Also on today’s menu:
Judge Protects Fearful Jurors In ‘Fallen 7’ Trial
Law Firm Settles Lawsuit Over Data Breach
Not Taking A Position But …
Donald Trump and his supporters have been portraying his indictment in Manhattan and continuing investigations in other areas as a part of a partisan effort to take him down. District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, and New York Attorney-General Letitia James are Democrats, and Special Counsel Jack Smith is registered as a political independent. New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s daughter, Loren, works for Authentic Campaigns, whose clients have included Jon Tester, Kamala Harris, and Adam Schiff.
Recognizing the need to address that perception of political bias, Bragg has taken his time in compiling evidence and framing the indictment to show it is about more than simply paying hush money to a porn star. The indictment alleges “a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects. In order to execute the unlawful scheme, the participants violated election laws and made and caused false entries in the business records of various entities in New York. The participants also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme.”
In other words, Trump’s payment of $130,000 to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for the money paid to Stormy Daniels, a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and a $30,000 payment to a doorman at Trump Tower were all part of a “catch and kill” plan to prevent damaging stories about Trump from surfacing during the election. Furthermore, by allegedly falsifying the payments, he ran afoul of New York business laws and federal tax laws.
Conviction on the charges will require a carefully laid prosecution that proves the charges are based on the law and not on a political motive.
Judge Protects Fearful Jurors In ‘Fallen 7’ Trial
Just as those connected with Trump’s prosecution have been alarmed by his calls for “death and destruction”, jurors in the Coos County Superior Court trial of 26-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, who was found not guilty of charges in the fatal crash that took the lives of seven motorcycle riders, have been fearful of what might happen if they are identified. Judge Peter Bornstein has now ruled that the jurors are entitled to keep their identities private.
Threats and intimidation followed last August verdicts, including disparaging statements from Governor Chris Sununu and Attorney-General John Formella. Sununu said, “The Fallen Seven did not receive justice today, and that is an absolute tragedy. I share in the shock, outrage, and anger that so many have expressed in the three years since the seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club were taken from us. My heart goes out to their families, friends, and loved ones on this especially dark day.” Formella was more careful in what he said: “Mr. Zhukovskyy should have been found guilty of the charges in this case and held responsible for causing seven deaths and numerous injuries. We thank the Court and the jurors for their service, and while we are extremely disappointed, we respect the verdict and our system of justice.”
Responding to a request from the Boston Globe to have access to the jurors for interviews, Bornstein wrote, “This is a case in which at least some persons who followed the trial were clearly angry after the foreperson read the verdicts and those persons may well have felt justified in their anger upon learning of the statements from two of the highest-ranking officials in state government. Therefore, the jurors’ fear for their physical safety if their names and addresses were disclosed is reasonable.”
He said that keeping their names secret does not impinge on the Globe’s right to pursue its reporting, and jurors who wish to speak can reach out to the newspaper if they so choose.
Law Firm Settles Lawsuit Over Data Breach
New York Attorney-General Letitia James announced on March 27 a $200,000 settlement with a law firm alleged to have failed to protect individuals’ personal and health care data from a cyber attack. Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP (HPMB), which represents New York City area hospitals and maintains sensitive patient information, is required to adopt several measures required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), including regular system risk assessments and encrypting private information housed on its servers.
According to the announcement, an attacker was able to exploit a vulnerability in the law firm’s email server and gained access to the sensitive private information, including the names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and health data of nearly 115,000 individuals.
Under the terms of the assurance of discontinuance, the law firm is required to pay $200,000 in penalties to the state and to strengthen its cybersecurity measures by encrypting private information, monitoring and logging network activity, updating its data collection and retention practices, and permanently deleting data “when there is no reasonable business or legal purpose to retain it.”
Not Taking A Position But …
One of the things that most infuriates Jon Swan, president of Save Forest Lake, is the Department of Environmental Service’s contradictory statements during legislative hearings. Director Michael Wimsatt will often state that the DES takes no position on pending legislation but then will outline concerns about the language of the bill. That is appropriate, but when the comments turn to advocacy or opposition for the bill, it is hardly “taking no position” and when the agency torpedoes an effort to address threats to the environment, it runs contrary to the reasons the DES exists.
Both Wimsatt and the DES’ Mark Sanborn have opposed passage of House Bill 56, which would establish a formula for the siting of new solid waste landfills to keep contaminants from reaching the state’s water resources. Their opposition led the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to deem HB 56 inexpedient to legislate. The 3-2 decision will go to the full senate for debate and a vote.
Wimsatt objected to the bill because it does not define “sand and gravel” and might hamper the ability of a company to site a landfill in a place like Dalton where leachate might reach and contaminate Forest Lake. Rather than pointing out an area of concern — the agency might not be know what sand and gravel is without a definition included in the bill — Wimsatt wants to kill the legislation.
The House previously approved the bill, 224-155. It would establish a scientific basis for deciding whether a site is appropriate for a landfill, making sure that it should take five years for any escaping contaminants to reach a perennial river, lake, or coastal waterway.
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