Author Archives: Denise Simon

Why Were Several Charges Dropped in the Sam Bankman Fried Case?

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Lots of people are above the law, especially democrat operatives.

Refresher –>

ARS: After FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven charges related to wire fraud and money laundering in 2023, the US recently decided not to proceed with a second trial over additional charges in 2024.

During the second trial, Bankman-Fried could have been convicted on additional charges of conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and substantive securities fraud and commodities fraud.

However, in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, US attorney Damian Williams wrote that the “strong public interest” in a prompt resolution of the FTX scandal outweighed the benefits of holding a second trial—especially since “much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial.”

That evidence included witness testimony and documentary evidence that Bankman-Fried engaged in conspiracies to bribe Chinese officials and to induce a US bank to open an account for his fraudulent schemes, Williams said. It also included evidence of conspiracy to make unlawful campaign contributions.

The US government’s indictment said that Bankman-Fried “misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits and used billions of dollars in stolen funds… to enrich himself; to support the operations of FTX; to fund speculative venture investments; to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation; and to pay for Alameda’s operating costs.” He was also accused of building a “pyramid of deceit” by making “false and fraudulent statements and representations to FTX’s investors” and lenders to FTX’s cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research.

After losing the first trial, Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal the ruling but is now facing a maximum sentence of 110 years, which will be decided this March. At Bankman-Fried’s upcoming sentencing hearing, Williams suggested that Kaplan could weigh evidence of all relevant conduct, including evidence connected to the additional charges.

By dropping plans to proceed with a separate trial, the US government appears to be eliminating some red tape, causing unnecessary delays in providing restitution to victims of the FTX fraud.

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So the why on the dropped charges…

Meet the DOJ Prosecutor Damien Williams:

Williams worked for John Kerry‘s 2004 presidential campaign in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and South Carolina and as a “body man” for the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe. He obtained a Juris Doctor from Yale in 2007,[4] where he was supported by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans and was also an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Then —>Williams began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2007 to 2008.

More according to Wikipedia:

In March 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recommended Williams to be the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.[3] On August 10, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Williams to serve in the role.[7][8]

On September 30, 2021, his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.[9] On October 5, 2021, Williams was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote.[2][10] He became the first African-American U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and, as of October 2021, was one of seven African-Americans among 232 assistant U.S. attorneys and executives in the district.[2][11][12] He was sworn into office on October 10, 2021.[13] Upon his confirmation, Williams was slated to oversee cases including the trial of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and the case of Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, who was charged with committing the 2017 New York City truck attack.

Lastly –>Williams dropped the Democrat campaign financing charges vs. Sam Bankman-Fried is tied to OBAMA FOUNDATION thru his wife.

Obama is always in the mix…somehow.

Hypocrisy when it Comes to Santos vs. Menendez

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This is not the first rodeo for Senator Menendez (D-NJ), it fact it could be his second or third. Going back to 2019, his case resulted in a hung jury. 

But under extreme pressure from the House Democrats, a floor vote was held to expel George Santos (R-NY) for corruption, a case that has not gone to trial yet…and he as expelled…but there is radio silence in the Senate under Leader Chuck Schumer.

Cars, watches, gold bars and cash…oh my. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman’s real estate project, a rewritten indictment alleged Tuesday.

Let’s remember that Qatar is the diplomatic post for the Taliban created by President Obama and it is Qatar to whom President Biden has deferred all Israeli and American hostage negotiations.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is facing additional bribery accusations, according to a superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday. Bob Menendez: US Senator faces new charges of acting as agent of Egypt ...

Menendez is now accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a yearslong corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023, one year longer than originally thought, the Justice Department said.

His attorney, Adam Fee, said the new allegations “stink of desperation.”

“Despite what they’ve touted in press releases, the government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations against Senator Menendez, Fee said. “What they have instead is a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a Senator and his constituents or foreign officials.  They are turning this into a persecution, not a prosecution.”

He added that the senator acted appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt and other countries he interacts with.

Menendez is already facing federal charges for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a Senator.

Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal matters, according to the Senate Historical Office. He faces reelection next year in a bid to extend his three-decade career in Washington as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate.

Prosecutors also say the bribery and extortion scheme continued into 2023, a year longer than initially alleged. The superseding indictment is found here. 

It is 50 pages but does have lots of picture evidence along with text (encrypted) messages.

Once Again a Terror Plot in Latin America

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In 1992, Hezbollah was successful in bombing a Jewish community center, killing 85 and injuring more than 300. So, it is no surprise that Iran and it’s proxies are at it again.

There is no effort anywhere to stop the flow of migrants all unknown.

Record half million people crossed the treacherous Darién Gap in 2023

Jungle between Colombia and Panama marks the start of the dangerous trek north from South America to the United States.

A record 520,000 people crossed the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darién Gap in 2023, more than double the number reported the year before, according to new figures from the government of Panama.

The people who made the journey that marks the start of the dangerous trek north from South America to the United States last year were mostly from Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti and China, according to the numbers from Panama’s migration agency.

Around a quarter of the people who crossed were minors, said Samira Gozaine, who heads the agency. More here

France24:

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told the media that authorities had been on high alert as Buenos Aires hosts the Pan-American Maccabiah Games, bringing together some 4,000 athletes.

She said the country had received intelligence from the United States and Israel on the potential threat, and that the three suspects had booked a hotel near the Israeli embassy.

“We have neutralized the arrival of a possible terrorist cell in the country,” the security ministry wrote on social media.

The three were arrested on December 30, and one of them was found with Venezuelan and Colombian passports in his name.

Bullrich said the three had been awaiting the arrival of what her ministry earlier described as “an international shipment of a 35-kilo parcel originating in the Republic of Yemen.”

Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America, which has been targeted by two major attacks in the past. Link

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This planned attack came multiple months after an Iraqi national was arrested for lurking outside of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, shortly after a series of bomb threats.

Three men from Syria and Lebanon were arrested in Buenos Aires and Avellaneda this week, the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) said.

The suspects were waiting for a 35-kilogram package to arrive from Yemen for their planned attack, the police said, adding that the package was addressed to the home of one of the suspects.

The police said they were paying extra attention to the security of the event following email threats and reports of suspicious people lurking around the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.

In October, an Iraqi national who was being investigated for falsifying Argentinian documents was arrested outside of the Israeli embassy while having phone conversations the same week the embassy received a series of bomb threats.

One of the three suspects arrived in Argentina from Syria. He was traveling with additional passports from Venezuela and Colombia, Argentinian media outlets reported. The other two suspects arrived from Lebanon. All three suspects arrived on separate international flights to Buenos Aires, the reports said. Link

This is a condition that requires top attention not only from the CIA but also from the FBI Miami Field Office which is chartered with international investigations under Memoradum of Understanding in the Legal Attache Program.Latin Migrants Shift Sights From U.S. to Neighbors - WSJ More here

Two months ago, Brazil said it had foiled an attack on its soil following the arrest in São Paulo of two men suspected of being linked to Hezbollah.

The group is considered a terrorist organisation by the UK, the US, Argentina, Israel and Gulf Arab countries among others.

 

Your Introduction to United Front

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The Chinese Communist Party is operating everywhere across the globe but those of us outside the Beltway should really come to understand the threats. Congressman Mike Gallagher heads a very important committee in the House that is doing outstanding work but the flow of that work is not getting to us as it needs to. So, this is summary is here to help. The enemy is inside the wire, meaning right here embedded in our every day lives.

The committee published an easy to read and understand 6 page introduction for your use. It includes social media, universities, policy demands, manufacturing and trade. Civic groups, public schools, theft and espionage. In fact as an aside, you can’t even play Candy Crush without being forced to watch a Temu ad (Chinese) or be secretly tied to Tik Tok which steals your all you data from your electronic devices in places like Facebook.

You are being manipulated every hour of every day by misinformation, propaganda and influence and you need to see and understand the consequences including election interference. We have major power brokers and industry leaders as well as politicians such as Governor Newsom that simply love all things China, so take extreme caution.

https://sp.rmbl.ws/s8/6/8/s/S/a/8sSao.WdEB.1.jpg President Xi arrives in San Francisco

Newsweek has done some good independent work in this area including exposing 600 United Front linked civic groups.

It is important to pay attention to Congressman Gallagher’s production and for sure former CIA Director and former State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo. Below is a sample of the work:

In February, for example, Pompeo warned the National Governors Association at a meeting in Washington D.C. that the CPC was identifying and grooming state and local politicians who would support its interests. A Chinese think tank had already graded governors on their “friendliness,” Pompeo said. Newsweek obtained and translated a copy of the 2019 report, which labeled 17 governors as “friendly;” called 14 “ambiguous,” deemed six as “hardline” and the rest “unclear.” Pompeo told the governors, “Whether you are viewed by the CPC as friendly or hardline, know that it’s working you, know that it’s working the team around you.”

Six months later, at a meeting of economists and sociologists in Zhongnanhai, a secretive leaders’ compound in Beijing, Xi told more than a dozen top economists and sociologists that China would double down on seeking “cooperation” with U.S. politicians and business leaders at the states and local level, exactly what Pompeo had warned about. “We must actively develop cooperation with all countries, regions and enterprises willing to cooperate with us, including states, localities and enterprises in the United States,” Xi said, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

In his talk, Pompeo gave several examples that he said reflected an uptick in CPC interference at the state level. In 2019, he said, diplomats at the Chinese consulate in Houston wrote to the Mississippi governor, Phil Bryant, threatening to cancel a Chinese investment in his state if he traveled to Taiwan, the de facto independent island nation that Beijing claims and says no one may have official ties with. Bryant went anyway.

In another example, Chinese diplomats at the consulate in Chicago wrote to a Wisconsin lawmaker, Republican Roger Roth, asking him to sponsor a bill they wrote praising China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin Examiner reported. Roth initially ignored the request thinking it a joke. The Chinese diplomats sent it again. Roth replied with one word: “nuts.”

Those two attempts may have faltered in the face of pushback, but outreach often works, especially on the business level. Speaking on background, one official described the pattern: “Say you are governor of a state that has tremendous economic investments in China, or that has a good relationship with China exporting soybeans or grain. China can use that relationship,” say, by asking their political or business contacts to make calls to Washington to try and influence policy. It sounds like U.S. political lobbying, “but you have to know, it’s a foreign government playing this game,” the official says.

He is asking you, the reader to challenge your own knowledge and then challenger your own local leaders.

Furthermore from Newsweek:

A three-day summit that took place in mid-October at the China Institute, a New York City non-profit, provides a classic example of how the United Front works. The event, titled “Finding Success in an Age of Crisis,” promised to help participants figure out how to “achieve success in the face of strained U.S.-China relations and a volatile world.”

The event featured an illustrious line-up of panelists from U.S. business, academia, technology, media, diplomacy and politics, including Rick Snyder, former governor of Michigan, and Stapleton J. Roy, a founder of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute. Yet what participants likely didn’t know: Three of the four “knowledge partners” are directly or indirectly part of the United Front.

The Beijing-based Center for China & Globalization, a think tank, is one of them. The organization was co-founded by Wang Huiyao, who is also a deputy chairman of the Western Returned Students Association, a United Front Work Department group, according to Joske, who has documented Wang’s multiple connections to the United Front. The other were the China General Chamber of Commerce USA and the China General Chamber of Commerce USA Chicago, both among the 600 or so American groups Newsweek has linked to the CPC system.

Asked for comment, the China Institute replied that it “chose to engage with these organizations because of their large memberships and connection to the issues and topics that are a priority today. We wanted to ensure they were engaged in the conversation.” In an emailed statement, the China General Chamber of Commerce–USA denied it was linked to the United Front system, saying it was “a non-profit and non-governmental organization representing Chinese enterprises in the U.S.,” with a mission “to create value, generate economic growth, and enhance cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese business communities.”

Shame on the Biden administration and for sure shame on Governor Newsom.

 

 

One Sided Human Rights When it Comes to Gangs and Terrorists

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We continue to watch in horror and fear the deadly terror in Israel and Gaza and rightly so. It must be known however, these types of attacks and terror go far beyond the Middle East. There is an organization funded by the usual. George Soros but also other nefarious people and that is the Human Rights Watch. (travel over to Wikipedia and read their summary, it sounds great but the reality is not so much)

As we pray for the hostages to not only survive but to be released in Gaza, it is happening in other corners of the world including what the Russians have done to Ukrainian citizens and especially children and then there is Haiti and Africa. Human Rights Watch is not so into caring about those locations.

Let’s begin with Haiti as it is news to all of you. It was just a week ago that the Associated Press reported the following in part:

A heavily armed gang surrounded a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday, trapping women, children and newborns inside until police rescued them, according to the director of the medical center, who pleaded for help via social media. Ulysse said members of Haiti’s National Police force responded to his call for help and arrived with three armored trucks to evacuate 40 children and 70 patients to a private home in a safer part of the city. Among those delicately evacuated were children on oxygen, he said.

Ulysse identified those responsible as members of the Brooklyn gang, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, best known as “Ti Gabriel.” Jean-Pierre also is the leader of a powerful gang alliance known as G-Pep, one of two rival coalitions in Haiti.

The Brooklyn gang has some 200 members and controls certain communities within Cite Soleil, including Brooklyn. They are involved in extortion, hijacking of goods and general violence, according to a recent United Nations report. Earlier this year, at least 20 armed gang members burst into a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders and snatched a patient from an operating room. The criminals gained access after faking a life-threatening emergency, the organization said.

UN: Haitian Gangs Invading Central Haiti source and read more here

By the way, the United Nations actually has a permanent peacekeeping office in Haiti….so much for that, even while the United States is often encountering migrants fleeing from Haiti. Oh yes, Human Rights Watch is completely tied to policies from the United Nations also.

Now let’s move back over to Ukraine shall we?

CBS News reported only last week about 19,000 children kidnapped by Russian forces and the real numbers could be as high as 300,000 in total.

As an example:

Last October, Nikita was living in a boarding school for disabled children when the Russian authorities ordered all 86 kids there to be transferred deeper into Russian-controlled territory.

Polina (translated): I came home after work, I opened Instagram and there was a picture of my child– Nikita. With a caption, Russia is taking children.

Polina says the Russians played a cruel game of hide and seek – moving Nikita at least three times in eight months – including to an orphanage in Russia

Then The Guardian reported last March the following in part:

What do we know about the Ukrainian children taken by Russia?
The court’s pre-trial judges said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population, and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children”. The judges said they had chosen to unseal the names of the suspects in an effort to prevent further crimes.

Reports first emerged last spring that Ukrainian children in occupied territory were being taken to Russia, and even being adopted by Russian families. Russia has presented its actions as a humanitarian mission to save Ukrainian children from the war. But Ukraine has accused Russia of genocide and described its actions as a war crime.

Who are the children involved?
The alleged abductees include children taken from Ukrainian state institutions in the occupied areas, children whose parents had sent them to Russian-run “summer camps” from which they never returned, children whose parents were arrested by the Russian occupying authorities, and children who were orphaned by the fighting.

Where are the children from?
The vast majority of Ukrainian children taken by Russia are from occupied areas of southern and eastern Ukraine: Kherson region, Kharkiv region, Zaporizhzhia region, Donetsk and Luhansk region, as well as a small area of Mykolaiv region.

How many children have been taken?
Russia has admitted to holding at least 1,400 Ukrainian children it describes as orphans, though it said at least 2,000 had travelled to Russia unaccompanied. In addition, several hundred children from the occupied territories remain in Russia after they attended “re-education” camps with the consent of their parents but were then not returned.

What has happened to the orphans?
Since the invasion, at least 400 Ukrainian orphans have been adopted by Russian families, according to the Ukrainian Regional Center for Human Rights, which has calculated its figure from statements by the Russian state. Russia has said 1,000 more are waiting to be adopted.

Lvova-Belova, the Russian children’s commissioner, has herself described “adopting” a 15-year-old child from Mariupol, the south-eastern Ukrainian city that was devastated and occupied by Russian forces.

But many of these Ukrainian children have living relatives, who are often desperately searching for them. About 90% of Ukrainian children who were living in state care at the time of the invasion were “social orphans”, meaning they had relatives but those family members unable to take care of them.

How about China? Well they have an estimated 40,000 child slaves in Congo mining for cobalt and lithium for batteries, mostly for the EV industry. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) published a summary from a congressional hearing the exploitation of children in Africa for the economic and global agenda for China.

There is a foundation called Walk Free Foundation that studies modern day slavery and publishes an index. The estimate is 30 million people worldwide are living in modern day slavery from places such as India, China and Africa.

Bringing it closer to home, with the protests across America to Free Palestine, no one says enough about the fear from violence and theft for individuals and businesses with smash and grabs and now crash and grabs, meaning stolen cars are used to break into businesses.

So. exactly where are the leaders of any sort? Where is the Human Rights Watch? Where is the Department of Justice which by the way formed a legal team to work at the Hague for the International Criminal Court? How about Interpol and Red Notices or the FBI? How about the District Attorneys do some real work on car-jacking, human trafficking, the sex trade, migrant crime., cartel narcotic trafficking…and all the rest.

Where are the protectors if no one is above the law?