Victor Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia appointed by President Bill Clinton, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for spying on behalf of communist Cuba.
Rocha pled guilty to charges that he worked for Cuba's spy service for decades on Friday. Prosecutors described Rocha's case as the longest-running betrayal of the U.S. government in history.
Rocha allegedly spent 40 years spying for Cuba and planned to fight the charges when he denied his guilt in February.
However, it quickly became apparent that the case against him was too strong and Rocha opted to take the easy way out by pleading guilty and catching 15 years in prison which seems extraordinarily lenient.
Prosecutors gave Rocha a plea deal for 15 years and U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom took issue with that in the hearing on Friday.
Since Rocha's citizenship was left intact and no recourse for possible victims was discussed, some expected Judge Bloom to reject the plea deal on the grounds that it was too lenient.
However, prosecutors defended their plea deal stating that since Rocha is 73, there is a strong chance that he will die in prison before his release day in 2039.
The plea deal was also amended to include restitution for potential victims of Rocha's spying activities.
The question of his citizenship is still undecided and will likely be decided in a future civil case.
David Newman, a top national security official at the Justice Department, issued a statement saying, "For most of his life, Mr. Rocha lived a lie. While holding various senior positions in the U.S. government, he was secretly acting as the Cuban government's agent. That is a staggering betrayal of the American people."
While Rocha will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, there are still questions that need to be answered about how a double agent was allowed to spy on the United States for Cuba for nearly half a century.
Rocha first joined the State Department in 1981 and bounced around a handful of different positions for the next two decades. He became an ambassador thanks to Bill Clinton and that raises questions about how many other individuals with other loyalties have climbed the ranks.
The FBI began their investigation of Rocha in 2022 and when he met with an undercover agent he reportedly referred to the U.S. as "the enemy."
Rocha also reportedly told the agent that “What has been done, has strengthened the Revolution. It has strengthened it immensely." In light of that, 15 years in prison seems criminally soft. Capital punishment for such a betrayal would be more appropriate.
Former First Lady Hillary Clinton and her husband former President Bill Clinton were among the guests at a state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday.
The guest list included more than 200 politicians, officials and celebrities and continued a long tradition of honoring alliances between the U.S. and other nations.
Biden's Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and his wife Mary were there, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Biden's cabinet including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, impeached Director of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, all with their spouses or significant others.
Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Kathy Hochul of New York were there, along with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, all Democrats.
CIA Director William J. Burns was there, and so was Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and several of his family members. A few other ambassadors were also present.
A number of Democrat House members and Senators were also present, most notably Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (R), the minority leader of the House. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R) seemed to be the token Republican politician at the dinner.
Celebrities in attendance included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Japanese-American figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, actor Robert DeNiro, and best-selling self-help author Jon Gray.
The dinner was spring-themed with flowers common to both nations including sweet peas, peonies and hydrangeas.
Satin and glass butterflies were also used as decorations on the tables.
The floor was covered to look like a koi pond, including cherry blossoms and lily pads for the guests to walk on.
The colors green, blue and pink represented the growth of friendship, stability and security and pink spring's essence, respectively.
The food included such traditional foods as shiso leaf fritters and salmon, along with dry-aged rib-eye steak with blistered shishito pepper butter, sesame oil sabayon, and matcha ganache over a salted caramel pistachio cake.
Cherry ice cream with raspberry drizzle was also served.
Other former presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and George W. Bush and their wives did not attend the dinner, so it is not clear whether Clinton's presence there was related to her continued interest in being part of the government at the highest levels--maybe as a stand-in for the current ailing, declining commander in chief?
As oral arguments approach, federal judges have granted the release of some defendants from prison on January 6 pending the outcome of an appeal to the United States Supreme Court concerning interpretations of obstructing an official proceeding.
Federal judges' decisions to release a "handful" of defendants amidst the appeal in the Fischer v. United States case were reported by The Washington Post. Others are slated for release in the near future, while some have already been released, as Breitbart News reported.
“Judges said they were acting because the high-court review significantly raised the possibility the felony convictions might be overturned,” noted the Post’s Spencer S. Hsu.
More than one hundred January 6 defendants, whose sole felony allegation is obstruction of an official proceeding, may be significantly impacted by this case, according to the Post.
Additionally, the federal case filed by former President Donald Trump challenging the 2020 election results is influenced by this development.
Bradley Jaye, a Capitol Hill correspondent for Breitbart News, reported in December that the judicial scope of obstruction of an official proceeding, which was established in the wake of the Enron scandal, is a central issue in the Fischer case:
The defendant, Joseph Fischer, was indicted on seven charges after January 6, but the charge in question is a count under a provision enacted after the Enron scandal for anyone who “corruptly … obstructs, influences and impedes any official proceeding,” known as 18 U.S.C. 1512.
Trump’s allies argue that the provision was clearly intended to cover the destruction of evidence related to white-collar crime and that the Supreme Court’s decision to examine this issue is bad news for U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the government’s broad interpretation of the statute.
Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding and Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding are two of the four allegations against Trump in his case.
Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Conspiracy Against Rights are several more accusations the former president is facing.
Former U.S. Ambassador Ken Blackwell told Breitbart News in December, when the court decided to hear Fischer's case, “The criminal law at issue here is the heart of Jack Smith’s prosecution of President Trump.”
“Biden’s Justice Department now must try justifying pursuing President Trump,” he added. “The result should be that the courts will hold that this statute does not apply to these facts.
"This is a power grab where those in power are desperately attempting to jail Biden’s leading 2024 rival.”
In light of Trump's challenge to his own immunity, the trial start date for his case, which was originally scheduled for March 4, the eve of Super Tuesday, has been postponed.
The Fischer case will witness the presentation of oral arguments on Tuesday. Fischer v. United States, case number 23-5572, is being heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.
On April 9, 2024, protesters who expressed their opposition to Israel's way of retaliating to the attacks on their nation from last October marched through the United States Capitol complex.
Anti-Israel protestors shut down the cafeteria of the Senate on Tuesday, yelling "Senate can't eat until Gaza eats!" This led to the detention of more than fifty individuals, as Fox News reported.
Those who were arrested inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, District of Columbia, were ultimately charged with Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommodating, according to the United States Capitol Police, who confirmed this information to Fox News.
"It is illegal to demonstrate inside any of the Congressional Buildings," Capitol Police said in a statement.
From the Video
Demonstrators can be seen in a video that was obtained by Fox News strolling through the hallways of the building while raising their hands and chanting phrases such as "Children are starving in Gaza" and "People are dying in Gaza."
There was a woman who was wearing a shirt that stated, "Biden's legacy = Genocide."
There has been a lot of pressure put on Biden because of the increasing number of civilian deaths that have occurred as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.
This war began on October 7 of the previous year, when the terrorist group based in Gaza launched an unexpected attack on Israel.
According to a source who spoke with Fox News, Capitol Police at one point yelled, "Everybody out or be placed under arrest!" In response, a demonstrator retorted, "This is the house of the people!"
Some of the individuals who participated in the demonstration looked to be the same individuals who disrupted the testimony of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a hearing that took place this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
During the month of March, the Russell Senate Office Building was the location where more than a dozen pro-Palestinian activists were taken into custody.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrators could be heard repeatedly chanting, "We call for a permanent cease-fire," in the rotunda of the government building, which is connected to the U.S. Capitol.
Fox News was told by one source that Capitol Police at one point shouted, "Everybody out or be placed under arrest," to which a protester replied, "This is the house of the people!"
The demonstrators were chanting, "We call for a permanent cease-fire," in the rotunda of the government building, which is connected to the U.S. Capitol.
A man suspected of setting fire to the door of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Vermont office when staffers were working inside has been arrested and charged with several felonies, according to Burlington police.
Shant Soghomonian, 35, was arrested at a La Quinta Inn in Burlington early Sunday morning after he was recognized from surveillance photos.
He allegedly poured lighter fluid on Sanders' office door around 10:45 a.m. on Friday morning and lit the door on fire as seven of Sanders' staffers were working inside.
The workers were briefly trapped, but firefighters quickly extinguished the flames before anyone could be hurt.
There was significant damage to the building because of the fire, firefighters' efforts, and a sprinkler system in the building.
The office was on the third floor of the building, and Soghomonian was seen on surveillance video entering the building and going up to the third floor.
There is still no known motive for setting the fire, according to police.
Sanders was not in the office when the fire occurred.
Because the building was also used in interstate commerce, police charged Soghomonian with using fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce.
The penalty for these charges is 5 to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.
It was not known whether Soghomonian had legal counsel. A hearing on the charges has not yet been scheduled, either.
"I am deeply grateful to the swift, professional, coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement in response to the fire at my Vermont office on Friday," Sanders said in a statement. "I am also thankful that none of the many people who were in the office building at the time of the fire were injured."
"I appreciate the outpouring of support and well-wishes for me and my staff. We are proud to be able to continue to serve Vermonters during these challenging times," he went on.
Sanders is an independent senator who caucuses with Democrats. He has been in the Senate for 18 years.
Convicted killer Brian Dorsey has appealed his death sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court, just one day before he is set to be executed by the state of Missouri for killing his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben, then having sexual intercourse with Bonnie's corpse.
Dorsey pleaded guilty to the 2006 first-degree murders in 2008 and has spent 17 years on death row awaiting his execution and serving out his sentence.
He may not have had adequate legal representation in his trial back then, and it was never presented to the court that Dorsey was in the middle of a drug-induced psychotic break after going 72 hours without sleep when he committed the murders.
The couple went to his house when Dorsey asked for help getting rid of some drug dealers on his property, and after they helped him, he went to their house with them to stay there. The couple's four-year-old daughter was in the house when he killed them and was found the next morning when Sarah's parents went to check on them.
He waited until they went to sleep, then shot them both. He took Sarah's Social Security card and other items and poured bleach on Sarah's genitalia to try to destroy DNA evidence of his crimes.
After he killed the couple, he met up with another woman with whom he had used drugs and from whom he had borrowed drug money, and gave her items he had taken from them as payment for the drugs.
Police went on to recover DNA from Sarah's body, and it matched to Dorsey or a male relative to a .23% certainly.
Although Dorsey admitted to the heinous killings just days after they happened, he has put forward numerous appeals trying to save his life.
In January 2024, numerous police and corrections officers asked Governor Mike Parson (R) for clemency for Dorsey, citing his good behavior and lack of problems in the prison setting.
In a letter, the officers said Dorsey "has stayed out of trouble, never gotten himself into any situations, and been respectful of us and of his fellow inmates."
After the Missouri Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal on Sunday, Parson also denied a last-minute request to stay the execution.
“The pain Dorsey brought to others can never be rectified, but carrying out Dorsey’s sentence according to Missouri law and the Court’s order will deliver justice and provide closure,” Parson said in a news release.
Lawyers for Dorsey argued that it would not be legal to execute Dorsey on Tuesday because he had been rehabilitated.
“Gov. Parson has chosen to ignore the wealth of information before him showing that Brian Dorsey is uniquely deserving of mercy,”Dorsey’s attorney Megan Crane wrote.
Joe Brennan, the former Governor of Maine, was found dead in his Portland, Maine, home on Friday evening at the age of 89.
Brennan spent over half a century in politics and was one of the biggest power players in Maine's political theater. His career began all the way back in 1965 serving terms in both houses of the state legislature.
He would briefly serve as a district attorney and then would become the state attorney general which put him in a prime position to shoot for the top.
In 1978, Brennan ran for Governor and won the election, and then won another term in 1982.
Following his two terms in the Governor's Mansion, Brennan then ran to represent Maine’s 1st Congressional District in 1986 and served as a Representative to Congress for two terms.
Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) issued a statement in recognition of Brennan's passing celebrating his contributions to Maine and his years in public service.
Mills stated, "Maine and the nation have lost a great public servant, and I have lost a friend… Joe Brennan never stopped working to improve the lives of Maine people."
Mills has a long history with Brennan as he appointed her to be Maine's first female district attorney in 1980.
She would continue to make firsts by becoming Maine's first female governor in 2019.
She credits much of her success in politics to Brennan and as such recognized that without him, she wouldn't be where she is today.
Her statement continued, "Governor Brennan demonstrated for me and others that politics is about building relationships, that public service is not about enriching yourself but about enriching the lives of others, and that the most important relationship is the one we have with the people we serve."
Brennan advertised himself as a working-class Democrat, who have become increasingly rare in the present day. He was one of eight siblings born to Irish immigrants and was an Army veteran serving from 1953 to 1955.
He was well-liked in Democrat circles and rubbed shoulders with the likes of former President Joe Biden who was a Senator for Delaware at the time.
Brennan's passing is yet another reminder that American politics has changed radically in the past half-century and the old familiar faces are mostly gone now.
President Joe Biden is planning to defy the Supreme Court's ruling on student debt loan forgiveness ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The Biden administration will reportedly reveal proposed regulations offering sweeping bailouts next week the WSJ reported that Biden's inner circle hopes "to use the rules to begin canceling waves of student debt in the run-up to the November election."
The motive is clear, Biden has already been smacked down by the Supreme Court but he is determined to pursue student loan forgiveness as it effectively amounts to bribes for millions of votes.
Biden's campaign wants student debt forgiveness in the "run-up" to November because Biden needs every vote he can get to try and beat former President Donald Trump.
Since Biden was first rebuffed by the Supreme Court, he has forgiven $138 billion in federal student loans for almost 3.9 million borrowers.
He did this all while openly and proudly flouting the Supreme Court while circumventing Congress which is responsible for authorizing federal financial moves.
The motivation is strong for this flagrant violation of the rules. Not only is Biden falling behind Trump in the polls, he is falling behind with young voters who were a big part of what helped him win the election in 2020.
Young voters are thoroughly disillusioned with Biden, in large part because of the promises Biden made when it came to forgiving student debt.
Biden originally wanted to forgive $430 billion in student loan debt for 43 million borrowers before the Supreme Court slammed the brakes on that plan.
In February following that decision, Biden issued a statement saying "In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on my Administration’s original student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible."
It should concern Americans that President Biden is so brazenly declaring his defiance of the Supreme Court. So much for restoring normalcy to American politics.
Had the Supreme Court allowed Biden's bribery scheme to go through, he would have arguably paid for millions of votes in what will be a hotly contested election.
One can only imagine the outrage from the left if Donald Trump had done something remotely similar a year before the election. It would be one thing if Congress authorized this idea, but Biden is doing this unilaterally.
The Supreme Court won't support him and neither will Congress but Biden is determined to buy those votes because if he fails it'll cost him a second term in the White House.
The Inquisitr published an article yesterday claiming that Twitter (now known as X) is "ablaze" with rumors that former President Donald Trump's youngest son Barron was actually fathered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even though the posts they referenced were five months to almost 18 months old.
"The theory, although unverified and lacking credible evidence, has captured the attention of many online users, leading to a flurry of speculation and debate," the tabloid wrote. The rumor gained traction when a series of photographs surfaced which were taken during a diplomatic summit where world leaders and their spouses gathered for a 'family photo.' One specific image showed a smiling Melania greeting Trudeau that sparked imaginations across social media platforms."
The first X post referenced by the Inquisitr showed a photo of Melania Trump smiling at Trudeau while greeting him. The post was from November 2023 and has since been deleted. This one shows a similar photo and is from 2021.
Barron Trump. Anybody know how tall Justin Trudeau is? pic.twitter.com/lIJfZTByBy
— JRock (@zeroslack1) July 8, 2021
The photo looks suggestive like the two are about to kiss, but she's right next to her husband and is holding his hand, so it's much more likely they were doing European-style cheek kisses and the camera caught her at just the right moment to make it seem like she was looking at him suggestively.
Barron is a dead ringer for his old man (Trump, not Trudeau), so it is extremely farfetched to question his paternity and even more so to suggest there are a lot of people on Twitter doing so today.
Following this ridiculous narrative, the Inquisitr got down to its real business, using the Barron Trump so-called rumors to spend the bulk of the article rehashing the 18 sexual harassment and assault claims against Trump.
The publication tries to make it seem like anyone who has that many people make claims about him must be guilty, forgetting that there are millions of Democrat women in the U.S. who hate Trump with a passion and would gladly join the chorus of voices trying to make him look like a sexual harasser or abuser.
The Inquisitr also makes it a point to say that Trump defended Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh through the allegations about him, making it sound as if sexual predators would naturally stick together and painting them both with a guilty brush even though none of the accusations against either of them has actually stuck.
This is the real point of the article, to malign Trump in any way possible.
Who would want to vote for a cuckolded, womanizing person for president, right?
With Trump leading in most polls seven months before the election, it is clear that many people are refusing to believe the bad press about Trump and instead looking at his successes during his first term.
Certainly, President Joe Biden has his own problems, and many voters are not enthused about another four years of economic stagnation, open borders, and a president who looks and sounds like he should be in a nursing home.
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan recently called for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to do something extreme.
Hasan initially made the comments on April 1, but he wasn't trying to fool anyone.
That's because they understand that Donald Trump taking the presidency in November 2024 might not only be possible, it might even be likely.
Liberals are terrified that Sotomayor won't be able to make it through four years of Trump and might retire during Donald's potential term from 2025 to 2029.
As a result, many liberals like Hasan are urging Sotomayor to step down so that Biden can replace her with a liberal judge before Donald Trump gets another chance at the presidency.
"With Joe Biden trailing Trump in several swing states and Democrats also in danger of losing their razor-thin majority in the Senate, are we really prepared for history to repeat itself? Sotomayor will turn 70 in June," Hassan said.
A few days later, he was on CNN defending his statements to the rest of the panel on Jake Tapper's show:
"I have PTSD from 2020, I think the Democrats didn‘t learn lessons. Look, what are we talking about, abortion rights. How did that happen? Dobbs [v. Jackson Women's Health Organization], how did the Florida decision happen today? [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis appointed five of the seven judges. Republicans are very good at stacking courts and getting their people on courts and thinking strategically about filling courts. Democrats aren't very good at seeing the power of the Supreme Court."
"And that’s why I worry. I worry that, why would you want to repeat history? Why take the risk? You have a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, and you have a justice who is about to turn 70," Hasan concluded.
Hasan even said that Sotomayor's choice about when to retire is so much bigger than her that it isn't just a matter of her personal choice. This is bigger than that.
"It shouldn‘t be a personal choice. The U.S. Supreme Court is one of the only supreme courts in a democratic world that has lifetime tenure. It’s mad, England doesn‘t have it. Belgium doesn‘t have it. Spain doesn‘t have it. Australia, New Zealand, you either have term limits or you have a 70 retirement age. What are people doing in their 80s on the Supreme Court? Or running for president, some might ask?"
"Biden, elected Democrats, and liberals and progressives across the board should be both publicly and privately encouraging Sotomayor to consider what she wants her legacy to be, to remember what happened with [Ruth Bader Ginsburg], and to not take any kind of gamble with the future of our democracy," Hasan had said in his column.
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