Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila has been charged in a federal probe over possible electoral fraud and corruption. The grand jury indictment publicized today charged Acevedo Vila with violating campaign finance laws and issuing false statements to the FBI. He faces at least ten years in jail if convicted though he has proclaimed his innocence: Acevedo says in a statement that he did nothing wrong. Thursday's indictment charges him and 12 party associates with illegal campaign fundraising.
The governor says he wants to assure the people of Puerto Rico that he has never acted illegally.
Acevedo Vila is a Democratic Party superdelgate who has pledged to support Barack Obama’s campaign. It’s unknown what effect (if any) Acevedo Vila’s indictment will have on such a tight presidential race.
Sources- AFP, Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, First Read, SignOnSanDiego.com
Image- CNN
5 comments:
The word out of P.R. is that it could be up to 20 years, not 10.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/portada/noticias/gobernador_se_expone_a_20_anos_de_carcel/383721
I believe because the wire fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/March/08_crm_243.html
Actions Speak Better than Words
Before the negative press regarding Mr. Wright, Mr Obama had on numerous occasions declared Mr. Wright as his mentor and spiritual teacher for the past 20 years and even went so far as to include Mr. Wright in his election staff, these are the actions of Mr. Obama. When the press found out about the Hitleresque personality of Mr. Wright, Mr. Obama’s staff writers immediately created a rebuttal of hyperbole that amazingly some people actually believed.
But regardless what Mr. Obama and his staff reply, Mr. Obama cannot retract his clear public proclamation that Mr. Wright has been mentor and spiritual teacher for over 20 years. And that up to recent negative press, Mr. Wright was on Mr. Obama’s Spiritual Advisor Committee campaign team.
If you make the choice to listen and learn from Hitler every week over 20 years, do you expect me or any other rational being to believe that you wouldn’t be or want to be influenced by Hitler’s ideas? And what does that say of your personal integrity if you chose American hating Mr. Wright, or Mr. Hitler as your mentor in life?
Action is the real measure of a person, not their words. We know who Mr. Obama is by his life and his teachers, not the words he spins. And we can only imagine the amount of hatred Mr. Obama will unleash once he achieves ultimate power. And woe be the whites, the poor, those of the Jewish faith and anyone else Mr. Obama thinks deserve retribution. Maybe I am wrong, but considering Mr. Obama’s 20 year religious education, is such a risk worth the gamble?
And also consider recent announcement that the chief of the firm involved in the State Department’s passport breach is one of Obama’s adviser. (And why is this not being discussed?) And that Obama has been caught lying about Rezko, regarding the amount of money Rezko gave him, and that Obama still hasn’t come clean about his Rezko land deal. Or further, how Mrs. Obama makes a phenomenal $317.000 a month at a hospital in Chicago that is famous for turning away the poor, especially the black poor.
If Obama were to become president, what would stop Mr. Obama from appointing Mr. Wright to his cabinet? And after Mr. Wright’s appointment, if anyone complained no doubt they would be called racist. And it seems as if this strategy - that it is racist to criticize a black man - is already in effect as Mr. Obama can do anything corrupt with minimal impunity by the public or the press. But if Hillary so much as sneezes, she is taken through the laundry and hung out to dry and then beaten some more. Such an obvious bias treatment towards Mr. Obama because of his race is racial discrimination. And I believe another reason why Mrs. Clinton is unfairly criticized to such an extreme is because a handful of powerful men in the media can’t stand the idea of a woman for president – likely a libido thing.
We should have as our country’s leader someone with wisdom and knowledge, whose goal is the selfless betterment of the world. We should not elect someone with a personal agenda for personal power or select them because of the fashionably of their race or the preference for a gender.
With all the red lights in Mr. Obama’s resume, and all the hyperbole that he spins that keeps us from knowing the real Mr. Obama, are you sure this is the person best to lead our country? Should we gamble away the American future to a man who associates with men who hate this country and its people?
el loco - Ouch, Acevedo Vila better find a damn good lawyer!
Also, I wonder what effect (if any) this will have on plans for a plebescite in the near future.
doug -
If we're going to ask could "we gamble away the American future to a man who associates with men who hate this country and its people" then let's consider John McCain's relations with John Hagee and Pat Robertson. (THe latter of which publicly advocated assassinating Venezuela's president).
Or how about that Wright was the guest of honor at a 1998 breakfast the Clinton White House?
We could go all day playing the guilt-by-association game, but all it does is serve as needless distractions from discussing vital issues such as the candidates' policies.
Ouch, Acevedo Vila better find a damn good lawyer!
I don't know if his lawyer is damn good although he seems to be, but he sure is damn expensive. Can you say $1,000/hr?
I don't think this will affect the plebiscite at all. There won't be one until next year at the earliest and by then there will be a new President, a new Congress, and a new Governor. There's no way he makes it through Election Day regardless of his guilt or innocence.
We should have as our country’s leader someone with wisdom and knowledge, whose goal is the selfless betterment of the world. We should not elect someone with a personal agenda for personal power or select them because of the fashionably of their race or the preference for a gender.
Damn, Doug. I didn't know Jesus and Mohammed were running for Prez!
Thanks for your explanation!
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