"I deeply regret my conduct, and wish I'd made better choices on that night," Mattis told Cogan during Wednesday's plea hearing. He noted he is being treated for substance abuse and completed inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse in May.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/us/new-york-lawyers-molotov-cocktail/index.html

Yellen says Democrats raise proposed IRS bank reporting threshold to $10,000

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday she welcomed a revised proposal from congressional Democrats to raise a bank account tax reporting threshold to $10,000 in annual transactions from a proposed $600 level, with an exemption for wage earners.

The change was made after major opposition https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-banking-lobby-groups-oppose-proposed-tax-reporting-law-2021-09-17 from banking and other lobbying groups who charged that initial proposal would raise financial privacy concerns by requiring financial firms to track and submit to the Internal Revenue Service data on aggregate inflows and outflows from every bank account above a minimum threshold of $600 a year.

The Treasury has argued that the proposal, part of President Joe Biden's massive "reconciliation" social spending and tax hike package, would not track individual transactions but was aimed at making it harder for wealthy Americans to hide sources of income from taxation, allowing the IRS to target them for audits.

The Treasury estimates that the cost of tax evasion among the top 1% of taxpayers exceeds $160 billion annually, part of a "tax gap" between taxes owed and those collected estimated at more than $7 trillion over a decade.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/u-treasurys-yellen-says-democrats-160733714.html

Congresswoman Maxine Waters' Twitter account hacked

Biden DOJ shields ex-Trump officials from testifying about election fraud cases

Source: Politico

A top official in President Joe Biden's Justice Department blocked efforts by Senate investigators to probe the handling of voter fraud complaints in the aftermath of the 2020 election, according to transcripts released Thursday.

As Senate Judiciary Committee aides investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election questioned top Trump-era Justice Department officials, a DOJ attorney present for the interviews intervened repeatedly to say such questions were outside the scope of the panel’s inquiry.

The official, veteran DOJ attorney Bradley Weinsheimer, cited guidance he issued in July that paved the way for congressional testimony but limited the topics former DOJ officials were permitted to discuss. But his assertions drew repeated, and sometimes pointed, challenges from Judiciary Committee aides in both parties, the transcripts show.

“It strikes me as completely within the scope of this interview,” said Sara Zdeb, chief oversight counsel for Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), after Weinsheimer intervened to block an answer from Byung Pak, a former U.S. attorney from the Atlanta area. Pak resigned on Jan. 4 under pressure from Trump to interfere in election-related matters.

Read more: https://www-politico-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.politico.com/amp/news/2021/10/07/doj-shields-ex-trump-officials-515594?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#aoh=16336432213590&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2F2021%2F10%2F07%2Fdoj-shields-ex-trump-officials-515594

Matt Gaetz's Wingman Asks for Another Sentencing Delay While Cooperating With Feds

Source: Daily Beast

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R) pal, Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector who pleaded guilty to six federal crimes including sex trafficking a minor in May, is nudging a judge to further delay his sentencing until March 2022 because he is still cooperating with federal authorities as part of his plea deal. In a recently filed motion, Greenberg’s attorney Fritz Scheller said that the delay was necessary because Greenberg’s cooperation with investigators “cannot be completed prior to the time of his sentencing.”

Greenberg’s sentencing was previously pushed back several months from Aug. 19 to Nov. 18. “The parties expect that Mr. Greenberg will participate in additional proffers, and a continuance would provide Mr. Greenberg with additional time to do so prior to his sentencing,” the motion states. Greenberg faces a mandatory minimum of 12 years in federal prison for his offenses, but prosecutors have signaled he could obtain a softer sentence if his cooperation provides them with substantial help.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetzs-wingman-joel-greenberg-asks-for-another-sentencing-delay-while-cooperating-with-feds