Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/83931
Saturday, September 22, 2012 – Daily News WASHINGTON (AP) — California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters won't be charged with ethics violations following allegations she steered a $12 million federal bailout to a bank where her husband owns stock. House Ethics Committee members said Friday at a hear- ing their investigation found no violation by Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Commit- tee. She could become the panel's senior Democrat next year, or the chairwoman, if Democrats win control of the House. However, the ethics panel Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, acting chair- man of the panel specifically for the Waters case, announced the tentative find- ings at the hearing but noted the committee had not issued a final report. said Waters' chief of staff, Mikael Moore, did take actions in Congress in an attempt to help the bank and violated House standards of conduct. Moore, who is also Waters' grandson, likely will receive a letter admonishing him for his conduct but will not face more severe punish- ment, such as a reprimand, by the full House. tee was convinced that when Waters asked for a meeting at the Treasury Department to discuss financial help for minority banks, she believed she did so on behalf of all minority banks — not just OneUnited, where her hus- band owns stock. Goodlatte said the committee agreed with Waters' assertion. The acting chairman said that when Waters realized OneUnited was in serious trouble, she told then-chair- man of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to handle any further matters in the case. Goodlatte said, how- ever, that Moore continued efforts in Congress to get committee help for OneUnit- Goodlatte said the commit- Iran group off terror list WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration will remove from the U.S. ter- rorism list an Iranian militant group formerly allied with Saddam Hussein, officials said Fri- day, describing a move that will infuriate Tehran and end years of high-profile campaign- ing by the group. AP sources: US to take Her position as top Democ- rat on the financial services panel next year also would be important to the Congression- al Black Caucus because Waters is a senior member of the group. The caucus has been deeply concerned with how the mortgage foreclosure crisis affects minorities. Goodlatte said at the hear- ing the committee agreed with an outside counsel in the case, Billy Martin, that Waters should not be charged ''because there is not suffi- cient evidence in the record to prove violations by a clear and ed, even sending the commit- tee staff an email saying, ''OneUnited is in trouble.'' Moore defended his actions, saying he violated no House rules. He insisted his actions were not aimed at helping one bank. Waters routinely wins her Los Angeles district over- whelmingly. Now serving her 11th term, Waters won her last race with 79 percent of the vote. convincing standard, which is necessary before formal sanc- tions are recommended in the House of Representatives.'' But when speaking of Moore, Goodlate said, ''It is abundantly clear that Rep. Waters told Mr. Moore that he should not specifically assist OneUnited.'' Goodlatte said there were ''substantial issues of credibility'' involving Moore. The key issue in the case No ethics charge for Democratic Calif. Rep. Waters 7B The banks were in trouble because of their investments in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were taken over by the gov- ernment. Waters had been under was whether Waters requested the meeting at the Treasury Department to assist an asso- ciation of troubled minority- owned banks — as she con- tended — or whether she was trying to get a bailout for One- United, the bank where her husband is an investor. She contended she had nothing to do with the govern- ment's eventual decision to give OneUnited a $12 million bailout, and U.S. officials involved in the decision backed her up on that point. Ethics committee members ultimately agreed. investigation since 2009, start- ing with the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The case later shifted to the Ethics Committee, where it has caused much dis- sension. The two committee lawyers who originally worked on the case were suspended by the panel's former Democratic chairman, who accused them of meeting with committee Republicans while excluding Democrats. In February, all five Repub- licans on the committee and the panel's ranking Democrat withdrew from the case to avoid any questions about impartiality. In July, the com- mittee named Martin, a Wash- ington attorney, as outside counsel to investigate Waters' conduct. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will notify Congress of her intent later Friday, the officials said. A court order had given her until Oct. 1 to make a decision about the Muja- hedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak about the matter. Clinton's decision comes just days after the last big batch of the Iranian exiles reluctantly left their decades-old paramilitary base in northeastern Iraq, relocating for now to a refugee camp outside Baghdad. The U.S. had insisted that the MEK's 3,000 members comply with an Iraqi demand to leave Camp Ashraf as a condition of the MEK's removal from the list of foreign terrorist organizations. journeyed through multiple countries and the shifting alliances of the Middle East over its four-decade history. The MEK helped Islamic clerics overthrow Iran's shah before carrying out a series of bombings and assassinations against the Iranian government. It fought in the 1980s alongside Saddam's forces in the Iran- Iraq war, but disarmed after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. It has since suffered violent recriminations from Iraq's new Shiite-dominat- ed government. Derided by its critics as a cult, the group has on two factors: whether it still had the capacity and intent to commit acts of terror. Several American military officials and defense con- tractors were killed by the MEK in the 1970s, U.S. officials maintain, and its attacks have killed hundreds of Iranians. But the group con- tended it swore off violence more than a decade ago and now only seeks a peaceful overthrow of Iran's theocratic government. The MEK assembled a high-profile roster of champions even as it remained on the U.S. blacklist. Luminaries who've advocated for the MEK's removal from the list include former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former Pennsyl- vania Gov. Ed Rendell and James Jones, Presi- dent Barack Obama's first national security adviser. The decision to remove the MEK list rested year to examine whether the officials were pro- viding illegal material support to designated ter- rorists; that civil inquiry probably would be nul- lified now. Removal from the list also should make it easier for the MEK to raise money and recruit in the United States. The organization is far from Iran's main- stream opposition, however. That led the Treasury Department earlier this The group has an ideology mixing Marxism, secularism, an obsession with martyrdom and near adoration of its leaders. A 2009 report by the security think tank RAND accuses it of fraudulent recruiting as well as ''authoritarian control, confiscation of assets, sexual control (including mandatory divorce and celibacy), emotional isolation, forced labor, sleep depriva- tion, physical abuse and limited exit options.'' MEK supporters say this is Iranian propa- ganda, pointing to several former members who've freely left the group. It also vehemently rejects the Iranian accusa- tion that members have worked with Israel to assassinate several Iranian nuclear scientists. U.S. officials say there is no evidence to suggest recent terrorist activity by the group. U.S. officials said Clinton's letter to Con- DAILY RED BLUFF T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Your "Local" Daily Newspaper Since 1885 To subscribe, place a display or a classified ad Call Today! 527-2151 NEWS TEHAMACOUNTY $ LEGAL NOTICE File No. 2012000254 STATEMENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: The Trapmaker 530-529-1910, 10902 Joint Rd., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Michael V. Murchison 110902 Joint Rd. Red Bluff, CA 96080 The registrant commenced to transact business under the fic- titious business name or names listed above on 2/1/02 This business is conducted by: an individual S/By: Michael V. Murchison Michael V. Murchison This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 9/10/2012 BEVERLY ROSS Tehama County Clerk & Recorder Publish: September 15, 22, 29 & October 5, 2012 LEGAL NOTICE File No. 2012000240 STATEMENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Flores Lawn Service 3898 Hwy. 99W Proberta, CA 96078 PO Box 311, Tehama, CA 96090 Angel Flores 2160 Gentry Way, Red Bluff, CA 96080 Joe Pacheco PO Box 311, Tehama, CA 96090 23310 Judy Lane, Gerber, CA 96035 The registrant commenced to transact business under the fic- titious business name or names listed above on N/A This business is conducted by: co-partners S/By: Angel Flores Angel Flores This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 8/23/2012 BEVERLY ROSS Tehama County Clerk & Recorder Publish: September 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2012 LEGAL NOTICE File No. 2012000259 STATEMENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Animals R Us gress would not amount to a final designation. That will probably come in a couple of weeks as officials unfreeze assets held by the group in the United States and other legal work that might allow it to open a U.S. office. Camp Ashraf is not yet fully closed. An esti- mated 200 exiles remain there to try to sell off the property that was left behind in the move, but Iraq's government wants them to leave quickly. The hostility of Baghdad's Shiite leaders reflect its desire to build stronger ties with Iran, but also the deep hatred for the group in Iraq because of its purported role in helping Saddam crush Shiite and Kurdish revolts in the 1990s. PO Box 1176 Barbara's Custom Hats Barbara's Custom Hat Shaping 23845 Bosque Ave Corning, CA 96021 Corning, CA 96021 Barbara Maitia PO Box 1176/23845 Bosque Ave Corning, CA 96021 The registrant commenced to transact business under the fic- titious business name or names listed above on 5/08/06 This business is conducted by: an individual S/By: Barbara Maitia Barbara Maitia This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 9/17/2012 BEVERLY ROSS Tehama County Clerk & Recorder Publish: September 22, 29 and October 6 & 13, 2012