Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 5/15

[SVPete]

Newsom's Former Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to Fraud

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/05/14/newsoms-former-chief-of-staff-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-n3814960

As I described here, Dana Williamson was Gov. Newsom's chief-of-staff from early 2023 until then end of 2024. She was dismissed after revealing to her boss that she was under investigation.

Today, Williamson accepted a plea deal related to charges brought against her for fraud. The fraud in question also involved Xavier Becerra, who is currently a leading candidate to replace Newsom as governor.

One of California’s most influential power brokers pleaded guilty to three felonies on Thursday in a corruption case that has reverberated through the State Capitol and spurred attacks on a Democratic front-runner in the volatile race for governor.

That powerful figure, Dana Williamson, appeared in federal court in Sacramento, where she accepted reduced charges and pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I., filing a false tax return and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud...

...
Becerra is connected to the case but so far only as a victim.

The alleged scheme saw Williamson siphon campaign funds from Becerra’s state campaign account to pad the salary of his chief of staff, Sean McCluskie. McCluskie and another alleged co-conspirator, lobbyist Greg Campbell, accepted plea deals around the time Williamson was indicted and are scheduled for sentencing on June 4.

“As part of an investigation that began in 2022, Williamson joins the two others who were charged in the ‘Conduit Scheme’ conspiracy in pleading guilty,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant in a statement. “These conspirators, three of whom are former public officials, shockingly looted campaign funds for personal benefit. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue working to protect the integrity of the electoral process and ensure that those who scorn the law are held accountable.”

1. Becerra's campaign was so loosely administered that Williamson and McCluskie looted it. Not a good look for Becerra.

2, Noisome had her as chief of staff while the Feds were investigating her. Did he know? Or did LIEden's Feds fail to warn Noisome? Not a good look for Noisome and/or LIEden's FBI.

[SVPete]

L3Harris turns handheld radios into counter-drone jammers

https://breakingdefense.com/2026/05/l3harris-turns-handheld-radios-into-counter-drone-jammers/

WASHINGTON — With small drones inflicting massive losses on both sides in Ukraine, defense electronics maker L3Harris is reprogramming its widely used Falcon IV handheld radios to generate a personal protective electronic-warfare “bubble” for the soldiers carrying them, company executives said.

Branded as Wraith Shield, the capability doesn’t require any new hardware, the company said, just a software upgrade to the existing Wraith communications waveform, which is compatible with over 100,000 Falcon IV radios in service worldwide.

“At the cost of a software upgrade … single-digit thousands of dollars … you can add this capability to a radio they’re already carrying,” Chris Aebli, the company’s president for Mission Critical Communications, told reporters this morning. “[It’s] their own protection bubble for counter-UAS.”

“It’s ready to be delivered,” he said, although international sales are still awaiting export approval from the US government. ...

L3Harris is net of the merger of L3 Communications and Harris. IIRC, Harris was a spin-off from RCA. L3 Communications was formed by several investors who bought divisions of various companies that worked in microwave communications, but were not part of the original parent companies' core business. An example would be the former Litton Industries group bought from Northrup that became L3's Electron Devices Division. Northrup was focused on aircraft, while the Litton Industries group made klystrons, coupled cavity, and helix microwave tubes and microwave power modules for the military.

L3Harris is a major defense contractor, and they have the chops to do the localized protection mentioned in the article and much more.

[SVPete]

Justice Department sues DC Bar over alleged weaponization of attorney discipline

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/justice-department-sues-dc-bar-over-alleged-weaponization-attorney-discipline

The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the District of Columbia Bar’s disciplinary authorities, alleging that the attorney discipline process has been improperly used to investigate and penalize federal government lawyers for actions taken in their official capacities.

At the center of the dispute is an ongoing disciplinary case involving former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, who faced scrutiny over his role in discussions surrounding the 2020 presidential election and a draft letter concerning allegations of election fraud in Georgia. According to the Justice Department, the letter was never finalized or sent, and the disciplinary proceedings improperly target internal executive branch deliberations.

The lawsuit aligns with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order titled Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government and a related presidential memorandum aimed at limiting what the administration describes as politically motivated uses of legal and regulatory processes.

“As our complaint and history make clear, the DC Bar has long acted as a blatantly partisan arm of leftist causes. No more,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

[SVPete]

Baltimore mayor accused of spending $167,000 in taxpayer funds on crab cakes, baby showers, flowers: Inspector General

https://thepostmillennial.com/baltimore-mayor-accused-of-spending-167000-in-taxpayer-funds-on-crab-cakes-baby-showers-flowers-inspector-general

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is involved in an escalating battle with the city’s inspector general, Isabel Mercedes Cumming, over government transparency and allegations of fraud within city programs.

The conflict began after Cumming’s office flagged concerns related to Baltimore’s youth diversion program, a city-run initiative she criticized for having poor data collection. Cumming’s office later referred two potentially fraudulent invoices tied to the program to law enforcement.

The dispute expanded after Baltimore officials provided Cumming’s office with heavily redacted invoices in January. In response, the inspector general issued a subpoena seeking unredacted documents. The city declined to comply, and officials then announced they had discovered the inspector general’s office had “unapproved and unfettered access” to confidential work. Cumming called the move “an attempt to stop transparency," per The Wall Street Journal.

In February, Cumming released a report detailing about $167,000 in spending by the mayor’s office over roughly three years. The report claimed that much of the spending involved food purchases made without required waivers, including expenses for “birthday celebrations, employee appreciations, baby showers, and flowers for a selective few, including executive leadership.”

Cumming’s office found that about $50,000 alone was spent on food items, including crab cakes and Old Bay wings in stadium boxes owned by the city at Orioles and Ravens games.

[SVPete]

Trump Admin Defers $1.3 Billion In Medicaid Payments To California

https://dailycaller.com/2026/05/14/admin-1-3-billion-medicaid-payments-california/

The Trump administration announced Wednesday it is withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California, alleging the state has not done enough to tackle fraud.

Vice President JD Vance claimed during an event at the White House that the “simple reason” for deferring Medicaid payments to the Golden State is “because the state of California has not taken fraud very seriously.” The news comes as the administration has recently been moving to crack down on healthcare ‌fraud nationwide.

“There are California taxpayers and American taxpayers who are being defrauded because California isn’t taking its program seriously, but also you have people who have been prescribed medications that they don’t even need,” Vance said. “They’ve had drugs put into their bodies that they don’t need because fraudsters have actually encouraged false prescriptions and false administration of medications.”
...
The Vice President also said the administration is informing all 50 U.S. states that it could halt funding to their Medicaid Fraud Control Units if they fail to “aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz stated in a statement posted to X on Wednesday that “when states like California refuse to work with the federal government on saving American taxpayer dollars,” the administration “will hold those states accountable.”