News of the World

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Top House Republican Reveals Next Steps in Biden Family Investigation

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said that more witnesses and sources will come forward in connection with his committee’s investigation of alleged influence peddling and bribery on behalf of President Joe Biden’s family.

“I think we’ve done as much as we could do with the obstacles we’ve had to overcome,” Comer told Fox News over the weekend. “No one thought I would get bank records. No one thought we would get access to the Treasury, Cabinet’s suspicious activity reports, but we would not take no for an answer.”
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Comer said that he is “going to start bringing in key figures” in the Biden family’s business deals “for depositions, and I think we’re on the right track, even though we’re having to fight the FBI, fight the [Department of Justice], fight the Democrats in Congress, and fight the mainstream media.”

His investigation is centered now on indirect wire transfers to members of the Biden family while he was vice president. Those wire transfers were made through shell companies to nine members of the Biden family, he told Fox, adding that the discovery of an FBI 1023 form means that the Justice Department chose not to investigate whistleblowers’ bribery allegations.
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The chairman added, “So if this is the case and the FBI informant’s that credible and the FBI informant tells the FBI that the vice president of the United States took a bribe from a foreign national in exchange for foreign policy and foreign aid, then why did the FBI not investigate it?”

Again alleging that federal agencies have taken a hands-off approach to the evidence, Comer said the Internal Revenue Service would only look at possible tax evasion-related claims against Hunter Biden, the president’s son who has long been targeted by Republicans for criticism for his business dealings.

“They didn’t want to investigate the shell companies. They didn’t want to investigate the money laundering. And then we know the Department of Justice hasn’t done anything, so there’s a pattern here where the federal government, the deep state bureaucracies, have turned a blind eye to Joe Biden,” he said.

FBI Investigates After 100 Letters Containing White Powder Sent to Kansas Lawmakers

In a June 18 statement, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed “the white powder found in letters sent to Kansas legislators and public officials” and that about 100 such letters were sent to individuals across Kansas. A sample of the letters with the powder was sent to a laboratory that specializes in testing potential biological samples, officials said.

“Preliminary tests have returned from this lab indicating the substance is presumptively negative for common biological agents of concern. Further and more complete testing will be conducted on this sample, as well as on additional letters that have been collected, in an effort to determine the components of the substance. The investigation is ongoing. Nothing further will be released at this time,” the agency’s statement said, without elaborating further.

The FBI and Kansas Department of Health and Environment are now involved in the investigation, the statement continued. Currently, no injuries or illnesses have been reported so far.

State House Speaker Daniel Hawkins, a Republican, received one of the letters, according to a spokesperson, Carrie Rahfaldt, in a statement to CNN.
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Also, Republican state Rep. Stephen Owens also got a letter with the powder, asserting that he believes that only Republicans received such letters.

DA Alvin Bragg Sued After Refusing to Release Trump Case Records

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was sued by a conservative organization in a bid to turn over prosecution records relating to the cases against former President Donald Trump, who was arrested on multiple counts earlier this year.

The Heritage Foundation think tank filed two Freedom of Information Law lawsuits against the Manhattan prosecutor, alleging that he and his office coordinated with Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), the White House, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) about the prosecution targeting Trump.
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A second lawsuitfiled by the conservative Washington-based think tank also claimed that Bragg retained pro-bono assistance from top law firms in connection to the Trump case. They are asking a court to release requested documents to the public under the New York Freedom of Information Law and declare that Bragg hand over the documents.
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Mike Howell, director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, told Fox News that his organization suspects that Bragg was “coordinating, or otherwise communicating” with opponents of Trump, adding that there is reason to believe Bragg is a “prolific communicator” via his phone.
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The lawsuit further alleges that Bragg hasn’t responded to requests for communication between Bragg or his office and other parties. Heritage stated that it has the right to see those communications under New York’s Freedom of Information Law.
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In the meantime, Trump’s lawyers are trying to move the case to a federal court or demanding that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan recuse himself. Lawyers for the former president on Friday filed a motion asking the case to be transferred to the federal level, saying that the alleged crimes—relating to the 2016 election and his campaign—”took place while the president was in office.”

DOJ Responds to House GOP Request for Information on Mar-a-Lago FBI Raid

The Department of Justice (DOJ) rejected a House Republican request to disclose information connected to the FBI’s search and raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago last August for alleged classified documents.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had requested the information in a letter sent to the DOJ, asking for information about the classified materials that were discovered in the search. That included communications between the FBI’s Washington office and the U.S. Secret Service.

On Friday, the DOJ rejected Jordan’s request and argued that it couldn’t provide “non-public information about an ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution by a Special Counsel.”

“Protecting the confidentiality of non-public information regarding investigations and prosecutions preserves the American people’s confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice by guarding against the appearance of political pressure or other improper attempts to influence Department decisions,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter to Jordan.
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The Judiciary Committee “previously requested information and documents related to the FBI’s raid on President Trump’s residence and its subsequent investigation,” Jordan’s letter to Garland stated. “Because you have not provided this information, and in light of your appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel, we write to request an unredacted copy of the memorandum outlining the scope of Mr. Smith’s probes regarding President Trump and any supporting documentation related to his appointment as special counsel.”

Jordan sought a memo that outlines the scope of Smith’s investigation or “any other document describing, listing, or delineating the authority and jurisdiction of the special counsel,” according to his letter. He gave the DOJ until June 20 to hand over the material.
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Uriarte also made reference to the recent indictment against Trump as providing detailed information about the investigation and the charges that were brought against him. Trump pleaded not guilty in a Miami federal courthouse last week to dozens of counts related to the classified documents case.

Xi Rejects US Bid for a Military Crisis Hotline: Blinken

China has refused to resume direct military communication with Washington despite repeated efforts from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat said on June 19 shortly after meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

While he “raised repeatedly” the prospect of setting up a crisis communication line between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, “at this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that,” Blinken told reporters at a press conference as he wrapped up his two-day trip to Beijing.

“I think that’s an issue that we have to keep working on,” he said. “It is very important that we restore those channels. If we agree that we have a responsibility to manage this relationship responsibly, if we agree that it’s in our mutual interests to make sure that the competitive aspects of the relationship don’t veer into conflict, then surely we can agree and see the need for making sure that the channels of communication that we’ve both said are necessary to do that include military-to-military channels.”

As bilateral tensions keep rising, Beijing has resisted a consistent U.S. push to open up lines of communication to mitigate the risk of a potential flare-up. Since 2021, China’s leaders have declined or ignored more than a dozen requests to talk with the Pentagon and about 10 working-level engagement invitations from the U.S. side, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed senior U.S. defense official.
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Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu also refused an invitation for a formal meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum earlier this month.

In his first visit to China as the secretary of state, which made him the most senior Biden administration official to make such a trip, Blinken held talks with the Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang and Beijing’s highest-ranking diplomat, Wang Yi, and had a brief meeting with Xi.

Asked why Washington would want to continue engaging with China despite the apparent unwillingness to have open military communications from the other side, Blinken argued that such efforts are necessary to make changes happen.

 Instead of making changes take place, it sounds like a "Yes, sir!" to me for sure.

China Expanding Its Influence in Nigeria With Country’s New Administration

China is making significant strides in solidifying its presence in Nigeria through the newly inaugurated administration of President Bola Tinubu, according to a national politician.

Early talks between Chinese officials and Tinubu, who took office on May 29, indicate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is looking to expand its foothold in Africa’s largest democracy under the new government, a member of the Nigerian senate Simon Mwadkwon told The Epoch Times.
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“They have an agenda to rule the world and Nigeria is a strategic target for the attainment of those goals because of its population and influence in Africa,” Mwadkwon [the representative of Plateau North] said.
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“The immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari took loans from China without a focus, raising the level of Nigeria’s indebtedness to China beyond reasonable heights and the Chinese authorities are looking to consolidate on that,” said Mwadkwon.

On May 31, Chinese Special Envoy to Nigeria, Peng Qinghua—who also serves as the vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in China—held a crucial meeting with Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.

While the details of the discussions remain undisclosed, local media reports Qinghua informed Tinubu before the closed-door meeting that China is willing to enhance economic cooperation with Nigeria, given its crucial role in Africa and the global arena.
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During a seminar at the University of Abuja on April 5, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, revealed that he had engaged in discussions with Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima.

Jianchun emphasized the importance of increasing productivity in Nigeria and expressed efforts to attract Chinese investment and facilitate exporting Nigerian products to Chinese markets.

The ambassador hinted at plans to expand China’s debt financing of Nigeria, acknowledging the solid foundation established by President Muhammadu Buhari for the incoming Tinubu administration.