64.1 F
New York
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
type here...
Home Blog Page 1992

Leaked Dossier On Chinese Bat Virus Program in Wuhan Lab: Evidence Destroyed

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

Here are key findings from the 15-page report compiled by Western governments known as the ‘Five Eyes,’ according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency’’ that cost tens of thousands of lives, according to a dossier prepared by concerned Western governments on the COVID-19 contagion- Daily Telegraph

Leaked dossier compiled by Western intelligence agencies concludes that China lied and deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence during the crucial early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, and notes that Chinese researchers have been experimenting with – and creating – deadly bat coronaviruses., Zero Hedge reported

The paper obtained by The Saturday Telegraph speaks about “the suppression and destruction of evidence” and points to “virus samples ordered destroyed at genomics labs, wildlife market stalls bleached, the genome sequence not shared publicly, the Shanghai lab closure for ‘rectification’, academic articles subjected to prior review by the Ministry of Science and Technology and data on asymptomatic ‘silent carriers’ kept secret”. Daily Telegraph

While the leaked dossier does not reach a conclusion whether COVID-19 is of natural origin or engineered, it includes a February 6 study from the South China University of Technology which suggested “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.

The paper was withdrawn due to what its lead author said was a lack of direct evidence, however the dossier notes that scholar Yanzhong Huang said on March 5 “No scientists have confirmed or refuted the paper’s findings.”

That said, the Telegraph notes that the official US position is that the virus was not engineered, but that it escaped from either the Wuhan Institute of Virology or the Chinese CDC, which is located roughly 900 feet from the Wuhan wet market from which a cluster of early cases emerged.  TJV has highlighted the findings of rofessor Luc Montagnier, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2008, who claims the virus was manipulated for AIDS research

While the international scientific consensus is that COVID-19 wasn’t manmade, the Western intelligence dossier highlights research by scientists Shi Zhengli and her protégé Peng Zhou, who worked on bat virus  were modifying bat coronavirus to test its transmissibility to other species.

It notes a 2013 study conducted by a team of researchers, including Dr Shi, who collected a sample of horseshoe bat feces from a cave in Yunnan province, China, which was later found to contain a virus 96.2 per cent identical to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused COVID-19.

The research dossier also references work done by the team to synthesise SARS-like coronaviruses, to analyse whether they could be transmissible from bats to mammals. This means they were altering parts of the virus to test whether it was transmissible to different species. –Daily Telegraph

A November 2015 study from Zhengli and her team in conjunction with the University of North Carolina concluded that the SARS-like coronavirus could jump directly from bats to humans, and there is currently no cure or treatment.

The Western dossier notes from the study: “To examine the emergence potential (that is, the potential to infect humans) of circulating bat CoVs, we built a chimeric virus encoding a novel, zoonotic CoV spike protein — from the RsSHCO14-CoV sequence that was isolated from Chinese horseshoe bats — in the context of the SARS-CoV mouse-adapted backbone.”

“This virus is highly pathogenic and treatments developed against the original SARS virus in 2002 and the ZMapp drugs used to fight ebola fail to neutralise and control this particular virus,” said North Carolina University Professor Ralph Baric, a co-author on the 2015 paper.

A few years later, in March 2019, Dr Shi and her team, including Peng Zhou, who worked in Australia for five years, published a review ­titled Bat Coronaviruses in China in the medical journal Viruses, where they wrote that they “aim to predict virus hot spots and their cross-species transmission potential”, describing it as a matter of “urgency to study bat corona­viruses in China to understand their potential of causing another outbreak. Their review stated: “It is highly likely that future SARS or MERS like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China.”

The report notes that Dr. Shi’s research continues to this day, telling Scientific American “Bat-borne coronaviruses will cause more outbreaks … We must find them before they find us.”

S0 the report will not go as far as to say it was man-made, however there is documented reference to a study that believes it was made in a lab and references 3 actual research experiments by Shi Zhengli and her protégé Peng Zhby, who were looking at bat virus .

“Millions of people leave Wuhan after the outbreak and before Beijing locks down the city on January 23,” reads the dossier. “Thousands fly overseas. Throughout February, Beijing presses the US, Italy, India, Australia, Southeast Asian neighbors and others not to protect themselves via travel restrictions, even as the PRC imposes severe restrictions at home.

The Telegraph notes the case of Huang Yan Ling, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who is rumored to be “patient zero” after having been the first to be diagnosed with the disease.

Then came her reported disappearance, with her biography and image deleted from the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s website. On February 16 the institute denied she was ­patient zero and said she was alive and well, but there has been no proof of life since then, fanning speculation. –Daily Telegraph

Kim Reappears in Public, Ending Absence amid Health Rumors

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

By KIM TONG-HYUNG (AP)

 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media said Saturday, ending an absence that had triggered global rumors that he may be seriously ill.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, reported that Kim attended the ceremony Friday in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.

State media showed videos and photos of Kim wearing a black Mao suit and constantly smiling, walking around facilities, applauding, cutting a huge red ribbon with a scissor handed by his sister, and smoking inside and outside of buildings while talking with other officials.

Seemingly thousands of workers, many of them masked, stood in lines at the massive complex, roaring in celebration and releasing balloons into the air. A sign installed on a stage where Kim sat with other senior officials read: “Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory; Completion Ceremony; May 1, 2020.”

There was no definite sign that Kim was in discomfort, although there were moments where his walking looked a bit stiff. He was shown moving without a walking stick, like the one he used in 2014 when he was recovering from a presumed ankle surgery. However, he was also seen riding a green electric cart, which appeared similar to a vehicle he used in 2014.

It was Kim’s first public appearance since April 11, when he presided over a ruling Workers’ Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus and reappoint his sister as an alternate member of the powerful decision-making Political Bureau of the party’s Central Committee. That move confirmed her substantial role in the government.

North Korea has said it hasn’t had a single virus case, but the claim is questioned by many outside experts.

It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused Kim’s absence.

Speculation about his health swirled after he missed the April 15 birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the country’s most important holiday, for the first time since taking power in 2011.

The possibility of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of the secretive, nuclear-armed country that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the U.S. mainland while diplomacy between Kim and President Donald Trump has stalled.

Some experts say South Korea, as well as its regional neighbors and ally Washington, must begin preparing for the possible chaos that could come if Kim is sidelined by health problems or even dies. Worst-case scenarios include North Korean refugees flooding South Korea or China, or military hard-liners letting loose nuclear weapons.

“The world is largely unprepared for instability in North Korea,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Washington, Seoul and Tokyo need tighter coordination on contingency plans, while international organizations need more resources and less controversy over the role of China.”

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, confirmed Kim’s visit to the fertilizer factory and said it was part of his efforts to emphasize economic development. The ministry called for discretion on information related to North Korea, saying that the “groundless” rumors of past weeks have caused “unnecessary confusion and cost” for South Korea’s society and financial markets.

South Korea’s government, which has a mixed record of tracking Pyongyang’s ruling elite, repeatedly downplayed speculation that Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor health following surgery.

The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said it detected no unusual signs in North Korea or any emergency reaction by its ruling party, military or Cabinet. Seoul said it believed Kim was still managing state affairs but staying at an unspecified location outside Pyongyang, the capital.

The KCNA report said workers at the fertilizer factory broke into “thunderous cheers” for Kim, who it said is guiding the nation in a struggle to build a self-reliant economy in the face of a “head wind” by “hostile forces.”

The report didn’t mention any direct comment toward Washington or Seoul.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump declined to comment about Kim’s reappearance but said he would “have something to say about it at the appropriate time.”

During his nearly three-week absence, state media reported that Kim was carrying out routine activities outside public view, such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa, and expressing gratitude to workers building tourist facilities in the coastal town of Wonsan, where some speculated he was staying.

Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said the video footage of Kim suggested that he is recovering from some sort of medical setback that affected his walking, possibly related to his ankle.

In 2014, Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. South Korea’s spy agency said at the time that he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

Analysts say Kim’s health could become an increasing factor in years ahead: He’s overweight, smokes and drinks, and has a family history of heart issues.

If he’s suddenly unable to rule, some analysts have said his sister, believed to be around four years younger than her brother, would be installed as leader to continue Pyongyang’s heredity dynasty that began after World War II.

But others question whether core members of North Korea’s elite, mostly men in their 60s or 70s, would be able to accept a young and untested female leader who lacks military credentials. Some predict a collective leadership or violent power struggles.

Following an unusually provocative run in missile and nuclear tests in 2017, Kim used the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to initiate negotiations with Washington and Seoul later that year. That led to a surprising series of summits, with Kim and Trump meeting three times

But negotiations have faltered in recent months over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps, raising doubts about whether Kim would ever fully deal away an arsenal he likely sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

Kim entered 2020 vowing to build up his nuclear stockpile and defeat sanctions through economic “self-reliance.” Some experts say the North’s self-imposed lockdown amid the coronavirus crisis could potentially hamper his ability to mobilize people for labor.

Trump Praise of ‘Tormented’ Flynn Raises Pardon Speculation

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

By ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN

 President Donald Trump voiced strong support Thursday for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, raising speculation that a pardon may be coming after Flynn’s lawyers disclosed internal FBI documents they claim show the FBI tried to “intentionally frame” him.

Trump said he believes Flynn should now be cleared in court, but if that doesn’t happen, he as president has “a different type of power.”

“It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “I’m not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don’t know that anybody would have to use that power. I think he’s exonerated.”

Trump has long said he is considering pardoning Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The president spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning retweeting supportive statements of Flynn and condemned the FBI’s investigation into his onetime adviser

“They came at him with 15 buses and he’s standing in the middle of the highway. What they did to this man,” Trump said at an earlier event at the White House, without specifying what he meant. “They tormented him. They destroyed him. But he’s going to come back.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called into Fox News Channel to react to the release of the FBI documents, saying, “If true, it is extremely troubling.”

“If all this proves to be true, you will have, certainly, a major, major error on the part of top leadership at the FBI, which could well warrant additional charges against them,” he said.

Lawyers for Flynn over the last two days released a series of internal correspondence obtained through a Justice Department review of the handling of the case. They contend the documents bolster their allegations that Flynn was set up to lie when he was questioned at the White House three years ago, and show that agents were prepared to drop an investigation into him just weeks before they set out to question him.

Still, the documents don’t directly address the central allegation in the case — that Flynn lied to the FBI. It’s also unclear how much significance they will carry with the judge, who has already publicly scolded Flynn and rejected many defense allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. The judge, Emmet Sullivan, has not ruled on Flynn’s request to withdraw his guilty plea.

Among the documents is a redacted internal memo from Jan. 4, 2017, saying the FBI was closing out its investigation into whether a subject with the code name of Crossfire Razor was an agent of a foreign power or acting under the direction of Russia. The subject is described as a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser who traveled to Russia in 2015.

Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell confirmed Thursday that Crossfire Razor was Flynn.

But about two weeks later, according to the documents, case agent Peter Strzok told a colleague not to close the case and to “pls keep it open for now.” In communication with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who expressed surprise the case was still open, Strzok responded, “Yeah, our utter incompetence actually helps us.”

Strzok and Page have attracted Trump’s derision for exchanging derogatory texts about him during the 2016 campaign. Both have since left the FBI.

By later in the month, the FBI determined they wanted to interview Flynn about conversations he had during the presidential transition period with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in which the men discussed sanctions recently imposed on Russia over election interference.

Agents questioned Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017, when the FBI says he lied about the Kislyak conversations. He later acknowledged misleading federal agents and, at his sentencing hearing a year later, did not contest the way he was interviewed.

But Flynn’s attorneys point to the newly disclosed documents to suggest the FBI had no basis to question Flynn and had already been prepared to close an investigation into him.

“The revelations of corruption by the FBI to intentionally frame Gen Flynn for crimes the FBI manufactured piles on with each new production of documents,” Powell wrote in a statement.

A federal prosecutor from Missouri is reviewing the Justice Department’s handling of the case at the direction of Attorney General William Barr. The department said the documents were provided as part of that review.

Trump Works to Disrupt Iranian Weapons Smuggling Operation With New Sanctions

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0
President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

  (Washington Free Beacon)

The Trump administration on Friday issued new sanctions to disrupt a weapons smuggling operation run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country’s elite military group.

The new sanctions target Amir Dianat, “a longtime associate of senior officials” of the IRGC, according to the Treasury Department. Dianat is accused of running “efforts to generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad.”

Sanctions also have been levied on Taif Mining Services, a company run by Dianat that the Treasury Department says violated “sanctions and money laundering laws.” A concurrent criminal lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia alleging “that approximately $12 million is subject to forfeiture as funds involved in these crimes and as assets of a foreign terrorist organization.”

The sanctions are part of the latest effort by the Trump administration to “enforce and expand” its maximum pressure campaign on Iran, as the Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this week. More sanctions are likely to be issued as the administration works at the United Nations to ensure an embargo on Iran’s purchase of advanced military equipment is not lifted later this year.

“The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States remains committed to working with financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and international partners to facilitate humanitarian trade and assistance to the Iranian people.”

Information provided by the Treasury Department indicates that Dianat and his company worked with IRGC officials to ship weapons and missiles across the region. The IRGC’s Quds Force “relied on Dianat to secure entry for vessels carrying IRGC-QF shipments and has used his business connections to facilitate logistics requirements.” This includes shipping weapons to Yemen, where Iranian-backed terror forces are stationed.

The Trump administration issued similar sanctions in late 2019 on an Iranian shipping network that smuggled “lethal aid from Iran to Yemen” on behalf of the IRGC. Earlier this year, the administration designated 20 Iran- and Iraq-based companies for their work with the IRGC.

Exclusive Interview with Renowned Coronavirus Researcher Dr. Camillo Ricordi

By
Administrator
-
1

by Lieba Nesis

Having the opportunity to speak with Dr. Camillo Ricordi, one of the foremost experts on stem cell research, was nothing short of extraordinary. The 63-year-old scientist is director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami. While his specialty is pancreatic islet transplantation for Type 1 Diabetes, when coronavirus came calling he sprung into action. Since January he has been working 16 hours a day 7 days a week to help his colleagues in China, Italy and the US battle the deadly affliction. He is now conducting a clinical trial with 24 patients to test the efficacy of stem cells in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The cells which are injected directly into the lung hone in on the injury and inflammation producing an army of 200 million cells to fight the complications of the illness. Here are excerpts of my conversation with this heroic doctor who is on the front lines of this drudgerous battle.

I began by asking Ricordi if he was caught unawares by the virus: to which he responded there were simulations and warnings from individuals such as Bill Gates since 2014. However, he acknowledged until you get hit you don’t think it’s real. Ricordi believes the virus emanated from a Wuhan lab  which the NY Post and Newsweek  claim was financially backed by the NIH, the CDC and the WHO, with Dr. Fauci contributing $7.4 million to the Wuhan Virology Lab. Ricordi cited the position of 200 scientists who had expressed concern of potentiating virus research in bats due to the possibility of a catastrophic leak. Ricordi is in agreement with Nobel Prize Winner Luc Montagnier’s assertion that the virus was engineered by inserting genes from HIV into the coronavirus in a misfired bid to find an AIDS vaccine. The bat which has a high number and rate of virus mutations was the perfect medium for creating a marginally lethal, yet highly contagious disease. With the viruses’ high level of changeability Ricordi was dubious as to whether the precise source of origination would ever be discovered. He also expressed concern as to the efficacy of a vaccine, since it might protect against COVID-19 but be ineffectual when a different strain called COVID-20 and 21 appeared.

One of the tricks to fighting this disease is building a strong immune system through an anti-inflammatory diet and supplements such as Vitamin C, D, Omega 3, Zinc and Resveratrol, according to Ricordi. While he is optimistic the disease will diminish during the summer months, he is equally confident a second and stronger wave will hit in the winter if lockdown procedures are relaxed-akin to what has occurred in Japan where a second state of emergency was declared on April 6th. Ricordi mentioned that China destroyed a paper proving the virus was engineered replacing it with documentation confirming natural origin leading him to conclude the disease was in fact manipulated. Ricordi is of the opinion that a cocktail will eventually be used to successfully treat the disease. Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine, he conceded, show immense promise if used in correct dosages and at the incipient stages of the illness before the patient becomes critically ill.

Ricordi is the most often quoted expert on stem cell research where he has successfully prevented the acceleration of aging as well as kidney and eye disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes. He has currently diverted a number of  resources from diabetes to the study of COVID-19 where he has injected his 4th critically ill COVID patient with stem cells in a double blind study-the results of which will be ready in two months. The cells which were retrieved from the placenta of a baby can be used to treat more than 10,000 patients. The injections are administered intravenously with the natural first filter being the targeted area  of the lungs (unlike in diabetes where a catheter has to be inserted to ensure cell transmission to  the pancreas) The FDA approved his trial in a record week’s time and the 24 critically ill patients who receive the cells should see effects in weeks. Ricordi’s optimism is backed by science since colleagues in Israel reported zero deaths after using stem cells in 6 critically ill coronavirus patients. China had similarly favorable outcomes with no deaths in 80 seriously ill patients. Furthermore, injecting the cells is a benign procedure that takes only 10 to 15 minutes to perform. Unlike other treatments, the availability of cells abound with more than 3.8 million births in the US last year providing viable placentas. Moreover, the benefits of building a large scale emergency response repository in the form of cell banks to treat Alzheimer’s, severe lung damage, diabetes, and kidney disease in between pandemics would be revolutionary.

Stem cells have not been heretofore utilized due to the FDA’s stringent safety requirements. Furthermore, there are significant costs associated with clinical trials where environmental sterility and quality control are carefully monitored. Ricordi raised funds from private individuals-90 percent of whom were of Italian descent. In his next larger trial he will be addressing how to stop progression of the disease in less severe cases. Ricordi stressed the importance of wearing masks and socially distancing due to the viruses’ airborne nature; noting that contained spaces such as cruise ships, planes, hospitals and nursing homes were especially problematic. Ricordi is currently meeting with architects to discuss how to construct pandemic resistant buildings which use ultraviolet lights in bathrooms and avoid recycled air. “Our entire future will be reinvented” said Ricordi, as telemedicine and home monitoring of patients will soon become commonplace. He also predicted there will be future pandemics as the distance between animals and humans continues to narrow with monkeys and bats encroaching on human habitats and vice versa-due to limited space. Moreover, Ricordi remarked bioweapons and vaccines were a disaster waiting to happen. As Ricordi rushed to attend a pivotal meeting he casually mentioned his daughter was working as an ICU nurse in California-another reason this heroic warrior felt such an urgent calling to discover an imminent cure.

Remembering HaRav David Jemal, zt’l – From a Family Member

By
Administrator
-
0

Written by a Family Member

Everyone who knew Rabbi Jemal knew that he was a great man, a malach who loved everybody. To someone who didnt know him, it is very hard to describe who he was on paper. The Rabbi was humble beyond words, and always had true simcha that was contagious. He treated every individual with respect, always careful to never make anyone feel bad. Many knew him as a great rabbi and a leader, but I also knew him as a dear uncle.

Growing up, the rabbi was our leader and role model, and was always there for us in time of need. When our family left Beirut, my mother was a young woman with five children under the age of 6. My father was unable to travel on the same route as us, and she was uneasy taking the trip alone. My mother approached Rabbi Jemal, who was a young boy at the time, and asked him to travel with her. The flight was the same day. Within a few hours, he was dressed, packed, and on the plane with us to a new country. Even at such a young age, Rabbi Jemal’s selflessness was extraordinary. Whenever we had any type of problem, we would call Rabbi Jemal and we would be comforted in knowing that he would help us with whatever it was.

He was the youngest of eleven, yet all of his siblings looked up to him with awe and respect. They never called him by his first name, but rather referred to him as “The Hacham”. He was our spiritual rock, he elevated and inspired us in great ways. When he was a young man in his twenties, my mother noticed him walking with his head slightly bent. Concerned, she asked him why he was walking this way, by which he responded that one should not walk with his head up, as it is a sign of arrogance. From then on, whenever we saw him walking, it was with his head slightly bent. This was just an inkling of the profound anavah he exhibited. While one of the traits of the Jemal family is anavah, he was the epitome of this middah.

The rabbi was also a mohel, and loved doing brit millot. Once, he was asked to do a brit milah in Manhattan, for a family that was not so affiliated with Judaism. During the brit, instead of singing traditional songs that are usually sung, he started to sing “hava nagilla”.

The rabbi was also a mohel, and loved doing brit millot. Once, he was asked to do a brit milah in Manhattan, for a family that was not so affiliated with Judaism. During the brit, instead of singing traditional songs that are usually sung, he started to sing “hava nagilla”. Immediately, the whole room transformed as the crowd started to sing and dance, radiating happiness. He celebrated everyone’s simcha as if it was his own. He attended every one of our semachot, and sang and danced as if it was his child getting married, or his child that was born.

My son recounts how after he got married, Rabbi Jemal would start singing “od yishama” and break out into a dance whenever he saw him in the street. Even two years after the wedding! To Rabbi Jemal, every person was the most important person in the world. And everyone he encountered felt it. True, genuine care radiated off him whenever he would interact with someone. Even when dealing with people that were far from his level, he always knew how to lift them up and make them feel good. For many years, the rabbi taught children from public school for no charge and never said a word about it. He didn’t want anyone to know about his great acts and the multitude of what he was doing for these children.

Every Shabbat, my sons would go to Rabbi Jemal for tehillim class. He would give out prizes and candy, and instill in the boys a love for Torah and Hashem. He always looked forward to holidays and celebrated them with great exuberance. As a child, my family would attend his Pesach sedarim. Those sedarim were truly uplifting experiences that I’ll never forget. During chad gadya and mi yodea, he would get up and re-enact the stories with singing and dancing that would put a smile on everyone’s faces. Years later, when I got married and moved a few houses down from the rabbi, we would hear him erupt into joyous zemirot from his backyard every Sukkot.

My children would get so excited when they would hear him, and would join in from our own Sukkah with much enthusiasm. The love for Torah that he instilled in us is still part of me today. One of my sons once ate a shabbat meal with the rabbi in Israel. The host and his family sang a song talking about longing to serve Hashem and running after Hashem. Rabbi Jemal who never heard the song before was moved to tears by the song. It impacted my son so much as he recognized that it was the rabbi’s life mission to serve Hashem. When the rabbi was hospitalized, family and friends were brainstorming to come up with ways that could help him. So much so that the president of the hospital exclaimed: “Who is this man? I’ve been getting calls from so many different people who are concerned about him. It’s as if he’s the president!”. The rabbi was loved by all, with so many considering him a close friend.

Rabbi Jemal was a great man, a Hacham, a leader, and a beacon of light amongst us. His love for Hashem and for mitzvot was astronomical, and his love for each and every person will be felt for eternity. May his memory be blessed.

After de Blasio ‘Jewish’ Comment, Cruz Urges DOJ To Watch For Religious Discrimination In NYC

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

(AP(Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is urging the Justice Department “to closely monitor New York City” for potential religious discrimination amid the pandemic after its mayor singled out “the Jewish community” following the breakup of a large gathering of Orthodox Jews.

In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Bill Barr, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Cruz lauded a Justice Department memo issued this week asking federal prosecutors to keep watch on state and local orders crafted to help stop the coronavirus that risk infringing on individuals’ civil liberties.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s chastising of Jews after a local funeral drew a crowd of thousands, Cruz added, raises questions about whether one faith “is being singled out for special burdens.”

This is dangerous in and of itself,” Cruz, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution subcommittee, wrote to Barr. “But it is especially dangerous to single out the Jewish community in a city that is experiencing a substantial rise in violent anti-Semitism.”

“The Department of Justice should not hesitate to closely monitor New York City to ensure that the mayor’s rhetoric does not translate into constitutional violations,” Cruz added.

De Blasio’s press office did not immediately return a request for comment on Cruz’s letter, which sought greater attention to all local officials who might single out specific religions “under the guise of protecting public health.”

In public comments Wednesday De Blasio avowed “no regrets” for his public criticism of the Orthodox Jewish funeral, which the organizing synagogue had tried to plan for staging in accordance with social distancing rules. though he apologized if his reaction in the moment had caused pain. More than 100 Jewish leaders and organizations released a letter Thursday to air “our anger and disappointment at your scapegoating the Jewish community” in the aftermath of the funeral breakup.

Public debate over the balance between protecting public health and safeguarding civil liberties has simmered since the first state and local closure orders emerged last month, in the first days of the pandemic. At least a dozen court challenges filed as the coronavirus has spread have alleged incursions on religious freedom, including a Mississippi challenge to a local restriction on drive-in church that the Justice Department weighed in on, supporting the church.

De Blasio sparked criticism from conservatives and Christians last month when he first waded into the issue of restricting faith gatherings during the pandemic. The mayor warned then that religious services held in violation of public health orders would be shut down, adding that the houses of worship holding them risked punishment that could include permanent closure.

Cruz first took aim at the Democratic mayor for those remarks earlier this month on his podcast.

“Who the hell are you to permanently shut a church or synagogue down?” the Republican senator said in reference to de Blasio’s warning. Cruz added that he had shifted his attendance to virtual worship services during the pandemic and saw merit to limiting public gatherings.

Economic figures show grim toll in Europe and US from virus

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

By DAVID CRARY, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOHN LEICESTER (AP)

Bleak new figures Thursday underscored the worldwide economic pain inflicted by the coronavirus: The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits has climbed past a staggering 30 million, while Europe’s economies have gone into an epic slide.

And as bad as the numbers are, some are already outdated because of the lag in gathering data. The true economic picture is almost certainly much worse.

The statistics are likely to stoke the debate over whether to ease the lockdowns that have closed factories and other businesses. While many states and countries have pressed ahead, health officials have warned of the danger of a second wave of infection, and some employers and employees have expressed fear of going back to work when large numbers of people are still dying.

In the U.S., the government reported that 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for jobless benefits last week, raising the total to 30.3 million in the six weeks since the outbreak took hold. The layoffs amount to 1 in 6 American workers and encompass more people than the entire population of Texas.

Some economists say that when the U.S. unemployment rate for April comes out next week, it could be as high as 20% — a figure not seen since the Depression of the 1930s, when joblessness peaked at 25%.

The number of Americans thrown out of work could be much higher than the unemployment claims show, because some people have not applied and others couldn’t get through to their states’ overwhelmed systems. A poll by two economists found that the U.S. may have lost 34 million jobs.

There was grim new data across Europe, too, where more than 130,000 people with the virus have died. The economy in the 19 countries using the euro shrank 3.8% in the first quarter of the year, the biggest contraction since the eurozone countries began keeping joint statistics 25 years ago.

This is the saddest day for the global economy we have ever seen” in the 50 years that economists at High Frequency Economics have been following the data, they wrote in a report.

Even then, the statistics do not capture the enormity of the crisis. The quarterly figures cover January through March, and many of the lockdowns in Europe and the U.S. were not imposed until March — the second half of March in a multitude of places in the United States.

Stocks fell on Wall Street as the discouraging news piled up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing nearly 290 points, or more than 1 percent. Even Amazon, which Americans are relying on heavily to stock up on goods, offered a mixed report, with sales skyrocketing in the first quarter but profits dropping 29% because of the rising costs to get all those packages shipped.

The company still ended the quarter on a relatively high note, however, reporting net earnings of $2.5 billion — an astonishing contrast to the losses sustained by some companies. One of them, American Airlines, slammed by a lack of passengers during the outbreak, on Thursday reported a loss of $2.2 billion for the period.

The virus has killed over 230,000 people worldwide, including more than 61,000 in the U.S., according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed infections globally topped 3.2 million, with 1 million of them in the U.S., but the true numbers are believed to be much higher because of limited testing, differences in counting the dead and concealment by some governments.

Dear Mr. President, Please Don’t Stop the Daily Coronavirus Briefings — We Need Them.

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0
President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

 by Adam Weiss

Rumors are swirling that the daily coronavirus briefings with President Donald Trump may be coming to an end, and as a concerned New Yorker, and American, I truly hope that this is not the case.

Monday nearly became the third day in a row without a briefing from the White House, with first a cancellation and then two hours later an announcement that there would be one.

I’m glad that they changed the course.

Without the White House briefings and President Trump’s uplifting and hopeful reassurances, we are left with the doom and gloom daily press conferences from Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. It is horrible.
While Cuomo spends his time whining about federal money and supplies, de Blasio takes the stage daily to discuss his ideas about how to use the pandemic to turn New York City into a socialist utopia and to urge his constituents to snitch on each other for the grave crime of leaving their houses. The same man who essentially turned our city into one giant toilet when he decriminalized public urination in the street.

On Sunday, instead of letting us know when the city will open, the mayor announced that his wife, Chirlane McCray, will lead a coronavirus task force that looks into “racial inequality.” His social justice task force will be committed to making sure the city “rebounds as a better and more just society than the one we left behind.”

We do not need a new and improved socialist city. We need to be able to go to work and feed our families. Now.
While millions of us worry about our homes, livelihoods, and sanity as we remain isolated from each other, De Blasio asserted that “rebuilding will take the next 20 months of his administration” and “then far beyond that.” We do not have time for this nonsense.

The great thing about the White House briefings is that, seemingly unlike our leaders in New York, the president very clearly actually wants the nation reopened. He provides information that is up to date and detached from any bizarre plans to reinvent society before it can happen. It is the leadership and transparency that we truly need in these confusing and troublesome times.

It isn’t just local politicians that are a problem; there is also the issue of the media.

With many left-wing media outlets constantly spinning and speculating about every facet of the outbreak and attempting to use the virus as a political weapon, it is important to have a daily update with direct information straight from the man himself. It simply is not the time for hyper-partisan filtering of his messaging.

I am not alone in wanting unfiltered updates. According to a report from the New York Times, the president has been speaking directly to an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news during these briefings.

While the need for information isn’t partisan, these updates may also help him in November, judging by the boost that they are giving his approval rating.

The whole nation is waiting with bated breath to find out when life will return to some type of normalcy. If President Trump wasn’t on the frontline taking questions, the liberal media would be attacking him for that, too. He can never win with these people. Fortunately, he can win with voters.

Trump’s approval boost is primarily coming from independents and even some Democrats, according to a report from the Times. In a close election, there may not be a more important voting demographic than the independents, and the liberal media knows it.

The reality of the situation is that Democrats and the media elites who despise the president are more scared of him being re-elected than they are of this deadly virus. These briefings have boosted confidence in the administration and are providing comfort to the very people who will be voting in the fall.

By getting up there every day and speaking directly to the people, President Trump is showing America that he is fighting for us as hard as he possibly can.
I hope it continues.

Adam Weiss is the CEO of AMW PR, a New York political strategy and communications firm. His firm has represented Kimberly Guilfoyle, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Donald Trump Jr, Ed Henry, Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie, Governor Haley Barbour, and more

Germany Raids Sites Linked To Hezbollah, Extends Ban

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

(AP)German police raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as authorities announced Thursday that they were banning activities by its political wing in Germany.

The raids, intended to prevent evidence about possible front organizations being destroyed, took place at mosques and community centers in Berlin, Bremen, Muenster, Recklinghausen and Dortmund.

German lawmakers last year called on the government to extend an existing ban on activities by the group’s militant wing to include those of its political branch. At the time, officials had warned that such a move was legally difficult, because Hezbollah doesn’t have any official presence in Germany.

The Interior Ministry said the decree issued Thursday bans all activities in support of the group in Germany, including the use of its symbols or publications. Hezbollah supporters have staged annual anti-Israel marches in Berlin for several years.

The United States and Israel welcomed Germany’s move against the group, which is rooted in Lebanon’s Shiite community and has close ties to Iran.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell called on other European Union countries to also ban Hezbollah’s activities, saying the group “cannot be allowed to use Europe as a safe haven to support terrorism in Syria and across the Middle East.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Twitter that “Hezbollah is a terror organization & must be treated as such.” Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

Trump Says He Has Evidence Virus Came from Wuhan Lab

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

By ZEKE MILLER (AP)

President Donald Trump on Thursday speculated that China could have unleashed the coronavirus on the world due to some kind of horrible “mistake,” and his intelligence agencies said they are still examining a notion put forward by the president and aides that the pandemic may have resulted from an accident at a Chinese lab.

Trump even suggested the release could have been intentional.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies, said it had ruled out the virus being man-made but was still investigating the precise source of the global pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 people worldwide.

Though scientists suggest the likeliest origin of the pandemic remains natural, that it spread from an infected animal to a human, Trump claimed to have seen evidence to support the theory that the origin was an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak.

He said the U.S. now “is finding how it came out.”

“It’s a terrible thing that happened,” the president said. “Whether they made a mistake or whether it started off as a mistake and then they made another one, or did somebody do something on purpose.”

The intel statement said the federal agencies concur “with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.”

“The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

In recent days the Trump administration has sharpened its rhetoric on China, accusing the geopolitical foe and vital trading partner of failing to act swiftly enough to sound the alarm about the outbreak or to stop the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. U.S. officials have said the Chinese government should “pay a price” for its handling of the pandemic.

This all comes as the pace of Trump’s own original response continues to come under scrutiny, questioned as too meager and too slow.

Earlier Thursday, before Trump’s comments, the Chinese government said that any claims that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory are “unfounded and purely fabricated out of nothing.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang cited the institute’s director, Yuan Zhiming, as saying the lab strictly implements bio-security procedures that would prevent the release of any pathogen.

I would like to point out again that the origin of the virus is a complex scientific issue, and it should be studied by scientists and professionals,” Geng said.

He also criticized those in the U.S. who say China should be held accountable for the global pandemic, saying they should spend their time on “better controlling the epidemic situation at home.”

At the White House, Trump repeatedly blamed China for its handling of the outbreak, criticizing the country for restricting domestic travel to slow the virus but not international travel to keep it from spreading abroad.

“Certainly it could have been stopped,” Trump said during an event in the East Room on his administration’s efforts to aid seniors during the outbreak. “They either couldn’t do it from a competence standpoint, or they let it spread.”

“It got loose, let’s say, and they could have capped it.”

Earlier this month, Trump addressed the lab theory saying, “More and more, we’re hearing the story.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added at the time, “The mere fact that we don’t know the answers — that China hasn’t shared the answers — I think is very, very telling.”

Pompeo also pressed China to let outside experts into the lab “so that we can determine precisely where this virus began.”

While Trump and Pompeo have made their feelings clear, a U.S. intelligence official disputed the notion that there was pressure on agencies to bolster a particular theory. The intelligence official was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Scientists say the virus arose naturally in bats. Even so, Pompeo and others have pointed fingers at an institute that is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has done groundbreaking research tracing the likely origins of the SARS virus, finding new bat viruses and discovering how they could jump to people.

“We know that there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was,” Pompeo said two weeks ago. The institute has an address 8 miles, or 13 kilometers, from the market that is considered a possible source.

U.S. officials say the American Embassy in Beijing flagged concerns about potential safety issues at the lab in Wuhan in 2018, but they have yet to find any evidence the virus originated there nearly two years later.

Scientists studying the virus for months have made clear they believe it wasn’t man-made but are still working to determine a point at which it may have jumped from animals to humans.

Early attention focused on the live-animal market in Wuhan where the first cases were reported in December. But the first person identified with the disease had no known connection to that market.

Kristian Andersen, who studies the virus at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, puts the odds of it being accidentally released by the Wuhan lab at “a million to one,” far less likely than an infection in nature. But virus expert David O’Connor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said he thinks too little is known to rule out any source, except the idea the virus was man-made. Finding the source is important, he said, because it may harbor the next pandemic virus.

The U.S. was providing funding to the Wuhan lab for its research on coronaviruses, Michael Morell, former acting director and deputy director of the CIA, said Thursday.

He said State Department cables indicate that there have been concerns in past years among U.S. officials about the safety protocols at that lab. If the virus did escape from a Chinese lab, it not only reflects negatively on China but also on the United States for providing research funding to a lab that has safety concerns, Morell said during an online forum hosted by the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy and International Security at George Mason University.

“So if it did escape, we’re all in this together,” Morell said. “This is not a gotcha for China. This is a gotcha for both of us.”

‘I Do Not Need a Lecture’: Pelosi Snaps at Reporter Asking About Biden Allegation

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

(Washington Free Beacon) 

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) got testy Thursday morning with a reporter who asked her why Democrats are treating the sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden differently than they treated the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

“I respect your question, and I don’t need a lecture or a speech,” Pelosi said to the Washington Examiner‘s Kerry Picket during a press conference. “I have complete respect for the whole MeToo movement—I have four daughters and one son. There is a lot of excitement around the idea that women will be heard and be listened to. There is also due process, and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden.”

The speaker stressed that she was “proud” to endorse Biden for president and said the former vice president “is a person of great integrity” and a longstanding advocate of women.

Pelosi’s comments come after more than a month of silence by the presumptive Democratic nominee while prominent media outlets have hesitated to ask him about sexual assault allegations brought forward by Tara Reade, a former Biden Senate staffer.

Pelosi’s comments stand in stark contrast with the speaker’s statements in 2018 during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, she praised Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, and urged people to “Believe Survivors.”

“We must #BelieveSurvivors. I’m proud to stand with my Democratic colleagues in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford,” the speaker said in a tweet.

While the Biden campaign has argued the candidate was exonerated by press investigations, the New York Times said its reporting reached no conclusions about Reade’s accusation.

“Our investigation made no conclusion either way,” Times vice president of communications Danielle Rhoades Ha told the Washington Free Beacon.

Biden campaign surrogates continued using the Times report to claim Biden was exonerated, however, even as Biden himself has avoided answering any questions about the accusation directly. On Thursday Pelosi joined other Democrats in praising Biden’s response to the allegation, even though Biden has not addressed it himself.

“I think it’s made a great contribution to our country, and I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded,” Pelosi told CNN.

NYC subway halting overnight service for Virus Cleaning, Watch Cuomo Presser

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ

(A.P) New York City’s subway system will shut down each day from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to increase cleaning of trains and stations during the coronavirus crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday, two days after he called conditions in the subway “disgusting.” The closures, slated to start next week, will mark a rare instance of subways not running 24/7.

Meanwhile, a Navy hospital ship sent a month ago to relieve stress on hospitals has left the city, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing a state effort to trace the spread of the disease, and the city said it would hand out free face coverings while increasing enforcement of social distancing measures.

Here are the latest coronavirus-related developments in New York:

Subway trains, which had been disinfected at least once every 72 hours, will be cleaned once every 24 hours starting May 6, Cuomo said. Buses, vans and other alternative transportation will be provided for essential workers at no charge while the system is closed, he said.

Cuomo said the increased cleaning is a “daunting challenge,” but vital to keeping subways safe. They’ve continued to see high density while much of the rest of society practices social distancing. Images posted on social media in recent weeks have showed packed subway cars.

Dozens of transit employees have died of the coronavirus and the system has become a haven for homeless people during the crisis. Globally, making public transit safe is seen as a big hurdle in potentially easing lockdowns.

“You have to disinfect every place a hand could touch on a subway car. Every rail, every pole, every door,” Cuomo said. “Or, coughing, sneezing, wherever droplets could land.”

Cuomo highlighted a front-page report Tuesday in the New York Daily News chronicling incidents of indecent exposure, filth, people stretching out on seats and other problems.

He said the situation was “disrespectful” to essential workers who need the subway to commute and unsafe for homeless people who are congregating in trains without face masks or other protections.

Subway ridership has plunged by 92% since the start of the pandemic and the shutdown is planned for the part of the day where it is lowest. During the crisis, around 11,000 people have been using the subway during the time.

Commuter trains serving Long Island and the city’s northern suburbs will also be disinfected every 24 hours, he said. City buses will continue to run around-the-clock but will be rotated out of service for cleaning.

“Think about it, the entire public transit system in downstate New York will be disinfected every 24 hours,” Cuomo said. “We’re doing a lot of things here that we’ve never done before.”

The city’s subway system has operated continuously, 24 hours a day since October 1904, with scattered interruptions caused by weather, blackouts and labor disputes.

A strike in 1966 knocked out service for 12 days, the longest stoppage in the system’s history, according to the state agency that runs it, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. A 1980 strike closed service for 11 days, while one in 2005 lasted 3 days.

Trains were halted by massive power outages in 1965, 1977 and 2003; by storms, including Superstorm Sandy in 2015 and a blizzard in 2015; and for a few hours in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman said he’ll push legislation requiring the MTA to resume 24/7 service as soon as the pandemic is over.

“The city that never sleeps needs a 24/7 subway system. It’s the lifeblood of our city — a public utility that keeps New York City moving at all hours of the day and night,” the Manhattan Democrat said in a statement.

The homeless have long taken refuge on the city’s subways, but the problems that their plight poses — for them and other riders — has become more visible during the pandemic.

Advocates for the homeless say some are taking to trains because they worry about contracting the virus in shelters. Some advocates have called on the city to provide hotel rooms to people living on the streets.

Mayor Bill De Blasio said the city would send more outreach workers to end-of-the-line stations to try to persuade homeless people to go to shelters. Police have increased enforcement, removing more than 100 homeless people from trains on Monday alone.

Giselle Routhier, the policy director of advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless, said people are sleeping in the subway because the city and state “are steadfastly refusing to offer them somewhere better to go.”

“Punitively closing the subways and sending in more police will only make things worse,” Routhier said in a statement. “What is actually needed are safe, private spaces where maintaining social distancing is possible.”

_____

NAVY SHIP SAILS OFF

The 1,000-bed USNS Comfort hospital ship left New York City for its home port of Norfolk, Virginia on Thursday having treated just 182 coronavirus patients. A surge in cases in the hard-hit city fell short of the worst-case projections.

Eleven people being treated on the ship died from coronavirus and several ship personnel came down with the disease, the Defense Department said.

“The situation has changed but we’re not done,” Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said as he saw the ship off.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week he and President Donald Trump agreed the Comfort was no longer needed in New York City.

“I believe Comfort not only brought comfort but also saved lives,” Cuomo said.

_____

IMPROVING NUMBERS

The Comfort’s arrival last month came amid projections showing the state needing to double hospital capacity to 110,000 beds by the end of April.

Hospitalizations peaked far below that, at 18,825 on April 12, falling considerably since. The tally of new hospital admissions fell Wednesday to 933, lowest since March 24.

More than 18,300 people in the state have died from coronavirus, though the total doesn’t include more than 5,300 deaths in the city that were attributed to the virus on death certificates but weren’t confirmed by a lab test.

On Wednesday, 306 people died from the disease, the lowest daily total since March 29, when there were 253 fatalities. The state peaked with 799 deaths in one day on April 9.

_____

BLOOMBERG BOOSTS TRACING

New York City’s billionaire former mayor is putting up $10.5 million to help the state track and stem the spread of coronavirus through what’s known as contact tracing.

Michael Bloomberg said Thursday his Bloomberg Philanthropies charitable foundation will help hire and train thousands of investigators and provide technological assistance, including developing apps to aid their work.

Contact tracing involves tracking down people who’ve been around someone with the virus so they can get tested and quarantine themselves if they’re positive.

“When social distancing is relaxed, contact tracing is our best hope for isolating the virus when it appears and keeping it isolated,” Bloomberg said.

_____

CITY TO GIVE OUT FREE MASKS

New York City is assigning more than 1,000 employees to enforce social distancing guidelines and distribute 275,000 face coverings at parks and other public spaces as the coronavirus pandemic stretches toward summer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The city is also ramping up coronavirus testing and production of gowns for health care workers. De Blasio said 11 coronavirus testing sites will perform 14,000 tests this week, increasing to 43,000 tests at 30 sites by the week of May 18.

City businesses that weren’t making any surgical gowns before the pandemic are now producing 125,000 a week, de Blasio said. Millions more are being flown in from Vietnam, providing enough supply to last through mid-May, he said.

Israel’s Largest Bank, Bank HaPoalim, Admits to Conspiring with US Taxpayers to Hide Assets & Income in Offshore Accounts

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jeffrey A. Rosen, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Richard E. Zuckerman, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Don Fort, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the guilty plea of Bank Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd. and entry of criminal charges against Bank Hapoalim B.M. for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to hide more than $7.6 billion in more than 5,500 secret Swiss and Israeli bank accounts and the income generated in these accounts from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”).

As part of today’s resolutions, along with resolutions entered into with state and federal partners, Bank Hapoalim B.M. (“BHBM”), Israel’s largest bank, and its Swiss subsidiary Bank Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd. (“BHS”) (collectively, the “Bank”), agreed to pay approximately $874.27 million to the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the New York State Department of Financial Services.  Today’s resolution is the second-largest recovery by the Department of Justice in connection with its investigations since 2008 into facilitation of offshore U.S. tax evasion by foreign banks.  Officers of BHBM and BHS appeared on behalf of the Bank to enter the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Israel’s largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, and its Swiss subsidiary have admitted not only failing to prevent but actively assisting U.S. customers to set up secret accounts, to shelter assets and income, and to evade taxes.  The combined payment approaching $1 billion reflects the magnitude of the tax evasion by the Bank’s U.S. customers, the size of the fees the Bank collected to provide this illegal service, and the gravity of the illegal conduct.”

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said:  “Today’s resolutions and payment of $874 million make clear that tax evasion cannot be taken lightly.  A fair tax system requires even-handed compliance, and honest conduct by all participants in the system.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman said:  “The Department of Justice continues to aggressively prosecute banks and other financial institutions that help U.S. taxpayers conceal their income and assets in offshore bank accounts.  Today, Bank Hapoalim is being held accountable for its conduct – it has admitted to its crimes and will surrender all fees it earned, repay the United States for lost tax revenue, and pay a substantial fine.”

 

 

 

IRS-CI Chief Don Fort said:  “There is no excuse for a foreign financial institution to unlawfully assist wealthy Americans in flouting their responsibilities to pay their taxes. With today’s guilty plea, Bank Hapoalim is taking responsibility for their role in deliberately breaking the law and undermining the integrity of this nation’s tax system.  Offshore tax evasion is a top priority for IRS Criminal Investigation and we are wholeheartedly committed to bringing offenders to justice.  Today’s resolution serves as proof that financial institutions engaging in tax fraud face dire criminal and financial consequences for their behavior.”

Bank Hapoalim was established in 1921 by the Histadrut, the Israeli trade union congress (lit. “General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel”) and the Zionist Organization. The bank was owned by the Histadrut until 1983, when it was nationalized following the Bank Stock Crisis. The bank was held by the Israeli government until 1996 when it was sold to a group of investors led by Ted Arison.

The bank has a significant presence in global financial markets. In Israel, it has over 600 ATMs (automated teller machines), 250 bank branches, 7 regional business centers, 22 business branches and industry desks for major corporate customers. The bank’s stock is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

At the end of 2015, the bank had 11,930 employees worldwide. It is controlled by Arison Holdings, owned by Shari Arison. Arison Holdings owns a total of 20 per cent of the bank.

In January 2014, Danske Bank and the Dutch pension fund PGGM blacklisted Bank Hapoalim for its involvement in the financing of settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Today’s resolutions include agreements with BHBM and BHS under which the Bank agreed to accept responsibility for its conduct by stipulating to the accuracy of extensive Statements of Facts.  BHBM further agreed to refrain from all future criminal conduct, implement remedial measures, and cooperate fully with further investigations into hidden bank accounts.  Assuming BHBM’s continued compliance with its agreement, the Government has agreed to defer prosecution of BHBM for a period of three years, after which time the Government will seek to dismiss the charge against BHBM.

According to documents filed today in Manhattan federal court:

BHBM is Israel’s largest bank and operates primarily as a retail bank with approximately 250 branches throughout Israel and more than 2.5 million accounts.  In addition to retail banking services, BHBM offered private banking services for onshore and offshore customers through its retail branches and its Global Private Banking Center.  BHBM also wholly owned Poalim Trust Services Ltd., which provided trust formation and management services.  Outside Israel, BHBM owned BHS, a Swiss subsidiary that provided private banking.  BHS is headquartered in Zurich and at times during the prosecution period had branches in Geneva, Luxembourg, and Singapore.  BHBM also had branches in New York, Miami, the Cayman Islands, the United Kingdom, and Jersey.

From at least in or about 2002, and continuing until at least in or about 2014, the Bank conspired with employees, U.S. customers, and others to:  (1) defraud the United States with respect to taxes; (2) file false federal tax returns; and (3) commit tax evasion.  Employees of BHBM and BHS assisted U.S. customers in concealing their ownership and control of assets and funds held at the Bank, which enabled those U.S. customers to evade their U.S. tax obligations, by engaging in the following conduct:

  • Assisting U.S. customers with opening and maintaining accounts in the names of pseudonyms, code names, trust accounts, and offshore nominee entities;
  • Opening customer accounts for known U.S. customers using non-U.S. forms of identification;
  • Enabling U.S. taxpayers to evade U.S reporting requirements on securities’ earnings in violation of the Bank’s agreements with the IRS;
  • Providing “hold mail” services for a fee, avoiding any correspondence regarding the undeclared account being sent to the U.S.;
  • Offering back-to-back loans for U.S. taxpayers to enable them to access funds in the United States that were held in offshore accounts at the Bank in Switzerland and Israel; and
  • Processing wire transfers or issuing checks in amounts of less than $10,000 that were drawn on the accounts of U.S. taxpayers or entities in order to avoid triggering scrutiny.

At least four senior executives of the Bank, including two former members of BHS’s board of directors, were directly involved in aiding and abetting tax evasion of U.S. taxpayers.

Under today’s resolutions, the Bank is required to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations and affirmatively disclose any information it may later uncover regarding U.S.-related accounts.  The Bank is also required to disclose information consistent with the Department of Justice’s Swiss Bank Program relating to accounts closed between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2019.  The agreements provide no protection from criminal or civil prosecution for any individuals.

BHBM will pay a total of $214.38 million, which has three parts.  First, BHBM has agreed to pay $77,877,099 in restitution to the IRS, which represents the unpaid taxes resulting from BHBM’s participation in the conspiracy.  Second, BHBM has agreed to forfeit $35,696,929 to the United States, which represents gross fees (not profits) that the bank earned on its undeclared accounts between 2002 and 2014.  Finally, BHBM has agreed to pay a penalty of $100,811,585.

BHS will pay a total of $402.53 million, which also has three parts.  First, BHS has agreed to pay $138,908,073 in restitution to the IRS, which represents the unpaid taxes resulting from BHS’s participation in the conspiracy.  Second, BHS has agreed to forfeit $124,628,449 in gross fees to the United States.  Finally, BHS has agreed to pay a fine of $138,998,399.  These payments were approved by Judge Vyskocil today in connection with BHS’s plea and sentencing.

Both the penalty and fine amounts take into consideration that the Bank, after initially providing deficient cooperation through an inadequate internal investigation and the provision of incomplete and inaccurate information and data to the Government, thereafter conducted a thorough internal investigation, provided client-identifying information, and cooperated in ongoing investigations and prosecutions.  The Bank further implemented remedial measures to protect against the use of its services for tax evasion in the future.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is also announcing today that it has reached a resolution with BHBM, by which BHBM has agreed to a cease and desist order, certain remedial steps to ensure its compliance with U.S. law in its ongoing operations, and a civil monetary penalty of $37.35 million.  Additionally, the New York State Department of Financial Services is announcing a similar resolution by which BHBM has agreed to a consent order and a monetary penalty of $220 million.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, and thanked the Justice Department’s Tax Division for their partnership on this case.

This prosecution is being handled by the Tax Division and the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  Assistant Chief Todd A. Ellinwood and Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sagar K. Ravi and Timothy V. Capozzi of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, are in charge of the prosecution.  Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman also thanked Assistant Chief Kathleen Barry and former Trial Attorney Timothy Russo of the Tax Division for their substantial assistance.

 

 

Clinton Foundation Discusses creating Army Of “Contact Tracers” to Monitor Citizens who had COVID-19

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
2

The following video was leaked from The Clinton Global Initiative.

Former President Clinton, Governor Cuomo, Chelsea Clinton, Governor Newsom, discuss hiring an army of unemployed  people or college students to contact people who have been tested positive for COVID-19 in order  to learn about where they have been, who they have engaged with, visited etc.

” This is going to require an army of folks,  the capacity of consideration from individuals to allow for their privacy to be impacted by that kind of  acuity  of attention  based upon where they’ve been and who they talked to ”  Governor Newsom

Investigative Reporters Speak to NYC Funeral Directors who Claim COVID is Over Counted on Death Certificates

By
Sholom Schreirber
-
0

Project Veritas today released a video featuring conversations with funeral home directors and their staff throughout New York City questioning the number of deaths officially attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project Veritas is a controversial non profit investigative team that became famous during the Obama era for looking into ACORN (voter registration  non profit) and suspicious activities they advocated for. Critics on the left instantly attacked and claimed the videos were edited.  They also reported on planned parenthood in depth, and are known for using undercover reporters posing as characters to get officials to admit to wrongdoings on camera.  Project Veritas has been repeatedly attacked and attempts to discredit them have been a major goal of left wing activists.

Before posting this video, I researched the name of every funeral director in this video. Every person in this video is a real individual.  They firmly believe COVID-19 is being used too frequently on the death certificates.

One of the funeral directors claims in his opinion : ” “Whether they had a positive test or didn’t, so I think again this is my personal opinion, I think like the mayor and our city–they’re looking for federal funding and the more they put COVID on the death certificate the more they can ask from the federal funds.”

““I think it’s political, so, I’m going to turn around and say: ‘You know, like, not everybody
that we have here that has COVID on the death certificate died of COVID.’ Can I prove that? No, but that is my suspicion.”

Watch this explosive video and decide for yourself.

1...1,9911,9921,993...2,289Page 1,992 of 2,289
DONATE NOW
Subscribe Now

© The Jewish Voice. All rights reserved.

Website managed by Napollo

About Us

Popular Category

Editor Picks