Democrat Donor Ed Buck Wants Drug Death Convictions Overturned, Claims They Were a Result of 'Kink-Shaming'

Defense attorneys for Democrat megadonor Ed Buck want his convictions for providing the drugs that killed two men in his West Hollywood apartment overturned. Buck’s attorneys are arguing that the government “kink-shamed” the defendant by pointing the jury toward his sexual fetishes in an effort to obscure the lack of proof supporting the charges, according to documents obtained Friday by City News Service.

An attorney for Buck wrote that the two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, suffered multiple underlying medical conditions that caused their deaths, not the methamphetamine they ingested. Buck’s attorney later called for the conviction to be overturned, arguing that “kink shaming” resulted in the conviction. Not drug distribution evidence, but “prejudicial and irrelevant character evidence, which included a concerted effort to kink-shame Mr. Buck by presenting graphic images and videos of his sexual fetishes,” led to Buck’s conviction, argued defense attorney Mark J. Werksman.

Last July, a federal jury found Buck guilty of nine felony counts he was facing in connection with the drug overdose deaths. The prosecution presented evidence that Buck engaged in a pattern of soliciting men to consume drugs that he provided and perform sexual activities at his apartment. In these sessions, Buck distributed drugs, including methamphetamine. In some instances, Buck injected victims with drugs without their knowledge.

Evidence including photos and survivors’ testimony detailing the drugs-and-sex sessions caused some spectators to look away or leave the courtroom, according to My News L.A. Another victim said Buck would “feed off the energy” of his victims. Buck was ultimately convicted of two counts of distribution of controlled substances resulting in death, stemming from the deaths of Moore in July 2017 and Dean in January 2019.

Ed Buck is a former political donor who gave over $500,000 to prominent Democrats. A hearing to discuss the acquittal motion is scheduled for March 28, with sentencing expected one week later. Buck faces between 20 years to life in federal prison.

https://nationalfile.com/democrat-donor-ed-buck-wants-drug-death-convictions-overturned-claims-result-kink-shaming/

14 AGs Sue Biden Administration Over DOJ’s Call to Investigate Protesting Parents

Fourteen Republican attorneys general, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, have sued the Biden administration for not responding to a Freedom of Information request related to the Department of Justice calling for surveillance of parents expressing opinions at school board meetings and other forums.

The lawsuit follows a chain of events that began last October.

It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana Indianapolis Division. It asks the court to force the Biden administration to respond to the requests for information.

It names President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, the U.S. Department of Justice, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and the U.S. Department of Education as plaintiffs.

The coalition, led by Rokita, are from the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

On Oct. 4, Garland issued a memo on the “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff” and called for the FBI and other federal law enforcement agents to monitor activities in school districts nationwide.

Six months later, the attorneys general argue, the Biden administration has provided no evidence of any spikes in threats against school personnel by American parents.

Garland issued the memo after the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a Sept. 29 letter to the Biden administration lamenting that parents were opposing the teaching of critical race theory and other divisive ideologies, referring to parental protests as “domestic terrorism.”

Garland’s memo “attacked dissent by parents during local school board meetings in an effort ‘to intimidate parents into giving up their constitutional rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children,’” the attorneys general argue.

They anticipated his memo was based “on the NSBA’s false accusations against parents.” Garland confirmed this during his Oct. 21 testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. He said, the “National School Board Association, which represents thousands of school boards and school board members, says that there are these kinds of threats. When we read in the newspapers reports of threats of violence.”

According to his testimony, the White House asked for examples of specific threats. However, no such threats were presented.

The National School Board Association apologized for the language it used in the letter the day after Garland testified, on Oct. 22. More than half of its state affiliates distanced themselves from the national group, some pulling dues and membership.

But these actions weren’t enough, the attorneys general argue. Garland still hasn’t rescinded his memo. And the administration hasn’t responded to their request for information six months later.

https://www.ntd.com/14-ags-sue-biden-administration-over-dojs-call-to-investigate-protesting-parents_751822.html

Crown v Shannon: bigwigs off the hook, small fish fried

One guy prosecuted for allegedly running a company while bankrupt, ten Crown directors off scot free for washing $70bn through casinos for Chinese Triads, drug and sex traffickers and other assorted criminals. One rule for rich and powerful, another for the rest.

How would you go being a director of the biggest money laundering operation in Australia’s history, heading up a mob which helped Chinese crime gangs launder $70bn, found to be in breach of money-laundering and terrorism financing laws on literally hundreds of occasions?

Cruising, that’s how you’d be, cruising like the directors of Crown Casino. Nary an action by corporate regulators, not even a wee director’s ban. Fees intact.

How would you go though being a bankrupt advocate for bank victims? How would you go being an ordinary Australian, small fry? They’d throw the book at you; they might even try to drag you out of a hospital bed after spinal surgery, against doctors’ orders, to face court in another state. Naturally, you would be up for your own legal fees too.

If there is a moment which illustrates so plainly the mollycoddling of the big end of town versus the treatment of ordinary Australians, this is it:

On the one hand, we see ASIC v Geoff Shannon of Unhappy Banking; on the other hand we see Nobody v Directors of Crown Resorts. Here we are at peak regulatory capture, at the zenith of crony capitalism where double standards are the order of the day.

While the corporate regulators have been cowering from any action against directors of casino juggernaut Crown Resorts, they have been avidly pursuing bank victims advocate Geoff Shannon on flimsy charges of running a company while bankrupt.

ASIC says it has been on a fishing mission with Crown, but decided to take no action, despite multiple royal commissions and inquiries which have showcased an enterprise whose lucrative business model has been facilitating organised crime. Directors are responsible legally for what happens in the company under them. Full stop, case closed.

What do you have to do, murder someone?

Money-laundering authorities from Austrac had sallied forth with a lawsuit late last month claiming Crown breached money-laundering and terrorism-financing laws more than 500 times.

Meanwhile, chair of the corporate watchdog, Joe Longo, popped his head out to explain to corporate media last week that ASIC would not be pursuing Crown directors for breaching their duties. It was all a bit old according to Joe. Yet ASIC is still pursuing the bank victims advocate, Geoff Shannon of the website Unhappy Banking, even trying to drag him off his hospital bed after spinal surgery to force him to face charges in another state.

The supposed Shannon breaches are just as old but of course Shannon has the distinct disadvantage of coming from the Small End of Town, not being a political donor, and acting against the interests of political donors, the banks.

To the extraordinary prosecution, make that persecution of Shannon in a tick. This latest extravaganza of double standards reminds of the time during the financial crisis when there was actually an action, this action:

Malvern man Andrew Scott pleaded innocent but was found to have broken the law after presiding over the loss of $5 billion in Centro Properties’ share value, or other people’s money. Scott has been fined $30,000 – in a court case that cost taxpayers and shareholders more than $3 million.

https://www.michaelwest.com.au/crown-v-shannon-bigwigs-off-the-hook-small-fish-fried/

Deaths represent 1.3% of side effects reported for COVID vaccines: peer-reviewed CDC study

Vaccine experts are skeptical of agency's reliance on Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, however. Study's time period excludes nearly all minors.

Deaths following mRNA vaccination against COVID-19 represented 13 out of every 1,000 reports (1.3%) to the federal government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), the CDC's Atlanta-based researchers said Monday.

Another 66 reports out of every 1,000 (6.6%) were categorized as "serious," resulting in "inpatient hospitalisation, prolongation of hospitalisation, permanent disability, life-threatening illness, congenital anomaly or birth defect," according to their study published in The Lancet, the U.K-based medical journal.

VAERS is often dubbed a passive surveillance system because it accepts reports from anyone. The CDC previously told Just the News that most reports come from manufacturers or healthcare providers, who have mandatory reporting requirements.

But the researchers said they also consulted an "active" smartphone-based voluntary monitoring system, v-safe, created in 2020. The data show that "most reported adverse events were mild and short in duration," with 18-49 year-olds representing a plurality (45%) and females a supermajority (75%).

Mainstream media uncritically ran with the CDC's framing, with USA Today touting researcher David Shay's assurance that the death rate was expected given the elderly population studied. About a quarter of reports were from ages 65 and up.

A large subset of young people was almost entirely excluded, however: minors.

The study only reviewed the first six months of emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, covering 340,000 reports and 299 million doses.

That time period ends just a month after Pfizer's vaccine was authorized for 12-15 year-olds and predates its EUA for children 5-11, while Moderna's vaccine remains unauthorized for anyone under 18. The study's youngest age range is 16-17, representing 2% of all reports.

"Why the cut-off at six months? There are now data that extend for 14 months, and those data include children," Robert Malone, the mRNA vaccine pioneer-turned-critic, wrote in his newsletter.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/deaths-represent-13-side-effects-reported-covid-vaccines-peer-reviewed

Massive Fire Rocks Major Grocery Logistics Center In Taiwan

According to Taiwan News (citing CNA), officials in the northern Taiwan city of Taoyuan received a report early Monday of a massive blaze at the warehouse in the city's Yangmei District at the Carrefour Logistics Center.

73 firefighters, 23 fire trucks, 8 tanker trucks and 4 ambulances were dispatched to the scene, where according to reports, nobody has been trapped in the facility.

According to the fire department, the fire appears to have started on the first floor of the two-story structure. There are no hazardous items believed to be inside.

The entire facility is currently engulfed in flames, and smoke can be seen billowing into the sky from several kilometers away. An investigation into the cause of the fire and damage assessment are currently underway. -Taiwan News

Carrefour, a French multinational that emphasizes in hypermarkets, confirmed that a fire had broken out, but all personnel were immediately evacuated and there were no injuries.

With pundits speculating that Taiwan could be the next geopolitical hotspot after Ukraine - for various obvious reasons - any local accidents will prompt heightened interest whether foul play may be involved.

Photos via Taiwan News from various sources:

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/massive-fire-rocks-logistics-center-major-grocery-logistics-center-taiwan