Firearm Industry Agrees With Former President Trump: #Gunvote Is Critical In 2024

on May 24, 2024 by F Riehl, Editor in Chief

Former President Donald J. Trump gave the keynote address at the recent NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas and had some important words for those in attendance. He urged attendees to get excited, go back home and spread the word, get active ahead of the upcoming national election and – most importantly – to vote.

Just before speaking to the crowd, the former president – the presumptive 2024 Republican party nominee for The White House – received the endorsement of the NRA.

While giving his remarks, Former President Trump exclaimed, “You’ve got to get all your friends and all the gun owners they have to go in, they have to vote. If they vote, there’s nobody that can beat us!”

The firearm industry couldn’t agree more and it’s an effort that we’ve been focused on for many years with the #GUNVOTE® voter registration, education and mobilization campaign.

Criticism and Warning

The former president had plenty to say about the Biden administration and its never-ceasing attack on the Second Amendment. After all, President Joe Biden deemed the firearm industry “the enemy” from the debate stage in 2019 and has done all he can to punish us ever since.

Former President Trump reiterated that the liberties and Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans are “under siege” and that those rights will be on the ballot in November. He warned convention-goers that the current president will “come for your guns – 100 percent,” if he wins a second term.

Contrasting his approach to that of President Biden’s, the former president declared, “I promise you this, with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, no one will lay a finger on your firearms — just as took place for four years when I was your president.”

On the other hand, former President Trump warned, “If President Joe Biden gets four more years they are coming for your guns, 100 percent certain.” He continued by reminding attendees that the president, “has a 40-year-record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”

“We have to have a Second Amendment that is meaningful,” the former president wrapped up. “Gun owners must vote. We want a landslide. So, I think you’re a rebellious bunch, but let’s be rebellious and vote this time.”

Industry Walks the Walk

The firearm industry agrees with those sentiments. It’s why NSSF launched the #GUNVOTE initiative to ensure those casting ballots at the ballot box are informed of how to register to vote, and when and where to cast a ballot and to make the most impactful decisions to safeguard their rights and freedoms.

#GUNVOTE will help voters figure out when and where to cast their vote. Early voting and absentee voting differ from state to state, but #GUNVOTE conveniently lists out all U.S. states with links to their respective Secretary of State’s website where more details about the process can be found. For those who wait until election day to cast their ballot, #GUNVOTE will also tell voters of their polling place so that exercising the right to vote is as easy as possible….

https://www.ammoland.com/2024/05/firearm-industry-agrees-with-former-president-trump-gunvote-is-critical-in-2024/#axzz8bFuk8zB0

This video is intense.

ABC7 Eyewitness News

@ABC7

A deputy in a patrol car comes under attack during a street takeover in Highland. One teen opens the door of the cruiser, attempting to overtake the deputyas a mob smashes the doors and windows. New details about the boy arrested for attempted carjacking. Tonight at 11 from ABC7

SOCAL TEEN ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO CARJACK SHERIFF’S PATROL UNIT DURING STREET TAKEOVER

12:58 AM · May 24, 2024

https://x.com/ABC7/status/1793869067809661252

Teen arrested after mob attacks sheriff's cruiser at street takeover in Highland

ByABC7.com

Friday, May 24, 2024 3:45AM

HIGHLAND, Calif. (KABC) – An Inland Empire teen was arrested for allegedly attempting to carjack a sheriff's cruiser in Highland as a mob of people at a street takeover surrounded and attacked the vehicle.

Video released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department shows about a dozen teens and young men surround a department vehicle on May 11 just after midnight in the area of Victoria and Highland avenues.

It happened as about 100 people had gathered in the area for a street takeover. One person opened a fire hydrant to flood the intersection, making it easier for cars to drift.

Several people are seen kicking and hitting the sheriff's vehicle, jumping on the hood and banging on the window.

At one point, a department statement says, a person in the crowd tried to open the vehicle's door, "attempting to overtake the deputy and his patrol unit. The deputy was able to close his door and drive away from the crowd and drive to safety."

Investigators were able to obtain video footage and identify a suspect, described only asa 15-year-old from Menifee. They obtained an arrest warrant and took him into custody around 6:30 a.m. Thursday at his home, for attempted carjacking and felony vandalism.

He was booked into the San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall.

https://abc7.com/post/highland-street-takeover-mob-attacks-san-bernardino-county/14864141/

(Is “Summer of Love” 2024 starting?)

Trump only trailing Bidan by 2.3% in MN

There’s 5 months left, PDJT has to do rallies in MN.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/minnesota/trump-vs-biden

>>20917556

She said this a couple of months ago too. Kind of pathetic. She is not even a smart leftist. Just a run of the mill leftist. Both Obama and Bidan appointed incompetent leftists. Lowering the standards of our highest court in the land, just like the did in 2020 election for President

Donald Trump Prosecutors Face 'Practical Problem' With Jury Instructions

Story by Ewan Palmer • 1d

(Even leftist attorneys think this trial is a dog)

The prosecution in Donald Trump's hush money trial could face difficulties convincing a jury that the former president committed felony offenses depending on the instructions they are given ahead of deliberations, according to a legal expert.

Speaking on the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast hosted by Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig suggested there could be a "practical problem" for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's officeif the jury is not told about potentially complicated specifics of campaign finance law.

Trump is alleged to have violated finance laws while falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

Under New York law, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor unless it was done to conceal another offense. Prosecutors allege that the hush money Trump is alleged to have arranged for his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay Daniels, which was later listed as "legal fees," amounted to an illegal campaign contribution as it was paid to help Trump win the 2016 election by preventing negative stories from being revealed to voters.

Jury instructions are handed down by the judge to ensure jurors have a good understanding of the charges they will be deliberating on, and the laws involved. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 falsifying business records charges and denies having an affair with Daniels.

Ahead of closing arguments in the historic trial next week,Honig suggested that the campaign finance violations remain "so poorly defined" by the prosecution, which may hinder them if the jury is not given clear instructions by the judge as to how the financial laws may relate to Trump.

"Let me give you one practical problem. If the jury is going to be instructed that the other crime here isstate or federal campaign finance law, don't they have to get into what that means?" Honig said.

"The burglary statute says if you go into someone's home and you have zip tie, and a ski mask, and a stun gun, and it's obvious you're planning on assaulting somebody, you can be then convicted for conspiracy to do the other crime," he added. "But that's much more intuitive than a conspiracy to violate campaign finance.

"What if the legal limit on federal campaign donations was $131,000? Doesn't the jury really need to know that? How can you possibly not instruct them on what violates federal or state campaign finance?"

Newsweek reached out to Bragg's office via email for comment.

Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, used a similar burglary analogy on Stay Tuned to suggest that the prosecution only needs to convince the jury that Trump intended to violate campaign finance laws with the hush money payment.

"If you come into my house, you're trespassing. But if you come in with the intent to commit another crime, it's burglary. And here it's the same sort of deal," Vance said.

"You make false business records, misdemeanor. You do it with the intent to commit another crime, you don't have to commit that crime, you don't even have to be able to commit that other crime. You just have to intend to get around campaign finance laws.

"The government bears that burden of proving doubt, and as long as they do I think that's enough," Vance added.

The hush money trial will resume on Tuesday, where the defense and prosecution will present their closing arguments.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the proceedings in New York, said that he'll instruct jurors for about an hour before sending them to deliberate, which could happen as early as Wednesday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/donald-trump-prosecutors-face-practical-problem-with-jury-instructions/ar-BB1mZGuL

>>20917612

There’s always more to the story, because the DOJ exaggerates the crime for prosecutions.

The Pharma and Tech companies get the best treatment. They make billions and pay puny fines, even if they are killing people.

If you go on DOJ crimes and judgements, you’ll notice the multi billion dollars corporations get off with a slap of the wrist, but low level tax preparers get 5-10 years in jail. The ones that have little money are crushed. I saw that for years.

Its about about the attorneys racking up wins at the DOJ (and IC), so they can move on to a high power job at White Shoe law firms, like Gina Haspell and many others. They are financially set for life.

>>20917564

He Helped Create Silk Road — But Ross Ulbricht Should Be Freed

The physics grad was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years, but there’s no reason he should die in prison1/2

BY ALEX WINTER. ROLLING STONE MAY 2, 2024

The physics grad was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years, but there’s no reason he should die in prison

On March 27, 2024, Ross Ulbricht expressed a birthday wish from prison. “Today, I turn 40,” Ulbricht had his family post on the Twitter account he uses to communicate with the outside world.“I pray I’ll get a second chance at freedom before this next decade ends.” He followed that up a couple of weeks later with a lament: “It’s beenover 10 years since I’ve seen the night sky. This is one of the simple things I miss the most.”

Generally, Ulbricht maintains a surprisingly positive attitude for someone who is facing the rest of his life in prison. He is always engaging, sharp, and intellectually curious in the many letters we have exchanged since 2015, when I first met Ulbricht as he prepared for his federal criminal trial.

My interest in his case began in 2013 when I was working on DEEP WEB, a documentary about the darknet black market and forum Silk Road, and the global hunt for its leader, known only as Dread Pirate Roberts, a.k.a. DPR. In October of that year, a young man named Ross Ulbricht was arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of being DPR. Ulbricht was an unassuming 29-year-old physics grad, beloved by his friends and family, and without anything resembling a prior history of wrongdoing, much less crime.From the beginning, the media portrayed Ulbricht as a murderous drug kingpin presiding over a vast global cartel, and for the community on Silk Road, that simply didn’t add up. For starters, Silk Road was a relatively small site, and if Ulbricht was DPR, this description of a “murderous drug kingpin” didn’t track with the DPR that everyone knew from the forums — a modest, relatable peer with whom they shared their lives.

I was one of those community members, having joined the site early on to research the rise of Bitcoin. I immediately discovered that while inarguably a criminal operation, there was much more to Silk Road than its portrayal in the media. It was certainly a market for drugs, among other mundane and perfectly legal things,but contrary to erroneous news reports, it did not sell hitmen services, child porn, or guns. And while hyperbole made for eye-grabbing press reports,Silk Road was not a “vast global cartel” but a sparsely populated platformon a small, impenetrable corner of the internet. For many of its users, Silk Road was a vibrant and diverse community of people from around the world. They were not only there for drugs but for the freedom of an encrypted andanonymous space, to convene and discuss everything from politics to literature and art, philosophy and drugs, drug recovery, and the onerous War on Drugs. DPR was only one of the prominent voices in the active Silk Road forums.

The FBI shut down Silk Road at the same time as Ulbricht’s arrest, and thus began an investigation and trial that I hoped would answer many questions: Was Ulbricht DPR? Was DPR responsible for all of the activities behind the scenes at Silk Road? Did DPR order hits on several enemies that, while never resulting in actual murders, would indicate a much darker side to DPR than the community understood?What was the role of the corrupt law-enforcement agents deep inside Silk Road who were profiting from drug sales?

Many of us eagerly anticipated a measured and thorough investigation,but a media circus ensued. The government and press no better understood the internet in those days than today. Added to that disconnect was the irresistible clickbait of a young, attractive, middle-class white kid from a good family, allegedly presiding over a “global drug empire.” A small cottage industry grew around Ulbricht and Silk Road, spawning countless magazine articles, books, and movie deals. A flurry of stories painted the picture of a young man that no one knew and had to be constructed, including a salacious piece in this publication. Despite some excellent reporting from a handful of reporters in the tech press,a skewed and often wildly inaccurate narrative formed around Silk Road and Ulbrichtthat followed him all the way to his brief trial.

HTTPS://WWW.ROLLINGSTONE.COM/CULTURE/CULTURE-COMMENTARY/SILK-ROAD-ROSS-ULBRICHT-UNDESERVED-LIFE-SENTENCE-PRISON-1235013443/

>>20917698

2/2

I attended Ulbricht’s trial and =was dismayed to see the level of confusion — from judge to jury — struggling to comprehend the complex and alien landscape of the darknet, Bitcoin, and the workings of Silk Road. There were some clear-cut discoveries: Ulbricht was the creator of the site and was behind the moniker Dread Pirate Roberts, even if others were involved in running operations and making decisions. And whatever the facts were, behind encrypted keyboards and anonymous chats involving murders for hire that never resulted in anyone’s death==, things had taken a dark turn on the site.

Ulbricht did not deny his involvement in Silk Road,though he continues to contest the allegation that he was the sole person in charge. At his sentencing on May 29, 2015, Ross made an impassioned statement of remorse to the judge, accepting responsibility for his part in the harm caused by Silk Road. He was thensentenced to double life imprisonment plus 40 yearswithout the possibility of parole, a veritable death sentenceusually reserved for cartel leaders and serial killersand more severe than what was requested by the prosecution. At the sentencing,every one of us in the crowded court and overflow room were stunned. Ross Ulbricht has been behind bars since October 2013.

I first met Ulbricht while he was incarcerated in a high-security detention center in Manhattan awaiting trial, and after he was transferred to federal prison, we formed a closer relationship.The Ulbricht I know is highly educated, insightful, remorseful, humane, and self-aware. He has been a model prisoner for these intervening years, teaching math and yoga and helping fellow prisoners get off drugs and prepare for release. It’s my firm opinion, and the opinion of many prison-system andcriminal-law experts, that his sentence is disproportionate to his charges and that he deserves clemency.This case indeed reflects just one of the millions of unjust sentences in the long and failed War on Drugs, but that’s no excuse to ignore this case or any other that deserves to be heard and corrected. Our justice and carceral systems are long overdue for reform, and we can and should be arguing for clemency in all cases of unjust sentencing.

No matter what one thinks of Ulbricht, Silk Road, or the crimes that may have been committed, 10 years in prison is more than sufficient and customary punishment for those offenses or sins. Ross Ulbricht should be free.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-undeserved-life-sentence-prison-1235013443/

(When you get Rolling Stone criticizing the press by blowing things out of proportion, basically working with the government, we should take note. Rolling Stone is not exactly truthful in the exaggerated stories. This article has a good balance)

>>20917564All you need to know is Preet Bharara prosecuted it in the Southern District of NY, same district Trump is being persecuted. Rudy said the Southern District is corrupt as hell. Braggh, James, Merchan, Kaplan and all others involved with Trump.

Feb. 5, 2015.1/2

Silk Road Was Used By More Than 100,000 Users To Buy And Sell Hundreds Of Kilograms Of Illegal Drugs And Other Unlawful Goods And Services

Preet Bharara,the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road,” was found guilty yesterday on all seven counts in connection with his operation and ownership of Silk Road, a hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement, following a four-week trial before U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As a unanimous jury has found, Ross William Ulbricht operated Silk Road – a clandestine global marketplace that offered buyers and sellers of illegal goods and services a promise of anonymity. Ulbricht built this black market bazaar to exploit the dark web and the digital currency Bitcoin to allow users to conduct illegal business beyond the reach of law enforcement. Ulbricht’s arrest and conviction – andour seizure of millions of dollars of Silk Road Bitcoins– should send a clear message to anyone else attempting to operate an online criminal enterprise. The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from arrest and prosecution.”

According to the Complaint, the Superseding Indictment, and the evidence presented at trial:

ULBRICHT created Silk Road in approximately January 2011, and owned and operated the underground website until it was shut down by law enforcement authorities in October 2013. Silk Road emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet, serving as a sprawling black-market bazaar where unlawful goods and services, including illegal drugs of virtually all varieties, were bought and sold regularly by the site’s users. While in operation, Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services to well over a hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions.

ULBRICHT deliberately operated Silk Road as an online criminal marketplace intended to enable its users to buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods and services anonymously and outside the reach of law enforcement. ULBRICHT sought to anonymize transactions on Silk Road in two principal ways. First, ULBRICHT operated Silk Road on what is known as “The Onion Router,” or “Tor” network, a special network of computers on the Internet, distributed around the world, designed to conceal the true IP addresses of the computers on the network and thereby the identities of the networks’ users. Second, ULBRICHT designed Silk Road to include a Bitcoin-based payment system that served to facilitate the illegal commerce conducted on the site, including by concealing the identities and locations of the users transmitting and receiving funds through the site.

The vast majority of items for sale on Silk Road were illegal drugs, which were openly advertised as such on the site. As of September 23, 2013, Silk Road had nearly 13,000 listings for controlled substances, listed under such categories as “Cannabis,” “Dissociatives,” “Ecstasy,” “Intoxicants,” “Opioids,” “Precursors,” “Prescription,” “Psychedelics,” and “Stimulants.” From November 2011 to September 2013, law enforcement agents made more than 60 individual undercover purchases of controlled substances from Silk Road vendors. These purchases included heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD, among other illegal drugs, and were filled by vendors believed to be located in more than ten different countries, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Austria and France.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ross-ulbricht-creator-and-owner-silk-road-website-found-guilty-manhattan-federal-court

>>20917794

2/2

In addition to illegal narcotics, other illicit goods and services were openly bought and sold on Silk Road as well. For example, as of September 23, 2013, there were: 159 listings under the category “Services,” most of which offered computer hacking services, such as a listing by a vendor offering to hack into social networking accounts of the customer’s choosing; 801 listings under the category “Digital goods,” including malicious software, hacked accounts at various online services, and pirated media content; and 169 listings under the category “Forgeries,” including offers to produce fake driver’s licenses, passports, Social Security cards, utility bills, credit card statements, car insurance records, and other forms of false identification documents.

Using the online moniker “Dread Pirate Roberts,” or “DPR,” ULBRICHT controlled and oversaw every aspect of Silk Road, and managed a staff of paid, online administrators and computer programmers who assisted with the day-to-day operation of the site. Through his ownership and operation of Silk Road, ULBRICHT reaped commissions worth over $13 million generated from the illicit sales conducted through the site. ULBRICHT also demonstrated a willingness to use violence to protect his criminal enterprise and the anonymity of its users. ULBRICHT even solicited six murders-for-hire in connection with operating the site, although there is no evidence that these murders were actually carried out.

ULBRICHT, 30, of San Francisco, California, was found guilty of: one count of distributing narcotics, one count of distributing narcotics by means of the Internet, and one count of conspiring to distribute narcotics, each of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years; one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison; one of count of conspiring to commit computer hacking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiring to traffic in false identity documents, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years; and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided for informational purposes only, as the sentence will be determined by the judge. ULBRICHT is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2015.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its New York Special Operations and Cyber Division, as well as the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, which comprises agents and officers of the DEA, the IRS, the New York City Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the New York State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, Office of Foreign Assets Control, and NY Department of Taxation. Mr. Bharara also thanked the ICE-HSI Chicago-O’Hare office for its assistance and support, as well as the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Office of International Affairs. Additionally, Mr. Bharara praised the foreign law enforcement partners whose contributions to the success of the investigation and prosecution have been invaluable, namely, the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police of the Republic of Iceland, and the French Republic’s Central Office for the Fight Against Crime Linked to Information Technology and Communication.

Mr. Bharara also noted that the investigation remains ongoing.The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States AttorneysSerrin Turner and Timothy Howardare in charge of the prosecution, and Assistant United States Attorney Christine Magdo is in charge of the forfeiture aspects of the case.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ross-ulbricht-creator-and-owner-silk-road-website-found-guilty-manhattan-federal-court

>>20917564. Update

Ross Ulbricht, the convicted creator of the legendary Silk Road dark web market for drugs, has never gotten much mercy from the US legal system. In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His appeal was denied, as was the pardon he sought from President Trump. Buta little over a year ago, it appears Ulbricht finally got a break of a different kind: The nine-figure debt he owed to the US government as part of his sentence will be erased—all thanks to the fortuitous hoarding of a hacker who'd stolen a massive trove of bitcoins from his market.

Last year,prosecutors quietly signed an agreement with Ulbricht stipulating that a portion of a newfound trove of Silk Road bitcoins, seized from an unnamed hacker, will be used to cancel out the more than $183 millionin restitution Ulbricht was ordered to pay as part of his 2015 sentence, a number calculated from the total illegal sales of the Silk Road based on exchange rates at the time of each transaction.Despite the fact that the more recently unearthed stash of bitcoins—now worth billions of dollars=—was itself criminal proceeds, the Justice Department appears to have made a deal with Ulbricht to avoid any claim he might have made to the money==: In exchange for Ulbricht's agreement to waive any ownership he might have of the bitcoins, a portion of them will be used to pay off his restitution in its entirety.

"The parties agree that the net proceeds realized from the sale of the [bitcoins] forfeited pursuant to this agreement shall be credited toward any unpaid balance of the Money Judgment," reads a court filing from last year, using the phrase "money judgment" to refer to Ulbricht's 2015 restitution order. The document, filed in February of 2021, is signed by both Ulbricht and David Countryman, a prosecutor in the asset forfeiture unit of the US Attorney's office for the Northern District of California. The Department of Justice didn't respond to WIRED's request for comment.

Ulbricht, of course, still faces life in prison. He has already served eight years of that sentence at jails in New York and penitentiaries in Colorado and Arizona. But the repayment ofhis restitution could mean that he's able to earn money in prisonto share with family or friends without it being seized or garnished to pay his debts—oreven keep any previously unknown caches of bitcoins that he may possess, so long as they aren't tied to the Silk Roador other criminal sources. And if his sentence is eventually commuted, as his supporters and a years-long Free Ross campaign have petitioned for since even before his sentencing, he would reenter the world as a free man without hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. (Ulbricht is pursuing a "habeas petition" in federal court that would cancel his 2015 sentence based on an argument that he received ineffective representation from his attorneys.)

In abizarre twist, the agreement to erase Ulbricht's restitution payments appears to have been made withoutthe involvement—or even the knowledge—of prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, the Justice Department attorneyswho handled Ulbricht's case. "This resolution was not coordinated with SDNY," one former Justice Department staffer told WIRED. "To not coordinate with the prosecuting authority that obtained the judgement is extremely unorthodox."

The surprise deal to cancel Ulbricht's restitution may have been made simply to smooth out any impediment to the government's massive financial seizure, says Nick Weaver, a researcher and computer scientist at UC Berkeley. Weaver has closely followed Ulbricht's case for years and even proved Ulbricht's bitcoins could be traced to the Silk Road during his trial. "This was a way for the government not to have to deal with pointless legal hassles during the forfeiture process," Weaver says,arguing that Ulbricht could have found an attorney to fight against and delay the seizure in return for a fraction of any potential reward. "I'm certain Ross Ulbricht could have gotten a lawyer on a contingency basis to challenge the forfeiture, simply because a 2 percent chance of winning would still be a multi-hundred-million-dollar payout for the attorney."

https://www.wired.com/story/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-debt-bitcoin-siezure/

>>20917864

A $3 Billion Silk Road Seizure Will Erase Ross Ulbricht’s Debt

In a twist, a massive trove of stolen bitcoins will repay the dark web market creator's $183 million restitution.2/2

Andy GreenbergApr 22, 2022

The strange series of events that ultimately led toUlbricht's restitution windfall first came to light in November 2020, when the Justice Department announced that it had seized nearly 70,000 bitcoins from someone it referred to only as Individual X.

That unnamed individual, according to an IRS criminal investigations affidavit,had stolen the bitcoin fortune from the Silk Road while it was still online by exploiting a security vulnerability in the site. Ulbricht, according to the affidavit, went so far as to threaten Individual X personally in an attempt to persuade them to return the money. But instead, IndividualX held onto the hoard of coins for more than seven years as the cryptocurrency appreciated massivelyin value. An IRS criminal investigation was able to trace the funds, identify Individual X, and persuade them to forfeit the stolen drug money to avoid criminal prosecution.

By the time thenearly 70,000 bitcoins were seized, they had grown to more than $1 billion in value—at the time, the largest ever criminal seizure ever carried out by the Justice Department. (That record has since been broken by the seizure of $3.6 billion from a New York couple accused of laundering the proceeds of the hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.)

In the time since that seizure, however, court records show that the Justice Department has fought off a series of seemingly frivolous claims to the bitcoins, which prevented it from immediately selling off the coins as it does with other seized cryptocurrency. That resulted in the bitcoins appreciating even more, to nearly $3 billion at current exchange rates.When the coins are eventually soldand that sum is added to the US treasury,it will easily cover Ulbricht's restitution, with billions of dollars to spare.

Ulbricht's mother, Lyn Ulbricht, who has championed her son's defense and the case for a pardon since his arrest, wrote in a statement to WIRED that the repayment of his restitution represents a significant victory."We’re very pleased that the financial penalty that was wrongly imposed on Ross has been reversed, just as other false charges against him were dropped in federal court after trial=," Ulbricht's mother writes, referring to a separate murder-for-hire charge in the District of Maryland that was dropped after Ulbricht's life sentence. "This is just another reminder that the case against Ross has always been misrepresented and weak, and we look forward to the day when Ross' unjust sentence is corrected and he returns to the free world where he can contribute to society."

She notes, however, that like any prisoner, her son can't hold any financial assets in prison beyond a commissary account for basic needs.Recent sales of NFTs based on Ulbricht's artwork, for instance, raised more than $6 million, but the funds went into a trust earmarked for Ulbricht's defense, she says, as well as charitable contributions to other prisoners and their families.

The restitution repayment doesn't mean much for Ulbricht's hopes of a pardon or a change to his sentence, argues Berkeley's Weaver. But it does do away with arestitution order that Weaver has always considered a misguided "blood from a stone" attempt to squeeze Ulbricht for more bitcoins.

"Somebody involved in the early days of Silk Road is no longer the subject of the fed's ire, the fed's got their restitution, and Ross no longer has that stupidity hanging over him," Weaver concludes. "Seems like a win-win-win for all involved."

https://www.wired.com/story/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-debt-bitcoin-siezure/

>>20917564

If you read the SDNY announcement, they accuse him personally of any crimes on the site and not the users. It was railroad job.I agree FREE Ross Ulbricht

>>20917883

$3.4B of Bitcoin in a popcorn tin: The Silk Road hacker’s story

TheSilk Road hacker was sentenced to just a year in prisonfor stealing BTC that's now worth $3.4 billion,while site founder Ross Ulbricht is never getting out. Ahonen May 9, 2023

(Long article worth the read, gov is after bitcoin and might be the reason for raid of Ulbricht)

Where would you hide $3.4 billion worth of Bitcoin?For James Zhong, the ideal spot was to store it on a computer — with its circuitry exposed — placed in a used Cheetos popcorn tin hidden in a bathroom closet under a pile of blankets.

Zhong, now 32, was sentenced to a year in federal prison last month fora hack that took place almost 11 years ago. His victim? Ross Ulbricht, the proprietor of the Silk Road dark webdrug marketplace where Bitcoin found its first significant use case, as an underground currency. Today, Ulbricht is himself serving two life sentences plus 40 years for his part in operating the illegal marketplace, but darknet markets continue to flourish.

Lifestyle of a crypto billionaire

How much is $3.4 billion? One could build another Burj Khalifa etc.

But Zhong lived in the American city of Gainesville, Georgia, where around $1 million is enough to purchase the luxurious four-bedroom lakefront property he called home. According to some sources, gaining attention from women was among the key motivations of Zhong —who is autisticand was reportedly bullied in school. Court documents hint at his lavish lifestyle:

“Indeed, in the 51 months before law enforcement’s overt search of Zhong’s residences, Zhong dissipated approximately $16 million of crime proceeds…

All this was presumably financed with the roughly 2,900 BTC that the government did not recover from his theft.Zhong stole 50,000 BTCand converted his free Bitcoin Cash into another 3,500 BTC.However, only 50,591 BTC was seized.

Silk Road

Where did all this begin? Possibly with aBitcointalk user named Teppy, who in June 2010 made a post titled “A Heroin Store” outlining “a thought experimentabout how a heroin store might operate, accepting Bitcoins, and ending drug prohibition in the process.” The post connected Bitcoin to libertarianism and suggested that this would enable the new currency to become “truly disruptive.” It was a cutting-edge concept. “Pizza Day,” which saw Bitcoin exchanged for real-world goods for the first time — a pair of pizzas for 10,000 BTC — had happened just three weeks prior.

The website came to an end on Oct. 1, 2013, when a couple started bickering in San Fransisco’s Glen Park Library. This caught the attention of the nearby Ulbricht, who turned his head from the laptop he was working on.It was a trap. At that moment, FBI agents swooped in from behind bookshelves and grabbed Ulbricht’s laptop before he could log out and lock away his 144,000 BTC — the proof he was DPR. Ulbricht received a double life sentence plus 40 years with no possibility of parole. Many in the Bitcoin community and beyond have criticized the sentence as unjust, particularly considering the nonviolent nature of his crime==. FreeRoss, an organization dedicated to advocating for his release… As Lou asks:

“Are two life sentences reasonable for someone who did something that is nonviolent?”

A pirate’s billions

During Ulbricht’s sentencing, the funds earned by the site were declared proceeds of crime, meaning the Bitcoin was confiscatable by the U.S. government.The approximately 144,000 BTC found on Ulbricht’s laptop was now U.S. property. “Under U.S. law, authorities can effectively bring a case against money or other goods and seize them under civil forfeiture laws without necessarily arresting the person possessing them. This naturally extends to digital currencies like Bitcoin,” explains Jason Corbett, a lawyer whose firm, Silk Legal, specializes in cryptocurrencies.

The government disposed of its newfound Bitcoin via a series of auctions held by the U.S. Marshals Service in 2014.Venture capitalist Tim Draper famously purchased 30,000 BTC for $18 million. Functionally, the auctions legitimized Bitcoin by removing all doubt regarding its legality:How could the government sell something it considers illegal?…

As far as we know, however, Zhong cooperated with authorities and returned all his remaining Bitcoin, a factor that played a role — along with his young age and autism — in his getting a short sentence and the more serious money laundering charges dropped, which would typically lead to many years in prison.

In Zhong’s case, thegovernment appeared far more interested in securing the “criminal proceeds” for themselves ratherthan Zhong, whose criminal activity amounted to stealing from another criminal.

https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/3-4-billion-bitcoin-popcorn-tin-silk-road-hacker/

>>20917958

Daily Mail is owned by the Murdochs, they own WSJ, NYP, Fox and others

>>20918008

A $1 bill worth thousands may be hiding in your wallet—here’s what to look for

Published Sat, May 25 2024

Cheyenne DeVon

Collectors will pay a premium for unique coins or rare bank notes. So, if you’ve got any $1 dollar bills lying around, you may want to examine them closely before spending them as they could be worth thousands.

Ordinarily, dollar bills each have their own individual serial numbers. However, in2014, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing made a rare printing error that resulted in millions of $1 bills with duplicate serial numbers entering into circulation, according to PMG, the world’s largest third-party paper money grading service.

Although these special pairs of $1 bills with matching serial numbers were initially printed in Washington, D.C., and Forth Worth, Texas, they could be anywhere in the world after a little more than 10 years in circulation.

It’s important to note that the misprint doesn’t make these $1 bills unusable, and they’re probably not worth more than a dollar on their own. However, if you manage to find a matching pair, you could earn thousands from collectors.

A pair of $1 bills with duplicated serial numbers sold for $2,340 at an auction held by Stack’s Bowers in March. Another pair sold for $7,200 at a Stack’s Bowers auction in 2021.

Here’s what to look for.

How to check if your $1 bill may be worth thousands

First, you’ll want to locate the Series date, which is found near the picture of George Washington.It must read “Series 2013,” per WealthyNickel.com.

Then, make sure thebill has a “B” Federal Reserve Seal above the serial number.

Finally, check that the serial number ends with a star and falls between B00000001 to B00250000 or B03200001 to B09600000.

There are a little more than six million of these misprinted $1 bills in circulation, according to WealthyNickel.com. However, there are more than 14 billion $1 bills circulating as of Dec. 31, 2022, per the Federal Reserve’s latest data available.

Remember,although you may have a single $1 bill with these features, the key is to find its match. One way to do this is by checking Project 2013B, which maintains a database of these unique banknotes. The project reported making its 16th match of 2024 in April and says more than 100 pairs have been matched already.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/25/collectors-may-pay-thousands-for-dollar-bills-with-printing-error.html

Trump falsely claims Biden authorized FBI assassination attempt KEK

Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA May 24, 2024

Donald Trump and some of his staunchest allies are claiming newly unsealed court filings reveal that US President Joe Biden authorized federal agents to kill him during the FBI's 2022 raid of the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified documents. This is false; the allegations misrepresent the Justice Department's standard policies regarding how force can be used during law enforcement operations.

"Biden's DOJ was authorized to shoot me!" says a May 21, 2022 fundraising email from Trump's 2024 campaign. "Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger."

The email echoed accusations that the presumptive Republican nominee lobbed at Biden, the Democratic president he is expected to face in November's election, minutes earlier on Truth Social.

"Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE," he wrote, referring to the FBI's August 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago club in the state of Florida, where he kept classified national security documents after leaving the White House.

Similar claims reverberated across social media, amplified by some of the former president's loudest supporters in Congressand the media.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X that "the Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light," while her colleague, Paul Gosar, asserted that "Biden ordered the hit on Trump at Mar-a-Lago."

Conservative influencer Benny Johnson claimed: "Joe Biden authorized the assassination of President Trump." Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo suggested on air that Biden allowed the FBI to "kill Donald Trump."

But the allegations that the FBI had Biden's blessing to take out Trump are false, a distortion of boilerplate language on the use of force that was included in recently unsealed court filings.

"These are wildly misleading claims," said David Alan Sklansky, co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, in a May 22 email. "That language is included to restrict the use of deadly force."

The FBI which recovered more than 100 classified documents from Trump's property, including some marked top secret got the go-ahead for the raid from a federal judge after the government tried unsuccessfully for months to get the records back. On the day of the search, Trump was not in Florida.

In a rare statement to AFP and other media, the agency said: "The FBI followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing after the search was executed that Biden and the White House were "not aware" and "not given a heads up" that it was happening, citing the independence of the Justice Department (archived here).

Standard policy limits force

The baseless assassination hysteria appears to trace to posts from conservative commentator Julie Kelly, who has previouslyspread misinformation about the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

In a May 21 post, Kelly shared a screenshot of a February motion Trump's legal counsel filed in the classified documents case.

Trump's attorneys wrote that an "operations order" for the FBI's search "contained a 'Policy Statement' regarding 'Use Of Deadly Force,' which stated, for example, 'Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary'" (archived here).

But the policy statement in the operations order itself, from August 2022, reads differently (archived here).

It says: "Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force only when necessary, that is, when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person."

It goes on to enumerate instances when deadly force is prohibited and call for verbal warnings when possible.

"The court filing by Trump's lawyers actually misquotes the language in the policy," said Sklansky, the Stanford law professor. "Trump's lawyers omitted the word 'only,' and dropped the end of the sentence – both of which make clear that this is not an authorization to use deadly force, it is a restriction on the use of deadly force."

"Every operations order contains a reminder of FBI deadly force policy,"Frank Figliuzzi,the FBI's former assistant director for counterintelligence, said on X (Bongino says Figliuzzi is full of shit)…

https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34TH3JN

(Bidan team suggests a strategy, of boosting the countries loyalty and give more voters to Trump as President, that’s what will happen! Please do this, please!)

Biden has stayed silent on Trump’s trial. The verdict will change that.May 24, 2024

Biden will speak at some point after the verdict, whether it be a conviction, acquittal or hung jury.

Joe Biden plans to break his vow of silence and publicly address the criminal trials Donald Trump is facing when a verdict is reached, four people familiar with internal deliberations told POLITICO.

Biden intends to initiallyaddress the verdict in a White House setting — not a campaign one — to show his statement isn’t political, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. (Delusional)

If the jury convicts Trump, Biden’s team will then argue that the result shows Trump is ill-suited for office and that it demonstrates the extremes to which the former president would go to win again. The campaign’s social media team is considering leveraging the line of attack further, with discussions underway about referring to the ex-president online as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump.”

His team is also preparing for a barrage of Republican and Trump attacks if the former president’s acquitted or if there’s a hung jury.

Closing arguments are set for Tuesday and the jury could reach its decision as early as next week. And Biden will speak at some point after that — a definitive decision on timing and setting has not yet been made — no matter the outcome, whether it be a conviction, acquittal or hung jury. The message will be different for specific rulings, but the fundamental point will remain the same: That America’s legal system worked and that the process should be respected.

If the jury convicts Trump, Biden’s team will then argue that the result shows Trump is ill-suited for office and that it demonstrates the extremes to which the former president would go to win again. The campaign’s social media team is considering leveraging the line of attack further, with discussions underway about referring to the ex-president online as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump.”

“This is an important moment and the president first and foremost needs to stress that the American system works, even and especially in an election year,” said one of the four people granted anonymity to discuss those deliberations. “And in a measured way, it becomes part of his argument against Trump too: Do Americans really want this?”

The Biden team’s plans are still being deliberated and could change, the people familiar said. The White House and Biden campaign declined comment.

The first criminal prosecution of a former president has presented delicate politics for the president, especially as his son Hunter faces separate trials over the summer and fall on gun and tax charges. Biden has stayed away from Trump’s trial to avoid perceptions of interference, even as some fellow Democrats have encouraged him to more aggressively spotlight the charges against Trump: that he made a hush money payment to cover up an affair with a porn star in violation of campaign finance laws.

And even though the president will likely discuss a guilty verdict at times on the campaign trail, his team doesn’t view even a conviction as likely to meaningfully change the trajectory of the campaign. Aides do not believe the trial has resonated widely with voters outside the Acela corridor.

But it could make a difference along the margins, and that may matter in a race expected to be extremely close.

“I don’t think [Biden] needs to run to the briefing room to talk about this,” said Jennifer Palmieri, former communications director for President Barack Obama. “But, at some point, he should address the conviction saying that a jury of Donald Trump’s peers have convicted him of a crime and it would do extraordinary damage to the standing of the United States and to the credibility of our democratic system for someone Americans found guilty of a crime to then be elected president.”…

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/24/biden-trump-trial-verdict-00159981

>>20918206

These people are the worst advisers, with the public knowing about His and Hunter's crimes. And they should have been arrested years ago

CRIMINAL LAW, POLITICSMay 26, 2024 (KEK A WIN!)

BLM Founder and Vice-Presidential Candidate Loses Lawsuit Against the LAPD

Black Lives Matter co-founder Melina Abdullah lost a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday. Abdullah, therunning mate to independent presidential candidate Cornel West, claimed that the police engaged in racial and political harassment by responding to a swatting call at her home. She and West denounced the jury verdict as a miscarriage of justice.

Many of us have been targets of swatting, which is a dangerous prank used by extremists and unhinged individuals to attack those with opposing views. In my one incident, I found the Fairfax Police Department entirely professional and supportive. I understood that they had a duty to investigate the call, even though they believed that it was a swatting incident.

In Addullah’s case, the swatter claimed to have taken hostages in the home. She viewed the response as not just unnecessary but abusive. As an anti-police figure, she said that police were just trying to intimidate her.

Abdullah livestreamed her encounter with the police during which she asks “Do you know who I am?”

Abdullah declared later that “LAPD swatted my home three times.” In a press conference hosted by Brother Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz at the National Press Club, she added “they don’t [get to] get away with that. This lawsuit is in the name of so many that police terrorize and silence.”

Abdullah called the verdict “dispiriting and disappointing and not surprising” in “an unjust system.” She is planning to appeal.

West joined in the condemnation:

“I stand in deep solidarity with my dear sister, comrade and running mate, Dr. Melina Abdullah! I believe this verdict is a major miscarriage of justice! We shall continue to fight for Truth Justice and Love!”

Of course, if the police did not investigate and there had been a crime, there would also have likely been a lawsuit and claim of abuse. It would then be an example of police failing to protect a critic.

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/26/blm-founder-and-vice-presidential-candidate-loses-lawsuit-against-the-lapd/#more-219402