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At Least Six Suspicious Activity Reports Were Lodged by Banks with Joe Biden’s Residence Listed, According to Senator

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U.S. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin spent years investigating the first family’s finances and now claims that banks submitted a minimum of six reports pertaining to Hunter Biden’s international business dealings. These reports highlighted the Delaware address of President Joe Biden and sparked concerns regarding potential criminal activity such as money laundering and even human trafficking.

Thursday night, as the ranking Republican on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Johnson disclosed to John Soloman’s outlet Just the News that the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) documented transactions totaling approximately $12 million over multiple years, with a portion of those funds traversing Joe Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Del., where he had granted permission for his son to reside.

Johnson stated that Joe Biden would have undoubtedly detected his son’s use of his residence as a business and banking address, if only by observing the mail that arrived at the address. Further, he stated that there are ample reasons for House impeachment investigators to suspect Joe Biden of collusion in his son’s international dealings. Next week, the House will consider whether to formally authorize an impeachment investigation.

“There’d be so much activity coming into his address, in this case, Hunter Biden’s businesses, that he obviously would have to be aware,” Johnson claimed. “So, again, I just use the word obvious, It has been so obvious for so long, that Biden Inc. is a corrupt enterprise. And that this president is corrupt, that he is compromised.

“And he fully was aware of this, that he fully benefited from it. The members of his family benefited from all these millions of dollars flowing in from countries that are adversarial to America,” he added.

A few hours prior to the unsealing of a nine-count indictment against Hunter Biden in federal court in California by Special Counsel David Weiss, Johnson made this revelation. The indictment accuses Biden of engaging in a years-long tax evasion scheme, wherein he avoided paying $1.4 million in federal taxes on millions in foreign incomes originating from countries such as China, Ukraine, and Romania.

According to the indictment, “Rather than pay his taxes, the Defendant spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle.”

Johnson, in conjunction with OG Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), conducted a two-year investigation into the Biden family scandal. The investigation concluded in 2020 that Joe Biden’s family amassed millions of dollars in foreign currency from adversarial nations, thereby jeopardizing the first family’s national security. Johnson is one of the most knowledgeable members of Congress regarding the matter.

Since then, revelations from House investigators, IRS whistleblowers, and subpoenaed documents have only served to heighten Johnson’s concerns, he stated on Thursday.

“They (Biden family) did nothing for it (the money) other than they had the right name. And they were influence peddling. And the people paying these millions expected favors in return, some kind of public policy coming from the former vice president and maybe even a potential president of the United States. Now they got him. Now he’s compromised.”

Johnson stated that his team has been assisting House impeachment investigators and will provide the SAR-derived information regarding Joe Biden’s residence.

“We found six of the Treasury reports on Hunter Biden, listing his suspicious activities,” Johnson said. “The money flows in those reports are over $12 million. Now, there might be double counting in there, you just don’t really know exactly what the activity is. These reports are really meant to obviously raise awareness to prompt further investigation, which of course this Department of Justice, FBI, I don’t think did an honest job of doing.”

“But it does point out we know what’s suspicious about them and there are terms like money laundering, human trafficking, those types, that that’s why these transactions raise suspicion,” he continued. “I mean, Hunter Biden has dozens and dozens and dozens of these Treasury reports that are concerned about suspicious activities he’s undertaking in terms of money transfers. I mean, this is, again, it’s just to me, it just underscores and confirms the criminal nature, the corrupt nature of Biden family, Inc.”

Inquirers from Congress claim they have not identified over 150 SARs that have been lodged involving Biden family businesses and associates for nearly a decade. While Hunter Biden has faced charges related to firearms and taxes, it is noteworthy that neither he nor his father have ever faced formal accusations in court regarding money laundering or human trafficking. However, IRS witnesses have testified before Congress that concerns about a foreign human trafficking operation prompted the tax investigation into Hunter Biden.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) states that a Suspicious Activity notification is submitted “to report known or suspected violations of law or suspicious activity observed by financial institutions subject to the regulations of the Bank Secrecy Act.”

Prior to the September 2020 presidential election, it was reported that Senate committees chaired by Grassley and Johnson had obtained SARs detailing concerns raised by FinCEN regarding a number of foreign transactions involving companies connected to Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden’s work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and the millions of dollars he was paid for his board seat were detailed in the report by Grassley and Johnson. The Senators emphasized in particular how Hunter Biden’s work intersected with his father’s, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s, administration of official U.S. policy in Ukraine.

A $3.5 million wire from the widow of a Russian oligarch and Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ye Jianming, an energy executive with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, were also detailed in the report.

The Daily Mail had previously reported that it had reviewed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) issued by the Treasury Department. These SARs allegedly indicate that payments from Hunter Biden’s personal and business accounts were monitored as late as December 2019 and that payments from those accounts were linked to an “Eastern European prostitution ring.”

Wells Fargo identified 25 individuals associated with the foreign prostitution operation and approximately $7 million in suspicious transactions, including checks from Hunter Biden that “could have been forged to conceal his payments to prostitutes from his business account,” as reported by the Daily Mail.

In addition, documents from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that were made public by the House Ways and Means Committee revealed that Hunter Biden spent money on escorts and claimed tax deductions for a portion of those payments. An investigator conducted an interview with one of Hunter Biden’s accountants and an alleged escort who described an encounter with the younger Biden for these documents.

Furthermore, it was testified by the IRS whistleblowers that they informed the Justice Department about a possible Mann Act violation while investigating Hunter Biden’s tax evasion. The Mann Act prohibits the interstate transportation of females “for the purpose of prostitution, debauchery, or any sexual activity that may result in criminal liability for any individual.”

Joe Biden’s residence has been linked to Hunter Biden’s dubious transactions on multiple occasions for this reason. Hunter Biden received two wire transfers from China in 2019 totaling $250,000 and $10,000, according to records of bank wires obtained by the House Oversight Committee in September.

James Comer, R-Kentucky, chairman of oversight, stated that two wires originating from China designated the Wilmington address of Joe Biden as the recipient. These payments were transmitted during Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

“Bank records don’t lie, but President Joe Biden does,”  Comer said in a press release at the time. “In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States.”

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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.

 

“$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

 

 

 

Federal Agencies Report Breaches by Iranian Hackers, Numerous U.S. States Affected

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According to U.S. and Israeli authorities, numerous organizations in the United States were compromised by Iran-affiliated hackers who targeted an Israeli-made industrial control device. A minor water authority in western Pennsylvania was among the many organizations compromised.

“The victims span multiple U.S. states,” an advisory emailed to The Associated Press late Friday by the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Israel’s National Cyber Directorate.

The number of compromised organizations was not specified, and no other details were provided.

Federal officials informed Matthew Mottes, chairman of the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, which discovered it had been infiltrated on November 25, that the same group also compromised four other utilities and an aquarium, on Thursday.

Even though there is no evidence linking Iran to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which instigated the conflict in Gaza, cybersecurity experts anticipate that pro-Palestinian hacktivists and Iranian-backed hackers will intensify cyberattacks against Israel and its allies in the wake of the incident. Indeed, that has occurred.

The multiagency advisory provided information that CISA did not have when it confirmed the Pennsylvania breach on Wednesday: that vulnerable Vision Series programmable logic controllers manufactured by Unitronics are utilized in industries other than water and water treatment facilities.

These sectors include “energy, food and beverage manufacturing, and healthcare,” according to the advisory. The apparatus controls various processes, such as the discharge of fluids, temperature, and pressure.

Crews were compelled to transition to manual operation after the Aliquippa hack prompted employees to temporarily cease pumping at a remote station that regulates water pressure for two neighboring towns. On the compromised device, the hackers left a digital calling card that stated “any Israeli-made equipment is a legal target.”

According to the multiagency advisory, it remained uncertain whether the hackers attempted to further infiltrate the compromised networks. They were granted access that facilitated “more profound cyberphysical effects on processes and equipment,” according to the document.

The hackers, who identify as “Cyber Av3ngers,” are reportedly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran, a foreign terrorist organization designated by the United States in 2019. The group has reportedly been targeting Unitronics devices since at least November 22.

An online search conducted on the engine Shodan on Saturday uncovered over 200 internet-connected devices in the United States and over 1,700 worldwide.

The advisory notes that Unitronics devices are shipped with a default password, which is discouraged by experts due to the increased susceptibility to malware. In accordance with established guidelines, devices need to have an initial password that is distinct from the rest. It is assumed that the compromised devices were accessed by the hackers through “exploitation of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, such as inadequate password protection and internet connectivity.”

According to authorities, a considerable number of water utilities have neglected cybersecurity.

In response to the Aliquippa hack, three Pennsylvania congressmen asked the U.S. Justice Department in a letter to investigate. Americans must know their drinking water and other basic infrastructure is safe from “nation-state adversaries and terrorist organizations,” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said. Cyber Av3ngers claimed in an Oct. 30 social media post to have hacked 10 water treatment stations in Israel, though it is not clear if they shut down any equipment.

According to Sergey Shykevich of Check Point, the organization has escalated and broadened its focus on Israeli critical infrastructure since the inception of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Before the events of October 7, Iran and Israel were involved in a low-level cyberconflict. The AP has not received a response from Unitronics regarding the breaches.

A federal appeals court decision prompted the EPA to rescind a rule that would have required U.S. public water systems to conduct cybersecurity testing as part of their routine federally mandated audits. The attack occurred less than one month later. A federal appeals court decision in a case filed by Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa, with the support of a water utility trade group, instigated the reversal.