Month: November 2023

On Thursday, Rep. George Santos said he will not be seeking reelection in 2024, this after the House Ethics Committee released a scathing report that concluded there is “substantial evidence” that Santos “violated federal criminal laws,” including using campaign funds for personal purposes and filing false campaign reports. The New York Republican said in a statement on X: “I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed. I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”

The Ethics subcommittee said in its wide-ranging 56-page report, that Santos found “a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances. Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit … He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit. He reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign—and then diverted more campaign money to himself as purported ‘repayments’ of those fictitious loans.”  The report continued that Santos “used his connections to high-value donors and other political campaigns” to enrich himself, “and he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.” The Ethics panel also detailed various suspicious campaign expenditures, which included spending at Hermes, Ferragamo stores, an Airbnb while Santos was on a Hamptons weekend getaway, Botox treatments and OnlyFans, a subscription-based website.

The DOJ has already charged Santos on multiple federal counts, including identity theft, money laundering and theft of public funds. He is set to go on trial in September and has pleaded not guilty. Santos, 35, said on X: “I will remain steadfast in fighting for my rights and for defending my name in the face of adversity. I am humbled yet again and reminded that I am human and I have flaws, but I will not stand by as I am stoned by those who have flaws themselves.

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President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened their high-stakes summit Wednesday afternoon, stating that their differences should not be an option for any conflicts between the two nations. The meeting, which is billed as the U.S.-PRC Leaders Summit, is not an official part of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).   While the meeting between Xi and Biden is not part of the summit, it is seen as vital for both leaders amid the Israel-Hamas war.

At the palatial Filoli mansion in California, Biden and Xi reflected on their first meeting 12 years ago, when they were both vice presidents. Biden called their meetings as “candid, straightforward and useful…’ adding, ‘I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication.”

Xi said the China-U.S. relationship is “the most important bilateral relationship in the world” and should be nurtured in a way that benefits everyone. Speaking via a translator, Xi said: “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other. Conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequence for both sides.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that Biden will focus on three things during his sideline summit with Xi: “One, not only improve and increase American investment in the region, but the region’s investment in the United States; number two, lifting up and looking towards a vision for better international worker standards, cleaner environments, safe environments, collective bargaining, a chance for international workers to be able to compete on a level playing field; and number three, building a more inclusive economy across the region.”

The two leaders last met one year ago at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia; Wednesday’s meeting marks Xi’s first visit to the United States since 2017. Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “Building on their last meeting in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, the leaders will also discuss how the United States and the PRC can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”

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Deja Taylor, the mother of a 6-year-old student who shot his first-grade teacher in Virginia, was sentenced on Wednesday to 21 months in prison for using marijuana while owning a firearm.

Taylor son took her handgun to school and shot 26-year-old teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in January at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, V.A.  The child fired a 9mm handgun while the teacher was sitting at the reading table in their first-grade classroom.

Taylor, 26, was convicted on federal charges of using drugs when the gun was purchased. Federal prosecutors in Virginia argued in court filings that Taylor’s “chronic, persistent and … life-affecting abuse extends this case far beyond any occasional and/or recreational use.”  Investigators later found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom and evidence of frequent drug use in her text messages and paraphernalia. Taylor’s grandfather has had full custody of her son, now age 7, since the shooting, according to court documents.

Taylor agreed in June to a negotiated guilty plea. Taylor’s attorneys had asked the judge for probation and home confinement, arguing that Taylor needs counseling for issues that include schizoaffective disorder, a condition that shares symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. “Ms. Taylor is deeply saddened, extremely despondent, and completely remorseful for the unintended consequences and mistakes that led to this horrible shooting,” her attorneys wrote. They also said she needs treatment for marijuana addiction.

Taylor still faces a separate sentencing in December on the state level for felony child neglect. Meanwhile, Abigail Zwerner is suing the school system for $40 million, alleging that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun.

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