If There Was No Fraud
May 4, 2019 19:51:56 #
Then Why were these States investigate said fraud ?
V**e F***d Charges Endanger Texas Mayor, Topple Another in NJ
Fred Lucas / May 03, 2019
State prosecutors in Texas, New Jersey, and Oregon have brought v**e
fraud cases in recent weeks.
In a tale of two city mayors arrested last week on v**e f***d charges,
one resigned while the other says a jury will decide.
Edinburg, Texas, Mayor Richard Molina doesn’t plan to go anywhere.
Molina won the mayor’s race in November 2017 by 1,240 v**es. But on
April 25, Texas Rangers arrested the mayor and his wife, Dalia, alleging
the couple ran a v**e f***d scheme to put him in office.
After about a week of silence, the mayor said Thursday the charges won’t
affect his job, and asked Edinburg residents to respect his
constitutional rights to due process.
“We respectfully deny any criminal wrongdoing and look forward to
defending ourselves in the proper venue. That is a courtroom,” Molina
said in the video statement. “These charges will not affect my ability
to perform the people’s work as your mayor. I only ask that you respect
our constitutional right to a fair trial and due process.”
Prosecutors allege the Edinburg mayor and his wife had numerous v**ers
change their address to places they didn’t live, including an apartment
complex the mayor owns, so they could v**e for him in the Nov. 7, 2017,
race. Those who moved included paid campaign workers.
Meanwhile, other v**e f***d cases emerged last week in New Jersey and
Oregon.
Francesco Caramagna, the mayor of Elmwood Park, New Jersey, isn’t
putting up as much of a fight, as he reportedly resigned from office on
April 29 amid charges of interfering in the secrecy of the e******n process.
Prosecutors allege Caramagna with filling out portions of mail-in
b****ts and primary e******n b****t certifications.
Like Molina, Caramagna was elected in November 2017. He will be
appearing in court on May 22, according to NBC 4 in New York. His
lawyer, John Bruno Jr., said Caramagna “has stepped up to the plate” and
“looks forward to clearing the matter up in the courtroom.”
In Oregon, 10 people were convicted of v**e f***d stemming from the 2016
e******n, The Oregonian newspaper reported. The arrests came after the
Oregon secretary of state’s office, which oversees e******ns, forwarded
evidence to the state’s Justice Department that 56 people engaged in fraud.
The newspaper reported that four Democrats, one Republican, one
Libertarian, and four people not affiliated with a political party were
convicted. Most cases involved people v****g in two different
locations—in some cases, two separate states. None of the cases resulted
in jail time and the maximum penalty was $1,000.
While the other two states have a degree of closure, the Texas case
appears likely to continue, even as some of the city’s residents
reportedly call for the mayor to resign.
“This is just more evidence that v***r f***d is out there, and people
will c***t and take advantage of circumstances to win,” Han von
Spakovsky, manager of the e******n law initiative at The Heritage
Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
There have been 1,199 proven cases of v***r f***d and 1,037 convictions,
according to a v***r f***d database compiled by The Heritage Foundation.
In the Texas case, Molina defeated an incumbent, Mayor Richard Garcia,
in a three-candidate nonpartisan race in Edinburg, a city with a
population of more than 90,000 located near the Mexican border. About
8,400 v**es were cast in the e******n, and Molina carried 54% of the
v**e, according to local media reports.
The city is headquarters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection
operations in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute both the
mayor and his wife with the assistance of the Texas Attorney General’s
E******n F***d Unit, according to a press release from the Texas
Attorney General’s Office.
Texas media outlets reported the couple turned themselves in April 25
and were charged with organized e******n f***d and illegal v****g. They
were arraigned and posted bond the same day.
“My office is appreciative of the many witnesses who have come forward
and cooperated with the investigation, explaining how they were lured by
an ambitious candidate into participating in an illegal v****g scheme to
elect Richard Molina,” Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo
Rodriguez said in a statement.
“We encourage any additional witnesses who were pressured to engage in
fraudulent v****g in Molina’s e******n to step forward and cooperate
with authorities,” Rodriguez added. “We’re prepared to present a full
array of charges against Molina and his co-conspirators to the grand
jury for a thorough evaluation of the evidence to ensure justice is
served.”
The mayor “very adamantly denies any wrongdoing,” Edinburg city
spokeswoman Cary Zayas reportedly told a media briefing.
“It’s time today to let this process really happen,” Zayas added. “He
maintains his innocence. … As far as the city goes, this has nothing to
do with our day-to-day operations. … The city is supportive of the
mayor, and he’s innocent.”
Garcia, the former mayor, on Facebook wrote that he was “saddened that
our community receives this black eye.”
“In spite of many immediate and obvious discrepancies at the time of the
e******n, I did not contest the outcome,” he said in the post. “I
believe in our democracy with every fiber of my being. This is why a day
like today is not a victory for anyone. It is an assault on the very
democracy and the democratic process that we hold so dear to our hearts
and for which so many of us and our loved ones have fought to conserve.”
He said Molina was once seen as “the Valley’s rising star, filled with
promise and integrity.”
“I am also saddened for the families and followers of the Molina
family,” Garcia added. “One should never celebrate the woes of others.”
The arrest is, in fact, only the latest chapter in an ongoing
investigation of Molina’s e******n. Since last year, 18 individuals have
been arrested in connection with the alleged illegal v****g scheme.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers assisted local
police in the probe.
“V***r f***d is an affront to democracy and places the decision-making
authority of the Texas e*****rate in the hands of those who have no
right to make those choices,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in
a statement.
“V**er apathy is caused by r****d e******ns with guaranteed outcomes,”
Paxton added. “My office will always do everything it can to protect the
integrity of Texas e******ns and the rights of every legal v**er to cast
a b****t and have it counted accurately. No one is above the law.”
Republican state legislators across the country have pushed for v**er ID
laws to make v***r f***d more difficult. Democratic lawmakers argue that
such laws amount to v**er suppression. Many Democrats have even argued
v***r f***d doesn’t exist, or if it does, it’s negligible.
J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department lawyer who is now the
president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, an e******n watchdog
group, praised the action by Texas law enforcement.
“Texas continues to be a shining example of how states can fight v**er
fraud,” Adams said in a statement. “Developing cases against alleged
b****t ‘harvesting’ schemes demands significant time, manpower, and
investigative acumen. Attorney General Ken Paxton and local law
enforcement here again prove they have the right stuff to confront
corruption in e******ns.”
V**e F***d Charges Endanger Texas Mayor, Topple Another in NJ
Fred Lucas / May 03, 2019
State prosecutors in Texas, New Jersey, and Oregon have brought v**e
fraud cases in recent weeks.
In a tale of two city mayors arrested last week on v**e f***d charges,
one resigned while the other says a jury will decide.
Edinburg, Texas, Mayor Richard Molina doesn’t plan to go anywhere.
Molina won the mayor’s race in November 2017 by 1,240 v**es. But on
April 25, Texas Rangers arrested the mayor and his wife, Dalia, alleging
the couple ran a v**e f***d scheme to put him in office.
After about a week of silence, the mayor said Thursday the charges won’t
affect his job, and asked Edinburg residents to respect his
constitutional rights to due process.
“We respectfully deny any criminal wrongdoing and look forward to
defending ourselves in the proper venue. That is a courtroom,” Molina
said in the video statement. “These charges will not affect my ability
to perform the people’s work as your mayor. I only ask that you respect
our constitutional right to a fair trial and due process.”
Prosecutors allege the Edinburg mayor and his wife had numerous v**ers
change their address to places they didn’t live, including an apartment
complex the mayor owns, so they could v**e for him in the Nov. 7, 2017,
race. Those who moved included paid campaign workers.
Meanwhile, other v**e f***d cases emerged last week in New Jersey and
Oregon.
Francesco Caramagna, the mayor of Elmwood Park, New Jersey, isn’t
putting up as much of a fight, as he reportedly resigned from office on
April 29 amid charges of interfering in the secrecy of the e******n process.
Prosecutors allege Caramagna with filling out portions of mail-in
b****ts and primary e******n b****t certifications.
Like Molina, Caramagna was elected in November 2017. He will be
appearing in court on May 22, according to NBC 4 in New York. His
lawyer, John Bruno Jr., said Caramagna “has stepped up to the plate” and
“looks forward to clearing the matter up in the courtroom.”
In Oregon, 10 people were convicted of v**e f***d stemming from the 2016
e******n, The Oregonian newspaper reported. The arrests came after the
Oregon secretary of state’s office, which oversees e******ns, forwarded
evidence to the state’s Justice Department that 56 people engaged in fraud.
The newspaper reported that four Democrats, one Republican, one
Libertarian, and four people not affiliated with a political party were
convicted. Most cases involved people v****g in two different
locations—in some cases, two separate states. None of the cases resulted
in jail time and the maximum penalty was $1,000.
While the other two states have a degree of closure, the Texas case
appears likely to continue, even as some of the city’s residents
reportedly call for the mayor to resign.
“This is just more evidence that v***r f***d is out there, and people
will c***t and take advantage of circumstances to win,” Han von
Spakovsky, manager of the e******n law initiative at The Heritage
Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
There have been 1,199 proven cases of v***r f***d and 1,037 convictions,
according to a v***r f***d database compiled by The Heritage Foundation.
In the Texas case, Molina defeated an incumbent, Mayor Richard Garcia,
in a three-candidate nonpartisan race in Edinburg, a city with a
population of more than 90,000 located near the Mexican border. About
8,400 v**es were cast in the e******n, and Molina carried 54% of the
v**e, according to local media reports.
The city is headquarters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection
operations in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute both the
mayor and his wife with the assistance of the Texas Attorney General’s
E******n F***d Unit, according to a press release from the Texas
Attorney General’s Office.
Texas media outlets reported the couple turned themselves in April 25
and were charged with organized e******n f***d and illegal v****g. They
were arraigned and posted bond the same day.
“My office is appreciative of the many witnesses who have come forward
and cooperated with the investigation, explaining how they were lured by
an ambitious candidate into participating in an illegal v****g scheme to
elect Richard Molina,” Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo
Rodriguez said in a statement.
“We encourage any additional witnesses who were pressured to engage in
fraudulent v****g in Molina’s e******n to step forward and cooperate
with authorities,” Rodriguez added. “We’re prepared to present a full
array of charges against Molina and his co-conspirators to the grand
jury for a thorough evaluation of the evidence to ensure justice is
served.”
The mayor “very adamantly denies any wrongdoing,” Edinburg city
spokeswoman Cary Zayas reportedly told a media briefing.
“It’s time today to let this process really happen,” Zayas added. “He
maintains his innocence. … As far as the city goes, this has nothing to
do with our day-to-day operations. … The city is supportive of the
mayor, and he’s innocent.”
Garcia, the former mayor, on Facebook wrote that he was “saddened that
our community receives this black eye.”
“In spite of many immediate and obvious discrepancies at the time of the
e******n, I did not contest the outcome,” he said in the post. “I
believe in our democracy with every fiber of my being. This is why a day
like today is not a victory for anyone. It is an assault on the very
democracy and the democratic process that we hold so dear to our hearts
and for which so many of us and our loved ones have fought to conserve.”
He said Molina was once seen as “the Valley’s rising star, filled with
promise and integrity.”
“I am also saddened for the families and followers of the Molina
family,” Garcia added. “One should never celebrate the woes of others.”
The arrest is, in fact, only the latest chapter in an ongoing
investigation of Molina’s e******n. Since last year, 18 individuals have
been arrested in connection with the alleged illegal v****g scheme.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers assisted local
police in the probe.
“V***r f***d is an affront to democracy and places the decision-making
authority of the Texas e*****rate in the hands of those who have no
right to make those choices,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in
a statement.
“V**er apathy is caused by r****d e******ns with guaranteed outcomes,”
Paxton added. “My office will always do everything it can to protect the
integrity of Texas e******ns and the rights of every legal v**er to cast
a b****t and have it counted accurately. No one is above the law.”
Republican state legislators across the country have pushed for v**er ID
laws to make v***r f***d more difficult. Democratic lawmakers argue that
such laws amount to v**er suppression. Many Democrats have even argued
v***r f***d doesn’t exist, or if it does, it’s negligible.
J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department lawyer who is now the
president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, an e******n watchdog
group, praised the action by Texas law enforcement.
“Texas continues to be a shining example of how states can fight v**er
fraud,” Adams said in a statement. “Developing cases against alleged
b****t ‘harvesting’ schemes demands significant time, manpower, and
investigative acumen. Attorney General Ken Paxton and local law
enforcement here again prove they have the right stuff to confront
corruption in e******ns.”
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