A 79-year-old Los Angeles-area nun has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering after stealing $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees from a Catholic church and school over a ten year period to cover her gambling debts.

NBC News reports that prosecutors accepted a plea agreement from Mary Margaret Kreuper for stealing the money from St. James Catholic School in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance.  Kreuper served as principal of the school for the last 28 years and controlled the school’s accounts at a credit union, which was supposed to pay for school expenses and living expenses for the nuns at the school.

Kreuper said she used the funds to pay off credit card bills she had run up as well as gambling debts she accrued at local casinos.  She faces up to 40 years in prison, and an unknown number of Our Fathers and Hail Marys.

Former Virginia governor Democrat Terry McAuliffe will be the Party’s candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial race after handily winning the Democratic primary in the Commonwealth, Politico reports.

McAuliffe will face former Carlyle Group CEO Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate who was chosen by GOP convention representatives in a so-called “unassembled convention” last month, held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of Virginia’s quirky rules, no candidate can run for reelection as governor, but a former governor can run for non-consecutive terms, allowing McAuliffe to run this year after serving from 2014 to 2018.  With two-thirds of the primary vote in, McAuliffe holds a comfortable 40 percentage point lead over his nearest competitor. 

Florida Politics: “Rebekah Jones announced on her brand-new Instagram account Tuesday that she intends to run for the U.S. House against Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. ‘One of the reasons I held off on making any final decisions about running for office was because that I hoped the criminal justice system would remove Matt Gaetz from Congress on its own. That is taking a very long time and none of it is certain, especially because the rich and powerful play by their own rules,’ Jones, in a video posted to the Instagram account, Insubordinatescientist, said.”

“Jones, currently a Maryland resident, had not filed campaign paperwork as of Tuesday. ‘I had hoped that someone in the Republican Party would step up and Primary him, and I’ve yet to see that happen. And so, if it takes me going home to Florida to run against Matt Gaetz, then I will do it. If it means getting one child sex trafficker out of office, you’re damn right I’ll do it,’ Jones said. Federal investigators are still looking into whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.”

https://youtu.be/BgSbFxgsLyQ

After The Hosts on The Five on The Fox News claims that Kamala Harris is the defacto 2024 presidential candidate–with Joe Biden being just a placeholder,” an unnamed white woman in a short skirt and high heels (y’know, The Fox News Type) says, “This is what happens when you choose your vice president based on gender and skin color rather than actual talent and expertise.”  And Geraldo responds, “That’s so mean.”

(What, exactly, were Mike Pence’s qualifications again?  Opaque skin and evangelicalism?)

And of course, without a whit of self-awareness, they cut to a commercial break while teasing the next segment… on critical race theory.

Five Republican US Senators have sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland asking why the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6th are being arrested more speedily than people who participated in the nationwide protests that stemmed from the murder of George Floyd.

The five Republican Senators–Rafael “Ted” Cruz of Texas; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Mike Lee of Utah; Rick Scott of Florida; and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama–cite statistics from the spring and summer of 2020 about the number of police officers injured and ask why more punishment hasn’t been meted out.

“DOJ’s apparent unwillingness to punish these individuals who allegedly committed crimes during the spring and summer 2020 protests stands in stark contrast to the harsher treatment of the individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.,” the Senators claim. 

“Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic have filed multi-billion-dollar suits against Powell and others for defamation over her public claims about the company and its products, including her wild assertion that its software was part of a Venezuelan plot to steal elections and created masses of fake votes for Biden. In response, Powell’s attorneys have tried to argue that her statements were not meant to be factual – but rather legally protected statements of opinion.”

“In a March 22 motion to dismiss in the Dominion suit, Powell’s attorneys argued that ‘no reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact’ and that they are simply ‘her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern.’ But a half-hour into the panel at the Dallas Patriot Roundup late last month, Powell appeared to veer away from the defense her attorneys had set out, according to multiple videos reviewed by The Daily Beast. ‘Threatening me is like waving a red flag in a bull’s face.’ Dominion’s suit against her should be dismissed, Powell continued, because ‘number one, they don’t have jurisdiction over us and number two, we meant what we said and we have the evidence to back it up.’ At the very least, the statement was a tactical error, defamation law experts say – one that could come back to haunt her in court. ‘That seems like an extremely damaging admission from Ms. Powell that eviscerates her main defense, which is based on a distortion of the opinion doctrine to begin with,’ Ted Boutrous Jr., an attorney at Gibson Dunn and an expert on defamation law, told The Daily Beast. ‘Dominion will have a field day with this statement in opposing her efforts to dismiss the case before trial, and before the jury if and when the case goes to trial'” – Daily Beast.

A 24-year-old participant in the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the US Capitol told the judge in his remand hearing today that he would listen to his mother as a condition of being released without bail, WGN TV News reports.

The conditions are likely to be harsh for Christian Kulas, of the Kenilworth community outside of Chicago.  Kulas’ parents live in a $4.5 million mansion overlooking Lake Michigan, where he will be under house arrest.   As terms of his house detention, his father had to turn over two firearms he keeps in the house.

Kulas is facing two misdemeanor charges which could bring a year in jail if he’s found guilty:  unlawful entry of the Capitol and disorderly conduct.  He is one of more than 465 people facing charges for their roles in the attack.

AP: “The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that aims to boost U.S. semiconductor production and the development of artificial intelligence and other technology in the face of growing international competition, most notably from China. The 68-32 vote for the bill demonstrates how confronting China economically is an issue that unites both parties in Congress.”

“That’s a rarity in an era of division as pressure grows on Democrats to change Senate rules to push past Republican opposition and gridlock. The centerpiece of the bill is a $50 billion emergency allotment to the Commerce Department to stand up semiconductor development and manufacturing through research and incentive programs previously authorized by Congress. The bill’s overall cost would increase spending by about $250 billion with most of the spending occurring in the first five years. Supporters described it as the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades. It comes as the nation’s share of semiconductor manufacturing globally has steadily eroded from 37% in 1990 to about 12% now, and as a chip shortage has exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain.”

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) asserted on Tuesday that COVID-19 was a ‘bioweapon’ and said she did not believe otherwise ‘because I don’t believe in evolution.’ Greene made her statement during an appearance on the Real America’s Voice network’s ‘War Room: Pandemic,’ a program hosted by disgraced former Donald Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon.”

“Greene accused Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of being ‘criminally liable’ for the pandemic outbreak because, she charged without evidence, he ‘was using American tax dollars and sending it to the Wuhan lab to fund this research that was creating viruses.’ ‘That’s a bioweapon,’ Greene said. ‘There’s no other reason to create a virus that makes people sick, spreads so quick, and kills people. There’s no other intent but it’s a bioweapon.’ Bannon then asked her if she found it implausible that the virus was the subject of research meant to find vaccines and somehow the material evolved into COVID-19. ‘No, I don’t buy it because I don’t believe in evolution,’ Greene replied. ‘I don’t believe in that type of so-called ‘science.’ I don’t believe in evolution. I believe in God.'” – American Independent.

The revelation that US law enforcement agencies were able to track the transfer of Bitcoin used in the ransomware payment to free up the Colonial Pipeline have caused the price of the cryptocurrency to fall more than 10% over the past two days.

Prior to the announcement yesterday, Bitcoin was selling at around $36,400.  It hit a low of $31,400 before recovering some of their losses to sit at $33,500.

With the operations of Bitcoin being mysterious to most, the cryptocurrency held a strong position on those who wish to hide their transactions, using unique cryptokeys to ensure the authenticity of the so-called currency.  When US law enforcement announced they were able to retrieve more than half of the ransom Colonial Pipeline paid to release its IT system from the ransomware, the vulnerability of the cryptocurrency was exposed, making it less attractive to investors.

Talking Points Memo: “From an American perspective the most interesting thing right now about the political crisis in Israel is how closely it maps to the one in the United States: a right wing political leader who simply refuses to accept losing office. Since we discussed this last Netanyahu and his supporters have continued the campaign of incitement against the right wing members of the incoming government. After the head of the country’s domestic security service issued an all but unprecedented warning about incitement and the risk of civil violence or assassinations, Netanyahu responded with even more incitement. In reply he made a perfunctory statement about incitement and then told his supporters to ‘let’em have it.’ So, not really getting the message.”

“A side drama, meanwhile, is unfolding over a nationalist march in Jerusalem which had been scheduled for later this week. The idea is to have right wing Israelis march through Jerusalem’s Muslim quarter… It seems almost designed to create the same kind of provocation. Not only is that not great from the point of view of civil violence or another mini-war with Gaza. It also stands a good chance of deepening the electoral/political crisis. And what’s happening right now is that Netanyahu – who still has four or five days left in power – is pushing the police to allow the march or take the decision away from them entirely. In other words, he’s trying trigger another crisis out of some mix of a desire to stay in power (by breaking up the right-left, Jewish-Arab coalition) or simply burning things down on the way out. But beyond this there’s something more general: an insistence that Netanyahu’s fall from power is an apocalyptic moment for Israel and Zionism.”

“That’s the theme of the campaign of incitement, protesting outside the home’s of right wing members of the new government and more. But it shows up on numerous other fronts. Netanyahu’s supporters have pretty much adopted the “stop the steal” terminology from Trump. The particular ‘steal’ theory is that the right-wing parties joining the new government are ‘stealing’ right wing seats that belong to Netanyahu, that are meant to keep him in power.”

The White House and Democrats will have to go it alone on developing an infrastructure deal as discussions between President Joe Biden and the GOP’s chief Senate negotiator, West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito, have broken off with no progress likely, ABC News reports.

Hitting the media circuit first, Capito put the blame on the Administration.  “We had a robust package that we could’ve made work and I think I could’ve gotten 20-25 Rs to go with me,” Capito told ABC News Tuesday afternoon. “They moved the goal posts on me a couple of times and they just decided to walk away.”

Biden had made significant concessions on the amount committed to infrastructure projects.  Initially, the price tag was $2.3 trillion, but he White House soon lowered its proposal to $1.7 trillion.  Republicans in the Senate countered with a $600 billion proposal that many Democrats decried as an unserious offer.

“Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President. More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech – all voices should be heard. In the meantime, competitors will emerge and take hold. Who are they to dictate good and evil if they themselves are evil? Perhaps I should have done it while I was President. But Zuckerberg kept calling me and coming to the White House for dinner telling me how great I was. 2024?” – Statement from the Orange God Emperor, referencing Nigeria’s government blocking Twitter in retaliation for banning President Muhammadu Buhari.

ABC News: “A Pennsylvania man pretended to be former President Donald Trump or a member of his family in order to defraud hundreds of victims across the country, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Joshua Hall is charged with fraud and identity theft after federal prosecutors said he misrepresented himself or others while soliciting funds for a purported Trump reelection organization that did not exist. Instead Hall used the funds raised – thousands of dollars – for his own personal living expenses, according to the criminal complaint.”

“The alleged scheme involved the ‘creation and use of social media accounts bearing those family members’ names and photographs,’ the complaint said. ‘Hall used those accounts to amass more than 100,000 followers on social media and obtain media coverage, a public platform he then exploited to confer on himself and the Fictitious Political Organization a false imprimatur of close ties with the President’s family and to encourage victims to make monetary contributions to the Fictitious Political Organization,’ the complaint said. In one instance last July, Hall allegedly created a social media account using the name and photograph of one of Trump’s siblings, the complaint states, who is referred to in court records as Victim-1. ‘Hall, impersonating Victim-1, made a public social media post that falsely stated that Victim-1 runs the Fictitious Political Organization with Hall and that ‘Josh is doing great work so please give him a follow and support him!” the complaint said.”

https://youtu.be/v3Tn-ETAXx4

Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson tried to claim that construction of a pipeline between Russia and Germany, the Nord Stream 2, was stopped during the Trump Administration.  Johnson tried Republican-splaining to Secretary of State Tony Blinken that “we stopped it the last time” it was raised during the Trump term.

Johnson stated that Blinken’s rationale for putting sanctions on the people who will benefit from the pipeline, as opposed to sanctioning the pipeline itself, “literally makes no sense,” demonstrating that Johnson doesn’t understand what “literally” and “sense” mean.

From 2016 to 2018, The Great George Soros paid nothing in income taxes.  Jeff Bezos paid zero in 2007 and 2011; in 2011, his company, Amazon, recorded more than $48 billion in revenue.  Elon Musk, the second richest man in the world, paid no income taxes in 2018.

While we await word about the finances of the former president knowing that he paid the minimal amount for years, ProPublica has examined how the richest people in the United States have avoided paying taxes even as their wealth increases.  ProPublica used data and records of the files of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people to examine how they sidestep tax obligations–most time legally.

Using wealth data from Forbes, ProPublica found that while the wealthiest in the US got richer, their technical “income” minimized the amount of taxes they paid.  Based on its analysis, “According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%.”

AP: “A lawyer who defended former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial against a charge of inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol is now representing a man charged alongside other members and associates of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group in the Jan. 6 attack. Michael van der Veen, a Philadelphia-based attorney, filed a motion this week to appear in Washington D.C.’s federal court to represent Jason Dolan, a Florida man recently added to the Department of Justice’s largest conspiracy case stemming from the deadly riot. Van der Veen was part of the team that represented Trump during his historic second impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate that resulted in the former president’s acquittal earlier this year. Trump was impeached by the House on the sole charge of incitement of insurrection one week after the riot.”

“At one point during the impeachment trial, van der Veen drew laughs from senators when he said that any witness depositions should be done in person in his office in Philadelphia. ‘I don’t know why you are laughing,’ a visibly angered van der Veen said. ‘I haven’t laughed at any of you and there’s nothing laughable here.’ In his closing argument, van der Veen called the impeachment a ‘complete charade,’ though he denounced the Capitol breach as a ‘heinous act on the home of American democracy.’ ‘The entire team condemned and have repeatedly condemned the violence and law-breaking that occurred on Jan. 6. In the strongest possible terms we’ve advocated that everybody be found, punished to the maximum extent of the law,’ he said. Dolan, 44, a former Marine from Wellington, Florida, is among 16 members and associates of the Oath Keepers who are charged with conspiring to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Dolan, who prosecutors say used the moniker ‘Turmoil,’ was arrested late last month.”

Actions by autocratic leaders like Belarus’s Lukasheko hijacking a civilian aircraft to arrest a dissident are increasing. The world must ensure that incidents like these cannot happen with impunity. https://t.co/xhKz0Brf5P

— George Soros (@georgesoros) June 8, 2021

https://youtu.be/7BngWOTUERw

A helicopter registered to the Department of Homeland Security flew low to the ground to kick up dirt at the site of the Line 3 pipeline protests in Minnesota, presumably to disperse protestors.  The registration of the helicopter, N3949A, designates it as being owned by DHS.  The protesters are demonstrating against the construction of a 36-inch pipeline, owned by a Canadian company, Enbridge, that will run from Alberta, Calgary to Superior, Wisconsin.  The new construction is a replacement for an aging 34-inch pipeline and it will run through a portion of Native American land in Minnesota.

“The administration of the Solnechnogorsk Regional Hospital promised to conduct an investigation after reports of a stranger’s corpse being given to the family in a hospital near Moscow, but when the error became clear, the body had already been buried. This was reported to Novaya Gazeta in the Department of Health of the Moscow Region. According to the department, the attending physician was suspended from duty while the investigation is pending. ‘Based on its results, a legal assessment of the actions of employees will be given and, if necessary, administrative measures will be taken,’ said the Moscow Regional Department of Health. Varvara Korchashkina wrote on Facebook that she is now trying to prove that her actual grandfather Grigory Vasiliev, is alive.”

“According to the hospital staff, the nurse changed their places on the beds and forgot to inform about it on the watch, the girl said. ‘The relatives of the deceased received a call from the hospital and said that they could take their grandfather, since the treatment was over. And when they arrived, instead of their grandfather, they took out my grandfather, to which they, of course, declared that this was not their relative, ‘Korchashkina said… Now relatives are trying to prove that Grigory Vasiliev is alive, but this is not easy, since he himself is already listed as dead according to all documents. The case is complicated by the fact that he needs urgent rehabilitation, and it is impossible to release a formally dead person to another medical institution” – Novaya Gazeta, translated by Google and edited for clarity by National Zero.