Last January, the operator of RipOffReport.com, which is the Xcentric Ventures, LLC filed a federal lawsuit in Iowa looking to block any further investigation of its activities by Sac Country, Iowa District Attorney Ben Smith. He had indicted one ROR operative, Darren Meade for witness tampering and other charges. In addition to this, RipOffReport sought an injunction blocking Attorney Ben Smith from further pursuing the investigation and last week a federal magistrate recommended granting the injunction in part.

Apart from this, the court rejected the claim of RipOffReport since “there is substantial evidence suggesting that the plaintiffs materially contributed to the alleged illegality of the information at issue. As noted above, there is an undisputed connection between Magedson and Meade concerning the Richer case, as they have participated in a “common cause” to free Richer. Xcentric made substantial payments to Meade while he was gathering information and posting complaints about the case. Including complaints with titles that associate certain state’s witnesses with illegal and embarrassing conduct.”

RipOffReport attempts to argue that, although it paid Meade substantial sums it didn’t have any advance involvement. And this is one of the reasons why the court rejected the claim, noting that it could not believe that RipOffReport was blissfully unaware of what Meade was planning to post. Meade has testified that RipOffReport founder Ed Magedson directed him to make posts about Bennet Kelley out of concern that he might represent one of their adversaries.

Despite the fact that the record indicated that RipOffReport had conspired with Meade. The magistrate recommended granting the injunction since it found Smith’s actions to be retaliatory for their posting negative content about him on each of RipOffReport pages.
The court explained, “there is substantial evidence that Smith’s actions have been motivated, in large part, by statements made about him on RipOffReport. Smith admits that he has worked over a thousand hours and has issued over one hundred subpoenas during his investigation into RipOffReport. Smith presented no evidence that in his role of Sac Country Attorney, he has devoted similar time and resources to other investigations of potential misdemeanor offenses.

The finder of fact could easily determine that Smith is treating this investigation differently, and indeed obsessively, because he is angry and embarrassed by RipOffReport posts that have criticized and ridiculed him. But this ignores the fact that Sac Country is a tiny country with only 10,350 people.

Most small counties like Sac Country are not normally targeted for abuse by large websites so that this investigation would take substantially more of Smith’s time than prior cases. The court recommended limiting the injunction only to Smith such that it would not prevent the Attorney General of Iowa or a special prosecutor from investigating potential criminal charges against plaintiffs. It means RipOffReport is by no means out of danger of indictment.

If you want to know the opinion of the Court, please feel free to visit this website for more information:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/275219321/Xcentric-Ventures-v-Ben-Smith-Injunction-Order

The post Magistrate Gives RipOffReport Split Decision To Where They Still Could Be Prosecuted appeared first on NIR News / National Investigative Report.

On Friday, Governor John Kitzhaber became the first Oregon state Governor to resign in disgrace amid the growing scandal involving him and his fiancée Cylvia Hayes.

Facing a state criminal investigation and strings of demand from top state officials for him to step down, Kitzhaber, a Democrat and Oregon’s 36th governor made his decision in a letter to Secretary of State Kate Brown detailing his resignation will take effect at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18 clearing the way for her to assume Oregon’s highest office and become the nation’s first openly bisexual governor.

He abandoned his office amid suspicions that his live-in fiancée, Cylvia Hayes used her relationship with him to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business and pushing the same policies in her public role as first lady.

Kitzhaber, who spent 14 years as an emergency-room doctor, served his first two terms as governor from 1995 to 2003, winning election to a third term in 2010 and a fourth in November of which he has only lasted one month and one day as the allegations began surfacing.

Kitzhaber said in a statement announcing his resignation “I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life,” he said denying any wrongdoing.

Recently released emails show Governor John Kitzhaber gave First Lady Cylvia Hayes extraordinary influence over the highest levels of state government, allowing her to promote the agendas of her private consulting client.

Photo Credit: oregon.gov

The emails, released to WW and other media on Friday by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, are of special importance for a number of reasons: 

First, Oregon state law prohibits public officials from using their public position for private benefit, or for the benefit of members of the public official’s household. The emails show that Kitzhaber advocated for policies and decisions that would aid Hayes’ private consulting work for Demos, a New York advocacy group.

Second, the emails show Kitzhaber handed Hayes sweeping power to direct senior state employees and influence state government policies. Without disclosing to those employees she was working for private clients, Hayes then promoted her clients’ agendas in written communication and at meetings. 

Third, the emails gave evidence of something that Kitzhaber and Hayes have sought to deny, which is that she herself is a public official and thus subject to Oregon government ethics laws.

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Feb. 9 she had begun a conflict-of-interest probe. “The governor’s decision to resign will not affect our ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of his and Ms. Hayes’ conduct,” Rosenblum said in a news release Friday.

Subpoenas delivered to the Department of Administrative Services Friday request a massive array of documents from Kitzhaber’s administration. Seeking records pertaining to 15 other people besides Kitzhaber and Hayes, including Kitzhaber’s chief of staff, policy advisers, Kitzhaber’s lawyer and secretaries the subpoena was the first acknowledgment of a federal investigation ordering the agency to produce documents for a federal grand jury before March 10. An agency spokesman, Matt Shelby, said it would tender whatever requested records are in its possession.

Different newspaper reports since October have chronicled Hayes’ work for organizations with an interest in Oregon public policy. At the same time, she was paid by advocacy groups and played an active role in Kitzhaber’s administration, a potential conflict of interest.

It was only in August that Kitzhaber, 67, proposed to Hayes, 47, with an eco-friendly ring on the banks of the Rogue River. An announcement through a spokeswoman said the couple “could not be happier or more excited.” In the months since, their engagement has been disrupted by the ethics commission review, two recall campaigns, a criminal investigation, a possible FBI inquiry and a series of personal embarrassments.

Putting Hayes in the spotlight led her to reveal that she accepted about $5,000 to illegally marry a man seeking immigration benefits in the 1997. Later, she admitted she bought a remote property with the intent to grow marijuana. Kitzhaber said Hayes would no longer have a policy role in his administration, adding that their engagement was still on.

“I’m in love,” Kitzhaber said. “I do not believe that I’ve been blinded. Eyes wide open.”

The greatest opportunity for transparency is a state-level investigation. Kitzhaber, however, has refused to appoint a special prosecutor. And Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has so far ignored a mandate in state law that says she “shall” investigate public corruption, although her most recent comments suggest she may be moving in that direction.    

The post Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber Resigns Amid Criminal Investigation appeared first on NIR News / National Investigative Report.

The U.S District Court Judge Murray came a step closer to carry out contempt charges against Joe Arpaio, a lawman in Arizona. The judge held the charges against the subject this Thursday because he failed to follow the court mandate in the case of racial-profiling back in 2007.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/flickr

Arpaio is an 82 year old Maricopa County sheriff who declares himself to be the toughest sheriff in America. He is accused of holding the Latino drivers for extended periods of time at traffic stops, last year. The case has transformed into a racial-profiling case.

The judge ordered to put a stop to such acts. To fulfill the purpose, the U.S District Court Judge Murray assigned a court monitor to supervise and manage the operations of the sheriff’s office.

Arpaio, Maricopa County and the Latino plaintiffs were ordered by Murray to file the court papers latest by the 8th of January. He declared that the issue be tried on the civil and criminal charges.

In the court hearing in downtown Phoenix, Snow cited some occurrences and said that he has some apprehensions regarding the deputies who were not told about the court’s mandate and order, where the material was not returned to the lawyers of the Latino drivers.

Photo Credit: mcso.org

He further added that there are some serious violations of law on many fronts and a number of issues are of great concern.

Snow issued his ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by the Latino plaintiffs in May 2013. The Latino drivers argued for their constitutional rights which they believed were violated because they were signaled out by the deputies for traffic stops.

The hearing was attended by Apraio along with his criminal defense attorney, Melvin McDonald on Thursday. He refused the racial profiling charges and made an appeal for the ruling of the last year made by Snow.

The post Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio May Face Civil and Criminal Charges appeared first on NIR News / National Investigative Report.