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Former FBI agent guesses DOJ never found an answer about Trump's alleged financial crimes in Italy
February 06, 2023
Former special counsel John Durham and Attorney General Bill Barr never revealed to the public what came of the revelations that the Italian government had suspicions about financial crimes allegedly committed by former President Donald Trump. Barr also asked Italy to discredit the Russia investigation.
Speaking to MSNBC about the information, former FBI agent Peter Strzok demanded to know what happened to the investigation, what was found and whether there were charges that would surface from the revelations.
"If I had to bet you a bottle of wine it would be that they never got to an answer that somehow," said Strzok. "Look, when we set up [special counsel Robert] Mueller's team we thought we had a team of 40 investigators including a whole pack of really qualified financial forensic accountants who came in and we used to tell them, Andrew Weissmann when he was going after Paul Manafort and others, that was hard, complicated financial work. Trump's finances are orders of magnitude more complex than anything Paul Manafort ever did. John Durham's team, the most I've seen reported is he had at most eight, ten personnel. Certainly without any of the same sort of financial expertise that Mueller did."
He said that it begs the question "what happened? What's the resolution?"
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"Again, I'm willing to bet you the resolution was we couldn't figure this out because it was too hard," Strzok guessed. "And time and time again, like everybody that bumps their head up against the Trump financial empire, it is so big, so opaque, so apparently corrupt that is hard as an investigator to get your head around the facts and prove something out."
The House Democrats have asked for a probe into the Durham investigation.
See the full conversation below or at the link here.
Former FBI agent guesses the Trump DOJ never found an answer about Trump financial crimes www.youtube.com
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Chinese spy balloons, mistaken for UFOs, flew near military bases during Trump presidency: report
February 06, 2023
Chinese spy balloons reportedly flew near U.S. military bases while Donald Trump was president, but the balloons were categorized at the time as “unidentified aerial phenomena” — commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects or UFOs.
Bloomberg first reported that the balloons had been spotted near bases in Guam, Norfolk, Virginia, and Coronado, California, according to "people who requested anonymity to discuss intelligence matters."
Balloons were said to have also been seen near Texas, Florida, and Hawaii during Trump's presidency, the people said.
Bloomberg noted:
The balloons that overflew Guam and Norfolk were thought to have radar-jamming capabilities, while the flights near Norfolk, where the US stations aircraft carriers, came around the time China was launching its own such vessel.
The balloons near Norfolk and Coronado both flew at a lower altitude over the ocean, but within US air space, according to the officials who served during the Trump administration.
The report said that balloons found during Trump's presidency were smaller in size and miscategorized as “unidentified aerial phenomena” by officials at the time.
Bloomberg's sources said the balloons were discovered after Trump left office because intelligence gathering on the aircraft improved in response to China's continued use of the spy vehicles.
Trump told Fox News on Sunday night that the incidents during his administration "never happened."
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GOP lawmakers push for the state to take control of Disney’s special tax district; DeSantis would pick the board members
February 06, 2023
A legislative proposal introduced Monday in the Florida Legislature would rename the Reedy Creek Improvement District that has been controlled by Disney World in Central Florida for more than 55 years and replace it with a new board selected exclusively by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The 189-page proposal (HB 9B) is being sponsored in the Florida House by Representative Fred Hawkins, who represents parts of Orange and Osceola counties in the Legislature.
The measure would rename the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District” and would consist of five members, all appointed by DeSantis upon confirmation of the Florida Senate.
Each of the five board members would serve for a term of four years and could not serve more than three consecutive terms. The measure bans anyone who has been a theme park employee, officer or director in the past three years from serving on the board, along with their relatives.
The legislation says that “consideration” should be given for members to come from a broad range of fields including, but not limited to, experience in accounting, business management, construction, cybersecurity or data privacy, engineering and environmental sciences.
The bill says that for a transitional period of no longer than two years, the district may continue doing business using “Reedy Creek Improvement District” as a fictitious name to provide sufficient time to make the necessary changes.
The Walt Disney corporation weighed in on the proposal on Monday afternoon.
“We are monitoring the progression of the draft legislation, which is complex given the long history of the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” said Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort. “Disney works under a number of different models and jurisdictions around the world, and regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to providing the highest quality experience for the millions of guests who visit each year.”
The bill will come up for its first hearing in the House State Affairs Committee, which has not yet scheduled its next meeting.
Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani, of Orlando, responded quickly to the legislation:
“They should rename the district to ‘Disney is the Governor’s Political Prisoner’ since that’s pretty much what this bill does; it’s a power grab by DeSantis and allows him to appoint more of his friends into positions of power and potentially push contracts towards his friends too. All the while censoring Disney and their ability to express First Amendment rights and defend LGBTQ+ people. It’s a gross farce at corporate accountability.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
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