Poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she ‘looked suspicious’ when entering her own building

  • Amanda Gorman became an international sensation in January after performing at the Inauguration.
  • On Friday, the poet said she was followed by a security guard who told her she looked “suspicious.”
  • After showing him her keys and buzzing into the building, she says he left without apologizing.

Amanda Gorman said Friday that a security guard followed her home because he thought she looked “suspicious.”

“A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight. He demanded if I lived there because you look suspicious,'” Gorman said in a tweet.

The 22-year-old poet, who lives in Los Angeles, said she showed him her keys and buzzed herself into her building, prompting the security guard to leave without apologizing to her.

“This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat,” she said.

Gorman became an international sensation in January when she became the youngest person to perform a poem at a US presidential inauguration. Her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” became one of the most talked-about aspects of the event.

In another tweet about the security guard who questioned her, Gorman said “in a sense, he was right.”

“I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance,” she said. “Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be.”

Gorman, the first US National Youth Poet Laureate, also performed at the Super Bowl in February, reciting her poem “Chorus of the Captains,” which is dedicated to a teacher, an ICU nurse, and a US Marine corps veteran.

Last week, a Dutch poet who was tapped to translate Gorman’s work stepped down from the role after criticism that it was inappropriate for a white person to do it

Culled from the Insider

$65,000 offered to settle Houston’s high-profile Sex Assault Case

Explosive Court Records reveal Olagundoye’s $65,000.00 offer to settle his sexual assault accuser

By Staff Refpoter

In a case now sitting on the First Court of Appeals Houston, Texas (No. 01-20-00334-CV), records have revealed a failed last-minute attempt by the defendant, Mr. Olushegun Olagundoye to pay-off his accuser. According to the “Transcription of Audio Recording” of Defendant’s Offer to Settle (marked Exhibit A), Mr. Olagundoye through his lawyer negotiated a $65,000.00 pay-offbut according to the meno, “he just doesn’t want the Nigerian community to know that he paid a bunch of money.”

Settlement document retrieved from the court system: “These exhibits published as trial documents are a justification for why this case may still be sitting on the docket for jurisdictive actions of the First Court of Appeals Houston, Texas. These settlement arrangements are also consistent with allegations that Mr. Olagundoye may have settled similar cases in the past.”


In another similar correspondence over their settlement advances, Mr. Olagundoye, through his attorneys, requested a confidentiality agreement. This agreement would assure that International Guardian Publisher, Dr. Anthony Ogbo will, “retract previous articles about the case in some agreed manner and agree not to publish any future articles about the case or the settlement.” This request was, however, was never conveyed to both the Guardian and its Publisher, apparently because it was rejected by the Plaintiff.

A separate document obtained by our newsroom showed how the Plaintiff, Brenda Ezenagu rejected this offer, telling her attorney that she would prefer justice before any monetary figures. “I want the world to hear my voice because I know some people are victims of Mr. Shegun’s sexual slavery, assault, and rape,” this email revealed.


A separate document obtained by our newsroom showed how the Plaintiff, Brenda Ezenagu rejected this offer, telling her attorney that she would prefer justice before any monetary figures. “I want the world to hear my voice because I know some people are victims of Mr. Shegun’s sexual slavery, assault, and rape,” this email revealed.

More exhibits retrieved from the Court system: transcripts of audio recordings of settlement offers.


These exhibits published as trial documents are a justification for why this case may still be sitting on the docket for jurisdictive actions of the First Court of Appeals Houston, Texas. These settlement arrangements are also consistent with allegations that Mr. Olagundoye may have settled similar cases in the past.

■ Images of redacted content in the Plaintiff’s medical records.
According to the petition, “the Court had allowed egregious redaction of Plaintiff’s medical records, shielding the jury from seeing, according to the document, “the diagnoses, orthopedic tests to which Plaintiff was positive, discussion Plaintiff had with the treating physicians, discharge, prognosis, opinions, and findings.”


Other documents retrieved from the Court also revealed yet another disagreement. The Court had allowed egregious redaction of Plaintiff’s medical records, shielding the jury from seeing, according to the document, “the diagnoses, orthopedic tests to which Plaintiff was positive, discussion Plaintiff had with the treating physicians, discharge, prognosis, opinions, and findings.” All these and many more constitute Course No. 01-20-00334-CV currently sitting on First Court of Appeals Houston, Texas.


Mr. Olagundoye of Kinghaven Counseling Group was sued by a former employee, Ezenagu, Nkeoma Brenda in 2016 for sexual assault and battery. The petition showed three causes of action, namely, Assault Battery, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and Violation of Texas Labor Code/Laws. Olagundoye generally denied all of Plaintiff’s claims against him.


In the early stages of this case, Attorneys for the Plaintiff – the Gbenjo Law Group had filed a motion requesting that Judge Engelhart recuses himself, alleging multiple allegations of interests with the opposing counsel Sean Greenwood which indeed might impair a fair process. Ms. Gbenjo argued that it is highly unlikely that the Judge would rule against people who enjoyed affinity or consanguinity with him, such as the Greenwoods. Judge Engelhart, however, denied Plaintiff’s Motion and kept himself in the case.
To access information regarding this case, please visit:

To access information regarding this case, please visit:

■ 01-20-00334-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS (CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK)

■ 201633668 – EZENAGU, NKEOMA BRENDA vs. OLAGUNDOYE, OLUSHEGUN B (Court 151)

Ex-GOP House Member Reveals What Republican Lawmakers Say About Donald Trump In Private

TRUMP: Republicans are absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president’s behavior,”

A former GOP lawmaker on Thursday spilled the beans on what his ex-colleagues in Congress are saying about President Donald Trump in private.

Ex-Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) acknowledged in an interview on “CNN Newsroom” that Republicans are in public “standing with the president for the moment,” despite the impeachment inquiry prompted by the Ukraine scandal.

They “are in a situation where they understand their base pressure, the base has not yet bolted from the president,” he explained.

“But there’s no question, having spoken to many of them privately, they’re absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president’s behavior,” said Dent, who stepped down from Congress in 2018. “They resent being put in this position all the time.” 

Many GOP lawmakers are currently “wrestling” with whether it was more important to win their next election or preserve their legacy for years to come, he claimed. The current consensus among political commentators is that a Republican-controlled Senate will likely not vote to convict Trump if he is impeached by the Democratic-controlled House.

Earlier in the interview, Dent said he would have certainly “voted for the impeachment inquiry based on the facts as I understand them now” and “would probably support” the impeachment of Trump.

But he cautioned Democrats against moving forward until they had secured the testimony of key witnesses in the Ukraine scandal, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

“I think they need to close that loop and I don’t think they should force this or rush this,” Dent warned. “By the same token, neither should the Senate Republicans force or rush a trial.”

Twitter Bans GOP Rival Of Rep. Ilhan Omar Who Called For Her Lynching

Twitter Bans GOP Rival Of Rep. Ilhan Omar Who Called For Her Lynching

Twitter has banned the Republican candidate seeking to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after she made making multiple posts about killing the congresswoman, the company confirmed Wednesday night.

Danielle Stella, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump vying for Omar’s office next year, made the remarks in two posts amplifying the racist conspiracy theory that Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, shared sensitive intelligence with the Iranian government.

“If it is proven @IlhanMN passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged,” Stella wrote Tuesday of Omar, who is a frequent target in right-wing attacks.

She then reportedly tweeted a picture of “a crude depiction of a stick figure hanging from gallows,” according to The Washington Times, which was the first to report on Stella’s ban.

Stella gave a statement to the Times lashing out at Twitter. 

“My suspension for advocating for the enforcement of federal code proves Twitter will always side with and fight to protect terrorists, traitors, pedophiles and rapists,” she said.

Twitter put out a simple statement about shutting down Stella’s account, which  operated under the handle “2020MNCongress.”

“The account was permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter Rules,” the company said.

Allen Onyema and Air Peace V. US Department of Justice: Points to Ponder

“The Nigerian media space went agog when the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division on November 19, 2019, filed Case 1:19-cr-00464, A “True Bill”, otherwise known as Grand Jury Criminal Indictment against the persons of Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, a Nigerian Citizen, the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace; and Ejiroghene Eghagha, a Nigerian citizen and the Chief of Administration and Finance of Air Peace. Commentators have speculated on the guilt or innocence of the accused. 


By  Emmanuel N. Emenyonu, Ph.D

My purpose is to shade some light on the issues using the tools of my professional training and exposure, given that this is of national importance to Nigeria and Nigerians both home and abroad.”


Others have offered some theories relating to the motivations and hidden hands behind the Indictment. Some ‘experts’ have pontificated on the seriousness of the charges especially money laundering. Some commentators have even likened the Indictment to some recent high profile indictments involving some Nigerians alleged to have engaged in sundry cybercrimes and advanced fee fraud schemes. 

Nothing could be furthest from the truth as there are hardly any facts in the November 19, 2019 Grand Jury Indictment supporting any such comparison. Let me make it clear that the purpose of this article is not to hold brief for the accused persons. It is my understanding that they accused persons as should be expected, have retained competent counsels for that purpose. 

My purpose is to shade some light on the issues using the tools of my professional training and exposure, given that this is of national importance to Nigeria and Nigerians both home and abroad.

In all, the indictment alleges in its 36 pages and 88 paragraphs 35 counts of diverse criminal offences. Count One alleges Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud an offence covered by title 18 of U.S. Code (U.S.C.)§ 1349. Counts Two to Four allege Bank Fraud contrary to 18 U.S. C. § 1344. Counts Five to Eight allege Conspiracy to Commit Credit Application Fraud, covered under 18 U.S. C. § 371. Counts Nine through Thirty-Five allege Money Laundering, covered under 18 U.S.C § 1957. Finally, Count Thirty-Six, 

Aggravated Identity Theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1). Counts One to Eight, name both Allen Onyema and Ejiroghene Eghagha as defendants. Counts Nine to Thirty-Five, specifically name only Allen Onyema as defendant. Count Thirty-Six names Ejiroghene Eghagha as the sole defendant. If convicted of any of the charges, the Indictment is seeking for forfeiture to the United States of any property derived from proceeds traceable to such offenses, including Money Judgment and Banks Funds held in JP Morgan Chase Account ending in 5512 ($4,017,852.51), Bank of Montreal Canada account number ending 7523 ($4,593,842.05) and Bank of Montreal Canada account number ending in 7515 ($5,634,842.04), totaling $14,246,536.60.
Count One, paragraph 1 alleges that the defendants conspired to, “knowingly devise and execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice (i) to defraud financial institutions the deposits of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, that is, Wells Fargo Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, and (ii) to obtain and attempt to obtain moneys, funds and assets owned by and under the custody and control of those financial institutions by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, as well as by omission of material facts, in violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.” 

The charges continue from paragraph 2 to give the profile of Mr. Onyema, his trips to Atlanta, opening of US Bank Accounts, transference of funds from Nigerian bank accounts to US bank accounts, ownership of Air Peace, personal expenses at Atlanta area stores and even eating at restaurants and sundry immaterial issues. 


May be, these were aimed at the emotions of the members of the grand jury.  No where did the indictment actually convey how the defendants harmed US depositors and their funds. 


Counts Nine to Thirty-Five give a list of routine transfers from one Wells Fargo Account ending 8621 to two other Wells Fargo Accounts ending in 0125 and 8020, all belonging to and under the control of the accused persons ranging in amounts from $150,000.00 to $1,000,000.00.
The charges either expressly or impliedly cover a wide array of complex topics dealing with international letters of credit, such as: international aviation business; structuring of operations between a foreign parent company and its subsidiary(ies); international banking and financial flows; international transfer pricing and taxation; and Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations enforcement. 


Any one of these topics is complex enough all by itself and a case that has combinations of these topics is bound to be very difficult to untangle.
It is important to always bear in mind that this is a Grand Jury Indictment, usually secured ex parte, that is, in the absence of the accused. In Grand Jury proceedings the accused is not entitled to Sixth Amendment rights to defense counsel in the grand jury room, nor the right to examine and cross examine witnesses. 


From its historical intentions of protecting innocent citizens against overzealous prosecutors, some experts opine that the American Grand Jury system is broken. 

For instance, the American Bar Association, has criticized the GJ system for “being a mere rubber stamp for the prosecution without adequate procedural safeguards”. William J. Campbell, a former federal district judge in Chicago, noted in 1973 that: 
“[T]oday, the grand jury is the total captive of the prosecutor who, if he is candid, will concede that he can indict anybody, at any time, for almost anything, before any grand jury.” 

Not much has changed since Judge Campbell made those observations. In an Editorial on Sunday, April 16, 2012, the New York Sun reminded readers that, the Chief Judge of New York State’s highest court, Sol Wachtler, “once said that grand juries were so pliable that a prosecutor could get a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.” 

It is therefore important for people especially in the court of public opinion to withhold judgement based on a one-sided narrative presented by the prosecutors, who have been known to be overzealous. It is not unheard off to have Grand Jury indictments dismissed. 

For instance according to the 2018 Annual Statistical Report of the US Attorneys Office, out of the 151 non narcotics related Money Laundering indictments that were determined, 18, representing about 12 percent were dismissed.

As at last count, it has been reported that the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has entered the fray. The EFCC will need to bear in mind that the overriding interest in the US Department of Justice Grand Jury Indictment against the named officials of Air Peace is the interest of the United States, not natural justice per se. 
The US DOJ in the Indictment is asking that funds which clearly originated from Nigeria should be forfeited to the United States if the accused are found guilty. 

This is against natural justice and biased towards US interests. In the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Statistical Report of the US Attorneys Report, the US Department of Justice declined to press ahead with the prosecution of a total of 2,573 alleged criminal matters on account of “Prioritization of Federal Resources and Interests (emphasis mine) “. 
A partial breakdown of some of these offenses the US DOJ declined to prosecute for the above stated reasons: violent crimes (452), Terrorism/National Security (171), Drugs (414), Official Corruption (67), white collar crimes (623), government regulatory offenses (99) and organized crime (13). These are very serious offenses for the US DOJ to decline prosecution citing prioritization of Federal Resources and Interests. 
I have not seen anything in the Grand Jury 

Indictment of the CEO of Air Peace Chief Allen Onyema and the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of the same company Mr. Eghagha to warrant the US DOJ to rank this issue higher in their priority than even crimes involving terrorism and national security of the United States. Except there are aspects to this case that the US DOJ has not mentioned yet, the Nigerian EFCC should resist the temptation to be used as a pliant tool for bringing down a thriving Nigerian company that is providing jobs directly and indirectly for thousands of people all across Nigeria and beyond. 
The EFCC should remember the case of Arthur Andersen LLP which was charged by the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas on May 6, 2002, in connection with the ENRON scandal, convicted on June 15, 2002; the conviction affirmed by the 5th Circuit (the relevant US Federal Appeal Court) in 2004, only for the US Supreme Court to overturn the rulings of these lower courts in favor of Arthur Andersen in 2005. 
Unfortunately, for the Arthur Andersen, it was unable to recover from these legal setbacks and had to shut its doors notwithstanding the ruling of the highest court in the land. 

Overzealous US DOJ prosecutions can lead to incalculable harm to individuals and companies even when they are finally exonerated. The economic interest of Nigeria should weigh heavily on the minds of the leaders of EFCC as they proceed on this issue.

In conclusion, with respect to Money Laundering cases, banks and financial institutions who are the gatekeepers of the financial system have a high degree of responsibility in combating the crime by adhering to AML due process procedures especially, knowing their customers (KYC). 
This is a major plank of Anti Money Laundering (AML) laws and regulations in many jurisdictions. 

For instance, in September 2019, ING, the big Dutch bank was fined the sum of $900 million for lapses in the bank’s KYC implementation. If as alleged, Air Peace and the leaders of the company engaged in serial AML offenses using wells Fargo, why is Wells Fargo Bank not included in the Indictment or in any separate indictment for that matter for Counts Nine to Thirty-Five? 

It appears here that the US DOJ is primarily concerned with protecting Wells Fargo and the two other systemically important banks named in the Indictment. 

The connotation of sinister criminal activities on the part of the accused which has been suggested by the Indictment and various headlines is not supported by a careful reading of the Indictment. 
Usually in major financial crime cases such as this, the indicting US Federal agency will identify the victims and the magnitude in US dollar terms of losses suffered by the victims. No victims were specifically mentioned not to talk of the monetary amount of the losses incurred by the victims. 

The US companies that sold airplanes and the banks that profited from facilitating those transactions have not asked to disgorge the profits arising from those transactions. Air Peace and the accused persons should put up a robust defense to clear their names from what looks to be an overreach by zealous prosecutors.

Emmanuel N. Emenyonu, Ph.D (Glasgow), LLB (London), CPA (Massachusetts), FCA (Nigeria), a Professor of Fraud and Forensic Accounting at Southern Connecticut State University, has at various times taught International Accounting, Financial Accounting, Taxation, Finance and Accounting Information Systems at leading universities such as University of Nigeria, Yale University, Covenant University, Howard University and Quinnipiac University

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer fired in dispute over discipline of SEAL

Spencer opposed President Donald Trump’s order that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher remain in the elite SEALs.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired Sunday by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who ordered that a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder be allowed to remain in the elite commando corps, the Defense Department said.

Esper asked for Spencer’s resignation after President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher would retain the gold Trident insignia signifying his status as a member of the Sea, Air, and Land Teams, or SEALs. Spencer told reporters on Friday that he believed the review process over Gallagher’s status should go forward.

In a letter to Trump, Spencer said he acknowledged his “termination,” saying the president deserved a Navy secretary “who is aligned with his vision.”

“Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me,” Spencer wrote.

Image: Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer speaks at the Pentagon on Sept. 7, 2017.
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer in 2017.Department of Defense via Reuters file

“In regards to the key principle of good order and discipline, I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Shortly thereafter, Trump tweeted that he was displeased not only by the way that “Gallagher’s trial was handled by the Navy” but also because “large cost overruns from [the] past administration’s contracting procedures were not addressed to my satisfaction.”

“Therefore, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer’s services have been terminated by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper,” he wrote. He said he would nominate retired Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite, the U.S. ambassador to Norway, to succeed Spencer.

The Navy sought to eject Gallagher and four other sailors from the SEALs after Trump intervened to direct that Gallagher not be demoted following his conviction of having posed for a picture with the corpse of a teenage fighter for the Islamic State militant group.

Esper directed that Gallagher retain his Trident pin, the Defense Department said in a statement. Undersecretary Thomas Modly becomes acting Navy secretary pending Braithwaite’s confirmation hearings.

The dispute flared into the open last week after NBC News and other organizations reported that the Navy was convening a review board to consider whether Gallagher should remain in the SEALs after he was convicted of posing with the ISIS fighter’s corpse but acquitted of having killed the young man.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that “the Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin,” saying the case was “handled very badly from the beginning.” Earlier, the president had overturned the Navy’s decision to demote Gallagher, which would have severely affected his retirement pay.

In response, Spencer told reporters on Friday that he believed Gallagher’s review process should go forward. Multiple sources told NBC News that Spencer had privately told the White House that a tweet wasn’t an official order and that if Trump was ordering the Navy to end the review board proceedings, he needed to do so in writing.

Image: Edward Gallagher and Andrea Gallagher
Navy Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher and his wife, Andrea Gallagher, walk into military court in San Diego on June 24, 2019.Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images – file

The Defense Department said Sunday that Esper had learned that — contrary to what he was saying in public — Spencer privately proposed to the White House both that Gallagher’s rank be restored and that he be allowed to retire as a SEAL. It said Esper was never informed of the private proposal.

The Defense Department said Esper had lost “trust and confidence” in Spencer “regarding his lack of candor over conversations with the White House.”

Nigeria Airline CEO, Allen Onyema Indicted by U.S. for Money Laundering

“Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.

Allen Onyema, the Nigerian businessman who owns the country’s largest airline, was indicted by U.S. authorities on charges of fraud and money laundering.

He allegedly moved “more than $20 million from Nigeria though United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes,” according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice. The company’s chief of administration and finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, was charged with bank fraud and identity theft in the same case, the statement said.

Department of Justice Release >>

Onyema, who is also the airline’s chief executive officer, allegedly used export letters of credit that were supposedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace to get banks to transfer the money, according to the Justiced Department statement. Supporting documents from a U.S. registered company owned by Onyema “were fake,”it said.

He then allegedly laundered over $16 million of the proceeds by transferring it to other accounts, the Department of Justice said. More than $3 million of the transferred funds allegedly came from accounts of organizations set up by Onyema to promote peace across Nigeria, according to the statement.

Onyema and Eghagha deny all the charges and will “vigorously defend” themselves, according to a statement prepared by their lawyers, A.O. Alegeh & Co. “The allegations are unfounded and strange,” said the statement that Onyema emailed to Bloomberg.

The Air Peace boss “looks forward to an opportunity to rebut these allegations in court,” the statement said.

Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013 and the carrier now offers numerous domestic routes in Nigeria as well as flights to other West African destinations and Dubai. The Lagos-based carrier recently won praise for repatriating Nigerians from South Africa during a wave of xenophobic violence.

“Onyema’s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the U.S. banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt,” Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Robert J. Murphy said in the DOJ statement.

Rudy Giuliani’s son makes $95,000 working as sports liaison for the White House

President Donald Trump employs several of his family members to work within his White House administration and help him run his business. His daughter Ivanka Trump serves as an advisor, and her husband, Jared Kushner, serves as assistant to the president and senior advisor. Trump’s older sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are executive vice presidents of The Trump Organization.

The Trump administration also employs the son of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney. The White House pays him nearly six figures to serve as a sports liaison.

According to government documents, Giuliani’s son, Andrew H. Giuliani, makes $95,000 per year working for the White House. His official title is “Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison.”

In 2009, the Obama Administration’s decision to hire actor Kal Penn to serve as an associate director in what was then called the Office of Public Engagement made headlines. Penn was reportedly paid $41,000 per year. He left the job in 2011 to return to acting full-time.

GP: Mayor Giuliani and son
Andrew and Rudy Giuliani during Rudy’s last weekend as Mayor of New York City on December 31, 2001.Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

The 31-year-old Giuliani has served in the Office of Public Liaison, which acts as “the primary line of communication between the White House and the public,” since March 2017.

He made $77,000 serving as an associate director in 2017, and got a raise in 2018 to $90,700 though his title didn’t change. In the two years he has been employed by the White House, his pay has increased by $18,000.

Andrew reportedly acts as a “liaison to the sports community” and helps coordinate visits from sports teams to the White House.

During his tenure in the role, there have been several controversies in which championship-winning teams that typically visit the White House to celebrate their win were not invited. Several teams have also declined the invitations.

Players have declined invitations to the White House from previous presidents — Manny Ramirez refused to visit during George W. Bush’s time in office and Tom Brady skipped out on an invite from the Obamas citing scheduling conflicts.

The son of the former New York mayor was a college golfer. He joined the Duke University golf team in 2006 but was cut from the team in 2008 after he allegedly threw an apple at a teammate and threw and broke a golf club in a parking lot. The then-college student sued the university but the case was dismissed in 2010.

Rudy Giuliani told The Atlantic that hiring Andrew “wasn’t the usual ‘hire my kid’ situation.” “He’s known the president since he was a baby,” he told The Atlantic. “Now, did he know him in the first place because he was the mayor’s son? Sure, but they also had a relationship independent of me.”

“He doesn’t really try to be involved in anything,” an anonymous former senior White House official told The Atlantic. “He’s just having a nice time.”

Andrew Giuliani volunteered for the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and often plays golf with the president, according to reporting from Axios. In 2018, he spoke with Axios about his close relationship with the president:

“The president has been there for me, for the good times, but more importantly through the bad,” Giuliani said in the interview. “That’s just the kind of man he is. I’m grateful that he’s always been willing to give me his advice on personal matters and I consider him to be my good friend and even a father figure. His family is my family.”

Culled from the CNBC

Why the RNC bought $95,000 worth of copies of Donald Trump Jr.’s new book

The Republican National Committee shelled out nearly $95,000 for copies of Donald Trump Jr.’s new book, which helped land it atop the New York Times’ bestseller list.

Records filed with the Federal Election Commission show the party spent $94,800 on “donor mementos” from Books-A-Million on October 29, days before Trump’s book “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us” hit shelves.

Mike Reed, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, told the New York Times the money was for orders of Trump’s book. The committee did not return requests for comment.

Trump Jr. : Records filed with the Federal Election Commission show the party spent $94,800 on “donor mementos” from Books-A-Million on October 29, days before Trump’s book “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us” hit shelves.

The book, published by Center Street, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, debuted at number one on the New York Times’ nonfiction bestseller list and has spent two weeks there. Its entry, however, is denoted by a dagger, indicating some retailers said they received bulk orders.

President Trump praised his eldest son’s new book to his nearly 67 million Twitter followers in the run-up to its publication and after it became available November 5. 

The day before “Triggered’s” release, Mr. Trump called it a “great new book that I highly recommend all to read” and urged his followers to order it.

The Republican National Committee also sent an email to supporters the day Trump’s book came out, giving away signed copies in exchange for a donation of at least $50.

The president frequently uses his Twitter account to promote new books written by his allies. In May, he urged his followers to buy a book by conservative radio host Mark Levin and earlier this month, Mr. Trump lauded a memoir written by Nikki Haley, his former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Russia Launches New Air Base in Former U.S. Syria Stronghold

The Russian military has announced a new combat helicopter and air defense base in a formerly U.S.-controlled northern Syrian stronghold, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

U.S. troops left the city of Qamishli, the administrative center of the self-proclaimed Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria, last month as Turkey launched an assault against Kurdish forces. Russia and Turkey later clinched a deal pushing the Kurdish YPG fighters south of the frontline and launched joint patrols of the area.

The Russian base — called an aviation commandant’s office — will allow helicopters to expand their area of patrols, its chief Timur Khodzhayev was cited as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.

Khodzhayev said the commandant’s office will ensure “uninterrupted flights, safety of helicopters and protection and defense of the territory,” which expands to the Hasaka province on the Turkish-Iraqi border.

The base includes air defense systems and a flight control room, as well as pre-flight training and medical facilities, Khodzhayev added.

“Military police, special equipment, vehicles and fuel to ensure uninterrupted flights have also been allocated,” he was quoted as saying.

Footage published by the Russian Defense Ministry-run Zvezda news channel shows the first group of helicopters arriving in Qamishli. 

A Pantsir surface-to-air weapon protected the airspace over Qamishli’s civilian airport as an Mi-8 gunship and transport helicopter landed there, it reported. Two Mi-35 attack helicopters provided air support.

“It’s a historic moment, our aviation group will be permanently active at the Qamishli airport as of today,” a Zvezda reporter said.

Russia and Turkey have carried out five joint patrols in northeast Syria since announcing the agreement to remove the Kurdish YPG militia from the area. Ankara sees YPG as terrorists linked to a Kurdish separatist movement within Turkey.

Syrian government forces moved back into border regions held by Kurdish fighters as a result of the Russian-Turkish deal.

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