Ties to Terrorism? Grand Jury Sought to Investigate Allegations of Corruption Involving Farmington Public Schools and Islamic Cultural Association
From: Act for America

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it submitted a letter to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette asking that he conduct a grand jury investigation into the Farmington Public Schools sale of Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association (ICA), which has ties to terrorist organizations.

The Law Center informed Attorney General Schuette that “a fog of corruption has indeed enveloped the Farmington Public Schools relating to its 2011 agreement to sell Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association, and that this fog of corruption can only be pierced by a grand jury investigation and the use of other investigative tools in the law enforcement arsenal of the Attorney General’s Office.” [Click here to read entire letter]

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Council of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “By agreeing to sell Eagle Elementary to the ICA under these suspicious circumstances, Farmington Schools sacrificed the interest of their children and taxpayers to bring into their community an organization with ties to terrorist organizations.”

According to the real estate broker who represented ICA in the purchase of Eagle Elementary, ICA owns and operates the HUDA, an Islamic school in the Village of Franklin, Michigan. The Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, reports that ICA shares direct ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (hereinafter “CAIR”) and the North American Islamic Trust, Inc. (hereinafter “NAIT”), both of which were named as unindicted co-conspirators/joint venturers in U.S. v. Holy Land Found. for Relief & Dev. (“HLF”), the largest terrorism funding trial in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors proved that HLF worked closely with the U.S. designated terrorist organization Hamas to fund terrorist activities.

Moreover, during the HLF trial, several FBI agents testified to the unmistakable financial connections and dealings between HLF, CAIR, and NAIT. After the trial, the FBI severed ties with CAIR and NAIT due to their status as unsuitable liaison partners. Steven Pomerantz, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, even noted that "CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups."

Organizations such as CAIR and NAIT defend such criticism by diverting attention away from their misdeeds and financial ties to Islamic terrorism through accusing those who criticize their associations and actions as being “Muslim bashers” or “Islamophobes.”

Dawud Walid, Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, testified in support of ICA during the Farmington Public Schools board meeting relating to the purchase of Eagle Elementary.

The interconnected relationships of ICA, CAIR and NAIT serve as a partial backdrop for the real estate transactions orchestrated by Farmington Public Schools.

The June 13, 2012 Thomas More Law Center letter to the Attorney General letter with 442 pages of exhibits was written on behalf of concerned citizens from West Bloomfield, Farmington and Farmington Hills. According to the letter, these concerned citizens have information, which supports claims of bribery, illegal campaign contributions, and violations of the Open Meetings Act and governmental practices dealing with the sale of public property. [Click here to read the 22-page Summary of Allegations]

In creating a new Public Integrity Unit last year, Attorney General Schuette stated: "[e]nriching yourself at public expense is not only shameful, but compromises the integrity of government and violates the public trust. Weeding out corruption is top priority.” Information compiled through various sources indicates that the Farmington Public Schools (FPS) secretly negotiated a No-Bid, below-market, sale of valuable district property against the recommendations of its legal counsel, a specially-convened internal committee, and district residents. [Click here to see video clips of residents addressing FPS Board]

While the District repeatedly rebuffed parties interested in purchasing the vacant elementary school telling them it was not for sale, FPS was exclusively negotiating behind closed doors in apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act, for many months with their favored buyer, the Islamic Cultural Association.

Not only did FPS conceal its dealings from the public, it apparently misrepresented the status of the property to municipal officials from Farmington and Farmington Hills. On May 3, 2011, less than three weeks before it would publicly announce the Islamic Cultural Association’s offer to purchase Eagle Elementary, in a joint meeting with Farmington and Farmington Hills City Councils, FPS represented that Eagle was slated for demolition.

On October 16, 2011, two days prior to FPS’s determinative vote on whether to extend the expiration date of the purchase agreement for the ICA to obtain Eagle Elementary, Dr Nabil Suliman, who does not reside in the Farmington School district nor does he have any children in Farmington Public Schools, contributed $2,000 ($1,000 over the legal limit) to FPS Board member Karen Bolsen.

Concluded Thompson, “Our letter to the Attorney General focused on a catalog of suspicious circumstances dealing with corruption that can best be resolved by a citizens grand jury. A grand jury with the power to subpoena witnesses and compel testimony would insure that the guilty are brought to justice and the innocent exonerated,"

The Coming DNC Disaster 
By: Michelle Malkin  / Townhall.com

There aren't Greek columns tall or wide enough to camouflage Barack Obama's impending North Carolina catastrophe. In September, the campaigner-in-chief will travel to Charlotte for his party's presidential nominating convention. For once, the incurable jetsetter may wish he had stayed home.
 
Obama's stage managers envision a triumphant, unifying coronation reminiscent of their 2008 DNC production in Denver. But the southern swing state is turning into a Democratic disaster zone.

Start with the North Carolina Democratic Party. At the state party convention last week, Obama for America was AWOL. The glaring absence of high-level national Obama surrogates was noted "as odd," according to the Charlotte News and Observer. There's good reason to steer clear. The party is embroiled in a sordid sex scandal that won't go away.

Earlier this year, former party communications staffer Adriadn Ortega, 26, accused former NCDP executive director Jay Parmley of repeated sexual harassment and physical groping. Documents leaked to the conservative Daily Caller news site revealed a hush-hush financial settlement involving the two men. Ortega was fired; Parmley resigned; state Democrats went into panic mode.

"If this hits the media, the Democratic Party, our candidates and our credibility are doomed in this election," a local candidate complained to NCDP chairman David Parker. A defiant Parker resisted statewide calls (including a desperate request from outgoing Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue) to resign. Ortega filed a defamation suit against Parker and the NCDP last week. The White House, which has trumpeted its stand against workplace harassment, has been mute on the story.

Other Democrats are boycotting North Carolina to avoid an entirely different taint: the scandal-plagued president himself. By TheDaily.com's count, at least seven Democratic officials will skip Obama-palooza: New York Democratic Reps. Bill Owens and Kathy Hochul; Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Mark Critz; three endangered Democratic politicians from West Virginia, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Nick Rahall; and Utah Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

The Democratic boycotters have dinged Obama on everything from his election-year illegal alien amnesty power grab to his failed jobs programs to his destructive war on coal. While "Forward!" may be the official Obama campaign slogan, "Back Away!" is quickly becoming the dissenting Democrats' rallying cry.

Moderate Democrats aren't the only ones refusing to put on the party hats and sing "Kumbaya." North Carolina is riling Obama's left flank, too. And national media outlets are noticing. In a piece on the DNC "going awry," Bloomberg News reported:

"Voters just approved a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, which conflicts with Obama's view on the issue. Convention fundraising has been slow, and labor unions tapped to fill the financial gap are angry the convention will be in a city -- Charlotte -- with no unionized hotels and in a state where
compulsory union membership or the payment of dues is prohibited as an employment condition."

Thousands of anarchists, socialists and professional agitators also plan on protesting in Charlotte. After giving Mr. Hollow Hope and Change a first-term pass, self-declared progressives can't ignore Team Obama's in-your-face decision to deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech at bailed-out Bank of America Stadium. As I've reported previously:

--The financially troubled bank snagged a middle-of-the-night, taxpayer-funded $45 billion banking bailout in 2008 and an estimated $931 billion in secret federal emergency loans.

--In 2008, B of A's political action committee gave its biggest contributions to Obama totaling $421,000.

--After purchasing junk mortgage company Countrywide, BofA agreed to pay $50 million in restitution payments for Countrywide subprime loan fraudster and Democratic fat cat Angelo Mozilo and one of his underlings.

Disgruntled leftists. Disgruntled centrists. Disgruntled unions. Disgruntled corporate donors. Sexual harassment scandal. Fundraising woes. And to top it all off: unrepentant class-warfare hypocrisy packaged as "The People's Convention" and brought to you by Bank of America. The DNC promises to be a public relations nightmare for Obama's optics geniuses. Too bad he can't send his autopen instead.

22 Alarming Facts About Obama’s Economy 

By Kevin "Coach" Collins / The Western Center for Journalism

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Our national debt has risen by more than $5 trillion during Obama’s administration, more than what it increased under all previous 43 presidents combined.

The number of Americans on food stamps has risen from 32 million to over 46.4 million in Obama’s three years in office.

At $3.59, the average price of gasoline is $ 1.74 MORE than it was the day Barack Obama was sworn in.

Twenty two percent of American children live in poverty, the highest level in 30 years.

For forty straight months (every single full month of Obama’s reign), unemployment has been 8%.

Forty two percent of American workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Fifty three percent of college graduates under 25 are either unemployed or under-employed.

The Federal Reserve has monetized 61% of our national debt. This means that we are “selling” government bonds to other government agencies.

Eighty six percent of American workers aged 60 or older will continue working past their 65th birthday.

Ninety five percent of the jobs lost in Obama’s depression have been lost by middle-class workers.

To satisfy local, state, and federal taxes, the average working American has to put in 107 days- more than 21 weeks of work.

In Detroit, thanks to Democrat policies for the last fifty years, a three-bedroom home can be purchased for just $500.00 – which is actually a slight uptick over recent years.

Since Obama took office, he has destabilized the national economy to the point that the price of an ounce of gold has risen from $850.00 to over $1600.00.

Last month in Montgomery, Alabama, 20,000 people applied for 877 openings at a Hyundai plant.

In 2011, the average American household spent a staggering $4,155.00 on gasoline.

Currently, there are a record-breaking 88 million+ Americans of working age who are unemployed.

Student loans, NOT dischargeable in bankruptcy, now stand at over $1 trillion, KILLING the future of millions of our young people.

Compared to 1985, our 2011 trade deficit with China was more than 49,000 times larger.

To determine why cocaine makes the Japanese quail engage in risky sexual behavior, the Obama Administration  spent $175,587.00 of our tax dollars.

The national debt could not be repaid in less than 440,000 years if we started immediately.

Our debt is growing at the rate of OVER $2 million each MINUTE! 

In 2010, 2.6 million Americans fell into poverty. Since 1959, when this statistic was developed, no year saw a bigger increase.

Our son didn't have to die.
By Brian Terry's parents

It has been more than 18 months since our son, Brian Terry, was shot andkilled by a Mexican drug cartel armed by a failed U.S. Department of Justice "gun-walking" operation known as "Fast and Furious."

The pain that Brian's death has caused our family is indescribable. No matter what words we use in this letter to you, we will never be able to justly convey how much suffering we have endured. We still grieve every day, and we are resigned to the fact that the agony of his death will stick with us for the rest of our lives. Not because he didn't achieve his dreams . . . not because he didn't live his life to the fullest . . . and not because he didn't leave anything behind that we couldn't celebrate or remember.

Our family will be forever grief-stricken because Brian didn't have to die.

We wish we could take solace knowing that Brian died doing what he loved to do. After all, it was his childhood dream to make a career in law enforcement and become a federal agent.

As a youngster, Brian was inspired by his Uncle Bob, a Michigan police offer who would give Brian tours of the police station and share stories of what it was like to be a police officer. From then on, Brian believed he was destined for a career in law enforcement. He joined the Marine Corps after high school and served four years in Naples, Italy before becoming a police officer in Lincoln Park, Michigan – just like his uncle. But Brian's ultimate dream was to become a federal agent, and so he applied to the United States Border Patrol.

In 2007, he attended the Border Patrol Academy in El Paso, Texas, graduating as president of his class before being assigned to the Naco station near Bisbee, Arizona, only a few miles from the U.S.-Mexican border. 

Brian accomplished exactly what he wanted to. But all of what he had worked for – and all our family had come to adore and love – was taken   
away so abruptly . . . so needlessly.

On December 14, 2010, Brian was conducting operations as a member of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit in Nogales, Arizona. He and his team encountered five Mexican drug cartel bandits in the "Peck Well" area near Rio Rico, Arizona. Not knowing the bandits were carrying the latest military grade assault weapons provided by the Justice Department as part of Operation Fast and Furious, there was an exchange of gunfire and Brian was shot in the lower back. He died on December 15, 2010.

Before then, our family was expecting Brian to return home for Christmas. What we were not expecting was that he would return home in a flag-draped casket. All because of an ill-conceived government gun trafficking investigation gone horribly awry.


Please click here for The Brian Terry Foundation web site http://honorbrianterry.com/

Please click here to contribute to the Brian Terry Foundation

Op-ed:

Documents...I don’t got no stinkin’ documents

By: Diane Sori

As Eric Holder slinked off to Europe yesterday, a day after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted on the resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress, something hit me like a ton of bricks...the real reason why Holder refuses to turn over the documents requested.

The reason was really easy to figure out using just plain old common sense, something it seems Chairman Darrell Issa and his committee haven’t used or won’t use for whatever reason.  Drum roll please...and the reason is that the 80,000 documents have long been shredded with their remnants having gone up in a poof of smoke. 

Now do I mean literally shredded and gone up in smoke, maybe yes, maybe no, but this figurative use of words also applies to hard copies, hard drives, floppy discs, microfilm, and any and all other computer nuances, because with today’s computer technology they are just as easy to purge and gotten rid of as is paper copies.

When Eric Holder holds fast and furiously (just had to say it) in his refusal to turn the subpoenaed documents over it’s NOT because he believes the committee has no legal right to them, it’s because he can't turn them over as they no longer exist, and that in and of itself spells GUILTY!  

Holder knows it, Obama knows it, and they know ‘We the People’ know it, but they just don't care!

Now some will attest that any and all official documents or correspondence generated by any government employee, or by anyone under government contract, is the property of the government and not the individual.  But I say since when do these rules, or any rules for that matter, apply to Barack Hussein Obama and his minions.  They don’t, as the rule of law that we all must abide by goes right out the window for them.

Some will also say that even if these documents were indeed destroyed that somewhere someone must have made a copy or two and squirreled them away (to possibly be used against them as blackmail perhaps), and to that I say, nonsense.  Obama and Holder are both smart and clever enough to having made sure that their tracks were completely covered.

Now, why do I think it’s a very strong possibility that these documents no longer exist...it’s really quite simple.  Common sense tells me that if someone has nothing to hide and if that someone has definitive evidence that will clear them of a crime, why they wouldn’t turn the documents with that proof over.  They wouldn't.  But if someone has something to hide, NOW that is another story.  

Eric Holder is a master of deception and stonewalling, as is Obama, and it’s easy to see them in their arrogance thinking that if they got rid of the evidence, there would be nothing for Issa to use against them and so the case would fall apart.  All they would have to do is stall long enough to drag this out past the November elections, and even if Holder was found in contempt down the road it wouldn’t matter as Obama would just issue him a presidential pardon. Remember, in Obama’s narcissistic love of himself world he automatically assumes he will be re-elected and no one dare tell him otherwise, especially NOT his Attorney General who needs his protection at all costs.

As for Obama issuing that Executive Privilege to protect Holder, what better ruse to lead the committee members off tract than to issue this privilege.  If Obama and Holder can get Issa to continue to believe that subpoenaed documents are being withheld, then they can divert Issa from using common sense and deductive reasoning and having an ah-ha moment when the light bulb turns on and he says, ‘wait...there are NO documents to be had’!

Now all this is just my opinion of course and I have no concrete proof to back up my supposition, but my gut instinct is telling me that I’m on to something here.  But I leave it up to the reader to decide if I’ve hit on something or not, but remember, in Obamaland, where we all now sadly reside, any and everything is possible.