FTX founder and accused crypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried met with senior White House officials on at least four occasions in the months leading up to his firm’s massive implosion, Bloomberg reports.
On Sept. 8, SBF met with senior Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti in a previously unreported encounter, White House officials familiar with the matter said. The meeting was “the latest in a handful of sessions,” according to the report.
Bankman-Fried had at least three others previously disclosed in White House visitor logs. They include one April 22 and another May 12, each with Ricchetti, and one a day later, on May 13, with Bruce Reed, another senior Biden aide, officials confirmed. The final meeting is recorded in logs as two meetings held back-to-back, but was one meeting, officials said. Some of the prior White House meetings included others from FTX. -Bloomberg
What’s more, Bankman-Fried’s brother, Gabriel, held a March meeting of his own and was also at the May 13 meeting – bringing the total number up to five meetings that involved one or bother brothers.
I am sure he called the main line and spoke to an operator to get through.
According to one source, “politics” were not discussed despite SBF being a Democrat megadonor credited as a major factor in President Biden’s 2020 win. Instead, the brothers allegedly talked about general matters related to the ‘crypto industry and exchanges,’ as well as “pandemic prevention related to the foundation, Guarding Against Pandemics, run by Gabe Bankman-Fried,” according to an official.
According to anonymous sources the conversation between two foxes in the henhouse did not involve dinner.
SBF now faces several criminal charges related to the collapse of FTX. His ties to Washington have come under the microscope since the collapse of his exchange – as Bankman-Fried gave millions of dollars to Democratic politicians – becoming the party’s second-largest individual donor in the 2022 session.
One person familiar with the meetings, speaking on condition they not be identified, said that politics was not discussed at the White House meetings.
While Bankman-Fried, or SBF as he’s known, lived in the Bahamas, he made frequent trips to Washington — testifying before Congress and meeting with key regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commissionand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as with White House officials. -Bloomberg
According to US prosecutors, SBF allegedly conspired with others to use corporate funds and shadow donorsfor political contributions, and illegally commingled billions of dollars of customers’ funds lent to his trading arm, Alameda Research.
This is fucking disgusting and proves outright corruption. White House met with bankman-fried (SBF) before the FTX collapse. https://t.co/9s8FhKU24M
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Adults buying toys for themselves are now responsible for a whopping one quarter of toy sales in the United States, emphasizing how permanent adolescence is becoming increasingly common.
Yes, really.
Countless adults, mostly men, who are collecting things like Lego sets, Star Wars action dolls and Funko Pops, are almost single-handedly keeping the toy industry afloat as actual children become more fixated on video games.
Toy companies are now creating “product lines just for these consumers” to meet growing demand because ‘kidults’ (mostly men in their late 20’s, 30’s and even 40’s) want to be constantly reminded of their childhood.
“These kids at heart are responsible for one-fourth of all toy sales annually, around $9 billion worth, and are the biggest driver of growth throughout the industry,” reports CNBC.
“The definition of adulthood has definitely evolved,” said Jeremy Padawer, chief brand officer at toy company Jazwares. “What it used to mean, to be an adult, was to be a very upstanding, serious member of society. And to do that you had to demonstrate it intellectually, emotionally, in every other single way.”
“Now we feel a lot more free to express our fandom as a part of our adulthood,” he added.
In other words, ‘kidults’ can seemingly no longer handle the pressure of behaving like adults and have chosen instead to regress to a juvenile state of consumerist nostalgia.
A society that trains men to pursue hook-up culture, refuse to settle down and get married is undoubtedly one of the reasons why man-babies are becoming increasingly prevalent.
The chemical bombardment from our environment, primarily through plastics and other pollutants impacting testosterone, is also feminizing men and keeping them trapped in a mentally pre-pubescent, emasculated mindset.
Meanwhile, as Michael Snyder highlights, figures show that around half of young adults aged 18-29 are still living at home with at least one parent.
This number represents a 6 per cent increase since 2014 and a 12 per cent increase since 2000.
While crippling student debt loans and unaffordable housing are the two primary factors driving the phenomenon, the fact that more and more adults appear to not want to grow up is also playing a major role.
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The Senate on Thursday voted to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus package that had previously hit a snag over immigration reform. The passed legislation provides Ukraine with $45 billion in additional military and economic aid, and sets aside $38 billion for emergency disaster assistance,The Hill reports.
It also includes reforms to the Electoral Count Act in response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, clarifying that the vice president does not have the power to overturn the results of a presidential election.
The package passed with a large bipartisan majority, 68-29, wrapping up the Senate’s legislative business in the 117th Congress a few days before Christmas.
The omnibus bill represents one of several major bipartisan legislation accomplishments of President Biden’s first two years in office, along with the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, to address gun violence; and the $280 billion Chips and Science Act, to improve U.S. competitiveness with China. -The Hill
The bill also spends $858 billion on defense – a 9.7% increase, as well as $772.5 billion on non-defense – a 5.5% increase.
There is also a 22% increase, or $118.7 billion, for Veterans Affairs medical care, and $59 billion for programs which last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill cover.
“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation. Meanwhile, non-defense, non-veterans spending will come in below the rate of inflation, for a real-dollar cut,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who hailed the bill as a victory for Republicans due to the increase in defense spending.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that a failure to pass the bill would have risked freezing federal funding levels well into 2023 – or potentially even a government shutdown.
“To go to a [continuing resolution] or even worse, a government shutdown, would be a huge disservice at any time, and particularly at holiday season, to the American people,” he said.
Some key Democratic initiatives were left out of the final version, including a proposal to extend the pandemic-era enhanced Child Tax Credit and the SAFE Banking Act, which would protect financial institutions which do business with cannabis-related businesses.
Update (0953ET):Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the chamber has finally reached a deal to move the omnibus forward.
“It’s taken a while but it is worth it,” said Schumer, who says that while timing is unknown, he hopes to get a line of amendments through the voting process quickly. “We will vote on all of the amendments in order and then vote on final passage.”
WE HAVE A DEAL. Senate has a time agreement to get to the Omnibus. There is a line of amendments and Schumer is hoping to get through the votes quickly. Final timing still not 100%. — Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) December 22, 2022
It appears Schumer’s savior came in the form of one Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who on Thursday introduced an amendment to beef up border funding and resources for communities and to extend Title 42, the health policy which allows border agents to quickly deport migrants seeking asylum.
A Trump-era border policy that allows immigration officials to turn quickly expel migrants without processing during a public health crisis is currently holding up passage of the omnibusspending package.
The effort, led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), would keep Title 42 in place – and would cut funding for the office of Department of Homeland Securitychief Alejandro Mayorkas unless the Biden administration reinstates the border control policy.
“We have a difference of opinion on immigration policy. We’re not going to solve that in this budge,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), chair of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, who took aim at Lee’s immigration efforts. “And to let that disagreement take down aid to Ukraine to keep people alive during a cold winter, especially tonight, is pretty unthinkable.”
Lee, meanwhile, told Fox News on Wednesday night “I insisted that we have at least one amendment, up-or-down vote, on whether to preserve Title 42. Because Title 42 is the one thing standing between us and utter chaos. We already have mostly chaos. This would bring us to utter chaos if it expires, which it’s about to.”
The effort to maintain Title 42 has scuttled hopes that lawmakers could vote on the omnibus overnight, however on Wednesday evening, Senate Minority Whip John Thune (D-SD) said he thought they might be able to move forward on Thursday morning.
“There’s been some progress made. … I wouldn’t say breakthrough yet,” he said.
The Biden administration has sought to end the practice since the spring, arguing that the pandemic health emergency it was based on has subsided (despite extending the emergency last month). A group of GOP-led states has sued the administration in federal court to block him from ending the policy.
Title 42 was ruled “arbitrary and capricious” by a district court judge, and ordered the Biden administration to end it on Wednesday, but Supreme Court Justice John Roberts halted that deadline on Monday after the court was asked to intervene. On Tuesday, the Biden administration asked the court to end the program, but, asked for an extension until at least Dec. 27 to allow immigration officials time to prepare for a wave of illegal immigrants at the southern border.
While border agents are already encountering thousands of immigrants every day, the number is expected to rapidly spike when the program ends. Notably, the Biden administration has already minimized the use of Title 42 – instead processing immigrants under Title 8, which allows officials to screen for asylum claims, the Washington Examinernotes. Title 8 also allows border officials to refer migrants for criminal prosecution for repeat illegal entries.
US officials have expelled around 2.5 million migrants under Title 42, nearly two million of which have been carried out by the Biden administration.
A Democratic Senate aide told Punchbowl News that Lee’s insistence on Title 42 is a “poison pill”. If Lee’s amendment passes, Democrats say the omnibus bill would be “dead on arrival” in the house, which votes after the Senate. Democrats are reportedly circulating a competing amendment on Title 42 aimed at attracting centrists, and dissuading them from voting on Lee’s amendment.
“We have a difference of opinion on immigration policy. We’re not going to solve that in this budget,” said Sen. Murphy. “And to let that disagreement take down aid to Ukraine to keep people alive during a cold winter, especially tonight, is pretty unthinkable.”
Talk about a guilt trip…
According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the chamber will work until 2am on Thursday. “It is my expectation that we will be able to lock in an agreement on the omnibus later this morning. We are very close, but we’re not there yet,” he said, asking members to stay near the chambers to “minimize any delays.”
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The FBI has issued a statement in response to the Elon Musk’s release of THE TWITTER FILES, which boils down to ‘Of course we’ve embedded ourselves in social media companies, and anyone who has a problem with it is a conspiracy theorist trying to tarnish our stellar reputation.’
“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our tradition, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries.
As evidenced in the correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to allow them to protect themselves and their customers.
The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public.
It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”
Aside from the obvious absurdity of the organization which participated in the Russia hoax and told Martin Luther King Jr. to kill himself suggesting they’ve got a modicum of credibility – did the FBI just assume there are only two genders when there are in fact 58, according to Facebook? Terribly bigoted of them.
The FBI also claims they did not provide Twitter with any “specific instructions or details regarding the Hunter Biden laptop story,” adding “We did not request anything of the sort..”
FBI officials say they did not provide Twitter with any “specific instructions or details regarding the Hunter Biden laptop story.” On allegations that the FBI attempted to suppress or spike the Hunter laptop story: “We did not request anything of the sort..”
Ah – so it was only the ex-FBI guy at Twitter, not the FBI, suggesting it.
35. In response to Roth, Baker repeatedly insists that the Hunter Biden materials were either faked, hacked, or both, and a violation of Twitter policy. Baker does so over email, and in a Google doc, on October 14 and 15. pic.twitter.com/MpQTUj6Esl
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a visit to Washington D.C. yesterday on December 21st, 2022.Zelensky met with President Biden, and also spoke before Congress.During his visit, Zelensky claimed that the $50 Billion in foreign aid that the U.S. has sent to Ukraine in 2022 is simply not enough.
Congress literally fawned over Zelensky, applauding for what seemed like an eternity as he entered the room. Have they ever shown this much love or admiration for any American?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) receives a standing ovation from lawmakers as he enters the House chamber to address a joint meeting of Congress.
Zelensky then presented a Ukrainian flag to Speaker Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. They waved the flag of Ukraine in our own Capitol.
'This flag is a symbol of our victory' — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a flag to VP Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which he said soldiers asked him to deliver to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/Y8qlyZexe7
The U.S. has already sent $50 Billion to Ukraine in 2022 alone. Per the chart below, the United States has given far more Aid to Ukraine than any other Nation in the world.
Why is the United States bound to spend billions of dollars defending Ukraine? Why is Ukraine important in any way to the average American citizen? Why should American taxpayer dollars be sent outside of our Nation to assist a Country that has never done anything for our Country?
Zelensky received a hero’s welcome in D.C. They quite literally rolled out the red carpet.
There is no benefit to supporting Ukrainian President Zelensky, who arrested political dissidents and tortured his own people without the Russians making a single advance.
Biden heralded Zelensky as the ‘Man of the Year in the United States’ during their meeting in the White House.
Biden to Zelenskyy: "You are the man of the year in the United States of America." pic.twitter.com/VgDC4pwlZG
Ukraine has been, and always will be, a cesspit of corruption. It is the same country where Hunter Biden was on the Executive Board of Burisma… A Ukrainian State-Affiliated energy company.
Hunter reportedly made somewhere around $82,000 per MONTH as salary for working at Burisma… Did this influence Biden and the Democrats in sending over $50 Billion to Ukraine this year alone?
The Republicans are not much better. Mitch McConnell stood before a podium and actually claimed that the Ukrainian conflict is his number one priority. Not inflation, not energy costs, not the COVID vaccine injuries and deaths now skyrocketing, not the suffering and decay of our own Nation. Mitch McConnell isn’t worried about any of that, he chooses to focus on Ukraine.
We can't protect our own border, but McConnell thinks Ukraine's border is our top priority. pic.twitter.com/wupsLytQZT
— The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show (@clayandbuck) December 21, 2022
What an absolute disgrace. A perfect example of failing Republican leadership, desperate to cling to anything that they believe might make them more popular in the eyes of the fake news media. At the same time filling their pockets with the foreign aid money which, revealed through the Sam Bankmann-Fried story, was used to funnel money back into politicians.
It must be noted that the end result of this prodding, which I have shown is being completely led by the United States, will result in a global conflict. A global conflict, in this day and age, will result in billions of deaths. Mitch McConnell and the Democrats are pushing our world, with the help of Zelensky, into an unimaginable hell.
While watching the footage of Zelensky in Congress, I cannot help but think back to January 6th. I can’t help but think of those Americans, and how they were treated for entering the building.
How Congressional members hid, terrified at the thought of ever encountering the American people that they continually insult and degrade.
On January 6th we saw exactly how these politicians in Congress view our own citizens. Now we see them embracing the nationalism and patriotism of another Nation, Ukraine, whiole simultaneously doing everything in their power to destroy American nationalists and patriots.
These are not leaders, but complicit criminals. Each and every single member of Congress who voted to send $50 Billion in aid to Ukraine while America continues to suffer should be prosecuted for treason.
While our own Nation declines and decays, our ‘leaders’ wave the flag of another Nation. A total disgrace.
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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro looks on during a Soldier's Day ceremony, in Brasilia, Brazil August 23, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reassured supporters Friday he remains in charge of the country’s armed forces, and asserted the military would side with the people as his opponent’s election certification looms.
“I am the supreme commander of the armed forces,” Bolsonaro told supporters surrounding the Alvorada presidential palace.
“The armed forces are the last obstacle to socialism. I am sure they are united. They owe loyalty to the people and respect for the Constitution. And they are responsible for our freedom,” Bolsonaro told supporters, according to Brazilian news outlet Metrópoles.
Desculpem os pessimistas e derrotista, mas eu confio no Bolsonaro.
Deus, Pátria, Família e Liberdade!!!@jairbolsonaro 🇧🇷🫡🙌🏻
“Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you,” Bolsonaro told the crowd.
“As forças armadas são o último obstáculo para o socialismo. Tenho certeza que estão unidas. Devem lealdade ao povo e respeito à Constituição. E são responsáveis pela nossa liberdade”, disse Bolsonaro a apoiadores. pic.twitter.com/q941Ic9dmf
“Unlike other people, we are going to win,” he said, adding, “nothing is lost.”
The address to supporters comes after weeks of protests as Brazilians contested their stolen election, where the questionable results showed a victory for socialist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
This also comes days after the Army, in an unusual move, invaded favelas of Rio de Janeiro and killed top leaders of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) drug cartel, which supports Silva, who was previously convicted and jailed for money laundering and corruption.
The military has also refused to rule out “possible fraud” as the reason behind Lula’s victory.
Bolsonaro has not recognized Lula’s alleged narrow victory in the October elections in the wake of reported voting anomalies in cartel-controlled states.
Brazil’s national electoral authority is set to certify the election on Monday.
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Al Mendelsohn is a current member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee, and is also running for 2nd Vice Chairman of the MDGOP at the upcoming December 10th Convention.
Launch Liberty has learned of several facts involving Mendehlson that simply must be exposed.
Mendelsohn sits as a member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee. That is why it was highly suspicious when Launch Liberty discovered that the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee has paid Printron over $1600 during the 2022 Cycle alone.
Is this just another case of self-enrichment?
Further investigation showed that multiple candidates for the Baltimore County Council paid Mendelsohn and Printron an exorbitant amount of money during the 2022 Election.
Candidate Wade Kach paid Mendelsohn over $63k in one payment alone, made on September 27th, 2022.
Another candidate, David Marks, paid a whopping $98k to Printron in 2022.
Is Mendelsohn using his position as a member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee in order to cultivate lucrative contracts for his printing company?
Kathy Smero, a member of the nominating committee for the MDGOP Convention and candidate for House of Delegates, used Printron in 2022 as well. She paid a total of over $2k to Mendelsohn’s company.
Interesting enough, Smero also received donations from the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee in this cycle. It should be noted that Smero also serves on the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee.
Was Smero directing Central Committee funds to her own campaign? Was Al Mendelsohn directing money to the campaign of Smero, who now sits on the nominating committee that controls his ability to run for 2nd Vice Chairman of the MDGOP?
Additionally, Smero was in violation of the Baltimore County Republican bylaws during this cycle for seeking elected office while serving in Party leadership as Chairwoman of the BCRCC. During this period, she wrote checks to herself for reimbursement, another violation of the law.
Smero eventually resigned from her position as Chairwoman two months after filing for her House of Delegates race.
As we can see in the attached screenshot above, the payments made to Smero are designated for ‘printing and campaign materials’… The same services supposedly offered by Mendelsohn and Printron.
Several other candidates known to be associated with the MDGOP Establishment also used Printron during the 2022 Election. For one, wife of MDGOP Dirk Haire, Jessica Haire, paid Printron over $2.5k.
Mike Hough, the Hogan-endorsed candidate for Frederick County Executive, paid Mendelsohn over $3k.
There is much more to this story, as Launch Liberty has uncovered mountains of information when it comes to Mendelsohn and Printron. There will be more to come in the following days.
As a preview, we also discovered that Dwight Patel, candidate for 3rd Vice Chair of the MDGOP, paid Mendelsohn over $4k in the 2022 cycle.
One must ask themselves… Why do we have so many Maryland ‘Republicans’ who benefit financially from their positions within our Party.
Does Al Mendelsohn serve the will of Republican voters in Baltimore County? Or is he simply using his position to create a plethora of printing contracts for his business?
The information revealed in our Collins investigations begs the question… Did Printron ever render actual printing services to candidates, or was this another situation like described in our show with Caryn Abbott?
It’s hard to tell. One thing is for certain, Printron has surely benefited from the political position held by Mendelsohn. What will he do if elected to State Party leadership?
We can only speculate.
We can report that several of our volunteers attempted to contact Printron today, all to no avail. We could not find a working phone number for the business. Strange, especially for a ‘printing’ company…
Launch Liberty will continue to expose the truth. As stated before, there is plenty more to be exposed!
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