Georgia’s ex-governor says Fani Willis tried to hire him for Nathan Wade gig

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Friday, February 16, 2024

Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testified Friday thathe was District Attorney Fani Willis’ first choice to work on the investigation against former President Donald Trump, but he turned it down.

Mr. Barnes, a Democrat who served from 1999 to 2003, told Ms. Willis he wasn’t interested in the post that ultimately went to Nathan Wade, an attorney whose relationship with her is at the heart of a motion to get the DA disqualified from the case.

Mr. Barnes said he had “mouths to feed” at his law office and didn’t like the high-profile nature of prosecuting the former president.“I’d lived with bodyguards for four years and I didn’t like it,” Mr. Barnes said, referring to his term as governor. “I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.”

The state called Mr. Barnes to show that Mr. Wade was not Ms. Willis’ first choice. Her lawyers are trying to disprove the defense’s theory that Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade so she could financially benefit from his taxpayer-funded job on the case through romantic trips and meals.

Mr. Barnes testified that Mr. Wade was well-organized and a solid pick for the role of special prosecutor.

Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted under Georgia racketeering laws for their alleged roles in challenging the 2020 election that the former president says was rigged for Joe Biden.

One co-defendant, Michael Roman, cited Ms. Willis’ relationship with Mr. Wade in a motion that claims they developed a financial incentive in the prosecution and should be booted from the case — a development that would throw the prosecution into turmoil.

Ms. Willis defended her relationship in fiery testimony Thursday. She testified she repaid Mr. Wade in cash for her share of trips and meals and said their relationship was a private matter that ended in mid-2023.

Ms. Willis’ father, John Floyd, testified Friday. He said he didn’t meet Mr. Wade until 2023, backing up the state as it tries to prove the romantic relationship started after Ms. Willis hired him in November 2021.

A witness for the defense testified Thursday the relationship seemed to begin in late 2019. The state’s attorneys opted against cross-examining Ms. Willis, so she didn’t return to the stand Friday after Thursday’s back-and-forth with attorneys for Mr. Trump and his co-defendants. The decision was interpreted as a sign that Ms. Willis’ team figures she won’t be disqualified.

Judge Scott McAfee is expected to rule on disqualification at some point after the two-day evidentiary hearing. Mr. Trump says Ms. Willis is in more trouble than he is and should be ousted. “Does anybody really believe that Fani Willis paid cash to her ‘lover’ whenever they took expensive ‘trips’ together. Really? Where did she get the CASH?” ” Mr. Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. “Pretty weak questioning yesterday!!! I guess they don’t want to insult her. No way she can explain any of this corruption away!!!”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/feb/16/georgias-ex-governor-roy-barnes-says-fani-willis-t/

Book: Fani Willis asked ex-Gov. Roy Barnes to help in Trump investigation

Willis, according to the book byMichael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, tried to hire Roy Barnes, who declined. Barnes succeeded the late Zell Miller as governor, but only served one term after losing a re-election bid to Sonny Perdue, who became the state’s first Republican governor in more than a century. Barnes was the last Democrat to serve as Georgia’s governor and is now a private attorney in Cobb County. Willis then turned to former federal prosecutor Gabe Banks, now a criminal defense attorney with Banks Weaver. He also declined. Willis then hired Nathan Wade, who has since been paid close to $1 million in taxpayer funds, as a special prosecutor.

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/19/book-fani-willis-asked-ex-gov-roy-barnes-help-trump-investigation/

(you've got to ask yourself why a prior Governor of GA is representing the skanky Willis, could it be that Kemp, Karr and Raffensberger asked him to?)

Book name, wait till you find out how many sales and how the cost dropped precipitously since Jan 2024

"Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election"

>>21661533

Fani Willis’s book is a loser, this is you know that Amazon intentionally manipulates the books sold and the comments on the book:

‘Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal An American Election’comes out Jan. 30, 2024

This is how popular the book was using the calculator belowBy the stats below, the book sold 34 per month, today, who to heck knows.

=Now look at the cost from the beginning to now.==

Original sales price: $30.00 now the sales prices is supposedly down to $17.39 but can be bought new for $4.75

Product details for Fani Willis's book

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Twelve (January 30, 2024)

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1538739992

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1538739990

• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds

• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.19 x 9.35 inches

•Best Sellers Rank: #103,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

o #129 in Elections

o #211 in United States Executive Government

o #914 in U.S. State & Local History

Website that helps determine the sales

"Amazon Book Sales Calculator"

Underneath Product Details, look for the section that says “Amazon Best Sellers Rank.” In the screenshot above, you can see it says “#139 Paid in Kindle Store.”

Now, there are a few things you should know about this Amazon Best Sellers Rank.

First, notice it says “Paid.” If it said “#139 Free in Kindle Store,” that would mean the Kindle version of the book was currently free (like during a KDP Select 5-Day Free Promotion Campaign).

It also says “in Kindle Store.” If you’re looking at a print edition of a book on Amazon, it will say “in Books.”

Now that you have the Amazon Bestseller Rank for the book, all you have to do is type it into the Amazon Kindle Sales Calculator above.

If you want to find out how many print copies the book is selling, just click the Paperback or Hardcover edition of the book on Amazon, scroll down to Product Details on that page, and find the Amazon Best Sellers Rank for the print edition. Then just copy and paste that number into the Amazon Book Sales Calculator above, make sure to select “Book” instead of “eBook” for the book type, and click “Calculate Sales.”

https://www.tckpublishing.com/amazon-book-sales-calculator/

Inside Thailand's $2 Billion Scam Industry Now Targeting Americans

Updated Sep 17, 2024 at 11:01 AM EDT By Sonal Nain1/3

"The Chinese gangs taught me how to make my profile look credible, gain followers and post regularly. After finishing my training, I started identifying my victims through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Line," said Narin, a 20-year-old from northern Thailand.

This wasn't just an isolated incident but part of a troubling trend. Thailand leads Asia in scam calls and text messaging, with a staggering 78.8 million incidents reported since last year, according to the country's Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, and $2 billion lost to such crimes in recent years.

Now, the gangs, often led by Chinese masterminds, are expanding into the U.S. and appear to be ensnaring more Americans. In 2023, U.S. authorities issued a stark warning about the growing danger of Americans being trafficked into scam syndicates in Southeast Asia. The seriousness of the situation became evident in December 2023,when the Department of Justice announced the indictment of four individuals based in the United States. These individuals were accused of laundering over $80 million in profits from scam operations.

To warn others, Narin, an ex-scammer, told Newsweek about his journey into the dark underbelly of cybercrime. In Thailand, he traveled from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai before crossing the border into Tachileik, Myanmar. From there, he was transported to Laukkai, a Myanmar border city notorious for call center scams.

Recruited by friends of friends, he trusted them out of desperation for money. But once in Myanmar, he quickly realized the true nature of the operation. Fearful for his safety, Narin felt trapped and couldn't leave.

Romance ScamsHis role in the scam was to identify victims online and incite them to transfer money, which would then be funneled through the operation's network. Often, Narin pretended to be an officer from Shopee or Lazada, Southeast Asia's e-commerce giants, to deceive his targets.

This tactic is part of what Thai police officials describe as "romance scams," in which criminals use fake online identities to gain a victim's affection before exploiting the person financially.

Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, assistant commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police, told Newsweek, "They try to make you feel like you're falling in love with them. They use attractive pictures and say things to build your trust. Eventually, they invite you to invest in something."

These investment scams aim to convince people to invest in various schemes. Narin said that the main victims of such scams are people over 30. Other scams often target women, particularly those who frequently shop online, and young adults between 20 and 25."While younger victims might recover financially, elderly victims often face devastating losses that can jeopardize their entire security and well-being," Jessada Burinsuchat, a cybersecurity expert, told Newsweek. "These cases, though less common, garner significant media attention due to their severe impact."

One such victim, Buggan, a 60-year-old woman, fell prey to a meticulously orchestrated scam that went on for over a year and a half, one of the longest romance scams. (The full names of the victim and perpetrator have been withheld for safety reasons).

After meeting the scammer on Facebook in 2018, she was drawn into a fabricated story about a lucrative oil pipeline project in Malaysia. The scammer promised her a $1 million payout if she covered a 5.5 million baht ($163,642) cross-border transfer tax.An accomplice, posing as a Thai World Bank representative, further deepened the deception.

Trusting the elaborate scheme, Buggan transferred the money in December 2019. The scammer kept in touch for another month before disappearing, and it wasn't until January 2020 that she realized the truth and reported the crime.

Statistics from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, under the Royal Thai Police, show atotal loss of $2 billion from frauds and cybercrime between March 2022 and August 2024. This amount continues to grow each day.

https://www.newsweek.com/inside-thailand-2-billion-china-scam-industry-now-targeting-americans-1947561

>>21661782

2/3

Chinese MastermindsIn response to the growing problem, Thai and Cambodian authorities have intensified their efforts to clamp down on call center fraud syndicates. Last week, Pitaneelaboot, who is deputy director of Thailand's Police Cyber Task Force, participated in a joint operation with Cambodian officials. Pitaneelaboot, who has spent three years combating cybercrime, oversees cyber-related operations across Thailand. He told Newsweek, "The number of cybercrimes is rising because it's easier and safer than street crime to get money from other people.The spread of social networks is another factor that has made it easier for people to scam others."

These criminal operations, often led by Chinese masterminds in collaboration with Thai accomplices, have increasingly moved to neighboring countries like Cambodia to evade Thai law enforcement. "There is a loophole in law enforcement since the scammers stay in another country along the border. It's not easy to bring them back to Thailand for punishment," Pitaneelaboot said.

Thai authorities are targeting the phone signals that these gangs use to contact victims in Thailand, focusing on disrupting the connections provided by telecom and mobile network operators, as well as private companies in Thailand that offer internet services.They are also scrutinizing social media like Facebook and Google, particularly if these platforms are earning money through ads from criminal enterprises. "We may enforce the law on them as well," Pitaneelaboot said, referring to plans to arrest operators and investigate banks that facilitate fraudulent transactions.

As of now, Thai authorities have issued 165 arrest warrants for gang members in Cambodia, with Cambodian police working to obtain approval from the country's courts. "We are currently waiting for the court's decision and hope that the Cambodian court will issue the warrants soon," Pitaneelaboot said.

After being rescued and returned to Thailand, Narin went through the country's National Referral Mechanism for victim identification. However, he was not classified as a victim of human trafficking, suggesting that authorities saw him as willingly involved in the fraud from the start.

Taiyawat Vivatkiat, an inquiry official at the Immigration Bureau, told Newsweek, "Scammers are well versed in legal nuances and often exploit human trafficking laws to evade fraud charges. Therefore, the victim identification process must be conducted meticulously to protect the real victims and filter out the scammers who try to exploit the laws."

Social Media Giants Under FirePitaneelaboot pointed out atroubling aspect of these scams—the complicity, or at least negligence, of social media like Facebook and Google. Criminals use fake profiles and impersonation pages to deceive victims, and despite repeated notifications, the platforms' responses have been inadequate. Platforms like Line, a popular messaging app, are also used by criminals for transactions, yet they fail to provide useful information or take action against the fraudsters.

"We've sent documents to Facebook and Google, but their responses have been inadequate," Pitaneelaboot said. "Hope they will revise their policies. If necessary, we might issue arrest warrants for executives from companies like Line."

Meta, Facebook's parent company, told Newsweek it collaborates closely with Thai police and law enforcement to tackle fraud and scams.

The company said it removed 1.2 billion fake Facebook accounts and 322 million pieces of spam between April and July 2024. It offers help on avoiding scams via its digital literacy program We Think Digital Thailand and campaigns #StayingSafeOnline and Decode Scam, it added. Newsweek contacted Google for comment via email on Wednesday.

Pitaneelaboot advised the public to stay vigilant,especially when dealing with sponsored ads, which are often used by scammers while legitimate pages typically don't.

https://www.newsweek.com/inside-thailand-2-billion-china-scam-industry-now-targeting-americans-1947561

>>21661796

3/3

"I believe the expansion of these gangs will be around the world. These gangs can generate significant amounts of money. In fact, thefinancial gains from these criminal operations might even surpass those from the drug trade," he said.

'We Need Stronger Cooperation With U.S.'Burinsuchat, superintendent of the Royal Thai Police's cybersecurity investigation unit, has seen an increase in reported cases, many involving personal data leaks. He said even unintentional protection by American and European companies can enable criminal networks.

"Privacy laws, human rights safeguards and technology like Cloudflare often shield these operations from scrutiny,"Burinsuchat said.

Despite efforts to combat these networks, cracking down on them remains a formidable task. The operations are intricate, with layers of management, scam centers and money laundering systems.

Even when authorities manage to arrest key figures, replacements quickly fill the void. The masterminds often operate from neighboring countries, making it difficult for Thai authorities to reach them. This limits many investigations to smaller players, such as asset converters and account holders.

A rare success story came with the arrest of a Chinese syndicate leader, with strong private sector cooperation. Authorities traced the network back to this figure, recovering assets worth about a billion baht.

Burinsuchat stresses the need for Big Tech companies to step up to protect vulnerable people in countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We need stronger international cooperation with agencies in the USA, China and tech companies to identify and dismantle these scam centers," he said.

https://www.newsweek.com/inside-thailand-2-billion-china-scam-industry-now-targeting-americans-1947561

Chinese Financial Executives Resign in Droves Amid Heightened Scrutiny

The resignation list includes senior executives such as chairmen and presidents ofbanks, insurance companies, and securities dealers.

By Lynn Xu and Shawn Lin 9/26/2024Updated:9/26/2024

China faces a wave of resignations by chiefs and executives of listed companies and banks as Beijing ramps up a crackdown on the nation’s financial industry. In a little more than a month, more than a thousand senior leaders of China’s A-share listed companies, banks, and financial institutions resignedfor personal reasons, according to Chinese state media reports.

Following Liu Jin’s sudden resignation as vice chairman and president of the Bank of China at the end of August, the long resignation list includes chairmen, presidents, vice presidents, and other senior executives from various levels of banks, insurance companies, securities dealers,and state-owned enterprises.

This wave of departures coincides with Beijing’s intensified purge in the financial sector.By Sept. 18, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had listed at least 67 senior finance officialsbeing investigated, disciplined, or expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this year.

Du Wen, a former Inner Mongolia Legislative Affairs Office official, and economist Li Hengqing, both U.S.-based, told The Epoch Times that thesehigh-level finance officials are insiders of the CCP system and that their resignations indicate their waning confidence in the economy and anticipation of heightened political risks.

Du said an insider told him that thecentral authorities did not approve most resignations“over financial stability concerns.” According to him, those bankers and company chiefs would have to remain in their positions, bearing the risks of being interrogated to assist any financial investigations by the disciplinary authorities and even being politically purged.

Li said investment bankers are familiar with all kinds of bad debts and falsified account and audit reports in the financial system and that the CCP won’t want to see them fleeing with this secret.

Some brokerage firms haverequired investment bankers to hand in their passports and impose conditional restrictions on outbound travel, while others suspended reviews of resignations, according to China’s state media. One report also quoted a financial chief who said he felt that the sector has become an “unfriendly environment” that is going through “one of the worst cycles” and causing “uncertainty about the future.”

Amid the nationwide sweeping purge, financial executives and bosses of state-owned enterprises have been caught in a difficult situation, being unable to leave China or their jobs, according to David Huang, an economist familiar with the situation in China. Their difficult situation, he said, was caused by the current management system of the CCP, whichrequires them to submit their passports to the relevant authorities and withholds them unless they resign.

The CCP has stepped up its “anti-corruption” efforts in the financial sector. So far, one of themost severely punished in financial crime is Tian Huiyu, former president of China Merchants Bank Co., who, in February, received a suspended death sentence over bribes and insider trading. Tian was also expelled from the CCP and had all personal property confiscated.

In July, a former deputy general manager of Haitong Securities fled the country. Just a month later, he was caught and deported to China. Chinese media reportedhis case as part of the “Skynet” operation under Beijing’s Ministry of Public Securityto apprehend corrupt CCP officials who flee to foreign countries.

The financial system, a central pillar of the Chinese economy, has long been plagued by astronomical local debt, property bubbles, shadow banking, and repayment crises.

“Those high-income earners with high-ranking positions are more exposed to the danger of a volcano that could erupt at any time, so they are eager to absolve themselves of responsibility and avoid becoming scapegoats before the financial market collapses,” Du said.

China’s stock market has been trending downward in recent years. The CSI 300 Index—a free-float weighted index that reflects the overall performance of theShanghai and Shenzhen stock markets—hit a record low of 3,159.92 on Sept. 13, a stark contrast to 5,807.72 in February 2021, the highest point since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and strict quarantine measures were imposed in the country.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/chinese-financial-executives-resign-in-droves-amid-heightened-scrutiny-5729497

China’s Steel Industry Faces Harsh Reality as Overcapacity Compounds Other Issues

Steel bases near megacities Beijing and Shanghai could become China’s rust belt. By Lynn Xu and Bin Zhao Updated:9/10/20241/2

China’s steel industry is facing a reckoning amid overcapacity, reduced domestic demand, and global resistance to Chinese dumping.Insiders say the sector needs to remove 20 to 30 percentof its current capacity.

Powered by the property market, which accounts forabout 30 percent of domestic steel consumption, 28 out of 34 provincesand equivalent administrative divisions currently produce steel. But the industry is being dragged along as the property sector deals with its own issues of excess.

China’snew home construction starts dropped by 23.7 percentfor the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2023, data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show. The China Iron and Steel Association shows a 70 percent decline in profits from 2021 to 2022 for major industry players. China’s steel problem affects more than just the industry, and top steel bases nearmegacities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing are on track to become China’s rust belt.

Local governments inChina are heavily indebted and facing reduced revenue because land sales have declined. At the same time, Beijing is demanding that local leaders achieve competing priorities simultaneously: reduce capacity, meet local gross domestic product growth targets, and maintain stability.That’s a daunting task. In Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, the steel industry makes up about a quarter of the provincial GDP.

Closing mills there could cost millions of people their jobs, slash revenue, and bring about social unrest.

The drivers for local resistance that former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao encountered in his capacity reduction effort two decades ago are still in play, according to Mike Sun, a U.S.-based businessman with decades of experience advising foreign investors and traders doing business in China. Sun said thesteel problem reflects the structural issue of how politics controls the economy in China—eventually, local governments will try to extract money from their people through measures such as increasing utility prices.

Decades-Long Problem: After its initial failure to address overcapacity in the 2000s, the Chinese regime tried to cut steel supplies in 2016 and 2017 by offering subsidies to manufacturers to compensate for the revenue loss and raising electricity prices for those who kept producing at capacity. When that didn’t produce the intended results, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced a nationwide capacity swap program in 2018.The purpose was to replace existing production with higher efficiency and more environmentally friendly capacity while removing excess.

On Aug. 20, theCCP suspended the swap program, saying it would evaluate the results and revise the policy accordingly.

According to S&P Global, a leading market research firm, China’s steel swap program resulted in a net capacityincrease. During the three-plus years between 2021 and August 2024, the total newly commissioned versus retired crude iron and steel capacity was 33 million metric tons.

The research firm expects China’s steel demand to decrease to about 750 million to 800 million metric tons a yearin the next five to 10 years, a decline of about 20 to 25 percent from the 1 billion metric tons in 2020 and a 15 percent drop from the 2023 level.

China’s political and industry insiders have a similar outlook: Earlier this year, Hu Wangming, CCP secretary and chairman of Shanghai-based China Baowu Steel Group Corporation, the world’s largest steelmaker, saidChina’s steel industry is going through a “harsh winter.”Meng Fanying, Party secretary and chairman of Inner Mongolia-based Baogang Group, told Chinese media that thesteel industry has entered an “ice age”and is facing a grim situation in an era of fierce competition. Both companies are state-owned. Chen Leiming, executive president of China National Association of Metal Material Trade, told Chinese media thatmore than 30 percent of Chinese steel companies would have to shut down.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/chinas-steel-industry-faces-harsh-reality-as-overcapacity-compounds-other-issues-5720120

>>21661954

2/2

‘No Intention’ to Reduce Production: Although the message of a severe industry shake-up is written on the wall, steel mills have “no intentionto reduce steel production” because they still make a little profit and are hoping for more stimulus for the property and infrastructure sectors, according to the S&P Global report. Chiou Jiunn-Rong, a professor of economics at the National Central University in Taiwan, observes a similar “no intention” reaction from local governments. He saidreducing capacity is only a sloganbecause local governmentsview the steel industry as a golden gooseand won’t give it up easily.

Chiou said that if local governments follow the centralCCP’s callto

eliminate excess steel capacity,they will have to bear a revenue loss, assist the troubled steel mills inpaying off debt, and help laid-off employees find new jobs. Local officials will, therefore, “seek every opportunity not to comply with the directivesto remove excess capacity,” Chiou told The Epoch Times.

Local governments have also tried to implement other measures without authorization to attract the attention of central CCP leadership and show their lack of money, Sun said.

For example, many provinces, including coastal Guangdong and Jiangsu,have increased local residential utility prices, usually set by the Price Department at the National Development and Reform Commission at the central CCP level.

‘Highly Political’: Experts say that local governments resist capacity reduction partly because they want other locales to do it first so they don’t have to go through the pain themselves. William Lee, chief economist at the Milken Institute, an economic think tank based in California, said theovercapacity issue mirrors the political disputes within the CCP.

Local governments prefer to have excess capacity because they can exportthose products, “one of the few ways local governments can earn money,” Lee told The Epoch Times.

“Thecentral government redirects the national subsidies towards certain provinces, and it’s going to have to choose winners and losers, and that’s going to be highly political,” he said. Given the complexity and opacity of CCP politics, thisbenefits distribution depends largely on the political relationsbetween local officials and the faction controlling the central treasury. For example, the Shanghai Gang, a group of regime leaders that formed around CCP leader Jiang Zemin and long dominated the finance sector, is likely to fall out of favor, according to Lee. (Sort of how US Gov gives out contracts)

According to Sun, who has consulted for businesses in the steel industry for decades,CCP leader Xi Jinping wants to consolidate China’s steel industry into a few national champion state-owned enterprises to monopolize the sector globally. He predicted that China will continue to flood global markets despite that the United States, the European Union, and Canada have imposed tariffs to curb China’s dumping.

Chiou said much the same.“Due to China’s global dumping, the trade friction between China and the rest of the world, including the United States, is likely to remain the main theme of international trade,” he said.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/chinas-steel-industry-faces-harsh-reality-as-overcapacity-compounds-other-issues-5720120

(I’m sure Trump is completely aware of this situation, and has plans to solve America’s problem, ban all Chinese Steel. This doesn’t sound good for China they are having a banking crisis, credit crisis and now steel war and who could win in China. It sounds a lot worse economy and industry wide then anything we've heard. I don't get how China can go around the world and pay and buy countries property, ports and invade in their entire economy and be beholden to them if China's economy is just squeaking by,oh yeah, they print money)

Anons I'm only posting these China articles because they are from Epoch Times and it's really hard to find anything truthful in the western press. This info comes direct from Chinese citizens from china to EP.