“Compound King” and Wife Sentenced in $21 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme; Fugitive Sought
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/compound-king-and-wife-sentenced-21-million-health-care-fraud-scheme-fugitive-sought
Nike Reports Surprise $790 Million Loss, 46% Plunge in North American Sales
Sports giant Nike reported a surprise loss Thursday as shutdowns due to COVID-19 prompted a big drop in revenues in spite of higher online sales.
Nike reported a loss of $790 million in the quarter ending May 31, which translated to a loss of 51 cents per share compared with analyst expectations for nine cents per share in profit.
Revenues tumbled 38 percent to $6.3 billion following huge declines in sales in most of the world.
In North America, the company’s biggest operating region, revenues plunged 46 percent to $2.2 billion.
x, with the exception being Greater China. A bright spot was online sales, with digital sales increasing 75 percent during the quarter.
The results are among the first by a major company to detail the hit from the coronavirus during the period of peak shutdowns. Nike is on a different fiscal calendar than most other large companies, with its fourth quarter ending May 31.
The second-quarter earnings period, which covers the quarter ending June 30, will begin in mid-July.
Shares of Nike fell 3.7 percent ot $97.61.
https://www.breitbart.com/news/nike-reports-790-mn-q4-loss-as-sales-plunge-on-covid-19-hit/
fuckers are trying to stop me posting certain things
US Charges Jack Abramoff With Violating Lobbying Law That Was Amended Because Of His Schemes
Federal prosecutors in California issued the U.S. government’s first ever criminal charges for violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act on Thursday against Jack Abramoff, the notorious GOP lobbyist whose scheme more than a decade ago prompted widespread reform in the influence industry.
The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco announced charges against Abramoff and a business partner, Marcus Andrade, the CEO of crypto-currency firm AML Bitcoin.
A federal grand jury in California indicted Andrade on Tuesday on wire fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Abramoff, 61, on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a charge of violating the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA).
First passed in 1995, LDA was reformed in 2007 after Abramoff was convicted on charges related to his lobbying for Native American casinos.
Abramoff served four years of a six-year prison sentence. He touted himself for several years after leaving jail as a Washington reformer. He returned to the industry in 2017, registering as a foreign lobbyist for the Congolese government.
According to a complaint filed against Abramoff, a California-based marijuana company hired him in March 2017 to lobby on issues related to federal regulation of the cannabis industry.
In April 2017, according to the complaint, an undercover FBI agent posing as a businessman began communicating with Abramoff. In June 2017, the undercover agent met with Abramoff in San Francisco under the guise of discussing a lobbying engagement. The agent paid Abramoff “a small retainer fee.” Abramoff had a lobbying contact with a sitting member of Congress in July 2018, where the issues that the undercover agent had raised were discussed.
“The information filed against Abramoff also alleges that he knowingly and corruptly failed to register as a lobbyist, as required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, after being retained for lobbying efforts that would involve one or more lobbying communications with a federal official,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.
“This is the first ever known prosecution of a lobbyist for a criminal violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act.”
Prosecutors say that Abramoff failed to register as a lobbyist with the Senate and House as would have been required under LDA, given his contact with the lawmaker. Prosecutors say that Abramoff “was aware of the obligations” to register his lobbying activity because LDA was amended in 2007 “in part as a reaction to ABRAMOFF’s past conduct as a lobbyist.”
https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/25/jack-abramoff-lobbyist-charged-investigation/
11 pages
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/press-release/file/1290046/download
DHS: 95 Percent of Border Crossers Instantly Deported Thanks to CDC’s Title 42 Order
About 95 percent of border crossers apprehended by United States Border Patrol agents are being instantly deported to their native countries thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Title 42 order.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan told lawmakers on Thursday that the CDC order, which gives federal immigration officials broad authority to immediately return border crossers over public health concerns, has been hugely beneficial in reducing illegal immigration. Morgan said:
Early on, after [the CDC] order, we saw those trying to illegally enter our country drop by more than 50 percent from our pre-COVID numbers. Rather than introducing the illegal aliens into our facilities, increasing the exposure risk to our workforce and our country, CBP because of this order is returning approximately 95 percent of those we encounter expeditiously to their country of last transit.
Morgan continued:
Can you imagine what we’d be going through right now if we were going through this pandemic this same time last year when our southwest border facilities were overwhelmed and overcrowded with families and children.
At the peak of illegal immigration levels in the two years, Morgan said the agency had more than 20,000 foreign nationals in their custody. Today, the number of foreign nationals in CBP custody on any given day has been cut down to 150 to 200 — a 900 percent reduction.
Likewise, Morgan said the total number of unaccompanied minors — who can be freed into the U.S. — crossing illegally has been reduced by about 70 percent.
In recent weeks, President Trump has implemented significant reforms to the nation’s immigration system to ensure that the more than 40 million unemployed or underemployed Americans are given priority for blue-collar and white-collar job openings.
Aside from the CDC order, Trump’s reforms have included suspending a series of foreign visa worker programs to reduce labor market competition against Americans, as well as regulatory changes to close outsourcing loopholes in the H-1B visa program and ending work permits for most border crossers claiming asylum.
The reforms are expected to free up nearly 600,000 U.S. jobs for Americans.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/25/dhs-95-percent-of-border-crossers-instantly-deported-thanks-to-cdcs-title-42-order/
Europol: 436 Jihadists Arrested Across Europe in 2019
436 people were arrested for jihadist terror in Europe in 2019 according to a new report, but the mainstream media has focused their reporting on right-wing extremists, whose arrests were outnumbered by jihadists 20-to-1.
According to the report, in addition to the 436 people arrested for jihadist terror-related offences across the continent in 2019, there were also 111 arrested for left-wing extremism, and 21 for right-wing extremism.
In a broader context, in the past five years, 3,057 jihadists had been arrested, compared to 279 left-wing extremists, and 108 right-wing extremists. Other categories included 1,549 “non-specified counter terrorism-related arrests”, and 360 Ethno-nationalist and separatists — mainly arrests relating to Northern Ireland in the UK, and Catalonia in Spain.
The good news is the number of attacks overall is falling, standing at 119 compared to 205 in 2017.
On the ongoing development of these divergent groups, the 98-page study noted: “There is also a possible risk from radical Islamist groups in the EU attempting to take advantage of vulnerable asylum seekers.”
On the 111 arrests related to far-left terrorism, the 2019 figure more than tripled the numbers seen in previous years, while the 21 arrests categorised as far-right were less than half the number seen in 2018.
“The narratives behind [far-left] attacks”, according to Europol, “included expressions of solidarity with imprisoned anarchists internationally” as well as “support to refugees”.
Right-wing extremists, it said, “capitalise on … xenophobia” as well as “agitating against immigration in polarising and inflammatory ways”, including by using “social issues … as propaganda tools, for example drawing the contrast between the housing of migrants and the plight of the homeless”.
While noting that “many right-wing extremist groups across the EU have not resorted to violence”, the report’s authors hinted they would like to see more online censorship of views they consider to be “far-right”.
“Despite a recent pushback, right-wing extremists continued to enjoy much greater freedom to act on major social media platforms in 2019 than, for example, jihadists; and these platforms remain important vectors for the spread of right-wing extremism,” the study asserts.
Commenting in the report, Europol director Catherine De Bolle warned that the economic and social fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic “have the potential to further fuel the radicalisation of some individuals, regardless of their ideological persuasion”.
“Activists both on the extreme left and right and those involved in jihadist terrorism attempt to seize the opportunity the pandemic has created to further propagate their aims.”
Despite figures showing jihadist terror attacks pose the greatest threat to European lives, with 10 out of 10 terror deaths incurred across the continent in 2019 being attributed to Islamist attacks, several international mainstream media outlets focused reporting on the Europol study around the dangers of far-right ideology.
Under the headline, “Europol: Ireland hit by surge of ‘right-wing extremism’”, the Irish Examiner talked up the threat of “anti-immigrant ideology”.
Not until the final paragraph of the article was there any mention of far-left or jihadist extremism, despite the latter ideology relating to all five terror-related arrests made in the Republic of Ireland last year. Euractiv’s reporting also saved reporting the sudden surge in left-wing extremist arrests until their final paragraph, and named two particular attacks in its coverage, both by right-wing extremists.
European Parliament based The Parliament magazine also followed the format, dedicating their report to right-wing extremism. Former newspaper The Independent focussed their reporting, their headline on the Europe-wide data noting ‘UK saw highest number of far-right terror attacks and plots in Europe in 2019, Europol says’.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/25/europol-436-jihadists-arrested-europe/
Illinois Gun Permit Applications Soar 500% As Frightened Liberals Embrace 2nd Amendment
Over 40,000 Illinois residents applied for a gun permit over a two-week period this month, a jump of more than 500% over this time last year according to Illinois State Police.
"Take a full glass of coronavirus, shake in a shot of riots and another of this defund police notion, and everything goes crazy," gun shop owner Mark Glavin told the Chicago Tribune. "Not to mention the backlog on background checks."
The state's mandatory 72-hour background check has stretched to more than a week for some of Glavin's customers, putting Illinois residents in the same boat as Californians - who have a 10-day wait before they can take possession of recently bought firearms.
The firearms services bureau of the Illinois State Police is taking an average of 94 business hours — not counting holidays, weekends, the day the gun is purchased, or the day the sale is approved or denied — to process background checks, roughly a day longer than usual, according to state police spokeswoman Beth Hundsdorfer.
The bureau is responsible for issuing firearm owner’s identification cards and concealed carry licenses, as well as conducting background checks for licensed gun dealers when a sale is made. Its work started to pick up in March and has spiked in June, Hundsdorfer said. -Chicago Tribune
Between June 1 and June 17, there were over 42,089 applications for FOID cards vs. just 7,000 during the same period last year - an increase of 501%. Putting that into further context, there were 48,194 applications between December, January and February combined.
"We know that traditionally there’s an uptick in gun purchases around elections and major tragedies," said DePaul University associate professor of social work, Noam Ostrander.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/illinois-gun-permit-applications-soar-500-frightened-liberals-embrace-2nd-amendment
Jussie Smollett’s Alleged ‘Attackers’ Now Say They Won’t Testify Against ‘Empire’ Actor
The two Nigerian brothers who claimed Jussie Smollett paid them to stage an attack against the actor are now reportedly unwilling to testify against him in court.
Chicago police say Abel Osundario and his brother, Ola, were paid $3,500 to pretend to beat Smollett in January 2019 in what the actor claimed was a racist and homophobic attack.
Initially, the pair told police they would cooperate fully and and testify against the former “Empire” star. But then their lawyer told Chicago’s CBS affiliate on Wednesday “that they’ve had a change of heart,” The New York Post reported.
Attorney Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez said the two have flipped because they feel as if police are still treating them as suspects and are withholding possessions they had taken from them during a February 2019 raid of their home.
“It’s been over a year and they need to give us our stuff back,” said Abel Osundairo told the station. “I would understand if we were defendants in the case, which we are not,” he added.
During the Valentine’s Day sweep, cops swiped among other possessions a safe containing a 9mm gun and ammunition that belongs to Abel, a legal gun owner, the station reported. An administrative battle over the possessions has ensued, with Schmidt Rodriguez filing a court motion for the return of their belongings.
Chicago Police told the outlet the handgun is being preserved as evidence in an evidence locker and that the department would cooperate with any court order should the judge rule to have the items returned.
The brothers were held by police and interrogated soon after the alleged attack took place in January, but they were quickly released as police shifted their attention to Smollett’s involvement in allegedly staging the attack.
The actor told police that the main attacker “was wearing a ski mask that covered his entire face, with the exception of the area around his eyes, by which [Smollett] could tell the attacker was white-skinned,” according to a lawsuit against Smollett filed by the city of Chicago. Smollettt, who is black, allegedly hired the brothers, who also are black, to attack him in a hate hoax crime.
To bolster his claim that the attackers were white, Smollett said the two men yelled racist and homophobic remarks, at one point invoking President Trump’s signature slogan, “Make America Great Again” by saying, “This is MAGA country.”
That story quickly fell apart.
A Chicago grand jury indicted Smollett in March on 16 felony counts that he allegedly lied to police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime. Those charges came after he was arrested in February and charged with felony disorderly conduct for the allegedly false police report. The charges were later dropped, but have been reinstated.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/jussie-smolletts-alleged-attackers-now-say-wont-testify/
RADICAL LEFTIST GROUP Threatens Christian Prayer Rally Planned on Saturday to Save the Iconic St. Louis Statue in Forest Park
On Wednesday The Gateway Pundit announced a prayer rally on Saturday at the iconic St. Louis Statue on Art Hill in Forest Park.
** The prayer rally is planned at noon at the St. Louis statue.
We will recite a rosary — the prayer used by St. Louis of France.
If you are Catholic, Christian or an ally we urge you to join us.
We will have a Christian lead us in prayer.
We planned the rally because there is currently a petition by local leftist and radical Umar Lee to remove this beautiful landmark in St. Louis City.
We are calling on all Catholic and Christian men in the St. Louis, Missouri area to join us in public prayer to save the iconic St. Louis statue in Forest Park.
On Thursday the radical group behind the petition to remove St. Louis from our city posted a response.
Umar Lee posted this today on Twitter.
The group behind the petition against St. Louis will hold a counter rally.
Umar Lee says in his announcement that we are “white nationalists” and “Trump supporters.”
Umar Lee says, “Among those who have signed up to attend are those on the alt-right such as those who held the infamous and tragic rally in Charlottesville.” This is a lie. There is no one from the Charlottesville rally or linked to the Charlottesville rally or who promoted the Charlottesville rally who will be at the prayer rally (that we know about).
We are Christians and Christian allies who believe we still have the freedom to practice our religion in America.
We are organizing a prayer rally with Catholic and Christian men.
And now we are being threatened — In America.
We will not apologize for our Christianity.
Not in St. Louis.
Here is more on St. Louis of France.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/update-radical-leftist-group-threatens-christian-prayer-rally-planned-saturday-save-iconic-st-louis-statue-forest-park/
MASSIVE EXPLOSION outside Tehran reportedly rocks military base or research site
Videos that appeared on social media showed a major explosion outside Tehran, fueling speculation of an attack against a military base, a research site, or a power plant. Details remain a mystery so far.
Rumors initially said the explosion took place at a power station in Sarkh Hasar, east of Tehran, and that similar explosions took place in Shiraz, in southern Iran, prompting speculation of a cyber attack.
Others suggested an explosion at an ammunition depot in Paradis, citing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chatter on the messaging app Telegram.
The explosion happened around 2 am local time, just half an hour after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about new US sanctions against Iran
The explosion happened around 2 am local time, just half an hour after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about new US sanctions against Iran
Others have said the explosion took place at Khojir, not Parchin, pointing to a missile production and testing facility there as the possible culprit.
Iranian TV has so far reported only that the authorities were “investigating the bright light and loud sound” near Tehran.
https://www.rt.com/news/492967-tehran-explosion-military-base/
Trump: 'Crazy' Democrats Harder to Deal With Than China, North Korea
While delivering remarks in Wisconsin Thursday, US President Donald Trump called Democrats "crazy," claiming they are harder to deal with than China and North Korea.
The president also called Democratic lawmakers "far more unreasonable" than China or North Korea.
"The toughest nation to deal with are the Democrats in the USA," Trump said. "The Democrats in the USA are much tougher to deal with than any of these people that we deal with. They're far more unreasonable, and actually, they're a little crazy."
Throughout his presidency, Trump has had a beleaguered relationship with Democrats, with the president often referring to left-leaning media as "fake news."
Trump has made other controversial statements in recent days.
During his Saturday kickoff campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said that he told officials in his administration to slow down COVID-19 testing.
"You know testing is a double-edged sword … Here's the bad part … when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people; you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down please,” Trump said.
Trump also used an offensive term to refer to COVID-19 during his rally, calling the respiratory illness the “kung flu,” which is a reference to the Chinese martial art of kung fu.
"It’s a disease, without question, has more names than any disease in history,” Trump said during his rally speech. “I can name – kung flu. I can name 19 different versions of names. Many call it a virus, which it is. Many call it a flu. What difference. I think we have 19 or 20 versions of the name,” he continued.
During the rally, Trump once again shut down the idea of renaming military bases honoring Confederate generals in the wake of protests across the nation against racial injustice.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments. They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new, repressive regime in its place,” Trump claimed.
According to national polls, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden is currently ahead of Trump by around nine points.
https://sputniknews.com/us/202006251079722391-trump-crazy-democrats-harder-to-deal-with-than-china-north-korea/
New York Bills Would Limit Federal Militarization of Police
Bills introduced in the New York Assembly and Senate would ban state and local law enforcement agencies from acquiring certain military equipment from federal programs.
Sen Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx), along with four fellow Democrats, introduced Senate Bill 8507 (S8507) on June 6. Assm. Ron Kim (D-Flushing) introduced the companion, Assembly Bill 10669 (A10660), on June 17. The legislation would prohibit a state or local law enforcement agency from receiving or purchasing the following property from a military equipment surplus program operated by the federal government.
Drones that are armored, weaponized, or both
Aircraft that are combat configured or combat coded
Grenades or similar explosives and grenade launchers
Silencers
Militarized armored vehicles
The proposed law would also require law enforcement agencies to publish a notice on their publicly accessible website within 14 days of requesting allowable military equipment from a federal program.
The legislation applies both to the well-known 1033 program, along with any other military surplus program operated by the federal government, as well as federal programs that fund the acquisition of surveillance equipment.
While passage of S8507/A10669 wouldn’t end the militarization, it would keep some dangerous weapons out of the hands of police officers set the stage for further limits in the future.
Police departments often obtain military and surveillance equipment from the federal government in complete secrecy. Requiring public disclosure of all requests for military gear would bring the process into the open and provide an opportunity for concerned residents to stop the acquisition through their local representatives.
FEDERAL SURPLUS AND GRANT MONEY
Through the federal 1033 Program, local police departments procure military-grade weapons. Police can also get military equipment through the Department of Homeland Security via the (DHS) “Homeland Security Grant Program.” The DHS doles out over $1 billion in counterterrorism funds to state and local police each year. According to a 2012 Senate report, this money has been used to purchase tactical vehicles, drones, and even tanks with little obvious benefit to public safety. And, according to ProPublica, “In 1994, the Justice Department and the Pentagon-funded a five-year program to adapt military security and surveillance technology for local police departments that they would otherwise not be able to afford.”
In August 2017, President Trump issued an executive order that gave a push to local police militarization. Trump’s action rescinded an Obama-era policy meant to provide greater transparency and oversight around the Department of Defense 1033 program and other federal resources that provide military weapons to local police.
https://www.activistpost.com/2020/06/new-york-bills-would-limit-federal-militarization-of-police.html
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces Raid Kataib Hezbollah HQ, Seize Rocket Launchers
A total of 13 Kataib Hezbollah fighters were arrested late Thursday night after Iraqi troops of the Counter-Terrorism Service raided the headquarters of paramilitary group in southern Baghdad, Iraq.
Iraqi security forces also confiscated multiple rocket launchers from the Kataib Hezbollah fighters during the Thursday night raid, as reported by AFP, citing three officials.
The outlet noted that this was the first raid against individuals who have been accused of carrying out anti-US rocket attacks.
"Based on intelligence information, a CTS unit raided a base used by Brigade 45, seizing three rocket launchers and arresting 13 fighters," an unnamed official said, according to AFP.
Earlier this month, a number of Katyusha rockets assaulted Baghdad and Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) seized a flatbed truck that had been repurposed into a Katyusha rocket launcher.
However, the JOC did not link the seized truck to any particular group at the time.
Washington accused Kataib Hezbollah of carrying out the late December 2019 rocket attack on a K1 military base outside of Kirkuk, northern Iraq. As many as 30 rockets were launched into the military facility and one US civilian contractor died as a result of the attack.
US officials also asserted Kataib Hezbollah was behind the March 11 Katyusha rocket strike on Camp Taji, which housed forces of the US-led coalition. Two American troops and a British soldier died from the 18-rocket barrage.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202006251079722811-iraqi-counter-terrorism-forces-raid-kataib-hezbollah-hq-seize-rocket-launcher/
Pentagon Awards Nearly $1 Billion in Drone Contracts to Support Special Forces
The US military awarded six contracts worth nearly $1 billion combined for spy drone services for Special Forces, the Defence Department said in a statement.
"Six… contracts with a maximum combined ceiling of $975,000,000 for Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems IV intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services in support of US Special Operations Command enterprise requirements worldwide", the release said on Thursday.
According to the release, the purchase supports competition at the task-order level to ensure the most capable platforms and payloads provide real-time, responsive airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions to Special Operations Forces.
The contracts were awarded to L3, Textron, Precision Integrated Programs, Arcturus UAV, Insitu, and Wildflower International. Special Operations Command in Tampa in the US state of Florida is the contracting activity for the awards, the Defence Department added.
Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems IV is a fee-for-service or "power by the hour" contractor-owned and operated drone network deployed in support of the Special Operations Command. It uses catapult-launched mid-sized unmanned aerial vehicles to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information to special forces on the ground.
https://sputniknews.com/military/202006251079722921-pentagon-awards-nearly-1-billion-in-drone-contracts-to-support-special-forces/