Three Town Officials Indicted For Less Than $2,000 In Illegal Payments

I don't mean to minimize doing something that is illegal, but the indictment of three town officials in Palmyra, Indiana on charges of felony conspiracy to commit welfare fraud and official misconduct for their roles in defrauding the state of Indiana out of unemployment benefits seems to be a bit of overkill. Apparently one of the town council members, Virginia Kirkham, was drawing unemployment benefits when the town officials are alleged to have collectively agreed to pay her to clean the town hall and senior center. The payments totalling less than $2,000 were made payable to her husband since she was drawing unemployment benefits at the time, in addition to the $225 a month she earned as a town council member. One of the town council members didn't approve of the alleged plan and blew the whistle on the others. As a consequence, Kirkham, another town council member, Paul Eveslage, and the town's clerk-treasurer, Tiffany Cardwell, are all facing felony charges brought against them by the Harrison Co. Prosecutor. Kirkham also earned about $13,000 in unreported income from cutting hair on the side as well according to the indictments. Her husband, Ron Byerly, was also charged with conspiracy to commit welfare fraud. One of the indicted, Eveslage, told reporters "It's all lies."

Their indictments are also noteworthy given a report by WRTV's Kara Kenney this past week about how two-thirds of public officials in Indiana accused of misappropriating government funds, including outright theft of public funds, never face criminal charges for their actions. In neighboring Johnson County, Kenney found that Prosecutor Brad Cooper had failed to bring charges against seven local government officials in public corruption cases, including cases involving the theft of thousands of dollars. Cooper told Kenney he was not affording public officials special treatment. "Cooper said it is frustrating when he knows someone took tax dollars, but he can't file charges," Kenney reported. "Happens all the time," said Cooper. "We’re given an extremely high burden because we don't want to convict innocent people." These Palmyra officials probably wish they had a prosecutor in Harrison County who thinks more like Cooper. When I see all the public corruption occurring here in Indianapolis involving tens of million of public tax dollars being carried on in full public view, it's hard to get worked up over the relatively petty crimes these Palymra officials are alleged to have committed.

Ballard Wants A Professional Soccer Team For Indy And Guess Who Is Poised To Participate?

Indianapolis taxpayers are already being taxed into servitude to support the professional football and basketball teams owned by billionaires Jim Irsay and Herb Simon and we lack the resources to fund basic city services, including our mayor's supposed number one priority--public safety. Now Mayor Greg Ballard is telling us that he thinks it's critical that Indianapolis land a professional soccer team to make Indianapolis a "world class city." Naturally, Mickey Maurer's Indianapolis Business Journal is promoting the latest professional sports dream, which would undoubtedly require lots of public subsidies. Don't they always?

A group of Indianapolis business executives is laying the groundwork to launch a professional soccer team here in 2014.

Members of the group won't identify themselves, but this month they launched a website--indyprosoccer.com--seeking season ticket commitments.

Faegre Baker Daniels partner and former Republican state senator Murray Clark said he knows the members of the group and is confident they have the juice to start and operate a pro soccer team.

"The business acumen of this group is at a very, very high level," said Clark . . .

"Mayor Greg Ballard has made it a high priority to expand our presence in international sports, and soccer is one of the most popular sports in the worlds," said Marc Lotter, the mayor's communications director . . .
 

As it turns out, the only local anonymous businessman promoting the professional soccer team who is specifically identified in the story is none other than Ersal Ozdemir, the Turkish immigrant who has purchased Mayor Greg Ballard lock, stock and barrel by lavishing campaign contributions and gifts on him and who, in exchange, has given tens of millions of your tax dollars to benefit Ozdemir's growing real estate business, including $6.5 million he gave to Ozdemir to build a parking garage in Broad Ripple. Ozdemir also just happens to live next door to Mickey Maurer in a gated Carmel community, and as we've previously reported, Maurer is on a mission to promote Ozdemir at every turn for some strange reason.

Ersal Ozdemir, founder and president of Indianapolis-based Keystone Group, is not yet part of the group, but he said he's met with Wilt, and if the plan gains momentum, he will seriously consider jumping in.

"I grew up playing soccer and I think it would be a great fit here," said Ozdemir, a native of Turkey . . .

A deep-pocketed businessman like Ozdemir is the type of investor that could give the effort instant credibility, sports marketers say." . . .

It's not clear exactly how Ozdemir has developed such deep pockets during the relatively short period he has been in the United States after immigrating to this country. It is true that he contributes a hell of a lot of money to politicians all over the country, particularly in Indiana and appears to have seized total control of the Marion County Republican Party apparatus, and that he supports the lobbying activities of the Turkish government through the Turkish American Council, one of whose primary objectives is to block official U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide during which the Ottoman Turks systematically exterminated about 1.5 million Armenian Christians. Ozdemir was a keynote speaker at the group's national convention held at the Washington Plaze Hotel in our nation's capital this past April. 

A few years ago, I reported on the bombshell allegation of an FBI whistle-blower, Sibel Edmonds, that Turkish officials had engaged in bribery, blackmail and espionage activities involving several congressmen, including former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who nows lobbies for the Turkish government since retiring from Congress, and U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, who represents Indiana's 5th congressional district until the end of this congressional term, which includes the Carmel community where Ozdemir resides. Burton's work on Middle Eastern issues has drawn scrutiny because of the large amount of contributions that seem to follow his public policy positions on issues affecting the region, particularly Turkey. Earlier this year, a Kashmiri-American, Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, accused of funneling money from Pakistan’s main spy agency to American politicians in a scheme to influence U.S. policy on Kashmir, was sentenced to two years in federal prison. Fai gave more than $10,000 to Burton's campaign committee. In 1997, a lobbyist for the Pakistani government claimed Burton had tried to shake him down for campaign money.

Brian Howey Blames Richard Mourdock For Mitt Romney's Loss

I get just how much Brian Howey hates Richard Mourdock because he ended the Senate career of his bread and butter, Sen. Richard Lugar, but to blame Mourdock for Mitt Romney's loss to President Obama? Don't you think that's going a wee bit too far, Brian? From his latest column:

Now, did the Mourdock blunder alter the presidential race?

The evidence of this is clearly circumstantial, in part because the presidential polling was all over the map. But on Oct. 15, USA Today ran a Gallup poll showing Republican Mitt Romney trailing President Obama by just 49-48 percent among women in the crucial swing states . . .

What happened between Oct. 15 and Nov. 6 that changed the surge of female support to Romney to the game changing hand President Obama displayed on Election Day?

Perhaps Mourdock’s fateful “God intends” rape remark on Oct. 23.

Obama carried 58 percent of the female vote in New Hampshire, 55 percent in Ohio, 54 in Virginia, 53 in Florida, 56 in Pennsylvania, 59 in Iowa, 57 in Wisconsin and 51 in Colorado.

The Obama campaign used the Mourdock “rape intends” remark in radio ads in Virginia and Colorado in the final days of the campaign, and he won both states . . .

No wonder Republican Karen Hughes, former advisor to President George W. Bush, observed, “If another Republican man says anything about rape other than it is a horrific, violent crime, I want to personally cut out his tongue. The college-age daughters of many of my friends voted for Obama because they were completely turned off by Neanderthal comments like the suggestion of ‘legitimate rape.’”

Or, as the legendary Hoosier wit Kurt Vonnegut might put it, “and so it goes.”

Howey also thinks Mourdock is to blame for Mike Pence's closer-than-expected race against John Gregg. I'm not sure how he explains Romney's nearly 10-point win in Indiana where he was on the same ballot with Mourdock, while Mourdock supposedly acted as a drag on him in states like Colorado, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia where he was not on the ballot, or how he explains the Republican super majorities Indiana voters elected to the Indiana House and Senate and the Republican pick-up of the congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly. At least he didn't try to blame Tony Bennett's loss in the state superintendent's race on Mourdock.

Former Obama Campaign Worker Under Investigation For Romney Tax Return Blackmail Scheme

Remember the story about someone posting online a claim about accessing PricewaterhouseCooper's computer server and downloading copies of Mitt and Ann Romney's tax returns, who was seeking $1 million to release the information or keep it secret from the public, and who then proceeded to mail flash drives containing copies of the tax returns to the Democratic and Republican headquarters in Williamson County, Tennessee? Well, it turns out that federal officials traced the online posting and the flash drives to one Michael Brown, an IT worker and former Obama campaign worker from the 2008 presidential campaign who lives in Franklin, Tennessee. Brown's identity became known after he set up a website seeking donations for his legal defense, professing his innocence. The Tennessean has the details:

Michael Brown, a self-employed techie who offers a wireless Internet service, said he read the reports in early September of an anonymous computer hacker claiming to have copies of presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

His knowledge of computers, Brown said, made him curious how such a stunt may have been managed.

A couple of weeks later, the Secret Service, acting on a search warrant, smashed through his front door and spent the next 18 hours pulling laptops, hard drives and all manner of digital storage devices from his Franklin home.

Now, almost two months since his home was searched, Brown has not been charged with a crime.

Brown is a target of an investigation into an apparent attempt to extort money by claiming to have the former GOP nominee’s tax returns. The purported heist was announced in a letter posted online that solicited $1 million either to release the information or to keep it from the public. That same letter, along with supposedly encrypted flash drives containing the tax returns, was delivered to county Democratic and Republican offices in Williamson County.

The Secret Service isn’t saying whether someone actually downloaded Romney’s tax filings, but Brown is now going public with his denial of having any role in the plot. He even created a website, mbdonationfund.com, drawing attention to the case.
 

The search warrant the feds issued to search Brown's home had been ordered sealed, but he graciously posted it online for your viewing pleasure. One of the flash drives appears to incriminate Brown because of images of a cat belonging to a family friend of Brown. He says he may have used the flash drive to repair the friend's computer and later discarded it, falling into someone else's hands who dug through his garbage. The search warrant also identifies IP addresses that may connect Brown to the online posting seeking the $1 million payment. Even more incriminating was Brown's past connection to the use of a digital currency site through which the person requesting the payment sought to be paid. "Several years ago Brown paid $5,000 to acquire about 371,000 bitcoins and, according to a 2011 article in Wired magazine, was the 'richest man in in the bitcoin realm,'" the Tennessean reported. "Brown acknowledged the circumstantial connection but said that, after the value of bitcoins tanked, he created another form of digital currency to compete with bitcoin. Why would he demand payment in a digital currency that competes with his own? Brown countered." Brown also admits that he was a target of a Secret Service investigation a few years ago in which he was suspected of illegally accessing an insurance company's computer server and stealing thousands of social security numbers belonging to its customers. Brown was not charged in connection with that investigation.

Ex-Wayne Township School Official Finally Charged With Child Seduction

Fox 59 News' Russ McQuaid broke the story two years ago about Wayne Township Schools Chief of Operations, John Maples, taste for underage girls. Finally, a single charge of child seduction has been filed against Maples, who abruptly resigned his position when questions about his misconduct with underage girls first surfaced. WRTV's Kara Kenney describes the charges filed against Maples:

The former chief operations officer for Wayne Township Schools faces child seduction charges amid accusations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

A warrant was issued Friday for the arrest of John R. Maples, 61, on seven felony counts of child seduction.

Police began investigating in July, when a former Ben Davis High School student came forward alleging that she and Maples had a sexual relationship beginning when she was a 16-year-old junior and working on the district's grounds crew.

The girl told police she first met Maples during a class trip in May 2009. That June, he called her to offer her a job mowing grass for the district, she said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the girl said the relationship turned sexual in early spring 2010, when she was a 17-year-old senior at Ben Davis.

The girl said she and Maples kissed and engaged in sexual acts several times at his home and in his truck.

But when she tried to end the relationship that summer, the girl said Maples was upset and would often come to the grounds crew's office when she was working and would watch her mow grass from his yard next to the high school.

According to the affidavit, the girl went to school administrators with the allegations in November 2010, prompting an internal investigation.

When he was interviewed by the district's head of personnel, Maples said he was "shocked" by the allegations, and insisted, "I did not do that," according to the affidavit.

Maples retired from his position shortly after the interview.

There's probably a lot more to come. If officials dig deeply enough, they will find they had a Jerry Sandusky-like problem in the Wayne Township Schools that was ignored by school officials for too many years. Maples' home adjoined school property, and he had his own private entry to the school grounds from his home. He also had a motor coach that appeared to be worth several hundred thousand dollars that he used for entertaining and taking trips to Florida. I'm surprised that with all the money the school system has spent on attorneys with various investigations they haven't closely scrutinize spending by the administration besides the former superintendent's bloated retirement package. That school system has been short-changed by the attorneys to whom they've been paying big bucks the past couple of years.

Jill Kelley Made Three Visits To White House This Year

My belief that the housewife of Tampa Bay, Jill Kelley, worked covertly to obtain classified information and dirty laundry from America's top military brass is bolstered by an AP report today detailing three visits she made to the White House this year, along with her twin sister.

Florida socialite Jill Kelley, who initiated the investigation that ultimately unveiled Petraeus’ extramarital affair, and her sister had two “courtesy” meals at the White House mess as guests of a midlevel White House aide in September and October, the official said. Kelley and her family also received a White House tour on the weekend before the election.

Kelley did not meet with Obama or any senior White House officials during any of her visits, said the official, who insisted on anonymity because the visitor records have not yet been made public.

The official said the White House aide who hosted Kelley met the Kelley family at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa. The official would not identify the aide.
 

Note that the three visits occurred after Kelley enlisted the assistance of FBI agent Frederick Humphries to determine who had sent her e-mails she deemed threatening, which turned out to be Paula Broadwell, Gen. David Petraeus' biographer with whom he was having an extramarital affair, and during the time there was an ongoing investigation of Petraeus' relationship with Broadwell. This suggests the possibility that Kelley was coordinating her efforts to destroy Petraeus and even Gen John Allen with the White House while pretending to be their friends. Keep in mind also that Petraeus had been mentioned as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney prior to Romney selecting Paul Ryan in August. We also learn that Broadwell had reportedly expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate from her home state of North Carolina as a Republican candidate while attending a conference in Aspen this summer. Petraeus reportedly discouraged Broadwell's Republican political ambitions based on his knowledge of her political views.

My friend and fellow blogger Debbie Schlussel has also discussed the fact that Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, was married to a top Bush administration official, Grayson Wolfe, Director of Broader Middle East Initiatives and Iraqi Reconstruction at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Prior to that Wolfe ran the Private Sector Development Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdag, Iraq. According to Schlussel, Natalie often accompanied her former husband on his trips to the Middle East. I'm wondering if Wolfe provided any aid to Obama's old pal Tony Rezko with his $50 million Iraq deal for a start-up security company before the feds caught up with Rezko. One can only imagine how much damage to national security these identical twin sisters of Lebanese origin have caused to American interests.

Messer Chosen To Head Freshman Class

Freshman members of the House Republican caucus in Washington have chosen Luke Messer, who succeeds U.S. Rep. Mike Pence in Indiana's Sixth congressional district, as their class president. Fourth District Rep. U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita was elected to the same position during his freshman class as a newly-minted congressman two years ago. "I helped lead efforts to rebuild and rebrand our state GOP - recruiting and electing Gov. Mitch Daniels, wining a strong majority in the Indiana state House, and advocating policies that brought Indiana back from its own fiscal cliff," Messer argued in a letter to new members. "Our challenges are far greater on the national level and we have our work cut out for us. Still, despite the mixed results of our national election, I am convinced that our freshmen class can contributed to the national debate." In a press release, Messer said his plans include "reaching across the aisle to find ways that Democrats and Republicans can get to know each other better."

Petraeus Telling Congress He Knew Benghazi Was Terrorist Attack Almost Immediately

Gen. David Petraeus, the nation's CIA Director until last week's scandal involving his extra-marital relationship with his biographer forced him out, is testifying to Congress as I write about what he knew about the terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Numerous news sources, citing persons knowledgeable with his testimony, report that he is telling Congress he knew almost immediately that it was a terrorist attack and that Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Sharia was likely behind the atttack. This testimony would seem to be at odds with his initial briefing to Congress shortly after the attack which gave credence to the belief that an anti-Muslim YouTube video sparked a spontaneous demonstration that led to the deadly attack.

Petraeus is also distancing himself from comments U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice made on the Sunday talk shows after the attack during which she insisted the YouTube video was to blame for the attack, and that he believes she made those comments at the direction of the White House. President Obama is rumored to be nominating Rice to be the next Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton steps down in January. Leading Republican senators have already said they will fight her nomination. Yesterday, members of Congress heard testimony from CIA officials and were able to view security camera videos taken while the September 11th attack was underway, which reportedly showed Ambassador Stevens' body being dragged from the consular compound. Petraeus' mistress, Paula Broadwell, publicly stated last month that the attack was in response to Libyan militia members being held as prisoners at the CIA annex in Benghazi, a claim denied by the CIA.

Daniels Warns About Higher Taxes

Gov. Mitch Daniels is skeptical that the economy is getting better and warns against raising taxes in a sluggish economy. "We need a recovery from this recovery," Daniels told the Northwest Indiana Times' Dan Carden. "It's even weaker than it looks." "The Republican governor told The Times Editorial Board the latest unemployment numbers don't even count the millions of Americans who have settled for part-time jobs they don't really want or those who have given up looking for work."
"We need a stronger economy," Daniels said. Mitch needs to have a conversation with Mayor Ballard, who wants to hike income taxes on Indianapolis taxpayers, who already pay the highest income taxes in the state, by 18.5% to fund a mass transit boondoggle at the same time he's doling out tens of millions of dollars in subsidies to his pay-to-play contractor friends to build new parking garages to accommodate commuters who travel by automobile.