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GOP Turns Fury on Schiff over Russian Collusion Claims

"Damning evidence" of collusion with Russia. "More than circumstantial." A scandal of a size "beyond Watergate."

For two years, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, seemed to be on every talk and late-night show sounding ominous warnings about what special counsel Robert Mueller might find on President Donald Trump. The California Democrat got the president's attention — a fact confirmed when Trump turned the congressman's name into a foul schoolyard taunt. "Wow, Mr. President, that's a good one," Schiff tweeted back.

But Mueller found no coordination or conspiracy involving Trump, his campaign and the Russian government, the Justice Department said Sunday. That sparked furious GOP calls for Schiff to resign from the committee or Congress as the Trump administration went on the offensive, recriminations in mind, with the 2020 elections nearing.

"There are a lot of people out there that have done some very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country," Trump said Monday in the Oval Office, without elaborating. "Those people will certainly be looked at."

Whatever kind of examination the president has in mind for "those people," Schiff appears to be the top of the list.

Schiff, a lawyer who has served in Congress since 2001, ranged far and frequently across the media landscape in interviews about the Mueller investigation. In his sober, mild-mannered style, Schiff at times came close to sounding like he believed Trump had broken the law, Republicans said.

More than any other example, Republicans on Monday pointed to a March, 2017 appearance on MSNBC in which Schiff said "there is more than circumstantial evidence now" of a relationship between Russia and Trump's associates. In December of that year, Schiff said on CNN: "The Russians offered help, the campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help and the president made full use of that help. That is pretty damning, whether it is proof beyond a reasonable doubt of conspiracy or not."

And in May of last year, Schiff said on ABC that the Russian trolling of Democratic National Committee emails is "like Watergate in the sense that you had a break in at the Democratic headquarters, in this case a virtual one, not a physical break in, and you had a president as part of a cover up," he said. Schiff said later that the Russia investigation is "a size and scope probably beyond Watergate."

Schiff is far from the only Democrat to use provocative rhetoric about Trump and his campaign. But it was his words that were getting the most attention from Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee, which featured Schiff prominently on lists of Democrats who had publicly suggested a link between Trump and his 2016 campaign, and Russia.

"Now we find out that none of that is true," House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California told The Associated Press. "He should first apologize to the American public and he should step back from the chairmanship."

Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway went further.

"This man leads the Intelligence Committee in the House," Conway said on Fox News Channel. "He ought to resign today."

There was no sign of that happening.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the calls to remove Schiff were "absolutely ridiculous." She consulted with Schiff and other committee leaders over the weekend as Attorney General William Barr notified Congress of Mueller's report and summarized the details.

Barr wrote that Mueller did not find collusion. On obstruction, the Mueller report laid out evidence but did not make a finding implicating Trump or exonerating him. That move effectively punted the obstruction question to Congress, where Democrats control the House and Republicans run the Senate.

A Pelosi aide said Schiff was being attacked because he's done "an outstanding job."

"Democrats aren't going to be intimidated by the White House or Congressional Republicans," spokeswoman Ashley Etienne said. "We're not going to be distracted from securing the release of the full Mueller report and the underlying evidence, and we will continue to pursue legitimate oversight because that's what the Constitution requires.

Others, including the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, had harsh words for Schiff, but he appeared ready to forge ahead with an investigation into the Trump Organization. Schiff, for example, wants to lead a public hearing featuring Felix Sater, a Soviet emigre who befriended Trump in the 2000s and helped push the Trump Tower Moscow project during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"It's over," McCarthy said. "When are they going to take an answer for an answer? There's no more rocks to be overturned."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Kremlin says cyber attacks on Russia often launched from U.S. territory

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives for the meeting with officials of Rostec high-technology state corporation at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives for the meeting with officials of Rostec high-technology state corporation at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

February 27, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Wednesday said that U.S. territory was constantly being used to launch cyber attacks against Russia, but said it was unable to confirm a U.S. media report that the U.S. military had disrupted the internet access of a Russian troll farm.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the U.S. military had disrupted the internet access of a Russian troll farm accused of trying to influence American voters on Nov. 6, 2018, the day of the congressional elections.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he did not know how much truth there was to that media report.

“But in general I can say that U.S. territory is constantly being used to organize a huge number of cyber attacks against various Russian organizations. That’s the reality with which we live.”

(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Source: OANN

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Gun Groups: Million-Plus Extended Magazines Flood California

More than a million high-capacity ammunition magazines flooded into California during a one-week window created when a federal judge temporarily threw out the state's ban, gun owners' groups estimated Thursday.

Reform groups said the projections are self-serving as gun rights organizations try to make the case that magazines holding more than 10 bullets are so common now that a ban is impractical.

The magazines aren't tracked. But there are plenty of anecdotal indications that the floodgates briefly opened when U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez overturned the state's nearly 20-year-old ban late last month.

The judge halted sales a week later, but ruled that those who bought the magazines can legally own them while the state appeals his ruling.

"Everything was all sold out. I basically took whatever I could get," said Chris Puehse, who owns Foothill Ammo in Shingle Springs, east of Sacramento.

He fielded dozens of telephone calls while buyers stacked up 20 deep in his one-man store to buy the hundreds of magazines that arrived in two shipments last week. He had just six left by the time Benitez reinstated the ban last Friday.

"People loved it. It was like we were out of prison and were not treated like bastard stepchildren of the country anymore," he said.

Thirty-round magazines for military-style rifles, handgun magazines holding 17 to 20 bullets, all selling for less than $30 each — "they disappeared," Puehse said. "They wanted to grab more than I let them, otherwise they would have been gone even faster than a few hours."

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned hours before Benitez again halted sales that California was in danger of becoming "the wild, wild West for high-capacity magazines."

"There are those who are now trying to flood the state of California with what were until this decision illegal high-capacity magazines, the type of magazines that are used in firearms to commit the mass shootings that we've seen throughout the country," Becerra said.

Ruger Firearms announced it was releasing its entire inventory. South Carolina-based Palmetto State Armory announced in a Facebook ad that it was "prepared to send a whole lot of freedom to our friends in California," but warned of delays due to high demand.

"The pipeline was open and it was flowing, on all platforms — people showing up (in stores), online — I'm guessing that UPS and FedEx had a field day," said Gun Owners of California president Sam Paredes. "It was a frenzy."

He said an estimate of a million magazines "seems a little bit low."

Chuck Michel, an attorney for the National Rifle Association and the California Rifle & Pistol Association, has a photograph of empty racks at a Bass Pro Shops store in Las Vegas that used to hold magazines before Californians flocked to the neighboring state to stock up. California's more than 2.5 million gun owners together have nearly 20 million guns, many of which can use the extended magazines.

By week's end, Michel said, "you couldn't get one anywhere, because all that inventory had been diverted to California. That's probably at least a million magazines, probably approaching two to several hundred thousand people."

Staff attorneys with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco said they've seen no evidence to back up the million-magazine estimate, and said gun rights organizations have a vested interest in inflating the number of law-abiding owners.

"They have a very specific purpose and intent here to try to set up for the court that these are devices that are very commonly used and possessed" and therefore should not be banned again, said California legislative affairs director Ari Freilich.

"It lets them argue that there's no way to un-ring the bell," added litigation director Hannah Shearer.

The problem isn't the new owners who will use them legally for target shooting or self-defense, they said: it's that some will fall into the hands of criminals or be used by mass shooters.

The magazines allow shooters to fire more bullets without stopping to reload. Gun owners' organizations — and Judge Benitez — said that's helpful to ward off multiple home invaders, but opponents said it gives victims less time to escape or tackle a mass shooter as he reloads.

Reformers expect the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the ban on sales while reinstating a 2016 law and ballot measure banning possession even by those who own them legally.

Opponents are counting on the U.S. Supreme Court to ultimately side with Benitez's ruling that the bans infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"Because of that one slip-up, in one week you literally had millions of magazines come into the state that were bought legally," said Puehse, the gun shop owner. "These magazines are here to stay."

Source: NewsMax America

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Dem House Member Blasts Rep. Steve King as White Supremacist

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who represents much of New Orleans, labeled Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a “white supremacist” for comments about Hurricane Katrina victims.

Richmond made his remarks in a Thursday tweet and referred to Iowans, who are facing floods.

He wrote: “My heart goes out to all Iowans. Though it unsettles me that @SteveKingIA would dare compare them to the countless victims of Katrina, many of whom lost their lives. When people show you who they are, believe them. Steve King is a white supremacist and I won’t stand for it.”

King, in a town hall meeting in Iowa on Thursday, said that an unnamed Federal Emergency Management Agency official told him that Katrina victims only ever asked for government help, as opposed to those in Iowa who “take care of each other,” HuffPost reported.

The Advocate newspaper reported that King’s district in Iowa is about 95 percent white. It said about 67 percent of the population of New Orleans was black when Katrina hit

King was stripped of his committee assignments in January after making offensive remarks that embraced white supremacy.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Bahrain's Gulf Air says it is delaying, cancelling flights

The Bahrain-based long-haul carrier Gulf Air is acknowledging it is cancelling and delaying flights without explaining why.

Local media reported flight delays and cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday at the airline's main hub of Bahrain International Airport in Manama.

The airline, owned by the government of the island kingdom home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, said in a statement Wednesday that it is "working round the clock to stabilize the operation bringing back our schedule stability."

Gulf Air officials and government officials did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about what's causing the disruptions. Local Bahrain media suggested the airline faced a pilot shortage.

Source: Fox News World

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Report: Rove Joins 5G Battle That’s Dividing Trump Advisers

Veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove is contacting lawmakers' offices on Capitol Hill to warn against bipartisan efforts to ban government control of super-fast 5G wireless technology — a fight that has split President Donald Trump's advisers, Politico reported.

The outreach has included staffers in the office of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of several lawmakers sponsoring the legislation, Politico reported.

Rove has also been at meetings with House and Senate Armed Services committee offices organized by a lobbyist for Rivada Networks, which wants the government to manage the sharing of 5G airwaves with wireless providers, company spokesperson Brian Carney said Thursday. Carney told Politico that Rove is not a lobbyist for the company.

Rivada, which is backed by tech investor and Trump ally Peter Thiel, would have the administration take wireless spectrum from the Defense Department and use a third-party operator — ideally Rivada — to make those airwaves available to providers who need it on a rolling wholesale basis, much like in the electricity market, Politico reported.

Rove has been helping Rivada cultivate a network of advocates to push its 5G concept — pitting them against the telecom industry and many Trump administration officials and lawmakers who believe private companies like AT&T and Verizon should manage the buildout of 5G and Rivada's plan smacks of "nationalization," Politico reported.

The fight comes as the United States races China and other countries to be first to deploy 5G wireless networks.

Source: NewsMax America

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Washington woman raped after getting into fake ride-share, person of interest sought, police say

Washington state cops are hunting the person who posed as a ride-share driver in Seattle and raped a woman in who got into the wrong vehicle.

The King County Sheriff's Department said in a Facebook post Tuesday the incident happened Dec. 16, after the female victim left a bar in Seattle and went outside to catch a ride-share a friend ordered to get her home.

“She found multiple ride-share vehicles parked out front, so she started asking each of them if they were her rideshare,” King County Sgt. Ryan Abbott told Q13 News. “One of the guys said 'Oh yeah I’m your ride-share, go ahead and get in.'”

RIDE-HAILING SAFETY BILL INTRODUCED DAYS AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE STUDENT FOUND DEAD

But officials said the man behind the wheel wasn't a ride-share driver.

While driving the woman home, the man pulled the vehicle over and raped her in White Center, located south of Seattle, according to police.

A person of interest who is wanted in the rape of a woman in Washington state who got into a vehicle thinking it was her ride-share.

A person of interest who is wanted in the rape of a woman in Washington state who got into a vehicle thinking it was her ride-share. (King County Sheriff's Office)

“Then after he raped her, he got her address and drove her to her house," Abbott told Q13 News.

Surveillance footage released by the sheriff's office captured the man identified as a person of interest near the victim’s home as he unlocked her door and handed her cell phone back.

A man that police said claimed to be a ride-share driver who then raped a woman that got into his vehicle in December.

A man that police said claimed to be a ride-share driver who then raped a woman that got into his vehicle in December. (King County Sheriff's Office)

SOUTH CAROLINA MAN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING, MURDER OF COLLEGE STUDENT ACTIVATED CHILD LOCKS IN CAR, POLICE SAY

News of the incident in Washington state comes just days after a University of South Carolina student was kidnapped and killed after she got into a car she mistakenly believed was her Uber.

Ride-share users told Q13 News on Tuesday that people getting into the wrong vehicle is common.

“I called an Uber yesterday at the airport and another person tried to take my Uber,” Un Jung, who was visiting Seattle from Arkansas, told the television station.

In the South Carolina incident, officials said the man accused of killing Samantha Josephson activated the child locks in his backseat so the doors could be opened only from the outside.

Police said users should make sure to check the license plate and vehicle make/model and verify the driver's photo and name match before getting into a ride-share vehicle. Users should also ask the driver to tell them your name, according to police.

“There’s been other instances where child lock safety has been on in the backseat, so something horrible might happen and the victim can’t get out,” Abbott told Q13 News.

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The person of interest sought in Washington may be driving a black Dodge Charger, according to police.

Anyone with information on the man is asked to contact the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

Source: Fox News National

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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