CA Dem T.J. Cox Failed to Disclose Business Ties, Including to Foreign Biz

Investigation comes on the heels of audit blasting nonprofit also tied to Cox

California Representative T.J. Cox failed to disclose a number of his business interests on required congressional disclosure forms during the 2018 campaign in which the Democrat prevailed over Republican incumbent David Valadao by fewer than 1,000 votes. The incomplete disclosures, first reported by the Fresno Bee, failed to show Cox's interest in at least five companies, including his position as a board member to Constellation Mines, Ltd., a for-profit Canadian mining company. While the stake in that company should have been listed, the board position would also run afoul of new campaign finance and ethical requirements currently being pushed by Democrats in Congress, and for which Cox has been a vocal supporter. Cox told a reporter with the McClatchy Washington Bureau that extricating himself from some of his businesses is complicated. "You don't put together 10 or 15 years worth of businesses and get out overnight," he said. The Bee‘s report added that Cox said he wanted to be transparent and to remove all doubts about potential conflicts of interest.

This latest investigation comes nearly two months after an audit by the city of Fresno blasted a locally based nonprofit for which Cox was the treasurer, citing dozens of questionable transactions and lack of accurate record keeping. The local district attorney announced an investigation into the matter that is still underway. The freshman lawmaker does not appear to have answered any media questions on the audit's findings. The Washington Free Beacon attempted to get some kind of on the record response just over a month ago in the halls of a congressional office building as the representative was on his way to a subcommittee meeting. At that time, Cox directed all questions to his media staff, but follow-up communications were not returned. Another request for comment left Tuesday went unanswered prior to publication.

The nonprofit is also delinquent in some of its required filings with the California Registry of Charitable Trusts. According to a letter sent by the California AG, the nonprofit failed to provide a copy to the state of its federal 2017 IRS form 990. Currently, it is unclear if a 990 for fiscal year 2017 has been filed with the IRS at all. On March 1, a representative with the nonprofit signed for a letter from the Free Beacon requesting a copy of the 2017 990; the Free Beacon has yet to receive a response. Text messages were also sent directly to Cox requesting the form. Nonprofits are required by law to make their three most recent 990s available upon request. A document filed March 7 with the California secretary of state shows Cox has subsequently removed himself from the nonprofit. The Bee report also looked at possible disclosure violations related to rental property owned by the congressman, but questions about those properties were not returned by Cox's office, the paper said.

Cox was elected to California's 21st Congressional District in November after he switched races. The Fresno businessman had originally moved to be able to compete in the state's 10th Congressional District, but switched back to the 21st, which covers Fresno after another leading Democrat dropped out of that race. Before Cox flipped back to the race in the 21st, the San Jose Mercury News highlighted other problems and questionable dealings from his past. "In 2015, his own lawyers sued him for not paying his legal bills, and a judge ordered him to pay more than $49,000, including interest, according to Fresno County court records," the paper said. "He later paid the bill." "Cox and his wife, Kathleen, were also hit with an IRS tax lien last year for $48,362 in unpaid income tax, county records show," the same report noted. "He paid the taxes and the lien was released in January, according to a document provided by his campaign."

https://freebeacon.com/issues/ca-dem-t-j-cox-failed-to-disclose-business-ties-including-to-foreign-biz/

Future Ukrainian NATO Membership In Question With Possibility of New President

Presidential election headed to runoff April 21

KIEV, Ukraine—The Ukrainian presidential election will head to a runoff April 21 after Volodymyr Zelensky received 30.3 percent of the Ukrainian vote and current President Petro Poroshenko received 16 percent in the first round of voting, according to exit polling. Observers say Ukraine's hopes for NATO membership may be in jeopardy with the possibility of a new president. Ukraine's sitting president, Poroshenko had been working toward membership in the European Union as well as the NATO alliance. Zelensky had been leading significantly in the polls up until the March 31 vote, but his lead in exit polling was much higher than anticipated. The Ukrainian constitution only allows for two candidates on the final ballot.

Zelensky in contrast to Poroshenko has no political experience. He has a majority of the youth vote in his corner. His name recognition and popularity are due to his roles on television and as a member of a well-known comedy troupe in Ukraine. It would be as if, said one diplomat in Kiev, "a popular star from America's popular Saturday Night Live show ran for president and received almost double the votes of the sitting U.S. commander-in-chief." Zelensky's youth and inexperience have been touted by a number of commentators as real dangers for Ukraine—should he defeat Poroshenko in the April 21 second round election.

Observers who look skepticly at a Zelensky presidency say that efforts to join NATO could falter should he be the next-round victor. Ukraine under a new president could be drawn further into war with Moscow, they say. Most NATO members are not interested in a direct confrontation with Russia and would shy away from offering Ukraine a place at the table. In this scenario, Russian President Vladimir Putin could a new offensive in the Donbas using a fabricated Ukraine provocation as justification. Then at a critical moment, Putin would offer to sit down and negotiate with the new, inexperienced Ukrainian president and attempt to out-maneuver or intimidate him. The result could be more loss of life and territory and no future prospects for NATO membership.

The history of Ukrainian presidential elections in this century is a troubled one. A 2004 election was declared to have been rife with falsification by the supreme court, resulting in a second presidential ballot that was won by Viktor Yushenko in early 2005. Five years later he failed in his re-election bid against Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Moscow candidate who Yushenko beat in the previous election.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/future-ukrainian-nato-membership-in-question-with-possibility-of-new-president/

>>6027735

Seems to be the case with these Californian's, cheat, lie, steal…ect.

McAuliffe: I’ll Have the ‘Funnest Campaign’ If I Run for President

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.) said he will run the "funnest campaign" and won't apologize for being a white male if he joins the large field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. McAuliffe told conservative radio host John Fredericks Monday he is still considering jumping into the race, despite having passed his previously self-imposed March 31 deadline. Asked by Fredericks if he was "going to run and apology tour and apologize … for being a successful white male," McAuliffe said no. "If I do run, it will be the funnest campaign. It will be a happy tour," he said, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

McAuliffe agreed with the sentiments of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat who said he didn't want to go on an "apology tour" like former Vice President Joe Biden and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D., Texas) have for having white privilege. "This is a self-made man who created a vibrant business, thousands and thousands of people he hired, paid 'em well and provided them with benefits," McAuliffe said of Bloomberg. "And that's going to be a negative? I mean are you kidding me? That is the American success story. He is an entrepreneur's entrepreneur."

Bloomberg has said he won't run, although Axios reported the billionaire could get into the race if Biden ultimately decided not to run. The Times-Dispatch report also noted McAuliffe's decision to run could hinge on whether Biden gets into the race. He told the Free Beacon last year he was the best-suited Democrat to take on President Donald Trump and suggested he'd clobber Trump if he invaded his personal space during a debate.

McAuliffe said there "may not be oxygen" for someone like him, given his links to the Democratic establishment and reputation as a more center-left figure in a primary defined by candidates racing to the left. McAuliffe is closely tied to the Clintons, served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, and said he's "absolutely" a capitalist. CNN reported last month many top Democratic donors are waiting to see what McAuliffe does before committing to a candidate. He's known for his fundraising prowess while running the DNC; he even wrote in a memoir about leaving his wife and newborn son in the car for an important event that raised a million dollars.

McAuliffe suggested Virginia is currently a laughingstock, after Fredericks pointed out GOP issues before he took office and now with the current Democratic leadership. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring (D.) admitted wearing blackface in their youth in February, and Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax (D.) has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. Northam and Fairfax resisted calls for their resignations by numerous prominent Democrats, including McAuliffe. "The only period we were not a laughingstock was when you were governor. Right?" Fredericks said. "Right," McAuliffe said, claiming he didn't have any scandals while running the state from 2014 to 2018.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/mcauliffe-ill-have-the-funnest-campaign-if-i-run-for-president/

Fentanyl maybe, I remember reading somewhere that most it comes from China, however they were also selling it to Mexico, and much of it was ending up in the US…seems like these locations are close enough to the border, it seems plausible doesn't it?

>>6027770 @ >>6027934

Sorry … meant to direct here

Bharara Cautions Resistance: It’s Not the Southern District’s Job to Get Rid of Trump

Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara advised opponents of President Donald Trump Tuesday not to put their hope into being "delivered from him" by law enforcement officials. Bharara appeared on Deadline: White House and cautioned the "resistance" to focus on defeating Trump in the 2020 election. Many progressives were already disappointed last month with the report that Mueller's probe would produce no further indictments and cleared Trump on collusion with Russia in 2016.

"I also want to caution people. Maybe not everyone will love hearing this," Bharara said. "Lots of people don't like the president, think he should not be president, and they want to be delivered from him, and I get that, and I may be one of those people also. It doesn't mean that you're going to be delivered from that in some place other than the ballot box. It doesn't mean you're going to be delivered from that by Bob Mueller, as good as he is, because his job was not to get the president." "The Southern District's job, the place I used to lead, is not to get the president," he added. "Maybe they'll find evidence of a crime, maybe they'll think they have something to say in a courtroom, whether it's about the hush money payments or something else or the Trump Organization, but if people don't like the direction of the country and they think we're moving away from the ideals of the country should be about, whether it's on immigration or decency or rule of law, then they should set their sights and their energy on doing things politically."

His tone appeared different than last month, when he said the Mueller probe's conclusion did not mean Trump was out of the woods. "I don't think people should be taking victory laps, or jumping off bridges, depending on their political viewpoint, based on the face that the Mueller report has been concluded and there's no indictments," Bharara said on CNN. "But Donald Trump is not out of legal jeopardy and the Southern District of New York did not have the narrow mission that the special counsel had."

Bharara called the Southern District's attorneys "aggressive" and "fair-minded" Tuesday as he promoted his new book Doing Justice. "If they find things they think are wrong and cross the line into criminality they will say so and bring the cases against the president themselves with the policy," Bharara said. "And if they don't, they'll do the right thing there, too, and walk away. They are not going to be swayed by public opinion and by any blood lust or any sort of penchant for forgiveness because people like the president."

The SDNY is investigating the Trump Organization and his inaugural committee, and it also prosecuted Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen for several crimes, including hush payments he claimed to have made to porn actress Stormy Daniels at Trump's behest. MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace, whose program has focused relentlessly on the investigations into Trump and his orbit, told Bharara she didn't believe the "resistance" thought federal prosecutors would "deliver us from Trump." "I think there's a hope that no one's above the rule of law," she said.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/bharara-cautions-resistance-its-not-the-southern-districts-job-to-get-rid-of-trump/