Five Weeks After OCC Rubberstamped Erebor Back It Again Extends Its Time Under FOIA

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, Dec 22– Fair Finance Watch filed a FOIA request with the OCC in September about Erebor's charter applications.

This takes place as the regulators, led by the FDIC, are seeking to eliminate public notice and limit public comment. See, e.g., American Banker, Sept 10, 2025, "The FDIC is taking the 'community' out of CRA enforcement," by Matthew R. Lee, here

 Back on October 15 the Comptroller bragged, "

"The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to Erebor Bank after thorough review of its application. In granting this charter, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and standards applied to all charter applications.

“Erebor is the first de novo bank to receive a preliminary conditional approval since I arrived at the OCC. I am committed to a dynamic and diverse federal banking system, and our decision today is a first but important step in living up to that commitment,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould.

But he's rubberstamping and protecting legacy banks too, and not only "Community Banks."

On December 22 - five weeks after approving the Erebor application, the OCC wrote to Inner City Press, "Thank you for your continued patience regarding your request 2025-00682-F. We are actively working on your request and making every effort to provide a response as soon as possible."

  Weeks AFTER the approval? Back in September, Inner City Press requested: This is a request under FOIA for the exhibits (mis) labeled "Confidential" in the application for the proposed Erebor Bank. The applicants, who have stated publicly that the proposed bank would lending not only to AI but to weaponry / military, have withheld almost all exhibits and information about their proposal, including even the names of the directors, organizers, executives and principal shareholders. This is a FOIA request, then, for all of the exhibits. This is also a request for all record reflecting communication by or within the OCC with or about Erebor and its unidentified proposed directors, organizers, executives and principal shareholders.  As explained on recent FOIA requests, it is not limited to communication with the applicant but includes internal OCC record that are not exempt under FOIA."

Five week after approval, no records. The OCC hits new lows daily. Watch this site.

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Life in Prison for Kenyan who Planned to Attack Atlanta for al Shabaab who He Calls Legit Govt

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 22 – Cholo Abdi Abdullah was convicted of planning with al Shabaab to attack the US with a commercial jet. 

On April 7, Inner City Press was (the only person) in the courtroom gallery when Cholo accepted his new lawyer, while saying if there is a conflict he will return to Judge Torres. The next date - for a status conference to, the lawyer said, set a sentencing date - is June 16 at 1 pm.

On June 11 he wrote it to cancel that and asked for a sentencing date in December.

On June 12, "The status conference scheduled for June 16, 2025, is ADJOUNED sine die."

 Sentencing was set for December 22, and on December 5 the US Attorney's Office wrote in seeking to move it into January. On December 8 Judge Torres in one word denied the request.

Docketed on December 10, defense counsel's redacted request for 30 years, starting with the line "My arrest was my rescue."

On December 12 the US Attorney's Office in a heavily redacted submission said that life in prison is necessary because "the defendant did not join al-Shabaab with good intentions; he was not disillusioned; and he did not 'feign' commitment" - then paragraphs redacted.

On December 22 Inner City Press live-tweeted his sentencing to life in prison, here.

Watch this site.

More on Substack here

  The case is USA v. Abdullah, 1:20-cr-677 (Torres)

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Jay Lucas Arraigned in SDNY After New Hampshire Arrest While Indictment Still Sealed

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 22 –   With both copies of the Federal indictment still sealed on PACER, on December 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Inner City Press when to the arraignment of Jay Lucas and live tweeted, here

OK - now at arraignment of Jay Lucas, former candidate for New Hampshire governor, private equity investor and owner of defunct Eagle-Times newspaper 

Defense counsel: Mr Lucas is not CJA eligible but I will represent his interests today.

Judge: You are charged in four counts. How do you plead? Lucas: Not guilty  AUSA: We have extracted his cellphones. We are in the process of notifying victims. Judge: Discovery by January 19. Defense: Conference in 60 days? Judge: February 18 at noon 

AUSA: He is out on $1 million bond. A no-contact with LBE persons with exceptions. Judge: So ordered. Three weeks instead of two for signatures due to the holidays  Adjourned

Note: After Inner City Press' article (and tweets) noting the continued sealing of the indictment, it was belatedly unsealed.

The case is USA v. Lucas, 1:25-cr-581 (Rochon)

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Warrant to Seize M/T Skipper Still Sealed 10 Days After Judge Order Inner City Press Finds

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

FEDERAL COURT, Dec 22 – Following the seizure of the M/T Skipper after it left Venezuela on Decmeber 10, on December 12 U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui signed an order unsealing his authorization of the seizure, as 25-sz-50.  

 But when Inner City Press, covering the cases, sought out the case on PACER on the morning of December 13, it was still listed as "25-sz-50 SEALED v. SEALED; Case is not available to the public."    

Figuring from the number that there must be at least 49 earlier seizure order in 2025, Inner City Press checked them one by one. Only four were not sealed: one involving SpaceX, others involving domains uses for cryptocurrency scams.   But what about the other 45 cases?  

  Inner City Press, which often successfully makes such requests in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and now in the NYS Supreme Criminal Court unsealing exhibits in the Luigi Mangione case, on the morning of December 13 filed with Judge Faruqui, with a copy to the AUSA on one of the four unsealed cases.

But on the morning of December 22, the promised-to-be-unsealed M/T Skipper order was still sealed; now there are 25-sz-51 to 56 orders, all sealed, along with the other 45 orders still sealed.

Inner City Press has written to Judge Faruqui, and the AUSA, a second time:

..."A public explanation, including in light of other current controversies about failures to complete unseal, is needed.   

 "Like nine days ago, I went back and checked sz cases 25-sz-1 to 25-sz-50 and found that only four (five including M/T Skipper which I assume will soon actually be unsealed) of the fifty are available. All the others are still sealed - nothing has changed.  

 "There are also 25-sz-51 through 25-sz-56 which are sealed -- it is unclear which of these involves the Bella 1 - so Inner City Press' unsealing request applies to those as well."

Watch this site

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After Mistrial for Crypto Bros DeFi Ed Fund Proposes Amicus Brief Book Asks Is Code Law

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 19  – Anton and James Peraire-Bueno were indicted for "conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  The charges in the Indictment arise from an alleged novel scheme by the defendants to exploit the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain to fraudulently obtain approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency within approximately 12 seconds."  

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here.

On the evening of November 3 the defense put in a filing, on Patreon here

On November 7 it went to 7 pm when the jury sent out a note they were suffering and making no progress. Judge Clarke declared a mistrial. In the hall Inner City Press spoke with the brothers' mother, others including from the jury - and it put out a book hours later: "Crypto Bros Mistrial: Code Is Law Live On?" - here

On December 19, the DeFi Education Fund proposed an amicus brief arguing inter alia that due process requires the government to impose new rules on novel technologies through lawmaking, not prosecutions." 19 page proposed amicus brief on Patreon here

The case is USA v. Peraire-Bueno, et al., 1:24-cr-293 (Clarke)

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Epstein files 1M pg. Senegal habeas, Imran Ahmed, why not Guterres? 5/3 ...

Diddy appeal; ICE beat. Fifth Third; Fulton, B&H. Venezuela, Inner City ...

VLOG Dec 23: USUN on Somalia day after Cholo gets life. EDNY Sun mistria...

Luigi Mangione v. US death penalty; Cholo. Ship seizure orders still sea...

Trump AI UNdoged Blues and stand-ups, by Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City...

Ghislaine Maxwell Redacted Epstein Terramar Blues by Matthew Russell Lee...

Luigi Mangione Tells SDNY Stalking Not Enough for Death Penalty As NYS Unsealed

by Matthew Russell Lee, Substack Book Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 19 – Luigi Mangione was presented in Federal court on December 19 on four charges, one of them death penalty eligible, for the killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. Inner City Press was there, covering the case toward a book.

On April 1 DOJ announced it will seek the death penalty against Mangione.

  In the interim, after some push back, Inner City Press published a book Luigi Mangione Lone Wolf here, now Amazon here.  2d book here

On December 19 Mangione's lawyers filed a lengthy brief in Federal court against the death penalty, arguing among other things that stalking is not a predicate crime of violence - filing on Patreon here

  In the NYS case, on December 2, Justice Carro ruled to seal all exhibits, without giving any opportunity to be heard.

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

Late on December 2 Inner City Press emailed, then on December 3 faxed and hand-delivered, a letter asking to be heard and for unsealing, here.

Dec 1 more on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

On November 21, past 9 pm, the US Attorney's Office filed a 121 page response, on Patreon here

The Federal case is US v. Mangione, 1:25-cr-176 (Garnett)

More / extra on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

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Senegalese Street Seller Detained in MDC by ICE SDNY Judge Mulls Releasing Him Dec 22

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 19 – A man from Senegal who has been detained since being arrested in November charged with selling counterfeit goods on Canal Street and Broadway was brought on December 19 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Arun Suramanian. Inner City Press was there, and live tweeted, here:

Judge Subramanian: Does the Government concede that if Mr. Tall exhausted his administrative remedies, he could be released? He is arguing that for persons on parole, the conditions must be considered. AUSA: Some courts have granted release in those circumstances

AUSA: Any defect in the original arrest can be cured Judge Subramanian: The other line of cases say, Just release. And there are more than 100 cases like this. AUSA: I haven't counted. I'll have to take your word for it.

Judge Subramanian: Even though Mr. Tall was detained because of a violation of state law, if it was done improperly, shouldn't he be released? AUSA: I haven't researched that. Judge Subramanian: The agency thought detention was mandatory? AUSA: Yes

 Judge Subramanian: After Mr. Tall was arrested on November 22, no one at 26 Federal Plaza considered whether he could be released - why isn't that a violation of the regulations? AUSA: They had a warrant to arrest him. It's hard to operate in a counter-factual

 Judge Sumramanian: Given that they were operating under a framework that this court and 100s of others have found to be legally erroneous, shouldn't Mr. Tall be released? Even if you just re-arrest him? AUSA: Or give him the bond hearing at this point

 AUSA: I've only worked on a few of these cases, I don't have a bird's eye view - but in one I worked on, the District Judge just sent it back for an Immigration bond hearing - and that was the end of the Federal proceeding

Judge Subramanian: Nothing prevents me from retaining jurisdiction AUSA: We might not think it's appropriate Judge Subramanian: Why was a new warrant issue? AUSA: I was trying to find that out. Judge Subramanian: Would petitition be entitled to fees? AUSA: Some do

 Petitioner's pro bono counsel from Cleary Gottlieb: The document does not mention any warrant, only that Mr. Tall was observed peddling counterfeit merchandise in front of 448 Broadway. Judge Subramanian: Why didn't you have Mr. Maldonado here? A: Sorry

Judge Subramanian: Are you saying Mr. Maldonado is lying? Cleary: What's in his declaration is not consistent with the rest of the evidence. Judge: You're saying in essence that they chased him down Canal Street then issued a third warrant afterward

Cleary: Without saying he's is lying, we can better believe the written records at the time. Judge Subramanian: We can call Officer Maldonado and you can cross examine him Cleary: But Mr. Tall would remain detained Judge: Do you want fees? Cleary: It's our right

 AUSA: Officer Maldonado is part of ICE's Fugitive Operations Team, that's why he got involved later. Judge Subramanian: It says officers were conducting surveillance - inconsistent with what Mr. Maldonado says. AUSA: An ICE officer saw him & got Maldonado

Judge: Break  11:56 am - Judge Subramanian is back. Judge: The remedy should correspond to the violation. There is disagreement. The AUSA says, sent back for a hearing before the immigration judge. The petition says the remedy is release

Judge Subramanian: It is important to get the law right. I need to take the weekend

 Inner City Press will stay on the case(s)

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

The case is Tall v. Joyce, et al., 1:25-cv-9781 (Subramanian)

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PayPal Hides Community Reinvestment Act Plan for Utah FDIC Bank So Fair Finance FOIA

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

FEDERAL COURT, Dec 18 – PayPal wants to open a bank - but it is trying to keep secret its Community Reinvestment Act plan.

  On December 16 Fair Finance Watch commented against PalPal's proposal, to the FDIC (which is moving to cut out the public) and to the Utah Department of Financial Institution.

 While the FDIC had not responded, two days later, the Utah agency sent the "public" portion of the application. But the CRA Plan was called "confidential." Inner City Press immediately sought it under FOIA / GRAMA:

On behalf of Fair Finance Watch and in my personal capacity, this is a request under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, §63-2-101 et seq., for a copy of PayPal Bank's Community Reinvestment Act plan. FFW is a timely commenter on the application, but just learned that the part it most wants to see, the CRA plan, is for some reason being withheld. What is PayPal ashamed of?

The Utah Government Records Access and Management Act requires that public records responses be made within at least 10 business days if the records are for individual purposes or within five business days if the record is meant to benefit the general public.

Before that, this comment (also to the FDIC) -

 On behalf of Fair Finance Watch, this is a timely comment in opposition to the application to charter the proposed PayPal Bank Industrial Bank:  Consider both the complaints about PayPal, and about the difficulty of complaining about or even to PayPal: "It was extremely difficult to close my Paypal account and Paypal Credit account even after I experienced fraud. Someone was charging the credit card connected to the Paypal account. Even though Paypal notified me of fraudulent activities, I got the run around when I requested to close both accounts. ... Paypal customer service? Customer Service does not exist except to make things even more complicated. So I am screwed, my friend is screwed and Paypal is richer by 750$…nice BTW, I am a 76 yr old disabled veteran living on social security…needed this $$ badly to survive…I guess Paypal needed it more. F%#* Paypal…
 And, from the closing-down CFPB: "My PayPal account suffered account take over. Unfortunately the app or website doesnt allow to change tel numbers, information, removed stores cards etc. I submitted a claim onto PayPal, as I noticed an erroneous telephone number, I could not change that and/nor have heard back from PayPal. Since I suffered an account take cover and I reported this to PayPall, this should have been remediated immediately. Hasnt happened yet!" No public response https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/detail/8234624    This is not a company that should be given a bank or ILC charter with no public benefit, no real CRA plan.    Fair Finance Watch is hereby timely requesting public hearings, and that we be emailed a complete copy of the application. 

 On the current record, PayPal's proposal could not legitimately be approved.

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Luigi Mangione Hearing Ends Decision May 18 As Defense Calls Out Use of Mother Statement

by Matthew Russell Lee, Substack Book Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 18 – Luigi Mangione was presented in Federal court on December 19 on four charges, one of them death penalty eligible, for the killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. Inner City Press was there, covering the case toward a book.

On April 1 DOJ announced it will seek the death penalty against Mangione.

  In the interim, after some push back, Inner City Press published a book Luigi Mangione Lone Wolf here, now Amazon here

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

Late on December 2 Inner City Press emailed, then on December 3 faxed and hand-delivered, a letter asking to be heard and for unsealing, here.

  After handing in the letter and getting it stamped at 10 am, Inner City Press stayed in and covered Justice Carro's courtroom past 5 pm. Then:

Justice Carro said, "Mr. Lee? Come up to the rail." I did. He said, I've read your letter. I intend tomorrow to decide what part of what is being presented came be made public to the Press. And on December 4 he said it would happened. And some did.

On December 18, both sides rested and Justice Carro said briefs due January 29 and March 5 with his decision due May 18. At the end Karen Friedman Agnifilo complained of misquoting of his mother, but no action was taken.

More Dec 18 on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

On unsealing bid, more / extra on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

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