XPost: sci.military.naval, law.court.federal, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   The Navy’s former second-highest-ranking officer and commander of naval   
   forces for Europe and Africa was arrested Friday on federal bribery   
   charges for allegedly awarding a sole-source contract to a company in 2021   
   in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job and stock options, the Justice   
   Department announced.   
      
   Retired four-star Adm. Robert P. Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Fla., faces   
   the prospect of becoming only the second U.S. admiral to be found guilty   
   of committing a federal crime while on active duty, after he was arrested   
   on a five-count indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in   
   Washington.   
      
   Burke was arrested with Yongchul “Charlie” Kim, 50, and Meghan Messenger,   
   47, founders of the New York-based technology services firm Next Jump,   
   prosecutors announced.   
   All three face counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery,   
   punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Burke faces additional counts of   
   performing acts affecting a personal financial interest and concealing   
   material facts, punishable by up to 30 years.   
      
   In an interview, Burke’s attorney Tim Parlatore said: “He denies these   
   charges. We do intend to go to trial, and we expect at trial he’ll be   
   found not guilty,” adding that there was “no connection whatsoever between   
   this contract and this job.”   
      
   Though the indictment does not name the business, its description matches   
   that of Next Jump, a New York City company whose website identifies Kim   
   and Messenger as among its founders roughly 30 years ago and as its   
   current co-CEOs. The company lists the U.S. Navy as a customer, and it   
   announced on social media that Burke had joined Next Jump in October 2022,   
   aligning with the timing of the allegations in the indictment.   
      
   Kim and Messenger could not be immediately be reached for comment, and   
   court records in Manhattan did not immediately identify attorneys for   
   them. Next Jump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   
      
   In a statement, federal law enforcement and military officials said the   
   charges exemplified a commitment to “eradicating fraud” in the Defense   
   Department.   
      
   “As alleged in the indictment, Admiral Burke used his public office and   
   his four-star status for his private gain,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M.   
   Graves. “The law does not make exceptions for admirals or CEOs. … The   
   urgency is at its greatest when, as here, senior government officials and   
   senior executives are allegedly involved in the corruption.”   
      
   Before retiring in 2022, Burke oversaw naval operations in Europe, Russia   
   and most of Africa. A native of Portage, Mich., Burke served from June   
   2019 until June 2020 as the 40th vice chief of naval operations, the   
   service’s No. 2-ranking officer. He succeeded retired Adm. William Moran,   
   who was set to take over as the Navy’s top officer in August 2019 before   
   unexpectedly retiring, citing his interactions with a subordinate accused   
   of acting inappropriately toward female officers.   
      
   Burke’s Navy biography says he is a trained electrical engineer and   
   submariner who served in numerous postings around the world. He was chief   
   of naval personnel, with responsibility for manpower, personnel, training   
   and education, when the events described in the indictment began.   
      
   According to the government, Kim and Messenger were co-CEOs of a business   
   named in the indictment only as “Company A,” which provided a workforce   
   training pilot program to a small Navy component from August 2018 through   
   July 2019. Burke supported the program as naval personnel chief, but later   
   that year, the Navy terminated a contract with the company, and in   
   November an aide to Burke directed it not to contact him further because   
   of his new role as vice chief of naval operations and “upcoming   
   contracting actions,” according to the 16-page indictment.   
      
   But Kim and Messenger allegedly met with Burke in Washington in July 2021   
   to revive the company’s Navy business, and agreed that Burke would use his   
   four-star admiral position to steer a sole-source contract to Company A in   
   exchange for a future job. Federal investigators said Burke also allegedly   
   agreed to influence other officers to award another contract to Company A   
   to train a large portion of the Navy, a contract that Kim valued in the   
   “triple digit millions.”   
      
   Burke allegedly ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to the   
   company in December 2021 to train personnel under his command in Italy and   
   Spain, according to government investigators. He also promoted the company   
   in a failed effort to persuade another senior admiral to award it another   
   contract. Burke also allegedly made false statements to the Navy to create   
   the appearance that he played no role in issuing the contract and to imply   
   that his employment talks began months after the contract was awarded,   
   federal authorities said.   
      
   Burke began working at Company A in October 2022 at a yearly starting   
   salary of $500,000 and a grant of 100,000 stock options, the government   
   alleged. That same month, Next Jump announced on Twitter that Burke had   
   become a senior partner at the company. He left the company in early 2023,   
   Parlatore said.   
      
   Burke’s attorney rejected the government’s timeline, saying it “frontloads   
   the job offer” to the July 2021 meeting to fit the timeline of a quid pro   
   quo. “The reality is, there was no job accepted at that stage. That   
   happened much, much later,” Parlatore said. He added, “Does it really make   
   sense to offer a $500,000 job to get a $350,000 contract?”   
      
   Only one U.S. Navy admiral has ever been found guilty of committing a   
   federal crime while on active duty; Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau was sentenced   
   to 18 months in prison in 2017 for lying to federal agents about his part   
   in the worst corruption scandal in Navy history, involving disgraced   
   defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis.   
      
   The Justice Department’s handling of the Francis investigation has gotten   
   a black eye, however, after defense attorneys alleged that prosecutors   
   relied on flawed evidence and withheld information favorable to the   
   defense. U.S. prosecutors two weeks ago moved to drop felony charges   
   against five convicted defendants and said as many as two dozen more cases   
   could be affected by an ongoing review of 34 prosecutions, including 29   
   guilty pleas.   
      
   Parlatore said there was no factual connection between Burke’s case and   
   the Leonard investigation, but he raised an eyebrow at the back-to-back   
   moves involving high-profile Navy scandals, saying, “The timing is odd, to   
   indict a high-ranking admiral after the complete implosion of all the Fat   
   Leonard-related connections due to DOJ’s misconduct.”   
      
   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/navy-s-former-second-highest-ranking-   
      
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