West Virginia Democrats torched President Biden’s choices of last-minute executive clemency recipients, saying they would expect such actions from their rival, President-elect Trump.

In a statement released late Monday, local party leaders said they applauded Biden for leading the U.S. "through significant economic challenges" but blasted commutations being given to people convicted of public corruption.

"Public corruption is a betrayal of trust. When officials abuse the power of their office for personal gain, they not only harm the communities they are supposed to serve, but they also erode faith in our government institutions," wrote Chairman Mike Pushkin, a state lawmaker from Kanawha County.

"Even more troubling, these kinds of pardons are exactly what we would expect from President-elect Donald Trump, not President Biden."

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In a statement for the state party, Pushkin criticized Trump’s first-term pardons of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Gen. Michael Flynn, political strategist Stephen K. Bannon and ex-Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.

"By following this same path, President Biden has legitimized the idea that public officials who violate their oaths of office are above the law," Pushkin said.

"Worse still, it will embolden Trump to issue even more pardons for political corruption if he returns to the White House."

Pushkin and other Democrats were particularly critical of Biden’s decision to pardon disgraced Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan, the key figure in the "kids-for-cash" scandal.

Conahan was convicted of receiving kickbacks for sentencing young people to for-profit prisons.

Delegate Hollis Lewis, D-Charleston, told Fox News Digital that he, too, took issue with Biden’s decision to give Conahan clemency.

"The one that got me upset was the judge who was involved in the cash-for-kids case," he said.

"Any time that you have individuals who prey on our most vulnerable population, which are children and the elderly, that's very problematic."

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Lewis said presidents of both parties have made questionable clemency choices, adding that a pardon is an important tool that has its place.

"I don't think anybody needs to walk around with a scarlet letter of a felony for the whole lot, depending on the particular crime that they committed; if that pardon is going to allow them to move on with their lives," he said.

"But specifically when it's crimes involving the elderly… and children or crimes with patterns of violence where the evidence is clear and there's no reasonable doubt, then maybe we ought to think twice before we exonerate those individuals."

In its statement, the West Virginia Democratic Party also criticized Biden’s clemency for ex-Dixon, Illinois Comptroller Rita Crundwell, who was punished for embezzling $54 million in the largest municipal fraud case in the country.

The third case mentioned involved Jimmy Dimora, a former county commissioner in Cleveland involved in a pay-to-play scheme.

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Fox News Digital reached out to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is now an independent, but still caucuses with Democrats.

West Virginia previously found itself in the news during presidential pardon season, when former President Clinton issued his widely-rebuked pardon of then-fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Rich had been accused of tax evasion and circumventing sanctions on Iran and apartheid South Africa.

However, Rich also had a stake in an aluminum manufacturer on the Ohio River when it was accused of locking out 1,500 workers and hiring scabs amid allegations such a move was illegal because the plant allegedly conducted a lockout.

Members of the West Virginia union reportedly picketed in Switzerland in front of Rich’s office. 

Clinton’s pardons of Rich and business partner Pincus Green earned him a federal investigation initially led by New York prosecutor Mary Jo White. 

When White’s tenure ended in 2002, she was replaced by a young federal prosecutor whose name would resurface in another Clinton controversy many years later: James Comey.

President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention facilities.

In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families. 

The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state's supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.

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Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19 health concerns with six years left in his sentence.

But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted Conahan's sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons.

"My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," the president said. 

Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her son was placed in juvenile detention and committed suicide, said that the president’s actions were an "injustice" and "deeply painful."

"I am shocked and I am hurt," Fonzo said in a statement, per The Citizens Voice. "Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back."

The decision has raised questions as to why Biden would choose to commute the sentence of a judge who is detested in the area. 

Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response. 

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he opposed the president's actions and insisted that the judge should have been given a longer prison sentence given the damage he inflicted on families. 

"I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania," Shapiro said at a press conference in Scranton Friday while adding he was not privy to all the information about the decision. 

"This was not only a black eye on the community, the kids for cash scandal, but it also affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways. Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart. There was all kinds of mental health issues and anguish that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make a buck off a kid's back."

"Frankly, I thought the sentence that the judge got was too light, and the fact that he's been allowed out over the last years because of COVID, was on house arrest and now has been granted clemency, I think, is absolutely wrong. He should have been in prison for at least the 17 years that he was sentenced to by a jury of his peers. He deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man."

The scheme began in 2002 when Conahan shut down the state juvenile detention center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to fund a multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities.

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Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care. 

Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families.

In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200 million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it's unlikely the now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award.

During the case, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing impact of his childhood detention — and had to show his mental health records in court to "explain why my behavior was so erratic."

Several of the childhood victims who were part of the lawsuit when it began in 2009 have since died from overdoses or suicide, prosecutors said. 

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The scheme, per The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney Robert Powell paying Ciavarella and Conahan $770,000, who in turn funneled juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers Powell partly owned.

Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony counts of failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a conspiracy.

Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served one year in federal prison, per The Citizens Voice. 

Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail fraud charges, per the publication.

Fox News' Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Washington, D.C., councilman Trayon White edged closer to expulsion this week after an investigative report found he violated multiple city code of conduct provisions. 

Despite being arrested by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August, White, a Democrat representing Ward 8, recently secured a third term on Election Day in a landslide victory. 

While the federal criminal case remains pending, the report, commissioned by an ad hoc committee and conducted by the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, was submitted to the council on Monday following an independent probe into whether White violated applicable D.C. law, the D.C. Code of Conduct, or Council Rules. The council is meeting next Monday to deliberate the findings and consider whether to recommend sanctions against White.  

The councilman has pleaded not guilty to allegations he accepted $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several D.C. contracts. The federal complaint says the contracts were valued at $5.2 million and were for two companies to provide "Violence Intervention" services in D.C.

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D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson established the ad hoc committee in August.

White has declined multiple offers to meet with the committee since. 

Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said the investigation found "substantial evidence" that White’s alleged conduct connected to the bribery claims violated several provisions of the D.C. Council’s Code of Official Conduct, FOX 5 DC reported. McDuffie said that the report does not support allegations White violated residency requirements outlined in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973.

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White has not publicly commented on the report’s findings. 

The investigation spanned 11 weeks and involved 22 interviews with officials from multiple D.C. agencies, including DYRS, ONSE and the Office of Risk Management; current and former members of White’s staff; leaders in the violence intervention community and other individuals believed to have information related to the allegations against White. 

The law firm also reviewed relevant documents and records obtained from D.C. agencies and thousands of emails from the official accounts of White and his staff.

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The report says White declined both requests to be interviewed by the law firm. 

In his first appearance in court for corruption charges, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid bare his stark disagreements with former President Barack Obama over Iran and a Palestinian state. 

"Obama made it clear to me that U.S. policy was going to take a sharp turn against the ideas I believed in," Netanyahu recounted of his interactions with the U.S. in the early days of the Obama administration. 

"He saw Iran not as a threat but as an opportunity and saw a vital need for us to return to the '67 lines and establish a Palestinian state here."

Netanyahu took the stand for about four hours Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv District Court. The trial was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons and convened in an underground courtroom, according to Reuters. He recalled his rocky relationship with Obama – how they failed to see eye to eye on an appropriate course of action for Palestinians.

"I had to face great pressure to create a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said. "[Obama] demanded it during the first meeting, he said: 'Not even one brick will you build over the Green Line.' I responded: 'Half of Jerusalem is over the Green Line; for instance, the Gilo neighborhood.' Obama said: 'Gilo too.' He demanded a total construction freeze, massive pressure. I had to deal with this, I had to deflect it, and it was no small matter."

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Netanyahu called to mind a disagreement with then-Secretary of State John Kerry, who was urging Israeli forces to withdraw from Judea and Samaria. 

"Kerry explained to me that my fear of placing security in Judea and Samaria in Palestinian forces' hands was unfounded because the Americans were training Palestinian forces and we could withdraw." 

He also said Obama had recommended Israel take notes from the U.S. policy in Afghanistan, and Netanyahu predicted it would not age well. 

"Obama suggested I make a secret visit to Afghanistan to see how American forces were training local forces. I told him the moment you leave Afghanistan, these forces will collapse under Islamist forces, and that's exactly what happened."

The corruption trial, which stems from a 2019 indictment for alleged breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud, takes place against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas. Netanyahu must attend court three times a week while it is ongoing. 

Netanyahu, 75, is the first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. 

The charges include: accepting gifts from Israeli Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan in exchange for advancing his interests, failing to report a bribery attempt from newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" publisher Arnon Mozes, who wanted Netanyahu to allow a bill outlawing free newspapers to pass and offered him favorable coverage in exchange, and accepting an offer in which Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Israeli telecom conglomerate Bezeq, would grant Netanyahu favorable media coverage in exchange for favorable regulatory changes. 

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Netanyahu said he is not in office for personal gain, and directly responded to allegations he asked for a constant supply of luxury items like champagne and cigars. 

"Absolute lies," he said. "I work 17-18 hours a day... It's around-the-clock work into the early hours of the night. There's almost no time to see family. I didn't see the children, and that's a hefty price to pay," Netanyahu said, adding that his rare leisure time is spent reading history or economics books. 

The prime minister argued that if he had been concerned about better media coverage, he could have just moved toward granting Palestinians statehood.

"Had I wanted good coverage, all I would have had to have done would be to signal toward a two-state solution… Had I moved two steps to the left I would have been hailed," he said. 

The court had been granting Netanyahu delays in his testimony throughout the 14-month-long war in Gaza, but last week ruled he must start testifying. In the lead-up to his court date, Netanyahu classified the charges against him as a witch hunt and railed against law enforcement and the media. 

"The real threat to democracy in Israel is not posed by the public’s elected representatives, but by some among the law enforcement authorities who refuse to accept the voters’ choice and are trying to carry out a coup with rabid political investigations that are unacceptable in any democracy," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly using his political power to improve his media coverage. His defense: the coverage was not positive but hostile, and I did not attempt to change it for the benefit of Netanyahu the citizen but for the benefit of the State of Israel in response to Obama’s hostile stance," Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel's Channel 12, told Fox News Digital of the prime minister's testimony. 

Democratic Senators-elect Andy Kim of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California were appointed to the upper chamber of Congress three weeks early on Sunday following their election wins last month.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat, announced on Sunday that he appointed Kim to the U.S. Senate following the official certification of the 2024 election results by the state board of canvassers and Sen. George Helmy's resignation on Thursday. Helmy, a former chief of staff to Murphy, was sworn into the Senate in September after Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was convicted in a federal corruption trial and resigned from the Senate a month prior.

Kim defeated GOP businessman Curtis Bashaw by nearly 10 percentage points in November's election. 

"Today, I am appointing Senator-elect Andy Kim to the United States Senate so he can begin his term in office before the new year begins," Murphy said in a statement. "Taking this step will allow Senator Kim to embark on the smoothest possible transition into his new role so he can hit the ground running serving the people of New Jersey."

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, appointed Schiff on Sunday to complete the remainder of the term of Sen. Laphonza Butler. 

Butler, the former EMILY’s List president who was tapped in 2023 to serve the rest of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's term, resigned on Saturday. 

"When Senator Laphonza Butler took her seat in the Senate a year ago, she brought with her a lifetime of lessons learned from organizing and advocating for opportunity and justice," Newsom said. "In just a short time, she has left an indelible mark — proving that true leadership isn’t measured by the length of service, but by the depth of impact." 

"Laphonza has never shied away from fighting for what’s right. She works not for recognition, but for the greater good — a commitment that began long before her time in the Senate and will continue well beyond it," Newsom added. "Thank you, Senator Butler, for your dedication and service and for honoring the life and legacy of the late Diane Feinstein, a legacy I’m confident Senator-elect Schiff will also carry forward."

Schiff defeated GOP candidate and former L.A. Dodgers star Steve Garvey by more than 17 percentage points on Election Day. 

Schiff and Kim are both expected to be sworn into the Senate on Monday. 

Murphy congratulated Kim "for making history as the first Asian American Senator from New Jersey and as the first Korean American Senator in the nation." 

"His election represents a proud milestone –  not just for our great state, but for our entire country," Murphy said. "I look forward to working with Senator Kim to continue lowering costs for New Jerseyans, defending our fundamental freedoms, and building a stronger and fairer state for every family."

Kim, who represented New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District in the House, said it is an honor "to get to represent the state that gave my family a chance at the American Dream in the U.S. Senate." 

"It’s a dream that remains out of reach for too many of our neighbors, and one that I’m ready on day one to fight for," Kim said. "I want to thank Governor Murphy and Senator Helmy for ensuring that New Jersey was well represented during this transition, and look forward to getting to work for the people."

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In a statement announcing his resignation Thursday, Helmy said he and Kim "have worked closely since his being elected to ensure a seamless transition and I have made myself readily available over the coming weeks to support this process." 

"It has been the honor of a lifetime representing the people of New Jersey in the Senate, and I am eternally grateful to Governor Murphy for entrusting me with this responsibility," Helmy said. "The voters of New Jersey made the right decision in November to elect Andy Kim to serve as their United States Senator. Having known him for nearly a decade now, I can attest to Senator Kim’s great dedication, character, and empathy towards the people of New Jersey." 

In his brief 85 days in office, Helmy touted how he introduced and co-sponsored over 30 bills, including five resolutions that passed the Senate Chamber, maintained a perfect voting record, including the confirmation of 20 federal judicial nominees, "advocated for youth mental health and supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon," and successfully nominated 48 New Jersey candidates to the four United States Military Academies.

Menendez was convicted in July on all 16 counts he faced in a federal corruption trial. Prosecutors alleged he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for using his influence to meddle in state and federal investigations regarding three businessmen. The now-former senator is alleged to have also helped one friend obtain a multi-million-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another retain a contract to provide halal meat to Egypt.

Menendez asked for a new trial and for his conviction to be dismissed last week, citing what he argued was improper evidence viewed by jurors during deliberations. 

Lawmakers reacted with harsh criticism on Sunday after President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who earlier this year was convicted in two separate federal cases.

The pardon comes after Biden and his communications team continued to insist the president’s son would not be pardoned.

Hunter pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, which spared him from a public trial over his failure to pay taxes while he spent lavishly on drugs, escorts, luxury hotel stays, clothing and other personal items.

The first son was also convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

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After Hunter was convicted, President Biden indicated he did not plan to pardon his son. That all changed on Sunday night.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., was quick to respond to Biden’s move to pardon his son, saying the president "has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities."

"Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden," Comer said. "The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people. It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability."

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Another federal lawmaker who weighed in on the matter Sunday was House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

"Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry," Jordan said. "If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?"

Jordan had been one of the key figures pushing to expose Biden family business dealings and an investigation into alleged corruption that Republicans suggest could have led to an impeachment against President Biden.

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In September 2023, Hunter filed a lawsuit against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, alleging the former Trump lawyer violated his privacy rights by illegally disseminating content from a laptop the first son dropped off at a computer store in Delaware.

The complaint claimed Giuliani was "primarily responsible" for the "total annihilation" of Hunter's digital privacy, while also naming Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who previously represented the former New York City mayor, as a defendant.

"Biden, who will not even meet with his granddaughter Navy, didn’t pardon his son because he’s a good father," Giuliani wrote on X after learning about the pardon. "He did so because, as his son admits on the Hard Drive, for 30 years Hunter has given half the millions he’s collected to the Boss of the Crime Family- Joe Biden."

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Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also responded to the pardon on X.

"I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter [because] he said many many times he wouldn’t & I believed him," Grassley wrote. "Shame on me."

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President-elect Trump had previously been asked whether Biden would pardon his son, and said, "I’ll bet you the father probably pardons him. Let’s see what happens."

On Sunday, the president-elect took to Truth Social to share his reaction.

"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?" Trump asked. Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"

Trump's transition team also responded to the news in a statement to Fox News.

"The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system," Steven Cheung, who served as Trump’s campaign communications director and has since been appointed to serve as his director of communications in the White House, said. "That system of justice must be fixed, and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people."

IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler, who blew the whistle on political interference into Hunter’s tax crimes, released a statement after learning about the pardon.

"No amount of lies or spin can hide the simple truth that the Justice Department nearly let the President's son off the hook for multiple felonies. We did our duty, told the truth, and followed the law," they said. "Anyone reading the President's excuses now should remember that Hunter Biden admitted to his tax crimes in federal court, that Hunter Biden's attorneys have targeted us for our lawful whistleblower disclosures, and that we are suing one of those attorneys for smearing us with false accusations.

"President Biden has the power to put his thumb on the scales of justice for his son, but at least he had to do it with a pardon explicitly for all the world to see rather than his political appointees doing it secretly behind the scenes," they continued. "Either way it is a sad day for law-abiding taxpayers to witness this special privilege for the powerful."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but has not yet heard back.

• A member of China's highest military body is being slapped with a corruption investigation.
• Adm. Miao Hua is one of six members of an exclusive commission led by Xi that oversees China's military.
• He's the latest in a string of high-ranking defense officials to be purged from China's military.

A top-ranking admiral in China's Central Military Commission — the highest body commanding its forces — has been placed under investigation, the country's defense ministry said on Thursday.

Adm. Miao Hua, who's in charge of the Political Work department, was suspended and is being probed for "serious violations of discipline," said ministry spokesperson Wu Qian at a press briefing.

That accusation usually refers to corruption.

An investigation into a commission member like Miao is significant because the six-member committee, helmed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping himself, is the top body that oversees China's military forces.

However, Miao is not one of the commission's vice-chairmen, who are usually considered China's strategic leaders. Two People's Liberation Army generals, Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, hold those positions.

Xi, who has consolidated much of China's decision-making power under himself in the last 10 years, is the commission's highest authority as chairman.

Miao, 69, was an army political commissar based in Fujian in the 1990s and early 2000s, about the same time Xi was governor of the province.

The overlap between their rising careers led the two to be seen as having worked closely together. Two years after Xi became paramount leader in 2012, Miao was transferred to the PLA Navy to be its top political commissar.

The announcement of the probe into Miao comes as The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Adm. Dong Jun, China's defense minister, was also placed under investigation. The report cited unnamed US officials.

That would make Dong the third officer involved with the defense ministership to be implicated in a string of corruption probes. His two predecessors, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, were found guilty in June of taking bribes.

Beijing has denied the FT's findings, with a foreign ministry spokesperson dismissing them as "chasing wind and shadows."

Unlike those in the Central Military Commission, the defense minister holds a mostly diplomatic and symbolic role and has no real operational command over China's forces.

CNN reported that Miao "is seen as a political patron of Dong," with both men having served in the PLA Navy.

In China, top officials are almost always found guilty in corruption investigations, though some have received reduced sentences.

Two vicechairmen of the Central Military Commission have been investigated before, but only after they exited the commission. Both were in the top-ranking body until 2012 when Xi rose to power.

The probes into the careers of the pair — Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou — were launched in 2014 and 2015.

Since his beginning as paramount leader, Xi has championed a sweeping crackdown against rampant corruption in China's central and local governments.

It has more recently involved purges in the military, including the ousting last year of several high-level generals and officials. The push has coincided with Xi's heavy emphasis on modernizing China's military and catching up in strength with US forces.

Federal agents briefly detained infamous ex-hospital CEO Ralph de la Torre early last week and seized his phone, according to an investigative report from the Boston Globe.

De la Torre is the ultra-wealthy former CEO of the now-bankrupt hospital chain Steward, once the largest for-profit health care company in the country. Steward and de la Torre have been accused of being "health care terrorists" and practicing "third-world medicine" that killed and maimed patients as executives extracted millions in payouts, stripping the company of assets.

In September, de la Torre was held in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to abide by a congressional subpoena to attend a Senate hearing over the alleged corruption.

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