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☆ Seattle, feds ask for end to court-ordered supervision of city's police
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The 2011 review found that in encounters that required force, police used excessive force 20% of the time. When officers used their batons, more than half the time it was unnecessary or excessive. Among the changes made by Seattle were the creation of a Community Police Commission, which is charged with police oversight. The city also established a team to investigate all incidents involving "serious uses of force," Clarke said. Since new policies and training were implemented, the force has reduced the use of serious force by 60%.

☆ Trump says 'I would do that' after Sean Hannity says he 'can't imagine' Trump taking classified records from the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sean Hannity told Trump he couldn't imagine Trump taking documents from the White House. Trump corrected Hannity, saying, "I would do that" and adding that he has the right to "take stuff." "I can't imagine you ever saying, um, 'Bring me some of the boxes that we brought back from the White House, I'd like to look at them,'" Hannity told Trump during the interview that aired Monday night. According to the Justice Department, Trump did exactly that, and refused to return the records for months after leaving the White House. —nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) March 28, 2023Trump's lawyers have repeatedly invoked the Presidential Records Act when arguing that he was justified in moving records from the White House after leaving office.

☆ New York Fed board member warns of commercial real-estate risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The real-estate sector has also been hard hit by Fed rate rises and commercial real estate has also been hobbled by the shift away from in-office work during the pandemic. Rechler serves as what’s called a Class B director on the 12-person panel of private citizens who oversee the New York Fed. Each of the quasi-private regional Fed banks are also operated under the oversight of the Fed’s Board of Governors in Washington, which is explicitly part of the government. The boards overseeing each of the regional Fed banks are made up of a mix of bankers, business and non-profit leaders. Their most visible role is helping regional Fed banks find new presidents, although bankers who serve as directors are by law not part of this process.

☆ Real estate leader on NY Fed board warns on commercial real estate risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Wall Street investment firms are thirsty for the West's vanishing water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lucy Kafanov | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

And it comes at a time when Arizona’s allocation of Colorado River water is being slashed amid a decadeslong megadrought. “In the face of record shortages on the Colorado River, we have voluntarily answered urgent and repeated calls to conserve water. Water Asset Management owns at least 3,000 acres in Western Colorado’s Grand Valley, where Mueller works to protect Colorado’s share of the river. “Water Asset Management has engaged in a number of different purchase methods to keep their transactions unknown to many of the local jurisdictions,” Mueller said. The Colorado River in Eagle County, Colorado.

☆ The Biden administration is offering to pay Colorado River farmers to let fields go dry during a devastating drought. They're worried it's just the first step in losing their way of life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Biden administration is paying Colorado River farmers and ranchers to let their fields run dry. Climate change has made the Colorado River the dryest it's been in more than a thousand years. Knowing they have to do something, Grand Valley farmers and ranchers want better compensation to make fallowing worth their while. At this better price they received enough applications from agricultural producers to cover the thousand acres Grand Valley offered, he said. Are you a farmer, rancher, or resident of the Colorado River basin concerned about water conservation?

☆ Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Mirrors the Myth of the Wild West
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

As Silicon Valley Bank went down the tubes, it wasn't surprising that the loudest mouths in Techworld started demanding that the federal government cover everyone's losses. They were pioneers on the frontier of tech and finance, and as such they acted the way pioneers always do. Myths of the frontiersIt's unfashionable for people in the tech industry to dispute the central role that government-funded infrastructure and academic projects have played in the development of Silicon Valley and the digital age. Shout down into Silicon Valley and you'll hear echoes of this same pioneer myth. They see themselves as heroes not of a Western frontier but of space — the Final one — as refracted by the legendary writers of the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

☆ Moral hazard? Hawkish pause? What these terms mean and why should investors care
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Two phrases are being thrown around on CNBC and elsewhere: "moral hazard" and "hawkish pause." Now that's not to say there isn't a middle ground, a scenario in which deposits are 100% guaranteed nationwide and regulations are put in place to protect against any resulting moral hazard. This is an interesting solution that does address the concern of moral hazard — at least at First Republic Bank — while providing needed liquidity. Given the Fed's dual mandate to ensure price stability and maximize unemployment, the argument for a rate hike is relatively straightforward — keep going until inflation reaches more sustainable levels. Two possible scenarios: a rate hike with more dovish commentary or the "hawkish pause."

☆ Feds arrest Chinese tycoon linked to Steve Bannon and charge him with defrauding online fans to fund his yacht, Ferrari, and $36,000 mattresses
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese tycoon was arrested and charged with defrauding his online followers out of over $1 billion. Feds say Guo Wengui used stolen money to buy a $3.5 million Ferrari and two $36,000 mattresses. Wengui is facing various fraud and money laundering charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Wednesday. He allegedly asked his followers to invest in or give money to GTV, the Himalaya Farm Alliance, and the Himalaya Exchange. He also allegedly used the money to finance a $37 million luxury yacht, according to the charges.

☆ A Capitol riot suspect tricked a judge into letting him travel, then schmoozed with other Jan. 6 defendants at a conference, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Capitol riot suspect tricked a court into allowing him to attend CPAC, prosecutors allege. The suspect asked the court if he could travel to Washington, DC to attend another Jan. 6 trial. Instead, he spent more than 12 hours at CPAC schmoozing with fellow January 6 defendants, prosecutors allege. Garcia told the court he would travel in his RV and stay in Virginia or Maryland, and not Washington, DC. Defense attorneys for Garica argued that Garcia's trip to CPAC "was not a violation of defendant's conditions," the court papers say.

☆ A Capitol riot suspect tricked a judge into letting him travel and then schmoozed with other Jan. 6 defendants at a conference, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Capitol riot suspect tricked a court into allowing him to attend CPAC, prosecutors allege. The suspect asked the court if he could travel to Washington, DC to attend another Jan. 6 trial. Instead, he spent more than 12 hours at CPAC schmoozing with fellow January 6 defendants, prosecutors allege. Garcia told the court he would travel in his RV and stay in Virginia or Maryland, and not Washington, DC. Garcia went on to mock the situation on social media, prosecutors claimed.

☆ Control of Silicon Valley Bank up for auction as federal officials weigh protecting uninsured deposits after collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An auction of Silicon Valley Bank is underway as feds rush to save the collapsed financial institution. Officials told the Washington Post the government is considering protecting all uninsured depositors. Meanwhile, three government officials told the Washington Post they are considering the unprecedented move of fully protecting uninsured deposits in the bank following the bank's Friday collapse. The move would serve as a potential alternative if an auction fails to go through, the Post reported. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CBS News on Sunday she'd been working with regulators all weekend after hearing from depositors to "design appropriate policies to address the situation," without giving further details.

☆ Venture Capital Investors Are Trying to Take Over Pandemic Response
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Private capital has been eyeing public health for years. Several founders and investors told me that the failure of Kleiner's fund made Silicon Valley wary of investing in pandemic preparedness. Venture investors love that kind of thing. Public health and private industryWhen COVID hit, Charity Dean was the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health. In the end, almost every pandemic-related product created by Silicon Valley will ultimately require the government as a primary customer.

☆ Biden’s Big Wealth Tax? Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One part of President Biden’s budget that deserves more attention is his stealth wealth tax, because it looks unconstitutional. He’s selling it as a 25% “minimum tax” on billionaire incomes, but see the fine print. The tax would apply to “those with wealth of more than $100 million,” while covering “all of their income, including appreciated assets.”Slight problem: Appreciated assets are not income. The Constitution bans the federal government from imposing “direct taxes,” unless they are apportioned among the states according to population. To get around that, Congress in 1909 passed the 16th Amendment, which for a century has permitted the feds “to lay and collect taxes on incomes.”

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says feds 'screwed up' handling of Silicon Valley Bank collapse, warns they have '48 hours to fix a soon-to-be-irreversible mistake'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman posted a lengthy tweet about the Silicon Valley Bank collapse Saturday. Ackman criticized the response of the federal government and its lack of monitoring SVB for risk. He said the government has "about 48 hours to fix a-soon-to-be-irreversible mistake" with its handling of SVB. "The gov't has about 48 hours to fix a-soon-to-be-irreversible mistake," Ackman tweeted in a lengthy post Saturday morning. In Ackman's view, this could lead to the collapse of several other smaller banks around the country.

☆ Fake plastic medical devices were implanted into people with chronic pain. It was part of a medical company CEO's scheme to charge $16,000 for each one, feds allege.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A medical device company sold devices that were implanted into patients with chronic pain, according to prosecutors. But, the DOJ alleges that the devices were plastic and didn't do anything. The company made millions of dollars off the devices, and its CEO is being charged with fraud. Perryman sold the phony device to doctors for $16,000 anyway, racking up millions in profits for her company and defrauding federal healthcare programs in the process, the DOJ alleges. Court documents allege that Perryman instructed her employees to vouch for the phony devices, despite knowing that they were useless.

☆ Man accused of trying to stab attendant with a broken metal spoon on a United flight leaned over and asked another passenger about the emergency exit door before attack: feds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Azmi Haroun | Graham Rapier | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A man was arrested and charged after officials say he tried to stab a flight attendant on a United flight. Francisco Severo Torres told authorities he made a weapon out of a broken metal spoon. Passengers and flight crew were eventually able to tackle and restrain Torres. A flight attendant investigated and found the handle had been moved toward the unlocked position, prosecutors said. Investigators later determined that the metal object Torres used to attack the flight attendant was a metal spoon that had the bowl broken off, according to prosecutors.

☆ Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, key to Trump's 2016 win, could harm his 2024 run by directly linking him to hush money
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks have met with prosecutors probing a 2016 Trump hush money payment. Both could directly link Trump to the payment, federal prosecutors have said in the past. Hicks, Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and later his White House communications director, was seen Monday afternoon arriving at a lower Manhattan office building used in the DA's investigation, the Associated Press reported. Conway, Trump's campaign manager turned senior advisor, likewise met with the DA on Wednesday, the New York Times reported. But both Hicks and Conway were implicated in documents from the time as being aware of the payments to Daniels.

☆ Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chair, to pay $3.1 million in Justice Department settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Laura Italiano | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paul Manafort has quietly, and expensively, settled a 2022 DOJ lawsuit alleging he hid assets from the IRS. Manafort, who once chaired Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, must pay the feds $3.1 million. The settlement was revealed in a court filing in Florida, Manafort's current state of residence. The settlement, filed in US District Court in Florida, followed months of settlement discussions. The settlement is the latest chapter in a notorious, unapologetic life that included a controversial Trump pardon and an admission — to Insider in 2022 — that he had passed Trump campaign data to a suspected Russian asset, Konstantin Kilimnik.

☆ Elon Musk's bid to implant brain chip into humans was reportedly rejected by feds over safety risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA rejected Neuralink's request for approval to begin testing its brain chips in humans, Reuters reported. The agency cited dozens of issues with the device, including concerns it could overheat or move in the brain. Elon Musk has been promising the company will soon begin testing on humans since 2019. Reuters said the FDA identified "dozens of issues" Neuralink must remedy before it could begin human testing in the US. The firm plans to implant chips into human brains, which would allow people to perform tasks using only their mind.

☆ Companies are latching onto the hot new AI trend. The feds are warning they're watching for false claims.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FTC warned companies to avoid overselling their AI products in a blog post on Monday. It called AI a "hot marketing" term that some companies won't be able to stop themselves from "abusing." The craze has caused an AI arms race between Big Tech companies like Microsoft and Google. News organizations like Buzzfeed and CNET have also begun using AI. "Is it any wonder that we can be primed to accept what marketers say about new tools and devices that supposedly reflect the abilities and benefits of artificial intelligence (AI)?"

☆ The Feds say funny highway signs are unsafe, but states have been using them to get your attention for years. Here are some of the best ones.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Federal officials are not so sure the practice is safe. They worry that 'unconventional' wording or syntax could be more distracting than anything else. The Missouri Department of Transportation had its own problems with officials wanting the signs to stick to formal messages. Back in 2019, a state representative filed a bill to prohibit the department "from using roadside dynamic message signs to convey information not related to traffic conditions, weather, or emergency alerts." Courtesy of the Missouri Department of Transportation

☆ The Paradox of Prosecuting Domestic Terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( James Verini | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +52 min

The preventive approach to domestic terrorism goes back even further than the 1990s and it begins with the basic police work and surveillance of the joint terrorism task forces. In fact, there is no section of the U.S. Criminal Code that criminalizes domestic terrorism as such. The absence of clear law around domestic terrorism, and the imperatives of prevention, mean that investigators and prosecutors who work domestic terrorism cases must focus on more common charges: weapons violations, illegal drug possession, burglary, aiding and abetting and so forth. But this was not enough to overrule the fear of domestic terrorism that was gripping the nation and that hung in the courtroom. It reflected the legal paradoxes of the case and domestic terrorism law in general or, maybe more accurately, the absence of it.

☆ It's time to chill with al the recession talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —In 2021, a bunch of economists and policy makers underestimated the inflation that was taking root around the world. In 2022, as inflation hit 40-year-highs and the Fed ramped up interest rates, many of those commentators went full-on gloomy — predicting a recession was all but inevitable. And that makes it hard, if not impossible, to imagine a recession anytime soon. “Any concern the economy is in recession or close to a recession should be completely dashed by these numbers,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told CNN on Friday. “The economy is further away from recession than ever,” wrote Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

☆ A New York man who admitted to leaving threatening voicemails for Marjorie Taylor Greene dared her to file charges against him
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A New York man pleaded guilty Wednesday to leaving threatening voicemails for GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Joseph F. Morelli, 51, called Taylor Greene's office from his Endicott home and threatened to hurt her, prosecutors say. Prosecutors say Morelli admitted he left Greene a voicemail saying, "I'm gonna have to take your life into my own hands… I'm gonna hurt you. Physically, I'm gonna harm you." "My name is Joseph Morelli, M-O-R-E-L-L-I," he said, according to court documents.

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