Biden signs gun safety bill into law


Updated June 25, 20229:19 AM ET

By Don Clyde, Shauneen Miranda


President Biden on Saturday signed into law the first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years.

The signing comes just over a month after the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school killed 19 children and two adults. That attack came 10 days after a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket killed 10 Black people.

"While this bill doesn't do everything I want, it does include actions I've long called for that are going to save lives," Biden said just before signing the measure. "Today, we say more than enough. We say more than enough," he added. "At a time when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential."

The legislation, which passed the House 234-193 Friday night following Senate approval Thursday, includes incentives for states to pass so-called red flag laws that allow groups to petition courts to remove weapons from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

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CLARENCE THOMAS BILLIONAIRE BENEFACTOR HARLAN CROW BOUGHT CITIZENSHIP IN ISLAND TAX HAVEN

Leaked documents reveal the GOP megadonor held dual citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis as he lavished the Supreme Court justice with gifts.

Jason Paladino, Ken Klippenstein
The Intercept, April 25 2023

Excerpts…

The documents were leaked from Henley and Partners, a London-based firm known for assisting the ultra-wealthy in obtaining “golden passports,” which allow the holders to shield assets from their home country’s tax authorities. The firm advertises itself as “the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment” and has been shown to do business with controversial clients. An Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project investigation using the leaked documents reported that the firm was working with a rogues’ gallery of accused financial criminals from around the world. An investigative journalism collaboration, also based on the leaked trove of Henley documents, reported that oligarchs, fugitives, and sanctioned businesspeople were among the clients seeking foreign passports. The passports, granted in 2012, would expire after 10 years unless renewed. It’s unclear if the Crow family renewed them last year.

The revelation of Crow’s history as a dual citizen of a nation considered to be one of the world’s most secretive tax havens raises new questions about the lavish, undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, first revealed by ProPublica. On Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter to Crow seeking evidence that Crow “complied with all relevant federal tax and ethics laws,” something his dual-citizen status is sure to complicate.

“The American public deserves a full accounting of the full extent of your largesse towards Justice Thomas, including whether these gifts complied with all relevant federal tax and ethics laws,” Wyden wrote to Crow, demanding answers to detailed questions about whether he complied with IRS gift tax rules by May 8. St. Kitts and Nevis passport holders are not subject to a gift tax.

Even among tax havens, St. Kitts and Nevis is considered high risk by regulators, once even appearing on a Financial Stability Forum list of countries that were “non-cooperative” with global efforts to fight money laundering and financial crime. In 2018, the European Union moved the nation to a list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions,” citing its “harmful preferential tax regime.” A 2018 investigation in The Guardian dubbed it “the world’s most secretive offshore haven.” Even when tens of thousands of St. Kitts and Nevis business documents appeared in the “Paradise Papers” leak, company ownership was still hidden because the jurisdiction keeps so little information filed.

“International business tycoons and politicians, who have looted the assets of their nations — and other high wealth individuals — have used the dubious network of offshore tax havens across the world, which includes St. Kitts and Nevis, to hide their assets and income,” said Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., ranking member of the House Judiciary subcommittee overseeing courts.

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https://theintercept.com/2023/04/25/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-citizenship-st-kitts/

'They come to me': Jane Roberts’ legal recruiting work involved officials whose agencies had cases before the Supreme Court

In newly revealed testimony, Jane Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts said she worked for “U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators” and more.

By HAILEY FUCHS and JOSH GERSTEIN
Politico, 01/31/2023

EXCERPT...

Jane Roberts’ placements included at least one firm with a prominent Supreme Court practice, according to the complaint, which also includes sworn testimony from Roberts herself, in which she notes the powerful officials — whose agencies have had frequent cases before her husband — for whom she has worked.

“A significant portion of my practice on the partner side is with senior government lawyers, ranging from U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators, chairmen of federal commissions, general counsel of federal commissions, and then senior political appointees within the ranks of various agencies, and I -- they come to me looking to transition to the private sector,” Roberts said, according to a transcript of a 2015 arbitration hearing related to her former colleague’s termination.

In her testimony, Roberts also noted the benefit of working with senior government officials: “Successful people have successful friends.”

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https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/31/jane-roberts-legal-recruiting-work-agencies-cases-supreme-court-00080515