June, 2019

China's embassy in Ottawa said a customs investigation -- launched after the discovery of traces of a banned feed additive -- revealed up to 188 false documents had been submitted to Chinese officials.

"In order to protect the safety of Chinese consumers, China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canadian government to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China since June 25," it said on its website.

"We hope the Canadian side would attach great importance to this incident, complete the investigation as soon as possible and take effective measures to ensure the safety of food exported to China in a more responsible manner," it added...

“It’s noteworthy that the behind-the-scenes talks have been preceded by the mutual understanding of each other’s position gained through the Hanoi summit.” The resumption of nuclear negotiations between the North and the U.S., he said, would serve to take the current peace process on the peninsula to the “next level.” “I believe everything has now fallen into place for that to happen.”

Seoul and Pyongyang, the President continued, have also continued dialogue through “diverse channels to sustain inter-Korean talks,” reiterating his commitment to meet the North Korean leader “at any given moment without being restrained by time, place or formalities.”...

Yet again, the National Security Agency has been exposed for "accidentally overcollecting" call-record metadata of millions of Americans. According to a WSJ report that relied on documents obtained by the ACLU...

According to the report, it's unclear how the overcollection occurred, but the incident took place after the NSA said it had purged hundreds of millions of metadata records it had amassed since 2015 in a separate overcollection episode...

The civil action alleges that Manigault Newman is in violation of the Ethics in Government Act “for knowingly and willfully failing to file the required public financial disclosure report after her employment terminated with the Executive Office of the President.”...

Unfortunately, Google sends unrelated departments to answer questions those people wouldn’t technically know anything about. Google comes out looking clean while Sen Cruz looks like he’s chasing butterflies. They structured their company into all of these independent cells. They can just cut them loose and deny they knew anything about it. They are structured like a criminal enterprise.

On another note, this woman was clearly coached to thank Cruz before every answer and to turn off the mic every time. She’s an NPC of the highest order.

According to MLCI’s admissions, beginning by at least 2008 and continuing through 2014, precious metals traders employed by MLCI schemed to deceive other market participants by injecting materially false and misleading information into the precious metals futures market. They did so by placing fraudulent orders for precious metals futures contracts that, at the time the traders placed the orders, they intended to cancel before execution. In doing so, the traders intended to “spoof” or manipulate the market by creating the false impression of increased supply or demand and, in turn, to fraudulently induce other market participants to buy and to sell futures contracts at quantities, prices and times that they otherwise likely would not have done so. Over the relevant period, the traders placed thousands of fraudulent orders...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, and state and local partners participating in HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) examined a container of beach chairs that arrived from China through Panama. In addition to beach chairs, authorities discovered four black bags inside the container. The bags contained a combined 125 bricks of a white-powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine. The cocaine weighed about 151 kilograms, or about 333 pounds, and has a street value of about $10 million.

John Sanders had been acting as head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection since its commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, was tapped to take over as acting Homeland Security secretary in April. He had been its chief operating officer and a longtime ally of Mr. McAleenan’s...
Mr. Sanders told employees of CBP Tuesday that he had offered Mr. McAleenan his resignation on Monday and that it would take effect July 5. He didn’t explain the reasons for his departure in the email and instead focused primarily on employees, telling them to “take care of each other.”

Hogg, 19, told The Washington Post in an article published on Tuesday that the attempts to end his life came from people who are "misguided and misinformed of what we’re actually here to talk about." He said that if someone were to kill him because of his efforts to curb gun violence, it would most likely be "the stupidest thing they could do to try to end the movement. Because that would make it even more successful in the end. Because it would invigorate us and create f---ing change."

The undercover investigation started Jan. 1 and was called “Operation Trade Secrets.” The sting focused on hotels, motels, spas, massage parlors, strip clubs, adult bookstores and sex trade activities in Hillsborough County, Chronister said. The Sheriff’s Office targeted “johns,” Chronister said, with undercover deputies soliciting for sex. But about half of the people arrested were women on charges of offering to commit prostitution.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Eric Trump had, with a group of people, come into Aviary, an upscale lounge in Chicago, and the young woman–an employee of the establishment–came right up to him and spit in his face. Per an eyewitness, she murmured inaudibly something that sounded like it was anti-Trump. Then Secret Service agents who were there protecting Eric Trump jumped into action and took the woman into custody. She was put in handcuffs and placed in a police paddy wagon, a source with knowledge said. Eric Trump decided not to press charges against the woman in the end, and she was released from police custody.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday negotiators are 90 percent of the way to a new trade deal with China, just days before President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet at the G20 summit...

"We were about 90 percent of the way there and I think there's a path to complete this," Mnuchin said. "The message we want to hear is that they want to come back to the table and continue, because I think there is a good outcome for their economy and the U.S. economy."...

By just saying something that sounds optimistic, Mnuchin managed to push US equity futures up - even though a trade deal won't really happen anytime soon.

From the Financial Times:

Analysts say the bout of enthusiasm for virtual currencies is being stoked by a confluence of factors.

Among the most significant is Facebook’s move into the world of crypto, launching its own currency called Libra in an attack by Big Tech on the payments industry. Analysts are optimistic that Libra could help cryptocurrencies generally gain more mainstream acceptance, both as means of payment and as a store of wealth...

“Pursuant to subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence tonight, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has agreed to testify before both Committees on July 17 in open session,” the chairmen said in a statement... The chairmen suggested in a letter to Mueller Tuesday accompanying the subpoena that they understand that Mueller may limit what he plans to share with lawmakers, with Schiff and Nadler writing that they know “there are certain sensitivities associated with your open testimony.”

Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez tried to cross Rio Grande with daughter Sunday. Family had spent two months waiting in Mexico for U.S. immigration interview... Bodies were found on Mexico side of the border near Brownsville, Texas

A "loose knit crew of rivals" are eager to help the government with its anti-trust probe of Alphabet, Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal. Competitors of Google are doing everything they can to try and help the Justice Department in their probe, including readying documents and data in anticipation of meetings with regulators.

...rival companies are stepping up their lobbying in the United States, where antitrust investigations have been divided among the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Lawyers that specialize in antitrust law say that any probe could take years to complete. Google is preparing its case as well, while at the same time overhauling its lobbying effort in Washington...

The competitors that have aligned themselves with regulators (and against Alphabet) include companies like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Oracle.

Grisham, who developed a reputation as a fierce defender of the first lady during her tenure as spokeswoman, will also become the White House communications director.

I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director! She has been with us since 2015 - @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) June 25, 2019

More than 67% of the aliens arrested (35) by ICE deportation officers during this enforcement surge had prior criminal histories that included convictions and or pending charges for the following crimes: assault, battery, domestic violence, traffic offenses, driving under the influence, drug possession, drug trafficking, larceny, illegal re-entry after deportation, illegal entry, resisting officers, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Eighteen of those arrested were immigration fugitives with a final order of removal; 21 others illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported, which is a felony.