Shamsuddin Riza pleaded guilty Thursday to helping orchestrate a straw donor scheme that pumped illegal cash into Mayor Adams’ 2021 campaign in what prosecutors say was a scheme aimed at currying political favor in the hopes of landing city contracts.

Riza is the fourth defendant to plead guilty after being charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office with facilitating the straw donor scheme.

A construction company owner, Riza entered his plea during a Thursday morning court hearing in Manhattan to one felony count of attempted grand larceny. Prosecutors said Riza facilitated the donations in hopes it would put his firm in line for lucrative city contracts once Adams became mayor.

Neither the mayor nor his campaign are implicated in or accused of having known about the scheme.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/04/18/key-player-in-adams-campaign-straw-donor-scheme-pleads-guilty/

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to help Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.

The office of Poland’s National Prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K., was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested Wednesday.

If convicted, the man could face up to eight years in prison, the statement said.

European Union member Poland has been a staunch supporter of neighboring Ukraine and Zelenskyy in fending off Russia’s aggression of more than two years.

On Monday, March 11, President Biden released his proposed budget for 2025, articulating the administration's priorities and detailing where they would seek to generate the revenue to pay for them. This year's budget largely resembles what the administration proposed last year, for 2024, and like that budget, this proposal is unlikely to become law, given that control of Congress is divided between Democrats and Republicans. However, elements of the budget proposal will likely become topics of debate during the 2024 presidential election.

The budget proposal seeks to generate revenue by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to fund expansions of the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Premium Tax Credit, among other spending priorities. Generally speaking, the income tax changes laid out in the budget would impact a very small number of taxpayers if they were implemented—specifically, those who earn more than $400,000 in annual income.

* The top individual income tax rate would rise to 39.6% from 37% for income above $400,000 (single filers) or $450,000 (married filing jointly).
* The net investment income tax rate would rise to 5% from 3.8% for those earning more than $400,000 in regular income, capital gains, and pass-through business income combined. The additional Medicare tax rate for those earning more than $400,000 would also increase to 5% from 3.8%.
*Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains would be taxed as ordinary income, plus the net investment income tax, for income that exceeds $1 million.
*Transfers of property by gift or death would trigger a tax on the asset's appreciated value if in excess of the applicable exclusion.
* Roth IRA conversions would be prohibited for high-income taxpayers, and "backdoor" Roth contributions, where after-tax traditional IRA contributions can be rolled into a Roth IRA despite income limits, would be eliminated.
* For taxpayers with a net worth greater than $100 million, a 25% minimum tax would be imposed on total income, including unrealized gains.

The budget would also eliminate the ability to defer gains on the like-kind exchange of real property and impose limits on the duration of generation-skipping trusts. "These would be meaningful changes," says David Peterson, head of Advanced Wealth Solutions at Fidelity. "More family wealth would be taxed, and fewer assets would be transferred to the next generation."

Arizona Republican State Representative Austin Smith has dropped out of his race for Congress after allegations surfaced that he forged signatures of voters on petitions to get on the ballot.

The complaint alleged that 9 full pages of signatures all appeared to be written by the same person and the handwriting appeared to match that of Smith himself. Under Arizona law, anyone caught forging signatures on ballot petitions are not eligible to run again for five years.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/gop-rep-drops-out-of-race-after-claim-he-forged-signatures

New generations from longtime West Virginia political families are rising to power this election cycle. State Treasurer Riley Moore, a member of the Moore-Capito dynasty, has consolidated support in the May 14 Republican primary for the northern 2nd District, left open by Rep. Alex Mooney’s run for Senate.

Meanwhile, Riley Moore’s cousin, Moore Capito, is facing off against Rep. Carol Miller’s son, Chris Miller, in the competitive Republican primary for governor. And that primary is in turn complicating Carol Miller’s own reelection campaign in the southern 1st District. Miller faces a primary challenge from former state Del. Derrick Evans, who served prison time for joining the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

WV-01: Carol Miller (R) - South: Charleston, Huntington, BeckleySolid Republican. Dozens of Republicans who were at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 have run for elected office since 2021 — but former state Del. Derrick Evans is one of the few who’s served prison time. Evans, who was found guilty of felony civil disorder and was imprisoned for three months, is now launching a primary challenge.

https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/house/west-virginia-house/2024-west-virginia-house-analysis-could-jan-6-rioter-topple-gop

There is plentiful evidence that Trump is running a better campaign than his 2016 and 2020 efforts. He dispatched his primary opponents with relative ease, and there was an obvious level of strategic messaging that was absent before. In the past, Trump relied on a collection of grifters, media personalities, and those who couldn’t get hired anywhere else in Republican politics. Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles are competent, experienced political operatives.

In his piece, Sherman warns Democrats not to underestimate the Trump operation, and I promise not to do that. However, being better than Trump in 2016 is not the same as being better than Biden in 2024. With seven months to go, Joe Biden’s Campaign operation is well ahead of Trump’s.

...snip...

The Biden operation has been on non-stop offense. Since the State of the Union, the President remains omnipresent in the battleground states. His messaging is strategically designed to shore up the President’s coalition; and he is currently in the midst of a three-day tour of Pennsylvania to talk about the economy. Since the State of the Union, the President made major announcements on climate change, student loan debt cancellation, gun safety reform and prescription drug costs. All of these issues are critical to the struggling segments of his coalition.

The Biden Campaign continues to draw contrasts with Trump at every opportunity, launching new ads and videos on a near daily basis to define Trump and his agenda like this ad released immediately after the Arizona Supreme Court enacted a near-total ban on abortion in the state:

https://www.messageboxnews.com/p/bidens-campaign-is-beating-trumps

NEW YORK — Former President Trump on Wednesday took aim at prospective jurors in his first criminal trial despite a gag order barring him from making public statements about them.

“’They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,” Trump posted on Truth Social, giving credit to Fox News host Jesse Waters.

Under his gag order, the former president is barred from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

Prosecutors have already demanded Trump be fined over three previous Truth Social posts from the former president made in recent days referencing witnesses. The gag order also bars Trump from speaking about them concerning their participation in the case.

The Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives once again failed to advance a repeal of the state’s 160-year-old abortion ban Wednesday, days after the state Supreme Court roiled state politics by reviving the law.

The vote is a blow to reproductive rights as well as GOP candidates in competitive races, who have been scrambling to distance themselves from the court’s decision. Republicans facing competitive races in the state, including former President Donald Trump and US Senate candidate Kari Lake, called on the GOP-controlled legislature to work with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs to take a more moderate path.

On Wednesday, following two attempts to discuss a bill that would repeal Arizona’s 1864 ban on abortions, lawmakers voted not to discuss the measure on the House floor.

The representatives’ votes were evenly split, with the chair making the tie-breaking decision. The bill itself was not brought up for a vote.

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela, admonishing the president Nicolás Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the US eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the Opec nation.

A senior US official, discussing the decision with reporters, said any US company investing in Venezuela would have 45 days to wind down operations to avoid adding uncertainty to global energy markets. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss US policy deliberations.

A middle-aged white man in a black collared shirt smiling, with a group of people outside.
Venezuela’s ex-oil minister charged with stealing millions from state oil company
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In October, the US granted Maduro’s government relief from sanctions on its state-run oil, gas and mining sectors after it agreed to work with members of the opposition to hold a free and competitive presidential election this year.

Maduro went on to schedule an election for July and invited international observers to monitor voting, but his inner circle has used the ruling party’s total control over Venezuela’s institutions to undermine the agreement.