News of the World

[kyonides]

White House: Iran’s Attacks on Shipping Are ‘Certainly Spiking Now’
and They Threaten American Interests ‘Quite a Bit’

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby acknowledged that there has been “a real increase” in Iranian attacks on shipping in the area of the Strait of Hormuz and this behavior, that “threatens U.S. and global interests quite a bit” is “certainly spiking now.”

Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “The United States is now — and this is significant — deploying a destroyer and fighter jets in response to Iran’s harassing merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. How much does this Iranian activity actually threaten U.S. and global interests?”

Kirby responded, “It threatens U.S. and global interests quite a bit. We have seen a real increase now in their attempted attacks, or, in some cases, sadly, successful attacks on maritime shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, whether it’s outside the Gulf or just inside the Gulf. And this is activity that we’ve seen spike from the Iranians before, certainly spiking now. And we’re sending a strong message, not just to Iran, but to our allies and partners, that we take this seriously, because so much — particularly oil, so much of that flows through the Strait of Hormuz. That’s a choke point for the Middle East that has global trade implications.

James Comer: FBI Tipped off Hunter Biden to Interview,
Confirming IRS Whistleblowers

FBI officials tipped off Hunter Biden in the Bureau’s criminal probe of him and told a former FBI supervisory special agent to stand by and not approach him, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) announced Monday, confirming key portions of the IRS whistleblower allegations.

Upon sitting for a transcribed interview with the committee, the former FBI agent told the committee that FBI officials in December 2020 tipped off both Secret Service and the Biden transition team about a scheduled interview about its criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.

The FBI agent said because of the tipoff, the agent never interviewed Hunter Biden.
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The FBI agent told investigators that he had never been told to wait outside to be contacted by the target of a probe, the committee posted on Twitter.

IRS whistleblowers, who are set to testify before Congress Wednesday, claim President Joe Biden’s Justice Department (DOJ) politically interfered in the criminal probe into his son.

Among many allegations, they specifically allege the FBI’s investigation forewarned Hunter Biden of any future searches for materials that could be used as evidence. They also alleged Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf refused to allow investigators to ask about Joe Biden being “the big guy.” Wolf also allegedly cautioned the investigation team from searching Joe Biden’s guest house in Delaware for evidence against Hunter Biden because of “optics.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland flatly denied the whistleblower allegations that Biden’s DOJ interfered in the Hunter Biden criminal tax probe.

James Comer: Bidens Owned over 20 Shell Companies
to Hide Payments, Launder Money

After reviewing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) at the Treasury and subpoenaing banks and individuals, Comer posted on Twitter that the Biden family created more than 20 entities to accept, forward, and collect payment from a wide range of business associates.

“We found all these shell companies that make absolutely no sense,” Comer told Fox News. “I don’t believe they have paid a penny of revenue, a penny of taxes on most of the millions of dollars they received from our adversaries around the world.”

In March, the committee revealed the Biden family business over the course of several years received over $10 million from business schemes in Romania and China in return for what appears to be influence peddling.

For instance, SARs obtained by the committee revealed a Biden associate, Rob Walker, received a $3 million wire transfer from CEFC China Energy Co. In turn, four Biden family members — Hunter, James, Hallie, and an unidentified “Biden” — received a collective $1.3 million cut from the $3 million wire transfer.
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the Biden family business received a total of $5.1 million within days of Hunter Biden’s messages to CEFC through multiple accounts, including Owasco and Hudson West III LLC.

“How did they list this on their taxes?” Comer questioned. “Is it a service they provided?”

Moving forward, Comer’s committee is set to begin deposing Biden family business associates in the coming weeks and months. Comer said in early July that Devon Archer, one of Hunter Biden’s top associates, will be the first member deposed to unravel the family’s international business schemes.

Archer was Hunter Biden’s “best friend in business” and got in legal trouble in 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribal entity. The court ordered him to pay a $43,954,416.75 judgment to the victims. Prior to his arrest, Archer served in 2014 with Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma, a Ukraine-based energy company, whose executive, Mykola Zlochevsky, allegedly bribed Hunter and Joe Biden with $5 million each.

Train Carrying Hazardous Materials Derails
Outside of Philadelphia, Homes Evacuated

Homes outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have been evacuated after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed early Monday morning.

A 40-car CSX freight train operating on Norfolk Southern tracks derailed in Montgomery County around 4:50 a.m., ABC 6 reported. 

Emergency crews responded to the site of the derailment in the suburban area of Whitemarsh Township. Photos show multiple cars toppled off the tracks. Between 15 and 20 of the cars were carrying hazardous material, which prompted a level 2 hazmat response, Fox 29 reported.

There are no known hazards to the public at this time, and the evacuations were a precaution, according to the Whitemarsh Township Police Department.

“As of now, the only thing that is leaking from any of the rail cars involved, is silicone pellets which pose no risk to the community,” the department wrote in a Facebook post.  “We are still gathering information at this time"...

Officials from the Federal Railroad Administration are headed to Montgomery County to gather information, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Pennsylvania derailment comes five months after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine evacuated following the February 3 train derailment after Northfolk Southern officials decided to burn vinyl chloride from five tanker cars in an attempt to prevent an explosion, Breitbart reported. The clean-up is ongoing.

South Korea’s Yoon Inks Major Reconstruction Deals
with Ukraine – Potentially Elbowing Out China

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, this weekend, resulting in major agreements for Korean companies to participate in building railways, airports, and a “smart city” in Ukraine after the culmination of the ongoing Russian invasion.

Ukraine’s “urban redevelopment” post-war, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, is estimated to be worth about $1.58 trillion. The presence of Korean corporate giants such as Hyundai and Samsung may reduce the percentage of those potential profits available to competing states, most prominently China, a core Russian ally that has expressed enthusiasm for aiding the reconstruction of Ukraine and one which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has personally invited into the country to help rebuild. Ukraine joined China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under Zelensky’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, in 2017.

While hoping “Chinese businesses” invest in his country, however, Zelensky has defied the conventional wisdom in Ukrainian politics and acted with skepticism towards China in the past, most prominently when he sanctioned the Chinese company Beijing Skyrizon Aviation in 2021 for its attempts to seize the Ukrainian jet engine and military manufacturer Motor Sich. Zelensky also nationalized Motor Sich to keep it out of Chinese hands prior to the most recent Russian invasion.

Motor Sich is now a supplier of engines to the Turkish company Baykar, which manufactures the Bayraktar armored drones that Ukraine has prioritized in its defense against Russia in the ongoing invasion.