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Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted criminal. He was at the center of an extensive federal corruption investigation, which resulted in his conviction and 21 others either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides. Abramoff was national chairman of the College Republican National Committee from 1981 to 1985, a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, allegedly financed by the apartheid-era government of South Africa, and served on the board of directors of National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. From 1994 through 2001, he was a top lobbyist for the firm of Preston Gates & Ellis then for Greenberg Traurig until March 2004. After a guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff Native American lobbying scandal and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawrence Lessig
Lester Lawrence "Larry" Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American legal scholar and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. He is the founder of Creative Commons and of Equal Citizens. Lessig was a Lawrence Lessig presidential campaign, 2016, candidate for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States in the 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 U.S. presidential election but withdrew before the primaries. Life and career Lessig was born on June 3, 1961, in Rapid City, South Dakota to Lester Lawrence "Jack" Lessig II (1929–2020) who was an engineer and Patricia "Pat" West Lessig (1930–2019), a real estate agent. He has two older step-siblings, Robert (died 2019) and Kitty, and a younger biological sister, Leslie. He grew up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia. "The White House" is also used as a metonymy, metonym to refer to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style. Hoban modeled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Constructed between 1792 and 1800, its exterior walls are Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe added low colonnades on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mail Fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. federal crimes. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity crosses interstate or international borders. Mail fraud Mail fraud was first defined in the United States in 1872. provides: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SunCruz Casinos
SunCruz Casinos was one of many cruise lines that offered "cruises to nowhere," legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws. Four ships operated out of four ports including Jacksonville (''SunCruz VII''), Key Largo (''SunCruz I''), Myrtle Beach (''SunCruz VIII''), and Port Canaveral (''SunCruz XII''). On December 16, 2009, SunCruz Casinos was reported to be closing amid reports of owing $300,000 to the Canaveral Port Authority. Parent company Ocean Casino Cruises filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy December 28. At the time of the filing of bankruptcy, there were about 300 full-time and part-time employees. History In 1994 Gus Boulis, already a multi-millionaire by founding the Miami Subs sandwich shop franchise, bought a number of luxury yachts. He remodeled the yachts as casinos, and began to operate his "cruises to nowhere," sailing three miles from the Florida coast into what was then considered international water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig is a multinational law firm, law and lobbying firm founded in Miami in 1967 by Mel Greenberg, Larry J. Hoffman, and Robert H. Traurig. As of 2025, it is the eighth-largest law firm in the United States. The firm has 49 locations in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, and approximately 2,850 attorneys worldwide as of 2025. Its 2024 revenue was over $2.6 billion. Its largest office is in New York City, and clients have included Diane von Fürstenberg, Diane Von Furstenberg Studios, Condé Nast, Conde Nast Publications, ''The New Yorker'', ''New Yorker'' staff, former Mayor of New York City, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and the plastics industry. History 20th century In the 1970s, Greenberg, Traurig and Hoffman became Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, and Quentel with the addition of attorneys Norman H. Lipoff and Albert D. Quentel as named shareholders. The late Florida governor Reubin Askew was a named shareholder in the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China, and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle. In 2007, the firm merged with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham to form K&L Gates. The "Gates" in the firm's name refers to William H. Gates Sr., father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Gates retired from the firm in 1998. History 19th century In 1883, Harold Preston, born 1858 in Illinois, the son of Brig. Gen. Simon Manly Preston, arrived in Seattle and established his own law practice. Together with O.B. Thorgrimson, an attorney originally from Chicago, Preston expanded the practice throughout the early 1900s. 20th century In 1924, Roger Shidler and George Harroun established another law firm based in Washington state. William H. Gates Sr. joined the firm in 1964, and as principal counsel expanded the firm's clients to include high technology, manufacturing, distribution, service and other busines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Think Tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations, but some are semi-autonomous agencies within a government, and some are associated with particular political parties, businesses, or the military. Think tanks are often funded by individual donations, with many also accepting government grants. Think tanks publish articles and studies, and sometimes draft legislation on particular matters of policy or society. This information is then used by governments, businesses, media organizations, social movements, or other interest groups. Think tanks range from those associated with highly academic or scholarly activities to those that are overtly ideological and pushing for particular policies, with a wide range among them in terms of the quality of their research. Later gener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservatism In The United States
Conservatism in the United States is one of two major political ideologies in the United States, with the other being liberalism. Traditional American conservatism is characterized by a belief in individualism, traditionalism, capitalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states, although 21st century developments have shifted it towards right-wing populist themes. American conservatives maintain support from the Christian right and its interpretation of Christian values and moral absolutism, while generally opposing abortion, euthanasia, and some LGBT rights. They tend to favor economic liberalism, and are generally pro-business and pro-capitalism, while opposing communism and labor unions. Recent shifts have moved it towards national conservatism, protectionism, cultural conservatism, and a more realist foreign policy. Conservatives often advocate for strong national defense, gun rights, capital punishment, and a defense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Center For Public Policy Research
The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Amy Ridenour was the founding CEO and chairman until her death in 2017. David A. Ridenour, her husband, vice president of the organization from 1986 to 2011, has served as the organization's CEO since 2017. Policy areas NCPPR's work is in the areas of free markets, environmental and regulatory policy, retirement security, constitutional law, the First and Second Amendments, religious liberty, academic freedom, defense and foreign affairs. Particular areas of interest include global warming denial, endangered species, energy policy, environmental justice, job growth and economic prosperity, property rights, legal reform, health care, Medicare reform, Social Security, civil rights, foreign affairs/defense and United Nations reform/withdrawal. National Center for Public Policy Research is repeatedly cited as a member of the global warming de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Of South Africa
The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and their Cabinet. The President is elected by the Parliament to serve a fixed term. South Africa's government differs from those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated". Operating at both national and provincial levels ("domes") are advisory bodies drawn from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on ''baasskap'' ( 'boss-ship' or 'boss-hood'), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority White South Africans, white population. Under this minoritarianism, minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indian South Africans, Indians, Coloureds and Ethnic groups in South Africa#Black South Africans, black Africans, in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly Inequality in post-apartheid South Africa, inequality. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into ''petty apartheid'', which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Freedom Foundation
The International Freedom Foundation (IFF) was a self-described anti-communist group established in Washington, D.C. founded in 1986 by former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Its purported aim was to promote individual and collective freedoms worldwide: freedom of thought; free speech; free association; free enterprise; and, the free market principle. It came into being after the Democratic International, a 1985 meeting of anti-Communist rebels held at the headquarters of UNITA in Jamba, Angola. The IFF campaigned against regimes and movements it described as Soviet Union, Soviet allies. To achieve its aim the IFF, with offices in London and Johannesburg, sponsored symposia with high-profile speakers such as Henry Kissinger. Among its eight periodicals, the IFF published a monthly newsletter—the ''Freedom Bulletin''—with three editions: International; UK/Europe; and, Republic of South Africa. The IFF ceased its activities in 1993. Funding According to a ''Newsday'' article entitled " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
