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For a bit there, didn't think a trade or two were going to happen early. But as usual, didn't disappoint. Here's hope for lots of volatility giving us many good trades today. BOIL KOLD
Doesn't surprise me, Musk's and Twitters worth is more tied to the extreme right GOP, Russia, and definitely the Saudis and China than any company's worth or fundamentals.
Twitter lifts restrictions on Russian government accounts
"Economichna Pravda" — Saturday, 8 April 2023, 16:17
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/04/8/7397036/
Twitter has lifted restrictions on accounts linked to the Russian government that were put in place last April after the full-scale Russian invasion.
Source: The Telegraph
Tests conducted by the media last week showed that Russian government accounts appear at the top of certain search results and in other account suggestions for subscriptions.
In particular, we are talking about the accounts of Russian President Putin, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and their embassy in Britain.
Last April, in the weeks after Russian troops entered Ukraine, Twitter said it would "not amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict", saying the policy would instantly apply to Russian government accounts.
It said this would mean the accounts would not be recommended in searches, the home timeline and other parts of the service.
However, now Russian government accounts featured at the top of certain search results and would show up in Twitter’s algorithmically-driven For You feed for a newly created account, even when it did not follow them.
A former Twitter executive confirmed that it would be exceedingly unlikely that this change would have happened accidentally, or without the knowledge and direction of the company's staff.
Twitter also lifted restrictions on Russian and Chinese state media accounts last week, among them RT and the Global Times, introduced in 2020.
Elon Musk reveals plans for a new factory making Megapacks on Shanghai visit, while Apple mulls 'decoupling' from China
Sam Tabahriti
Apr 9, 2023, 8:20 AM
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-plans-new-megapack-factory-in-china-2023-4
We will exceed, we're just at the beginning, but "exceeding" can be quite subjective when you compare the costs and population differences and it's effect on that difference. The difference of why it happened then and why it is happening at this degree now. The difference of recovery times and recovery abilities, what's available to recover and the difference of demand for those availabilities, the difference of way before any industrial age and now. If it eliminated whole populations then just with natural forces, what does it say for our future when this environment we have created now is just the beginning? The world is made up of humans and their actions, and like a human, the older it gets the weaker it becomes.
What that says to me; be afraid, be very afraid. That shows only a few feathers of the slow brown ostrich event that is happening getting quicker as time moves on. There will be more water, more flooding, more drought, more extremes, and a lot more costs. Should get even fuller when the extreme heat comes and melts the snow higher up faster than before due to all the fires that burned all the shade. Faster heating of the earth when the more reflective snow quickly melts and exposes all the soot and carbon garbage that soaks in the heat instead of reflecting it. That is what doesn't get washed down and into water storage creating more poisons and crud to filter out, at more expense and loss.
Those extremes in such a short time are NOT a good thing. It only shows the destruction of earths refrigeration like all the blood and water you find on the bottom of your freezer or floor when it goes on the blink. This has been projected and foreseen for quite some time and it's happening at a faster rate than previously thought. Fossil fuels, political debauchery, and humanities inabilities to comprehend or endure the slightest of sacrifices for future life are the cause. Because we selfishly ignore "use what we need and need what we use", we are now up against not having what we need, let alone want.
Costs vs supply and demand will always rule. Wind, fire, air, water, mud, and lack of agriculture product are going to show us the errors in our ways.
This article basically only talks about a couple of brown ostrich feathers, there is still the whole bird coming soon at a theater near you. For example, my 70 yr old sister who lives in a fire danger area is as terrified that her home insurance gets cancelled as so many of her neighbors insurances has as she is of the fire itself (had to evacuate twice last year and go without electricity multiple times for an extended period this year). My niece who inherited a home and property in the same area found the best deal for insurance was at a cost that would pay for the value of property and home in about 7-9 years and she was lucky to get that. New homes or mortgages in the area many times can only get the required and supplied only by the lender at a much greater costs creating multiple times more cost to owning that home.
A hidden time bomb? A ‘Big Short’ investor sees financial disaster brewing in housing markets
PUBLISHED THU, APR 6 20231:18 AM EDTUPDATED THU, APR 6 202310:28 AM EDT
Sam Meredith
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/06/a-big-short-investor-sees-disaster-brewing-in-housing-markets.html
KEY POINTS
Dave Burt, CEO of investment research firm DeltaTerra Capital, was one of the few skeptics who recognized the housing market was on the brink of collapse in 2007.
Now, he believes an overlooked and unpriced climate risk could see history repeating itself.
“We think of this repricing issue as maybe a quarter of the size and magnitude of the [global financial crisis] in aggregate, but of course very, very damaging within those exposed communities,” Burt said.
An aerial view shows a flooded neighborhood in the unincorporated community of Pajaro in Watsonville, California, on March 11, 2023.
Josh Edelson | Afp | Getty Images
More than a decade after a U.S. mortgage meltdown threatened to destroy the international financial system, a “Big Short” investor once again sees financial disaster brewing in the real estate market.
Dave Burt, CEO of investment research firm DeltaTerra Capital which aims to help clients manage climate risk, was one of the few skeptics who recognized the housing market was on the brink of collapse in 2007.
He helped two of the protagonists of Michael Lewis’ bestselling book “The Big Short” bet against the mortgage market in the lead-up to the 2008 global financial crisis. As it turned out, they were right and were estimated to have made millions.
Now, Burt believes an overlooked climate risk could see history repeating itself.
“I’m always on the lookout for these big systemic issues and there’s a few reasons for that,” Burt told CNBC via videoconference.
“Professionally, if something is mispriced, then as an investor, which has been my job for most of my career, your main opportunity to add value is to identify something that is either too cheap to purchase for your clients or something that it is too expensive to sell for your client,” he said.
“From a personal perspective, and this is partly based on that professional perspective, I’ve seen when that goes wrong, how impactful that can be on economies and society and our most vulnerable. And I’m really thinking through the post-global financial crisis period here in the U.S. from 2008 to 2012 where there was a huge amount of human suffering.”
Eventually, you are going to hit either a local or national tipping point where there is going to be some type of bubble that bursts.
Jeremy Porter
HEAD OF CLIMATE IMPLICATIONS AT FIRST STREET FOUNDATION
Burt said DeltaTerra Capital’s research suggests that 20% of U.S. homes have “meaningful exposure” to a mispricing issue because of flood risk. If realized, he warned the fallout could resemble the extraordinary correction seen during the global financial crisis.
“We think of this repricing issue as maybe a quarter of the size and magnitude of the [global financial crisis] in aggregate, but of course very, very damaging within those exposed communities,” Burt said.
His comments come at a time when the housing market is currently experiencing a major fundamental shift because of higher mortgage rates and as global central banks keep up the fight against inflation by hiking interest rates.
In turn, Burt says some cracks are starting to appear in the terms of the cost of insurance. He noted the recovery in Florida from Hurricane Ian was an issue he’s watching closely, particularly because this storm surge exposed a flood insurance nightmare for homeowners.
“Will they become chasms this year? I’m not sure,” Burt said. “But an observation of the highest frequency fundamental data on home sales and home inventories indicates that things are definitely going south for these exposed properties.”
U.S. housing market overvalued?
While most investors remain skeptical of the impact of climate risks on their portfolios, a recent study warned the U.S. housing market could be overvalued by around $200 billion due to unpriced flood risks.
The analysis was published in mid-February in the journal Nature Climate Change. Authored by researchers from the Environmental Defense Fund, the First Street Foundation and the U.S. Federal Reserve, among others, the study modeled property-level changes in flood risk across the U.S. over the next three decades and warned that low-income households were particularly vulnerable to home value devaluation.
Cities are largely to blame for climate change. Could they also be part of the solution?WATCH NOW
VIDEO09:48
Cities are largely to blame for climate change. Could they also be part of the solution?
“The biggest reason why it matters from our perspective is that climate risk isn’t being priced into the housing market,” Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications at the First Street Foundation, told CNBC.
“The costs now or the valuations of homes don’t take into account the realization of that actual flood risk, and that’s not taking into account that we have a tremendous amount of overvaluation attached to properties across the country.”
Porter warned that as people continue to lack sufficient climate risk information when purchasing their homes, a danger persists that households could come to lose a significant proportion of their property value overnight.
“It is not that farfetched to say that you hit a tipping point,” Porter said. “It may be community by community. It may be a larger tipping point that you hit across the country in the real estate market. But eventually, you are going to hit either a local or national tipping point where there is going to be some type of bubble that bursts.”
Aerial photos show damage on Fort Myers Beach on March 1, 2023, caused by Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in late September 2022.
Orlando Sentinel | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
At present, the study said nearly 15 million U.S. properties face a 1% annual likelihood of flooding, with expected annual damages to residential properties forecast to exceed $32 billion.
It also warned the increasing frequency and severity of flooding amid the deepening climate emergency could see the number of U.S. properties exposed to flooding increase by 11% and average annual losses jump by at least 26% by 2050.
“When you buy a home, one of the most important considerations is the cost of maintaining that home and I think so many important decisions are made based on that,” Burt said.
“Ultimately, until people have good information about what these climate-related costs are going to look like, we’re creating new problems every day. I think that’s really the crux of the matter.”
Reflecting on the study’s findings, Jesse Gourevitch, a postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund, told CNBC that the overvaluation was more widespread among lower-income property owners.
He added that “if price deflation were to occur, this very much has the potential to widen wealth gaps in the U.S. and exacerbate inequality.”
Another significant risk, Gourevitch said, was likely to be the potentially detrimental effects on local government tax revenues because the total for municipalities typically relies heavily on property taxes. “And having that tied to a physical asset that is exposed to climate change I think introduces a lot of risks to the stability of that revenue stream,” Gourevitch said.
‘A humanitarian crisis’
Far from a domestic issue, Burt stressed that the climate risks associated with the U.S. housing market posed a major problem for countries worldwide.
“I think when you start thinking about these issues globally, you start thinking about the bigger implications that really the most exposed countries often happen to be the most impoverished as well,” Burt said.
“It is more of a humanitarian crisis when you start looking at this through the global lens.”
TOPSHOT - Aerial view shows an area completely destroyed by the floods in the Blessem district of Erftstadt, western Germany, on July 16, 2021.
SEBASTIEN BOZON | AFP | Getty Images
Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company, observed steep economic losses in 2022 as the climate crisis drove more extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Ian in the U.S. and apocalyptic flooding in Pakistan. Reinsurance refers to insurance for insurance companies.
It estimated that these losses amounted to $270 billion last year, of which around $120 billion was covered by insurance. The insured loss total continues a trend of high losses in recent years.
“At the end of the day, someone has to pay for these increasing losses,” Ernst Rauch, chief climate and geo scientist at Munich Re, told CNBC. “No matter whether it is insured or not, it is an increasing economic burden.”
One area of particular concern, Rauch said, was flash flooding. This refers to a specific type of flooding in which rain falls so quickly that the underlying ground cannot drain it away fast enough.
He cited the excessive flooding seen in Germany in 2021 which caused overflowing rivers to devastate towns across western Germany, Belgium, Austria, and parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
Rauch said the increasing frequency of these types of extreme local or regional rainfall events was still being underestimated. “It is no matter whether we talk about a typical homeowner in Germany or in other parts of the world,” he added.
Ice sheets can collapse at 600 metres a day, far faster than feared, study finds
Sediments from last ice age provide ‘warning from the past’ for Antarctica and sea level rise today, say scientists
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/05/ice-sheets-collapse-far-faster-than-feared-study-climate-crisis
‘Headed off the charts’: world’s ocean surface temperature hits record high
Scientists warn of more marine heatwaves, leading to increased risk of extreme weather
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/08/headed-off-the-charts-worlds-ocean-surface-temperature-hits-record-high
Graham Readfearn
@readfearn
Fri 7 Apr 2023 20.00 EDT
global map using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing areas in orange and red where temperatures have been above the long-term average. Photograph: University Of Maine
Oops, sorry. Just a little friendly fire. Thoughts and prayers, move on.
New Mexico officers kill homeowner in exchange of gunfire while responding to wrong address
Robert Dotson was killed when officers approached the wrong home.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-mexico-officers-kill-homeowner-exchange-gunfire-responding/story?id=98426959
ByNadine El-Bawab
April 7, 2023, 11:51 AM
0:48
National headlines from ABC News
Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.
New Mexico State Police have launched an investigation after officers mistakenly responded to a wrong address and fatally shot the armed homeowner.
The Farmington Police Department said it received a call about a domestic violence incident at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Officers responded to the scene, but mistakenly approached 5305 Valley View Avenue instead of 5308 Valley View Avenue, police said.
Officers knocked on the front door of the wrong house and announced themselves several times, according to the Farmington Police Department.
When there was no response, officers asked dispatch to call the reporting party back and have them come to the front door, according to New Mexico State Police.
New Mexico State Police said body camera footage shows the homeowner, 52-year-old Robert Dotson, open the screen door armed with a handgun as the officers were backing away.
MORE: 2 arrested in murders of 3 Florida teens, 3rd suspect at large
"What followed was a chaotic scene with officers retreating and opening fire. Mr. Dotson was struck and later died at the scene," Chief Steve Hebbe said in a recorded statement.
Dotson was pronounced dead at the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.
After the initial shooting, Dotson's wife fired from the doorway of the residence and officers returned fire. Once she realized the individuals outside the house were police, she put the gun down and complied with their commands, according to state police.
His wife, who was not injured, has not been charged with a crime, according to state police.
MORE: Texas DPS releases video of altercation with Uvalde victim's mother
Officers involved in the shooting were not injured, according to state police.
Hebbe said body camera footage will be released after the officers provide their statements. They are expected to do so within a week.
PHOTO: The home at 5305 Valley View Avenue in Farmington, New Mexico.
The home at 5305 Valley View Avenue in Farmington, New Mexico.
Google Maps Street View
A decision on whether charges will be filed against the officers rests with the district attorney's office, state police said.
"This is an extremely traumatic event and that I am just heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding this. Mr. Dotson was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to and this ending is just unbelievably tragic," Hebbe said.
"I'm extremely sorry that we are in this position. We'll find more facts as we go through this investigation over the next several days," Hebbe said.
Whoa. The story gets even crazier.
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 8, 2023
It was just revealed that Harlan Crow’s brother is currently facing a lawsuit for allegedly financing a massive HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING ring.
Harlan is the major GOP donor who showered Clarence Thomas with lavish gifts. pic.twitter.com/fPVukEeiyG
In reality, the whole thing is just a clusterfuck shitshow. With most of the GOP hell bent on a shitshow of different clusterfucks.
clus·?ter·?fuck 'kl?-st?r-?f?k
plural clusterfucks
vulgar slang
: a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clusterfuck
On the less serious side, kind of reminds me of the new show "Lucky Hank" with Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) premier first episode. Where he walks in on the other professors voting him out as chair, then they take a vote for new chair and "Hank" gets voted back in all at one meeting. Good actor, funny show.
Council meeting Monday, It will be comparatively quick. Not sure the GOP thought it all the way through, maybe they did, but just don't care, which would not be surprising. Part of who they are. At any rate, they might of started something they can't finish. Hope the expelled members keep up the protests, reinstated or not. The GOP are the ring leaders of the mass killing of our children, they alone bear the responsibilities for lack of protection from the number one killer. The gun industry has paid them well which is the only thing they care about.
Majority of Nashville council members say they will vote to reinstate expelled legislator
At least 23 members of the Metropolitan Council vowed to send Justin Jones back to his seat in the Tennessee Legislature after he was expelled following protests over gun violence.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/majority-nashville-council-members-say-will-vote-reinstate-expelled-le-rcna78706
April 7, 2023, 12:38 PM MDT
By Rose Horowitch and Megan Lebowitz
A majority of members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council will vote to reinstate Justin Jones to the Tennessee state Legislature after he was expelled from the House of Representatives on Thursday over his protests on the chamber floor against gun violence.
Twenty-three members of the 40-seat Metropolitan Council confirmed to NBC News or on social media that they plan to vote to reinstate Jones to the Legislature.
The council, which currently has 39 members, will hold a special meeting Monday to discuss an interim replacement for Jones' seat. Vice Mayor Jim Shulman said he expects the council will take action to suspend the rules at the meeting to vote on a successor to fill Jones' seat instead of holding a monthlong nomination period.
In interviews with NBC News, members expressed outrage at Jones' expulsion and said hundreds of constituents have reached out to demand that he be reinstated.
“They removed the voice from 140,000 people who voted for them," said Councilmember Burkley Allen. "It’s a terrible precedent to set, that we disagree with you and you’ve disrupted our House proceedings and therefore we’re expelling you. That’s not the way democracy works.”
Jones and two other Democratic state lawmakers led a protest on the House floor last week to call for stricter gun safety measures after a mass shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville. Jones and Pearson used a bullhorn to lead chants and spoke without being recognized. Tennessee House leaders called the protest an “insurrection.” But Nashville Councilmember Brett Withers pushed back on the characterization, saying claims that the protest was an insurrection were “unfounded.”
Jones was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives in a 72-25 party-line vote on Thursday, and the other ousted member, Justin Pearson, was booted in a vote of 69-26 later in the day. Rep. Gloria Johnson was also up for expulsion but clung to her seat. Johnson, who is white, said the disparity “might have to do with the color of my skin,” The Tennessean reported. Both Jones and Pearson are Black.
Under the Tennessee State Constitution, an interim successor can be appointed by the legislative body of the expelled member's county until a special election is held. For Jones, that is Nashville. The Nashville council, which is the legislative body of the city and Davidson County’s consolidated government, is officially a nonpartisan body, but Councilmember Russ Bradford said most members are Democrats.
Pearson is from Memphis, and Shelby County Commission Chairman Mickell Lowery did not immediately respond to NBC's request for comment on the process for Pearson's potential replacement or reinstatement.
In an interview with MSNBC, Jones said Thursday "was a very grave day for democracy and a very dangerous precedent was set not just for Tennessee, but for the nation.”
Not sure if they want to point them out. Keep them in the "shadows". lol One thing for sure, a lot of money flow goes through them.
That article stated 16, this says 20, either way it's discrimination to a portion of the population.
Supreme Court rules West Virginia transgender athletes can compete on female sports teams
BY ZACH SCHONFELD AND BROOKE MIGDON - 04/06/23 2:42 PM ET
https://thehill.com/homenews/3937891-supreme-court-rules-west-virginia-transgender-athletes-can-compete-on-female-sports-teams/
The Supreme Court has ruled that transgender athletes in West Virginia can compete on female school sports teams in response to a challenge by the state to allow it to enforce a law that prohibits such athletes from doing so.
In a brief, unsigned order, the justices denied the state’s emergency request to lift an appeals court’s injunction, which enabled a transgender girl to compete on her middle school’s female teams until the three-judge panel reaches a final decision.
The appeals panel is now set to hear the student athlete’s appeal in full, and the case could ultimately return to the high court.
Justice Samuel Alito in a statement joined by Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting from the decision said the case “concerns an important issue that this Court is likely to be required to address in the near future.”
West Virginia in 2021 became the seventh state in the nation — and the sixth that year — to enact a law prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. The measure, officially titled the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” bars transgender female athletes from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity in public elementary schools, high schools and universities.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) could not cite a specific example of a transgender athlete with an unfair competitive advantage in his state when asked during an interview following his approval of the bill, but he said his experience as a girls’ basketball coach led him to believe the legislation is fair.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks in the House Chambers at the state capitol in Charleston, W.Va., on Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)
A lawsuit filed the following month by civil rights organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a now-12-year-old transgender girl, alleges the law is unconstitutional because it discriminates based on sex and transgender status.
Becky, who entered middle school in the fall of 2021, had been planning to try out for her school’s cross country team when the law took effect.
A federal district judge had handed Becky a preliminary victory — allowing her for months to compete on her school’s female sports teams — before reversing course in his final ruling in January.
The state’s transgender athlete restrictions are “constitutionally permissible,” District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin wrote in the January ruling, because the state legislature’s definition of “woman” and “girl” are “substantially related to the important government interest of providing equal athletic opportunities for females.”
For the purposes of school sports, West Virginia law defines both “woman” and “girl” as an individual who is “biologically female,” or was assigned female at birth.
Becky appealed, and a divided three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a February ruling blocked the ban’s enforcement until the panel could consider the dispute in full.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) then filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to take the unusual step of intervening in the case immediately without oral argument or extensive briefing. Twenty-one Republican attorneys general backed Morrisey before the high court.
“I would grant the State’s application. Among other things, enforcement of the law at issue should not be forbidden by the federal courts without any explanation,” Alito wrote, taking aim at the lower court for ordering the injunction in a brief decision.
Morrisey called the high court’s decision a “procedural setback.”
In this Nov. 1, 2018, file photo, Patrick Morrisey speaks to reporters after a debate in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Raymond Thompson, File)
“This is a procedural setback, but we remain confident that when this case is ultimately determined on the merits, we will prevail,” Morrisey said in a statement. “We maintain our stance that this is a common sense law—we have a very strong case. It’s just basic fairness and common sense to not have biological males play in women’s sports.”
Becky has asserted the West Virginia law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. As a minor, Becky is formally represented by her mother, Heather Jackson, and is identified by her initials in court filings.
“Applicants’ emergency motion fails at every requisite step, including by failing to identify any harm that warrants this Court’s intervention to block B.P.J. from continuing what she has been doing for more than a year and a half. This Court’s intervention should be reserved for true emergencies. This is not one,” attorneys for Becky wrote in their brief.
West Virginia contended the injunction lacked any reasoning and would upset the status quo. The law “easily” meets the Supreme Court’s standard for allowing sex-based distinctions, Morrisey’s office wrote in their brief.
Lawmakers push for state of emergency for Chesapeake Bay fisheries
Biden administration’s Title IX changes would prevent broad bans on transgender athletes
“Biological differences between males and females matter in sports. Both Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment allow that judgment,” the state wrote.
At least 20 states since 2020 have enacted laws that bar transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Updated 2:55 p.m.
I believe your right.
Banks are in turmoil but a bigger financial crisis may be brewing elsewhere
By Anna Cooban, CNN
Updated 12:03 PM EDT, Thu April 6, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/business/non-banks-shadow-banks-risks-explainer/index.html
The International Monetary Fund warned this week of “vulnerabilities” among so-called non-bank financial institutions, saying global financial stability could hinge on their resilience. The Bank of England called attention to the same issue last month.
And global investors surveyed by Bank of America in the middle of the recent banking crisis pointed to a group of US non-banks — rather than traditional lenders such as the newly defunct Silicon Valley Bank — as the most likely source of a credit crisis.
But what exactly are non-banks and how risky are they?
The term encompasses financial firms, other than banks, that provide all manner of financial services, including lending to households and businesses. It’s a diverse cast list: non-banks range from pension funds and insurers, to mutual funds and high-risk hedge funds.
And the sector is big. According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a body of global regulators and government officials, non-banks had about $239 trillion on their books in 2021, accounting for just under half of the world’s total financial assets.
The sector has grown strongly since the global financial crisis in 2008, with its asset base expanding by 7% a year on average, according to FSB data.
As interest rates hit rock-bottom in the years that followed the crisis, many savers and investors turned to non-banks in search of higher returns. Meanwhile, as regulators placed more restrictions on bank lending, certain types of borrowers, such as riskier consumers, increasingly sought out non-banks for finance.
Non-banks that provide credit are known as “shadow banks,” although the term is often used imprecisely to mean all non-banks. It is this type of institution that is worrying the investors polled by Bank of America.
Shadow banks now make up about 14% of the world’s financial assets and, like many non-banks, operate without the same level of regulatory oversight and transparency as banks.
What are the risks?
Some of the risks that non-banks run increase when interest rates are rising, as they are now. The sector’s larger size means its troubles could, on their own, destabilize the entire financial system but they could also spread to traditional banks through real and perceived interconnections.
One of the risks is the likelihood of credit losses. In a report in November, the European Central Bank called out the “persistent vulnerabilities” in the non-bank sector, including “the risk of substantial credit losses” if its corporate borrowers started to default amid a weakening economy.
While the economic outlook in Europe has brightened since the start of the year, fears of a US recession have grown following the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank and the rescue of First Republic Bank last month. Economies on both sides of the Atlantic remain fragile, as interest rates are expected to rise further and energy prices are still high despite recent falls.
The other risk stems from what is known as “a liquidity mismatch,” which exists in open-ended funds, a type of mutual funds. Open-ended funds allow jittery investors to pull their money quickly but often have cash tied up in assets that can’t be sold as quickly to return money to clients.
Rising interest rates and an uncertain economic outlook have also made funding for some European non-banks both more expensive and harder to come by, Nicolas Charnay, who covers European financial institutions at S&P Global Ratings, told CNN.
Since non-banks do not take deposits from customers, they are mostly exempt from the strict requirements for loss-absorbing capital and liquidity imposed on banks. And most are not subject to regular tests by regulators to ensure they can cope in a range of adverse scenarios.
In a report in February, S&P Global Ratings pointed out another alarming feature of many non-banks.
“Shadow banks cannot access emergency central bank funding in times of stress and we don’t expect governments to use taxpayers’ funds to recapitalize a failed shadow bank,” the firm said.
“This means that public authorities have limited tools to mitigate contagion risks.”
Ill health at a big non-bank or in a large part of the sector could infect traditional lenders because non-banks both lend to and borrow from banks, and many invest in the same assets as their conventional peers.
A notorious example is the collapse of US fund Archegos Capital Management two years ago, which caused about $10 billion worth of losses across the banking sector. More than half of that was sustained by Credit Suisse (CS), which counted Archegos among its clients. The hit contributed to a string of scandals and compliance failures that have plagued the Swiss lender in recent years, eventually leading to an emergency takeover by rival UBS (UBS).
Where are the risks?
Some regulators are also concerned that certain corners of the sector are particularly exposed to an SVB-style run on its assets that could, in turn, create losses for traditional lenders.
Open-ended funds are especially risky, analysts told CNN. If scores of panicked investors redeem their holdings all at the same time, these funds may need to rapidly sell some of their assets to make the payments.
A firesale of, say, government bonds, by multiple funds would depress the value of those bonds, leading to losses for the bonds’ other holders, which may well include banks.
This is what happened last fall when UK pension funds using the so-called liability-driven investment approach had to sell UK government bonds, which were crashing on the back of then-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s disastrous budget plans. That created “a vicious spiral” in the country’s bond market, in the words of the Bank of England, nearly toppling the UK financial system.
Direct and indirect links between banks and non-banks are not the only sources of system-wide risk. Confidence matters hugely in banking, and the mere perception that the banking sector might be connected to a struggling non-bank could spark a broader financial crisis.
“This form of contagion risk — via perceived proximity or reputational risk — should not be underestimated,” S&P Global Ratings said in its report.
Regulators are beginning to play a more active role. In March, the Bank of England said it would conduct a stress test of the UK financial system, which would cover non-banks, though it noted that the exercise would not amount to “a test of individual firms’ resilience.”
US and European financial watchdogs have also proposed to introduce “swing pricing,” a mechanism that would impose a cost on pulling cash from a money market fund — a type of open-ended fund — to avoid diluting the value of other investors’ holdings and to discourage runs on the fund’s assets.
In a report on non-banks released this week, the International Monetary Fund said it welcomed “stricter supervision” of the sector, which must include rules on their capital buffers and access to liquidity.
Remember this merger, notification was months ago. Hope that doesn't lose ToS, really like that app.
TDA current
Barron's 2019-20
Definitely due for one.
3.07 low as KOLD made 52wk high at 83.25. Sold too early it seems about 80 and change. Starting in BOIL around here, but might be dead trade, only a few hrs left.
Hit a 52wk low bell off that I forgot I had on there, no positions, reset it for the heck of it and it went off again today. Not bothering to reset, no interest, $2.39 at this time for new low. FCEL may spurt out some news or something to sell the new shares that usually get voted in due to that retail doesn't have enough power to overcome the controlling votes. Something got to pay the bills when income doesn't cover the expenses.
Also may be some short covering and less shorting due to the $2.50 rule at play. They either pump something up or the volume and pps will go down to oblivion. Come on split to get this up to maybe $10 and some action to short the darn thing down to $5 again.
As of the close of business on Tuesday, 4/4, we captured the Top 10 Highest Short Interest % stocks within the Industrials sector.
The average short interest for stocks within the Industrials sector stands at 2.37%. Therefore, the below stocks are showing a more pessimistic outlook than their peers within the respective sector.
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) 26.06%
Virgin Galactic Hl (NYSE:SPCE) 25.09%
Ati Inc (NYSE:ATI) 17.62%
Fuelcell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) 16.97%
Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS) 16.9%
Purecycle Technolo (NASDAQ:PCT) 16.52%
Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ:HA) 16.47%
Xometry Inc (NASDAQ:XMTR) 15.92%
Saia Inc (NASDAQ:SAIA) 15.72%
Verra Mobility Cor (NASDAQ:VRRM) 15.16%
Short Interest is the percentage of a stocks' outstanding shares being sold short, which is utilized as a gauge for stock price sentiment. When short interest increases, this is generally considered a negative "bear" market indicator, whereas when short interest decreases, this is generally considered a positive "bull" market indicator.
Disclaimer: The Short Interest Indicator is produced by Tidal Markets, in partnership with Benzinga Insights. The data represented is exclusive to short interest data amalgamated daily by Tidal Markets LLC and its underlying proprietary sources. The information contained herein should not be compared to, contrasted, or evaluated against other short interest data providers. ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR IMPLY INVESTMENT ADVICE
Yes, it seems to be early morning to get all the good worms. Good trades for both BOIL and KOLD.
Dark money groups push election denialism on US state officials
Groups have created incubator of policies that would restrict ballot access and amplify election fraud claims
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/05/heritage-foundation-election-voting-rights-republican-states
The fight for democracy is supported by
guardian.org
About this content
Ed Pilkington and Jamie Corey
Wed 5 Apr 2023 07.37 EDT
Three of the most prominent rightwing groups that spread election denial lies and advocate for restrictions on voting rights in the US have joined forces in a secret attempt to woo top election officials in Republican-controlled states.
Led by the Washington-based conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, the groups have created an incubator of policies that would restrict access to the ballot box and amplify false claims that fraud is rampant in American elections. The unstated yet implicit goal is to dampen Democratic turnout and help Republican candidates to victory.
Details of the two-day “secretaries of state conference” held in Washington in February were obtained by the watchdog group Documented and shared with the Guardian.
Officials from 13 Republican-controlled states, including 10 top election administrators, participated in the event. Attendees discussed controversial “election integrity” ideas of the sort weaponized by Donald Trump.
Among the participants were nine secretaries of state and Virginia’s election commissioner, all of whom preside over both statewide and federal elections in their states including next year’s presidential contest. A list of attendees namechecks the chief election officials of Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Documented also obtained the conference agenda which lists a number of Trump associates among the speakers. They include Ken Cuccinelli who, as acting deputy secretary for homeland security, played a key role in setting elections policy for the Trump administration.
Cuccinelli now runs the Election Transparency Initiative which is fighting Democratic efforts in Congress to shore up voting rights, and has been active in pushing state-level vote restriction measures.
Download original document
The keynote speech was given by Ken Blackwell, former secretary of state in Ohio. He was an early adopter of Trump’s lie about rigged elections, championing the idea in the 2016 presidential race which Trump won.
Blackwell now chairs the Center for Election Integrity at the America First Policy Institute, a rightwing thinktank led by former Trump officials. The center has been touting election-related model legislation.
Heritage was careful to organize the conference amid tight secrecy. Among the records obtained by Documented is an email from Hans von Spakovsky, a lawyer at the foundation who leads their election work.
Responding to a query about the event from a Texas official, Von Spakovsky said: “There is no livestream. This is not a public event. It is a private, confidential meeting of the secretaries. I would rather you not send out a press release about it.”
Von Spakovsky has long been at the forefront of efforts to undermine US elections by claiming falsely that fraud is endemic. He helped spearhead the attack on voting by mail during the pandemic, holding private briefings with Republican state election officials – a drive that became a core part of Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Heritage and its political arm, Heritage Action for America, have spent tens of millions of dollars promoting their own model bills that impose strict restrictions on voting. They have targeted the investment on key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia and Michigan that could hold the balance of power in the 2024 presidential race.
Heritage began hosting annual gatherings of Republican secretaries of state at the start of the Trump presidency in 2017. February’s in-person conference was the first to be sponsored by three rightwing powerhouses of election denial and voter suppression – Heritage, together with the Public Interest Legal Foundation (Pilf), and the Honest Elections Project (HEP).
Pilf is a conservative legal group that sues election officials to force them to purge voter rolls, a process that has affected eligible US voters. The group is led by J Christian Adams, a former justice department lawyer who tried to use the Voting Rights Act to claim voting discrimination against white people.
Trump’s former lawyer Cleta Mitchell also sits on the Pilf board.
Cleta Mitchcell testifies in Washington DC in February 2014.
Cleta Mitchcell testifies in Washington DC in February 2014. Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP
HEP is a conservative dark-money group closely tied to the Republican operative Leonard Leo who was instrumental in engineering the current conservative supermajority on the US supreme court. Reporting by ProPublica and the New York Times last year revealed that Leo has received control of a staggering $1.6bn to advance rightwing causes.
Concern about the potential of top election officials to subvert democracy intensified during the 2022 midterm elections when a number of individuals committed to Trump’s stolen election lie also ran for office. They formed the “America First Secretary of State Coalition” which became a conduit of far-right conspiracy theories linked to QAnon.
Most of those candidates failed in their bid to take over the reins of election administration in their states. But the Heritage conference suggests that the desire to deploy Republican secretaries of state as channels of voter suppression and election misinformation remains very much alive.
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Though chief election officials are tasked with ensuring that ballots are fair and impartial, the Heritage conference was attended only by Republican secretaries of state.
The Guardian asked Heritage to explain why its conference was held in secret and with only Republican attendees. The group did not answer those questions.
Von Spakovsky said that the event was an “educational summit intended to provide information on current issues in elections and ensure that our election process protects the right to vote for American citizens by making it easy to vote and hard to cheat”.
He disputed the argument that security measures at the ballot box such as voter ID suppressed turnout. “The claim that secure elections somehow promote greater restrictions is outrageous and has been clearly disproven,” he said.
Hans von Spakovsky swears in before a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in June 2007.
Hans von Spakovsky swears in before a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in June 2007. Photograph: UPI
Von Spakovsky also pointed to Heritage’s election fraud database, which he said sampled “proven instances of election fraud from across the country”. The database records 1,422 “proven instances of voter fraud” stretching back to 1982 – a 41-year period during which billions of votes have been cast in the US.
Several of the participants at the conference have election denial and voter suppression track records. They include Florida’s secretary of state, Cord Byrd, who, soon after being appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis last spring, refused to say whether Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.
Byrd runs Florida’s “election integrity unit” that was set up by DeSantis last year to investigate election crimes, even though there is scant evidence of substantial voter fraud. More than a dozen citizens accused of illegally voting have been arrested at gunpoint under DeSantis’s crackdown on supposed voter fraud.
Another attendee – Jay Ashcroft, secretary of state of Missouri – has been a leading proponent of that state’s new restrictive voting law. His office has been named in numerous lawsuits in the last year for imposing extreme constraints on voter registration, including a recent lawsuit accusing Ashcroft of illegally blocking a ballot measure.
Tennessee’s secretary of state, Tre Hargett, another listed participant, has been accused by Democratic leaders in Tennessee of purging thousands of voters from the official rolls.
Panel discussions laid out in the agenda were held on several of the core talking points of the current Republican party. The opening discussion, moderated by Von Spakovsky, was on “Auditing Expertise”.
The main speaker was Paul Bettencourt, a state senator in Texas who has sponsored several bills making it harder to vote including a measure that would deploy armed “election marshals” to oversee polling stations.
Before the conference-goers attended a cocktail reception and dinner held at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, day one ended with a session entitled: “Realistic Eric Fixes and Reforms”. Eric – the Electronic Registration Information Center – is a non-profit group run collectively by 28 states which is used to finesse the accuracy of state voter rolls.
In recent months it has become the target of rightwing conspiracy theories fueled by Trump who claimed falsely that it was rigged to benefit Democrats.
Ashcroft, the Missouri secretary of state, was one of the speakers in that session. Earlier this month he announced that he was pulling Missouri out of Eric, making it one of the first Republican-controlled states to quit the organization along with Alabama, Florida and West Virginia.
This article was produced in partnership with Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project. Jamie Corey is a senior researcher with Documented
Katrine Wallace, PhD Retweeted
Joseph Ladapo and the Florida Department of Health published a study to back their decision not to vaccinate young people. @DrKatEpi and I received a FOIA of the early drafts of this study that demonstrates the study was edited to support an anti-vax policy. See thread. https://t.co/rABCz2Jy3h
— Jonathan Laxton MD, FRCPC 🐈🐱🐈⬛ (@dr_jon_l) April 5, 2023
Psychological projection
In its malignant forms, it is a defense mechanism in which the ego defends itself against disowned and highly negative parts of the self by denying their existence in themselves and attributing them to others, breeding misunderstanding and causing untold interpersonal damage.[2] A bully may project their own feelings of vulnerability onto the target, or a person who is confused may project feelings of confusion and inadequacy onto other people. Projection incorporates blame shifting and can manifest as shame dumping.[3] Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection.[4]
Trump warned of “Constitutional crisis” if Hillary were elected; said she would be under investigation for years. Watch via @mmurraypolitics pic.twitter.com/kzFwMK0p9O
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 15, 2017
NC Democrat expected to change parties
Lucille Sherman
https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2023/04/04/nc-democrat-flip-republican-legislative-supermajority
A North Carolina Democratic lawmaker is expected to flip her party affiliation, multiple Republicans with knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.
The move would cement Republicans' toe-hold in a fast-changing swing state, handing them a veto-proof majority in the middle of the legislative session and a clear runway to enact their agenda despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Driving the news: Republicans, who are currently just one seat short of a supermajority in the legislature, have been hoping that state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Democrat from Charlotte, might switch parties at some point this session, but the prospect began to seem more realistic last week, a Republican House member said.
Cotham is expected to announce her decision Wednesday. House Republicans announced a 9am press conference Tuesday for a "major announcement."
Why it matters: Republicans have held majorities in both the state House and the Senate for more than a decade, but in recent years, the threat of Cooper's veto has kept the party's power in check.
A supermajority could free up party leaders to more easily push long-hoped-for legislation restricting abortion and all but eliminate their need to compromise with the governor on the budget, changes to election laws and education reform.
State Rep. Tricia Cotham. Photo: North Carolina General Assembly
Details: Cotham didn't respond to Axios' request for comment, so it's not clear what's driving her consideration to switch.
One possible factor, though, is that Cotham recently skipped a vote to override Cooper's veto of Republican-sponsored legislation relaxing some gun laws, handing Republicans the votes they needed to usher the bill into law.
That set into motion a cascade of blowback against Cotham, driven by Democrats criticizing her for not showing.
What they're saying: Rep. Cecil Brockman, who is also a moderate Democrat, told the News & Observer he doesn't blame Cotham and said he thought the reaction from Democrats drove her to switch parties.
"I think she just wanted to do what's best for her district and when you're constantly talked about and trashed — especially the way that we have been over the past few weeks — I think this is what happens," Brockman said.
Democratic House minority leader Rep. Robert Reives called for Cotham to resign in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
This story has been updated to include responses from Democratic lawmakers.
Guess it wasn't a match made in heaven. LOL
Rupert Murdoch calls off engagement to Ann Lesley Smith
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 04/04/23 3:33 PM ET
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/3934058-rupert-murdoch-calls-off-engagement-to-ann-lesley-smith/
Today has been about even made with BOIL and KOLD. Play them both becoming everyday now. Overall, except for that nice run of BOIL about a month ago, KOLD been making more, when buying BOIL at lows, selling KOLD for highs, been working out real well. Win or lose, rarely hold either over night, just daily trader for me.
The News Literacy Project Retweeted
Freedom of speech is essential to democracy, & believing in misinformation is a threat to democracy (& we're all capable of falling for false information).@NewsLitProject provides great resources on how to empower ourselves to separate truth from falsehoods. Here's an example: pic.twitter.com/dF2BopMsKw
— C.A. Nicholas (@c_a_nicholas) April 4, 2023
Also moving towards more population areas, meaning more deaths and damage and more costs. Add that to more and stronger storms.
‘Tornado alley’ is shifting farther into the US east, climate scientists warn
Global heating has been seen as the cause for these damaging storms, which are expected to increase significantly this century
A spate of devastating tornadoes that have recently ripped through parts of the eastern and southern US states could portend the sort of damage that will become more commonplace due to changes wrought by global heating, scientists have warned.....................
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/04/us-tornadoes-global-heating-climate-science
Appeals court upholds order for Jan. 6 testimony from Meadows, other Trump officials
BY REBECCA BEITSCH - 04/04/23 12:31 PM ET
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3933593-appeals-court-upholds-order-for-jan-6-testimony-from-meadows-other-trump-officials-testimony/
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Department of Justice Tuesday in ordering testimony from former chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top Trump White House staffers in DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation.
A sealed Tuesday order denying an emergency motion from former President Trump’s team came after a flurry of late night activity in the case.
Trump had appealed a sealed decision from then-D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell last week that rejected his claims of executive privilege over the officials, ordering them to testify.
Senior ISIS leader killed in US strike in Syria
Biden administration unveils $450 million to develop renewables on mine sites
Aide Stephen Miller, former Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien were also all directed to testify in Howell’s decision, as were John McEntee, then-director of the Presidential Personnel Office, and Nick Luna, an assistant to Trump.
The case was assigned to a three judge panel at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday night, with the Justice Department responding just two hours later, shortly after 1 a.m.
DEVELOPING…
The whistles were being handed out by a Criminal Trump supporter. LOL
Kind of a fascinating development. The reason you can’t hear Marjorie Taylor Greene, and why this whole thing is off the rails, is because a man has been handing out free whistles.
— Tim Onion (@oneunderscore__) April 4, 2023
I talked to him. Turns out he’s a Trump supporter and he had no idea MTG was even here. pic.twitter.com/0RJqdyw7H5
Strange times we're having.
Former Hogan chief of staff Roy McGrath dies after confrontation with FBI
By Steve Thompson, Ovetta Wiggins, Perry Stein and Martin Weil
Updated April 3, 2023 at 10:37 p.m. EDT|Published April 3, 2023 at 9:02 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/03/roy-mcgrath-hogan-manhunt-fugitive-tennessee/
Roy McGrath, who was then chief executive of Maryland Environmental Service, speaks in April 2020 during a news conference at the State House in Annapolis. (Pamela Wood/Baltimore Sun/AP)
Roy C. McGrath, a fugitive top aide to then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), died Monday as the result of a confrontation with the FBI in the area of Knoxville, Tenn., his lawyer said. He had been the subject of a 21-day manhunt launched after he failed to show up to federal court in Baltimore.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
“The loss of Roy’s life is an absolute tragedy, and I think it’s important for me to say that Roy never wavered about his innocence,” Joseph Murtha said.
In a statement Monday night, the FBI said that it was “reviewing an agent-involved shooting” that occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. “During the arrest the subject, Roy McGrath, sustained injury and was transported to the hospital. The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously.”
Murtha said he wasn’t sure how McGrath was killed. “That’s unclear to me at this time,” he said. “I haven’t gotten any information on whether Roy died from gunfire from an agent or whether it was a self-inflicted wound.”
McGrath, 53, was slated to face wire fraud and embezzlement charges stemming from alleged financial improprieties as head of a Maryland quasi-governmental agency beginning March 13 — a day after his last contact with Murtha.
McGrath, who’d had a lifelong interest in politics, rose to become one of Hogan’s must trusted advisers until the Baltimore Sun broke news of a nearly quarter-million-dollar severance he received in 2020 upon leaving the Maryland agency to become Hogan’s top aide. The revelation prompted legislative hearings Hogan once labeled a “witch hunt” in a message to McGrath, but it also led to a break between the two men.
The blame for the disintegration of that relationship lands squarely on Hogan in an e-book titled “Betrayed: The True Story of Roy McGrath,” released under mysterious circumstances on Amazon.com the week after his disappearance. The book featured McGrath as a protagonist who “worked hard,” and “had no record of any wrongdoing in his lifetime.”
A person claiming to be the book’s author, listed online as Ryan Cooper, contacted reporters at The Washington Post saying he’d written the book based on a draft produced by McGrath and “half a dozen or so conversations” with him. He declined to provide The Post with information to verify his identity and said he was not in touch with McGrath — and was not McGrath posing as someone else. “I haven’t heard a peep from him, and to make matters worse, that’s what worries me,” the person said. “He is not the kind of guy to just vanish.”
Before McGrath was found, Murtha said he’d last spoken with his client by telephone the day before trial. They’d planned to meet outside the courtroom at 8:45 the next morning. McGrath had planned to testify in his own defense, Murtha said. “More than anything else, I have a concern for his safety.”
McGrath was indicted in 2021 in connection with allegations including that he’d misled officials to obtain the severance package from the Maryland Environmental Service (MES), where he served as executive director.
Md. Gov. Larry Hogan’s messages to state employees self-destruct in 24 hours
McGrath has maintained that Hogan approved it. But the governor, who has cooperated with law enforcement and has not been accused of any crime, has repeatedly denied knowledge of it.
“I know you did nothing wrong. I know it is unfair. I will stand with you,” Hogan wrote to his former aide in an undated message after it was publicly revealed that McGrath received the payment. McGrath has said he resigned from the chief of staff job, which he held for less than three months, because of the governor’s pledge to stand by him.
Michael Ricci, a former spokesman for Hogan, who left office in January, has said the governor sent the message before learning more details about how the severance package was obtained. Prosecutors say McGrath falsified a memo in which he said Hogan approved the severance.
“This is devastating my life,” McGrath told Hogan in a private text message in 2020, according to an image obtained by The Washington Post.
Federal and state authorities allege that McGrath enriched himself by “using his positions of trust” as the executive director of MES and the chief of staff for Hogan to cause MES to pay the severance and other expenses. Prosecutors also say McGrath falsified time sheets, recording that he was at work while he took two vacations, including one to Europe in 2019 with his girlfriend, whom he later married.
Hogan was on the prosecution’s witness list for a trial expected to take several weeks. McGrath also faces state charges of theft, misconduct in office and violating Maryland’s wiretap laws by recording private calls with Hogan and other officials without their permission. A state trial is scheduled for this summer.
McGrath, who was born in Greece but grew up in Maryland, entered politics at 18, when he became a member of the Republican Party and later formed a Young Republicans club in Southern Maryland. McGrath knew Hogan as a young congressional candidate in the early 1990s and served on his campaign committee during Hogan’s unsuccessful bid to unseat Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md). At the time, McGrath was head of the Charles County Republican Central Committee.
Roy McGrath is seen in this U.S. Marshals wanted poster released Tuesday after he failed to appear in court. (U.S. Marshals Service/Reuters)
The two would meet again in 2014 when McGrath, who was then working as vice president of business development and conventions at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, volunteered and donated to Hogan’s gubernatorial campaign. Shortly after Hogan won, he tapped McGrath as his deputy chief of staff.
In 2016, Hogan appointed McGrath to take the helm at MES, and in 2020 during the pandemic, the governor asked McGrath, whom he called a “leader with a proven track record … and a passionate commitment to public service,” to take one of the most powerful positions in state government as his chief of staff.
To McGrath’s former colleagues in the statehouse, McGrath was a consummate administrator. He was meticulous, strait-laced, the type of person who always played it by the book. In interviews in 2021 with 20 current and former state government and statehouse officials who worked with McGrath as he came up in Maryland politics, almost all told The Post they were caught off guard by the news of his severance package and excesses in spending. They described him as being a straightforward, formal and, at times, stiff colleague who focused on work and did not seem to have outsize political ambitions.
While under investigation, McGrath moved to Florida and bought a house in a gated community with his then-girlfriend. Federal agents executed a search warrant on the home on March 15.
There was no immediate indication Monday night how long McGrath had been in Tennessee, or what caused him to go there.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
We worked with our little dog a lot, massaging the back legs and feet everyday, we used a walking strap from the same place as the wheelchair, but improvement made great leaps after we took her with us to my grandson's marine graduation at the Marine base in San Diego. Right after that she really started walking on her own. Big place and we had to carry her a little bit, but she was so energized and excited the entire time. She's a mix between Dachshund and Miniature Pincher mostly. Breeds mix that should've never happened. The dachshund has the body that shouldn't be doing high jumps and high level of certain activities and the min pin in her acted like a deer jumping around. Same as a lot of other mixes that shouldn't ever be done and just asking for problems.
This is about 4 yrs ago on the base.
REMEMBER: The moment “Trump Force One” takes off from Palm Beach it officially changes its call sign to “CON-AIR”. pic.twitter.com/5z0cJWREfE
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 3, 2023
This Ukrainian couple was separated at the start of the war as they both served in the Army but in different units.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 2, 2023
This was the month they met again for the first time after months of fighting. pic.twitter.com/vryLaCyLhL
That's been a pinned tweet Visegrad 24 for a couple of months now, a good one to follow for world news, especially the Ukraine World War.
Aggregating and curating news, politics, current affairs, history and culture from Central and Eastern Europe.
Visegradvisegrad24.orgJoined January 2020
680 Following
383.6K Followers
Followed by Rep. Liz Cheney, AlexAlvarova@toad.social, and Julia Davis
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1624894518330855427
IVDD (intervertebral disc disease) Type 1, real common in dachshunds and other breeds with that body type. Our little dog suffered from the same thing about five years ago and we got the same wheelchair from that same place. Same thing, advised to put her down, almost did, pretty touch and go when it happened. She couldn't take a bowel movement and having trouble breathing, but we worked with her got her flowing and about 4 months and into the wheelchair. About a year later of working with her she could hobble and walk funny but with lots of spirit and happiness.
Wife and I have had her since about 4 months old, she is now 13 and of course a bit more feeble, but still with great spirit and happiness. We're probably going to have to see her go within the next year. She has breast cancer, the second most leading cause of death for the breed, next to old age. She's given us so much enjoyment over the years and we're going to give her as much back for the rest of her days. As long as she has her spirit and eating and pooping, we're good.
Not the only explanation for all of them. There is definitely a cult mentality at play here for the followers (the GOP is abusing and using that for their own means), but for the GOP there is much more sinister goings on here. Two feeds that are a really interesting read. Yes, there are insinuations and conjecture without the actual documentation, but it does put together in a very readable way known factual data and is definitely a possible and even probable reality. One thing is for sure, there is definite scary stuff going on in the world of the GOP and tRump and it is positively the most dangerous environment that I think America has ever faced. It's going to get a LOT worse before it has a chance to get better. I just hope we have more democratic and moral Justice than the compromised or fraudulent Justice out there to bring this shit under control.
After you've read my Thread about what is the Kompromat method used by Putin and Trump, then you want to read THIS, very under-reported angle to the search of Trump offices by FBI and classified documents. The FBI also has Trump's EXTORTION FILE (or parts of it) https://t.co/hqPYEIPtoE
— Tomi T Ahonen Moved to Post, Spoutible & Mastodon (@tomiahonen) March 31, 2023
From Bucharest to back home in the USA, tRump and his minions are going under the slow wheels of justice. Remember this particular tRump indictment currently is for his cheating and trying to effect the election in 2016. We'll eventually get caught up I guess with future indictments, but I think the damn is cracking and a flood can be seen on the horizon. As always, tRump GOPs accusations are confessions.
Social Media Influencer Douglass Mackey Convicted of Election Interference in 2016 Presidential Race
Friday, March 31, 2023
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/social-media-influencer-douglass-mackey-convicted-election-interference-2016
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York
Defendant Attempted to Suppress Vote Through Social Media Disinformation Campaign
Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote. The verdict followed a one-week trial before United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly. When sentenced, Mackey faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the verdict.
“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote.”
In 2016, Mackey established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers. A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as the 107th most important influencer of the then-upcoming Presidential Election.
As proven at trial, between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which, in reality, was legally invalid. For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.” The tweet included the typed hashtag “#ImWithHer,” a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators.
Several hours after tweeting the first image, Mackey tweeted an image depicting a woman seated at a conference room typing a message on her cell phone. This deceptive image was written in Spanish and mimicked a font used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads. The image also included a copy of the Clinton campaign’s logo and the “ImWithHer” hashtag.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Erik D. Paulsen and F. Turner Buford of the Office’s Public Integrity Section, and Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Shivani Parshad.
The Defendant:
DOUGLASS MACKEY
Age: 33
West Palm Beach, Florida
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-80 (AMD)
Contact
John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323
Updated March 31, 2023
Survey of Past Criminal Prosecutions for Covert Payments to Benefit a Political Campaign
https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/
by Siven Watt and Norman L. Eisen
March 30, 2023
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Filed under:
2016 Presidential Elections, Alvin Bragg, campaign finance law, Donald Trump, election law, Hush Money Investigation, Law enforcement, Trump Campaign
Part of Just Security’s work on accountability and election law.
The indictment of former President Donald Trump for conduct involving the alleged concealment of hush money payments to benefit a presidential campaign raises the question whether his case is being treated like other cases. That question is fundamental to ensuring the equal application of the law and protecting free and fair elections. In this essay and accompanying table of cases (the “Table”), we analyze 17 analogous campaign finance and related prosecutions in the State of New York and nationally. Our research shows that third-party payments covertly made to benefit a candidate are routinely and successfully prosecuted as campaign finance violations in New York and elsewhere under a variety of state and federal statutes.
This essay is the fourth in a Just Security series about the Manhattan case and follows our piece demonstrating that New York prosecutors regularly bring and win prosecutions for felony violations of the state’s books and records statute on falsifying business records (New York Penal Code § 175.10), including for conduct far less serious than the allegations against Trump. In this essay we make the same point about surreptitious third-party payments benefiting a candidate or campaign: there is nothing novel about prosecuting them. Quite the opposite.
New York State itself offers a number of important, closely analogous campaign finance cases that resulted in convictions for conduct similar to Trump’s, including falsifying business records. We begin there..........................................................(more)
https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/
Talk about the long arm of the law (translated from Romanian);
An American anarchist of Romanian origin, who organized attacks against police officers at protests in the USA, was arrested in Bucharest. The man is to be extradited.
https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/anarhist-american-de-origine-romana-care-a-organizat-atacuri-violente-la-proteste-in-sua-a-fost-prins-la-bucuresti-2300751
A judge of the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided on the provisional arrest, with a view to extradition, of the Romanian, wanted in the USA for conspiracy to riot and riot activities, being one of the founders of an organization that supports the ideology of white supremacy in the USA, IGPR announces.
The police had information that the man was dangerous, that's why they asked for the help of the special forces. They found the man in a gym in Bucharest and took him into custody.
The man has been hiding in the Balkans for the past few years. He was spotted in Serbia and Bulgaria, but could not be caught until now.
"On March 29, the police officers of the Criminal Investigations Department - the Pursuit Service and the fighters of the Service for Interventions and Special Actions detected, in the city of Bucharest, a 33-year-old man, an American citizen, wanted internationally by the American judicial authorities, for committing the crimes of conspiracy to riot and riot activities", says a press release from the IGPR, quoted by Agerpres.
According to the police, the American judicial authorities submitted a request for provisional arrest in order to extradite the Romanian, from which it follows that, between December 2016 and October 2018, in the Central District of the State of California and in other parts of the USA, the man allegedly conspired with other people to go to political rallies and use fighting tactics and physical violence against people and groups that did not support their ideology.
The suspected person would be one of the founders of an organization that supports the ideology of white supremacy, which would have publicly presented itself as a group prepared for battle, campaigning for a new nationalist movement of white supremacy and identity.
The man would have conducted mixed martial arts training for members of the movement, going to two political rallies, where he would have assaulted other people, including a police officer.
"Also, together with other representatives of the movement, he would have posted online videos and images of them, while carrying out military training for hand-to-hand combat, interspersed with images and video clips in which they assaulted people at political meetings, accompanied by messages in support of the ideology of supremacy of the white race", the release states.
Following the detection, the internationally wanted man was presented to the case prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Court of Appeal, who ordered his detention, and on March 30, a judge of the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided on the provisional arrest, with a view to extradition.
Currently, the American citizen is incarcerated in the custody of the General Directorate of Police of the Municipality of Bucharest.