M.N.: And this is absolutely correct and the truth, regardless of his own problems. But it is more than that: the FBI’s behavior is not just “disgraceful”, it is plainly and overtly CRIMINAL in many instances, about which we simply do not know or do not know enough, and in various areas. We do have to learn about it and to understand the nature of these problems, that is why we do need the thorough, independent, objective and definitive investigation of the FBI, its work, methods, etc. I still cannot believe that the things that the FBI does are happening in America. But we better believe this, and we better look into this. This is absolutely vital and essential. Do you want your children to grow up as slaves: psychologically, morally, emotionally? And that what the FBI does, in one word: it tries to enslave people by controlling and subjugating them, in various ways, and with their various “techniques”. And at the same time, they are grossly, patently, and obviously incompetent in the Criminal Justice and the National Security matters. This situation became simply intolerable, and it demands the urgent attention of the Congress and the American people.
President Donald Trump said that there was tremendous anger over the FBI’s disgraceful behavior,
criticizing the Bureau just before he appeared at its training facility in Quantico, Virginia, to praise the nations police officers, according to the Washington Post. Its a shame what happened to the FBI Trump told reporters as he prepared to depart for a ceremony at the FBIs National Academy, where more than 200 law enforcement officers graduated from a training program..
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| Today’s Headlines and Commentary | ||
President Donald Trump said that there was tremendous anger over the FBIs disgraceful behavior, criticizing the Bureau just before he appeared at its training facility in Quantico, Virginia, to praise the nations police officers, according to the Washington Post. Its a shame what happened to the FBI Trump told reporters as he prepared to depart for a ceremony at the FBIs National Academy, where more than 200 law enforcement officers graduated from a training program..In an annual press conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Trumps job performance, saying Washington was consumed by spy mania and that the Russian investigation was invented by people who are in opposition to Trump to characterize his work as illegitimate. The Wall Street Journal reports that Putin spoke favorably about the U.S. economy, attributing rising stock exchange numbers to Trump. The Russian president also questioned the investigation of contacts between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the former Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, saying it was a world wide practice for diplomatic teams to understand what people will do if they come into power and how to react to it. Putin also dismissed his domestic competitors in the Russian presidential election. POLITICO writes that Trump called Putin to thank him for his remarks on the U.S. economy, and to discuss how they can resolve the issue of North Koreas nuclear program. The two leaders spoke for 10 minutes with no one listening in, including national security adviser H.R. McMaster. President Trump suggested this morning that he has not dismissed the idea of pardoning former national security adviser Michael Flynn after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI earlier this month, according to CNN. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House this morning, Trump said he was not ready to talk about pardons, saying well see what happens, lets see. Trump instead focused attention on the Department of Justice and the FBI, saying that people were very, very angry about what is happening at the two agencies. His lawyer for the Russia investigation, Ty Cobb, told CNN after Trumps remarks that the president is not considering pardoning Flynn. Senate Republicans are attempting to shield special counsel Robert Mueller from mounting GOP fury about purported evidence that his team was biased against Trump, writes the Post. As House Republicans demand a special counsel to investigate Robert Mueller in the face of newly-released anti-Trump, pro-Hillary Clinton text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, Senate Republicans have come to Muellers aid. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are among those defending Mueller, saying that the FBI officials conduct does not impinge on Muellers integrity in investigating Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election. Robert Mueller has requested employee emails from Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that worked for President Trumps campaign, according to the Journal. The request sought the emails of all employees who had worked on the Trump campaign and was made before the media reported in October that Cambridge CEO Alexander Nix had contacted Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange during the 2016 presidential election. The ties between Cambridge Analytica and Wikileaks are also of interest to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, according to that committees ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Foreign Policy details the secret history of the Russian consulate in San Francisco, detailing its busy activity. In a continuing feud between the State Department and the White House, a White House official said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has not learned his lesson from the last time, after Tillerson recently offered to start diplomatic talks with North Korea over its nuclear program, writes the Post. The official also stated that our allies know at this point hes not really speaking for the administration and that he cannot stay in the job for much longer. White House spokesman Raj Shah rebutted this assertion, saying Trump is pleased with his national security team, which includes Secretary Tillerson. National security adviser H.R. McMaster is under fire from critics who say the three star general is hurting efforts to recruit members to the Presidents Intelligence Advisory Board, Foreign Policy tells us. Oracle Corporation executive Safra Catz and tech magnate Peter Thiel have both reportedly turned down jobs leading the advisory board in part over concerns about McMaster, although others dispute that account. This latest charge is just the latest in an ongoing feud between factions on the National Security Council. A new U.S. Army study of U.S. participation in the battle for Mosul, code-named Eagle Strike, details that difficulties in sharing imagery contributed to different understandings what was going on during hostilities, according to the Journal. Explaining that a common operational and intelligence picture is critical, the report also raised concerns about the militarys response to the ISIS drone threat, the use of private contractors, training for urban warfare, and the means by which American forces communicated with Mosuls trapped residents. The report will be used in making training decisions, helping to inform the approach to future conflicts, according to Center for Army Lessons Learned Director Col. Mike Pappal. The Post tells us that ISIS used rockets supplied by the United States, some of which appear to have been provided to Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. The revelation is part of a report by Conflict Armament Research, a weapons-tracking group based in Britain that has documented more than 40,000 firearms and munitions across Iraq and Syria stemming from field investigations. Sen. Todd Young (R-In.) is holding up the confirmation of Trumps nominee to be the State Departments top legal counsel, Jennifer Newstead, in an effort to persuade the Trump administration to pressure Saudi Arabia to end its stranglehold on aid to Yemen, reports Foreign Policy. The now nearly three-year-old conflict in Yemen has been largely overlooked by the U.S. government, despite U.S. supplies of bombs and fuel to the Saudis. International aid organizations said the senators efforts were responsible for the White Houses nudge last month to Saudi Arabia to lift a blockage on U.N. flights and shipments to Yemen. The Military Times writes that new satellite imagery shows that this year, China has built infrastructure covering 72 acres in the Spratly and Paracel islands to equip its larger outposts as air and naval bases. The islands, part of disputed territory in the South China Sea, have long been a source of tension between the United States and China, but those tensions have eased in the past year. The activity comes as China joins negotiations with southeast Asian nations to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea. Jessica Trisko Darden of the Post examines how far Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will go to stop terrorism in light of his recent extension of martial law for a second time in his home province of Mindanao, where militants associated with the Islamic State have made a stronghold. Britains Chief of Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach warned that Britain and its NATO allies must defend deep-sea cables against potentially disastrous attacks by the Russian navy, Reuters reported. The vulnerability of the cables, which carry 95 percent of the worlds daily communications and over $10 trillion in daily transactions, are a new risk to our way of life, according to Peach. ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare Philip Carter explored how changing norms surrounding civilian-military relations as a result of the Trump administration may apply in the future. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board. |
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| UK defense chief says Russia poses risk to undersea cables | ||
LONDON (AP) – The head of Britain’s military says Russia could try to sever undersea communications cables, and protecting them is a defense priority for NATO.Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach says cutting or disrupting the cables could have a “potentially catastrophic” economic effect. Peach told an audience at the … |
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| Communist Parties’ Victory in Nepal May Signal Closer China Ties – New York Times | ||
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| Trump’s ‘personal insecurities’ impair US response to a security threat – MSNBC | ||
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| NYC Woman Charged With Laundering Money Through Cryptocurrencies to ISIS | ||
A Long Island woman “The defendant defrauded numerous financial institutions and obtained over $85,000 in illicit proceeds, which she converted to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” the Department of Justice “She then laundered and transferred the funds out of the country to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS),” the According to the court record, Shahnaz worked as a lab technician in a hospital in Manhattan up until June 2017, and around June 2016 she volunteered in Jordan with the Syrian American Medical Society. As part of her volunteer work, she was working in a refugee camp where the prosecutors said “ISIS exercises significant influence.” Shahnaz’s “Whatever she did was for humanitarian purposes only,” Zissou said. Yet prosecutors claim Shahnaz fraudulently obtained six credit cards and a loan from a Manhattan bank, which she then used to procure $85,000 to convert to cryptocurrencies in order to transfer the funds overseas and provide financial support to Shahnaz was suspected of foul play while attempting to board a suspicious flight at JFK airport in New York City on July 31. She was questioned by law enforcement officials at the airport while attempting to board a flight to Pakistan with a layover in Turkey. Her return flight was booked for Sept. 4 from Istanbul, Turkey back to JFK. Prosecutors pointed out that ISIS recommends those who wish to travel and join ISIS buy round trip tickets because it appears less suspicious. She is being held without bail, pending trial. Her next court date is Jan. 5. The post NYC Woman Charged With Laundering Money Through Cryptocurrencies to ISIS appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.  |
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| DOJ: Early Media Release of FBI Agents Texts Were Not Authorized | ||
The Department of Justice on Thursday acknowledged that Some messages between Strzok and Page expressed support for Hillary Clinton and disdain toward then-presidential candiate Donald Trump during the 2016 election. Strzok was part of the operation overseeing the Clinton email investigation, and both agents worked for a time on the special counsel investigation into alleged Russian meddling and collusion. Once the texts were uncovered over the summer, Strzok was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s After sharing the text messages with lawmakers, the Department of Justice’s “As we understand now, some members of the media had already received copies of the texts before thatbut The text were uncovered in July as part of an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice’s A Department of Justice The department’s The department Rosenstein also addressed the release of information to the media on Wednesday during the public hearing. “Generally speaking, our goal is to be as forthcoming with the media as we can, when it is lawful and appropriate to do so,” Rosenstein said during the hearing. “So I would not approve anybody disclosing something that was not appropriate to disclose.” The post DOJ: Early Media Release of FBI Agents Texts Were Not Authorized appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.  |
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| What Is Vladimir Putin Really Up To? Carnegie Scholars Aim To Find Out. | ||
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is about to launch a two-year analysis of Russia’s activist foreign and military policies. |
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| A New Industrial Hack Highlights the Cyber Holes in Our Infrastructure – MIT Technology Review | ||
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| This Is the Navy’s Master Plan to Kill China’s Aircraft Carriers | ||
James HolmesSecurity, Asia 
Beijing won’t like this one bit.Fortress China is festooned with airfields and mobile antiship weaponry able to strike hundreds of miles out to sea. Yes, the U.S. Navy remains stronger than the PLA Navy in open-sea battle. A fleet-on-fleet engagement isolated from shore-based reinforcements would probably go Americas way. But that hypothetical result may not make much difference since the two navies are more likely to join battle in confined Asian waters than on the open ocean. |
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| White House: FBI records show ‘extreme bias’ against Trump – Washington Times | ||
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| Donald Trump says FBI documents prove bias against him, favoritism for Hillary Clinton | ||
Responding to revelations that a top FBI official in the Russia investigation showed bias against him in text messages, President Trump said Friday that the episode was “disgraceful” and that he will reform the law-enforcement agency to be “bigger and better than ever.””It is very sad when you look … |
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| Trump administration rolls out global campaign to combat those who overstay their visas in the US – Washington Examiner | ||
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| Suspected North Korean cyber group seeks to woo bitcoin job seekers – Reuters | ||
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| A prayer for CIA accountability that will likely go unanswered – Washington Post | ||
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| Top US Army general in Europe retires after 3 busy years at helm | ||
The Army general who oversaw the most significant buildup of U.S. troops and infrastructure since the end of the Cold War retired Friday after more than three years in command. |
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| Trump calls conduct at FBI disgraceful before appearing at Quantico | ||
President weighs in revelations senior FBI officials exchanged text messages denouncing Trump and supportive of Hillary Clinton.    |
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| Russia, N. Korea Eye Bitcoin for Money Laundering, Putting It on a Crash Course with Regulators | ||
Traders work in a trading pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, in Chicago, as they trade S&P 500 Options, unrelated to bitcoin futures. Trading in Bitcoin futures began Sunday on the CBOE. |
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| Daily Reads: Net Neutrality Repeal a Brutal Blow to Democracy – BillMoyers.com | ||
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| Tillerson offers olive branch to North Korea if it abandons nuclear weapons | ||
Speaking at the United Nations, the secretary of state indicated the United States wants a sustained cessation of North Koreas threatening behavior before talks can begin.    |
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| Trump To FBI Academy Graduates: “The President Of The United States Has Your Back” – RealClearPolitics | ||
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| Dutch police shoot man with a knife at Amsterdam airport | ||
Dutch military police say they have shot a man after he threatened to use a knife at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. |
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| ISIS may have obtained anti-tank missiles from the CIA – Business Insider | ||
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| In the FBI’s Backyard, Trump Snubs the Bureau – Daily Beast | ||
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| House Intelligence Panel Is Rushing to Complete Russia Probe – New York Times | ||
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| Trump laments FBI, lauds law enforcement – WLWT Cincinnati | ||
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