Trump looks to amplify message by bringing Fox News into the White House

The addition of Bill Shine, Roger Ailes’ former right-hand man and a Sean Hannity confidante, also carries some risk.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/bill-shine-white-house-communications-678856

The FBI and local police foiled an impending July 4th terror attack in Cleveland over the weekend, arresting one man while conducting “reconnaissance” of a downtown square where he planned on launching his deadly assault.

A man who pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda sought to kill members of the military and conducted reconnaissance in downtown Cleveland for a planned attack on July 4 – but the Independence Day plot was foiled after a months-long investigation, federal officials said Monday.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/02/july-4-terror-plot-thwarted-in-cleveland-fbi-says.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Two Freight Forwarding Executives Arrested in Miami

Executives Charged with Fixing Prices

Two executives have been arrested in Miami on charges of conspiring to fix prices for international freight forwarding services, the Department of Justice announced.

A criminal complaint was unsealed on June 29 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Roberto Dip and Jason Handal. Dip is the owner and CEO, and Handal is a manager, of a freight forwarding company that operates in ports throughout the United States, including New Orleans. At a detention hearing before a magistrate judge in Florida on July 3, Dip was ordered detained pending trial, and Handal was released on conditions including a $500,000 personal surety bond.

According to the criminal complaint, Dip and Handal participated in a conspiracy among freight forwarding companies from at least as early as March 2014 until at least March 2015. Freight forwarders arrange for and manage the shipment of goods, including by receiving, packaging, and otherwise preparing cargo destined for international shipment.

“As these arrests show, the Division and its law enforcement partners are committed to prosecuting senior executives who conspire to cheat American customers in vital international industries,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the conspirators met at several locations in Honduras and the United States, including New Orleans. At these meetings, the conspirators discussed and agreed to raise prices charged to U.S. customers, to be implemented by establishing “commissions” in port cities throughout the United States to coordinate and agree on the specific rates charged to customers in each port. According to the affidavit, this conduct is memorialized in emails and other documents. Emails allegedly show that Dip and Handal were aware that their conduct was in violation of U.S. antitrust laws and that they instructed co-conspirators to avoid leaving written evidence of their conduct.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Six North Carolina Residents Indicted For Firearm, Drug, and Robbery Offenses

A federal grand jury sitting in Greensboro, North Carolina last week returned five indictments charging six Richmond County, North Carolina men who were arrested yesterday on charges including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, drug distribution, and Hobbs Act robbery.

These indictments were the result of a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement intended to reduce violent and gun-related crime in the Richmond County area, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

In 2017, security concerns prompted the City of Hamlet, North Carolina, to abruptly cancel its July 4th festivities. News of the 2017 Hamlet July 4th cancellation garnered public attention, and Attorney General Sessions, speaking at a gang conference in Winston-Salem on Aug. 17, 2017, remarked, “I heard recently about Hamlet, North Carolina, where this year’s annual Independence Day celebration was canceled suddenly because of threats of gang violence. This is in a town of about 7,000 people. I certainly respect the decision of the city leaders, but it is infuriating and wrong to me that they had to make it. This is America. We will not be held hostage in our homes by gangsters.” The Attorney General pledged to provide assistance to combat that violence, and the cases announced today are a direct result of that pledge.