Wednesday woolgathering, administration-style
Well, let’s start with a controversial pardon.
Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and state lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for state treasurer, was found guilty in October of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was out of custody ahead of her sentencing, which had been scheduled for next month.
Fraud? Barefaced theft is more accurate.
Federal prosecutors said at trial that Fiore, 54, had raised more than $70,000 for the statue of a Las Vegas police officer who was fatally shot in 2014 in the line of duty, but had instead spent some of it on cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
Fiore, who does not have a law degree, was appointed as a judge in deep-red Nye County in 2022 shortly after she lost her campaign for state treasurer.
President Donald Trump has pardoned a Nevada Republican politician who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges that she used money meant for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal costs, including plastic surgery. AP
Someone’s gonna have to tell me she walks on water somehow, because to me, after being found guilty of stealing from a dead cop’s memorial fund, she should be looking at hard time.
And while we are on the topic of pardons, Paul Walczak was pardoned after the Florida health care executive was found guilty of tax fraud.
President Donald Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, a Palm Beach Gardens health care executive convicted of tax evasion for siphoning more than $10.9 million in payroll taxes from the paychecks of doctors and nurses. Prosecutors said he used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle and luxury goods, including a $2 million yacht.
During his April 11 sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra said that letting Walczak walk free “reinforces the perception that the rich get away with it and the poor go to prison.”
The judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison and gave Walczak 90 days to turn himself in. Only 12 of those days elapsed before Trump signed the private pardon.MSN
Walczak’s mother is a heavy Republican contributor. Guess she got what she paid for.
Next up we have the candidate for Surgeon General, Dr Jannette Nesheiwat.
Dr Jannette Nesheiwat has been described by the president as “a double board-certified medical doctor,” and a “proud graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.”
I know you can see it coming… she isn’t.
However, according to CBS News, Nesheiwat only completed her residency through the university’s family medicine program in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and did not obtain her medical degree there.
She earned her degree at a somewhat less prestigious school.
She actually earned her degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, in St. Maarten, in the Caribbean, records reviewed by the outlet have shown. AUC also confirmed to CBS that Nesheiwat was enrolled there for six years, from 2000 to 2006. Typically the program includes four years of study, but Nesheiwat was there for six.
I’m sure there is a good reason for that. Probably helped her get her gigs as a Fox News presenter, which seems to be the primary qualification for an administration position. At least, unlike Kennedy, she actually HAS some medical training
Nesheiwat’s LinkedIn profile lists “Doctor of Medicine” from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine among her education. It does not mention the Caribbean school.
In a 2018 social media post, Nesheiwat stated that she had completed her “medical training and residency” at Arkansas as well as serving as Chief Resident.
She also mentioned training at “the American University,” though does not specify which school she is referring to, as well as having completing” the majority of my studies” in London, England, at St. Thomas & Guy’s Hospital.
The American University of the Caribbean has a partnership with St. Thomas & Guy Hospital. The Independent
Sounds like she is shading her resume, like “Vietnam Era” vet who transmogrifies into a “Vietnam Vet.”
And we’re all done with Petey’s phone use, putting classified info on Signal, etc. Right? Wrong.
As the New York Times reports, the same phone Hegseth used when he accidentally shared those covert military maneuvers is also his personal one. And embarrassingly, its number could easily be found online on a variety of public apps as recently as March, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Airbnb, and — we kid you not — a sports betting website.
“There’s zero percent chance that someone hasn’t tried to install Pegasus or some other spyware on his phone,” Mike Casey, the former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told the NYT. “He is one of the top five, probably, most targeted people in the world for espionage.”
As the NYT notes, even low-level government employees are forbidden from using personal devices for work-related tasks — and here’s the guy in charge of the entire nation’s defense efforts, leaving it all out in the open. Futurism
C’mon, Pete – you’re a grownup now. Turn off the personal phone and use the one DoD says you should use, hmm? And scrub your public profiles.
Meanwhile, this quote:
President Donald Trump said he thinks beleaguered defense secretary Pete Hegseth is “gonna get it together” after reports of chaos at the Pentagon under his leadership. The Independent
I would think someone selected for such an important position should already HAVE it together, not need training wheels.
Category: Government Incompetence
