DiCaprio testifies before D.C. grand jury as part of US probe into Malaysian corruption

WASHINGTON - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio made a secret appearance before a District of Columbia grand jury in recent months to testify as part of the Justice Department's expansive investigation into a multibillion dollar fraud surrounding a Malaysian government investment fund, according to people familiar with the case. The furtive appearance by the A-list celebrity is the latest twist in a case that has drawn in a medley of characters - including a rapper who was once part of the Fugees, Malaysia's former prime minister and a prominent fundraiser for President Donald Trump.

DiCaprio testifies before D.C. grand jury as part of US probe into Malaysian corruption

Matt Zapotosky, The Washington Post Published 1:58 pm CST, Friday, January 4, 2019

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Prosecutors consider Leonardo DiCaprio a witness who can provide useful insights about a swashbuckling Malaysian financier alleged to have pilfered and laundered billions of dollars from an investment fund. Photo: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT, AFP/Getty Images / AFP

Photo: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT, AFP/Getty Images

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Prosecutors consider Leonardo DiCaprio a witness who can provide useful insights about a swashbuckling Malaysian financier alleged to have pilfered and laundered billions of dollars from an investment fund.

WASHINGTON - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio made a secret appearance before a District of Columbia grand jury in recent months to testify as part of the Justice Department's expansive investigation into a multibillion dollar fraud surrounding a Malaysian government investment fund, according to people familiar with the case.

The furtive appearance by the A-list celebrity is the latest twist in a case that has drawn in a medley of characters - including a rapper who was once part of the Fugees, Malaysia's former prime minister and a prominent fundraiser for President Donald Trump.

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Prosecutors consider DiCaprio a witness who can provide useful insights about a swashbuckling Malaysian financier alleged to have pilfered and laundered billions of dollars from the investment fund, and then financed a lobbying campaign to end the investigation, the people said. DiCaprio is not a target of the probe, they emphasized.

The financier, Low Taek Jho, was charged in federal court in New York late last year in connection with the theft and money laundering. Prosecutors have pursued related cases into ex-Goldman Sachs bankers they say were involved in laundering money and a Justice Department employee who admitted to helping the lobbying campaign.

It is unclear exactly what DiCaprio told grand jurors, or how authorities were able to get him in and out of the federal courthouse without anyone noticing. A Justice Department spokesman and a representative for DiCaprio declined to comment. In the past, DiCaprio's spokesman has said he was cooperating with the probe and was "entirely supportive of all efforts to assure that justice is done in this matter."

The investigation - which has come to be known by the shorthand "1MDB" for the investment fund that authorities say was ransacked - has long been star-studded, though DiCaprio is perhaps its biggest name to emerge thus far. Prosecutors also recently alleged in court papers that former Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel was involved in setting up accounts to make payments for Low's lobbying effort to kill the investigation, and that he hired an investment firm owner to press his case with the Trump administration. People familiar with the case said the investment firm owner was Elliott Broidy, a veteran Republican fundraiser who helped corral big donors to support Trump's campaign. Neither Broidy nor Michel have been charged with any crimes, though people familiar with the case said investigators are still exploring whether they violated any laws. The lobbying effort, prosecutors said, was ultimately unsuccessful.

https://www.chron.com/g00/news/article/DiCaprio-testifies-before-D-C-grand-jury-as-part-13509117.php?i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZHJ1ZGdlcmVwb3J0LmNvbS8%3d&i10c.ua=2&i10c.dv=6

Pelosi: We Have ‘to Replace’ Individual Mandate, ‘Very Important’ to Require Medicaid Expansion

During a town hall with MSNBC on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that “we would have to replace” the individual mandate, and it is crucial to raise the income level at which people can receive subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and strengthen the law so that states have to expand Medicaid.

Pelosi said, “[I]n their tax scam bill that the Republicans passed, they took away the individual mandate, and that was very dangerous, in terms of the Affordable Care Act. So we would have to replace that. A couple of things that I would do is to raise the income level at which people can get subsidies, so more people would be able to get the subsidies. I think that’s very, very important. Strengthening the law so that it is required that states will have — expand Medicaid, very, very important.”

https://www.breitbart.com/video/2019/01/04/pelosi-we-have-to-replace-individual-mandate-very-important-to-require-medicaid-expansion/

>>4608656 Agreed, this from "We have to pass the law to see what's in it." And remember this one: "Obama was a constitutional expert!"

>>4608677 Agreed.. just amazing though they never give up for this garbage.

>>4608728

Agreed!..

>>4608712

I just listened to it, he admits that he lets his wife tell him what's going on via Twitter..He has no idea what we are about, so he says.

>>4608801

I would love to see this go through as many of us would, however, it's in the House…and now NP is there…

>>4609049 I will always hope pray and love..thinking further…this could be a negotiating tool for the betterment of Americans. Lets just see what the opposing party objects too on this.

>>4609066 You are correct, their money games go down the tubes.