Madeleine Albright’s Consulting Firm Took Millions in Coronavirus Relief Funding, Records Show

The Albright Stonebridge Group has deep ties to China, employs former Chinese gov't officials

An influential Democratic consulting firm that employs former Chinese government officials received as much as $5 million in federal coronavirus relief funding, according to records released on Monday.

The Albright Stonebridge Group, a Washington-based "commercial diplomacy firm" with strong staff links to Joe Biden, connects multinational businesses and nonprofits with political powerbrokers in the United States and abroad. The company is chaired by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.

Records show that the firm raked in between $2 million and $5 million from the Paycheck Protection Program that was meant to provide relief to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration has faced off with the Chinese government over the pandemic and blamed Chinese leadership for trying to cover up the initial spread of the virus after it originated in Wuhan late last year.

Albright Stonebridge has significant consulting operations in China, which is its "largest single country practice," according to its website.

"We work to create allies within the Chinese system through an approach that emphasizes systematic engagement with agencies and non-government stakeholders at the central, provincial, and local levels," said the Albright Stonebridge Group website.

Although Albright Stonebridge is not registered as a foreign lobbying group, it engages in much of the same influence-peddling work as companies that do register. Albright Stonebridge is not required to disclose its clients, however.

The firm employs "former high-level U.S. and Chinese government officials and diplomats," according to its website.

The chairman of Albright Stonebridge’s China branch is Jin Ligang, who previously served as director of China’s ministry of foreign trade. Mu Lan, a senior adviser at Albright Stonebridge, was a former Chinese embassy official, and Jia Mingru, another senior adviser at the firm, was a former assistant minister of culture in China.

The company also has numerous former Biden aides on its staff. Julie Mason, a senior vice president at Albright Stonebridge, previously served as the director of special projects under Biden while he was vice president. She was also communications director for his wife, Jill Biden. Lawrence Silverman, a senior advisor at the firm, was Biden’s special adviser to Europe and Russia. Scott Jacobs, a vice president at Albright Stonebridge, was a former aide in Biden’s vice presidential office.

The firm previously worked on behalf of First Solar, helping the solar power company secure a contract in China, the Washington Free Beacon reported in 2015. Albright Stonebridge did not respond to a request for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/madeleine-albrights-consulting-firm-millions-coronavirus-relief/

Searches without warrant & confiscation of property: Hong Kong details new powers under national security law

Hong Kong officials have shed more light on the city’s new national security legislation, which provides local law enforcement with additional powers to counter secessionism and terrorism.

The government of Hong Kong released details on China’s new legislation on Monday. The national security law was formally approved by Beijing last week, and has already yielded its first prosecution.

Under the new law, police are able to search properties for evidence, and in “exceptional circumstances” do not require a warrant, if they have authorization from a high-ranking police official. The legislation also allows officers to freeze or even confiscate property involved in activities that are considered a national security threat

The law also obliges “foreign and Taiwan” agents and political organizations linked to an investigation into a potential national security breach to disclose information to the authorities. Such information can include their “activities, the personal particulars, as well as the assets, income, sources of income, and expenditure.”

A large portion of the new measures revolve around policing of online content. Law enforcement are now able to demand the removal or restriction of access to any “electronic message published on an electronic platform” deemed damaging to national security.

Failure to cooperate with the authorities – in both disclosing required information and taking down harmful content – can result in jail terms and large fines for individuals and information service providers, as well as “foreign agents” and organizations.

Such provisions apparently spell trouble for the social media platforms and messengers, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, which have vowed to not to cooperate with Hong Kong law enforcement, citing “human rights” concerns over the new law.

https://www.rt.com/news/493972-hong-kong-security-law/

Museum: 'General Lee' car from 'Dukes of Hazzard' will remain on display

'We feel the car is a piece of history, and people love it'

The museum housing the last remaining Confederate-flag-emblazoned car from the first season of the "Dukes of Hazzard" television show says the famed General Lee will remain available for public viewing, despite a nationwide movement to remove Confederate symbols.

The Daily Herald of Arlington Heights inquired about the General Lee's fate last week, at its home in the Volo Auto Museum in northern Illinois. Museum director Brian Grams says the 1969 Dodge Charger is not going anywhere.

"We feel the car is part of history, and people love it," Grams told the outlet. "We've got people of all races and nationalities that remember the TV show and aren't offended by it whatsoever. It's a piece of history and it's in a museum."

But according to Grams, no one has called to complain about the General Lee—yet.

"Several people have reached out with positive comments about us leaving it on display," Grams said, "complimenting us for leaving it there and not having a knee-jerk reaction to remove it like a lot of places are."

The Daily Herald had a good reason for asking about the famous "Dukes of Hazzard" car. Since the death of George Floyd in late May, Confederate statues have been either torn down or peacefully removed throughout the Southern U.S., and Mississippi passed a law retiring its state flag—the last in the nation that contained the Confederate battle emblem.

The General Lee displayed in the the Volo Auto Museum is the last of its kind, too. The very first General Lee shown in the "Dukes of Hazzard" was purchased by golfer Bubba Watson, who had the Confederate flag removed from the vehicle.

A few years ago, Grams told the Daily Herald that 249 General Lees were used over the course of the "Dukes of Hazzard's" run from 1979 to 1985. Of those, only 11 remained as of 2015. The car held by Volo is the last surviving vehicle from the first season.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/museum-general-lee-car-from-dukes-of-hazzard-will-remain-on-display

Biden-founded law firm, as well as a company tied to Pelosi, received PPP funds, docs show

Loans come as Biden accuses Trump of 'cronyism'

A prominent Delaware law firm founded by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for between $150,000 and $350,000, according to records released Monday by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration.

The Trump campaign told Fox News that the records conflict with recent messaging from the Biden campaign that the PPP program is both ineffective and a vehicle to reward Trump "cronies."

“Instead of attacking President Trump as an involuntary reflex, maybe Joe Biden should just say ‘thank you’ once in a while," Trump campaign director of communications Tim Murtaugh told Fox News. "The PPP saved 51 million jobs nationally, including at Biden’s old law firm and a number of companies connected to Obama administration alums. A very likely explanation is that Biden simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about and would rather make a political weapon out of a program that helped people make their rent and mortgage payments.”

The law firm that received the big payout was originally founded as Biden and Walsh and is now known as Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder; Biden currently has no financial interest in the firm.

However, firm co-founder and partner Melvyn Monzack, whom Biden called one of his "great friends" in 2017, has maintained close ties to the former vice president. He served as Biden's 2002 Senate reelection treasurer, as well as the treasurer for Biden's 2008 presidential run.

According to CBS News, Monzack, who has donated thousands to Biden's presidential campaign, attended a state dinner at the White House for Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2011. The law firm is also a registered agent for companies tied to Biden.

Records reviewed by Fox News show that on July 6, 1987, Biden gave Monzack his legal power of attorney to "demand, sue for and receive all debts, moneys, securities for money, goods, chattels, or other personal property."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-founded-law-firm-company-pelosi-ppp-funds

Robert Maxwell

Robert Maxwell, real

name, Jan Ludvik Hoch

Atlantic Council