*GUILTY* EL Chapo - Drug Cartel Chief, arrested Trafficking/conspiracy/firearms

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 57m57 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Cross-examination so far has been tense but relatively uneventful. Some colorful details coming out about Alex Cifuentes, like how he started helping his family process and package cocaine at their farm when he was 10 or 11 years old. It was his after school activity.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 56m56 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Alex grew up in Medellin and said he looked up to Pablo Escobar when he was a teenager. Pablo's right-hand man would hang around the building were Alex's mother lived. This was exciting: "He had an office that had a bowling lane, and I liked to go bowling with his bodyguards."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 52m52 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Some combative exchanges between Alex and Lichtman. Alex has his head cocked back and his looking down his nose while he testifies, refusing to concede even the smallest points, like the fact that his older brother was a drug trafficker. He described him as a "systems engineer."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 47m47 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Lichtman is red-faced and almost shouting at times. He asked Alex repeatedly about carrying weapons, including grenades and assault rifles.

Alex responded: "I worked for Joaquin Guzman Loera"

Lichtman: "Another systems engineer?"

Alex: "Among others."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 44m44 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Funny moment came when Lichtman asked Alex whether he considered himself a "successful drug dealer."

When Alex said no, Lichtman reminded him that he'd made a lot of trafficking drugs. He asked again, "Un poquito successful?"

Alex acknowledged that he had made "some millions."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 47m47 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Some of the questions have seemed self-defeating. Lichtman got Alex to admit he was a "hardcore drug dealer" in 2009, then pointed out that he was living with Chapo at the time. When he inquired about a failed drug shipments, Alex replied, "You can ask your own client."


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 45m45 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Lichtman got Alex to concede that he has lied repeatedly over the years, even to his own family members.

Then he asked about Chapo. "Is he the only person you didn't lie about?"

Alex replied: "That's correct."


Keegan Hamilton Retweeted
Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 3h3 hours ago
Molly Crane-Newman Retweeted Keegan Hamilton

A little bird tells me Lichtman is not wearing his wedding ring today

---Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton
A note about the situation with Chapo's lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman, who had the details of an affair with one of his clients spilled by @nypost over the weekend…
7:19 PM - 14 Jan 2019

https://nypost.com/2019/01/12/sarma-melngailis-had-an-x-rated-relationship-with-her-married-lawyer/


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 45m45 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Cross-examination expected to continue throughout the afternoon, stay tuned for updates.…
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 38m38 minutes ago
We could start a wager about who will lose their cool first: Lichtman or Alex Cifuentes. The defense attorney pushed Alex's brother Jorge to his breaking point a few weeks ago, and he's taunting Alex just the same.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 27m27 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes said he had sold drugs in Colombia, Canada, the U.S. and Paris, he told the jury today.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 27m27 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes told the jury today that he had sold drugs in Colombia, Canada, the U.S. and Paris. He was not a worldwide drug trafficker, however, he said.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
When asked if he’d lied on the stand today, Alex Cifuentes said: “I have misinterpreted a few things.” He would say later that he didn’t have a lot of practice “But I am a liar.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
Turns out, Alex Cifuentes grew up nearby Pablo Escobar’s right-hand man. He said he was glad about it “because he had an office that had a bowling lane.” He’d bowl with the man’s bodyguards.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
Later, he was invited to Cali to work with his brother, Fernando, under Don Efrain. There, his brother worked as a “systems engineer.” Alex would not admit his brother was a trafficker. “I never saw a kilo in Don Efrain’s hands.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
At the age of 15/16, Alex Cifuentes made 1 million Colombian pesos a month and carried around three weapons, all permitted by the Colombian army, he assured the jury. “In Colombia that’s normal,” he added.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 26m26 minutes ago
Frustrated by Alex’s work-around answers and refusal to admit anyone was in drug trafficking, Lichtman asked: “If he was a drug dealer - Don Efrain - would have have carried four guns?” he asked.
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[YESorNO]

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 38m38 minutes ago
Lunchtime @ EDNY is like a surreal version of a high school cafeteria: you’ve got the law enforcement clique at one table—the HSI agent pictured beside El Chapo in the famous photo taken at MacArthur Airport eats his salad w FBI analysts who tracked Guzman’s online footprints...

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 35m35 minutes ago
A few feet away sit Chapo’s cheerleaders: Guzman’s wife, not a hair out of place, giggles with the troublemaker paralegal who earned herself a yearlong phone ban for sneaking a cellphone to the client…

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 35m35 minutes ago
And then there are the nerds: sleep deprived reporters giving themselves indigestion while they simultaneously devour $2 sandwiches, compare notes and frantically type up the last session
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[YESorNO]

El Chapo's 'right-hand, left-hand man' describes the boss' jungle hideouts

January 14, 2019

"(CNN)Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's life hiding from authorities in the mountains of northwest Mexico was filled with military grade weapons and constant worry over being captured....

Details of his life hiding from authorities were described in a Brooklyn, New York, court on Monday by Alex Cifuentes, who said he was Guzman's "right-hand man, his left-hand man." Cifuentes worked as a secretary for Guzman and spent two years living with him in the mountains...."

El Chapo trial: Guzman's 'right-hand man,' Alex Cifuentes, describes the boss' jungle hideouts - CNN
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El Chapo actually killed the messenger: testimony

January 15, 2019

"Do kill the messenger.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman once tried to bribe Mexican military brass with $10 million to avoid arrest — then ordered his go-between killed when the general refused the graft, the drug lord’s former secretary testified Tuesday...."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/15/el-chapo-actually-killed-the-messenger-testimony/
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El Chapo ordered a woman employee killed after her bid to bribe Mexican official failed

JAN 15, 2019

"After a fugitive El Chapo’s employee tried in vain to bribe a top Mexican military official millions of dollars to let the drug lord on the lam live “in peace,” he saw red and ordered her killed, his former right-hand man testified Tuesday.

Alex Cifuentes, Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman Loera’s former secretary, told jurors on his third day on the stand about his ex-boss’s growing impatience and razor-thin tolerance while hiding out in the city of Culiacan in January 2013.

The turncoat said an anxious Chapo was growing tired of a life spent in hiding and ordered Cifuentes’ assistant, Andrea Velez Fernandez — who ran a modeling agency in Mexico City — to bribe an unidentified government official in the hopes authorities would ease up on the intensifying manhunt.....

On Tuesday morning jurors also heard taped phone calls of the witness lamenting to his mother on the phone after Chapo narrowly avoided capture in Los Cabos in 2012...."

El Chapo ordered a woman employee killed after her bid to bribe Mexican official failed - NY Daily News
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 11m11 minutes ago
HUGE El Chapo news: Alex Cifuentes just testified that Chapo paid Ernesto Pena Nieto a $100 million bribe.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 11m11 minutes ago
BREAKING: Enrique Peña Nieto received $100 million from Chapo in October 2012 ... a little less than the former president of Mexico had requested ($250 million). Alex Cifuentes confirmed the bribe, but could not longer specify the amounts he told prosecutors at earlier proffers.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 9m9 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
#BREAKING @vicenews: Witness Alex Cifuentes just testified about bribes paid by El Chapo to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN). Testimony covered his past statements to US law enforcement, which included claims that EPN asked for $250M and that Chapo paid $100M.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 8m8 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews @EPN
Chapo's $100 million bribe to EPN was allegedly delivered in October 2012 by a woman named Comadre Maria in Mexico City.


Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 3m3 minutes ago
On cross exam w/ Jeffrey Lichtman this afternoon, Chapo's former secretary Alex Cifuentes said in 2016, he told U.S. authorities a woman identified as Comadre Maria paid President Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) $100M in October 2012, at Guzman’s request. “Joaquin told me," he said.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 11m11 minutes ago
"Mr. Guzman paid a bribe of $100 million to President Pena Nieto?" Chapo's lawyer, Jeff Lichtman, asked the witness.
"Yes," Mr. Cifuentes said.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 11m11 minutes ago
In an early meeting the US government, in January 2016, Cifuentes first told prosecutors that Chapo paid a $250 million bribe to EPN but today on the witness stand said he wasn't sure about that original amount.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 10m10 minutes ago
In those early meetings, Cifuentes told US authorities that a woman named Comadre Mia (or Maria) delivered $100 million to EPN in October 2012. On the stand today, Cifuentes said he wasn't exactly sure of the date the bribe was delivered.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 13m13 minutes ago
Also important: According to Alex Cifuentes, Enrique Peña Nieto made the request to both Chapo and Mayo Zambada (his 50-50 partner, who has never been arrested).


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 11m11 minutes ago
CLARIFICATION: The Mexican government made the initial request ... The president received the decreased amount.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 10m10 minutes ago
Chapo’s friend, Comadre Maria, delivered the $100 million to President Nieto in Mexico City in October 2012, Alex Cifuentes said.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 7m7 minutes ago
We don't know much yet about the bribe between Chapo and the former Mexican president. Alex Cifuentes told the jury: "I told them that we had been requested a certain amount of money and that he had offered a different amount." He feared giving an amount and making a mistake.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 10m10 minutes ago
We are about to hear more about this--and perhaps other major bribes--in minutes. Stay tuned.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 12m12 minutes ago
Immediately admitting that Chapo told him about the bribe, the court adjourned for a 15 minute break.
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 29m29 minutes ago
MORE on EPN:
Cifuentes said that EPN reached out to Chapo first, asking for $250 million. Chapo offered EPN $100 million.
"The message was that Mr. Guzman didn't have to stay in hiding?" Chapo's lawyer asked.
"Yes," Cifuentes said, "that very thing is what Joaquin said to me."



Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 27m27 minutes ago
Former Pres Felipe Calderon was also accused by Chapo's lawyers of taking bribes from drug traffickers.
Jeff Lichtman read Cifuentes notes from his 2/2016 interview with the US in which he said the Beltran Leyva brothers, Chapo's enemies, paid Calderon to protect them vs Chapo.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 27m27 minutes ago
"I don't recall this incident very well," Cifuentes, adding moments later, "Right now, I do not remember that."


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 26m26 minutes ago
US federal prosecutors objected several times to the questions about bribes paid to Mexican presidents. Sometimes the objections were overruled by Judge Brian M. Cogan. Sometimes they were sustained.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 25m25 minutes ago
Lichtman, for instance, confronted Cifuentes w/notes from his interview with US authorities in which he said that his former personal assistant, Andrea Velez Fernandez, had worked for a political consultant, JJ Rendon, who was hired by EPN's campaign....


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 24m24 minutes ago
According to the notes, Cifuentes had told the Americans that Andrea sent him photos of "suitcases filled w/cash."
Lichtman asked whether those suitcases were "destined President Pena Nieto."
The prosecutors objected on grounds of relevance. "Agreed," Judge Cogan said.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 24m24 minutes ago
There was no more testimony about the suitcases after that.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 23m23 minutes ago
But there was more testimony about corruption.
Cifuentes said the Mexican federal police not only permitted drug trafficking, but took part in it. Once, he said, suitcases filled w/coke were sent by plane from Argentina to Mexico. Narcos sent the police photos of the suitcases.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 23m23 minutes ago
Federal police officers then retrieved the suitcases from baggage claim, Cifuentes said, and sold the drugs themselves.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 22m22 minutes ago
Cifuentes also testified that two or three times, Chapo paid the Mexican military $10-12 million to launch offensive operations against his rivals, the Beltran-Leyva brothers.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 21m21 minutes ago
"During the war, Mr. Guzman was paying the military to fight for him?" Mr. Lichtman asked.
Yes, Cifuentes said.
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 19m19 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews @EPN
#BREAKING @vicenews: More testimony just now about presidential corruption in Mexico. Alex Cifuentes told U.S. law enforcement in February 2016 that the Beltrán-Leyva organization paid Felipe Calderón (@FelipeCalderon) for protection against El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 14m14 minutes ago
The defense indicated today that El Chapo could testify. He’s now officially on the witness list meaning the option is technically open.
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[YESorNO]

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 10m10 minutes ago
Cifuentes also dodged questions about prior statements he allegedly made to the US gov re payments the Beltrán Leyvas made to former Mexican prez ⁦@FelipeCalderon⁩ for protection against El Chapo

El Chapo trial witness claims drug lord paid $100 million bribe to Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto

JAN 15, 2019

"Mexican drug lord Joaquín (El Chapo) Guzmán Loera allegedly paid an eye-watering $100 million bribe to former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, a witness testified Tuesday.

“Mr. Guzman paid a bribe of $100 million to (President Enrique) Peña Nieto?" Chapo’s defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman asked Alex Cifuentes on cross-examination.

“That’s right,” replied Cifuentes, a government witness who worked as a secretary for Chapo during the kingpin’s life on the lam in the mountains of Sinaloa.

Cifuentes testified that a woman identified only as Comadre Maria paid the bribe in October 2012, at Chapo’s request.

“Joaquín told me,” he said when asked how he heard the blockbuster claim.

Peña Nieto has denied ever taking money from Chapo.

He was president of Mexico from December 2012 until November 2018 and previously served as governor of the state that includes Mexico City...."

El Chapo trial witness claims drug lord paid $100 million bribe to Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto - NY Daily News


Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 9m9 minutes ago
Bringing the total number of Mexican presidents (including the current one) who have been implicated in #ElChapo’s trial to THREE
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 13m13 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
More on alleged Mexican corruption: According to Lichtman, Cifuentes previously told US authorities that a cartel operative named Andrea Velez-Fernandez sent “pictures of suitcases filled with cash” from a personal plane that belonged to JJ Rendón, a Mexican political consultant.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 13m13 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
Cifuentes acknowledged receiving the photos, but said they were taken in Mexico City, not on the plane. Lichtman said that Cifuentes had claimed previously that “those suitcases full of cash were destined for President Peña Nieto.”



Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 11m11 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
Lichtman also referred to a Nov. 2017 debriefing in which Cifuentes claimed “the president of Mexico had contacted” Chapo to tell him "he didn’t have to stay hidden.”

“That’s exactly what Mr. Guzmán said to me,” Cifuentes testified. “They wanted to work with him.”


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 50s50 seconds ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
I interviewed Felipe Calderón over the summer and asked him directly about allegations that his administration favored the Sinaloa cartel. Here's what he said.

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/zmdmzx/felipe-calderon-has-no-regrets-about-his-bloody-war-against-mexicos-cartels … @vicenews

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2m2 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
A portion of the interview with Felipe Calderón is also featured in episode 4 of our Chapo podcast

EP 4: The Border



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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 57s58 seconds ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and
Story now live @vicenews. Here’s everything you need to know about the bombshell corruption allegations from El Chapo’s trial today:

El Chapo witness claims Mexico’s former president took a $100 million bribe

Jan 15, 2019

"BROOKLYN — A former associate of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán testified Tuesday that the drug kingpin paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, a claim met with audible gasps inside the federal courtroom in Brooklyn.

Alex Cifuentes, who described himself on the witness stand as Chapo’s personal secretary in the late 2000s, made the allegation when asked by Chapo’s lawyer about his involvement in efforts to corrupt high-ranking Mexican government officials. The questions during the cross examination focused on past statements made by Cifuentes to U.S. law enforcement....

There was some confusion about the testimony on Tuesday because Lichtman, while pressing Cifuentes on his inconsistent statements, initially misspoke. He asked Cifuentes whether he told U.S. law enforcement about a bribe of $250 dollars, later correcting himself by saying the past statement by Cifuentes was about a request for $250 million from Peña Nieto.

Cifuentes seized the opportunity. “That mistake you made is the mistake I made in my first debriefing,” he said. Cifuentes added that he was certain that there was a bribe of $100 million. “It’s clear to me,” he said. When Lichtman asked how he could be sure, Cifuentes replied, “Joaquín told me.”...

Lichtman grilled Cifuentes for nearly a full day, often probing on topics that seemed to incriminate Chapo more than exonerate him. The defense attorney asked Cifuentes about payments that were allegedly made to JJ Rendón, a political consultant....

Despite the adamant denials, the latest testimony by Cifuentes will surely fuel suspicions that much of the Mexican government is susceptible to narco-corruption. Lopez Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1, has floated the idea of pardoning corrupt government officials, a proposal that has been met with outrage in a country where impunity reigns."

El Chapo witness claims Mexico’s former president took a $100 million bribe
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 16m16 minutes ago
Andrea Velez even snapped pictures of the suitcases filled with cash, waiting delivery to former president @EPN. She sent those pictures to Alex Cifuentes, he told the jury today.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 15m15 minutes ago
Emily Palmer Retweeted Emily Palmer

The prosecution promised a big picture view of the inner-workings of cartels in Mexico. They have painted a painfully detailed account of Chapo, but it was his defense today who really brought us into big-picture territory.

---Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer
BREAKING: Enrique Peña Nieto received $100 million from Chapo in October 2012 ... a little less than the former president of Mexico had requested ($250 million). Alex Cifuentes confirmed the bribe, but could not longer specify the amounts he told prosecutors at earlier proffers.
12:26 PM - 15 Jan 2019


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 15m15 minutes ago
In an all-afternoon inquiry, Chapo’s defense team dug up some of the most revelatory information in the trial to date, namely that the hand of the Sinaloa cartel reached all the way to the former president, Enrique Peña Nieto who took a $100 million bribe.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 14m14 minutes ago
At first glance it seems strange that Chapo’s defense brought up his own bribe to the former president … it won’t do much to help him get off. Rather, it dirties the hands of so many others, proving correct the assumption of Mexican government corruption in the highest offices.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 14m14 minutes ago
Alex Cifuentes has told the government in earlier proffers that the Beltran-Leyva Organization paid another former president, @FelipeCalderon, for protection from Chapo. (Chapo in turn paid of the special forces to kill off the BLO.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 13m13 minutes ago
“I’ve got a ways to go,” Chapo’s defense attorney, @NYCDefenseLaw, told the judge just 45 minutes before the end of the day. Looks like we might get a few more nuggets tomorrow.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 13m13 minutes ago
And with the ball rolling, the stories of corruption continued: Chapo authorized Alex Cifuentes and his wife, Angie, to work with the Mexican Federal Police in securely importing cocaine - stuffed in suitcases - from Argentina to Mexico.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 13m13 minutes ago
The cartel would send photographs of the flight number and suitcases, and the Mexican Federal Police would head to baggage claim to pick up the cocaine-stuffed suitcases on behalf of El Chapo. (They did the same for the sweet-faced Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as La Barbie.)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 9m9 minutes ago
You can read more on this and the possibility of Chapo testifying:

El Chapo Trial: Former Mexican President Peña Nieto Took $100 Million Bribe, Witness Says


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 2m2 minutes ago
Regarding proof: We'd like to have it. There's a lot we'll never know for sure because of U.S. government censorship. The defense tried to get accusations against @EPN into evidence under another witness, but it was blocked. Jorge alone isn't reliable, but he's not alone.


Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 5m5 minutes ago
The full story on today's wild developments at the Chapo trial. First, a witness testified that former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto took a $100 million bribe from the kingpin. Then Chapo's lawyers officially said he might testify at the trial too.

El Chapo Trial: Former Mexican President Peña Nieto Took $100 Million Bribe, Witness Says
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 33m33 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
Another corruption allegation from the trial today: Alex Cifuentes claimed El Chapo paid the Mexican military $10-12 million to capture and kill members of the Beltrán-Leyva organization.

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/439k4n/el-chapo-witness-claims-mexicos-former-president-took-a-dollar100-million-bribe …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 31m31 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
And one more: The Mexican federal police officers were allegedly collecting suitcases full of cocaine off the airport baggage claim for El Chapo

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/439k4n/el-chapo-witness-claims-mexicos-former-president-took-a-dollar100-million-bribe …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 28m28 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews and 2 others
We heard more today about the possibility that Chapo could take the stand to testify in his own defense. Lichtman said Chapo been added to a list of potential defense witnesses. That doesn't mean it's for sure going to happen, but it does leave the door open. It would be madness.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 25m25 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Normally, defense lawyers don't let their clients testify at their own trial because it opens them up to perjury or self-incrimination on cross-examination. But nothing about the Chapo trial is normal. He basically has nothing to lose at this point.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 20m20 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Chapo is probably itching to tell his side of this story. He's been forced to sit silently while his former friends and business partners testify against him. Judging by his reactions, he's been agitated by some of the testimony and wants a chance to set the record straight.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17m17 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
It's also likely that Chapo wants to be the star of his own show. We've heard about how he tried to write a book and a direct a movie about his life story. Taking the stand at his own trial would be one hell of a final act.
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 21m21 minutes ago
Alan Feuer Retweeted Alan Feuer

I will note, for the record, that what seems to be Felipe Calderon's official account just gave this tweet--one among several in a long thread--a like on https://twitter.com ...

---Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer
"I don't recall this incident very well," Cifuentes, adding moments later, "Right now, I do not remember that."
1:26 PM - 15 Jan 2019
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[YESorNO]

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 3m3 minutes ago
Now this... would really be something

El Chapo might take the stand at his own trial

JAN 15, 2019

"El Chapo might take the stand at his own trial.

Lawyers for the Mexican drug lord, whose real name is Joaquin Guzmán Loera, submitted the kingpin’s name to the government as a potential witness for the defense, it was revealed in court Tuesday.

"There's a possibility that he might," Chapo’s attorney Eduardo Balarezo told the Daily News.

"Mr. Guzman has a right to testify in his own defense — he also has a constitutional right to remain silent, and that should not be held against him. With respect to whether or not he will testify, the defense has not made a final decision, but it is possible."

Guzmán, 61, who diligently takes notes during proceedings each day, has a reputation for running his mouth when it might not be in his best interest — like his interview with actor Sean Penn for Rolling Stone magazine in September 2015 while he was on the lam following his second escape from prison....

If he takes the stand, Chapo will have the chance to respond to devastating testimony made against him by nearly a dozen former associates during his trial...."

El Chapo might take the stand at his own trial - NY Daily News

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 20m20 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Here's a sidebar conference from today that explains why Chapo's lawyer is asking a witness about Chapo paying millions in bribes to Enrique Peña Nieto.

It's not about the corruption. It's about the witness changing his story, which suggests he's unreliable.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 16m16 minutes ago
Replying to @keegan_hamilton @vicenews
Keegan Hamilton Retweeted Felipe Calderón

Calderón responds to the corruption allegations at El Chapo's trial…

----Felipe Calderón‏Verified account @FelipeCalderon
A pregunta del abogado de Joaquín Guzmán al testigo “Cifuentes”, si los Beltrán Leyva me había dado dinero, el testigo lo negó dos veces: Textualmente, "I don't recall this incident very well," Cifuentes, adding moments later, "Right now, I do not remember that." Para aclarar.
4:51 PM - 15 Jan 2019

BBM (I Google translated) :

A pregunta del abogado de Joaquín Guzmán al testigo “Cifuentes”, si los Beltrán Leyva me había dado dinero, el testigo lo negó dos veces: Textualmente....

"When the lawyer of Joaquín Guzmán asked the witness "Cifuentes", if the Beltrán Leyva had given me money, the witness denied it twice: Textually, ....

Para aclarar."

"To clarify."
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[YESorNO]

El Chapo Trial: Inside Alleged Drug Kingpin’s Life in Hiding
Colombian drug trafficker Alex Cifuentes took the stand to describe the months he spent hiding out in the mountains with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán

JANUARY 15, 2019

"For a time, despite the high price on his head, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s life wasn’t so bad. Ensconced in a series of mountain hideouts in the Sierra Madre Occidental range of his home state of Sinaloa, on the west coast of Mexico, Guzmán would typically wake up at noon, receive the morning’s messages from a secretary, and eat lunch.

On the rare occasions that his young wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was visiting, he would feast on his favorite meal of enchiladas suizas — a dish featured in a series of racy text messages read aloud this month in court — before making some calls on a long-range cordless telephone.

Guarded by three rings of armed guards, El Chapo, the alleged don of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, was treated to maid service in his mountain redoubts, and frequently hosted a seemingly endless string of visiting mistresses, indulging in his greatest vices: women, and his own myth.

Until now, the details of Guzmán’s years on the run have been largely obscured, thanks in part to his success in lying low between his first prison break in 2001 and his eventual capture in 2014. But in a day of gripping testimony from a man who described himself as El Chapo’s “secretary, his right-hand man, and his left-hand man,” a portrait emerged Monday of the alleged kingpin’s life in hiding, a mix of creature comforts and the occasional mad dash into the hinterlands of Sinaloa, with the Mexican army hot on his tail.

Alex Cifuentes, a Colombian drug trafficker who spent nearly two years embedded with Guzmán in the mountains of Sinaloa, spent all day on the stand Monday, his second day of testimony against El Chapo, now in the third month of a trial that could put Guzmán behind bars for life....."

After nearly three months of trial, 10 cooperating witnesses, and dozens of hours of testimony, the end is beginning to come into sight, as the government winds down its case against Guzmán. After the prosecution rests its case, the defense team will have a chance, finally, to call its own witnesses. According to a report in the New York Times, that could include Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, a former Sinaloa state legislator and Chapo’s former lover, as well as an unnamed criminal the defense team hinted it intends to call from prison to testify on Guzmán’s behalf...."

El Chapo Trial: Inside Alleged Drug Kingpin’s Life in Hiding – Rolling Stone
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[Niner]

Wednesday, January 16th:
*Trial continues (Day 30) (@ 9am ET) - NY – *Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (El Chapo) (~61) arrested & charged with smuggled 155 tons of cocaine into U.S. Sinaloa drug cartel chief. Guzmán faces 17-count indictment charging him with drug trafficking, murder conspiracy & money laundering spanning nearly three decades. Plead not guilty to all charges. No bail.
Prosecutors say Guzmán ran Mexico's Sinaloa cartel from 1989 to 2014. In that time, they allege the cartel brought cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine & marijuana into the U.S. Prosecutors also charged Guzmán in connection with the assassinations of thousands of competitors. Plead not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Trial expected to last several months. Also for trafficking, conspiracy & firearms in California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Florida & New York.
Skipping over Day 1 thru 25.
1/9/19 Day 26: State witnesses: FBI Special Agent Stephen Marston. Cristian Rodriguez, the Sinaloa cartel IT guy who became an informant for the FBI. Trial continues on 1/10.
1/10/19 Day 27: State witnesses: Christian Rodriguez, IT guy for cartel. Alex Cifuentes Villa, a Colombian narco. Trial continues on Monday, 1/14.
1/14/19 Day 28: The prosecution has indicated that it intends to rest on or around Jan. 23. State Witnesses: Alex Cifuentes Villa, described himself as Chapo's "secretary, his right-hand man, and his left-hand man." Trial continues on 1/15.
1/15/19 Day 29: State witnesses: Alex Cifuentes Villa. The defense indicated today that El Chapo could testify. He’s now officially on the witness list meaning the option is technically open. Trial continues on 1/16.

 

[tarabull]

Ex-president of Mexico was paid $100M bribe to call off manhunt for cartel leader El Chapo, trial told

 

[YESorNO]

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 12h12 hours ago
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 12h12 hours ago
To recap: In the morning, the defense objected to a line of questioning pertaining to Chapo bribing officials; during the afternoon, the defense revealed to the world Chapo paid a $100 million bribe to the president of Mexico in 2012.
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 13h13 hours ago
There were some questions about how much @EPN requested and how much he received. (Alex Cifuentes was certain of the $ amount up until a few months ago.) In this sidebar, Lichtman, the defense attorney who brought the accusation to light, explains:

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