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☆ Jury in Federal Lawsuit Deadlocks on Abu Ghraib Torture Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A federal jury in Virginia said on Thursday that it was unable to reach a verdict in a lawsuit filed by three Iraqi men who said they were tortured while being held by the United States at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago. The jurors had deliberated for almost eight days, and with the panel still deadlocked the judge in the case, Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, declared a mistrial on Thursday. The three plaintiffs had sued a defense contractor, CACI Premier Technology, asserting that CACI employees working as interrogators at the prison directed U.S. military guards to abuse the men in an effort to “soften” them up. The testimony of the three men last month was the first time a civilian jury had heard allegations of post-9/11 abuses directly from detainees.

Persons: Abu, Leonie M Organizations: U.S, CACI Premier Technology Locations: Virginia, United States, Alexandria

☆ 20 Years Later, a Jury Weighs Claims of Abuse at Abu Ghraib
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The journalist said he was left naked overnight in a cold prison cell with a bag over his head, chained by his wrists to a pipe. The fruit vendor said he was forced to take off his clothes and masturbate, while his captors watched and took photos. The middle-school principal said he was told he would be raped, and that his family would be brought to the prison and raped as well. At a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va., a jury listened last week to the accounts of three Iraqis who were arrested by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and then held at Abu Ghraib prison.

Organizations: U.S Locations: Alexandria, Va, Iraq, Abu Ghraib

☆ Senate Leaders Look to Curb ‘Judge Shopping’ But In Different Ways
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Plaintiffs in some high-stakes, high-profile cases have found that in some of the country’s federal courts, it’s not hard to cherry pick a sympathetic judge. Such judge shopping, particularly in cases challenging abortion rights and immigration policy, has been drawing increasing scrutiny. Last month, the federal judiciary’s policymaking body called for colleagues to curb the practice by making the assignment of the biggest civil cases random in the 94 federal district courts. Each says that the goal of their respective bills is to eradicate the pursuit of sympathetic judges by savvy litigants. It would end the most targeted form of judge shopping, where plaintiffs game a district’s case-assignment system by filing in a small division staffed by one or two judges.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Schumer’s Organizations: Republican, Judicial Conference Locations: Texas

☆ An Effort to End ‘Judge-Shopping’ Turns Into a ‘Political Firestorm’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Instead, the policy turned out to be guidance, rather than a binding rule. Conservative politicians are encouraging judges to reject it, while Democrats are pushing to make the policy mandatory. And some Texas judges have stated that they will make up their own minds about what to do. “It’s very unusual for a conference policy to become a political firestorm like this,” said Jeremy Fogel, a retired federal judge who served in the Northern District of California. “I think that is unprecedented.”Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, swiftly condemned the new policy, which would deprive conservative activists of a potent weapon in their legal arsenal, one that they have wielded with great success in rolling back abortion rights and some Biden administration policies.

Persons: ”, Jeremy Fogel, ” Mitch McConnell, Biden Organizations: Judicial Conference, Northern District of Locations: Texas, Northern District, Northern District of California

☆ God's Man in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +34 min

Trump's departure from the White House hasn't stopped him from using the old administration's star power to fuel Capitol Ministries' growth. But regardless of what happens this coming November, Capitol Ministries is quickly becoming the face of American GOP-style evangelicalism around the world. Other than Ralph's wife, Danielle, and a few members of Capitol Ministries' administrative staff, the room was almost entirely men. Rick Perry spoke to Drollinger at Capitol Ministries' global summit in Washington, DC. And yet, on the question of whether and why to support Israel, Drollinger was indeed looking to Revelation for answers.

Persons: Cheyne, —, He'd, Christ, Rick Perry, Cheriss, Trump, Mike Johnson —, Ralph Drollinger, Drollinger, Alex Acosta, Perry, Acosta, Mike Pompeo, Betsy DeVos, Sonny Perdue, Ben Carson, Jeff Sessions, hasn't, Danielle, you've, Donald Trump, Capitol Ministries doesn't, Samson, Matthew, didn't, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rick, I'm, Ralph Drollinger's, Daniel Ortega, Ralph, he'd, Washington —, Ortega, Douglas Coe, Maria Butina, Joe Biden, forbearance, Bruce Westerman, Bruce Westerman of, Glenn, Thompson, George Washington, Fame, Mike Johnson, Benjamin Netanyahu, Johnson, Washington, Moses, I've, Westerman, I'd, Netanyahu, God, that's, he's, we're, That's, Israel, King David, wilder, MAGA, David Barton, WallBuilders, doesn't, George W, Bush, Donald Trump's, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Hill Club, Business, Israel, Mmm, Christ, Capitol Ministries, Capitol Hill, Capitol Ministries Bible, Trump Cabinet, BI, GOP, Capitol, White, Capitol Ministries ', Trump, NBA, of Energy, Trump's, American GOP, Pacific, BI Drollinger, Capitol Hill Club, Washington Hilton, Senate, Training, Liberty, Gettysburg, Capitol Ministry, NPR, United States Congress, Washington Bible, Republican, Democratic, Times, Wall Street Journal, Brown University Locations: Washington , DC, Arkansas, Hebrew, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, United States, Texas, Washington, Seoul, Kathmandu, Iowa, Rwanda, Ukraine, Washington ,, Drollinger, Nicaragua, California, Nicaraguan, Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Exclusive: Russia-linked smear campaign against Hunter Biden began earlier than previously thought
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The man pushing the thumb drive was a citizen of an Eastern European country and a guest of Claremont. That evening, Rollie passed a thumb drive containing disinformation about Hunter Biden and Burisma to a Pompeo aide. Smirnov was indicted last week for lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden. The revelation about Rollie's thumb drive comes shortly after the indictment of Smirnov, for allegedly making false statements about Hunter Biden in June 2020. Like Smirnov, Rollie's materials accuse Hunter Biden of involving his father in Burisma's business and committing a vast off-the-books fraud.

Persons: Mike Pompeo, Hunter Biden, Rollie, Pompeo, Burisma, BI Rollie, I'm, Rollie's, Biden's, Josef, Johnathan Buma, Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, Peter Schweizer, Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon, Hunter, Giuliani, Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Biden, David Weiss, Smirnov's, Joe Biden, GOP Sen, Charles Grassley, MAGA, Jack Posobiec, Buma, Anastasiia Carrier Organizations: Claremont Institute's, Claremont, Business, BI, KGB, Department, Claremont Institute, FBI, New York Times, Prosecutors, GOP, State Department, Justice Department, Anastasiia Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Beverly Hills, Eastern, Soviet, Los Angeles, Russian, Delaware, Ukraine, The Hill, East, West, Eastern Europe

☆ Most people buying homes get screwed into spending thousands on a tedious fee. That may be about to change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An alternative to title insurance called an attorney-opinion letter might help buyers save money. Title insurance, which is required to close on most properties in the US, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. The savings from using attorney-opinion letters could help Americans facing high prices and high borrowing costs better afford homeownership. Some say title insurance is obsolete, since modern technology has improved access to public records essential for confirming a home's title or owner. "It's been clear for years that something is seriously wrong with title insurance," Schwartz wrote in 2022.

Persons: —, Insider's Mattathias Schwartz, Fannie Mae, Schwartz, Homebuyers, Forbes Organizations: Service, Street, Mortgage, Iowa, The New York Times Locations: Philadelphia, Midwest

☆ Billionaire FBI informant Peter Thiel dished about two Kremlin invites to private Putin meetings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Hans-Martin Tillack | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

It was Angermayer who introduced Bisslinger to Thiel at the party, Thiel would later tell the FBI. After some small talk, Bisslinger made a pitch to Thiel: Thiel should travel to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. If Thiel chose to attend, Bisslinger said, Bisslinger would arrange for him to meet privately with Putin. "Even if Mr. Angermayer did introduce Mr. Thiel and Mr. Bisslinger," the lawyers wrote in another letter, "Mr. Angermayer is not—and cannot be—responsible for whatever Mr. Bisslinger and Mr. Thiel may or may not have discussed." At his 40th birthday, he connected Peter Thiel with a Russian diplomat, Thiel later told the FBI.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Christian Angermayer, Thiel, Daniil Bisslinger, Bisslinger, Vladimir Putin's, Angermayer, Putin, Maksim Konstantinov, —, Frank Figliuzzi, Vladimir Putin, — Charles Johnson —, Johnathan Buma, Johnson, Welt, Dmitry Peskov, John Lamparski, Donald Trump, — Thiel, Der Spiegel, he'd, Elon Musk, Musk, Thiel —, he's, Palantir, He's, Uma Thurman, Robbie Williams, Queen Latifah, Paul Kagame, Dan McCrum, John Kerry, Richard Grenell, Kerry, Sensei Biotherapeutics, Trump, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Maureen Dowd, Alexander Schütz, Eva Schütz, Schütz, — Heinz, Christian Strache, Markus Braun, Jan Marsalek, Marsalek, Caroline Haskins, Katherine Long, Jack Newsham, Mattathias Schwartz, Hans, Martin Tillack Organizations: Kremlin, Tech, Pentagon, CIA, Facebook, SpaceX, Kremlin's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Embassy, Thiel, St ., Economic, Getty, FBI, Atlantic, Bisslinger, Germany, Elon, Russia, NSA, US Special Operations Command, National Health Service, Apeiron Investment, Munich Security, intel, Trump, State Department, Angermayer's, PayPal, Nasdaq, Sciences, The New York Times, Deutsche Bank, Welt Locations: Silicon Valley, Schloss Neuwaldegg, Vienna, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Berlin, Russia, St, St . Petersburg, Petersburg, Ukraine, Europe, Germany, NATO, Crimea, Ukrainian, Sevastopol, Palantir, Washington, Rwanda, Baltic, Belarus, Iran, Angermayer's Malta, Munich, China, China's, Austrian, Austria, Exxpress, Wirecard, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Why Israel's push into Gaza is killing so many children
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Lila Hassan | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Children account for a startlingly high share of Palestinians killed in Gaza — roughly 41%. The overwhelming majority of the children — a reported 3,542 as of October 30, as compared to more than 30 children reportedly killed on the Israeli side — have been Palestinians living in Gaza. On Sunday, international humanitarian organization Save The Children said that the number of children killed in Gaza in three weeks surpasses the total number of children killed in all global conflict zones since 2019. 'A growing stain on our collective conscience'Children constitute 41% of the 8,525 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry. Since 2019, the court has had an open investigation into potential Israeli war crimes.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Omar Shakir, Shakir, Mohammed Abed, Israel, Brian Finucane, Finucane, HuffPost, Al, HRW's, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Isaac Herzog, Herzog, Karim A.A, Khan, Khan's, Tahani Mustafa, Mustafa, Lila Hassan, hassan.com Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Service, Palestinian Health Ministry, Hamas, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Health Ministry, United Nations, World Health Organization, UN, Human Rights Watch, Palestinian, Getty, State Department, Crisis, ISIS, UNICEF, Department, Israel Defense Forces, Law, IDF, Military, of Defense, ICC, New York Times, Israeli Air Force Locations: Israel, Gaza, Al, Ahli, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Northern Gaza, Al Jazeera, HRW's Israel, Cairo, Lila@lila, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Exclusive: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel was an FBI informant
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Another source close to Thiel told Insider that while they could not confirm that Thiel was a CHS, Thiel did speak to Buma occasionally. "[They] will be either an 'FBI source' or a 'former FBI source' and, in turn, his or her conduct or misconduct will reflect upon the FBI." Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesAs a CHS, Thiel was assigned a code name and an internal serial number to track his reporting. Thiel, Johnson said, was directed by the FBI not to report on his interactions with Donald Trump or other US political figures. Johnson told Insider that he brokered an introduction between Thiel and the FBI special agent who would become his handler.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Trump, Thiel, Johnathan Buma, Charles Johnson, Johnson, MAGA, Donald Trump, Drew Angerer, Scott Horton, Buma, Sen, J.D, Vance of, Blake Masters, —, Vance, Joe Biden's, Vance of Ohio, Anna Moneymaker, Masters, Mithril's, Matt Gaetz, Gaetz's, Ginger Gaetz, Bill Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Alex Wong, Jeffrey Epstein, Enrique Tarrio, Tarrio, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: FBI, Buma, CHS, Trump, Trump Tower, Republican National Convention, Joe Biden's Department, Getty Masters, Mar, Masters, Pentagon, CIA, National Security Agency, US Army, NSO Group, Forbes, Mithril, Clearview's, Committee, Capitol, Founders Fund, Boys Locations: Los Angeles, Germany, United States, New Zealand, Malta, Silicon, Vance of Ohio, Arizona, Palantir, American, Russian, Atlantic City, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Water in Southern Gaza remains 'limited' despite US urging Israel to end the shutoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Israel's officials told Jake Sullivan they 'they have in fact turned the water pipe back on in Southern Gaza.' In fact, the restoration of water service remains "limited," a US official told Insider the following day. "Israeli counterparts agreed to restore water in south Gaza," a US national security official told Insider on Monday. AdvertisementAdvertisementIsrael's energy minister reportedly confirmed that Israel would resume supplying water to Southern Gaza after a discussion with the Biden administration. Children fill boxes with clean water from a dispenser as water shortage happens following the suspension of water flow from Israel to Gaza, in Deir-Al Balah, Gaza on October 15, 2023.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's, Israel, Sullivan, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Yoav Gallant, Al Balah, Ashraf Amra, Inas Hamdan, Hamdan, Israel hasn't Organizations: Service, Hamas, Israel's, Gaza's Interior Ministry, EU, Israeli Defense Forces, Ministry of Defense, UNICEF Locations: Southern Gaza, CNN's, Gaza, Israel, Deir, U.N, Egypt, Rafah

☆ Hamas proudly committed war crimes. Is Israel's government about to do the same?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementThere is no special carve-out in international law that allows the victims of war crimes to commit war crimes in return. War crimes are seldom punished if they are endorsed by a superpower. Even during the bloody post-9/11 period, Western governments refrained from announcing that they intended to commit war crimes. When it came to terrorists, he said during his first campaign, "you have to take out their families," an explicit endorsement of war crimes. But it took Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to fully put Trump's stated doctrine into practice — a modern military, in uniform, openly committing war crimes at scale.

Persons: Biden, Netanyahu, —, Michael Sfard, Tom Dannenbaum, Dannenbaum, Gallant, Benjamin Netanyahu, Marco Rubio, Mahmud Hams, Netanyahu's, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, institutionalizing, Vladimir Putin's, Trump's, Vladimir Putin, weren't Organizations: Service, Israeli Defense Forces, Tufts, Terrorists, CIA, Prosecutors, Hague, US Justice Department, ICC, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Afghanistan, Ukraine

☆ Joe Biden has a decision to make about Julian Assange
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

A small group of lawyers and media executives gathered in a well-appointed back room to listen to Gabriel Shipton, Assange's half-brother. In the case of Vault 7, WikiLeaks' source turned out to be a disgruntled former C.I.A employee. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn New York, Gabriel Shipton, Assange's half-brother, declined to rule out the possibility of a plea deal. Every time the Australian government raises this issue, the Chinese government puts out a statement about Julian Assange. Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, right, was part of a delegation of Australian officials in the US to press for the release of Julian Assange.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Gabriel Shipton, Tucker Carlson, Tucker, Shipton, he'd, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, Monique Ryan, Albanese, Mike Pompeo, Caroline Kennedy, Der Spiegel, El Pais, David Hicks, Julian, John Shipton, Assange's, John, Gabriel, Brett Assange, Peter Whish, Wilson, We've, Robert Carr, Chelsea Manning's, Obama, We're, Cheng Lei, —, Chelsea Manning, Manning, What's, Julian Assange's, John MacDougall, …, they'd, he's, John Young, Laura Poitras's, Mueller, Robert Mueller's, John Podesta's, Bernie Sanders, John Koeltl, They've, Donald, Trump, we've, James Comey, Hillary Clinton, He's, I'm, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner, I've, Putin, exfiltrate Assange, Julian wasn't, Dana Rohrabacher, Rohrabacher, Jennifer Robinson, Tracey Nearmy, we'd, Marjorie Taylor, Greene, Antony Blinken, Biden, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: United Nations General Assembly, WikiLeaks, Washington Post, Washington, DOJ, The Washington, Australia's Labor Party, New, Biden, Senate Intelligence, Justice Department, New York Times, Guardian, Chelsea, Pentagon, Getty, Justice, The State Department, Laura Poitras's WikiLeaks, State Department, DNC, Democratic, Committee, Democratic National Convention, of, Russian Federation, Novaya Gazeta, Trump, CIA, The Justice Locations: New York, London, Assange's, Pacific, Ecuadorian, Washington, Russia, Australia, Shipton, Brig, Chelsea, Iraq, Australian, China, American, Moscow, Getty Shipton, … Shipton, Cryptome, There's, Southern, of New York, Russian, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Panama, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Charles McGonigal, the disgraced former FBI official, pleaded guilty to hiding $225,000 in secret payments while working sensitive cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Paul Squire | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A disgraced ex-FBI agent just pleaded guilty in a second criminal case against him. McGonigal previously pleaded guilty to helping a sanctioned Russian oligarch. McGonigal admitted in Washington DC federal court to falsifying records and making false statements about the $225,000 he got while working sensitive cases for the FBI. The disgraced FBI pleaded guilty to one count of concealment of material facts as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. McGonigal pleaded guilty last month in the New York case to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, McGonigal, FBI spyhunter, —, Oleg Deripaska Organizations: FBI, Service, Washington DC, Putin Locations: NYC, Russian, Wall, Silicon, Washington, New York

☆ House Judiciary Committee threatens to subpoena FBI over Charles McGonigal documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House Judiciary is demanding that the FBI turn over internal records about ex-agent Charles McGonigal. The FBI ignored a letter from the committee sent in February, a committee spokesperson told Insider. Jordan first demanded that the FBI turn over McGonigal-related documents in February, a few days after he was indicted in New York and Washington. The bureau never responded beyond acknowledging receipt of the letter, a spokesperson for the committee told Insider. In a video interview, Buma told Insider that Jordan's committee is cherry-picking its witnesses, a charge that a spokesperson for Jordan has denied.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, McGonigal, Jim Jordan, Christopher Wray, Jordan, McGonigal's, Sheldon Whitehouse, Hillary Clinton, Trump, Johnathan Buma, Buma, Wray Organizations: FBI, Service, Justice Department, Bureau, New, Republicans, Veritas Locations: York, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ohio, New York, Washington, Russia, New York City

☆ Hunter Biden sues IRS, claims whistleblower agents 'targeted and sought to embarrass' him by discussing his tax returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Tom Porter | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, legal records show. He said agents who were investigating him told the media about his private tax returns. The lawsuit alleges that agents 'targeted and sought to embarrass' him by discussing his tax returns. Biden is seeking $1,000 for each unauthorized disclosure, attorney's fees, and all documents relating to his tax disclosures. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has launched an impeachment investigation into President Biden over his son's business dealings in Ukraine and China on the basis of unproven allegations President Biden was improperly involved in them.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's, Biden Organizations: Internal Revenue Service, Service, IRS, Republican, Representatives Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, China

☆ Rudy Giuliani 'may have been compromised' by the Kremlin, and FBI leaders didn't care, alleges special agent Johnathan Buma
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Johnathan Buma says his FBI supervisors didn't care about his leads tying Giuliani to Russian intelligence. They are also investigating Hunter Biden for the firearm-related charges that he was indicted for this week. FBI didn't care about Giuliani's possible Kremlin ties, Buma says"Rudy Giuliani may have been compromised by individuals suspected of being involved in Russian counterintelligence influence operations," Buma told Insider. According to Buma's disclosure, an FBI Intelligence Information Report asserted that Fuks was "a co-opted asset of the RIS" or the Russian intelligence services. Hunter Biden left his laptop at a computer repair store in April 2019.

Persons: Johnathan Buma, Giuliani, Hunter Biden, Robert Mueller's Trump, Donald Trump's, Buma, Biden, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Pavel Fuks, Fuks, Burisma, Hunter's, George Soros, Hunter Biden's, Bill Barr's, Geoffrey Berman, Bill Barr, Barr, Berman, he's, Amelia Kosciulek, we're, aren't, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: FBI, Service, Los Angeles Field Office, Trump, GOP, of Justice, New York Post, Southern, of New, Washington Field Office, New York Field Office Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Mar, Lago, Ukrainian, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Ukraine —, Delaware, of New York, Buma, schwartz79@protonmail.com

Johnathan Buma alleges that the FBI was hungry for intelligence on Hunter Biden but when his sources fingered Rudy Giuliani, he was shut down.

Persons: Johnathan Buma, Hunter Biden, Rudy Giuliani Organizations: FBI

☆ In April, Trump said his private-jet LLC was worth no more than $1,001. Then in July, he said it was worth up to $25 million. Why?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Revised Trump ethics filings show massive shifts in the value of some Trump entities. In an April filing with the Office of Government Ethics, Trump claimed that the TAG Air had a value of $1,001 or less. Then, in a revised July filing, Trump valued TAG Air at between $5 million and $25 million. During the 2016 campaign, taxpayers reportedly paid TAG Air $1.6 million to cover the cost of transporting the Secret Service agents charged with protecting him. Here is Trump's first financial disclosure form, filed in April:And here is Trump's revised financial disclosure form, from July, in two parts.

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump, Letitia James, Steven Cheung, James's, Mike Pence's, General James, Richard W, Painter Organizations: Trump, Service, Trump Organization, New York, TAG Air, Inc, Boeing, Government, TAG, Secret Service, United Arab, China, Management, Briarcliff Manor Development, White, University of Minnesota, Chase Manhattan Bank Locations: cryptocurrency, Iran, China, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, New York State, York, Ethereum, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, South Korea, Ireland, Briarcliff Manor

☆ Hunter Biden sues former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, alleging illegal hacking of his laptop and iPhone data
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A federal lawsuit filed by Hunter Biden accuses former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler of hacking his data. Ziegler denied the allegations and told Insider that he came by the data legally from Biden's laptop. The Hunter Biden laptop story is only the latest product of opposition research to make headlines. Ziegler posted more than 100,000 emails from Hunter Biden's account online, along with photos and other documents. Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Garrett Ziegler, Ziegler, Biden, Biden's, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden's, Donald Trump, Hunter, Peter Navarro, — Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell —, Trump, " Hunter Biden, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's, Giuliani, Giuliani's, Kevin Morris, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Trump, GOP, Service, Trump White House, Clinton Foundation, Capitol, White, New York Post Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russian, Delaware, Ukraine, Ziegler, Los Angeles, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Forget the Deep State. Trump is at war with the whole state
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Trump's new object of hatred is the surface state — the state itself. The attack on the surface state began, of course, on January 6, when a violent mob, assembled and encouraged by Trump, descended on the Capitol to overturn a presidential election. AdvertisementAdvertisementToday, Trump's attacks on the surface state are accelerating. Maybe Trump has forgotten that less than three years ago, he was head of the surface state. Even defendants who, like Trump, attempt to sabotage the integrity of the justice system are entitled to the same due process and protections under US law.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, He's, Jack Smith, Fanni Wills, Let's, I'm, he'd, That's, Hillary Clinton, Mark Meadows, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Tommy Tuberville, Cindy Hyde, Smith, Roger Marshall, John Kennedy, Cruz, Hawley, didn't, We've, it's, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Trump, Capitol, Department of Justice, Mar, DOJ, White, CIA, FBI, NSA, White House, GOP, Committee Locations: Afghanistan, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, New York, Iraq

☆ House Oversight Democrats ask GOP to subpoena Affinity Partners, Jared Kushner's $3 billion Saudi-backed private equity fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shortly after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner got $2 billion in funding from the Saudi government for his private-equity fund. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince who developed close ties to Kushner, pushed the deal through, the New York Times reported. Now, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are asking the GOP to investigate with the same zeal they've applied to Hunter Biden. The letter puts special focus on a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut MBS, who chairs the fund, intervened to push the deal through, according to the Times' repoAffinity Partners now has an office in Miami.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Mohammed bin Salman, Kushner, they've, Hunter Biden, Jamie Raskin, Joe Biden's, Raskin, Donald Trump's, James Comer, Comer, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Lockheed Martin, Jamal Khashoggi, Abraham, Austin Hacker, Hacker Organizations: White, New York Times, Service, Democratic, GOP, Affinity Partners, White House, Democrats, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, MBS, Trump, Intercept, The New York Times, Lockheed, National Security Council, Saudi, Times, Abraham Accords, Trump White House, Affinity, CNN Locations: Saudi, Wall, Silicon, Maryland, Saudi Arabia, Miami

☆ With Prigozhin dead, Putin has traded low-budget global reach for safety at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

On Friday, the Kremlin's spokesperson said the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the Wednesday plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin was "a complete lie." It was unavoidable payback for Prigozhin's insubordination, which culminated in a march towards Moscow with a column of his Wagner Group mercenaries. AdvertisementAdvertisementThose files were obtained from anonymous hackers who had pried them loose from the Wagner Group. Russia uses the Wagner Group to boost its military strength, but it is nothing like a conventional fighting force or diplomatic corps. Other reports suggest that the job replacing Wagner in Africa will fall to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence unit.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Prigozhin's, he'd, —, Putin, grandiosity, they'd, Alexander Lukashenko, James, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Wednesday, Wagner Group, Saint, Kremlin, Group, Central African, YouTube, Google, Wagner, Saint Petersburg, ISIS, Russia, Wall Street Journal, Russia's Ministry of Defence Locations: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Central African Republic, Russian, Ukraine, East, Africa, Saint, China, Belarus, Russia's

A lawsuit claims Rudy Giuliani was paid $300,000 while pitching investors on an anti-Biden film. Giuliani allegedly said it would be a "kill shot" that would sink Joe Biden's campaign. By then, Giuliani was hard at work trying to dig up election-year dirt on Joe Biden in his capacity as President Trump's personal attorney. Giuliani, the lawsuit alleges, asked for the farmers' help finance efforts to make sure Trump was elected to a second term. The aborted Giuliani film project also forms part of a whistleblower disclosure from Johnathan Buma, an FBI special agent whose allegations were first reported by Insider.

Persons: Rudy Giuliani, Biden, Giuliani, Joe Biden's, Joe Biden, Hunter, Baldev, Kewel Munger, Tim Yale, Trump, George Dickson III, Hunter Biden, Dickson, Michael Moore's, Noelle Dunphy, John Doe, Mother Jones, Munger, Johnathan Buma, Bob Hawk Organizations: Service, Republican, Yale, Republicans, FBI, Munger Bros Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, California, New York City, Munger, Georgia, Washington

☆ Disgraced former FBI agent Charles McGonigal pleads guilty to working with a sanctioned Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Charles McGonigal pleaded guilty on Tuesday to working with a sanctioned Russian oligarch. He admitted to money laundering and violating sanctions. McGonigal pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. Insider previously reported that federal prosecutors charged McGonigal with money laundering and making false statements in his mandatory employee disclosures to the FBI. In court, McGonigal admitted he took money to collect information about Deripaska's business competitor in order to get him sanctioned.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, McGonigal, Oleg Deripaska, Judge Rearden, Rearden, Seth DuCharme, He's Organizations: FBI, Service, Washington DC —, Russia, Washington DC, UN Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, New York, Washington

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