Weekly News Bites #028 | Whistleblower X testifies & Grassley releases FBI bribery file

All of the top stories 📰 of the week in small bites.

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It’s FRIDAY, July 21! YAY

Some of the stories this week!

• IRS Special Agent Joe Ziegler, rather dramatically known as "Whistleblower X," has spilled the beans before Congress.

• Newly released, unclassified FBI documents indicate that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter pressured Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma's co-founder and CEO, into coughing up millions.

• Former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, and one-time White House advisor, Neil Patel, launching a brand-new media company.

• The Biden Administration has raised the curtains on its latest act: axing all federal funds aimed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

• Moscow has opted to turn a cold shoulder to the 'Black Sea Initiative,’ a noble accord that has been Ukraine's lifeline to export grain via its Black Sea ports.

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→ In a brazen act of defiance, IRS Special Agent Joe Ziegler, rather dramatically known as "Whistleblower X," has spilled the beans before Congress. Not only did he blow his cover, but he exposed alleged corruption nesting within the IRS, supposedly orchestrated to protect the Biden clan. Ziegler, interestingly a Democrat, found himself entangled in the sticky web of the IRS's investigation into Hunter Biden's tax blunders. He suggests that the investigation has been tainted by considerable political meddling, which ended with a convenient plea deal.

In a significant revelation, IRS truth-tellers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler have unearthed damning information that points towards an alleged stifling and obstruction of the Hunter Biden investigation by the DOJ. This was all revealed during a hearing before the House Oversight Committee and members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The duo of whistleblowers shared that David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, was seemingly shackled and sidelined by his DOJ colleagues, specifically AG Merrick Garland, during the investigation. Weiss's inconsistent claims concerning his power to charge Hunter Biden has sown seeds of confusion and scrutiny. You see, Gary Shapley presented contemporaneous notes that he took following a meeting with Weiss where Weiss admitted that AG Garland denied him special counsel status, which would have allowed Weiss to bring charges in any jurisdiction. This contradicts Weiss’s and Garland’s public statements that Weiss had unlimited authority in charging Biden and that Garland was staying out of it. So much for “But, Weiss was Trump appointed!”

Adding fuel to the fire, Shapley and Ziegler slammed the sweet-sweet plea deal handed to Hunter Biden, arguing that the evidence they unearthed called for more severe felony charges as opposed to the rather mild misdemeanor charges that were slapped against him.

Not stopping there, they claimed to have dug up sturdy evidence of graver tax crimes committed by Hunter Biden, part of which was allegedly given a blind eye by the DOJ. This evidence includes snippets from Biden's memoir, where he ironically categorized his time at Chateau Marmont as a business expense.

The whistleblowers put under the spotlight a potential conflict of interest when two Biden-chosen U.S. attorneys, E. Martin Estrada, and Matthew Graves, denied Weiss the authority to levy felony charges against Hunter Biden in their territories, sparking an intense debate.

Notably, they also disclosed that investigators stumbled upon unexplained payments from foreign sources to other Biden family members, including President Biden's grandchildren. They stated that they were prevented from chasing down leads that led back to Joe Biden.

A shared sentiment among House Republicans and the whistleblowers seems to be brewing - the appointment of a special counsel to probe the Hunter Biden case. Thanks to the alleged smoke and mirrors act by Justice Department leaders and the investigation's sensitive nature.

The IRS whistleblowers' testimonies strongly elude to roadblocks erected by the DOJ in the investigation, which restricted investigators from digging into critical evidence. Providing evidence that the DOJ was allegedly doing its best to aid the Biden administration in covering for Hunter Biden.

That’s just the update on the tax issue. Scroll down if you want an update on the alleged bribery scheme of $10 million.

→ Former President Trump has found himself in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) once again. Trump disclosed receipt of a "target letter," typically a foreshadowing of impending charges, related to the DOJ's probe into his post-2020 election conduct. The investigation, led by prosecutor Jack Smith, is delving into allegations of fraudulent electoral certificates and possible intent behind Trump's refusal to accept the election defeat. Despite ongoing legal duels in Manhattan and Georgia, Trump remains undeterred, attributing these investigations to political schemes aimed at sabotaging his potential 2024 presidential run.

→ Newly released, unclassified FBI documents indicate that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter may have pressured Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma's co-founder and CEO, into coughing up millions. This alleged coercion was reportedly to get the Ukrainian government to dismiss prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who had Burisma in his crosshairs. As per these documents, brought to light by Senator Chuck Grassley, Zlochevsky confided to a confidential human source for the FBI that he shelled out "5 (million) to one Biden, and 5 (million) to another." The report also hints at a chilling collection of "17 recordings" owned by Zlochevsky. Two feature Joe Biden, with the remaining 15 starring Hunter. These tapes purportedly showcase how Zlochevsky was coerced into securing Shokin's removal via hefty payments to the Bidens.

→ House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jim Jordan, has issued an ultimatum to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Jordan, known for his take-no-prisoners style, has expressed indignation over the FBI's lack of response to subpoenas regarding their focus on parents at odds with school policies and their reported plot to infiltrate Catholic groups against abortion. Exuding a sense of defiance and a desire for transparency, Jordan has given the FBI until July 25 to come clean-or face potential contempt charges. This echoes previous similar threats used in May by House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to force Wray to produce the informant file accusing President Biden of accepting a $5 million bribe. Jordan's aggressive oversight probes the possibility of a politically weaponized federal government. The FBI's unwillingness to play ball may lead to a clash with Congress and potentially result in funding cuts or the impeachment of leaders. The FBI, caught in this power play, insists on its commitment to cooperate with Congress, but the clock is ticking. Meanwhile, Democrats dispute Jordan's claims of a politically weaponized government. The political saga continues to unfold.


→ U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) plan to introduce a bipartisan bill to prohibit lawmakers, Capitol Hill aides, the president, vice president, and executive branch employees from owning individual company stocks. The proposed legislation, which comes in response to findings that many top executive branch employees owned stocks in companies they regulated, would still allow these individuals to own mutual funds and broad industry and index funds. Violations of the rules would result in penalties, such as forfeiting profits from stock trading and facing fines of $10,000 or more. The bill also proposes creating a public, searchable database for stock transactions by members of Congress, their staff, and executive branch employees.

→ In a striking move, the Biden administration is poised to wipe out a colossal $39 billion of student debt of more than 804,000 borrowers. This step is the result of a critical "fix" to the income-driven repayment (IDR) programs, the Education Department disclosed. The overhaul targets "historical inaccuracies" that marred the tally of payments qualifying for forgiveness under the IDR plans. Now, borrowers who have conscientiously made either 20 or 25 years of monthly IDR payments will find themselves eligible for forgiveness.

→ The GOP-controlled House passed an $886 billion Pentagon budget bill, including controversial amendments regarding abortion and transgender surgeries for service members. The bill, which passed with minimal Democrat support, marks a departure from the usual bipartisan nature of defense budget bills. The Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to pass its own version, setting the stage for negotiations to reconcile the two bills. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hailed the bill as an end to 'woke-ism' in the military, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized it as a vessel for right-wing extremism. The bill increases the Pentagon's budget by about $26 billion from the previous year.

→ Former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, and one-time White House advisor, Neil Patel, are aiming to raise several hundred million dollars and launch a brand-new media company, with Twitter potentially serving as its main platform. This venture, according to insiders, plans to build upon Carlson's array of free Twitter videos, post his Fox News exit, and drive subscriptions. This comes in the wake of a split between Carlson and Fox News, which found itself paying $787.5 million in settlement for a lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed that Fox News, with Carlson playing a key role, had defamed Dominion Voting Systems with its unfounded election-rigging allegations.

→ Over 26,000 flight attendants, members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, are set to cast their ballots in a strike vote slated for late July through August. Their demands? A significant pay hike encompassing a 35% one-time wage bump, an annual increase of 6%, and enhanced benefits. The association's president, Julie Hedrick, highlighted the absence of cost-of-living raises and quality-of-life enhancements since their contract came up for amendments in 2019. This comes on the heels of a similar turbulence caused by the airline's pilots authorizing a strike in May. American Airlines operates over 6,700 flights daily to more than 350 destinations globally.

→ The Biden Administration has raised the curtains on its latest act: axing all federal funds aimed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a proverbial petri dish in the global mystery surrounding the origins of COVID-19. According to a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the institute's consistent refusal to open its books or entertain questions from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on matters of safety and security has cast long shadows of doubt. The HHS has articulated accusations of the institute's likely transgressions against NIH's biosafety protocols, painting a grim picture of public health risk. With the echoes of these charges still lingering, the institute has been tossed a 30-day lifeline to respond. The spotlight has been thrown on this saga by the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which has been studying the US's fiscal ties to WIV with a fine-tooth comb. The subplot features claims that the virus was woven in the laboratories of WIV, courtesy of Uncle Sam's generous financial backing - a narrative fervently denied by NIH officials, *cough* Fauci, who maintain the taxpayer's coffers were not used to fuel such ominous research.

→ A U.S. soldier, while touring, seemingly willfully strayed across the border from South Korea into the foreboding territories of North Korea. This individual's brazen disregard for boundaries has resulted in their current detention by North Korean officials. The U.S. officials, startled by this unexpected turn of events, are scrambling to engage with their North Korean counterparts to alleviate this tense situation. The soldier was being held at a South Korean prison over assault charges and was facing additional military discipline. He was set to fly back to the US Tuesday, with military personnel escorting him to the airport, but he gave them the slip and made a run for it. The soldier was partaking in a sightseeing expedition of the border village of Panmunjom, nestled within the 154-mile-long Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when they overstepped the military demarcation line. He fled into the Hermit kingdom while shouting, “Ha ha ha!”

→ Moscow has opted to turn a cold shoulder to the 'Black Sea Initiative,’ an accord that has been Ukraine's lifeline to export grain via its Black Sea ports. Russia has raised the flag of discontent due to alleged broken promises tied to its own food and fertilizer shipments. The result? A region once bustling with trade is now branded a temporary danger zone for maritime activity. The initiative, once a beacon of hope in the storm of a global food crisis, was facilitated by Turkey and the United Nations, aimed at providing a safe passage for Ukrainian grain held hostage by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But alas, Russia's adherence to the agreement is now conditional, dependent on their demands being met, including the reintegration of their state agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank into the prestigious SWIFT international payments network.

→ Taiwan's Vice President, Lai Ching-te, has his sights set on a U.S. visit next month. Lai, a fierce advocate for Taiwan's independence and a contender for the 2024 presidency, is set to stop in Uncle Sam's homeland while on his way to the Paraguayan president's inauguration. Biden's team, attempting to avoid ruffling Beijing's feathers (because you don’t want to hurt your friend’s feelings), is trying their best to downplay the visit, reiterating their commitment to non-interference in Taiwan's electoral affairs. Alas, Lai won't be treading the halls of Washington D.C., given the lack of formal diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Taiwan. China, perceiving Taiwan as a prodigal province, has been known to react strongly to U.S. liaisons with Taiwanese leaders.

→ Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" film, early critics are bandying about terms like "feminist tour de force.” As the premiere date of July 21 fast approaches, speculation, and intrigue are at an all-time high, fuelled by tantalizing snippets revealed in trailers. Margot Robbie, taking up the mantle of Barbie, gives life to a classic trope: the innocent adrift in an alien world. Critics, including Entertainment Weekly's Devan Coggan and Peter Debruge of Variety, have lauded the film's progressive, feminist stance and its critique of patriarchal norms. Robbie's Barbie, thrown headlong into the realities of the world beyond Barbie Land, grapples with her own legacy and the harsh light of misogyny and objectification. Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling's Ken finds himself intoxicated by the patriarchal power structures of the real world, setting the stage for a showdown of gender dynamics upon their return to Barbie Land.

→ Country music crooner Jason Aldean's music video for his ballad, "Try That In A Small Town," has ascended to the pinnacle of the iTunes chart. This rapid ascent was not deterred by the dissonant chorus of criticism, with some labeling the tune as "racist" or "pro-lynching." The visual counterpart of this anthem, full of anti-riot sentiments and critiques of leftist ideologies, was abruptly yanked from the airwaves of Country Music Television (CMT). Unbowed, Aldean mounted a defense of his lyrical artistry, asserting that race is absent from the song's narrative and contending that it's an homage to the neighborly camaraderie of his formative years. The tune also sprang to the zenith of the iTunes Country Top 40 chart. In spite of the media maelstrom, the video remains accessible on YouTube, having garnered more than 2.1 million views.