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Nauta testified to a grand jury two months before the August 2022 search about boxes he took from Mar-a-Lago’s storage room in January 2022. Nauta grand jury testimony could be used at trial against TrumpThe newly unredacted Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit and Nauta’s grand jury testimony were included in court filings as part of several challenges Trump and Nauta are making against Smith’s case. 03:33 - Source: CNNNauta’s grand jury testimony could become a notable part of an eventual trial against Trump. Even if Nauta refuses to testify, prosecutors could seek to use his grand jury statements about Trump in their presentation to a jury. According to the affidavit, the Justice Department sought from the Trump Organization Mar-a-Lago’s surveillance footage in the immediate days after Nauta’s grand jury testimony.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Walt Nauta, Nauta, ” Nauta, Jack Smith, Carlos De Oliveira, vindictively, Lago, FPOTUS, ”, Stanley Woodward, Aileen Cannon, pushback, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz Organizations: CNN, National Archives, Mar, FBI, Trump, Archives, Justice Department, Trump White House, NARA, Trump Organization, US Locations: Lago, Florida, Mar, Nauta, United States

☆ From 25 years in prison to just four months: Inside the final verdict on a crypto billionaire CEO archrivalry
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. A month earlier, on the opposite coast in downtown Manhattan, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence for his crimes. At the beginning of his trial, SBF sported a fresh haircut and wore suits, but by its end, his curls were wild again. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. watch nowMoney makes all the differenceUnlike SBF, CZ didn't have his wealth wiped out by bankruptcy of the crypto company he founded.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Mike Segar, Benjamin Girette, Changpeng Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, Zhao, Binance's Zhao, FTX's, Toyotas, Braden Perry, Perry, Manfred, SBF, Michael Lewis, Lewis, Sam didn't, Amr Alfiky, Sam, Caroline Ellison, —, Zhao's, Yi He, Binance, David Ryder, Yang, Rachel Zhao, Yesha Yadav, Yadav, Mark Bini, Lewis Kaplan, Bankman, Kaplan, perjured, Neama Rahmani, Rahmani, Tre Lovell, Zhao hasn't, Lovell, weren't, FTX Organizations: Reuters, Bloomberg, Getty, Department of Justice, CFTC, Stanford University's, Bankman, CZ, Staff, Reuters Prosecutors, Alameda Research, Vanderbilt University, Wall Street, CNBC, FTX, Emergency Economic, Justice Department, DOJ Locations: Seattle, Manhattan, California, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Palo Alto, U.S, New York City, Alameda, Seattle , Washington, Paris, France, Angeles, Binance, Dubai, Delaware

☆ Lessons from the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( John Miller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

This was anthrax,” Pogan said, and he briefed his superiors. Between October 5, and November 22, 2001, five people who were exposed died from anthrax poisoning. For help, they turned to the US Department of Defense lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where anthrax expert Dr. Bruce Ivins worked. Investigators in protective suits prepare to enter the New York Times building in New York on October 12, 2001. Police cars are parked outside the American Media building in Boca Raton on Oct. 8, 2001 where environmental tests detected anthrax bacteria.

Persons: CNN —, Bin Laden, America, Robert Stevens, Tom Dachle’s, Tom Brokaw, Patrick Pogan, ”, “, Judith Miller, Pogan, Miller, ’ Pogan, “ Hey, ” Pogan, John Scarbeck, Saddam Hussein, Bin, Bruce Ivins, Steven Hatfill, FBI swabbed, John Ashcroft, Peter Morgan, ” Dr, Bob Mueller, Mueller, Hatfill, Luis M, Alvarez, Dr, Ivins, John J, He’s Organizations: CNN, Center for Domestic Preparedness, Army, New York Police Department, ABC News, ABC, American Media, Boca, New York Post, NBC News, Terrorism Task Forces, New York Times, FBI, New York, New York City Health Department, Unit, US Department of Defense, Department of Defense, Reuters, Counterterrorism, LAPD, Justice Department, Police, Intelligence, Los Angeles Police Department Locations: Anniston, Alabama, Florida, Boca Raton , FL, Staten, New York City, “, Fort Detrick , Maryland, Maryland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, New Jersey, New York, Boca Raton

☆ Fact check: Another week, another round of false Trump claims about his trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Washington CNN —Former President Donald Trump continues to make false claims about his New York trial. Here’s a fact check of four false claims and one misleading claim he made about the trial in his courthouse comments last week. Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order, which narrowly restricts his out-of-court speech, does not in any way stop him from testifying. The gag order also does not broadly prevent Trump from talking. Trump’s campaign scheduleTrump continued Friday to complain that the New York trial is preventing him from being on the campaign trail.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, –, “ I’m, who’s, ”, he’s, I’m, Judge Juan Merchan’s, Joe Biden, Merchan, Rather, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Bragg, it’s, “, ’ Trump, ’ ” Trump, ’, you’re, ” Trump, ” Merchan, Defendant, Biden, It’s, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, CNN’s Kristen Holmes Organizations: Washington CNN, New, Trump, Manhattan, Attorney, “, Republican, Miami, Prix, Georgia, Biden, Justice Department Locations: New York, Manhattan, Michigan, York, Fulton County , Georgia, Washington , DC, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Bedminster , New Jersey, York’s

☆ Trump’s bombardment of dishonesty: Fact-checking 32 of his false claims to Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +43 min

We’re paying for close to 100% of NATO.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. They don’t pay their bills.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. (It rose to about $314 billion in 2020, Trump’s last full year in office.) Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Facts First: Trump’s claim that “nobody died other than Ashli” is false.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “, William Barr, Bill Barr, Barr, Bill, I’m, ”, it’s, Biden, Joe Biden, Tamar Hermann, Hermann, Bill Clinton, “ Trump, ” Trump, …, National Guard Trump, I’ve, George Floyd, Tim Walz, Walz, Paul —, –, Erwan, George Washington, “ don’t, they’re, Stoltenberg, Trump’s, Lagadec, Marc Lipsitch, Barack Obama, European Union won’t, Cortellessa, “ Moody’s, Moody’s, Mark Zandi, Zandi, ’ ” Zandi, Joe Biden’s, rioter Ashli Babbitt, Brian Sicknick, Sicknick, Trump’s ‘, patriotically, ‘, patriotically ’, ” Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi, “ Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi, Christopher Miller, Miller, Eric Cortellessa, Alvin Bragg’s, Bragg, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Alvin Bragg, ” Cortellessa, Hillary Clinton, —, Roe, Wade, Kimberly Mutcherson, “ Donald Trump’s, Maya Manian, Mary Ziegler, Davis, Ziegler, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Roe should’ve, ’, Crime Biden, don’t, “ Biden, he’s, James Biden, Jeff Asher, Asher, It’s, ” “, ” Asher Organizations: Washington CNN, Time, Trump, NATO, Capitol, Trump’s, Trade Center, didn’t, World Trade Center, Department, ISIS, CNN, Democratic, White House, White, South Korea Trump, Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data, Biden Administration, Congressional Research Service, Israel, Israeli Democracy Institute, National Guard, Minnesota Democratic Gov, Minnesota National Guard, Guard, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Transatlantic, for Disease Control, World Bank, Washington Post, Harvard, Harvard’s, National, Trump -, of Health, Human Services, Strategic, Biden, U.S . International Trade Commission, European, Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, European Union, US, European Automobile Manufacturers ’ Association, Bloomberg Economics, US Capitol Police, Capitol Police, “, Republican, Democratic Rep, National Guardsmen, District of Columbia National Guard, Army, Capitol Police Board, Senate, Justice Department, Pulitzer Foundation, Pulitzer, New York Times, Electoral, Democrat, ” Rutgers Law, American University, university’s Health, University of California, ”, Customs, Border Protection, Crime, Manchurian, Republicans, FBI Locations: “, New York City, Saudi, Florida, al Qaeda, New York, Texas, Mexico, South Korea, Trump , South Korea, South, Korea, Israel, Washington, Trump , Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Trump, Minnesota, St, United States, Germany, Brussels, Belgium, Harvard University, China, EU, DC, Trump’s, ”, York, Manhattan, York’s, Russia, That’s

The U.S. government’s landmark antitrust trial against Google’s search business is nearing its conclusion. Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission started investigating Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp, for monopolistic behavior. The government has since sued all four companies — Google twice — in what it says is an effort to rein in their power and promote more competition. Closing arguments wrap up on Friday in Google’s first antitrust suit on allegations that it has a monopoly in internet search. and 17 states sued Amazon, accusing it of protecting a monopoly by squeezing sellers on its vast marketplace and favoring its own services.

Persons: Trump Organizations: U.S, Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Apple, Google, Big Tech, Amazon Locations: Google’s

☆ What’s at stake in the Google antitrust case? Billions of dollars (and the way we use the internet)
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Whenever you type a search into Apple’s Safari browser — say, on an iPhone — chances are it’s Google that returns the results. You can tell Safari to pick another search engine, but in practice most people tend to stick with Google by default. You might know that Google pays Apple enormous sums of money every year for that prime placement. Those eye-popping figures, newly unsealed this week, come from a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Google that’s just entered its closing stages. Nothing prevented Apple from choosing a different default search partner, Google contends.

Persons: —, Google that’s, Trump, Amit Mehta, Mehta, ” Mehta, John Schmidtlein, Google’s, Sherman, “, ” Schmidtlein Organizations: CNN, Google, Apple, Justice Department, DOJ, Microsoft

The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. It wasn't immediately clear if the indictment was related to the 2022 raid. A year after the raid — which had not previously yielded arrests or charges — Cuellar told the Texas Tribune: "There has been no wrongdoing on my part. Despite the raid, Cuellar narrowly defeated a progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, in his 2022 primary and went on to win re-election to his seat that November. A member of the centrist Blue Dogs and New Democrat Coalition, Cuellar was first elected to the House in 2004.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Cuellar's, Joshua Berman, Cuellar, — Cuellar, Jessica Cisneros, Cassy Garcia Organizations: NBC News, Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, Texas Tribune, Texans, Republican, Cuellar, Dogs, New Democrat Coalition Locations: Texas, Laredo , Texas, Azerbaijan, U.S, San Antonio

☆ Joe Biden, Pot President?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Jess Bidgood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Labor Day in 2022, John Fetterman found himself in a room in Pittsburgh with President Biden. And how did the president respond? “He was just, like, ‘Yeah, absolutely,’” Fetterman told me yesterday. The Justice Department on Tuesday said it had recommended that federal restrictions on marijuana become a whole lot chiller. “High reward, zero risk,” said the perpetually sweatshirted Fetterman, joking that he advises Biden only on matters of fashion and weed policy.

Persons: John Fetterman, Biden, Fetterman, ” Fetterman, ” Organizations: Labor, Democrat, U.S . Senate, Department Locations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, and his wife were charged with participating in a yearslong $600,000 bribery scheme involving Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Houston on Friday. Mr. Cuellar, 68, and his wife Imelda, 67, are accused of bribery and money laundering in connection with their efforts on behalf of a bank based in Mexico City and an energy company owned by Azerbaijan, according to the 54-page complaint. Mr. Cuellar is also accused of acting as an agent of a foreign entity while serving as a U.S. government official. Payments made from 2014 to 2021 were laundered through “sham consulting contracts,” front companies and shell companies owned by Mrs. Cuellar, who performed “little to no legitimate work” under the contracts, lawyers with the Justice Department’s criminal division wrote.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Mr, Cuellar, Imelda, . Cuellar Organizations: Justice Locations: Texas, Azerbaijan, Mexican, Houston, Mexico City, U.S

☆ Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife allegedly took nearly $600,000 in bribes, indictment says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | Haley Talbot | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife have been charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities, according to an indictment in federal court in Texas. The alleged scheme took place from late 2014 through at least November 2021, the indictment says. The Justice Department declined to comment on the indictment, which was first reported by NBC News. In a statement on Friday, Cuellar said: “I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. “On top of being an amazing wife and mother, she’s an accomplished businesswoman with two degrees.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Cuellar, “, ” Cuellar, ”, Imelda, she’s, ’, Delanie Organizations: Democratic, NBC News, Washington DC, FBI, National Republican Locations: Henry Cuellar of Texas, Texas, South Texas, Laredo , Texas

☆ Google Employees Tune Out Antitrust Threat as Trial Comes to a Head
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Nico Grant | More About Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Tuesday, Google’s employees gathered for an all-hands meeting named T.G.I.F. These companywide meetings are rarely held on Fridays these days, but the name has stuck. Executives shared highlights from a recent earnings report and cloud-computing conference, and warned workers against taking disruptive actions in the wake of internal protests against a cloud-computing contract with Israel. But no one in the meeting, two employees said, broached a topic that could have a dramatic impact on Google: its landmark antitrust trial with the Justice Department, where arguments are finally coming to an end this week. For eight months, while tech policy experts have tried to divine what a Google victory or loss would mean for the power of tech giants in the United States, Google’s employees have mostly ignored the antitrust fight, according to interviews with a dozen current and recent workers, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the legal matter.

Organizations: Google, Justice Department Locations: Israel, United States

☆ Apple Reports Decline in Sales and Profit Amid iPhone Struggles in China
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Tripp Mickle | More About Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Apple said sales fell 4 percent to $90.8 billion for the three months that ended in March. Revenue from iPhones, iPads and wearables like the Apple Watch declined from the same quarter last year, while sales of software and services rose. Apple’s struggles were most worrisome in China, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, where sales fell 8 percent. Last quarter, Apple’s share of smartphones sold in China fell 4 percent, according to Counterpoint, a technology research firm. Shares of Apple rose 6.5 percent because the results slightly exceeded Wall Street predictions for quarterly sales and profit and were better in China than feared.

Persons: Apple’s, Trump Organizations: Apple, Justice Department, Revenue, Apple Watch, Huawei Locations: iPhones, China

☆ Tech Industry Braces as Google Antitrust Trial Closes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( David Mccabe | More About David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The biggest U.S. challenge so far to the vast power of today’s tech giants has reached its climax. v. Google — over whether the tech giant broke federal antitrust laws to maintain its online search dominance. Google insists that consumers use its search engine because it is the best product. Many antitrust experts expect he will land somewhere in the middle, ruling only some of Google’s tactics out of bounds. The trial is the biggest challenge to date to the vast power of today’s tech giants, which have defined an era when billions of people around the world depend on their products for information, social interaction and commerce.

Persons: Amit P, Mehta Organizations: Justice Department, Google, Apple, District of Columbia, Meta Locations: U.S

The judge overseeing a landmark U.S. antitrust challenge to Google tried to poke holes in both sides’ cases during closing arguments Thursday, as he weighs a ruling that could reshape the technology industry. Judge Amit P. Mehta was presiding over the first day of closing arguments in the most consequential tech antitrust case since the U.S. government sued Microsoft in the late 1990s. The Justice Department has sued Google, accusing it of illegally shoring up a monopoly in online search. On Thursday, Judge Mehta questioned the government’s argument that Google’s dominance had hurt the quality of the experience for searching for information online. “Certainly I don’t think the average person would say, ‘Google and Amazon are the same thing,’” Judge Mehta said.

Persons: Judge Amit P, Mehta, Judge Mehta Organizations: Google, Microsoft, The

☆ FTC accuses ex-Pioneer CEO of colluding with OPEC, blocks him from Exxon board seat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The FTC filed a complaint alleging that Scott Sheffield attempted to collude with representatives of OPEC to reduce oil and gas output to increase prices at the pump and inflate Pioneer's profits. "The FTC has a responsibility to refer potentially criminal behavior and takes that obligation very seriously," spokesman Doug Farrar told CNBC. In response, Exxon agreed to keep Sheffield off its board, the oil major said in a statement Thursday. The FTC alleged that Sheffield repeatedly held private conversations with high-ranking OPEC representatives to assure them that Pioneer and its competitors in the Permian Basin were working to keep oil output artificially low. "Notwithstanding, Pioneer and Mr. Sheffield are not taking any steps to prevent the merger from closing," the company said in the statement.

Persons: Scott Sheffield, Doug Farrar, Exxon, Sheffield, Sheffield's, Lina Khan, — CNBC's Pippa Stevens, Mary Catherine Wellons, Lina Khan's Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Natural Resources, OPEC, Exxon Mobil, Pioneer, FTC, Justice Department, Wall Street, CNBC, Exxon, Sheffield

☆ Air Force preparing new charges against airman who leaked classified info on Discord
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US Air Force is preparing new charges within the military justice system against the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to posting a trove of highly classified intelligence reports and other documents on social media, according to an Air Force spokesperson. But after “close coordination” with the Justice Department, the Air Force has“determined that separate and distinct charges” should be referred against Teixeira “for alleged misconduct related to his military duties,” the spokesperson said. The Air Force will hold a first hearing to review evidence on May 14 at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, the spokesperson said. Prosecutors alleged that while working at a Cape Cod airbase, Teixeira posted messages that included classified information in a Discord chat room called “Thug Shaker Central” before eventually posting photos of documents marked as classified. The documents, some of which were reviewed by CNN, included a wide range of highly classified information, such as blunt assessments on the state of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Teixeira “, Teixeira, “, ”, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz Organizations: CNN, US Air Force, Massachusetts Air National, Air Force, Prosecutors, Justice Department, Department of Justice, United States Air Force, Military, The Air Force, Hanscom Air Force Base Locations: Massachusetts, Russia, Ukraine, States

A flicker of hope for the weed businessFor years, the dreams of the cannabis industry looked like they might go up in smoke, with the U.S. government classifying marijuana as a drug as dangerous as heroin. But the multibillion-dollar industry now has some hope that could change. The bet is that this will give the industry a new lease on life — though it shouldn’t expect big changes immediately. Shares in Tilray, a giant in the industry, jumped 39 percent on Tuesday, while those in Canopy Growth leaped nearly 79 percent. That’s welcome news for investors in both companies: Canopy Growth’s stock is down 97 percent over the past five years, while those in Tilray are down 95 percent.

Persons: Biden Organizations: U.S, Justice Locations: Tilray

☆ Collusion in Health Care Pricing? Regulators Are Asked to Investigate
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Chris Hamby | More About Chris Hamby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Recent revelations about a data analytics firm’s role in determining medical payments have heightened concerns about possible price fixing in health care and led to a call for a federal investigation. In a letter this week, Senator Amy Klobuchar asked federal regulators to examine whether algorithms used by the firm, MultiPlan, have helped major health insurers conspire to cut payments to doctors and leave patients with large bills. She cited a New York Times investigation last month into MultiPlan’s dominance of the lucrative business of pricing out-of-network medical claims. When patients see a medical provider outside their plan’s network, insurers often send their claims to MultiPlan, which uses proprietary algorithms to recommend how much to pay. By driving down payments to providers, MultiPlan and the insurers can collect higher fees for themselves, The Times reported, but this can lead to higher bills for patients, who may get charged the unpaid balance.

Persons: Amy Klobuchar, ” Ms, Klobuchar Organizations: New York Times, Federal Trade Commission, Times

☆ Exclusive: DOJ civil rights leader says she was a victim of abuse in extraordinary statement
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process. “Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband,” Clarke wrote in the statement on Wednesday. “This was a terrorizing and traumatizing period that I have sought to put behind me to promote my personal health, healing and well-being. “When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to,” Clarke wrote. Clarke said she has brought her “personal experience and perspective of being a survivor of domestic violence” to her work.

Persons: Kristen Clarke, “, ” Clarke, Republican Sen, Tom Cotton, Clarke, ” Sen, Mike Lee, ”, CNN’s Devan Cole Organizations: CNN, Justice, Republican, The Daily, Utah Republican Locations: Utah

☆ DOJ charges 'Bitcoin Jesus' with $48 million tax fraud, seeks extradition
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by Danny Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)The Justice Department unveiled criminal tax fraud charges this week against a prolific bitcoin investor named Roger Ver. He came to be known as "Bitcoin Jesus," for getting in early on the digital currency and making a fortune. The DOJ alleges that in preparing those tax filings, Ver underrepresented his bitcoin holdings and evaded taxes on them. The United States is seeking his extradition to face trial on eight counts related to tax evasion, mail fraud and filing false tax returns. According to the indictment, the IRS used a strategy called "clustering analysis" to track the blockchain and identify Ver's bitcoin transactions.

Persons: Roger Ver, Danny Lee, Ver, Bryan Skarlatos, bitcoin Organizations: South China Morning, Getty, Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service, DOJ, CNBC, eBay, IRS Locations: South, California, Caribbean, St, Kitts, Nevis, U.S, Spain, United States, Pest

☆ Crypto investor 'bitcoin Jesus' arrested and charged by the Justice Department with $48 million tax evasion
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Yuheng Zhan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Bitcoin Jesus" Roger Ver was arrested in Spain on charges of tax evasion this week. An early crypto enthusiast, he's been a long-time bitcoin evangelist, earning him the "bitcoin Jesus" nickname. AdvertisementVeteran crypto trader Roger Ver, also known as "bitcoin Jesus," was arrested in Spain and charged by the US Department of Justice with evading $48 million in taxes. Ver faces three charges of mail fraud, two charges of tax evasion, and three charges of subscribing to a false tax return. Ver, who was an early cryptocurrency evangelist, has been avidly promoting bitcoin for years, earning him the "Bitcoin Jesus" moniker.

Persons: Jesus, Roger Ver, Ver, he's, —, Agilestar —, Ver didn't, Binance's, Changpeng Zhao, Sam Bankman, Fried Organizations: DOJ, Service, Veteran, US Department of Justice, Justice Department Locations: Spain, St, Kitts, Nevis, US

Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, heads to a Seattle courtroom on Tuesday to learn whether the crimes he admitted to committing will land him in prison for an extended sentence. As part of his plea deal with the Department of Justice, Zhao agreed to step down as CEO. Once a titan of the crypto sector, Zhao grew Binance into the world's largest centralized crypto exchange globally. Unlike rival exchange FTX, which collapsed into bankruptcy when founder Sam Bankman-Fried was criminally charged, Binance has continued to operate. Binance processed a whopping $18.1 trillion worth of trading volume in 2023, according to data from CCData, a crypto market data firm.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Richard Jones, Binance, Sam Bankman, Fried, Nansen, he's Organizations: Department of Justice, District, Prosecutors, Bank, U.S, Justice Department, Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, SEC Locations: Seattle, U.S, CCData, Iran

The US Department of Justice is expected to recommend that marijuana be rescheduled as a Schedule III controlled substance, a classification shared by prescription drugs such as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine. The standard rulemaking process is lengthy, is subject to a public comment period, and could take months to complete. However, rescheduling marijuana will not solve that federal-state conflict, the Congressional Research Service noted in a January 16 brief. States with medical marijuana programs do currently have some federal protections in place via appropriations legislation that restricts the Justice Department from interfering in those programs. The FDA’s scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana did not address products containing plant-derived cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, General Merrick Garland, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, US Department of Justice, Associated Press, White, Office of Management, US Health, Human Services, Food and Drug, Justice Department, Staff, National Institute on Drug, Delta, National Conference of State Legislatures, Congressional Research Service, CRS Locations: Colorado

☆ Binance Founder Sentenced to Four Months in Prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( David Yaffe-Bellany | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, a much shorter term than prosecutors had demanded after he pleaded guilty to money laundering violations last year. Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison while Mr. Zhao’s defense lawyers had requested probation without any prison time. In March, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX exchange and Mr. Zhao’s onetime business rival, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud. Not long ago, Mr. Zhao and Mr. Bankman-Fried stood atop the multitrillion-dollar crypto industry. But it also faced investigations by several U.S. agencies into whether Mr. Zhao had broken the law to build his empire.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Prosecutors, Justice Department’s, Sam Bankman, Zhao’s, Zhao, Fried, Binance Organizations: Justice

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