So look how the fast the Feds can prosecute when they want to: While still sitting on Hunter Biden's laptop.


Two Plead Guilty To Stealing Ashley Biden's 'Inappropriate Showers With Dad' Diary

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...te-showers-dad-diary

Two Florida residents have pleaded guilty to stealing Ashley Biden's diary and other belongings, before selling them to Project Veritas in the weeks leading up to the 2020 US election.

Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, admitted they took part in a conspiracy to transport stolen materials from Florida, where Ashley Biden had been living, to New York, according to the New York Times.

"Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office," said Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

And while Project Veritas declined to publish the diary (and were still raided by the Biden DOJ), the National File did publish excerpts on Oct. 24, 2020 - and the full diary two days later. While treated as potentially fake at the time, we now know that the contents are legit - including claims that Joe took 'probably inappropriate' showers with Ashley, and that she believes she was sexually molested as a child.

Entries in the diary include the author revealing she believes she was sexually molested as a child and shared “probably not appropriate” showers with her father, some that detail the author’s struggle with drug abuse and the author’s crumbling marriage with multiple affairs, along with entries showing the family’s fears of a potential scandal due to her brother’s new home, and those that show a deep resentment for her father due to his money, control, and emotional manipulation. -National File

More at link

Ashley Biden left her diary behind, at a place she was staying, and these 2 "found" it there?

Serious theft case there...

The only reason this is a federal case is, FJB, and the fact they transported it across state lines to "sell" it to Project Veritas, no?

WH press secretary explains how the 300 billion will be paid for

video at link

https://twitter.com/i/status/1562854919689801729


Karine Jean Pierre struggled to explain how President Joe Biden plans to pay for the reallocation of $300 billion in student debt from degree holders to the working class.

hope that clears it up

https://www.powerlineblog.com/.../08/two-americas.php

There really are two Americas, one America consists of those who can cope, while the other America consists of wine moms, 25-year-olds who can’t tell what sex they are, and people who can’t manage personal finances.

Babylon Bee Headline: “Hard-Working Plumber Looking Forward To Paying For His Neighbor’s Gender Studies Degree.”

Can't wait to see what happens to inflation when we give these rich people money. New car that they weren't originally planning on? Larger house maybe? Giving away half a trillion dollars is like pouring jet fuel on a fire.

Why do I, my mailman, my mechanic, or my landscaper have pay for some asshole who makes more than us education? Why are we giving handouts to the most wealthy group of Americans out there? Maybe my mechanic decided to turn wrenches because he didn't want to take on student loan debt, now he's forced to take on someone else's student loan. Complete horse shit.

They've already had 2.5 years of debt relief. The smart ones already paid off big chunks of their debt during the student loan payment halts. Scratch that, the smart ones went on vacation instead of paying down debt.

So I guess it's time for me to enroll in community college and take out the largest loan I can qualify for.

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s Transgender Medical Mandate

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...FPW12SLcFdDn3OM3Z0Qw

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a Biden administration statute that forced doctors to perform medical procedures, including gender-transition procedures, against their religious beliefs.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court’s ruling in Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra which protected around 19,000 health care professionals in Franciscan Alliance, a Catholic health care network, from performing medical procedures against their conscience.

The lower court’s ruling had permanently prohibited the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) “from requiring Franciscan Alliance to perform gender-transition surgeries or abortions in violation of its sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Becket, the legal counsel representing Franciscan Alliance, said the court explained that permanent protection from the statute was appropriate for health care workers.

“This ruling is a major victory for conscience rights and compassionate medical care in America,” said Joseph Davis, counsel at Becket, in a statement. “Doctors cannot do their jobs and comply with the Hippocratic Oath if the government requires them to perform harmful, irreversible procedures against their conscience and medical expertise.”

The court noted that the Biden administration argued for more chances to show why it needed religious health care providers to participate in gender-transition surgeries, but that the ACLU, a co-appellant, cited a previous case that worked against their argument, according to court documents (pdf).

“For years, our clients have provided excellent medical care to all patients who need it,” Davis said. “Today’s ruling ensures that these doctors and hospitals may continue to do this critical work in accordance with their conscience and professional medical judgment.”

Mandate
The mandate was first issued six years ago as part of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Becket noted that this applied to “virtually every doctor nationwide.”

Section 1557 of Obamacare prohibits health care programs that receive federal funds from discriminating against patients on the basis of sex.

In May 2016, HHS issued a rule interpreting Section 1557’s prohibition of “discrimination on the basis of sex.” It defined sex discrimination to include discrimination on the basis of “termination of pregnancy” and the disputed concept of “gender identity.”

Franciscan Alliance claimed the 2016 rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by defining “sex discrimination” inconsistently with Title IX, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

This rule was swiftly challenged by nine states and a group of religious organizations and received protection from federal courts in North Dakota and in Texas.

Franciscan Alliance also claimed that the 2016 rule violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) by forcing it to perform abortions and gender-reassignment surgeries inconsistent with its sincerely held religious beliefs.

Becket says on its website that the Biden administration and the ACLU were “dissatisfied with not being able to force religious health care providers to violate their faith” and appealed the decision back to the Fifth Circuit.

The Biden administration has been accused of weaponizing Title IX to push “woke insanity” on Americans.

Nancy Pelosi settled this ‘21: https://www.nationalreview.com...orgive-student-debt/

quote:

Originally posted by recoatlift:
Nancy Pelosi settled this ‘21: https://www.nationalreview.com...orgive-student-debt/

He does lack the authority. Unfortunately it will probably have to go to SCOTUS before it gets stopped though.

Thanks Flash, business as usual! Damnit!

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by recoatlift:
Nancy Pelosi settled this ‘21: https://www.nationalreview.com...orgive-student-debt/

He does lack the authority. Unfortunately it will probably have to go to SCOTUS before it gets stopped though.

But even if this is overturned, think of how many votes his handlers bought for the Demrats with this. And the Republican congress critters who are up for re-election for the midterms aren't about to vote to take away any free stuff from potential voters.

quote:

So I guess it's time for me to enroll in community college and take out the largest loan I can qualify for.

So, don't you get it? You don't have to "qualify" for a Govt-secured eduloan. Now you know you'll never have to pay it back! Free money! All you want! Keep the Dems in power to keep it coming forever! It is so simple, you almost don't need an education to understand it.

I remember a time, long long ago, when this sort of shenanigan was called vote buying.

Suppose someone wants to buy a home that costs $300K. Could they sign up for community college, get a student loan for $300K, and use that to buy the home? Would that make more sense in some instances than a mortgage?

quote:

Originally posted by bryan11:
Suppose someone wants to buy a home that costs $300K. Could they sign up for community college, get a student loan for $300K, and use that to buy the home? Would that make more sense in some instances than a mortgage?

Sort of. Get the $300k. Buy a $240k house, buy a Tesla and get $7500 tax credit on the Tesla.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Maybe get a $7500.00 credit



Democrats Obstruct Their Electric Vehicle Push With Surprising Tax Credit Requirements

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...%2B069A5b%2BZ2T4PwaW

Whether wanted by consumers or not, the federal government’s electric vehicle (EV) transition is in full swing, and Democrats hyped the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as an accelerant to this evolution.

Further, gas prices’ continual pounding of people at the pump spurred consumers’ EV interest to 36 percent, according to a 2022 Consumer Report. Thirty-six percent may not sound like much, but it’s a significant increase from 2020’s report, which showed EV interest at four percent.

Still, one of the hurdles to increased EV adoption is price. On July 12, Kelly Blue Book reported that the average cost of an EV was over $66,000. The price for an average gas-powered vehicle was $43,942—a $22,000 difference.

To help combat the above and increase EV adoption, Democrats proposed new EV tax credits in the IRA, and the tax credits went into effect on Aug. 16.

Since the IRA’s passage, however, the particulars of the EV credits have come to light, and some experts are pointing out that the new EV credits exclude lower-priced EVs and could phase out entirely in 2023.

Indeed, economically priced EVs from Toyota and Hyundai are now ineligible for EV tax credits, while Audi’s Q5 PHEV, and BMW’s 330e qualify for up to $7,500—for now.

Why? Democrats tied the EV credits to an “assembled in North America” requirement, and in 2023, that includes the battery.

Assembled in North America
Before the IRA went into effect, there were approximately 72 EVs eligible for a tax credit, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation industry trade group.

Now, just 16 2022 Model Year personal vehicles qualify for the federal tax credit, and only three 2023 models are eligible, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). If you’re looking for a commercial vehicle, two 2022 vehicles qualify.

The average manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $54,897 for the 2022 qualifying base models. That price doesn’t include taxes, fees, or other extra charges, trade-ins, or discounts.

Further, only two base models on the list are below $36,000, five are between $43,000 and $47,650, and the remaining nine are between $51,000 and $87,400.

However, starting in January 2023, zero EVs or PHEVs are eligible for the tax credits, Alliance for Automotive Innovation reports.

“The $7,500 credit might exist on paper, but no vehicles will qualify for this purchase incentive over the next few years. That’s going to be a major setback to our collective target of 40-50 percent electric vehicle sales by 2030.”

In the IRA, Senate Democrats added a $4,000 consumer tax credit for lower- and middle-income individuals to buy used- “clean vehicles” and up to $7,500 tax credit to purchase new “clean vehicles.” The new vehicle credit caps at $150,000 for a single person and $300,000 for a married couple.

Also, starting Jan. 1, 2023, the previous 200,000-car cap disappears, allowing Tesla and GM vehicles to qualify for a tax credit (they’d previously sold over 200,000 vehicles and met the limit).


The IRA’s $7,500 tax credit might sound great if you’re planning to purchase an EV. But, the IRA’s North America assembly stipulation means most previously qualifying EVs are now ineligible.

Additional provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. They include the requirement that EV battery components contain a certain percentage of minerals from North America or a country with a free trade agreement with the United States.

Plus, most of the battery must be manufactured or assembled in North America.

“That’s going to be a huge burden and hurdle to overcome. We don’t have the mining, we don’t have the critical minerals that are needed in North America or from our free trade partners, and almost 90% of the refining is done in China,” Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research, told NPR.

Domestic Manufacturing Push
On Feb. 22, the Biden Administration admitted that the United States increasingly depends on China to refine “cobalt, lithium, rare earth, and other critical minerals” for EV batteries. China controls about three-quarters of the market.

According to Biden, that reliance constitutes a “national and economic security” threat. To combat it, he released a statement saying that the United States would expand domestic production and transition away from its reliance on China.

Additionally, on July 28, 2021, Biden released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which directed a change to the Buy American statute.

“The Buy American statute says products bought with taxpayer dollars must ‘substantially all’ be made in the U.S. However, today, products could qualify if just 55 percent … of the value of their component parts was manufactured here. The NPRM proposes an immediate increase of the threshold to 60 percent and a phased increase to 75 percent.”

The above EV tax credit requirements in the IRA are part of Biden’s domestic manufacturing push.

Indeed, Biden stated that the IRA will “Support American workers with targeted tax incentives aimed at manufacturing U.S.-sourced products such as batteries, solar, and offshore wind components, and technologies for carbon capture systems.”

Still, John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, stated: “We share the goal of increased domestic capacity and supply, but the requirements ought to be an inducement to industrial base change—not unattainable and punitive to consumers.

He added: “A more gradual phase in of the battery component, critical mineral and final assembly requirements—that better reflect current geopolitical, sourcing and mineral extraction realities—will preserve the credit for millions of Americans and keep the country focused on building domestic supply chains able to support our electrified transportation future.”

Bozzella emphasized that while the push to reduce the United States’ reliance on China is important, neither the United States nor its allies are currently capable of meeting demand.

If Democrats and the Biden administration insist on maintaining the EV tax credit requirements, it could severely impact the 2030 40-50 percent electric vehicle sales goal, Bozzella concludes.

Bozzella’s point is weighty when considering the Consumer Reports survey, which found that half of the people queried reported being unaware of federal and state tax incentives. Consumer Reports noted that awareness of this benefit “might sway someone to make an EV purchase.”

https://www.foxnews.com/media/...gence-advisory-board

MSNBC pundit who claimed Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation tapped for Intelligence Advisory Board

President Biden on Friday announced his intent to appoint MSNBC analyst Jeremy Bash, who insisted Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop was Russian disinformation, to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

The authenticity of Biden's laptop has since been verified by numerous news organizations, but Bash was among more than 50 former intelligence officials who previously signed a letter dismissing it as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The letter was widely spread in the media despite there being no evidence to substantiate their claims.

Bash, who is a former Central Intelligence Agency chief of staff in addition to his role as an MSNBC pundit, signed the October 2020 letter that attempted to downplay the scandal before Election Day.

"Perhaps most important, each of us believes deeply that American citizens should determine the outcome of elections, not foreign governments," Bash and the other officials wrote in the letter. "All of us agree with the founding fathers’ concern about the damage that foreign interference in our politics can do to our democracy."

"It is for all these reasons that we write to say that the arrival on the US political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his time serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation," they continued.

Bash and the other former officials conceded that they did "not know if the emails… are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement" but still said that they were "deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case."

The letter caught on like wildfire online, with several members of the Biden administration amplifying it, including Biden’s eventual first press secretary, Jen Psaki. Joe Biden himself even worked to discredit reports swirling about his son's laptop.

Bash also dismissed the laptop as Russian disinformation on a variety of MSNBC programs, including "The Rachel Maddow Show."

Now Bash has been awarded with a spot on Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board, in news that was flagged by the Washington Examiner.

MSNBC did not immediately respond when asked if his role at the network will continue.

Administration urges borrowers to seek refunds for student loan payments made prior to forgiveness

https://justthenews.com/govern..._campaign=newsletter

The Biden administration is encouraging Americans to seek refunds for the student loan payments they made during the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the announcement of the president's new student loan forgiveness program.

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is also encouraging her constituents who continued to make student loan payments throughout the pandemic to contact their loan servicer for refunds so those payments can be covered by Biden's forgiveness plan.

The federal government website Studentaid.gov contains a section titled "Refunds during pause." According to the website, "You can get a refund for any payment (including auto-debit payments) you make during the payment pause (beginning March 13, 2020). Contact your loan servicer to request that your payment be refunded." The same webpage contains a link to the details of Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which he announced last week.

"If you received a Federal Pell Grant, you may be able to get up to $20,000 of your federal student loans canceled based on your income," the website reads. "Other borrowers may be eligible for $10,000 in loan cancellation based on income."

Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal proponent of canceling all student debt. On Sunday, she wrote on social media to inform her constituents that they could "request a refund for federal loan payments made since March 2020." She emphasized that the eligibility for refunds includes "people who just learned that they will get their loan cancelled (through the Biden administration's cancellation, PSLF, PSLF waiver or IDR waiver)." Ocasio-Cortez said qualified applicants should receive their refunds in 6-12 weeks.

The message appears to be spreading on social media.

"Today I went through my paperwork, called Great Lakes, and they approved my refund of $10k!!!" wrote one user named Caitlyn Bidwell on Twitter on Monday. "If you paid back/paid off federal student loans since March 13th, 2020, it’s SO worth the call."

Another user wrote: "Wait I paid off my student loans during the pandemic pause... Like 14k... Is it true that I can really get a 10k refund and apply for loan forgiveness??? Pinch me."

Twitter user Charlotte West said she received a refund from her servicer for the payments she made during the pandemic even though her loan was already paid off when she requested the refund.

"I finally paid off my student loans in fall 2020, about $9K in total, in one lump sum," she wrote. "But any payments you made since 3/13/2020 can be refunded. Anticipating forgiveness, I called a few months ago and even though I had paid off my loan they sent me a refund check."

The press secretary for Strike Debt, Braxton Brewington, told his Twitter followers that student loan payments made during the pandemic belong to them now.

"Cannot stress this enough," he wrote. "Federal student debt payments have been paused since March 2020. If you made any payments since then, YOU CAN REQUEST A REFUND through your student loan servicer. That money—quite literally—belongs to you," he wrote.

On Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez vowed to keep pushing for more student loan forgiveness.

"I am very grateful for this watershed moment of a first step - it is encouraging, thrilling, and has already changed SO many people's lives," she wrote. "But I am also thinking about how this still leaves a question mark for those in the highest amounts of debt, who need the most amount of help. So let's celebrate and keep going."

She credited student debt cancellation activists for influencing the Biden administration, writing: "Remember that the Biden administration didn't want to do this *at all.* It was YOUR pushing, YOUR pressure, YOUR organizing that got them to this point. They have forgiven far, far more debt for business owners in the form of PPP who didn't need to meet ANY sort of income requirements or means testing for almost $1 TRILLION in forgiveness."

Critics of Biden's student loan forgiveness plan argue that it's unfair to graduates who budgeted to pay their loans off. Ocasio-Cortez pushed back on that argument.

"If a person is blessed enough to be in a position to have paid off their loans, maybe they have a home now and benefitted from first time homeowners programs that people crushed by student loans help subsidize when they aren't able to buy a home because of student debt," she wrote. "It's all comes around. It's okay. We can support things we won't directly benefit from."

Ocasio-Cortez said government programs do not need to help everyone.

"People with apartments pay for first time homeowner benefits," she wrote. "Young people pay for Medicare for our seniors. People who take public transit pay for car infrastructure. Maybe student loan forgiveness doesn't impact you. That doesn't make it bad."

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...as-resigned-n2612407

A top FBI agent at the Washington field office reportedly resigned from his post last week after facing intense scrutiny over allegations he helped shield Hunter Biden from criminal investigations into his laptop and business dealings.

Timothy Thibault, an FBI assistant special agent in charge, was allegedly forced out after he was accused of political bias in his handling of probes involving President Biden’s son, sources told the Washington Times on Monday.

The agent was escorted out of the field office by at least two “headquarters-looking types” last Friday, the sources said.

Thibault and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on Monday.

Thibault, a 25-year-veteran, had already been on leave for a month after the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), started raising concerns about whistleblower claims the FBI had obstructed its own investigations into the first son.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Richard Pilger is director of the election crimes branch within the FBI’s public integrity section

must be a small group

Whistleblowers allege that Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault disregarded agency guidelines requiring substantial factual predication to trigger investigations, while declining to move forward with other investigations despite proper predication. Thibault and Richard Pilger reportedly were instrumental in the opening of an investigation into the Trump campaign and its associates based in substantial part on information from left-aligned organization. Thibault allegedly scrubbed and diluted details of the sources’ political bias from a memo seeking the full investigation, which was ultimately approved by FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Whistleblowers further allege that Thibault and other FBI officials sought to falsely portray as disinformation evidence acquired from multiple sources that provided the FBI derogatory information related to Hunter Biden’s financial and foreign business activities, even though some of that information had already been or could be verified. In August of 2020, FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment, which was used by a team of agents at FBI headquarters to improperly discredit and falsely claim that derogatory information about Biden’s activities was disinformation, causing investigative activity and sourcing to be shut down.

https://iowatorch.com/2022/07/...standard-at-doj-fbi/