Riddle, Conyers Teamed Up To Extort At Least $65,000, U.S. Says

Sam Riddle. File photo by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/DFP

From The Detroit Free Press:

Ex-state legislator Mary Waters also indicted.

Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle was indicted today on a host of federal charges ranging from bribery to extortion, mail fraud and making false statements and court documents contend that former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers participated at every turn of the conspiracy.

Also charged was former state legislator Mary Waters, who lives with Riddle. The pair were charged with conspiracy to bribe and two counts of bribery stemming from their alleged roles in helping a Southfield pawnshop relocate and expand in that city.

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Ethics Probe Of Rep. Conyers Sought

Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project. ASSOCIATED PRESS

From the Washington Times:

Group decries letter to EPA on project tied to wife's deals.

The Landmark Legal Foundation filed Monday a House ethics complaint against Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, over his role in writing a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency that supported a waste project tied to his wife, a former Detroit City Council member who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

The foundation, a conservative public interest law firm in Virginia, called Mr. Conyers' actions in his wife's political dealings "very serious allegations." Mr. Conyers is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a powerful member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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My Comment: I doubt that this probe will amount to anything. The Democrats have a lock on the Congress, and they are not going to permit one of their more senior Black Congressmen to lose his seat or going to jail.

Conyers Supported Project Linked To Wife

ASSOCIATED PRESS Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project.

From Washington Times:

Had opposed hazardous waste site in Michigan

Rep. John Conyers Jr. reversed his opposition to a controversial hazardous waste project in his district, writing a letter of support to the federal government with the help of his wife, former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, whose aide later linked her to receiving money from the contractor in the project.

The letter, sent in July 2007, was written in support of permit transfers for a hazardous waste injection well project in the city of Romulus, Mich., which was operated by a company with ties to Mrs. Conyers, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal investigation unrelated to the hazardous waste project.

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My Comment: This looks bad on every level.

Conyers's Wife Resigns After Conviction

From The Hill:

Monica Conyers, wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), submitted her resignation from the Detroit City Council on Monday following a bribery conviction.

Conyers will leave the council effective next Monday after pleading guilty to charges that she sold her vote on a recycling contract.

Conyers had hoped to keep her seat, but Monday morning a majority of the council's other members said they would move to force her from the body, the Detroit Free Press reported. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R) also said he would move to force her removal.

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My Comment: Good riddance.

Who Killed ACORN Probe?

GETTY IMAGES Businessmen walk by members of the activist housing group ACORN protesting in front of Wall Street on June 16 in New York City. Members of the group, many of whom are facing foreclosure, demanded that the Obama administration give more attention to resolving the foreclosure crisis.

From The Washington Times:

Powerful chairman's squirrelly excuse blames 'powers that be'.

Who told House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Michigan Democrat, to lay off the radical activist group ACORN?

The 23-term congressman, who has been enamored of the aggressively partisan group for years, gave a truly odd explanation last week when he reaffirmed a May 4 statement that a probe of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) "appears unwarranted at this time."

"The powers that be decided against it," he said Wednesday, refusing to elaborate. His spokesman Jonathan Godfrey later said Mr. Conyers was referring to himself as "the powers that be." Unless you believe that "the powers that be" is a novel variation of the editorial "we," it's clear Mr. Conyers wasn't referring to himself and that somebody "got" to him.

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My Comment: No one in the Democratic Party is going to destroy the hand that feeds them .... and ACORN is one of them.

Conyers Keeps Away From Wife’s Legal Troubles

Photo: Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit bribery Friday. Paul Sancya / AP

From MSNBC:

Congressman's career appears immune from bribery charges against wife.

DETROIT - On the day City Councilwoman Monica Conyers stepped into a federal courtroom at home in Detroit to plead guilty to bribery, her husband was at home in Washington. Several of Rep. John Conyers' colleagues in the U.S. House said they weren't aware his wife could soon wind up spending five years in prison.

Rather than take the easy shot, the top Republican on the House ethics committee declined to comment. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said "it shouldn't have any impact at all" on John Conyers' work in the House.

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My Comment: The greed from these people is unbelievable.