#conflict-of-interest

#conflict-of-interest

Labour has criticised Conservative shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson for acting as a lawyer for sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Justice Minister Jack Richards said it was "indefensible" for him to retain his position on the Tory frontbench while also representing Mr Abramovich, arguing it risked a conflict of interest. The Conservatives said the comments were "pure politics" and a "baseless smear", adding that "barristers act for clients, not causes".

The Freemasons filed papers in London on Christmas Eve and claim the Met's policy amounts to religious discrimination against Freemasons who are also police officers. They say the Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is making up the law on the hoof and accused his force of whipping up conspiracy theories about the influence of Freemasons. The Met has vowed to fight back as it sees the policy as part of its fight to restore trust and credibility, and a case currently under investigation involves claims of masonic influence and alleged wrongdoing.

In court documents filed on Friday, Mangione's lawyers said that Bondi has a profound conflict of interest because her former employer, Ballard Partners, a DC-based lobbying firm founded by the Trump donor Brian Ballard, counts UnitedHealth Group as one of its clients. UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, its healthcare insurance division. Bondi became a lobbyist with Ballard Partners in 2019, after her term as Florida attorney general ended. She officially left the firm upon her appointment as attorney general earlier this year.

On February 24th, advocacy group Frequency Forward and journalist Nina Burleigh filed a public records request to the FCC, seeking details about DOGE's activities and whether they created conflicts of interest with DOGE creator Elon Musk. But the FCC has so far produced largely useless documentation that creates more questions than answers. Now, DOGE's role is among the many topics FCC Chair Brendan Carr could face during a highly anticipated oversight hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

A crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case. Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon. All have one thing in common: they appear to be connected to the Trump family's campaign to amass riches around the world. Since Donald Trump's re-election a year ago, warnings that his use of presidential power to advance personal interests is corroding American democracy have grown ever louder. What is less understood and perhaps even more dangerous is the damage this is doing everywhere else.

Proceedings in the civil grand jury's accusation against fired San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, which could result in a verdict prohibiting her from ever holding public office again, are on pause until next year, a prosecutor said. That's in order for some of her other court battles, specifically the ones where she's fighting her firing, to be resolved, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. Corpus' attorneys have been fighting her firing in front of two judges, federal Judge Vince Chhabria and San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Nina Shapirshteyn.

On Oct. 2, the second day of the government shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived at Mount Rushmore to shoot a television ad. Sitting on horseback in chaps and a cowboy hat, Noem addressed the camera with a stern message for immigrants: "Break our laws, we'll punish you." Noem has hailed the more than $200 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign as a crucial tool to stem illegal immigration.

Tim Allan, who is one of Starmer's most senior aides, has a minority stake in Strand Partners, which critics claim could give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest. Allan does not gain any financial benefit from Strand while he is in No 10 but he has not sold his shares in the firm, whose clients include the British Horseracing Authority, the energy companies Ovo Energy and Cadent Gas, and Netflix.

I confirmed that I was supportive. I knew that the decision was for the secretary of state to take and I replied on the basis that the decision had been taken. In retrospect, it would have been better if I had not been given the note or confirmed that I was content with the appointment. This was an unfortunate error for which I express my sincere regret.

At least four U.S. members of Congress purchased stock in defense‐contracting companies between May and June 2025 while serving on congressional committees which oversee or fund the defense sector. All four trades were in companies that receive U.S. government contracts and whose share prices subsequently appreciated. While the law permits members of Congress to trade stocks, ethics watchdogs say these transactions raise serious appearance ‐of‐conflict concerns because the lawmakers may influence the very industry they are invested in.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has now formally accused former Human Rights Commission Executive Director Sheryl Davis of a range of ethics violations that may also amount to illegal acts involving improper gifts and conflicts of interest. Embattled former city commissioner Sheryl Davis, whom former Mayor London Breed also tapped to lead her Dream Keeper Initiative, has been slapped with a 31-page charging document from the city's Ethics Commission.

"It's just a family tradition of public service," said Doane Liu, executive director of the Tourism Department, who is a longtime friend and former colleague of Tim McOsker - and Emmett McOsker's boss.

The proposal follows President Donald Trump's pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and seeks to eliminate what Khanna calls "blatant corruption" at the intersection of politics and crypto. "The pardon of Zhao is corrupt," Khanna said on MSNBC. "You've got a foreign billionaire engaged in money laundering and financing terrorism, who supports the president's son's cryptocurrency firm, and then the president pardons him. This is corruption in plain sight."

When it comes to the appearance of conflict, I am not an ideal owner of The Post.

Companies that have recently donated to Labour were awarded contracts worth almost 138m during the party's first year in government, according to new research that raises fresh concerns about the relationship between political donations and public spending. A report by the thinktank Autonomy Institute has identified more than 100 companies that have given money to political parties and then won government contracts, under both Conservative and Labour administrations.

Former SF Sheriff's Office chief of staff Richard Jue got lucky with a diversion program sentence rather than having to stand trial for a March hit-and-run where he lied to investigators, and the Chronicle just obtained video of the crash. We learned in June that SF Sheriff Paul Yamamoto's chief of staff Richard Jue had hit another car and fled the scene while driving in an incident that had actually secretly occurred in March.