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8 times David Perdue lied about his stock trades

Judd Legum
Nov 30


In 2020, Senator David Perdue (R-GA) has repeatedly faced scrutiny for suspiciously well-timed stock trades. Each time, Perdue deflected criticism by claiming that his portfolio was managed by an outside advisor who made decisions about specific trades without Perdue's involvement. But an FBI investigation into Perdue's stock transactions revealed that Perdue is lying. This year, Perdue directed his investment manager to sell more than $1 million of an individual stock.

In March, as the pandemic took hold in the United States, Perdue sold stock in Caesars Entertainment, which operates casinos, and purchased shares of Pfizer, which is developing a vaccine. He faced criticism for attempting to profit from the pandemic.

In response, a Perdue spokesperson told CNN that he "had an outside advisor managing his investments" and was "not involved in any day-to-day investment decisions." On a March 20 appearance on Fox News, Perdue had a similar message. "Over the last five years, I have had an outside professional manage my personal finances and I’m not involved in the day-to-day decisions," Perdue said. Perdue repeated that claim in a March interview with Nexstar Media Group.

In April, more details of Perdue's stock trades became available. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that "Perdue’s financial portfolio saw heavy trading during the month of March, a period during which Congress passed three different spending bills to address the spread of COVID-19 and the markets took a turn for the worse." Specifically, a report filed by Perdue on April 5 revealed "112 transactions, including 76 stock purchases costing as much as $1.8 million and 34 sales worth up to $825,000." That was a three-fold increase in trading volume compared to Perdue's monthly average over the previous two years. Perdue again claimed he had no involvement in the day-to-day management of his portfolio. "Senator Perdue has always had an outside adviser managing his personal finances, and he is not involved in day-to-day decisions," a spokesperson said.

In May, Perdue and his wife liquidated their individual stocks with three exceptions. A Perdue spokesperson said the move was intended to "avoid any confusion about their retirement savings." In a statement, Perdue claimed with new specificity that he was not involved in individual stock trades. "Goldman Sachs or... independent fund managers bought and sold individual stocks without consulting with us," Perdue said.

In September, The Daily Beast reported that, between 2017 and 2019, Perdue bought and sold shares of "Atlanta-based financial company First Data" as he "helped to dilute a rule that governed the prepaid debit card industry." The cards are a key component of First Data's business. In response, a Perdue spokesperson released a detailed statement claiming that Perdue had "no influence" on the independent investment managers directing his trades:


As we have told numerous publications in response to repeated false accusations, Senator Perdue and Mrs. Perdue have outside, independent advisers who made these specific trades. The Perdues cannot direct or influence these independent fund managers. These outrageous attacks are based on information that has been publicly available for years. Any accusation of improper conduct is categorically false and nothing more than lies by liberal groups hoping to win an election.

In November, The Daily Beast reported that earlier in 2020, Perdue bought shares in "a company that made submarine parts" shortly before "he began work on a bill that ultimately directed additional Navy funding for one of the firm’s specialized products." He later sold the shares for a significant profit. Perdue's spokesperson responded with another angry statement flatly denying any involvement by Perdue in individual trades.


This has been asked and answered—Senator Perdue doesn’t manage his trades, they are handled by outside financial advisors without his prior input or approval. No amount of lies from liberal media outlets or Democratic political groups will change that fact.

The Perdue campaign later sent a similar statement to the New York Times. It was the eighth time Perdue stated or implied that he had no involvement with individual stock trades. Each of these statements was a lie.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Perdue was the subject of an FBI investigation involving the sale of his stock in Cardlytics, a financial company. The FBI found that Perdue, shortly after receiving an email from Cardlytics CEO, personally called his "wealth manager" and directed him to sell more than $1 million in Cardlytics stock.


Mr. Perdue then contacted his wealth manager at Goldman Sachs, Robert Hutchinson, and instructed him to sell a little more than $1 million worth of Cardlytics shares, or about 20 percent of his position, three of the people said. One person familiar with the inquiry into Mr. Perdue’s trades said that the conversation was memorialized in an internal Goldman Sachs record later obtained by the F.B.I.

The investigation did not ultimately result in charges against Perdue. But the investigation did reveal that Perdue repeatedly and intentionally misled the public about his involvement in individual stock trades. It is unclear how many other stock transactions were personally directed by Perdue.
Perdue's tortured explanation

The Perdue campaign did not dispute the accuracy of the New York Times' reporting. But a Perdue spokesperson attempted to claim the conduct described was consistent with the campaign's previous comments.

The spokesperson told the New York Times that "Perdue doesn’t handle the day-to-day decisions of his portfolio," and that fact is "confirmed by the New York Times reporting." But the New York Times reported that Perdue personally directed a major trade of Cardlytics stock.

The Perdue campaign told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Perdue's direction to sell Cardytics stock in January 2020 was "based on advice he received from his money manager in October 2019." That may be true. But it still reveals that Perdue had significant control over his portfolio. Perdue decided whether, when, and how to follow his investment adviser's advice. In other words, Perdue was in charge.
Perdue ducks the press — and his opponent

What does Perdue himself have to say about revelations that he lied about his control over his stock portfolio? Nothing. Perdue is refusing to answer questions, even from the local media. He limits most of his interviews to friendly hosts on Fox News.
Rick Folbaum @RickFolbaum.@sendavidperdue, how about talking to local media too? My friend @seanhannity can vouch for my fairness. Let's do it! @cbs46 #GASenate #gapol


David Perdue @PerduesenateI’m coming up next on @seanhannity. Tune In! #GAsen #gapol @foxnews


November 19th 20209 Retweets15 Likes

Perdue has "declined an invitation to debate Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff ahead of the January runoff election for his seat." He also dropped out of a scheduled debate before the November 3 General Election, instead opting to appear at a rally with Trump.

In his last debate in October, Ossoff confronted Perdue on his stock trades.


Well, perhaps Senator Perdue would have been able to respond properly to the COVID-19 pandemic if you hadn’t been fending off multiple federal investigations for insider trading... It’s not just that you’re a crook, senator, it’s that you’re attacking the health of the people you represent.

The clip was viewed millions of times on Twitter.

Biden Picks Budget Director Who Pushed Social Security Cuts

Likely OMB nominee Neera Tanden called for cuts to Social Security, saying “we need to put both entitlements on the table as well as taxes.”


Walker Bragman




President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly nominate a White House budget director who has been one of the country’s most prominent critics of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and who has previously backed Social Security cuts.

Biden — who has repeatedly pushed for Social Security cuts throughout his career — announced his selection of Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden as his choice to run the powerful White House Office of Management and Budget. A longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, Tanden touted her think tank’s 2010 proposal to reduce Social Security benefits in 2012, as Biden was pushing for such cuts in the Obama administration.

Tanden’s Social Security push followed the 2010 midterms, during the deficit reduction negotiations between the Obama administration and the new GOP Congress. Republicans drew a hard line but Obama sought a middle ground. Central to the administration’s efforts, which were led by Biden, was a plan called the “chained CPI” that would have slowed the rate at which Social Security benefits increase over time.

Sanders led the fight in the Senate against chained CPI, while outside groups were divided over whether to line up behind the president. Some, like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, vocally opposed the cuts.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, found that the chained CPI “would cut Social Security retirement benefits by about 2 percent, on average.” The organization, nevertheless, said it would support the concept under certain conditions.

Tanden’s CAP, at the time considered to be the largest liberal think tank in Washington, also supported the idea and was a significant voice in favor of the administration’s plan.

Tanden explained her views in a February 2012 C-SPAN interview. Asked by a caller about entitlement reform, she named Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as targets for possible cuts, noting that “the president has $300 million in his budget in cuts in Medicare.”

“That comes on top of cuts in Medicare for the Affordable Care Act. So he has put specific cuts in the budget in Medicare,” she said. “And they had savings in Medicaid in the past. I think the question really is: If we’re going to have a deal to address long-term deficit reduction, we need to put both entitlements on the table as well as taxes.”

Tanden became more explicit in her support for cuts to Social Security as she went on:

“We should have savings on entitlements, and the Center for American Progress has put forward ideas on proposals to reform the beneficiary structure of Social Security — some of our progressive allies aren’t as excited about that as we are,” she explained. “But we’ve put those ideas on the table. We think that those are legitimate ideas that need to be part of a proposal where everyone’s at the table. We don’t just ask middle-class Americans to sacrifice. We ask all Americans.”

Indeed, in a report on Social Security solvency CAP released two years earlier, the organization cautioned that “Social Security... is showing its age,” and warned that progressive ideas like lifting the payroll tax “without addressing other problems in Social Security’s benefit design would be a mistake.” One of the solutions it proposed was the chained CPI.

“We recommend that benefits instead be tied to the chained Consumer Price Index, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘superlative’ Consumer Price Index,” the report said. “This index is a more accurate measure of inflation than the current measure. The Social Security Administration’s actuaries estimate the difference will amount to an inflation measure that will show inflation that is 0.3 percentage points lower than the currently used inflation measure.”

In 2016, Tanden wrote on Twitter that chained CPI would “help Social Security’s solvency,” but she said she disagreed with the policy.
Neera Tanden @neeratanden@donaltc Chain CPI, again a policy I disagree with, helped Social Security's solvency, not hurt it. So again, fix your tweet.


February 12th 2016

During the Democratic primary, Biden faced scrutiny and criticism over his four-decade record of pushing cuts to Social Security. The Sanders camp seized on resurfaced videos of Biden promoting cuts and spending freezes over the years. Biden responded to these attacks by supporting an expansion of Social Security and by falsely claiming that he’d never sought to cut the program.

“I've been fighting to protect — and expand — Social Security for my whole career,” the president-elect tweeted in January. “Any suggestion otherwise is just flat-out wrong.”

At the time, Tanden tweeted that she did not see Social Security cuts as part of any Democratic administration’s plans, writing: “This whole debate is a farce.” However, in August, Biden faced criticism from progressives after one of his advisors suggested that in a Biden presidency, spending would be limited by budgetary constraints.

If Democrats manage to win the two Georgia Senate runoff races and retake control over the chamber, Sanders is widely expected to chair the Senate Budget Committee, having served as the ranking member since 2015. The Budget Committee is tasked with approving the OMB director.

Republicans are already warning that Tanden won’t win approval from GOP Senators. A spokesperson for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted that she “stands zero chance of being confirmed.”

Turkey sentences over 300 people to life for their alleged involvement in 2016 failed coup attempt

More than 470 people were tried for their alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 to overthrow Erdogan out of which the court found 337 guilty

November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch




https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/turkey-sentences-over-300-people-to-life-for-their-alleged-involvement-in-2016-failed-coup-attempt/




A Turkish court on Thursday, November 26 sentenced hundreds of people to life for their alleged involvement in the 2016 coup plot against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The convicted include army officers, pilots and civilians.

More than 470 people were tried for their alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 to overthrow Erdogan out of which the court found 337 guilty. They were accused of seizing public institutions and crucial army installations such as Akini Airbase from where bombings were carried out at government buildings and an attempt was made on Erdogan’s life during which at least 250 people were killed and thousands were injured.

The then defense minister Hulusi Akar and other commanders were held captive for several hours. Turkey had declared an emergency post the coup attempt and carried out severe repressive acts against supposed plotters targeting some of the opposition figures.

According to Anadolu Agency, more than 292,000 people were arrested and more than 150,000 of government employees were sacked or suspended for their alleged links with anti-Erdogan groups and alleged terror groups. More than 20,000 were expelled from the army allegedly to root out the Gülen network from all state institutions.

Erdogan blamed the supporters of a US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen for the attempted coup. However, he denied any involvement. Several army officers who allegedly led the coup have already been sentenced to rigorous life sentences.

On Thursday, the court granted 15 army officials and four civilian imams 79 aggravated life sentences, the severest sentence in Turkey. This means they will never get parole. So far, around 2,500 people have been given life sentences in the case by different courts in Turkey.

Human right groups and opposition have claimed that the government in Turkey used the coup attempt to carry out massive repression against opposition forces and activists including the Kurdish minorities.

Court in Tunisia sentences blogger to two years in prison over social media posts

Blogger Wajdi Mahouechi was reportedly arrested after he criticized the public prosecutor in Tunisia. On November 12, the Tunis First Instance Court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 1,000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 300)




November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch



https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/court-in-tunisia-sentences-blogger-to-two-years-in-prison-over-social-media-posts/




Tunisian blogger Wajdi Mahouechi was sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the country’s judiciary, North Africa Journal reported on November 24, Tuesday. The judgement was widely condemned by human rights groups and others as an assault on the freedom of speech and expression in Tunisia. Mahouechi was reportedly arrested after he criticized the public prosecutor in Tunisia for not arresting and prosecuting an Imam who had posted social media material which justified last month’s killing of a public school teacher in France. The French teacher was killed for exhibiting images of the Prophet in his classroom as part of a class on freedom of expression.

Mahouechi had responded to the video posted by the Imam on Facebok with another video in which he criticizes the public prosecutor for not taking action against the Muslim cleric. In the video, he also claims that the public prosecution has failed to take action against a complaint made by him against two police officers in 2019 for physically assaulting him. Mahouechi was arrested the next day by officers from the Hay El Khadra Unit for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime and later interrogated for around four hours. His lawyer, Mohamed Ali Bouchiba, was allowed to be present during the investigation.

During investigation, Mahouechi defended himself by claiming to the authorities that he was not targeting anyone individually or specifically, but only acting as a whistleblower against the Imam who according to him was propagating extremism and terrorism.

Mahouechi was accused under multiple serious charges, including “accusing officials of crimes without providing proof,” “offending others via telecommunications networks,” “public calumny,” and “insulting an officer on duty.” Meanwhile, no legal action was taken against the Imam. On November 12, the Tunis First Instance Court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 1,000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 300).

31-year-old Mahouechi is a regular blogger and commentator on various social and political issues in Tunisia. Following his conviction and imprisonment, his lawyer stated, “we are seeing an increase of prosecutions that remind us of the arrests and trials of bloggers and social media critics in 2017. The prosecutions never stopped really. They just slowed down and now they’re back.”

Human rights organizations tracking human rights violations and judicial excesses in Tunisia have criticized the judgment against Mahouechi. Amnesty International stated that since 2018, at least 40 Tunisians have been criminally prosecuted by the Tunisian authorities for “publishing online posts critical of local authorities, the police or other state officials.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) also expressed concern about a growing number of social media users, bloggers and human rights activists being targeted with criminal charges on the basis of social media posts critical of the government. In two different reports last year, HRW documented at least 15 Tunisians facing criminal charges such as “spreading false information,” “harm of others through telecommunications networks,” “accusing public officials of crimes related to their jobs without furnishing proof of their guilt,” “calumny,” and “insulting the head of state.”

According to HRW, many of these criminal charges date back to the time of former Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown in a popular revolution in 2011. Since 2017, at least six Tunisians have received prison sentences for exercising their freedom of speech and expression on social media and sharing their views on various issues. So far, Mahouechi’s prison sentence is the harshest and longest to be awarded by a Tunisian court in a similar case, raising concern among activists and human rights groups.

Police brutality against protesting migrants in Paris draws widespread outrage

On November 23, Monday, French police brutally attacked migrants protesting at the Place de la Republique in Paris against last week’s forceful evacuation of the Saint-Denis migrant camp

November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch



https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/police-brutality-against-protesting-migrants-in-paris-draws-widespread-outrage/




Migrants and activist groups staged protests in Paris earlier this week against the deteriorating living conditions of migrants in France and the police attack on protesting migrants on November 23, Monday. The migrants were protesting at the Place de la Republique in Paris against last week’s forceful evacuation of the Saint-Denis migrant camp.

On Monday, migrants and activists occupied the Place de la Republique with makeshift tents, demanding immediate accommodation for those forcefully evacuated. The police in the evening responded with violence to forcefully disperse the occupying migrants. The footage of the brutal police action went viral, drawing widespread criticism across the country.

InfoMigrant.net reported that “in footage filmed during the evening, police raise a tent and turn it over to knock down the person inside. In others, they throw the migrants’ belongings into trucks.” The police also reportedly used tear gas and LBD fire to disperse the migrants.

Parisians from all walks of life extended their support and solidarity to the migrants’ protest. Protesters have demanded a stop to police violence against migrants and called for the resignation of police prefect Didier Lallement and interior minister Gérald Darmanin, who are being held responsible for the police brutality.

Pro-migrant activist group Utopia 56 stated, “the violent evacuation of the camp for exiled people in Saint Denis on Tuesday, November 17, left between 700 and 1,000 people homeless without accommodation solutions.” The group has demanded the Paris authorities and the government to immediately provide 1,000 shelters to unconditionally accommodate these migrants as well as a cessation of police violence against the migrant population. They also demanded the French government establish a proper first reception system for exiled people, which allows immediate access to accommodation solutions.

On November 17, a police operation dislodged 2,500 refugees from a camp located in the north of Paris. According to reports, around 800 refugees remain shelterless as of now.

Monday’s police action against migrants coincided with protests that are taking place in the country against the proposed ‘global security’ bill proposed by the Emmanul Macron-led government. Among the main aspects of the controversial bill, currently being debated in the French parliament, is that it illegalizes the dissemination of images where police officers can be identified. As the footage of police brutality at Place de la Republique went viral, progressive sections in the country reiterated their opposition to the global security bill, which is likely to eliminate another check against the abuse of power by the police and other state authorities.

Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras free at last

Maher al-Akhras who was sent into administrative detention in July was released on November 26. He had gone on a 104-day hunger strike demanding his freedom

November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch




https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/palestinian-administrative-detainee-maher-al-akhras-free-at-last/




Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras was finally released from Israeli custody on November 26, Thursday. Al-Akhras had earlier been on a 104-day hunger strike to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel and to demand his release. He agreed to end his hunger strike after successfully securing an agreement for his release at the end of his current term of administration detention, which would have otherwise most likely been renewed for another term.

Since reaching the agreement, al-Akhras has been treated at the Israeli Kaplan hospital. He was transferred there from prison due to a drastic decline in his health and serious medical issues as a result of the hunger strike.

According to a statement by Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority of the Palestine Liberation Organization, al-Akhras has now been transferred to the Al-Najah university hospital in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. He will continue to receive medical treatment and undergo health checkups until he makes a full recovery. The medical director of Al-Najah hospital, Abdul-Karim Al-Barqawi, has said that a decision on allowing him to return home will be made in the coming days following a medical assessment of his health and recovery.

Upon his release, 49-year-old al-Akhras told reporters “I secured my freedom by embarking on a long, drawn out hunger strike. The strike proved that the Palestinian people need to fight for their rights and liberty, and we can’t wait for anyone else to end our oppression. My freedom is the freedom of my people, and we have won over the occupation with our will and determination.”

Arrested on July 26 by Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, al-Akhras was accused of being a prominent member of the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. He was then placed under administrative detention for four months without charge or trial. The Israeli authorities also withheld from his lawyers the supposed evidence they had against him based on which he was accused of terrorist activities. Al-Akhras launched his hunger strike immediately after the administrative detention order against him was passed.

Close to three months into the hunger strike, his health condition turned critical, forcing the prison authorities to transfer him to hospital. Doctors attempted to force-feed him against his will to break his hunger strike at the insistence of the prison authorities but ultimately failed. Meanwhile, his lawyers filed appeals in the Israeli high court, requesting for a nullification of his detention order and his release. The court finally ordered his release at the end of his current administrative detention order but did not approve his immediate release.

Al-Akhras lost more than 40 kg in body weight and continues to experience acute headaches and pain in his ears and joints, as well as loss of consciousness. His lawyers and human rights activists had expressed alarm that he was on the ‘verge of death’ and ‘irreversible damage’ was being inflicted on his body.

When asked about his health after his release, Al-Akhras stated that he still suffers from pain but hopes to recover soon to return to his home in the town of Silat al-Dahr, north of Jenin city, to be reunited with his wife and six children.

Repeated appeals were made to the Israeli prison authorities for al-Akhras’ release by various international human rights organizations, activists, and diplomatic representatives of several countries. Over 470 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody as administrative detainees, including two minors. Human rights groups have regularly reported that Palestinians in Israeli custody face extremely cruel treatment and are subjected to various forms of psychological and physical torture in clear violation of international humanitarian law.