MICHIGAN MISCONDUCT.........
A blog about misconduct and corruption in Michigan impacting Michigan's legal, judicial systems and the American political system
If John Rakolta was extorted 5 million dollars, why isn't Rakolta on
the witness stand?
Shouldn't Rakolta be on the witness stand, weeping and tell the jury and public how terrified he was of Kilpatrick. Shouldn’t the victim Rakolta, give a
description on the witness stand how Kwame did a shake down on him and the mere
presences of Kwame sent Rakolta into a state of uncontrollable fear?
Did Terry Mullins shake Rakolta down also and
strike the same cord of fear in Rakolta?
Powerful John Rakolta, a Romney family in-law, the co-chair
of Mitt Romney’s National Finance for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, along with
G.Scott Romney, from Michigan’s most powerful law firm, was terrified of Kwame
Kilpatrick and handed over bundles of cash to Kilpatrick?
Rakolta, a man whose relatives put in place governors, senators and congressmen into
state and national positions, whose relatives have manipulated, mobbed, and
covered-up child hood sexual abuse for decades in the Michigan Mormon Church
was cowered by Kilpatrick? Not to
mention, one Romney family best friend is Karl Rove, noted for insidious
political dirty tricks and who is also known for taking out anyone in the way.
Kilpatrick the man
whom Peter Karmanos stated “is the best we have” and collected funds from Michigan’s most powerful
for Kwame. Karmanos who give KK jobs,
homes and protection- shakes Rakolta to the core? John’s brother -in-law, Scott Romney, sits on the
board of Compuware and is long time
close friend with Karmanos. Kwame is
some powerhouse of political clout!
There is no doubt
money was changing hands, contracts given, others bidders shut out. Is it extortion
or willing partners in bribery and kick- backs?
Members of the Romney criminal
syndicate are innocent victims? Ridiculous.
The Romney criminal syndicate act like thugs themselves. During the RNC convention, votes were rigged
and Republican delegates threatened, some hi-jacked and forced to stay on a bus
to miss voting – all by members and supporters of Romney’s group, while Scott
Romney guided the Romney family and state GOP friends into the most lush
accommodations and favored seating
offered during the RNC convention. The
Romney family that has bought off judges, attorneys and rig voting are
terrified by Kilpatrick?
There was money
exchanging hands, favors done, maybe even cover-ups. Kilpatrick looks more like a ‘wise guy’ or
someone the Romney criminal syndicate would see their Detroit black stooge,
maybe one that got too greedy for them, cut a little too much into the profits
they were racking in from Detroit
contracts.
Derrick Miller, Kilpatrick’s friend and liberal democrat,
surprisingly stood on stage and backed Republican Mitt Romney for President. Ferguson went from Kwame to work for
Rakolta. Even Tony Soave is a Romney backer, Synagro is owned by Carlyle Group and were also backers of Romney - the list goes on.
This should make every Michigan citizen wonder
and question who the real criminals are in Detroit and Michigan.
Missing court record calls into question the Romney families role. Court record carrying the Romney family name mysteriously ended up missing out of Livingston County Courts. Poof! - gone! Clerks searched high and low when questioned about the missing record, but it was gone - not to be found.
The lack of ethics and conscience by the Livingston County court and their entanglement with Livingston county leadership and political friendships endangers the safety of families and their children, putting in peril the personal welfare of anyone who falls under their shadow. This has not only harmed us, but threatens all of the counties citizens and can have an impact on our nation.
UPDATE: “When your own kids are your collateral damage, its time to hang it up-Satan has destroyed your soul.” – Roseanne Barr
Our children had become "collateral damage" to members of the Skousen family, and unhappily to some of my own family members, and to heavy hitters within Livingston County – as we dealt with cover-ups and cruelty within Livingston county and its court system. With many of the links going back to Romney family and their close supporters in Livingston County, as well as some of their friends in Michigan. Mitt Romney gave an exclusive to Steve Garagiola, the husband of Judge Carol Hackett Garagiola during the time she was handling my case. Steve is a Detroit Channel Four newscaster. Judge Garagiola stated in court, she didn’t care if she left my son and I homeless.
Steven Jentzen, an attorney I had hired, put in a motion in court, then failed to notify me of the court date, and Jentzen failed to show up to the hearing making me default in court. I later learned, Steven Jentzen was an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund and during the time Jentzen was representing me, he also was handling a case against Eastern Michigan University with David French, the head attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund. Later, my research showed David French is the head of Evangelicals for Mitt Romney. It didn't stop there – My home was put in foreclosure, meaning there would be no promised financial settlement.
Julie Fischer, the sister-in-law of DAVID T. FISCHER, taped a letter to my home stating she would be selling my foreclosed home – DAVID T. FISCHER is a close Romney family friend and was Mitt Romney's Michigan bundler during Mitts run for president in 2008 and currently Fischer is the Michigan Finance Co-Chairman for Mitt Romney for president 2012.
My ex had made a dirty deal and tried to hide the ‘deal’ from me, if he covered-up a sexual assault of one our children (which happened while at his home), the court would help leave me destitute to protect one of their own -- making my child and all of our children collateral damage for these past years - all of us are and have been mere barter.
UPDATE ON ROMNEY AND FORECLOSURES:
Romney is for fraudulent foreclosures, it must be so his major campaign bundlers can run foreclosure sells on the homes of the victims of the Romney's
Romney supports robo- signing which has had numerous problems with people losing their homes due to bank errors.
It is amazing Mitt Romney, a man whose family has cowered from military service for generations, is for enhanced torture. Romney also claims strong moral values, supports tortures which includes extreme sexual humiliation, rape, including children raped in front to their parents, and explicit sexual contortions. On second thought, somehow it doesn’t seem too shocking Romney supports the sexual abuse of children and the tormenting parents by mocking the sexual abuse of their children. Not shocking at all.
McCain on enhanced tortures -
– Romney recently stated:
“I am convinced this is the time to tell Americans the truth,” said Romney. “We have to be honest and people will do the right thing. The silent majority is less and less silent.” Mitt is right; it is time for truth - even if it is the truth Romney doesn’t want told -
Mitt Romney’s support of enhanced torture is not a difficult stretch. Judge Bybee, Tom Flanagan, Mitchell, Jessen, DeLand, McCotter, were involved in the creation of the enhanced torture program. All are fellow Mormon Church members and Temple recommend holders, the same as Mitt,
Cofer Black, one of Romney’s advisers during his last presidential race, hand was in the selection Mitchell and Jessen’s development of enhanced tortures. Romney welcomed Black to his staff with his announcement:
"I am pleased to welcome Cofer Black to our campaign. He has a long and impressive career dedicated to making America safer and more secure in the world," said Governor Romney. "Our country faces a new generation of challenges and Black's experience at the forefront of our nation's counter-terrorism efforts will be a tremendous asset."
In order to begin to untangle the web which created the torture programs the background on the key players is necessary - and their background is where things get really interesting
Mitchell and Jessen had no experience with intelligence interrogations, they worked in the SERE program, which is a survival program for military personal that may be taken captive.
“And sources within JPRA knew a lot about Mitchell and Jessen. They said they were self-promoters, they were cowboys. They disapproved of the kind of techniques and their cozying up to the CIA. But they told us that they live here because it’s a nice place to live. And even though their mailing address is Langley, Virginia…”- Katherine Eban from Democracy Now interview.
According to Jeffrey Kaye’s article on Fireddoglake “…..another insider, who says he has some knowledge of the individuals involved, has indicated that it was Roger Aldrich, Mitchell and Jessen’s superior officer, the man who indeed hired them in the 1990s, who was responsible for the idea of reverse-engineering SERE techniques and contracting out services to the government.”
“Aldrich was an officer in the Air Force Reserve, who was also civilian chief of the Air Force’s Special Survival Training Program (SSTP), which was later folded into the JPRA agency. From this position, the source says, he hired "many people into lucrative civil service jobs at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington, paying from $75K to $150K per year plus fantastic benefits." Aldrich used his influence and position to dole out patronage, and gained a loyal, devoted following.
"He took Mitchell and Jessen and promoted them. After 9/11, he hatched a scheme with the two men to offer interrogation and training services to the military and CIA for a great deal of money.”
Their contact at the CIA was Cofer Black.
“By the start of 2002, Dr. Mitchell was consulting with the C3 Center, whose director, Cofer Black, and chief operating officer, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., were impressed by his combination of visceral toughness and psychological jargon. One person who heard some discussions said Dr. Mitchell gave the C.I.A. officials what they wanted to hear. In this person’s words, Dr. Mitchell suggested that interrogations required “a comparable level of fear and brutality to flying planes into buildings.”
The enhanced torture program was implemented to the dismay of many experience intelligence interrogators who felt Mitchell and Jessen could wind up with charges pressed against them, which earned them the name of "The Poster Boys".The feeling was Mitchell and Jessen would wind up on the FBI's "Most Wanted List".
Mitchell and Jessen were given the nickname of the “Mormon Mafia” by peers at the CIA, due to the power they had within the agency. CIA and FBI interrogators who disagreed with Mitchell and Jessen torture program, found themselves countered with the stern message “you have lost your spine”, from the Mormon Mafia poster boys.
After the story of the abuses broke:
“Panetta fired all the C.I.A.'s contract interrogators, including the former military psychologists who appear to have designed the most brutal interrogation techniques.
DeLand and McCotter were tapped to set up Abu Ghraib
Gary DeLand was recommended by Lance McCotter to assist in setting up Abu Ghraib.
DeLand and McCotter relationship goes back to the Utah Department of Corrections and working for Management & Training Corporation, where both are executives. Management & Training Corporation is a private correction corporation started in Utah in the 1980’s by Utah State graduate Scott Marquardt and Lyle Parry.
Gary DeLand, served as the head of the Utah Department of Corrections from 1985 to 1992. Deland had been named in numerous law suits involving abuse of prisoner in the correction facilities he was over. “Deland was the named defendant in Littlefield v. Deland, where, according to the Court, a young mentally ill man was kept naked for 56 days in a "strip cell" with no windows, no interior lights, no bunk, no floor covering, and no toilet except for a hole in the concrete floor.”
Lane McCotter, served in the Utah Corrections system from 1992 until he was forced to resign in 1997. McCotter had worked prior to Utah for prison systems in Texas, and New Mexico, which resulted also in numerous abuse claims while under his watch.
The “Department of Justice's own Civil Rights Division released a 36-page report documenting inhumane and unsafe conditions at a jail run by a private prison company, Management & Training Corporation, where McCotter is a senior executive.”
“Texas, where McCotter served as director of the Department of Corrections for two years, he faced allegations in 1985 of erasing the parts of a video that showed the beating of a prisoner by a guard.”
In Utah, a SWAT team led to the death of an inmate after they burst into a mentally ill patient’s cell. (Remember the SWAT team for later in the post)
“A statement provided by Schumer's office reviews McCotter's employment history, including his resignation as Utah prison director in 1997 after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours strapped to a chair. Schumer's news release also calls attention to the Justice report criticizing MTC's management of the Santa Fe County jail, and notes that the New Mexico Corrections Department also raised concerns about the jail."
"While McCotter's company was under state and Department of Justice investigation, Attorney General Ashcroft selected him to serve as one of four civilian advisers to oversee the reconstitution of Iraqi prisons," Schumer noted. "Why Attorney General Ashcroft would send someone with such a checkered record to rebuild Iraq's corrections system is beyond me," Schumer said.
Then, on May 20, in a case of unfathomable irony, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that McCotter, along with three other corrections experts, had gone to Iraq. The very same day, Justice Department lawyers began their first negotiations with Santa Fe County officials over the extensive changes needed at the jail to avoid legal action.”
“The New York Times reported that McCotter "directed the reopening of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq last year," and McCotter himself admitted he worked closely with American military police officers at the prison complex.”
“While Lance McCotter worked establishing Abu Ghraib, he reportedly walked around handing out wads of cash, three million dollars worth, to people rebuilding Abu Ghraib prison.”
He also worked with according to “The Nation, Deland and McCotter "worked along with Brig. Gen. Karpinski and MPs from various battalions" at Abu Ghraib.” Brig. Gen Karpinski later became the scapegoat for the prison abuse. DeLand and McCotter left Abu Ghraib prior to the abuse story breaking.
Janis Leigh Karpinski is a central figure in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.
Another destroyed video tape?
Outside of Mitchell and Jessen firing from the CIA, a few low level prison guard charged after taking photographs, and Karpinski made scapegoat, there was been no accountability for the creators of the enhanced torture programs has happened.
Harry Reid, also a member of the Mormon Church, discouraged investigation into the tortures and probing of the memo’s which approved the program. “After the release of these memos why then is Harry Reid not in line with almost every Democratic Politician?”
“A serious setback, however: Harry Reid, whose Senate would rule on an impeachment in the House, doesn't seem to like the idea:”
Reid stated:
"Judge Bybee has a good professional reputation in Nevada," Reid spokesman Jon Summers said in an e-mail "While the memos that have been released are disturbing to Sen. Reid, at this point in time, he doesn't think we should be making a rush to judgment.”
Back in Utah, the legacy of DeLand and McCotter prison system is tragic. Tragic not to the prison inmates, but with children of Mormon Church wards. News papers in Utah ran the abuse stories:
“PROVO — A former corrections officer and SWAT team member at the Utah State Prison was charged Friday with nine felony sex offenses involving a child. Davis was hired by the Utah Department of Corrections in December 1998 and was most recently working for Adult Probation and Parole Region 4, which is Utah County, said Jack Ford, Utah Department of Corrections spokesman”
And –
“WEST VALLEY CITY -- A former LDS bishop and administrator with the Utah Department of Corrections was accused Tuesday of molesting several teenage boys over an extended period of time. David James Gomez, 57, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Monday for investigation of 50 counts of forcible sodomy, 15 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, 10 counts of sodomy on a child, all first-degree felonies, and 50 counts of forcible sexual abuse, all second-degree felonies. He was being held Tuesday without bail."
"Gomez is accused of raping, sodomizing and fondling several boys 10 to 13 years ago, according to police. He came in contact with the boys while serving as bishop (Mormon Bishop) of the Hunter 10th Ward.”
DeLand and McCotter were sent to Iraq to set up a prison system similar to the prisons in the United States, they appear to have succeeded, as well as succeeding in tarnishing the name of the people of America.
Romney’s stand on enhanced tortures, as well as his selection of Cofer Black on his 2008 presidential staff, will lead some to ask if in voting for Romney in 2012, would return the United States back to the torture programs which brought disgrace on American people?
(The reference are too numerous to list on the post page, and are listed on the comments section. One can link to all sources used in the post)
