Hi,

Gummy maker, Kushy Punch, and its executives, which have been toying with regulators for years, got hit with a $128M fine.

On June 20th, we mentioned that Russia was hoping to release prisoner, ex-WNBA player Brittney Griner, in exchange for the former biggest arms dealer in the world, Victor “The Merchant of Death” Bout. Well, it actually happened. It's a major win that Brittney is free though it's unfortunate that negotiators failed to free the ex-US diplomat jailed for cannabis possession in Russia. (That guy must be pissed.) I'm not too impressed with US negotiators. What's that? You want me to put on my tin foil hat and tell you a conspiracy? OK, if you insist. :)

Could Russia pushing for an arms dealer to be released indicate a bribe or maybe a sweetheart deal for weapons to fight Ukraine? A prolonged war means more American weapons purchased by US taxpayers. Or what if Bout simply bribed US officials? According to reports, when the US arrested Bout in 2008, the DEA hid things from their own staff out of fear of a leak. Okay, I’ll remove my hat now. :)

The Senate was only one vote away (59 of 60) from passing SAFE banking with the NDAA defense bill!! Mitch McConnell bragged about defeating it which bodes badly for the future of the omnibus spending bill this year. We usually don't like to throw smut, but politics is dirty. An alleged sex tape of Mitch McConnell is circulating online. It’s everything I hoped it would be. ;)

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Thanks and have a phenomenal week!
Jessica