Розділ: Повідомлення
Ivanka Trump Questioned Under Oath in Inauguration Funds Lawsuit
Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, was questioned under oath this week as part of a civil lawsuit alleging misuse of nonprofit funds for Donald Trump’s inauguration four years ago.District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine’s office disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday that the deposition had taken place that day.In a January 2020 lawsuit, Racine claimed Donald Trump’s real estate business and other entities misused nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.According to the suit, a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation called the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel in Washington.Racine’s lawsuit alleged that in one case, the nonprofit paid more than $300,000 to hold a private reception at the Trump hotel for the president’s three oldest children – Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric – on the inauguration evening of Jan. 20, 2017.“District law requires nonprofits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies,” Racine said earlier this year.His lawsuit seeks to recover $1 million that was allegedly funneled directly to the Trump family business.A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The inaugural committee has said its finances were independently audited, and that all money was spent lawfully.Although campaign finance laws restrict the size of campaign contributions, inauguration committees can accept unlimited donations, including from corporations.The $107 million raised by Trump’s inaugural committee, chaired by real estate developer and investor Thomas Barrack, was the largest in history, according to Federal Election Commission filings.Former Trump campaign aide Richard Gates served as deputy chairman of the inaugural committee.Gates was one of several Trump associates convicted in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
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By Polityk | 12/03/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Republicans Balk as Trump Uses Defense Bill for Leverage on Big Tech
President Donald Trump’s threat to veto a defense bill if it does not repeal legal protections for social media companies faced stiff bipartisan opposition Wednesday, setting the stage for a confrontation with lawmakers scrambling to pass the massive bill by year’s end. Unusually, members of his Republican Party broke from Trump to join Democrats in objecting to his threat to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a $740 billion annual bill setting policy for the Pentagon, if it does not include a measure eliminating a federal law — known as Section 230 — protecting tech companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. FILE – Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. gives a victory speech at the Republican watch party in Oklahoma City, Nov. 4, 2014.”First of all, 230 has nothing to do with the military. And I agree with his sentiments. We ought to do away with 230, but you can’t do it in this bill. That’s not a part of the bill,” Senator Jim Inhofe, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters. Lawmakers announced on Wednesday that congressional negotiators had completed the conference report on the fiscal 2021 NDAA, a compromise between separate versions of the bill passed earlier this year by the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-majority House of Representatives. Congressional aides said the final version of the NDAA does not include the Section 230 repeal demanded by Trump. The legislation also includes a provision that will strip the names of Confederate generals from military facilities, something that passed both the House and Senate with support from both parties earlier this year but is also opposed by Trump. The president had earlier threatened to veto the NDAA if it did not allow the Confederate names to remain in place. ‘Partisan preferences’ FILE – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 2, 2019.”For 59 straight years, the NDAA has passed because members of Congress and presidents of both parties have set aside their own policy objectives and partisan preferences and put the needs of our military personnel and America’s security first. The time has come to do that again,” Representatives Adam Smith, the House Armed Services Committee’s Democratic chairman, and Mac Thornberry, the panel’s ranking Republican, said in a joint statement. FILE – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, April 12, 2018.Since it is a conference report, and the result of months of negotiations between members of both parties from both the House and Senate, it cannot be amended. Lawmakers take great pride in passing the NDAA every year. It is a rare major bill seen as “must-pass” because it governs everything from pay raises for service members to how many aircraft, missiles and ships should be purchased to how best to compete with Russia and China. With Congress in session only until the end of the year, the House and Senate are running out of time to finalize the massive bill and avoid breaking the 59-year streak. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects tech companies from liability over content posted by users and has been under attack from Trump and Republican lawmakers, who accuse internet platforms of stifling conservative voices. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump was serious about his veto threat and wanted to use what leverage he had to repeal the tech protection law. “The president has made clear the importance of 230,” she told a news briefing. FILE – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland speaks during a news conference on health care, on Capitol Hill, Feb. 4, 2020.Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, called Trump’s threat “shameless and indefensible.” Trump and many of his supporters have been calling for the repeal of Section 230 since social media companies began removing or flagging material deemed to be inaccurate, frequently including tweets from Trump. Republican House member Adam Kinzinger summed up the frustration of many with Trump with his own tweet on Wednesday. “I will vote to override. Because it’s really not about you,” Kinzinger wrote.
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By Polityk | 12/03/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Bill Forcing Chinese Firms to Meet US Accounting Standards Passes Congress
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday that could prevent Chinese companies from listing their shares on U.S. exchanges unless they adhere to U.S. auditing standards.The measure passed by unanimous voice vote, after passing the Senate earlier this year, sending it to the White House, which said President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law.”The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act” bars securities of foreign companies from being listed on any U.S. exchange if they have failed to comply with the U.S. Public Accounting Oversight Board’s audits for three years in a row.While it applies to companies from any country, the legislation targets Chinese companies such as Alibaba, tech firm Pinduoduo Inc. and oil giant PetroChina Co Ltd.Measures taking a harder line on Chinese business and trade practices generally pass Congress with large margins, as both Democrats and Trump’s fellow Republicans echo the president’s hard line against Beijing.Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who co-authored the bill with Republican Sen. John Kennedy, said in a statement that American investors “have been cheated out of their money after investing in seemingly-legitimate Chinese companies that are not held to the same standards as other publicly listed companies.”Kennedy said China was using U.S. exchanges to “exploit” Americans. “The House joined the Senate in rejecting a toxic status quo,” he said in a statement.The act would also require public companies to disclose whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government.Greater scrutiny could also deter other Chinese firms from listing in the United States, say industry participants. Such listings reached a six-year high this year.International disagreementsChinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said before the vote that it was a discriminatory policy that politically oppresses Chinese firms.”Instead of setting up layers of barriers, we hope the U.S. can provide a fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign firms to invest and operate in the U.S.,” Hua told a news conference.Chinese authorities have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms, citing national security concerns.Officials at China’s securities regulator indicated earlier this year they were willing to allow inspections of audit documents in some circumstances, but past agreements aimed at solving the dispute have failed to work in practice.Shaun Wu, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm Paul Hastings, said increased enforcement against Chinese companies was likely even though Democrat Joe Biden will become president in January.He said that if the bill becomes law, “all Chinese companies listed in the U.S. will face enhanced scrutiny by the U.S. authorities and inevitably consider all available options.”This could include listing in Hong Kong or elsewhere, he said. Several U.S.-listed Chinese firms, including Alibaba and KFC China operator Yum China, have recently carried out secondary listings in Hong Kong.
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By Polityk | 12/03/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Even Trump-Appointed Judges Balk at President’s Efforts to Overturn Election
Federal judge Stephanos Bibas pulled no punches when he issued a scathing opinion last Saturday rejecting the Trump campaign’s latest attempt to overturn the outcome of the November 3 presidential election.“Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so,” Bibas wrote in a FILE – Election workers, right, verify ballots as recount observers, left, watch during a Milwaukee hand recount of presidential votes at the Wisconsin Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 20, 2020.But Bibas, 51, is not just another judge on another court. He is a Trump appointee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, with jurisdiction over Pennsylvania and two other states. A former member of the conservative Federalist Society, Bibas was appointed in 2017, one of 53 appellate judges the president has put on the federal bench since he took office, more than any other president since Jimmy Carter. Bibas is not the only Republican-appointed federal judge to dismiss Trump’s claims of rampant voting fraud and tabulation irregularities. Steven Grimberg of the Northern District of Georgia and several other Republican-appointed judges, have ruled against the president. Judicial independence To skeptics who view judges as little more than politicians in robes prone to issuing politically motivated opinions, the notion that a Trump-appointed judge would weigh against the president’s interests may be hard to fathom. But that is a misconception, said Joseph R. Grodin, a former associate justice of the California Supreme Court. Despite the country’s deep political and ideological divisions, “judicial independence is alive and well,” he said in an interview with VOA. Grodin said most judges simply follow the law and decide cases on their merits, so it was no surprise that Bibas found the evidence-free Trump lawsuit without merit. Jonathan Turley, a conservative law professor at George Washington University, noted that federal judges are given life tenures designed to protect them from political influence. “The federal courts have worked precisely as designed in the last four years, but particularly in the last four weeks,” he said. “Federal judges, including Trump appointees, have consistently ruled against the president’s challenges to the election. They have stated that the president has not submitted sufficient evidence to justify the type of sweeping relief that he has requested.” FILE – A canvas observer photographs Lehigh County provisional ballots during vote counting in Allentown, Pennsylvania, November 6, 2020.Republican-appointed judges did not always side with the Democrats on important election issues throughout the 2020 campaign cycle, particularly regarding mail-in voting during the pandemic, a concept Trump and Republicans vigorously attacked as prone to corruption. In the months leading up to the general election, while a number of federal district courts upheld efforts by states to accommodate voting by mail, Trump-appointed appellate judges often cast the deciding vote to block them, according to Josh Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky. Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official and a professor at Loyola Law School, said that while Trump’s appointments have made the federal judiciary clearly more conservative, courts have been acting as they were designed to perform. “That hasn’t changed in the post-election period, and there’s no reason to expect that it would,” Levitt said. Levitt said the courts have afforded the Trump campaign and other Republican plaintiffs ample opportunity to make their case that the election was marred by widespread fraud. “And at every stage, the litigants have failed to come forward with any reliable evidence that anything improper happened,” Levitt said in an interview with VOA. FILE – The Maricopa County Elections Department officials conduct a post-election logic and accuracy test for the general election as observers watch the test, November 18, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona.Bibas’ opinion on behalf of the 3rd Circuit came in response to a major lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign on November 9, two days after Biden was declared the presidential winner after securing Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes. The FILE – Ghana Goodwin-Dye signals to motorists participating in a drive-by rally to certify the presidential election results near the Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, November 14, 2020.And in Georgia, another state Trump lost, Grimberg, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, threw out a lawsuit seeking to stop the certification of the state’s election results. “To interfere with the result of an election that has already concluded would be unprecedented and harm the public in countless ways,” he wrote. “Granting injunctive relief here would breed confusion, undermine the public’s trust in the election, and potentially disenfranchise over one million Georgia voters.” Supreme Court While Trump wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his cause, experts say the high court is all but certain to shun a case that has been repeatedly dismissed by the lower courts. Turley said Republicans have raised legitimate concerns about voting irregularities but that Trump’s “reckless rhetoric” about fraud has undermined his legal prospects before the high court. “I cannot imagine a worse approach to seeking relief before the United States Supreme Court,” Turley said. Even if the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it is far from certain that the justices will rule in Trump’s favor. Turley noted that two of Trump’s three Supreme Court picks — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — have voted against Trump and his administration on key issues. With his court losses mounting, Trump appears increasingly resigned to the fact that he may not be able to get the Supreme Court to rule in his favor.
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By Polityk | 12/03/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
В АРМА розповіли, що зараз відбувається з медіахолдингом Курченка, який передали «1+1 Інтернет»
Наразі триває процедура пошуку оцінювача для «Українського медіа холдингу», який передали в управління компанії «1+1 Інтернет», розповів виконувач обов’язків голови Національного агентства з питань виявлення, розшуку та управління активами, одержаними від корупційних та інших злочинів (Агентство з розшуку та менеджменту активів – АРМА) Віталій Сигидин. Про це він сказав в інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода.
За словами Сигидина, зараз триває етап оцінки «УМХ», але виконавця цієї процедури ще не знайшли.
«Це надзвичайно складний і комплексний актив, він складається з різних видів майна. Це й права інтелектуальної власності, це й корпоративні права в основному, це й рухоме і нерухоме майно. Тому щоб знайти такого оцінювача – це досить складна процедура», – додав він.
Згідно з сайтом АРМА, прийом документів для участі в конкурсі на оцінку майна та прав інтелектуальної власності «УМХ» завершується 3 грудня.
Читайте також: «Підозрілі операції» Януковича, Курченка, Фірташа і Тимошенко у банках Латвії з файлів FinCEN
Очільник агентства підкреслив, що АРМА передбачило такий механізм відбору, який не дозволить затягувати процес, але водночас допоможе обрати «найбільш якісного оцінювача» із відповідними фахівцями та досвідом ліцензування звітів про оцінку.
«Намагалися передбачити всі моменти і можливість його (оцінювача – ред.) здійснити відповідний вид оцінки. Тому що є різні види оцінки й різні сертифікати. Ми ці всі моменти передбачили. На цьому тижні закінчується прийом документів, після цього ми будемо аналізувати, тендерний комітет буде обирати цього оцінювача», – повідомив Сигидин.
У вересні Агентство з розшуку та менеджменту активів повідомило, що передало «УМХ» в управління компанії «1+1 Інтернет», яка належить кіпрській компанії Grintwood Investments Limited. За офіційними даними, 5% цієї компанії належать телерадіокомпанії «Студія 1+1» Ігоря Коломойського. За даними АРМА, компанія зобов’язалася забезпечити 5 мільйонів гривень гарантованих щомісячних перерахувань до державного бюджету, а прогнозувала суму 8 мільйонів гривень щомісяця.
Читайте також: Чи міг Курченко бути причетним до убивства ватажка «ДНР»? (рос)
Перед цим, на початку вересня, компанія «1+1 Медіа» критикувала проведення конкурсу АРМА за брак «прозорості й публічності». В агентстві відкидали звинувачення компанії.
Кінцевим бенефіціаром «Українського медіа холдингу» (UMH) є Сергій Курченко – підприємець часів президента Віктора Януковича, нині втікач до Росії, якого називали «гаманцем Януковича».
У грудні 2017 року рішенням суду був накладений арешт на цінні папери, корпоративні й інтелектуальні права, а також частину нерухомого майна цього холдингу. У вересні 2019-го суд передав майнові й корпоративні права групи «Український медіа холдинг» в управління Національного агентства з питань виявлення, розшуку та управління корупційними активами (АРМА).
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By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Barr Reveals He Appointed Special Counsel to Probe Origins of Russia Investigation
Attorney General William Barr has given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, giving him the authority of a special counsel to complete the work without being easily fired.
Barr told The Associated Press Tuesday he had appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham as a special counsel in October under the same federal statute that governed special counsel Robert Mueller in the original Russia probe. He said Durham’s investigation has been narrowing to focus more on the conduct of FBI agents who worked on the Russia investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane.
Under federal regulations, a special counsel can be fired only by the attorney general and for specific reasons such as misconduct, dereliction of duty or conflict of interest. An attorney general must document such reasons in writing.
The investigations grew out of allegations of cooperation between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russians to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“I decided the best thing to do would be to appoint them under the same regulation that covered Bob Mueller, to provide Durham and his team some assurance that they’d be able to complete their work regardless of the outcome of the election,” Barr said Tuesday.
Biden’s transition team didn’t immediately comment on the appointment.
The current investigation, a criminal probe, had begun very broadly but has since “narrowed considerably” and now “really is focused on the activities of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation within the FBI,” Barr said. He said he expects Durham would detail whether any additional prosecutions will be brought and make public a report of the investigation’s findings.
In an Oct. 19 order, obtained by The Associated Press, Barr says Durham is authorized “to investigate whether any federal official, employee or any person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence or law enforcement activities” directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, anyone associated with the campaigns or the Trump administration.
A senior Justice Department official told the AP that although the order details that it is “including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III,” the Durham probe has not expanded. The official said that line specifically relates to FBI personnel who worked on the Russia investigation before the May 2017 appointment of Mueller, a critical area of scrutiny for both Durham and for the Justice Department inspector general, which identified a series of errors and omissions in surveillance applications targeting a former Trump campaign associate.
The focus on the FBI, rather than the CIA and the intelligence community, suggests that Durham may have moved past some of the more incendiary claims that Trump supporters had hoped would yield allegations of misconduct, or even crimes — namely, the question of how intelligence agencies reached their conclusion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
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By Polityk | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Threatens to Veto Major Defense Bill Unless Law Protecting Tech Companies is Axed
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to veto a major defense spending and policy bill unless it includes eliminating a law protecting internet companies from liability for material posted by users. Trump’s threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) came in a late Tuesday tweet, and at a time when the $740 billion bill is in the hands of a committee to reconcile two different versions passed by the Senate and House of Representatives. He called the law involving internet companies, known as Section 230, a form of “corporate welfare” and “a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity.” Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to “Big Tech” (the only companies in America that have it – corporate welfare!), is a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity. Our Country can never be safe & secure if we allow it to stand…..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2020Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties have called for changes to the Section 230 protections without wholesale repeal. Jon Berroya, head of the Internet Association that represents tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Reddit, said in response to Trump’s veto threat that repealing Section 230 would itself amount to a national security threat. “The law empowers online platforms to remove harmful and dangerous content, including terrorist content and misinformation,” Berroya said. “Section 230 also underpins countless ecommerce websites, apps, and services that are helping small businesses across the country keep the lights on during a pandemic.” Trump and other conservatives have made unproven accusations that companies such as Facebook and Twitter stifled conservative content. With tech companies seeking to combat misinformation surrounding last month’s national elections, Twitter and Facebook have placed labels on numerous Trump posts as he repeated unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
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By Polityk | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Німецькі критики назвали українку Оксану Линів найкращою диригенткою року
Українка Оксана Линів здобула від провідних німецьких критиків нагороду Oper!Awards, що заснована оперним часописом Oper!Das Magazin. Віртуальна церемонія вручення відбулась 30 листопада, нею в 20-ти різних категоріях відзначаються музичні колективи, оперні постановки та найяскравіші театральні митці.
За словами диригентки, журі відзначило її як накращу диригентку у постановці опери Бели Бартока «Замок герцога Синя борода» в Баварській державній опері.
Читайте також:Оксана Линів про диригентські палички, LvivMozArt і російських музикантів-путіністів
Оксана Линів – відома українська диригентка, родом з Львівщини. Перший головний диригент Опери і філармонійного оркестру австрійського міста Ґрац, другої за величиною опери Австрії. Працює з найбільшими оперними театрами та оркестрами світу. Линів також заснувала Міжнародний фестиваль класичної музики LvivMozArt у Львові та Молодіжний симфонічний оркестр України – YsOU.
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By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Рада створила ТСК з розслідування причин масштабних пожеж на Луганщині
Верховна Рада України створила тимчасову слідчу комісію з розслідування причин виникнення цьогоріч масштабних пожеж у Луганській області. За відповідну постанову проголосували у середу 258 народних депутатів.
Серед завдань комісії – розслідування фактів зловживань та/або дій/бездіяльності керівництва облуправління ДСНС, Луганської ОДА щодо здійснення запобіжних заходів після пожежі, які б унеможливили розповсюдження пожеж на великі території не тільки лісових масивів, але і населених пунктів.
Масові пожежі спалахнули на вільній частині Луганської області 30 вересня і 1 жовтня. За даними військових, які перебувають на лінії контакту, причиною пожеж стали підпали, які влаштували російські гібридні сили, обстрілюючи пересохлі місцевості трасувальними кулями, які мають і запалювальні можливості. Це офіційно підтвердили 1 жовтня і в пресцентрі штабу операції Об’єднаних сил. Також це підтвердили і в адміністрації Станично-Луганського району.
Читайте також: Пожежі на Луганщині: поліція відкрила 14 проваджень
Президент України Володимир Зеленський заявив, що він не пов’язував би пожежі з обстрілами, і закликав дочекатися висновків експертів.
Під час ліквідації лісових пожеж на території Луганської області у вересні-жовтні загинули 11 людей, постраждали – 18 осіб (у тому числі три рятувальники). Під час гасіння пожеж евакуювали 150 людей.
Крім того, пожежі на Луганщині гасили в липні, коли стало відомо, що з двох лісництв у Новоайдарському районі вогонь перекинувся на сусідні села. Тоді загинули три людини, дев’ятьох людей госпіталізували. Загалом за медичною допомогою до лікарень зверталися 42 людини.
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By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Trump Threatens Military Spending Veto
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to veto a major defense spending and policy bill unless it includes eliminating a law protecting internet companies from liability for material posted by users. Trump’s threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) came in a late Tuesday tweet, and at a time when the $740 billion bill is in the hands of a committee to reconcile two different versions passed by the Senate and House of Representatives. He called the law involving internet companies, known as Section 230, a form of “corporate welfare” and “a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity.” Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to “Big Tech” (the only companies in America that have it – corporate welfare!), is a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity. Our Country can never be safe & secure if we allow it to stand…..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2020Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties have called for changes to the Section 230 protections without wholesale repeal. Jon Berroya, head of the Internet Association that represents tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Reddit, said in response to Trump’s veto threat that repealing Section 230 would itself amount to a national security threat. “The law empowers online platforms to remove harmful and dangerous content, including terrorist content and misinformation,” Berroya said. “Section 230 also underpins countless ecommerce websites, apps, and services that are helping small businesses across the country keep the lights on during a pandemic.” Trump and other conservatives have made unproven accusations that companies such as Facebook and Twitter stifled conservative content. With tech companies seeking to combat misinformation surrounding last month’s national elections, Twitter and Facebook have placed labels on numerous Trump posts as he repeated unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
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By Polityk | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Сенатор від штату Нью-Джерсі в Конгресі США звернувся зі спецзаявою щодо Голодомору в Україні
Посольство України в США поширило 1 грудня заяву, із якою днями до України та української громади Америки звернувся сенатор Боб Менендез, який представляє у Конгресі США штат Нью-Джерсі.
«Приєднуюся до народу України і американців українського походження в Нью-Джерсі, які згадують мільйони людей, що загинули під час Голодомору. Майже через 90 років після того, як Сталін навмисно влаштував голод в Україні і закрив кордони країни, щоб не дати голодуючим українцям утекти або отримати продовольчу допомогу, День пам’яті жертв Голодомору служить важливим нагадуванням про жорстокості Радянського Союзу і непорушний дух українців», – йдеться в заяві.
28 листопада, коли з’явилася заява Боба Менендеза, Україна і світ вшановували жертв Голодомору.
У листопаді 2006 року Верховна Рада України визнала Голодомор 1932–1933 років геноцидом українського народу.
Україна з посиланням на дані науково-демографічної експертизи стверджує, що загальна кількість людських втрат від Голодомору 1932–33 років становить майже 4 мільйони осіб, а втрати українців у частині ненароджених становлять понад 6 мільйонів.
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By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
У Росії помер митрополит Іов – українець, який виступав проти автокефалії української церкви
Іов став шостим митрополитом РПЦ, який помер від наслідків коронавірусної інфекції
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By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US Lawmakers Running Out of Time to Pass Coronavirus Aid
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says time is running out for U.S. lawmakers to reach an agreement on a second massive round of aid addressing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.With just a handful of days left in session this year, members of Congress are racing to reach an agreement after months of fruitless negotiations.McConnell told reporters Tuesday he had been in discussion with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows earlier in the day to determine what legislation U.S. President Donald Trump would be willing to sign.“The way you get a result, you have to have a presidential signature. So, I felt the first thing we needed to do was to find out what the president would in fact sign. We believe we’ve got the answer to that,” McConnell said. He added that given the dwindling days in session, any agreement on coronavirus relief would more than likely be tied to the omnibus bill funding the U.S. government past a December 11 deadline.The Senate majority leader has for months maintained that the $3.3 trillion HEROES Act, passed by the Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives in June, and subsequent proposals were an expensive over-reaction to the need caused by the pandemic.Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a new proposal to congressional Republicans late Monday. But Schumer would not get into the details of the proposal when asked by reporters Tuesday, saying he hoped McConnell would negotiate.“The House is Democratic majority. He knows darn well he needs Democratic votes in the Senate to get anything done since a number of his people won’t vote for any proposal. And yet he continues to negotiate in a partisan way,” Schumer said.Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday she had spoken with Mnuchin and that he was reviewing the proposal.U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) speaks as bipartisan members of the Senate and House gather to announce a framework for fresh COVID-19 relief legislation at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday also proposed a $908 billion coronavirus relief package in a new attempt to help unemployed workers and boost the flagging American economy as the number of virus infections soars by tens of thousands a day.Congress and the White House approved $3 trillion in relief earlier this year. The new aid proposal unveiled by centrist senators is closer to the $500 billion deal that Republicans had sought, but well short of the $2.2 trillion Democrats had been advocating.Trump had pushed for a new package larger than even Democrats had called for, but that was before Trump lost his bid for re-election a month ago to Democratic challenger Joe Biden.President-elect Joe Biden speaks as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens at left, during an event to introduce their nominees and appointees to economic policy posts at The Queen theater, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.As president-elect, Biden has called for more federal coronavirus relief aid, but not spelled out the details of what he supports. Trump has stopped talking about new assistance for those affected by the pandemic, instead focusing on his long-shot legal effort to overturn his electoral defeat to keep Biden from being inaugurated for a four-year term January 20. Congress is expected to recess by mid-December and will begin a new term on January 3.The new aid proposal would provide a $300-a-week federal boost in unemployment assistance to tens of millions of unemployed workers for four months on top of less generous state jobless aid. National $600 weekly assistance favored by Democrats expired at the end of July and has not been renewed.The bipartisan agreement attempts to bridge past aid disagreements, calling for $240 billion in funding for state and local governments that Democrats want although it is opposed by most Republicans. The accord envisions a six-month moratorium on some coronavirus-related lawsuits against businesses and other entities — a Republican plank opposed by most Democrats.Small businesses would get $300 billion while $50 billion would help pay for distribution of coronavirus vaccines after they are approved by health regulators.Economists are warning of new dire problems for the economy if more aid is not approved. Several relief programs are set to expire at the end of the year, with 12 million Americans on pace to lose their jobless benefits. Eviction protections for renters and loan payment delays for student borrowers are also set to end.
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By Polityk | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Що дивилися в Україні на YouTube у 2020 році: відповідає Google
Компанія Google назвала найпопулярніші відео на YouTube в Україні у 2020 році.
Лідер рейтингу за дев’ять місяців зібрав понад 15 мільйонів переглядів.
Десятка найпопулярніших відео за кількістю переглядів виглядає таким чином:
Мэвл - Холодок | Валентинка (Пародія) ❤️
Холостячка – Выпуск 1 от 23.10.2020
Від пацанки до панянки. Выпуск 1. Сезон 4 – 17.02.2020
Богдан. Крах Зеленского, Ермак, кидок Путина, посадка Порошенко, Коломойский. В гостях у Гордона
Вернулись в ШКОЛУ на Один День Челлендж !
Юрий Дудь х Лолита | ЧТО БЫЛО ДАЛЬШЕ?
MORGENSHTERN – главный шоумен России-2020 / вДудь
CADILLAC (ПАРОДІЯ) - MORGENSHTERN & Элджей | ЗНО (feat. Mak & Евгений Бондаренко)
Бали и почему все на нём помешались. Большой Выпуск.
ЗА СКОЛЬКО МИНУТ ОПАРЫШИ СЪЕДЯТ БУРГЕР?
Десятка найпопулярніших музичних відео виглядає так:
Клава Кока & NILETTO - Краш (official video)
LITTLE BIG - HYPNODANCER (Official Music Video)
ARTIK & ASTI - Девочка танцуй (Official Video)
MIA BOYKA & ЕГОР ШИП - ПИКАЧУ
Little Big - Uno - Russia - Official Music Video - Eurovision 2020
MORGENSHTERN & Элджей - Cadillac (СЛИВ КЛИПА, 2020)
Dabro - Юность (Official video)
MORGENSHTERN & Тимати - El Problema (Prod. SLAVA MARLOW) [Премьера Клипа, 2020]
Баста & Zivert - неболей
MONATIK & Вера Брежнева — ВЕЧЕРиНОЧКА
By Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Антарктичний науковий центр закликає українських школярів привітати полярників з Новим роком
Український Національний антарктичний науковий центр оголошує конкурс для школярів під назвою «Привітай полярника з Новим роком».
«Головна умова участі – створити та надіслати малюнок-листівку чи відеовітання з Новим роком. Найкращі привітання будуть передані на станцію «Академік Вернадський» команді зимівників. Долучитися до конкурсу можуть учні будь-яких українських шкіл незалежно від віку та регіону», – повідомили в Міністерстві освіти і науки.
Для участі в конкурсі потрібно заповнити анкету та прикріпити до неї файл або посилання на створене привітання: малюнок, фотоколаж, відеоролик, анімацію тощо. Дедлайн – 25 грудня 2020 року.
Школярі можуть долучитися як самостійно, так і в групах до п’яти осіб.
Журі конкурсу складатиметься з представників НАНЦ. Вони обов’язково враховуватимуть креативність та знання антарктичної тематики.
Буде визначено п’ять переможців, які отримають поштою призи від НАНЦ. За перше місце буде подарована онлайн-зустріч із полярниками.
your ad hereBy Gromada | 12/02/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Trump Headed to Georgia as Election Turnout Driver, But Also a Threat
Some establishment Republicans are sounding alarms that President Donald Trump’s conspiratorial denials of his own defeat could threaten the party’s ability to win a Senate majority and counter President-elect Joe Biden’s administration. The concerns come ahead of Trump’s planned Saturday visit to Georgia to campaign alongside Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who face strong Democratic challengers in Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine which party controls the Senate at the outset of Biden’s presidency. Republicans acknowledge Trump as the GOP’s biggest turnout driver, including in Georgia, where Biden won by fewer than 13,000 votes out of about 5 million cast. That means every bit of enthusiasm from one of Trump’s signature rallies could matter. But some Republicans worry Trump will use the platform to amplify his baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud — arguments roundly rejected in state and federal courts across the country. That could make it harder for Perdue and Loeffler to keep a clear focus on the stakes in January and could even discourage Republicans from voting. “The president has basically taken hostage this race,” said Brendan Buck, once a top adviser to former House Speaker Paul Ryan. Especially fraught are Trump’s continued attacks on Georgia’s Republican state officials and the state’s election system, potentially taking away from his public praise of Loeffler and Perdue. “Trump’s comments are damaging the Republican brand,” argued Republican donor Dan Eberhart, who added that the president is “acting in bad sportsmanship and bad faith” instead of emphasizing Republicans’ need to maintain Senate control. Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump participate on a ‘Stop the Steal’ protest at the Georgia State Capitol.The GOP needs one more seat for a majority. Democrats need Jon Ossoff to defeat Perdue and Raphael Warnock to defeat Loeffler to force a 50-50 Senate, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking majority vote. Trump on Monday blasted Gov. Brian Kemp as “hapless” for not intervening to “overrule” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s certification of Biden’s win. A day earlier, Trump told Fox News he was “ashamed” he’d endorsed Kemp in his 2018 GOP primary for governor. Kemp’s office noted in response that state law gives Kemp no authority to overturn election results, despite Trump’s contention that Kemp could “easily” invoke “emergency powers.” Meanwhile, Raffensperger, a Trump supporter like Kemp, has accused the president of throwing him “under the bus” for doing his job. Perdue and Loeffler have attempted to stay above the fray. They’ve long aligned themselves with Trump and even echoed some of his general criticisms of the fall elections, jointly demanding Raffensperger’s resignation. But the crux of their runoff argument — that Republicans must prevent Democrats from controlling Capitol Hill and the White House — is itself a tacit admission that Biden, not Trump, will be inaugurated Jan. 20. And at one recent campaign stop, Perdue heard from vocal Trump supporters who demanded that he do more to help Trump somehow claim Georgia’s 16 electoral votes. Republicans see three potential negative outcomes to Trump fanning the flames. Some GOP voters could be dissuaded from voting again if they accept Trump’s claims that the system is hopelessly corrupted. Among Republicans more loyal to Trump than to the party, some could skip the runoff altogether out of anger at a party establishment the president continues to assail. Lastly, at the other end of the GOP spectrum are the moderate Republicans who already crossed over to help Biden win Georgia and could be further alienated if the runoff becomes another referendum on Trump. FILE – White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a press briefing at the White House, in Washington, July 13, 2020.White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in an appearance Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” again hammered home the president’s unproven claims that the election was fraudulent, reiterating that Trump for months warned about the dangers of mail-in ballots. She said Trump believes it’s still important “to turn out and vote.” Josh Holmes, a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said Republicans “haven’t seen any evidence of lack of enthusiasm in the Senate races.” But none of those potential bad effects would have to be sweeping to tilt the runoffs if they end up as close as the presidential contest in Georgia. “We’ll see how it plays out. It changes day by day and week by week. But so far, so good,” Holmes said. In Georgia, any Republican concerns are more circumspect. Brian Robinson, a former adviser to Kemp’s Republican predecessor as governor, said Trump should “drive a strong, forward-looking message” about what’s at stake for a Republican base that “is fervently devoted to him.” “The best thing he can do for the party,” Robinson said, “is to talk about the importance of having a Republican Senate majority to project his policy legacy and to make sure the Democrats can’t reverse a lot of what he has put in place that Republicans support.” Asked what Trump should avoid, Robinson circled back to what he believes the president should say. Former U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, a Trump ally, downplayed the potential for GOP splintering, framing an “inner-family squabble” as a sideshow to the “incredible” consequences that define the runoffs. “Followers of Trump will follow Trump, but they’re not blind to the huge stakes. And neither is he,” Kingston said. “He knows to keep his legacy. He’s got to get these people reelected.” Trump, Kingston argued, is “keeping the base interested,” a necessary component of any successful runoff campaign since second rounds of elections often see a drop-off in voter participation. Robinson added that Democrats face their own challenge in replicating record turnout for Biden. “What’s the best motivator? Fear,” he said. Before November, Democrats dreaded a second Trump term more than Republicans feared Trump losing, Robinson reasoned. “Republicans have reason to be scared now,” he said, because of the prospect that Democrats could control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. “That could make a difference in turnout” beyond anything Trump says, Robinson concluded. Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Sen. Kelly Loeffler gestures to supporters at a campaign rally in Marietta, Ga., Nov. 11, 2020.For their parts, the senators continue their public embrace of all things Trump ahead of the visit. “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome” the president “back to Georgia,” Loeffler wrote on Twitter after Trump confirmed his plans. Perdue’s campaign quickly retweeted the comment, which Loeffler punctuated with a reminder that the runoffs are “an all-hands-on-deck moment.” It’s not clear, though, if all Republicans will be on hand at all. Kemp, the governor who appointed Loeffler upon Sen. Johnny Isakson’s retirement last year, has on previous Trump visits greeted the president as he disembarks from Air Force One. Asked Monday whether Georgians will see a similar scene Saturday, Kemp spokesman Cody Hall said he could not comment “yet.”
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By Polityk | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Science Adviser Scott Atlas Leaving White House Job
Dr. Scott Atlas, a science adviser to President Donald Trump who was skeptical of measures to control the coronavirus outbreak, is leaving his White House post.A White House official confirmed that the Stanford University neuroradiologist, who had no formal experience in public health or infectious diseases, resigned at the end of his temporary government assignment. Atlas confirmed the news in a Monday evening tweet.Honored to have served @realDonaldTrump and the American people during these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/xT1hRoYBMh— Scott W. Atlas (@ScottWAtlas) December 1, 2020Atlas joined the White House this summer, where he clashed with top government scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, as he resisted stronger efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 267,000 Americans.Atlas has broken with government experts and the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community to criticize efforts to encourage face covering to slow the spread of the virus. Just weeks ago on Twitter he responded to Michigan’s latest virus restrictions by encouraging people to “rise up” against the state’s policies.His views also prompted Stanford to issue a statement distancing itself from the faculty member, saying Atlas “has expressed views that are inconsistent with the university’s approach in response to the pandemic.””We support using masks, social distancing, and conducting surveillance and diagnostic testing,” the university said Nov. 16. “We also believe in the importance of strictly following the guidance of local and state health authorities.”Atlas defended his role in his resignation letter, saying, “I cannot think of a time where safeguarding science and the scientific debate is more urgent.”Atlas was hired as a “special government employee,” which limited his service to government to 130 days in a calendar year — a deadline he reached this week.
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By Polityk | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Мовний омбудсмен: із 16 січня 2021 року мова обслуговування споживачів в Україні – українська
«У супермаркеті та в інтернет-магазині, у кав’ярні, банку, на АЗС, в аптеці чи бібліотеці, де б ти не був – обслуговування має бути українською»
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By Gromada | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Стали відомі лауреати Волонтерської премії 2020 року
30 листопада у режимі онлайн відбулася сьома церемонія нагородження Волонтерської премії 2020 року від громадської ініціативи «Євромайдан SOS».
Серед 170-ти імен номінантів (волонтерів із України та з-за кордону) журі обрало п’ятьох лауреатів. Цьогорічна Волонтерська премія дісталася засновниці благодійного фонду «Відродження захисників України» Ірині Ващук-Діспіріо, керівникові волонтерської групи Angels Юрію Вдовцову, координаторці Української асоціації батьків недоношених дітей «Ранні пташки» Юлії Александровій, тренеру-реабілітологу Сергію Брушницькому, керівниці благодійного фонду «Корпорація монстрів» Катерині Ножевниковій.
Читайте також: Знову на передову: волонтери проти коронавірусу
Серед членів цьогорічного журі Волонтерської премії був психолог і поет Борис Херсонський, режисерка Наталія Ворожбит, письменниця Лариса Денисенко, громадянський журналіст та колишній заручник Кремля Наріман Мемедемінов, очільниця Жіночого ветеранського руху Андріана Арехта.
Волонтерська премія була заснована в 2014 році. Вона не є негрошовою, і покликана підтримати волонтерський рух в Україні. Номінантами є волонтери, які допомогають військовим і постраждалим від бойових дій, родинам переселенців, займаються різноманітними соціальними проєктами.
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By Gromada | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
В Україні з 1 грудня зріс прожитковий мінімум
В Україні з вівторка, 1 грудня, на 71 гривню зріс прожитковий мінімум і тепер він становитиме 2189 гривень. Це передбачено статтею 7 закону про державний бюджет на 2020 рік.
Для основних соціальних і демографічних груп населення прожитковий мінімум складатиме:
для дітей віком до 6 років – 1921 гривня;
для дітей віком від 6 до 18 років – 2395 гривень;
для працездатних осіб – 2270 гривень;
для осіб, які втратили працездатність – 1769 гривень.
Це третє підвищення цього року. У січні прожитковий мінімум було встановлено у 2 027 гривень, а з 1 липня він складав 2 118.
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By Gromada | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Biden Names Top Economic Officials
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named his top officials to deal with the country’s coronavirus-ravaged economy, including former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen to be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in its 231-year history.In addition, Biden named Neera Tanden, currently president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington public policy research and advocacy group, as director of the government’s Office of Management and Budget. If confirmed by the Senate, Tanden would be the first woman of color and first South Asian American to head the agency.FILE – Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress, speaks during an introduction for New Start New Jersey at NJIT in Newark, Nov. 10, 2014.Biden also named Wally Adeyemo, a longtime economic policy official, to be Yellen’s deputy, the first African American to hold the second-ranking position at the Treasury Department.The president-elect named labor economist Cecilia Rouse, dean of Princeton University’s public and international affairs school, as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. She would be the first Black and the fourth woman to hold the job.Biden picked two other economists – Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey – as members of the economic council.”As we get to work to control the virus, this is the team that will deliver immediate economic relief for the American people during this economic crisis and help us build our economy back better than ever,” Biden said in a statement.FILE – Then-State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stands in on a meeting in Washington, Feb. 27, 2015.Biden received his first President’s Daily Brief on Monday, gaining access to the report prepared by the U.S. intelligence community on national security issues the United States faces.Biden is preparing to take office at his inauguration as the 46th U.S. president on January 20. He holds an unofficial 306-232 vote lead in the Electoral College, which determines the outcome of U.S. presidential elections, not the national popular vote, although Biden leads there, too, by more than 6 million votes.The state-by-state vote in the Electoral College is set for December 14, with Congress certifying the outcome in early January.Biden’s transition to the presidency officially began last week after a government agency declared him the apparent winner of the November 3 presidential election.Trump, however, is continuing his long-shot legal effort to upend Biden’s victory even as the president says he will abide by the Electoral College outcome.Trump has refused to concede defeat while claiming, without evidence, that the election was rigged against him.Trump and his campaign have lost or withdrawn more than 30 lawsuits claiming vote and vote-counting irregularities, but they are appealing at least one of the verdicts against him to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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By Polityk | 12/01/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
В Україні створили національний природний парк «Королівські Бескиди» – указ
В Україні створили національний природний парк «Королівські Бескиди». Відповідний указ підписав президент України Володимир Зеленський.
Національний природний парк «Королівські Бескиди» створюється у Львівській області. До його території мають включити майже 9 тисяч гектарів комунальних земель, що перебувають у підпорядкуванні «Старосамбірського дочірнього лісогосподарського підприємства «Галсільліс», а саме: 8691 гектар, що вилучається та надається національному природному парку в постійне користування, та 306 гектарів у межах Дністрянського лісництва, що включаються до його території без вилучення у землекористувача.
Кабінет міністрів України впродовж шести місяців має затвердити положення про національний природний парк «Королівські Бескиди». Також уряд повинен передбачати у проєкті закону про державний бюджет України на 2021-й і наступні роки кошти, необхідні для функціонування національного природного парку «Королівські Бескиди».
Крім того, Зеленський підписав указ, якими оголосив парк «Кручі» в Донецькій області ландшафтним заказником, «Долину ірисів» на Львівщині – ботанічним заказником, а «Адамівку» Львівської області – парком-пам’яткою садово-паркового мистецтва.
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By Gromada | 11/30/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Лідер кримських татар відзначений високою чеською нагородою
Міністр закордонних справ Чеської Республіки Томаш Петршічек нагородив медаллю «За заслуги в дипломатії» лідера кримськотатарського народу, народного депутата України Мустафу Джемілєва.
Нагорода вручена «за виняткові зусилля у справі захисту прав людини впродовж всього життя», так записано в постанові про нагородження Мустафи Джемілєва.
Чеське МЗС зазначає, що епідемія COVID-19 не дозволила міністрові Томашу Петршічеку особисто вручити нагороду, це буде зроблене за посередництва посольства Чехії в Україні.
your ad hereBy Gromada | 11/30/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
‘Mercenary’ Donor Sold Access for Millions in Foreign Money
As an elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
He lived a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle, staying at fine hotels and hosting lawmakers and diplomats at four-star restaurants. Foreign ambassadors turned to Zuberi to get face time in Congress.
He was a charming networker and an inveterate namedropper. His Facebook account was filled with pictures of him next to the powerful and famous: having dinner with Hillary Clinton and Robert De Niro and rubbing shoulders with Trump’s then-chief of staff Reince Priebus outside Mar-A-Lago. Zuberi raised huge amounts for Clinton in the 2016 election before becoming a top donor to the Trump Presidential Inauguration Committee.
But federal prosecutors say Zuberi’s life was built on a series of lies and the lucrative enterprise of funding American political campaigns and profiting from the resulting influence.
“Everyone wants to come to Washington to meet people,” Zuberi said in a 2015 email obtained by The Associated Press, seeking a meet-and-greet between the president of Guinea and a powerful congressman. “We get request(s) for meeting(s) from all scumbag of the world, warlords, kings, queens, presidents for life, military dictators, clan chiefs, tribal chiefs and etc.”
Prosecutors describe Zuberi as a “mercenary” political donor who gave to anyone — often using illegal straw donor cutouts — he thought could help him. Pay to play, he explained to clients, was just “how America work(s).”
Zuberi’s story underscores how loosely regulated campaign finance and foreign lobbying laws are and raises an embarrassing question: How does such a cynical fraudster find favor with so many officials at the highest levels of the U.S. government?
“The Zuberi case explicitly verifies, through evidentiary proof, pervasive, corrupt foreign interference with our elections and policy-making processes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. O’Brien wrote.
Zuberi pleaded guilty last year to campaign finance violations, failing to register as a foreign agent and tax evasion. He also admitted to obstructing a New York-based federal investigation into whether foreign nationals unlawfully contributed to Trump’s inaugural committee. He faces several years in prison.
But the Justice Department’s probe has left many unanswered questions about Zuberi’s foreign entanglements and who benefited from his actions. Aside from a minor associate who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge, no one who assisted Zuberi has been charged.
And the government has not publicly named the politicians who benefited from Zuberi’s donations and did favors for him.
But an AP investigation identified associates, enablers and targets of Zuberi’s influence efforts, drawing on private emails, court documents, campaign finance reports, and interviews with more than three dozen people including diplomats, law enforcement officials, lobbyists, and former members of Congress.
Taken together, they present a fuller picture of Zuberi’s rapid rise and fall in politics and the cracks in the system that allowed it to happen.
The documents and interviews show Zuberi used a straw donor scheme in which he paid for others’ donations with his credit cards and used cutouts that included a dead person and names of people prosecutors say he made up. The Justice Department said Zuberi funneled nearly $1 million in illegal campaign donations, in what law enforcement officials say is one of the largest such schemes ever prosecuted.
His donations gave Zuberi first-name access to diplomats, generals, and others, particularly those in Congress who controlled foreign policy. Prosecutors say Zuberi worked for years as an unregistered foreign agent for at least a half dozen countries and officials, including a Ukrainian oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prosecutors say Zuberi secretly foreign lobbying included working to kill a House resolution opposed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, getting Congress to put pressure on Bahrain on behalf of a Bahraini businessman, and obtaining official invites to the U.S. for Libyan officials looking to secure frozen assets.
Zuberi also used his extensive ties to U.S. elected officials to pass on potentially useful information to foreign officials, including information related to then-Vice President Joe Biden. He also kept in close contact with a West Coast-based CIA officer and boasted of his ties to the intelligence community.
Zuberi has secretly petitioned U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to credit him for law enforcement leads and intelligence he says he’s provided to the federal government. He contends in sealed court records that he’s given usable national security-related information, according to people familiar with the documents.
Prosecutors have asked Phillips to sentence Zuberi to at least 10 years behind bars at his future sentencing. They also want him to pay a $10 million fine and nearly $16 million restitution to the IRS.
Zuberi wants a much lighter punishment and disputes the scope of his wrongdoing. Zuberi admits he violated campaign laws by making donations in the names of others but said the amount of illegal donations is lower than what prosecutors claim.
Zuberi said he “helped facilitate” donations from foreign sources but said the federal law in that area is unclear and that he received “conflicting advice from various campaigns” about the legality of such donations. Zuberi also admits he did unregistered lobbying for Sri Lanka, but said the type of work he did for other countries and officials didn’t require him to register as a foreign agent.
“The government really, really wants to make an example of Mr. Zuberi well beyond that merited by his actions,” his lawyers argued in court filings.
Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center, said it’s impossible to know how many other access brokers in Washington are operating like Zuberi and evading detection but said it’s fair to suspect there many are others.
“If Zuberi was willing to comply with the minimal, basic transparency requirements in laws and just knew more rich people who might have given more money to politicians in response to a solicitation, he might have been able to do this in a lawful way,” Fischer said.
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By Polityk | 11/30/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Source: Pennsylvania Lawmaker Gets Positive COVID Test at Trump Meeting
A Pennsylvania state senator abruptly left a West Wing meeting with President Donald Trump after being informed he had tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press.
Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano had gone to the White House last Wednesday with like-minded Republican state lawmakers shortly after a four-hour-plus public meeting that Mastriano helped host in Gettysburg — maskless — to discuss efforts to overturn president-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Trump told Mastriano that White House medical personnel would take care of him, his son and his son’s friend, who were also there for the Oval Office meeting and tested positive. The meeting continued after Mastriano and the others left, the person said.
The person spoke to the AP on Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private session because the matter is politically sensitive.
Positive coronavirus cases are surging across the United States and the nation’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the U.S. may see “surge upon surge” in the coming weeks. The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States topped 200,000 for the first time Friday.
Everyone who will be in close proximity to the president must take a rapid test. Trump was himself hospitalized in October after he contracted the virus. Dozens of White House staffers and others close to the president have also tested positive, including the first lady and two of the president’s sons.
All participants in Wednesday’s meeting took COVID-19 tests, but the positive results were not announced until they were in the West Wing of the White House, the person said.
“The president instantly called the White House doctor in and he took them back to, I guess, the medical place,” the person said. The meeting with Trump was to strategize about efforts regarding the election, the person said.
After Mastriano and the others left, the discussion with Trump continued for about a half-hour. Mastriano did not return to the meeting.
Mastriano sought the meeting of the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Policy Committee earlier Wednesday that drew Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a second Trump lawyer, several witnesses and a crowd of onlookers. Only a few of them were masked.
The committee let Giuliani and others, for several hours, air their beliefs that there had been problems with how the Pennsylvania vote was conducted and counted. All claims were baseless; no evidence was presented to support any of the allegations they made.
Trump even participated, calling from the White House while one of his lawyers held a phone up to a microphone. He reiterated the same unfounded claims of fraud he’s been tweeting about for weeks.
Those beliefs have persisted despite Trump losing repeatedly in state and federal courts, including a Philadelphia-based federal appeals court’s decision Friday that said the Trump campaign’s “claims have no merit,” and a state Supreme Court decision Saturday that threw out a legal challenge to the election and effort to stop certification of its results.
Mastriano, a conservative from a rural district in central Pennsylvania and outspoken Trump supporter, did not return several messages left Sunday seeking comment.
Republican state Sen. Dave Argall, who chairs the policy committee, declined Sunday in a text message to discuss Mastriano’s medical condition and the White House visit.
“I’ve received some conflicting information that I’m trying to resolve,” Argall said in the text. “It’s my understanding a Senate statement later today will help us all to understand this better.”
Argall said he would not talk publicly about the matter “until I know more.”
Senate Republican spokeswoman Kate Flessner declined comment, describing it as a personnel matter.
The person with knowledge of the White House visit said several people rode in a large van from Gettysburg, where the policy committee met in a hotel, to the White House. Mastriano, his son and his son’s friend drove in another vehicle.
It’s not clear why Mastriano’s son and his friend accompanied the state senator to the meeting, which the person said was also attended by Trump and the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who tested positive in early November.
Mastriano has aggressively opposed policies under the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and keep people safe.
He has led rallies where he advocated to reopen businesses despite the risk of infection and he has repeatedly and sharply denounced Wolf’s orders. Mastriano also spoke to a few thousand Trump supporters who gathered outside the Capitol on Nov. 7, hours after Democrat Joe Biden’s national win became evident.
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By Polityk | 11/30/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
За вихідні, коли Україна і світ вшановували жертв Великого голоду, на Музей Голодомору зібрали понад 3 млн грн
Будівництво музею розпочалося після Революції гідності
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By Gromada | 11/30/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
