CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

California prosecutors: PG&E could face manslaughter charges — in theory

J.D. Morris Dec. 28, 2018 Updated: Dec. 28, 2018 8:15 p.m.

Manslaughter and murder are among the crimes Pacific Gas and Electric Co. could have committed under California law if its reckless operation of power lines is found to have sparked any recent deadly wildfire, according to the state’s top prosecutor.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and his deputies described to a federal judge Friday a range of possible consequences PG&E could face at the state level, depending on the utility’s “mental state,” if it is deemed responsible for wildfires that have ravaged the state.

The potential crimes vary widely, from minor offenses related to vegetation and power lines to felonies or misdemeanors about causing fires or even implied-malice murder and involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said.

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Becerra’s office laid out the possibilities in a brief to U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is considering how the wildfires could affect PG&E’s probation from a criminal case born out of the aftermath to the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.

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Insider Terrorism on the California Power Grid

Sniper attack on California power grid may have been 'an insider,' DHS says

Rest assured it was a inside job leading to other deadly explosions

Related

• California Sniper
• California Wildfires
• California Terrorism

Federal

• FBI Cases
• Case Track
• Terrorism

The 2013 Sniper Attack on California Electric Grid

A top DHS official revealed on Wednesday that an infamous 2013 sniper attack on a California energy grid substation may have been committed by someone on the inside. The attack, which nearly took out power to parts of Silicon Valley, has been called "the
most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" by the nation's top electrical utility regulator. The yet-unsolved case has been shrouded in mystery. No suspects have been named, and
as of last year, no motive identified. But at an energy industry conference in Philadelphia this week, we got our first glimpse at who the government thinks might have attacked the grid. "While we have not yet identified the
shooter, there's some indication it was an insider," said Caitlin Durkovich, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security.

Was it a current or former employee of PG&E (PCG)? A hired contractor? DHS will not comment on an ongoing investigation. Shortly after midnight on April 16, 2013, some people snuck up on PG&E's substation in Metcalf, California. They cut fiber-optic
AT&T phone lines, shutting off service to nearby neighborhoods. They also fired more than 100 rounds of .30-caliber rifle ammunition into the radiators of 17 electricity transformers. Thousands of gallons of oil leaked,
causing electronics to overheat and shut down. PG&E engineers were able to reroute power, but it was a struggle to keep the power on during the attack. The assault lasted only 19 minutes, but it caused $15 million in damage.
It also became a harsh wake-up call for energy providers, who have since become obsessed with the physical security of their remote power stations. PG&E alone has pledged to spend $100 million to improve security at its
facilities. Also, it and AT&T (T) have each announced separate $250,000 rewards to catch the attackers.

Why the alarm?

Transformers are often custom designed, sometimes costing $3 million each -- and replacements are slow. Plus, physical attacks on energy distribution machines are much more effective at taking out the power grid than a computer
hack. And it's incredibly easy to pull off, several energy utility firms told CNNMoney. Experts attending GridSecCon, held by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation this week, are now discussing the need to enclose
electronics in 1/2-inch thick armor plating that can stop high-powered rifle rounds. Power utilities have started loading remote substations with infrared cameras, gunshot audio sensors and even seismic recorders that catch
vibrations. Correction: The headline and first sentence of this story have been updated to reflect the comment made by the DHS official.

The Insider Terrorists Meeting

Deliver of the Maps during PG&E Meeting

Placed via external drive provided by PG& Pete Bennett's laptop by Ravenel Enterprises SVP Paul Reddit. Meeting Location: Pacific Gas & Electric Company Address: 1850 Gateway Blvd Fl 6, Concord, CA 94520 Phone: (800) 743-5000

California Data Breach and Microsoft Sharepoint

Example map of over 20,000 internal documents directly from the SharePoint Server.

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Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures

Pete Bennett cabinet business began in late 70's in a small 2 car garage in Pleasant Hill CA.   Working hard every day, eventually outgrew the garage then moving to Cloverdale Ave, Pittsburg CA. The shop folded when FBI Agent Frank Doyle Jr. arrived when

Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures

One beautiful morning on or about August 27, 1987, Pete Bennett needed to send fax. One of his restuarant designer customers was just around the the corner allowed free use of their fax as back a fax machine was expensive.

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1. Home 
2.  Department History 
3.  People 
4. George Pratt Shultz

Biographies of the Secretaries of State: George Pratt Shultz (1920–)

Introduction

George Shultz was named as Secretary of State by President Ronald Reagan on June 25, 1982. Following confirmation by the Senate, he assumed the office of Secretary on July 16, and he remained in that position until January 20, 1989.

George Pratt Shultz, 60th Secretary of State

Rise to Prominence

Born and raised in New York City, Shultz completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University in 1942. After serving with the United States Marine Corps Reserves in the Pacific theater during World War II, he pursued a Ph.D. in industrial economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving his degree in 1949. From then until 1968, he taught economics at MIT and the University of Chicago.

His first experience in government came in 1969 when President Richard Nixonappointed him Secretary of Labor (1969–70), then Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1970–72), and then Secretary of the Treasury (1972–1974).

After returning to private life, Shultz took up a position teaching management and public policy at Stanford University, and also served as Executive Vice President and President of Bechtel Corporation, and President of Bechtel Group, Inc.

Influence on American Diplomacy

As Secretary of State, Shultz played a crucial role in guiding U.S. diplomacy during his lengthy six and a half year tenure in office. Upon his confirmation, he inherited a number of foreign policy challenges, including war in Lebanon, delicate negotiations with the People’s Republic of China and the Government on Taiwan, and a ratcheting up of Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union.

Over the next several years, Shultz focused U.S. diplomatic efforts on resolving the conflict in the Middle East, defusing trade disputes with Japan, managing increasingly tense relationships with several Latin American nations, and crafting U.S. responses to the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and the new Soviet policies of perestroika and opening to the West.

In part due to his collegial relationships with President Reagan and other members of the Administration, Shultz was able to exert considerable influence over U.S. foreign policy in regards to these issues. Although he was unable to forge a lasting resolution to the Middle East conflict, he negotiated an agreement between Israel and Lebanon and convinced Israel to begin withdrawing its troops in January 1985, in spite of Lebanon’s contravention of the settlement.

He completed the discussions between the United States and China, begun under Secretary of State Alexander Haig, which led to the joint communiqué of August 1982 that has provided stability for U.S.-Chinese relations ever since.

Shultz had not been able to halt the arms-for-hostages deals with Iran that provided funds for the Contras in Nicaragua, which he had opposed, but by 1988 he had helped to broker agreements that eased the disputes of Nicaragua’s civil war.

He had other successes in Latin America, but his crowning achievements came in regards to U.S.-Soviet relations. Through positive responses to the overtures of Gorbachev and his Foreign Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, and through his own initiatives, Shultz helped to draft and sign landmark arms control treaties and other agreements that helped to diminish U.S.-Soviet antagonism.

As a result, under Shultz’s leadership, U.S. diplomacy helped to pave the way for the ending of the Cold War during 1989.

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Suspected Corruption Investigation at the City of Pittsburg

Sometime prior to 2001, Huppert began working with the FBI on an investigation into suspected corruption within the PPD. While he does not disclose what assistance he gave to the FBI, he does claim that this work was “outside [his] duties as a member of the PPD.” Then, in January 2001, his superior, William Zbacnik, informed Huppert that he would be transferred to “Code Enforcement,” also known as the “Strategic Operations Bureau.”   He was officially transferred in June 2001, and was sent to a building known within the PPD as the “Penal Colony,” because “disaffected and/or disfavored officers were assigned there.”   Huppert's new supervisor, William Hendricks (“Hendricks”), informed him that he had been sent to the “Penal Colony” because Baker wanted Hendricks to find a way to fire him.   Huppert's new office at the “Penal Colony” was a “tiny converted bathroom without computer access,” and even though he was assigned to investigate gang-related activity, the building was not equipped with the proper secured areas needed for his investigations.   During the six-month period between January and June 2001, Huppert was not permitted to work overtime.

Salgado joined the force in 1995 and was, for the majority of his tenure, a detective.   In September 2001, he was assigned to the “Strategic Operations Bureau” as Huppert's partner.   Baker assigned both of them to investigate suspected corruption at the local City-owned golf course, but told them not to inform Hendricks of this assignment.   The investigation “revealed improper conduct by members of the PPD, including gambling, accepting free golf, and possible illegal drug activity.”   After only two interviews, Baker commanded that Huppert and Salgado cease the investigation.   Once they informed Hendricks, he encouraged them to continue investigating and informed Baker that Huppert and Salgado were still looking into corruption at the golf course.   Hendricks also informed the FBI that he believed there was a major gambling operation on-going at the golf course.

Huppert claims that while Baker told them not to memorialize their findings, they drafted a report at the conclusion of their inquiry and directed it to Baker and the Pittsburg City Manager.   The report “included a finding that defendant Zbacnik had accepted thousands of dollars in gratuities and other illegal perks.”   However, following the report, Baker took no action against Zbacnik, and instead deemed Zbacnik's actions a “training issue.”

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Sidley Austin Partner's Suicide: 'Too Many Lawyers Mask Their Struggles'

Sidley Austin Partner's Suicide: 'Too Many Lawyers Mask Their Struggles'

Hopefully the U.S. Department of Justice will protect me
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Coincidence or Nefarious Solutions

City Attorney Mark Coon, Kilpatrick Attorney James Gilliland, Son of Contra Costa Bar President James Greenan, Former House Ethics Lawyer Miguel Tourno, Son of Intellectual Patent Attorney Art Beheil,

Forty Years of Murders and Witness Intimidation

Sidley Austin’s Peter Keisler Takes on More Formal Role for AT&T in Antitrust Appellate Battle

As the AT&T’s defense against a Justice Department antitrust challenge advances into a Washington appeals court, Keisler is set to assume a more formal role.

By C. Ryan Barber | July 17, 2018 at 12:32 PM

Peter Keisler. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

During the six-week trial over AT&T’s planned acquisition of Time Warner, Sidley Austinpartner Peter
Keisler was a constant presence in court, looking on as O’Melveny & Myers’ Daniel Petrocelli mounted a successful defense of the $85 billion deal.

Now, as the AT&T’s defense against a Justice Department antitrust challenge advances into a Washington appeals court,
Keisler is set to assume a more formal role.

Keisler, a prominent appellate lawyer who briefly served as interim attorney general late in the George W. Bush administration, entered his first appearance for AT&T late Monday afternoon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, identifying
himself as the lead counsel for a Sidley Austin team that includes Jonathan Nuechterlein and C. Frederick Beckner III, co-leaders of the firm’s communications regulatory practice. Also on the Sidley Austin team:
Richard Klingler, a partner at the firm who previously served as general counsel on the National Security Council staff during the Bush administration.

In Keisler, AT&T has a lawyer who was picked under the Bush administration for a seat on the D.C. Circuit, only to see his nomination scuttled by a Senate filibuster.

Although Keisler was listed in the filing as the lead attorney, an AT&T spokesman said the company expects O’Melveny & Myers to remain involved in the D.C. Circuit. The spokesman declined to identify the lawyer who will lead arguments in the D.C.
Circuit, saying it would be premature given that the Justice Department has yet to file its opening brief.

Keisler declined to comment.

The Justice Department in a filing July 12 signaled its plan to take the merger challenge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That notice came a month after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon handed down a 172-page opinion rejecting
arguments that AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner would substantially lessen competition and hurt consumers.

Petrocelli, a seasoned trial lawyer who took up AT&T’s case with little to no antitrust experience, has not yet entered an appearance in the D.C. Circuit. Cravath, Swaine & Moore partner Christine Varney, a former head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, is representing Time Warner.

Since his return to Sidley Austin in 2008, Keisler has established himself as a go-to lawyer for companies clashing with the government. Indeed, during the Obama administration, he frequently partook in some of the highest profile cases challenging government
regulations.

Keisler previously represented AT&T in the challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules, which the D.C. Circuit upheld in 2016. Under a Trump-appointed Republican chairman, the FCC later repealed the rules, which required
internet services providers to treat all content and traffic equally.

In 2016, he argued before the D.C. Circuit for an array of trade associations—including
the American Chemistry Council Inc. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce—in a challenge to the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. For the past two years, the D.C. Circuit has been granting 60-day abeyances in the
case as the Trump administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has worked to revise the plan. In its most recent order, the D.C. Circuit revealed that
some judges’ patience with EPA’s regulatory inaction is wearing thin.

Earlier in 2016, Keisler represented TransCanada in a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration over its decision to prevent the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Keisler dropped the case a year later after the Trump administration greenlighted
the pipeline.

With Keisler on its side, AT&T appears confident in its chances of sealing the Time Warner deal in the D.C. Circuit. On July 13, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on CNBC that the company believes “the likelihood of this thing being reversed and
overturned is really remote.”

“It’s a very narrow path that would have to be traveled to get this thing reversed in any way,” Stephenson said. “The merger is closed. We own Time Warner.”

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18 U.S. Code § 1513 - Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant

(a)

(1)Whoever kills or attempts to kill another person with intent to retaliate against any personfor—

(A)

the attendance of a witness or party at an official proceeding, or any testimony given or any record, document, or other object produced by a witness in an official proceeding; or

(B)

providing to a law enforcement officer any information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation, supervised release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings,

shall be punished as provided in paragraph (2).

(2)The punishment for an offense under this subsection is—

(A)

in the case of a killing, the punishment provided in sections 1111 and 1112; and

(B)

in the case of an attempt, imprisonment for not more than 30 years.

(b)Whoever knowingly engages in any conduct and thereby causes bodily injury to another personor damages the tangible property of another person, or threatens to do so, with intent to retaliate against any person for—

(1)

the attendance of a witness or party at an official proceeding, or any testimony given or any record, document, or other object produced by a witness in an official proceeding; or

(2)

any information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation, supervised release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings given by a person to a law enforcement officer;

or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

(c)

If the retaliation occurred because of attendance at or testimony in a criminal case, the maximum term of imprisonment which may be imposed for the offense under this section shall be the higher of that otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been imposed for any offense charged in such case.

(d)

There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section.

(e)

Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal offense, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(f)

Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

(g)

A prosecution under this section may be brought in the district in which the official proceeding (whether pending, about to be instituted, or completed) was intended to be affected, or in which the conduct constituting the alleged offense occurred.

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Finding and Evaluating Antitrust Complaints

Standards for Approving a Preliminary Investigation

In a matter where the suspected conduct appears to meet the Division’s standard for proceeding criminally, the decision whether to open an investigation will depend on two questions. The first is whether the allegations or suspicions of a criminal violation are sufficiently credible or plausible to call for a criminal investigation.

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Felony Attacks Upon the Witness

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Felony Assault Pete Bennett v. Cypress Security / Contra Costa Public Library

Examples of felony assault or battery include:

• striking or threatening to strike a person with a weapon or dangerous object. 
• shooting a person with a gun or threatening to kill someone while pointing a gun at the victim. 
• assault or battery with the intent to commit another felony crime such as robbery or rape. 
• assault or battery resulting in serious... 

Felony Assault & Battery Laws and Penalties | Criminal Law

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Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures and his former client PG&E (1981 to 1987)

Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures

Pete Bennett founded his cabinet business around 1979 in his small garage in Pleasant Hill CA. The shop survived with plenty of bumps and setbacks until 1989. The shop folded when FBI Agent Frank Doyle Jr. arrived explaining he was unable to protect me.


Of course I believed him as my left hand had just been shattered.

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Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures

former site of cabinet shop owned by Pete Bennett plaintiff in the Matter of Bennett verus Southern Pacific, Contra Costa County (1987)

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1989 ~ The Hand Injury

former site of cabinet shop owned by Pete Bennett plaintiff in the Matter of Bennett versus Southern Pacific, Contra Costa County (1987)

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1987 ~ The Head Trauma and related injuries

One beautiful morning on or about August 27, 1987, Pete Bennett needed to send fax. One of his restaurant designer customers was just around the the corner allowed free use of their fax as in 1987,  fax machines were expensive. 

Just a few hundred feet on a my touring bike became a life changing event.

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