Mexico’s Sheinbaum wins landslide to become country’s first woman, Jewish president
Mexico elected it’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, in a landslide victory on Sunday defeating her opponent, Xochitl Galvez.
By REUTERSUpdated: JUNE 3, 2024 13:33Presidential candidate of the ruling Morena party Claudia Sheinbaum, gestures while addressing her supporters after winning the presidential election, at Zocalo Square in Mexico City, Mexico June 3, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI)
Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female and Jewish president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.
Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority. That is set to be the highest vote percentage in Mexico’s democratic history.
The ruling coalition was also on track for a possible two-thirds super majority in both houses of Congress, which would allow the coalition to pass constitutional reforms without opposition support, according to the range of results given by the electoral authority.
Hunter, 54, faces three counts accusing him of illegally possessing a firearm while addicted to crack cocaine after lying on a federal gun-purchase form to obtain the weapon in the first place.
Although President Biden isn’t implicated in the case, the trial could create some unwelcome headlines for the commander in chief as his re-election campaign kicks into high gear ahead of his first debate with Trump later this month.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Hunter Biden trial.
Hunter Biden’s trial is expected to be fairly brief.AP
What is Hunter Biden charged with?
Officially, Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies: making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed firearms dealer, and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of or addict to a controlled substance.
If convicted on all charges, the first son faces up to 25 years in prison and fines totaling more than $750,000 — though he is very unlikely to receive the maximum sentence if found guilty.
Charges against Hunter Biden
COUNT 1: False Statement in Purchase of a Firearm
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COUNT 2: False Statement Related to Information Required to be Kept by Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer
Faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COURT 3: Possession of a Firearm by a Person who is an Unlawful User of or Addicted to a Controlled Substance
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
Ironically, Joe Biden helped pass legislation that shaped the law governing firearm applications that Hunter now stands accused of flouting.
The application asked, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”
Hunter Biden answered “no,” despite knowing, according to prosecutors that the statement was “false and fictitious.”
Why did Hunter Biden acquire the gun?
Hunter Biden told friends that he made the gun purchase on Oct. 12, 2018, on a whim and believed that time at a shooting range could help him avoid a drug relapse, according to a New York Times report from January 2023. He also claimed to have believed that he was sober the day he filled out the form.
The Post previously reported on images from the first son’s laptop showing him asleep with what appears to be a crack pipe in his mouth on Oct. 8, 2018.
StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply is located in Wilmington, Del.starquestshooterssupply.com
Hunter Biden later told The Daily Beast that the photograph depicted a meth pipe rather than a crack pipe and alleged that the picture had been staged.
In his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” Hunter claimed that he was “smoking crack every 15 minutes” around the time of the gun purchase.
On Oct. 11, 2018, the day before Hunter went to buy the gun, he texted a man identified in his contacts as “q” asking to meet at a 7-Eleven. “Q” asked Hunter if he wanted “the same” thing, an apparent reference to drugs.
He also bought a HKS Speedloader and 25 rounds of ammunition, according to prosecutors, who don’t have to prove that the first son was wasted on the day he made the purchases.
Hunter and Hallie Biden began their fling shortly after Beau’s death.
Disposal of the gun and the feds’ discovery
Hunter Biden held onto the weapon for 11 days before it got tossed into a trash can.
At the time, Hunter Biden was in the midst of a tryst with his former sister-in-law turned lover Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother, Beau.
On Oct. 23, 2018, Hallie Biden, frustrated with Hunter’s drug use, discovered the .38-caliber revolver in his unlocked car and discarded it — wrapped in a black shopping bag — behind a supermarket located across the street from a local high school.
Hunter demanded that Hallie return to the trash can and retrieve the firearm for him, but when she did, it was gone, according to a police report unearthed by Politico in March 2021. Hallie then contacted the store’s management, which drew in law enforcement.
When cops called Hunter Biden to the scene, he claimed to have used the firearm for target practice.
Hunter Biden waved off questions about whether he was using drugs by suggesting Hallie had thought “I was gonna kill myself,” per the report.
When asked if he had spoken about the issue with his father, then the former vice president, Hunter responded: “I have never called my dad for anything.”
Days later, the gun was turned in by an older man who regularly went through the store’s trash for recyclable items.
“They said the firearm was involved in a case of some kind and they wanted to expedite the trace process and get access to the Form 4473,” the FBI document outlining Palimere’s interview states, referring to the transaction record filled out by Hunter. “Both agencies asked the same questions and it appeared they were not aware of each other’s investigations.”
Suspicious of the request by the Secret Service, Palimere contacted an ATF agent, who told him, in the FBI’s words, “not to turn the original Form 4473 over to anyone and to turn over a copy only if Palimere felt Palimere had to.”
The Secret Service has said it has no information corroborating Palimere’s claims, noting the Biden family was not under the agency’s protection at the time.
Who’s prosecuting the case?
David Weiss has been US Attorney for Delaware since 2018, having been nominated to that position under Trump, with the support of the First State’s two Democratic US senators, both Biden allies.
Weiss’ office has been investigating Hunter Biden on a number of tracks, including the gun charge, tax evasion and allegations of unregistered foreign lobbying.
David Weiss is overseeing the special counsel office’s prosecution of the first son.The Washington Post via Getty Images
In December 2020 — a month after his father won the presidency — Hunter Biden confirmed publicly that he was subject to a federal probe into his “tax affairs.”
In June 2023, prosecutors announced a plea deal on tax charges against the first son and a pretrial diversion agreement on the gun charges.
As a result, he was expected to get about two years of probation contingent on him remaining sober.
But that agreement went up in flames the following month when Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika exposed daylight between the defense and prosecution over whether or not Hunter would enjoy blanket immunity.
On Aug. 11, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel status, giving him the authority to bring charges against the first son wherever he wished.
Noreika, who will also be the presiding judge at trial, rejected that claim, saying laws against drug addicts owning firearms are “consistent with this country’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
President Biden has maintained that he’s proud of his son.AFP via Getty Images
The defense team has also suggested that the 4473 form may have been “tampered with” by an employee at the gun store who helped Hunter Biden fill it out.
The Justice Department has included a photo of Hunter Biden’s signature on the form as evidence.
But lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell has teased there might be more to the case.
Key witnesses in the case
In their trial brief, prosecutors teased plans to call at least nine witnesses, mainly officials from the FBI, Delaware State Police, and Drug Enforcement Administration — along with “an employee of Starquest Shooters,” possibly Palimere, and three individuals identified as Witness 1, 2, and 3.
Buhle tied the knot with Hunter Biden in 1993 and the pair split in 2017, not long after she learned that he was having an affair with his sister-in-law, according to her book, “If We Break.”
Even after the divorce was finalized, Buhle continued to express concerns about her ex’s addiction struggles, writing in a March 9, 2018, message that she “found a few crack pipes” in the family car and removed them because their “daughter was driving” it at the time.”
Kestan — a lingerie and textile designer who uses “weed_slut_420” as her social media handle — testified before a Delaware grand jury back in 2022, The Post previously reported.
A NY Post composite on Hunter Biden’s three former lovers who could be key witnesses.NY Post composite
Kestan allegedly claimed to have been with Hunter “at the craziest point of his life” and stated that during the roughly nine months of their relationship, he smoked crack cocaine about “every 20 minutes except when he slept.”
Aside from those witnesses, prosecutors will also be allowed to cite evidence from Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell,” though the defense will be able to challenge exhibits on a case-by-case basis.
Prosecutors have also indicated they will reference his memoir,” Beautiful Things.”
Will President Biden pardon Hunter?
While the president has not spoken publicly about the case, the White House has repeatedly insisted that the president will not pardon his son should he be convicted.
“I’ve been very clear; the president is not going to pardon his son,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated back in December.
In theory, President Biden could pardon his son, but the White House insists he won’t.Nathan Posner/Shutterstock
Behind the scenes, President Biden is reportedly very anxious that his son could wind up behind bars. And there have been some conspicuous crossing of paths on the eve of the trial.
On May 26, President Biden met with Hallie Biden, a move that raised some eyebrows given that she’s expected to be a star witness.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika poked holes in the plea deal and pretrial diversion agreement last July.United States District Court for the District of Delaware
Noreika was nominated to the bench by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in August 2018 — again with support from both of Delaware’s Democratic senators.
At Pittsburgh native, Noreika holds an undergraduate degree from Lehigh University, a master’s degree in biology from Columbia University and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Noreika has given campaign donations to candidates on both sides of the aisle, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a particular favorite.
Who are Hunter Biden’s attorneys?
Hunter Biden’s main lawyer responding to Weiss’ probe was Chris Clark, who played a critical role in negotiating the aborted plea and diversion agreements.
Chris Clark dangled the possibility of calling President Biden to the witness stand.Lathan and Watkins
Clark had previously hinted at plans to bring President Biden to the stand if the agreement failed.
“President Biden now unquestionably would be a fact witness for the defense in any criminal trial,” Clark wrote at one point, Politico reported.
Lowell, a Winston & Strawn partner, then took a more pronounced role in Hunter Biden’s defense. He previously represented Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and has also helped the first son navigate through the onslaught of House Republican investigations.
In addition to Lowell, the first son has tapped Dalton Bartholomew of Dalton & Associates and more recently brought on David Kolansky, who previously helped Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
Abbe Lowell has a reputation for being a scrappy defense lawyer.Getty Images
Legal fund could be drying up
Since his father took office as president, Hunter Biden’s primary patron has been Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, sometimes referred to as the first son’s “sugar brother.”
Morris, 60, testified before the House GOP impeachment inquiry back in January that he loaned the first son more than $4.9 million and had visited the White House on at least three occasions during that timeframe.
Other recent reports peg that figure at around $6.5 million. Morris’ cash flow to the troubled first son covered everything from divorce costs, back taxes, a paternity suit, car payments, and more.
Kevin Morris is reportedly getting tapped out as Hunter Biden now faces two major trials.Getty Images
But now there are questions about whether Morris’ resources are drying up.
“Kevin is completely tapped out. So just when Hunter is facing two criminal trials starting in a few weeks, he has no resources. It’s pretty dire,” a source familiar with the situation recently told Politico.
Kathleen Buhle is expected to be an important witness on her ex-husband’s addiction struggles.ABC News
Other charges against Hunter Biden
In addition to the firearm case, Hunter Biden is also staring down a tax indictment that Weiss secured from a grand jury out of Los Angeles in December.
He is facing six misdemeanor and three felony counts for allegedly stiffing Uncle Sam of $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Speculation has also swirled about possible charges under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which is governed under a five-year statute of limitations. Weiss has maintained that his investigation remains “ongoing.”
James Comer has foreshadowed other potential legal trouble coming Hunter Biden’s way.Getty Images
FARA requires individuals to disclose when they’re acting on behalf of foreign principals in a bid to influence US officials.
Detractors have pointed to Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma from 2014 until 2019, and his 10% stake in Chinese state-backed investment fund BHR Partners between 2013 and part of 2021, among other concerns.
Yet the clock appears to be running out on some of those potential avenues.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who is leading
This scam trial will go down in the annals of history. A political witch hunt perpetrated by the Biden administration. They weren’t happy with the two impeachments, with the Mueller report, these raging malcontents have politicized the DOJ, State attorneys general, prosecutors and most of all the rabid dogs of partisan politics.
Twelve jurors, all NY big apple Democrats , voters overwhelmingly voted for by by 92%, a conflicted judge who donated to the Biden campaign, whose daughter is a fund raiser for candidates of the democratic stripe, most likely consults regularly with her father.
What we have seen here is a political hanging by a judiciary who condones rape, murder, baby killers, cocaine pushers, illegals and most of all fails to protect the victim.
It is now time to forget the chin music, we must revert to the knuckleball, right between legs clipping the nuts of these salacious criminals who protect Biden and the criminals of the Deep State; this is jugular time. The time has passed, no more Pussy Footing around.
Democrat Pervs have gone to the end of the earth to prosecute Trump. Their aim is to stop him from campaigning. This POS, Bragg,
No reason to prosecute because no crime has been committed. In fact, the State and the Perv judge has not referenced a statute that Trump broke. The trial, and many others, are brought to stop Trump from campaigning.
Trump’s ‘hush money’ NYC trial live updates: Ex-prez calls trial a ‘disgrace’ as deliberations wrap up for the day
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Updated May 29, 2024, 6:42 p.m. ET
Jurors in the “hush money” trial against Donald Trump deliberated for nearly five hours Wednesday in the historic criminal trial against the former president, but have not reached a verdict.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 “hush money” payment his former “fixer” lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
The jury will resume deliberations Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
Follow The Post’s live updates from the courthouse:
Airstrike shrapnel hitting fuel tank likely caused Rafah fire – US official
At the moment, the US has no information to confirm or disprove the claim and is waiting for the results of the IDF’s investigation.
By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD, EYAL GREEN, REUTERS, MAARIVUpdated: MAY 28, 2024 17:16Initial information suggests that the fire that broke in Rafah following the airstrike targeting two Hamas senior members on Sunday most likely occurred as a result of shrapnel hitting and igniting a fuel tank in the vicinity of the attack, ABC News reported on Monday, citing a US official.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari spoke to foreign press on Tuesday, suggesting that a Hamas military base, located close to the strike site, was the most likely cause of the fire.
He also emphasized that the IDF’s air force attack was 1.7 km away from the humanitarian zone.
June 3 is the court date for the cocaine addict. Pleaded not guilty of filling gun permit form, said he didn’t do drugs or was not addicted to them. They are all lies. POTUS pays a visit to Beau’s wife, who will testify at the trial. Reminds us of Slick Willie (see below) paying a tarmac visit to Loretta Lynch. No doubt Biden prompt her on what to say on the stand. She is a material witness having thrown Hunter’s gun in a dumpster.
Joe Biden makes surprise nighttime visit to Hunter’s ex Hallie Biden days before she testifies in first son’s gun trial
Biden stopped by Hallie’s home around 8 p.m. for a brief private talk eight days before the 54-year-old first son’s trial is scheduled to stand trial beginning June 3.
Hallie dated Hunter at the time of his alleged gun crimes and is one of a dozen expected witnesses.
Hunter and Hallie Biden, pictured in Mexico in 2017, began an affair shortly after his brother Beau Biden died of cancer
CONSPIRACY – SLICK WILLIE MAKES AN OFFER THAT LORETTA LYNCH COULD NOT REFUSE – DEMOCRAT CRIMINALS MAKE A MOCKERY OF THE LAW
Just a coincidence that both of them were on the tarmac in Arizona. (CLICK)It was a 110-degree day in Phoenix and the U.S. attorney general was getting ready to leave her plane at Sky Harbor International Airport when, as she remembers it, someone told her former President Bill Clinton wanted to chat.
An illegal immigrant accused of killing a Washington state trooper in a crash earlier this year had his bail dropped from $1 million to $100,000 by a state judge last week.
Raul Benitez Santana, 32, is currently being held at the Snohomish County Jail on charges of vehicular assault and vehicular homicide involving alcohol or drugs in connection to the death of 27-year-old Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher M. Gadd in March.
Santana was initially held on $1 million bail, but online jail records on Wednesday show his bail was reduced to $100,000.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent lowered Santana’s bail on May 15 after Santana’s defense attorneys argued for his release, the Everett Herald reported.
You don’t see Joe Biden flying into Texas or Louisiana for a rally; he has a hard enough time convincing registered Democrats that he’s not a failed president.Trump has an energized base, giving him the flexibility to, say, spend a weekend on a New Jersey beach or an evening in the Boogie Down Bronx
The lorry driver behind a 2018 fatal crash with a bus carrying a junior ice hockey team has been ordered deported from Canada.
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who is originally from India, was released on full parole last year after being sentenced to eight years in prison for dangerous driving.
Sixteen people were killed and 13 injured when the lorry collided with the hockey team bus on a rural road in Saskatchewan.
Sidhu’s lawyer told the BBC that he plans to fight the deportation order.
Lawyer Michael Greene said the order, which came on Friday morning at an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing in Calgary, was not a surprise as Sidhu is not a citizen of Canada.
Sidhu grew up on a farm in India and moved to Canada in 2013.
“He is a permanent resident who has been convicted of a serious offence,” Mr Greene said.
But he said he will fight to keep Sidhu in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
“He couldn’t be more remorseful,” the lawyer said. “He is still plagued by this every day of his life.”
Ten players on the Humboldt Broncos ice hockey team, aged between 16 and 21, died when their team bus collided with the semi-trailer that Sidhu was driving.
Support staff and the team’s head and assistant coaches were also among those killed.
A number of players survived the crash but were left with life-altering injuries.
In 2019, Sidhu pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 of causing injury.
It was found that he had ran through a stop sign before colliding with the bus.
Some families of the victims have called for Sidhu to be deported.
In a statement to CTV News in Calgary on Friday, Toby Boulet, whose son Logan died in the crash, said he and his wife were “thankful for the decision” to deport Sidhu.
New York Mayor Eric Adams will participate in the much-anticipated Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York City amid rising tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war in the city.
A dedicated public servant, Mayor Eric Adams was elected as the 110th mayor of New York City in 2021. As mayor, he continues to champion the city’s diverse communities and is a vocal supporter of the Jewish community and Israel.
The conference, which will take place on June 3 in New York City, promises to be of paramount importance, especially given the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and the broader turmoil in the Middle East. This year’s gathering is expected to attract diplomats, politicians, and business leaders, with Mayor Adams being one of the most fascinating faces.
A steadfast supporter of Israel and the Jewish community, Mayor Adams’ participation is particularly significant in light of the ongoing conflict and the rising concerns about antisemitism in New York, which, despite showing a short dip in numbers in November, has begun to steadily rise again, with dozens of new cases reported by the NYPD over the course of March and April.
New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and Mayor Adams has consistently expressed his solidarity with the community.
"Where Revolution is the Solution" Taking back the Empire
