Everything Falls Apart–In The Carney Administration. Another scandal, another attempted cover-up:
A former Delaware Department of Labor supervisor embezzled more than $181,000 from the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund in 2023. The state did not reveal the theft publicly until officials were contacted by WHYY News, following a tip that money had been stolen from the trust fund.
Delaware employers pay into the fund, which pays out jobless benefits. After being contacted by WHYY News, the state’s DOL acknowledged that former unemployment insurance administrator, Michael Brittingham, stole the money last year. Brittingham took his own life in April 2023 shortly after he was told he was under investigation.
“I’m not sure how or why they tried to keep it quiet other than they don’t want to bring attention to the fact that everything is really screwed up,” said Laura Henderson, a tax collection manager for the state’s Unemployment Insurance Office. “It’s really crazy there, really crazy.”
Delaware’s Auditor of Accounts Lydia York said the fund was “unauditable” because independent auditors could not prove how much money was actually in the state’s UI trust fund for Fiscal Year 2023. York’s report comes after accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen issued a “disclaimer of opinions,” meaning it couldn’t rely on the state’s documentation to confirm bank statements that there was about $390 million in the reserve.
We are now seeing so many examples of utter incompetence under the so-called watch of John Carney. If Carney can’t even function as a competent administrator, what, exactly, does he offer? Same holds true for his Designated Ribbon-Cutter.
Great reporting from Sarah Mueller. Major sombrero-tip to Rufus Y. Kneedog.
Biden Finally Halts Arms Sales To Israel. Well, somewhere down the line. If they invade Rafah. As if Israel is gonna run out of weaponry any time soon:
President Biden said Wednesday that he would halt the shipment of U.S. offensive weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if the country moves ahead with a long-planned ground invasion of the city of Rafah — the first time he has threatened to withhold U.S. military aid and the most direct warning he has issued to Israel in the seven-month war.
Biden added that the United States would continue to provide Israel defensive weapons, including those for the Iron Dome anti-missile system, so it can protect itself from attacks like the one launched by Iran last month. But he made it clear that supplying offensive weapons for a major incursion into the civilian areas of Rafah was off the table.
Delay, Delay, Delay, Kill. Has there ever been a more blatant putting of one’s thumb on the scales of justice than what Judge Aileen Cannon has done in Florida? This case was considered a slam-dunk. So, she made sure it didn’t happen:
You’ve already seen the top line from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s new order yesterday: She is indefinitely delaying the trial of Donald Trump on charges he improperly retained classified documents post-presidency and obstructed justice to cover it up. But there were at least three headline-worthy decisions in the order: 1. Indefinite Delay. 2. Cannon is treating inane Trump claims as credible. 3. Cannon is in over her head.
I’ve never understood why, since the first rigged ruling, Jack Smith didn’t go to court and litigate for a new judge. Too late now.
There was apparently an attempt to oust the Speaker yesterday. It failed.
Most Important Development Project Since Rt. 1? Well, every time we’ve thrown money at the Port before, it’s been an undeniable success. Right?:
The Edgemoor port terminal site near the Port of Wilmington will get a big cash infusion, state officials announced Wednesday afternoon.
The State of Delaware plans to chip in $195 million, about a third of the $635 million committed to what the state says will be the “largest shipping terminal in Delaware since the current Port of Wilmington opened in 1923.”
The public-private partnership, with port operator Enstructure, will help create a “green port” that state officials say will quadruple the Wilmington port’s capacity for container cargo, and allow service to the new class of bigger container ships being sent through the world’s ports.
State officals call the new Edgemoor terminal the most important new infrastructure project in Delaware since Route 1.
The Jeff Bullock Redemption Tour? BTW, what, exactly, is a ‘green port’?
What do you want to talk about?