Monday, July 31, 2023

7/31 WAKE-UP CALL: DOJ Backs Off Archer Arrest

Daily Mail Composite 7/31/23

The Justice Department on Sunday evening sent a letter to the New York judge overseeing Devon Archer's fraud case, saying they did not want him locked up before he can testify before Congress on Monday. Archer is expected to provide details that will challenge the White House's insistence that Joe Biden never had any knowledge of or involvement in his wayward son's business affairs. 

The Department of Justice sent a letter to a judge Saturday urging an expedited sentencing for Archer - for an unrelated fraud conviction - in what was seen as a last-minute attempt to stop his testimony. Republicans say the move by DOJ was an attempt to 'intimidate' Archer, who they view as being central to providing information that is critical to their ongoing investigation into the Biden family's business dealings. On Sunday, the decision was reversed.

Biden appeared the picture of calm on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware just a day before Hunter Biden's best friend Devon Archer plans to implicate Joe in his son's foreign business schemes on Monday. Archer is expected to provide details that will challenge the White House's insistence that Joe Biden never had any knowledge of or involvement in his wayward son's business affairs.  A source close to Archer confirmed reports that he is set to testify about meetings he attended with his and Hunter's foreign business partners, where the First Son allegedly had Joe Biden on speakerphone. DailyMail.com reported exclusively this week that Archer is 'in hiding' after receiving 'threats' leading up to his bombshell testimony. 

⛽PUMP PAIN RETURNING: Oil inventories are beginning to fall in some regions as demand outpaces supply constrained by deep production cuts from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, providing support for prices which are expected to rise in coming months. JP Morgan analysts said this month that oil inventories - which include crude and fuel products - now play a bigger role in determining oil prices than the U.S. dollar because Western sanctions on Russia have accelerated oil trading in other currencies. "We expect stocks to draw relatively aggressively in July, and by the end of August, we should be through the stock builds that we saw in the first half of the year," said Christopher Haines, an analyst at Energy Aspects. "We are on the cusp of supply tightness. Saudi cuts are essentially accelerating the timeline." Both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expect oil demand to outpace supply this year, leading to overall inventory draws to the tune of 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), mostly accounted for by the second half of the year.

➤INSTENSE UKRANIAN FIGHTING REPORTED: A senior Ukrainian official reported heavy fighting in the northeast of the country on Sunday, with Kyiv's forces holding their lines and making gains in some areas. Russia's military said it had halted Ukrainian forces in the northeast. The military also said it brought down three Ukrainian drones which had tried to strike Moscow and damaged a high-rise building reported to house government offices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Sunday as "a good day, a powerful day" at the front, particularly near Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces say they are retaking ground lost when Russian forces took the city in May. Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for the drone attacks but Zelenskiy said the war was "gradually returning to Russia's territory - to its symbolic centers". Russian forces launched the latest in a series of night-time air attacks, striking what officials said was a "non-residential building" in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The hit started a fire but there were no reports of casualties.

➤LAWMAKER 'AFTER' FAUCI: Senator Rand Paul has made an 'official criminal referral' to the Department of Justice regarding Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's former top doctor. Referral relates to Fauci's previous testimony on the coronavirus and its potential origins from a Chinese lab with Paul, suggesting Fauci lied under oath. In his referral to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, accuses Fauci of committing perjury during his testimony before a Senate committee in 2021.


➤DeSANTIS ON FOX: FOX News Channel’s chief political anchor and executive editor of Special Report Bret Baier will present an interview with Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, July 31st. The interview, which will air on Special Report at 6 PM/ET, will cover DeSantis’ 2024 campaign, his newly announced economic agenda, the Florida curriculum controversy, and news of the day.

➤TRUMP LEGAL FEES MOUNT: The political action committee that has been paying former President Donald J. Trump’s legal fees requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to the super PAC supporting the Republican front-runner, according to two people familiar with the matter. The decision of Mr. Trump’s political team to ask for a refund of money that was meant to help his 2024 campaign, and was instead diverted to an account paying his legal bills, is extraordinary. It reflects the choice to spend precious donor cash on lawyers rather than on television advertising in the early months. It is unclear how much money was refunded. But the refund was sought as the political action committee, Save America, spent more than $40 million in legal fees incurred by Mr. Trump and witnesses in various legal cases related to him this year alone, according to another person familiar with the matter. The numbers will be part of the Save America Federal Election Commission filing that is expected to be made public late on Monday. That $40 million was in addition to $16 million that Save America spent in the previous two years on legal fees. Since then, Mr. Trump has been indicted twice and has expanded the size of his legal team, and his two co-defendants in the case related to his retention of classified material work for him. The total legal spending is roughly $56 million.

➤MAN STABBED AFTER 'DANCING' CONFRONTATION: A shirtless man whose friend was dancing exuberantly as they pumped gas at a Brooklyn Mobil station was stabbed to death by a stranger who said the men’s antics were offensive to the killer’s Muslim faith, a witness told the Daily News. The NYPD is investigating the caught-on-video killing as a possible hate crime. The killer has not been caught.

➤BLAST RIPS THROUGH POLITICAL GATHERING IN PAKISTAN, KILLING AT LEAST 44: At least 44 people died after a suicide bomber attacked a political convention organized by an Islamist party in northwestern Pakistan, police said. More than 100 were injured, 17 critically, in the attack targeting members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl party, who had gathered in the town of Khar, close to the border with Afghanistan. Local police said the attacker detonated explosives near the convention’s stage.

➤AMERICAN NURSE AND CHILD KIDNAPPED IN HAITI: An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, according to El Roi Haiti, the Christian humanitarian aid organization she works for. Alix Dorsainvil, wife of El Roi Haiti Director Sandro Dorsainvil, and their child were reportedly abducted Thursday morning. The two were taken while serving in their community ministry on El Roi Haiti’s campus near capital city Port-au-Prince. US authorities are aware of the abductions and are working with Haitian authorities and U.S. government interagency partners.

➤MUSK TICKS-OFF S-F: A giant, glowing X marks the San Francisco spot where Elon Musk says he plans to keep his company, the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. But city officials and some residents are unhappy with the display. On Friday, the company erected an "X" logo on the roof of its Market Street headquarters, to the chagrin of neighbors who complained about intrusive lights, and San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection which said it is investigating the structure. The move followed a post from Musk, the enigmatic billionaire who acquired the company in October for $44 billion, announcing the newly named firm would remain in San Francisco despite what he termed the city's recent "doom spiral, with one company after another left or leaving." Musk, who also is CEO of electric car maker Tesla, moved that company's headquarters from California to Texas in 2021. Keeping X in San Francisco could be a good sign for a city that has struggled to bounce back from tourism and business losses sustained during the pandemic.

🎥A WEEK LATER 'BARDENHEIMER' BOOMS CONTINUES: Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops. “Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”

⚾MLB ORIOLES 9 YANKEES 3: New York Yankees fans were left furious after Aaron Judge was left out of the team for Sunday's series decider against the Baltimore Orioles - days after he finally returned from a sprained toe. Judge hit a home run - his 20th of the season - as the Yankees beat the Orioles 8-3 on Saturday night and it is hoped by Yankees fans that his return to health will coincide with a return to form for the team. He played his first game back on Friday and spraining his toe against the Dodgers when he crashed through a fence in the outfield on June 3. But much to the fury of the New York fanbase, Judge was left off the team on Sunday as coach Aaron Boone looks to ease his workload after nearly two months out. And it backfired for the Yankees - fast. They conceded seven runs in the first inning - Adam Frazier with a three-run homer - in a nightmare start for pitcher Luis Severino. The Orioles went on to record a 9-3 victory and win the series.

⚾METS INSIST 'NO FIRE SALE': New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler has claimed that the team is not looking to undergo a 'rebuild' or start a 'fire sale' for the rest of the season, despite signs despite multiple signs showing otherwise. New York recently made headlines when by trading star pitcher Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers for highly rated minor league infielder Luisangel Acuna. The Scherzer trade came only days after the Mets shipped closing pitcher David Robinson to the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor leaguers Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernandez.

⚾MLB SCORES: 

  • Pirates 6 Phillies 4
  • Rays 8 Astros 2
  • Angels 3 Blue Jays 2
  • Braves 8 Brewers 6
  • Mets 5 znationals 2
  • Marlns 8 Tigers 6
  • Guardians 5 white Sox  0
  • Royals 2 Twins 1
  • Cardinals 3 Cubs 0
  • Rockies 2 Athletics 0
  • Giants 4 Red Sox 3
  • Reds 9 Dodgers 0
  • Padres 5 Rangers 3
  • Mariners 4 D-Backs 0


⚾SOURCES: CUBS TELL TEAMS CODY BELLINGER WON'T BE TRADED: The Cubs' have told opposing teams free-agent-to-be Cody Bellinger will not be traded, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Cubs, whose eight-game winning streak ended with Sunday's 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, will instead look to add relief help as they've closed the gap in the NL Central race.


🌞PHOENIX SIZZLES: Phoenix sizzled through its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) and other parts of the country grappled Sunday with record temperatures after a week that saw significant portions of the U.S. population subject to extreme heat. The National Weather Service said Phoenix climbed to a high of 111 F (43.8 Celsius) before the day was through. July has been so steamy thus far that scientists calculate it will be the hottest month ever recorded and likely the warmest human civilization has seen. The World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on Thursday proclaimed July beyond record-smashing.

🌞FLA METEOROLOGIST SOUNDS ALARM:  Florida meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin sounded the climate change alarm bell during a local telecast, telling viewers he fears we “have reached a point we cannot return from.” “This is the first time that I’ve been overly concerned that we have reached a point we cannot return from,” MacLaughlin said in a recent weather report for NBC6 South Florida. The five-time Emmy-winning reporter also posted the clip on Twitter Saturday, warning that his attempt to stay optimistic has been overpowered by the alarming impact of climate change on local ecosystems.

“In 25 years of broadcasting, I’ve never uttered these words on TV before,” MacLaughlin wrote on Twitter. “I try to stay positive. I report on not just the problem, but the solution. I try to not be alarmist. But with corals, sirens should be blaring.”



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