All posts by Al Sharpton

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Pastors, worship leaders pray for Trump in Oval Office amid impeachment fight

Prominent Christian pastors and worship leaders prayed over President Trump in the Oval Office last week, as he told them he needs prayer now more than ever amid the intensifying impeachment probe on Capitol Hill.

About 50 worship leaders from across America gathered for a faith briefing Friday organized by Paula White-Cain, the president’s personal pastor and special adviser to the Faith and Opportunity Initiative in the White House.

ATHEIST GROUP TARGETS ALABAMA SHERIFF FOR ‘USING TRAGEDY TO PROMOTE’ PRAYER

“All 50 of us crammed into the Oval Office. He sat at his desk and he said pray for me,” Sean Feucht, a Bethel Music worship leader who is running for Congress in California’s Third Congressional District, told Fox News.

President Trump surrounded by a large group of worship leaders from across the country whom he invited to pray for him in the Oval Office Friday.

President Trump surrounded by a large group of worship leaders from across the country whom he invited to pray for him in the Oval Office Friday. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

“We just laid our hands on him and prayed for him. It was like a real intense, hardcore prayer. It was so wild,” Feucht said. “I could not believe he invited us in. That he carved out time to meet with us.”

KIRK, FALWELL JR. LAUNCH LIBERTY UNIVERSITY THINK TANK TO FIGHT ATTACKS ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES

The worship leader, who has traveled as a missionary to countries where Christianity is most persecuted, called it “historic” having that many worship leaders invited by the president into the Oval Office.

Connecting The Dots

New York’s super-rich migrating south for better value

Quitting New York is making financial sense for many of the city’s super-rich.

Analysts say a growing number of New York’s financial elite believe that fleeing the city for other states with lower taxes and costs in order to protect their wealth is a total no-brainer — particularly since the 2019 UBS/PwC Billionaires Report found that the collective net worth of their peers globally has plunged heavily for the first time in years.

“The wealthy are migrating out of high-income-tax states such as New York to lower- or no-state-income-tax locations, more than ever,” according to Michele Lee Fine, president of Cornerstone Wealth Advisory and a financial adviser in Jericho, New York.

“Much of the tone and focus of the recent political agenda has been attacking the wealthy directly at the wallet,” she added. “Whether you’re a billionaire or millionaire, there is cause for concern.”

And while President Trump and tycoons such as legendary corporate raider Carl Icahn — both of whom are swapping New York for lower-cost Florida domiciles — are grabbing headlines, dozens of lesser-known, highly successful wealthy New Yorkers are also plotting escapes.

“The exodus continues from this tax-heavy city,” the New York-based CEO of a small high-tech transportation company, who declined to be named, told The Post. “Most of the uber-wealthy I know in New York now spend the majority of their time in Florida or Texas, where they are not obliterated by taxes.”

John O’Shea, executive chairman of the broker-dealer Global Alliance Securities, knows the feeling.

About a year ago, O’Shea relocated his company from 100 Wall St. in lower Manhattan to Charleston, South Carolina. He and his wife Jennifer vacated their New York home for a gated community in a tony section of this South Carolina paradise, paying just over $1 million for a luxury waterfront property on almost an acre.

“You can make more money and keep more of it in South Carolina,” O’Shea said.

With a local property tax rate of 0.4%, it means O’Shea pays just over $4,000 annually to live in the lap of luxury — a small fraction of what the owner of a comparable home in many parts of New York would pay in property taxes. And with a maximum of only $10,000 in local property taxes now deductible against federal taxes, O’Shea is making out just fine.

That’s unlike many New York residents who live in some of the fanciest ZIP codes — some with annual property taxes starting at $40,000.

“The quality of life is also much better down here,” O’Shea told The Post. “I have a much larger property than what I would pay for something similar up in New York — and I also have lower costs for my business and in my home.”

At 100 Wall St., where O’Shea once ran a sprawling operation, at least three other firms also recently left the building for offices in the US sunshine states, according to people familiar with the moves. Management for the building didn’t respond to a request for comment.

 

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Connecting The Dots, News

Whoaaa! Nearly 700,000 people moved out of California last year

Just under 700,000 people said goodbye to the Golden State last year. The top two reasons for moving out are the high cost of housing and high taxes.

Nearly 700,000 people moved out of California last year.

U.S. census data shows that only a half million moved TO California during that same time. That means there are 200,000 more residents going out than coming in.

A recent poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that half of California voters have thought about moving out.

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News

NYC pushed out of top 10 world destinations

It’s official: New York City and America are no longer the center of the world by any measure beyond swagger. In fact, the continents of North and South America have fallen off the must-see map altogether according to Euromonitor’s Top 100 City report, which tracks visitor arrivals. This year’s 1.5 billion trips predominantly headed to:

  1. Hong Kong, 26.7 million
  2. Bangkok, 25.8 million
  3. Macau, 20.6 million
  4. Singapore, 10.8 million
  5. London, 10.6 million
  6. Paris, 19.1 million
  7. Dubai, 16.3 million
  8. Delhi, 15.2 million
  9. Istanbul, 14.7 million
  10. Kuala Lumpur, 14.1 million

New York City remains America’s top destination, ranking 11th internationally. Miami ranks 29th, and Los Angeles 33rd, and Las Vegas 38th. Only 13 of the top 100 cities are in the Americas; 43 are in Asia, firmly shifting the tourism industry East.

Report author Rabia Yasmeen writes that while Asia’s tourism markets expanded rapidly, America’s travel numbers were actually a feat, considering circumstances. “Despite high concern for safety and security among visitors, stringent policies and a travel ban under the Trump administration, most U.S. destinations performed well during 2018.” The report suggests that to remain competitive, American cities need to become safe places that people can easily access, which is accomplished by improving visa policies, mitigating crime and safety concerns, and boosting sustainable tourism.

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News

Al Sharpton gets $1M in pay from his own charity

He’s the million-dollar minister.

The Rev. Al Sharpton raked in $1,046,948 from his own charity last year, according to National Action Network’s latest tax filings obtained by The Post.

Sharpton got a $324,000 salary — 32% higher than his 2017 pay — in addition to a $159,596 bonus and $563,352 in “other compensation.”

The Harlem-based nonprofit — which Sharpton controls as president and CEO — said the extra cash was to make up for the years from 2004 to 2017 when he didn’t get his full pay.

NAN said it hired an executive compensation firm that determined the good reverend was owed $1.252 million — but he was generously willing to take $500,000 less.

Sharpton and the nonprofit’s board also agreed “he has now been fully compensated for all the years he was underpaid and received no bonus,” the NAN statement said.

The sharp-dressing, silver-tongued preacher defended the windfall before taking the stage for his weekly rally at NAN’s House of Justice in Harlem, an event where attendees throw cash in the collection bucket at the reverend’s behest.

“Fifteen years, you are talking about since 2004 when I came back after running for president,” he said. “For anybody else it would be laughable.”

He said he also deserved the 2018 raise.

“It’s a six-day-a-week job and several hours a day and when [the compensation firm] compared it to other companies, other non profits, that’s the salary that they would get,” he said.

The firebrand activist and MSNBC host was not exactly earning minimum wage in recent years. The last year he went without a salary was 2008, and he has made well into the six figures every year since, tax documents show.

He certainly wasn’t coveting his neighbor’s paycheck in 2017, when his NAN salary came to $244,661, or the year before, when he was paid $250,000 plus a $437,555 bonus. NAN justified the bonus at the time saying it was designed to make up for a lack of full compensation, including no retirement or benefits packages over the years.

The nonprofit also noted in 2016 that Sharpton’s average yearly pay of $283,543 from 2007 through 2016 fell within the competitive range of those who held similar positions.

in 2014, Sharpton got much more than the average pay — $348,244 plus a $64,400 bonus, tax filings show.

The holy man’s mammon really raised eyebrows last year when NAN’s filing revealed he had sold the rights to his life story to his own charity for $531,000. The organization contended the purchase would provide a revenue stream because it could turn around and sell the rights.

NAN at the time said an unnamed “executive committee independently approved” the deal, leading one expert to question how the independence was achieved.

“In this case, it’s really difficult because of his role in the organization and just because of his overall influence,” Linda Sugin, a Fordham University Law School professor and associate dean said at the time.

Sharpton said Saturday that NAN did sell the rights for a documentary that filmed the night of his 65th birthday gala at the New York Public Library, an event hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee. But he said he hadn’t received any cash yet.

“They have already made a profit on that off the birthday,” he said.

NAN took in $7.3 million in donations last year, up $1 million from the previous year. NAN paid off years of accumulated tax debt in 2014.

Sharpton has been paying down millions in his own personal federal and state tax liens. In June, he finally paid off his personal tax debt to the state, which last year stood at $95,031.21. He still owes $698,470.99 in back taxes for three of his companies, according to the state Tax Department.

 

Original Article

News

Kanye West- Jesus is King

Thousands of people gathered for Kanye West’s “Sunday Service” in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after a last-minute announcement Friday.

Curvine Brewington, a pastor at Crossroads Church in Lafayette, Louisiana, attended the event and shared his experience on Instagram, saying there was an “altar call” and “over 1,000” people gave their lives to Christ:

Tonight, worship was lifted, the name of Christ was exalted, the Word of God was preached, a multitude prayed together, the Gospel was clearly proclaimed, and an opportunity to respond was given. In a crowd of 6,000 people from all walks of life, all ages, and all races, I witnessed over 1,000 people respond to The Gospel by raising their hands to accept Jesus as their Lord & Savior!

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Trump- New Yorker- No More…

 

He came of age in Queens, built Trump Tower, starred in “The Apprentice,” bankrupted his businesses six times, and drew cheering crowds and angry protesters to Fifth Avenue after his election. Through it all, President Trump — rich, bombastic and to many Americans the epitome of a New Yorker — was intertwined with the city he called his lifelong home.

No longer.

In late September, Mr. Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fla., according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document.

Each of the Trumps filed a “declaration of domicile” saying that the Mar-a-Lago Club, Mr. Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.

The president confirmed the decision on Twitter after The New York Times reported on the move, saying that he would “be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence.”

“I cherish New York, and the people of New York,” he added, “and always will.”

But he didn’t have much nice to say about the public officials of New York.

“I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse,” he said, describing his decision as the “best for all concerned.”

Some New York leaders shared the sentiment. “Good riddance,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo tweeted. “It’s not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He’s all yours, Florida.”

In the documents, Mr. Trump said he “formerly resided at 721 Fifth Avenue,” referring to Trump Tower. That has been his primary residence since he moved into the skyscraper off 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan in 1983.

An attachment lists his “other places of abode” as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address for the White House, and his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he spends warm-weather weekends and a few weeks every summer.

Since becoming president, Mr. Trump has spent 99 days at Mar-a-Lago compared with 20 days at Trump Tower, according to NBC News. Although Mr. Trump ran his presidential transition from Trump Tower and some aides had expected him to spend many weekends there in his Louis XIV-style triplex on the 58th floor, his presence created traffic headaches for New Yorkers and logistical and security challenges for the Secret Service.

White House officials declined to say why Mr. Trump changed his primary residence, but a person close to the president said the reasons were primarily for tax purposes.

In his Twitter posts on Thursday night, the president claimed that he paid “millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year.” There is no way to fact-check his assertion; he has never released his tax returns.

Mr. Trump, who is deeply unpopular in New York, was infuriated by a subpoena filed by Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, seeking the tax returns, the person close to the president said. Changing his residence to Florida is not expected to have any effect on Mr. Vance’s case, which Mr. Trump has sought to thwart with a federal lawsuit.

It was unclear how much time he would spend in New York in the future or if he would keep his triplex at the top of Trump Tower. Under New York law, if he spends more than 184 days a year there, he will have to pay state income taxes.

Florida, which does not have a state income tax or inheritance tax, has long been a place for the wealthy to escape the higher taxes of the Northeast.

Changing his primary residence could carry significant tax implications for Mr. Trump, although how much is unclear without seeing his returns. But in changing his residence to Florida, he would most likely be avoiding New York State’s top tax rate of nearly 9 percent and New York City’s top rate of nearly 4 percent.

Leaving New York could also save money for Mr. Trump’s heirs at the time of his death. New York imposes a top estate tax rate of 16 percent for estates larger than $10.1 million.

In an article in the Florida Bar Journal in January 2019, three lawyers with Proskauer Rose wrote about the recent wave of people moving from New York to Florida in “large part” because of the repeal of the state and local tax deduction that was a byproduct of the tax bill that Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017.

“While it may be easy enough for an individual to buy a home in Florida and move, the act of physically moving to Florida is only part of the battle,” the three wrote.

“The real challenge is proving by clear and convincing evidence that the individual is no longer a New York domiciliary and does not qualify as a New York statutory resident for New York State income tax purposes,” they said.

Beyond taxes, Mr. Trump has repeatedly signaled the importance of Florida to his 2020 re-election effort and kicked off his campaign with a rally in Orlando. And he has often mentioned Mar-a-Lago when promoting his ties to the state.

In the longer term, the change could speak to Mr. Trump’s plans after his presidency ends. It has been an open question whether he would ever return full time to New York City.

In addition, Secret Service protection for Mr. Trump after his presidency ends would continue to snarl traffic in Midtown Manhattan — as would tourists and potential protests in front of Trump Tower — particularly if Mr. Trump chose to live there full time.

David Pratt, a partner at Proskauer Rose and one of the authors of the Florida Bar Journal piece, said Mr. Trump had probably changed his primary residence for the same reason other people have left New York.

“What he’s doing is not any different than what a lot of individuals from New York are doing, and they’re becoming Florida residents,” Mr. Pratt said.

Mr. Trump is due to travel to New York City this weekend for an event at Madison Square Garden, the rare instance of him visiting when he has no fund-raiser or official event scheduled. He is due to spend Saturday night at Trump Tower.

Since he became president, Mar-a-Lago remains Mr. Trump’s favored retreat. He has a residence on the grounds, enjoys easy access to one of his nearby golf clubs, entertains foreign visitors like Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and also plays host to a regular cast of visitors and members.

Still, Manhattan has been like Oz to him.

“I believed, perhaps to an irrational degree, that Manhattan was always going to be the best place to live — the center of the world,” Mr. Trump wrote in his book “The Art of the Deal.”

Jim Tankersley contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.

News

Hezbollah terrorist scouted NYC-area locations: feds

A New Jersey man has spent the past 22 years training with and scouting terror-attack locations for Hezbollah — and provided the group with intelligence on the Port Authority, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Stock Exchange and the city’s two airports, according to a new federal indictment against him.

Alexei Saab, 42, of Morristown — also known as Ali Hassan Saab, Alex Saab, or “Rachid” — was charged Thursday in a nine-count indictment for allegedly providing material support to the deadly organization.

Saab was arrested in July, and remains in federal custody, officials said.

As far back as in 2003, he gave Hezbollah photos and other detailed intel on New York City landmarks and transportation hubs.

Saab surveilled dozens of locations in New York City—including the United Nations headquarters, the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Empire State Building, the federal offices at 26 Federal Plaza, and local airports, tunnels, and bridges, including the George Washington Bridge.

The detailed information recovered from his computers included photographs and details on the structural weaknesses — or “soft spots” — of these locations, officials alleged.

He has also surveilled sites in cities around the US — including the Washington Monument and Boston’s Fenway Park, The Post has learned.

The charges do not allege that Saab conducted any recent surveillance.

“According to the allegations, while living in the United States, Saab served as an operative of Hezbollah and conducted surveillance of possible target locations in order to help the foreign terrorist organization prepare for potential future attacks against the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a press statement.

“Such covert activities conducted on U.S. soil are a clear threat to our national security and I applaud the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this investigation and prosecution.”

Saab joined Hezbollah in 1996, and his earliest activities with the group include spying in Lebanon on the movements of Israeli and Southern Lebanese Army soldiers, and intelligence-gathering in Istanbul, the indictment alleges.

He trained in the use of firearms, including AK-47s, and in 2000 he received extensive training in military tactics, including how to construct bombs and other explosive devices, the indictment alleges.

In 2005, Saab attempted to murder a suspected Israeli spy, pointing a firearm at close range and twice pulling the trigger, only to have the gun malfunction both times, officials said.

In 2004 and 2005, Saab attended explosives training in Lebanon during which he received detailed instruction in, among other things, triggering mechanisms, explosive substances, detonators and the assembly of circuits, the indictment alleges.

In 2000, Saab lawfully entered the United States using a Lebanese passport, and he became a naturalized US citizen in 2008, the indictment alleges.

 

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News

8 Years of Trump Tax Returns Are Subpoenaed by Manhattan D.A.

State prosecutors in Manhattan have subpoenaed President Trump’s accounting firm to demand eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.

Donald Trump wearing a suit and tie standing in a field: A lawyer for the Trump Organization last month called the investigation politically motivated “harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons.”© Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times A lawyer for the Trump Organization last month called the investigation politically motivated “harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons.”The subpoena opens a new front in a wide-ranging effort to obtain copies of the president’s tax returns, which Mr. Trump initially said he would make public during the 2016 campaign but has since refused to disclose.

The subpoena was issued by the Manhattan district attorney’s office late last month, soon after it opened a criminal investigation into the role that the president and his family business played in hush-money payments made in the run-up to the election.

Both Mr. Trump and his company reimbursed Michael D. Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and fixer, for money Mr. Cohen paid to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. The president has denied the affair.

It was unclear if the broad scope of the subpoena indicated that the office had expanded its investigation beyond actions taken during the 2016 campaign. A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., declined to comment.

The state prosecutors are seeking a range of tax documents from the accounting firm, Mazars USA, including Mr. Trump’s personal returns and those of his business, the Trump Organization. The subpoena seeks federal and state returns for both the president and the company dating back to 2011, the people said.

The investigation by Mr. Vance has been focused on $130,000 that Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, just before the election. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to breaking federal campaign finance laws and received a three-year prison sentence.

While the federal prosecutors who charged Mr. Cohen stated in a court filing in July that they had “effectively concluded” their inquiry into possible crimes committed by the company or its executives, Mr. Vance’s office is exploring whether the reimbursements violated any New York state laws.

In particular, the state prosecutors are examining whether the company falsely accounted for the reimbursements as a legal expense. In New York, filing a false business record can be a crime.

But it becomes a felony only if prosecutors can prove that the false filing was made to commit or conceal another crime, such as tax violations or bank fraud. The tax returns and other documents sought from Mazars could shed light on whether any state laws were broken. Such subpoenas also routinely request related documents in connection with the returns.

Democrats have insisted for years that Mr. Trump release his tax returns, which every modern presidential nominee has done before him. They contend that the president may be trying to conceal details of his actual financial worth, the source of his wealth and possible conflicts of interest involving his business partners.

Congressional Democrats have taken an aggressive approach, subpoenaing six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department, as well as personal and corporate financial records from Deutsche Bank, Capital One and Mazars USA.

The president has fought back to keep his finances under wraps, challenging the subpoenas in federal court. He has also sued to block a New York state law, passed this year, that authorized state officials to provide his state tax returns in response to certain congressional inquiries. By tying up the requests in court, Mr. Trump’s team has made it diminishingly likely that Democrats in Washington will get the chance to review them before the election next year.

But it may be more difficult to fend off a subpoena in a criminal investigation with a sitting grand jury, as there is in Manhattan. It is possible the Trump Organization could try to negotiate with the district attorney’s office to narrow the scope of the subpoena.

Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, and Marc L. Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, both declined to comment.

Asked whether the company would seek to quash the subpoena, Mazars USA said in a statement that it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations,” adding that the company was prohibited by its policy and professional rules from commenting on its work. The statement, however, did not directly address whether the company might take any legal action to block the subpoena.

Even if the Manhattan district attorney’s office is successful in obtaining the president’s tax returns, the documents would be covered by secrecy rules governing grand juries, meaning they would not become public unless they were used as evidence in a criminal case.

At the beginning of August, the state prosecutors also subpoenaed the Trump Organization, seeking documents related to the payment to Ms. Daniels and the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen. With few legal options, the Trump Organization has been complying with that subpoena.

Still, the company has derided the investigation by Mr. Vance, a Democrat, as politically motivated.

“It’s just harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons,” Mr. Mukasey said last month.

As part of its investigation, prosecutors from Mr. Vance’s office visited Mr. Cohen in prison in Otisville, N.Y., to seek assistance with their investigation, according to people briefed on the meeting, which was first reported by CNN.

Mr. Cohen also helped arrange for American Media Inc., the publisher of The National Enquirer, to pay Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also said she had an affair with the president. Prosecutors in the district attorney’s office subpoenaed American Media in early August, as well as at least one bank.

The investigation is not the first time Mr. Vance’s office has focused on members of the Trump family or its business. In 2012, his office declined to charge two of Mr. Trump’s children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., in an investigation into whether they misled buyers interested in the Trump SoHo hotel-condominium project, a decision that resulted in criticism of Mr. Vance.

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Random Events, Free Will, Pre-destiny or Something Darker ?