RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
December 6 to December 12, 2020 They say vote fraud, and they say no fraud. But unlike the Gershwin ditty suggested by that refrain, many Americans are not calling the whole thing off, yet -- the thing being the extraordinary ballot-integrity furor of Election 2020. With that in mind, and with control of the U.S. Senate still at stake in Georgia's runoff election next month, RealClearInvestigations has begun a running, selective collection of hyperlinked articles detailing charges of ballot irregularities or electronic fraud being made in various states, especially key battlegrounds such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. - Many claims of fraud advanced by the president, his surrogates and supporters have been challenged and some have been debunked or dismissed by courts, notably a challenge by Texas in the Supreme Court.
- Still, in numerous instances, media fact checkers have not been diligent. They have simply run the fraud claims by state authorities and other officials who would have orchestrated the alleged fraud or had an interest in minimizing irregularities.
- Skepticism is warranted because fraud is inevitable in any big election. Even if they did not affect the outcome, the "irregularities," RCI's editors concluded, are a significant part of the story of Election 2020.
Trump, Biden and 2020 Election News Probe of Bidens Wider Than Hunter Let On: Source Politico
Swalwell and the Chinese Spy: House GOP in Dark, New York Post
States' Tally of Dominion's $120M for Vote Services Forbes
Loeffler Husband Bought Stock Before CARES Act Public Huffington Post
Infographic: What Happened in Atlanta on Election Night Epoch Times Other Noteworthy Articles and Series The Cartel Project: Journalists Slain in Mexico
25 News Outlets, Forbidden Stories
Regina Martínez was investigating links between Mexican politicians and drug cartels when she was beaten and then strangled to death in her own bathroom in 2012. Her murder was widely seen a warning sign to other reporters: You could be next. Eight years later, Forbidden Stories has brought together a global network of investigative journalists to pursue her leads. In China and India, they exposed drug cartels' expanding supply chain for precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a deadly drug that's ravaging the United States. In Europe, they investigated the rise of Mexican "cooks" in underground meth labs in The Netherlands and Belgium. They also looked into the highly opaque business of cyber-surveillance companies selling Mexico increasingly invasive spy technology being turned against journalists. Finally, they were given access to exclusive documents showing firearms sales to Mexico, finding that in Germany, Belgium, Italy and elsewhere, multinational weapons manufacturers are arming Mexican states with a history of collusion with criminal groups and human rights violations. The Washington Post contributed an article that examined Martinez's life and death. Its reporters interviewed sources who had never spoken on the record before, revealing how local authorities sabotaged the investigation into her death and put a scapegoat behind bars -- without, it reports, any tangible proof. The NYPD Files
ProPublica
There are many good reasons why law enforcement agencies should not comment on "ongoing investigations." Covering up their missteps is not one of them. But that has become a common practice. This article, the latest in a series documenting the lack of transparency at the New York City Police Department, uses the case of a man who was killed by a cop in his own apartment for no apparent reason to suggest how the NYPD resists scrutiny. There was video of what happened from both a hallway security camera and one of the officers' body-worn cameras, but the NYPD wouldn't disclose any of it, citing, for more than a year, its ongoing investigation. The article reports that the Department commonly cites such internal investigations, which often drag on, to withhold crucial details. When the investigations are finally done, rarely are there consequences for officers, commanders or the department itself. Golden State Killer Hunt Infringed Private Gene Databases
Los Angeles Times
This article follows up on the extensive reporting - including a multi-part podcast - that the Los Angeles Times did on Joseph James Deangelo Jr. -- a.k.a. the Golden State killer. The cop turned serial killer was caught when the DNA he left at crime scenes decades ago was matched with samples a relative had submitted to a private company that traces genetic genealogy. This article says such cooperation with law enforcement violated corporate privacy policies. More broadly, the legality of investigative genealogy, still relatively new, has not faced serious legal challenges. It is perceived in law enforcement circles as a vital tool for solving even current crimes, even as it portends privacy violations and the expansion of police power. As those questions get sorted out in the future, DeAngelo, 75, is serving 26 life sentences in a California prison. 'Staggering' Surge in Violent Carjackings in Minneapolis
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Over the past two months, Minneapolis police have logged more than 125 carjackings in the city, a surge that authorities largely linked to small groups of marauding teens. Such attacks are up 537% this month when compared with last November. The spree comes amid a nearly unprecedented spike in violent crime, particularly shootings, since the May 25 killing of George Floyd in police custody and the civil unrest that followed. In November, the toll of people shot this year surpassed 500 in Minneapolis, the most in 15 years. Seventy-nine homicides is the highest count since the mid-1990s, an era when the city earned the grim moniker "Murderapolis." Meanwhile, a trio of City Council members are seeking to move roughly 5% from the police budget to violence prevention, a mental health crisis team and other departments that could help process reports of property damage and parking violations. Mayor Jacob Frey has criticized that plan as "irresponsible and untenable." Columbia U. Didn't Disclose $1M in Chinese Gov't Funding
Washington Free Beacon
Columbia University failed to disclose at least $1 million in Chinese government funding that went toward hosting one of its campus Confucius Institutes, which the State Department has described as a part of Beijing's propaganda effort targeting U.S. students. At least part of the Chinese money went toward bringing on Prof. Wei Dedong, an adviser to the Chinese regime's propaganda department, to serve as director of the Columbia Confucius Institute starting in 2016. Wei, who is an associate professor at Renmin University in Beijing, gave several lectures and organized events at Columbia, including a seminar on "China's regulation of religious affairs" in Tibet. It is unclear whether Columbia broke the law by failing to disclose the donations - universities are only required to disclose donations that exceed $250,000 in one year and Columbia received the $1 million between 2010 and 2015. How Nine Traders Hit a Gusher With Negative Oil
Bloomberg Businessweek
For a few brief hours last April, the price of oil went below zero during a wave of pandemic frenzy. In that short time, this article reports, a group of nine independent traders affiliated with a small British firm named Vega Capital London Ltd. made $660 million. Other investors around the world counted their losses. A Chinese fund informed its customers that everything they'd put in was now gone. Interactive Brokers, America's largest online trading service, lost $104 million because its software wasn't equipped to handle negative prices. Now the authorities must decide whether anyone at Vega breached market rules by joining forces to push down prices - or if they simply pulled off one of the greatest trades in history. Coronavirus Investigations |
