On Thursday, the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/warrant-and-complaint-seek-seizure-all-iranian-gasoil-aboard-four-tankers-headed">announced</a> it had discovered a scheme involving multiple parties affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in which Iranian oil was covertly shipped to Venezuela, enabling the IRGC to reap profits from petroleum sales that “support the IRGC’s full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad.”
The DOJ named “all petroleum-product cargo aboard the Bella with international maritime organization (IMO) number 9208124, the Bering with IMO number 9149225, the Pandi with IMO number 9105073, and the Luna with IMO number 9208100,” saying it was subject to forfeiture based on the terrorism forfeiture statute.
The DOJ continued, “There are approximately 302,502 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Bella, approximately 302,522 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Bering, approximately 259,700 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Luna, and approximately 298,484 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Pandi. United States District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a warrant to seize all Iranian gasoline on these four vessels, based on a probable cause showing of forfeitability. The warrant commands the property to be brought to the sole jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”
The DOJ noted, “A warrant for arrest and civil forfeiture complaint are merely allegations. The burden to prove forfeitability in a civil forfeiture proceeding is upon the government. Funds successfully forfeited based on terrorism authorities are in part directed to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.”
In January, after the U.S. killed IRGC commander Qassim Suleimani, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps&#8217; Aerospace Force, <a href="https://www.memri.org/tv/irgc-aerospace-force-commander-gen-hajizadeh-killing-trump-esper-attack-american-bases-not-enough-avenge-soleimani/transcript">said</a>, as translated by MEMRI, &#8220;Even if we attack every U.S. base, kill Trump, and kill his Secretary of Defense [Mark Esper], this would not be enough to avenge the blood of Hajj Qasem (Soleimani.) The blood vengeance for Hajj Qasem should take the form of expelling America&#8217;s evil from the region. We should cleanse the region of their accursed presence,” as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irgc-commander-killing-trump-secretary-esper-attacking-all-u-s-bases-not-enough-for-revenge?%3Futm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dwtwitter">The Daily Wire</a> reported.
Hajizadeh said that it will &#8220;absolutely&#8221; happen, adding, &#8220;[Trump] cannot threaten the Iranian people, who sacrificed 300,000 martyrs. Who the hell is he to threaten us? He must order many coffins for his soldiers before making any threats.&#8221;
MEMRI reported that General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, IRGC Deputy Commander for Coordination, <a href="https://www.memri.org/tv/irgc-dep-com-gen-naqdi-muslim-youth-pull-american-ebmassies-bases-hang-blindfold-trees/transcript">said</a>, &#8220;As a result of this event, the U.S. is not safe anywhere in the world – not only in Iran and Iraq, but in the other Islamic countries as well. America has no security anymore. Many young people now have the motivation to attack it. Until now, they would live their lives, and pass right next to America&#8217;s nest of spies [embassy] in their country. Starting tomorrow, or even today, they will view this nest of spies differently. They will view the people who come and go there in a different way. The Americans will bring the situation to a point&#8230; The pressure America exerts on the Islamic nation will lead the peoples of the Islamic countries to pull them out of their nests of spies and their military bases&#8230; I can see that day&#8230; They will pull them out and hang them blindfolded from the trees in their cities.&#8221;
The State Department released a <a href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/286410.pdf">comprehensive report</a> titled, “Outlaw Regime: A Chronicle of Iran’s Destructive Activities.” In it, the State Department asserted:
<blockquote>The policy President Trump has laid out comes to terms fully with the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state. Normal states do not attack embassies and military installations in peacetime; fuel terrorist proxies and militias; serve as a sanctuary for terrorists; call for the destruction of Israel and threaten other countries; aid brutal dictators such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; proliferate missile technology to dangerous proxies; conduct covert assassinations in other countries; and hold hostage citizens of foreign nations. Normal states do not support terrorism within their armed forces, as Iran has done with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Qods Force.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Iranâs fuel shipments to Venezuela

DOJ Announces Discovery Of Plot Funding Iranian Terrorist Organization

Department of Justice

Iran

Terrorism

Venezuela

The Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, as unconstitutional after Congress effectively cut out the individual mandate.
The DOJ filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing that since Congress negated the penalty for not having health insurance, the law can no longer be justified under the legislature’s power to tax. In 2017, Congress passed a Republican-led tax bill that gutted the ACA’s individual mandate, reducing it to 0% of a person’s income. The new rule took effect last year.
“The entire ACA thus must fall with the individual mandate,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco wrote in the DOJ brief, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-to-invalidate-affordable-care-act-11593148136">The Wall Street Journal</a>. “The individual mandate is no longer a valid exercise of Congress’s legislative authority in light of Congress’s elimination of the penalty for noncompliance.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/62520-3">statement</a> slamming the Trump administration’s move, highlighting the political danger of President Trump attacking Obamacare amid a pandemic and months before he is up for reelection.
“President Trump and the Republicans’ campaign to rip away the protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the coronavirus crisis is an act of unfathomable cruelty,” Pelosi said on Thursday. “If President Trump gets his way, 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will lose the ACA’s lifesaving protections and 23 million Americans will lose their health coverage entirely. There is no legal justification and no moral excuse for the Trump Administration’s disastrous efforts to take away Americans’ health care.”
Former President Obama with a Democratic-controlled Congress passed his signature piece of legislation in 2010. The GOP tried and failed to repeal and replace Obamacare in 2017, but lawmakers attached a provision to a tax cut bill later in the year that effectively stripped the ACA of the mandate.
A group of 20 GOP state officials sued the federal government in February 2018 for the courts to strike down the law as unconstitutional. Democratic officials in 17 other states responded in a court filing arguing to keep the law in place. The Trump administration has sided with the plaintiffs against itself. A federal court in Texas sided with the GOP, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, one of the Democratic officials fighting to keep the ACA, issued a statement Thursday responding to the Justice Department’s filing.
“Now is not the time to rip away our best tool to address very real and very deadly health disparities in our communities,” Becerra said, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/obamacare-trump-administration-supreme-court.html">The New York Times</a>. “This fight comes at the most crucial time. The death toll from the coronavirus today is greater than the death toll of the Vietnam War.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump

Trump Again Targets Obamacare, Asks SCOTUS To Strike It Down

Donald Trump

Obamacare

An additional page of notes believed to be written by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok pertaining to former national security adviser Michael Flynn have been found by prosecutors.
The notes were mentioned by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin in a new court filing, though the notes themselves were not included in the filing. Journalist John Solomon <a href="https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/breaking-doj-reveals-discovery-new-strzok-notes-flynn">reported</a> on his website Just the News that the notes from Strzok were believed to have been written in early January, before the FBI spoke to Flynn and accused him of lying.
&#8220;This page of notes was taken by former Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. While the page itself is undated; we believe that the notes were taken in early January 2017, possibly between January 3 and January 5,&#8221; Sherwin wrote in his court filing to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who has refused to dismiss charges against Flynn even though the U.S. Department of Justice <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-doj-dropping-criminal-case-against-michael-flynn">dropped its case</a> against Flynn. An appeals court on Wednesday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-appeals-court-orders-judge-to-drop-charges-against-michael-flynn">ordered</a> Sullivan to drop the charges against Flynn.
“A source directly familiar with the discovery of the document told Just the News they include one paragraph of notes believed to be taken around Jan. 4, 2017, the date Strzok relayed a request from FBI leadership to the lead agent in the Flynn case asking him not to shut down the investigation as had been planned. The notes are ‘highly exculpatory,’ the source said, declining to describe them more fully because they are under seal,” Solomon reported.
As Solomon wrote, the FBI had concluded there was “no derogatory” information found to charge Flynn with a crime after the former Trump adviser was investigated for five months. When the FBI agent in charge of the probe recommended it be closed, Strzok jumped in to save it.
“Strzok relayed a message from the ‘7th floor’ leadership of the FBI to hold off closing the case, leading to a controversial decision to seek an interview with Flynn that eventually led to criminal charges and a plea deal,” Solomon reported.
Documents unsealed earlier this year included notes written by former FBI general counsel James A. Baker questioned why Flynn was being interviewed when the probe was about to be shut down. Baker asked if the Flynn interview was about “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, fired FBI director James Comey admitted that the FBI interview with Flynn didn’t follow standard protocol. The FBI knew what Flynn discussed with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, yet they brought him in for questioning anyway. The FBI had a transcript of Flynn’s phone call; Flynn did not. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI but has since tried to rescind that plea. Others who have lied to the FBI, such as former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, were never charged.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Peter Strzok

Justice Department Finds New Notes From Peter Strzok Regarding Michael Flynn Believed To Be ‘Highly Exculpatory’

Michael Flynn

The Department of Justice is prepping legislation to roll back protections for big tech companies and make them more accountable for content posted on their sites.
The DOJ is expected to introduce a bill to Congress as soon as Wednesday targeting tech companies and social media platforms’ protections under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230">Section 230</a> of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tech-230/u-s-justice-department-to-propose-rolling-back-protections-for-big-tech-idUSKBN23O29D">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Section 230 protects a wide variety of web services, platforms, and content providers from liability for outside content that passes through their servers. The law, passed in the early days of the internet, is a key legal protection for large social media platforms and internet search engines. Any change in the law&#8217;s protections could drastically affect the way those companies operate.
To a lesser extent, the law also protects media outlets from liability for comments posted on their articles. Section 230 also provides a wide degree of latitude to all internet companies to police content posted on their sites.
President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-taking-action-on-social-media-bias-we-cant-let-this-continue-to-happen">signed</a> an executive order last month ordering the Federal Communications Commission to review the law amid allegations from conservatives that powerful tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google are unfairly censoring conservative viewpoints under the guise of combating racism, sexism, and other forms of so-called hate speech.
A small number of web platforms “have had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens or large public audiences,” Trump said while signing the order. “There’s no precedent in American history for so small a number of corporations to control so large a sphere of human interaction, and that includes individual people controlling vast amounts of territory, and we can’t allow that to happen, especially when they go about doing what they’re doing, because they’re doing things incorrectly.”
On Tuesday, GOP lawmakers, conservative pundits, and others accused Google of overstepping its bounds and flagrant hypocrisy for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-threatens-to-ban-the-federalist-from-ad-platform-for-comment-section-violations">threatening</a> to cut off advertising revenue to the conservative news and opinion site The Federalist. The tech giant said the conservative website violated Google’s rules against “inappropriate behavior” in the media site’s comment section. The Federalist responded by deleting its comment section entirely.
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cruz-unloads-on-google-over-debacle-in-failed-nbc-news-hit-on-the-federalist-gets-ag-barr-involved">responded</a> to Google’s threat in a letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
“Google’s decision to target The Federalist is transparently politically motivated. Numerous ‘progressive’ media outlets allow comments, including, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Wonkette, Slate, Jezebel, The Root, Salon, The Intercept, The Young Turks, and many others,” Cruz wrote. “I don’t know what the objectionable comments were that individual users might have posted on The Federalist, but any objective review would no doubt demonstrate at least as many profane, racist, or indefensible user comments on these other sites that would equally violate Google’s alleged standards.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Facebook, Twitter, Google

BREAKING: U.S. Justice Department To Propose Rolling Back Protections For Big Tech

Censorship

Congress

Technology

The Justice Department has scheduled new dates for the federal government to resume executions of death-row inmates after a 17-year hiatus.
Attorney General William Barr has ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions, beginning in mid-July, of four inmates convicted of killing children, according to The <a href="https://apnews.com/7833e9e01505af4c60a7f7632f75abbe">Associated Press</a>.
&#8220;The American people, acting through Congress and Presidents of both political parties, have long instructed that defendants convicted of the most heinous crimes should be subject to a sentence of death,” Barr said in a statement. “The four murderers whose executions are scheduled today have received full and fair proceedings under our Constitution and laws. We owe it to the victims of these horrific crimes, and to the families left behind, to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”
The Justice Department earlier scheduled five executions set to begin in December, but some of death-row inmates challenged the orders, arguing the federal government was seeking an end run around the law to execute inmates quickly.
In July 2019, Barr ordered the federal government to resume the death penalty and directed the Bureau of Prisons “to schedule the executions of five death-row inmates convicted of murdering, and in some cases torturing and raping, the most vulnerable in our society — children and the elderly.”
“Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people’s representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President,” Barr said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-government-resume-capital-punishment-after-nearly-two-decade-lapse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a>.  “Under Administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals, including these five murderers, each of whom was convicted by a jury of his peers after a full and fair proceeding.  The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”
The four set for execution are below, along with the Justice Departments descriptions about them:
<ul>
<li>Daniel Lewis Lee, a member of a white supremacist group, murdered a family of three, including an eight-year-old girl. After robbing and shooting the victims with a stun gun, Lee covered their heads with plastic bags, sealed the bags with duct tape, weighed down each victim with rocks, and threw the family of three into the Illinois bayou. On May 4, 1999, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found Lee guilty of numerous offenses, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and he was sentenced to death. Lee’s execution is scheduled to occur on Dec. 9, 2019.</li>
<li>Lezmond Mitchell stabbed to death a 63-year-old grandmother and forced her nine-year-old granddaughter to sit beside her lifeless body for a 30 to 40-mile drive. Mitchell then slit the girl’s throat twice, crushed her head with 20-pound rocks, and severed and buried both victims’ heads and hands. On May 8, 2003, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona found Mitchell guilty of numerous offenses, including first degree murder, felony murder, and carjacking resulting in murder, and he was sentenced to death. Mitchell’s execution is scheduled to occur on Dec. 11, 2019.</li>
<li>Wesley Ira Purkey violently raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl, and then dismembered, burned, and dumped the young girl’s body in a septic pond. He also was convicted in state court for using a claw hammer to bludgeon to death an 80-year-old woman who suffered from polio and walked with a cane. On Nov. 5, 2003, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found Purkey guilty of kidnapping a child resulting in the child’s death, and he was sentenced to death. Purkey’s execution is scheduled to occur on Dec. 13, 2019.</li>
<li>Dustin Lee Honken shot and killed five people — two men who planned to testify against him and a single, working mother and her 10-year-old and six-year-old daughters. On Oct. 14, 2004, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa found Honken guilty of numerous offenses, including five counts of murder during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise, and he was sentenced to death. Honken’s execution is scheduled to occur on Jan. 15, 2020.</li>
</ul>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

Electric Chair in Holman Prison

Justice Department Sets Execution Dates For Federal Death Row Inmates After 17-Year Hiatus

William Barr

The years-long case against former Trump national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn continues despite the Department of Justice announcing weeks ago that it wants it thrown it — but the end is near.
Keeping the case alive is Federal District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who has refused the Justice Department&#8217;s request to immediately dismiss the case, instead deciding to first reexamine the case with the help of retired judge John Gleeson. But the standoff between the Justice Department and Sullivan appears to be coming to a head, both filing directly conflicting motions on Monday to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has since announced that it will be holding oral arguments next week.
On May 21, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals took the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/d-c-court-of-appeals-takes-extraordinary-measure-in-flynn-case-orders-judge-to-respond-to-dismissal-request">&#8220;extraordinary&#8221; measure</a> of ordering Sullivan to respond by June 1 to Flynn&#8217;s petition to drop the charges against him after the Justice Department submitted a motion to throw out the case. The DOJ made the decision after newly disclosed evidence came to light indicating that the FBI set a &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ag-barr-fbi-tried-to-trap-flynn-i-believe-comey-was-driving-it-was-part-of-pattern-against-trump">perjury trap</a>&#8221; for Flynn, as Attorney General William Barr put it, and determining that Flynn&#8217;s statement was &#8220;immaterial&#8221; because the entire case was flawed.
Sullivan&#8217;s motion, filed Monday by the high-powered attorney Sullivan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flynn-judge-retains-d-c-attorney-to-justify-decision-to-keep-case-open-report-says">hired</a> shortly after the court&#8217;s order, asked the D.C. Court of Appeals not to force the judge to dismiss the case yet. Sullivan&#8217;s attorney, Beth Wilkinson, argued in the motion that the judge should have more time to determine whether to dismiss the case.
&#8220;If Judge Sullivan&#8217;s decision is anything short of what the parties sought, this court will have a chance to review it, without writing on a blank slate,&#8221; said Wilkinson, as reported by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/new-filing-justice-department-pushes-end-flynn-case-n1221411">NBC News</a>. &#8220;There is no reason for this court to enter the fray now.&#8221;
On the same day Sullivan filed his motion, the Justice Department submitted a separate motion arguing that Sullivan simply &#8220;has no authority&#8221; to do what he&#8217;s doing. The decision to prosecute a case, the Justice Department maintains, is up to prosecutors, not judges like Sullivan. Attempting to play the role of a prosecutor, the motion argues, demonstrates &#8220;a disturbing lack of appreciation of the court&#8217;s limited role.&#8221;
A day after the submission of the dueling motions, the D.C. Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/dc-circuit-sets-oral-argument-date-to-review-judge-sullivans-refusal-to-immediately-close-michael-flynns-case/2020/06/02/1d1a6690-a522-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html">announced</a> that it will hold oral arguments next week over Sullivan’s refusal to dismiss the case.
The Justice Department filed a motion on May 7 to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-doj-just-dropped-its-case-against-flynn-here-are-some-of-the-key-moments">dismiss</a> the case against Flynn &#8220;after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.&#8221; While Flynn initially admitted to lying to FBI agents about his contact with a Russian ambassador, he moved to withdraw his plea. After a review of the case turned up evidence that the FBI&#8217;s investigation into Flynn was conducted on what the DOJ determined to be unjust grounds, Barr concluded that Flynn’s statements did not have a &#8220;material impact&#8221; on broader investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election.
The case against Flynn was &#8220;one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller,&#8221; as the Associated Press framed it. Mueller&#8217;s exhaustive, two-year investigation concluded that there was no substantive evidence of any &#8220;collusion&#8221; between the Trump campaign and Russia.
This article has been revised for clarity.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Mike Flynn

Flynn Case Comes To A Head: Judge Asks Court For More Time; DOJ: You Don’t Have The Authority

Russia

President Donald Trump announced late on Wednesday afternoon that he directed the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate the death of George Floyd after Floyd died in police custody earlier this week.
&#8220;At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd,&#8221; Trump wrote on Twitter. &#8220;I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement. My heart goes out to George’s family and friends. Justice will be served!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#8230;.I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement. My heart goes out to George’s family and friends. Justice will be served!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1265774770877902848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Floyd, 46, died on Monday after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by law enforcement officers in an incident that sparked widespread outrage after video of the incident went viral on social media.
&#8220;The arrest of Mr. Floyd took place on Monday evening. The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement that officers had responded to a call about a man suspected of forgery,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/us/george-floyd-minneapolis-death.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The police said the man was found sitting on top of a blue car and &#8216;appeared to be under the influence.'&#8221;
The Times added that videos that surfaced online of the incident did not show what happened prior to the police officers pinning Floyd on the ground.
The Minneapolis Police Department identified the four police officers involved in the arrest as Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on Tuesday that all four police officers were fired.
&#8220;Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated,&#8221; Frey wrote in a tweet. &#8220;This is the right call.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated.
This is the right call.
&mdash; Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorFrey/status/1265359374010273792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Star Tribune <a href="https://www.startribune.com/protests-continue-in-minneapolis-and-oakdale-with-looting-reported-at-lake-street-target/570816112/">reported</a> that protesters responded to the incident by allegedly rioting and looting local stores.
&#8220;Protesters, including some apparent looters, kept up their presence outside Minneapolis’ Third Precinct police headquarters Wednesday night, some of them throwing rocks and bottles at police,&#8221; The Star Tribune reported. &#8220;At the nearby Lake Street Target store, looters were seen leaving the store with items that included large TVs. No police officers were there as of 6:45 p.m.&#8221;
Attorney Ben Crump was retained by the family and released the following statement: &#8220;We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police officer to take him into the police car and get off his neck. This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police questioning about a non-violent charge. We will seek justice for the family of George Floyd, as we demand answers from the Minnesota Police Department. How many &#8216;while black&#8217; deaths will it take until the racial profiling and undervaluing of black lives by police finally ends?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MEDIA ALERT: I have been retained to represent the family of George Floyd, the man killed by Minneapolis Police on May 25. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForFloyd?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForFloyd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICantBreathe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ICantBreathe</a> <a href="https://t.co/OkQeBwIlf1">pic.twitter.com/OkQeBwIlf1</a>
&mdash; Benjamin Crump, Esq. (@AttorneyCrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1265303494086582272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump Participates In Signing Ceremony For H.R. 2, Agriculture Improvement Act Of 2018

‘Justice Will Be Served!’: Trump Announces He Has Directed FBI, DOJ To Investigate Death Of George Floyd

George Floyd

The Department of Justice has closed insider trading investigations into three of four United States senators who made major stock trades in the period of time between the coronavirus outbreak spreading through Wuhan, China, and the American economy tanking. 
According to The Wall Street Journal, federal prosecutors informed Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), James Inhofe (R-OK) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) that the investigation into their financial trades would be closing. 
Loeffler, who is running for Senate against Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA), praised the development as a “clear exoneration,” calling the criticism of her stock activities a “politically-motivated attack promoted by the fake news media and my political opponents.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today’s clear exoneration affirms what I’ve said all along: I did nothing wrong.
This was a politically-motivated attack promoted by the fake news media and my political opponents. I’m continuing to focus my full attention on results for Georgia. <a href="https://t.co/F9vdoypIvd">https://t.co/F9vdoypIvd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gapol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#gapol</a>
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLoeffler/status/1265390782082473984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
Inhofe made a statement to <a href="https://oklahoman.com/article/5663204/inhofe-says-justice-department-has-cleared-him-in-stock-sale-inquiry">The Oklahoman</a> on Tuesday afternoon indicating that he had been cleared, a conclusion to the investigation that he long anticipated. 
“As I’ve said all along, I wasn’t even at the briefing and do not make my own stock trades,” Inhofe told the news agency. “I did nothing wrong, and I’m pleased the Justice Department has exonerated me.”
The Journal reports that a spokesperson for Senator Feinstein did not have an “immediate comment.” When the first reports on the stock trading emerged, Feinstein <a href="https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/1241010796496330752">maintained</a> that she keeps her assets in a blind trust and doesn’t have any input in her husband’s financial decisions, which are also reported to the Senate under U.S. law. 
However, officials &#8220;familiar with the matter&#8221; told The Journal that the investigation into Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will continue. 
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-senate-intelligence-chairman-steps-away-from-role-amidst-stock-trade-investigation">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported, Burr stepped down as chairman of the intelligence committee after his phone was taken by federal agents who served him with a warrant. He told reporters that he was stepping down as a temporary measure, so as to not distract from the “hard work of the committee.”
Information about Burr’s stock activities was unearthed in late March by <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/senator-dumped-up-to-1-7-million-of-stock-after-reassuring-public-about-coronavirus-preparedness">ProPublica</a>, which reported that the senator and his wife “sold off a significant percentage of his stocks” over the course of 33 transactions in a single day. The trades amounted to between $628,000 and $1.72 million, reports the news agency.
Burr has <a href="https://apnews.com/27957dd84cbfaba7c8c26cd354711956">denied wrongdoing</a>, and maintains that his financial decisions were based on publicly available information. The Journal reports that Burr’s actions could be protected under the Constitution, citing a former federal prosecutor who specializes in public corruption cases. 
“Insider-trading cases are often based on the use of inside information obtained through corporate channels,” Justin Shur, the prosecutor, told The Journal. “The allegations here, however, are based on the use of information obtained through legislative channels.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump Joins GOP Senators At Policy Luncheon On Capitol Hill

Report: Feds Drop Pre-Lockdown Insider Trading Investigation For Three Of Four U.S. Senators

Dianne Feinstein

James Inhofe

Kelly Loeffler

Richard Burr

Federal law enforcement officials arrested Chinese national Muge Ma, 36, who goes by the name Hummer Mars, on Thursday for allegedly trying to steal $20 million from U.S. taxpayers that was intended to help American businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/chinese-national-arrested-20-million-scheme-fraudulently-obtain-loans-intended-help">said</a> in a statement announcing the charges:
<blockquote>In connection with loan applications for relief available from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) Program, MA falsely represented to the SBA and five financial institutions that his companies, New York International Capital LLC (“NYIC”) and Hurley Human Resources LLC (“Hurley”), had hundreds of employees and paid millions of dollars in wages to those employees, when, in fact, MA appears to have been the only employee of his companies. MA’s company NYIC also fraudulently represented that it was representing New York State in procuring COVID-19 test kits and personal protective equipment to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.</blockquote>
&#8220;There are many people in desperate need of federal money right now to get them through an unbelievably difficult time,&#8221; FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr said. &#8220;The last thing they need to hear is that a fraudster allegedly tried to steal millions of dollars for his own selfish use. We hope this serves as a demonstration to other criminals plotting a similar scam – we are acting and investigating in real time to stop anyone using this crisis as a means to rip off the federal government and the tax payers who fund that government.&#8221;
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said Ma&#8217;s &#8220;alleged attempts to secure funds earmarked for legitimate small businesses in dire financial straits are as audacious as they are callous, and now he now faces federal prosecution.&#8221;
From March through May, Ma allegedly &#8220;applied to the SBA and at least five banks for a total of over $20 million in Government-guaranteed loans for his companies,&#8221; charging documents unsealed in federal court stated. Ma allegedly claimed that he &#8220;had hundreds of employees and paid millions of dollars in wages to those employees on a monthly basis,&#8221; when in fact he &#8220;appears to have been the only employee of&#8221; the different companies that he claimed he owned.
Charging documents said that Ma submitted numerous fraudulent and doctored financial records in an attempt to received the funds and also falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen said: “As many American businesses are struggling to survive during these difficult times, it is alleged that Mr. Ma sought to steal millions of dollars in loans intended to assist legitimate businesses. Make no mistake about it, IRS-CI is committed to investigating and bringing to justice those individuals who defraud coronavirus relief programs.”
Ma was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, multiple counts of making false statements, and major fraud against the United States, and, if convicted of all charges, faces well over 100 years in prison.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-ILLUSTRATION

Chinese National Arrested For Trying To Steal $20 Million In Coronavirus Relief Funds, Feds Say

China

Coronavirus

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice fired off a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000172-3334-d930-a77f-b3b7e1a50000">letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom</a> warning him that his executive orders are being unfair to religious gatherings, saying the DOJ is concerned about civil rights violations.
The letter started by stating, “We are writing to you to raise several civil rights concerns with the treatment of places of worship in Executive Orders N-33-20 and N-60-20 and documents relating to the California Reopening Plan.”
The letter referenced Attorney General William P. Barr’s recent remarks in which he noted, “even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. Thus, government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity.”
The DOJ wrote, “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Laws that do not treat religious activities equally with comparable nonreligious activities are subject to heightened scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment … Laws that are not both neutral toward religion and generally applicable are invalid unless the government can prove that they further a compelling interest and are pursued through the least restrictive means possible. Religious gatherings may not be singled out for unequal treatment compared to other nonreligious gatherings that have the same effect on the government’s public health interest, absent the most compelling reasons.”
The letter mentioned Newsom’s Executive Order N-33-20, which gave the Public Health Officer the power to decide wha t were authorized necessary activities, then added, “The Public Health Officer’s April 28 ‘essential workforce’ list does not appear to treat religious activities and comparable nonreligious activities the same. The list includes ‘faith-based services’ but only if ‘provided through streaming or other technologies.’ In-person religious services are thus apparently prohibited even if they adhere to social distancing standards.”
After listing nonreligious workers who are not so restricted by the Executive Order, the letter continued, “This facially discriminates against religious exercise. California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden, regardless of whether remote worship is practical or not.”
Referencing California’s Reopening Plan, the letter noted, “Places of worship are not permitted to hold religious worship services until Stage 3. However, in Stage 2, schools, restaurants, factories, offices, shopping malls, swap meets, and others are permitted to operate with social distancing. And as noted, ecommerce and entertainment industry activities are already permitted with social distancing. This constitutes precisely the kind of differential treatment the Supreme Court identified in the Lukumidecision in which the government is not willing to impose on certain activities the same restrictions it is willing to impose on constitutionally protected religious worship.”
The letter concluded, “Religion and religious worship continue to be central to the lives of millions of Americans. This is true now more than ever. Religious communities have rallied to protect their communities from the spread of this disease by making services available online, in parking lots, or outdoors, by indoor services with a majority of pews empty, and in numerous other creative ways that otherwise comply with social distancing and sanitation guidelines. We believe, for the reasons outlined above, that the Constitution calls for California to do more to accommodate religious worship, including in Stage 2 of the Reopening Plan.”
The letter was signed by Eric S. Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division; McGregor W. Scott, United States Attorney Eastern District of California; Nicola T. Hanna, United States Attorney Central District of California; David L. Anderson, United States Attorney Northern District of California, and Robert S. Brewer, United States Attorney Southern District of California.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/05/19/justice-department-tells-california-to-reopen-churches-1284597">Politico</a> reported that attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who has led the legal challenges to California’s ban on church services, said, “Literally, this country was founded on the concept that the king cannot tell the peasants how they may worship. Gov. Newsom may not tell people of faith that they can only worship in their homes.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Protesters Rally In San Francisco To Open Up State

DOJ Warns CA Gov. Newsom: Stop Discriminating Against Religious Gatherings

freedom of religion

Gavin Newsom

The Department of Justice warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom that he was at risk of discriminating against religious groups with his state&#8217;s reopening strategy.
DOJ assistant attorney general Eric Dreiband sent a letter to Newsom on Tuesday saying that California has treated religious groups unfairly during its coronavirus lockdown, and that the state’s reopening strategy threatens to make that discrimination worse, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-19/trump-justice-dept-accuses-california-of-violating-religious-rights-with-coronavirus-restrictions">Los Angeles Times</a>.
Dreiband said that Newsom’s stay-at-home order exempted some businesses and industries “regardless of whether the product they are selling and shipping are life-preserving products or not,” but the order bans church services and other religious gatherings. In Newsom’s reopening plans, restaraunts, shopping malls, and offices are allowed to open in phase 2, but houses of worship are not allowed to open until phase 3.
“This facially discriminates against religious exercise,” Dreiband wrote. “California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden, regardless of whether remote worship is practical or not.”
The letter pointed out that many houses of worship across the country are implementing their own social distancing procedures, such as holding drive-through services.
“Religious communities have rallied to protect their communities from the spread of this disease by making services available online, in parking lots, or outdoors, by indoor services with a majority of pews empty, and in numerous other creative ways that otherwise comply with social distancing and sanitation guidelines,” Dreiband continued.
“Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Dreiband said. “The Constitution calls for California to do more to accommodate religious worship, including in stage 2 of the reopening plan.”
Newsom said on Monday that the state would begin lifting its ban on religious gatherings after certain benchmarks in controlling the spread of the virus, testing, and available hospital capacity are met, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/05/19/justice-department-tells-california-to-reopen-churches-1284597">Politico</a>.
“I want to just express my deep admiration to the faith community and the need and desire to know when their congregants can once again start coming back to the pews, coming back together,&#8221; Newsom said.
On Tuesday, two GOP lawmakers introduced a bill to the state legislature that would strip the governor of some of his emergency powers, according to The <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/doj-warns-california-church-closures-may-violate-religious-freedoms-in-letter-to-newsom/">Associated Press</a>. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley said that Newsom was using his office’s emergency powers to “remake all of California law indefinitely.”
San Francisco attorney Harmeet Dhillon is handling several lawsuits filed against Newsom over his executive orders&#8217; impact on religious services. Dhillon is representing plaintiffs in at least 10 lawsuits <a href="https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2020/05/california-shutdown-lawsuits-newsom-dhillon-coronavirus-shelter-in-place-executive-orders/">against</a> the state over the governor’s shutdown order on canceled weddings, closed businesses, and restrictions on religious activity.
“Literally, this country was founded on the concept that the king cannot tell the peasants how they may worship,” Dhillon told Politico. “Gov. Newsom may not tell people of faith that they can only worship in their homes.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

DOJ Says Newsom’s Lockdown ‘Discriminates Against Religious Exercise’

First Amendment

On Monday, Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray slammed Apple for refusing to help them unlock the iPhones of the terrorist who launched a deadly terror attack at a Florida naval base last December. The two men announced that after they finally unlocked the phones, cellphone evidence showed the terrorist who launched the attack had been in contact with al Qaeda operatives for years.
The assailant, a Saudi military trainee who opened fire on the Naval Air Base Station in Pensacola and murdered three U.S. sailors while injuring eight other people, possessed iPhones, but in January, when the Department of Justice asked Apple to help unlock the phones, Apple refused.
Barr <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-announces-updates-findings-investigation-december-2019">stated</a>:
<blockquote>Four months ago, I announced that this shooting was an act of terrorism.  I also publicly asked Apple to help us access the locked contents of the two iPhones belonging to the deceased terrorist (assailant’s name). It was clear at that time that the phones were likely to contain valuable information.  Indeed, (assailant) attempted to destroy both phones, even going so far as to disengage from the gunfight long enough to fire a bullet into one.
Within one day of the shootings, the FBI sought and obtained court orders, supported by probable cause, authorizing the FBI to search the contents of both phones as part of its investigation.  The problem was that the phones were locked and the FBI did not have the passwords, so they needed help to get in.  We asked Apple for assistance and so did the President.  Unfortunately, Apple would not help us unlock the phones.  Apple had deliberately designed them so that only the user — in this case, the terrorist — could gain access to their contents.
Today, I am pleased to announce that, thanks to the relentless efforts and ingenuity of FBI technicians, the FBI finally succeeded in unlocking (assailant’s) phones.  The phones contained information previously unknown to us that definitively establishes (assailant’s) significant ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States.  We now have a clearer understanding of (assailant’s) associations and activities in the years, months, and days leading up to the attack.</blockquote>
Barr continued:
<blockquote>While the FBI’s hard work has led to an important breakthrough in this case that should be celebrated, I must also express my great disappointment that it took over four months and large sums of taxpayer dollars to obtain evidence that should be easily and quickly accessible with a court order.
Apple made a business and marketing decision to design its phones in such a way that only the user can unlock the contents no matter the circumstances.  In cases like this, where the user is a terrorist, or in other cases, where the user is a violent criminal, human trafficker, or child predator, Apple’s decision has dangerous consequences for public safety and national security and is, in my judgment, unacceptable.
Apple’s desire to provide privacy for its customers is understandable, but not at all costs.  Under our nation’s long-established constitutional principles, where a court authorizes a search for evidence of a crime, an individual’s privacy interests must yield to the broader needs of public safety.  There is no reason why companies like Apple cannot design their consumer products and apps to allow for court-authorized access by law enforcement while maintaining very high standards of data security.  Striking this balance should not be left to corporate boardrooms.  It is a decision to be made by the American people through their representatives.</blockquote>
Wray added, “The evidence we&#8217;ve been able to develop in from the killer&#8217;s devices shows the Pensacola attack was the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation my a longtime AQAP associate.” AQAP refers to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and has “long been considered the global network&#8217;s most dangerous branch and has attempted to carry out attacks on the US mainland,” the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8331475/FBI-finds-evidence-al-Qaeda-tie-2019-Florida-naval-base-shooting-NYT.html">Daily Mail</a> reported.
Wray added that the difficulty FBI technicians had in unlocking the phones was “hard to overstate.” He said, “We received effectively no help from Apple. We canvassed every partner and company out there that may have had a solution, but none did, so we did it ourselves. Unfortunately, the technique that we developed is not a fix for our broader Apple problem &#8211; but it has made a huge difference in this investigation. While we&#8217;re thanking FBI technicians, we should also be thinking about the cost of all that work. Public servants already swamped with important things to do to protect the American people had to spend all that time just to access evidence that we had court-authorized search warrants for months ago.&#8221;
Wray continued by noting the delay in unlocking the phones “seriously hampered this investigation. Finally getting our hands on the evidence (the assailant) tried to keep from us is great &#8211; but we really needed it months ago, back in December.” He theorized that contacts of the assailant now had months to “concoct and compare stories with co-conspirators, destroy evidence, and disappear. As a result, there&#8217;s a lot we can&#8217;t do at this point that we could have done months ago.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Attorney General William Barr And FBI Director Christopher Wray Announce Crime Reduction Initiative In Detroit

Pensacola Terrorist’s Phone Showed Connections To Al Qaeda. DOJ, FBI, Slam Apple For Refusing To Help Unlock It.

Apple

Christopher Wray

The United States Department of Justice has reportedly issued grand jury subpoenas to big banks seeking information about how they distributed emergency coronavirus funds that were intended to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic.
Reuters reported that the move was &#8220;part of a broader investigation into potential abuse&#8221; of the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
&#8220;The previously unreported subpoenas issued by the department’s Washington fraud division do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing on the part of the banks, but will compound growing worries among lenders that they risk being swept up in a federal crackdown on Paycheck Protection Program fraud,&#8221; Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-doj-banks/exclusive-u-s-justice-dept-subpoenas-wall-street-banks-for-small-business-loans-info-sources-idUSKBN22R3EZ">reported</a>. &#8220;The Justice Department opened a probe into the program last month and has already brought criminal charges against borrowers it alleges lied about the state of their businesses and numbers of employees.&#8221;
One of the sources that spoke to Reuters suggested that the investigation was also about looking into potential wrongdoing by borrowers.
“The concern we have is that you are going to see all manner of potential fraud,” <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/23/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-warns-us-firms-may-face-probes-over-payroll-loans.html">said</a> Brian Benczkowski, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “There is a potential there will be fraudulent or false statements on the loan applications to the banks. You might see non-existent businesses attempting to dummy up paperwork to see whether or not they can get that through the process at the bank and get access to a loan.”
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

DOJ’s Fraud Division Subpoenas Big Banks In Investigation Into ‘Potential Abuse’ Over PPP Funds Meant For Small Businesses, Report Says

Paycheck Protection Program

The Department of Justice dropped its case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn on May 7 after prosecuting the former national security adviser for nearly 18 months for lying to the FBI.
Attorney General William Barr ended the DOJ&#8217;s pursuit of Flynn after a review of the case turned up evidence that the FBI investigation into Flynn was carried out on unjust grounds, and that Flynn&#8217;s statements did not have a &#8220;material impact&#8221; on the Justice Department&#8217;s investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election.
“It&#8217;s on the question of materiality that we feel really that a crime cannot be established here because there was not, in our view, a legitimate investigation going on,” Barr said in a May 7 interview with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorney-general-william-barr-on-michael-flynn-obamacare-and-coronavirus-restrictions-transcript/">CBS News</a>. “They did not have a basis for a counterintelligence investigation against Flynn at that stage, based on a perfectly legitimate and appropriate call he made as a member of the transition.”
Barr&#8217;s decision to drop the case is the likely end of United States v. Flynn. The following timeline highlights some of the case&#8217;s key moments:
2016
Nov. 18: Trump names retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. Flynn had joined Trump’s campaign in February as an adviser on national security issues.
December: Flynn holds a series of phone calls with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kisilyak. The incoming national security adviser tells Kisilyak that the Trump administration will review sanctions that will soon be placed on Moscow by the Obama administration. The conversation presumably causes Russia to give an uncharacteristically muted response after sanctions are <a href="https://apnews.com/9ccb9a5ab1394a168db8b8362d94790d/US-punishes-Russia-for-hacking-presidential-campaign">announced</a> on Dec. 29.
Unknown to Flynn, U.S. intelligence agencies are spying on Kisilyak and, through the course of that surveillance, gain recordings of the Flynn-Kisilyak phone calls. Those recordings are later used to charge Flynn with lying to the FBI.
2017
Jan. 4: The FBI&#8217;s Washington Field Office prepares to close an investigation into Flynn launched as part of a larger FBI probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, known as Operation Crossfire Hurricane. The field office’s investigation into Flynn, dubbed Crossfire Razor, found “no derogatory information” and drafted a memo to close the case file.
FBI special agent Peter Strzok intervenes before the case is officially closed, texting the FBI case manager on the day the memo to close Crossfire Razor is drafted, “Hey don’t close RAZOR.” Strzok said that FBI leadership are involved in the case and that he needs “to decide what to do with [Flynn with respect to] the [REDACTED].” 
The messages are published in <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/459199066/us-v-flynn">court documents</a> unsealed on April 30, 2020.
Jan. 12: David Ignateus at The Washington Post writes a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-did-obama-dawdle-on-russias-hacking/2017/01/12/75f878a0-d90c-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html">column</a> revealing Flynn spoke to Kisilyak in December and openly speculates whether those phone calls were the reason for Russia&#8217;s response to President Obama&#8217;s sanctions.
Jan. 15: Vice President-elect Mike Pence appears on <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-january-15-2017-pence-manchin-gingrich/">CBS’s Face The Nation</a> and other networks and denies that Flynn spoke with Kisilyak about sanctions on Russia, citing conversations the incoming vice president had with Flynn.
 “[Flynn] had sent a text to the Russian ambassador to express not only Christmas wishes but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. It was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia,” Pence tells host John Dickerson.
  Jan. 24: FBI director James Comey sends two FBI agents, including Strzok, to the White House to interview Flynn about his conversations with Kisilyak. Comey, by his own <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxNhjFrjXqI">admission</a>, skirted normal FBI-White House protocols and communications channels to get the interview. Strzok and the other FBI interviewer have already been briefed on the contents of the Flynn-Kisilyak calls.
After the interview, Strzok and the other FBI interviewer “had the impression at the time that Flynn was not lying or did not think he was lying,” according to an FBI summary of the interview.
FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe was central to setting up the FBI-Flynn interview, urging Flynn in a phone call that morning to meet with the FBI agents without a lawyer. McCabe said that recent leaks about Flynn’s phone calls made the interview necessary and that the fewer people involved, the faster the investigation into Russian election meddling could move on, according to December 2018 court <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.56.0_1.pdf">filings</a>.
McCabe and others made the decision not to warn Flynn that lying to the FBI is a crime. They “wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport,” according to FBI documents.
Feb. 13: Flynn resigns as national security adviser, admitting that he misled Pence about the full extent of the conversations with Kisilyak.
“I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology,” Flynn writes in his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/flynn-resignation-ltr.pdf">resignation letter</a>.
May 17: Robert Mueller is appointed as special counsel and takes over the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Dec. 1: Mueller’s team charges Flynn with lying to the FBI. Flynn pleads guilty and faces up to five years in prison. According to the charging documents, Flynn’s “false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI&#8217;s ongoing investigation into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the [Trump] Campaign and Russia&#8217;s efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.”
Flynn begins cooperating with federal investigators on the Russia probe and other DOJ investigations.
2019
April 18: Attorney General Barr releases a redacted version of the Mueller report, which says in part, “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” 
May 29: Mueller announces an end to his investigation and closes the special counsel’s office. Brandon Van Grack, who served as Mueller’s senior assistant special counsel, takes over the Flynn case from Mueller.
June 6: Flynn fires his legal team at Covington &amp; Burling.
June 12: Flynn hires attorney Sydney Powell, an outspoken critic of the Mueller investigation. Powell starts aggressively defending Flynn, and Flynn’s cooperative relationship with federal investigators begins to break down.
Aug. 30: Powell accuses Van Grack’s team of violating her client’s civil rights and withholding exculpatory evidence in violation of the Brady rule. Powell demands the DOJ turn over more documents such as unredacted texts between Strzok and DOJ attorney Lisa Page and summaries on FBI interviews with DOJ official Bruce Ohr.
Oct. 1: Van Grack <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.122.0_3.pdf">insists</a> the government has turned all relevant materials and calls Powell’s accusations “an effort by the defendant to have his case dismissed.”
“Since the beginning of their involvement, the defendant’s new counsel, have sought to get the charges dropped, professed their client’s actual innocence, and perpetuated conspiracy theories, all while stating that the defendant does not intend to withdraw his guilty plea,” the prosecution writes.
 2020
Jan. 14: Flynn files a<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.151.0_1.pdf"> motion</a> to withdraw his guilty plea. 
Feb. 14: Barr taps U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jeff Jensen, to work alongside Van Grack and review Flynn’s case.
April 29: Unsealed <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/459057200/doc-188">court documents</a> reveal handwritten notes <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-flynn-fbi-handwritten-notes-get-him-lie-fired">reportedly</a> made by FBI&#8217;s former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap. The notes, purportedly written by Priestap after a meeting with Comey and McCabe, suggest that the FBI intended to set a trap for Flynn. 
“What’s our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” the notes say.
“I don&#8217;t see how getting someone to admit their wrongdoing is going easy on him,” the notes continue. “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DOJ + have them decide.”
April 30: Strzok’s messages to keep the FBI investigation into Flynn open past Jan. 4 are published in more unsealed court documents. 
May 7: DOJ drops its case against Flynn.
“The Government has determined, pursuant to the Principles of Federal Prosecution and based on an extensive review and careful consideration of the circumstances, that continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice,” the <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.198.0_6.pdf">filing</a> says. 
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn

The DOJ Just Dropped Its Case Against Flynn. Here Are Some Of The Key Moments

Barack Obama

Obama Administration

Former President Barack Obama said on Friday that he was &#8220;worried&#8221; by the Department of Justice&#8217;s (DOJ) decision to drop the charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn this week after Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorney-general-william-barr-on-michael-flynn-obamacare-and-coronavirus-restrictions-transcript/">said</a> that &#8220;there was not a legitimate counterintelligence investigation going on.&#8221;
“The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed — about the Justice Department dropping charges against Michael Flynn,” Obama said. “And the fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly as we’ve seen in other places.”
Obama&#8217;s comments are misleading because former FBI Director <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/05/18/comeys-claim-he-didnt-tell-congress-that-fbi-agents-thought-flynn-was-not-intentionally-lying/">James Comey</a> and former FBI Deputy Director <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/386323-house-intel-report-comey-mccabe-testified-that-the-two-agents-who">Andrew McCabe</a> had said that the agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe that Flynn had lied.
“So I am hoping that all of you feel the same sense of urgency that I do,” Obama continued. “Whenever I campaign, I’ve always said, ‘Ah, this is the most important election.’ Especially obviously when I was on the ballot, that always feels like it&#8217;s the most important election. This one — I’m not on the ballot — but I am pretty darn invested. We got to make this happen.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Exclusive: Obama, in private talk with ex-aides, says &quot;the rule of law is at risk&quot; in Flynn case and calls Trump response to pandemic an &quot;absolute chaotic disaster.&quot; Listen to the tape: <a href="https://t.co/HUOXFvPI1m">https://t.co/HUOXFvPI1m</a>
&mdash; Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/Isikoff/status/1258939051798921218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Documents that were unsealed on Friday showed that Obama knew about the FBI&#8217;s wiretapping of Flynn&#8217;s phone calls.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-knew-details-of-wiretapped-flynn-phone-calls-surprising-top-doj-official-new-docs-show">reported</a>:
<blockquote>President Obama was aware of the details of then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn&#8217;s intercepted December 2016 phone calls with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, apparently surprising then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, according to documents released Thursday as exhibits to the government&#8217;s motion to dismiss the Flynn case.
Obama&#8217;s unexpectedly intimate knowledge of the details of Flynn&#8217;s calls, which the FBI acknowledged at the time were not criminal or even improper, raised eyebrows because of his own history with Flynn &#8212; and because top FBI officials secretly discussed whether their goal was to &#8220;get [Flynn] fired&#8221; when they interviewed him in the White House on January 24, 2017.
Obama personally had warned the Trump administration against hiring Flynn, and made clear he was &#8220;not a fan,&#8221; according to multiple officials. Obama had fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014; Obama cited insubordination, while Flynn asserted he was pushed out for his aggressive stance on combating lslamic extremism.</blockquote>
Obama&#8217;s remarks came after Comey appeared to try to undermine the legitimacy of the DOJ on Friday, writing on Twitter, &#8220;The DOJ has lost its way. But, career people: please stay because America needs you. The country is hungry for honest, competent leadership.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The DOJ has lost its way. But, career people: please stay because America needs you. The country is hungry for honest, competent leadership.
&mdash; James Comey (@Comey) <a href="https://twitter.com/Comey/status/1258483360957116417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Barr <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorney-general-william-barr-on-michael-flynn-obamacare-and-coronavirus-restrictions-transcript/">said</a> in an interview with CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge that he believed the injustice against Flynn &#8220;came from the seventh floor&#8221; and further clarified his remark, saying, &#8220;I believe it&#8217;s Director Comey and the deputy&#8217;s office.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Barack And Michelle Obama Speak At Obama Foundation Summit

Obama ‘Worried’ That Flynn Cleared By DOJ Over Illegitimate Investigation: ‘Rule Of Law Is At Risk’

Justice Department prosecutor Brandon Van Grack withdrew from his position as federal counsel on a handful of court cases after allegedly withholding potentially exonerating evidence from the trial of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Van Grack, who worked on ex-special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, withdrew from <a href="https://twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1258451997935747073">at least</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hsu_spencer/status/1258447513553682434">three</a> cases on Thursday, the most conspicuous being the DOJ prosecution of Flynn, a former adviser to President Trump. The DOJ did not state a reason in the filings for Van Grack’s withdrawals, and a department spokeswoman declined to comment after an inquiry by The Daily Wire.
Soon After Van Grack withdrew from Flynn’s case, the DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-doj-dropping-criminal-case-against-michael-flynn">filed</a> to dismiss the case. Because Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017, the case remains active pending a decision from D.C. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. Flynn’s defense team moved to withdraw his guilty plea on Jan. 31, asserting that he did not lie to the FBI.
Van Grack’s filings and the DOJ motion to dismiss the case came weeks after unsealed FBI documents showed that agents had strategized whether a Jan. 24, 2017, interview with Flynn was about “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” After the interview, the FBI went on to accuse Flynn of violating the Logan Act, a 1799 law that was only <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Logan-Act">used</a> in one indictment before Flynn’s case and was never used in a criminal prosecution.
Van Grack, who heads DOJ&#8217;s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit, had been obligated for over two years before the FBI notes on Flynn’s meeting were unsealed to provide all evidence potentially favorable to Flynn’s defense to the court, even if the prosecutors believe the evidence to not be material. To not do so is a violation of the Brady rule for criminal proceedings.
The prosecution had for months told the court that all so-called exculpatory evidence had been turned over to the court. In an October 2019 filing, Van Grack stated that his team “has complied, and will continue to comply, with its discovery and disclosure obligations, including those imposed pursuant to Brady and the Court’s Standing Order,” according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mueller-prosecutor-removed-from-flynn-case-after-questions-surface-concerning-his-compliance-with-court-order">Fox News</a>.
In light of the new evidence, Van Grack faced a torrent of criticism from Flynn&#8217;s allies and others that the lead prosecutor had hidden evidence favorable to the defendant to help the prosecution, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mueller-prosecutor-brandon-van-grack-withdraws-from-flynn-case-amid-firestorm-of-criticism">The Washington Examiner</a>.
In other FBI documents unsealed last month, former FBI agent and head of counterintelligence Peter Strozk was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/strzok-stopped-bureau-from-ending-flynn-probe-despite-lack-of-derogatory-evidence-unsealed-documents-reveal">revealed</a> to have intervened in the investigation of Flynn to keep it open despite a lack of “derogatory information” on him. On Jan. 4, 2017, the same day FBI investigators moved to stop the inquiry into Flynn, Strozk sent a text to an FBI case manager directing him keep the probe into Flynn open until FBI leadership “decide what to do with him [with respect to] the [REDACTED].”
Strozk was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-embattled-agent-peter-strzok-fired-fbi-emily-zanotti">fired</a> from the FBI in August 2018 after it was revealed he sent a number of anti-Trump texts while working on Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Lead Prosecutor’s Abrupt Withdrawal From Flynn Case Comes After Accusations He Withheld Evidence

The Department of Justice on Thursday announced that it was dropping the criminal case against Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security adviser for President Donald Trump.
Court documents released Thursday, obtained <a href="https://apnews.com/ae1ad252bb13490db2ceffc5d17b6d92">exclusively</a> by The Associated Press, reveal the DOJ decided to drop the case “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.” The court documents further revealed that the DOJ concluded that the ill-fated FBI interview of Flynn on January 24, 2017 was “untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn” and “conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.”
Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney assigned to review Flynn’s case, said in a statement that he had recommended the case be dropped to Attorney General William Barr last week. Jensen formalized the recommendation this week.
“Through the course of my review of General Flynn’s case, I concluded the proper and just course was to dismiss the case,” Jensen said. “I briefed Attorney General Barr on my findings, advised him on these conclusions, and he agreed.”
The move comes just weeks after newly unsealed documents revealed the FBI questioned whether its interview with Flynn was about “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
As Fox News editor Gregg Re previously <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-flynn-fbi-handwritten-notes-get-him-lie-fired">reported</a>, handwritten notes written by former FBI general counsel James A Baker on the day of Flynn’s interview suggested the lieutenant general was not brought in to discuss his phone call with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but was instead being set up to get fired. Flynn made the phone call to Kislyak as part of the Trump transition team after the 2016 election. The phone call was leaked by someone in the Obama administration as part of the effort to claim Trump was working with Russia to undermine America. Former President Barack Obama had fired Flynn from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 and warned the Trump administration against hiring him.
Former FBI Director James Comey <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/comey-admits-decision-to-send-fbi-agents-to-interview-mike-flynn-was-not-standard">even admitted</a> that the interview of Flynn did not follow standard protocol. Flynn was pressured to not have an attorney present for the interview, and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe called the interview “very odd” since “it seemed like [Flynn] was telling the truth.”
Further, the FBI had decided previously that Flynn was not a Russian agent and to drop the investigation into him, but then-FBI special agent Peter Strozk (who was later fired from the FBI for sending text messages suggesting he wanted an “insurance policy” to get rid of Trump) intervened and kept the investigation going.
As the DOJ made clear Thursday, there was never any basis to interview Flynn in the first place. Flynn previously pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, a plea he has since tried to withdraw, as it was revealed FBI agents had a transcript of his phone call and pressed him on specific details he couldn’t recall correctly without his own transcript.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

FLYNNDICATED: DOJ Dropping Criminal Case Against Michael Flynn

On Sunday, the Department of Justice took the side of a Virginia church that is suing Virginia Democrat Governor Ralph Northam because police threatened the church’s pastor with jail time or a substantial fine for holding a service on Palm Sunday that was attended by a mere 16 people.
On April 5, police served Kevin Wilson, the pastor of Lighthouse Fellowship Church on Chincoteague Island, a summons, despite the fact that the 16 people in attendance at the church that holds 293 people were observing social distancing guidelines. “State officials said Wilson and the church violated the Virginia Constitution by breaking state-imposed social distancing restrictions intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-department-virginia-church-suing-northam-coronavirus-pastor-support">Fox News</a> reported.
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, representing the pastor, accused Northam of discriminating against the church and violating the First Amendment.
The DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1273211/download?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>The Commonwealth has not yet responded to Plaintiff’s allegations that it permits non-retail businesses, such as law or accounting offices, to gather in numbers greater than ten so long as they use social distancing. Likewise, the Commonwealth has not yet responded to Plaintiff’s allegations that various comparable secular gatherings are permitted … (It) becomes the Commonwealth’s burden to demonstrate that it has compelling reasons to treat Plaintiff differently than similar non-religious businesses, and that it has pursued its objectives through the least restrictive means. Because the Commonwealth has not yet filed any response, it has not satisfied its burden.
… Similarly, here, the Commonwealth has not explained why it differentiates and “refus[es] to trust” this small congregation’s worship activities that, as alleged, follow social distancing and personal hygiene protocols, while allowing and trusting non-retail businesses to gather more than ten people in such a fashion. As Plaintiff has made an initial showing that the Commonwealth’s executive orders treat religious organizations less favorably than similar secular organizations, and the Commonwealth has not yet carried its strict-scrutiny burden of justifying its differential treatment of religion, the Court should grant Plaintiff’s motion and grant an injunction pending appeal.
… Over the last two months, the governor has issued a series of Executive Orders prohibiting religious gatherings of more than ten people, while permitting secular gatherings of more than ten people to occur under an array of circumstances (collectively, the “Orders”). The Orders, however, permit various secular activities resulting in gatherings of more than ten people, so long as “to the extent possible, [they] adhere to social distancing recommendations, enhanced sanitizing practices on common surfaces, and other appropriate workplace guidance from state and federal authorities while in operation.
… For the reasons set forth below, the United States believes that the church has set forth a strong case that the Orders, by exempting other activities permitting similar opportunities for in-person gatherings of more than ten individuals, while at the same time prohibiting churches from gathering in groups of more than ten—even with social distancing measures and other precautions—has impermissibly interfered with the church’s free exercise of religion. Unless the Commonwealth can prove that its disparate treatment of religious gatherings is justified by a compelling reason and is pursued through the least restrictive means, this disparate treatment violates the Free Exercise Clause, and the Orders may not be enforced against the church.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Virginia Governor Northam Delivers Annual State Of The Commonwealth Address

DOJ Sides With Church Suing Dem VA Gov. Northam After Church Hit With Summons On Palm Sunday

Ralph Northam

Virginia

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn responded with a video on Wednesday to newly unsealed FBI documents that showed that FBI agents discussed if the reason they were interviewing him on January 24, 2017, was to &#8220;get him to lie&#8221; and &#8220;get him fired.&#8221;
The revelation was contained in records that were filed in sealed documents last week by the Department of Justice, which Flynn&#8217;s lawyers said was proof that the former national security advisor was “deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI.”
Flynn, who rarely uses Twitter, posted a video of an American flag flying in the wind immediately following the release of the records. President Donald Trump later retweeted Flynn&#8217;s tweet.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/Q833u4Is8h">pic.twitter.com/Q833u4Is8h</a>
&mdash; General Flynn (@GenFlynn) <a href="https://twitter.com/GenFlynn/status/1255645641105182722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Unsealed handwritten notes from the day of the interview show that an unidentified person with the FBI wrote: “What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FLYNN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FLYNN</a> docs just unsealed, including handwritten notes 1/24/2017 day of Flynn FBI interview. Transcript: “What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Read transcript notes, copy original just filed. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/8oqUok8i7m">pic.twitter.com/8oqUok8i7m</a>
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1255630372412559362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
Fox News Editor Gregg Re <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-flynn-fbi-handwritten-notes-get-him-lie-fired">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The handwritten notes — belonging to former FBI general counsel James A. Baker, Fox News is told — indicated that agents planned to get Flynn “to admit to breaking the Logan Act” and catch him in a lie. The Logan Act is an obscure statute that has never been used in a criminal prosecution; enacted in 1799, it was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States abroad.
The bombshell documents strongly suggested the agents weren’t focused on investigating his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but instead were trying to get him removed. President Obama had personally warned the Trump administration against hiring Flynn, and made clear he was “not a fan.” Obama fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.</blockquote>
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) responded to Flynn&#8217;s tweet by writing: &#8220;As a Military Intelligence Officer at 
@Fort_Huachuca, AZ, then COL Michael Flynn was my 1st Brigade Commander. He was a dedicated leader, teacher, motivator &amp; patriot who loved, mentored &amp; inspired all in our ranks. I was proud to serve w/ him then. I&#8217;d be honored to do so again!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
As a Military Intelligence Officer at <a href="https://twitter.com/Fort_Huachuca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fort_Huachuca</a>, AZ, then COL Michael Flynn was my 1st Brigade Commander. He was a dedicated leader, teacher, motivator &amp; patriot who loved, mentored &amp; inspired all in our ranks. I was proud to serve w/ him then. I&#39;d be honored to do so again! <a href="https://t.co/gt1Z3dsesQ">https://t.co/gt1Z3dsesQ</a>
&mdash; Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepLeeZeldin/status/1255656317718614018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted: &#8220;Bombshell documents reveal General Flynn was set up by the FBI. We must hold the Comey Cabal accountable, including McCabe, Yates, McCord, Strzok, and Pientka!&#8221;
Jonathan Turley, a Democrat Constitutional Law Professor at George Washington University, <a href="http://archive.is/OUXJ9">wrote</a> that &#8220;the reference to the Logan Act&#8221; in the unsealed documents was &#8220;particularly chilling&#8221; because &#8220;it suggests the use of a flagrantly unconstitutional act to trap a top Trump official.&#8221;
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) tweeted: &#8220;Clear now that General Flynn was set up by dirty cops at the highest levels of our government&#8230;&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Clear now that General Flynn was set up by dirty cops at the highest levels of our government&#8230;
&mdash; Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) <a href="https://twitter.com/DevinNunes/status/1255630859484327936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino responded: &#8220;3 things need to happen, STAT! 1) Flynn must be pardoned 2) Comey, McCabe, Yates, McCord, Strzok, &amp; Pientka MUST be investigated for their roles in this scandal. 3) Mueller &amp; Weissmann should be hauled in front of a Senate committee to testify for their role in this abomination.&#8221;
Donald Trump Jr. responded: &#8220;So much this except for point number one. Flynn doesn’t need to be pardoned, he did nothing wrong, he needs to be fully exonerated with all charges dropped immediately!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
So much this except for point number one. Flynn doesn’t need to be pardoned, he did nothing wrong, he needs to be fully exonerated with all charges dropped immediately! <a href="https://t.co/PBi2uHBTBZ">https://t.co/PBi2uHBTBZ</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1255646881297956864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump Attends The White House Senior Staff Swearing In

Michael Flynn Responds To Bombshell Unsealed FBI Notes With Video

Newly unsealed court records on Wednesday showed that the FBI considered using their January 24, 2017, interview with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn as a way of getting Flynn fired from his job.
The revelation was contained in sealed documents filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week that lawyers for Flynn said was proof that Flynn was “deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI.”
Unsealed handwritten notes from the day of the interview show that an unidentified person with the FBI wrote: “What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
Fox News Editor Gregg Re <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-flynn-fbi-handwritten-notes-get-him-lie-fired">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The handwritten notes &#8212; belonging to former FBI general counsel James A. Baker, Fox News is told &#8212; indicated that agents planned to get Flynn “to admit to breaking the Logan Act” and catch him in a lie. The Logan Act is an obscure statute that has never been used in a criminal prosecution; enacted in 1799, it was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States abroad.
The bombshell documents strongly suggested the agents weren&#8217;t focused on investigating his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but instead were trying to get him removed. President Obama had personally warned the Trump administration against hiring Flynn, and made clear he was &#8220;not a fan.&#8221; Obama fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.</blockquote>
CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge highlighted additional communications that were unsealed by the DOJ, writing: &#8220;FLYNN docs just unsealed, including emails between former FBI agent Strzok, former FBI lawyer Page and name REDACTED. Timing: Day before Flynn FBI interview 1/24/2017 Discuss how to warn Flynn lying to federal agents violation 18 USC 1001 — &#8216;casually slip that in'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FLYNN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FLYNN</a> docs just unsealed, including emails between former FBI agent Strzok, former FBI lawyer Page and name REDACTED. Timing: Day before Flynn FBI interview 1/24/2017 Discuss how to warn Flynn lying to federal agents violation 18 USC 1001 — “casually slip that in” <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/83u6gasnfy">pic.twitter.com/83u6gasnfy</a>
&mdash; Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1255649442977517568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fox News further <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/comey-admits-decision-to-send-fbi-agents-to-interview-mike-flynn-was-not-standard">noted</a> the former FBI Director James Comey admitted that the FBI&#8217;s interview of Flynn, which was his directive, did not follow standard protocol. Flynn <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/flynn-says-fbi-advised-him-against-having-lawyer-present-during-questioning-that-led-to-false-statements-charge">said</a> that the FBI allegedly had pressed him to not have a lawyer present for the interview. Then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mccabe-reveals-the-one-thing-that-stands-out-from-his-fateful-call-with-flynn">said</a> that the interview was &#8220;very odd&#8221; because &#8220;it seemed like [Flynn] was telling the truth.&#8221;
One of the two agents who conducted Flynn&#8217;s interview, which ultimately led to him being charged with lying to the FBI, was Peter Strzok, who was later fired after numerous anti-Trump text messages from him surfaced.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨🚨 DEVELOPING… 
Unsealed FBI notes reveal the intent of the FBI’s 1/24/17 interview of Flynn: 
“What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute [Flynn] or get him fired?”
FBI Notes confirm it was all a pretext. <a href="https://t.co/Y4IDyE4YZm">pic.twitter.com/Y4IDyE4YZm</a>
&mdash; Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) <a href="https://twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1255627278249349122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Comey also said that FBI agents did not believe that Flynn had lied to them.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/05/18/comeys-claim-he-didnt-tell-congress-that-fbi-agents-thought-flynn-was-not-intentionally-lying/">reported</a> the following in a May 2018 fact-check:
<blockquote>In a letter dated May 11 to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) quoted from notes taken by a “career, nonpartisan law enforcement officer” who attended a March 15, 2017, briefing by Comey. The agent quoted Comey as saying the FBI agents “saw nothing that led them to believe [he was] lying.” Grassley also quoted from committee staff notes that “agents saw no change in his demeanor or tone that would say he was being untruthful.”
The majority report of the House Intelligence Committee includes a finding that FBI agents “did not detect any deception during Flynn’s interview.” As evidence, the report quotes Comey from a private briefing on March 2, 2017: “the agents … discerned no physical indications of deception. They didn’t see any change in posture, in tone, in inflection, in eye contact. They saw nothing that indicated to them that he knew he was lying to them.”</blockquote>
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