DL Open Thread: Friday, September 23, 2022

Jury Finds Project Veritas To Be–Not Truthful:

WASHINGTON — A jury in a federal civil case on Thursday found that Project Veritas, a conservative group known for its deceptive tactics, had violated wiretapping laws and fraudulently misrepresented itself as part of a lengthy sting operation against Democratic political consultants.

The jury awarded the consulting firm, Democracy Partners, $120,000. The decision amounted to a sharp rebuke of the practices that Project Veritas and its founder, James O’Keefe, have relied on. During the trial, lawyers for Project Veritas portrayed the operation as news gathering and its employees as journalists following the facts.

Reclaiming the truth–one lawsuit at a time.

Brett Favre-Unrepentant Asshole.  Along With Mississippi’s Rethug Governor. And ‘The Million Dollar Man-Ted DiBiase’ & His Son.  I mean, in the poorest state in the union (or confederacy, your choice), what could possibly be more important than diverting welfare funds to pay for a volleyball facility at the school where Favre’s daughter went?  Absolute corruption corrupting absolutely:

John Davis, the former Mississippi Department of Human Services director who presided as a massive welfare fraud scandal unfolded, plead guilty on Thursday morning to multiple federal and state charges relating to the misuse of funds meant for poor families with children. Court filings say he has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in cases against other potential defendants. U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves accepted the plea.

The filing said that Davis would “enter a guilty plea to five counts of Conspiracy and thirteen counts of Fraud Against the Government” and that “all parties have agreed that the Defendant, John Davis, will serve all of his incarcerated time in the custody of the Federal Bureau of prisons.” He is also pleading guilty to two federal charge involving allegations that he diverted money to a company owned by retired pro-wrestler Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr.

Teddy DiBiase has not been charged with a crime related to the welfare scandal, but his brother, Brett DiBiase, pleaded guilty on charges related to the TANF scandal in December 2020. Their father, retired pro-wrestler Ted DiBiase, Sr., known as the Million Dollar Man, also received millions in TANF funds for his Christian ministry from MSDH under Davis’ tenure, according to the state auditor and other investigators. The elder DiBiase has not been charged with a crime.

Since 2020, Davis has faced multiple state charges in Mississippi after an investigation found that MDHS misspent more than $77 million in welfare funds under his reign. That includes $1.1 million in Temporary Assistance For Needy Families funds that a non-profit organization, the Mississippi Community Education Center, gave to retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre for speeches that State Auditor Shad White says he never gave.

MCEC’s founder and former leader, Nancy New, and her son, Zach New, plead guilty to multiple charges in the welfare fraud scandal earlier this year and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Text messages between her, Brett Favre and former Gov. Phil Bryant show that they discussed using TANF funds to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi.

In his plea agreement on April 22, 2022, Zach New claimed that he “acted with” his mother “and others, at their direction, to disguise the USM construction project as a ‘lease’ as a means of circumventing the limited purpose grant’s strict prohibition against ‘brick and mortar’ construction projects in violation of Miss. Code Ann. 97-7-10.”

I LIVE for stories like this.  Read the whole thing, and get yer schadenfreude on.

How Michigan’s Largest Utility Abandons The State’s Neediest Citizens.  Now they want a rate hike. Um, not so fast:

A March investigation by ProPublica and Outlier Media revealed that DTE had cut service for nonpayment more than 200,000 times during the pandemic. In an August story, the news organizations showed how DTE had sold off old customer debt, an unusual financial maneuver by a Midwest utility. Reporters found that DTE had received just pennies for every dollar of debt it sold to a collections company owned by a private equity firm. The consequences were severe for thousands of Detroiters who were sued and in some cases had their wages garnished.

Following our article last month about debt sales, a spokesperson for Michigan’s office of the attorney general said it is “more closely examining” DTE’s debt sale practice. The spokesperson added that the attorney general plans to raise the issue in negotiations over DTE’s current and future regulatory cases, which are decided by the Michigan Public Service Commission.

In addition, Detroit council member Angela Whitfield Calloway, who represents part of the city’s northwest side, told ProPublica that she intends to ask DTE officials to appear before the City Council to face questions about the company’s shut-offs, outages and debt sales.

“Selling the debt in my opinion is egregious,” said Whitfield Calloway, who, following the March investigation, co-sponsored a resolution calling for DTE to put a one-year pause on electricity and gas shut-offs.

“What’s in it for DTE?” she asked. “You’re causing harm to your customers.”

The DTE rate proposal would bring in an additional $388 million in annual revenue from residential, commercial and industrial customers combined. About 60% of that revenue increase would come from residential customers, who would see rates increase by 8.8%. On Monday, an administrative law judge issued a proposed decision that would cut the revenue increase to $145.7 million. The commission has until Nov. 21 to issue a final order.

Surviving Koch Bro Pledged To Stop Supporting Election Deniers. Lied.  A dog-bites-man story.  Nevertheless:

Although the Koch-funded Super Pac AFP Action had suggested it would not back election deniers after 6 January, analysts aren’t shocked given Koch’s lobbying and legislative priorities, which include fighting various tax and regulatory measures related to fossil fuel issues including climate change that affect the company’s bottom line.

Koch spent $12.2m last year on lobbying – more than any other oil and gas company during 2021.

“Like other corporations pledging change following January 6, Koch Industries has returned to business as usual,” said Sheila Krumholz, who leads OpenSecrets.” Without repercussions and continued public attention, companies will go back to funding politicians who support their agenda.”

What do you want to talk about?