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Tag: Attorney

  • Amid Mortgage Fraud Allegations, Fed Governor Cook Says Won't Be "Bullied" To Step Down

    Amid Mortgage Fraud Allegations, Fed Governor Cook Says Won't Be "Bullied" To Step Down

    Update (1730ET): It took all day but Fed Governor Lisa Cook finally offered a response to allegations that she committed mortgage fraud (in order to get better rates, ironically!). Of course, she played the victim card immediately and offered up future ‘facts’…

    “I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said in a statement.

    “I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”

    One quick question… did you break the law or not?

    Bill Pulte was quick to respond to the governor’s statement:

    We look forward to seeing the PolyMarket trade on the over/under for her resignation.

    *  *  *

    The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over a pair of mortgages, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to increase legal scrutiny of Democratic figures and appointees.

    FHFA Director Bill Pulte wrote a letter to Bondi and DOJ official Ed Martin on Aug. 15 suggesting that Cook may have committed a criminal offense. The letter alleges that Cook “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute.”

    Bloomberg reports that Pulte said Cook took a mortgage on a property in Ann Arbor, Michigan, signing a mortgage agreement that stipulated she would use the property as her primary residence for at least a year.

    Two weeks later, according to the letter, she took another mortgage on a Georgia property and also declared it would be her primary residence.

    Pulte also called on Bondi to look into whether Cook misrepresented her circumstances by later listing the Georgia property for rental.

    The letter includes copies of mortgage documents in Cook’s name, as well as an apparent rental listing from 2022, a little over a year after she bought the Georgia property.

    And President Trump was swift to respond… demanding that “Cook must resign, now!!!”

    …as the full court press to pack The Fed continues.

    Cook was nominated to the Fed by President Joe Biden and took office in 2022, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board of governors.

    She was later nominated by Biden for a full term, which expires in 2038.

    Bloomberg reports that no charges have been filed and it’s not clear whether Bondi will investigate. The Justice Department declined comment. The Federal Reserve declined comment. Cook did not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.

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  • Meta suppressed children's safety research, 4 whistleblowers claim

    Meta suppressed children's safety research, 4 whistleblowers claim

    Two current and two former Meta employees disclosed documents to Congress alleging that the company may have suppressed research on children’s safety, according to a report from The Washington Post.

    According to their claims, Meta changed its policies around researching sensitive topics — like politics, children, gender, race, and harassment — six weeks after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents that showed how Meta’s own research found that Instagram can damage teen girls’ mental health. These revelations, which were made public in 2021, kicked off years of hearings in Congress over child safety on the internet, an issue that remains a hot topic in global governments today.

    As part of these policy changes, the report says, Meta proposed two ways that researchers could limit the risk of conducting sensitive research. One suggestion was to loop lawyers into their research, protecting their communications from “adverse parties” due to attorney-client privilege. Researchers could also write about their findings more vaguely, avoiding terms like “not compliant” or “illegal.”

    Jason Sattizahn, a former Meta researcher specializing in virtual reality, told The Washington Post that his boss made him delete recordings of an interview in which a teen claimed that his 10-year-old brother had been sexually propositioned on Meta’s VR platform, Horizon Worlds.

    “Global privacy regulations make clear that if information from minors under 13 years of age is collected without verifiable parental or guardian consent, it has to be deleted,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.

    But the whistleblowers claim that the documents they submitted to Congress show a pattern of employees being discouraged from discussing and researching their concerns around how children under 13 were using Meta’s social virtual reality apps.

    “These few examples are being stitched together to fit a predetermined and false narrative; in reality, since the start of 2022, Meta has approved nearly 180 Reality Labs-related studies on social issues, including youth safety and well-being,” Meta told TechCrunch.

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    In a lawsuit filed in February, Kelly Stonelake — a former Meta employee of 15 years — raised similar concerns to these four whistleblowers. She told TechCrunch earlier this year that she led “go-to-market” strategies to bring Horizon Worlds to teenagers, international markets, and mobile users, but she felt that the app did not have adequate ways to keep out users under 13; she also flagged that the app had persistent issues with racism.

    “The leadership team was aware that in one test, it took an average of 34 seconds of entering the platform before users with Black avatars were called racial slurs, including the ‘N-word’ and ‘monkey,’” the suit alleges.

    Stonelake has separately sued Meta for alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

    While these whistleblowers’ allegations center on Meta’s VR products, the company is also facing criticism for how other products, like AI chatbots, affect minors. Reuters reported last month that Meta’s AI rules previously allowed chatbots to have “romantic or sensual” conversations with children.

  • Is 23andMe’s American DNA at Risk? Potential Sale Sparks National Security Concerns

    Is 23andMe’s American DNA at Risk? Potential Sale Sparks National Security Concerns

    Justice Dept.‑Drops a Red‑Flag Letter on 23andMe’s Potential Sale

    The U.S. Department of Justice has just turned up the heat on the doomed 23andMe Holding Co.
    It filed a formal notice with the Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Missouri, which is chewing over the former DNA company’s Chapter 11 filing (Case No. 25‑40976).

    Why Does this Matter?

    • Millions of genome records on the line. Picture a giant digital vault holding the genetic blueprints of countless American citizens. That’s what 23andMe’s assets could turn into.
    • Possible foreign takeover alert. The DOJ is signaling that if anyone wants to acquire those assets, the deal could spark a national‑security showdown.
    • Enter CFIUS. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) would get in the middle, scrutinizing who’s buying the DNA “hot property.”

    What’s CFIUS and Why Does It Care?

    CFIUS is the sharp‑eyed watchdog that keeps a close eye on foreign investments in U.S. companies, especially when national security could be at stake. Think of it as the security guard that checks the background of anyone trying to move a piece of the American DNA puzzle.

    Bottom Line

    In a nutshell, the DOJ isn’t giving the green light for a quick sale of 23andMe’s assets. They’re essentially saying, “Hold your horses. If this ends up in foreign hands, we’ll make sure it’s safe.”

    Stay tuned—this saga is bound to keep unfolding, and we’ll be ready to rewind every twist with a dash of humor and heart.

    Law Strikes Back: 23andMe Can’t Sell Your DNA to “Covered” Companies

    It’s a no‑go zone for the genetic data of 15 million+ U.S. customers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, led by Sayler Fleming, has issued a sharp warning that 23andMe is barred from passing on genetic info to any company that meets the “covered person” criteria.

    Who Are These “Covered” Guys?

    • Foreign entities with ≥ 50 % ownership by firms from places like China, Russia, or North Korea.
    • Anything that ticks the box of a foreign‑owned corporation is off‑limits.

    Why the Hot‑Take?

    Agents say it’s all about security. Keeping our DNA out of the hands of the next big data broker is the main line of defense.

    What It Means for You

    If you’re a 23andMe user, you can rest easy knowing the company’s not going to sell your genetic profile to those heavy‑handed foreign entities. That’s the latest legal seal of safety.

    Federal Face‑Off: CFIUS, 23andMe, and the Great Genetic Arms Race

    Forget the courtroom drama – the 23andMe saga is now a high‑stakes cyber‑supply‑chain thriller. The U.S. Treasury isn’t asking Judge Walsh to swoop in for a knockout; instead, it’s waving a big red flag at CFIUS, asking the agency to check every potential sale of DNA data for sneaky foreign backers.

    Why DNA Is a National Security Issue (and Why That Makes It Hard to Sleep At Night)

    • Precision bioweapons could be built to target specific genetic traits or ethnic groups. Think a microscopic cocktail that’s “just for the family that has that red hair gene.”
    • Any little misstep could let a hostile actor or rogue group – say someone wobbling on IE – tap into genomic gold and engineer trouble that hits exactly the right “species.”

    Picture this: a shadowy guru from the “Iranian VIP squad” or a slick exec from the Chinese Communist Party unlocks a treasure trove of DNA. The result? A pathogen that’s deadlier to those with certain gene markers. Yikes.

    James O’Keefe’s Shocking Reveal (and Why It’s Like a Reality‑TV Pilot)

    Last month, James O’Keefe from O’Keefe Media Group turned the mic on a U.S. Treasury policy advisor, Nathaniel Johnson. In a grainy video that feels like a late‑night talk show, Johnson claimed:

    “Do not give your information to those people [23andMe]… they sell it to other people.”

    “There’s a clause in their contract that basically says we can give your info to our shareholders. These shareholders are fancy pharmaceutical firms, some of which are based in other countries – and some are tied to entities like the Ministry of Defense of Russia or owned by China.”

    According to Johnson, 23andMe has been shuffling consumer data to “pharmaceutical companies” that may actually be proxies for foreign ministers. Imagine your grandma’s birth chart being handed to a Russian defense minister for… whatever. Now that’s a plot twist.

    The Trump Administration’s Quandary

    As the great power competition with China ramps up toward the 2030s, the Trump administration needs to wrestle with a bigger baloney than just financial instability: the potential weaponization of genetic data. If they don’t act, the next biological weapon might be personalized… and terrifying.

    In short, the next big headline is likely not about Berkshire Hathaway buying a small coffee shop. It’s going to involve the U.S. Treasury, CFIUS, and a coalition of data brokers that might as well be the villains in a sci‑fi blockbuster.

    Read the filing here:

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