THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Obama weighs appeal of DART injunction By Anne Gearan ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON The White House weighed a quick appeal of a judge's order abruptly allowing gays to serve openly in the mili tary as Pentagon chief Robert Gates warned on Wednesday of "enormous consequences" for men and women in uniform if the ruling stands. A day after the federal judge in California ordered the Pentagon to cease enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, Gates told reporters traveling with him in Europe that repealing the law should be a question for Congress and only after the Pentagon completes its study of the issue. Allowing gays to serve openly "is an action that requires careful preparation and a lot of training," Gates said. "It has enormous con sequences for our troops." In Tuesday's ruling, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered the military "immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation" or other proceeding to dismiss gay service members. The 1993 law says gays may serve in the military but only if they keep secret their sexual orientation. Phillips wrote that the law "infringes the fundamental rights" of current and prospective service members. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners may be victim to broken foreclosing laws by mortgage companies. Officials launch foreclosure probe By Alan Zibel ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON Officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia have launched a joint investigation into alle gations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners. The states' attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly. Alabama initially did not sign on to the investigation. It reversed course after the joint statement was released. Attorneys general have taken the lead in responding to a nationwide scandal that's called into question the accu racy and legitimacy of documents that lenders relied on to evict people from the homes. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them. The allegations raise the possibility that foreclosure proceedings nationwide could be subject to legal chal lenge. Some foreclosures could be overturned. More than 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the recession started in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc. The state officials said they intend to use their investi gation to fix the problems that surfaced in the mortgage industry. "This is not simply about a glitch in paperwork," said lowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the probe. "It's also about some companies violating the law and many people losing their homes." Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage Unit, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. already have halted some questionable foreclosures. Other banks, including Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have not stopped processing foreclosures, saying they did nothing wrong. THURSDAYS 3-10. m PRICESTEAK BU RGERS BESTI FM 4 " C a E T • CORNER in Town! P-7 ROOM Corner of Colle:e & Allen St. Stay up to date on deadlines and promotions! Gay rights advocates cautioned gay service members to avoid revealing their sexuality for fear that the Phillips ruling could be tossed out on appeal and they would be left open to being dis charged. Defense Department officials would not say what was happen ing to current discharge cases. or even confirm how many pending cases there might be. A Pentagon spokesman, Col. David Lapan. said no written guidance had been issued to commanders on how to deal with the court order. When asked by a reporter whether the ruling had had any impact yet, a two-star U.S. Army commander in eastern Afghanistan suggested he was unsure anything would change and said it was unlikely that his soldiers even knew about the court order. "If that law is changed, they'll abide by the law," but "that's ably the farthest thing trorn tL mind" as they fight, said Mai_ Gen. John Campbell, commander of the 101st Airborne Division. The Justice Departmci k c•-)n sidering whether to apps ,:i the Phillips ruling, and its, first response may well be another trip to the judge's courtroom in Riverside, Calif., to seek a stay, or temporary freeze. If Phillips turns down the request, the ,Insttcc Pablo Martinez Monsa.al , , Associated Press Discharged members of the military, including Lt. Dan Choi, second from left, handcuff themselves to the fence outside the White House in Washington during a protest for gay rights in this April 16 file photo. Department probably would then "This is a policy that is going to senior general officers on whether turn to the federal appeals court in end," he said. lifting the ban would cause serious California. If the government does Gates, who supports lifting the disruption at a time when troops appeal, that would put the Obama ban once the Pentagon puts in are fighting in Afghanistan and administration in the position of place a plan for minimizing dis- winding down a long war in Iraq. continuing to defend a law it ruptions, said that besides devel- The incoming Marine comman opposes. oping new training for troops, reg- dant, Gen. James Amos, and his White House press secretary ulations will have to be revised. predecessor, Gen. James Conway, Robert Gibbs said time is running Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, both have told Congress that they nut for the ban on gays serving chairman of the Joint Chiefs of think most Marines would be openly. Staff, face disagreement by some uncomfortable with the change. Army employee accused in bribes According to a criminal mmlaint. the employee took money from a compa .eekinLT, projects in Iraq. By David Porter SSOCATED PRESS WRITER '.VA? . N.J. -- An employee of Amy Corps of Engineers took ilandE i_ds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a construction compa ny seeking contracts for projects in Iraq worth millions of dollars, accord ing to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday I,"a' i John Alfy Salama Markus, also Imown as John Salama, made an ini tial court appearance Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. Magistrate Mark Falk ordered him released on 55N.000 bond secured by property. He did nat enter a plea. Markus faces charges of conspira cy io defraud the United States and THE PRINGLES XTREME CAMPUS TOUR Friday, October 22nd in Alumni Hall, HUB Doors 9:30 pm. Show 10:00 pm Tickets are REEvitt' FSLI and MI be evadable 0018bh fromikenlm in Hentage Dcbl9blr2Obh from lOarn-2pm on isb floorlll.lB money laundering. The money laun dering count carries a 20-year maxi mum prison sentence. Also charged in the alleged scheme was Ahmed Nouri, also known as Ahmed Bahiat, vice president of a construction and engineering compa ny seeking work in Iraq. Nouri was still at large Wednesday. Markus' attorney, Stacy Biancaniano, said he was a soldier in Iraq before working for the Army Corps of Engineers and had earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. According to the criminal com plaint. Markus, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen who lived in central New Jersey, monitored contracts as a proj ect engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. The complaint alleges Markus took bribes from Nouri in exchange for providing confidential information to Nouri's company. Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau, about bidding negotiations on certain projects. Markus also allegedly steered We The Kings and JC(Ae THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 2010 I Army Corps of Engineers projects to Nouri, including a $6.25 million proj ect to enhance security at the Bayji Oil Refinery in central Iraq for which Markus allegedly received at least $200,000 in bribes. Citing Army Corps of Engineers records, the complaint alleges four more contracts were awarded to ICCB in the summer of 2007 totaling approximately $6.3 million. For those projects. Markus allegedly sought $550.000 in bribes. The U.S. attorney's office alleges Markus deposited the bribes in bank accounts in the Middle East and in the U.S. and used the money to build a $l.l million house for himself and his wife in Nazareth, Pa. They had previously lived in Belle Mead, N.J. In a November 2007 e-mail, Markus wrote to Nouri, "I saved a lot of money for you guys and I need at least 400 K form ICCB for all the work I done for you I made you a lot of profit," the complaint alleges.
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