Tag: corruption

Netanyahu Visits White House: Genocide Made Invisible

Whatever the outcomes of Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on Monday and the latest scenario for a ceasefire in Gaza, a bilateral policy of genocide has united the Israeli and U.S. governments in a pact of literally breath-taking cruelty. That pact and its horrific consequences for Palestinian people either continue to shock Americans or gradually normalize indifference toward ongoing atrocities on a massive scale.

Recent news reporting that President Trump has pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza is an echo of a familiar refrain about peace-seeking efforts from the Biden and Trump administrations. The spin remained in sync with the killing – not only with American bombs and bullets but also with Israel’s refusal to allow more than a pittance of food and other essentials into Gaza.

Last year began with a United Nations statement that “Gazans now make up 80 per cent of all people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide, marking an unparalleled humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s continued bombardment and siege.” The UN quoted experts who said: “Currently every single person in Gaza is hungry, a quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water, and famine is imminent.”

In late February 2024, President Biden talked to journalists about prospects for a “ceasefire” (which did not take place) while holding a vanilla ice cream cone. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet,” Biden said, before sauntering off. He spoke during a photo op at an ice cream parlor in Manhattan, while the UN was sounding an alarm that “very little humanitarian aid has entered besieged Gaza this month.”

During the 16 months since then, variants of facile verbiage from top U.S. government officials have repeated endlessly, while normalizing genocide with a steep race to the ethical bottom, so that – in Orwellian terms, much like “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” – genocide is not genocide.

Refusal to acknowledge the complicity and impunity is most of all maintained by avoidance and silence. The process makes a terrible truth inadmissible rather than admittable.

All the doublethink and newspeak must detour around the reality that the U.S.-supported Israeli siege of Gaza is genocide, which the international Genocide Convention defines as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” – with such actions as “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

Israel’s actions in Gaza clearly meet that definition, as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have unequivocally concluded with exhaustive reports.

But under the cloaks of the Israeli and American flags, the official stories insist that the unconscionable should be invisible.

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BOMBSHELL! DOJ Caught Cutting 60 Seconds from Newly Released Epstein 10 Hour Jail Cell Tape! What’s Going On?

On Sunday night AXIOS reported on a new FBI, DOJ memo obtained by Axios concludes Jeffrey Epstein did not have a client list that he used for blackmail.

The FBI earlier determined that Epstein did commit suicide in August 2019.

And the DOJ-FBI also released a 10-hour video on Sunday from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell.

** The full video is posted at the DOJ website here.

But now we can confirm that an entire minute was cut from the DOJ video that was released last night. Why? What are they hiding?

If you follow the full video you can see for yourself that the video is cut off at 11:59:00.

The video feed then restarts exactly at 12:00:00.

Where is the missing video?

The DOJ wants the trust of the American people and then pull this with the Epstein ‘suicide’ video?

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Ukrainian Oligarchs Have Become Incredibly Rich From The War Writes Swiss Newspaper

Ukraine was widely recognized as the most corrupt country even before the Ukraine war, but since war broke out and tens of billions of euros have flowed into the country, corruption has flourished like never before.

Swiss newspaper Neue Züricher Zeitung details how a clique of oligarchs, many of them close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, have grown famously wealthy.

“These big businessmen are profiting enormously from the war, while also being patriotic, pro-Western and very discreet,” wrote the Swiss Neue Züricher Zeitung‘s (NZZ) Kyiv correspondent, Guillaume Ptak.

In other words, instead of showing off with sports cars, these new oligarchs know they have to keep their wealth hidden amid a devastating war. The paper details five individuals who have profited enormously.

“The war, which has entered its fourth year, is proving to be a profitable field for businessmen like Andri Stawnizer, Andri Kobolev, Oleksander Hereha, Andri Kolodyuk, and Vasil Khmelnitsky. The quintet has established itself in the war economy, investing in rebuilding what the Russian army destroys time and again. earns a fortune in strategic sectors such as logistics, energy, or construction materials. Typical war profiteers? Sure. But not entirely,” writes the Swiss paper.

They are making a fortune in strategic sectors. While this could be considered typical war profiteering it is also seen in a more positive light, since they ultimately support the army and the civilian population. According to the NZZ journalist, they are therefore“not like their classic predecessors, who recovered after the change of regime. They were mostly swept away by the war. The new generation does not buy TVs, newspapers or representatives, nor parties or private armies.”

NZZ writes that this new generation of oligarchs is not like the old one, and that “reins are held by President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

While Ukrainian authorities welcome most of the new oligarchs, this does not mean that they automatically have good relations with the presidential office. The paper notes that Kobolev, in particular, was known for his anti-corruption activities even before the war. He reportedly does not have the best relationship with Zelensky and has now been charged with corruption himself.

As for the other four, the paper does not make any allegations of corruption, but Ukraine is known as a country where corruption is entrenched from the top to the bottom of the system. Many leading officials have been charged with corruption, but skeptics claim that in many cases, these are only the officials who ran afoul of someone with more power, who wanted to remove a rival or settle a score.

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President Trump Praises FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino as Outrage Grows Over Epstein ‘Whitewash’ Report

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to praised embattled FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino after an explosive report released Monday by the DOJ and FBI downplayed the scope of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal empire — and flat-out denied the existence of a blackmail operation or elite “client list.”

The new report — released by the FBI and DOJ under Patel and Bongino — boldly claims there is no evidence that Epstein blackmailed elites or maintained a “client list” of global power brokers connected to his child sex trafficking operation. It also parrots the long-disputed conclusion that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in 2019.

Conservative voices immediately erupted in disbelief, accusing the bureau of once again running cover for the ruling class and scrubbing the truth from public view.

This latest development in the Epstein case came as a complete shock to millions of Americans who have been following the story of this notorious pedophile of the rich and famous.

But this is a completely different story from the one we were told by the courts back in 2022.

Back in July 2022, The Gateway Pundit lawyers Marc Randazza and Jay Wolman of the Randazza Legal Group, along with GP General Counsel John Burns, filed a motion to intervene in the Guiffre v. Maxwell case in the United States District Court for the District of New York.

TGP asked the Court to unseal all records identifying Epstein’s sex clients.

TGP lawyers moved to intervene in the Ghislaine Maxwell case in the Southern District of New York.

However, in August 2022, something truly bizarre and unexpected happened.

An anonymous John Doe—literally styled by his lawyer as “John Doe”—filed an objection to TGP unsealing the sex client list … and the court SIDED WITH THE JOHN DOE over the interests of the press and public to know what happened in one of the most remarkable court cases in US history.

In his post, Trump praised Patel and Bongino for going “back to the basics,” declaring that under their leadership, the FBI is “locking up criminals and cleaning up America’s streets.”

Trump’s post accompanied an article from The Federalist touting a drop in the national murder rate

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REMINDER: Jim Comey’s Daughter Maurene Reported that the Video of Epstein’s Cell on Night of His Murder Was Lost and Then Found

Is it a surprise that Jim Comey’s daughter Maurene is in the middle of the Epstein case?

Sunday’s announcement of the Epstein files was a shocker. On Sunday, over the weekend a report was released exonerating most all of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes related to the trafficking of young children for the rich and famous.  The initial reaction was that this was not an official DOJ document.

Axios reported:

President Trump‘s Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a “client list” or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.

  • The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
  • The video supports a medical examiner’s finding that Epstein died by suicide, the two-page memo claims.

Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump’s administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein’s activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI’s top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.

  • As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI’s director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
  • Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein killed himself. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein’s crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
  • The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)

Zoom in: According to the memo, investigators closely examined footage of Epstein’s Manhattan prison cell between around 10:40pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.

  • The footage, which was reviewed by Axios but couldn’t be verified independently, showed no one entering the area, the administration said.
  • “The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability,” the memo says.
  • Investigators found “no incriminating ‘client list’ ” of Epstein’s, “no credible evidence … that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals,” and no “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” the memo adds.

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The Profit Motive Itself Makes the Best Case Against the FDA

One of President Trump’s campaign pledges was to allow Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to “go wild” as head of Health and Human Services. Some welcomed the idea, scarred by memories such as covid lockdowns and government mask mandates that lasted well beyond the arrival of the vaccines. Others, well aware of Kennedy’s conspiracism and anti-vaccine views, dreaded the news. Agencies under Kennedy, like the FDA, are charged with maintaining standards of medical safety and effectiveness. Does “go wild” mean freeing Americans to make our own health decisions — or ramming bad advice down our throats?

As if to address the concerns of both groups, Kennedy’s FDA announced in May that it approves covid boosters only for those over 65 or in other high-risk groups. The vaccine remains available to everyone, but insurers are no longer forced to cover the full cost (about $150). If you want to get the covid jab with your flu shot, you’ll need to decide if a few extra days of health are worth the price. Leftists wailing about “access” notwithstanding, Kennedy hasn’t “taken away” this vaccine.

The measure seems reasonable until one hears the rationale: Officials described the old guidance as “one-size-fits-all” and based on the assumption that Americans “are not sophisticated enough to understand age- and risk-based recommendations.” First, millions were forgoing the shots. Second, the main impact is on insurance companies, whose job it is to know whether covering shots or treatments is profitable for any given group.

This comes across as an attempt to flatter voters who should be wondering: Why is someone, who sues vaccine makers and has no medical or scientific background or experience, in charge of what vaccines are available and what health insurers can or can not cover?

We know the short answer: Donald Trump wanted to reward Kennedy’s support for his presidential campaign more than he cared about the health of his voters — and nearly every Republican Senator (including four M.D.s !) went along with it.

But this dumpster fire would be impossible if the government weren’t running the biomedical sector of the economy, rather than just protecting our freedom like they are supposed to.

Contrary to the notion that we need a government to ensure safe and effective drugs, there is ample evidence that the profit motive is necessary and sufficient for this purpose .

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Wait, What? If There Was No Epstein Client List Then Why Did NY Court Refuse The Gateway Pundit’s Legal Request for the List Based on an Anonymous ‘John Doe’ Who Was On the List?

On Sunday night the Department of Justice and FBI released a document that concluded that notorious child predator Jeffrey Epstein did not have a “client list” and that he was not murdered but committed suicide.

The FBI released a video that shows an empty hallway in what they insist proves Epstein committed suicide.

The FBI memo says there is no evidence that Epstein blackmailed powerful political figures.

Additionally, the memo suggests that no further Epstein records will be released.

Here is a copy of the letter that was released by the DOJ and FBI on Sunday night.

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If Jeffrey Epstein Had No Client List Then Why Did AG Pam Bondi Tell Reporters the List “Is Sitting on My Desk Right Now to Review – That’s in the Process of Being Reviewed”

The Swamp wants you to believe—once and for all—that Jeffrey Epstein was nothing more than a lone-wolf pervert who conveniently “killed himself” in a filthy Manhattan jail cell.

Axios dropped a two-page memo this weekend, from President Trump’s DOJ and the newly installed FBI leadership of Director Kash Patel and Deputy Dan Bongino, asserting that:

  • Epstein definitively died by suicide;
  • No “client list” exists;
  • And there is “no evidence” he ever blackmailed the powerful.

The memo reads:

As part of our commitment to transparency, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted an exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein. To ensure that the review was thorough, the FBI conducted digital searches of its databases, hard drives, and network drives as well as physical searches of squad areas, locked cabinets, desks, elosets, and other areas where responsive material may have been stored. These searches uncovered a significant amount of material, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence.

The files relating to Epstein include a large volume of images of Epstein, images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors, and over ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography. Teams of agents, analysts, attorneys, and privacy and civil liberties experts combed through the digital and documentary evidence with the aim of providing as much information as possible to the public while simultaneously protecting victims. Much of the material is subject to court-ordered sealing. Only a fraction of this material would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial, as the seal served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third-parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing. Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography.

This systematic review revealed no incriminating “client list.” There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.

Consistent with prior disclosures, this review confirmed that Epstein harmed over one thousand victims. Each suffered unique trauma. Sensitive information relating to these victims is intertwined throughout the materials. This includes specific details such as victim names and likenesses, physical descriptions, places of birth, associates, and employment history.

One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.

To that end, while we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.

After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019.

This conclusion is consistent with previous findings, including the August 19, 2019 autopsy findings of the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the November 2019 position of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with the investigation of federal correctional officers responsible for guarding Epstein, and the June 2023 conclusions of DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General.

The conclusion that Epstein died by suicide is further supported by video footage from the common area of the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where Epstein was housed at the time of his death. As DOJ’s Inspector General explained in 2023, anyone entering or attempting to enter the tier where Epstein’s cell was located from the SHU common area would have been captured by this footage. The FBI’s independent review of this footage confirmed that from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at around 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, until around 6:30 am the next morning, nobody entered any of the tiers in the SHU.

During this review, the FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability.

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DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no “client list,” committed suicide

President Trump‘s Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a “client list” or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.

  • The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
  • The video supports a medical examiner’s finding that Epstein committed suicide, the two-page memo claims.

Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump’s administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein’s activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI’s top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.

  • As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI’s director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
  • Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein committed suicide. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein’s crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
  • The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)

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Feds seize $1M OC home at center of corruption scandal

The U.S. government has seized a home in unincorporated Tustin at the center of the corruption scheme involving former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do. The home was purchased by Do’s daughter Rhiannon Do for a little more than $1 million in 2023.

The downpayment came from taxpayer money awarded to a nonprofit led by Rhiannon Do. That money was supposed to be used to feed needy seniors.

The backstory: Andrew Do was sentenced to five years in prison last month for accepting bribes disguised as payments to his two adult daughters, including the $385,000 downpayment for Rhiannon Do’s home in unincorporated Tustin.

The forfeited assets: As part of Do’s sentencing, Judge James V. Selna found that he had an interest in the Tustin home, another property, and $2.4 million in bank accounts. Selna ordered the immediate transfer of the assets to the federal government.

What happens now? Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the Tustin home would be “sold just like any other property,” and the money will be returned to Orange County.

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