Don’t buy Biden’s ‘surprise’ — classified documents were moved at least twice

 With the reported discovery of a second batch of highly classified documents connected to President Biden, the decisions of Attorney General Merrick Garland are fast moving from inexplicable to incomprehensible.

Garland was presumably briefed that classified documents were discovered in Joe Biden’s old office on Nov. 2. He also presumably knew about the Biden documents when he appointed a special counsel to investigate the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago 16 days later.

At the time of the appointment of Jack Smith, some of us noted the inexplicable refusal of Garland to appoint a special counsel to look into alleged Biden influence peddling and other crimes.

Garland continued to refuse such an appointment even as he justified the appointment of Smith on the basis that Donald Trump was running for the presidency. Joe Biden is the president. What is the difference?

Classified documents from Biden’s days as vice president were discovered in November.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Biden, meanwhile, is feigning ignorance, simply saying he was “surprised” the documents were there.

By not discussing the content of the documents, Biden minimizes his vulnerability to charges of obstruction or false statements. He can simply declare “surprise,” knowing that many in the media will welcome his silence as they spin the scandal.

The documents were discovered six days before the midterm elections at a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Despite the lack of information, the press and pundits have already declared there is no real national security danger and certainly no comparison to Mar-a-Lago. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) declared, “There is no comparison. They were in a locked closet. They were not accessible.”

So that is the standard? A locked closet? The Mar-a-Lago storage room was locked and later the security was enhanced at the request of the FBI.

It is fair to note that Trump and his staff are accused of false statements and obstruction. However, that does not change the same alleged crime of unlawful removal and possession.

Biden is taking a page from the Hillary Clinton playbook. Recall the long-sought Whitewater documents. After the case was effectively over, they suddenly appeared. The New York Times called the documents “elusive,” as if they moved by free will.

Clinton was also “surprised” by the discovery of the documents … after they could not be used as part of the earlier investigation.

There are some obvious explanations for the documents being present in the office, particularly given Biden’s work on a book that discussed his work in some of the referenced countries like Ukraine. However, even that explanation raises more questions. For example, Biden left office as vice president in 2017 and had an office at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia after finishing his term until 2019. On February 8, 2018, the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement says, it opened its doors in Washington, DC.

So if these documents were removed when Biden left office, where were they in the prior year and were they moved repeatedly before they ended up in the Washington office? This does not appear to be a “one-and-done” mistake. Rather documents may have been at various locations over a five-year period.

None of this could be clarified with Biden simply expressing “surprise.”

The FBI has two immediate tasks: Secure the highly classified documents and then determine whether they may have been compromised.

Consider that Biden notably did not categorically deny asking for the documents to be taken at the end of this term as vice president.

He also did not explain when he was briefed after they were found.

Democrats and the media are eager to wave this away and move on. But, as the statements of Garland and Biden show, there are many questions that need answering. The discovery of new classified documents only magnifies those unanswered questions.

Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/11/dont-buy-bidens-surprise-classified-documents-were-moved-at-least-twice/

US families have lost $7,400 due to inflation, rate hikes under Biden: Heritage

 The average American family has lost the equivalent of more than a month's salary in annual income since President Biden took office as high inflation and rising interest rates eat away at their finances, according to research by the Heritage Foundation.

Heritage analyzed consumer prices and interest rates and found in their latest report released Thursday that the average American household has lost the equivalent of $7,400 in annual income since Biden's inauguration Jan. 20, 2021. The income loss represents an increase of $200 from September, when the think tank's research found a $7,200 decline in annual income for the average American household dating back to the start of Biden's term. 

"Higher borrowing costs and declining real wages mean the average family is effectively $7,400 poorer today than when Biden took office," EJ Antoni, research fellow in regional economics with the Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, told FOX Business. "That is more than a month’s salary for many families and the equivalent of more than a 10% pay cut for the median household income."

Antoni explained that of the $7,400, about $6,000 was attributable to prices rising at a much faster pace than wages. The Labor Department on Thursday released its Consumer Price Index reading for December, which found inflation fell by 0.1% month-over-month but remained at about 6.5% on annual basis — which is about three times the pre-pandemic average despite being the lowest headline number since October 2021.

The remaining $1,400 loss found by Heritage stemmed from higher borrowing costs due to the Federal Reserve raising the federal funds rate which influences the rate that Americans pay on credit cards and loans for homes and cars. The policy is intended to tamp down economic activity and lower inflation to the Fed's target rate of 2%. 

Over the last year, Fed policymakers voted to raise interest rates seven straight times to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. Economists expect another rate hike when Fed's rate-setting committee concludes a two-day meeting on Feb. 1.

Since 2023 began, Fed officials signaled that more rate hikes are on the way and that they plan to hold rates at elevated levels until inflation slows. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell explained in remarks Tuesday that "restoring price stability when inflation is high can require measures that are not popular in the short term as we raise rates to slow the economy."

Unfortunately for Americans looking to buy a home, the Fed's rate hikes have led the interest rate for the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage to rise by more than three percentage points in the last year from 3.22% to 6.48% as of last week. That, in turn, has caused applications to decline as it gets harder for Americans to afford the monthly bill that comes with homeownership. 

Antoni attributed the economic headwinds to the fiscal policies adopted by the Biden administration over the last two years. "The astronomical levels of spending, borrowing, and printing of money over the last two years have devalued the dollar and levied a hidden but heavy inflation tax on the American people."

Inflation is hitting all sorts of baby supplies, such as diapers, which have seen a cost increase of about 20% since last year, according to Nielsen IQ. (FOX News/Ashley Soriano / Fox News)

Federal spending has soared in recent years, and Congress is once again approaching its statutory debt limit, which has swelled to nearly $31.4 trillion. The debt limit will likely have to be raised by the middle of the year to avoid a default on the national debt if lawmakers end up at an impasse over partisan priorities.

While their elected representatives in D.C. struggle to pay the nation's bills, Americans are facing a similar challenge as their household budgets are stretched thin due to inflation and higher borrowing costs. Those financial challenges led more than one-third of households to rely on credit cards or loans to buy necessities in December. Average credit card interest rates reached a new record high of 19.14% APR compared to a Bankrate.com database.

"Americans are increasingly relying on credit cards to make it from paycheck to paycheck, resulting in higher levels of indebtedness. Rising credit card balances in an era of rising interest rates is a path to insolvency," Antoni told FOX Business. "The average interest rate on credit cards is now around 20 percent while half of Americans cannot pay off their credit cards each month, and balances are growing at a 16 percent annual rate."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/americans-have-lost-7400-due-inflation-under-biden-heritage

Penn Biden Center China ties draws criticism

 Cassie Smedile, the Coign Vice President, discusses the "large check" given to the Penn Biden Center in response to FOX Business host Stuart Varney's "My Take" on the connection between the classified documents and China.

CASSIE SMEDILE: There are too many questions, not enough answers. Hope we'll get some more of them... The Biden Penn Center had a great benefactor, and that's his anonymous donors that's got Chinese backed ties. And we need to know what access they had, why they gave such a large check. Anybody who's been around this town for a minute knows there's no such thing as a free lunch. And the American people do deserve answers on this because this is broader than just some documents that were accidentally left in the closet.

…We know China is not a friend on their best day they're a "frenemy." So, we have to start treating them as such. And this administration and not just them, by the way, but it seems like a finer point has been placed on it during this administration has been pretty soft on China, unwilling to call them out, directly, unwilling to ask the questions, whether it's COVID or Hunter Biden or what they're doing, and taking American tech and ingenuity. Life is getting more difficult for Americans, and China is laughing all the way to the bank. And this administration doesn't seem to be taking a strict hand towards them.

Coign Vice President Cassie Smedile discusses the classified documents discovery at Penn Biden Center on "Varney & Co." (Fox News)

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/penn-biden-center-china-ties-draws-criticism-why-did-benefactor-give-such-large-check-asks-expert

JPM23: Nektar pins comeback hopes on Lilly collab and cancer combinator

 Nektar Therapeutics is kicking through the rubble left months after the demolition of the company’s lead asset bempeg. It’s now pinning hopes on two clinical-stage assets set for critical milestones in the next two years.  

You wouldn’t expect a company with some $500 million in cash and investments to be in such a precarious position, but that’s life in biotech, where clinical development is so costly and time-consuming. During the company’s presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Wednesday, CEO Howard Robin acknowledged the difficulty in seeing the Bristol Myers Squibb-partnered drug fall by the wayside after persistent failures. 

“[U]nfortunately, the clinical trials did not meet their endpoints and I think that was a crushing blow for both companies,” said Robin. Bempeg’s implosion and the subsequent end of the BMS deal forced Nektar to lay off 70% of its staff. But the company is trudging forward, turning its attention to two remaining clinical-stage assets: autoimmune therapy rezpeg and oncology med NKTR-255.

The former is arguably the more consequential of the two, given that it's part of a collaboration with Eil Lilly, which is covering three-quarters of the development costs. The med is being developed in three indications, with a lead trial in lupus that’s slated to read out in the first half. The company is also developing rezpeg to treat atopic dermatitis in addition to a third indication that’s yet to be revealed. Robin does not expect work on the undisclosed indication to be contingent on results in the lupus trial. 

“Mechanistically some of these autoimmune diseases probably respond better to proliferation of regulatory T-cells than others,” he said. “So I don't see any reason why one should be dependent on the other.” Robin added that he hopes to be able to disclose the third indication prior to the lupus readout but deferred to Lilly on the exact timing. 

The other med behind Nektar’s comeback ambitions is a cancer combo hopeful, NKTR-255. The most notable of the combos is with cell therapies, with Nektar currently testing NKTR-255 in a phase 2 trial as an add-on to Gilead’s Yescarta or BMS’ Briyanzi. Chief Development Officer Mary Tagliaferri, M.D., said the goal is for response rates to jump more than 10% after the addition of NKTR-255. 

Nektar’s focus on its pipeline front-runners comes after merger conversations with British biotech PureTech dissolved in October. The potential deal fell through after the discussions leaked, spurring a cascade of announcements around the talks as required by British law and ultimately resulting in the formal end to negotiations.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/jpm23-nektar-pins-comeback-hopes-lilly-collab-and-cancer-combinator-following-bempeg-blowup

Ra Medical Systems Completes Merger, to Raise up to $9.3 Million in Equity

 Ra Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE American: RMED) (“Ra Medical” or the “Company”) announces the completion of its previously announced stock-for-stock merger transaction with Catheter Precision, Inc., a company focused on the cardiac electrophysiology market. Medtech veteran and Catheter Precision CEO and founder David Jenkins has joined Ra Medical’s Board of Directors as Executive Chairman. Mr. Jenkins was instrumental in operating several medical device startups, including Transneuronix, Inc., which was acquired by Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) in July 2005, and EP MedSystems, Inc., which was acquired by St. Jude Medical (now owned by Abbott (NYSE: ABT)) in July 2008. James Caruso will also join the Board, to serve alongside continuing directors Martin Colombatto, Will McGuire and Susanne Meline.

Catheter Precision’s lead product, VIVO™ (an acronym for View Into Ventricular Onset), is an FDA-cleared and CE mark product that utilizes non-invasive inputs to locate the origin of ventricular arrhythmias. VIVO has been used in more than 800 procedures in leading U.S. and European hospitals under a limited commercial launch that commenced in the third quarter of 2021. Preparations are underway for a full commercial launch in the first quarter of 2023. Catheter Precision’s product portfolio also includes the Amigo®, a robotic arm that serves as a catheter control device. Catheter Precision is developing a third product, anticipated to be released in 2023, which is a device to assist in the closure of the percutaneous insertion site used in minimally invasive procedures, such as catheter ablation.

About the transaction, Mr. Jenkins stated, “We are excited to bring Catheter Precision into a public company environment via the merger with RMED, which allows us access to an additional pool of capital. Subject to closing the private placement financing that is contingent upon the approval of Ra Medical’s stockholders, and assuming the exercise of all repriced warrants, we will have approximately $12.5 million of net cash, which should provide at least two years of operating capital, positioning us to meet both our short-term and longer-term goals.”

Mr. McGuire added, “We have been eagerly awaiting the consummation of this merger. The field of cardiac electrophysiology presents a promising opportunity for Ra Medical and our shareholders. Teaming up with David Jenkins and his team, and Catheter Precision’s product line up based on unique electrophysiology technology brings us prospects for a bright future.”

About the Merger

In conjunction with the merger, Catheter Precision stakeholders will convert approximately $25 million of outstanding debt and all Catheter Precision equity into non-voting Convertible Preferred Stock of RMED, which is potentially convertible into approximately 15,403,255 shares of RMED common stock, including assumed Catheter options, and representing approximately 87.7% of the total equity of Ra Medical, on a fully diluted basis, excluding out of the money convertible securities and Series E Warrants issued today. The majority of the Preferred Stock is expected to be held for at least 18 months, with the remainder converting to common shares upon RMED shareholder approval. Under a beneficial ownership blocker, former Catheter Precision stakeholders, in the aggregate, are expected to own no more than 40% of the voting securities of Ra Medical for at least 18 months.

The Company’s common stock will resume trading on January 10th under the symbol RMED and will be listed on the NYSE American. Ra Medical CEO Will McGuire and Interim CFO Brian Conn will remain with the Company immediately following the closing to support the transition.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Ra Medical in connection with the merger.

$9.3 Million Equity Financing

Simultaneously with the merger, RMED has entered into a warrant inducement offer letter and a securities purchase agreement for a private placement for gross proceeds of approximately $9.3 million. Under the warrant inducement offer letter, RMED will receive approximately $1.3 million of gross proceeds, if the repriced warrants are exercised in full. Under a private placement, RMED will receive up to $8 million of gross proceeds, subject to various conditions including approval by RMED stockholders.

The warrant inducement offer letter includes the anticipated exercise of 331,608 outstanding warrants at a reduced exercise price of $4.00 and the issuance of 331,608 new warrants, exercisable for five years at a price of $4.00 per share. Under the private placement, RMED will issue Class A units consisting of one share of RMED common stock and two warrants, each to purchase one share of common stock. For beneficial ownership purposes, in lieu of Class A units, RMED will issue Class B units consisting of one share of non-voting convertible preferred stock and two warrants. The private placement is subject to various conditions, including approval by RMED stockholders. The Class A and Class B Unit purchase price is at the lower of $3.00 or 90% of the 5-day volume weighted average closing price immediately prior to obtainment of RMED stockholder approval, subject to adjustment per the securities purchase agreement. The warrants issued as part of the units will be exercisable for two years and six years, respectively, upon stockholder approval at an exercise price of $3.00 per share, subject to adjustment in the securities purchase agreement. All warrants and convertible preferred stock are fixed price and do not contain any variable price adjustments or anti-dilution provisions.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. is acting as the exclusive warrant inducement agent and the exclusive placement agent in the equity financings.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20230106005430/ra-medical-systems-completes-merger-with-catheter-precision

Biden's Classified-Records Found In Garage, AG Garland Considering Special Counsel

 “How that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible. And I thought what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods.”

President Biden's words reflecting on former President Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents will be hard for the spin-meisters to distract from as a second batch of documents have been discovered.

Richard Sauber, Special Counsel to the President, has issued a statement to explain this 'misunderstanding'.

As we stated previously, we are fully cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in possession of the Archives.

Following the discovery of government documents at the Penn Biden Center in November 2022, and coordinating closely with the Department of Justice, the President’s lawyers have searched the President's Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residences - the other locations where files from his Vice- Presidential office might have been shipped in the course of the 2017 transition. The lawyers completed that review last night.

During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings. All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President’s Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room. No documents were found in the Rehoboth Beach residence.

[ZH: so not in a safe as they were found in Trump's Mar-a-Lago?]

As was done in the case of the Penn-Biden Center, the Department of Justice was immediately notified, and the lawyers arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of these documents.

The White House will continue to cooperate with the review by the Department of Justice.

But, as Jonathan Turley wrote, the same questions are being asked now about Biden’s own potential “irresponsible” handling of classified material and the true extent of any violations. On Monday, during a state visit to Mexico, Biden declined to answer questions from reporters.

The Biden classified documents matter has been referred to U.S. Attorney John Lausch for investigation. But the discovery will only magnify questions for Garland.

Some of us have criticized Garland for refusing to appoint a special counsel to investigate influence-peddling allegations against Biden’s son, Hunter, despite an overwhelming basis for such an appointment.

In contrast, Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump soon after Trump announced his 2024 presidential candidacy. That again raised questions about Garland’s treatment of Biden, who is actually the president, may also be a presidential candidate in 2024, and may be involved in the underlying allegations against his son.

Now, with this new document discovery, Biden may be accused of the same underlying crime as Trump — yet Garland has elected, once again, not to appoint a special counsel. Instead, he is keeping the Biden matter within Justice Department ranks. While U.S. Attorney Lausch was appointed by Trump and is widely respected, Garland was not willing to keep the Trump case in the hands of a similarly respected Justice Department prosecutor.

For two years, some of us have pushed Garland to adopt a clear, consistent approach with the appointment of a special counsel on the Hunter Biden influence-peddling investigation and other matters. His inexplicable refusal now, regarding this new case, will make a bad situation even worse for the Justice Department.

Accordingly, we note that AG Garland has just announced that he will make a statement at 1315ET.

Bloomberg reports that, according to a person familiar with the matter, Garland is considering appointing a special counsel to investigate whether Biden mishandled classified information during his time in private life.

Turley continues, it is fair to note that Trump and his staff are accused of false statements and obstruction. However, that does not change the same alleged crime of unlawful removal and possession.

Biden is taking a page from the Hillary Clinton playbook. Recall the long-sought Whitewater documents. After the case was effectively over, they suddenly appeared. The New York Times called the documents “elusive,” as if they moved by free will.

Clinton was also “surprised” by the discovery of the documents . . . after they could not be used as part of the earlier investigation.

There are some obvious explanations for the documents being present in the office, particularly given Biden’s work on a book that discussed his work in some of the referenced countries like Ukraine. However, even that explanation raises more questions. For example, Biden left office as vice president in 2017 and had an office at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia after finishing his term until 2019. On February 8, 2018, the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement says that it opened its doors in Washington, D.C.

So if these documents were removed when Biden left office, where were they in the prior year and were they moved repeatedly before they ended up in the Washington office? This does not appear a “one-and-done” mistake. Rather documents may have been at various locations over a five year period.

Otherwise, Biden would have had to request and receive classified information at some point in the five years outside of a secure location.

Now that we have a second batch of documents, there is an increasing concern that classified documents were distributed or divided among different offices.  This also means that an even greater array of individuals may have had access to such documents at different locations over the five-year period.

None of this could be clarified with Biden simply expressing “surprise.”

The FBI has two immediate tasks: secure the highly classified documents and then determine whether they may have been compromised.

Consider that Biden did not categorically deny asking for the documents to be taken at the end of this term as vice president.

He also did not explain when he was briefed after they were found.

Democrats and the media are eager to wave this away and move on. But, as the statements of Garland and Biden show, there are many questions that need answering. The discovery of new classified documents only magnifies those unanswered questions.

That is why we were not “surprised” but we can all be legitimately (and grammatically) astonished by the discoveries in Joe Biden’s closet — and his silence about the contents.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-classified-records-headache-garlands-special-counsel-nightmare

Huckabee Sanders targets critical race theory in executive order

 In one of her first moves as governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an executive order that targets the teaching of race in classrooms, requiring the state to review its policies to snuff out what she says is teaching that would “indoctrinate students with ideologies” such as critical race theory.

Critical race theory is an academic concept that looks at how systematic racism has impacted American laws and institutions. The idea has been under intense fire from conservative lawmakers, who point to it as a tactic that instills anti-American values in children.

The executive order by Sanders bars teachers from talking about race in certain ways in the classroom, including the idea that one race is superior or inferior to another. The action puts the newly sworn-in governor in a long line of conservative executives and lawmakers who have sworn to squash the theory.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has emerged as one of the party’s leading right-wing voices, signed into law a bill that banned critical race theory in the state in 2022. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in 2021 that limits how teachers can talk about race in the state, aiming to ban the teaching of the theory.

“Critical Race Theory (CRT) is antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness,” the executive order from Sanders said. “It emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject.”

The order from Sanders is also a culmination of work from state lawmakers in Arkansas who sought and failed to pass a bill that would ban critical race theory in the state. 

Sanders was sworn in as governor on Tuesday and was met with a message of encouragement from former President Trump, saying in a social media post that his former White House press secretary “is a fantastic person and will be a truly incredible Governor.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3810325-huckabee-sanders-targets-critical-race-theory-in-executive-order/