Biden bribery memo: Open investigation or game of keep away?

Comer and Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin were permitted to view the FD-1023 form but not to take it with them.

Three years after it was written, an FBI informant memo alleging Joe Biden was involved in a foreign bribery scheme is at the center of dueling narratives that typify the political divide in Washington.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, suggested Monday that the FBI is conducting an ongoing investigation into President Biden stemming from the memo’s allegations about a scheme while he was vice president. Democrats insisted it was much adeiu about nothing, essentially a dead end.

Comer and Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin were permitted to view the FD-1023 form but not to take it with them. The document describes an alleged bribery scheme in which Biden agreed to help change U.S. policy in exchange for $5 million for his family business.

"FBI officials confirmed that the unclassified FBI generated record has not been disproven, and is currently being used in an ongoing investigation," Comer said. The document "suggests a pattern of bribery where payments would be made through shell accounts and multiple banks."

Comer touted the credibility of the informant who provided the information on the alleged scheme. He further admitted that he was unaware of what investigation specifically involved the document, saying "all I know is there’s an ongoing investigation." The Kentucky Republican went on to speculate that it may relate to an ongoing U.S. attorney investigation into first son Hunter Biden, which has seen several whistleblowers warn of political bias in the DOJ's handling of the case.

whatever the case, Comer made it clear he plans to find the FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt for failing to give a copy of the document to Congress.

Raskin, meanwhile, disputed Comer's statement about the FD-1023 being part of an active investigation. "I must have missed that because I’ve not heard that this is part of any ongoing investigation."

In the press conference, the Maryland Democrat contended that the FBI had done its "due diligence" in examining the claims made in the FD-1023, but that it had "found no reason to escalate from an assessment to a so-called preliminary investigation. And after that, comes a full-blown" investigation.

Reporters pressed him on Comer's own statements, but declined to directly contradict him, instead pointing to the the Trump's DOJ's initial review of the claims and decision not to pursue an investigation at the time.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/tuesbiden-bribery-doc-open-investigation-or-game-keep-away

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/tuesbiden-bribery-doc-open-investigation-or-game-keep-away

Way before icon Barbie got the Hollywood treatment, she was ‘born’ with Jewish roots

From her creation by unconventional entrepreneur Ruth Handler to her inclusivity and ability to adapt with the times, the famous doll bears some trademarks of the Tribe

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She’s got 250 careers and counting, perpetually arched feet and a Dream House. And on July 21 she’s poised to slide behind the wheel of a pink-and-white convertible and drive off into the “real world” in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming live-action film.

She is of course none other than Barbie — the 11.5-inch, wasp-waisted creation of Ruth Handler, a Jewish businesswoman who bucked social conventions.

Dressed in a zebra-striped swimsuit, the doll debuted at the American Toy Fair on March 9, 1959 — a time when American Jews, facing rampant discrimination, were wrestling with questions about assimilation. In many ways, Handler channeled her own ambivalence into Barbie, for the doll became as much a symbol of all-American, perky whiteness as it did of female empowerment.

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She’s got 250 careers and counting, perpetually arched feet and a Dream House. And on July 21 she’s poised to slide behind the wheel of a pink-and-white convertible and drive off into the “real world” in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming live-action film.

She is of course none other than Barbie — the 11.5-inch, wasp-waisted creation of Ruth Handler, a Jewish businesswoman who bucked social conventions.

Dressed in a zebra-striped swimsuit, the doll debuted at the American Toy Fair on March 9, 1959 — a time when American Jews, facing rampant discrimination, were wrestling with questions about assimilation. In many ways, Handler channeled her own ambivalence into Barbie, for the doll became as much a symbol of all-American, perky whiteness as it did of female empowerment.

Israeli Caracal Brigade soldiers (IDF)- volunteer at Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba

“Ruth Handler is to dolls as Ralph Lifshitz is to Americana clothing and Irving Berlin is to Christmas carols. Whether they were conscious of it or not, they all had ambivalent relationships to the idea of the white picket fence America — but they also helped create the image of the white picket fence America,” said Emily Tamkin, author of “Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities.”

Born in 1916, Handler was the youngest of 10 children born to Yiddish-speaking Polish-Jewish immigrants. Her father, Jacob Mosko, was a blacksmith who deserted the Russian Army. Her mother, Ida, was illiterate. When Handler was six months old her mother got sick and was unable to care for her. Handler’s older sister Sara stepped in and raised her.

At 19, Handler dropped out of college and drove from Denver to Hollywood in her Ford Coupe. She moved into an apartment with her friend and landed a job at Paramount Pictures.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/way-before-icon-barbie-got-the-hollywood-treatment-she-was-born-with-jewish-roots/

Israel will have ‘huge role’ to play in AI revolution, OpenAI’s Sam Altman says

Visiting co-founder of Microsoft-backed OpenAI says firm is examining various investment options in Israel; meets with President Herzog, speaks to high-tech leaders and students

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that he is impressed with the talent pool in Israel and expressed his confidence that the local tech ecosystem will play a “huge role” in the artificial intelligence revolution transforming the world in the coming years.

“There are two things I have observed that are particular about Israel: the first is talent density and the second is the relentlessness, drive, and ambition of Israeli entrepreneurs,” Altman said at an event at Tel Aviv University. “Those two things together are optimal to lead to incredible prosperity both in terms of AI research and AI applications.”

Altman arrived in Israel this week as part of a worldwide tour to meet with AI users and developers as well as policymakers. At Tel Aviv University, Altman and Ilya Sutskever, the creators behind ChatGPT — the viral chatbot released late last year that mimics human writing — were hosted by Dr. Nadav Cohen from TAU’s School of Computer Science.

ChatGPT is a tool that is based on a so-called large language model trained with text data to answer questions, or prompts, as a human would.

Altman and Sutskever discussed the threats and challenges that AI and superintelligence will bring in the future and answered questions from students, data scientists, AI developers, and high-tech professionals.

With support of tech billionaire Elon Musk, Altman set up OpenAI in 2015 as a research and development lab with a mission to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. Altman founded the AI lab together with Sutskever who also serves as the chief scientist at OpenAI. Russian-born Sutskever grew up in Israel and moved to Canada with his family at the age of 16.

The two high-tech pioneers encouraged Israeli developers and entrepreneurs to delve into the unchartered territory of AI, which they predict has a huge number of opportunities and positive applications.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/openais-sam-altman-says-israel-will-have-huge-role-to-play-in-ai-revolution/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/openais-sam-altman-says-israel-will-have-huge-role-to-play-in-ai-revolution/

Democrats Use Drag Queen to Rally 2024 Voters

Reporter and TPUSA contributor Drew Hernandez revealed footage Monday of an all ages drag show in Tempe, Arizona that appeared to turn into a political rally. Democrats joined with a female impersonator at a public “Pride Party” to rally far-left progressive voters for Arizona’s upcoming elections.

“It’s not too late to register for the next election and turn the tide” against the GOP, said Richard Stevens, who uses the “drag queen” stage name of Barbra Seville. He continued:

It’s insane. It’s insane. Over 500 laws [to curb transgenderism] have been introduced across the country … If we could just elect one more person with views and opinions and commitments to us, like some other people do, we can call the shots and we can protect LGBTQU. We can protect trans people, we can protect people of color, we can make housing a priority, we can tackle things like guns in schools. But we can’t do it unless you all get involved and registered to vote.

His anger was directed at Republican legislators in roughly 20 states who have enacted many policies over the last year to protect children.

These very popular laws protect children from transgenderist advocates, shield them in sports from opposite-sex cheaters, and guard children from the harmful and irreversible medical procedures touted by Democrat-affiliated transgender groups.

However, the centrist pushback against the far-left Democrats is being aided by the growing number of leave-us-alone gays and lesbians who are protesting the pro-transgender evangelization of K-12 children.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/06/05/democrats-use-drag-queen-rally-voters/

White House Claims Biden Family Business Represents ‘No’ National Security Threat

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, denied on Monday the Biden family’s business schemes represent a national security threat despite admitting he had not read the House Oversight Committee report on the matter.

In May, the House Oversight Committee’s probe found the Biden family business over the course of several years received at least $10 million from business schemes in Romania and China in return for what appears to be influence peddling. In total, nine Biden family members received payments from the family foreign business ventures, including two of Joe Biden’s grandchildren, the investigation revealed.

“Have you read the report yourself and do you personally think there are any national security concerns here?” a White House Daily Caller correspondent asked Kirby during Monday’s White House press briefing.

“No, and no.” he responded.

The question on Monday was the second time in one week reporters raised the topic of the Biden family business during a White House press briefing.

During last Wednesday’s White House press briefing, a reporter asked Kirby what he thought about a recent Harvard/Harris poll that found 53 percent of Americans, including a quarter of Democrats, believe Joe Biden “was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme.”

“What do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the president is himself corrupt?” the reporter asked Kirby.

“Wow,” Kirby replied, pausing before claiming that “there’s nothing to these claims.”

The questions come as the House Oversight Committee opened a new line of investigation into an unclassified document that allegedly details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions between now-President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

The FBI possesses the document from an interview the bureau conducted with the informant, who is reportedly a “highly credible” FBI source with a history dating back to the Obama administration era.

FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to hand over the subpoenaed record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee. On Monday, Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) announced the committee will move Thursday to hold Wray in contempt of Congress.

“FBI officials confirmed that the unclassified, FBI-generated record has not been disproven and is currently being used in an ongoing investigation,” Comer explained. “The confidential human source who provided the information about then-Vice President Joe Biden being involved in a criminal bribery scheme is a trusted, highly credible informant who is being used by the FBI for over ten years and has been paid over six figures.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/06/05/white-house-claims-biden-family-business-represents-no-national-security-threat/