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The iPaaS Empowerment and Some Essential Capabilities Fueling Success!
iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) has proved as a game-changer for businesses to grow & rule the current market with integration, accelerated workflows & enhanced data management solutions. It’s a cloud-based solution that helps in integrating software applications & streamlines operations. A professional iPaaS company can help you with enterprise-level solutions and offers a comprehensive approach that drives success for your organization. Many businesses, irrespective of their size & specification, are going to hire an iPaaS provider because it results more economical & beneficial for their businesses. But, before shifting it to a 3rd party service provider, there are certain factors that you must consider. In this blog, we have compressed some of the most crucial parameters that you must look into while connecting with an iPaaS provider.
Different considerable aspects while going for the iPaaS revolution
Optimized connectivity-
One of the prime qualities of an iPaaS company is to provide uninterrupted connectivity & effortless integration in the system. An iPaaS platform can create comprehensive compatibility & agility that not only connects the applications but also effortlessly integrates with legacy systems, cloud-based apps, APIs & IoT devices. This approach helps businesses a lot in unifying data from different sources, receiving proper data insights, taking data-driven decisions, and streamlining their operations.
Workflow automation-
iPaaS platform can help a business by creating complex workflows with ease through unparalleled workflow automation. It removes the need for human intervention and leads to fewer error occurrences, which are mainly human errors. It makes the process more fluent with a user-friendly interface & visually engaging appearances. Also, there are advanced triggers like real-time notification & supervision that result in optimizing the operations and eventually generating better results for the products & services.
AI-Powered insights-
In the age of data integration & data management solutions, AI has come up with a crucial role that helps in extracting valuable insights from the vast region of information. With advanced analytical tools & technologies, it helps in transforming raw data into actionable insights. This helps an organization identify opportunities & take data-driven decisions. Prescriptive analytics helps in creating customizable recommendations. Leveraging AI, iPaaS empowers companies to track performance, identify & monitor KPIs, and drive continuous improvement across all business functions.
Scalability-
The uninterrupted growth of a business highly relies on scalability & performance efficiency. An iPaaS platform provides advanced data management services by leveraging cloud-native architecture & trending data handling techniques. In this ever-increasing demand of the current business market, scaling capacities & performance assurance ensure the high-end success of a business. The iPaaS platform offers a quick response time & smooth data flow across the system by focusing on strategic implementations & breaking technological boundings effectively.
Data transformation & governance- iPaaS companies can help your business with effective data transformation & governance. To meet the standard regulatory aspects, functions like data encryption, strict data security & data governance are performed. iPaaS platform ensures that the right information is delivered in the right direction at the right time. From data mapping & transformation capabilities to data manipulation & governance, this platform can make it more seamless, holds customers' trust, and enables them to embrace the benefits of data-driven decisions.
Wrapping up
The above-mentioned parameters establish the credibility & expertise of a professional iPaaS company that can help businesses to optimize their digital transformation journey. Vorro’s BridgeGate Integration is an iPaaS that offers a collaborative solution approach to businesses across different industries and helps them to advance their ecosystem with trending technical interventions. As a responsible service provider, we use technology to provide scalable integration solutions by ensuring high-end security measures. If you are someone who is passionate about unlocking the enterprise's success of your business, embrace the power of iPaaS without compromising! We encourage you to welcome this digital revolution today to position your business at the forefront of the market tomorrow!
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Fully Managed Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service (EiPaaS)
Tap into the untapped possibilities of Vorro’s BridgeGate with Fully Managed EiPaaS. We help you cultivate a cohesive, collaborative, and streamlined technological landscape with our consistent support. Simplify integrations and let us handle the technical intricacies while you focus on growth
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Opinion analysis: Unanimous court throws out “Bridgegate” convictions
In 2013, officials with ties to Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey, altered the traffic pattern on the George Washington Bridge in an effort to punish the mayor of nearby Fort Lee, New Jersey, for his failure to support Christie’s reelection bid. The change in the traffic pattern led to four days of gridlock on the streets surrounding the bridge before the original pattern was eventually restored. Two of the officials responsible for the change were found guilty of violating federal statutes prohibiting wire fraud and fraud from federally funded programs. But today the Supreme Court threw out those convictions. In a unanimous decision by Justice Elena Kagan, the court ruled that although the officials’ actions were an “abuse of power,” they did not violate the federal fraud laws because the “scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property.”
The defendants in the case were Bridget Kelly, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, and William Baroni, whom Christie had named as the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge. For many years, three of the 12 toll lanes on the upper deck of the bridge going from New Jersey into New York have been cordoned off with traffic cones during the morning rush hour, so that local traffic from Fort Lee can cross the bridge more easily. After Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, declined to endorse Christie in 2013, Baroni and Kelly – along with David Wildstein, a Port Authority staffer – decided to retaliate against Sokolich by reducing the number of lanes reserved for Fort Lee drivers to one. They made the change on the first day of school in September 2013, without notifying Sokolich in advance. To explain the change to Port Authority employees, the trio concocted a fictitious traffic study.
Kelly and Baroni were sentenced to 18 months in prison, although Kelly’s sentence was later reduced to 13 months. A federal appeals court upheld their convictions, agreeing with the government that the requirements of the fraud statutes had been met. Kelly and Baroni had engaged in deception when they lied about the traffic study to justify the change to the toll lanes, the court reasoned, and those lies deprived the Port Authority of its property – both its right to control the bridge lanes and the cost (approximately $5,400 to have an extra toll collector standing by and for traffic engineers to conduct the fictitious traffic study) of the otherwise unnecessary labor of its employees. The Supreme Court agreed to review the case last year and heard argument in January.
Today the Supreme Court reversed. In a 13-page opinion, Kagan emphasized that the government needed to show “not only that Baroni and Kelly engaged in deception,” but that they did so to obtain property. The Supreme Court has made clear that unless bribes or kickbacks are involved (which, Kagan noted, are not at issue in this case), federal fraud laws cannot be used as a general tool to fight public corruption; they apply only when efforts to obtain money or property are involved.
The court rejected the government’s argument that Baroni and Kelly’s scheme intended to obtain the Port Authority’s money or property because they sought to take over the lanes on the bridge and because the Port Authority had to pay the traffic engineers and the toll collector as a result. The lane realignment, the court explained, was simply a “run-of-the-mine exercise of regulatory power” that “cannot count as the taking of property.” The court acknowledged that there could be scenarios in which the use of government employees’ time and labor could count as “property” for purposes of federal fraud prosecutions – for example, if “a city parks commissioner induces his employees into doing gardening work for political contributors.” But to sustain a conviction for property fraud, the court explained, getting the property needs to be the point of the scheme – which it was not in this case. Baroni and Kelly weren’t trying to use the extra toll collector’s services or the data that the traffic engineers collected; the cost of the employees’ labor was simply an “incidental byproduct” of their scheme.
The court stressed that accepting the government’s argument would allow the federal government to “use the criminal law to enforce (its view of) integrity in broad swaths of state and local policymaking.” The court did not endorse Kelly and Baroni’s actions: It noted that for “no reason other than political payback, Baroni and Kelly used deception to reduce Fort Lee’s access lanes to the George Washington Bridge—and thereby jeopardized the safety of the town’s residents.” But, the court concluded, “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.”
The justices have repeatedly pushed back against efforts by federal prosecutors to use federal fraud laws to combat public corruption, so today’s ruling was not necessarily a surprise. But it was still a welcome ruling for Kelly and Baroni. Baroni applauded the ruling as a “clear statement” of his innocence. “After years of investigations, indictments, trials, appeals, and even prison,” Baroni wrote, “today the Court has vindicated me and made clear that I committed no crime.”
This post was originally published at Howe on the Court.
The post Opinion analysis: Unanimous court throws out “Bridgegate” convictions appeared first on SCOTUSblog.
from Law https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/05/opinion-analysis-unanimous-court-throws-out-bridgegate-convictions/ via http://www.rssmix.com/
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You just can't believe everything that liberal media says. Subscribe us now to get the REAL NEWS everyday. Click Here To Subscribe: https://goo.gl/Jak4Sa Many Americans are still anxious to see a proper investigation into Hillary Clinton’s questionable behavior last year and during her time as secretary of state. With Republicans pushing for a special counsel to investigate Clinton, any help in Washington will be welcome. An ally may have arrived following Senate-wide confirmation of Christopher Wray as Trump’s FBI Director, according to The Hill. On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Wray as FBI Director in a historical 92-5 vote. Though his approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee was unanimous, it’s only the second time in United States history that anyone has voted against an FBI director nomination. The first time was James Comey’s nomination, and it was only one vote against. Christopher Wray is a partner at the law firm King & Spalding; his primary function is chair for the Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group where he handles internal corporate investigations and enforces regulations. His claims to fame saw him working for Governor Chris Christie during the infamous “Bridgegate.” Wray represented Christie when two of his aides were convicted of trying to harass a Democratic mayor who didn’t support Christie by closing down key bridge lanes used by the mayor. Wray also served as Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice under the Bush administration in 2003 and 2005. He was part of a task force designed to investigate corporate fraud and was part of the investigations into Enron. In June, President Trump announced his desire for Wray to serve as FBI Director, saying, “I am proud to announce Christopher as my choice as the Director of the FBI. During his previous service at the Department of Justice, Christopher was the leader of major fraud investigations, and was a key part of the team overseeing the Justice Department’s actions in the war on terrorism following the 9/11 attacks.” When selected for nomination, Wray issued the following statement: “I look forward to serving the American people with integrity as the leader of what I know firsthand to be an extraordinary group of men and women who have dedicated their careers to protecting this country.” Wray’s patriotic statement supports the way Trump described him. “He is an impeccably qualified individual, and I know that he will again serve his country as a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity…” It seems that the majority of the Senate, and surprisingly most of the Democrats, agree with Trump’s assessment. Nearly all senators felt Wray was a great bipartisan pick. According to The Hill, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) felt Wray’s unbiased nature would help keep the Mueller investigation alive, saying, “It is really important that we have a strong FBI director. There can be no manipulation. Special counsel Robert Mueller must be allowed to proceed with his investigation undisturbed.” On the surface, it seems that Wray will do well as FBI director. His experience investigating fraud will be in high demand, considering the scandals and controversies coming to the forefront almost daily. Hopefully, Wray will help Republicans conduct a proper investigation into Clinton and other Democrats. Perhaps this new FBI director will treat it as a criminal investigation and not a “matter.” Tags The Next News Network LATEST CONSPIRACY THEORIES NEWS Duterte Daily News Breaking News DONALD Donald trump TRUMP TRUMP LATEST NEWS USA morning news abs cbn aguirre ariana grande binira binuking breaking President Donald Trump President Trump RONNIE DAYAN Rais Magufuli news breaking news 365 fox news obama
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Trump names FBI pick while intel officials duck questions before Congress
Politics
Trump names FBI pick while intel officials duck questions before Congress
Top national security officials dodged questions from a Senate committee Wednesday as to whether they were asked by President Trump to intervene in the FBI’s probe into whether Trump campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. During a hearing, both Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and NSA Director Michael Rogers told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that they never felt pressured to intervene in investigations but declined to discuss specifics. Members of both parties expressed frustration at the testimony. Both Coats and Rogers said they would answer more fully in closed session but did not rule out Trump’s invoking executive privilege then. Two other witnesses, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, declined to discuss any aspects of the Russia investigation.
We have a special counsel who is investigating.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, when asked about a memo he had written that the White House held up as justification for Comey's May 9 firing
Early Wednesday, Trump announced his pick to succeed Comey at the FBI — Christopher Wray, a former Justice Department official who served as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's lawyer during the Bridgegate investigation. In an early morning two-sentence tweet, Trump said he intended to nominate Wray, a high-ranking official in George W. Bush's Justice Department. Wray is a traditional choice for the job. Trump had considered current and former politicians, and some FBI agents worried that Trump would try to politicize the bureau. Reaction to Wray was slow on Capitol Hill as lawmakers weren't given advance notice and few in Congress know him. The timing of Trump's announcement appeared to be an effort to redirect attention on the eve of Comey's testimony. The president in a statement later Wednesday, called Wray "an impeccably qualified individual."
I know that he will again serve his country as a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity once the Senate confirms him to lead the FBI.
President Trump
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Trump names FBI pick while US intelligence officials duck questions before Congress
Politics
Trump names FBI pick while US intelligence officials duck questions before Congress
America's intelligence chiefs, facing questions from Congress one day before former FBI Director James Comey provides his first public account of the events leading up to his firing, declined to describe conversations with President Trump but said they had not been directed to do anything they considered illegal or felt pressured to do so. Michael Rogers, the National Security Agency director, and national intelligence director Dan Coats largely ducked questions from senators on Wednesday about whether the president had tried to influence investigations into Russia's election meddling and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Members of both parties expressed frustration at the testimony. Meanwhile, Christopher Wray, a white-collar defence lawyer with a strong law enforcement background who represented New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the Bridgegate scandal, was announced as President Donald Trump's pick to head the FBI.
I know that he will again serve his country as a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity once the Senate confirms him to lead the FBI.
President Trump said of Christopher Wray, his pick to replace James Comey
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By Will Racke
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday his pick for FBI director, choosing an experienced lawyer with a deep law enforcement background over politicians who had been floated as possible candidates.
In a Wednesday morning tweet, Trump said he will nominate Christopher Wray, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor who currently works in private practice, to lead the bureau.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray, whom Trump called a man of “impeccable credentials,” is no stranger to federal law enforcement. He was a top attorney in the George W. Bush Justice Department, rising to lead the agency’s criminal division and supervising investigations into corporate fraud from 2003 to 2005. In his most high-profile case, Wray supervised a task force of prosecutors and FBI agents created to investigate the Enron scandal.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Wray joined the DOJ��in 1997 in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2001, he moved to Washington, D.C. for a series of headquarters assignments before being nominated as assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division in 2003.
Currently a litigation partner at King & Spalding law firm, Wray is perhaps best known today as the lawyer who defended New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie in the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal. He represented Christie in the case in which two of the governor’s aides were convicted of plotting to shut down bridge lanes to spite a Democratic mayor who wouldn’t endorse Christie.
Christie and Wray met when the former was the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey in the Bush administration, reports the Associated Press. The governor believes Wray would be a wise choice to lead the FBI.
“I have the utmost confidence in Chris. He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said at a news conference Thursday. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
If confirmed, Wray would return to government service following 12 years in private practice. As he did at the Justice Department, Wray specializes in white collar and corporate fraud cases, only now as a defense attorney. He has defended Fortune 100 clients in the pharmaceutical, telecommunications and financial services industries against government probes into alleged fraud and misconduct, according to his law firm biography.
Wray’s nomination is a more traditional choice than others who had been discussed as possible picks. As recently as late May, former Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman and former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, were considered to be front runners for the FBI job. Trump’s choice of a DOJ veteran may reassure critics who fear Trump is looking to install a political ally in the director’s office.
Bill Mateja, a colleague of Wray’s at the Justice Department in the early 2000s, told The Washington Post that Wray has a “real moral compass” that will allow him to maintain independence from the White House.
“If people thought that Trump might pick a lackey, Chris Wray is not Trump’s lackey,” Mateja said.
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Donald Trump Nominates Christopher Wray to Lead FBI
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President Donald Trump has nominated Christopher Wray as the new FBI director.
“I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI,” the president announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning. “Details to follow.”
Wray served as the Associate Deputy Attorney General in former President George W. Bush’s administration and was promoted to the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, before he left to work in the private sector as a partner at the Washington law firm King & Spalding.
During his time in government, he oversaw the highly publicized Enron case and oversaw the legal aspects of the war on terror after 9/11, according to King & Spalding’s website.
He also served as Governor Chris Christie’s personal attorney during the bridgegate scandal.
Last week, Christie praised Wray as an “outstanding lawyer,” after it was revealed that he was under consideration.
“He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director,” Christie said.
Trump’s choice earned praise from Norm Eisen, a Brookings Institute fellow and former ethics czar for former president Obama.
“Good choice. Oversaw Enron case, which I also spent years of my life on,” Eisen wrote on Twitter. “He was very fair. I endorse.”
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from CapitalistHQ.com http://capitalisthq.com/donald-trump-nominates-christopher-wray-to-lead-fbi/
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Donald Trump Nominates Christopher Wray to Lead FBI
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
President Donald Trump has nominated Christopher Wray as the new FBI director.
“I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI,” the president announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning. “Details to follow.”
Wray served as the Associate Deputy Attorney General in former President George W. Bush’s administration and was promoted to the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, before he left to work in the private sector as a partner at the Washington law firm King & Spalding.
During his time in government, he oversaw the highly publicized Enron case and oversaw the legal aspects of the war on terror after 9/11, according to King & Spalding’s website.
He also served as Governor Chris Christie’s personal attorney during the bridgegate scandal.
Last week, Christie praised Wray as an “outstanding lawyer,” after it was revealed that he was under consideration.
“He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director,” Christie said.
Trump’s choice earned praise from Norm Eisen, a Brookings Institute fellow and former ethics czar for former president Obama.
“Good choice. Oversaw Enron case, which I also spent years of my life on,” Eisen wrote on Twitter. “He was very fair. I endorse.”
Source link
source http://capitalisthq.com/donald-trump-nominates-christopher-wray-to-lead-fbi/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/06/donald-trump-nominates-christopher-wray.html
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Donald Trump To Nominate Christopher A. Wray For FBI Director
President Donald Trump will nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next director of the FBI, he announced on Wednesday.
Wray served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. The Yale Law School graduate now works as an attorney in private practice.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the wake of the so-called Bridgegate scandal. Christie told NorthJersey.com that he had “the utmost confidence in Chris.”
“He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
Wray’s name came up in a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report on allegations of politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. The hiring process, the report concluded, was “fundamentally changed” to give political appointees more input. Data showed that applicants with Democratic or liberal affiliations were “deselected at a significantly higher rate” than candidates with conservative or neutral affiliations. Wray told the IG that politics and ideology only came up as part of an effort to make the programs more inclusive.
From the report:
He said there was a perception that in past administrations the career employees doing the screening may have weeded out candidates because the selecting officials were not ‘comfortable with their political persuasion.’ He said the political persuasion he was referring to pertained to candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, ‘whether you call that conservative or not.’
Wray was interviewed for the job last week, the White House said. Trump was also said to have considered politicians including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and, mostly notably, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). He appeared to reverse course following pushback from Democrats.
The president fired former FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, last month. Andrew McCabe, who started with the FBI in 1996 and served as deputy director under Comey, was named the acting director at the time.
Comey is set to testify in front of the Senate on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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With Vorro's BridgeGate EiPaaS, companies of all sizes and industries can build a unified, collaborative, and seamless technology ecosystem. Enhanced by a drag and drop interface, and a robust full audit trail, BridgeGate EiPaaS offers a rapid, accurate and comprehensive data integration solution.
Our EiPaaS solution combines the advantages of an enterprise-class cloud infrastructure, which provides all the integration functionality, performance, and security requirements in a High availability environment, with the flexibility to scale to your company’s needs.
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A “view” from the courtroom: The bridge-and-tunnel crowd
Politics is in the air at the Supreme Court today. Not the looming impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which will be drawing Chief Justice John Roberts across the street to the Senate in a matter of days, but the “Bridgegate” affair out of New Jersey.
In 2013, three New Jersey officials schemed to close two of three access lanes normally dedicated to rush hour traffic from Fort Lee, N.J., onto the George Washington Bridge to New York City. (The other two lanes were shifted to join the eight used by interstate traffic approaching the toll plaza, a not insignificant fact when it comes to the legal theories in the case.)
The plan was payback against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for refusing to endorse New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for reelection that year. The plan caused massive traffic headaches in Fort Lee for several days as well as longer-term political and legal fallout for all involved.
Chris Christie and his wife, seated in front of Bridget Kelly and her lawyer, Michael Critchley Sr. (Art Lien)
At the court today, it seems as if there is a dedicated lane at the security checkpoint for residents of New Jersey.
Two of the three officials involved in the scheme are here today: Bridget Anne Kelly, a former Christie aide, and William Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. While Kelly’s appeal of her conviction on federal fraud and conspiracy charges is the cert petition explicitly before the court, Baroni’s conviction came in the same trial and his lawyer has been granted argument time today.
The third official, former Port Authority aide David Wildstein, pleaded guilty in the federal case and testified for the government. He is now the editor of a website that covers New Jersey politics and is evidently busy covering the New Jersey legislature today.
There are, by my quick count, at least 30 Amtrak trains each weekday from northern New Jersey to Union Station in Washington. On Monday, Kelly boarded one to come to the argument and found Christie on the same train, headed for the same destination.
The two are not exactly on friendly terms. Kelly testified in her own defense that Christie was aware of the Fort Lee plan, but he has denied that and was not charged in the federal prosecution.
Kelly is seated in the second row of the public gallery with Michael Critchley Sr., her trial attorney. Soon after Kelly and Critchley take their seats, court personnel escort Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, to seats in the front row of the public section, directly in front of Kelly. (Later, addressing reporters on the plaza, Kelly will make clear that she and Christie did not speak to each other, on the train or in the courtroom. “It’s been a long six years,” Kelly will say. “I hope he has a harder time seeing me than I have seeing him.”)
The numerous New Jersey reporters who have come down for the argument seem astounded by Christie’s presence, suggesting the former governor, whose 2016 presidential bid was hampered if not undone by the Bridgegate scandal, is demonstrating quite a bit of chutzpah by showing up. Christie, now an ABC News political commentator, has probably never been accused of lacking that trait.
Meanwhile, Baroni is on the opposite side of the public gallery, in the third row. He will tilt his head to get a better view and maintain a serious expression, as his name will be mentioned about three times as often as Kelly’s.
Amy Howe has this blog’s main account of the argument. Jacob Roth, Kelly’s lawyer, stresses that “the government is trying to use the open-ended federal fraud statutes to enforce honest government at the state and local levels. Its theory this time is that the defendants committed property fraud by reallocating two traffic lanes from one public road to another without disclosing their real political reason for doing so.”
“This theory turns the integrity of every official action at every level of government into a potential federal fraud investigation,” he adds during his 20 minutes of time. Roth gets some intense questioning, but he manages to squeeze in a point about the unseemliness of the whole affair.
“I’m not trying to suggest that this is okay. Okay?” Roth says. “We don’t want public officials acting for personal reasons. We don’t want them acting necessarily for partisan or political reasons. But what I’m saying is the remedy for that is not the federal property fraud statutes. We have certainly political remedies that … had pretty substantial repercussions here.”
Michael Levy has 10 minutes to argue for Baroni. It turns out he and Baroni attended law school together at the University of Virginia.
One of Levy’s main points is that the government proved that Baroni, despite nominally being the No. 2 official at the Port Authority, was the co-head of the agency and had the authority to shift traffic lanes. That undercuts Baroni’s conviction, Levy says.
Trial testimony showed that “within the Port Authority structure, the deputy executive director and the executive director had a 50/50 split in terms of power sharing; that the deputy executive director was not the Number 2 position within the Port Authority,” Levy says.
This appears to have troublesome implications to Justice Samuel Alito, a native of Trenton and the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
“The arrangement is always that there’s a New York representative who’s the executive director and the New Jersey representative who’s the deputy, is that right?” Alito asks, and Levy confirms the arrangement.
“This is a bi-state agency,” Alito says. Why would New Jersey agree to an arrangement like that where its representative is always in the second seat, at least nominally? Just the big brother across the river.”
For the federal government, Deputy Solicitor General Eric Feigin defends the prosecutions. Solicitor General Noel Francisco is evidently recused from the case. As a private lawyer, he successfully represented former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonell in the last major public misconduct case before the court, and his former firm, Jones Day, represents Kelly.
“The defendants in this case committed fraud by telling a lie to take control over the physical access lanes to the George Washington Bridge and the employee resources necessary to realign them,” Feigin says. “Unless they lied about the existence of a Port Authority traffic study, none of them had the power to direct those resources and realign the lanes.”
The defendants “don’t get a free pass simply because their motive happened to be political,” he adds.
Feigin gets immediate pushback from Justice Stephen Breyer, who suggests the government’s theory would restore a broad definition of honest-services fraud that the court has trimmed back in recent cases.
Feigin says the case about a particular type of fraud that is indeed illegal — “commandeering fraud.”
“It is when the defendant tries to take over property that is in the hands of the victim and manage it as if it is his own property,” he says.
Justice Elena Kagan asks Feigin whether the case would have been the same if the shifting of traffic lanes had not caused massive backups in Fort Lee, or even “maybe improved” traffic.
Yes, he says. “It’s not about the effect although the effect was catastrophic and that was a reason why the prosecution was brought, because of the incredible danger in which they put the citizens and commuters of Fort Lee, but they would still have committed the same crime.”
After the argument, Kelly and her lawyers address the news media on the court’s plaza, as a light rain falls. She has been free on bond, with a 13-month prison sentence in the balance.
Baroni, surrounded by a large entourage of his lawyers and supporters, waits for Kelly and her pack to move away from the press area before descending the court’s steps to give an emotional statement. He had begun serving his 18-month sentence and was freed on bail after the Supreme Court granted Kelly’s cert petition.
“A year ago, I walked into federal prison, and I never dreamed that the Supreme Court of the United States would agree to hear our case,” Baroni says. He thanks Levy, his family members, friends here, friends in Ireland.
“There’s one other group I want to thank,” he says. “Those are the guys that I was in prison with. For every day I was there, [they] never let me stop believing, and never let me give up. Sometimes people forget them. But they are not forgotten today. So now we wait.”
Reporters wait a few more minutes in the rain for Christie, who is seldom shy about appearing before cameras. In fact, he rushed to appear before them after the oral argument in a New Jersey sports-betting case in 2018. But he doesn’t show. Maybe he has a train to catch.
The post A “view” from the courtroom: The bridge-and-tunnel crowd appeared first on SCOTUSblog.
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Donald Trump To Nominate Christopher A. Wray For FBI Director
President Donald Trump will nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next director of the FBI, he announced on Wednesday.
Wray served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. The Yale Law School graduate now works as an attorney in private practice.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the wake of the so-called Bridgegate scandal. Christie told NorthJersey.com that he had “the utmost confidence in Chris.”
“He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
Wray’s name came up in a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report on allegations of politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. The hiring process, the report concluded, was “fundamentally changed” to give political appointees more input. Data showed that applicants with Democratic or liberal affiliations were “deselected at a significantly higher rate” than candidates with conservative or neutral affiliations. Wray told the IG that politics and ideology only came up as part of an effort to make the programs more inclusive.
From the report:
He said there was a perception that in past administrations the career employees doing the screening may have weeded out candidates because the selecting officials were not ‘comfortable with their political persuasion.’ He said the political persuasion he was referring to pertained to candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, ‘whether you call that conservative or not.’
Wray was interviewed for the job last week, the White House said. Trump was also said to have considered politicians including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and, mostly notably, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). He appeared to reverse course following pushback from Democrats.
The president fired former FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, last month. Andrew McCabe, who started with the FBI in 1996 and served as deputy director under Comey, was named the acting director at the time.
Comey is set to testify in front of the Senate on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Donald Trump To Nominate Christopher A. Wray For FBI Director
President Donald Trump will nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next director of the FBI, he announced on Wednesday.
Wray served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. The Yale Law School graduate now works as an attorney in private practice.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the wake of the so-called Bridgegate scandal. Christie told NorthJersey.com that he had “the utmost confidence in Chris.”
“He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
Wray’s name came up in a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report on allegations of politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. The hiring process, the report concluded, was “fundamentally changed” to give political appointees more input. Data showed that applicants with Democratic or liberal affiliations were “deselected at a significantly higher rate” than candidates with conservative or neutral affiliations. Wray told the IG that politics and ideology only came up as part of an effort to make the programs more inclusive.
From the report:
He said there was a perception that in past administrations the career employees doing the screening may have weeded out candidates because the selecting officials were not ‘comfortable with their political persuasion.’ He said the political persuasion he was referring to pertained to candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, ‘whether you call that conservative or not.’
Wray was interviewed for the job last week, the White House said. Trump was also said to have considered politicians including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and, mostly notably, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). He appeared to reverse course following pushback from Democrats.
The president fired former FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, last month. Andrew McCabe, who started with the FBI in 1996 and served as deputy director under Comey, was named the acting director at the time.
Comey is set to testify in front of the Senate on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5913153ce4b05e1ca2038536,5912540fe4b050bdca608c2b,5913295de4b0a58297e15a3f,58dbbbfbe4b054637063e07f,580a6994e4b02444efa3542b
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sSmUMF
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Donald Trump To Nominate Christopher A. Wray For FBI Director
President Donald Trump will nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next director of the FBI, he announced on Wednesday.
Wray served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. The Yale Law School graduate now works as an attorney in private practice.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the wake of the so-called Bridgegate scandal. Christie told NorthJersey.com that he had “the utmost confidence in Chris.”
“He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
Wray’s name came up in a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report on allegations of politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. The hiring process, the report concluded, was “fundamentally changed” to give political appointees more input. Data showed that applicants with Democratic or liberal affiliations were “deselected at a significantly higher rate” than candidates with conservative or neutral affiliations. Wray told the IG that politics and ideology only came up as part of an effort to make the programs more inclusive.
From the report:
He said there was a perception that in past administrations the career employees doing the screening may have weeded out candidates because the selecting officials were not ‘comfortable with their political persuasion.’ He said the political persuasion he was referring to pertained to candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, ‘whether you call that conservative or not.’
Wray was interviewed for the job last week, the White House said. Trump was also said to have considered politicians including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and, mostly notably, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). He appeared to reverse course following pushback from Democrats.
The president fired former FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, last month. Andrew McCabe, who started with the FBI in 1996 and served as deputy director under Comey, was named the acting director at the time.
Comey is set to testify in front of the Senate on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5913153ce4b05e1ca2038536,5912540fe4b050bdca608c2b,5913295de4b0a58297e15a3f,58dbbbfbe4b054637063e07f,580a6994e4b02444efa3542b
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sSmUMF
0 notes
Text
Donald Trump To Nominate Christopher A. Wray For FBI Director
President Donald Trump will nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next director of the FBI, he announced on Wednesday.
Wray served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. The Yale Law School graduate now works as an attorney in private practice.
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017
Wray represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the wake of the so-called Bridgegate scandal. Christie told NorthJersey.com that he had “the utmost confidence in Chris.”
“He’s an outstanding lawyer,” Christie said. “He has absolute integrity and honesty, and I think that the president certainly would not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director.”
Wray’s name came up in a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report on allegations of politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. The hiring process, the report concluded, was “fundamentally changed” to give political appointees more input. Data showed that applicants with Democratic or liberal affiliations were “deselected at a significantly higher rate” than candidates with conservative or neutral affiliations. Wray told the IG that politics and ideology only came up as part of an effort to make the programs more inclusive.
From the report:
He said there was a perception that in past administrations the career employees doing the screening may have weeded out candidates because the selecting officials were not ‘comfortable with their political persuasion.’ He said the political persuasion he was referring to pertained to candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, ‘whether you call that conservative or not.’
Wray was interviewed for the job last week, the White House said. Trump was also said to have considered politicians including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and, mostly notably, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). He appeared to reverse course following pushback from Democrats.
The president fired former FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, last month. Andrew McCabe, who started with the FBI in 1996 and served as deputy director under Comey, was named the acting director at the time.
Comey is set to testify in front of the Senate on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5913153ce4b05e1ca2038536,5912540fe4b050bdca608c2b,5913295de4b0a58297e15a3f,58dbbbfbe4b054637063e07f,580a6994e4b02444efa3542b
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sSmUMF
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