bin Laden STILL "Greatest Challenge," but Fed Hip-Hop probe comes first

Because as we all know, there's no better way to capture the mastermind behing the September 11th attacks than to "launch a quiet probe into the hip-hop music business"...BEE-YATCH!



"Hip-Hop Probe
The U.S. attorney has launched a quiet probe into the hip-hop music business"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7092601/site/newsweek/

March 4 - As gunplay between two chart-topping gangsta rappers and the trial of a rap diva vie for top headlines this week, federal authorities are pressing a wide-ranging investigation into the $1.5-billion hip-hop music industry, NEWSWEEK has learned.

According to top industry insiders, federal investigators are digging into a playlist of crimes, ranging from extortion and robbery to the industry’s persistent violence and mounting casualties—including the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG. Investigators are “asking about anyone in hip hop from what I understand,” says a top music lawyer. Another top lawyer and a prominent entertainment business manager also said they were aware of an investigation. In a NEWSWEEK interview, one influential executive who was questioned recently by investigators adds: “It’s a federal investigation of hip hop and the music business and the crimes that have come out of it.”

Although the probe is months, if not years, old, these sources say, buzz about it began to resonate within hip-hop circles in recent days, fueled by a fresh round of violence this week. Entourages for The Game, rap’s latest phenomenon, and 50 Cent, perhaps rap’s biggest star, allegedly engaged in a shooting match outside New York’s top hip-hop radio station on Monday. The encounter left a member of The Game’s posse with a minor gunshot wound, according to authorities. Later, several shots reportedly were fired in front of 50 Cent’s manager’s office. New York police are now taking precautions to try to prevent a rap war between the two camps, Raymond Kelly, New York City’s police commissioner, said this week.

As best can be determined, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan is leading the probe, either as part of a Justice Department Task Force, through a federal grand jury or both. “It’s a revolving grand jury that basically has been going on for a couple years now,” says the prominent entertainment attorney. According to people familiar with the matter, Michael Scudder, an assistant federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is deeply involved. Asked about his role in the investigation, Scudder referred NEWSWEEK to a spokeswoman for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Citing Justice Department policy, she would neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.

Maybe OBL has connections to the industry? Or Saddam was secretly negotiating to buy music videos from Africa?

Crime is crime but why drop the antrax mailer and bin Ladin? I want the last 2 in a cell. Maybe Bush doesn't care anymore since Republicians can use terrorism as a ralying cry for decades now.

Thank God the Republicans are looking out for my best interests.

:eyes:

task force and team them with the intrepid folks who got Martha Stuart. Damn, our government sure knows how to keep us safe.

I agree it's an opporunity to make minorities look bad, but you've also given them carte blanche to destroy potential evidence--and for the lawyers to engage in a little pre-trial jury tampering.

:headbang:
rocknation

Funny how this qualifies as a "top-story"


*sigh*