John Connolly (FBI)

John Joseph Connolly, Jr. (born August 1, 1940) is a former FBI agent who was convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice and murder charges stemming from his relationship with James "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang.

State and federal officers had been trying to imprison Whitey Bulger for years, but Bulger evaded capture until 2011. As the FBI handler for Bulger and Flemmi, Connolly (who had grown up in the Old Harbor Housing Project with Bulger) had been protecting them from prosecution by feeding Bulger information about possible attempts to catch them. Connolly was indicted on December 22, 1999, on charges of alerting Bulger and Flemmi to investigations, falsifying FBI reports to cover their crimes, and accepting bribes. In 2000, he was charged with additional racketeering-related offenses. He was convicted on the racketeering charges in 2002 and sentenced to ten years in federal prison. In 2008, he was convicted on state charges of second-degree murder in Florida and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was suspected of tipping off Bulger that a business associate in Miami was being investigated for his ties to the Winter Hill Gang; Bulger ordered him murdered to keep him from talking.

John Connolly (blogger)

John Connolly is a blogger who gained international attention after publicising the statutory rape conviction of Ezra Nawi, the former partner of Senator David Norris, who was at the time of Connolly's intervention the front-runner in the 2011 Irish presidential race. Connolly also highlighted the assistance Norris had provided to Ezra Nawi and his associates with their legal difficulties in Israel. Connolly's intervention drew both scorn (due to an alleged political agenda) and praise (for bringing about "the first major victory of the Irish blogosphere", as described by the Irish Independent).

Blogging activities

Connolly has a blog promoting conservative libertarianism, historical revisionism, and pro-Israel positions, under the title "Cranky Notions" (formerly "The System Works").

While some commentators claimed the Connolly revelations upset the "often too cosy relationship between the political and media classes in Ireland", the blogger was still the subject of much criticism after critically damaging Norris's campaign. The Guardian (a paper Connolly refers to as "Al Guardian") claimed he showed a strong "political motive to attack Norris and, by extension, Ezra Yizhak", while The Jewish Chronicle and Connolly himself wrote of anti-Semitic slurs and conspiracy theories directed at him, some claiming he was an agent of Mossad. The right-wing FrontPage Magazine considered Connolly heroic.

John Connolly

John Connolly may refer to:

John Connolly (Scottish footballer)

John Connolly (born 13 June 1950) is a Scottish former internationalist association footballer who later worked as a football manager.

Connolly played for St Johnstone of Perth, Everton, Birmingham City, Newcastle United, Hibernian, Gateshead and Blyth Spartans during an 18-year playing career. He earned one full international cap for Scotland. He held the role of player-manager while with Blyth and has also managed Whitley Bay, Queen of the South winning two trophies and then St Johnstone.

Playing career

St Johnstone

Connolly was born in Barrhead, Scotland. He began his football career as a junior with Glasgow United before turning professional with St Johnstone in January 1968. He played in the 1969 Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park against a Celtic side on their way to their second European Cup final in four seasons. Saints lost narrowly 1–0 with Connolly later commenting, "We gave them the fright of their lives". With Connolly, Saints plundered league wins at Ibrox Park and Celtic Park.