Things to Keep an Eye On

The new pope, Israel's undisguised genocidal intent, ADL accuses nuns of antisemitism, Friedrich Merz elected chancellor, Cory Mills' stolen valor, Joshua Schuster charged, and more

Via the Catholic Church of England and Wales / Flickr

The first American pope

Robert Cardinal Prevost of Chicago was elected pope this week on the fourth or fifth ballot, becoming the first American-born head of the Roman Catholic Church as Leo XIV. His first statements regarding secular matters were a call for peace in Gaza, Ukraine and the Punjab, and his intent, following his predecessor in name, Leo XIII, to develop the Church’s social doctrine in a time of AI. He is also the first pope of African-American ancestry, and the first Augustinian pope since the mid-19th century. He is a missionary and canonist rather than a diplomat as many including myself were expecting.

Israel’s cabinet is increasingly undisguised about their ambitions

From Monday:

They agreed to seize all of Gaza indefinitely Monday as well, a plan that sparked objections from six European countries. This was always the plan but we here in the United States, especially those in public office, are not allowed to think a Jew would ever lie because that’s antisemitism and antisemitism is the worst thing you can do. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has dispensed with the idea that the inhabitants are to be provided for in any way at all, suggesting the enclave will be “utterly destroyed.”

Meanwhile Meta banned a Pulitzer Prize winner’s account on Tuesday, and NSO Group was ordered to pay $167 million in punitive damages in the WhatsApp hacking suit.

Despite the undisguised genocidal intent of the Israeli government, that did not stop House Republicans from putting another anti-BDS bill on the floor, before it was pulled in the face of public outrage. This one would criminalize mentioning that someone works for AIPAC.

Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week notably does not include a stop in Israel. Two big stories in Israel Hayom, owned by Sheldon Adelson’s widow, speak to fractures in Israel and between Netanyahu and the Trump administration:

Earlier this week, we reported that Netanyahu was frustrated with Trump. Now it appears the American president has also lost patience with his Israeli counterpart. Two senior figures in Trump's circle stated in recent closed-door conversations, whose contents reached Israel Hayom, that Trump has decided to stop waiting for Israel and instead move forward with Middle East initiatives without Netanyahu.

The sources explained that the president wishes to make decisions he believes will advance American interests, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. Israel was supposed to participate in some of these steps, referring primarily to normalization with Saudi Arabia. However, according to Trump's perspective, Netanyahu is delaying making the necessary decisions. Given this situation, the president refuses to wait until Israel takes its expected actions and is proceeding without Israeli participation.

The way Netanyahu is explaining this to his allies is by saying the Senate will box Trump in, preventing him from cutting any deals with Arab states absent Israel. The senators he would probably lean on are the ones whose offices are more or less run by Israeli intelligence, like Cotton and Cruz, and maybe Graham as well. That’s what this threat means:

"The president won't be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component," the Israeli official told Israel Hayom. "He doesn't have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn't include Israel or that moves forward without its consent." He confirmed that the Americans had made inquiries with Israel regarding its position, but chose to advance the initiative after determining that Israel could not meet Saudi demands regarding the Palestinians.

Even Tory MPs are calling for recognition of Palestine at this point.

Point Bridge v. Johnson case

Charles Johnson had a hearing in Texas on Friday, in which Judge Mark Pittman was notably unsympathetic to his situation. The plaintiffs filed three expert reports in support of the RICO allegations, one of which, by a former FBI guy, cites this blog repeatedly. The other heavy hitter whose name is on one of them is Stewart Baker, the former NSA general counsel.

ADL accuses Franciscan nuns of antisemitism

There’s more sophisticated approach to overseeing and regulating the arms trade that the Quakers took part in in Britain. Quaker families would sometimes own parts of gunpowder factories or cannon forges, and thereby mitigate the profit motive and make them pay close attention to how those weapons were used. These Franciscan nuns are doing the same thing, and the ADL isn’t happy:

And in another proposal, filed on behalf of Francsiscan Sisters of Allegany NY in November, IASJ called for a similar report from General Dynamics, citing the company’s supply “...of artillery munitions and bombs to Israel, which have been reportedly used in attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, that may constitute war crimes, and, according to the International Court of Justice, may plausibly amount to genocide.”

“Although, in June 2024, UN experts called on companies to immediately end arms transfers to Israel, even if approved by State export licensing, or risk complicity in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, GD continues to sell weapons to Israel,” said the proposal.

Last month, the ADL filed their own opposition to both proposals and issued a press release accusing the proposals of being motivated by antisemitism and claimed the proposals contain “...deeply misleading and inflammatory allegations, accusing General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin of complicity in war crimes—and, in the case of General Dynamics, even genocide—due to their lawful defense partnerships with Israel.”

Friedrich Merz elected German chancellor

The conservative-led grand coalition in Germany took power this week:

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has been elected as new chancellor in the second round of voting in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament.

Merz's failure to win enough support earlier today was the first time in Germany's postwar history that a candidate missed a majority in the first round of voting.

Also Bild reported CSU Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ended Merkel’s asylum policy.

Frank Figliuzzi is keeping very close tabs on the FBI Director’s whereabouts

Wonder why?

He has however been spotted elsewhere, according to Figliuzzi, who was appointed as assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division by Robert Mueller in 2011.

“Reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,” Figliuzzi told Morning Joe co-host Jonathan Lemaire.

Stolen valor for Rep. Cory Mills?

One of the soldiers his Bronze Star recommendation says he saved, says he didn’t:

“He didn’t save my life,” Private First Class Joe Heit, who is cited by name on the recommendation form as one of the soldiers Mills saved, told NOTUS. “I don’t recall him being there either.”

NOTUS reviewed the Department of the Army Form 638 prepared for Mills — the document used to recommend soldiers for awards. The form lists four of Mills’ “achievements.” The document says he exhibited “exceptional bravery” during Operation Iraqi Freedom, saved the lives of Heit and Corporal Alan Babin, saved in a separate incident Sergeant First Class Joe Ferrand, who had been “grabbed by an enemy insurgent,” and was a “dedicated mentor and leader” who shared his knowledge with junior medics.

Guilty plea for Credit Suisse in offshore account stashing

In the EDVA:

Credit Suisse Services AG pleaded guilty and was sentenced today to conspiring to hide more than $4 billion from the IRS in at least 475 offshore accounts. The guilty plea by the Swiss corporation is the result of a years-long investigation by U.S. law enforcement to uncover financial fraud and abuse.

In addition to the plea, Credit Suisse Services AG entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in connection with U.S. Accounts booked at Credit Suisse AG Singapore. Under the NPA, Credit Suisse Services AG agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department in ongoing investigations and to pay significant monetary penalties for maintaining accounts in Singapore on behalf of U.S. taxpayers who were using offshore accounts to evade U.S. taxes and reporting requirements.

Hitman testifies in Caruana-Galizia trial

They had been surveilling her for a long time, via Times of Malta:

Hitmen who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia originally planned to shoot her in the summer of 2017 but had to postpone that plan after one of the killers got cold feet, a court heard on Friday.

Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, said he and the two other hitmen had to wait from June to October until Robert Agius and Jamie Vella got them a bomb instead of the rifle they initially planned to use.

That original plan – to shoot Caruana Galizia through a window while she sat at a desk at her house – was abandoned because George Degiorgio was not comfortable with it, Muscat said.

Before they killed her they buried her in libel suits, too.

Trump admin launches live entertainment anticompetitive practices probe

The FTC was already working on this but glad to see the DOJ get involved:

Today, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly launched a public inquiry to identify unfair and anticompetitive practices and conduct in the live concert and entertainment industry. The agencies invite members of the public to submit comments and information on harmful practices and on potential regulation or legislation to protect consumers in the industry. The Agencies will use the information in their preparation of the report and recommendations directed by President Trump’s Executive Order 14254, Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market.

Russian and Kazakh botnet dismantled

The indictment is in Oklahoma:

A domain seizure warrant was unsealed, along with an indictment charging four foreign national hackers with conspiracy and other computer crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

Russian nationals, Alexey Viktorovich Chertkov, 37, Kirill Vladimirovich Morozov, 41, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Shishkin, 36, and Dmitriy Rubtsov, 38, a Kazakhstani national, were charged with Conspiracy and Damage to Protected Computers for conspiring with others to maintain, operate, and profit from botnet services known as Anyproxy and 5socks.

The Indictment alleges that a botnet was created by infecting older-model wireless internet routers worldwide, including in the United States, using malware without their owners’ knowledge. The installed malware allowed the routers to be reconfigured, granting unauthorized access to third parties and making the routers available for sale as proxy servers on the Anyproxy.net and 5socks.net websites. Both website domains were managed by a company headquartered in Virginia and hosted on computer servers worldwide.

Joshua Schuster of Silverback charged in real estate fraud scheme

Could have seen this one coming a mile away:

Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging JOSHUA SCHUSTER with engaging in a scheme to defraud investors in large real estate development projects located in New York City. SCHUSTER was arrested today and will be presented in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni.

DEA agent surveilling his coworkers

From early this week:

New Jersey pastor indicted for sex trafficking

Very ugly charges here:

An Essex County man who claimed to be a pastor of a church in Orange, New Jersey was indicted on April 25, 2025, for sex trafficking, forced labor, and, along with his wife, conspiring to commit forced labor, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today.

The indictment, which was unsealed on May 7, 2025, charges Treva Edwards, 60, and Christine Edwards, 63, with conspiracy to commit forced labor. It also charges Treva Edwards with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and forced labor. Both defendants were arrested on May 7, 2025 and made their initial appearances on May 8, 2025 and were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa and were detained.