LeoBloom
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Yeah, but Hunter Biden.
CURRENT EVENTS - FEBRUARY 2026
- Thread starter nycfan
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- Politics
Yeah, but Hunter Biden.
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—> Mulberry Heel
Inconceivable Member
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It's been said by others, but it is so telling about the miserable current state of our "news media" that the Murdoch-owned WSJ is often tougher and running more thorough investigative reporting on Trump 2.0 than most legacy media outlets, including ones that are considered liberal. At this point it's abundantly clear that three of America's greatest and historically most powerful social and political forces - our system of federal government, our news media, and American Christianity - have imploded into incredibly corrupt, decadent, and appalling versions of themselves. None of them are fulfilling their traditional functions and they are all being led by people who are little more than malevolent grifters, nutcases, pedophiles, and the worst class of human beings generally.
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“… While his father Steve Witkoff acts as President Trump’s all-purpose special envoy, 32-year-old Zach Witkoff now heads up World Liberty, which has doled out at least $1.4 billion to both families since the president’s re-election, based on a Wall Street Journal analysis of public disclosures and private documents. Among the payouts: a secret $500 million deal to sell almost half the company to an Abu Dhabi royal and his co-investors.
Witkoff is part of a small cadre of Trump administration offspring who, since their fathers moved to Washington, have metamorphosed into wealthy financial celebrities in their own right. …”
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“…
On Jan. 16, two lieutenants for Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the U.A.E. president’s brother, signed the deal to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty for half a billion dollars—a huge sum for a company that at that time had no products. Of the upfront installment, $187 million was directed to Trump family entities, while $31 million was slated to flow to entities affiliated with the Witkoff family. The deal didn’t give the Tahnoon-backed entity any rights to the proceeds of future WLFI token sales, preserving the Trumps’ and Witkoffs’ income stream.
… While other competitors were struggling to stand out, American Bitcoin leaned into its Trump-tied starpower. When it struck a deal to become a stand-alone public company in May by merging with a tiny publicly traded former cannabis software firm, a slide deck for public investors featured a photo of Eric in front of an American flag with a quote saying, “Crypto is the future,” and “American Bitcoin will set the standard.”
It worked: In June, just four months after the Trump brothers formed a nascent data center company, American Bitcoin raised $220 million from undisclosed investors, who valued the company at over $1 billion.
…
When it completed its merger and listed publicly in September, investors clamored for the stock, sending its market capitalization above $5 billion.
Seizing on demand, it launched another share sale that raised $134 million through mid-November at an average price of over $7 a share—roughly around the $5 billion valuation. The lead investment bank on the sale: Cantor Fitzgerald.
It was one of many deals that helped Cantor to its best year ever, with its investment-banking revenue soaring.
…
For shareholders of American Bitcoin, however, it hasn’t gone well. Two months after the listing, bitcoin the cryptocurrency slid, and so did American Bitcoin stock. In early December shares plunged further when lockup restrictions expired, unleashing waves of selling.
American Bitcoin shares are now trading around $1.30, down over 80% from the public listing. Eric Trump still made plenty in paper gains—his shares were worth around $90 million as of Friday, according to securities filings—while Don Jr.’s holding remains undisclosed.…”
‘Pigs get fat’
Both the Trumps and Witkoffs began cashing out during the run-up to the inauguration.On Jan. 16, two lieutenants for Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the U.A.E. president’s brother, signed the deal to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty for half a billion dollars—a huge sum for a company that at that time had no products. Of the upfront installment, $187 million was directed to Trump family entities, while $31 million was slated to flow to entities affiliated with the Witkoff family. The deal didn’t give the Tahnoon-backed entity any rights to the proceeds of future WLFI token sales, preserving the Trumps’ and Witkoffs’ income stream.
… While other competitors were struggling to stand out, American Bitcoin leaned into its Trump-tied starpower. When it struck a deal to become a stand-alone public company in May by merging with a tiny publicly traded former cannabis software firm, a slide deck for public investors featured a photo of Eric in front of an American flag with a quote saying, “Crypto is the future,” and “American Bitcoin will set the standard.”
It worked: In June, just four months after the Trump brothers formed a nascent data center company, American Bitcoin raised $220 million from undisclosed investors, who valued the company at over $1 billion.
…
When it completed its merger and listed publicly in September, investors clamored for the stock, sending its market capitalization above $5 billion.
Seizing on demand, it launched another share sale that raised $134 million through mid-November at an average price of over $7 a share—roughly around the $5 billion valuation. The lead investment bank on the sale: Cantor Fitzgerald.
It was one of many deals that helped Cantor to its best year ever, with its investment-banking revenue soaring.
…
For shareholders of American Bitcoin, however, it hasn’t gone well. Two months after the listing, bitcoin the cryptocurrency slid, and so did American Bitcoin stock. In early December shares plunged further when lockup restrictions expired, unleashing waves of selling.
American Bitcoin shares are now trading around $1.30, down over 80% from the public listing. Eric Trump still made plenty in paper gains—his shares were worth around $90 million as of Friday, according to securities filings—while Don Jr.’s holding remains undisclosed.…”
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“… Zach Witkoff was onto the next megadeal.
The plan: World Liberty would take over a publicly traded firm, raise money from investors by selling shares, and use the funds to buy World Liberty’s own WLFI token, people familiar with the proposal said. The stated approach was similar to that of crypto-fan-favorite stock Strategy, which uses shareholder money to buy bitcoin. By buying so much bitcoin, it helps push up the price of the cryptocurrency, and Strategy’s stock—a virtuous cycle, so long as bitcoin is rising.
World Liberty settled on a small Nasdaq-listed crypto payments firm called Alt5 Sigma. In August, World Liberty said it would use its tokens to buy a controlling stake in Alt5, which in turn would raise $750 million from investors at a price of $7.50 a share. Witkoff was named Alt5’s chairman and said the deal would benefit both companies, touting plans for Alt5 to incorporate World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin into its payment products.
…
Flush with $750 million, Alt5 directed almost all that money into buying WLFI tokens at 20 cents apiece—60% above a price a private investor had recently paid.
But unlike when Strategy buys bitcoin, Alt5 didn’t buy the tokens on the open market—instead it bought tokens directly from World Liberty, according to Alt5’s securities filings.
It is similar to how a public company sells newly issued shares that dilute shareholders, but with a remunerative twist: Based on the terms disclosed by World Liberty, the money would go to the original owners of the company, meaning over $500 million to a Trump family-owned entity and $90 million to the Witkoff family.
At the time, holders of WLFI weren’t able to sell their tokens, since they were still “locked” in crypto parlance. But the Alt5 deal was allowing the Trumps and their fellow co-founders to cash out in a different way. …”
The plan: World Liberty would take over a publicly traded firm, raise money from investors by selling shares, and use the funds to buy World Liberty’s own WLFI token, people familiar with the proposal said. The stated approach was similar to that of crypto-fan-favorite stock Strategy, which uses shareholder money to buy bitcoin. By buying so much bitcoin, it helps push up the price of the cryptocurrency, and Strategy’s stock—a virtuous cycle, so long as bitcoin is rising.
World Liberty settled on a small Nasdaq-listed crypto payments firm called Alt5 Sigma. In August, World Liberty said it would use its tokens to buy a controlling stake in Alt5, which in turn would raise $750 million from investors at a price of $7.50 a share. Witkoff was named Alt5’s chairman and said the deal would benefit both companies, touting plans for Alt5 to incorporate World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin into its payment products.
…
Flush with $750 million, Alt5 directed almost all that money into buying WLFI tokens at 20 cents apiece—60% above a price a private investor had recently paid.
But unlike when Strategy buys bitcoin, Alt5 didn’t buy the tokens on the open market—instead it bought tokens directly from World Liberty, according to Alt5’s securities filings.
It is similar to how a public company sells newly issued shares that dilute shareholders, but with a remunerative twist: Based on the terms disclosed by World Liberty, the money would go to the original owners of the company, meaning over $500 million to a Trump family-owned entity and $90 million to the Witkoff family.
At the time, holders of WLFI weren’t able to sell their tokens, since they were still “locked” in crypto parlance. But the Alt5 deal was allowing the Trumps and their fellow co-founders to cash out in a different way. …”
- Messages
- 39,079
“… Alt5’s new owners also made little progress integrating the USD1 stablecoin, as Witkoff had said it would. No USD1 transactions have ever been processed on its payment platform, trading data on Alt5’s website show.
In the last three months of the year, Alt5 announced the departure of the chief executive, acting chief executive and chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and a board member who chaired the audit committee.
By this month, any investor who held on from the August fundraise was down over 75%, with Alt5’s share price languishing around $1.70.
The price of WLFI has also slumped to 10 cents.
Dozens of WLFI holders have been complaining in World Liberty’s public online forum that the company won’t let them sell, since most of their tokens are still subject to lockup…”
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I think it's a combination that right-wing media isn't going to cover anything remotely negative about Trump and Trump's corruption is so baked into how we perceive him at this point that other media focuses on other things.
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- 3,457
This is it. The administration is SO corrupt that this level of corruption barely moves the needle.
I, like you all, follow this stuff pretty closely, and even I have to admit how overwhelming it all is. To quote Dave Chapelle, the Challenger blows up every fucking day.