IRS whistleblower: There was unanimous agreement to charge Hunter Biden with felonies — and not doing so violated DOJ policy
“The DOJ policy on this is that — their tax policy is that — if you have a felony with a misdemeanor, you have to charge the felony, and that’s to prevent inequitable treatment of taxpayers and they didn’t do that,” Ziegler claimed.
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GOP rep screams at Dem for trolling him with insults in clash on LGBTQ organizations: ‘Snowflake can melt’
A House meeting was pushed to recess after two members of Congress got into a heated argument about purported “grooming” in gender ideology from LGBTQ organizations Tuesday.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., and Rep. Andy Harris R-Md., became embroiled in a heated argument over whether tax dollars should be allocated to particular LGBT agendas.
Harris said one of the organizations in question promoted communism and another – which bolstered chemical and surgical sex changes – offered support groups to 7-year-olds.
“The same group promotes hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgery. I don’t know what goes on in those support groups… And I’ll be darned if I want taxpayer dollars going to funding,” Harris said.
Pocan, however, implied that Harris targeted these LGBT groups and those who vote against including those groups in funding were “bigots.” At one point, he swore during the meeting.
Then a heated argument unfolded at the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee.
Pocan repeatedly accused Harris of being as a “snowflake” and a “bigot.” Harris responded by interjecting that it violated House rules and requested Pocan’s remarks be struck from the record.
“How do you show you’re a bigot without saying you’re a bigot?” said Pocan, indirectly taking a jab at Harris.
Harris requested that the chair take down Rep. Pocan’s words from the committee filings, which Pocan thought was “ridiculous.”
“I know it’s a little warm outside and a snowflake can melt, but this is a little bit ridiculous,” Pocan retorted.
Pocan then said he would “respect” the members of the committee by removing everything they deemed offensive, and asked that the words “LGBT” be struck down for the record.
“I will take back saying how you know you’re a bigot without saying you’re a bigot, because I think it’s self-evident, and I don’t need to put the word out,” Pocan said.
“Does that make you happy?” Pocan asked.
Stating that his words were “against House rules,” Harris asked again if the verbiage could be taken down.
“I’m going as far as to say anything that you should ever find offensive, I am glad to take away,” Pocan said before the committee went into recess.”What that means to me is you find me offensive.”
Video Of Deserted Mall And Streets In Downtown San Fran Reveals Democrats Destroyed City
Video Of Deserted Mall And Streets In Downtown San Fran Reveals Democrats Destroyed City
A recent poll commissioned by Probolsky Research found 60% of voters in San Francisco “disapprove” of Mayor London Breed’s performance, and only 22% believe she deserves re-election. There’s plunging confidence among the business community that progressive leadership in the crime-ridden metro can revive the poop-infested downtown area. Businesses are closing up shops in droves, while some building owners have stopped payments on malls and hotels as the city’s economic recovery appears bleak.
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce CEO Rodney Fong recently drew a dire historical parallel of the faltering metro area to the 1906 earthquake: “We have a lot of work to do as residents are more pessimistic than ever.”
Marc Benioff, the chief executive officer of Salesforce, the city’s largest employer and anchor tenant in its tallest skyscraper, warned this week that the metro area is in trouble.
Benioff offered this grim outlook: The downtown area is “never going back to the way it was” in pre-Covid times when workers commuted to offices daily.
“We need to rebalance downtown,” Benioff said, adding Breed needs to initiate a program to convert dormant office space into housing and hire additional law enforcement to restore law and order.
San Francisco’s demise is much more than just the remote or hybrid work narrative, and a record 30% of office space is vacant. Remember, without office workers, local shops can’t thrive.
This leaves us with Youtuber METAL LEO, who walked the downtown area, revealing empty streets and closed-up stores.
He wrote in the description of the video, “Embarcadero Center is a commercial complex of five office towers, two hotels, a shopping center with more than 125 stores but only two remain open on three levels located in San Francisco, California.”
The video is an eye-opener of the economic collapse of the downtown area as it has transformed into a “ghost town” overnight. The exodus of companies and people is a vote of confidence that Breed’s progressive administration has failed. There are attempts to rebuild the downtown district, but that could take many years, meaning the city’s economic recovery won’t happen anytime soon.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/20/2023 – 20:00
Miss Manners: Why do some people place their coffee shop orders in the form of a question?
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Whenever I visit a coffee shop and approach the order-taker, I say something along the lines of, “I’d like an iced tea” or simply, “An iced tea, please.” Over the past few years, however, I’ve noticed that no one else does that anymore. Instead, they frame their orders as a question: “Can I have …?”
It seems odd to ask a shop if it’s okay to order something or to take my money. It also seems a bit juvenile, like a child visiting a friend’s home and politely asking for a glass of water from the friend’s mother, who is not a paid server.
IRS whistleblower’s lawyer: Prosecutors supported pressing charges against Hunter but were ‘shut down’
The attorney representing IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley said Thursday that President Biden appointed officials to “shut down” the possibility of prosecuting Hunter Biden for tax evasion, highlighting several instances the Department of Justice allegedly interfered to “curb” the probe into the first son.
Shapley, who served as the supervisor on the Biden investigation at the IRS and special agent Joseph Ziegler testified at the House Oversight Committee Wednesday about the “preferential treatment” they witnessed for the president’s family and the “obstruction of the normal investigative process” that allegedly occurred throughout the years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden.
In an interview Thursday, Shapley’s attorney Tristan Leavitt told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum that prosecutors in Delaware were “on board” with bringing charges against the younger Biden for tax evasion based on evidence presented by IRS investigators. However, that option was “shut down” by Biden-appointed officials once the investigation picked up speed.
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“Prosecutors in Delaware were on board. They sent it to Justice Department’s tax division and they recommended multiple felony charges for 2014 through 2019 as well as a number of misdemeanors. So it wasn’t just prosecutors versus investigators. Everybody was on board until the president appointed officials to shut the opportunities to prosecute down,” he said on “The Story.”
During a televised sit-down with Fox News’ Bret Baier last month and in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Shapley alleged that DOJ prosecutors directed investigators to avoid asking witnesses questions about President Biden and chose not to collect search warrants related to the president’s son. Shapley also identified U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf as a key player who worked repeatedly to “limit” questioning related to Joe Biden.
Shapley said that Hunter Biden should have been charged with tax evasion for 2014, and false tax returns for 2018 and 2019 according to the evidence gathered by the IRS. With regard to the 2014 tax returns, Shapley said Hunter Biden did not report income from Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.
“We weren’t allowed to ask questions about ‘dad.’ We weren’t allowed to ask about ‘the big guy.’ We weren’t allowed to include certain names in document requests and search warrants,” Shapley said at the time. “So, you know, we were precluded from following that line of questioning.”
Leavitt said Wolf oversaw the first stage of the “interference” as investigators began gathering evidence into Hunter’s tax history.
“There’s really two different buckets of the interference. In terms of asking about that, these were decisions that the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office made and specifically U.S. attorney Leslie Wolf, she’s the one that repeatedly told them, you can’t ask about ‘the big guy’ or execute search warrants at the Biden residence or interview Hunter’s adult children, even though hunter was claiming tax deductions that involved those children,” the attorney said. “So all of those were areas where the investigation itself was curbed.”
Eventually, prosecutors recommended charges be brought against Hunter, Leavitt said. David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware who was leading the investigation, referred the case to U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves and later to U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada. Both Graves – who donated to Biden’s 2020 campaign – and Estrada “rejected the opportunity” to press charges against the president’s son, Leavitt said.
Weiss lacked the authority to bring charges own in Delaware and was “constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized” by DOJ officials as he sought to make prosecutorial decisions,” according to testimony from Shapley.
“So, Weiss had nowhere he could bring the cases because that’s how those are required to be charged,” Leavitt told MacCallum.
The congressional probe, led by House Republicans, has centered around Shapley and Ziegler’s claim there was a pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” into Hunter Biden, which included instructions not to speak with him at his residence, tipping the president’s son and staff off about the ongoing efforts and delaying enforcement actions in the months before the 2020 presidential election.
In June, the Justice Department announced that Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of what critics called a “sweetheart plea deal” that is expected to keep him out of prison. The president’s son also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement with regard to a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
‘Sixteen Candles’ star Carlin Glynn dead: ‘Best Little Whorehouse’ Tony winner was 83
“She was the most graceful clumsy person you would ever meet,” wrote her daughter, actress Mary Stuart Masterson, in a heartfelt social media post.
Longtime Democratic lawmaker turned activist defects to Republican Party
A prominent Democrat and Jewish leader who served for decades as a New York lawmaker and now leads a group committed to fighting antisemitism announced Thursday he’s leaving his lifelong political party and becoming a Republican, arguing Democrats have become “radicalized” and “turned their back” on the Jewish people.
“It’s official: My wife and I have switched our party affiliation from Democrat to Republican!” Dov Hikind, who spent 36 years in the New York State Assembly and later founded Americans Against Antisemitism, tweeted.
“[People] have long been asking, ‘Dov, when are you gonna leave the Democratic Party?’ Well, the time has come [because] the Dems have turned their back on Jews & Israel, so it’s officially done!”
Hikind’s tweet included a video of him and his wife, Shani, explaining their decision to join the Republican Party.
ISRAEL’S HERZOG SHARPLY ADDRESSES CRITICISM FROM HOUSE MEMBERS AFTER SQUAD MEMBER’S REMARKS
“I have been a lifelong Democrat — my family, my parents. But that’s over. That’s finished,” said Hikind. “I have decided to register as a Republican. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has become so radicalized … that people who are moderates or conservative Democrats are not welcomed in the Democratic Party, and I’ve had enough.”
Hikind added the Democratic Party “turns its back on its friends like Israel,” criticizing the Biden administration for its policies toward the Jewish state.
“I am delighted to join the Republican Party,” Hikind added. “This is about sending a message — a message to the Biden administration, a message to the Democratic Party. We’re losing the American people because you are not representing our values. You are not representing the Democratic Party that my parents were so proud of.”
Hikind’s announcement came one day after some progressive Democrats boycotted a speech by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who addressed a joint meeting of Congress to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding. During his speech, Herzog gave a thinly veiled rebuke to members of the House for recent attacks on Israel.
“Criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the state of Israel’s right to exist,” said Herzog. “Questioning the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy. It is antisemitism. Vilifying and attacking Jews, whether in Israel, in the United States or anywhere in the world, is antisemitism.”
Over the weekend, Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., caused an uproar by calling Israel a “racist state.” Though she walked back her comments somewhat, they were still met with fierce criticism from both sides of the aisle.
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The furor led Republicans to force a vote on a resolution that said Israel was neither a racist nor an apartheid state. The measure was overwhelmingly supported by all but ten Democrats — nine who voted “no” and one who simply voted “present.” Jayapal voted with the majority that said Israel was not racist.
On Thursday, the same day as Hikind’s announcement, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, doubled down on calling Israel an “apartheid” state.
Hikind is hardly the first former or current Democrat lawmaker to recently switch parties.
Earlier this month, Mesha Mainor, a Democrat who has represented District 56 in the Georgia House since January 2021, announced she will switch her party registration to Republican.
“When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me,” Mainor told Fox News Digital at the time. “They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me.”
In April, state Rep. Jeremy LaCombe announced he had left the Democratic Party and would be registering as a Republican. At the time, he was the second Louisiana Democrat in less than a month to switch party affiliations after Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson gave Republicans in the state House a supermajority by switching his party affiliation.
The “modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me and others across the state,” North Carolina State Rep. Tricia Cotham said of her decision to switch parties. “I will not be controlled by anyone.”
Overall, more than one million Americans have switched their party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in the last 12 months.
Tennis player apologizes for ‘absolutely disgusting’ move in first career WTA victory
Amarissa Kiara Toth’s controversial acts during her first-round tennis match against Zhang Shuai at the Hungarian Grand Prix this week was blasted, and she has now apologized.
Toth erased a ball mark on the clay court with her foot while Shuai was seeking clarification from the umpire. That act led Shuai to explode on the umpire, eventually leading to a reported panic attack by Shuai that forced her to retire from the match.
Toth was also seen celebrating Shuai dropping out of the match as she was in tears.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“I did not think that my first ever WTA main draw success of my career would cause such a storm,” Toth said in a statement on her Facebook. “I am extremely sorry for what happened, I respect Zhang Shuai as a player and as a person. It was never my intention to disrespect, hurt or upset anybody, let alone Zhang Shuai.
“I do realize I shouldn’t have celebrated the way I celebrated after the match and I’m sorry for that. I was acting in the heat of the match and got caught up by my emotions and the moment. I focused on tennis, I didn’t want to win like that.”
The match, tied 5-5 in the opening set, saw Shuai hit a cross-court forehand that seemed to land on the line.
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However, it was deemed out.
Shuai protested the call, wanting a match supervisor to come to the court to discuss the situation. However, Toth walked over to the ball mark and rubbed her foot on it to wipe away any evidence that the ball might have hit the line.
Shuai asked Toth at the moment why she would do such a thing, to which Toth was heard answering, “Because you’re making problems, that’s why.”
Shuai ended up getting back on the court but was showered with boos from the crowd, which was a home crowd for Toth, who is Hungarian. Streams of tears could be seen going down her face and she eventually retired.
“I don’t understand why she made a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge’s decision,” Toth said, per media outlets. “I don’t understand why she didn’t accept it, but she made trouble for herself.”
Several of Toth’s peers in the sport despised the act.
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“Absolutely disgusting behavior,” Ajla Tomljanovic from Australia tweeted. “Shuai is a better person than a lot of us for shaking the ref and that girls hand. But then again it’s Shuai we are talking about, ofc she did.”
Another Australian, Ellen Perez, said, “Well that’s a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I’m actually shook by the level of disrespect from this girl.”
Toth ended up losing to Kateryna Baindl in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Massachusetts chiropractor accused of recording patients with hidden bathroom camera: district attorney
A Massachusetts chiropractor is facing a criminal charge after a patient noticed a peculiar sight in the practice’s bathroom — a hidden camera allegedly used to spy on him relieving himself in the restroom.
Scott Kline, 44, of Middleton, was arraigned Tuesday in Peabody District Court on the charge of photographing an unsuspecting nude person, according to a press release from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
An unidentified patient was allegedly urinating when he noticed a toilet brush hanging on a coat hook attached to the wall next to the toilet tank. The DA’s office said that the patient thought that the item looked out of place, since it was hanging on a hook on the wall instead of its proper place next to the toilet.
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Upon further inspection, the patient noticed the toilet brush had a “blue light.” The patient told authorities that the device appeared to be a hidden spy camera complete with a lens on the front, a USB port, an on/off switch, and an SD memory card.
The patient used his phone to document the camera and showed the evidence to police, the DA’s office said.
Police did not find a camera inside the bathroom while executing a search warrant, but authorities did find SD cards and hard drives, along with other evidence that suggested a camera had been there at one point.
Bail was set at $10,000 at Kline’s arraignment Tuesday, and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim who reported the camera.
Kline is expected in Peabody District Court on Aug. 29 for a pretrial conference.