Test Taker Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Bribery Scam

BOSTON—A former Florida prep school administrator pleaded guilty on April 12 to taking college entrance exams for students in exchange for cash to help wealthy parents get their kids into elite universities. Mark Riddell admitted to secretly taking the ACT and SAT in place of students, or correcting their answers, as part of a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme, which has ensnared celebrities, business executives and athletic coaches at sought-after schools such as Stanford and Yale. Riddell, who has been cooperating with authorities since February in hopes of getting a lesser sentence, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

The 36-year-old, wearing a dark suit and glasses, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen explained that prosecutors will seek a sentence at the low end of the guidelines, which call for 33 to 41 months in prison. Riddell’s lawyer declined to comment and Riddell left the courthouse without answering questions from reporters. He said in a statement last month that he is “profoundly sorry” and takes full responsibility for his actions.

The Harvard graduate oversaw college entrance exam preparation at IMG Academy, a Bradenton school founded by renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri that bills itself as the world’s largest sports academy. Riddell has since been fired. Riddell was among 50 people charged last month in the scam, which embroiled elite universities across the country and laid bare the lengths to which status-seeking parents will go to secure their children a coveted spot. Others arrested include actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin along with Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli.

Authorities say the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme, Rick Singer, bribed test administrators to allow Riddell to pretend to proctor the exams for students so he could cheat on the tests. Singer typically paid Riddell $10,000 per test to rig the scores, prosecutors said. Riddell made more than $200,000 by cheating on over 25 exams, prosecutors said. In one case, authorities say Riddell flew to Canada and used a fake ID to pose as the son of Vancouver business David Sidoo to take the SAT in his place. Prosecutors say Singer told Riddell not to get too high of a score to prevent them from getting caught. Riddell also took a Canadian high school graduation exam for the student, authorities say. Sidoo has pleaded not guilty to paying Singer to facilitate the cheating and has denied the allegations against him.

Prosecutors say Riddell also flew to Los Angeles in 2017 to rig the SAT score for Huffman’s older daughter by secretly changing her answers. Huffman, the 56-year-old Emmy-winner who starred in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” and 12 other parents have agreed to plead guilty. Huffman is scheduled to appear in Boston on May 21 to enter her plea.

Attorney Andrew Lelling has said Riddell knew all the answers because he was “just a really smart guy.” In addition to the exam-rigging scheme, prosecutors say parents paid Singer tens of thousands of dollars to bribe coaches into pretending that their kids were athletic recruits to boost their chances of getting accepted. Parents who are still fighting the allegations—including Loughlin, 54, who appeared in the 1980s and ’90s sitcom “Full House”—were hit this week with a money laundering conspiracy charge on top of the mail fraud conspiracy charge they were already facing. Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters admitted as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team, even though neither of them play the sport. They haven’t publicly commented on the allegations. Singer flipped on the parents and helped the FBI build the case against for a chance at a lenient sentence. He pleaded guilty last month to charges including racketeering conspiracy.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/test-taker-pleads-guilty-in-college-admissions-bribery-scam_2878220.html

Ex-Clinton Official Leads ‘Dark Money’ Effort to Get Brett Kavanaugh Fired From Teaching Job: Report

A top aide to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign is now backing a push by activists to get Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh fired from his job as a teacher at George Mason University. Kavanaugh is scheduled to teach a course this summer at the school. A student group, “Mason For Survivors,” began circulating a petition in March that has attracted almost 5,000 signatures. The petition urges school officials to “terminate AND void ALL contracts and affiliation with Brett Kavanaugh at George Mason University.” It cites unsubstantiated allegations against Kavanaugh that arose during the tense confirmation hearings.

Three of the allegations led to criminal referrals for the people who made them and, according to lawmakers, clear evidence of lying emerged. Jeffrey Catalan claimed that he witnessed Kavanaugh commit assault but later recanted his claim; Julie Swetnick, represented from now-disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, claimed that Kavanaugh raped women in the 1980s before changing her story; and Judy Munro-Leighton accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her in a car but later admitted she’d made up the alleged incident. Christine Ford, the woman who made the first allegation and featured prominently by opposition to President Donald Trump, was unable to provide evidence to support her claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her decades prior. All four people she named as being present at the house where the alleged abuse said they couldn’t recall the incident, with several swearing they’d never met her.

The fresh campaign against Kavanaugh has been backed by Brian Fallon, a former press secretary for Clinton’s failed campaign who now heads Demand Justice, a liberal advocacy group that doesn’t disclose its funding, a practice known as “dark money.” The group began running advertisements on Facebook on April 10 urging people to sign the petition, targeting people with a connection to George Mason, reported the openly left-wing Huffington Post. “Brett Kavanaugh has been credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women whose allegations have not been thoroughly investigated,” Fallon said in a statement. “His confirmation to the Supreme Court does not absolve him of guilt, and he should not be given a platform to teach. We stand with survivors and urge the George Mason University administration to fire Kavanaugh.” Fallon’s group spent over $5 million in 2018 in an attempt to defeat Kavanaugh’s nomination, reported the Washington Free Beacon. While students and the “dark money” group attempt to get Kavanaugh fired, university officials have so far not bowed to the demands.

“Justice Kavanaugh’s appointment was approved by the law school faculty in January. The class was announced to law school students soon thereafter and an information session was held in early February (for additional information, I’m pasting the announcement to students below). At this time, the class, which is elective, is oversubscribed,” wrote Angel Cabrera, George Mason’s president, in a statement. “I respect the views of people who disagreed with Justice Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation due to questions raised about his sexual conduct in high school. But he was confirmed and is now a sitting Justice,” he added. “The law school has determined that the involvement of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice contributes to making our law program uniquely valuable for our students. And I accept their judgment.”

If he remains in his position, Kavanaugh and professor Jennifer Mascott will teach the summer course “Creation of the Constitution” in England starting on July 22. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s other Supreme Court nominee, will also teach a class in Italy about “the historical roots and the modern application of the separation of powers in the national security context,” according to Cabrera.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/ex-clinton-official-leads-dark-money-effort-to-get-brett-kavanaugh-fired-from-teaching-job-report_2878250.html

Pelosi Fumes Over Plan to Release Immigrant Detainees in Sanctuary Cities

After the White House proposed releasing illegal immigrant detainees in sanctuary cities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reacted negatively, with her office calling the idea “despicable.” “The extent of this Administration’s cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated,” Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne said in a statement on Friday, April 12. “Using human beings—including little children—as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable, and in some cases, criminal.” “The American people have resoundingly rejected this Administration’s toxic anti-immigrant policies, and Democrats will continue to advance immigration policies that keep us safe and honor our values,” she added. California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont are sanctuary states.

San Francisco, the hometown of Pelosi, is also a sanctuary city. She told reporters earlier on Friday that she was not aware of Trump’s proposal. Pelosi was in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats were wrapping up a 3-day retreat. “It’s just another notion that is unworthy of the presidency of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges that we face, as a country, as a people, to address who we are, a nation of immigrants,” Pelosi said. “If the Radical Left Democrats all of a sudden don’t want the Illegal Migrants in their Sanctuary Cities (no more open arms), why should others be expected to take them into their communities? Go home and come into our Country legally and through a system of Merit!” Trump responded to the backlash of the White House plan on Saturday morning, April 13.

Trump Singles Out California as Possible Host Trump said on Friday, April 12, that the crisis of illegal aliens pouring in is because of “the most ridiculous laws probably we have in this country.” “We’re getting them and we’re doing the best we can with very bad laws, we have to change the laws, but we’re apprehending thousands and thousands of people a day and the law only allows us to hold them as you know for 20 days,” he said. Trump suggested that the problem can be fixed if the Democrats cooperate. However, he’s considering moving the illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities if Democrats don’t want to change the law. “But if they don’t agree we might as well do what they always say they want. We’ll bring the illegals, I call them the illegals, that came across the border illegally, we’ll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it, whether it’s a state or whatever it might be,” Trump said.

He singled out California as a possible place to send the illegal aliens: “California certainly is always saying ‘oh, we want more people.’ And they want more people in their sanctuary cities, well we’ll give them more people. We can give them a lot, we can give them an unlimited supply.” “And let’s see if they’re so happy. They say ‘we have open arms,’ they’re always saying they have open arms. Let’s see if they have open arms,” he added. However, Trump emphasized that the alternative solution for the border crisis is to change the laws. “We can do it very, very quickly, very easily,” he said.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pelosi-fumes-over-plan-to-release-immigrant-detainees-in-sanctuary-cities_2878275.html

Trade agreement ahead? Treasury's Mnuchin says China talks near 'final round'

The nearly yearlong trade war between the U.S. and China that raised the prices on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods may be nearing an end. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said Saturday that the U.S. and China were close to finishing their trade talks and indicated that a deal could be announced soon. Trump administration officials have been involved in ongoing talks with their Beijing counterparts to a reach a deal.

“I think we’re hopeful that we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues,” Mnuchin told reporters Saturday in Washington, D.C. He said administration officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, would have a pair of conference calls this week with Chinese negotiators to clear up the remaining issues and that they were “discussing whether more in-person meetings are necessary.” “We are making progress, I want to be careful. This is not a public negotiation … this is a very, very detailed agreement covering issues that have never been dealt with before,” he said. Mnuchin declined to elaborate on what had been agreed to. “I don’t want to get into the details of the negotiations, specifically on tariffs,” he said.

The two countries are trying to wrap up things up but the talks have dragged on due to issues relating to enforcement of the deal, whether the U.S. can impose tariffs on China for any violations, and whether the U.S. will lift its existing tariffs of 10%-25% on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/trade-agreement-ahead-treasurys-steven-mnuchin-says-china-talks-near-final-round

>>6168598

They were busy schmoozing with Tiegan and Ledgend. So busy having a big party!

>>6168598

Dem Retreat Begins With ‘Who Are The People?’ Lesson from Ivy League Profs

https://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-retreat-begins-with-who-are-the-people-lesson-from-ivy-league-profs/

>>6168706

That has been something I have been pondering for sometime now. Could be, problem I see is this, the woke American public will not fall for it!

>>6168770

Agreed on all points:) Not to mention when the shit hits the fan…I don't believe that party will continue to exist.