From TBD. Baker's comment on Leslie Johnson comes at 12:00 on the video.
Update: Incoming Council Member Mel Franklin is the first member of the next council to call on Johnson not to take the oath of office.
Showing posts with label Prince George's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince George's. Show all posts
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Rushern Baker: Leslie Johnson Should be Sworn In (Updated)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
How Leslie Johnson Did It
The Post has the answer to the question everyone is asking.
Yes, using One Hundred Dollar bills, it can be done!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Jack Johnson: “Put it in Your Bra!”
The FBI’s affidavit against Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson is a fascinating document. They accuse Johnson of helping a developer get federal HOME grants for his projects in return for at least $100,000. The following excerpt from the FBI’s affidavit against Johnson details his reaction, and his wife’s reaction, as federal law enforcement closed in.
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EXCERPT FROM AFFIDAVIT
Developer A is a developer in Prince George’s County, who sought and obtained HOME funds from the County for his/her development projects in the County.
Your affiant knows through investigation, including court-authorized wiretaps, cooperating sources, and other information, that beginning as early as 2007, JACK JOHNSON obtained, under color of official right, the property of Developer A, in the form of United States currency and checks, including one check for $100,000, from Developer A and not otherwise due to JACK JOHNSON and his office, in return for JACK JOHNSON, in his capacity as County Executive, helping to secure HOME funds for Developer A’s projects in the County, and other official assistance from JACK JOHNSON in his capacity as County Executive.
On or about November 5, 2010, during an audio and video recorded meeting in the County, Developer A provided JACK JOHNSON $5,000 in United States Currency in return for JACK JOHNSON using his official influence and authority for the benefit of Developer A and his companies.
On or about November 12, 2010, during an audio and video recorded meeting in the County, Developer A provided JACK JOHNSON $15,000 in United States Currency in return for using his official influence and authority for the benefit of Developer A and his companies.
Following the November 12, 2010 payment, FBI agents entered the room where the payment took place, identified themselves as FBI agents, and asked JACK JOHNSON about the payments made to him by Developer A. JACK JOHNSON told FBI investigators that the cash was for a party marking the end of his tenure as County Executive. He further advised the FBI agents that he had no business dealings with Developer A. Based upon investigation, your affiant believes that JACK JOHNSON made a series of false statements to interviewing FBI agents regarding his relationship with Developer A and monies he had received from him.
Following this discussion of the payments to JACK JOHNSON and the relationship between him and Developer A, FBI agents conducted a search of JACK JOHNSON. They recovered from JACK JOHNSON’s person the $15,000 he had just been provided by Developer A. The agents also seized certain items from him, including his cellular telephone, which your affiant knows through investigation is assigned call number 301-520-1120, IMEI 012339006132540 (the “Target Phone”). Pursuant to the authorization by Judge Motz discussed above, FBI agents have been intercepting telephone calls over the Target Telephone since January, 2010. JACK JOHNSON was not arrested and was advised that he was free to leave. After FBI agents imaged the telephone, they returned the phone to JACK JOHNSON, who then left the area.
FBI agents had also obtained search warrants for various sites in the County from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, including a search warrant for the home of JACK JOHNSON and LESLIE JOHNSON, located at 1509 Brady Court, Mitchellville, MD 20721.
Through investigation and review of court-authorized interceptions of calls between JACK JOHNSON and LESLIE JOHNSON, your affiant knows that once JACK JOHNSON departed the site of his meetings with Developer A and the FBI agents after the search of his person, JACK JOHNSON and LESLIE JOHNSON made a series of phone calls to/from each other.
At approximately 10:10 AM, FBI agents knocked on the front door of the home of JACK JOHNSON and LESLIE JOHNSON, located at 1509 Brady Court, Mitchellville, MD 20721.
On November 12, 2010 at approximately 10:12 AM, LESLIE JOHNSON called JACK JOHNSON on the target telephone. LESLIE JOHNSON explained that “two women are at the door.” JOHNSON replied, “Don’t answer it.” JACK JOHNSON then told LESLIE JOHNSON to go upstairs in their bedroom and to go “my drawer” and you will see a “check in there that [Developer A] wrote to me.” Based on investigation your affiant believes that the check is the $100,000 check that Developer A provided to JACK JOHNSON in return for his official assistance. LESLIE JOHNSON interrupted JACK JOHNSON and asked if she should take the “cash out of here too.” JACK JOHNSON replied, “Yes.” JACK JOHNSON then told LESLIE JOHNSON to put the cash in her underwear. LESLIE JOHNSON then asked, “Where is the check? Where is the check?” JACK JOHNSON repeatedly described a box within a drawer in their bedroom. LESLIE JOHNSON is overheard shuffling through items. JACK JOHNSON then explained that the check was under the underwear drawer. LESLIE JOHNSON then asked if it was in the box where they stored liquor. JACK JOHNSON replied, “Yes.” LESLIE JOHNSON then stated, “Yes, there is a check in there.” JACK JOHNSON then stated, “Tear it up! That is the only thing you have to do.” LESLIE JOHNSON then questioned if JACK JOHNSON “had the cash down in the basement” and if JACK JOHNSON wanted her to move it also. JACK JOHNSON replied, “Put it in your bra and walk out or something, I don’t know what to do.” LESLIE JOHNSON then asked, “What do you want me to do with the check?” JACK JOHNSON replied, “Tear up the check!” LESLIE JOHNSON then stated, “they’re saying FBI Jack,” and asked, “Do you want me to put it down the toilet?” Your affiant believes that LESLIE JOHNSON is asking JACK JOHNSON if she should destroy the $100,000 check by flushing it down their toilet. JACK JOHNSON replied, “Yes, flush that.” Investigating agents overheard a flushing toilet thereafter in the background. JACK JOHNSON then told LESLIE JOHNSON to put “the cash” in her underwear. LESLIE JOHNSON then replied, “I have it in my bra.”
Thereafter, FBI agents entered the home and met LESLIE JOHNSON at the door. FBI agents then searched the person of LESLIE JOHNSON incident to her arrest and recovered $79,600 in United States Currency from her underwear.
FBI Finds $79,600 in Cash in Leslie Johnson's Underwear
You can't... make... this... up. She is due to be sworn in as a Prince George's County Council Member on December 6. How on Earth can that happen now?
Lost in all of this is the fact that Jack Johnson served two terms as State's Attorney (1994-2002). How was the law enforced when he was in charge of enforcing it?
The Jack and Leslie Johnson Arrest Videos
From NBC4. Yes, that is Council Member-Elect Leslie Johnson under that coat.
More on Johnson from WTOP
WTOP is reporting the following:
A source close to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore tells WTOP the investigation is linked to a developer who sought to involve Johnson in a land deal at the Greenbelt Metro station.This information seems connected to a story run by the Post in October 2008. The FBI conducted a series of raids against a former County Council Member, a fire department official and a developer. Two sets of documents seized in the raids contained these labels:
The investigation is also linked to the transfer of a residential property involving Johnson, the source says.
DOCS FROM TOP OF RICKER'S DESK RELATED TO 5 LOTS SOLD TO J. JOHNSON.
JT VENTURE AG - STAVROU, COLTON, RICKER DEVE GRP, LLC; DRAFT LTR FROM JACK JOHNSON RE: GB SENIOR HOUSING
Jack Johnson and Wife Grabbed by FBI (Updated)
Outgoing Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, newly elected County Council Member Leslie Johnson, have been seized by the FBI. TBD, the Gazette and the Post have details.
County residents can rest easier knowing that they have been "commited" to custody.
Update: We do not know the exact charges made against Johnson. But we do know that the FBI has been investigating various people connected to the county government since at least September 2008, when it conducted a series of raids against a former County Council Member, a fire department official and a developer. Two sets of documents seized in the raids contained these labels:
DOCS FROM TOP OF RICKER'S DESK RELATED TO 5 LOTS SOLD TO J. JOHNSON.Also, a $700,000 charity fund set up by National Harbor developer Milt Peterson at the county's behest has attracted a bit of attention. Much of the money wound up with Johnson’s political allies. That spurred an investigation by state prosecutors in 2007. Leslie Johnson was involved in disbursing grants from the fund.
JT VENTURE AG - STAVROU, COLTON, RICKER DEVE GRP, LLC; DRAFT LTR FROM JACK JOHNSON RE: GB SENIOR HOUSING
Finally, Jack Johnson's friends have benefitted from county land sales since he took office. In July 2008, the Post reported:
Prince George's County development deals worth millions of dollars have gone to people with ties to County Executive Jack B. Johnson, several of whom received the land at cut-rate prices, had little or no development experience or were given no-bid contracts, according to government records and interviews.
Since Johnson (D) took office in December 2002, his administration has agreed at least 11 times to sell county-owned land to people with connections to him, including a business partner, a former business partner, a golfing buddy and a campaign contributor who held political fundraisers for him.
Two of those who won contracts had created their development companies weeks earlier. In one case, the development group named in the contract was not incorporated with the state until a month after the deal was signed.
Johnson intervened in two of the deals, in one instance writing a letter that promised financing for a friend who did not have the money to get the project done, records show. Four of the projects were unsolicited or not put out to bid.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Republican Performance in the Democratic Big Three
Following are the percentages gained by Republican candidates in Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George's County since 2002. Races with no GOP candidate or with incomplete tickets are not included. Together, these three jurisdictions accounted for 42% of Maryland's registered voters in 2010.
Montgomery County: The great GOP tidal wave of 2010 caused an average Republican gain of 2.9 points in MoCo. No Republicans were elected in 2006. No Republicans were elected in 2010. (The county does have six precincts in Congressional District 6 that vote for Republican Roscoe Bartlett.)
Prince George's County: The Republicans' vote percentage has declined steadily since 2002. They did not bother to contest the majority of elections in the county in 2010.
Baltimore City: Just as in Prince George's, the GOP's performance is so poor that they often do not bother running candidates in Baltimore City. And the chart below does not include the Republicans' losses in city government races, which are held in odd-numbered years.
Here is the GOP's record in the three Democratic strongholds together.
How are the Republicans supposed to compete statewide if they cede these three jurisdictions to the Democrats?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Exum Hits Back at SEIU
Senator Nathaniel Exum (D-24) has released a video condemning the negative mail sent against him by SEIU. Ironically, his defender is none other than former Senator Tommie Broadwater, who was sent to prison for food stamp fraud. Un-bah-lievable.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
SEIU's Seventh Anti-Exum Mailer
Along with the seventh(!) neg targeting Exum is a favorable mailer supporting his challenger, Joanne Benson.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Monday, September 06, 2010
Prince George's Delegate Attacks SEIU
Delegate Doyle Niemann (D-47), a two-term House member from Prince George's County, sent out an open email on Friday assailing SEIU for their attack mailers against District 47 Senator David Harrington. While Niemann does not state which part of SEIU has earned his ire, his reference to "New York labor thugs" suggests his target may be SEIU Local 1199, which has also bashed Prince George's Senator Nathaniel Exum (D-24). Niemann is not an anti-union legislator. In fact, he enjoys a four-year rating of 95% from Progressive Maryland and once worked for ULLICO, a union-owned insurance company. Following is Niemann's email.
SEIU has stepped over the line
Politics is a rough and tumble business. But the New York-based SEIU has stepped over the line, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on some of the most deceitful and despicable campaign mailings I have ever seen – and for no good reason.
In the 47th District, they have targeted Senator David Harrington on behalf of my colleague, Delegate Victor Ramirez, who is challenging David for the Senate and who has been endorsed by SEIU. Day after day, we have been barraged by an endless collection of slick, professionally produced mailings sent by SEIU – using lies, half-truths, inflammatory language and manipulated photos to personally attack the character of Sen. Harrington.
There has not been a word about important policy issues or critical things affecting anyone in the state or 47th District. It has all been personal. It is the same piece reworked again and again – all with the purpose of spreading fear and distrust.
Wrong and Doubly Wrong
This kind of personal attack is simply wrong. It is destructive of the political process and it undermines our community.
It is doubly wrong because it is being done by an outside group, with no stake or care for our community and no regard for the consequences. They are using the money of their members elsewhere to play games in our county – not to make our community stronger but to weaken it; not to educate voters but to fool and trick them.
There is no issue of concern to the labor movement and working families here. The positions of the two candidates are the essentially same.
This is about power – a bullying union out to prove that it can control Prince George's County politics.
Make no mistake, these mailings are about fear. First, the fear they create in the minds of voters, which they hope to turn into votes for their favored candidate. But second, and more important, the fear they create in other political leaders.
In the long-term, that is SEIU’s goal: to make all our political leaders afraid – so afraid that they will blindly do what this union wants in the future out of fear that the same thing might happen to them when they next run for election.
I Reject SEIU’s Endorsement
I have been endorsed by the SEIU. Whether that’s the same New York-based SEIU that has been distributing this trash, I don’t know. But I hereby reject that endorsement. I don’t need or want to be associated with this kind of evil and deceitful politics.
The SEIU has given me $1,000 for my reelection campaign. I am returning that money. I will find other ways to pay for my campaign.
Not an Isolated Example
This is not an isolated incident. This bunch of New York labor thugs is doing the same thing in at least one other legislative district. County Executive Michael Jackson has gotten the same treatment, with multiple mailings blaming him personally for things that he did not do, distorting the facts, distorting the record.
It doesn’t matter whether you like the candidates SEIU is supporting or not. This behavior cannot be tolerated. We cannot let a bunch of well-funded outsiders come in and muddy our political process for their own gain.
Imagine how much harder it will be the day after the election to bring people together when this kind of behavior is tolerated? Imagine how much more of this you will see in the future if it is allowed to work?
You have only to look at national politics and what is going on there – the personal attacks on President Obama, his family and other national leaders, the appeals to fear and hatred, the deliberate sowing of discord and division – to see where this goes.
The New York SEIU bosses are giving the labor movement a black eye. Every working person should be offended. This is not about working families; it is not about social justice or equality or fair wages. It is not about empowering people. This is a crude grab for power.
Stand Up and Be Counted
I call upon others to join me in rejecting this kind of politics. It weakens the ties that hold us together and demeans our political process.
Make your feelings known. Call the SEIU administrative office in New York at (212) 261-2273. Call the SEIU Maryland & DC Council at (410) 368-9070. Terry Cavanagh is the Executive Director for the Maryland Council. Send him an email at terry.cavanagh@seiu.org.
Tell them all that we won’t support dirty politics in Prince George's County. Tell them to take their trash and go home.
Delegate Doyle Niemann
Maryland House of Delegates, District 47
By Authority, Friends of Doyle Niemann
Anne Browder, Treasurer
PO Box 51, Mt. Rainier, MD 20712
doyle@doyleniemann.com
www.doyleniemann.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Friday, September 03, 2010
SEIU Bashes Exum Again
The fine print that is not visible shows this return address:
SEIU Maryland and DC State Council
15 School Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
The authority line reads:
This message has been authorized and paid for by the SEIU MD/DC State Council, Mays Chapel, Marie Cuttitta, Treasurer. This message has not been authorized or approved by any candidate of candidate's committee.
Illegal Sample Ballot Goes Out in Prince George's County
Prince George's State's Attorney candidate Angela Alsobrooks has filed a complaint with federal and state prosecutors over an illegal sample ballot that has been mailed and distributed in Prince George's County. The ballot claims to be "an official Democratic ballot," but contains an authority line of a political committee that is not registered with the state and is, in any event, not from the county party.
Here's the sample ballot. Note its claim to be "an official Democratic ballot" and its authority line of "Citizens for Change, Charles Summers, Treasurer." No committee matching that name and Treasurer is registered with the State Board of Elections. And note how the ballot claims to be "official" but contains no indication that it came from any entity affiliated with the county party.
Here is Alsobrooks' letter to prosecutors. She rightly notes the county's history of fraudulent conduct during elections and asks for immediate enforcement. We agree.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
SEIU: It's Time for Nat Exum to Go
SEIU Local 1199, which has endorsed District 24 Senate challenger Joanne Benson, has sent out the following negative mailer targeting incumbent Senator Nathaniel Exum.
This text in the mailer may not be legible in the image. It clearly shows the mailer to be the product of SEIU Local 1199.Return address:
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
4301 Garden City Drive
Suite 202
Landover, MD 20785
Authority:
This message has been authorized and paid for by 1199 SEIU Political Action Fund, P.O. Box2612, New York, NY 10108, George Gresham, Treasurer. This message has not been authorized or approved by any candidate.
Sources: The Capital, 5/1/08; The Washington Post, 9/6/08
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