what plan?

Former Obama officials reveal they are still talking with the Iranian government

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-obama-officials-reveal-they-are-still-talking-with-the-iranian-government

With tensions between the United States and Iran high, three officials who worked in Barack Obama's administration admit they have been talking with Iranian government officials in an effort to avert a war.

The former Obama officials have also met with congressional Democrats on how to proceed with Iran. The former officials would not say if they passed information from Iranian government officials to Congress, according to the Daily Beast.

Those involved with the talks said their conversations with the Iranians are "normal." But a congressional GOP staffer who works on Iran issues said the news is concerning.

US investigating Honduran president for cocaine smuggling and money laundering

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is one of the main targets of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into "large-scale drug-trafficking and money laundering activities" related to the "importation of cocaine into the United States," according to a court filing.

The document, filed Thursday, states the DEA has been investigating Hernández and eight others since 2013. Hernández became president in January 2014.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hernández's brother, Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernández, was charged by U.S. federal prosecutors in New York last November for "large-scale" cocaine trafficking from 2004 to 2016. The charges included bribing local officials in Miami to overlook cocaine shipments arriving in the region, making false statements to federal agents, and possessing and using assault-style weapons as part of his operation.

"Hernandez and his criminal associates allegedly conspired with some of the world's most deadly and dangerous transnational criminal networks in Mexico and Colombia to flood American streets with deadly drugs," Special Agent in Charge Raymond Donovan said in a statement.

At the time of the indictment, President Hernández called it a "heavy blow" to the family, adding, "No one is above the law."

Honduras is at the center of a migration phenomenon that has been unfolding over the past five years. During fiscal 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017, approximately 76,000 Honduran citizens were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border after illegally crossing north.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/u-s-investigating-honduran-president-for-cocaine-smuggling-and-money-laundering?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR16JaPlrBwlBZ_ocztDrvIzJ_Pvv5JP6isQp1n5o0G5q6ymZQcsySxIqwM

Obama tells Brazil: In America 'anybody can buy any weapon any time'

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/obama-tells-brazil-in-america-anybody-can-buy-any-weapon-any-time

Barack Obama told an audience in Brazil that "our gun laws in the United States don’t make much sense" and claimed machine guns could be bought legally online.

The former president, 57, said the most difficult day of his eight years in the White House was after the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20 elementary students and six staff were shot dead.

"And my daughters were only a little bit older than these young children that have been shot and I had to go and comfort the parents. And some of you may be aware our gun laws in the United States don’t make much sense. Anybody can buy any weapon any time," Obama said to an applause.

Climate change expert sentenced to 32 months for fraud, says lying was a 'rush'

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/climate-change-expert-sentenced-32-months-fraud-says-lying-was-flna2D11768995?fbclid=IwAR0mAYxdwvFhvR4jZHe8rklpribPaMtgURYPpYpX1NT-cEWaJ8KoV1704lo

The EPA’s highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison Wednesday for lying to his bosses and saying he was a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job.

John C. Beale’s crimes were “inexplicable” and “unbelievably egregious," said Judge Ellen Huvelle in imposing the sentence in a Washington. D.C. federal court. Beale has also agreed to pay $1.3 million in restitution and forfeiture to the government.

Beale said he was ashamed of his lies about working for the CIA, a ruse that, according to court records, began in 2000 and continued until early this year.

“Why did I do this? Greed – simple greed – and I’m ashamed of that greed,” Beale told the court. He also said it was possible that he got a “rush” and a “sense of excitement" by telling people he was worked for the CIA. “It was something like an addiction,” he said.

WEIRD