Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times
Federal prosecutors have made the rare move of seeking dismissal of a three-year-old drug indictment following testimony from a former Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor who said drugs in Chicago are “typically trafficked by Latino people.”
The comments seemed to stun defense attorneys and catch the attention of U.S. District Judge John Blakey, who on Friday agreed to toss charges pending since 2019 against Leonel Hernandez-Rodriguez, Feliberto Flores-Ramos, Charlie Dotson and Francisco Carranza-Rosales.
The unusual move came more than a month after Keith Billiot, who is now retired but worked as a supervisory special agent for the DEA, testified about his role in the case during a March evidentiary hearing. He later walked back his comment following intense cross-examination, telling the judge race was “irrelevant” to the DEA’s work.
Billiot explained during the hearing what had led him to believe Flores-Ramos and Dotson had been involved in a drug deal Jan. 31, 2019. After naming other factors, including the behavior of the suspects, Billiot went further, according to a court transcript.
“In the city of Chicago for the five-and-a-half years that I worked here, typically — not always, but typically it is people of Latino descent are the ones that are supplying people of African American descent or Caucasians, or whatever,” Billiot said, according to the transcript. “But it’s the — the fact of the matter is that the drugs come up from Mexico or come in from Colombia but they come through Latino countries into the cities throughout the U.S. and therefore they’re typically trafficked by Latino people. So all of that, when you put all of that together, it indicated a narcotics transaction to me.”
Defense attorneys in the case — Thomas Anthony Durkin, Gal Pissetzky, Michael Leonard and Robert Rascia — all moved to strike Billiot’s testimony. Blakey said he’d strike the comment about race and added, “I’m going to permit vigorous cross examination on the issue, so fire away.”
Billiot could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch, said that, “after reviewing the matter internally, we decided that moving to dismiss the indictment was the best course of action in this case.”
A criminal complaint in the case said law enforcement saw Flores-Ramos leave a home in the 6500 block of South Kenneth the afternoon of Jan. 31, 2019, holding his hand against the left side of his jacket in a way that suggested he was hiding something.
It said Flores-Ramos then got in a Dodge Caliber and traveled to 63rd and Kilbourn while investigators followed. The Dodge parked behind a white Buick sedan, Flores-Ramos got out and climbed into the Buick’s passenger seat with his hand still pressed against his jacket, according to the complaint.
Dotson was allegedly in the Buick’s driver’s seat.
Investigators soon drove toward the Buick and parked next to it, records show. After ordering Dotson and Flores-Ramos out of the car, authorities said they spotted an open bag filled with what turned out to be $34,000 cash on the front passenger floorboard. The feds also said a closed backpack in the back seat later turned out to contain a kilogram of cocaine.
The other defendants were found at the home on South Kenneth, where the feds say they also found eight kilograms of cocaine and $600,000 cash in a dishwasher.
Flores-Ramos admitted after his arrest that he’d gone to sell cocaine to Dotson, according to the complaint.
Still, during the March hearing, Billiot found himself defending his comments about the ethnicity of typical drug suppliers in Chicago. He noted he’d also pointed out other key factors in the investigation.
“So it was not the mere fact — and to be quite honest with you, I’m offended by the whole racism thing,” Billiot told Durkin. “It was not the fact that a Latino person met with a Black person. Absolutely not. Is that clear enough, sir, please? Can we get beyond that please?”
“I started with the probable cause that we developed upon your client and went all the way through the chain of events, sir,” Billiot continued. “That’s including the car, the car is running, the lights are off. Why would that be, sir? So I painted the picture of the entire probable cause that we saw, all the — the things that we saw. We didn’t generate those things. The client — the defendants here did but I simply testified as to what we saw. There is no racism involved in this.”
Blakey also questioned him about the comment, asking whether the ethnicity of the defendants played any role in his decision-making.
“It’s irrelevant,” Billiot eventually told the judge. “Someone’s ethnicity — the clearest way for me to say this is someone’s ethnicity is irrelevant to us in all respects.”
But Billiot pushed back once more against Durkin, telling the defense attorney, “this inference of racism is so phony.”
“You know nothing about me,” Billiot said. “Nothing. For you to infer that I’m a racist, I’m the godfather of an African-American child. She is — she is the daughter of a police officer and soldier who is one of my closest friends.
“There is nothing racist about what we do or how we do it. Nothing.”
Skip The Scoop | Seek Understanding
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 28, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 13 Seconds
Episode 1,055 – Holding People Accountable and Taking Names. Major updates on the AZ audit as it wraps up. Mitt Romney hasn’t seen anything yet, we’re coming harder. Mike Lindell has the smoking gun. Guests are: Mike Lindell, Gen. Don Bolduc, Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded June 28, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 13 Seconds
Episode 1056 – The Movement in America That Can’t Be Stopped.
Bannon’s War Room | Saturday Edition Hour 1 | Recorded June 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 25 Seconds
Episode 1,052 – Paper is the Best Evidence. Major updates on the AZ audit as it wraps up while people have died because of Fauci. Guests are: Dr. Peter Navarro, Mark Finchem.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded June 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 32 Seconds
Episode 1,049 – Victory In Georgia For Forensic Election Audit. They argued, among other things that the the lawsuit was barred by sovereign immunity, a principle that says state and local governments and can only be sued if they agree to it”. Guests are: John Fredericks, Boris Epshteyn.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 32 Seconds
Episode 1,050 – Mike Pence Doubles Down Against MAGA. “I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” he said. Guests are: Rep. Tim Burchett, Col. Lawrence Sellin.
Bannon’s War Room | Saturday Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 29 Seconds
Episode 1,053 – Biden’s Border is About to Implode. Major updates on the AZ audit as it wraps up while people have died because of Fauci. Kamala’s border stop backfires. Guests are: Dr. Peter Navarro, Todd Bensman, David Rodriguez.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded June 25, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 32 Seconds
Episode 1,051 – Rescuing America From The New Soviet Era. “I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States” he said. Guests are: Terry Schilling, Thomas Farnan.
June 24, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 47 Minutes 55 Seconds
Florida Condo Collapse: 99 Still Missing; NY Court Suspends Rudy Giuliani’s Law License.
[ NTD On Rumble ]
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded June 24, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 36 Seconds
Episode 1,046 – The Pillow Hour. Marjorie Taylor Greene has message for taking back America on every level. Guests are: Mike Lindell, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 24, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 34 Seconds
Episode 1,047 – The Pillow Hour Pt. 2.Guests are: Mike Lindell, Scott Mineo.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded June 24, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 1,048 – War on the Middle Class and the Knee-Capping of Giuliani. America is crumbling right now because people stopped telling the truth. Guests are: Dr. Peter Navarro, Judge John Leventhal, Boris Epshteyn, Todd Bensman, Mark Eglinton, Joe Allen.
John McAfee on Clinton: The FBI is either incompetent or corrupt in dealing with Hillary’s emails
I finally got around to watching the interrogation of FBI Director James Comey by Congressman Jim Jordan. It was an eye-opening epiphany, and it once and for all made clear to me that the cyber technologists within the FBI are either the most incompetent on this planet or corrupt in handling the Hillary Clinton email saga.
I was watching the interrogation with lukewarm interest up to the point that the congressman asked Comey if the FBI was aware of Paul Combetta’s enquiry on Reddit about how to strip an email address from a server’s email data base. Mr Combetta, by the way, is the technical expert who ultimately deleted 33,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Two points stood out. Firstly, Comey was not sure that the FBI was aware of Combetta’s post on Reddit. He knew Clinton’s email address had been removed but he believed that the emails were still intact. Secondly, Combetta testified that Clinton was afraid that her email address would be given to the public. So he removed it from the emails.
Now, any competent software engineer can take the above two conditions and will come to the same conclusion that I reached: Clinton, or someone in her staff, came up with the bright idea of stripping all of the headers from her emails, rendering the remaining texts virtually useless. They would have no “from” or “to” fields, no date stamps, no time stamps, and no information on who may or may not have been copied on the emails – and, it could be done, seemingly in a legal fashion, by stating “we only removed Hillary’s email address for privacy reasons”.
The fact that the entire header also disappeared was an “unexpected” artefact of the process. “Oops… my bad” was all someone had to say. Brilliant, I admit, but due to extenuating circumstances it didn’t work out the way it was planned, for reasons I will explain later. So the radical step of using BleachBit to wipe the emails was eventually taken. . . .
John McAfee, The Big Tech Magnate & Cryptocurrency Advocate, Praised Trump and Exposed Big Media, Big Tech and Hilary Clinton, Found Dead ‘ala Jeffrey Epstein’ In Spanish Prison Cell
On YouTube, “No disrespect to you and you guys. But, honestly, this is what is wrong with this country and every country. The information flow funneled through a few faces, a few agencies, a few stations, Fox, CNN, CNBC, that’s the problem. If you watch the news, is it news? Some stations are women with leather vests and low cut blouses. Bullshit. This is drama.” ~ John McAfee
John McAfee referenced Jeffrey Epstein in suicide tweet last year
Software tycoon John McAfee, who died from an apparent suicide in a Spanish jail cell Wednesday, sent a cryptic tweet last year that if he was found hanged behind bars like Jeffrey Epstein, “it would be no fault of mine.”
“I am content in here. I have friends,” the eccentric entrepreneur tweeted on Oct. 15. “The food is good. All is well.”
“Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.”
McAfee, 75, was found hanging in his Barcelona cell Wednesday, just hours after a Spanish court ruled that he would be extradited to the US to face federal tax evasion charges.
Officials said they ruled out foul play in his death, according to El Pais newspaper. . . .
Antivirus pioneer John McAfee found dead in prison after extradition ruling
John McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer turned anti-government cryptocurrency promoter and frequent fugitive from the law, was found dead in his prison cell in Spain on Wednesday.
The last 15 years of the grizzled tycoon’s life were marked by run-ins with — and flights from — police and governments across the Western Hemisphere. In media interviews and posts on his own social media accounts, he cultivated the air of a louche renegade, sometimes shirtless, frequently on a boat, often with a gun nearby, holding out against tyrannical government conspiracies.
McAfee, 75, announced his most recent exile in 2019, writing on Twitter that he had not paid taxes in eight years. “Every year I tell the IRS, ‘I am not filing a return, I have no intention of doing so, come and find me,’” he added in a video post.
That same year, a Florida court ordered McAfee to pay $25 million in a wrongful-death suit to the estate of his former neighbor in Belize, Gregory Viant Faull. McAfee fled the Central American nation in 2012, after police in Belize announced that he was a “person of interest” in Faull’s apparent murder. . . .
Founder of Papa John’s Headlines Cryptocurrency Event
John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John’s pizza, headlined a unique event for cryptocurrency supporters and investors on Thursday, ahead of the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami.
Schnatter was selected as the featured speaker because the first physical purchase in history made with Bitcoin was the purchase of two Papa John’s pizzas in 2010 with 10,000 Bitcoins.
“I was honored to be part of the event. It’s incredible to think how far cryptocurrency has come in just a decade,” Schnatter detailed while speaking, according to an emailed statement.
Schnatter also joked about the dramatic shift in value the cryptocurrency has undergone since its early growth in 2010.
“I’ll forever be proud that the first physical exchange made with Bitcoin was for two of my pizzas, even if the guy who bought them regrets it,” he described while referencing that the amount of Bitcoin used to purchase his two pizzas would currently be worth over $360 million.
Often, Schnatter compares his life to “living the American Dream.” He grew up in a middle-class family in Jeffersonville, Indiana. After completing college, the future founder and CEO returned home to begin his business adventures. He knocked down a broom closet in his father’s tavern, installed an oven and began delivering pizza out of the back of the bar. From there, his brand grew to over 5,000 stores in 45 countries.
At the event, Schnatter compared cryptocurrency to the “American Dream.” He said, “I’ve always been a strong proponent of the American Dream, and I can think of few things that represent the American Dream these days as well as cryptocurrency does. Crypto is democratizing investing.”
The Bitcoin event is the largest cryptocurrency conference in the world. Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the multi-day event.
— — —
Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to cooperreports@gmail.com.
The post Founder of Papa John’s Headlines Cryptocurrency Event appeared first on The Georgia Star News.
FLASHBACK: John McAfee Called FBI ‘Corrupt’ Or ‘Incompetent’ Over Hillary’s Emails In 2016 Op-Ed
John McAfee, who was found dead in a Spanish jail cell earlier today in what Spanish authorities are calling a suicide, wrote a lengthy op-ed featured in the International Business Times calling the FBI either “corrupt” or “incompetent” for its handling of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 email scandal.
McAfee, a technology and cryptocurrency pioneer who was being held on suspected tax evasion – and was recently set to be extradited to the United States – at the time of his death, wrote a scathing article suggesting the FBI was “incompetent” due to its suspicious handling of failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails.
McAfee’s article was penned on November 3, 2016, only days before the 2016 election that saw President Donald Trump win an upset victory, and shortly after disgraced former FBI Director James Comey was interrogated in Congress for his agency’s role in examining Clinton’s emails. According to McAfee, “It was an eye-opening epiphany, and it once and for all made clear to me that the cyber technologists within the FBI are either the most incompetent on this planet or corrupt in handling the Hillary Clinton email saga.”
In the article, McAfee noted that Comey claimed he had no knowledge of Paul Combetta’s Reddit post questioning users about how to “strip an email address from a server’s email data base” and wrote, “Mr. Combetta, by the way, is the technical expert who ultimately deleted 33,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails.” McAfee suggested that Combetta was tasked with using Reddit to create a cover story that he was only tasked to save Clinton the “embarrassment” of having her private email leaked.
“The inescapable conclusion, to me at least, is that the post was carefully crafted to provide a record indicating that Combetta was merely attempting to save Clinton the potential embarrassment of having her email address released to the public,” wrote McAfee. “If Combetta did indeed try to modify the header to change an email address, then the result would most assuredly have been the total destruction of the header. Email providers create safeguards against such modifications. A world-class hacker could do it, with a lot of work, and time, which Combetta did not have.”
McAfee noted that this ploy would have ultimately been successful, had Wikileaks not intervened with the mass release of Clinton emails. However, McAfee also claimed that the FBI could, with effort, restore more of Clinton’s emails. “It would not take much to write a forensics program to cross reference known email senders, receivers, dates and times, with the redacted emails. I suspect that 95% or more of the missing data could be recovered.” He concluded, “Has the FBI thought of this? That is the question at the heart of it all.”
McAfee was found dead in his cell at the Spanish jail he was being detained in this afternoon. As many have noted, McAfee repeatedly warned that he would be murdered while in jail, and his death would be disguised as a suicide.
Biden Targets Crypto Tax Evaders in Global Data-Sharing Pitch
The Biden administration has proposed requiring the collection of data on foreign cryptocurrency investors active in the U.S., aiming to bolster international cooperation to help in a broader crackdown on tax evasion.
The Treasury Department, in its “Greenbook” of revenue proposals released last Friday, proposed a requirement for cryptocurrency brokers, such as exchanges and hosted-wallet providers, to provide information to the IRS on foreign individuals indirectly holding accounts with them.
“They clearly feel that right now there’s a blind spot for foreign owners,” said Jorge Castro, a tax attorney at Miller & Chevalier Chartered who previously worked at the IRS and as a Democratic tax counsel on Capitol Hill. The proposal addresses “certain passive entities and their substantial foreign owners,” the Treasury said.
The U.S. could then provide that information to foreign governments and, in exchange, receive information on any U.S. individuals concealing cryptocurrency assets and dodging their U.S. tax liabilities by using offshore exchanges and wallet providers.
The move, which would require congressional legislation, is part of a campaign by President Joe Biden’s administration to strengthen tax enforcement to help pay for trillions of dollars of proposed longer-term spending programs. It also coincides with the Treasury’s engagement with counterparts around the world to set a global minimum tax for corporations. . . .
Hacking group Anonymous issues warning to Elon Musk claiming too much power influence Bitcoin prices
‘Anonymous’ threatens to target billionaire Elon Musk for his manipulation of Bitcoin’s value with his ‘cavalier’ tweets and says he shows ‘disregard for the average working person’
- The ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous have recorded a message aimed at Elon Musk
- Group express their frustration with the Tesla CEO over his ‘cavalier attitude’ to crypto where tweets from Musk can send the digital currency plunging
- Musk’s ‘breakup meme’ tweet on Thursday night sent Bitcoin falling 7%
- Anonymous say his tweets show ‘disregard for the average working person’
- The group essentially implies that Musk isn’t everything he claims to be and issues a veiled warning
- Anonymous are responsible for some of the biggest digital hacks in history including PayPal and the Church of Scientology
Sotheby’s will take cryptocurrency for 100-carat diamond
A rare pear-shaped diamond that is expected to fetch up to $15 million can be bought at auction next month using cryptocurrencies, Sotheby’s announced on Monday.
Sotheby’s said it would be first time a diamond of such size has been offered for public purchase with cryptocurrency. No other physical object of such high value has previously been available for sale with cryptocurrency, the auction house added.
The 101.38-carat pear shaped flawless diamond, dubbed The Key 10138, is one of just 10 diamonds of more than 100 carats ever to come to auction, only two of which were pear-shaped.
It carries a pre-sale estimate of $10 million – $15 million and will be sold on July 9 in Hong Kong. Bitcoin or ether, along with traditional money, will be accepted as payment. . . .
Why China’s kicking out the crypto miners
The news: China’s intensifying crackdown has sent cryptocurrency prices tumbling. China has been upping its regulatory squeeze on cryptocurrencies for some time, but it now looks likely that over 90% of its bitcoin mining capacity in the country will shut down, according to a report in the Global Times, which is published by the Chinese state. Last Friday, authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan ordered crypto miners in the region to cease operating.
Yesterday, China’s central bank announced it was ordering banks to crack down on cryptocurrency trading.
The effects: On the same day, bitcoin’s price dropped to $31,333—it’s fallen by 20% in the last week—amid increasing uncertainty about its future. Other cryptocurrencies also tumbled and the entire market has dropped in value by 12% over the past couple of days, according to cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinBase. It’s having an impact on hardware prices too.. Chinese consumers seeking to purchase graphics cards, which are critical components for bitcoin mining, have found sharply lower prices in the past day or so. Some prices had plunged by as much as 66%, according to the South China Morning Post.
Why now: China sees cryptocurrencies, which are decentralized and unregulated, as a threat. Its central bank said they have “disrupted the normal order of the economy” and “increase the risks of illegal cross-border transfers of assets and illegal activities such as money laundering.” It is planning to become the first country to launch its own official digital currency, the e-yuan.
Another alternative: Bitcoin mining won’t cease because of China’s crackdown. Instead, operators will relocate elsewhere. Texas has been touted as a place that could benefit from the new restrictions in China, thanks to its relatively lax regulatory environment and cheap electricity. . . .
PayPal to Allow Users to Withdraw Cryptocurrency to Third Party Wallets
PayPal Holdings Inc said on Wednesday it plans to allow users to withdraw cryptocurrency to third party wallets. The San Jose, California-based company, which opened its platform to digital currencies last October, at present does not let users move cryptocurrency holdings off its platform. The news was earlier reported by Coindesk, citing comments from Jose Fernandez da Ponte, who leads PayPal’s blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies business unit. By Niket Nishant
El Salvador Becomes First Country to Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender
SAN SALVADOR—El Salvador has become the first country in the world to formally adopt bitcoin as legal tender after Congress approved President Nayib Bukele’s proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency.
With 62 out of 84 possible votes, a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the initiative to create a law that will formally adopt bitcoin, despite concern about the potential impact on El Salvador’s program with the International Monetary Fund.
Bukele has touted the use of bitcoin for its potential to help Salvadorans living abroad to send remittances back home, while saying the U.S. dollar will also continue as legal tender.
“It will bring financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation, and economic development for our country,” Bukele said in a tweet shortly before the vote in Congress, which is controlled by his party and allies.
He added that the use of bitcoin, whose use will be optional, would not bring risks to users. Its use as legal tender will go into law in 90 days.
“The government will guarantee the convertibility to the exact value in dollars at the moment of each transaction,” Bukele said. . . .
BREAKING: SEC Asks Judge to Quash Deposition from a Former SEC Official in Crypto Case – Former SEC Chairman Clayton Initiated Case Hours Before He Resigned
A letter sent from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) to the judge in the Ripple case initiated hours before the former SEC Chairman Clayton resigned, requests that a former SEC official not have to provide information on the case in a deposition.
Last week we reported on the activities the SEC took related to cryptocurrency during the Trump Administration. Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton was at the center of the story.
Pundit Seekingalpha.com believes the former Head of the SEC may have done this:
While at the helm of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), former Chairman Jay Clayton (pictured below) made a mess of the digital economy. Clayton’s actions in office resulted in stalling U.S. cryptocurrency and blockchain innovations, dampening a burgeoning industry, and enabling China to race out in front. Digital money is here to stay, and instead of making efforts to provide clarity and structure for the future of American-made innovation in this space, Clayton’s SEC kept everyone guessing on the rules while picking clear winners and losers among the biggest coins.
But what if Clayton’s approach was intentional? What if the lawsuits, the flip-flopping, and the uncertainty all weren’t from a lack of knowledge or resources but rather a well-thought-out strategy to advance his financial interests? Thankfully for us, Clayton and his deputies left behind a factual trail that can provide an opportunity for a course correction on U.S. crypto policy, as well as accountability if wrongdoing was indeed afoot.
On December 22, Clayton dropped an 11th-hour lawsuit against crypto innovator Ripple Labs. The announcement of this lawsuit came just 12 hours before Clayton resigned from the SEC. As with other administrations, Clayton may have hoped to file the suit and walk away, never to hear of it again. But his decision to sue Ripple labs sent shockwaves throughout the crypto community, and after a closer look, it appears Clayton left us clues that point to a larger story reeking of self-dealing, possibly even corruption.
Even before he was confirmed in the post in 2017, Clayton had been tagged “the most financially conflicted SEC chairman in history.” Accusation doesn’t equal guilt, but the facts made the label stick. In 2014, Clayton, then partner at the Wall Street firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and William Hinman, then partner at Simpson Thacher, helped Chinese tech giant Alibaba explode onto the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This helped a company with proven links to the Chinese Communist Party better position itself with the world’s leading digital payments application: Alipay. For years, the U.S. crypto industry has been trying to disrupt that digital payments space – chief among them has been Ripple. The XRP distributed ledger, which Ripple uses for its digital payments solutions, had only just debuted a year before Clayton and Hinman [Clayton’s right hand man at the SEC] helped engineer Alibaba’s market debut.
As we reported last week, the industry is lacking regulations and definitions for what is a currency and what is an investment. Pundit Seekingalpha.com continues:
In 2018, Clayton made his own declaration in a CNBC interview that Bitcoin is not a security, and like Hinman’s comments on Ethereum, this action sent Bitcoin’s price skyrocketing. Both of these coins, anointed as free of regulatory risk by Clayton and Hinman, are proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. This label means they are “mined”, while XRP is designed to skip the costly and energy-consuming mining process and generate faster transactions. Was it a coincidence that after both officials declared Bitcoin and Ethereum to not be securities and increased market interest in them, Simpson Thacher took a Chinese company public that manufactures crypto mining equipment?
It is well documented that a hedge fund named One River Digital Asset Management made a billion dollar bet on Bitcoin and Ethereum after Clayton’s SEC declared they are not securities. Soon after, Clayton filed the SEC lawsuit against Ripple that crashed the value of the leading non-mined token, XRP, alleging that it has been an unregistered security for 7 years. Weeks later, One River hired Jay Clayton to a senior position at the hedge fund. Hinman is now back at Simpson Thacher. Now, China has rolled out its own sovereign digital currency, the Digital Yuan, a means by which it intends to use to gain a competitive advantage over western crypto innovators like Ripple. It was activated on Alipay in May while Ripple battled the SEC lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.
Yesterday a letter was sent from the SEC to the judge in the case initiated by former SEC Head Clayton asking that an individual who used to work for the SEC be allowed not to have to provide testimony in a deposition requested (by Ripple) in this case.
This means that Ripple wants to question, under oath (deposition), a former SEC official. The SEC objects to the deposition, the parties could not work out their differences, and they want MJ Netburn to decide if it will happen. We do not know who the former SEC official is. Yet.
— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) June 22, 2021
We learned during the Trump years that the US government is full of corruption. Wherever President Trump turned there was corruption. The SEC appears to be one of those places.
The post BREAKING: SEC Asks Judge to Quash Deposition from a Former SEC Official in Crypto Case – Former SEC Chairman Clayton Initiated Case Hours Before He Resigned appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
John McAfee In His Own Words On Cryptocurrency and Charges Against Him
“When privacy coins are widely used, governments will no longer be able to collect taxes. Meaning governments will have to shrink. . . .” ~ John McAfee
Letter ‘Q’ Posted to John McAfee’s Instagram Account, Hours After His Death
John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday, but the letter “Q” was posted to his Instagram account hours after his death.
John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday, but the letter “Q” was posted to his Instagram account hours after his death.
McAfee’s wife, Janice, is believed to have posted to his accounts for him while he was imprisoned — but it is currently unclear who has access or posted the cryptic “Q.”
There was no caption or explanation with the photo.
The death of the 76-year-old outspoken political activist and anti-virus software pioneer is currently being reported as a suicide, however, he has frequently claimed that if he dies by suicide it was the government. Earlier in the day, Spain’s National Court approved a request for his extradition back to the US.
McAfee even got a tattoo in 2019 reading “$WHACKD.”
Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: “We’re coming for you McAfee! We’re going to kill yourself”. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn’t. I was whackd. Check my right arm.$WHACKD available only on https://t.co/HdSEYi9krq
pic.twitter.com/rJ0Vi2Hpjj
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 30, 2019
I am content in here. I have friends.
The food is good. All is well.
Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) October 15, 2020
McAfee was arrested by Spanish authorities on October 3, 2020 at the El Prat Airport.He was wanted by the US government for owing millions of dollars in taxes.
Zero Hedge reports that earlier this month, McAfee argued in a videolink hearing that charges against him are politically motivated, and that he would die in prison if he was returned to the US.
If convicted, he was facing up to 30 years in prison.
The post Letter ‘Q’ Posted to John McAfee’s Instagram Account, Hours After His Death appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
‘Worst Cover Up in Human History’: House Republicans Launch Campaign to Hold CCP Accountable Over Pandemic
House Republicans have vowed to take a series of actions to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for its coverup of the COVID-19 outbreak that spurred the global pandemic, and get to the bottom of how the disease started spreading among humans.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on June 23 laid out an eight-pronged plan targeting the communist regime and other bodies to “ensure Americans get the accountability and transparency they deserve.”
“We cannot allow the wrongdoing of China to go unnoticed—And more importantly, to not allow the accountability to happen,” McCarthy said at a press conference in Washington.
The first item on the agenda, McCarthy said, was to introduce legislation compelling the government to declassify intelligence relating to the origins of the CCP virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19 disease.
President Joe Biden on May 26 ordered the intelligence community to produce a report in 90 days on the origins of the virus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan. He said intelligence agencies are looking at rival theories, including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China.
McCarthy said the House Republican caucus was launching this effort due to reluctance by Democrat members of Congress and the White House to take action to hold the regime to account over its actions relating to the pandemic. . . .
China Cuts Deal with Hilton to Build Hotel Over Bulldozed Uyghur Mosque
The U.S.-based Hilton hospitality company is developing a hotel built on the site of an Uyghur mosque recently demolished by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China’s western region of Xinjiang, Bitter Winter reported on Wednesday.
“The mosque land was purchased at public auction by a local developer, who in turn signed a contract to develop there a Hampton Hotel, one of the brands owned by Hilton,” Bitter Winter, an online religious liberty and human rights magazine, wrote on June 23.
The magazine referenced a recent report by the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper, which revealed on June 12 that Chinese government authorities tore down Hotan’s Duling Mosque in recent years as part of a plan to replace the Islamic religious center with a commercial development, including a Hampton, which is brand of hotel brand owned by Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
According to the Telegraph, a local Xinjiang landowner purchased the land on which the hotel is being built at a public auction in 2019. A Chinese company called Huan Peng Hotel Management Company, Ltd., signed a contract with the unidentified landowner in August 2020 to develop a Hampton hotel. . . .
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded June 23, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 30 Seconds
Episode 1,043 – Nuclear Explosion of Evidence. The majority of Americans support a forensic audit and GOP elites ignore it. Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, John Fredericks.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 23, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 25 Seconds
Episode 1,044 – Raheem Reflects on Brexit’s 5th Anniversary. We the people versus the global elites, Americans are awakening. Guests are: Mike Lindell, Sidney Powell.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded June 23, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 1045 – The New Populist Rising Takes Charge. Guests are: Jack Posobiec, Sidney Powell.
June 22, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 49 Minutes 47 Seconds
Ethical Concerns Over Use of NIH Funds; Large Parent Protest Over Transgender Policy.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded June 22, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 45 Seconds
Episode 1,040 – The Daszak Files. The Lancet, revered as the medical journal authority, has fallen from grace as fast as Dr. Anthony Fauci and for the same reason. Guests are: Natalie Winters, Dr. Peter Navarro
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded June 22, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 49 Seconds
Episode 1,041 – The Age of the Digital Wallet is Here. Dr. Naomi Wolf sounds the alarms on Chinese-style digital passports, while Mike Lindell’s ‘Cyber Symposium’ will expose a huge haul of election fraud evidence. Guests are: M.B.B., Mike Lindell, Naomi Wolf.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded June 22, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 1,042 – Daszak, Google, and Zuckerburg. Zuckerberg helped corrupt government official and was let off. Guests are: Natalie Winters, Dr. Peter Navarro.
NTD Business News Rebroadcast | June 21, 2021
American Airlines Cancels Flights, Short on Labor; Homes Are Selling in Just 6 Days.
Local CBS Anchor Criticizes Network Live on Air Over ‘Discrimination,’ Will Go to Project Veritas
A CBS 62 weather reporter, April Moss, said live on the air that she will expose the network for alleged “discrimination that CBS is enforcing” on its employees and will provide material to whistleblower platform Project Veritas.
During a Sunday segment on the weather for metro Detroit, where the CBS affiliate station is based, Moss abruptly stopped her normal broadcast and made an announcement.
“And speaking of a brand new week, I will be sitting down this week with Project Veritas to discuss the discrimination that CBS is enforcing upon its employees. Tune into Project Veritas for my full story,” she said, without elaborating on the nature of the alleged discrimination.
Following her comment, Moss seamlessly continued on with her weather report.
Project Veritas appeared to endorse Moss’s announcement in a tweet on Monday, with Veritas chief of staff Eric Spracklen saying her announcement “takes serious guts.” Previously, Project Veritas released secret recordings of CNN staffers who admitted that they skewed their news coverage to oust former President Donald Trump. . . .