Daily Archives: 4 May 2009

U.S. drops spy charges against two ex-AIPAC officials

Imagine my complete (lack of) surprise.

“Federal prosecutors moved Friday to dismiss espionage-related charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing classified U.S. defense information, ending a tortuous inside-the-Beltway legal battle rife with national security intrigue. . . .

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III had made several legal rulings that prosecutors worried would make it almost impossible to obtain a guilty verdict. Among them was a requirement that the government would have to prove that Rosen and Weissman knew they were harming the United States by trading in sensitive national defense information.” (Read more from haaretz.com)

Also:

Lawyers credit Obama team for dismissing AIPAC case
“‘We are extremely grateful that this new Administration, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Virginia, has taken seriously their obligation to evaluate cases on the merits and not to allow an unjust prosecution to continue solely due to momentum,’ said the joint statement by lawyers for Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman issued Friday, hours after the government filed for a dismissal of the charges against the two former senior staffers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.” (Read more from myantiwar.org)

Biden Son and Brother Near Epicenter of Two Ponzi Schemes

“It’s now public, Francesco Rusciano of Ponta Negra has formally had his assets frozen by a Federal Judge at the request of the SEC.

‘Rusciano went to great lengths to deceive investors, and the SEC is committed to ensuring that money managers who provide inaccurate information to investors and fail to uphold their fiduciary duties are held responsible for their misconduct,’ said Rose Romero, Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.

Back in March, as a blind item, I reported that this was likely to come down:

Very Suspicious Trading…

…coming out of a New York based hedge fund. They report no monthly losses in two years of currency trading. Such perfecto trading has not been seen since Hillary Clinton did it in cattle futures.

They appear to have offices, or at least a mailing address, on Fifth Avenue in a building once owned by the Shah of Iran’s Pahlavi Foundation. Notorious tenants have included: Marc Rich and Ivan Boesky, though there is zero indication that they have any involvement in what appears to be a Ponzi Scheme.

This one is about to break wide open.

What I didn’t know at the time was that the vice-president’s son and brother are playing cameo roles in this saga. . . .” (Read more from economicpolicyjournal.com)