Wedge LIVE!

For years Mark Lanterman has been a go-to expert on tech-based crimes and scams, both on local news and in courtrooms. Now people are asking, was Minnesota's king of digital forensics sitting on a throne of lies?

In an exclusive interview, I spoke with Wisconsin-based lawyer Sean Harrington, who's turned up a trove of evidence calling into question Lanterman's credentials and affiliations. To list just a few of Harrington's discoveries:

-"Lanterman didn’t complete postgrad studies at Harvard University. Rather, he attended an 8-week 'Online short course' administered through GetSmarter® in 2018."

-Lanterman claimed to “serve on the Sedona Conference’s Steering Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the Law" before that particular committee even existed. And the executive director confirmed Lanterman currently holds no leadership position.

-Lanterman's biographies and sworn statements claim affiliation with the US Secret Service for periods ranging from 3, 5, 8, 11, and 29 years.

Perhaps most damning of all: Lanterman's sudden interest in his old personnel file from the 1990s. After being challenged about his credentials in a deposition on February 11, Lanterman traveled to a suburban Philadelphia police station on February 14, told the police chief he had a terminal heart condition and needed to view his old employee file. He took the file home and never sent it back, much to the consternation of the police chief. What was in that file?

There's more in Harrington's thoroughly documented write-up on his website:

https://seanharringtonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-03_deepfakeexperts_.pdf

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Bill Lindeke says there is no trash emergency in St Paul. Pay no attention to Mayor Carter's declaration of a state of emergency. We talk about disagreement over the future of a piece of land that Mayor Carter and the city's trash hauler say must be used for a garbage truck staging facility. We talk about why the council sided with neighbors who say the city should stick with the plan to designate the land for housing at the site on West 7th and Randolph near the Mississippi River. Then we check in on St Paul politics in a mayoral election year. Finally, we talk about the persistence of transportation resentment in local politics.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Lydia Millard, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 10.

https://lydiamillardward10.com/

You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Aisha Chughtai, Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council, who's running for reelection in Ward 10.

https://www.aishaforward10.com/

You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Soren Stevenson, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 8.

https://sorenstevenson.org/

You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Josh Bassais, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 8.

https://www.joshbforward8.org/

You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Elliott Payne reflects on his first two years as President of the Minneapolis City Council. We talk about the stakes of this year's city election; the recent surge of corporate money and PACs trying to influence the results; an assessment of the city's public safety situation; and why he both loves and hates being the man in the middle of all those complicated personal relationships on the council. Payne tells me work on a rent stabilization policy is still happening; I ask if we really want to put ourselves through the St Paul experience. And we talk about the strange absence of Mayor Frey from the public conversation about setbacks in his own administration -- like mismanagement of the Neighborhood Safety Department. I ask him to endorse a mayoral candidate, and he dodges my question by saying he likes three of them not named Frey.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Amity Foster is here to talk about her effort to organize transit fans to show up on 4/8/2025 for the Minneapolis DFL caucuses and become delegates to DFL ward and city nominating conventions. She wants you to use this golden opportunity to make the case for better transit and a more livable city. Candidates for city council and mayor will be knocking on your door and calling you on the phone, ready to make big promises about the issues you care about. But you have to caucus and grab a delegate slot!

To join Amity's army of bus riders: https://bit.ly/connectedmpls

For the most up to date info on caucuses in Minneapolis: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Mary Moriarty joins John for a conversation reflecting on her first two years as Hennepin County Attorney. We talk about navigating politics as an elected prosecutor; her approach to a recent spate of reckless driving and vehicular homicide cases; how to fix the problem of extremely low rates of police solving certain crimes; her occasionally strained relationship with Chief O'Hara; how we went from a commitment to reform in 2020 to a hypersensitivity and anger over any police criticism in 2025; how to ensure systemic change enacted under her leadership are durable and lasting; and much more.

John expresses frustration about the case of state trooper Ryan Londregan, who shot and killed Ricky Cobb. Why is more attention not being paid to the fact it was a botched traffic stop? Is Governor Walz doing anything to ensure the state police receive proper training? Moriarty talks about her decisions in that case and why she ultimately dropped the charges.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Caucus season is almost upon us. It's your chance to become a superlobbyist and wield influence with local candidates on behalf of the issues you care about. Josh Martin joins John to talk about why you need to get involved and why there's no reason to feel intimidated by the process.

We're talking about the story of the unsuspecting flower shop owner who says she had little interest in politics for most of her adult life, until the county started planning the reconstruction of Lyndale Avenue. Before you know it, in 2024, she had made a donation to MAGA (the Republican party of Minnesota). Then in 2025 she's running a local PAC (We Love Minneapolis), teaming up with Mayor Frey's former campaign manager, with a mission is to turn people out to the DFL caucus. Is this raising any red flags?

We're also talking about the violence interrupting preacher Jerry McAfee who threatened violence against members of the city council; then made dramatic pronouncements about how he doesn't preach non-violence; but was nonetheless all set to receive a $640,000 contract for violence interruption work -- until two of his violence interrupters were arrested for their actions during a shootout.

And a stupid human interest story: A Minneapolis firefighter is running for city council. But along the way he'll be forced to overcome the fact that he plagiarized a portion of his website from a candidate running for city council in a different ward. Complicating matters, he forgot to delete the other candidate's name from the plagiarized text.

We'll also be taking a look at candidates for mayor and city council, with a particular focus on the competitive wards.

Information on the April 8 Minneapolis DFL caucuses: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://bsky.app/profile/wedge.live

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee