Feds investigating plot to steal Graceland through phony loan – National & International News – WED 26Jun2024

Feds investigating plot to steal Graceland through phony loan.

House GOP mulls plan to arrest AG Garland over Biden tapes.

Apparent coup in Bolivia thwarted, for now.

NATIONAL NEWS

Feds investigating plot to steal Graceland through phony loan

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that he his handing off his investigation into the recent attempt to fraudulently auction off Graceland to federal investigators.

To briefly explain, earlier this year, an apparently non-existent loan company calling itself “Naussany Investments” attempted to foreclose on Elvis Presley’s Memphis home using forged documents alleging the company loaned the late Lisa Marie Presley $2.3 million, which had not been repaid. Attorneys for Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, quickly exposed Naussany as a fraud. Her attorneys filed a motion with a Shelby County court to halt the auction. No Naussany representative showed up at the hearing.

Hours after the hearing, someone purporting to represent Naussany announced that they were dropping their claim to Graceland. The story took yet another bizarre turn when another email, purportedly from Naussany, went out to several news outlets. The author seemed to taunt both the outlets and investigators, saying that they would continue scamming people without fear of capture. “We sit back and laugh at you idiots and watch you make fools of yourselves… Come find us in Nigeria.”

However, an NBC News investigation may have unmasked the scammer. It is no “Nigerian Prince”, but rather a middle-aged woman in Branson, MO, with a long history of running cons.

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House GOP mulls plan to arrest AG Garland over Biden tapes

House Republicans recently held Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress after he refused to hand over audiotapes related to a federal investigation of President Biden’s unlawful retention of classified documents from his years as Vice President. The audiotapes record October 2023 interviews between Biden and Department of Justice special counsel Robert Hur.

Hur’s report concluded that while Biden’s actions were unlawful, bringing Biden to trial would be a waste of time since jurors would perceive him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. The report also alluded to several apparent lapses in memory by Biden during the interview.

AG Garland refused to turn the tapes over to Congress after Biden invoked his executive privilege. After Congress voted to hold Merrick in contempt, the DOJ quickly announced they would not be bringing any charges against him.

Now, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has floated the idea of invoking a rarely-used mechanism to force Garland to hand over the tapes. Congress could vote to hold Garland in “inherent contempt” which would compel the House Sergeant at Arms to arrest Garland and bring him before Congress for trial. Garland could then be detained in Congress or elsewhere in D.C. if he does not comply.

House leadership has not settled on this plan, in part because it is unclear whether they have the votes for it. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is also considering taking the DOJ to court to force them to enforce the subpoena.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Apparent coup in Bolivia thwarted, for now

Police have arrested Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, the apparent leader of an attempted coup against President Luis Arce of Bolivia. Zúñiga was recently dismissed from his post as Bolivia’s chief military commander. He had previously clashed with former President Evo Morales, a populist leftist and fellow member of Arce’s socialist political party, who resigned in 2019 after threats to his life. Morales now lives in exile.

Earlier today, soldiers seized control of a key plaza in La Paz where several government buildings are located. Shortly thereafter, they stormed the Presidential Palace, apparently attempting to arrest Arce. Morales and Arce both issued calls to Bolivian citizens who supported Arce to gather in the square and in front of the palace, and many thousands did.

The sequence of events is a bit unclear, but Arce appointed a new military commander who ordered the soldiers to withdraw, which they did. Reports conflict on whether this happened before or after Zúñiga’s arrest. Arce also announced he would be replacing other military commanders.

While Arce still enjoys broad popular support in Bolivia, conservative elements within the country’s military have vocally opposed him, just as they opposed Morales.

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