U.S. Senators File Bill Targeting Mexican Cartels with Sanctions Similar to Terrorist Designation

Two U.S. Senators filed a bill that would target Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations through financial, criminal, and immigration sanctions. The sanctions are similar to the ones they would face if they were designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) by the State Department.

Senator Ted Cruz (R) from Texas announced that he and Sen. Tom Cotton (R) from Arkansas introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act. The proposed bill comes days after President Donald J. Trump said he would hold off on designating certain Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations following a meeting by his staff with Mexican counterparts.

Another key item in the bill requires the U.S. President submit to Congress the FBI findings of the November 4 attack that killed nine members of a U.S. family. Once submitted, the question of designation would be raised again.

The new bill would impose a series of sanctions on “the most significant” criminal organizations including:

– Barring organization members and their immediate families from admission to the United States.

– Freezing of their assets in the U.S.

– Seeking civil and criminal penalties against individuals that provide material assistance or resources to the organization (cartel).

In March, U.S. Congressmen Chip Roy (R-TX) and Mark Green (R-TN) filed a bill directing the U.S. Department of State to designate a specific group of cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. According to Roy, certain cartels like the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, the Reynosa faction of the Gulf Cartel, and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion were targeted “because of their particularly violent actions and intentional strategies to affect the political system. These cartels push for an anarchic form of government which allows them to skirt laws and push their terrorist model without any legal ramifications.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/12/11/u-s-senators-file-bill-targeting-mexican-cartels-with-sanctions-similar-to-terrorist-designation/

Joe Biden Unveils Immigration Platform, Acknowledges ‘Pain’ Of Deportations During Obama Era

Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden released his immigration plan Wednesday, pledging to dismantle a number of the Trump administration’s key immigration policies.

Biden called for an end to Remain in Mexico, reinstatement of DACA, and raising the refugee cap to nearly seven times the current limit.

Unlike his progressive rivals, Biden did not call for a ban on deportations, or decriminalization of illegal immigration, and he doesn’t want to see DHS fundamentally changed.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden published a sweeping immigration plan that called for an overhaul of the Trump administration’s agenda, but it remained largely moderate compared to his progressive contenders.

Biden’s campaign on Wednesday published a massive, nearly 6,700-word plan for how the Democratic candidate would manage immigration if elected president of the United States. While the former vice president pledged to undo a number of President Donald Trump’s most notable programs and acknowledged criticism of deportations that took place during his own administration, Biden’s platform was still reflective of his moderate stance on the issue of immigration.

Early on in the outline, Biden appeared to take a left turn by openly acknowledging the “pain” caused by deportations that took place during the Obama administration.

“Joe Biden understands the pain felt by every family across the U.S. that has had a loved one removed from the country, including under the Obama-Biden Administration, and he believes we must do better to uphold our laws humanely and preserve the dignity of immigrant families, refugees, and asylum-seekers,” the announcement said.

Since the launch of his campaign, Biden has been dogged by immigration activists who have criticized him for the record-high number of deportations — three million — that took place during the eight years of the Obama-Biden era. However, he has remained largely defiant about the statistic, and went so far as to say he had “nothing” to apologize for when asked by a Telemundo reporter earlier this month.

The former vice president announced on Wednesday he would mostly unwind the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. Namely, he pledged to end Migrant Protection Protocols, otherwise known as Remain in Mexico, a program that mandates asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases are processed in the U.S. immigration court system. He also said he would reinstate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and abolish for-profit detention centers.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/11/joe-biden-unveils-immigration-platform/

Harvey Weinstein Reaches $47 Million Settlement, Wiping The Civil Slate Clean

Money talks and sexual predators walk.

That appears to be the anticlimatic end of the #MeToo story arc, which started with Harvey Weinstein, and is set to conclude with a multi-million cash settlement ending effectively all civil cases against the former Hollywood mogul.

According to the WSJ, Harvey Weinstein, his former associates, insurers and accusers have all reached a nearly $47 million tentative settlement of virtually all the civil cases pending against him, about $25 million of which will compensate women who have accused the Hollywood producer of sexual misconduct.

Under the terms of the agreement, Weinstein and his former associates won't admit wrongdoing; the deal still needs to be approved by a bankruptcy judge and a judge overseeing a proposed class-action lawsuit. Even better for the "not guilty" Weinstein, the bulk of the settlement money will be paid not by him but by his insurance policies, including those held by his former studio.

While the deal will resolve all but two of the civil sexual-misconduct lawsuits and other legal claims filed against Weinstein, the settlement won’t impact the criminal case brought by Manhattan prosecutors against the former producer, which is set to go to trial on January 6. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.

The WSJ reports that the settlement is the culmination of more than a year of negotiations, which involved countless parties, including Weinstein's lawyers, his former film studio, the New York attorney general’s office, insurers and alleged victims. The negotiations also included the former associates of Mr. Weinstein who some women claimed had enabled Mr. Weinstein’s alleged abuse. It also resolves a suit filed by the New York attorney general that accused his former studio’s executives and board of failing to protect women from his alleged misconduct.

Here is how the money will be divided up according to the proposed deal:

$6 million will go to women who have filed lawsuits and legal claims and their attorneys.

$18.6 million will be set aside to create a settlement fund for additional alleged victims, including those covered by the attorney general’s suit.

$7 million will go to some creditors of the film studio

$12 million will cover the costs of lawyers who defended Weinstein’s former associates against the suits.

$1 million will fund Weinstein’s defense costs to fight lawsuits against two victims who aren’t participating in the settlement.

In other words, for every dollar Weinstein's alleged victims receive now, his lawyers will get two.

Lawyers for those women who refused to take part in the deal portrayed the settlement as unfair. Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for one of those women, said in a statement that he didn’t believe the deal was the best possible settlement. "It is shameful that $12 million of the settlement is going to the lawyers for the directors who we alleged enabled Harvey Weinstein."

Surely he would prefer that $12 million was going to the plaintiff's lawyers, and speaking of, perhaps it's now time to change the name of #metoo to #paymetoo.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvey-wesintein-reaches-47-million-settlement-wiping-civil-slate-clean

>>7484235

Looks like he walks,

NO JUSTICE

Just empty promises

>>7484254

>Sydney Powell

Running Down The Clock? Barr Suggests Durham Report Not Coming For Another Six Months

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61011