Michael Avenatti Sentenced to Four Years for Ripping Off Stormy Daniels, Tells Judge He Took Stripper’s Case to “Take Down a Sitting American President”

Liberal media darling Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman for embezzling nearly $300,000 from his Anti-Trump former client Stephanie Clifford–better known by her stripper name Stormy Daniels. Avenatti told the judge in court in the Southern District of New York as he pleaded for a lenient sentence that he took Daniels’ case against Trump because, “I believed we could take down a sitting American president who was the biggest threat to our democracy in modern times.”

Avenatti was convicted in February of charges stemming from him forging Daniels’ signature on a letter to divert nearly $300,000 in her book royalties to himself.

In 2018 the Trump-hating media promoted Avenatti as a potential presidential candidate, file screen image.

Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee tweeted a play-by-play of the Avenatti sentencing which can be read at this link.

Excerpts from Avenatti’s plea for leniency:

“Avenatti: I deserve just punishment. I stand by the sincerity of my letter to Ms. Daniels. I will never practice law again. I will forever be branded a “disgraced lawyer” and worse. I may never recover any semblance of a normal life or peace. (Sniffles)…Avenatti: I received many awards. This does not excuse my conduct in this case. I represented Ms Daniels because she was an underdog. I believed we could take down a sitting American president who was the single biggest threat to American democracy in modern times.”

CNN’s report on his sentencing notes Avenatti is still in legal hot water (excerpt):

Avenatti was convicted in February of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faced as much as 20 years on the wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.

Avenatti is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for attempting to extort over $20 million from Nike by threatening to go public with damaging information unless they paid him. He goes on trial next month in California on charges alleging that he embezzled $10 million in settlement funds from at least five clients. He has also been charged with tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The usually sharp-dressed Avenatti’s request to a suit for his sentencing was rejected Wednesday by the judge:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/06/michael-avenatti-sentenced-four-years-ripping-off-stormy-daniels-tells-judge-took-strippers-case-take-sitting-u-s-president/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/06/michael-avenatti-sentenced-four-years-ripping-off-stormy-daniels-tells-judge-took-strippers-case-take-sitting-u-s-president/

Sweden to supply Ukraine with anti-ship missiles

The move is a matter of solidarity and Sweden’s security, Stockholm says

Sweden is set to supply Ukraine with anti-ship missiles, small arms, and light anti-tank weapons and provide additional financial assistance to Kiev as the conflict rages in the country, Swedish top government officials announced on Thursday.

“This help could buttress Ukraine’s defense potential, which is now in a serious situation. Supporting Ukraine is a matter of solidarity and quite important for Sweden’s security,” Swedish Finance Minister Mikael Damberg said at a joint press conference with Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist.

According to Hultqvist, Ukraine has been asking for “political, financial, and military support” to boost its defense capabilities and fend off Russian forces for a long time. In February, Stockholm accommodated this request, sending military supplies that included 5,000 anti-tank weapons, helmets, and body armor.

https://www.rt.com/russia/556505-sweden-anti-ship-missiles-supply/

US Engaged In "Offensive" Cyber Ops Against Russia In Ukraine: NSA Director

The US military has issued a stunning but perhaps not entirely unexpected admission that it has been conducting offensive cyber operations in support of Ukraine. It marks the first ever such acknowledgement, and suggests - as many observers have long suspected - a deeper Pentagon and US intelligence role in Ukraine against the Russian military than previously thought.

National Security Agency (NSA) and US Cyber Command Director Gen. Paul Nakasone told the UK's Sky News on Wednesday, "We’ve conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum: offensive, defensive, [and] information operations." This includes "offensive hacking operations" he said.

Without offering specific details, he continued, "My job is to provide a series of options to the secretary of Defense and the president, and so that’s what I do." Importantly, Gen. Nakasone gave the interview from allied Baltic country Estonia, from which other supporting operations including weapons transfers for Ukraine have come.

He spoke of major attempts of the Russians to launch infrastructurally devastating cyberattacks on Ukraine, saying, "And we've seen this with regards to the attack on their satellite systems, wiper attacks that have been ongoing, disruptive attacks against their government processes."

"This is kind of the piece that I think sometimes is missed by the public. It isn't like they haven't been very busy, they have been incredibly busy. And I think, you know, their resilience is perhaps the story that is most intriguing to all of us," he said, describing the Ukrainian response.

As for support the US has given Ukraine in the lead-up to the Russian invasion, the NSA director referenced the following:

Nakasone previously said his agency deployed a “hunt forward” team in December to help Ukraine shore up its cyber defenses and networks against active threats. But his latest remarks appear to be the first time that a U.S. official said publicly that the U.S. has been involved in offensive cyber operations in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

And like any powerful deep state insider of the intelligence community, he referenced alleged Kremlin attempts to influence US elections. "We had an opportunity to start talking about what particularly the Russians were trying to do in our midterm elections. We saw it again in 2020, as we talked about what the Russians and Iranians were going to do, but this was on a smaller scale."

"The ability for us to share that information, being able to ensure it's accurate and it's timely and it's actionable on a broader scale has been very, very powerful in this crisis," he added in the interview.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-engaged-offensive-cyber-ops-against-russia-ukraine-nsa-director-admits-first

Brazilian front-runner slams US billions for Ukraine

Lula calls out the US for arming Kiev amid the baby formula shortage

Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called out US President Joe Biden in two campaign speeches this week, citing the $40 billion in military aid Washington has pledged to Ukraine. Lula is polling far ahead of the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, in the upcoming presidential election.

“Biden, who has never made a speech to give $1 to those who are starving in Africa, announces $40 billion to help Ukraine buy weapons,” Lula said on Wednesday in Porto Alegre. “This can’t be!” he added.

The 76-year-old is the candidate of the leftist Party of Workers (PT), and currently the favorite to win the presidential election in October.

Speaking in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, Lula brought up the $40 billion in another context. How is it possible, he asked, that the world’s supposedly strongest economy is reduced to scouring the globe for baby formula – amid shortages in the US – even as Biden pledges billions in weapons sales to Kiev?

Pelo segundo dia consecutivo, Lula critica ajuda financeira dos EUA para a Ucrânia.Nesta quarta-feira (1), petista criticou diretamente o presidente dos EUA. “Nunca fez um discurso para dar 1 dólar pra quem está morrendo de fome na África”.Assista ▶️ pic.twitter.com/TKzmHY6vR6

— Metrópoles (@Metropoles) June 2, 2022

About half of the $40 billion package is directly earmarked for US weapons headed to Ukraine, while the rest would fund the government in Kiev, replenish the depleted Pentagon stockpiles, and fund US military deployments in Europe. Biden signed it on May 21 after both chambers of Congress passed it with token Republican opposition. The physical bill was flown to Asia, where Biden was visiting at the time, so he could formally attach his signature.

Lula has previously criticized Biden over the conflict in Ukraine, saying the US leader could have prevented it, but instead chose to give a blank check to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“The United States has a lot of political clout. And Biden could have avoided [the conflict], not incited it,” Lula said in an interview with Time magazine in early May.

https://www.rt.com/news/556515-lula-biden-ukraine-billions/

It's "Unprecedented" - Goldman President Echoes Dimon's "Hurricane" Warning

A day after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon accelerated his anxiety level for the future from "storm clouds" on the horizon to an imminent "hurricane", Goldman Sachs President John Waldron piled on with the pessimistic opinions.

At an investor conference this morning, Waldron joked that he’ll avoid “using any weather analogies,” but spelled out his fear that risks from inflation, changing monetary policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could kneecap the global economy.

“This is among - if not the most - complex, dynamic environments I’ve ever seen in my career,” Waldron said.

“The confluence of the number of shocks to the system to me is unprecedented.”

As Bloomberg reports, Waldron emerged as one of the harshest critics of the Fed from the banking sector earlier this year, when he assailed the central bank for what he perceived as its lack of autonomy and resolve to withstand the pressure to carry out measures needed to tame the hottest inflation in 40 years.

“We expect there’s going to be tougher economic times ahead,” Waldron said.

“No question we are seeing a tougher capital-markets environment.”

Finally, Waldron warned of a slowing in the merger market from the current "resilient" levels:

“That’s going to start to roll over because you see demand destruction, CEOs get a little less confident,” Waldron said.

“That’s a reasonable expectation, but we’re watching that carefully as a signal.”

The sudden volte face from so many of the elites is perhaps no surprise given the extremely abrupt reversal in the trend of global macro data - suddenly turning to serial disappointment since the end of April as QT loomed…

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/its-unprecedented-goldman-president-echoes-dimons-hurricane-warning

Rand Paul’s Democrat Opponent Dons A NOOSE To Suggest Senator Supports LYNCHING

Describes Paul as “the person who singlehandedly blocked an antilynching act from being federal law” despite the fact Paul co-sponsored the anti-lynching bill that became federal law

Charles Booker appears in the video, which implies that Paul held up legislation in 2020 that would have made lynching a federal hate crime in America because he actually supports it.

Booker voices over the footage, stating “The pain of our past persists to this day,” adding that “In Kentucky, like many states throughout the South, lynching was a tool of terror. It was used to kill hopes for freedom.”

“It was used to kill my ancestors,” Booker continues, as he appears under a tree with a noose around his neck.

https://summit.news/2022/06/01/video-rand-pauls-senate-opponent-dons-a-noose-to-suggest-senator-supports-lynching/