EXCLUSIVE: The president’s trouble son, his girlfriend and some 'shady' Mexicans: Hunter Biden makes extraordinary claim about his missing handgun

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13444001/Hunter-Biden-missing-handgun-shady-Mexican-grocery-store.html

Hunter Biden tried to blame his missing handgun on Mexican workers at a Delaware supermarket he smeared as 'shady' and 'prolly illegal'. The First Son made the controversial comments in October 2018 while being interviewed by state police looking for his handgun and bullets after his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden threw them in a public trash can at Janssens Supermarket in Wilmington, across the road from a high school. The police search for the gun led to the criminal charge that Hunter now faces.

Hunter Biden tried to pin his missing handgun on 'shady,' 'prolly illegal' Mexican grocery store workers after girlfriend Hallie dumped it in a public trash can

Hunter Biden tried to blame his missing handgun on Mexican workers at a Delaware supermarket he smeared as 'shady' and 'prolly illegal', according to a 2018 police report published for the first time this week.

The First Son made the controversial comments in October 2018 while being interviewed by state police looking for his handgun and bullets after his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden threw them in a public trash can at Janssens Supermarket in Wilmington, across the road from a high school.

The police search for the gun led to them obtaining Hunter's gun purchase form, in which he lied about not being an addict – the criminal charge that he now faces in Delaware federal court. The trial is due to start on June 3.

The debacle was first revealed by news site Politico in 2021. But the police report, with all its embarrassing details, has now been published for the first time last among pre-trial filings by Delaware prosecutors.

It shows Delaware State Police wrote up Hallie for 'stealing' his Colt Cobra .38 handgun out of his truck and dumping it in the Janssens trash can on October 23 2018.

One officer wrote in his report that he interviewed Hunter at the supermarket later that day about who might have fished his gun out of the trash.

Hunter told the officer, Sergeant Vincent Clemons: 'they have some shady people working at the market' and gestured at two Mexican store workers adding that they were 'prolly illegal' – then brought up that his father is Joe Biden.

Hunter told Clemons that Hallie threw away the gun because she was scared he would kill himself.

He denied he was suicidal, but whined that 'he has been living in a nightmare' and told Clemons 'to put myself in his shoes, and try to feel what it would be like to fall in love with [redacted, his brother's widow Hallie] and then have everyone look at him.'

The report also says police got CCTV of Hallie appearing to dump the gun.

Clemons's report says cops were worried because the supermarket is across the street from a high school 'and we didn't need a student to find the weapon'.

Intriguingly, the police report confirms that the FBI were involved in the case, helping go through the trash looking for the gun.

And Hunter's texts, obtained by DailyMail.com from his abandoned laptop, suggest that a senior law enforcement officer who worked with the FBI was creating a back channel to the official investigation and recommending ways the Bidens could avoid getting in trouble with police.

Detective John Penrod is named in the police report as 'DSP JTTF FBI Task Force', an acronym for Delaware State Police Joint Terrorism Task Forces. According to the FBI, JTTFs consist of multiple agencies and work out of FBI offices.

Amid the incident, on October 23, 2018 Hunter texted Hallie: 'And Hallie John Penrod: 'Hallie have David call if something like this ever happens again (implying – next time Hunter f**ks Up)'.'

'David' is a reference to David I Walsh, the son of Joe Biden's former law partner and decades-long friend David Walsh Sr. Texts on the laptop show Hunter was jealous and paranoid that Hallie was sleeping with Walsh Jr.

2 killed and 3 hurt in a mass shooting at a Pennsylvania linen company. A suspect is in custody

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/22/us/chester-pennsylvania-shooting/index.html

Two people are dead and three others were shot and hospitalized Wednesday in what officials called a workplace shooting in Chester, Pennsylvania – west of Philadelphia.

A suspect was arrested in the nearby city of Trainer, Chester Police Commissioner Steven Gretsky said.

The shooting happened at Delaware County Linen on Wednesday morning, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said.

he suspect arrived at the workplace with a firearm and “took out his anger” on fellow employees, Stollsteimer said during a news conference.

Across the country, at least 168 mass shootings have taken place in just the first five months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Both the nonprofit and CNN define mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot.

California lawmaker's mic cut off while reading bill to end sanctuary state laws, says Dems 'don't care'

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-lawmakers-mic-cut-off-212503056.html

A California lawmaker who tried to force a vote Tuesday on a bill that would have ended sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes against minors had his microphone cut off before the legislation was kicked aside.

Assemblyman Bill Essayli motioned to force a vote on AB 2641 in an effort to force state Democrats to go on the record. The bill would have repealed provisions of a state law that prohibits local authorities from participating in federal immigration enforcement, including banning officers from asking someone about their immigration status and informing immigration authorities about when a suspect is due to be released from local police custody.

On Tuesday, Essayli attempted to introduce the bill in Sacramento before his microphone was cut off in the Democratic-dominated chamber.

<Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, a Democrat, quickly cut Essayli off.

>California state Assemblyman Bill Essayli tried to introduce AB 2641, which would have ended sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes against minors, on Tuesday.

>California state Assemblyman Bill Essayli tried to introduce AB 2641, which would have ended sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes against minors, on Tuesday.

>California state Assemblyman Bill Essayli tried to introduce AB 2641, which would have ended sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes against minors, on Tuesday.

https://apnews.com/article/fat-leonard-navy-bribery-judge-5aad72a3bef1ad6f5a37733716cf41ac

Judge dismisses felony convictions of 5 retired military officers in US Navy bribery case

>FAT LEONARD

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” in one of the Navy’s biggest corruption cases.

The dismissals came at the request of the government — not the defense — citing prosecutorial errors.

Retired U.S. Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch and Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Enrico DeGuzman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disclosing information on Tuesday, while U.S. Navy officer Stephen Shedd’s entire case was thrown out. Their defense lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment.

It marked the latest setback to the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to defense contractor Leonard Francis, nicknamed “ Fat Leonard.” The enigmatic figure — who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds at one time — owned and operated Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., which supplied food, water and fuel to U.S. Navy vessels.

Francis is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to offering more than $500,000 in cash bribes, along with other gifts and wild sex parties in Southeast Asia, to Navy officials, defense contractors and others. The scheme allowed him to bilk the maritime service out of at least $35 million by getting commanders to redirect ships to ports he controlled and overcharging for services, according to the prosecution. He was arrested in 2013 in a sting operation in San Diego.

Prosecutors said in legal filings outlining their request for Tuesday’s dismissals that the action does not mean the defendants did not commit the charged crimes but because information was withheld from the defense and other mistakes were made, they wanted to ensure justice was served fairly.

In 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino ruled the former lead federal prosecutor committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding information from defense lawyers. In September, the felony convictions of four former Navy officers were also vacated. The four men pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and agreed to pay a $100 fine each.

The dismissals by Sammartino on Tuesday come weeks before Francis is due back in court to set a date for his sentencing.

Francis returned to the U.S. late last year after a daring escape from his house arrest in San Diego in 2022 weeks before his original sentencing hearing. He was later captured in Venezuela, which extradited him to the U.S. as part of a prisoner exchange.

The escape was also seen by some as a misstep by the prosecution for allowing him to not be held behind bars.

Pentagon says none of the aid unloaded from US pier off coast of Gaza has been delivered to broader Palestinian population

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-says-none-aid-unloaded-210844718.html

None of the aid that has been unloaded from the temporary pier the US constructed off the coast of Gaza has been delivered to the broader Palestinian population, as the US works with the UN and Israel to identify safe delivery routes inside the enclave, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Several desperate Gazans intercepted trucks delivering aid from the pier over the weekend, leading the UN to suspend the delivery operations until the logistical challenges are resolved.

The US is working with Israel and the United Nations to establish “alternative routes” for the safe delivery of the 569 tons of aid transported to Gaza since last week, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday.

Asked whether any of the aid has been delivered to the people of Gaza, Ryder said, “As of today, I do not believe so.” He added that aid had been held in an assembly area on shore, but as of Tuesday had begun getting moved to warehouses for distribution throughout Gaza as alternative routes have been established.

A US official told CNN that the Defense Department and UN are still working to determine how much aid can be held at he staging area inside Gaza at any given time.

The amount of aid getting to the Gaza shoreline from its initial staging area in Cyprus has also fallen short of initial Pentagon estimates.

Since Friday, more than 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance have been delivered through the temporary pier, called JLOTS, or Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, to the shore of Gaza to be distributed by humanitarian partners, Ryder said. But Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command, said last week that the US hoped to initially transport 500 tons of aid per day via the pier, and scale up as time went on.

Over the weekend, as trucks began moving the aid delivered off the floating pier, CNN reported that a group of men in Gaza intercepted the aid, saying they did not trust that it was actually meant for the Palestinian people.

“I have doubts,” Mounir Ayad, a Gaza resident, told CNN near the pier. “I don’t understand this floating pier or what it indicates and what its purpose is. They say it’s for aid, but people are apprehensive. Is this aid or something else? We know that the US has never supported the Palestinian cause, so it’s implausible that it’s giving us aid without something in return.”

Ryder acknowledged on Tuesday that some initial aid brought into Gaza was “intercepted by some people who took that aid off those vehicles.”

“Fully appreciating the desperation, but also fully appreciating the fact that it is very important that this aid get to the people who need it most, that’s going to continue to be the focus. So I understand, you know, the focus on why is this not working, or why is that not working, but what we’re focused on is how we can work to ensure that the Palestinian people get the aid.”

The Pentagon said in April that the goal was to deliver roughly 500 tons of aid — amounting to 90 truckloads — per day to the starving population of Gaza, with the intent of working up to 150 trucks daily. The pier was finally anchored to Gaza last week as the humanitarian situation in the enclave has only worsened.

Sonali Korde, assistant to the administrator of the US Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, said last week that conditions in Gaza “have not improved and in the past two weeks we have seen a vital border crossing close, and at a time when it is critical we see more aid move. Across Gaza, 2.2 million people, the entire population, is facing acute food insecurity.”

The US has faced a number of challenges with the pier, including planning around Israel’s operations in Rafah which could raise security concerns; early issues with establishing who would transport the aid from the pier into Gaza, as the US has repeatedly said no US troops would have boots on the ground; and logistical challenges like sea and weather conditions that could continue to limit the ability to use it.

Ryder said Tuesday that the US is continuing to push for aid to get in other ways, including through land routes. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is continuing to have conversations with his Israeli counterpart regarding the effort to get aid through land crossings, including through Rafah, he said.

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Argentina’s Milei plans to meet with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at end of May

President Javier Milei is planning to meet with Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders of tech giants in Silicon Valley at the end of May. Argentine President Javier Milei is planning to meet with Meta Platforms Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders of tech giants in Silicon Valley at the end of May, people with direct knowledge said.

The presidential mission to San Francisco will include meetings with representatives of Apple Inc, OpenAI Inc, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, among other companies in the technology industry, the people said. Argentina’s Ambassador to the US Gerardo Werthein will participate in the mission.

The trip comes after Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel met with Milei in Buenos Aires earlier this month. Milei has also had two meetings with Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, including at the Milken Institute’s conference in Los Angeles recently. The libertarian has won international praise from the likes of billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller for his austerity campaign.

The council of the president’s economic advisors, led by Demian Reidel, is coordinating the final details to push and define the agenda, which will seek investments to turn Argentina into an artificial intelligence hub.

Officials are convinced Argentina has comparative advantages: large tracts open for development, cold weather, top notch human capital and, now, a business friendly government.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment.

https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/economy/argentinas-milei-plans-to-meet-with-facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg-at-end-of-may.phtml

notable equivalency >>20900600