Vigilant News

Eternal Vigilance is the price of liberty.

Ryan Delarme

California Budget Deficit Reaches a Record-Breaking $68 billion

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The California budget deficit has reached $68 billion, according to an announcement made Thursday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

According to Politico, the amount is significantly greater than the June estimate of $14.3 billion, and it coincides with a decline in tax revenues throughout the Golden State. Fortunately, Sacramento does not face an entirely negative outlook, as the state possesses the necessary resources to tackle the situation, specifically a substantial cash reserve.

“The state remains in a good cash position, and that wasn’t the case back at the start of the Great Recession. We don’t face the same kind of liquidity challenges that we had at that time, and so I would stop short of describing it as a crisis,” LAO Analyst Gabriel Petek told the outlet.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who last week boasted about the achievements of the Golden State during a televised debate with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, views the numbers as something of a black eye.

The news source noted that Newsom will likely be required to implement substantial cost reductions in order to accommodate the unforeseen deficit.

Newsom is expected to release an updated budget proposal and deficit projections in May of next year, but with his sights very likely set on the presidency, it’s uncertain how invested Newsom is on remedying this issue.

Staff of the Washington Post Orchestrate a Walkout Amidst Contract Dispute
Outside the downtown headquarters, reporters, editors, and other personnel participated in a 24-hour strike.

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On Thursday, amid an ongoing contract dispute, hundreds of Washington Post employees walked off the job as a demonstration of their discontent with newspaper management.

Reporters, editors, and other personnel staged demonstrations outside the downtown headquarters during the 24-hour strike. Politico reported that this was the first such demonstration by newspaper employees since the 1970s.

“Washington Post employees have been negotiating with management for 18 months. We still lack a contract that keeps pace with record-level inflation and guarantees workers a living wage,” the union stated. “Meanwhile, because of our previous publisher’s mismanagement, the company has tried to balance its books by laying off nearly 40 people in the last year. Then they offered ‘voluntary’ buyouts to another 240 staffers this fall. Now The Post has threatened that if they don’t get enough people to leave, more layoffs will be next.”

Interim CEO of the Washington Post Patty Stonesifer informed employees in October of this year that the organization intended to offer voluntary buyouts to 240 personnel, or just under 10% of the paper’s estimated 2,500 staff.

“The Post’s goal remains the same as it has from the start of our negotiations: to reach an agreement with the Guild that meets the needs of our employees and the needs of our business,” a spokesperson for the outlet told Politico.

 

DOJ: Russian Hackers Employed a “Sophisticated Spear Phishing Campaign” Against Us Intelligence Officers.

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The Justice Department (DOJ) alleged on Thursday that hackers acting on behalf of the Russian government targeted U.S. intelligence officers in a “sophisticated spear phishing campaign” designed to influence elections in the United Kingdom.

The operation “stole information used in foreign malign influence operations designed to influence the U.K.’s 2019 elections,” according to the DOJ. It effectively hacked into computer networks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and other NATO member states.

individuals associated with the conspiracy were named in a federal indictment unsealed by the DOJ on Thursday. The indictment had been returned by a federal grand jury in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The DOJ asserts that Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko, an officer in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and Andrey Stanislavovich Korinets are the two individuals charged. One count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and one count of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud have been filed against each of them.

The defendants, along with other unindicted co-conspirators, were members of the so-called “Callisto Group,” according to the DOJ.

The cyber campaign allegedly targeted current and former personnel of the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Department of State, defense contractors, and Department of Energy facilities between October 2016 and October 2022, according to the indictment.

Existing and former personnel of the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Department of State, defense contractors, and Department of Energy facilities were allegedly the targets of the cyber campaign, which allegedly occurred between October 2016 and October 2022.

Sending “sophisticated-looking emails” that deceived targets into divulging their login credentials enabled the perpetrators to access the email accounts of the victims at will, according to the DOJ. Spear phishing was frequently conducted in this manner.

The DOJ stated that some of the emails were sent from “spoofed” accounts that were designed to resemble other personal and professional emails that the victims would receive. On occasion, the emails informed recipients that they had breached the terms of service associated with their accounts and required them to register through a link provided. The DOJ stated that when users believed they were signing into their accounts, they were providing hackers with their account credentials.

It seems evidence that Russia continues to attempt to undermine democratic elections, U.S. officials cited the indictments and vowed to hold Russia accountable. Many in the United States would counter that the U.S. Government does more to undermine democratic elections than a few Russian hackers, but of course, we’re not allowed to report on that.

“Today’s indictment is part of a coordinated international response to send a message to the conspirators that the whole of the United States government stands together and with our partners internationally to identify and disrupt cyber espionage actors, particularly those seeking to obtain government information and attempting to create chaos in democratic processes,” U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, Ismail Ramsey, said in the press release.

The indictment, according to Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, demonstrates that the “Russian government continues to target critical networks of the United States and our allies,” and he vowed to hold them accountable.

“Through this malign influence activity directed at the democratic processes of the United Kingdom, Russia again demonstrates its commitment to using weaponized campaigns of cyber espionage against such networks in unacceptable ways,” Olsen said. “The Department of Justice will respond to such behavior with an even more determined commitment to disrupt those activities and to hold accountable the individuals responsible.”

“$24 Million From Foreign Nationals”: House Republicans Officialize Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden, Issue Resolution Prior To Scheduled Vote

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In anticipation of the vote scheduled for next week, which will officially commence the Biden impeachment investigation, Representative Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) has introduced a fourteen-page resolution endorsing the inquiry.

The resolution, which is scheduled for markup on Tuesday, December 12 and is therefore on track for a vote on Wednesday, reads:

“Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes…”

Rep. Armstrong said in a statement:

“It’s time for the House to take the next step in the Biden impeachment investigation and adopt an impeachment inquiry resolution. The White House and multiple witnesses have repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation and have rejected subpoenas. Despite this refusal, the investigation has uncovered alarming details that demand further scrutiny,”

“The Biden family and associates received more than $24 million from foreign nationals. Joe Biden received $200,000 from his brother, James Biden, the same day James received a $200,000 loan from a failing rural hospital operator. Joe Biden also received $40,000 in laundered Chinese money from his brother and sister-in-law. It’s become clear that the Biden family sold influence around the world using Joe Biden’s name as the product. An investigation in any jurisdiction around the country would move forward if it had these facts. A vote on an impeachment inquiry puts the House in the best position to prevail in court and uncover the truth,”

The White House has put forth the argument that the Republican Party’s ongoing impeachment investigation lacks the formalization required by a vote, which is unconstitutional. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has strongly opposed this assessment.

“Constitutionally, it’s not required. Speaker said we’re [in] an impeachment inquiry, [then] we’re in an impeachment inquiry,” said Jordan. “But if you have a vote of the full House of Representatives and the majority say we’re in that official status as part of our overall oversight work or constitutional oversight duty that we have, it just helps us in court.”

As per the Hill:

In anticipation of that vote, Democrats and the White House in recent days pointed to previous statements from swing-seat Republicans and moderates casting doubt on whether impeachment is warranted. 

They have also pointed to cries from Republicans when Trump’s impeachment began without taking a formal vote. 

But many of those same GOP members say that taking the step to authorize an inquiry is a much different question than a vote on actual impeachment articles. 

The House’s Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means committees have for months investigated both what they have deemed the Biden family finances and a Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden’s failure to pay taxes

 

 

 

IRS Whistleblower Verifies Hunter Biden Received Nearly $5 Million for Personal Expenses from Democrat Donor

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Tuesday in closed-door testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Internal Revenue Service agent Joseph Ziegler disclosed that Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, obtained loans amounting to nearly $5 million from a donor for personal expenditures.

“Hunter appeared to follow a pattern of attempting to avoid paying taxes on relevant income. This first started with Hunter not reporting the Burisma income in 2014 and allegedly falsely claiming that it was a loan to him,” Ziegler said in his testimony.

“He, again, tried to claim the millions in income earned from Hudson West III was a loan to him, which was refuted by the evidence and was not allowed by his tax accountants. This continued into 2020, 2021 and 2022, in which Hunter received approximately $4.9 million in payments for personal expenses, again in the form of a loan and gift from Democratic Donor Kevin Patrick Morris,” he added.

Morris, according to Ziegler, also repaid Hunter’s past-due taxes.

“As stated in my previous testimony, I read a note from Hunter Biden’s 2020 tax return that Hunter Biden received a loan from a 3rd party, known to be Kevin Patrick Morris, in paying off Hunter Biden’s delinquent taxes,” he said.

Ziegler’s interview corroborates reporting from last month that since Joe Biden began his presidential campaign, Kevin Morris and Hunter Biden have taken out a succession of loans totaling $5.3 million.

Ziegler and Gary Shapley, who oversaw the IRS investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax issues and are also whistleblowers, have made allegations that the U.S. Justice Department obstructed their investigation and halted certain actions that they were prepared to execute based on multiple leads.

According to Ziegler, Hunter’s tax accountant said the 2017 and 2018 tax liabilities were “discussed with Hunter Biden on February 11, 2020, and that he elected to not remit the tax payments because he did not have the resources to pay them.”

“It is noted that the month prior to this, Morris made a $160,000 tax payment, in an attempt to pay off Hunter Biden’s delinquent 2015 tax debt, which was a point of contention with Hunter’s ex-wife at the time,” he said. “Hunter may have been in breach of his marital separation agreement and Hunter’s ex-wife at the time was having an issue renewing her passport due to the delinquent tax debt.”

Additionally, Ziegler illustrated how Hunter’s international business dealings with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma might have been associated with his father.

He revealed that on April 17, 2015, Vadym Pozharskyi, advisor to the Burisma Board of Directors, thanked Hunter via email for “the opportunity to meet your father and spend time together.”

Ziegler stated that investigators “were never granted the opportunity to interview Joseph Biden” to ascertain the contents of the meeting.

The testimony of the whistleblower occurred as the House Republican Party prepares to hold a formal vote next week regarding the initiation of an impeachment investigation against Biden.

The Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to “release 56 new pages of evidence showing that then-Vice President Joe Biden used multiple email aliases and private email addresses to communicate with his son’s business associate and main financial architect.” in response to the closed-door testimony of the whistleblowers.

The committee has established a connection between Hunter and the private email and aliases.

“The president appears now to not only have had knowledge but also been intimately involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings,” read a committee press release. “The material released today further corroborates the previous testimony of IRS agents Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley highlighting the incredible level of access Hunter Biden and his business partners had in Joe Biden’s public office while working for foreign businesses.”

A message from Morris to a “Biden family accountant” stating that Hunter’s delinquent taxes posed a “considerable risk personally and politically” and needed to be reconciled was among the emails that were discovered.