Thursday, June 4, 2015

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FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer admits bribes


Former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer told a U.S. federal judge that he and others on the governing body's ruling panel agreed to receive bribes in the votes for the hosts of the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.
Prosecutors unsealed a 40-page transcript Wednesday of the hearing in U.S. District Court on Nov. 25, 2013, when Blazer pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.
Blazer, in admitting 10 counts of illegal conduct, told the court of his conduct surrounding the vote that made South Africa the first nation on that continent to host soccer's premier event.
"Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup," Blazer told U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie.
Blazer was the No. 2 official of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region from 1990-2011 and served on FIFA's executive committee from 1997-2013. South Africa defeated Morocco 14-10 in the host vote.
South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant sent a letter to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke in 2008 asking FIFA to withhold $10 million from the budget of the 2010 World Cup organizers and to use the money to finance a "Diaspora Legacy Programme" under the control of then CONCACAF President Jack Warner. South Africa Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula denies the money was a bribe and says it was an "aboveboard payment" to help soccer development in Caribbean region.
Blazer also said he was involved in bribes around 1992 in the vote for the 1998 World Cup host, won by France over Morocco 12-7.
Warner was among 14 soccer officials and businessmen named in an indictment announced last week, and those charges said a Moroccan bid representative offered a $1 million bid payment. Blazer, whose guilty plea was made public last week, said he agreed with others "to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe."
He also admitted to corruption involving the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the region's top national team tournament which he helped launch in 1991.
"Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups," Blazer said.
While many of the allegations were made public last week, the transcript of the closed-court hearing in Brooklyn more than 1 1/2 years ago put them in the first-person voice of Blazer, once the most powerful soccer official in the United States. Blazer's allegations have assisted an investigation by U.S. prosecutors, who foresee additional people being charged.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who has run the governing body since 1998, said Tuesday he will be resigning, an announcement made six days after the indictments were unsealed and four days after he was elected to a fifth term. A new president will be chosen by FIFA's 209 member nations and territories, likely between December and March.
Now 70, Blazer was wheelchair-bound at the hearing, according to Dearie. Blazer told the court he had received chemotherapy and radiation for rectal cancer, and he also suffered from diabetes and coronary artery disease.
Dearie said prosecutors "identify FIFA and its attendant or related constituent organization as what we call an enterprise, a RICO, enterprise."
"RICO is an acronym for, and don't overreact to this as I am sure most people do, Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization," the judge said.
Blazer forfeited over $1.9 million at the time of his pleas to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. He agreed to pay a second amount to be determined at the time of sentencing.
Four sections of the transcript were redacted by prosecutors, presumably to protect avenues of their investigation.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry reportedly will join 2016 GOP field


Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry will announce Thursday that he will seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, according to a report.
The Associated Press, citing a senior Perry adviser, said that he would formally declare his candidacy at an event in Dallas. The adviser requested anonymity to speak ahead of the formal announcement.
Perry would become the tenth Republican to enter the race for the White House. He has already made several visits to the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, and will look to erase the memories of his disappointing 2012 campaign.
When Perry entered the Republican race last cycle, he was considered to be among the front-runners. Then, at a November 2011 debate in Michigan, he forgot the name of the third federal agency he said he would close if he was elected, then muttered "Oops." In that moment, he went from from powerhouse to punchline and gradually faded from contention.
However, Perry still has the policy record that made him an early force last time.
Perry left office in January after a record 14 years as governor of Texas. Under him, the state generated more than a third of America's new private-sector jobs since 2001.
While an oil and gas boom fueled much of that economic growth, Perry credits lower taxes, restrained regulation and limits on civil litigation damages. He also pushed offering economic incentives to lure top employers to Texas and repeatedly visited states with Democratic governors to poach jobs.
Perry was thought to be a cinch for four more years as governor in 2014, but instead turned back to White House ambitions. His effort may be complicated this time by a felony indictment on abuse of power and coercion charges, from when he threatened -- then carried out -- a veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors. That came when the unit's Democratic head rebuffed Perry's demands that she resign following a drunken driving conviction.
Perry calls the case against him a political "witch hunt," but his repeated efforts to get it tossed on constitutional grounds have so far proved unsuccessful. That raises the prospect he'll have to leave the campaign trail to head to court in Texas.
Perry blamed lingering pain from back surgery in the summer of 2011 for part of the reason he performed poorly in the 2012 campaign. He has ditched his trademark cowboy boots for more comfortable footwear and wears glasses that give him a serious look.
Perry also traveled extensively overseas and studied policy with experts and economists at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He met such business moguls as Warren Buffett and Rupert Murdoch.
Lately, Perry has traveled to Iowa, which kicks off presidential nomination voting, more than any GOP White House candidate.
"People realize that what the governor did in the high-profile debate, stumble, everyone has done at some point in their lives," said Ray Sullivan, Perry's chief of staff as governor and communications director for his 2012 presidential bid. "I think he's already earned a second look, particular in Iowa."
"I think he's kind of been freed up to be Rick Perry again," said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas political consultant who was director of state and federal campaigns for tea party-backed FreedomWorks before managing the re-election campaign of veteran Sen. John Cornyn last year. "That's going to give him a lot of freedom to do what he does best, which is talk to voters one-on-one, shake hands, do the small meetings."
As an underdog, Perry has visited out-of-the-way places in Iowa, often traveling with a single SUV rather than the busloads in his 2012 entourage. Steinhauser said Perry shouldn't "start out trying to be larger than life."
One thing Perry hopes to emulate from 2012 is his fundraising, when he amassed $18 million in the first six weeks. He has strong donor contacts nationwide as a former Republican Governors Association chairman. However, his indictments may cause some to hesitate to write him checks.
Perry's camp notes that many past Republican candidates, including Mitt Romney in 2012, rebounded to win the party's presidential nomination after failing in a previous bid. But GOP strategist Ford O'Connell said the 2016 field is "extremely talented and deep" compared to four years ago.
"For him to win the nomination," O'Connell said, "he's going to have to be great, but a lot of people are going to have to trip and fall along the way."

Texas gov poised to roll back 140-year-old open carry gun ban


The near-certain signing into law of an open-carry gun measure will send Texas back to the days of the Wild West – at least legislatively.
The bill, passed by the state Legislature and expected to earn Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature within the next week, would reverse a 140-year-old ban on carrying handguns in plain sight. Despite its reputation as a pro-gun state, Texas is one of just five with an outright ban on open carry.
“It’s a thumbs up for law-abiding citizens,” said Rep. Debbie Riddle. Riddle, a Republican who represents part of Houston and co-sponsored the bill. “Everywhere there is a denial of Second Amendment rights, crime is through the roof.  It’s a deterrent. If someone is going to rob a convenience store and there are other people inside with guns on their hips, they might think twice.”
“Criminals aren’t afraid of prison, they’re afraid of getting shot."
- C.J. Grisham, Open Carry Texas
After a contentious debate, in which state Second Amendment advocates even clashed with National Rifle Association officials over their tactics, the bill cleared both Republican-majority chambers along party lines. A related bill also awaiting Abbott’s likely signature would allow students and faculty members at public and private universities in Texas to carry concealed handguns into classrooms, dormitories and other buildings.
Texas is currently one of five states that does not allow licensed handgun owners to carry their weapons openly. The others are Florida, New York, Illinois and South Carolina, as well as Washington, DC. Several other states have such strict gun ownership laws that gun rights advocates consider them to have de facto bans on concealed or open carrying of weapons.
Critics say the relaxed gun regulations could spur an increase in crime, or at the least, accidental shootings.
"As a gun-owning Texas mom, this is not the Texas I want for my family or community," said Sandy Chasse with the Texas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
But supporters counter that guns in plain sight will deter crime.
“Criminals aren’t afraid of prison, they’re afraid of getting shot,” said C.J. Grisham, president and CEO of Open Carry Texas.
Grisham’s group held rallies across the state prior to the vote, including events at which members openly carried long guns, which was already legal in Texas. That tactic brought a rebuke from the NRA and cleaved a rift between the two Second Amendment advocacy groups.
"To those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to oneself or one's cause, it can be downright scary," the NRA said in an unusual statement. "It makes folks who might normally be perfectly open-minded about firearms feel uncomfortable and question the motives of pro-gun advocates."
The fact that the debate prompted the NRA and some Republicans to distance themselves from more hard-core gun-rights advocates in Texas was a victory for gun control, said Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,
“We saw the open carry debate in Texas this session as a win for gun violence prevention advocates,” said Everitt, who alleged that open-carry activists threatened to shoot legislators. “The goal all along here for Open Carry advocates was permitless open carry of handguns. They have failed at that, and the question now becomes what types of threats and violence are we likely to see before Texas legislators take up business again in 2017?”
Like the current concealed handgun law, the bill awaiting Abbott’s signature requires anyone wishing to openly carry a handgun to get a license. Applicants must be 21, pass a background check and get firearms training.
There are 44 other states in the Union with open carry laws already on the books.
Some 850,000 Texans already have permits to carry cooncealed weapons, according to said John Lott, president of the pro-Second Amerndment Crime Prevention Research Center, and a Fox News contributor. Since licensed gun owners commit firearms violations at a very low rate, Lott said, simply allowing them to carry guns openly will not create any new dangers for law-abiding citizens.
The notion that Texans who open carry their guns will start shooting each other is absurd,” Lott said. “Just because those people can now carry openly won’t change that, any more than the 44 other states that already allow open carry.”
A 2013 Texas Department of Public Safety study found only .3 percent of convicted crimes were committed by those holding a Concealed Handgun License.
Abbott, who has 10 days to sign the bill into law, has been a vocal proponent of “expanding the Second Amendment,” even tweeting after the measure passed: “Next destination: My Pen.”
If signed, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2016.

Fox News Poll: Bush, Walker, Carson top GOP pack, support for Clinton down



National security is a much bigger issue for Republicans this time than during the last primary.  And more GOP hopefuls make it official -- yet they barely move the needle.  Bernie Sanders nearly doubles his numbers and support for Hillary Clinton dips -- even as Democrats say they’re not concerned about allegations of her dishonesty.
These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election.
There’s no true frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination - and not all the candidates in the poll have declared yet. The new poll, released Wednesday, finds three Republicans receiving double-digit backing from GOP primary voters:  former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker each receive 12 percent and neurosurgeon Ben Carson gets 11 percent.
They are followed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 9 percent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 8 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 7 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 6 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 5 percent.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will make his candidacy official Thursday, and businessman Donald Trump get 4 percent each.
Three Republicans officially threw their hat in the ring recently. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham announced June 1, former New York Gov. George Pataki announced May 28 and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum declared May 27.  Each receives 2 percent.
Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich also each garner 2 percent.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
The top four favorites among the Tea Party movement are Walker (22 percent), Cruz (17 percent), Carson (12 percent) and Paul (11 percent).
It’s no wonder the GOP race is so splintered.  Of the candidates tested, about one in five Republican primary voters say they would “definitely” vote for six of them: Walker (22 percent), Carson (21 percent), Rubio (21 percent), Bush (20 percent), Cruz (19 percent) and Paul (19 percent).
More than half say they would “never” support Trump (59 percent).  That’s the highest number saying they would never vote for a particular candidate.  Christie comes next (37 percent), followed by Bush and Huckabee (24 percent each) and Paul (20 percent).
Bush alone has the distinction of being in the top five of both the “definitely” and the “never” vote for lists.
Walker, who is still unannounced, looks especially well-positioned among GOP primary voters.  Not only does he have the highest number saying they would “definitely” vote for him (22 percent), but he also has the lowest “never” vote for number of those tested (eight percent).
GOP voters are most likely to “want more info about” Kasich (60 percent), Fiorina (55 percent) and Walker (47 percent).
The priorities of Republican primary voters have changed significantly since last time around.  Forty-six percent say economic issues will be most important in deciding their vote for the GOP nomination.  That’s down 30 percentage points from the 76 percent who said the same in 2011.  And 36 percent now say national security will be their deciding issue -- more than four times the 8 percent that said so four years ago. For 12 percent, social issues will be most important, up from six percent.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the clear frontrunner for the nomination with 57 percent support among self-identified Democratic primary voters. Still, that’s down from 63 percent last month, and marks only the second time in more than a year that support for Clinton is below 60 percent.  Her highest support was 69 percent in April 2014.
At the same time, support for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders nearly doubled, from six percent last month to 11 percent now.  He was at 4 percent in April.
The most recent Democratic contender to jump in the race, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, garners 4 percent.  That’s a nice bump from the less than one percent support he got before his May 30 announcement.  Vice President Joe Biden (8 percent) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (7 percent) -- both are undeclared -- still best O’Malley.
Despite Clinton controlling the field, most Democratic voters -- 69 percent -- say someone else could still win the nomination. That’s more than twice the 28 percent who say the race is over.
Most Democratic primary voters, 68 percent, say they are not worried about allegations of Clinton’s dishonesty and unethical behavior.  Thirty-one percent are concerned, including 10 percent who feel “very concerned.”
For the broader electorate, however, recent allegations against Clinton may be more problematic. A 61-percent majority of voters thinks it is at least somewhat likely that the Clintons were “selling influence to foreign contributors” who made donations to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.  A significant minority of Democrats (41 percent) feels that way, as do a majority of independents (66 percent) and most Republicans (82 percent).
Pollpourri
Would you rather the next president be a Democrat or a Republican?  The poll asks voters that simple question and finds … a split!  Forty percent prefer a Democrat and 39 percent a Republican.  The results are also evenly divided among independents: 24 percent say Democrat, 24 percent Republican and 35 percent “other.”
By a 51-39 percent margin, more voters say it would be “a bad thing for the country” if a Democrat wins the presidential election and continues President Obama’s policies.  That includes 88 percent of Republicans, 52 percent of independents and 20 percent of Democrats.
About the same number of voters says they would be “very” interested in watching a presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush (38 percent), as they would between Clinton and Fiorina, the other female candidate (35 percent), or between Clinton and Paul (35 percent).
And women are as likely to want to watch Clinton debate Bush (37 percent) as they are to want to see Clinton debate Fiorina (36 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,006 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from May 31-June 2, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The margin of error is higher among the subgroups of Democratic and Republican primary voters (+/-5%).

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