Sounds Like Trump: Brazilian Police Raid Bolsonaro’s Home Over “Fake COVID Vaccine Card” – Six of His Close Aides Arrested

Persecution of political enemies doesn’t happen just in America!

On Wednesday, Brazilian federal police searched former President Jair Bolsonaro’s residence and seized his phone in an investigation into whether Bolsonaro used a fake COVID vaccine card to travel.

The police suspect the former president’s vaccination record was falsified so that he could enter the United States.

Recall, Bolsonaro traveled to Florida at the end of December, days before his opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was sworn into office.

During the operation, police took the former president’s phone, as well as his wife’s, and arrested many of the president’s closest aides.

According to reports, two of Bolsonaro’s closest aides, Mauro Cid and Max Guilherme, have been arrested in the same operation.

“For my part, there was nothing falsified. I didn’t take the vaccine. Period,” Bolsonaro told the reporters.

NPR reported:

The raid took place early Wednesday morning at the former president’s home in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia. The Federal Police say they served 16 search and seizure warrants, as well as six preventive arrest warrants in the capital and in Rio de Janeiro. The names of the targeted individuals were not disclosed.

Investigators say officials in Bolsonaro’s inner circle created false vaccination certificates so that unvaccinated travelers, including the former president, his family members and assistants’ relatives, could enter the U.S. and circumvent mandatory immunization requirements.

Bolsonaro, a vehement skeptic of COVID vaccines, confirmed to reporters that his home had been raided and said that he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. He denied any role in allegedly forging documents.

Local media report that some of Bolsonaro’s closest aides, including his personal security guard and secretary, were arrested. The Federal Police said they were investigating a number of potential public health offenses.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/sounds-like-trump-brazilian-police-raid-bolsonaros-home-over-fake-covid-vaccine-card-six-of-his-closest-aides-arrested/

US Track Star and 3X Olympic Medalist Tori Bowie Dead at 32

Tori Bowie, a US track and field star who won three Olympic medals has passed away at the age of 32.

The Olympiad was found dead on Tuesday in Florida.

The cause of death is unclear.

“We join our friends at USA Track & Field and across the Olympic community in mourning the passing of 3x Olympic medalist Tori Bowie.” Team USA said on Wednesday morning.

“She was an admired friend, teammate, and a great representative of Team USA. We send our sincere condolences to all who know and loved her.”

ESPN reported:

Former 100-meter world champion and three-time Olympic medalist Tori Bowie has died at the age of 32, her management company said Wednesday.

Bowie turned in an electric performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200 and running the anchor leg on a 4×100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold.

Growing up in Sand Hill, Mississippi, Bowie was coaxed into track as a teenager and quickly rose up the ranks as a sprinter and long jumper. She attended Southern Miss, where she swept the long jump NCAA championships at the indoor and outdoor events in 2011.

Bowie was taken in by her grandmother as an infant after she was left at a foster home. She considered herself a basketball player and only reluctantly showed up for track, but Bowie was a fast learner, becoming a state champion in the 100, 200 and long jump before going to college.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/us-track-star-and-3x-olympic-medalist-tori-bowie-dead-at-32/

Russia’s Medvedev Calls for 'Elimination' Of Zelensky & 'His Clique' After Drone Attack

Update(1305ET): Outspoken former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the security council Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday in a post on social media that the overnight drone attack on the Kremlin has left Moscow with no options but to "eliminate" Ukrainian President Zelensky and his "clique". Essentially he's calling for a 'decapitation' strike of the government in Kiev.

As for Zelensky, he's vehemently denied his government was behind the attack, which Russia is asserting was an assassination attempt targeting Putin.

And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken weighed in, casting doubt on Russia's narrative:

“I can’t in any way validate them,” said Blinken, who was at an event with the Post to preview the 2023 World Press Freedom Index. “We simply don’t know. Second, I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.”

Meanwhile, more interesting videos - and closer up showing the inbound drone - continue to emerge…

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-targeted-terrorist-assassination-attempt-drones-kremlin

132 ‘Ndrangheta mafia members arrested after investigation by Belgium Italy and Germany

European police and judicial authorities execute largest-ever coordinated hit against Italian organised crime

During an action day executed by 10 countries, 132 members of one of the world’s most powerful criminal networks have been taken into custody. In the early hours of 3 May, law enforcement authorities in Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Romania, Brazil and Panama raided multiple locations and seized several companies. Over 2 770 officers were involved on the ground during the action day.

Eurojust and Europol supported this international operation against the ‘Ndrangheta, which now stands as the largest hit involving the Italian poly-criminal syndicate to date. The mafia-style organisation is responsible for much of Europe’s cocaine trade, combined with systematic money laundering, bribery, and violence.

The criminal network under investigation was led by several powerful ‘Ndrangheta families based mainly in the town of San Luca, which is in the Italian province of Reggio Calabria. Some of these families have been involved in decades-long clan violence known as San Luca feud, culminating in massive shootings in Italy and abroad, such as the Duisburg massacre in Germany in 2007.

Members of the criminal network were engaged in criminal conspiracy not only by being part of a mafia-style organisation, but also by being responsible for drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, illegal firearms possession, money laundering, fraudulent asset registration, tax fraud and tax evasion, as well as the aiding and abetting of fugitives (who have since been arrested). Two of these fugitives had been on the EU Most Wanted list.

Staggering list of criminal activities

The Italian criminal network was mainly devoted to international drug trafficking from South America to Europe, as well as Australia. Authorities uncovered that the network was working in partnership with the Colombian organised crime group ‘Gulf Clan’ and an Albanian-speaking crime group operating in Ecuador and multiple European Countries. Furthermore, the ‘Ndrangheta clans were involved in international firearms trafficking from Pakistan to South America, providing weapons to the notorious criminal group PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) in exchange for cocaine shipments. Investigators tracked the flow of money in an extensive global money laundering system, with massive investments in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The criminal group was investing its profits in real estate, restaurants, hotels, car wash companies, supermarkets, and other commercial activities. In order to pay for cocaine or to transfer illicit assets, the criminals often relied on facilitators using the hawala system.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/132-ndrangheta-mafia-members-arrested-after-investigation-belgium-italy-and-germany

After getting his marching orders while in Israel

“I Vote for Aid for Ukraine, I Support Aid for Ukraine” – Kevin McCarthy Folds – Will Fund Ukraine-NATO War on Russia

Kevin McCarthy gave his full support to funding the Ukraine War during his trip to Israel.

Via Bloomberg.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave his most full-throated support for aiding Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion, in a heated exchange with a Russian news agency reporter in Jerusalem.

McCarthy has in the past called for further scrutiny of aid to Ukraine, responding in part to far-right members of the GOP who have been critical of US aiding Kyiv. Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee again in 2024, has also made critical comments about the US effort to defend Ukraine.

The speaker, on a trip to Israel was asked by a reporter from a Russian news agency if the US will curtail aid to Ukraine.

“I vote for aid for Ukraine, I support aid for Ukraine,” McCarthy said. “I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine, I do not support your killing of the children either.”

“You should pull out and I don’t think it’s right,” the speaker said. “We will continue to support. And I think the rest of the world sees it just as it is.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/i-vote-for-aid-for-ukraine-i-support-aid-for-ukraine-kevin-mccarthy-folds-will-fund-ukraine-nato-war-on-russia/

10-year-olds worked unpaid shifts at Kentucky McDonald's, sometimes until 2am: Report

A new report from the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that a McDonald's in Kentucky permitted two 10-year-olds to work unpaid shifts that sometimes ran into the wee hours of the morning.

The report released Tuesday indicates that the children worked at a McDonald's located in Louisville and owned by franchisee Bauer Foods LLC. The children performed all sorts of tasks that are typical in the fast food industry, including serving meals, operating the drive-thru window, and cleaning. One of the two children even supposedly used the deep fryer, a piece of machinery considered "dangerous equipment" and therefore forbidden to those under 16.

Since last August, the children reportedly worked 10 total shifts that lasted anywhere from two to four hours, and they sometimes stayed at the store until 2 a.m. They did not receive payment for their work, the USDL report said.

Bauer Foods admitted to CNN that the two children had been working at the store without authorization. They are the children of a night manager and were visiting their parent when they performed tasks for the restaurant. Bauer Foods has since been fined $39,711 for the alleged child labor law violations.

"Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers," said Karen Garnett-Civils, the USDL wage and hour division district director in Louisville. "Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers."

Though perhaps the most egregious, the two 10-year-olds are hardly the only examples of child labor law violations allegedly committed by McDonald's franchises in the region. In fact, 60 total stores located across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio have likewise been fined for illegal child labor practices. Bauer Foods and two other franchisees, Archways Richwood and Bell Restaurant Group, each own some of the stores. The three franchisees have been fined a total of $212,754 for labor law infractions, including assigning teens to work early in the morning or late at night, failing to pay overtime wages, and even scheduling teens to work during the school day.

"These reports are unacceptable, deeply troubling and run afoul of the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald’s brand," McDonald's senior vice president and chief people officer Tiffanie Boyd said in a statement. "It is not lost on us the significant responsibility we carry to ensure a positive and safe experience for everyone under the Arches.

"I know how important it is that every restaurant fosters a culture of safety," the statement continued. "As a mother whose teenage son proudly worked at our local McDonald’s, I feel this on a very personal level. We are committed to ensuring our franchisees have the resources they need to foster safe workplaces for all employees and maintain compliance with all labor laws."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/10-year-olds-worked-unpaid-shifts-at-kentucky-mcdonald-s-sometimes-until-2am-report

Florida National Guard Went To Ukraine To Train Fighters And They Reported The Details to Ron DeSantis

What is Task Force Gator?

The Florida National Guard reported details of their “Task Force Gator” mission in Ukraine to Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis, according to a document obtained by NATIONAL FILE. The Florida National Guard was deployed to Ukraine to train Ukrainian fighters immediately prior to the Russian invasion. This revelation raises even more questions about Ron DeSantis’ foreign policy credentials. Would DeSantis as president actually be committed to stopping the war in Ukraine or would he simply roll over to the neocons and plunge America even deeper into World War 3?

Task Force Gator is reportedly a federal mission that has been part of an operation that Barack Obama started in Ukraine during his previous administration. The Florida National Guard reportedly arrived at a training center in Ukraine in 2021 and taught Ukrainian fighters how to shoot rocket launchers. The Pentagon pulled the Florida National Guard out of Ukraine shortly before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. As of 2022, the Florida National Guard had continued training Ukrainian forces from the Florida National Guard’s perch in Germany.

Governor DeSantis, who has power over the Florida National Guard, apparently has not publicly objected to his Guard serving in Ukraine on a federal mission in the run-up to war, nor has DeSantis evidently objected to his Guard later helping Ukraine from their perch in Germany. Now we know that the Florida National Guard sent extensive briefing materials to DeSantis that explained the massive amount of military work that the Guard was doing in Ukraine.

In the Florida National Guard’s Adjutant General’s Report for the 2022 fiscal year (READ THE DOCUMENT HERE), which opened with a “LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA” and signed by major general James O. Eifert, the Florida National Guard described their activities in Ukraine. The report was prepared for and addressed to Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

The Florida National Guard report to DeSantis has an entire section profiling the Guard’s work in Ukraine, beginning on page 10, complete with photographs of training exercises.

The Florida National Guard report states: “In late November of 2021, Task Force Gator arrived in Yavoriv, Ukraine to assume the JMTG-U mission. Their mission was to conduct multinational partnering and advising operations in order to assist the AFU in developing the Combat Training Center in Yavoriv into a self-sufficient brigade-level combat training center, similar to the U.S.’s own Joint Readiness Training Center and the National

Training Center.”

https://nationalfile.com/florida-national-guard-went-to-ukraine-to-train-fighters-and-they-reported-the-details-to-ron-desantis/

FBI file links Joe Biden to ‘criminal scheme’ per whistleblower — Comer subpoenas

In a stunning development, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the FBI Wednesday for a file that a whistleblower said links President Biden to a “criminal scheme” featuring “money for policy decisions” during his vice presidency.

“We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Senate Budget Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

The letter continues, “It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose. Based on the alleged specificity within the document, it would appear that the DOJ and the FBI have enough information to determine the truth and accuracy of the information contained within it. However, it remains unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter.”

First son Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden reaped millions of dollars from business relationships in countries such as China and Ukraine while Joe Biden was vice president.

The then-VP interacted with his relatives’ foreign associates on multiple occasions.

“The significant public interest in assessing the FBI’s response to this information, as well as growing

concern about the DOJ and the FBI’s track record of allowing political bias to infect their decision-making process, necessitate exacting congressional oversight,” Comer and Grassley wrote.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/03/fbi-file-links-joe-biden-to-criminal-scheme-per-whistleblower-comer-subpoenas/

Chinese Secret Police Stations Part of ‘Systemic’ Infiltration: Congressman

National security officials, federal prosecutors, and lawmakers are on the lookout for secret police stations that they believe China has established on U.S. soil.

In September, a report by Safeguard Defenders alleged agents of the Chinese regime had been covertly operating in several countries, using secret police stations as a base of operations to surveil Chinese dissidents and even coercing Chinese expatriates to return to China. The Safeguard Defender report alleged one such secret Chinese police station was operating in New York City.

On April 17, FBI agents arrested two men on charges that they helped operate the alleged Chinese secret police station in New York City.

The Safeguard Defenders report and subsequent FBI arrests have put U.S. officials on the lookout for additional Chinese surveillance bases. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) now warns that one such station is operating near his district.

“They call it a Chinese service center. It’s located in Omaha, Nebraska,” Flood said in an interview with NTD News on Tuesday.

To some, middle America might seem like an unlikely point of interest for Chinese surveillance operations, but Flood noted that the alleged Chinese service center is not far from Offutt Air Force Base, which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command—the command overseeing U.S. nuclear bombers and both land and sea-based nuclear missiles.

“We’re a strategic headquarters […] and to have one of these Chinese service centers in our backyard in Omaha, Nebraska, tells you how aggressive and omnipresent the Chinese want to be in every community in America,” Flood said. “And it’s startling. It concerns a lot of Nebraskans. It should concern everybody in America that they’re penetrating that far into the middle of our country.”

Flood said he has reached out to the FBI in hopes of gaining more information about how this Chinese service station in Omaha has been operating.

“I haven’t had that briefing yet, but I’m really looking forward to learning about what they’ve been doing in Nebraska and across the nation,” he said.

The two men arrested in connection with the alleged secret Chinese police station in New York—Lu Jinawang and Chen Jinping—are both U.S. citizens. The two men worked for an organization that presented itself as an overseas service station, providing citizen services like driver’s license renewals for Chinese citizens living abroad.

https://www.ntd.com/chinese-secret-police-stations-part-of-systemic-infiltration-congressman_917054.html

Jes Staley accused of ‘aggressively’ raping Jeffrey Epstein victim ‘with his permission’

Former Barclays boss Jes Staley has been accused of sexually abusing a woman at Jeffrey Epstein’s Virgin Islands retreat, according to a new court ruling.

Staley, a former private banking chief at JP Morgan, is alleged to have ‘used aggressive force in his sexual assault of [anonymous victim ‘JPM Jane Doe’] and informed [her] that he had Epstein’s permission to do what he wanted to her,’ the ruling, filed on Monday, states.

Staley, 66, has admitted a friendship with Epstein but has denied participating in sexual assaults on women trafficked by the disgraced late financier.

The filing, in New York’s Southern District, puts more pressure on JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon by allowing claims by multiple Jane Does and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a house on a private island, to proceed.

The claims say JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank were legally liable for their alleged facilitation of Epstein’s sex crimes and “knowingly benefited from participating in a sex-

trafficking venture.”

US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote, “The claim of plaintiff the Government of the United States Virgin Islands that defendant JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. knowingly benefited from participating in a sex-trafficking venture…remains as part of the case.”

Staley exchanged 1,200 emailed with Epstein between 2008 and 2012, after the pedophile was convicted on a single charge of soliciting a minor in a plea bargain.

Some of them are alleged to have included pictures of young women in “seductive” poses.

The banking boss also visited Epstein’s Little St. James Island in the US Virgin Islands, nicknamed “pedo island” and where it was revealed Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal that Epstein had also entertained LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman.

Investigative journalist Conchita Sarnoff, who has written extensively about Epstein told The Post, “President Harry Truman once said, “the buck stops here.” CEO Jamie Dimon is JP Morgan’s Harry Truman.

Sarnoff, who is executive director of Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking and wrote the Epstein book “Trafficking” continued, “This ups the ante for Dimon and Jes Staley since human trafficking is a globally profitable business and banks are the engine that keep human trafficking networks-great and small-operational.”

Victims claim Epstein agreed to bring wealthy clients to JPMorgan in exchange for Staley — who was head of JPMorgan’s private banking division from 2000 to 2009 — using his influence with the bank to protect Epstein and his illegal human trafficking and sex crimes.

The federal judge last month ordered JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to set aside two days for depositions about what he knew about the bank’s relationship with sex offender and former client Jeffrey Epstein.

The US’s largest bank faces lawsuits seeking damages by women who claim that Epstein sexually abused them, and by the US Virgin Islands, where the late financier had a home.

An Oct. 23 trial is scheduled.

JPMorgan is separately suing former private banking chief Staley, claiming he concealed from the bank all he knew about Epstein.

Staley engaged in a pervy discussion of Disney princesses with Jeffrey Epstein in July 2010, according to several emails cited in the court papers.

“That was fun,” Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein, “Say hi to Snow White.”

https://nypost.com/2023/05/03/jes-staley-allegedly-raped-jeffrey-epstein-victim/

LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, planned to visit NYC mansion

Billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island and had plans to stay at Epstein’s notorious Manhattan townhouse back in 2014, a new report revealed.

Hoffman, 55, paid a single visit to Epstein’s Caribbean island Little St. James — also known as “pedophile island,” where Epstein and gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly abused underage girls, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Joi Ito, the then-MIT Media Lab director, was also in attendance, and had asked Hoffman and Epstein to help him raise funds for MIT, according new documents obtained by The Journal.

Ito confirmed Hoffman’s involvement in the MIT fundraising on Epstein’s island in an email to The Journal.

“Reid attended a few fundraising events at my request, including one trip to Little St. James, after I confirmed to Reid that Mr. Epstein had been an approved donor target for MIT in accordance with university rules and regulations,” he wrote.

Hoffman also penned an email to The Journal apologizing for ever meeting with the convicted sex offender. “While I relied on MIT’s endorsement, ultimately I made the mistake, and I am sorry for my personal misjudgment,” Hoffman wrote.

The Post has reached out to Hoffman for comment.

Hoffman and Ito were planning to revisit Epstein Island in November 2014, the documents revealed. Following the trip, Hoffman and Ito were scheduled to travel with Epstein from Palm Beach to his tropical residence, and then from the island to Boston.

The intent behind the trips were not revealed, although Epstein did own a Florida mansion where he was said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women.

The documents also detailed Hoffman’s plans to stay the night in Epstein’s townhouse following a late-night flight to Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2014. In the morning, the venture capitalist planned to attend a “breakfast party” where the likes of Epstein and Bill Gates were scheduled to be in attendance.

Epstein’s former Manhattan residence, located at 9 E. 71st Street, since sold for just under $50 million in 2021, and the cash was used to replenish Epstein victims’ compensation fund.

Hoffman, who’s now worth $2 billion, confirmed to The Journal that his last interaction with Epstein was in 2015. That year, he invited Epstein to a dinner in Palo Alto with Silicon Valley heads.

“It gnaws me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors,” he wrote in an email to The Journal.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/03/linkedins-reid-hoffman-visited-jeffrey-epsteins-private-island/

https://nypost.com/2023/05/03/linkedins-reid-hoffman-visited-jeffrey-epsteins-private-island/

Florida Approves Bill Shielding Travel Records of DeSantis, Elected Officials From Public

Florida’s Republican-led Legislature on May 2 approved a bill that would shield the travel records of Gov. Ron DeSantis and other elected officials from being made public.

Senate Bill 1616, also known as the “Public Records/Transportation and Protective Services” Act, passed the Republican-controlled Florida House in a 84–31 vote after clearing the Senate last month.

The bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for records held by a law enforcement agency relating to certain security or transportation services for DeSantis and other elected officials.

It also includes a retroactive clause that would block the release of many records of travels already undertaken by DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a presidential run and has in recent weeks visited a string of primary states, including New Hampshire, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan, to promote his book “The Courage to Be Free.”

According to the bill (pdf), information obtained by a law enforcement agency authorized by law to provide security or transportation services to officials should not be disclosed to the public if they may endanger the individual. This would include DeSantis, his immediate family, visiting governors and their families, the lieutenant governor, a member of the Cabinet, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president of the Senate, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, or for “persons for whom such services are requested” by those officials.

Bill ‘Necessary’ for Safety of Officials, Law Enforcement

Republicans argued in their bill that the disclosure of such records, including security, operational, and logistical plans; mansion security for DeSantis, facility operations, access, screenings, and clearances; as well as personal information unrelated to official duties of the protected individuals could pose a risk to the officials and hamper law enforcement security efforts if made public.

“Florida Statutes, as well as the safety and security of law enforcement agents and personnel providing the security or transportation services, outweigh any public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of such records,” the bill states.

“Therefore, it is a public necessity that records held by a law enforcement agency relating to security or transportation services … be made exempt from public records requirements.”

The bill will go into effect immediately after it is signed into law by DeSantis.

While Republicans cited security and safety issues as reasons for the bill, Democrats argued that the measure will prevent the public from knowing with whom DeSantis met and what for, pointing to the fact that taxpayers are footing the travel bill.

Democrat state Rep. Ashley Gantt said public officials should maintain transparency with the general public.

“Having a level of transparency on the amount that’s being spent, where it’s being spent, we owe the people we work for an answer to that,” Gantt said, Florida’s WJAX-TV reported. “And we have that mechanism in place right now.”

https://www.ntd.com/florida-approves-bill-shielding-travel-records-of-desantis-elected-officials-from-public_917081.html

EU Backs Dutch Scheme to Forcibly Shut Down Thousands of Farms, Ban Farmers From Returning to Agriculture Forever

The European Commission in Brussels has backed a scheme by the globalist government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands that would see thousands of farms shut down in order to comply with EU climate goals.

On Tuesday, the governing arm of the European Union officially threw its support behind plans by the Dutch government to buy out thousands of farmers from their lands in order to meet the EU’s Natura 2000 scheme to protect certain environments. The plan, which would offer farmers 120 per cent of the value of their farm, could see some 3,000 so-called “peak” emitters of nitrogen shut down.

It was unclear before this week whether the EU would permit such a scheme, as it could have potentially fallen afoul of regulations surrounding state aid or subsidies. However, Brussels said that the plans were “necessary and appropriate” as they met the broader goals of the European Green Deal.

“The positive effects transcend any distortions of the free market,” the statement added.

In addition to the plan to buyout — or eventually force out if they refuse — the “peak” emitting farms, the government is also planning a separate scheme that would give dairy, pig, and poultry farmers a deal for 100 per cent of the value of their farm if they wished to shut down. In total, some 1.4 billion euros is expected to be set aside for both farm shutdown schemes.

Should the plan go ahead, it would not only be a major blow for the farming industry in the Netherlands, which is one of the most productive in Europe but could potentially impact other nations as well, given that part of the condition of the buyout scheme is that the Dutch farmers would be prohibited from moving to other countries and starting up farms abroad, meaning that their knowledge and expertise would be squandered.

Responding to the announcement from the EU, Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek said: “This is how they do it: they put a knife to the farmers’ throats. They make sure they don’t get their licenses renewed, they’re plaguing them with new rules & restrictions every day and then offer them a bride, knowing many will take it out of pure desperation. It’s all so vile.”

“I also highly doubt that prohibiting them to start over elsewhere in the EU is even legal. The whole idea of the EU was supposed to be about freedom of movement and freedom of workers. This is some next-level USSR stuff,” Vlaardingerbroek added.

The plan to shut down thousands of farms is by no means a done deal, however, given that it would need to be managed mostly at the provincial level. This may be complicated for the fledgling Rutte government as the upstart tractor protest backing Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) party not only became the single largest party in the Dutch Senate in March but also one of the largest parties at the provincial level where many of the farms are located.

There have also been some cracks within Rutte’s coalition, with the CDA party expressing doubt over the general nitrogen emission crackdown following the surprise victory of the BBB party.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/05/03/eu-backs-dutch-scheme-to-forcibly-shut-down-thousands-of-farms-ban-farmers-from-returning-to-agriculture-forever/

JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, Republican State Officials Say

Nineteen Republican state attorneys general asserted on Tuesday that JPMorgan Chase “de-banked” organizations for their conservative and religious tendencies, calling on the nation’s largest financial institution to respect the viewpoints of their customers.

The officials stated in a letter to the firm provided to The Daily Wire that the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a “nonpartisan, faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the right of everyone in America to live one’s faith freely,” had its Chase account nixed three weeks into starting a relationship with the company and was asked to provide a list of their donors to the firm. A credit card processor owned by Chase likewise terminated the account for Family Council, a conservative organization working to strengthen traditional family values, while a firm called WePay, which is also owned by Chase, refused to serve Defense of Liberty, a Missouri-based political action committee.

JPMorgan Chase nevertheless contends that the firm remains devoted to diversity and inclusion because of its high scores on the Corporate Equality Index, an initiative from the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBTQ activism and political lobbying organization.

“To be clear, banks generally have the right to conduct their business however and with whomever they choose,” the attorneys general said in the letter. “But a bank does not have the right to mislead its customers. Chase cannot call itself ‘inclusive,’ publicize that it ‘opposes discrimination in any form,’ promise to ‘prevent discrimination’ against customers, and then refuse to commit to the most basic equality of treatment and fair dealing.”

The officials asked JPMorgan Chase to participate in the survey component of the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, an initiative from the Alliance Defending Freedom that evaluates prominent firms for their commitments to religious liberty and freedom of speech. JPMorgan Chase scored 15% out of 100% due to “unclear or imprecise policies” which allow the bank to “deny service for arbitrary or politically biased reasons,” according to the letter.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, to whom the letter was addressed, has previously professed support for the liberties guaranteed by the United States and contended that free expression is a core component of free markets. “We live in the greatest country in the world predicated on foundational beliefs in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise, the sanctity of the individual, and the promise of equality and opportunity for all,” he said in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last year.

The state attorneys general urged Dimon and his firm to act consistently with fundamental American values. “No individual or organization should have to worry that religious or political beliefs will limit access to financial services or undermine financial stability,” the letter continued. “Surely Chase’s promised inclusivity should extend to these fundamental characteristics of American identity. Accordingly, we call on Chase to stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included.”

http://www.womensystems.com/2023/05/jpmorgan-chase-repeatedly-de-banked.html

Obama Ordered To Pay $313 Million For “Creation Of ISIS”

In a monumental decision, an Iranian Court has just ruled the United States government, former President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush, the CIA, and several military defense contractors must pay over $313 million for playing a major role in the creation of Isis.

The court ruled Obama along with others are directly responsible for ISIS attacks in 2017.

The court came to the decision to hold Obama, Bush and The CIA responsible for ISIS’s deadly actions from evidence presented in Iranian court which revealed the US used the CIA in order to create terrorist groups under the leadership of Bush and Obama.

As of right now it’s unclear how the compensation order will be handled but one thing is clear and that’s the corporate media will bury this story.

Al Jeezera broke the story:

An Iranian court has ruled the United States government and a number of individuals and entities, including former President Barack Obama, must pay compensation for 2017 attacks carried out by the armed group ISIL (ISIS).

The court in the capital issued the verdict on Wednesday based on complaints by families of three people killed and six wounded during the June 2017 attacks in Tehran, according to the official news website of the judiciary.

he building of the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s current establishment, Ruhollah Khomeini, were targeted during the daylight assault that killed 17 people in total.

The court ruled $9.95m needs to be paid to compensate for financial damages while $104m and $199m are for moral and punitive damages, respectively, with the total nearing $313m.

Those convicted in the case include the US government, Obama, former President George W Bush, Central Command (CENTCOM), and its former commander Tommy Franks, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Treasury Department, weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, and American Airlines Group.

As to why the US is being blamed for the attacks, the website cited comments by American officials about the “fundamental” role played by the US in “organising and guiding terrorist groups”, news and information published by US media, and books and speeches by US officials discussing “the CIA’s role in creating terrorist groups”, including ISIL.

https://wltreport.com/2023/05/01/obama-ordered-to-pay-313-million-for-creation-of-isis/?utm_source=newsletter_ssp

WEF Member Calls for 86% Reduction in World’s Population

A celebrated member of the globalist World Economic Forum (WEF) has called for a staggering 86 percent reduction in the population of humans, arguing that the goal can be achieved “peacefully.”

Dennis Meadows, one of the main authors of the Club of Rome’s 1972 pro-depopulation book “The Limits to Growth.”

Meadows is an honorary member of the Club of Rome and a member of the World Economic Forum.

Despite his book being published over 50 years ago, his ideology is still very anti-human.

Meadows argues that most of the world’s population must be wiped out so that the survivors can “have freedom” and a “high standard of living.”

During a 2017 interview, Meadows claims that genocide of 86% of the world’s population is “inevitable.”

However, he insists that a “benevolent” dictatorship could accomplish the mass de-population “peacefully.”

“We could [ ] have eight or nine billion, probably,” he says of the world’s growing population.

“If we have a very strong dictatorship which is smart … and [people have] a low standard of living,” Meadows says as he explains how the population reduction agenda could be triggered.

“But we want to have freedom and we want to have a high standard of living so we’re going to have a billion people.

“And we’re now at seven, so we have to get back down.

“I hope that this can be slow, relatively slow, and that it can be done in a way which is relatively equal, you know, so that people share the experience.”

https://slaynews.com/news/wef-member-calls-86-reduction-worlds-population/

DOE Set To Award $200M Grant to Battery Maker Run by Chinese 'Talent Program' Recruit

FBI warns that Chinese use talent recruitment programs for economic espionage, theft of trade secrets

The founder of a lithium battery company poised to receive a $200 million grant from the Biden administration was once brought to China through a Chinese Communist Party program that the FBI warns is used for economic espionage.

The founder and chief executive officer of Microvast, Wu Yang, in 2000 was recruited to move back to China from the United States as part of a Chinese government-sponsored "talent program." The grant to Microvast could conflict with the stated policy of the Department of Energy, which plans to boost the company with the massive green energy grant. A DOE official said in February that the department is "prohibited" from funding people who are involved in foreign talent programs.

The Department of Energy has faced criticism from lawmakers for months over its proposed $200 million grant to Microvast to build a battery separator facility, after the Washington Free Beacon reported late last year that the company operates primarily out of China. While the administration in a pre-election press release last October portrayed the funding as a done deal, the department now says the grant is still under review.

But the Microvast CEO's participation in a talent recruitment program could complicate the deal further. Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), who first noted Wu's participation in the Chinese program, is urging Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to "immediately terminate [the department's] award negotiations with Microvast, Inc."

Barrasso says there is "clear evidence that the founder, chairman, and CEO of Microvast participated in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) talent program designed to entice overseas talent to return to China for the benefit of the CCP." These programs work to entice high-achieving individuals to move back to China—but the Chinese Communist Party often uses them to "encourage trade secret theft [and] economic espionage," according to the FBI.

The United Front Work Department of the Huzhou municipal government—a local branch of China's national "United Front" overseas influence operation—in a 2017 press release lauded Wu for his involvement in the talent program. According to the release, Wu was recruited by a local talent program called the "South Taihu Lake Elite Project."

"In 2000, he responded to the 'South Taihu Lake Elite Project' and returned from the United States with $3 million in his pocket," the press release said. "In 2006, he established Weihong Power System (Huzhou) Co., Ltd., specializing in the R&D."

Should Wu's participation be confirmed, it could tank Microvast's grant, which was awarded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021.

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/doe-set-to-award-200m-grant-to-battery-maker-run-by-chinese-talent-program-recruit/

CDC investigates after dozens test positive for COVID following CDC conference

Attendees said many people at the conference did not wear masks or practice social distancing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating about three dozen COVID-19 cases linked to its own annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference.

"CDC is working with the Georgia Department of Health to conduct a rapid epidemiological assessment of confirmed COVID-19 cases that appear to be connected to the 2023 EIS Conference to determine transmission patterns," agency spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

About 35 people have so far tested positive, after the conference in Atlanta last week, which was the first in-person Epidemic Intelligence Service meeting in four years, officials said.

The CDC is reporting the cases to Georgia health officials.

"Conducting a rapid investigation now will help understand transmission that occurred and assist in refining future public health guidance as we move out of the public health emergency and to the next phase of COVID-19 surveillance and response," Norland also said. "Whenever there are large gatherings, especially indoors, such as at a conference, there is the possibility of COVID-19 spread, even in periods of low community spread."

Attendees told the Post that many people at the conference did not wear masks or practice social distancing.

The new outbreak comes as CDC-confirmed COVID cases are at their lowest levels in nearly two years, but many Americans are testing at home or not testing at all.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/cdc-investigates-after-dozens-test-positive-covid-after-cdc-conference

As evidence emerges in Hunter Biden probe, investigators see a political protection racket

Evidence points to "another example of a privileged Democrat getting away with things that no average, working, taxpaying American could get away with," Rep. James Comer said.

A letter falsely insinuating a laptop was Russian disinformation. An IRS whistleblower. Suspicious activity bank reports. Suggestions of false testimony to Congress.

The more congressional investigators dig into evidence in the Hunter Biden scandal that was kept from the public for years, the more they have become concerned the first family was protected by a political cone of silence that prevented voters from making an informed choice in the 2020 election about a family with uncomfortable foreign business deals and partners.

"We've got the onion in front of us,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), the top Republican on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, who has been investigating the Biden family's business deals since 2019. "We're painstakingly peeling back thin layer after thin layer. But the truth is being revealed. And it's pretty ugly."

Two new sensational allegations burst into public Tuesday as Johnson joined fellow Sen. Chuck Grassley to formally accuse Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a close lieutenant of President Joe Biden, of giving Congress a "patently false" account in 2020 about his earlier dealings with Hunter Biden during the Obama years.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/evidence-emerges-hunter-biden-probe-investigators-see-political

"On December 22, 2020, you provided false testimony to Congress during your voluntary transcribed interview," the senators wrote in a letter to the secretary demanding he preserve and turn over all records of his and his wife's contacts with Hunter Biden.

You can read that letter here:

File

johnson_grassley_to_blinken_-_december_2020_transcript.pdf

The current controversy deals with Blinken's testimony about contacts with Hunter Biden back when Blinken served as deputy secretary of state under Obama. When asked at the time whether he ever spoke with Hunter Biden on the phone, Blinken said, "Not that I recall."

He also said he had not spoken to Hunter Biden over email or text messages.

Emails from Hunter Biden's laptop indicate Blinken corresponded with Hunter Biden at least twice and that the secretary's wife, Evan Ryan, also communicated with the first son.

"Because your testimony is inaccurate, Congress and the public must rely on your records as the source for information about your dealings with Hunter Biden," the senator wrote in a dramatic escalation of their feud with Team Biden.

While that battle intensifies, House members are seeking answers from Blinken about his contacts with former CIA Director Mike Morell that eventually led to a letter in October 2020 signed by 51 former and current U.S. intelligence officials that suggested the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation. It was not.

Last month, Morell testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees that a conversation he had with Blinken, then a Joe Biden campaign adviser, "triggered" his decision to organize the fall 2020 letter. He said while Blinken did not ask him specifically to send the letter, the future secretary did send him information that became key to the letter and the Biden campaign subsequently helped organize press coverage of the letter.

Blinken says only that the letter wasn't his idea.