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The Trump administration has officially pulled a $929 million federal grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority after terminating a 2010 agreement. 

In a release, the Federal Railroad Association – a component of the US Department of Transportation – said that California’s rail authority “repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the FY10 agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the project. Additionally, California has abandoned its original vision of a high-speed passenger rail service connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was essential to its applications for FRA grant funding,” according to CNBC. 

The FRA added that it “continues to consider all options regarding the return of $2.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds awarded to CHSRA.“

President Trump in February called for California to return $3.5 billion in federal funds given to the state for the failed high-speed rail line planned between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The $929 million in grant funds awarded to the state had not yet been paid out. 

Trump’s call for the return of money followed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom at his first state of the state address on Feb. 12 announcing a reeling in of the state’s high-speed rail project, saying the current plan “would cost too much and take too long.” He added, “There simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to LA.” –CNBC

In a Thursday statement, Newsom said “The Trump administration’s action is illegal and a direct assault on California, our green infrastructure, and the thousands of Central Valley workers who are building this project,” adding “Just as we have seen from the Trump administration’s attacks on our clean air standards, our immigrant communities and in countless other areas, the Trump administration is trying to exact political retribution on our state. This is California’s money, appropriated by Congress, and we will vigorously defend it in court.”

While California canceled the bulk of the high-speed rail project, the state is continuing construction on a 119-mile section in the Central Valley in order to be able to legally keep federal funds for the project. Over $6 billion has already been spent on the project. 

Back in 2008, California voters approved Proposition 1A, authorizing nearly $10 billion in bond money for the construction of the high-speed rail system. Since the vote, though, the project been plagued by delays and cost overruns. –CNBC

Last October, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison panned the $77 billion project. 

“Trains leave when you don’t want to leave, from a place you don’t want to leave from, and take you to a place you don’t want to go to, at a time you don’t want to get there, and then you have to get into a car and go wherever you’re going. It is a crazy system.” 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/30uy0sE Tyler Durden

A used crack pipe, two DC driver’s licenses, multiple credit cards, a Delaware Attorney General badge and a US Secret Service business card belonging to Hunter Biden were found in a rental car returned to an Arizona Hertz location in the middle of the night, days before the 2016 presidential election, according to Breitbart, which obtained an exclusive copy of the police report.

Hunter, son of former Vice President and 2020 candidate Joe Biden, had rented the vehicle from a California location, intending to return it to the Prescott, Arizona location where iut was discovered after being dropped off with the crack pipe and Hunter Biden’s personal effects. 

Instead of returning the car keys to the drop box where after-hours returns are supposed to go, the car was returned—according to the police report—with the keys left in the gas tank compartment of the vehicle. Also found inside the vehicle, per the police report, were two drivers’ licenses both bearing Hunter Biden’s legal name Robert Biden, as well as “some credit cards with the same name,” “a secret service business card,” and an “Attorney General’s badge” all contained inside a wallet that Hertz rental employees discovered—along with a pipe that Hertz employees thought and police later confirmed was used to smoke illicit drugs, as well as “a white powdery substance in the arm rest of the vehicle.” –Breitbart

Of note, Hunter was discharged from the Navy after he tested positive for cocaine. 

The morning after the car was dropped off, a phone number belonging to a renowned local “Colon Hydrotherapist” called the Hertz. The caller identified himself as “Joseph McGee,” who told the employees that the keys were located in the gas cap as opposed to the drop box. 

“McGee” informed the rental car company employee, according to police, that “his friend was feeling sick so they didn’t know what to do” when the car was returned. Police, according to a supplemental report filed by a Prescott Police Department detective, sought and obtained a subpoena to discover the source of the “Joseph McGee” phone call—and traced it to a phone number owned and operated by a renowned “Colon Hydrotherapist” in the region. –Breitbart

Police were unable to find and interview “Joseph McGee,” as well as contact the younger Biden, however they were unsuccessful at reaching either. The report does say that the Secret Service had located Hunter, and that he was “well.” 

Laboratory analysis by the Arizona Department of Public Safety later determined that the pipe discovered in the vehicle was used to smoke cocaine, not meth, but fingerprints were not found on the device.

The 23 pages of law enforcement and police documents repeatedly refer to the suspect under investigation as Robert Hunter Biden and the report type as a “Narcotics Offense.” Breitbart News is publishing the documents here, with redactions made to remove personally-identifying contact information like addresses and phone numbers as well as the last names of key witnesses. –Breitbart

No prosecution

Despite the overwhelming evidence after an investigation which included two Prescott Police Department officers and a detective, local authorities in both the city and county attorney’s offices declined to prosecute the case. 

A document shows the reason the county attorney declined to prosecute the vice president’s son is because they thought they would only be able to get minor charges to stick, and kicked it down to the city attorney. It is unclear from the documents why the city attorney declined to prosecute.

In addition to local police, FBI and the U.S. Secret Service agents were roped into the case, as well. The FBI dispatched agents to the scene, according to the law enforcement documents, and the Secret Service communicated with the various law enforcement officials investigating and confirmed that Hunter Biden was not in harm’s way. –Breitbart

Read the rest of the report here. 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2YFt6aN Tyler Durden

An Ohio middle school located less than three miles from a decommissioned uranium enrichment plant has been closed for the rest of the school year after authorities found it was contaminated with radioactive chemicals, according to WLWT. 

A nearby air monitor detected enriched uranium and neptunium-237 at Zahn’s Corner Middle School in Piketon, southern Ohio. 

Today was the last day for Zahns Corner Middle School students in Piketon, OH. School leaders sent a letter home to parents. County health officials tell me if students or staff are exposed to enough enriched uranium, they’re at risk for developing cancer. @WLWT pic.twitter.com/nnJveZVRg5

— Jatara McGee WLWT (@jatara_) May 14, 2019

The nearby Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant, just 2.7 miles away, enriched weapons-grade uranium from 1954 – 2001. It was operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company until 1986 – changing hands until Lockheed Martin bought its owner in 1995. In January, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) announced that the Trump Administration had earmarked $115 million to reopen the facility, which would employ 60 people to operate 16 centrifuges, pending EPA approval. 

“After the Cold War, weapons-grade uranium enrichment was suspended and production facilities were leased to the private sector,” reads the Department of Energy’s website. “In 2001, enrichment operations were discontinued at the site.” 

Local councilwoman Jennifer Chandler told CNN that three children out of five in the school district diagnosed with cancer have died. 

“You don’t want to make a claim that you can’t back up,” she said. “How is this caused? Is this a genetic cancer? Is this an environmental cancer? I’m not a medical professional.” 

“This isn’t a game, you know. These are people’s lives.” 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Q9eRaX Tyler Durden

Authored by Victor Skinner via TheAmericanMirror.com,

A new federal report shows non-citizens in the United States commit nearly half of all federal crimes, or more than six times their proportion to the American population.

For 2017, data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Surveyshows non-citizens comprise about 7 percent of the country’s population, but the 2018 Annual Report and Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics shows they committed more than 40 percent of all federal crimes.

The United States Sentencing Commission reviewed 321,000 sentencing documents in fiscal year 2018 and outlined several statistics in the annual report:

In fiscal year 2018, the courts reported 69,425 felony and Class A misdemeanor cases to the Commission. This represents an increase of 2,552 cases from the prior fiscal year, and the first increase since fiscal year 2011.

The race of federal offenders remained largely unchanged from prior years. In fiscal year 2018, 54.3 percent of all offenders were Hispanic, 21.2 percent were White, 20.6 percent were Black, and 3.8 percent were of another race. Non-U.S. Citizens accounted for 42.7 percent of all federal offenders.

Immigration cases accounted for the largest single group of offenses in fiscal year 2018, comprising 34.4 percent of all reported cases. Cases involving drugs, firearms, and fraud were the next most common types of offenses after immigration cases. Together these four types of offenses accounted for 82.9 percent of all cases reported to the Commission in fiscal year 2018.

A breakdown of crimes in the report shows about 92 percent of immigration crimes, or about 21,835 cases, involved non-citizens. But they also committed other crimes at far higher rates than their 7 percent proportion of the population as a whole.

Cases involving drug possession, for example, were nearly evenly split between citizens and non-citizens with 361 and 339, respectively. In other words, non-citizens violated federal drug possession laws at a rate roughly seven times higher than citizens.

Statistics were similar for violations of national defense, with 30 percent of cases involving non-citizens, as well as money laundering at 27 percent, drug trafficking at 24 percent and murder at 18 percent. Other crimes committed at higher rates include kidnapping, fraud/theft/embezzlement, extortion/racketeering, burglary, assault, “commercialized vice,” and environmental crimes, among others.

The largest numbers of crimes occurred in border states, and areas with sanctuary policies. Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida and southern California were among the most heavily concentrated areas for federal crimes. Data in the Sentencing Commission’s report show the Fifth Circuit Court covering Texas and the Ninth Circuit Court covering California and Arizona are the busiest, with about 26 and 20 percent of cases, respectively.

In the vast majority of cases involving both citizens and non-citizens – 87.8 percent – the offenders were sentenced to prison. For the roughly 29,000 non-citizens convicted of federal crimes in fiscal year 2018, that statistic was 98.5 percent, according to the report.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2HyeByp Tyler Durden

Attorney General William Barr brushed off efforts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democrats to discredit him, claiming that they might be “concerned about the outcome of a review.”

In a wide-ranging interview from El Salvador with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Barr said that accusations that he lied under oath are “laughable,” and that Democrats are scrambling ahead of the outcome of his review of FBI/DOJ conduct surrounding the 2016 US election. 

On May 2, Pelosi accused Barr of lying under oath – saying “The attorney general of the United States did not tell the truth to the Congress. That’s a crime.” 

Barr ribbed Pelosi during a Wednesday sideline at a Capitol Hill event – asking the House Speaker if she had “Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?” according to a source who witnessed the conversation. 

Pelosi smiled, and replied that “the House Sergeant at Arms was present at the ceremony should an arrest be necessary.” 

Steele Dossier and “Strange developments” after the 2016 election

Hemmer: “Can you tell us what the Steele dossier had to do with it? What role did that play?” 

Barr: “That’s one of the questions we’re going to have to do that. It’s a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that – especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejue analysis. And to use that to conduct counterintelligence against the American political campaign would be a strange development. 

Hemmer: “Do you smell a rat in this at this point?”

Barr: “I would just say that the answers I’m getting are not sufficient.” 

Barr was then asked about the period after the election. 

Hemmer: “In the period of time between election day and the inauguration, did anyone in government or in intelligence, did they take action to justify their decisions?” 

Barr: “I think there were some very strange developments during that period. That’s one of the things we want to look into.”

Hemmer: “Such as?”

“Such as the handling of the media on January 6, between the Intelligence chiefs and the President, and the leaking of information subsequent to that meeting,” referring to former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to brief President Trump on the Steele Dossier – which gave CNN and BuzzFeed justification to publish and report on it. 

Barr also says he doesn’t blame Trump for calling the investigation a “witch hunt,” and defended the White House’s cooperation with the Mueller probe by providing “millions” of pages of information – finding it “more than satisfactory.” 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2w73qrj Tyler Durden

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

The banking scandals are all starting to blur together.

When I heard that five big banks were fined by regulators today, I had to think…

Was that the scandal over employees creating fake accounts? No. Was it the scandal over recommending investments “highly likely to lose value”? No, not that one either.

Today’s fine didn’t stem from when banks scammed customers into buying auto insurance they didn’t need, illegally repossessed vehicles, accidentally foreclosed on homes, colluded to defraud investors, or rigged interest rates.

This time the banks colluded to rig foreign exchange rates. They even informed competitors on their own clients’ transactions, and coordinated to sit out certain auctions to manipulate the rates.

The most persistent myth in the world has got to be that banks are a safe place to keep your money. If they aren’t outright screwing you, they are risking your money on terrible investments, and not giving you any of the return.

And the organizations meant to ride to the rescue– the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, and the US government– are all practically bankrupt.

You still need to keep cash somewhere though, especially today when essentially all asset classes are at all time highs.

But large US banks are NOT the place to keep all your cash. They don’t even give you a tenth of a percent in interest for the pleasure of being treated like a doormat.

That’s why I circumvent the banking system and hold a good chunk of my cash right now in US government Treasury Bills.

Now, before you call the authorities to report that someone has kidnapped Simon Black and replaced him with a US Treasury Department bureaucrat, let me explain.

I would NEVER put my money into long-term bonds in a massively indebted country like the US. People who buy 30 year US government bonds are insane. It’s hard to imagine what the country is going to look like next YEAR, let alone 30 years from now.

But the shortest duration bonds (technically known as ‘bills’) are just 28 days.

And however you feel about the US government, or even Donald Trump, it’s a pretty safe bet that they’re not going to default in the next four weeks.

While other people risk their money buying stocks at record high prices, or hold their money in a risky bank for a 0.02% interest rate, 28-day T-bills pay an annualized return of 2.4%.

The best way to buy 28-day T-Bills is to open an account at Treasury Direct, which you can do here.

All you’ll need is a US Social Security Number and a US bank account. It’s a remarkably simple process.

The government sells 28-day T-bills once a week. So when you want to purchase, you just log in, click a few buttons to indicate how much you want to buy, and the Treasury Department will automatically debit the money directly from your bank account to buy the T-bill.

You can also choose to automatically roll over four weeks later into a new T-bill. Or you can choose to have the proceeds deposited directly into your bank account.

One very easy way to do it is to split your savings into fourths; so let’s say you want to park $400,000 into 28-day T-bills.

You’d buy $100,000 worth on January 1st, then another $100,000 on January 8th, then another $100,000 on January 15th, and another $100,000 on January 21st.

Then, the following week, on January 28th, the original $100,000 T-bill that you purchased on January 1st will mature, and you could roll that over for another 28-days.

Or if you find you need the money, you could choose to redirect the funds back to your bank account.

This is an easy approach that could literally earn you 100x more interest than what your bank is paying you, without the hassle.

It’s pretty pathetic that the Treasury Department is an easier financial partner to deal with than the banking system, but at least for now, that’s the reality.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2WQFaFo Tyler Durden