The Los Angeles Lakers may soon be sold for $12 billion\u2014and the Trump administration might have something to do with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ESPN reported Wednesday that Josh Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger have reportedly reached a deal with business executive Mark Walter to buy the NBA team just a year after Walter purchased it for $10 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing is suspicious, as Walter is facing a loan fraud investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Manhattan, over $16 billion in private credit deals concerning insurance companies he owns. Walter also happened to visit the White House in June to be honored with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which he owns, for winning the World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did Trump cut a deal and get his son-in-law\u2019s brother involved to help Walter out with some impending financial trouble? Josh Kushner is said to politically disagree with his brother and Trump. But he still would have been the main investor in the abandoned plan by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has cozied up to Trump, to sell stakes in the World Cup. Kushner would have to sell his minority stake in the Miami Heat to complete the Lakers deal.<\/p>\n
Walter faces a serious threat to his business empire with the federal probes, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump\u2019s second term has been marked by visible corruption involving business executives and wealthy foreign leaders close to the president, and that appears to be extending to professional sports. \u00a0<\/p>\n
After a tense month in which she drew the ire of President Trump, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has called a special grand jury to Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
A special grand jury is a judicial body made up of 23 American citizens that exists to conduct large, sometimes yearlong investigations usually centered on government corruption or organized crime. They can also issue a report regarding the potential \u201cpreponderance of evidence\u201d upon the conclusion of their investigation, something a regular jury can\u2019t do. Anyone named in their investigation may later testify in front of them.<\/p>\n
Pirro\u2019s move is unprecedented, as a federal special grand jury has never been called in a jurisdiction as small as D.C. And while she has yet to speak on what the body will actually focus on, one doesn\u2019t need to look far to identify why she might be taking aggressive measures like this right now.<\/p>\n
Pirro couldn\u2019t get the \u201cDC Sandwich Guy\u201d after charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent during Trump\u2019s takeover. She failed to indict the six congressional Democrats\u2014led by Senator Mark Kelly\u2014who made a video urging federal law enforcement and members of the military not to obey illegal orders in February. And most recently she\u2019s failed to get any kind of prosecutorial motion on the Reflecting Pool drama, getting into screaming matches with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of all people while Trump publicly rebukes her. The former Fox News host has had her back against the wall for some time now. While this move still might not put any actual bite into her bark, it might be just loud enough for Trump not to fire her.<\/p>\n
Conditions have reportedly gotten so bad aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier deployed to the Persian Gulf since November, that some sailors have tried to jump overboard.<\/p>\n
The Military Times reported Tuesday night that in multiple instances, some of the 5,000 military personnel on the ship have tried to jump off before being stopped by other crew members. Family members of those stationed on the ship are concerned about the mental health, exhaustion, and safety issues affecting their loved ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s scared,\u201d Annabelle Loma told the Times about her husband, who reportedly tried to jump overboard. \u201cHe thinks he\u2019ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that. That\u2019s not fair, that\u2019s not right. That\u2019s not what he should be worrying about right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent town hall meetings with military leaders, including acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, things have gotten heated, with family members expressing fear and worry over mental health and the risk of self-harm for the ship\u2019s personnel. One spouse reportedly told officials at a meeting Thursday that her husband had messaged her earlier that day saying \u201che hopes he doesn\u2019t wake up tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
One woman at a town hall in San Diego told Cao it was difficult to feel proud of her relative because she believed the military was \u201ckilling innocent civilians,\u201d and her relative had expressed guilt about what he was doing, which drew applause from the audience.<\/p>\n
Stars and Stripes spoke to several sailors and their family members, who describe declining morale and exhaustion on the Abraham Lincoln, which was only supposed to deploy to the Middle East until May this year. The ship left port in San Diego in November for a deployment to the Pacific Ocean, but was diverted to the Gulf because of Donald Trump\u2019s Iran war. Combat operations have been extended with no return date.<\/p>\n