влада, вибори, народ
US Justice Department Ramps Up Investigations of Police
In the wake of George Floyd’s death last May beneath the knee of then-police officer Derek Chauvin, Black Lives Matter protesters demanded that the Justice Department investigate the Minneapolis police department for civil rights violations. FILE – People hold up signs, including one with an image of George Floyd, outside the courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021, after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the death of Floyd.Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department investigated two dozen police agencies for evidence of misconduct and gross violations of Black Americans’ rights, eventually entering into court-approved agreements with 14 of them to try to correct the problems. But once Republican Donald Trump succeeded Democrat Barack Obama, the Justice Department stopped investigating police, with Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, saying such investigations would amount to governmental overreach and demoralize law enforcement. Now, with Democrat Joe Biden — Obama’s former vice president and a onetime Senate Judiciary Committee chairman — in the White House, the Department of Justice, to the cheers of many in civil rights circles, is reversing course again. FILE – Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about a jury’s verdict in the case against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, at the Department of Justice, in Washington, April 21, 2021.In a departure from Trump-era policies, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced April 21 that the Justice Department would investigate the Minneapolis police department to determine whether it engages in a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional and illegal policing. FILE – Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, and others lead a memorial march for Breonna Taylor near Jefferson Square Park on March 13, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky.Five days later, Garland ordered a similar investigation of the police department in Louisville, Kentucky, where officers shot and killed African American emergency medic Breonna Taylor during a botched raid on her apartment March 13, 2020, a little more than two months before Floyd’s death. The back-to-back investigations come after a jury on April 20 convicted Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin, who still awaits sentencing, is seeking a new trial, although most experts see that as a long shot. FILE – Combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota shows Minneapolis Police Officers Derek Chauvin, from left, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.Three other former Minneapolis police officers have been charged in connection with the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine and a half minutes. All four former police officers also face federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Typically, a federal investigation of a police force leads to a court-enforced agreement known as a consent decree, with the department pledging to reform its practices and policies — especially in the use of deadly force to make arrests. The investigations of the Minneapolis and Louisville police forces are likely to lead to such agreements. They come as the Biden administration, spurred by the Black Lives Matter protest movement against systemic racism and police brutality in America, has made civil rights enforcement a top priority for the Justice Department. A 1994 federal law championed by then-Senator Biden authorizes the attorney general to take legal action against police departments engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional and illegal policing. Since then, the Justice Department has investigated 61 police departments, leading to the signing of consent decrees with 31 agencies. In a recent memo rescinding the Trump-era policy, Garland wrote that “the department will use all appropriate legal authorities to safeguard civil rights and protect the environment, consistent with long-standing departmental practice and informed by the expertise of the department’s career workforce.” Garland didn’t say if the department is eyeing other police departments for investigation. But given that the Biden administration’s record is likely to be judged against the large number of police investigations carried out during Obama’s eight years in office, the Justice Department is likely to ramp up its inquiries, according to former DOJ officials involved in investigating police departments. “I expect to see a lot more,” said Ed Caspar, senior counsel with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who worked in the Justice Department’s Special Litigation Section, the unit that investigates police departments. Supported by civil rights advocates, federal oversight of police departments has prompted pushback by some in law enforcement. For one, critics say the reform agreements can cost cities millions of dollars a year in court-mandated investments in technology and training and in payments to independent monitoring teams. “They are very, very burdensome to the jurisdiction and very costly,” said Jason Johnson, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. Moreover, critics argue that federal intervention makes police officers less aggressive in combating crime, leading to an inadvertent rise in criminal activity and undermining public safety. FILE – Protesters breach a line of police atop the Crescent City Connection bridge, which spans the Mississippi River in New Orleans, June 3, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd.Take, for example, the New Orleans Police Department, once considered one of the most corrupt and racially biased in the country. In the eight years since entering into a consent decree with the Justice Department, it has transformed itself into what officials tout as a national leader in policing. The consent decree has led to more than 200 new policies, from revised police use of dogs to how the department investigates officers involved in shootings. A new police unit investigates all officer-involved shootings. Police shootings of individuals dropped from nine in 2013 to zero in 2018, according to a court-appointed monitoring team. There were no unjustified shootings of individuals in 2017 and 2018. And while the number rose in 2019, FILE – People confront police officers during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Chicago, May 30, 2020.A 2019-2020 survey found that while Chicagoans rated their police department more positively than negatively, there was “an alarming disparity” between responses to how the police treated the population as a whole and how they treated young Black men. “There was a perceived lack of fairness in how the CPD treats specific populations identified by the consent decree,” the court-appointed monitor wrote in a court filing. “People reported a large deficit of trust in the CPD in general.”
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By Polityk | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats, Republicans Divided Over Response to Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict showed no sign of abating, Democrats in the U.S. Congress called for a cease-fire while Republican lawmakers condemned the actions of Hamas, saying there was no moral equivalence between the two sides. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.
Producer: Katherine Gypson
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By Polityk | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Основна сесія ЗНО розпочнеться 21 травня тестуванням з хімії
На перше тестування зареєструвалися 12 744 людини. Проходитиме воно у 881 аудиторіях в 62 пунктах тестування
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By Gromada | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
8-річний хлопчик сам у метро: в поліції пояснили, чому склали адмінпротокол на матір, а не на батька
Прийшов би батько забирати сина з кімнати поліції – адмінпротокол склали би саме на нього, пояснили в поліції
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By Gromada | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet in Iceland to Cooperate on ‘Intersecting Interests’
The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, climate change, the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, or the peace process in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council Ministerial session in Reykjavik, Iceland.”Our position is clear: We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table with an understanding that our discussions would be honest, factual and with mutual respect,” Lavrov said, adding he is ready to discuss “the Russian [diplomatic] missions in the U.S. and the U.S. missions in Russia.”It was the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and came at a time of heightened tension between their countries. The meeting also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The meeting between Blinken and Lavrov lasted about one hour and 45 minutes, said to be longer than expected.“The Secretary made clear that Russia should release American citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so they can return home to their families,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also raised “deep concerns” over Russia’s continued military deployments in and near Ukraine, the health of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the repression of opposition organizations.Role of sanctionsEuropean energy security was at the top of the U.S. agenda as Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany, nears completion.Wednesday, the State Department announced its plan to sanction Russian vessels and entities involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.But the U.S. is waiving sanctions on the company in charge of the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and CEO Matthias Warnig, a German national, citing U.S. national interest.The move is seen as a bid to improve relations with Germany. The Biden administration has been seeking to strengthen U.S.-German bonds and the transatlantic relationship.”I think our actions today have demonstrated that we continue to oppose the pipeline projects but that we also are cognizant of the president’s commitment to rebuild relations with our European allies and partners,” a senior U.S. official said.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas praised the decision.”We see this as a constructive step which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.Russia has previously defended the project as economically feasible.The U.S. has been warning about the security risks of Russian energy export pipelines, in particular Nord Stream 2. U.S. officials said if they were completed, those projects would undermine European security and strengthen Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to coerce the United States’ European partners and allies.Russian officials said Wednesday that the latest U.S. decision to waive sanctions would normalize ties between Moscow and Washington.Donald Jensen, director for Russia and strategic stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he did not believe the State Department’s announcement to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO “was taken primarily with an eye toward improving the atmosphere around the Blinken-Lavrov meeting.”“I expect that the U.S. administration still intends to take a tough line on Russia’s threatening behavior toward Ukraine, interference in our elections and other areas,” Jensen said. “Nevertheless, the favorable reaction in Moscow to the decision suggests the Kremlin sees the pipeline decision as a concession which it will hope to repeat in other areas.”
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By Polityk | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Congress Divided Over Response to Israel-Palestinian Conflict
As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict showed no sign of abating, Democrats in the U.S. Congress called for a cease-fire while Republican lawmakers condemned the actions of Hamas, saying there was no moral equivalence between the two sides. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Producer: Katherine Gypson.
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By Polityk | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
«Євробачення-2021»: виступ гурту «Go_A» – на другому місці за кількістю переглядів на YouTube
18 травня гурт «Go_A» з піснею «Shum» вийшов до фіналу «Євробачення-2021»
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By Gromada | 05/20/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
«Євробачення-2021»: букмекери прогнозують Україні четверте місце
18 травня гурт «Go_A» вийшов до фіналу «Євробачення-2021», який відбудеться 22 травня в нідерландському Роттердамі
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
З експосадовця «Приватбанку» Яценка зняли електронний браслет через «технічні причини» – САП
Колишнього заступника голови «Приватбанку» Володимира Яценка звільнили з-під варти після внесення застави в лютому
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
У Черкасах помер хлопчик, який зазнав поранення у голову в шкільному тирі
Хлопчику було 14 років, він місяць боровся за життя в лікарні
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Сезон купання на міських пляжах у Києві ще не відкритий – КМДА
Сезон купання стартує лише, коли температура води підніметься до +18 градусів
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
З початку року за кордон не пропустили 450 неповнолітніх українців – МВС
Водночас 380 дітей не пропустили через кордон цьогоріч саме через відсутню згоду другого з батьків
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Biden Test-Drives New Truck to Promote Electric Vehicles
On a day many motorists in the southeastern United States could not find gasoline, President Joe Biden promoted the transition to electrical vehicles while warning that China is ahead in the race to build the next-generation automobiles. “They think they’re going to win, but I got news for them. They will not win this race. We can’t let them. We have to move fast,” said the president during a visit to a Michigan plant where electric pickup trucks are made. Ford on Wednesday will formally unveil its F-150 Lightning, an all-electric version of its best-selling pickup truck, which the president drove on a test track following his remarks. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
President Joe Biden arrives to speak after a tour of the Ford Rouge EV Center, in Dearborn, Mich., May 18, 2021.To achieve that goal, existing nuclear power plants are “going to be absolutely essential,” the White House’s national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, told a virtual event of the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based intergovernmental organization that until now has generally supported the fossil fuel industry, surprised experts Tuesday by saying investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal supply projects if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. FILE – Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, speaks about the state of the oil industry in Houston, Feb. 22, 2016.”The IEA’s pathway to this brighter future brings a historic surge in clean energy investment that creates millions of new jobs and lifts global economic growth. Moving the world onto that pathway requires strong and credible policy actions from governments, underpinned by much greater international cooperation,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA executive director. Daniel Stewart, senior research associate at As You Sow, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility, noted the agency’s about-face. “Until now, the IEA’s research has been used to play down transition risks faced by the fossil fuel industry and as a support for inadequate energy and climate policy,” he said. Biden’s visit to the electric truck facility came amid a continuing fuel crunch in more than a dozen U.S. states. Panic buying of gasoline was triggered by the shutdown of a key pipeline targeted by cybercriminals. The 8,900-kilometer Colonial Pipeline has resumed operations and the gasoline supply chain is gradually recovering, although the company confirmed a new network issue on Tuesday after shippers reported difficulty scheduling fuel deliveries. “Our internal server that runs our nomination system experienced intermittent disruptions this morning due to some of the hardening efforts that are ongoing and part of our restoration process,” the company told VOA. FILE – A customer helps pump gas at Costco, as others wait in line, in Charlotte, N.C., May 11, 2021.A nomination refers to a type of service request that identifies the amount of gas a shipper expects to transport through the pipeline. “These issues were not related to the ransomware or any type of reinfection,” the company said. “We are working diligently to bring our nomination system back online and will continue to keep our shippers updated. The Colonial Pipeline system continues to deliver refined products as nominated by our shippers.” A prolonged network outage, however, would prevent shippers from scheduling deliveries amid a high demand for fuel following the reopening of the pipeline. Just kilometers from the White House, the gas crunch remains evident, with 70% of filling stations in Washington still without fuel on Tuesday, although that was down from about 90% from just a few days ago. Such problems highlight the need for more electric vehicles, according to proponents of the technology. But a quick transition away from internal combustion engines depends on the availability of such affordable vehicles, ample charging stations and improvements in battery technology to improve range. America’s legacy automakers are making the transition, hoping to put their downturn far in the rearview mirror after the economy of Michigan — and especially its largest city, Detroit — went into a decadeslong decline as Japanese auto manufacturing surpassed American production. FILE – President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, looks up after signing the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, March 11, 2021.The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, signed into law by Biden in mid-March, aims to pump more than $10 billion into Michigan in fiscal relief at the local and state level, plus create thousands of clean energy jobs, according to the White House. Republicans in Congress in general have opposed the Democratic president’s spending packages, contending they include much unnecessary and wasteful spending. “The total amount of funding it would direct to roads, bridges, ports, waterways and airports combined adds up to less than what it would spend just on electric cars,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month of Biden’s infrastructure package. “The far left sees a strong family resemblance between these proposals and their socialist ‘Green New Deal.'” The Green New Deal is a group of goals advanced by some Democrats, especially from the party’s progressive wing, which goes beyond environmental policy and calls for universal health care, affordable housing, good-paying jobs for all and stronger labor rights. Biden has adopted some of these ideas in his ambitious legislative proposals.
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By Polityk | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Pushes for US to Beat China in Electric Vehicle Race
President Joe Biden toured an electric vehicle plant in Michigan on Tuesday, where he made the case for his $174 billion electric vehicle plan, framing it in the context of competition against China. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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By Polityk | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Український гурт «Go_A» вийшов до фіналу «Євробачення-2021»
Фінал «Євробачення» відбудеться 22 травня
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By Gromada | 05/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
«Дизель шоу» погрожує «Телебаченню Торонто» судом
У «Телебаченні Торонто» заявили, що використання фрагментів чужих авторських творів без попереднього дозволу передбачене 21-ю статтею закону України про авторське та суміжні права
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By VilneSlovo | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Свобода слова
У МОЗ повідомили про підписання кредитної угоди зі Світовим банком на 90 млн дол
Гроші нададуть Україні для розгортання додаткових можливостей у боротьбі з пандемією
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By Gromada | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
У Міносвіти стверджують, що 70% учнів і педагогів задоволені організацією дистанційного навчання
Після закінчення карантинних обмежень 50% респондентів хотіли б, аби була очна форма навчання, за мішану (очно-дистанційну) висловивлися 42% і за дистанційну – 8%, кажуть освітяни
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By Gromada | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
‘Third Party’ Threat to the Status Quo of US Politics Faces Long Odds
Rancor within the Republican Party peaked last week between members who remain loyal to former President Donald Trump and those who want the party to repudiate him and his continued false claims of election fraud. First, there was the dramatic expulsion of Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her leadership post in the House of Representatives after she voted to impeach Trump and denounced his claims the 2020 election had been “stolen” by the Democrats. Then came the announcement that more than 100 disgruntled conservatives are exploring the possibility of launching a new political party rededicated to founding ideals. To non-U.S. observers, the creation of a new political party from the shards of one riven by internal discord may seem perfectly natural. Unlike the United States, many democracies around the world operate with a multitude of parties — and new parties can have immediate success. In France, Emmanuel Macron founded the En Marche Party in April 2016. By May 2017, he was elected president of the country. But in the U.S., the history of “third” parties as an alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate national politics has been less impressive. ‘Spoilers,’ not winners In the modern era, third parties have never been able to do more than act as a “spoiler” in presidential elections by siphoning off votes from one of the two major parties and have sent only a tiny number of lawmakers to the House or Senate in the past 70 years — never achieving significant levels of power. “The history of third-party movements in the United States is that usually, they end up just getting absorbed into one of the two major parties,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “That, or they’re essentially made obsolete by changes from the major party.” The current battle Last week’s announcement of a possible third party came as Republican House members stripped Cheney, daughter of two-term Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, of her position as House Republican conference chair for her continued denunciation of Trump. That same day, a coalition of disaffected Republicans, including former governors, members of Congress, ambassadors and Cabinet officers, signed a letter demanding the Republican leadership either reform the party or face the creation of an “alternative” political home. FILE – U.S. Representative Liz Cheney speaks to the media as she arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington after Republicans ousted her from a leadership post over her criticism of former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.The message they want to deliver to Republican Party leaders is “enough is enough,” said Miles Taylor, a former chief of staff in the Trump-era Department of Homeland Security, who penned an anonymous tell-all book about his time in the administration. “We need to offer a commonsense coalition for this country and a more unifying alternative vision than what we’re seeing from the present GOP, which has now become rotten to its core for the persistent attacks on our democracy,” Taylor told CNN last week. “So, our message is, it is time to either reform or repeal the Republican Party.” But creating a viable third party in the U.S. is easier said than done. ‘Very unusual democracy’Building a successful third party in the United States, if success is defined as having a meaningful role in the operation of the federal government, is extraordinarily difficult because of the way political power is distributed. “I think the first thing that people need to know is that we are a very unusual democracy in a whole series of ways,” said Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University Bloomington and author of a widely used textbook on American government. The U.S., she said, is one of only a “very few” two-party systems in democratic countries. Part of the reason for that is because election laws are written by state legislatures, which are themselves dominated by the two major parties. They tend to make it very difficult for new political parties to even be listed on the ballot in the first place. Steep hill to climb Further, because every member of the House and the Senate is elected in an individual winner-take-all race, a third party, even one with substantial support, can still be shut out of power. In most other democracies, a party that received 10% of the vote for the legislature would earn a proportionate share of the available seats. In the U.S., though, it is possible for a third-party movement to amass a significant percentage of the overall national vote without securing a single seat in either house of Congress. That would only change if the third party’s support was concentrated in a state or district to the point of giving it a majority of the vote there. FILE – Officials work on ballots at the Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Headquarters, Nov. 6, 2020, in Lawrenceville, near Atlanta, Georgia.Similarly, the way presidential votes are tallied on a state-by-state basis makes it difficult for a third party to compete. For example, when Texas businessman Ross Perot ran for president in 1992, he was extremely successful in terms of winning votes —receiving 19% overall. But because those votes were spread evenly across the country, he didn’t win any states, and therefore received no votes in the Electoral College. Weak threat So, when Taylor and his fellow former Republicans threaten the Republican Party with the establishment of a new party, the threat is seen not as an effort to establish a new center of power in U.S. politics that can operate on an equal footing with Republicans and Democrats. Instead, it seems more like a promise to drain enough votes from Republican candidates to ensure Democratic victories. That there is no viable path for an alternative party to actively participate in governing the U.S. is accepted as a given by most Americans. But there are some who wonder if it ought to be. “In so many other democratic systems, a ‘third’ party could be a major party,” Hershey said. “It’s one of those things that’s so telling — what we regard as normal for a democracy in the United States is not at all normal in the larger democratic world.”
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By Polityk | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
«Укрзалізниця» до 21 травня збирає пропозиції громадян до нового розкладу поїздів
У лютому-березні зібрали близько 800 пропозицій від пасажирів, експертів, активістів та місцевих громад
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By Gromada | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Бутусов залишає посаду радника міністра оборони
Журналіст пояснив своє рішення тим, що наразі його бачення військової реформи не може бути реалізоване
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By Gromada | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Congressman Gaetz Associate Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges
A Florida politician who emerged as a central figure in the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz pleaded guilty Monday to six federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of a plea deal.Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz’s, appeared in federal court in Orlando. He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.Gaetz was not mentioned in the plea agreement or during the court hearing. But Greenberg’s cooperation — as a key figure in the investigation and a close ally of Gaetz — may escalate the potential legal and political liability that the firebrand Republican congressman is facing.Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter. Investigators have also been looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said.They are also scrutinizing Gaetz’s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored.The people had knowledge of the investigation but were not allowed to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.Gaetz has denied the allegations and any accusation of wrongdoing, and has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress. A spokesman for the congressman has said Gaetz “never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex.”During the nearly hourlong hearing Monday, Greenberg acknowledged he understood the charges of which he was pleading guilty and the possible punishment he faced, and told the judge he was of a sound frame of mind.U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman told Greenberg that even though prosecutors may request some leniency from his sentencing judge because of his cooperation, there was no guarantee a judge would agree to the prosecutors’ recommendations and that Greenberg would be unable to change his plea. No sentencing date was immediately set.Monday’s court appearance marked the first time Greenberg has been seen in court since the Gaetz investigation blew into the public spotlight in March. Outside the courthouse, a plane flew over during the hearing pulling a banner that read: “TICK TOCK MATT GAETZ.”After the hearing, Greenberg was taken back to jail in handcuffs and shackles, wearing a dark inmate uniform and looking worn down.As part of his plea deal, Greenberg, a Republican who served as the tax collector in Seminole County, admitted he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 from 2016 to 2018, sometimes through online payment services like Venmo. They include at least one underage girl he paid to have sex with him and others, the plea agreement says.Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that Greenberg had introduced the girl to others, who also “engaged in commercial sex acts” with her. The agreement does not identify the men.Greenberg first met the girl online from a website where she was posing as an adult and first paid her $400 after a meeting on a boat, the documents said. He later invited her to hotels in Florida where he and others would have sex with her and supplied her and other people with ecstasy, according to the plea deal.In total, prosecutors say Greenberg had sex with the girl at least seven times.Greenberg’s legal scrutiny began when he was arrested last summer on charges of stalking a political opponent, Brian Beute. Prosecutors said he mailed fake letters to the school where his opponent worked, signed by a nonexistent “very concerned student,” who alleged the opponent had engaged in sexual misconduct with another student.”I wouldn’t want to be him,” Beute, who showed up at the courthouse on Monday, said after the hearing.Greenberg also is accused of embezzling $400,000 from the Seminole County tax collector’s office, according to the indictment filed against him.
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By Polityk | 05/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Бойовики двічі обстріляли позиції українських військових на Донбасі – штаб
Обстріли фіксували поблизу Причепилівки та Новотошківського
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By Gromada | 05/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Денісова: з минулого року не відбулося жодної зустрічі робочої групи при президентові з питань зниклих безвісти
Денісова зазначила, що востаннє на засідання члени робочої групи збиралися 9 липня 2020 року
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By Gromada | 05/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Agreement Reached for Bipartisan Probe into US Capitol Riot
Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee announced an agreement Friday to form a panel to conduct a bipartisan investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. The deal was announced in a statement by committee Democratic Chairman Bennie Thompson and its top Republican, John Katko. The legislators said they would introduce a bill for House consideration as early as next week. The measure will call for an investigative commission similar to the one that probed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., they said. The proposed 10-member commission would consist of five members appointed by each party. The panel would have subpoena power and be required to submit a report by Dec. 31 that includes “recommendations to prevent future attacks on our democratic institutions,” the lawmakers said. The agreement between the lawmakers was reached after both parties disagreed on the scope of the probe for months. The House and Senate must approve the bill before it goes to President Joe Biden for him to sign into law. The Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building was aimed at preventing the certification of Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump. Critics of Trump say he incited the riot that killed five people, including a federal police officer, when he implored thousands of supporters rallying near the White House to march to the Capitol, where lawmakers were in the process of formally certifying Biden’s win. Trump has shunned any responsibility for the attack on the Capitol.
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By Polityk | 05/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
В Інституті фізіології Богомольця розповіли, чому вартість оренди корпусу закладу складає 1 гривню
В Інституті фізіології Богомольця розповіли, що йдеться про адміністративно-лабораторний корпус зі складом №1
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By Gromada | 05/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
