Things to Keep an Eye On
Canadians get in the fight, Matt Gaetz lawsuit updates, Steve Wynn settles criminal allegations, Hamas indictment, Tim Sheehy's problems, Trump assassin investigation updates, and more
Apologies for the lateness, I was on the Middle Peninsula this weekend. Went to Mass at Virginia’s Norwegian church, St. Olaf’s, dedicated to the patron of Norway, antagonist of King Canute and viking for Jesus. It’s been a busy week and all indications are it’s going to get really exciting for the next few.
The Canadians jump in
This report by the Canadian security services is pretty important. The Tenet indictment last week implicated a number of Canadians, and they’re paying attention. Tundra’s research may come into the fore as more influencers get caught out, it looks like he’s got the goods on Microchip and some of the other members of a really nasty network. It’s about time ya hosers!
Affiliates of the Zionist terror group the Jewish Defense League were on the University of Toronto campus on Friday, and they have a close connection to Ezra Levant’s website:
Yoram Hazony has written somewhat admiringly of the JDL’s founder Meir Kahane.
Wynn casinos settles over criminal money laundering allegations
This is huge, if Wynn’s Chinese casinos are now a definite money laundering risk, that raises questions about the other two in Macau, the Adelson one and MGM. The whole statement from the DOJ, rather than just this excerpt, is very interesting, with weird mirrored-transaction type stuff for gamblers:
Wynn Las Vegas, the Las Vegas casino and subsidiary of Wynn Resorts, Limited, agreed today to forfeit $130,131,645 to settle criminal allegations that it conspired with unlicensed money transmitting businesses worldwide to transfer funds for the financial benefit of the casino.
Today’s settlement is believed to be the largest forfeiture by a casino based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing.
As part of a Non-Prosecution Agreement, which allows a company or individual to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for meeting certain criteria, Wynn Las Vegas (WLV) admitted that it illegally used unregistered money transmitting businesses to circumvent the conventional financial system.
For example, WLV regularly contracted with third-party independent agents acting as unlicensed money transmitting businesses to recruit foreign gamblers to WLV. For the gamblers to repay debts to WLV or have funds available to gamble at WLV, the independent agents transferred the gamblers’ funds through companies, bank accounts, and other third-party nominees in Latin America and elsewhere, and ultimately into a WLV-controlled bank account in the Southern District of California.
Matt Gaetz lawsuit updates
There’s a story on a tranche of depositions that may be made public soon. The two reporters, Reese Gorman and Jose Pagliery, formerly of the Daily Beast but now at the new Albritton project, have a story:
Rep. Matt Gaetz may soon face a document dump in federal court that could expose — for the first time — details about the alleged sex parties tied to the accusations that Gaetz had sex with an underage teen.
The trove of information — which is expected to include sworn testimony from a number of people involved in the alleged sex parties — is the ironic result of the congressman’s friend, Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth, dropping a civil lawsuit that sought to bury the scandal.
A federal judge will now decide whether the accounts of several key witnesses should be made public by Sept. 19, including a “declaration” from Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend that one source familiar with the matter described as “candid,” as well as the never-before-seen deposition of the woman who claims she was sex-trafficked when she was 17.
There’s something prurient and unseemly about constantly putting the “sex with an underage teen” line in the lede, over and over, after we know it’s not true. She was 18 when she was around Gaetz. She was also involved in the pornography industry, which, and I’m sorry to put it this way, is never more than two or three degrees from the Israelis because it’s so Jewish.
The implication of this, that the story is gone now, and Gaetz has once again been hoisted on his own petard—these two reporters are constantly misusing the word “irony”—is false, because the state court action is ongoing. If the depositions are unsealed, it will certainly bring more attention to the case.
The story suggests the House Ethics Committee is having trouble getting more info from the DOJ, but when you’re dealing with something like this, with likely organized crime angles, it may be because they’re preparing another case.
Targeted Victory is working with Musk to break back into Brazil
After the Brazilian Twitter ban, which occurred because Musk refused to enter into legal proceedings there, the GOP-aligned digital consultancy Targeted Victory is representing his cause. Talk about an incestuous relationship. That firm handles a lot of the marketing on platforms for various conservative causes, now they’re representing the platform itself. From Wired:
X appears to be working with a well-known Republican consulting group, seemingly to handle the messaging around the social media platform’s suspension in Brazil.
When WIRED emailed X for comment about the rapidly evolving situation in Brazil, a reply came from Michael Abboud, the managing director of the conservative consulting and public relations firm Targeted Victory. According to his LinkedIn, Abboud worked for the State Department in the last year of the Trump administration and as press secretary for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s campaign.
Worth noting that Abboud is a McCarthy guy, so of course he has the Silicon Valley hook-up. Taking out Kevin McCarthy is one of the more heroic acts in Congress of the last decade. If he were in there as Silicon Valley blows up, we’d never know what was really going on.
DOJ charges Hamas leaders with terrorism
The indictment goes back to 1997, here’s the DOJ statement:
The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges against six senior leaders of Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charges relate to the defendants’ central roles in planning, supporting, and perpetrating the terrorist atrocities that Hamas committed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 (the October 7 Hamas Massacres), involving the murders and kidnappings of countless innocent civilians, including American citizens, which was the culmination of Hamas’s decades-long campaign of terrorism and violence against Israel and its allies, including American citizens. The defendants are either deceased or remain at large.
It was prepared in February and unsealed this week, meaning the DOJ delayed it basically out of deference to Netanyahu. And if the indictment goes back to 1997 and Netanyahu funded them in 2018, there’s every reason to consider him an accessory.
Levar Stoney’s city employees have an ironclad NDA
This raises some eyebrows:
Richmond's NDA includes the same acknowledgment but adds that employees must not disclose any confidential information for non-job-related purposes including "conversations with key city officials, employees, staff, and in some instances taxpayers" in verbal or written form.
The agreement requires employees to secret all information "obtained in the course of employment that relates to the business of the City of Richmond."
In recent weeks, CBS 6 has reported on secretly recorded audio of an internal meeting in which Finance Director Sheila White addressed her staff following certain terminations, and former employees have gone public with concerns about the operations of the department.
Turkey arrests alleged head of Mossad financial network
This was from earlier last week:
Turkey arrested a Kosovan national accused of managing the financial network of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in the country, the Turkish intelligence organisation said on Tuesday.
Liridon Rexhepi was detained in Istanbul on Aug. 30, suspected of transferring funds to Mossad personnel operating in Turkey, the Turkish intelligence agency MIT said.
Turkey, which has denounced Israel for its war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, has this year detained more than 20 people suspected of having ties to Mossad.
Tim Sheehy starts to have problems
We told you that Matt Rosendale, one of the congressmen who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, would be a much better choice to be the GOP senate nominee in Montana. He was drummed out instead, in favor of another one of these inflate-a-GI-Joe types. It turns out he’s a complete mess:
Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Montana, a race that could decide control of the chamber, appears to have failed to follow Pentagon rules for clearing portions of his autobiography about his time as a US navy Seal, documents obtained by the Guardian show.
Responding to freedom of information requests, officials with the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR) said that after “thorough searches of the electronic records and files”, they found no record of Sheehy submitting a DD 1910 form, required for all such projects, or any communications at all concerning review and approval of Mudslingers, the book Sheehy published with Permuted Press last year.
The reason why the NRSC likes fucked-up candidates like this is because of the corrupt money being poured into it, it helps oligarchs control senators. Mark Cohoes has more:
NYPD officials have their phones seized
It’s not totally clear what this is all about yet, but a number of top NYPD officials have had their phones seized, there’s a fairly thin report from a New York NBC affiliate that may indicate something:
The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division has joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in looking into questions about the NYPD's nightclub enforcement, a senior official tells NBC New York.
The SDNY and IRS have seized the cellphones of numerous NYPD officials, including at least one phone belonging to Commissioner Edward Caban. Caban's brother, James, also had his phone seized in the corruption investigation.
Several sources tell NBC New York federal investigators want to know if James Caban profited from his ties to his powerful brother and the NYPD. Specifically, the investigation is looking into if James was paid by bars and clubs in Midtown and Queens to act as a police liaison, and if those clubs were then afforded special treatment by local precincts, the sources said.
Kathy Hochul aide indicted for working for China
This goes fairly well with “China Dick” Cheney’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. It’s a fairly huge indictment which hits a lot of top New York figures:
“As alleged in the indictment, Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain. Sun wielded her position of influence among executives to covertly promote PRC and CCP agendas, directly threatening our country’s national security. The FBI is committed to protect the American people from any threat actors who seek to influence officials at the direction of foreign entities,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director Curtis.
“Sun is alleged to be an undisclosed agent of the PRC and CCP, using Chinese money and her influence within the state of New York to benefit the Chinese government. Sun and her husband then laundered millions of dollars for the foreign country and used the monetary benefits of this scheme to buy luxury vehicles and million dollars properties here in New York,” Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of IRS CI New York. “It is with the unwavering determination of federal law enforcement to root-out foreign agents and their schemes that Sun and Hu will now face justice for their criminal acts.”
As alleged in the indictment, while working for the New York State government – including in high-ranking posts in the Executive Chamber of the New York State government and in multiple state agencies – Sun also acted as an undisclosed agent of the PRC and the CCP. Acting at the request of PRC government officials and the CCP representatives, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials.
The Pakistani businessman involved in the Steward contract in Malta
From OCCRP, a long and detailed story:
For years, it’s been clear that a Pakistani businessman named Shaukat Ali played a key role helping U.S. company Steward Health Care land a massive public contract now at the heart of Malta’s biggest ever corruption scandal.
What has been less clear is exactly what he got in exchange.
OCCRP previously reported that Steward was paying Ali and his son, Asad, millions of euros in “consultancy fees” after they helped the Dallas-based company secure a 2.1-billion-euro contract to renovate and manage public hospitals in Malta.
Trump’s Israel ambassador suggests redirecting aid to Palestinians to fund West Bank annexation
Chutzpah is too innocent a word for this, I think the right one is shameless:
Former President Donald Trump has largely remained silent on what he might do in a potential second term regarding issues of particular interest to Jewish Americans. However, if his close adviser’s perspective offers any insight, it could involve the U.S. actively funding a previously shelved Israeli plan to annex the occupied West Bank.
Israel will need financial assistance “to assert and maintain its sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman writes in a new book, One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, scheduled for release on Tuesday. Friedman suggests that the next Republican administration and Congress could redirect $1 billion from existing aid to the Palestinians, including funds meant for the Palestinian security force, to finance the annexation plan, which he said will help improve the lives of Palestinians under Israeli control. “The easiest bucket to tap into and reposition is that of the United States.”
Trump attempted assassination updates
Ken Silva has been on this like white on rice. The congressional task force demanded autopsy records and communications from both Butler and Allegheny Counties. The letter, which Silva published, suggests they’re paying attention to his reporting. Butler County told him that there were no records showing a decision to release the body to the neighboring county. They were expecting answers on Friday.
There’s also this weird tiff in Senator Grassley’s office. He published a 302 of an interrogation of Asif Merchant, then pulled it down. It already looks like there’s been an attempt to blame the assassination on the Iranians, but little evidence for it.
Senator Grassley has a reputation for being one of the better senatorial oversight people. His office is often prompt in asking the right questions right off the bat, the problem is the follow-through sometimes isn’t there. Fast and Furious became a bloody shirt for Republicans to wave, and he kicked it off, but actual answers for what happened were never really forthcoming. Kristen Ruby has had some less-than-edifying interactions with an investigator of Grassley’s, Paul Thacker, that raise eyebrows, to me.
Something else to keep an eye on...
Published in the Wall Street Journal today:
The U.S. set up an ad hoc banking system in Iraq to handle the country’s oil earnings. Iraqi banks used it to funnel dollars to Iran. https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/iraq-banks-u-s-fed-iran-financing-0c3e740c?st=7n3nngeyygivnlg&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
'"The U.S. has taken action to block the suspected Iraqi banks from using the Fed system to transfer dollars, Nelson told the Journal in an interview. “It’s been important for Treasury to ensure those funds are not diverted in support of the Iranian regime.” Nelson, who left Treasury in August, declined through a spokeswoman to discuss his talks with Iraqi officials.
The crackdown on Iraqi banks started in late 2022 after more than a decade of U.S. inaction, even after warnings by the Pentagon inspector general as long ago as 2012 of potential fraud on the order of $800 million a week. Current and former U.S. officials said that over the years the U.S. implemented temporary restrictions on cash flows to Iraq, but feared that tight or permanent controls would plunge Iraq into economic chaos and set back its fight against Islamic State.
For Iran, which has been sanctioned for illicit nuclear activity and for supporting terrorism, access to dollars is critical for buying weapons and parts for drones and missiles, and financing armed groups it supports around the Middle East, U.S. officials said.
Those include Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, U.S.-designated terrorist groups that have battled Israel since last October, raising tensions in the Middle East to the highest level since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq two decades ago.
After the invasion of 2003, Washington agreed to hold Iraq’s earnings from oil sales—tens of billions a year—at the New York Fed. To circulate the proceeds back into Iraq, the Fed began shipping dollars in cash to Baghdad and processing commercial wire transfers from Iraq’s private banks for international trade, hoping to revive its shattered economy after years of war and sanctions.
The ad hoc system lacked a key check that is standard in international banking: It didn’t require the banks to divulge specifically who was getting the funds they were wiring out of Iraq."'