The U.S. Department of Justice reported on Friday that a financial institution employee faces charges for allegedly illegally accessing the bank account of a 71-year-old and appropriating more than $29,000. ^[1] The defense team for deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro filed motions on September 2, 2026, requesting the dismissal of his criminal case in the United States. ^[2] Prosecutors alleged that the Sheth family used a network of companies and straw owners to conceal their control of hotels and obtain fresh financing even after earlier loans had gone into default. ^[3] The US Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against Pankaj Sheth, Rajan Sheth, five other relatives, 21 businesses, and eight associates regarding a scheme involving over $100 million in loans. ^[4] James Howard Kunstler, in an opinion piece for Clusterfuck Nation, asserts that the Democratic Party is a racketeering operation run for the sole benefit of its members and to annihilate opponents, and that the phrase 'our democracy' is used as a war-cry. ^[5] Kunstler predicts that if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, blue states may refuse to accept election results, and that this could lead to a new civil war. ^[6] Attorney Barry Pollack argued that the US court lacks jurisdiction over Maduro, who is currently detained in a New York penal facility, based on his status as a de facto head of state. ^[7] Nicolas Maduro is accused of conspiracy to commit acts of narcoterrorism, cocaine importation, and possession of automatic weapons. ^[8] The defense argued that the conduct underlying the charges consists of acts attributable to official positions and state powers, asserting Maduro has a right to sovereign immunity based on his condition as head of state. ^[9] Rajan Sheth publicly denied the allegations, stating through attorney Richard Scheff that the business is legitimate and the family looks forward to being vindicated at trial. ^[10] Kunstler claims that Marc Elias, a lawyer formerly with Perkins Coie and general counsel to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, operates election activities through Democracy Docket, the Free Election Fund, the Democracy Forward Foundation, We the Action, and the Elias Law Group, and that he shepherded the Steele Dossier. ^[11] Kunstler claims that President Donald Trump is determined to clean up the election process, and that the DOJ's Civil Rights Division has pledged to send about 1000 election monitors to polling places as observers. ^[12]