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This is why I think the federal government is too big and abuse their powers and it's need to be fought.
Former Puerto Rican Governor Vazquez arrested for accepting political favors???????
Well DUH! This is what governments do all the time and in the U.S. is at a professional league. $300,000????? that's chump change, that is a middle class house. I just find funny that the DOJ under Biden is going after her with ALL the money in American politics for favors and kickbacks.
You know what is so funny, President Biden (who has been in government since 1973 getting rich and his garbage family) as VP, went to Ukraine and told the head of the government that if they don't fire a prosecutor investigating the dealings of the businesses that his son under his behalf are in bed with that they weren't getting the millions of dollars in aid. Biden is so arrogant that they got him on video saying it. It wasn't an attempt like this indictment with the former Puerto Rican governor but it actually happened, the prosecutor got fired and they got their money and We all know how Ukraine is corrupt to the core getting American aid and weapons. Biden gets promoted to be the President of the U.S.
Just right now, Senator Sinema of Arizona wouldn't support a huge spending and tax bill until tax provisions were put in there to benefit some corporations that she takes money from. I can go on and on with the money in our politics but Biden's DOJ wants to go after a PRIVATE citizen in Puerto Rico for an attempt of political favors in a U.S. territory and give her up to 20 years? Yeah.
Add a note: Governor Wanda Vazquez endorsed Trump in 2020. Interesting huh? and they say the American government isn't political.
Sorry, I don't support this at all and the real abuse of power here is the DOJ and who runs the DOJ? Biden and the Democrats are adding 87,000 new I.R.S agents (more than double the numbers now). Guess who they are going after and you are naive if you think Puerto Rico is off limits. We all get what We voted for.
Last edited by SanJuanStar; 08-06-2022 at 12:57 PM..
Yeah, I don't align with the accused's federal political affiliation at all (though I share her parties pro-statehood position), but this has political reprisal written all over it. The cash-n-grab hundreds of petty functionaries incurred in during Maria's reconstruction had more meat in the bones than this nothingburger. The allegation is weak for bribery cases in the US. Local US school boards are more corrupt than that on a daily basis, if both the monetary scope and circumstances behind these allegations are going to be taken as "significant".
Wanda Vázquez is the most fantastic stupid of the case
I think Wanda Vázquez is just a thin thread of the rope. Don’t get me wrong. She should serve in prison for her involvement if she is found guilty, but bribery is business as usual in federal and local politics. On the other hand, little has been said about Martín Herrera-Velutini’s bank, Bancrédito, other than its lack of compliance in submitting the reports to detect money laundering, as required by the federal Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. I mean things like who were the clients of that bank? Which are the money laundering findings? What foreign governments are involved?
The other person is Mark Rossini, who, according to the media, is a former FBI agent convicted in 2008 for crimes related to an FBI database. This case is just a white-collar circus. Wanda Vazquez happens to be the most fantastic stupid of the case, but this is corruption at all government levels. Does Wanda Vázquez know English to speak in court, or does the pro-statehood “jíbara” need an interpreter? There is no doubt that the case is a major blow to the pro-statehood movement, now when there is a plebiscite project under discussion in Washington.
She doesn't need to speak English or take the stand. All she needs is to get competent lawyers who have experience taking on the DOJ and put holes in their case. This will be done in Puerto Rico, so it will be an ALL Puerto Rican jury and the DOJ needs all 12 jurors to convict. The jury are NOT going to send a woman and mother of 2 daughters to prison for 20 years if the evidence is weak or the DOJ doesn't have a strong case and the law is confusing to explain to the jury.
DOJ did the same to Anibal Acevedo, the difference was he was a sitting governor during an election year. He won the case but lost re-election first because the election came before the trial.. The DOJ presented 30 witnesses and the Defense NONE and still the DOJ lost. I'm not a fan of Anibal Acevedo but what the DOJ did was an abuse of power, charging a sitting governor of federal corruptions charges so he loses in the biggest 1 sided lopsided election in history and then the DOJ loses the case. That was to fire or replace the whole DOJ team in Puerto Rico and give the pink papers to Rosa Emilia Rodríguez, who stayed as the head of the DOJ in the island until 2019. When people loses confidence in federal institutions it's bad.
She was a strange case. W Bush nominated her in 2007 but she was NEVER confirmed by the U.S. Senate because of many red flags. She was confirmed by a federal judge in Puerto Rico, Jose A. Buste. The U.S. Constitution demands that every appointee to the courts and DOJ by the President be confirmed by the U.S. Senate except this case but that's another topic and it has to do with the politics in the island.
But lets review the weak case by the DOJ, I swear the Feds in P.R. either are bored or not a lot of federal crimes in the island:
According to authorities, a Venezuelan-Italian bank owner and a former FBI agent paid some $300,000 to political consultants supporting Vazquez's campaign in exchange for political favors. Authorities allege that the owner of the bank Bancredito, which was under investigation by the island's regulatory authority, indirectly asked Vazquez to replace the regulator's head with a hand-picked leader to head off the audit.
Attempts to bribe the current governor to end the audit of Bancredito were unsuccessful, authorities say.
O.K. what's the crisis here? a Bank doing business in P.R. paid 300k to a campaign for political favors and the Governor didn't do anything she didn't even end the audit. So why are We here? Isn't the American campaign laws and money in our politics the problem here? It's too big and many loopholes. What's the capital offense here that the campaign took 300k and spend it and didn't do any favors? Maybe the bank should sue to get their money back.
Isn't this why businesses give money to campaigns for political favors either by taxes or regulations. They all want favors, the game in U.S. politics is played everyday at a way higher level.
If the DOJ doesn't apply their laws evenly to all regardless of politics or power then it's an abuse of power and it hurts the credibility of the federal government.
Last edited by SanJuanStar; 08-07-2022 at 10:17 AM..
I have a question. If the governor of Puerto Rico can replace the island's regulatory authority, why isn't this a Puerto Rico Senate issue or the local courts? Why is this a FEDERAL crime since the governor and the authority of the governor in the island is NOT federal. It wasn't federal funds. Why is the DOJ on this?
Is it because Puerto Rico isn't a state and there isn't a clear and respected division of powers and they can do whatever they want?
This is either political that Puerto Rican Senate can investigate and impeach or legal that the local courts handle this, why is the DOJ on local matters or going after local Puerto Rican elections or the authority of the governor in the island?
If the Puerto Rican governor can appoint or fire at their wish any appointed job to the Puerto Rico executive branch why is the DOJ on this?
If this is how the federal government is going to power grab then I wouldn't support statehood until they clarify the powers of the feds in the island and why a LOCAL matter and local elections in under the jurisdiction of the DOJ.
Last edited by SanJuanStar; 08-07-2022 at 11:20 AM..
Bribery is the act of giving money (or something else of value) to someone to get them to do something you want them to do.
yeah, that pretty much sums up the entire Puerto Rico and United States politics and government. You think politicians and their families get rich in government by their base salaries. These are the idiots running the DOJ in the island.
Instead of going after the big fishes that are in power for decades and take millions of dollars every year, they go after a private citizen of Puerto Rico that she was forced to be governor in a crisis and pandemic for 2 years because then governor Ricky Rosello was forced to quit and left the island in chaos and this woman without the support of her party took on the responsibility and weight of the island and the pandemic came on top of that and she did a good job under the circumstances.
Picture this, you are doing your job of Secretary of Justice and making sure the laws of Puerto Rico are enforced because you are a lawyer that's your job, then 1 morning they put you as the Governor of Puerto Rico under chaos from a bad management and corruption from the Hurricane funds and management overall like the power grid mess and political chaos from the former Governor Ricky Rosello and his entire cabinet that had to quit in disgrace without the full support of her party because remember, Ricky Rosello didn't want her to replace him, he wanted Pierluisi (2 crooks of the same feather) it was a big constitutional fight in the Supreme Court of P.R. and finally they ruled and rejected Pierlusi and declared putting him by Ricky Rosello was unconstitutional and she was forced to the job because the Puerto Rican constitution demands that the Secretary of Justice takes the spot.
She does her job for 2 years, her party never wanted her, they wanted today's governor Pierluisi because he was tight in the business dealings with former Governor Ricky Rosello (don't get me started in the history of that family). She loses the primary and after 2 years in the worst scenario she was put under, they accuse her of a stupid crime and wants to put her behind bars for 20 years. What's wrong with this picture?
A bank gives 300k to her campaign for favors, she doesn't do any favors but they want to lock her up for 20 years when she is a private citizen. The Feds are the abusers here. This got politics all over it.
Wanda Vasquez doesn't deserves this at all. 2 years she had to keep Puerto Rico together during the chaos at every corner without the full support of her party and they want to put her 20 years behind bars. This is the thanks she gets. I feel bad for her. You can tell by her face this is tearing her up and her daughters and as a Puerto Rican myself I hate injustices and abuses by bullies.
This is an injustice at the highest levels. Is not a good day for Puerto Rico or the U.S. or justice. Even if she beats the case, she is done in politics and made it hard for her to get a job in the private sector. This is just wrong.
Last edited by SanJuanStar; 08-07-2022 at 12:11 PM..
I'm looking at the career of Wanda Vazquez in Puerto Rico. She isn't even a career politician. In the 80's she worked in the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (no money or glory there). Then she studied and worked her tail off to be a lawyer and worked for 20 years as a lawyer in the Department of Justice in domestic and gender violence (no money or glory). She made a good reputation as a prosecutor for 20 years. These people are overworked and underpaid.
Then comes Ricky Rosello in 2016, picks her to run the Department of Justice when he wins the election. Her job was to enforce the P.R. laws and manage the whole department which are under staffed and under paid. She does her job with the limited resources. Her main job is to be a lawyer and run 1 department. That's it.
Then 1 morning she wakes up and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico makes her governor of Puerto Rico by constitution when Pierluisi who was picked by Ricky Rosello to replace him was rejected by the court. The top brass of the party didn't want her. She steps up and has to make an entire new cabinet because everybody in the old administration quit in disgrace because of the e-mails scandal and corruption and bad management from the Hurricane recovery and funds and the mess in the power grid (which to everybody is the real corruption).
Ricky Rosello leaves her a mess and I mean "UN DESMADRE" like We say in Puerto Rico. She comes in and stabilizes the island and then comes the pandemic. She does a great job under the circumstances. She earned the right to run for election in her own right but the party that is run by the Rosello and Pierluisi and his hacks had other ideas and didn't support her and she was defeated in 2020 in the primaries. She only served 2 years and left to the private sector.
Now they want to put her in prison for 20 years for some b.s. charge by the DOJ of all people. I thought they learned their lesson with Anibal Acevedo but here We are again. What's wrong with this picture?
Last edited by SanJuanStar; 08-09-2022 at 05:42 PM..
vazquez said she didn't want to become governor, then she runs for re-election. what changed her tune? payoffs? she did a terrible job as governor and was not even re-elected in the primary. at least pierlusi used actual data to make covid related decisions. one of the few jobs the federal government actually does is charge corrupt local politicians. she will get her day in court to prove her innocence.
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Wanda Vázquez is the most fantastic stupid of the case
