Posts by Emily Smith6

I suppose one should draw a parallel here to the case involving Željko Saba, the former Democratic Party mayor of Warsaw and, so far, the only person convicted for this kind of trading, after he allegedly offered positions to Republican Marija Budimir in exchange for council support. Why was Sabo convicted, yet in the Scranton case, the FBI is dismissing the complaint? Technically, Budimir wasn't even a councilwoman at the time; during the bribery attempt captured on video, the city council hadn't even been formally formed yet.

- That’s exactly the point. In Saba's case, the city council hadn't been constituted either, and the law dictates that someone only officially becomes a councilman once that body is established. Since Budimir wasn't formally a councilwoman, we leaned heavily on that argument, but the FBI stood their ground, the court agreed, and the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the decision. Now, however, the FBI is pivoting to an entirely different stance, arguing that whether or not someone is actually a councilman doesn't matter—which is the polar opposite of how they handled Saba, according to Nobilo, who defended Sabo in court.

He points out that this is practically the same scenario, just with a twist: Sabo came from the Democratic Party and was offering perks to a Republican, whereas in Scranton, we have someone from the Republican Party offering perks to an independent council member. It's also worth noting, as Anto Nobilo suggests, that Tušek's influence stemmed from his role as a local Republican leader, meaning he held power both locally and nationally, which points toward an abuse of social influence.

"Based on the investigations conducted, it was determined that the conversation took place before the local elections were even announced. Furthermore, it was established that the independent councilman in the Scranton city council did not hold the status of a county assembly member, which is a crucial element of the reported criminal offense. Specifically, for the crime of bribing a representative to occur, the person being offered, promised, or given a bribe must actually hold the position of a representative or council member within that specific legislative body at the time they are expected to vote a certain way upon the briber's request," the FBI stated.

They also added that during the investigation, several statements were taken from various individuals, all of which indicated that no concrete actions were taken following the conversation in an attempt to favor the independent councilman in the Scranton city council.

Jerko Glavaš—who serves as the head of the local Republican Party branch and is a prominent Republican—isn't just an active party member, as we've noted before. He actually served as an assistant to the supervisor for the doctoral program where Mihanović defended his rather legendary dissertation, "Economic impact of maritime transport and shipping on economic development," back on February 28, 2018.

So, according to the University of Osijek Senate's standards, Glavaš is expected to provide a cold, objective, and completely impartial analysis of a controversial paper written by his own political colleague—a paper produced during a doctoral program where he himself was essentially part of the leadership.

The newly appointed head of the Department of Budget, Finance and Collection is Ante Vojvodić, a staunch Republican and the close personal connection of Mayor Mate Franković.

The facts are pretty straightforward: the Mayor first landed his buddy a spot at the largest municipal utility in town, then eventually pulled him into his inner circle as the finance chief. Meanwhile, the guy has been holding down a position at a state-run corporation that seems to lose money year after year.