committee for police officers defense robocall committee for police officers defense robocall

It also has roots in charity fundraising. 23. Lastly, we delegate authority to the Bureau to make further decisions about administration of the portal. Paxtons office did not respond to a request for comment. The "Committee for Police Officer's Defense" (CPOD) was configured to help police officers fight against the continuing "War on Cops" by taking a varied political stance against politicians, activist judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and a host of others who try to bring police officers down by any means. fcc504@fcc.gov Scam PAC telemarketers who use aggressive tactics in the charity realm also face less risk of scrutiny or sanction when they turn to PAC fundraising, regulators and former callers said. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics, The Republican Attorneys General Association and Rule of Law Defense Fund had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of Wednesdays event, the spokesperson said. . Search the Legal Library instead. rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not These tools are designed to help you understand the official document We acknowledge commenters' concerns that, at least initially, private entities might be confused about whether the consumer complaint process or the new streamlined process is a more appropriate place to submit information. 2. 804(2). We enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. Zeitlin told Reuters he was not the target of the grand jury investigation. 19. Through interviews with the former callers and donors, reviews of call scripts and visits to threecall centers in Alabama, Reuters has obtained rare access into the world of these for-profit fundraisers, a tiny but lucrative niche of the multi-billion-dollar U.S. telemarketing industry. Former callers at both TPFE and Politicause said they were given scripts and FAQs that required them to mention that the groups were political action committees but were told by managers to glide past the disclosures about who was calling and how the money would be used. The authority citation for part 0 continues to read as follows: Authority: The fundraisers later went to work for PACs under the names Politicause and Pledge Assistance, both registered in Wyoming, which requires little disclosure from corporations. The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. Although the portal will not reject submissions that fail to include the above information, such failure will make it more difficult for the Bureau to investigate fully and take appropriate enforcement action. Third, consumers will not be adversely affected by our decision to exclude them from the definition of private entity. Laura Strickler is a senior investigative producer and reporter for NBC News. It wouldve been nice to know that my money was going to a PAC, not a charity, and that it wasnt going to actually help police and firefighters directly.. Accordingly, 03/03/2023, 1465 USTelecom requests that we encourage private entities to first coordinate with the registered traceback consortium prior to filing information in the portal. This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links as set forth in Appendix A. In this Issue, Documents In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission sued Zeitlin for allegedly deceptive practices in charity fundraising, but the case has been suspended because a grand jury was investigating, according to court documents. People with Disabilities. We anticipate that this portal will be particularly useful to private entities experiencing large scale robocall incidents and voice service providers that have network analytic information. In the It wasnt easy: The secretive nature of this and other fundraising operations makes them difficult to pin down, he said, and he was able to identify the many players involved only by using subpoena power. 10. First, we find that there is value in maintaining the separate informal consumer complaint process. The Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, which donated $150,000 in 2020, said it has requested an immediate refund of its sponsorship to the Republican Attorneys General Association, and the organization obliged. 7. accessible format documents, sign language interpreters, CART, etc. from 36 agencies. Its hard to bring these cases unless you have evidence disproving that.. the Federal Register. It is further ordered Add 64.1204 to subpart L to read as follows: (a) Any private entity may submit to the Enforcement Bureau information related to a call made or a text message sent that the private entity has reason to believe was in violation of 64.1200(a) or 47 U.S.C. She is based in Washington. . (Super PACs are a type of political action committee that faces no limits on spending or contributions, by virtue of court decisions a decade ago.). Legitimate charities can be checked on websites such as www.guidestar.org. Ask if the donation is tax-deductible. No Impact on Informal Consumer Complaint Process. I dont think you understand how hard it is to fundraise, said Forrest Sandusky Baker IV, a telemarketing professional. To request material in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR parts 0 and 64 as follows: 1. 2. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. documents in the last year. Compliance with the requirements of that information collection will not be required until after approval by the Office of Management and Budget. They called 4 times in one day. Now I'm not knocking on Mr. Fotis, I'm just reporting on what I have found and I thank him for his service in the Army and as a Police Officer. We were good at slick-talking these people, said Dellinger, who court records show has been convicted of felonies including the truck theft and other burglary charges. WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today issued the following statement after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.The bill will now be sent to the president's desk to be signed into law: to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 15. Coffee is for Closers Only, read another. 20-374, FCC-21-75, adopted and released on June 17, 2021. What is wrong with giving somebody a second chance? Zeitlin responded when Reuters asked about his hiring practices. Black's Law Dictionary defines entity as [a]n organization (such as a business or a governmental unit) that has a legal identity apart from its members or owners. Second, we find that, as a policy matter, we should exclude individuals from the definition of private entity as the term is used in section 10(a) of the TRACED Act. Everyday our protectors in law . These can be useful They are looking for naturals, said Jones, adding that good performers could take home $1,000 to $1,500 a week. Listen Transcript Hello, good evening. As his office pursued the money trail in the Bass investigation, for instance, Friedman said it came across an organization called Market Process Group, one of the eight fundraisers examined by Reuters. Add 64.1606 to subpart P to read as follows: (a) Any private entity may submit to the Enforcement Bureau information related to a call or text message that the private entity has reason to believe included misleading or inaccurate caller identification information in violation of 64.1604(a) or 47 U.S.C. We interpret section 10(a) of the TRACED Act to encompass suspected or alleged violations of section 227(b) or section 227(e) as the most natural reading the of the statute. People are getting ripped off, Weintraub said in an interview. But scam PACs are not like other political action committees. The PACs examined for this article typically handed over less than 10% of their take sometimes less than 1% to candidates or causes, Reuters found. During today's hearing, the Committee heard from local law enforcement, the U.S. Federal Register issue. A spokesperson for the Republican Attorneys General Association did not address questions about the robocall but sought to distance the organization from the event. Elsewhere in the Communications Act, however, Congress used the term person to include individuals and organizational entities. Our mission is protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education without unduly burdening legitimate business activity. The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable <25 Employees . Good evening this is Mike Stevens calling for the Committee for police officers defense this calls recorded for quality assurance Ok Hello hello. 03/03/2023, 159 Many companies that donated to the Republican Attorneys General Association also gave to the Democratic Party equivalent. Instead, the bulk of the money is kept by fundraising firms or the people running the PACs. Demonstrators attempt to enter the U.S. Capitol during a protest on Jan. 6, 2021. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML Listen; Transcript I'm glad you picked up I'll get my answer machine voice ready. a copy of this Report and Order Rulemaking, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, in a report to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. The FTCs response to complaints is not noted in the records.. In this document, we have created a new online portal located on the Commission website where private entities, including small businesses, may submit information about robocall or spoofing violations. Callers told Reuters they easily made the switch, working in the same buildings, for the same bosses, using similar scripts. documents in the last year, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents in the last year, 513 Use our visualizations to explore scam and fraud trends in your state based on reports from consumers like you. Its the only thing in life Ive ever been (expletive) good at, said Armstrong, who records show has theft and drug convictions. The authority citation for part 64 continues to read as follows: Authority: Box 663 Butler, WI 53007 Visit Website (833) 878-5783 Average of 30. that, pursuant to 1.4(b)(1) and 1.427(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.4(b)(1), 1.427(a), this Report and Order and the amendments to parts 0 and 64 of the Commission's rules, as set forth in that the Commission 21. Richard Zeitlin, the biggest fundraiser in the loose network identified by Reuters, told a reporter in a brief interview that he had closed down all of his call centers, saying I wanted a change in direction. Asked about ex-employees claims of deception in his companies PAC fundraising practices, he declined to discuss specifics. Former Politicause employee Armstrong said he was fired in 2018, when the call center did charity fundraising, for having drugs at work. The company later was renamed Politicause. The calls always seem to come when you least expect it. Furthermore, we agree with commenters that the Bureau should protect the confidentiality of information submitted through the portal, especially because the data may include personally identifiable information or customer proprietary network information. 03/03/2023, 43 Rather, they and their fundraisers present the PACs as charities, suggesting they support veterans, firefighters or victims of deadly diseases, for instance. The Report and Order contains new or modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). They said it was not uncommon to find needles in the bathroom or a caller passed out at his desk. Thus, a private entity is only in a position to provide information about calls that it suspects are violations of the law. A Rule by the Federal Communications Commission on 09/23/2021. You are not lying, but you are being extremely misleading, said Jason Jones, 24, a former employee at Politicause. The "Committee for Police Officer's Defense" (CPOD) was configured to help police officers fight against the continuing "War on Cops" by taking a varied political stance against politicians, activist judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and a host of others who try to bring police officers down by any means. But proving it can be a challenge, she said when, for example, conversations arent recorded and callers stray beyond the boundaries of scripts that toe the line. or to request reasonable accommodations ( Going byvarious names, the fundraising operation has worked for some of the same PACs as Zeitlins firms have and has employed some of the same people, according to internal PAC records, state corporate filings, employee interviews and deposition testimony in a civil case unrelated to this article. Aside from the lions share that went to for-profit fundraisers, many of the PAC operators took a slice for salaries and overhead. Only official editions of the While every effort has been made to ensure that and services, go to Section 227(e) prohibits unlawful spoofingthe transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. For instance, the operation raised $16.8 million for PACs founded by Robert Piaro of Fredonia, Wisconsin, which purported to support police, veterans and people with breast cancer. If PACs spend nearly all of their money on fundraising and salaries, fundraisers can say they their motives were sincere and it costs money to raise money, he said. In recent years, some telemarketers have used technology to bombard consumers with hundreds of millions of prerecorded calls that are often unwanted and frequently deceptive. we proposed to include individuals in the definition of private entity but sought comment on the proposed interpretation, and whether there was a basis for a different interpretation of the term. Its infuriating, said Angelides, who learned from Reuters that it was a PAC that got his money. 30 days after publication in the Commenters suggested that the Commission consolidate the new portal and its existing informal consumer complaint process, which the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau administers, or better distinguish the two processes by defining private entity to exclude consumers. To achieve this objective, we direct the Enforcement Bureau to create and monitor an online portal located on the Commission The site has since been taken down.