Leid Stories

President Donald Trump and many of his chief aides, advisers and cohorts have reason to worry. Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, last Tuesday was found guilty of bank and tax fraud and hiding overseas bank accounts. He faces a second trial next month. Also last Tuesday, Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, in a plea agreement admitted to campaign finance violations and bank and tax fraud. The Manafort and Cohen charges grew out of a broader federal investigation into possible Russian interference in U.S. elections in 2016. Curiously, while Special Counsel Robert Muller's Russian-interference probe proceeds apace, the federal probe into Hillary Clinton's  contentious and ethically challenged tenure in office as secretary of state has gone dormant. Why? Dr. Jerome Corsi, author of several books and authoritative articles on politics and deep-state issues, offers his perspective on why Hillary Clinton continues to be shielded from prosecution. Later in the program, retired Wall Street banker turned anti-charity-fraud crusader Charles Ortel reports on the latest legal actions against The  Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which Ortel calls "the largest inprosecuted charity fraud in history."

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The fallout continues after the conviction Tuesday of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on bank and tax fraud charges and, also Tuesday, Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud and paying hush money to women with whom Trump was romantically involved as a married man. Although the Manafort and Cohen cases do not directly involve Trump, it is widely believed the president is a likely target of prosecutio  and eventually will be shown as linked to his henchmen's wrongdoing. Leid Stories listeners continue yesterday's discussion on the impact of, and possible fallout from, the Manafort-Cohen legal gutpunches to Trump.       predictably, is he legal gut punches, however, appear to be  In a separate development, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, pled guilty in a plea agreement to bank and tax fraud, paying hush money (at Trump's direction) to women with whom the then-presidential candidate allegedly was romantically involved, and violating federal campaign finance laws.  The Manafort and Cohen cases now threaten to draw Trump into the circle of criminal wrongdoing.  Leid Stories discusses Trump's predicament.

President Trump didn't have a good day yesterday, and from the looks of things he's in for many more such days.  Trump's former campaign chairman and trusted political operative, Paul Manafort, was convicted of eight counts of bank and tax fraud (the jury deadlocked on 10 other counts; a mistrial was declared on those). In a separate development, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, pled guilty in a plea agreement to bank and tax fraud, paying hush money (at Trump's direction) to women with whom the then-presidential candidate allegedly was romantically involved, and violating federal campaign finance laws.  The Manafort and Cohen cases now threaten to draw Trump into the circle of criminal wrongdoing.  Leid Stories discusses Trump's predicament.

Another grisly, violent weekend in Chicago--59 people shot, six fatalities, between Friday and Sunday night. It was the second weekend in a month that Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was outmatched by a level of gun violence a beefed-up police presence on the streets could not deter. The "tragic, senseless and cowardly" shootings, Johnson said, were carried out by many of "the same people" involved in the previous mass attacks.  Leid Stories contends that the shooting and killing sprees not only are mindless acts of violence, but ultimately will serve as templates for managed self-annihilation as a means of social control.      

Two current stories are the focus of Leid Stories' attention today. We look at how the Catholic Church is dealing with a tidal wave of sex-abuse cases. And so far, Omarosa Manigault Newman isn't convincing as a White House "insider."     

You’re cordially invited to "Free Your Mind Friday," our weekly, free-form gabfest that runs the gamut of listeners' opinions and ideas.  We're a polite, friendly group, and we welcome differences of opinion. Call 888-874-4888 and let's hear you free your mind! celebration of information, opinions and ideas. It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories, and joy in our world is having our say about things that matter. Call in (888-874-4888) and join the festivities!    

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died at her home in Detroit today after a long battle with cancer. She was 76. We remember her.

Elisa Llenza, a citizen-journalist and activist, reports that crisis is the order of the day in Puerto Rico in just about every sphere of life for most Puerto Ricans. Ten months after Hurricane Maria hit the island, and after promises of federal aid to restore basic services, for example, thousands of school children and their teachers have no idea where classes are to be held. And there still is not a true accounting of how many lives were lost to the hurricane. For most, life is at bare subsistence level, Llenza reports, and even as the people persist, there is little indication things will change soon.

Historian and political scientist Dr. Gerald Horne gives an authoritative guided tour of global hot spots and their connection to U.S. trade, military and foreign policies. Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. He has written more than 30 books and 100 scholarly papers on struggles against imperialism, colonialism, fascism and racism. He regularly decodes complex social, political and economic issues on Leid Stories.

If it seemed that the federal investigation of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation had stalled or was eclipsed by prosecutions emanating from the Muller probe, that might just be a wrong reading. in fact, well-placed sources tell Leid Stories there is a major gearing up afoot, with at least two airplane loads of documents relating to the Clintons and their eponymous foundation recently shipped to investigators. Charles Ortel, a retired Wall Street banker turned financial investigator, has been tracking the Clinton Foundation and its affiliated spinoffs all over the world for several years. He blew the lid off Wall Street crime during the 2008-2009 crash when he proved that several major corporations were overvaluing their stock. Ortel's self-initiated probe of the Clinton Foundation has led him to conclude that it is a cleverly designed slush fund for the Clintons and “the largest unprosecuted charity fraud in history.” He brings us up to speed on Clinton Foundation probes currently in play--both in the United States and in several other countries.

Quite a week. Lots to say. Get it said on “Free Your Mind Friday,” the best open forum on the planet. Add your own special flavor to this delicious intellectual soup. Call 888-874-4888 and serve it up hot!

We've been walking around with the system's calamities cluttering our already overtaxed brains. Time to defrag and reclaim some brainspace for what really matters.

We return to yesterday's discussion about the City of Chicago's unprecedentedly  violent weekend., which saw 44 people shot, five of them fatally, in the span of 14 hours as the weekend began, and 44 others shot before the weekend was over. Even for Chicago, where 318 people have been killed so far this year, the weekend carnage was unprecedented. We seek to understand this self-annihilation and how to get it to stop.

By any measure the numbers are staggering and beyond comprehension: 44 people shot in the span of 14 hours, as the weekend began, five of them dying of their wounds. But it got worse. An additional 22 people were shot by the time the weekend was over. Even for Chicago, where 318 people have been killed so far this year, the weekend carnage was unprecedented. What accounts for this murderlust? Will it stop?  Leid Stories  discusses the implications of self- annihilation.