Author: J.P. Knowles

Two former Democratic congressmen partnered with a lobbying firm to advocate on behalf of South Korean businesses operating factories in North Korea, according to recent filings.

Former Democratic Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay joined up with law firm and lobby shop Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman on Wednesday to lobby on behalf of the Corporate Association of the Gaesong Industrial Complex (CAGIC) at the direction of South Korean consultancy HC & Sons, according to a foreign agent filing with the Justice Department. Former Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Laughlin, who has been with Pillsbury since 2004 and served in Congress for 6 years before switching parties, began lobbying on behalf of CAGIC in December 2021.

Pillsbury started working with CAGIC in July 2021, signing a $675,000 contract to provide services including “general advocacy, which involves meetings with U.S. Executive and Legislative Branches.” The firm will also “provide information to CAGIC and advocate on its behalf,” filings show.

CAGIC is a group of South Korean companies operating business facilities in Gaesong Industrial Complex, a special administrative zone located in North Korea where South Korean businesses employ North Korean workers in factories and manufacturing plants. The agreement between the two countries began in 2002 and was viewed as mutually beneficial, generating revenue from North Korea, however it was suspended in 2016 following allegations by former South Korean President Park Geun-hye that the proceeds from the deal were being used to pay for North Korean arms manufacturing.

Since the closure of the complex, CAGIC has pushed to reopen, arguing the suspension of the agreement adversely affects thousands of North Koreans who had been employed at Gaesong facilities. However, UN sanctions prohibiting certain economic relationships between the two countries have complicated reopening efforts.

Clay and Laughlin will work on “public policy service” for CAGIC, which could include political activity such as “communications with Executive/Legislative Branch and media.”

It’s unclear whether Clay and Laughlin’s work will relate directly to existing sanctions or efforts to reopen the Gaesong Industrial Complex.
South Korean lawmakers argue that the complex should be reopened to encourage cooperation and reduce tensions between North and South Korea.

“Reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex is very critical to building trust between the US, South Korea, and North Korea,” Rep. Song Young-gil, who heads Korea’s Democratic Party, said at the Aspen Security Forum in August 2021. “The Kaesong Industrial Complex has a very essential role in easing tensions between the two Koreas and is a very efficient way to change North Korea.”

North and South Korea held talks in July 2021 to discuss reopening the complex.

A federal grand jury indicted the State Attorney for Baltimore Thursday on four charges, including perjury for claiming a COVID-19 hardship on loan applications to withdraw $90,000 from her retirement account.

Marilyn J. Mosby faces two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements after making two separate withdrawals totaling $90,000 that she used to purchase two vacation homes in Florida.

Mosby claimed that despite an increase of $10,000 in her salary, she had experienced “adverse financial consequences” due to COVID-19 and needed to draw funds from her retirement account without a tax penalty under the CARES Act.

The indictment also indicates that Mosby secured mortgages for the two vacation homes, totaling over $900,000 in 2020 and 2021, but failed to disclose in the mortgage applications that she owed $45,000 in federal back taxes.

Mosby claimed that one of the homes would be her primary residence in order to get a lower mortgage rate. According to the indictment, just one week prior she had met with a vacation home management company about renting out the house.

A. Scott Bolden, Mosby’s attorney, vowed to fight the charges “vigorously” and insisted that they were “rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months ahead of [Mosby’s] election.”

Mosby maintained that she did not lie on her applications or “defraud” anyone stating, “We are now five months from my next election, and this indictment is merely a preliminary ploy by my political adversaries to unseat me.”

Mosby claimed that since she announced charges against six police officers for the killing of Freddie Gray, she has had a “target on her back.”

Mosby was among many left-wing prosecutors backed by billionaire mega-donor George Soros.

Mosby’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore has not yet been scheduled. If convicted, she faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for each perjury count and up to 30 years for the counts of making false mortgage applications.

Sometimes you find yourself in a bad situation not because you’re a bad person, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thats what happened to some vacationers at Beech Mountain Resort, where apparently someone broke a water/air hydrant while coming down the slopes during snowmaking procedures … and that’s when something terrible happened.

Tough time for the people at Beech Mountain today. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/fg671LruRn

— Trey Shirley (@TreyShirley831) January 8, 2022

An extremely powerful surge of freezing cold water shot straight up into the air and blasted skiers riding the chairlift up the mountain.

Considering the dangerous conditions, you can only imagine what state these people were in afterward. According to reports, two people had to be transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Others weren’t so lucky and were reported to have been blown off the chair lift to the ground below.

The resort made a statement saying, “Our operations and safety team worked diligently to unload the lift and drain the system safely,” they added, “We believe everyone is okay outside of the unfortunate situation, and operations are on a regular schedule.”

Former Republican Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield is currently the subject of an investigation looking into sexual assault charges following his sister-in-law’s complaint alleging he molested her when she was a teen.

The sister-in-law claims that Chatfield began assaulting her when she was 15 and that he continued until July 2021. The Michigan State Police are currently handling the investigation into the allegations.

The woman’s lawyer, Jamie White, confirmed the allegations and said that the woman is still dealing with the trauma of the assaults.

“Her and her family, they’re working through it,” White said. “They’re looking forward to working with law enforcement to bring this allegation to conclusion and (bring) accountability for others that have been harmed.”

Chatfield, 33, was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2014 and assumed the position of Speaker of the House in 2019. He is the youngest state house speaker in over a century.

A narcissistic U.K. doctor who engraved his own initials onto the livers of his patients during transplant surgeries has been taken off his country’s medical register.

Dr Simon Bramhall used a surgical device to brand his initials onto the organs of patients at the end of at least two surgeries in February and August 2013. The 1.6-inch markings were discovered by another doctor when the livers Bramhall had transplanted failed after approximately one week after the surgery.

Bramhall pleaded guilty and was convicted of two counts of common assault in 2017, according to documents from the U.K.’s Medical Practicioners Tribunal Service (MPTS). He was fined over $13,500 and given a community service mandate for his vile actions.

Bramhall was suspended for at least five months in December 2020, although he had resigned from the hospital where he worked in 2017. A Monday report said a June 2021 review found the doctor’s fitness to practice was not impaired because of his criminal convictions, and his suspension was revoked.

The case was resubmitted to the MPTS, which concluded that Bramhall “breached” the trust between patient and doctor, leading to his name being stricken from the medical register.

The tribunal which struck Bramhall’s name said that “no lasting physical damage was caused to either patient,” but his actions had caused “significant emotional harm,” noting that removal was a “proportionate sanction” despite Bramhall’s “previous good character” due to his “gross violation of his patients’ dignity and autonomy.”

An American Airlines passenger was arrested Tuesday in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, after rushing the cockpit and causing damage to the plane. The passenger stormed the cockpit while boarding the plane for the flight heading to Miami, according to a statement from American Airlines.

“Crew members intervened and the individual was ultimately apprehended by law enforcement,” American Airlines said in the statement.

The plane was damaged during the attack and the flight had to be rescheduled for a different airplane.

“We applaud our outstanding crew members for their professionalism in handling a difficult situation,” American Airlines said in the statement.

No passengers or crew members were injured during the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instituted a new rule in January 2021 for dealing with unruly passengers. The new policy allows the FAA to sanction passengers with a $35,000 fine and possible jail time.

Airlines for America, an interest group for U.S. airlines and aviation-related unions, believe the new sanctions for unruly passengers are not enough. The group sent a letter in June 2021 to the Department of Justice asking the agency to use harsher penalties to prosecute dangerous passengers.

A headless human torso was discovered in the freezer on a bus in Louisiana during a police search for a missing woman, officials said Thursday.

The police were conducting a search in the case of a missing woman when they discovered the dismembered corpse in the freezer on the bus near a New Orleans home.

Benjamin Beale-34 has been arrested for obstruction after he refused to cooperate with their investigation. Beale lives in the home where the remains were found.

Beale was taken into police custody for obstruction of justice in a death investigation charge as well as multiple drug charges. Police discovered a meth lab while investigating the property.

Micah Dardar, of Louisiana, said he believes the discovered remains are those of his missing wife, Julia. According to Dardar his wife suffered from serious meth addiction and left him last year after the family asked her to seek help. He told police that she had been living with Beale since then.

Dardar said he reported his wife missing in December, though police have not yet released the identity of the remains.

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy hit White House press secretary Jen Psaki with a list of questions Monday about the Biden administration’s COVID-19 messaging and testing capacity.

Doocy asked Psaki why the administration hasn’t done more to increase the country’s testing capability before the “winter of severe illness and death,” President Joe Biden predicted. He also asked whether Biden would admit that vaccines aren’t preventing the spread of COVID-19.

When Doocy asked why the administration was unprepared for an increased need for tests following the holidays, Psaki said that new testing sites have been opened by the administration and there has been a tenfold increase in COVID-19 testing nationwide compared to one year ago.

Doocy asked Psaki about why the instructions coming from the White House on testing are the opposite of CDC guidance: “The tests you’re talking about though, require people to go somewhere and either make an appointment or wait in line. The CDC’s guidance is if you think you have COVID you’re supposed to stay home,” he said. “You guys said you were gonna mail free tests to people that need them. The president’s there on television talking about a winter of severe illness and death. While he’s saying that publicly, why weren’t you guys doing more to prepare for the winter?

“Everyone decides where they’re going to go get a test,” Psaki answered. “We make a range of options available. You can also purchase tests online.”

Although there are more testing options across the country, it has not met the demand. People are waiting in lines for hours to be tested at public sites and it can take weeks to get a test shipped from an online purchase.

Doocy then questioned the Biden team’s plan to ship tests directly to Americans via the Postal Service.

“We understand that you guys plan to rely on the Postal Service to send out these free tests whenever they’re ready, but the Postal Service says they’re gonna have a staffing shortage because of your vaccine mandate,” Doocy said. “So would you pull back on the vaccine mandate if it meant getting people these free tests sooner?”

“The Postal Service also delivered 98, 99 percent of packages on time in advance of Christmas. And they also, their leaders also have said they’re eager to take on this challenge,” Psaki rebutted. “So we welcome that, and we’re looking forward to working with them to get these tests out to the public.”

The Biden team has repeatedly said that COVID-19 is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” but Doocy pointed out that while vaccines lower the chances that someone will catch or spread the virus, they clearly can’t prevent it.

Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin held fast to his support of the filibuster ahead of President Joe Biden’s speech about Democratic voting bills and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vows to debate the issue in the coming days.

“We need some good rules, changes to make the place work better. But getting rid of the filibuster doesn’t make the place work better,” Manchin told reporters Tuesday.

With a total filibuster repeal that makes it possible for Democrats to pass legislation without any GOP support likely to fail, Democrats have suggested adjusting the rule in a lesser capacity in hopes that more senators would offer their support. Manchin insisted that any changes to Senate rules should have at least two-thirds support, meaning that at least 17 Republicans would have to agree if he does not budge.

Manchin’s comments came as Schumer took to the floor to criticize Republicans and the election reform bills that GOP legislatures have adopted in multiple states making it more difficult for non-white to vote.

Schumer spoke as multiple Senate Republicans warned against doing away with the filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Schumer of “trying to bully his members into breaking their word” on the issue, and he vowed to bring votes and use tactics “inconvenient for the majority and this White House in a way that nobody has seen in living memory.”

Manchin did, however, seem open to making modest changes to the filibuster, including switching the 60-vote threshold to a three-fifths threshold and implementing a type of “talking filibuster,” which would allow for more floor debate.

Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall slammed White House chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Tuesday for calling him a “moron” during the Senate Health Committee hearing.

Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions concerning the Biden administration’s response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. After grilling Fauci about the accessibility to his financial disclosures, Fauci could be heard over a live microphone calling Marshall, who is an obstetrician, and gynecologist, a “moron.”

Marshall fired back by referring to the National Institutes of Health director as “the least trusted bureaucrat in America” in a Tuesday statement. He called on Fauci to provide the “truth” and “facts” to the Senate regarding his financial disclosures.

“Calling me a moron during a Senate hearing may have alleviated the stress of the least trusted bureaucrat in America, but it didn’t take away from the facts. We need the truth Dr. Fauci!” the Kansas senator said.

In an earlier statement, Marshall cited Fauci’s “frustration” over being called out for his disclosures “not” being publicly disclosed. He also cited previous claims that the senior medical advisor knowingly funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fauci, who receives a $400,000 salary, told Marshall that he had “amazingly wrong” information, claiming his financial disclosures are “accessible” and have been available to the public for years as he is employed at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Marshall questioned him about his role in gain-of-function research and called for the experiment to be banned for its contribution in creating and spreading the coronavirus.

Fauci was also pressed by Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over his attempt to “suppress” information from prominent scientists concerning the lab-leak theory. The senator cited emails that show Fauci and his colleagues downplaying the theory and criticizing scientists who were investigating the theory, though Fauci denied calling the lab-leak a “conspiracy.”