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Category Archives: Government Documents

Trump Legal Penalties

NewsTRACS – Trump has over half a billion dollars in legal penalties – “a review of nine+ years of Trump’s cash spreadsheets reveals new information and raises new questions -Wendy Siegelman. Heading into the 2024 presidential election Donald Trump – who faces dozens of felony charges and recently lost several big civil cases – has cinched the GOP nomination. Trump now heads into the general election after having been found liable of sexual abuse, defamation and financial fraud and with over half a billion dollars in legal penalties due.Setting aside Trump’s decades of fraudulent business practices, his network of mafia and criminal associates, his destructive, divisive, nepotistic presidential record, his incitement of violence, support of insurrectionists, and embrace of dictatorship, kleptocracy and fascism – there are also serious questions about how Trump will pay over half a billion dollars in penalties and who he will be indebted to if he becomes president. The media has repeatedly questioned how Trump will find the cash to pay these penalties. But there has been little reporting on public exhibits from the New York attorney general civil fraud case – that include revealing information on almost a decade of Trump’s cash and short-term investment accounts. I dove into the weeds and created a table with highlights and summarize some key findings. I started reviewing the cash documents because I was curious to learn more about the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and a mysterious $50 million loan associated with the property, and the very odd “0” valuation in ten years of Trump’s Statements of Financial Condition. That information is covered at the end of this piece. Below I highlight a few new findings and my hope is that other researchers, journalists and curious people will spend more time looking at the hundreds of public exhibits from the New York attorney general case which include a wealth of information and likely un-reported findings…”

A new archive of modern American political history

Semafor Media – The Cook Political Report, which has tracked the gritty day-to-day of politics for four decades, will put its entire archive online tomorrow, offering a remarkable and nonpartisan window into modern American political history. Charlie Cook launched the publication in 1984 as a simply-printed tipsheet covering political campaigns, and it grew into a… Continue Reading

What’s Missing From Railroad Safety Data?

ProPublica – Dead Workers and Severed Limbs. “…But, as ProPublica has previously reported, railroad companies go to extreme lengths to portray themselves as safer than they really are — retaliating against workers who report defects and silencing those who get injured. Officials with the FRA [Federal Railway Administration] have said there is not much they… Continue Reading

State of the science on plastic chemicals

PlastChem – Identifying and addressing chemicals and polymers of concern. “Chemicals are a central aspect of the plastics issue. Although there is a wealth of scientific information on plastic chemicals and polymers to inform policymakers, implementing this evidence is challenging because information is scattered and not easily accessible. The PlastChem report and database address this… Continue Reading

IP – Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of Trademark System

Intellectual Property: Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of the Trademark System. Published: Mar 14, 2024. Publicly Released: Mar 14, 2024. “…The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) established two new procedures—expungement and reexamination—that allow individuals and businesses to challenge a registered trademark on the basis that it was not used in commerce,… Continue Reading

Illinois Task Force Explores How AI Could Speed Up Litigation

Bloomberg: “Generative artificial intelligence could boost the Illinois judiciary by helping judges produce opinions faster and assist individuals in better preparing their own cases, members of a new Illinois AI task force said. The Illinois Judicial Conference task force, created in January, is meeting monthly to discuss how generative AI could help the court system… Continue Reading

Caselaw Access Project

“The Caselaw Access Project (“CAP”) expands public access to U.S. law. Our goal is to make all published U.S. court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law School Library. We created CAP’s initial collection by digitizing roughly 40 million pages of court decisions… Continue Reading

Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community

February 5, 2024 – Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI): “This annual report of worldwide threats to the national security of the United States responds to Section 617 of the FY21 Intelligence Authorization Act (Pub. L. No. 116-260). This report reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community (IC), which is committed every… Continue Reading

House Committee Approves Bill Restricting Sales of Sensitive Data to Foreign Adversaries

EPIC: “March 7, 2024 the House Energy & Commerce Committee approved H.R. 7520, the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, sponsored by Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). The bill prohibits data brokers from selling, transferring, or providing access to Americans’ sensitive data to certain foreign adversaries… Continue Reading

A.I. Joe: The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence and the Military

Public Citizen: “The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the military-industrial complex are rushing to embrace an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven future. There’s nothing particularly surprising or inherently worrisome about this trend. AI is already in widespread use and evolving generative AI technologies are likely to suffuse society, remaking jobs, organizational arrangements and machinery. At the… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 9, 2024

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 9, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading