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There are many actors in the whole Google/diversity drama, but I’d say the one who’s behaved the worst is the C.E.O., Sundar Pichai.
The first actor is James Damore, who wrote the memo. In it, he was trying to explain why 80 percent of Google’s tech employees are male. He agreed that there are large cultural biases but also pointed to a genetic component. Then he described some of the ways the distribution of qualities differs across male and female populations.
Damore was tapping into the long and contentious debate about genes and behavior. On one side are those who believe that humans come out as blank slates and are formed by social structures. On the other are the evolutionary psychologists who argue that genes interact with environment and play a large role in shaping who we are. In general the evolutionary psychologists have been winning this debate.
When it comes to the genetic differences between male and female brains, I’d say the mainstream view is that male and female abilities are the same across the vast majority of domains — I.Q., the ability to do math, etc. But there are some ways that male and female brains are, on average, different. There seems to be more connectivity between the hemispheres, on average, in female brains. Prenatal exposure to different levels of androgen does seem to produce different effects throughout the life span.
In his memo, Damore cites a series of studies, making the case, for example, that men tend to be more interested in things and women more interested in people. (Interest is not the same as ability.) Several scientists in the field have backed up his summary of the data. “Despite how it’s been portrayed, the memo was fair and factually accurate,” Debra Soh wrote in The Globe and Mail in Toronto.
Geoffrey Miller, a prominent evolutionary psychologist, wrote in Quillette, “For what it’s worth, I think that almost all of the Google memo’s empirical claims are scientifically accurate.”
Damore was especially careful to say this research applies only to populations, not individuals: “Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population-level distributions.”
That’s the crucial point. But of course we don’t live as populations; we live our individual lives.
We should all have a lot of sympathy for the second group of actors in this drama, the women in tech who felt the memo made their lives harder. Picture yourself in a hostile male-dominated environment, getting interrupted at meetings, being ignored, having your abilities doubted, and along comes some guy arguing that women are on average less status hungry and more vulnerable to stress. Of course you’d object.
What we have is a legitimate tension. Damore is describing a truth on one level; his sensible critics are describing a different truth, one that exists on another level. He is championing scientific research; they are championing gender equality. It takes a little subtlety to harmonize these strands, but it’s doable.
Of course subtlety is in hibernation in modern America. The third player in the drama is Google’s diversity officer, Danielle Brown. She didn’t wrestle with any of the evidence behind Damore’s memo. She just wrote his views “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.” This is ideology obliterating reason.
The fourth actor is the media. The coverage of the memo has been atrocious.
As Conor Friedersdorf wrote in The Atlantic, “I cannot remember the last time so many outlets and observers mischaracterized so many aspects of a text everyone possessed.” Various reporters and critics apparently decided that Damore opposes all things Enlightened People believe and therefore they don’t have to afford him the basic standards of intellectual fairness.
The mob that hounded Damore was like the mobs we’ve seen on a lot of college campuses. We all have our theories about why these moral crazes are suddenly so common. I’d say that radical uncertainty about morality, meaning and life in general is producing intense anxiety. Some people embrace moral absolutism in a desperate effort to find solid ground. They feel a rare and comforting sense of moral certainty when they are purging an evil person who has violated one of their sacred taboos.
Which brings us to Pichai, the supposed grown-up in the room. He could have wrestled with the tension between population-level research and individual experience. He could have stood up for the free flow of information. Instead he joined the mob. He fired Damore and wrote, “To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not O.K.”
That is a blatantly dishonest characterization of the memo. Damore wrote nothing like that about his Google colleagues. Either Pichai is unprepared to understand the research (unlikely), is not capable of handling complex data flows (a bad trait in a C.E.O.) or was simply too afraid to stand up to a mob.
Regardless which weakness applies, this episode suggests he should seek a nonleadership position. We are at a moment when mobs on the left and the right ignore evidence and destroy scapegoats. That’s when we need good leaders most.
Regardless which weakness applies, this episode suggests he should seek a nonleadership position. We are at a moment when mobs on the left and the right ignore evidence and destroy scapegoats. That’s when we need good leaders most.”
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Britain approves black list of Russian oligarchs https://en.crimerussia.com/oligarchs/britain-approves-black-list-of-russian-oligarchs/ … pic.twitter.com/YqqjehyVv0
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All The Criminal Charges To Emerge So Far From Robert Mueller’s Investigation NPR
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Editorial cartoons for Dec. 9, 2018: Bush funeral, Mueller memos, ‘Tariff Man’ Syracuse.com
The state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush captivated Washington. Bush died Nov. 30, 2018, at age 94. The controversies of his one-term …
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The state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush captivated Washington. Bush died Nov. 30, 2018, at age 94. The controversies of his one-term presidency receded into the background as his eulogists — including son and President George W. Bush — celebrated his wartime heroism, foreign policy acumen and kindness.
Commentators couldn’t help but contrast the “kinder, gentler” elder Bush with President Donald Trump’s combative style.
Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Mueller continued to rile the president with sentencing memos for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Other topics in the news this week include Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina to avert a trade war; the president’s tweet that he is “Tariff Man,” rattling the financial markets; continued fallout from the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey; voter fraud in North Carolina; and Republican efforts in Wisconsin and Michigan to handcuff incoming Democratic administrations.
Cartoons were drawn by Bill Bramhall, Chan Lowe, Dan Wasserman, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands and Joel Pett of Tribune Content Agency; Tim Campbell, Mike Lester, Signe Wilkinson and Jeff Danziger of the Washington Post Writers Group; and Tom Toles of Andrews McMeel Syndication.
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His calls were echoed by Marina Litvinenko, who husband Alexander was killed in London in 2006 with polonium-210 on the orders of the Russian state.
“It’s very important that Scotland Yard looks into these mysterious deaths, because it seems that they’re all linked somehow,” she said.
Mr Browder said that the fact that they had been identified through the blunders of agents abroad would have left Mr Putin “seething”.
“Putin will be absolutely humiliated that his entire foreign assassin operation has been compromised by its own stupidity,” he said.
The 14 deaths linked to Russia were initially re-examined in the wake of the Skripals poisoning.
Scotland Yard said in a statement: “Following a request in March from the then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd, reviews into 14 deaths of Russian nationals in the UK were carried out by the relevant local police forces, which were coordinated by Counter Terrorism Policing.
“Following the reviews a response was sent back to the Home Secretary that there was no basis on which to re-open any of the investigations. Should any new information or evidence become available, then it will be assessed by the relevant police force as appropriate.”
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Deutsche Bank is in hot water after recent raids by police. What will happen next?
Deutsche Bank faces its most severe test yet in the wake of police raids on its Frankfurt offices on November 29 over suspicions of helping its clients in money laundering. The scene was dramatic: 170 officers descended on six Deutsche Bank buildings, including its headquarters, and seized documents and files, according to an NPR report.
German authorities are investigating whether Deutsche Bank employees — specifically two individuals — helped set up offshore companies in tax havens for some 900 clients to launder about $354 million from criminal activities. The investigation is related to the Panama Papers expose of 2016, Deutsche Bank said, adding that it has provided the relevant documents to the investigators.
The Panama Papers refer to the legal records of a Panamanian law firm that revealed the financial holdings in tax havens of numerous influential people including a dozen national leaders. Fourteen German banks used the Panamanian law firm of Mossack Fonseca to set up more than 1,200 anonymous shell companies, according a report in The Guardian newspaper of the UK, which worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to publish the Panama Papers expose.
“The bank could face a world in which it gets penalized out of existence,” said David Zaring, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics. He noted that Deutsche Bank has a history of scandals involving regulatory transgressions. “It just pays fines all the time.” The bank is paying a $425 million fine in New York for helping Russians move money out of Russia; the Federal Reserve fined Deutsche Bank $41 million for failing to have effective compliance measures in place; and “German bank regulators have appointed a monitor for Deutsche Bank to make sure that it’s not laundering money and financing terrorism,” Zaring noted. According to one list, the bank has attracted some $12.5 billion in fines in 28 cases since 2000.
“Deutsche Bank is a classic [case of] ‘control fraud,’” said William K. Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He explained that “control fraud” occurs when “a seemingly legitimate entity and the people that control it use it as a weapon to defraud others and commit other predation and crimes.” A former white-collar criminologist, Black had referred to the concept in his 2005 book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is To Own One: How Corporate Executives and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry. “[Deutsche Bank] poses as the largest bank in Germany, but it’s actually the largest criminal enterprise in Germany, which is something, because it has to compete with Volkswagen,” he added, referring to the German automaker’s 2015 emissions scandal.
Zaring and Black discussed what lies ahead for Deutsche Bank on the Knowledge@Wharton radio show on SiriusXM.
Deutsche Bank has been intimately involved with the German economy since its founding in 1870. Its status as a national icon grew along with its role in Germany’s reconstruction after World War II and its rise as a global bank over the last three decades. But the latest controversy threatens to upset that iconic image. “The problem is it is perceived as a national champion,” said Black. “The greater problem is that it’s a national champion that loses every joust, and it’s revealed to have cheated every time it gets into a joust. … So it’s a pathetic and embarrassing national champion in that regard.”
Zaring noted that at first sight, there is “nothing illegal” about Deutsche Bank helping its clients minimize their tax bills. “The question is whether they were using the Panama Papers [route] to fraudulently hide the money that the tax authorities would have wanted to get.”
Black identified problems on several fronts that Deutsche Bank currently faces. One is with the suspected link to the Panama Papers. That comes close on the heels of an investigation by U.S. law enforcement agencies into the alleged role of Danske Bank of Denmark in laundering money out of Russia and other former Soviet states. The US subsidiary of Deutsche Bank was named as being involved in laundering $150 billion, according to a Financial Times report. (Deutsche Bank has clarified in a fact sheet that the latest investigations are not related to the Danske Bank scandal.) Last, US President Donald Trump and his family’s relationships with Deutsche Bank in earlier years could trigger a game of political football after the Democratic Party gains control of the House of Representatives in January 2019.
Zaring noted that Deutsche Bank also failed a stress test the US Federal Reserve conducted in June. “Clearly, American regulators are worried about basic questions such as whether it’s resilient enough to survive a shock to the system,” he said.
Deutsche Bank has also managed to avoid having to comply with Basel 3, the tight capital adequacy standards set by the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, said Black. “Its stock prices have tanked, its bonds are being downgraded and most people think it’s in a death spiral,” he added. Deutsche Bank ADRs trading on the New York Stock Exchange fell to an all-time low of $9.02 intraday on December 4.
Black expected some executive heads to roll at Deutsche Bank as an outcome of the latest controversy. Both Black and Zaring also predicted that the bank will reach a settlement with regulators instead of fighting its case in court. “These are very difficult cases if they prosecute; almost always, Deutsche settles,” said Black. Added Zaring: “Deutsche doesn’t get a lot of joy out of fighting these things, so it will probably settle. And then, there will be a question over criminal prosecutions of the two executives who are allegedly facilitating this money laundering.”
Black said that Deutsche Bank has failed to fulfill promises made to regulators each time it was fined for lapses over the last 12 years. “Deutsche Bank has used up all of its second, third, fourth, fifth and six chances.”
Black pointed out that Deutsche Bank’s CEOs seem to have taken the heat of its regulatory skirmishes in recent years, while its chairman, Paul Achleitner, has stayed in the job since 2012. “The tone presumably starts with him,” he said. The bank’s CEOs have had an uneasy tenure since 2011, when it experimented with two co-CEOs before they quit over the next four years. John Cryan, who succeeded them, was replaced earlier this year by current CEO Christian Sewing.
According to Black, Gresham’s Law is at work in the Deutsche Bank case — a monetary principle that bad money drives out good. “Deutsche Bank either needs to be under completely new management, where you have to rip out the entire top leadership, or it needs to be merged [with another bank],” he said.
Zaring agreed with Black. “It could be that a course correction could save the bank,” he said. While a merger may be explored between Deutsche Bank and “a couple of other, smaller German banks that the Germans trust more,” it’s not clear that is the best option. “I wonder if [Deutsche Bank] is going to be able to downsize and wait this out.”
Across a broad range of countries, “the culture of finance at really high levels has suffered greatly,” Black noted. “Part of it is [the role of] institutional structures and incentives. We need to make significant changes, because if you don’t fix the culture you will have recurrent problems.”
Zaring wondered if culture correction is a feasible goal. “Can you create the right kind of compliant, law-abiding culture in a bank? And how do you do it?” He noted that US and Dutch regulators, for example, have attempted to foster within banks a culture of compliance with regulation, and have encouraged bank executives to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own bonuses. “What we need to do is create that tone at the top, and get everybody in the bank to approach rules … the same way. It looks like Deutsche Bank is ripe for cultural change, and it’s not clear whether the German regulators have figured out a way to do it.” He wondered if the bank’s shareholders would also push for such a cultural transformation after tiring of the impact of fines on its bottom line.
The overriding concern now is whether it might be too late for all those changes, and if Deutsche Bank could withstand the pressure of yet another set of heavy penalties. Zaring noted that two years ago, when the US government considered imposing a fine of around $14 billion on the bank for selling faulty mortgage-backed securities, its market capitalization shrunk to nearly the same amount. “In other words, they would have had to pledge all of their equity to meet their financial penalty obligations,” he noted. The bank eventually settled for about half that amount as a fine.
*[This article was originally published by Knowledge@Wharton, a partner institution of Fair Observer.]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.Read the whole story · · · · · ·
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Former FBI Director James Comey claimed “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” in response to dozens of questions concerning key details in the Russia probe, according to a lengthy transcript released Saturday of his closed-door interview with congressional lawmakers.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., published the 235-page transcript as a part of an agreement with Comey.
The former bureau boss frustrated GOP lawmakers during Friday’s session, in large part because his lawyers urged him not to answer numerous questions. Comey is expected to return later in the month for another round, though blasted Republicans on his way out for what he called a “desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president.”
But while Comey insisted in the interview that “we never investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes,” the transcript shows he claimed ignorance or memory lapses in response to questions concerning key details and events in the Russia investigation, which some GOP lawmakers continue to claim was improperly conducted.
The transcript reveals lawmakers’ frustration with his lack of specifics.
Asked if he recalled who drafted the FBI’s “initiation document” for the July 2016 Russia investigation, Comey said, “I do not.” He again claimed not to know when asked about the involvement in that initiation of Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump texts later got him removed from the special counsel’s probe.
When asked if the FBI had any evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server, Comey gave a lengthy answer referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as to why he couldn’t answer.
“Did we have evidence in July of (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?” Comey asked rhetorically. “I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line.”
“I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line,”— Former FBI Director James Comey
When pressed further by Gowdy about what “factual predicate” the bureau had to launch a counterintelligence investigation, Comey again claimed that answering that question would be a “slope” that would ask him to reveal what the FBI “did or didn’t know about Russia activity” as it related to the 2016 election.
“You can’t tell us, or you won’t tell us?” Gowdy asks.
“Probably a combination of both … To the extent I recall facts developed during our investigation of Russian interference and the potential connection of Americans, I think that’s a question that the FBI doesn’t want me answering. So it’s both a can’t and a won’t,” Comey replied.
The former FBI director went on to say that anything related to Mueller’s investigation, to his understanding, would be “off limits” as it is an ongoing investigation.
Comey was also fuzzy on the eventual Democratic funding of the research that went into the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.
Asked when he learned that the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, was hired by law firm Perkins Coie – and when he learned that law firm was hired by the Democratic National Committee – Comey said “I never learned that” while director.
Comey also claimed not to know key details surrounding the involvement of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier.
Asked when Steele was “terminated” as an FBI source, Comey said he didn’t know.
Asked about Steele’s subsequent contact with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Comey said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
The Comey appearance comes as Republicans try to probe deeper into the FBI’s handling of both the Russia case and Hillary Clinton email investigation, before Democrats take control of the House in January and likely shut down these lines of inquiry.
Comey was asked numerous questions as well about the handling of the Clinton case, acknowledging at times that certain aspects of it were “unusual” while defending other actions.
Comey initially challenged the subpoena to appear before the committees and instead pressed for a public hearing out of concern his comments would be selectively leaked and taken out of context. He eventually agreed to appear, with an arrangement for the transcript to be made public.
Fox News’ Bill Mears, Jake Gibson, and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · ·
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Admiral Lord West issued the dire warning as Putin’s forces are accused of massing to invade Ukraine – with president Petro Poroshenko begging for NATO aid.
The former First Sea Lord laid out the danger of the situation as both sides test each other – warning about the possibility of NATO’s intervention against Russia in the Black Sea.
He told Daily Star Online: “It was exactly this that lead to World War 1. While the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the stimulus, it was the brinkmanship.”
Tensions around Crimea – which was annexed by Russia in 2014 – have reignited after Putin’s forces opened fire upon and seized three ships from Ukraine.
Russia has denied any aggressive intent, accusing Poroshenko of inflaming the situation to boost his flagging poll numbers ahead of next year’s election.
Admiral West – one of Britain’s most senior Royal Navy figures – warned against both sides “pushing and pushing” against one another as tensions rage.
Russia has already committed an “act of war” in attacking the Ukraine vessels and warned Putin may send troops into the war-torn Donbass.
Donbass is a region of Ukraine that is currently torn-apart by civil war as pro-Russian rebels and fighting against Kiev.
Moscow has already been accused of aiding the rebels with weapons and stoking up the uprising, something which has been firmly denied by the Kremlin.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Russia’s leader has denied any aggressive intent to Ukraine (Pic: GETTY)
Admiral West told Daily Star Online: “It is a highly dangerous thing when you start playing this game, and I really do wonder about Putin.
“[Putin] just lies, and while Trump also lies, at least Trump isn’t going to try and attack us and trigger a nuclear war.”
NATO held a two day summit earlier this week, but did not commit to aiding Ukraine despite calls from Poroshenko for warships to be sent to the Black Sea.
Britain will be sending a warship into the region as part of our agreement with Kiev, but Admiral West urged we send a Type 45 destroyer rather than survey ship HMS Echo.
UKRAINE: Kiev fears Russia are going to invade after the seizure of three ships (Pic: GETTY)
WAR: Russia has moved missile defence systems into Crimea (Pic: GETTY)
Admiral West went on: “I think where this becomes extremely serious is Putin starts using Russian troops in [the Donbass] to fight Ukraine, and it becomes as war between Russia and Ukraine.
“What exactly do we do? It’s not an attack on NATO, and do we really want to send troops in and get in a hot war with Russia over Ukraine.
“It’s a very good question. And if we don’t, then we let Ukraine be extinguished, it’s a very hard one to decide.”
“I can see easily a situation where a war breaks out between Russia and Ukraine, in which the Russians would win – clearly – where NATO say they are not going to get involved.”
MAPPED: Russia and Ukraine’s clash is feared to rope in NATO (Pic: DS)
Ukraine has been holding war drills over the past few weeks, declared martial law, called army reservists and banned the entry of all men of fighting age from Russia.
Poroshenko has openly said he expects Putin’s forces to invade, warning tank divisions are massing just 11 miles from the border of Ukraine.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea from the former-Soviet state back in 2014 was internationally condemned as illegal, and triggered a larger NATO presence within eastern Europe.
Kiev fears Moscow are moving to capture the Crimean ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, which is home to key trading routes and is the latest battleground between Russia and Ukraine.
ROYAL NAVY: Admiral Lord West warned Russia and Ukraine’s clash is like the days before WW1 (Pic: WIKICOMMONS)
Admiral West was unconvinced a large military operation by NATO would deter Russia and warned it may inflame the situation even more – instead urging for further sanctions of Moscow.
The Royal Navy hero described Putin as a “mafia boss” – and added: “How do you get the mafia? You go after their money.”
He said: “We need to hammer every oligarch, freeze assets not just in this country but around the world, stop them shoving money through tax havens.”
Tensions continue to rage as Ukraine has vowed to send warships into the Kerch Strait to stop Russia “totally occupying” the Sea of Azov.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · ·
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The U.S. military flew an “extraordinary” Open Skies Treaty flight over Ukraine on Thursday in response to Russia’s “unprovoked attack” on allied Ukrainian forces late last month in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait.
The maneuver is the first flight of its kind over Ukraine since 2014, when Russian forces annexed Crimea, according to Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman.
Does Mr. Comey need the psychiatric examination of his memory and reasoning capacities?! – Comey transcript released: Ex-FBI boss claims not to know, remember key details in Russia case
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Fox News-15 hours agoAsked if he recalled who drafted the FBI’s “initiation document” for the July 2016 Russia investigation, Comey said, “I do not.” He again claimed …Trump lashes out at Comey over House testimony
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<a href=”http://Syracuse.com” rel=”nofollow”>Syracuse.com</a>-Dec 7, 2018However, President Donald Trump did not make any mention of Pearl … “I remember Pearl Harbor,” the president said in June, referring to the …Michael Flynn Has Provided ‘Substantial Assistance’ In Russia Inquiry …
In-Depth-NPR-Dec 4, 2018Read the whole story · ·
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Former FBI Director James Comey claimed “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” in response to dozens of questions concerning key details in the Russia probe, according to a lengthy transcript released Saturday of his closed-door interview with congressional lawmakers.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., published the 235-page transcript as a part of an agreement with Comey.
The former bureau boss frustrated GOP lawmakers during Friday’s session, in large part because his lawyers urged him not to answer numerous questions. Comey is expected to return later in the month for another round, though blasted Republicans on his way out for what he called a “desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president.”
But while Comey insisted in the interview that “we never investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes,” the transcript shows he claimed ignorance or memory lapses in response to questions concerning key details and events in the Russia investigation, which some GOP lawmakers continue to claim was improperly conducted.
The transcript reveals lawmakers’ frustration with his lack of specifics.
Asked if he recalled who drafted the FBI’s “initiation document” for the July 2016 Russia investigation, Comey said, “I do not.” He again claimed not to know when asked about the involvement in that initiation of Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump texts later got him removed from the special counsel’s probe.
When asked if the FBI had any evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server, Comey gave a lengthy answer referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as to why he couldn’t answer.
“Did we have evidence in July of (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?” Comey asked rhetorically. “I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line.”
“I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line,”— Former FBI Director James Comey
When pressed further by Gowdy about what “factual predicate” the bureau had to launch a counterintelligence investigation, Comey again claimed that answering that question would be a “slope” that would ask him to reveal what the FBI “did or didn’t know about Russia activity” as it related to the 2016 election.
“You can’t tell us, or you won’t tell us?” Gowdy asks.
“Probably a combination of both … To the extent I recall facts developed during our investigation of Russian interference and the potential connection of Americans, I think that’s a question that the FBI doesn’t want me answering. So it’s both a can’t and a won’t,” Comey replied.
The former FBI director went on to say that anything related to Mueller’s investigation, to his understanding, would be “off limits” as it is an ongoing investigation.
Comey was also fuzzy on the eventual Democratic funding of the research that went into the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.
Asked when he learned that the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, was hired by law firm Perkins Coie – and when he learned that law firm was hired by the Democratic National Committee – Comey said “I never learned that” while director.
Comey also claimed not to know key details surrounding the involvement of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier.
Asked when Steele was “terminated” as an FBI source, Comey said he didn’t know.
Asked about Steele’s subsequent contact with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Comey said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
The Comey appearance comes as Republicans try to probe deeper into the FBI’s handling of both the Russia case and Hillary Clinton email investigation, before Democrats take control of the House in January and likely shut down these lines of inquiry.
Comey was asked numerous questions as well about the handling of the Clinton case, acknowledging at times that certain aspects of it were “unusual” while defending other actions.
Comey initially challenged the subpoena to appear before the committees and instead pressed for a public hearing out of concern his comments would be selectively leaked and taken out of context. He eventually agreed to appear, with an arrangement for the transcript to be made public.
Fox News’ Bill Mears, Jake Gibson, and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · ·
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Former FBI Director James Comey claimed “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” in response to dozens of questions concerning key details in the Russia probe, according to a lengthy transcript released Saturday of his closed-door interview with congressional lawmakers.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., published the 235-page transcript as a part of an agreement with Comey.
The former bureau boss frustrated GOP lawmakers during Friday’s session, in large part because his lawyers urged him not to answer numerous questions. Comey is expected to return later in the month for another round, though blasted Republicans on his way out for what he called a “desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president.”
But while Comey insisted in the interview that “we never investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes,” the transcript shows he claimed ignorance or memory lapses in response to questions concerning key details and events in the Russia investigation, which some GOP lawmakers continue to claim was improperly conducted.
The transcript reveals lawmakers’ frustration with his lack of specifics.
Asked if he recalled who drafted the FBI’s “initiation document” for the July 2016 Russia investigation, Comey said, “I do not.” He again claimed not to know when asked about the involvement in that initiation of Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump texts later got him removed from the special counsel’s probe.
When asked if the FBI had any evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server, Comey gave a lengthy answer referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as to why he couldn’t answer.
“Did we have evidence in July of (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?” Comey asked rhetorically. “I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line.”
“I don’t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line,”— Former FBI Director James Comey
When pressed further by Gowdy about what “factual predicate” the bureau had to launch a counterintelligence investigation, Comey again claimed that answering that question would be a “slope” that would ask him to reveal what the FBI “did or didn’t know about Russia activity” as it related to the 2016 election.
“You can’t tell us, or you won’t tell us?” Gowdy asks.
“Probably a combination of both … To the extent I recall facts developed during our investigation of Russian interference and the potential connection of Americans, I think that’s a question that the FBI doesn’t want me answering. So it’s both a can’t and a won’t,” Comey replied.
The former FBI director went on to say that anything related to Mueller’s investigation, to his understanding, would be “off limits” as it is an ongoing investigation.
Comey was also fuzzy on the eventual Democratic funding of the research that went into the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.
Asked when he learned that the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, was hired by law firm Perkins Coie – and when he learned that law firm was hired by the Democratic National Committee – Comey said “I never learned that” while director.
Comey also claimed not to know key details surrounding the involvement of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier.
Asked when Steele was “terminated” as an FBI source, Comey said he didn’t know.
Asked about Steele’s subsequent contact with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Comey said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
The Comey appearance comes as Republicans try to probe deeper into the FBI’s handling of both the Russia case and Hillary Clinton email investigation, before Democrats take control of the House in January and likely shut down these lines of inquiry.
Comey was asked numerous questions as well about the handling of the Clinton case, acknowledging at times that certain aspects of it were “unusual” while defending other actions.
Comey initially challenged the subpoena to appear before the committees and instead pressed for a public hearing out of concern his comments would be selectively leaked and taken out of context. He eventually agreed to appear, with an arrangement for the transcript to be made public.
Fox News’ Bill Mears, Jake Gibson, and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · ·
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Fox News-7 hours agoComey said “at least some” of the people targeted were affiliated with the Trump campaign in some form, but Trump himself was not under investigation into …James Comey: Russia investigation started with four Americans with …
USA TODAY-12 hours agoComey Testified That We’ve Become ‘Numb’ to Trump’s Lies
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Lawfare (blog)-16 hours agoThe transcript of former FBI Director James Comey’s interview before the House judiciary committee and oversight committee is available here …Read the whole story · ·
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Admiral Lord West issued the dire warning as Putin’s forces are accused of massing to invade Ukraine – with president Petro Poroshenko begging for NATO aid.
The former First Sea Lord laid out the danger of the situation as both sides test each other – warning about the possibility of NATO’s intervention against Russia in the Black Sea.
He told Daily Star Online: “It was exactly this that lead to World War 1. While the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the stimulus, it was the brinkmanship.”
Tensions around Crimea – which was annexed by Russia in 2014 – have reignited after Putin’s forces opened fire upon and seized three ships from Ukraine.
Russia has denied any aggressive intent, accusing Poroshenko of inflaming the situation to boost his flagging poll numbers ahead of next year’s election.
Admiral West – one of Britain’s most senior Royal Navy figures – warned against both sides “pushing and pushing” against one another as tensions rage.
Russia has already committed an “act of war” in attacking the Ukraine vessels and warned Putin may send troops into the war-torn Donbass.
Donbass is a region of Ukraine that is currently torn-apart by civil war as pro-Russian rebels and fighting against Kiev.
Moscow has already been accused of aiding the rebels with weapons and stoking up the uprising, something which has been firmly denied by the Kremlin.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Russia’s leader has denied any aggressive intent to Ukraine (Pic: GETTY)
Admiral West told Daily Star Online: “It is a highly dangerous thing when you start playing this game, and I really do wonder about Putin.
“[Putin] just lies, and while Trump also lies, at least Trump isn’t going to try and attack us and trigger a nuclear war.”
NATO held a two day summit earlier this week, but did not commit to aiding Ukraine despite calls from Poroshenko for warships to be sent to the Black Sea.
Britain will be sending a warship into the region as part of our agreement with Kiev, but Admiral West urged we send a Type 45 destroyer rather than survey ship HMS Echo.
UKRAINE: Kiev fears Russia are going to invade after the seizure of three ships (Pic: GETTY)
WAR: Russia has moved missile defence systems into Crimea (Pic: GETTY)
Admiral West went on: “I think where this becomes extremely serious is Putin starts using Russian troops in [the Donbass] to fight Ukraine, and it becomes as war between Russia and Ukraine.
“What exactly do we do? It’s not an attack on NATO, and do we really want to send troops in and get in a hot war with Russia over Ukraine.
“It’s a very good question. And if we don’t, then we let Ukraine be extinguished, it’s a very hard one to decide.”
“I can see easily a situation where a war breaks out between Russia and Ukraine, in which the Russians would win – clearly – where NATO say they are not going to get involved.”
MAPPED: Russia and Ukraine’s clash is feared to rope in NATO (Pic: DS)
Ukraine has been holding war drills over the past few weeks, declared martial law, called army reservists and banned the entry of all men of fighting age from Russia.
Poroshenko has openly said he expects Putin’s forces to invade, warning tank divisions are massing just 11 miles from the border of Ukraine.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea from the former-Soviet state back in 2014 was internationally condemned as illegal, and triggered a larger NATO presence within eastern Europe.
Kiev fears Moscow are moving to capture the Crimean ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, which is home to key trading routes and is the latest battleground between Russia and Ukraine.
ROYAL NAVY: Admiral Lord West warned Russia and Ukraine’s clash is like the days before WW1 (Pic: WIKICOMMONS)
Admiral West was unconvinced a large military operation by NATO would deter Russia and warned it may inflame the situation even more – instead urging for further sanctions of Moscow.
The Royal Navy hero described Putin as a “mafia boss” – and added: “How do you get the mafia? You go after their money.”
He said: “We need to hammer every oligarch, freeze assets not just in this country but around the world, stop them shoving money through tax havens.”
Tensions continue to rage as Ukraine has vowed to send warships into the Kerch Strait to stop Russia “totally occupying” the Sea of Azov.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · ·
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The U.S. military flew an “extraordinary” Open Skies Treaty flight over Ukraine on Thursday in response to Russia’s “unprovoked attack” on allied Ukrainian forces late last month in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait.
The maneuver is the first flight of its kind over Ukraine since 2014, when Russian forces annexed Crimea, according to Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman.
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“The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations,” a Pentagon statement said. “Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity.”
The Open Skies flight was requested by top Ukrainian defense officials, Pahon said, and it came after Pentagon officials announced their intentions to sail a warship into the Black Sea in the coming days to shore up support for Ukraine following the capture of 24 sailors and three of its vessels by Russia.
The Open Skies flight also took place one day after a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed into waters claimed by Russia this week near the port city of Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet. It was the first such voyage for the U.S. Navy in Russia’s contested waters since 1987, when George H.W. Bush was vice president and Russia and the U.S. agreed to an intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty — a pact that’s currently in jeopardy due to alleged Russian violations.
A Ukrainian serviceman stands onboard a coast guard ship in the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on Dec. 3. The Ukrainian military has been on increased readiness as part of martial law introduced in the country in the wake of the Nov. 25 incident in the Sea of Azov, in which the Russian coast guard fired upon and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels along with their crews. (AP)
This week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited NATO headquarters in Brussels to announce the Trump administration’s plans to exit the treaty in 60 days if Russia does not come back into compliance. The deal prohibits the deployment of land-based cruise missiles with a range of 310-3,420 miles.
The Treaty on Open Skies was established in 1992 to allow unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its 34-signatories to gather information about military forces and activities. The signatories include the U.S. and Russia.
“Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international arms control efforts to date to promote openness and transparency in military forces and activities,” the State Department has said.
A U.S. Air Force OC-135 reconnaissance plane flew over Ukraine on Thursday with 25 U.S. military personnel — as well as Canadian, German, French, British, Romanian and Ukrainian officials — on board, according to Pahon.
Among the American crewmembers, eight were Defense Threat Reduction Agency personnel. Seventeen crewmembers came from the 55th Wing from Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska.
The American reconnaissance plane departed Andrews Air Force Base on Nov. 30 for the mission, Pahon said.Read the whole story · · ·
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<a href=”http://defence-blog.com” rel=”nofollow”>defence-blog.com</a> (press release) (blog)-Dec 8, 2018Satellite imagery shows hundreds of Russian tanks near the border with … from the border with toward rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.
The Kozweek-8 hours agoSatellite photos show hundreds of Russian main battle tanks on a new military … which is located 18 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.Russia pulled to the border with Ukraine hundreds of tanks in the …
The Siver Times-2 hours agoView all
Reuters-Dec 4, 2018General Viktor Muzhenko gestured to a series of satellite images … Russian T-62 M tanks stationed 18 km (11 miles) from the Ukrainian border.Satellite images reveal how Russia has deployed S-400 surface-to-air …
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UNIAN-Dec 4, 2018General Viktor Muzhenko gestured to a series of satellite images, which he said showed the presence of Russian T-62 M tanks stationed 18 km …Muzhenko: Russia’s military threat to Ukraine highest since 2014
International-Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news-Dec 5, 2018
Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news-Nov 27, 2018Number of Russian tanks near border with Ukraine has tripled – … data and satellite images: “The intelligence provided several proofs. I want to …Threat looming of full-scale war with Russia: Poroshenko
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The Ukrainian Weekly (press release)-Dec 7, 2018That could soon be tested as tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated on … military, think tanks, business and media from over 70 countries. … government to restore the sharing of satellite images with Ukraine’s …Read the whole story · · ·
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Sky News-Nov 29, 2018Petro Poroshenko has shown Sky News images of what he claims are tanks lining up along the border, close to where Russia stores its …Russian tanks ‘lining up on our border’, warns Ukraine president amid …
Evening Standard-Nov 29, 2018Number of Russian tanks near border with Ukraine has tripled …
International-Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news-Nov 27, 2018Putin and Poroshenko motives open to question in Kerch crisis
Opinion-The Guardian-Nov 28, 2018‘Putin’s tanks are massing at the border,’ Ukraine’s President …
In-Depth-Daily Mail-Nov 30, 2018Poroshenko: There is no red line for Putin
International-UNIAN-Nov 30, 2018View all
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Dec 7, 2018Poroshenko said it was necessary in response to “an act of aggression” and claimed Russia was amassing tanks at his border. Days after the …Jens Stoltenberg urges ‘de-stabilising’ Russia to return Ukrainian …
The Parliament Magazine-Dec 7, 2018World War 3: RUSSIA prepares its TERMINATOR and HUNTER …
Express.co.uk-Dec 6, 2018Russia chokes Ukraine shipping lanes, as invasion force surrounds …
The Ukrainian Weekly (press release)-Dec 7, 2018End of Friendship Treaty with Russia: How will “Kremlin Bear” react?
International-UNIAN-14 hours agoArmed Forces of Ukraine celebrate 27th anniversary
International-112 International (blog)-Dec 7, 2018View all
<a href=”http://defence-blog.com” rel=”nofollow”>defence-blog.com</a> (press release) (blog)-Dec 8, 2018Russia has been ramping up its forces near the border with Ukraine since August and now poses the greatest military threat since 2014, the …
Newsweek-Dec 2, 2018Russia’s military has around 80,000 troops, around 1,400 artillery and missile systems, 900 tanks, 2,300 armored vehicles, 500 airplanes, and …Orthodox priest blesses Russian missiles in annexed Crimea as …
In-Depth-Daily Mail-Nov 30, 2018View all
Kyiv Post-Nov 30, 2018A Russian tank participates in the Vostok-2018 (East-2018) military drills at Tsugol training ground not far from the Chinese and Mongolian …
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The Guardian-Nov 27, 2018The number of Russian units deployed along the Ukraine–Russian border had “grown dramatically” and the number of Russian tanks had …Russian ‘creeping annexation’ hits Ukraine in Sea of Azov
In-Depth-<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Nov 26, 2018View all
The Kozweek-8 hours agoIn November, Russia pulled to the border with the occupied Ukrainian territories “, L/DNR” large amounts of military equipment. Related …Russia pulled to the border with Ukraine hundreds of tanks in the …
The Siver Times-2 hours agoView all
Wall Street Journal-19 hours agoConcern about Russian hostility toward Ukraine is escalating in the U.S. … negotiations at the State Department, and several major think tanks.Read the whole story · · · · ·
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In November, Russia pulled to the border with the occupied Ukrainian territories “, L/DNR” large amounts of military equipment.
Related pictures done with the help of Google Earth, reports Defence Blog.
Satellite photos show hundreds of Russian main battle tanks on a new military base on the outskirts Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, which is located 18 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
“The images show hundreds of main battle tanks like T-64 and T-62M, while thousands of military trucks, artillery systems and tankers located a little higher,” – said in the message.
Note that Russia in recent time increases the concentration of military equipment near the border of Ukraine, drew the attention of blogger Michael Golub. He pointed out the coordinates on Google maps which can be viewed as the aggressor taking his technique.
According to the President, in the occupied territories of the Crimea, Donbass and along the border with the state of the Russian Federation has deployed ground forces a total of more than 80 thousand troops, about 1,400 artillery and rocket systems of volley fire, tanks, 900, 2300 armored combat vehicles, more than 500 aircraft and 300 helicopters.
Ted Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Koz Week, Ted Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella.Read the whole story · · · · · · ·
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Mueller’s filing also said Cohen had provided information about Russian attempts to contact the campaign, information “concerning discrete Russia-related matters” considered “core” to the Russia investigation, information about his contacts and communications with the White House and Trump administration officials after the president took office, and details about his lies to Congress.
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Yet on Wednesday Mr Cohen, for years Mr Trump’s “fixer”, will be sentenced for the crimes of bank and tax fraud, and for lying to Congress – for which he pled guilty.
Prosecutors in New York are seeking “substantial” jail time, but Mr Mueller does not recommend additional time behind bars as a result of his inquiry.
Despite intense public interest, the inquiry itself may yet remain secret.
Mr Mueller is bound to “provide the [US] attorney general with a confidential report” explaining the prosecutions he brought or decided not to pursue.
However, it is then up to the attorney general, who leads the Justice Department, to decide whether the report is published or handed over to the US Congress. There is no obligation to do either.
The situation is complicated by the fact that Mr Trump, who has railed against the “witch hunt, recently sacked his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and replaced him with an arch critic of the Mueller probe, Matthew Whitaker.
The uncertainty means there are fears details of Mr Mueller’s findings could become the subject of intense legal and political wrangling and may never fully be revealed.
Mr Trump’s own lawyers were once optimistically predicting the probe would be wrapped up by Christmas 2017.
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Friendly Fire Killed Sheriff’s Sergeant At Thousand Oaks, Calif., Shooting Scene NPR
When Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer responded to a shooting last month in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they faced a …View full coverage on Google NewsNext Page of StoriesLoading…Page 4
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Oil prices climbed sharply Friday after OPEC and other producers led by Russia agreed to cut output to reduce global inventories of crude oil. OPEC countries and the Russian-led coalition agreed to collectively slash oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day, said OPEC president Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, more than the 1 million barrel cut the market anticipated. After two days of negotiations, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries said they would cut 800,000 barrels a day, while non-OPEC allies agreed to an additional 400,000 barrels per day. The cuts, from which OPEC members Iran, Venezuela and Libya are exempt, will begin in January and remain in effect for six months. The deal highlights Russia’s new-found influence on the global oil market and the significance of Russia’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC. Oil-producing nations have been under pressure to cut production to stabilize oil prices, which have dropped sharply over the past few months. Global oil prices have plummeted by more than 30 percent since early October. The cuts were agreed to despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain current levels of oil production, which have surged since the end of 2017. The surge is primarily due to the U.S., which has increased production by 2.5 million barrels a day since early 2016, making the U.S. the world’s largest producer. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted, “The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!”
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| mikenova shares “Не Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security News” from The Global Security NewsНе Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security Newshttp://globalsecuritynews.org/2018/12/08/%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d1%85%d0%bb%d1%8f%d0%b5%d1%82-the-russian-mobs-attempt-to-take-over-the-free-world-by-using-the-old-soviet-recipes-ends-with-a-big-loud-awakening-bang-from-the-muellers-investigat/Не Хляет!The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?! Michael Novakhov |
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Poroshenko expects new CDU head to support Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression UNIAN
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko expects that the newly elected leader of the German Christian Democratic Union Party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, …
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Voice Of America1 Share
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump is inching closer to his long-teased major White House shake-up, gearing up for the twin challenges of battling for re-election and dealing with the Democrats’ investigations once they take control of the House.
The biggest piece of the shifting picture: Chief of Staff John Kelly’s departure now appears certain.
Trump announced Friday he was picking a new U.S. attorney genera l and a new ambassador to the U.N. , and at the same time two senior aides departed the White House to beef up his 2020 campaign. But the largest changes were still to come. Kelly’s replacement in the coming weeks is expected to have a ripple effect throughout the administration.
According to nearly a dozen current and former administration officials and outside confidants, Trump is nearly ready to replace Kelly and has even begun telling people to contact the man long viewed as his likely successor.
“Give Nick a call,” Trump has instructed people, referring to Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, according to one person familiar with the discussions.
Like all of those interviewed, the person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
Trump has hardly been shy about his dissatisfaction with the team he had chosen and has been weighing all sorts of changes over the past several months. He delayed some of the biggest shifts until after the November elections at the urging of aides who worried that adding to his already-record turnover just before the voting would harm his party’s electoral chances.
Now, nearly a month after those midterms, in which his party surrendered control of the House to Democrats but expanded its slim majority in the Senate, Trump is starting to make moves.
He announced Friday that he’ll nominate William Barr, who served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, to the same role in his administration. If confirmed, Barr will fill the slot vacated by Jeff Sessions, who was unceremoniously jettisoned by Trump last month over lingering resentment for recusing himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.
Sessions was exiled less than 24 hours after polls closed. But Trump’s broader efforts to reshape his inner circle have been on hold, leading to a sense of near-paralysis in the building, with people unsure of what to do.
Trump also announced that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is his pick to replace Nikki Haley as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and he said he’d have another announcement Saturday about the military’s top brass.
All this came the same day that Trump’s re-election campaign announced that two veterans of the president’s 2016 campaign, White House political director Bill Stepien and Justin Clark, the director of the office of public liaison, were leaving the administration to work on Trump’s re-election campaign.
“Now is the best opportunity to be laser-focused on further building out the political infrastructure that will support victory for President Trump and the GOP in 2020,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.
The moves had long been planned, and will give Kelly’s eventual successor room to build a new White House political team.
Kelly was not at the White House on Friday, but was expected to attend an East Room dinner with the president and senior staff.
Ayers, who is a seasoned campaign veteran despite his relative youth — he’s just 36 — has the backing of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law and senior advisers, for the new role, according to White House officials. But Ayers has also faced some resistance. During Trump’s flight home from a recent trip to Paris, some aides aboard Air Force One tried to convince the president that Ayers was the wrong person for the job, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Trump and Kelly’s relationship has been strained for months — with Kelly on the verge of resignation and Trump nearly firing him several times. But each time the two have decided to make amends, even as Kelly’s influence has waned.
Kelly, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, was tapped by Trump in August 2017 to try to normalize a White House that had been riven by infighting. And he had early successes, including ending an open-door Oval Office policy that had been compared to New York’s Grand Central Station and instituting a more rigorous policy process to try to prevent staffers from going directly to Trump.
But those efforts also miffed the president and some of his most influential outside allies, who had grown accustomed to unimpeded access. And his handling of domestic violence accusations against the former White House staff secretary also caused consternation, especially among lower-level White House staffers, who believed Kelly had lied to them about when he found out about the allegations.
Kelly, too, has made no secret of the trials of his job and has often joked about how working for Trump was harder than anything he’d done before, including on the battlefield.Read the whole story · · · ·Next Page of StoriesLoading…Page 5
Voice Of America1 Share
—
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will nominate Army General Mark Milley to replace Marine General Joseph Dunford as his next top military adviser.
“I am thankful to both of these incredible men for their service to our Country! Date of transition to be determined,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning tweet.
Milley is a combat-experienced military leader and the current Chief of Staff of the Army, a position he has held since 2015.
Milley, who commanded troops during multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, must be confirmed by the Senate to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Some military officials at the Pentagon said Air Force General David Goldfein was also a top contender for the job but added that Milley has a good relationship with the president.
Trump hinted Friday he would make the announcement Saturday while attending the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. Instead, he announced it at the White House before departing for Philadelphia.
As the Army’s top officer, Milley helped lead the effort to allow women to serve in front-line infantry and other combat positions. He has worked to reverse a decline in Army recruiting, which fell far short of its annual goal this year.
Milley is an infantry officer by training, and has also commanded Special Forces units.
His career includes deployments in the 1989 invasion of Panama, the multinational mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Iraq war.
If confirmed, Milley will replace Dunford, a former commandant of the Marine Corps and commander of coalition troops in Afghanistan. Dunford is expected to serve the remainder of his term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, which ends October 1, 2019.
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About 90 suspected mobsters have been arrested across Europe and South America with vast quantities of cocaine and other drugs seized in a mafia purge.
German federal police confirmed in a statement there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids, with the main focus of the operation in western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders Holland and Belgium.
The ‘Ndrangheta – which derives its meaning from the Greek word for “heroism” – is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed “toe” of Italy’s boot.
Officials hailed Wednesday’s operation – dubbed “Operation Pollina” – as a serious blow to the group.
Some 140 kilograms of ecstasy pills and 3 000-4 000 kilos of cocaine were seized during the operation, Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said at a press conference in The Hague on Wednesday. The AD said past year that Dutch police had introduced a special police unit completely dedicated to fighting mafia activities on Dutch soil.
The vast anti-mafia operation was carried out by Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism force in collaboration with German, Belgian and Dutch authorities, it said. They are accused of committing “serious crimes” including activities linked to worldwide drug trafficking, Italian police said in a statement.
But he warned that it was “just a first step”, saying the arrests were “nothing for the ‘Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized”.
“It’s nearly a cliche, but the operation carried out today confirms again the great danger of the ‘ndrangheta, not just in drug trafficking, where it’s the undisputed leader, but (also) in the financial sphere”, said Francesco Ratta, a top police official in the southern Italian region of Calabria.
The European police agency Europol said it was a “decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world”.
The operation took place one day after Settimo Mineo, the alleged head or “godfather” of the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, was arrested with 46 other people in the Palermo region of Italy, according to the Italian police and anti-Mafia prosecutors in Palermo.
Just under half of the suspects were detained in Italy.Read the whole story · ·
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“Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer” – Google News1 Share
BBC News-16 hours agoGermany’s ruling Christian Democrat Union has chosen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new party leader, ending Angela Merkel’s 18-year …Angela Merkel Ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Elected as New …
TIME-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: The women behind the ‘mini-Merkel …
International-The Local Germany-13 hours agoAngela Merkel’s preferred candidate becomes party leader
Opinion-The Economist-15 hours agoGerman conservatives pick a Merkel ally to be party leader, signaling …
In-Depth-Washington Post-19 hours agoAngela Merkel’s CDU successor: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
International-Deutsche Welle-15 hours agoView all
Irish Times-19 hours agoGemany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as party leader, a decision that …
Irish Times-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as CDU party …. (CDU) has backed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new leader, …
WFTV Orlando-19 hours agoHAMBURG, Germany – HAMBURG, Germany (AP) – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is elected …
Deutsche Welle-16 hours agoThe Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected the party’s secretary general and former Saarland state premier, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to …
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Dec 3, 2018“I think people see me as authentic, just like I am, with my ideas, my style of doing politics,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told NBC News after a …
<a href=”http://Novinite.com” rel=”nofollow”>Novinite.com</a>-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Angela Merkel, won a tight race to succeed her as party leader Friday, seeing off a longtime rival …
Newsy-14 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is a former state prime minister and is seen as Merkel’s hand-picked successor. SHOW TRANSCRIPT.
ForexLive-19 hours agoCDU elects Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as party leader. Fri 7 Dec 2018 16:00:04 GMT. Author: Adam Button | Category: News. share …
euronews-Dec 6, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is one vote away from reaching the top of German politics. She is one of the favourites to take over as the leader …
Toronto Star-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, narrowly defeated one-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz at a congress of the centre-right Christian Democratic …
Channel NewsAsia
Washington Post-Nov 14, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s greatest asset as she positions herself to become Germany’s next leader is that she is widely regarded as …Merkel taking risk by giving up CDU party chair, protege says
Channel NewsAsia-Nov 14, 2018View all
SPIEGEL ONLINE-2 hours agoIm Augenblick des Triumphs zeigte Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, dass sie nicht einfach eine saarländische Version von Angela Merkel ist.Sie hat die CDU gepackt
International-FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-14 hours agoView allRead the whole story · · · · ·
The Global Security News1 Share
Не Хляет!
The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation.
And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?!
Michael Novakhov
Borneo Bulletin Online1 Share
| Leigh Giangreco |
WHEN lawmakers hauled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to Capitol Hill for a hearing on privacy and abuse of data in April, the only clear theme to emerge from their line of bizarre questions was the Senate’s complete misunderstanding of social media. Instead of unravelling how Russian disinformation thrived on Facebook and influenced the 2016 election, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican representative for Utah) wasted his given time asking basic questions about the platform’s business model, while Senator Brian Schatz (Democrats representative for Hawaii) took a misguided tour of the messaging app WhatsApp.
In a more innocent time, the gang of clueless senators would have made for an amusing montage on The Daily Show. But in the age of information warfare, it showed that our leaders had little grasp on the greatest existential threat to American democracy.
Had PW Singer and Emerson Brooking’s new book, LikeWar, come out just a few months earlier, those senators might have had a better grip on Facebook’s role as a weapon in today’s war. Packed with the past five years of news and a brief account of the birth of the Internet, LikeWar is a breezy read about modern warfare, with the authors flipping through tales of Russian bots, washed-up reality stars and Silicon Valley magnates like clips on your friend’s Instagram story.
That rapid succession of stories makes it a suitable textbook for today’s journalism or political science students looking to understand how the same apps they use to communicate with friends can be amassed as tools in a potent arsenal.
There are points where LikeWar is too married to that textbook format, as when it trots out a hackneyed description of the Kennedy-Nixon debate, or may try too hard to frame old mediums in a contemporary lens, calling Benjamin Franklin “the founding father of fake news in America” because he published under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Silence Dogood’ in the New-England Courant.
But it’s not the young, digital natives that need LikeWar the most. When Singer’s novel, Ghost Fleet, was published in 2015, Washington’s national security community gripped it as both a cautionary tale and a future battle plan. LikeWar, on the other hand, is not a warning about tomorrow’s war – it’s a map for those who don’t understand how the battlefield has already changed.
To ground their readers in familiarity, Emerson and Singer have framed the players in this new kind of war as kings overseeing burgeoning empires. But these monarchs, often clustered in Silicon Valley, could rule in peace only until a powder keg exploded.
LikeWar begins with United States (US) President Donald Trump’s first tweet in 2009, announcing, “Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight!” But this is not (thank goodness) another book about the President. Instead, it revolves around an unholy trinity of those who have mastered the Internet as a weapon: Trump, the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and Russia.
At times that carousel of deplorables can become dizzying. The three turn up in a journal published by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a piece written by a Trump campaign organiser that links their use of meme warfare and shows how they capitalise on viral content.
When Emerson and Singer note the 4Ds – “dismiss the critic, distort the facts, distract from the main issue, and dismay the audience” – it’s hard to tell if it’s a reference to Russia’s new defensive strategy or a wink to Trump’s bizarre dance with the media.
In some cases, the opposing parties even complement each other’s goals. When IS posts videos that link gruesome acts with scripture, the website Breitbart seizes on them to fan the flames of its far-right supporters. With each ‘like’, IS gets new recruits and Breitbart gets ad dollars.
Beyond recapping the news, LikeWar becomes a compelling read as Brookings and Singer give historical context to today’s news to demystify the Internet as a battlefield. The authors liken the stunning capture of Mosul, Iraq, which IS publicised far outside the Middle East by bombarding social media, to the unyielding tempo of the German blitzkrieg, which paralysed French fighters with a relentless broadcast of its attacks.
Today’s ‘sockpuppets’, young Russians who masquerade online as Americans, prove to be nothing more than hipster updates to Cold War tactics deployed by the Soviet Union that targeted the extremes of American politics. The contemporary Russian General Valery Gerasimov, who in 2013 published a treatise ranking nonmilitary means above traditional weapons, is, in the authors’ telling, just a fresh take on the early-19th-Century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. Just as Clausewitz established war as politics by other means, Gerasimov laid out a radical new approach to conflict by taking advantage of the Internet as the ultimate disinformation weapon.
But if Clausewitz crops up as a motif that grounds the book in staid military doctrine, references to pop stars and reality television celebrities keep the text out of the realm of the typical think tank fare. It may seem a cheap bid for younger readers at first, but the authors draw smart and eerie parallels between terrorist groups and seemingly vapid celebrities. Even Vladimir Putin’s longtime media adviser admires the social media savvy of Kim Kardashian, who can direct millions of her supporters without the KGB.
But the heart of LikeWar, and what would have assisted our hapless senators, lies in its explanation of homophily and its role in spreading falsehoods. Online news, true or false, is sustained by the number of people who ‘like’ it. Each successive ‘like’ contributes to an algorithm that generates similar content, guaranteeing an infinite echo chamber.
LikeWar isn’t waged by sophisticated hackers but by those who know how to master the narrative with viral memes, slick videos and clickbait headlines. And when the information war is won in this abstract cyberspace, all the metal in our grand fleets and advanced fighter jets will be rendered immaterial. –The Washington PostRead the whole story · · · ·Next Page of StoriesLoading…Page 6
Law : NPR1 Share
Rachel Martin talks to Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News and co-author of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller has been notably free of leaks. What we know so far has come in the form of official court filings, like indictments, plea agreements and what we’re seeing this week – sentencing memos. The special counsel on Tuesday released such a memo on Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Similar memos are expected Friday for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chair Paul Manafort. In the case of Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, Robert Mueller recommended a sentence with little to no prison time. The memo mentioned Flynn’s, quote, “substantial” cooperation in several ongoing investigations, although details were heavily redacted.
We’re going to try to put all this into the context of the larger Russia investigation with Michael Isikoff. He is chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News. He is also the co-author of the book titled “Russian Roulette: The Inside Story Of Putin’s War On America And The Election Of Donald Trump.” Michael, thanks for being here.
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good to be here.
MARTIN: So let’s be clear to start off – these memos are filings meant to serve a legal purpose and message to the judge. They’re not press releases. They’re not statements from the prosecutors. But having said all that, what should we, the public, take away from the filings?
ISIKOFF: Well, you know, it’s really like reading tea leaves here because it’s a cryptic document. It does refer to Michael Flynn’s substantial cooperation with the government over the course of the last year since he pled guilty to lying to the FBI. It does reference, as you pointed out, several investigations. But I should point out that when you read it closely, only one of those appears to be related to Robert Mueller’s core mandate of the Russia investigation itself – coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
There’s a reference to a mysterious other criminal investigation that the memos – the sentencing memo says that Flynn has provided substantial cooperation for. But the close reading suggests that that’s not something Mueller himself is handling. It’s been farmed out to other Justice Department prosecutors. There’s some reporting this morning that they may involve an illegal lobbying effort that Turkey was conducting. Flynn had been lobbying for the government of Turkey, had not registered with the Justice Department for that as he should have.
MARTIN: So while potentially nefarious, not connected necessarily to the core mandate.
ISIKOFF: Not connected, right – and then there’s a reference to another investigation that may or may not be within Mueller’s mandate, for which it says Flynn has provided useful information. So the substantial information says to me, that’s assistance – information that the Justice Department can use to prosecute others, to bring other cases. But the one time that that’s used in the memo when it breaks down – Flynn’s cooperation – it’s in reference to that other mysterious investigation – non-Russia.
MARTIN: So words like collusion and obstruction, which we hear about often in conversations like this – notably absent from the visible portion of the Flynn memo.
ISIKOFF: Right, this doesn’t really tell us whether Mueller has other cards to play in the core Russia investigation itself. It certainly talks about how Flynn has provided important information, timely information about contacts between the Trump transition team and Russians. That’s what Flynn originally pled guilty to lying about. But it’s not really much of a roadmap as to whether there are more prosecutions to bring on that front.
MARTIN: I want to play a bit of tape. This is Congressman Mark Meadows. He’s a stalwart supporter of President Trump. This is what he said on Fox.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “HANNITY”)
MARK MEADOWS: Let’s look at what’s not in there. There is no suggestion that Michael Flynn had anything to do with collusion. He was with the transition team. He was part of the campaign. And yet there’s no mention of collusion. I think it’s good news for President Trump tonight.
MARTIN: Do you think he’s right? Do you think it’s good news?
ISIKOFF: Well, you know, he may be. We just don’t know. Look, there’s a whole other part of Mueller’s investigation. That’s the obstruction question. Did President Trump obstruct justice when he fired James Comey, when he asked, before that, James Comey to let Michael Flynn go? One would think that Flynn’s cooperation would be very important for that part of the Mueller probe. But remember, the chief target of an obstruction investigation would be the president himself. It was his actions that that spurred all this.
And under DOJ policy, presidents cannot be indicted. So what Mueller would do with that information is provide it in a report that presumably, at this point, would go to the acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker. What happens after that is very much unclear. Certainly, Congress will want access to it. The Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee certainly will. How much of that they will see we don’t know at this point.
MARTIN: Quickly, what do we know, if anything, about the Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort memos expected?
ISIKOFF: I think those are going to be highly informative. Both are very key witnesses. Michael Cohen pled guilty last week and provided some really substantial information about the Trump Organization and contacts with the Kremlin in reference to a Trump Tower meeting. Paul Manafort, the prosecutors have accused of lying to them. And they are expected this Friday in a memo to lay out what they believe Manafort lied to them about. We’re all going to be waiting with pins and needles to read that.
MARTIN: Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo, co-author of the book “Russian Roulette,” thanks so much. We appreciate it.
ISIKOFF: Thank you.
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Read the whole story · · · ·
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“Brothers Podesta” – Google News1 Share
Fox News-Dec 5, 2018The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta — a Democratic lobbyist … Podesta is a longtime Democratic operative whose brother, John …Is the Special Counsel About to Hammer Tony Podesta?
Townhall-Dec 6, 2018Dept. of Justice ramping up investigation into Podesta Group, Mercury …
One America News Network (press release)-Dec 6, 2018Prosecutors ramp up foreign lobbying probe in New York
Chattanooga Times Free Press-Dec 5, 2018Federal Prosecutors Ramp Up Probe of Manafort-Linked Podesta …
Law & Crime-Dec 5, 2018View all
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Anthony T. Podesta (born October 24, 1943), commonly known as Tony Podesta, is an American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group.[1] He used to be one of Washington’s most powerful lobbyists and fundraisers.[2][3][4]
Podesta and the Podesta Group are reportedly under federal investigation regarding compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act for their work for a Ukrainian group tied to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych beginning in 2012.[5][6]
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Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years, the two have stopped speaking in recent days.
The expected departure would end a tumultuous tenure for Kelly, who was brought on to bring order to the White House but whose time as chief of staff has often been marked by the same infighting and controversy that has largely defined Trump’s presidency from its beginning. Many of the storms in which Kelly became embroiled were by his own making.
Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, though a person involved in the process said nothing is final right now and ultimately nothing is final until Trump announces it. Potential replacements include Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, who is still seen as a leading contender
that Trump was considering potential replacements for several senior positions in his administration as part of a post-midterms staff shakeup.
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02:08
When Kelly first replaced Reince Priebus as chief of staff last summer, he ruled with an iron fist. He curbed Oval Office access, blocked certain outsiders from being able to call the White House switchboard and had broad authority over staffing.
But in the last months, Kelly has seen his status as chief of staff diminish. Trump began circumventing many of the policies and protocols he enacted, and he was on the verge of being fired or resigning numerous times.
Trump often vacillated between criticizing and praising Kelly, sometimes within minutes of each other. Kelly started holding increasingly fewer senior staff meetings — once daily occurrences were whittled down to weekly gatherings — and began to exert less control over who talks to the President.
White House officials believed Kelly was close to resigning after he got into a heated shouting match
with national security adviser John Bolton in October. Bolton had criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during an Oval Office discussion about the border, and Kelly stormed out of the West Wing after their profanity-laced argument spilled over into the hallways.
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Kelly’s tenure working for Trump was pocked with controversies, and officials were often amazed at how he managed to survive. Weeks after taking over for Priebus, his predecessor who was unceremoniously fired over Twitter while he sat on a rainy tarmac, Kelly was faced with Trump’s controversial response
to the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was photographed looking grim-faced in the lobby of Trump Tower as the President declared there were “good people” on both sides of the racist violence.
At times, Kelly was the source of his own downfall. He insulted Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, using inaccurate information, later declaring
he would “never” apologize. He said some of those eligible for protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals were “lazy.”
But perhaps most damaging was his handling
of the situation involving former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by two of his ex-wives of abuse. Kelly’s shifting accounts caused his credibility inside the West Wing to plummet, and it never truly recovered, according to officials. Kelly’s highly criticized handling of the Porter controversy was an inflection point in his tenure, and some of his internal relationships became strained in the months that followed the former staff secretary’s ouster.
This story is breaking and being updated.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny, Jeremy Diamond and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · · · ·
WBUR News1 Share
With David Folkenflik
Inside the mind of Robert Mueller. We’ll unpack the latest news from the Mueller investigation and explore what makes the special prosecutor tick with his biographer, Garrett Graff.
Garrett Graff, journalist, historian and director of the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity and technology program. Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror.” ()
The Letter Giving Robert Mueller Charge To Investigate Russian Interference
The Carter Page FISA Documents
Mueller’s Sentencing Memo For Michael Flynn
Wired: “14 Trump and Russia Questions Robert Mueller Knows the Answers To” — “Michael Flynn’s sentencing memo, filed yesterday with the most intriguing and interesting parts redacted by special counsel Robert Mueller, provided yet another frustrating glimpse into an investigation that seems at times almost maddeningly opaque. It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the ‘how.’
“Amid the flurry of revelations from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s role in the 2016 campaign, it’s worth revisiting the loose ends of his probe. Specifically, focusing on questions that remain mysteries to us but that clearly Mueller himself knows by this point—the Rumsfeldian “known unknowns”—provides particular clarity as to where the investigation will head next.
“Decoding Mueller’s 17-month investigation has been a publicly frustrating exercise, as individual puzzle pieces, like Flynn’s sentencing memo, often don’t hint at the final assembled picture—nor even tell us if we’re looking at a single interlocking puzzle, in which all the pieces are related, or multiple, separate, unrelated ones.
“The sheer breadth of alleged, unrelated criminality by so many different Trumpworld players—from Paul Manafort’s money laundering and European bribes to Michael Flynn’s Turkish conspiracies to Michael Cohen’s tax fraud to even the indictments of the first two members of Congress to endorse Trump, representatives Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter—make it particularly difficult to disentangle what might have transpired at Trump Tower and the White House.
“Mueller’s investigation, though, has been remarkably focused and consistent straight through—zeroing in on five distinct investigative avenues: money laundering and Russian-linked business deals; the Russian government’s cyberattack on the DNC, other entities, and state-level voting systems; its related online information influence operations, by the Internet Research Agency; the sketchy contacts by Trump campaign and transition officials with Russia; and the separate question of whether Trump himself, or others, actively tried to obstruct justice by impeding the investigation of the above.”
Book Excerpt from “The Threat Matrix” by Garrett Graff
INTRODUCTION
Public Enemy #1
The final minutes of George W. Bush’s eight years as president ticked away as Bob Mueller stepped down onto the inaugural platform. Despite weeks of wall-to-wall news coverage warning of overcrowding for the inauguration—millions of people who might clog the Washington Beltway and the Metro system for hours—the chilly January day had deterred few inaugural-goers. More than perhaps anyone else on the inaugural platform, Mueller, the director of the FBI, was responsible for keeping everyone safe for the day.
The previous twenty-four hours had been nerve-racking, like so many of the days and nights of the past seven years. A threat out of the Middle East, sketchy at best. Reports of a man barreling down the Jersey Turnpike with a bomb. Agents from the FBI, the CIA, and a dozen other agencies fanned across country and several continents, hoping to run down the information before noon Tuesday, H-Hour for the handover of government, democracy’s greatest rite—the peaceful and amicable transfer of power from one party to another with nearly diametrically opposed views.
The last time the nation had gathered to do this, in January 2001, the world had been a different place. That was, as everyone now said, before. This was the first transfer of power after. Before, the Clinton administration had balked at targeting a shadowy terrorist named Osama bin Laden in a faraway place called Afghanistan. Before, the argument had been, What had bin Laden ever done to deserve assassination? The United States didn’t do that type of thing. Now, after, everything was different.
Just days prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama, Hellfire missiles launched from a Predator drone half a world away from Washington had killed two Kenyans suspected in the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Usama al-Kini, also known as Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan likely never saw the missiles closing on them at speeds topping Mach 1.3 and likely never felt the twenty-pound warheads explode. Although the FBI’s global footprint had expanded considerably, the United States had no other practical means to eliminate this pair of terrorists. The two men, living in South Waziristan—a remote tribal part of Pakistan most Americans would be hard-pressed to locate on a map—were unreachable. The CIA drones and their Hellfire missiles were a different type of justice, an outside-the-courtroom, permanent justice—one that, after, the U.S. government had decided was more than appropriate to mete out but had been off the table before. (The precise term for such measures—extralegal—had become all too familiar to the American people after.)
Al-Kini and Swedan were both on the Bureau’s “Most Wanted Terrorist” list, making the attacks a big victory for the United States, yet, since the United States didn’t acknowledge these covert missile strikes, it didn’t officially consider them dead. Months later, both men’s names would still be on the FBI’s public list; inside the government, though, no one was looking too hard for them.
The minutes ticked away on inaugural day. Of the government men onstage, only a few had been in the fateful national security meeting the morning of September 12, 2001, the day after everything had changed. Now, in just two hours, most of them would depart government. A green-and-white Marine helicopter from HMX-1, the presidential helicopter squadron, sat on the East Front Plaza of the Capitol, waiting to ferry George W. Bush back to private life. Vice President Dick Cheney, confined to a wheelchair after straining his back moving boxes the weekend before, would also depart—only to appear in the coming months as a vocal opponent of the new administration’s approach to terrorism. Of the entire national security team, those departures would leave only Mueller still in the position he had held on September 11, 2001, that brilliant and crisp fall day when the planes had come.
Only one other member of the national security team would be carrying over from Bush to Obama—and his absence today was intentional. Hidden in a secure location outside Washington, Robert Gates—the wizened secretary of defense who on 9/11 had been a dean at Texas A&M—was, in the bland parlance of bureaucracy, the “designated successor,” part of the elaborate continuity-of-government plans created during the Cold War to ensure the United States would survive even the most catastrophic assault. Originally designed to protect against surprise Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles coming in over the North Pole, the continuity-of-government operation now mostly guarded against terrorists with a smuggled nuclear weapon stuffed in a suitcase. In the coming hours, a new national security team would begin to flow into the federal apparatus across the city and move into the White House, where air pressure is always kept elevated to ensure biological or chemical agents can’t penetrate inside. Only Mueller would be left among the security team to recall the fear, tension, and shock of September 12, 2001, the uncertainty of the day after. The soldiers in the streets; the smoke, visible from his office, rising from the Pentagon across the Potomac River; the concrete barriers that sprang up everywhere overnight like some sort of ugly, aggressive species of weed; that smell—part burning jet fuel, part burning paper, part burning flesh.
Mueller, wrapped in long overcoat and scarf, his gloved hands protected from the cold, walked to the front of the stage, his longtime wife and companion, Ann, by his side. On 9/11, just days after moving to Washington, she had sat through that historic day alone, watching the television in their temporary apartment six blocks from where they now stood. Her husband hadn’t returned until long after she’d gone to sleep.
From the banister, they could survey the largest crowd ever assembled for a presidential inauguration. It spread out for over a mile, the length of the National Mall, the nation’s so-called backyard. Somewhere out in the crowd were 155 teams of Mueller’s agents in plainclothes, watching for anything unusual. A few blocks away, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, created thirty years earlier as the nation’s elite antiterror strike force, sat poised to react. To back them up, SWAT teams, hazardous-material units, bomb squads, and even weapons of mass destruction response teams were located at strategic points around the crowded city. Armored military-like vehicles topped with flashing lights were hidden just out of sight, ready for action. Police helicopters circled the city, their expensive sensors and surveillance gear hard at work. Gas masks hung from the waists of thousands of law enforcement personnel, as well as the National Guard troops who stood on every street corner for miles. Fighter jets bristling with missiles slung under their wings waited to respond to trouble from above, while deep beneath the city Secret Service agents searched tunnels and sewers for trouble below. Most military coups in the world were carried out with less firepower, materiel, and personnel than were deployed to the streets of Washington for what everyone hoped would be a peaceful and uneventful transition of power.
The early-morning crowd before Mueller was ecstatic despite the hour, the security hassles, and the bone-chilling cold. While the crowd on the Mall and in the Capitol complex was swept up in the euphoric moment of hope and the promise of change brought about by the election of the nation’s first black president and a team representing a youthful new generation of leadership, Mueller knew the fear that prevailed behind the scenes.
Until hours earlier, it had seemed possible that the day would go very differently. Three different threads of intelligence had indicated that al-Shabaab, one of the many Islamic jihadist groups that formed the international web of al-Qaeda affiliates, had dispatched attackers from its base in Somalia to slip across the Canadian border and explode bombs on the Mall during the inauguration. The government had been tracking the intelligence for weeks, but only recently had new information moved the threat onto a different tier of seriousness.
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen—the “Movement of Warrior Youth”—was still relatively new to the terrorism game; it wouldn’t even formally be declared a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by the State Department for another month, yet its capabilities were already well-known enough to seriously worry the government officials in the days leading up to the inauguration. (Kenya, the president’s ancestral country and the site of the 1998 embassy attack that had helped usher in the age of al-Qaeda, was also under threat, according to the available intelligence.)
The national security teams of President Bush and President-elect Obama had been gathering repeatedly in the White House and at the guest residence, Blair House, for the week leading up to the inauguration to track the latest intelligence. The rooms pulsed with a sense of nervous energy on the part of the new Obama staff and a world-weariness on the part of the Bush officials who had only days left to go in their public service.
While the two national security teams didn’t have much history working together, sitting on one side was a face familiar to everyone: John Brennan, one of the nation’s most skilled counterterrorism leaders who had led the newly formed National Counterterrorism Center after 9/11, only to part ways with the Bush administration over its handling of the Iraq war. Brennan had become a close adviser to the Democratic nominee and had been the top candidate to take over the CIA until concerns about his role in the Agency’s enhanced-interrogation program earlier in the decade had forced him into a position that didn’t require Senate confirmation. Now Brennan served as the calming force on the Obama team in the room. He’d been through this sort of thing before.
A week before, the two national security teams had teased out a mock scenario imagining multiple bombs detonating simultaneously around the country—a domestic version of what had happened in East Africa in 1998, in Madrid in 2004, and twice in London in 2005. Hanging over every meeting and every discussion was a question spoken only in whispers: How real did the threat have to be before the government should consider canceling the ceremony or moving it indoors to a secure location? There was some precedent: President Reagan’s second inaugural had been moved to the Capitol Rotunda because of nasty cold weather. This weather was heavier.
In one meeting, incoming secretary of state Hillary Clinton had asked a pointed question: “So what should Barack Obama do if he’s in the middle of his Inaugural Address and a bomb goes off way in the back of the crowd on the Mall? What does he do? Is the Secret Service going to whisk him off the podium, so the American people see their incoming president disappear in the middle of the Inaugural Address? I don’t think so.” But was that truly credible?
The decision was made: Obama would continue the speech, if at all possible.
Excerpted from THE THREAT MATRIX by Garrett Graff. Published in February 2012 by Back Bay Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. Copyright © 2012 by Garrett Graff. All rights reserved.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · ·
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WBUR | ‘Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI’ — And His Russia Investigation — With Biographer Garrett Graff WBUR Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror. … It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the … and more » |
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(CNN) Robert Mueller is ready to tighten the net again. In a pair of highly significant court maneuvers, the special counsel is expected to unveil new details of his …
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New Mueller Russia probe details expected Friday with Cohen, Manafort filings THV11.com KTHV
Special counsel Robert Mueller faces court deadlines Friday in the cases of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
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Mirror.co.uk | Trump ‘secretly investigated over Comey firing before Mueller was appointed’ Mirror.co.uk Top US officials opened a secret obstruction of justice probe into Donald Trump after he sackedFBI Director James Comey, it has been revealed. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe became increasingly … Restoration Weekend Panel: FBI, Mueller and TrumpFrontPage Magazine all 83 news articles » |
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Bloomberg | Kremlin Sours on Trump After Putin Snubs Bloomberg Donald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, Russia is finally losing faith in Trump’s promise to improve relations and bracing instead for increased tensions. Maybe now we know why Donald Trump won’t criticize Vladimir Putin: Today’s talkerUSA TODAY As if we did not know: Trump’s love affair with Putin was all about the moneyChicago Sun-Times all 3,354 news articles » |
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This is a giant counterintelligence case involving possible election-law violations, money laundering, and who knows what other criminal behaviors.
Bloomberg | Kremlin Sours on Trump After Putin Snubs Bloomberg Donald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, Russia is finally losing faith in Trump’s promise to improve relations and bracing instead for increased tensions. Putin’s Mouthpiece Is Center Stage in the Mueller InvestigationDaily Beast all 3 news articles » |
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Top US officials opened a secret obstruction of justice probe into Donald Trump after he sacked FBI Director James Comey, it has been revealed.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe became increasingly troubled by Trump’s behaviour following the firing.
In an attempt to reign him in, the Department of Justice launched an obstruction of justice investigation into the president’s potentially unconstitutional operations.
The covert scheme was actioned after officials grew increasingly more worried about Trump’s attempts to control other government operations – particularly Comey’s investigation into his former security advisor, Michael Flynn, CNN have said .
Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Thursday that Trump had a ‘legal right’ to fire Comey.
“It’s shocking that the FBI would open up an obstruction case for the president exercising his authority under Article II,” Giuliani told CNN.
The investigation started in the eight days between Comey’s termination and special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment.
Rosenstein appointed Mueller on May 17, 2017, to lead the now-19-month-long deep dive into investigating alleged collusion between the Trump administration and the Russian government.
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Last year, the Washington Post reported that the DOJ had commenced its own research project into Trump.
As part of the discussions about how to rein in Trump, Rosenstein had offered to wear a wire while meeting with Trump, though he has later said he was joking.
He also reportedly proposed looking into whether Cabinet members would be willing to impeach Trump using the 25th Amendment.Read the whole story · ·
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| Friendly Fire Killed Sheriff’s Sergeant At Thousand Oaks, Calif., Shooting Scene – NPR |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Top stories – Google News.Friendly Fire Killed Sheriff’s Sergeant At Thousand Oaks, Calif., Shooting Scene NPRWhen Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer responded to a shooting last month in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they faced a …View full coverage on Google News |
| To prevent goat-napping, Navy ups security around mascots to protect against Army bandits – The Washington Post |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Top stories – Google News.To prevent goat-napping, Navy ups security around mascots to protect against Army bandits The Washington PostWho plays in Army-Navy game? Future president, generals, politicians, American heroes USA TODAYNavy vs Army preview 12/08 | Inside College Football CBS SportsLakeside grad will be in Army-Navy game flyover The Augusta ChronicleTrump to attend Army-Navy game, Heisman Trophy ceremony: 5 things to know this weekend USA TODAYView full coverage on Google News |
| Officer killed during Borderline shooting died from friendly rifle fire – NBC News |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Top stories – Google News.Officer killed during Borderline shooting died from friendly rifle fire NBC NewsSheriff’s sergeant was fatally shot by friendly fire in the Thousand Oaks bar shooting CNNDeputy died from friendly fire in California bar gun battle The Associated PressDeputy died from friendly fire in Thousand Oaks massacre CBS NewsOfficer responding to mass shooting at Thousand Oaks bar was killed by friendly fire: authorities AOLView full coverage on Google News |
| Major Oil-producing Countries Agree to Cut Output |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Voice of America.Oil prices climbed sharply Friday after OPEC and other producers led by Russia agreed to cut output to reduce global inventories of crude oil. OPEC countries and the Russian-led coalition agreed to collectively slash oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day, said OPEC president Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, more than the 1 million barrel cut the market anticipated. After two days of negotiations, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries said they would cut 800,000 barrels a day, while non-OPEC allies agreed to an additional 400,000 barrels per day. The cuts, from which OPEC members Iran, Venezuela and Libya are exempt, will begin in January and remain in effect for six months. The deal highlights Russia’s new-found influence on the global oil market and the significance of Russia’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC. Oil-producing nations have been under pressure to cut production to stabilize oil prices, which have dropped sharply over the past few months. Global oil prices have plummeted by more than 30 percent since early October. The cuts were agreed to despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain current levels of oil production, which have surged since the end of 2017. The surge is primarily due to the U.S., which has increased production by 2.5 million barrels a day since early 2016, making the U.S. the world’s largest producer. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted, “The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!” |
| Не Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security News |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The U.S. and Global Security Review.mikenova shares “Не Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security News” from The Global Security NewsНе Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security Newshttp://globalsecuritynews.org/2018/12/08/%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d1%85%d0%bb%d1%8f%d0%b5%d1%82-the-russian-mobs-attempt-to-take-over-the-free-world-by-using-the-old-soviet-recipes-ends-with-a-big-loud-awakening-bang-from-the-muellers-investigat/Не Хляет!The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?! Michael Novakhov |
| “Russia Ukraine” – Google News: Poroshenko expects new CDU head to support Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression – UNIAN |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Russia News.Poroshenko expects new CDU head to support Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression UNIANPresident of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko expects that the newly elected leader of the German Christian Democratic Union Party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, … “Russia Ukraine” – Google News |
| In White House Shake-up, Kelly’s Departure Now Seems Certain |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Voice of America.WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is inching closer to his long-teased major White House shake-up, gearing up for the twin challenges of battling for re-election and dealing with the Democrats’ investigations once they take control of the House.The biggest piece of the shifting picture: Chief of Staff John Kelly’s departure now appears certain.Trump announced Friday he was picking a new U.S. attorney genera l and a new ambassador to the U.N. , and at the same time two senior aides departed the White House to beef up his 2020 campaign. But the largest changes were still to come. Kelly’s replacement in the coming weeks is expected to have a ripple effect throughout the administration.According to nearly a dozen current and former administration officials and outside confidants, Trump is nearly ready to replace Kelly and has even begun telling people to contact the man long viewed as his likely successor.“Give Nick a call,” Trump has instructed people, referring to Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, according to one person familiar with the discussions.Like all of those interviewed, the person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.Trump has hardly been shy about his dissatisfaction with the team he had chosen and has been weighing all sorts of changes over the past several months. He delayed some of the biggest shifts until after the November elections at the urging of aides who worried that adding to his already-record turnover just before the voting would harm his party’s electoral chances.Now, nearly a month after those midterms, in which his party surrendered control of the House to Democrats but expanded its slim majority in the Senate, Trump is starting to make moves.He announced Friday that he’ll nominate William Barr, who served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, to the same role in his administration. If confirmed, Barr will fill the slot vacated by Jeff Sessions, who was unceremoniously jettisoned by Trump last month over lingering resentment for recusing himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.Sessions was exiled less than 24 hours after polls closed. But Trump’s broader efforts to reshape his inner circle have been on hold, leading to a sense of near-paralysis in the building, with people unsure of what to do.Trump also announced that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is his pick to replace Nikki Haley as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and he said he’d have another announcement Saturday about the military’s top brass.All this came the same day that Trump’s re-election campaign announced that two veterans of the president’s 2016 campaign, White House political director Bill Stepien and Justin Clark, the director of the office of public liaison, were leaving the administration to work on Trump’s re-election campaign.“Now is the best opportunity to be laser-focused on further building out the political infrastructure that will support victory for President Trump and the GOP in 2020,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.The moves had long been planned, and will give Kelly’s eventual successor room to build a new White House political team.Kelly was not at the White House on Friday, but was expected to attend an East Room dinner with the president and senior staff.Ayers, who is a seasoned campaign veteran despite his relative youth — he’s just 36 — has the backing of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law and senior advisers, for the new role, according to White House officials. But Ayers has also faced some resistance. During Trump’s flight home from a recent trip to Paris, some aides aboard Air Force One tried to convince the president that Ayers was the wrong person for the job, according to two people familiar with the matter.Trump and Kelly’s relationship has been strained for months — with Kelly on the verge of resignation and Trump nearly firing him several times. But each time the two have decided to make amends, even as Kelly’s influence has waned.Kelly, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, was tapped by Trump in August 2017 to try to normalize a White House that had been riven by infighting. And he had early successes, including ending an open-door Oval Office policy that had been compared to New York’s Grand Central Station and instituting a more rigorous policy process to try to prevent staffers from going directly to Trump.But those efforts also miffed the president and some of his most influential outside allies, who had grown accustomed to unimpeded access. And his handling of domestic violence accusations against the former White House staff secretary also caused consternation, especially among lower-level White House staffers, who believed Kelly had lied to them about when he found out about the allegations.Kelly, too, has made no secret of the trials of his job and has often joked about how working for Trump was harder than anything he’d done before, including on the battlefield. |
| Trump Confirms He’ll Nominate Army General Milley as N ext Top Military Adviser |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Voice of America.— U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will nominate Army General Mark Milley to replace Marine General Joseph Dunford as his next top military adviser. “I am thankful to both of these incredible men for their service to our Country! Date of transition to be determined,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning tweet. Milley is a combat-experienced military leader and the current Chief of Staff of the Army, a position he has held since 2015. Milley, who commanded troops during multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, must be confirmed by the Senate to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some military officials at the Pentagon said Air Force General David Goldfein was also a top contender for the job but added that Milley has a good relationship with the president. Trump hinted Friday he would make the announcement Saturday while attending the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. Instead, he announced it at the White House before departing for Philadelphia. As the Army’s top officer, Milley helped lead the effort to allow women to serve in front-line infantry and other combat positions. He has worked to reverse a decline in Army recruiting, which fell far short of its annual goal this year. Milley is an infantry officer by training, and has also commanded Special Forces units. His career includes deployments in the 1989 invasion of Panama, the multinational mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Iraq war. If confirmed, Milley will replace Dunford, a former commandant of the Marine Corps and commander of coalition troops in Afghanistan. Dunford is expected to serve the remainder of his term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, which ends October 1, 2019. |
| Police arrest 84 in European crackdown on Italian mob |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story .About 90 suspected mobsters have been arrested across Europe and South America with vast quantities of cocaine and other drugs seized in a mafia purge.German federal police confirmed in a statement there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids, with the main focus of the operation in western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders Holland and Belgium.The ‘Ndrangheta – which derives its meaning from the Greek word for “heroism” – is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed “toe” of Italy’s boot.Officials hailed Wednesday’s operation – dubbed “Operation Pollina” – as a serious blow to the group.Some 140 kilograms of ecstasy pills and 3 000-4 000 kilos of cocaine were seized during the operation, Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said at a press conference in The Hague on Wednesday. The AD said past year that Dutch police had introduced a special police unit completely dedicated to fighting mafia activities on Dutch soil.The vast anti-mafia operation was carried out by Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism force in collaboration with German, Belgian and Dutch authorities, it said. They are accused of committing “serious crimes” including activities linked to worldwide drug trafficking, Italian police said in a statement.But he warned that it was “just a first step”, saying the arrests were “nothing for the ‘Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized”.”It’s nearly a cliche, but the operation carried out today confirms again the great danger of the ‘ndrangheta, not just in drug trafficking, where it’s the undisputed leader, but (also) in the financial sphere”, said Francesco Ratta, a top police official in the southern Italian region of Calabria.The European police agency Europol said it was a “decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world”.The operation took place one day after Settimo Mineo, the alleged head or “godfather” of the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, was arrested with 46 other people in the Palermo region of Italy, according to the Italian police and anti-Mafia prosecutors in Palermo.Just under half of the suspects were detained in Italy. |
| Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from “Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer” – Google News.Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: Merkel choice elected CDU leaderBBC News-16 hours agoGermany’s ruling Christian Democrat Union has chosen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new party leader, ending Angela Merkel’s 18-year …Angela Merkel Ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Elected as New … TIME-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: The women behind the ‘mini-Merkel … International-The Local Germany-13 hours agoAngela Merkel’s preferred candidate becomes party leader Opinion-The Economist-15 hours agoGerman conservatives pick a Merkel ally to be party leader, signaling … In-Depth-Washington Post-19 hours agoAngela Merkel’s CDU successor: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer International-Deutsche Welle-15 hours agoView allAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as CDU party …Irish Times-19 hours agoGemany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as party leader, a decision that …Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as CDU party …Irish Times-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as CDU party …. (CDU) has backed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new leader, …Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, an ally of German Chancellor Angela …WFTV Orlando-19 hours agoHAMBURG, Germany – HAMBURG, Germany (AP) – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is elected …Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s path to the top of the CDUDeutsche Welle-16 hours agoThe Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected the party’s secretary general and former Saarland state premier, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to …Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to be chancellor, but insists she’s …<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Dec 3, 2018“I think people see me as authentic, just like I am, with my ideas, my style of doing politics,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told NBC News after a …Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Elected as Merkel’s Successor<a href=”http://Novinite.com” rel=”nofollow”>Novinite.com</a>-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Angela Merkel, won a tight race to succeed her as party leader Friday, seeing off a longtime rival …CDU Elects German Chancellor Merkel’s ReplacementNewsy-14 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is a former state prime minister and is seen as Merkel’s hand-picked successor. SHOW TRANSCRIPT.CDU elects Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as party …ForexLive-19 hours agoCDU elects Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as party leader. Fri 7 Dec 2018 16:00:04 GMT. Author: Adam Button | Category: News. share …Who is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer? Could she be the new Merkel?euronews-Dec 6, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is one vote away from reaching the top of German politics. She is one of the favourites to take over as the leader …Merkel’s party chooses Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as successor to …Toronto Star-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, narrowly defeated one-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz at a congress of the centre-right Christian Democratic …Channel NewsAsiaMerkel’s time is running out. Now Germany’s ‘mini-Merkel’ is stepping …Washington Post-Nov 14, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s greatest asset as she positions herself to become Germany’s next leader is that she is widely regarded as …Merkel taking risk by giving up CDU party chair, protege says Channel NewsAsia-Nov 14, 2018View allWie tickt die neue CDU-Chefin?SPIEGEL ONLINE-2 hours agoIm Augenblick des Triumphs zeigte Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, dass sie nicht einfach eine saarländische Version von Angela Merkel ist.Sie hat die CDU gepackt International-FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-14 hours agoView all |
| Не Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security News |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The Global Security News.Не Хляет!The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?! Michael Novakhov |
| Book World: How Trump, ISIS and Russia have mastered the Internet as a weapon |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Borneo Bulletin Online.| Leigh Giangreco |WHEN lawmakers hauled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to Capitol Hill for a hearing on privacy and abuse of data in April, the only clear theme to emerge from their line of bizarre questions was the Senate’s complete misunderstanding of social media. Instead of unravelling how Russian disinformation thrived on Facebook and influenced the 2016 election, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican representative for Utah) wasted his given time asking basic questions about the platform’s business model, while Senator Brian Schatz (Democrats representative for Hawaii) took a misguided tour of the messaging app WhatsApp.In a more innocent time, the gang of clueless senators would have made for an amusing montage on The Daily Show. But in the age of information warfare, it showed that our leaders had little grasp on the greatest existential threat to American democracy.Had PW Singer and Emerson Brooking’s new book, LikeWar, come out just a few months earlier, those senators might have had a better grip on Facebook’s role as a weapon in today’s war. Packed with the past five years of news and a brief account of the birth of the Internet, LikeWar is a breezy read about modern warfare, with the authors flipping through tales of Russian bots, washed-up reality stars and Silicon Valley magnates like clips on your friend’s Instagram story.That rapid succession of stories makes it a suitable textbook for today’s journalism or political science students looking to understand how the same apps they use to communicate with friends can be amassed as tools in a potent arsenal.There are points where LikeWar is too married to that textbook format, as when it trots out a hackneyed description of the Kennedy-Nixon debate, or may try too hard to frame old mediums in a contemporary lens, calling Benjamin Franklin “the founding father of fake news in America” because he published under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Silence Dogood’ in the New-England Courant.But it’s not the young, digital natives that need LikeWar the most. When Singer’s novel, Ghost Fleet, was published in 2015, Washington’s national security community gripped it as both a cautionary tale and a future battle plan. LikeWar, on the other hand, is not a warning about tomorrow’s war – it’s a map for those who don’t understand how the battlefield has already changed.To ground their readers in familiarity, Emerson and Singer have framed the players in this new kind of war as kings overseeing burgeoning empires. But these monarchs, often clustered in Silicon Valley, could rule in peace only until a powder keg exploded.LikeWar begins with United States (US) President Donald Trump’s first tweet in 2009, announcing, “Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight!” But this is not (thank goodness) another book about the President. Instead, it revolves around an unholy trinity of those who have mastered the Internet as a weapon: Trump, the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and Russia.At times that carousel of deplorables can become dizzying. The three turn up in a journal published by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a piece written by a Trump campaign organiser that links their use of meme warfare and shows how they capitalise on viral content.When Emerson and Singer note the 4Ds – “dismiss the critic, distort the facts, distract from the main issue, and dismay the audience” – it’s hard to tell if it’s a reference to Russia’s new defensive strategy or a wink to Trump’s bizarre dance with the media.In some cases, the opposing parties even complement each other’s goals. When IS posts videos that link gruesome acts with scripture, the website Breitbart seizes on them to fan the flames of its far-right supporters. With each ‘like’, IS gets new recruits and Breitbart gets ad dollars.Beyond recapping the news, LikeWar becomes a compelling read as Brookings and Singer give historical context to today’s news to demystify the Internet as a battlefield. The authors liken the stunning capture of Mosul, Iraq, which IS publicised far outside the Middle East by bombarding social media, to the unyielding tempo of the German blitzkrieg, which paralysed French fighters with a relentless broadcast of its attacks.Today’s ‘sockpuppets’, young Russians who masquerade online as Americans, prove to be nothing more than hipster updates to Cold War tactics deployed by the Soviet Union that targeted the extremes of American politics. The contemporary Russian General Valery Gerasimov, who in 2013 published a treatise ranking nonmilitary means above traditional weapons, is, in the authors’ telling, just a fresh take on the early-19th-Century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. Just as Clausewitz established war as politics by other means, Gerasimov laid out a radical new approach to conflict by taking advantage of the Internet as the ultimate disinformation weapon.But if Clausewitz crops up as a motif that grounds the book in staid military doctrine, references to pop stars and reality television celebrities keep the text out of the realm of the typical think tank fare. It may seem a cheap bid for younger readers at first, but the authors draw smart and eerie parallels between terrorist groups and seemingly vapid celebrities. Even Vladimir Putin’s longtime media adviser admires the social media savvy of Kim Kardashian, who can direct millions of her supporters without the KGB.But the heart of LikeWar, and what would have assisted our hapless senators, lies in its explanation of homophily and its role in spreading falsehoods. Online news, true or false, is sustained by the number of people who ‘like’ it. Each successive ‘like’ contributes to an algorithm that generates similar content, guaranteeing an infinite echo chamber.LikeWar isn’t waged by sophisticated hackers but by those who know how to master the narrative with viral memes, slick videos and clickbait headlines. And when the information war is won in this abstract cyberspace, all the metal in our grand fleets and advanced fighter jets will be rendered immaterial. – The Washington Post |
| Examining What Michael Flynn’s Cooperation Means To Russia Probe : NPR |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Law : NPR.Rachel Martin talks to Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News and co-author of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump.RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:The investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller has been notably free of leaks. What we know so far has come in the form of official court filings, like indictments, plea agreements and what we’re seeing this week – sentencing memos. The special counsel on Tuesday released such a memo on Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Similar memos are expected Friday for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chair Paul Manafort. In the case of Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, Robert Mueller recommended a sentence with little to no prison time. The memo mentioned Flynn’s, quote, “substantial” cooperation in several ongoing investigations, although details were heav ily redact ed.We’re going to try to put all this into the context of the larger Russia investigation with Michael Isikoff. He is chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News. He is also the co-author of the book titled “Russian Roulette: The Inside Story Of Putin’s War On America And The Election Of Donald Trump.” Michael, thanks for being here.MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good to be here.MARTIN: So let’s be clear to start off – these memos are filings meant to serve a legal purpose and message to the judge. They’re not press releases. They’re not statements from the prosecutors. But having said all that, what should we, the public, take away from the filings?ISIKOFF: Well, you know, it’s really like reading tea leaves here because it’s a cryptic document. It does refer to Michael Flynn’s substantial cooperation with the government over the course of the last year since he pled guilty to lying to the FBI. It does reference, as you pointed out, several investigations. But I should point out that when you read it closely, only one of those appears to be related to Robert Mueller’s core mandate of the Russia investigation itself – coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.There’s a reference to a mysterious other criminal investigation that the memos – the sentencing memo says that Flynn has provided substantial cooperation for. But the close reading suggests that that’s not something Mueller himself is handling. It’s been farmed out to other Justice Department prosecutors. There’s some reporting this morning that they may involve an illegal lobbying effort that Turkey was conducting. Flynn had been lobbying for the government of Turkey, had not registered with the Justice Department for that as he should have.MARTIN: So while potentially nefarious, not connected necessarily to the core mandate.ISIKOFF: Not connected, right – and then there’s a reference to another investigation that may or may not be within Mueller’s mandate, for which it says Flynn has provided useful information. So the substantial information says to me, that’s assistance – information that the Justice Department can use to prosecute others, to bring other cases. But the one time that that’s used in the memo when it breaks down – Flynn’s cooperation – it’s in reference to that other mysterious investigation – non-Russia.MARTIN: So words like collusion and obstruction, which we hear about often in conversations like this – notably absent from the visible portion of the Flynn memo.ISIKOFF: Right, this doesn’t really tell us whether Mueller has other cards to play in the core Russia investigation itself. It certainly talks about how Flynn has provided important information, timely information about contacts between the Trump transition team and Russians. That’s what Flynn originally pled guilty to lying about. But it’s not really much of a roadmap as to whether there are more prosecutions to bring on that front.MARTIN: I want to play a bit of tape. This is Congressman Mark Meadows. He’s a stalwart supporter of President Trump. This is what he said on Fox.(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “HANNITY”)MARK MEADOWS: Let’s look at what’s not in there. There is no suggestion that Michael Flynn had anything to do with collusion. He was with the transition team. He was part of the campaign. And yet there’s no mention of collusion. I think it’s good news for President Trump tonight.MARTIN: Do you think he’s right? Do you think it’s good news?ISIKOFF: Well, you know, he may be. We just don’t know. Look, there’s a whole other part of Mueller’s investigation. That’s the obstruction question. Did President Trump obstruct justice when he fired James Comey, when he asked, before that, James Comey to let Michael Flynn go? One would think that Flynn’s cooperation would be very important for that part of the Mueller probe. But remember, the chief target of an obstruction investigation would be the president himself. It was his actions that that spurred all this.And under DOJ policy, presidents cannot be indicted. So what Mueller would do with that information is provide it in a report that presumably, at this point, would go to the acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker. What happens after that is very much unclear. Certainly, Congress will want access to it. The Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee certainly will. How much of that they will see we don’t know at this point.MARTIN: Quickly, what do we know, if anything, about the Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort memos expected?ISIKOFF: I think those are going to be highly informative. Both are very key witnesses. Michael Cohen pled guilty last week and provided some really substantial information about the Trump Organization and contacts with the Kremlin in reference to a Trump Tower meeting. Paul Manafort, the prosecutors have accused of lying to them. And they are expected this Friday in a memo to lay out what they believe Manafort lied to them about. We’re all going to be waiting with pins and needles to read that.MARTIN: Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo, co-author of the book “Russian Roulette,” thanks so much. We appreciate it.ISIKOFF: Thank you.Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. |
| nick ayers – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| brothers podesta – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| brothers podesta – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| brothers podesta – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| brothers podesta – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
| brothers podesta – Google Search |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from “brothers podesta” – Google News.Mueller-referred probe into Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig …Fox News-Dec 5, 2018The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta — a Democratic lobbyist … Podesta is a longtime Democratic operative whose brother, John …Is the Special Counsel About to Hammer Tony Podesta? Townhall-Dec 6, 2018Dept. of Justice ramping up investigation into Podesta Group, Mercury … One America News Network (press release)-Dec 6, 2018Prosecutors ramp up foreign lobbying probe in New York Chattanooga Times Free Press-Dec 5, 2018Federal Prosecutors Ramp Up Probe of Manafort-Linked Podesta … Law & Crime-Dec 5, 2018View all |
| Tony Podesta – Wikipedia |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story .Anthony T. Podesta (born October 24, 1943), commonly known as Tony Podesta, is an American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group.[1] He used to be one of Washington’s most powerful lobbyists and fundraisers.[2][3][4]Podesta and the Podesta Group are reportedly under federal investigation regarding compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act for their work for a Ukrainian group tied to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych beginning in 2012.[5][6] |
| John Kelly expected to resign soon, no longer on speaking terms with Trump |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story .Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years, the two have stopped speaking in recent days.The expected departure would end a tumultuous tenure for Kelly, who was brought on to bring order to the White House but whose time as chief of staff has often been marked by the same infighting and controversy that has largely defined Trump’s presidency from its beginning. Many of the storms in which Kelly became embroiled were by his own making.Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, though a person involved in the process said nothing is final right now and ultimately nothing is final until Trump announces it. Potential replacements include Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, who is still seen as a leading contender.CNN reported last month that Trump was considering potential replacements for several senior positions in his administration as part of a post-midterms staff shakeup.Once seen as stabilizing forceJUST WATCHEDSources: Ayers may be Kelly’s replacementMUST WATCHPlayCaption Settings DialogBeginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.02:08When Kelly first replaced Reince Priebus as chief of staff last summer, he ruled with an iron fist. He curbed Oval Office access, blocked certain outsiders from being able to call the White House switchboard and had broad authority over staffing.But in the last months, Kelly has seen his status as chief of staff diminish. Trump began circumventing many of the policies and protocols he enacted, and he was on the verge of being fired or resigning numerous times.Trump often vacillated between criticizing and praising Kelly, sometimes within minutes of each other. Kelly started holding increasingly fewer senior staff meetings — once daily occurrences were whittled down to weekly gatherings — and began to exert less control over who talks to the President.White House officials believed Kelly was close to resigning after he got into a heated shouting match with national security adviser John Bolton in October. Bolton had criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during an Oval Office discussion about the border, and Kelly stormed out of the West Wing after their profanity-laced argument spilled over into the hallways.Controversial tenureJUST WATCHEDBolton, Kelly get into heated shouting matchMUST WATCHPlayCaption Settings DialogBeginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.02:12Kelly’s tenure working for Trump was pocked with controversies, and officials were often amazed at how he managed to survive. Weeks after taking over for Priebus, his predecessor who was unceremoniously fired over Twitter while he sat on a rainy tarmac, Kelly was faced with Trump’s controversial response to the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was photographed looking grim-faced in the lobby of Trump Tower as the President declared there were “good people” on both sides of the racist violence.At times, Kelly was the source of his own downfall. He insulted Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, using inaccurate information, later declaring he would “never” apologize. He said some of those eligible for protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals were “lazy.”But perhaps most damaging was his handling of the situation involving former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by two of his ex-wives of abuse. Kelly’s shifting accounts caused his credibility inside the West Wing to plummet, and it never truly recovered, according to officials. Kelly’s highly criticized handling of the Porter controversy was an inflection point in his tenure, and some of his internal relationships became strained in the months that followed the former staff secretary’s ouster.This story is breaking and being updated.CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny, Jeremy Diamond and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report. |
| ‘Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI’ — And His Russia Investigation — With Biographer Garrett Graff |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from WBUR News.With David FolkenflikInside the mind of Robert Mueller. We’ll unpack the latest news from the Mueller investigation and explore what makes the special prosecutor tick with his biographer, Garrett Graff.GuestGarrett Graff, journalist, historian and director of the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity and technology program. Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror.” ()Important Documents From The Russia InvestigationThe Letter Giving Robert Mueller Charge To Investigate Russian InterferenceThe Carter Page FISA DocumentsMueller’s Sentencing Memo For Michael FlynnFrom The Reading ListWired: “14 Trump and Russia Questions Robert Mueller Knows the Answers To” — “Michael Flynn’s sentencing memo, filed yesterday with the most intriguing and interesting parts redacted by special counsel Robert Mueller, provided yet another frustrating glimpse into an investigation that seems at times almost maddeningly opaque. It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the ‘how.'”Amid the flurry of revelations from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s role in the 2016 campaign, it’s worth revisiting the loose ends of his probe. Specifically, focusing on questions that remain mysteries to us but that clearly Mueller himself knows by this point—the Rumsfeldian “known unknowns”—provides particular clarity as to where the investigation will head next.”Decoding Mueller’s 17-month investigation has been a publicly frustrating exercise, as individual puzzle pieces, like Flynn’s sentencing memo, often don’t hint at the final assembled picture—nor even tell us if we’re looking at a single interlocking puzzle, in which all the pieces are related, or multiple, separate, unrelated ones.”The sheer breadth of alleged, unrelated criminality by so many different Trumpworld players—from Paul Manafort’s money laundering and European bribes to Michael Flynn’s Turkish conspiracies to Michael Cohen’s tax fraud to even the indictments of the first two members of Congress to endorse Trump, representatives Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter—make it particularly difficult to disentangle what might have transpired at Trump Tower and the White House.”Mueller’s investigation, though, has been remarkably focused and consistent straight through—zeroing in on five distinct investigative avenues: money laundering and Russian-linked business deals; the Russian government’s cyberattack on the DNC, other entities, and state-level voting systems; its related online information influence operations, by the Internet Research Agency; the sketchy contacts by Trump campaign and transition officials with Russia; and the separate question of whether Trump himself, or others, actively tried to obstruct justice by impeding the investigation of the above.”Book Excerpt from “The Threat Matrix” by Garrett GraffINTRODUCTION Public Enemy #1The final minutes of George W. Bush’s eight years as president ticked away as Bob Mueller stepped down onto the inaugural platform. Despite weeks of wall-to-wall news coverage warning of overcrowding for the inauguration—millions of people who might clog the Washington Beltway and the Metro system for hours—the chilly January day had deterred few inaugural-goers. More than perhaps anyone else on the inaugural platform, Mueller, the director of the FBI, was responsible for keeping everyone safe for the day.The previous twenty-four hours had been nerve-racking, like so many of the days and nights of the past seven years. A threat out of the Middle East, sketchy at best. Reports of a man barreling down the Jersey Turnpike with a bomb. Agents from the FBI, the CIA, and a dozen other agencies fanned across country and several continents, hoping to run down the information before noon Tuesday, H-Hour for the handover of government, democracy’s greatest rite—the peaceful and amicable transfer of power from one party to another with nearly diametrically opposed views.The last time the nation had gathered to do this, in January 2001, the world had been a different place. That was, as everyone now said, before. This was the first transfer of power after. Before, the Clinton administration had balked at targeting a shadowy terrorist named Osama bin Laden in a faraway place called Afghanistan. Before, the argument had been, What had bin Laden ever done to deserve assassination? The United States didn’t do that type of thing. Now, after, everything was different.Just days prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama, Hellfire missiles launched from a Predator drone half a world away from Washington had killed two Kenyans suspected in the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Usama al-Kini, also known as Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan likely never saw the missiles closing on them at speeds topping Mach 1.3 and likely never felt the twenty-pound warheads explode. Although the FBI’s global footprint had expanded considerably, the United States had no other practical means to eliminate this pair of terrorists. The two men, living in South Waziristan—a remote tribal part of Pakistan most Americans would be hard-pressed to locate on a map—were unreachable. The CIA drones and their Hellfire missiles were a different type of justice, an outside-the-courtroom, permanent justice—one that, after, the U.S. government had decided was more than appropriate to mete out but had been off the table before. (The precise term for such measures —< em>extralegal—had become all too familiar to the American people after.)Al-Kini and Swedan were both on the Bureau’s “Most Wanted Terrorist” list, making the attacks a big victory for the United States, yet, since the United States didn’t acknowledge these covert missile strikes, it didn’t officially consider them dead. Months later, both men’s names would still be on the FBI’s public list; inside the government, though, no one was looking too hard for them.The minutes ticked away on inaugural day. Of the government men onstage, only a few had been in the fateful national security meeting the morning of September 12, 2001, the day after everything had changed. Now, in just two hours, most of them would depart government. A green-and-white Marine helicopter from HMX-1, the presidential helicopter squadron, sat on the East Front Plaza of the Capitol, waiting to ferry George W. Bush back to private life. Vice President Dick Cheney, confined to a wheelchair after straining his back moving boxes the weekend before, would also depart—only to appear in the coming months as a vocal opponent of the new administration’s approach to terrorism. Of the entire national security team, those departures would leave only Mueller still in the position he had held on September 11, 2001, that brilliant and crisp fall day when the planes had come.Only one other member of the national security team would be carrying over from Bush to Obama—and his absence today was intentional. Hidden in a secure location outside Washington, Robert Gates—the wizened secretary of defense who on 9/11 had been a dean at Texas A&M—was, in the bland parlance of bureaucracy, the “designated successor,” part of the elaborate continuity-of-government plans created during the Cold War to ensure the United States would survive even the most catastrophic assault. Originally designed to protect against surprise Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles coming in over the North Pole, the continuity-of-government operation now mostly guarded against terrorists with a smuggled nuclear weapon stuffed in a suitcase. In the coming hours, a new national security team would begin to flow into the federal apparatus across the city and move into the White House, where air pressure is always kept elevated to ensure biological or chemical agents can’t penetrate inside. Only Mueller would be left among the security team to recall the fear, tension, and shock of September 12, 2001, the uncertainty of the day after. The soldiers in the streets; the smoke, visible from his office, rising from the Pentagon across the Potomac River; the concrete barriers that sprang up everywhere overnight like some sort of ugly, aggressive species of weed; that smell—part burning jet fuel, part burning paper, part burning flesh.Mueller, wrapped in long overcoat and scarf, his gloved hands protected from the cold, walked to the front of the stage, his longtime wife and companion, Ann, by his side. On 9/11, just days after moving to Washington, she had sat through that historic day alone, watching the television in their temporary apartment six blocks from where they now stood. Her husband hadn’t returned until long after she’d gone to sleep.From the banister, they could survey the largest crowd ever assembled for a presidential inauguration. It spread out for over a mile, the length of the National Mall, the nation’s so-called backyard. Somewhere out in the crowd were 155 teams of Mueller’s agents in plainclothes, watching for anything unusual. A few blocks away, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, created thirty years earlier as the nation’s elite antiterror strike force, sat poised to react. To back them up, SWAT teams, hazardous-material units, bomb squads, and even weapons of mass destruction response teams were located at strategic points around the crowded city. Armored military-like vehicles topped with flashing lights were hidden just out of sight, ready for action. Police helicopters circled the city, their expensive sensors and surveillance gear hard at work. Gas masks hung from the waists of thousands of law enforcement personnel, as well as the National Guard troops who stood on every street corner for miles. Fighter jets bristling with missiles slung under their wings waited to respond to trouble from above, while deep beneath the city Secret Service agents searched tunnels and sewers for trouble below. Most military coups in the world were carried out with less firepower, materiel, and personnel than were deployed to the streets of Washington for what everyone hoped would be a peaceful and uneventful transition of power.The early-morning crowd before Mueller was ecstatic despite the hour, the security hassles, and the bone-chilling cold. While the crowd on the Mall and in the Capitol complex was swept up in the euphoric moment of hope and the promise of change brought about by the election of the nation’s first black president and a team representing a youthful new generation of leadership, Mueller knew the fear that prevailed behind the scenes.Until hours earlier, it had seemed possible that the day would go very differently. Three different threads of intelligence had indicated that al-Shabaab, one of the many Islamic jihadist groups that formed the international web of al-Qaeda affiliates, had dispatched attackers from its base in Somalia to slip across the Canadian border and explode bombs on the Mall during the inauguration. The government had been tracking the intelligence for weeks, but only recently had new information moved the threat onto a different tier of seriousness.Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen—the “Movement of Warrior Youth”—was still relatively new to the terrorism game; it wouldn’t even formally be declared a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by the State Department for another month, yet its capabilities were already well-known enough to seriously worry the government officials in the days leading up to the inauguration. (Kenya, the president’s ancestral country and the site of the 1998 embassy attack that had helped usher in the age of al-Qaeda, was also under threat, according to the available intelligence.)The national security teams of President Bush and President-elect Obama had been gathering repeatedly in the White House and at the guest residence, Blair House, for the week leading up to the inauguration to track the latest intelligence. The rooms pulsed with a sense of nervous energy on the part of the new Obama staff and a world-weariness on the part of the Bush officials who had only days left to go in their public service.While the two national security teams didn’t have much history working together, sitting on one side was a face familiar to everyone: John Brennan, one of the nation’s most skilled counterterrorism leaders who had led the newly formed National Counterterrorism Center after 9/11, only to part ways with the Bush administration over its handling of the Iraq war. Brennan had become a close adviser to the Democratic nominee and had been the top candidate to take over the CIA until concerns about his role in the Agency’s enhanced-interrogation program earlier in the decade had forced him into a position that didn’t require Senate confirmation. Now Brennan served as the calming force on the Obama team in the room. He’d been through this sort of thing before.A week before, the two national security teams had teased out a mock scenario imagining multiple bombs detonating simultaneously around the country—a domestic version of what had happened in East Africa in 1998, in Madrid in 2004, and twice in London in 2005. Hanging over every meeting and every discussion was a question spoken only in whispers: How real did the threat have to be before the government should consider canceling the ceremony or moving it indoors to a secure location? There was some precedent: President Reagan’s second inaugural had been moved to the Capitol Rotunda because of nasty cold weather. This weather was heavier.In one meeting, incoming secretary of state Hillary Clinton had asked a pointed question: “So what should Barack Obama do if he’s in the middle o f his Inaugural Address and a bomb goes off way in the back of the crowd on the Mall? What does he do? Is the Secret Service going to whisk him off the podium, so the American people see their incoming president disappear in the middle of the Inaugural Address? I don’t think so.” But was that truly credible?The decision was made: Obama would continue the speech, if at all possible.Excerpted from THE THREAT MATRIX by Garrett Graff. Published in February 2012 by Back Bay Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. Copyright © 2012 by Garrett Graff. All rights reserved. |
| Russian Intelligence, organized crime and war on police – Google News: ‘Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI’ — And His Russia Investigation — With Biographer Garrett Graff – WBUR |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from 1. Trump from Michael_Novakhov (198 sites). WBUR ‘Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI’ — And His Russia Investigation — With Biographer Garrett Graff WBUR Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror. … It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the … and more » Russian Intelligence, organized crime and war on police – Google News |
| 1. Trump from Michael_Novakhov (198 sites): “Putin and American political process” – Google News: Mueller’s next big reveal – CNN |
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Trump Investigations Report.Mueller’s next big reveal CNN(CNN) Robert Mueller is ready to tighten the net again. In a pair of highly significant court maneuvers, the special counsel is expected to unveil new details of his … “Putin and American political process” – Google News 1. Trump from Michael_Novakhov (198 sites) |
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Friendly Fire Killed Sheriff’s Sergeant At Thousand Oaks, Calif., Shooting Scene NPR
When Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer responded to a shooting last month in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they faced a …View full coverage on Google News
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Oil prices climbed sharply Friday after OPEC and other producers led by Russia agreed to cut output to reduce global inventories of crude oil. OPEC countries and the Russian-led coalition agreed to collectively slash oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day, said OPEC president Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, more than the 1 million barrel cut the market anticipated. After two days of negotiations, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries said they would cut 800,000 barrels a day, while non-OPEC allies agreed to an additional 400,000 barrels per day. The cuts, from which OPEC members Iran, Venezuela and Libya are exempt, will begin in January and remain in effect for six months. The deal highlights Russia’s new-found influence on the global oil market and the significance of Russia’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC. Oil-producing nations have been under pressure to cut production to stabilize oil prices, which have dropped sharply over the past few months. Global oil prices have plummeted by more than 30 percent since early October. The cuts were agreed to despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain current levels of oil production, which have surged since the end of 2017. The surge is primarily due to the U.S., which has increased production by 2.5 million barrels a day since early 2016, making the U.S. the world’s largest producer. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted, “The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!”
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| mikenova shares “Не Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security News” from The Global Security NewsНе Хляет! The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. | The Global Security Newshttp://globalsecuritynews.org/2018/12/08/%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d1%85%d0%bb%d1%8f%d0%b5%d1%82-the-russian-mobs-attempt-to-take-over-the-free-world-by-using-the-old-soviet-recipes-ends-with-a-big-loud-awakening-bang-from-the-muellers-investigat/Не Хляет!The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation. And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?! Michael Novakhov |
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Poroshenko expects new CDU head to support Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression UNIAN
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko expects that the newly elected leader of the German Christian Democratic Union Party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, …
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WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump is inching closer to his long-teased major White House shake-up, gearing up for the twin challenges of battling for re-election and dealing with the Democrats’ investigations once they take control of the House.
The biggest piece of the shifting picture: Chief of Staff John Kelly’s departure now appears certain.
Trump announced Friday he was picking a new U.S. attorney genera l and a new ambassador to the U.N. , and at the same time two senior aides departed the White House to beef up his 2020 campaign. But the largest changes were still to come. Kelly’s replacement in the coming weeks is expected to have a ripple effect throughout the administration.
According to nearly a dozen current and former administration officials and outside confidants, Trump is nearly ready to replace Kelly and has even begun telling people to contact the man long viewed as his likely successor.
“Give Nick a call,” Trump has instructed people, referring to Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, according to one person familiar with the discussions.
Like all of those interviewed, the person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
Trump has hardly been shy about his dissatisfaction with the team he had chosen and has been weighing all sorts of changes over the past several months. He delayed some of the biggest shifts until after the November elections at the urging of aides who worried that adding to his already-record turnover just before the voting would harm his party’s electoral chances.
Now, nearly a month after those midterms, in which his party surrendered control of the House to Democrats but expanded its slim majority in the Senate, Trump is starting to make moves.
He announced Friday that he’ll nominate William Barr, who served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, to the same role in his administration. If confirmed, Barr will fill the slot vacated by Jeff Sessions, who was unceremoniously jettisoned by Trump last month over lingering resentment for recusing himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.
Sessions was exiled less than 24 hours after polls closed. But Trump’s broader efforts to reshape his inner circle have been on hold, leading to a sense of near-paralysis in the building, with people unsure of what to do.
Trump also announced that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is his pick to replace Nikki Haley as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and he said he’d have another announcement Saturday about the military’s top brass.
All this came the same day that Trump’s re-election campaign announced that two veterans of the president’s 2016 campaign, White House political director Bill Stepien and Justin Clark, the director of the office of public liaison, were leaving the administration to work on Trump’s re-election campaign.
“Now is the best opportunity to be laser-focused on further building out the political infrastructure that will support victory for President Trump and the GOP in 2020,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.
The moves had long been planned, and will give Kelly’s eventual successor room to build a new White House political team.
Kelly was not at the White House on Friday, but was expected to attend an East Room dinner with the president and senior staff.
Ayers, who is a seasoned campaign veteran despite his relative youth — he’s just 36 — has the backing of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law and senior advisers, for the new role, according to White House officials. But Ayers has also faced some resistance. During Trump’s flight home from a recent trip to Paris, some aides aboard Air Force One tried to convince the president that Ayers was the wrong person for the job, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Trump and Kelly’s relationship has been strained for months — with Kelly on the verge of resignation and Trump nearly firing him several times. But each time the two have decided to make amends, even as Kelly’s influence has waned.
Kelly, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, was tapped by Trump in August 2017 to try to normalize a White House that had been riven by infighting. And he had early successes, including ending an open-door Oval Office policy that had been compared to New York’s Grand Central Station and instituting a more rigorous policy process to try to prevent staffers from going directly to Trump.
But those efforts also miffed the president and some of his most influential outside allies, who had grown accustomed to unimpeded access. And his handling of domestic violence accusations against the former White House staff secretary also caused consternation, especially among lower-level White House staffers, who believed Kelly had lied to them about when he found out about the allegations.
Kelly, too, has made no secret of the trials of his job and has often joked about how working for Trump was harder than anything he’d done before, including on the battlefield.Read the whole story · · · ·
Voice Of America1 Share
—
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will nominate Army General Mark Milley to replace Marine General Joseph Dunford as his next top military adviser.
“I am thankful to both of these incredible men for their service to our Country! Date of transition to be determined,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning tweet.
Milley is a combat-experienced military leader and the current Chief of Staff of the Army, a position he has held since 2015.
Milley, who commanded troops during multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, must be confirmed by the Senate to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Some military officials at the Pentagon said Air Force General David Goldfein was also a top contender for the job but added that Milley has a good relationship with the president.
Trump hinted Friday he would make the announcement Saturday while attending the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. Instead, he announced it at the White House before departing for Philadelphia.
As the Army’s top officer, Milley helped lead the effort to allow women to serve in front-line infantry and other combat positions. He has worked to reverse a decline in Army recruiting, which fell far short of its annual goal this year.
Milley is an infantry officer by training, and has also commanded Special Forces units.
His career includes deployments in the 1989 invasion of Panama, the multinational mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Iraq war.
If confirmed, Milley will replace Dunford, a former commandant of the Marine Corps and commander of coalition troops in Afghanistan. Dunford is expected to serve the remainder of his term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, which ends October 1, 2019.
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About 90 suspected mobsters have been arrested across Europe and South America with vast quantities of cocaine and other drugs seized in a mafia purge.
German federal police confirmed in a statement there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids, with the main focus of the operation in western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders Holland and Belgium.
The ‘Ndrangheta – which derives its meaning from the Greek word for “heroism” – is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed “toe” of Italy’s boot.
Officials hailed Wednesday’s operation – dubbed “Operation Pollina” – as a serious blow to the group.
Some 140 kilograms of ecstasy pills and 3 000-4 000 kilos of cocaine were seized during the operation, Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said at a press conference in The Hague on Wednesday. The AD said past year that Dutch police had introduced a special police unit completely dedicated to fighting mafia activities on Dutch soil.
The vast anti-mafia operation was carried out by Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism force in collaboration with German, Belgian and Dutch authorities, it said. They are accused of committing “serious crimes” including activities linked to worldwide drug trafficking, Italian police said in a statement.
But he warned that it was “just a first step”, saying the arrests were “nothing for the ‘Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized”.
“It’s nearly a cliche, but the operation carried out today confirms again the great danger of the ‘ndrangheta, not just in drug trafficking, where it’s the undisputed leader, but (also) in the financial sphere”, said Francesco Ratta, a top police official in the southern Italian region of Calabria.
The European police agency Europol said it was a “decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world”.
The operation took place one day after Settimo Mineo, the alleged head or “godfather” of the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, was arrested with 46 other people in the Palermo region of Italy, according to the Italian police and anti-Mafia prosecutors in Palermo.
Just under half of the suspects were detained in Italy.Read the whole story · ·
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“Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer” – Google News1 Share
BBC News-16 hours agoGermany’s ruling Christian Democrat Union has chosen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new party leader, ending Angela Merkel’s 18-year …Angela Merkel Ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Elected as New …
TIME-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: The women behind the ‘mini-Merkel …
International-The Local Germany-13 hours agoAngela Merkel’s preferred candidate becomes party leader
Opinion-The Economist-15 hours agoGerman conservatives pick a Merkel ally to be party leader, signaling …
In-Depth-Washington Post-19 hours agoAngela Merkel’s CDU successor: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
International-Deutsche Welle-15 hours agoView all
Irish Times-19 hours agoGemany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Angela Merkel as party leader, a decision that …
Irish Times-19 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as CDU party …. (CDU) has backed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new leader, …
WFTV Orlando-19 hours agoHAMBURG, Germany – HAMBURG, Germany (AP) – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is elected …
Deutsche Welle-16 hours agoThe Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected the party’s secretary general and former Saarland state premier, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to …
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Dec 3, 2018“I think people see me as authentic, just like I am, with my ideas, my style of doing politics,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told NBC News after a …
<a href=”http://Novinite.com” rel=”nofollow”>Novinite.com</a>-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Angela Merkel, won a tight race to succeed her as party leader Friday, seeing off a longtime rival …
Newsy-14 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is a former state prime minister and is seen as Merkel’s hand-picked successor. SHOW TRANSCRIPT.
ForexLive-19 hours agoCDU elects Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as party leader. Fri 7 Dec 2018 16:00:04 GMT. Author: Adam Button | Category: News. share …
euronews-Dec 6, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is one vote away from reaching the top of German politics. She is one of the favourites to take over as the leader …
Toronto Star-18 hours agoAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, narrowly defeated one-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz at a congress of the centre-right Christian Democratic …
Channel NewsAsia
Washington Post-Nov 14, 2018Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s greatest asset as she positions herself to become Germany’s next leader is that she is widely regarded as …Merkel taking risk by giving up CDU party chair, protege says
Channel NewsAsia-Nov 14, 2018View all
SPIEGEL ONLINE-2 hours agoIm Augenblick des Triumphs zeigte Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, dass sie nicht einfach eine saarländische Version von Angela Merkel ist.Sie hat die CDU gepackt
International-FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-14 hours agoView allRead the whole story · · · · ·
The Global Security News1 Share
Не Хляет!
The Russian Mob’s attempt to take over the Free World by using the old Soviet recipes ends with a big, loud, awakening bang from the Mueller’s Investigation.
And now analyze the situation properly and ask yourselves the same eternal sacramental question: “HOW COULD IT HAPPEN?!” What are the underlying root causes? How to deal with and to correct this mess?!
Michael NovakhovNext Page of StoriesLoading…Page 3
Borneo Bulletin Online1 Share
| Leigh Giangreco |
WHEN lawmakers hauled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to Capitol Hill for a hearing on privacy and abuse of data in April, the only clear theme to emerge from their line of bizarre questions was the Senate’s complete misunderstanding of social media. Instead of unravelling how Russian disinformation thrived on Facebook and influenced the 2016 election, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican representative for Utah) wasted his given time asking basic questions about the platform’s business model, while Senator Brian Schatz (Democrats representative for Hawaii) took a misguided tour of the messaging app WhatsApp.
In a more innocent time, the gang of clueless senators would have made for an amusing montage on The Daily Show. But in the age of information warfare, it showed that our leaders had little grasp on the greatest existential threat to American democracy.
Had PW Singer and Emerson Brooking’s new book, LikeWar, come out just a few months earlier, those senators might have had a better grip on Facebook’s role as a weapon in today’s war. Packed with the past five years of news and a brief account of the birth of the Internet, LikeWar is a breezy read about modern warfare, with the authors flipping through tales of Russian bots, washed-up reality stars and Silicon Valley magnates like clips on your friend’s Instagram story.
That rapid succession of stories makes it a suitable textbook for today’s journalism or political science students looking to understand how the same apps they use to communicate with friends can be amassed as tools in a potent arsenal.
There are points where LikeWar is too married to that textbook format, as when it trots out a hackneyed description of the Kennedy-Nixon debate, or may try too hard to frame old mediums in a contemporary lens, calling Benjamin Franklin “the founding father of fake news in America” because he published under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Silence Dogood’ in the New-England Courant.
But it’s not the young, digital natives that need LikeWar the most. When Singer’s novel, Ghost Fleet, was published in 2015, Washington’s national security community gripped it as both a cautionary tale and a future battle plan. LikeWar, on the other hand, is not a warning about tomorrow’s war – it’s a map for those who don’t understand how the battlefield has already changed.
To ground their readers in familiarity, Emerson and Singer have framed the players in this new kind of war as kings overseeing burgeoning empires. But these monarchs, often clustered in Silicon Valley, could rule in peace only until a powder keg exploded.
LikeWar begins with United States (US) President Donald Trump’s first tweet in 2009, announcing, “Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight!” But this is not (thank goodness) another book about the President. Instead, it revolves around an unholy trinity of those who have mastered the Internet as a weapon: Trump, the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and Russia.
At times that carousel of deplorables can become dizzying. The three turn up in a journal published by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a piece written by a Trump campaign organiser that links their use of meme warfare and shows how they capitalise on viral content.
When Emerson and Singer note the 4Ds – “dismiss the critic, distort the facts, distract from the main issue, and dismay the audience” – it’s hard to tell if it’s a reference to Russia’s new defensive strategy or a wink to Trump’s bizarre dance with the media.
In some cases, the opposing parties even complement each other’s goals. When IS posts videos that link gruesome acts with scripture, the website Breitbart seizes on them to fan the flames of its far-right supporters. With each ‘like’, IS gets new recruits and Breitbart gets ad dollars.
Beyond recapping the news, LikeWar becomes a compelling read as Brookings and Singer give historical context to today’s news to demystify the Internet as a battlefield. The authors liken the stunning capture of Mosul, Iraq, which IS publicised far outside the Middle East by bombarding social media, to the unyielding tempo of the German blitzkrieg, which paralysed French fighters with a relentless broadcast of its attacks.
Today’s ‘sockpuppets’, young Russians who masquerade online as Americans, prove to be nothing more than hipster updates to Cold War tactics deployed by the Soviet Union that targeted the extremes of American politics. The contemporary Russian General Valery Gerasimov, who in 2013 published a treatise ranking nonmilitary means above traditional weapons, is, in the authors’ telling, just a fresh take on the early-19th-Century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. Just as Clausewitz established war as politics by other means, Gerasimov laid out a radical new approach to conflict by taking advantage of the Internet as the ultimate disinformation weapon.
But if Clausewitz crops up as a motif that grounds the book in staid military doctrine, references to pop stars and reality television celebrities keep the text out of the realm of the typical think tank fare. It may seem a cheap bid for younger readers at first, but the authors draw smart and eerie parallels between terrorist groups and seemingly vapid celebrities. Even Vladimir Putin’s longtime media adviser admires the social media savvy of Kim Kardashian, who can direct millions of her supporters without the KGB.
But the heart of LikeWar, and what would have assisted our hapless senators, lies in its explanation of homophily and its role in spreading falsehoods. Online news, true or false, is sustained by the number of people who ‘like’ it. Each successive ‘like’ contributes to an algorithm that generates similar content, guaranteeing an infinite echo chamber.
LikeWar isn’t waged by sophisticated hackers but by those who know how to master the narrative with viral memes, slick videos and clickbait headlines. And when the information war is won in this abstract cyberspace, all the metal in our grand fleets and advanced fighter jets will be rendered immaterial. –The Washington PostRead the whole story · · · ·
Law : NPR1 Share
Rachel Martin talks to Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News and co-author of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller has been notably free of leaks. What we know so far has come in the form of official court filings, like indictments, plea agreements and what we’re seeing this week – sentencing memos. The special counsel on Tuesday released such a memo on Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Similar memos are expected Friday for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chair Paul Manafort. In the case of Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, Robert Mueller recommended a sentence with little to no prison time. The memo mentioned Flynn’s, quote, “substantial” cooperation in several ongoing investigations, although details were heavily redacted.
We’re going to try to put all this into the context of the larger Russia investigation with Michael Isikoff. He is chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News. He is also the co-author of the book titled “Russian Roulette: The Inside Story Of Putin’s War On America And The Election Of Donald Trump.” Michael, thanks for being here.
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good to be here.
MARTIN: So let’s be clear to start off – these memos are filings meant to serve a legal purpose and message to the judge. They’re not press releases. They’re not statements from the prosecutors. But having said all that, what should we, the public, take away from the filings?
ISIKOFF: Well, you know, it’s really like reading tea leaves here because it’s a cryptic document. It does refer to Michael Flynn’s substantial cooperation with the government over the course of the last year since he pled guilty to lying to the FBI. It does reference, as you pointed out, several investigations. But I should point out that when you read it closely, only one of those appears to be related to Robert Mueller’s core mandate of the Russia investigation itself – coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
There’s a reference to a mysterious other criminal investigation that the memos – the sentencing memo says that Flynn has provided substantial cooperation for. But the close reading suggests that that’s not something Mueller himself is handling. It’s been farmed out to other Justice Department prosecutors. There’s some reporting this morning that they may involve an illegal lobbying effort that Turkey was conducting. Flynn had been lobbying for the government of Turkey, had not registered with the Justice Department for that as he should have.
MARTIN: So while potentially nefarious, not connected necessarily to the core mandate.
ISIKOFF: Not connected, right – and then there’s a reference to another investigation that may or may not be within Mueller’s mandate, for which it says Flynn has provided useful information. So the substantial information says to me, that’s assistance – information that the Justice Department can use to prosecute others, to bring other cases. But the one time that that’s used in the memo when it breaks down – Flynn’s cooperation – it’s in reference to that other mysterious investigation – non-Russia.
MARTIN: So words like collusion and obstruction, which we hear about often in conversations like this – notably absent from the visible portion of the Flynn memo.
ISIKOFF: Right, this doesn’t really tell us whether Mueller has other cards to play in the core Russia investigation itself. It certainly talks about how Flynn has provided important information, timely information about contacts between the Trump transition team and Russians. That’s what Flynn originally pled guilty to lying about. But it’s not really much of a roadmap as to whether there are more prosecutions to bring on that front.
MARTIN: I want to play a bit of tape. This is Congressman Mark Meadows. He’s a stalwart supporter of President Trump. This is what he said on Fox.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “HANNITY”)
MARK MEADOWS: Let’s look at what’s not in there. There is no suggestion that Michael Flynn had anything to do with collusion. He was with the transition team. He was part of the campaign. And yet there’s no mention of collusion. I think it’s good news for President Trump tonight.
MARTIN: Do you think he’s right? Do you think it’s good news?
ISIKOFF: Well, you know, he may be. We just don’t know. Look, there’s a whole other part of Mueller’s investigation. That’s the obstruction question. Did President Trump obstruct justice when he fired James Comey, when he asked, before that, James Comey to let Michael Flynn go? One would think that Flynn’s cooperation would be very important for that part of the Mueller probe. But remember, the chief target of an obstruction investigation would be the president himself. It was his actions that that spurred all this.
And under DOJ policy, presidents cannot be indicted. So what Mueller would do with that information is provide it in a report that presumably, at this point, would go to the acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker. What happens after that is very much unclear. Certainly, Congress will want access to it. The Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee certainly will. How much of that they will see we don’t know at this point.
MARTIN: Quickly, what do we know, if anything, about the Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort memos expected?
ISIKOFF: I think those are going to be highly informative. Both are very key witnesses. Michael Cohen pled guilty last week and provided some really substantial information about the Trump Organization and contacts with the Kremlin in reference to a Trump Tower meeting. Paul Manafort, the prosecutors have accused of lying to them. And they are expected this Friday in a memo to lay out what they believe Manafort lied to them about. We’re all going to be waiting with pins and needles to read that.
MARTIN: Michael Isikoff, chief investigative reporter for Yahoo, co-author of the book “Russian Roulette,” thanks so much. We appreciate it.
ISIKOFF: Thank you.
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Read the whole story · · · ·
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“Brothers Podesta” – Google News1 Share
Fox News-Dec 5, 2018The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta — a Democratic lobbyist … Podesta is a longtime Democratic operative whose brother, John …Is the Special Counsel About to Hammer Tony Podesta?
Townhall-Dec 6, 2018Dept. of Justice ramping up investigation into Podesta Group, Mercury …
One America News Network (press release)-Dec 6, 2018Prosecutors ramp up foreign lobbying probe in New York
Chattanooga Times Free Press-Dec 5, 2018Federal Prosecutors Ramp Up Probe of Manafort-Linked Podesta …
Law & Crime-Dec 5, 2018View all
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Anthony T. Podesta (born October 24, 1943), commonly known as Tony Podesta, is an American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group.[1] He used to be one of Washington’s most powerful lobbyists and fundraisers.[2][3][4]
Podesta and the Podesta Group are reportedly under federal investigation regarding compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act for their work for a Ukrainian group tied to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych beginning in 2012.[5][6]
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Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years, the two have stopped speaking in recent days.
The expected departure would end a tumultuous tenure for Kelly, who was brought on to bring order to the White House but whose time as chief of staff has often been marked by the same infighting and controversy that has largely defined Trump’s presidency from its beginning. Many of the storms in which Kelly became embroiled were by his own making.
Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, though a person involved in the process said nothing is final right now and ultimately nothing is final until Trump announces it. Potential replacements include Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, who is still seen as a leading contender
that Trump was considering potential replacements for several senior positions in his administration as part of a post-midterms staff shakeup.
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02:08
When Kelly first replaced Reince Priebus as chief of staff last summer, he ruled with an iron fist. He curbed Oval Office access, blocked certain outsiders from being able to call the White House switchboard and had broad authority over staffing.
But in the last months, Kelly has seen his status as chief of staff diminish. Trump began circumventing many of the policies and protocols he enacted, and he was on the verge of being fired or resigning numerous times.
Trump often vacillated between criticizing and praising Kelly, sometimes within minutes of each other. Kelly started holding increasingly fewer senior staff meetings — once daily occurrences were whittled down to weekly gatherings — and began to exert less control over who talks to the President.
White House officials believed Kelly was close to resigning after he got into a heated shouting match
with national security adviser John Bolton in October. Bolton had criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during an Oval Office discussion about the border, and Kelly stormed out of the West Wing after their profanity-laced argument spilled over into the hallways.
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Kelly’s tenure working for Trump was pocked with controversies, and officials were often amazed at how he managed to survive. Weeks after taking over for Priebus, his predecessor who was unceremoniously fired over Twitter while he sat on a rainy tarmac, Kelly was faced with Trump’s controversial response
to the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was photographed looking grim-faced in the lobby of Trump Tower as the President declared there were “good people” on both sides of the racist violence.
At times, Kelly was the source of his own downfall. He insulted Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, using inaccurate information, later declaring
he would “never” apologize. He said some of those eligible for protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals were “lazy.”
But perhaps most damaging was his handling
of the situation involving former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by two of his ex-wives of abuse. Kelly’s shifting accounts caused his credibility inside the West Wing to plummet, and it never truly recovered, according to officials. Kelly’s highly criticized handling of the Porter controversy was an inflection point in his tenure, and some of his internal relationships became strained in the months that followed the former staff secretary’s ouster.
This story is breaking and being updated.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny, Jeremy Diamond and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · · · ·
WBUR News1 Share
With David Folkenflik
Inside the mind of Robert Mueller. We’ll unpack the latest news from the Mueller investigation and explore what makes the special prosecutor tick with his biographer, Garrett Graff.
Garrett Graff, journalist, historian and director of the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity and technology program. Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror.” ()
The Letter Giving Robert Mueller Charge To Investigate Russian Interference
The Carter Page FISA Documents
Mueller’s Sentencing Memo For Michael Flynn
Wired: “14 Trump and Russia Questions Robert Mueller Knows the Answers To” — “Michael Flynn’s sentencing memo, filed yesterday with the most intriguing and interesting parts redacted by special counsel Robert Mueller, provided yet another frustrating glimpse into an investigation that seems at times almost maddeningly opaque. It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the ‘how.’
“Amid the flurry of revelations from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s role in the 2016 campaign, it’s worth revisiting the loose ends of his probe. Specifically, focusing on questions that remain mysteries to us but that clearly Mueller himself knows by this point—the Rumsfeldian “known unknowns”—provides particular clarity as to where the investigation will head next.
“Decoding Mueller’s 17-month investigation has been a publicly frustrating exercise, as individual puzzle pieces, like Flynn’s sentencing memo, often don’t hint at the final assembled picture—nor even tell us if we’re looking at a single interlocking puzzle, in which all the pieces are related, or multiple, separate, unrelated ones.
“The sheer breadth of alleged, unrelated criminality by so many different Trumpworld players—from Paul Manafort’s money laundering and European bribes to Michael Flynn’s Turkish conspiracies to Michael Cohen’s tax fraud to even the indictments of the first two members of Congress to endorse Trump, representatives Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter—make it particularly difficult to disentangle what might have transpired at Trump Tower and the White House.
“Mueller’s investigation, though, has been remarkably focused and consistent straight through—zeroing in on five distinct investigative avenues: money laundering and Russian-linked business deals; the Russian government’s cyberattack on the DNC, other entities, and state-level voting systems; its related online information influence operations, by the Internet Research Agency; the sketchy contacts by Trump campaign and transition officials with Russia; and the separate question of whether Trump himself, or others, actively tried to obstruct justice by impeding the investigation of the above.”
Book Excerpt from “The Threat Matrix” by Garrett Graff
INTRODUCTION
Public Enemy #1
The final minutes of George W. Bush’s eight years as president ticked away as Bob Mueller stepped down onto the inaugural platform. Despite weeks of wall-to-wall news coverage warning of overcrowding for the inauguration—millions of people who might clog the Washington Beltway and the Metro system for hours—the chilly January day had deterred few inaugural-goers. More than perhaps anyone else on the inaugural platform, Mueller, the director of the FBI, was responsible for keeping everyone safe for the day.
The previous twenty-four hours had been nerve-racking, like so many of the days and nights of the past seven years. A threat out of the Middle East, sketchy at best. Reports of a man barreling down the Jersey Turnpike with a bomb. Agents from the FBI, the CIA, and a dozen other agencies fanned across country and several continents, hoping to run down the information before noon Tuesday, H-Hour for the handover of government, democracy’s greatest rite—the peaceful and amicable transfer of power from one party to another with nearly diametrically opposed views.
The last time the nation had gathered to do this, in January 2001, the world had been a different place. That was, as everyone now said, before. This was the first transfer of power after. Before, the Clinton administration had balked at targeting a shadowy terrorist named Osama bin Laden in a faraway place called Afghanistan. Before, the argument had been, What had bin Laden ever done to deserve assassination? The United States didn’t do that type of thing. Now, after, everything was different.
Just days prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama, Hellfire missiles launched from a Predator drone half a world away from Washington had killed two Kenyans suspected in the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Usama al-Kini, also known as Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan likely never saw the missiles closing on them at speeds topping Mach 1.3 and likely never felt the twenty-pound warheads explode. Although the FBI’s global footprint had expanded considerably, the United States had no other practical means to eliminate this pair of terrorists. The two men, living in South Waziristan—a remote tribal part of Pakistan most Americans would be hard-pressed to locate on a map—were unreachable. The CIA drones and their Hellfire missiles were a different type of justice, an outside-the-courtroom, permanent justice—one that, after, the U.S. government had decided was more than appropriate to mete out but had been off the table before. (The precise term for such measures—extralegal—had become all too familiar to the American people after.)
Al-Kini and Swedan were both on the Bureau’s “Most Wanted Terrorist” list, making the attacks a big victory for the United States, yet, since the United States didn’t acknowledge these covert missile strikes, it didn’t officially consider them dead. Months later, both men’s names would still be on the FBI’s public list; inside the government, though, no one was looking too hard for them.
The minutes ticked away on inaugural day. Of the government men onstage, only a few had been in the fateful national security meeting the morning of September 12, 2001, the day after everything had changed. Now, in just two hours, most of them would depart government. A green-and-white Marine helicopter from HMX-1, the presidential helicopter squadron, sat on the East Front Plaza of the Capitol, waiting to ferry George W. Bush back to private life. Vice President Dick Cheney, confined to a wheelchair after straining his back moving boxes the weekend before, would also depart—only to appear in the coming months as a vocal opponent of the new administration’s approach to terrorism. Of the entire national security team, those departures would leave only Mueller still in the position he had held on September 11, 2001, that brilliant and crisp fall day when the planes had come.
Only one other member of the national security team would be carrying over from Bush to Obama—and his absence today was intentional. Hidden in a secure location outside Washington, Robert Gates—the wizened secretary of defense who on 9/11 had been a dean at Texas A&M—was, in the bland parlance of bureaucracy, the “designated successor,” part of the elaborate continuity-of-government plans created during the Cold War to ensure the United States would survive even the most catastrophic assault. Originally designed to protect against surprise Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles coming in over the North Pole, the continuity-of-government operation now mostly guarded against terrorists with a smuggled nuclear weapon stuffed in a suitcase. In the coming hours, a new national security team would begin to flow into the federal apparatus across the city and move into the White House, where air pressure is always kept elevated to ensure biological or chemical agents can’t penetrate inside. Only Mueller would be left among the security team to recall the fear, tension, and shock of September 12, 2001, the uncertainty of the day after. The soldiers in the streets; the smoke, visible from his office, rising from the Pentagon across the Potomac River; the concrete barriers that sprang up everywhere overnight like some sort of ugly, aggressive species of weed; that smell—part burning jet fuel, part burning paper, part burning flesh.
Mueller, wrapped in long overcoat and scarf, his gloved hands protected from the cold, walked to the front of the stage, his longtime wife and companion, Ann, by his side. On 9/11, just days after moving to Washington, she had sat through that historic day alone, watching the television in their temporary apartment six blocks from where they now stood. Her husband hadn’t returned until long after she’d gone to sleep.
From the banister, they could survey the largest crowd ever assembled for a presidential inauguration. It spread out for over a mile, the length of the National Mall, the nation’s so-called backyard. Somewhere out in the crowd were 155 teams of Mueller’s agents in plainclothes, watching for anything unusual. A few blocks away, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, created thirty years earlier as the nation’s elite antiterror strike force, sat poised to react. To back them up, SWAT teams, hazardous-material units, bomb squads, and even weapons of mass destruction response teams were located at strategic points around the crowded city. Armored military-like vehicles topped with flashing lights were hidden just out of sight, ready for action. Police helicopters circled the city, their expensive sensors and surveillance gear hard at work. Gas masks hung from the waists of thousands of law enforcement personnel, as well as the National Guard troops who stood on every street corner for miles. Fighter jets bristling with missiles slung under their wings waited to respond to trouble from above, while deep beneath the city Secret Service agents searched tunnels and sewers for trouble below. Most military coups in the world were carried out with less firepower, materiel, and personnel than were deployed to the streets of Washington for what everyone hoped would be a peaceful and uneventful transition of power.
The early-morning crowd before Mueller was ecstatic despite the hour, the security hassles, and the bone-chilling cold. While the crowd on the Mall and in the Capitol complex was swept up in the euphoric moment of hope and the promise of change brought about by the election of the nation’s first black president and a team representing a youthful new generation of leadership, Mueller knew the fear that prevailed behind the scenes.
Until hours earlier, it had seemed possible that the day would go very differently. Three different threads of intelligence had indicated that al-Shabaab, one of the many Islamic jihadist groups that formed the international web of al-Qaeda affiliates, had dispatched attackers from its base in Somalia to slip across the Canadian border and explode bombs on the Mall during the inauguration. The government had been tracking the intelligence for weeks, but only recently had new information moved the threat onto a different tier of seriousness.
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen—the “Movement of Warrior Youth”—was still relatively new to the terrorism game; it wouldn’t even formally be declared a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by the State Department for another month, yet its capabilities were already well-known enough to seriously worry the government officials in the days leading up to the inauguration. (Kenya, the president’s ancestral country and the site of the 1998 embassy attack that had helped usher in the age of al-Qaeda, was also under threat, according to the available intelligence.)
The national security teams of President Bush and President-elect Obama had been gathering repeatedly in the White House and at the guest residence, Blair House, for the week leading up to the inauguration to track the latest intelligence. The rooms pulsed with a sense of nervous energy on the part of the new Obama staff and a world-weariness on the part of the Bush officials who had only days left to go in their public service.
While the two national security teams didn’t have much history working together, sitting on one side was a face familiar to everyone: John Brennan, one of the nation’s most skilled counterterrorism leaders who had led the newly formed National Counterterrorism Center after 9/11, only to part ways with the Bush administration over its handling of the Iraq war. Brennan had become a close adviser to the Democratic nominee and had been the top candidate to take over the CIA until concerns about his role in the Agency’s enhanced-interrogation program earlier in the decade had forced him into a position that didn’t require Senate confirmation. Now Brennan served as the calming force on the Obama team in the room. He’d been through this sort of thing before.
A week before, the two national security teams had teased out a mock scenario imagining multiple bombs detonating simultaneously around the country—a domestic version of what had happened in East Africa in 1998, in Madrid in 2004, and twice in London in 2005. Hanging over every meeting and every discussion was a question spoken only in whispers: How real did the threat have to be before the government should consider canceling the ceremony or moving it indoors to a secure location? There was some precedent: President Reagan’s second inaugural had been moved to the Capitol Rotunda because of nasty cold weather. This weather was heavier.
In one meeting, incoming secretary of state Hillary Clinton had asked a pointed question: “So what should Barack Obama do if he’s in the middle of his Inaugural Address and a bomb goes off way in the back of the crowd on the Mall? What does he do? Is the Secret Service going to whisk him off the podium, so the American people see their incoming president disappear in the middle of the Inaugural Address? I don’t think so.” But was that truly credible?
The decision was made: Obama would continue the speech, if at all possible.
Excerpted from THE THREAT MATRIX by Garrett Graff. Published in February 2012 by Back Bay Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. Copyright © 2012 by Garrett Graff. All rights reserved.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · ·
1. Trump From Michael_Novakhov (198 Sites)1 Share
WBUR | ‘Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI’ — And His Russia Investigation — With Biographer Garrett Graff WBUR Author of “The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller’s FBI and the War on Global Terror. … It made clear that Flynn was cooperating in three criminal investigations—and that he had cooperated extensively—but shed little light on the ‘what’ or the … and more » |
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(CNN) Robert Mueller is ready to tighten the net again. In a pair of highly significant court maneuvers, the special counsel is expected to unveil new details of his …
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“Mueller’s Russia Investigation” – Google News1 Share
New Mueller Russia probe details expected Friday with Cohen, Manafort filings THV11.com KTHV
Special counsel Robert Mueller faces court deadlines Friday in the cases of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
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Mirror.co.uk | Trump ‘secretly investigated over Comey firing before Mueller was appointed’ Mirror.co.uk Top US officials opened a secret obstruction of justice probe into Donald Trump after he sackedFBI Director James Comey, it has been revealed. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe became increasingly … Restoration Weekend Panel: FBI, Mueller and TrumpFrontPage Magazine all 83 news articles » |
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Bloomberg | Kremlin Sours on Trump After Putin Snubs Bloomberg Donald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, Russia is finally losing faith in Trump’s promise to improve relations and bracing instead for increased tensions. Maybe now we know why Donald Trump won’t criticize Vladimir Putin: Today’s talkerUSA TODAY As if we did not know: Trump’s love affair with Putin was all about the moneyChicago Sun-Times all 3,354 news articles » |
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This is a giant counterintelligence case involving possible election-law violations, money laundering, and who knows what other criminal behaviors.
Bloomberg | Kremlin Sours on Trump After Putin Snubs Bloomberg Donald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, Russia is finally losing faith in Trump’s promise to improve relations and bracing instead for increased tensions. Putin’s Mouthpiece Is Center Stage in the Mueller InvestigationDaily Beast all 3 news articles » |
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Mirror – Politics1 Share
Top US officials opened a secret obstruction of justice probe into Donald Trump after he sacked FBI Director James Comey, it has been revealed.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe became increasingly troubled by Trump’s behaviour following the firing.
In an attempt to reign him in, the Department of Justice launched an obstruction of justice investigation into the president’s potentially unconstitutional operations.
The covert scheme was actioned after officials grew increasingly more worried about Trump’s attempts to control other government operations – particularly Comey’s investigation into his former security advisor, Michael Flynn, CNN have said .
Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on Thursday that Trump had a ‘legal right’ to fire Comey.
“It’s shocking that the FBI would open up an obstruction case for the president exercising his authority under Article II,” Giuliani told CNN.
The investigation started in the eight days between Comey’s termination and special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment.
Rosenstein appointed Mueller on May 17, 2017, to lead the now-19-month-long deep dive into investigating alleged collusion between the Trump administration and the Russian government.
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Last year, the Washington Post reported that the DOJ had commenced its own research project into Trump.
As part of the discussions about how to rein in Trump, Rosenstein had offered to wear a wire while meeting with Trump, though he has later said he was joking.
He also reportedly proposed looking into whether Cabinet members would be willing to impeach Trump using the 25th Amendment.Read the whole story · ·Next Page of StoriesLoading…Page 6
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Bloomberg-39 minutes agoDonald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, …
Bloomberg-Feb 5, 2018After being blocked by President Donald Trump on a deal, it’s now opening up to new investors as it backs small and medium-sized technology …
South China Morning Post-Sep 23, 2018In contrast to the dramatic policy U-turn that Trump’s tweets provoked earlier this year, Saudi Arabia, Russia and their allies signalled less …
South China Morning Post-Apr 2, 2018Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed holding a summit at the White House, a Trumpspokeswoman said after the Kremlin disclosed that …
South China Morning Post-Jul 16, 2018Trump “is an interesting conversationalist,” Putin said after their several hours … response about how little he knew of Trump’s travels to Russia.
South China Morning Post-Apr 16, 2018US President Donald Trump accused China and Russia of devaluing … The Bloomberg Dollar Index slipped to its lowest level since March 26 …
South China Morning Post-Jul 19, 2018US President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Washington later this year, the White House announced on …
South China Morning Post-Jul 18, 2018“Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with … the White House, more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin.
South China Morning Post-Feb 20, 2018Lawyer pleads guilty to lying to Mueller’s team in Trump–Russia collusion investigation … report on behalf of Ukraine, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News . … The charges come four days after Mueller accused 13 Russians of a …. How Singapore’s F1 fling with sugar daddies turned sour.
South China Morning Post-Jul 17, 2018That’s the swift and sweeping condemnation directed at US President Donald Trump after he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin …
South China Morning Post-Jul 13, 2018Trump and his wife climbed out of the car and, after handshakes and a little small talk, they stood either side of the monarch as the US national …
South China Morning Post-Apr 18, 2018Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will be in Washington this week to lobby against US President Donald Trump’s plans to …Read the whole story · · · · ·
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One theory is that special counsel Robert Mueller is using pleadings on the Trump-Russia investigation to make his report
Last February, legal analysts reeled at the indictment of 13 Russians for alleged election tampering in the US, not only for the extraordinary nature of the charges but for the remarkable way in which the indictment was written.
Special counsel Robert Mueller had chosen to tell a story, about a multi-stage, years-long plan directed at the top levels in Moscow to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election using multiple techniques, from attempted voter registration hacking to social media monkey-wrenching.
Yet it was unlikely that any of the Russians would ever appear in a US courthouse. But, with his indictment, Mueller had disclosed details – including an account of an intelligence-gathering road trip that two of the Russians took from California to New York – that would cast suspicion on the motives of anyone who denied the Russian plot.
As well as legal charges, some observers spotted a broader power-play by the man tasked with investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Among the first analysts to see a canny purposefulness in Mueller’s use of a “speaking indictment,” as it is known, was Marcy Wheeler, a journalist who writes about national security issues and civil liberties on her web site emptywheel.
By using criminal indictments and informations, sentencing memoranda and other official filings to tell a bigger story, Wheeler has since noted, Mueller has diminished the need to issue a doorstop “Mueller report” at the end of his investigation, in order to bring his discoveries to light. In effect, as America’s body politic awaits the Mueller report with baited breath – it might in fact be already reading large chunks of it.
The Mueller report, in this sense, is being written in chapters and excerpted in court documents, under Donald Trump’s nose. Chapters to come soon might detail previously unknown features of the Trump campaign’s relationship with Moscow, just as plea documents submitted by Mueller last week shed new light on the Trump organization’s effort to build a Moscow tower.
The theory has gained traction in legal circles. “I’m down with the theory that Mueller will use pleadings to ‘make his report’, as @emptywheel suggests,” the lawyer Ken White recently tweeted @popehat. “My sense of Mueller is that he’ll do it in cases where it’s material, though” – meaning no gratuitous expository writing by the special counsel.
One such case will resurface on Friday, when Mueller is scheduled to submit a report describing how former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort broke his plea agreement by allegedly lying to investigators.
The Mueller report is being written in chapters and excerpted in court documents, under Donald Trump’s nose.
That document is expected to shed light on what Mueller knows about Manafort’s contacts with his former partners in the former Soviet bloc, and it could hold new information about the nature of ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.
However, other experts think Mueller will still submit a final full report to the justice department.
“I think there will be a report at the end, because I think there’s a whole lot more that needs to be laid out and put together, and the whole picture presented,” said Alex Whiting, a Harvard law professor and former prosecutor on the international criminal court.
“People have talked about he’s trying to get the story out through these speaking indictments and speaking informations. I don’t think that – my guess is that Mueller is just sort of doing his job and and doesn’t have some sort of grand strategy that way.”
Even analysts, who find the notion plausible that Mueller is writing his report in public in pieces, think he still might file a report with his superiors at the justice department at the conclusion of his investigation.
Wheeler has separately noted that Watergate precedent affords a path for a Mueller report to make its way to the House judiciary committee, even if Mueller were fired.
Federal code governing the special counsel’s work explicitly demands a report: “At the conclusion of the Special Counsel’s work,” the law says, “he or she shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.”
But with apparent Trump loyalist Matt Whitaker currently running the justice department, there is ample concern that such a report might be suppressed. Trump himself has even called publicly for the investigation to be ended and frequently lambasts Mueller and his colleagues as conducting a “witch hunt”.
“[Whitaker] plays a crucial role in determining what report by Mueller, if any, is given to congress and ultimately the public,” wrote Neal Katyal, an author of the special counsel regulations, in the Washington Post.
Whatever Mueller’s plan, the overwhelming sense is that he has one – if simply to work and follow the investigation wherever it leads and despite what obstacles – or tweets – might be put in his way.
Or, as lawyer and former FBI agent Asha Rangappa put it after Trump installed Whitaker: “Mueller has this whole thing booby trapped for precisely these kinds of Mickey Mouse moves by POTUS.”Read the whole story · · · ·Next Page of StoriesLoading…Page 7
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| В танковую армию ЗВО поставлены новейшие комплексы РЭБ «Лесочек» |
| Они будут обеспечивать защиту бронетехники, автомобильной техники и личного состава от поражения радиоуправляемыми устройствами как во время стоянки, так и в движении. |
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Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 8:30 AM1 Share
nato russia – Google SearchWednesday December 5th, 2018 at 8:28 AM
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Foreign Policy–15 hours agoAfter a meeting of senior U.S., Canadian, and European diplomats at NATO in Brussels on Tuesday, Pompeo accused Russia of being in …US, NATO give Russia 60 days to comply with nuclear pact
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>–15 hours agoRussia in ‘material breach’ of nuclear arms treaty: NATO statement
Reuters–19 hours agoUS signals it will suspend nuclear treaty with Russia after NATO finding
CBC.ca–17 hours agoUS, NATO give Russia ‘last chance’ to save INF Treaty
International–TASS–16 hours agoThe Latest: Russia says it ‘strictly complies’ with treaty
In-Depth–Washington Post–19 hours agoView all
KSLA–22 hours agoNATO foreign ministers meet for a two-day session beginning on Tuesday, to discuss among other issues, tensions between Russia and …Ukraine-Russia clash: Nato’s dilemma in the Black Sea
BBC News–Dec 3, 2018Ukraine Urges ‘Comprehensive’ NATO Response to Russia
<a href=”http://Military.com” rel=”nofollow”>Military.com</a>–18 hours agoUkraine, NATO discuss ban on Russia entering ports of ‘civilized …
International–TASS–18 hours agoNATO Meeting to Be Dominated by Russia-Ukraine Clash
In-Depth–Wall Street Journal–Dec 3, 2018NATO chief condemns Russia’s use of force against Ukrainian sailors
International–UNIAN–Dec 3, 2018View all
Express.co.uk–Dec 4, 2018“Ukraine is not a NATO member but we strongly support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “We also call on Russia to release the …NATO set to meet over Ukraine-Russia crisis
United News of India–3 hours agoView all
The Guardian
NATO HQ (press release)–Nov 27, 2018In view of Russia’s use of military force against Ukraine near the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait,NATO Allies call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to …NATO calls on Russia to free Ukrainian sailors without delay
International–UNIAN–Nov 27, 2018Putin ‘seriously concerned’ after Ukraine votes to impose martial law
In-Depth–The Guardian–Nov 26, 2018NATO allies call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian …
International–Kyiv Post–Nov 27, 2018View all
Newsy–13 hours agoNATO Says Russia Violated A Cold War-Era Arms Treaty … NATO members said Tuesday that Russiabreached the INF Treaty, which bans …
New York Times–Nov 29, 2018MOSCOW — Since Russia fired shots at three Ukrainian Navy ships over the weekend, Western countries have issued statements saying they …Ukraine asks for NATO vessels in Sea of Azov over Russia standoff
In-Depth–<a href=”http://Aljazeera.com” rel=”nofollow”>Aljazeera.com</a>–Nov 29, 2018View all
Irish Times–18 hours agoNato has accused Russia of seeking to establish total control over the … control the Sea of Azov,” Nato’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg …
The National Interest Online (blog)–Dec 1, 2018The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has accused Russia of jamming GPS signals during its recent military exercise in Norway.
U.S. News & World Report–15 hours agoThe U.S. has shared intelligence evidence with its NATO allies that Russia’s new SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile could give Moscow the …Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 7:32 AM1 Share
MOSCOW: Moscow on Wednesday dismissed US claims it is violating a major Cold War treaty limiting mid-range nuclear arms, as a senior general lashed out at Washington’s attempts to “contain”
.
The tense rhetoric comes a day after Secretary of State
said Washington would withdraw from the treaty within 60 days if Russia does not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.
“Groundless accusations are again being repeated,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Zakharova said “no proof has been produced to support this American position” on the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which she described as a cornerstone of global security.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said facts had been distorted “in order to camouflage the true goal of the US withdrawing from the treaty”.
In October, President
sparked global concern by declaring the United States would pull out of the deal and build up America’s nuclear stockpile “until people come to their senses”.
But on Monday, the US leader said he wants talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Xi Jinping and
“to head off a major and uncontrollable arms race”.
Meanwhile, the Russian Army Chief of Staff Vasily Gerasimov said Wednesday that Moscow would increase the capabilities of its ground-based strategic nuclear arms.
“One of the main destructive factors complicating the international situation is how the US is acting as it attempts to retain its dominant role in the world,” he said in comments released by the defence ministry.
“It is for these purposes that Washington and its allies are taking comprehensive, concerted measures to contain Russia and discredit its role in international affairs.”
Signed in 1987 by then US president
and
, the last Soviet leader, the INF resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals.
But it was a bilateral treaty between the US and the then
, so it puts no restrictions on other major military actors like China.
Pompeo said at a meeting with fellow
foreign ministers on Tuesday that there was no reason why the US “should continue to cede this crucial military advantage” to rival powers.
NATO said it was now “up to Russia” to save the treaty.
The Trump administration has complained of Moscow’s deployment of Novator 9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty’s ban on missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 kilometres).
The nuclear-capable Russian cruise missiles are mobile and hard to detect and can hit cities in Europe with little or no warning, according to NATO, dramatically changing the security calculus on the continent.
The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that it had provided Moscow with “more than enough information for Russia to engage substantively on the issue”.
The information included details on the missile’s test history and the names of companies involved in developing and producing the missile and its launcher, the State Department said.
US-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations Moscow meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
The two states are also at odds over Russian support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria’s civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 7:30 AM1 Share
By Associated Press
December 5 at 6:14 AM
BERLIN — The Latest on raids on the Italian mob across Europe (all times local):
12:10 p.m.
Police say they have arrested about 90 suspected mafia members in a series of coordinated raids in four European countries.
The arrests in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium came as part of an investigation codenamed Pollino that was launched in 2016 against the ‘ndrangheta criminal group on allegations of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, bribery and violence, said Eurojust, the European agency that fights cross-border organized crime, which coordinated the operation.
Dutch chief public prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said Wednesday dozens of raids also netted about 2 million euros in criminal proceeds as well as drugs including ecstasy and cocaine.
___
8:55 a.m.
Authorities are conducting coordinated raids in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in a crackdown on the Italian mafia.
German federal police said in a statement Wednesday that there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids on premises linked to the ‘ndrangheta, a southern Italy-based organized crime group.
In Germany the focus was on the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands and Belgium, and Bavaria to the south.
Police say the operation is being coordinated by Eurojust, a European unit established to fight cross-border organized crime
Further details were not immediately available but a news conference was scheduled for later in the day in The Hague.
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 2:22 AM
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Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 2:13 AM
FBI News Review1 Share
M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI, and consider bringing the criminal charges against all the former and current FBI officials who were involved in “Clinton emails investigation” (which was designed by the adversaries, and was used to divert the resources), and “Trump – Russia NON-INVESTIGATION” for this fundamental, historical, unprecedented failure of the American Counterintelligence which is primarily the responsibility of the FBI.
The least that they can be accused of is the manifest and obvious, utter professional incompetence. The worst, no one wants to think and to talk about. They made the FBI and the American political system the laughing stock of the world. They undermined the American and the Global Security.
Investigate all of them in fullest and in-depth!
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| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring |
| Bill Priestap, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, will exit the agency at the end of the year, according to a new report.Priestap, the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterintelligence division, has decided to retire from the bureau, the Wall Street Journal reported.He was involved with the investigation regarding the unauthorized email server of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that she used while she was secretary of state and the investigation examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations.The investigations have come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, who have cited mismanagement issues in both. For example, Democrats have expressed frustration that the FBI shared they were conducting an investigation into Clinton prior to the election but waited until after the election to disclose they were also investigation Russian interference.Meanwhile, Republicans fault the FBI for going easy on Clinton and not charging her with any wrongdoing and have claimed that the FBI inappropriately obtained a surveillance warrant to monitor a Trump campaign aide.The FBI told the Journal that Priestap’s retirement was unrelated to the 2016 investigations and said he “became eligible to retire and has chosen to do so after 20 years of service.” It’s uncertain what Preistap plans to do following his retirement. |
| E.W. “Bill” Priestap fbi – Google Search |
| Another High-Ranking FBI Official to DepartWall Street Journal–7 hours agoWASHINGTON—A top FBI official who helped oversee two politically … Bill Priestap, who currently serves as assistant director of the Federal … shortly before Election Day after obtaining newevidence, with some saying that it …After a Hiatus, China Accelerates Cyberspying Efforts to Obtain US …New York Times–Nov 29, 2018The new operatives have intensified their focus on America’s commercial …. F.B.I. director, Bill Priestap, called “the Chinese government’s direct …Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia …Fox News–Jun 5, 2018Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia probes than … including a closed-door interview with FBI espionage chief Bill Priestap. … 30 of that year, Strzok emailed Priestap and another FBI colleague … Top Dem blames Trump for GM plant shutdowns, praises new truce with China …EW Priestap Named Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence …Federal Bureau of Investigation (press release) (blog)–Dec 21, 2015FBI Director James B. Comey has named E.W. “Bill” Priestap as the assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters … |
| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring – Washington Examiner |
Washington ExaminerFBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring Washington Examiner With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations. The investigations have come under … Another High-Ranking FBI Official to DepartWall Street Journalall 3 news articles » |
| Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office recommends little to no jail time for Michael Flynn in exchange for assistance – NBCNews.com |
NBCNews.comSpecial counsel Robert Mueller’s office recommends little to no jail time for Michael Flynn in exchange for assistance <a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a> Former national security adviser Michael Flynn provided “substantial assistance” in special counsel RobertMueller’s Russia investigation, according to court papers filed Tuesday. Prosecutors described Flynn’s cooperation with federal prosecutors in a … Special Counsel Robert Mueller Asks for No Jail Time for Mike FlynnWall Street Journal Mueller recommends no prison time for former Trump adviser Michael FlynnABC News Mueller says Michael Flynn gave ‘first-hand’ details of Trump transition team contacts with RussiansCNBC Vox –The Atlantic all 1,960 news articles » |
| Mueller filing: Flynn gave substantial assistance – CNN |
CNNMueller filing: Flynn gave substantial assistance CNN Special counsel Robert Mueller told a federal court that former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has given “substantial assistance” to the Russia investigation and should not get jail time. Source: CNN … |
| Prosecutors recommend no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn – Press of Atlantic City |
NBCNews.comProsecutors recommend no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn Press of Atlantic City WASHINGTON — Michael Flynn, a retired Army general who played a key role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and then served briefly as White House national security adviser, has provided “substantial assistance” to investigators in the Russia … Mueller seeks no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, citing his ‘substantial assistance’Washington Post Prosecutors recommend no prison time for Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisorLos Angeles Timesall 989 news articles » |
| Mueller gives new details on Flynn’s secretive work for Turkey – NBCNews.com |
NBCNews.comMueller gives new details on Flynn’s secretive work for Turkey <a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a> WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller disclosed more details Thursday of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s efforts to cover up the extent of his ties to the government of Turkey while he was a top official on President Donald … 4 takeaways from Mueller’s sentencing memo for Michael FlynnVox Mueller seeks no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, citing his ‘substantial assistance’Washington Post Mueller filing reveals Michael Flynn interviewed with investigators 19 times, recommends no jail timeBusiness Insider CNN –The New Yorker all 1,182 news articles » |
| Mike Flynn Report Expected to Shed Light on Mueller Probe – Wall Street Journal |
Wall Street JournalMike Flynn Report Expected to Shed Light on Mueller Probe Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—A new filing Tuesday is expected to detail how former Trump adviser Mike Flynn has been helping federal investigators since pleading guilty a year ago, potentially providing a window into the special counsel probe into Russian election …and more » |
| Mueller Investigation Just ‘Tying Up Loose Ends’ Before Climax of Russia Probe in Coming Weeks: Report – Newsweek |
| Mueller Investigation Just ‘Tying Up Loose Ends’ Before Climax of Russia Probe in Coming Weeks: Report NewsweekMueller may be poised to lift the lid of his investigation CNNMueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation HuffPostMichael Cohen’s Trump Tower revelation could implicate Trump in a bribery scheme involving Russia NBC NewsCohen and Manafort developments add very little to answering THIS ultimate question Fox NewsView full coverage on Google News |
| Nato accuses Russia of breaking nuclear missile treaty – BBC News |
BBC NewsNato accuses Russia of breaking nuclear missile treaty BBC News Western military alliance Nato has formally accused Russia of breaching the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned land-based nuclear missiles in Europe. Following a meeting, Nato foreign ministers issued a statement …and more » |
| National Republican Congressional Committee says it was hacked during this year’s election cycle – Washington Post |
Washington PostNational Republican Congressional Committee says it was hacked during this year’s election cycle Washington Post The campaign organization for House Republicans was the victim of a cyberattack that exposed email accounts to an unknown intruder during the 2018 election cycle, people familiar with the matter said. It wasn’t known whether a foreign government was … House GOP Campaign Arm Says It Was Hacked During The 2018 Election CycleNPR Exclusive: Emails of top NRCC officials stolen in major 2018 hackPoliticoall 149 news articles » |
| Trump Offers German Automakers a Pause on Car Tariffs, for Now – New York Times |
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Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 1:45 AM
Andrew McCabe – Google News1 Share
Washington Examiner | FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring Washington Examiner With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations. The investigations have come under … Another High-Ranking FBI Official to DepartWall Street Journalall 3 news articles » |
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 1:43 AM1 Share
Wall Street Journal–7 hours agoWASHINGTON—A top FBI official who helped oversee two politically … BillPriestap, who currently serves as assistant director of the Federal … shortly before Election Day after obtaining new evidence, with some saying that it …
New York Times–Nov 29, 2018The new operatives have intensified their focus on America’s commercial …. F.B.I. director, Bill Priestap, called “the Chinese government’s direct …
Fox News–Jun 5, 2018Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia probes than … including a closed-door interview with FBI espionage chief Bill Priestap. … 30 of that year, Strzok emailed Priestap and another FBI colleague … Top Dem blames Trump for GM plant shutdowns, praises new truce with China …
Federal Bureau of Investigation (press release) (blog)–Dec 21, 2015FBI Director James B. Comey has named E.W. “Bill” Priestap as the assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters …Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 1:39 AM1 Share
Bill Priestap, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, will exit the agency at the end of the year, according to a new report.
Priestap, the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterintelligence division, has decided to retire from the bureau, the Wall Street Journal reported.
He was involved with the investigation regarding the unauthorized email server of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that she used while she was secretary of state and the investigation examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations.
The investigations have come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, who have cited mismanagement issues in both. For example, Democrats have expressed frustration that the FBI shared they were conducting an investigation into Clinton prior to the election but waited until after the election to disclose they were also investigation Russian interference.
Meanwhile, Republicans fault the FBI for going easy on Clinton and not charging her with any wrongdoing and have claimed that the FBI inappropriately obtained a surveillance warrant to monitor a Trump campaign aide.
The FBI told the Journal that Priestap’s retirement was unrelated to the 2016 investigations and said he “became eligible to retire and has chosen to do so after 20 years of service.” It’s uncertain what Preistap plans to do following his retirement.
Tuesday December 4th, 2018 at 11:49 AM
Top Stories – Google News1 Share
HuffPost | Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation HuffPost WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks that they are “tying up loose ends” in their investigation, providing the clearest clues yet that the long-running probe into Russia’s interference in … Mueller to detail ex-NSA Flynn’s cooperation in Russia probeMinneapolis Star Tribune Adam Schiff: Trump is compromised. What else is he hiding and who else knows about it?USA TODAYall 335 news articles » |
N.A.T.O. yesterday formally accused Russia of breaching the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (I.N.F.), issuing a statement supporting U.S. accusations of Russian violations. “Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security,” N.A.T.O. foreign ministers said in a statement after the meeting, adding: “we strongly support the finding of the U.S. that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the I.N.F. Treaty,” Reuters reports.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced yesterday that the U.S. would suspend its obligations to the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (I.N.F.) in 60 days’ time unless Russia takes steps to return to compliance. The move follows remarks in October from President Trump, who claimed that the U.S. would withdraw from the accord as Russia had been violating the agreement “for many years,” Jessica Donati and Daniel Michaels report at the Wall Street Journal.
The Kremlin said today that the U.S. was manipulating facts in order to falsely accuse Moscow of violating the I.N.F. and thus create a pretext to leave it. When asked about the ultimatum, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said statements from the United States and N.A.T.O. are serving to stir up tensions, Reuters reports.
Deaths from terrorism declined worldwide in 2017 for the third straight year but far-right extremism was found to be on the rise, according to the 2018 Global Terrorism Index report, out today. The Daily Beast reports.
Just Security
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Just Security: The Early Edition: December 5, 2018
» nato russia – Google Search
05/12/18 08:30 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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05/12/18 08:28 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from nato russia – Google News. Trump and NATO Show Rare Unity in Confronting Russia’s Arms … Foreign Policy – 15 hours ago After a meeting of senior U.S., Canadian, and European diplomats at NATO in …
» US Russia: Moscow rejects ‘groundless’ US claim Russia breaching arms treaty
05/12/18 07:32 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . MOSCOW: Moscow on Wednesday dismissed US claims it is violating a major Cold War treaty limiting mid-range nuclear arms, as a senior general lashed out at Washington’s attempts to “contain” Russia . T…
» The Latest: Police arrest about 90 in raids on Italian mafia – The Washington Post
05/12/18 07:30 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . By Associated Press December 5 at 6:14 AM BERLIN — The Latest on raids on the Italian mob across Europe (all times local): 12:10 p.m. Police say they have arrested about 90 suspected mafia membe…
» M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI! The least that they can be accused of is the manifest and obvious, utter professional incompetence. The worst, no one wants to think and to talk about. They made the FBI and the American polit
05/12/18 02:22 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The Global Security News. M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI, and consider bringing the criminal charges against all the former and current FBI officials! | Bill Pr…
» M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI, and consider bringing the criminal charges against all the former and current FBI officials! | Bill Priestap, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, will exit the agency at the end of the year, accordi
05/12/18 02:13 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from FBI News Review. Investigate the investigators! Save America! Reform the FBI now! M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI, and consider bringing the criminal charges aga…
» FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring – Washington Examiner
05/12/18 01:45 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Andrew McCabe – Google News. Washington Examiner FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring Washington Examiner With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Directo…
» E.W. “Bill” Priestap fbi – Google Search
05/12/18 01:43 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . Another High-Ranking FBI Official to Depart Wall Street Journal – 7 hours ago WASHINGTON—A top FBI official who helped oversee two politically … Bill Priestap , who currently serves as assista…
» FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring
05/12/18 01:39 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . B ill Priestap, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, will exit the agency at the end of the year, according to a new report. Priestap, the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s co…
» Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation – HuffPost
04/12/18 11:49 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Top Stories – Google News. HuffPost Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation HuffPost WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks t…
» Russian Minister Says Authenticity Of War Legend Beyond Dispute, ‘Amoral’ To Dig Further
03/12/18 14:37 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Russia’s culture minister has revealed historical records that he claims prove the authenticity of a World War II legend largely debunked by historians, deliverin…
» World War 3: Russia accuses the UK of trying to use psychological warfare in Ukraine | World | News
03/12/18 10:46 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Cell Phone For Senior Citizens. The Russian Embassy in London claimed the UK was trying to expand its military presence in Ukraine prior to the March presidential elections. Sputnik, the Russian go…
» MI6 boss on Salisbury Novichok poisoning
03/12/18 10:41 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . Signed in as Michael_Novakhov Share this story on NewsBlur Shared stories are on their way…
» Gen. Korobov – Google Search
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» Gen. Korobov – Google Search
03/12/18 07:47 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Gen. Korobov – Google News. Head of Russian Skripal-linked GRU spy agency dies BBC News – Nov 21, 2018 The head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, General Igor Korobov, has died aged 62,…
» Adm. Stearney – Google Search
03/12/18 07:46 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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» Adm. Stearney – Google Search
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Adm. Stearney – Google News. Navy Admiral Scott Stearney Is Found Dead in Bahrain Home New York Times – Dec 1, 2018 The admiral overseeing American naval operations in the Middle East and Southwest…
» Adm. Scott Stearney Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
03/12/18 07:33 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Heavy.com. United States Navy Admiral Scott Stearney was found dead in his apartment in Bahrain on December 1. Stearney was the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet, maki…
» mi6 – Google Search
02/12/18 23:14 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from mi6 – Google News. Don’t underestimate UK capabilities, MI6 chief to warn Russia The Guardian – 5 hours ago The head of MI6 will warn Russia not to underestimate the UK’s ability to retaliate in th…
» Alex Younger – Google Search
02/12/18 23:11 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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» Alex Younger – Google Search
02/12/18 23:10 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Alex Younger – Google News. Don’t underestimate UK capabilities, MI6 chief to warn Russia The Guardian – 5 hours ago Alex Younger will also set out how his agency, known formally as the Secret Inte…
» Happy Hanukkah! – Google Search
02/12/18 22:57 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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» Russian spy chief and answer to 007 gadget whizz ‘Q’ vanishes amid suspicions Novichok guru masterminded the Salisbury attack
02/12/18 22:44 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The Irish Sun. RUSSIA’S answer to 007 gadget whizz “Q” has vanished amid suspicions he masterminded the Salisbury poison plot, a Sun investigation can reveal. Spy chief Oleg Marty…
» Man Changing Tire in Brooklyn Killed in Hit and Run: NYPD – NBC New York
02/12/18 02:35 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . A minivan struck and killed a man who was trying to change a tire Saturday evening in Brooklyn, then drove off, police said. The 65-year-old victim was struck on 28th Street and Shore Parkw…
» 7:13 AM 12/1/2018 – BOOK REVIEW: Craig Unger – ‘House of Trump, House of Putin,’ the plot to put a Russian operative in the White House.
01/12/18 08:06 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Trump Investigations Report. Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠ ‘House of Trump, House of Putin,’ the plot to put a Russian operative in the White House | When the Manafort Plea Deal Blew Up…
» 5:54 AM 12/1/2018 – Is This “All About Mogilevich”? Or Is This All About The “New Abwehr” And Their (“Unwitting”) Agent Mogilevich?
01/12/18 08:04 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Trump Investigations Report. Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠ mogilevich and investigations of trump – Google Search mogilevich and investigations of trump – Google Search Trum…
» Books on the Russia scandal focus on the news. What they need is more history.
01/12/18 07:53 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . T he early books detailing investigations of the Trump campaign and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election tend to have lame, repetitive endings. “Mueller’s investigation was far…
» ‘House of Trump, House of Putin,’ the plot to put a Russian operative in the White House |
01/12/18 06:37 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Comments on: BOOK REVIEW: ‘House of Trump, House of Putin,’ the plot to put a Russian operative in the White House. House of Trump, House of Putin Penguin Random House LLC 375 Hudson St. New York, …
» When the Manafort Plea Deal Blew Up, It Was Good News for Oligarchs – Mother Jones
01/12/18 06:33 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Mother Jones. Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. When the news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller was ending Paul Manafort’s plea deal—because the…
» mogilevich and investigations of trump – Google Search
01/12/18 05:50 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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01/12/18 05:49 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from mogilevich and investigations of trump – Google News. It’s All About Mogilevich Slate Magazine – 8 hours ago Virginia Heffernan talks to Craig Unger, author of House of Trump , House of … House I…
» Trump Tower’s ties to the Russian mafia.
01/12/18 04:37 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
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» Putin and the Russian Mafia – Google News: It’s All About Mogilevich – Slate Magazine
01/12/18 04:35 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from 1. Trump from Michael_Novakhov (198 sites). Slate Magazine It’s All About Mogilevich Slate Magazine Virginia Heffernan talks to Craig Unger, author of House of Trump, House of Putin , about Semion …
» As Trump Panic-Tweets, Putin Cracks His Whip and Shows Him Who’s Boss – Observer
30/11/18 23:47 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from trump putin – Google News. Observer As Trump Panic-Tweets, Putin Cracks His Whip and Shows Him Who’s Boss Observer This was the week that the bottom fell out of Donald Trump’s presidency. After alm…
» Puerto Rico Virtual Library project – Google Search
30/11/18 23:29 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Puerto Rico Virtual Library project – Google News. University of Puerto Rico to Establish First Puerto Rico Center for the … Fine Books & Collections Magazine – Nov 29, 2018 The University of…
» Interview with Puerto Rican Secretary of Education, Dr. Julia Keleher – YouTube
30/11/18 23:11 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . Interview with Puerto Rican Secretary of Education, Dr. Julia Keleher
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30/11/18 23:05 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from julia keleher – Google News. Education brief: Cheyenne Mountain Junior High teacher appointed to … Colorado Springs Gazette – Nov 27, 2018 Other members of the NAGB include Chief State School Off…
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30/11/18 16:08 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from g 20 – Google News. Saudi Prince Faces G – 20 Leaders, Drawing a Laugh and a … New York Times – 6 minutes ago BUENOS AIRES — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia exchanged laugh…
» The Puerto Rico Times: 1:49 PM 11/30/2018 – The Puerto Rico Times: Caribbean Business: [Editorial] Stuffing in the Statehood Turkey
30/11/18 15:40 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Blogs from Michael_Novakhov (19 sites). Saved Stories In Brief The Puerto Rico Times: Twitter Search / ricardorossello: Agradezco al Concilio por urgir medidas y acciones, recogiendo e…
» The News and Times of Puerto Rico: Merkel plane technical failure leaves German leader late for G20
30/11/18 13:45 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Sites from Michael_Novakhov (19 sites). Germany’s chancellor misses the start of the meeting in Argentina after her flight had to turn back. The News and Times of Puerto Rico
» 9:31 AM 11/30/2018 – US life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I – Washington Post | Good Cook Andres: José Andrés Was Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for His Humanitarian Food Relief
30/11/18 09:35 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The Puerto Rico Times. US life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I – Washington Post José Andrés Was Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for His Hu…
» José Andrés Was Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for His Humanitarian Food Relief
30/11/18 09:21 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
Michael_Novakhov shared this story . Eric Rojas/The New York Times/Redux Celebrity chef José Andrés rushes toward disaster zones. In the past year, there have been a lot of them. When fires ravaged California last summer, Andr&… Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
The Global Security News1 Share
“Prosecutors say employees of both companies “referred to the client in ways that made clear they knew it was Ukraine.” One Mercury employee said the nonprofit was the client “in name only,” likening the situation to “Alice in Wonderland.” A Podesta employee referred to the nonprofit’s certification that it wasn’t related to the Ukrainian political party as a “fig leaf on a fig leaf.”
Mueller’s team also noted that “the head of” the Podesta Group, an apparent reference to Tony Podesta, told his team to think the president of Ukraine is the client.”
Thursday December 6th, 2018 at 4:54 AM1 Share
tony podesta – Google SearchThursday December 6th, 2018 at 4:53 AM
Tony Podesta – Google News1 Share
Fox News–4 hours agoThe Podestas have been frequent targets of Trump and his associates, who have repeatedly demanded to know why Tony Podesta has not …Federal Prosecutors Ramp Up Probe of Manafort-Linked Podesta …
Law & Crime–12 hours agoReport: Prosecutors Resume Foreign Lobby Probe Of Podesta Group …
The Daily Caller–5 hours agoProsecutors ramp up foreign lobbying probe in New York
13abc Action News–13 hours agoView all
Law & Crime–13 hours ago… of Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs, the former being the firm of TonyPodesta, brother of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>–Nov 26, 2018Trump’s Monday tweet also asks, “Whatever happened to Podesta?” — an apparent reference to Tony Podesta, the former lobbyist under …Trump asks why Mueller hasn’t interviewed ‘hundreds’ of campaign …
Yahoo Finance–Nov 26, 2018View all
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>–Jul 31, 2018Former lobbyist Tony Podesta, Mercury Public Affairs partner and former Minnesota Republican Rep. Vin Weber and former Obama White …Exclusive: Mueller refers foreign agent inquiries to New York prosecutors
Highly Cited–CNN–Jul 31, 2018Mueller Passes 3 Cases Focused on Illicit Foreign Lobbying to …
In-Depth–New York Times–Aug 1, 2018Special counsel Robert Mueller referred foreign agent cases involving …
Opinion–New York Daily News–Aug 1, 2018View all
CBS News–Nov 27, 2018WikiLeaks began releasing Podesta’s emails on Oct. 7, 2016. … his discussions with Corsi about John Podesta and his brother Tony Podesta, …EXCLUSIVE Roger Stone: Report I Developed A ‘Cover Story’ With …
The Daily Caller–Nov 27, 2018Manafort-Mueller cooperation is kaput. Now what?
Associated Press (press release) (blog)–Nov 27, 2018Donald Trump can tweet all he wants, but Robert Mueller is delivering …
Opinion–USA TODAY–Nov 27, 2018View all
Fox News–Jul 20, 2018Tony Podesta has been offered immunity by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify against Paul Manafort at his upcoming trial in …Mueller reportedly grants Tony Podesta immunity to testify against …
Washington Times–Jul 19, 2018Tucker Carlson: Mueller’s giving immunity to Tony Podesta
Hot Air–Jul 20, 2018Robert Mueller offers Tony Podesta immunity to testify against Paul …
Highly Cited–Washington Examiner–Jul 19, 2018View all
Wall Street Journal–Apr 19, 2018Tony Podesta was in line to be king of K Street. His lobbying firm ended 2015 as the third largest in Washington, D.C., with nearly $30 million in …
ABC News–May 20, 2018Lobbyist Anthony “Tony” Podesta filed his final papers with the Department of Justice earlier this month chronicling the last work performed by …
Fox News–May 21, 2018Tony Podesta, the older brother of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse the …
WAVY-TV–Nov 26, 2018Prosecutors there are looking into the conduct of longtime Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig …Manafort lied, breached plea deal, prosecutors say
NWAOnline–Nov 27, 2018View allRead the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Thursday December 6th, 2018 at 4:51 AM1 Share
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An investigation referred to Justice Department prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is heating up, according to a new report that underscores federal authorities’ increasing enforcement of laws governing foreign business relationships.
The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta — a Democratic lobbyist and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse known as the Podesta Group — but also on Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from Minnesota.
The probes had been quiet for months since Mueller referred them to authorities in New York City because they fell outside his mandate of determining whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.
But in a flurry of new activity, Justice Department prosecutors in the last several weeks have begun interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers to schedule additional questioning related to the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs, people familiar with the inquiry anonymously told the Associated Press.
The apparent ramp-up comes as multiple reports and indications suggest that the Mueller probe into possible collusion in 2016 between the Russian government and President Trump’s campaign is winding down.
The New York work underscores the broad effects of Mueller’s investigation, extending well beyond that collusion question. Mueller has made clear he will not turn away if he discovers alleged crimes outside the scope of his inquiry; instead, he refers them out in investigations that may linger on even after the special counsel’s work concludes. Other Justice Department referrals from Mueller have ended in guilty pleas, including the hush money payment case of Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
The investigation reflects how Mueller, in latching onto an obscure law, has shined a light on high-dollar lobbying practices that have helped foreign governments find powerful allies and advocates in Washington. It’s a practice that has spanned both parties and enriched countless former government officials, who have leveraged their connections to influence American politics.
In New York, Mueller’s referral prompted a fresh look at the lobbying firms of Podesta and Weber, who have faced scrutiny for their decisions not to register as foreign agents for Ukrainian lobbying work directed by ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Fox News first reported, and court filings later confirmed, that Podesta was offered “use immunity” by Mueller this summer to testify in the Washington, D.C., trial of Manafort that was planned at the time — separate from the Virginia case in which he was convicted on bank and fraud charges.
Prosecutors typically offer witnesses immunity to legally prevent them from asserting their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying. “Use immunity” means prosecutors agreed not to use any statements Podesta would make on the witness stand against him in court.
“Use immunity” is not as expansive as “transactional immunity” — which would have protected Podesta more broadly from being prosecuted on the subject matter of his testimony, even if prosecutors could independently confirm relevant details and didn’t need to use his statements on the stand.
Manafort averted the D.C. trial by pleading guilty to two federal counts in September and agreeing to cooperate with the Mueller probe, meaning Podesta did not have to testify at all, seemingly rendering the immunity deal moot as to any potential future prosecutorial action involving Podesta.
An attorney for Greg Craig claims his client “was not required to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.” (Facebook)
Mueller’s team has since said Manafort violated that agreement, and the Special Counsel’s office is set to file a sentencing memorandum in Manafort’s case on Friday that is expected to include prosecutors’ recommended sentence for him.
Podesta is a longtime Democratic operative whose brother, John Podesta, ran Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign; Weber is a former Republican congressman from Minnesota. Neither man has been charged with any crimes. Their firms have defended the decisions by saying they relied on the advice of outside attorneys.
Mueller’s referral also involved Craig, a former White House counsel for President Barack Obama. Craig supervised a report authored on behalf of the Ukrainian government, and Mueller’s team has said Manafort helped Ukraine hide that it paid more than $4 million for the work. CNN reported in September that prosecutors were weighing charges against Craig.
It’s unclear if the renewed interest will produce charges or if prosecutors are merely following up on Mueller’s referral.
Lawyers for Weber and Craig and a spokeswoman for Podesta declined to comment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan didn’t return an email seeking comment.
Mercury spokesman Michael McKeon said the firm has “always welcomed any inquiry since we acted appropriately at every step of the process, including hiring a top lawyer in Washington and following his advice. We’ll continue to cooperate as we have previously.”
Foreign lobbying work was central to Mueller’s case against Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates, two high-profile Trump campaign officials who pleaded guilty earlier this year and have been interviewed extensively by prosecutors.
The Podestas have been frequent targets of Trump and his associates, who have repeatedly demanded to know why Tony Podesta has not been arrested and charged. Trump confidant Roger Stone, for instance, has insisted a 2016 tweet of his that appeared to presage the release by WikiLeaks of John Podesta’s emails — “Trust me, it will soon the Podesta’s time in the barrel” — was instead a reference to the brothers’ foreign connections getting them into the hot seat.
ROGER STONE TO PLEAD FIFTH TO AVOID TESTIFYING, PROVIDING DOCS TO SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Stone’s legal team announced in a letter Tuesday that Stone would assert his Fifth Amendment right not to testify or provide documents to a Senate committee investigating potential collusion between the president’s team and Russia.
“Mr. Stone’s invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege must be understood by all to be the assertion of a Constitutional right by an innocent citizen who denounces secrecy,” Stone’s attorney, Grant Smith, said in the statement. He also called the Senate Judiciary Committee’s requests a “fishing expedition” that is “far too overboard, far too overreaching, far too wide-ranging.”
In September, Manafort admitted to directing Mercury and the Podesta Group to lobby in the U.S. on behalf of a Ukrainian political party and Ukraine’s government, then led by President Viktor Yanukovych, Manafort’s longtime political patron.
Tony Podesta’s firm is facing scrutiny from the Robert Mueller probe. (Facebook)
While doing the lobbying, neither the Podesta Group nor Mercury registered as foreign agents under a U.S. law known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires lobbyists to declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders, governments or their political parties.
LAWYER WITH OBAMA, CLINTON TIES MAY FACE FEDERAL CHARGES
The Justice Department has rarely prosecuted such cases, which carry up to five years in prison, but has taken a more aggressive tack lately.
To secretly fund the lobbying and to avoid registration with the Justice Department, Manafort said he along with unidentified “others” arranged for the firms to be hired by a Brussels-based nonprofit, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, rather than the Ukrainian political interests directly.
Mercury and Podesta, which were paid a combined $2 million on the project, then registered under a less stringent lobbying law that doesn’t require as much public disclosure as FARA.
Both firms have said they registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, rather than FARA, on the advice of lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Craig’s former firm.
Gates admitted in his plea deal that he lied to Mercury’s attorneys about the project, a fact the lobbying firm has publicly highlighted. The Podesta Group has said it was misled by the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, citing a written certification from the nonprofit stating it wasn’t directed or controlled by the Ukrainian Party of Regions, one of Manafort’s clients.
Both firms have since registered under FARA. But in court papers filed alongside Manafort’s plea agreement, Mueller’s prosecutors suggested the firms were aware they were working on Ukraine’s behalf.
Prosecutors say employees of both companies “referred to the client in ways that made clear they knew it was Ukraine.” One Mercury employee said the nonprofit was the client “in name only,” likening the situation to “Alice in Wonderland.” A Podesta employee referred to the nonprofit’s certification that it wasn’t related to the Ukrainian political party as a “fig leaf on a fig leaf.”
Mueller’s team also noted that “the head of” the Podesta Group, an apparent reference to Tony Podesta, told his team to think the president of Ukraine is the client.
Fox News’ Bill Mears and the Associated Press contributed to this report.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Thursday December 6th, 2018 at 4:42 AM
Greg Craig – Google News1 Share
Fox News–3 hours agoAn investigation referred to Justice Department prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by …Prosecutors ramp up foreign lobbying probe in New York
Alton Telegraph–12 hours agoFederal Prosecutors Ramp Up Probe of Manafort-Linked Podesta …
Law & Crime–12 hours agoView all
CNN
Flathead Beacon–Nov 27, 2018Prosecutors there are looking into the conduct of longtime Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig …
<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>–Apr 24, 2018WASHINGTON — Former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig has left his law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the firm told …
The New Yorker
Washington Post–Nov 27, 2018That probe is examining the conduct of Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig and former …
CNN–Sep 14, 2018Federal prosecutors in New York are weighing criminal charges against former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig as part of an …
CNN–Sep 14, 2018(CNN) Federal prosecutors in New York are weighing criminal charges against former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig as part of an …Greg Craig Repped by Bill Taylor & Zuckerman Spaeder Amid SDNY …
Highly Cited–<a href=”http://Law.com” rel=”nofollow”>Law.com</a>–Sep 16, 2018View all
Yahoo Finance–Nov 26, 2018The cases involved Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta; former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig and former Minnesota Republican Rep …
ABA Journal–Apr 24, 2018Greg Craig has retired from Skadden and his name has been scrubbed from the law … Craig, a former White House counsel during the Obama …Amid Mueller Probe, Gregory Craig Retires From Skadden
Highly Cited–<a href=”http://Law.com” rel=”nofollow”>Law.com</a>–Apr 24, 2018View allRead the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Thursday December 6th, 2018 at 4:32 AM
War On The Rocks1 Share
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from “Policy Roundtable: The Future of Progressive Foreign Policy” from our sister publication, the Texas National Security Review. Be sure to check out the full roundtable.
Progressives are in search of a collective voice on foreign policy and national security. As one senior Democratic Senate staffer confided to me over the summer, “I keep asking, ‘What is a progressive national security policy? Are we a bunch of progressives on education, healthcare, etc. who happen to do foreign policy and it should look the same no matter who’s in charge? Or do we have a distinctly progressive outlook on the world that we’re trying to implement as practitioners?’” Until recently, the left has been unable to reliably answer these questions and it’s understandable why.
For one thing, the progressive movement is intellectually diverse. Self-identified progressives range from committed socialists to left-leaning neoliberals and — at the extreme edges of the movement — both hardcore pacifists and anti-fascist militants. Progressives have considerable differences of opinion about capitalism, using force to achieve political ends, and America’s role in the world.
In general, the progressive voice has also historically been muted when it comes to foreign policy, which has partly to do with its modest resourcing and representation. Since the Cold War, the Democratic Party has been captured by the politics of “third way” liberalism. At home, it vacillated between Roosevelt-era, New Deal-style social welfare politics and an alliance with unfettered capitalism, increasingly favoring the latter over time. Abroad, the “third way” amounted to sustaining the once taken-for-granted and now much-contested “liberal international order” — essentially a foreign policy premised on U.S. military superiority underwriting a series of global institutional, economic, and human rights commitments. At most, these “third way” positions only ever partly reflected the priorities of political progressives.
The left’s chronic under-representation within the Democratic Party extends to its presence in the “ideas industry” as well. Authentically progressive ideas are scarce in the Washington think tank landscape, and progressive mega-donors tend to finance domestic policies and projects, not foreign policy.
Constrained in all these ways, progressives have failed to articulate their own “theory of security” — a term of art referring to how their preferred pattern of foreign policy decisions defines and realizes U.S. interests. The lack of one, as Vox reporter Zach Beauchamp concluded, has meant that “foreign policy debate tends to be conducted between the center and the right.” Indeed, the inadequacies of U.S. foreign policy traditions may exist because progressives have a history of rarely showing up analytically to foreign policy fights.
But while these limitations have prevented the left from cohering around a clear theory of progressive national security, it’s possible to tease one out of the progressive worldview all the same, and that progressive vision partially accommodates America’s default position of liberal internationalism: Regional balances of power and alliances still matter, and there is a role for both the U.S. military and international institutions. But the progressive theory of security also makes its own analytical wagers, requiring alterations in key areas of the national security agenda — namely re-scoping the size and shape of the U.S. military, emphasizing political and democratic alliances, rebalancing how international institutions work, and pursuing mutual threat reduction where circumstances allow.
Saving Liberal Internationalism from Itself
America’s traditional theory of security consists in a mix of realist and neoliberal beliefs: military superiority, alliances, economic interdependence through global capitalism, and international institutions to legitimate and sustain the entire enterprise. By pursuing all of the above — it’s typically conceived of as a package deal — the United States is able to keep open a stable international trading system, maintain balances of power in key regions of the world, and minimize the prospect of arms races and interstate wars. Democrats and Republicans have assigned greater or lesser weight to different elements within this formula, but both parties have upheld the basic meta strategy over time.
Progressive principles are not entirely hostile to this theory of security. Despite its intellectual diversity, the progressive movement has a common core emphasizing the pursuit of a more just world through democracy, greater economic equality, and human rights protections, as well as opposition to imperialism and authoritarianism. Progressives are also conditional advocates for the rule of law and international institutions. As leftist author Michael Walzer has argued, “We still need global regulation by social-democratic versions of the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization…” More controversially, there are strongly ingrained biases against the military in some quarters of the left. “Anti-militarism” is an emotionally loaded and imprecise term, but it translates into inherent skepticism about the value of both military spending and the use of force abroad. Taken together, these principled positions and attitudes logically require alterations to America’s longstanding theory of security, but not a wholesale rejection of it.
From Military Superiority to Military Sufficiency
The traditional realist foundation of U.S. national security has been military superiority — ensuring the U.S. military can “deter or defeat all potential future adversaries.” This theory presumes that the capability to prevail in any plausible conflict is necessary for the United States to make credible threats against adversaries and credible reassurances to allies. Military superiority also sustains regional balances of power, ensuring that no other state in Asia, Europe, or the Middle East can exercise hegemony or control of their region.
Even in a progressive government disinclined to call on the Pentagon to solve problems, the U.S. military will need to be capable of projecting power into key regions, making credible threats, and achieving political objectives with force and minimal casualties if called on to do so. But a force structure sufficient to meet these purposes might be achieved without the endlessly increasing requirements of military superiority. A standard of military sufficiency — as opposed to superiority — is both analytically plausible and more morally congruent with progressive principles for several reasons.
First, the U.S. military is traditionally sized to win in temporally overlapping wars in different regions, but the Pentagon’s force planners have assumed very little help from local allies in those fights — this fact is obvious from the massive size of the U.S. military. Yet, looking across the globe today, there is no plausible conflict that would ensnare only (or even primarily) the United States. And in any case, progressives have a consistent track record of opposing unilateral wars of choice. Second, the idea that it takes military superiority to prevent other states from dominating their regions involves some dubious assumptions about the ability of military power to prevent other countries from exercising international political influence. Stopping others from controlling a region does not mean the United States must be able to exercise regional control itself.
As such, there is a case for making America’s security more entwined — not less — with the security of regions of interest by making U.S. force structure more networked with trusted allies and partners. This could meaningfully reduce the defense budget, and the only real risk it would entail is in the assumption that friends will provide significant contributions to a fight involving U.S. forces. It also potentially makes the dirty business of war a more democratic and less imperious endeavor by wagering that “multilateralizing” force structure to a degree tamps down on the tendency to opt into ill-advised conflicts. Military sufficiency potentially ties the hands of future presidents, making them less able to launch unilateral wars, and simultaneously increases the likelihood that any conflict involving large numbers of U.S. troops will be multilateral and cooperative. It would also befit the analytical claim — which some on the left already make — that the world is less dangerous than the Pentagon supposes, implying that a posture of military sufficiency would not hazard any great geopolitical risks.
Preserving Democratic Alliances
In liberal internationalism, alliances are a means by which the United States deters aggression against its allies. They also make it possible for the United States to reliably project military power into key regions, and serve as a unique means of exerting influence in world politics. Not only do alliances act as mechanisms of risk management by controlling the aggression of allies under threat, they have also been a means of preventing nuclear proliferation. The default theory of security bets that these advantages of alliances far outweigh the calculable downsides.
Progressive principles are not necessarily at odds with the traditional reasons for the United States upholding military alliances. In fact, a wide range of progressive thinkers writing on foreign policy have also endorsed sustaining U.S. alliances, though with some qualifications. Progressives are quick to emphasize political — not just military — commitments at the state and sub-state level, and take a very circumspect view of allying with illiberal actors. The idea that “[w]e should act abroad only with those who share our commitments and then, only in ways consistent with those commitments” implies solidarity with democratic countries who see their alliance with the United States as a source of security. But it is likewise a rejection of “[p]olitical and military support for tyrannical, predatory, and corrupt regimes.”
Because one of the principal threats to U.S. security in the progressive view is the spread of authoritarianism and fascism, the United States must keep faith with democratically elected governments that rely on an alliance with the United States for their security. That includes NATO as an institution, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. But where allies turn autocratic or become incubators for fascism — such as Turkey or Hungary (both NATO members) — a commitment to the individual country will have to be tenuous, as a matter of principle. An illiberal state’s membership in an alliance institution will not prevent U.S. policy from promoting solidarity with anti-authoritarian forces within that country. NATO will not be a shield that implicitly permits the growth of illiberal, reactionary politics in Europe.
Alliances are also crucial to a progressive theory of security to the extent the United States seeks to divest itself of the military superiority imperative. As argued above, moving to a concept of military sufficiency without simply becoming isolationist (which itself would be anti-progressive) requires maintaining allies. It would be logically untenable to seek international solidarity with likeminded countries and peoples abroad while destroying alliance architectures around the world — one action would undermine the other. And where the abdication of an alliance is likely to lead to nuclear proliferation, conflict, or the spread of fascism, the alliance may have to stay in place as a short-term exception to the rule. But even then, the principle of supporting only democratic actors remains. In sum, then, the progressive theory of security requires fidelity only to democratic alliances, and any expansion of the U.S. alliance network is likely to emphasize political support first and military support last, if at all.
Reforming International Institutions
U.S. foreign policy debates routinely center on the merits of sustaining the mélange of international institutions that constitute the “post-war” or “liberal international” order: the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization, among many others. These institutions play an essential role in how U.S. liberal internationalism conceives of keeping America secure. Collectively, they preserve a stable international trading system that facilitates conflict-deterring economic interdependence. The existence of international institutions also allows many (not all) nations around the world to escape the predations of international anarchy. The belief in reliable institutions lets many liberal-democratic states be liberal and democratic in their foreign policies — by focusing on trading relations and taking for granted the appearance of international stability. In the liberal internationalist theory of security, this partly explains why neither Europe nor Asia has experienced interstate wars in more than a generation — an architecture that combines U.S. military superiority and alliances with international institutions. It’s a package deal. The institutions part of that deal preserves a “capitalist peace” through economic interdependence, and at the same time encourages many states to opt out of militaristic foreign policies.
The left embraces international institutions in principle because they promote multilateralism, the rule of law, and can help attenuate conflict — all of which favor justice and egalitarianism. But some international institutions must be repurposed or reformed to serve a more democratic, and less corrupting, imperative. This is not just about justice for its own sake, but rather that justice, in the form of equality, lessens the likelihood of war. Progressives believe that yawning gaps in economic inequality are a structural cause of conflict. As Bernie Sanders remarked in 2017: “Foreign policy must take into account the outrageous income and wealth inequality that exists globally and in our own country. This planet will not be secure or peaceful when so few have so much, and so many have so little…”
A progressive security policy would therefore bet significantly on international institutions, but in qualified ways that differ from default liberal internationalism. It would seek to essentially save capitalism from itself by regulating it. At the international level, this might translate into a more democratic distribution of voting rights or agenda setting powers in international financial bodies — especially the World Bank and IMF — and a more relaxed attitude toward economic protectionism in instances where fairness or just labor practices are called into question. Although anathema to the traditional liberal bargain, these steps would serve as a means of attenuating giant wealth transfers across borders, as well as the political corruption that often accompanies those transfers, as dictators around the world have learned to “play” globalization processes to enrich themselves. Such regulations of capitalism might also dramatically elevate the importance of the International Labor Organization, a moribund body that for decades has promoted not labor but rather pro-market deregulation trends. But the larger point is best summarized by Bernie Sanders: “[W]e have got to help lead the struggle to defend and expand a rules-based international order in which law, not might, makes right.” The progressive theory of security wagers on the same institutional arrangements that make up liberal internationalism, but argues for their reform, in order to address the inequality gap, transnational corruption, and authoritarianism, thus prioritizing long-term systemic causes of conflict, even if it might risk the “capitalist peace” in the near term.
Mutual Threat Reduction
The final, and most distinct, element in the progressive theory of national security — one that’s absent from America’s default posture toward the world — is what might be called mutual threat reduction. If the progressive sensibility leads to the military being treated as a policy tool of last resort, progressives would have to prioritize the use of diplomacy to attenuate the threat landscape as a compensatory move. There is a defensible logic in this wager, because deterrence — managing threats by making threats — is not an end in itself but rather a means of buying time. The ultimate success of deterrence derives from whether the time bought was used to ameliorate the conditions that gave rise to the need for deterrence in the first place. In the progressive view, diplomacy in the name of mutual threat reduction takes on concrete meaning: arms control, Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction programs, and international regimes that regulate technology development, transfers, and use. These kinds of initiatives are not new to U.S. foreign policy, but the progressive theory elevates their importance, and justifies taking a certain amount of risk in pursuing them with greater gusto.
Progressive principles commit the United States to doing the spade work necessary to discover whether real and potential adversaries are willing to restrain arms competitions or increase transparency into their military thinking, and to reciprocate when they do. Such a probe may require limited unilateral gestures from the United States. Advocates of realpolitik may see no reason to ever trust the intentions of an enemy or shrink U.S. advantages in military matters. But progressives should be willing to accept some amount of geopolitical risk — while stopping short of naiveté — in the name of, not only probing, but nudging the intentions of a threatening adversary toward the goal of mutual accommodation. In 2012, the Obama administration made a fleeting attempt at getting beyond mutually assured destruction with key competitors like Russia and China to reach a place of “mutually assured stability.” The premise of that forgotten project — that recognized that probing and stimulating opportunities for threat reduction is an essential part of avoiding unnecessary future wars — would be renewed in a progressive security vision. More importantly, it would become a preferred starting point for evaluating all strategic issues, from North Korea to arms races in emerging technologies.
Playing the Long Game
There are significant continuities between the liberal internationalist theory of security and that of progressive internationalism. Nevertheless, the divergences are not trivial. The table below summarizes these distinctions.
| Comparing Progressive and Liberal Internationalist Theories of Security | |
| Default Liberal Internationalism | Progressive Internationalism |
| Military Superiority | Military Sufficiency |
| Alliances | Democratic Alliances |
| International Institutions | Reformed International Institutions |
| Economic Interdependence | Mutual Threat Reduction |
The progressive wager is not without risks. The process of changing American foreign policy in this way may jeopardize certain sources of stability that the progressive worldview takes for granted. But it also addresses long-term sources of recurring conflict that liberal internationalism ignores. Every theory of security amounts to a bet with distinct tradeoffs and risks. The progressive bet is that the American interest is best served by having a more peaceful world, and that’s only possible by pursuing greater justice and equity, and opposing tyranny wherever it arises.
Van Jackson is an associate editor at the Texas National Security Review, a senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He is the author of On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and the Threat of Nuclear War (Cambridge University Press, 2018). The views expressed are solely those of the author.
Image: Carlos Fernandez
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Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 1:33 PM1 Share
Norman Eisen and Barry Berke, Opinion contributors Published 8:00 a.m. ET Dec. 2, 2018 | Updated 3:41 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2018
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‘Avengers’ director Joe Russo launched LA restaurant Simone, all while directing the famous Marvel flicks because ‘he loves food.’ (Dec. 4)AP
MAGA hat cartoon, Nov. 30, 2018(Photo: Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune, UT)
One aspect of Michael Cohen’s blockbuster plea deal hasn’t received as much attention as it deserves. It is the possibility that the Trump Organization and others, perhaps even including the president himself, might have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). These new facts and reports are yet more evidence that Donald Trump’s business activities represent a clear-and-present threat to his presidency.
The revelations last week in connection with Cohen’s plea included the news that during his presidential campaign, Trump pursued a significant project in Russia and a report that Cohen, representing the Trump Organization, discussed with an assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman the idea that the developers would be interested in giving Putin the $50 million penthouse in Trump Tower Moscow. That is, of course, assuming they were allowed to build it.
If this report is true, this type of offer is not, as the president tweeted of the project as a whole, “very legal & very cool.” It is, instead, a possible FCPA violation.
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Is modern living making us more allergic?
Trump has brazenly argued that this long-standing law is not fair because it prevents American business people from paying bribes in jurisdictions where others might. But the FCPA has been on the books for more than 40 years, and it has been aggressively enforced through Democratic and Republican administrations alike.
That is because, as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a speech last year on FCPA enforcement, “paying bribes may still be common in some places — but that does not make it right.”
The FCPA makes it a crime to corruptly offer anything of value to a government official for the purpose of “obtaining or retaining business.” The courts have defined “obtaining or retaining” broadly to include nearly any action that would serve a business purpose. The facts, if true, leave little room to question whether the Trump Organization was seeking to retain or obtain business given its efforts to receive government assistance to go forward with the project, and Cohen’s communications with a Putin aide to discuss that very issue.
In fact, special counsel Robert Mueller indicated as much in Cohen’s plea agreement. Cohen, speaking with the woman in Putin’s press office, “requested assistance in moving the project forward” both in financing the project and in “securing land.” She reportedly asked detailed questions and explained that she would follow up “with others in Russia.”
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Similarly, it seems clear that the offer was made “corruptly” — that is, as Congress explained when it passed the FCPA in 1977, to “wrongfully influence the recipient.” It is difficult to imagine how suggesting that the president of the country may receive a $50 million benefit if the development goes forward could be anything other than corrupt.
The repeated and continuous lies about the project by Cohen and likely others, including to Congress, are further evidence of the shadiness of the deal — in other words, of corrupt intent. The false testimony is made even more troubling if individuals in our government knew of its falsity and were therefore aware that they could be subject to blackmail by Russia, whose leaders obviously knew the truth.
If it was actually suggested that should the project be approved and built, those responsible for the development were prepared to potentially offer a $50 million penthouse apartment to Putin, this would certainly appear to satisfy the “offer something of value” prong. While detractors might claim that the $50 million penthouse was not formally “offered,” experienced FCPA practitioners know this is not a defense.
It is important to note that under the FCPA, there does not have to be a transfer, or even a formal offer, of something of value. It is sufficient if there is an attempt to corruptly influence a government decision by holding out the promise of something of value, or even just the possibility it might be available, in order to obtain or retain business. Essentially, the law contemplates and prohibits the wink-and-a-nod agreements that still dominate the business landscape in many markets where public corruption is commonplace.
Still unknown is how much President Trump or his family actually knew about the Putin luxury apartment offer. Cohen says he frequently communicated about the project with Trump, including keeping Trump apprised of his discussions with representatives of Putin. It would be surprising if that did not include information about an inducement of this magnitude.
Under the law of conspiracy and aiding and abetting, even if a person is not otherwise involved in offering an illegal bribe, that individual can still be guilty if he was aware of it and was otherwise part of the transaction that would benefit from it.
While the past week has added significantly to the list of potential crimes that Trump and those close to him might have committed, the potential FCPA criminal violation could be the most straightforward to prove — if the president was aware of the offer.
We know that Trump is well aware of the FCPA; he has called it “a horrible law” and “ridiculous.” We know that Michael Cohen swore in court on Thursday that he “discussed the status and progress” of the negotiations with then-candidate Trump on numerous occasions, and that he gave Trump’s adult children regular briefings.
What we don’t know yet is whether Trump or his children were made aware of this critical $50 million detail. The presidency could hang on that question.
Norman Eisen, chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is author of “The Last Palace: Europe’s Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House.” Follow him on Twitter: @NormEisen. Barry Berke is a nationally recognized trial lawyer specializing in all aspects of white-collar crime.
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Read or Share this story: <a href=”https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/12/02/trump-presidency-threatened-50-million-penthouse-gift-putin-column/2169500002/” rel=”nofollow”>https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/12/02/trump-presidency-threatened-50-million-penthouse-gift-putin-column/2169500002/</a>Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 9:26 AM1 Share
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 9:26 AM
Trump Putin 50 Mil Moscow Penthouse – Google News1 Share
USA TODAY–Nov 29, 2018“My idea was to give a $50 million penthouse to Putin and charge $250 … come at a time where the president’s Trump Tower deal in Moscow …Trump Firm Considered Giving Putin a $50 Million Penthouse, Broker …
Fortune–Nov 30, 2018Trump’s company wanted to give Putin a penthouse for $ 50 million …
International–The Kozweek–Nov 30, 2018Is floating a $50 million Trump Tower penthouse for Vladimir Putin …
Opinion–Washington Post–Nov 30, 2018Plan for Trump to give Putin $68m penthouse revealed in filing
In-Depth–The Sydney Morning Herald–Nov 29, 2018Trump Tower Moscow Deal Developed By Felix Sater Included Giving …
International–<a href=”http://uPolitics.com” rel=”nofollow”>uPolitics.com</a> (blog)–Nov 30, 2018View all
USA TODAY–Dec 2, 2018… plan to give Putin a $50 million penthouse in Trump Tower Moscow. … It is the possibility that the Trump Organization and others, perhaps …Stephen Colbert Unearths Floor Plan For Putin Penthouse In Trump …
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WLS-TV–Dec 3, 2018… swirl around fate of $50 million penthouse in Trump Tower Moscow … in Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a source …Legal questions swirl around idea to offer $50 million penthouse to …
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Observer–Nov 30, 2018Former Trump Organization advisor Felix Sater claimed it was his idea to gift a $50 million Moscow penthouse suite to Vladimir Putin.Trump Tower Moscow considered giving Putin $50 mn penthouse …
Business Standard–Nov 30, 2018View allRead the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 9:07 AM
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Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠Grassley Demands Information About FBI Raid on Whistleblower
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Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling for more information about the FBI’s raid on a former agency contractor who had given a watchdog documents claiming that federal officials failed to investigate possible criminal activity related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and the sale of Canadian mining company Uranium One to a Russian company’s subsidiary.
Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and to the Department of Justice’s internal watchdog, seeking more details on the raid of Dennis Nathan Cain in Maryland on Nov. 16, giving them until Dec. 12 to respond, reports Fox News.
Cain’s attorney, Michael Socarras, told The Daily Caller after 16 FBI agents raided the home on Nov. 19 that the agent who led the raid accused Cain of being in possession of stolen federal property.
Cain claims he that he has been recognized as a protected whistleblower under federal law by DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitz. Socarras also said Horowitz sent Cain’s information to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Grassley, in his letter to Wray, asked why Cain’s house was raided, if the FBI knew of his disclosures to Horowitz, and if the disclosures were considered protected. Further, he asked if agents seized any classified information.Read the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Wednesday December 5th, 2018 at 8:47 AMRead the whole story · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
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<a href=”http://NBCNews.com” rel=”nofollow”>NBCNews.com</a>-Jul 31, 2018Former lobbyist Tony Podesta, Mercury Public Affairs partner and former Minnesota Republican Rep. Vin Weber and former Obama White …Exclusive: Mueller refers foreign agent inquiries to New York prosecutors
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Opinion-New York Daily News-Aug 1, 2018View all
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Wall Street Journal-Apr 19, 2018Tony Podesta was in line to be king of K Street. His lobbying firm ended 2015 as the third largest in Washington, D.C., with nearly $30 million in …
ABC News-May 20, 2018Lobbyist Anthony “Tony” Podesta filed his final papers with the Department of Justice earlier this month chronicling the last work performed by …
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WAVY-TV-Nov 26, 2018Prosecutors there are looking into the conduct of longtime Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig …Manafort lied, breached plea deal, prosecutors say
NWAOnline-Nov 27, 2018View allRead the whole story · · · · ·
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An investigation referred to Justice Department prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is heating up, according to a new report that underscores federal authorities’ increasing enforcement of laws governing foreign business relationships.
The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta — a Democratic lobbyist and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse known as the Podesta Group — but also on Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from Minnesota.
The probes had been quiet for months since Mueller referred them to authorities in New York City because they fell outside his mandate of determining whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.
But in a flurry of new activity, Justice Department prosecutors in the last several weeks have begun interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers to schedule additional questioning related to the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs, people familiar with the inquiry anonymously told the Associated Press.
Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠Grassley Demands Information About FBI Raid on Whistleblower
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling for more information about the FBI’s raid on a former agency contractor who had given a watchdog documents claiming that federal officials failed to investigate possible criminal activity related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and the sale of Canadian mining company Uranium One to a Russian company’s subsidiary.
Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and to the Department of Justice’s internal watchdog, seeking more details on the raid of Dennis Nathan Cain in Maryland on Nov. 16, giving them until Dec. 12 to respond, reports Fox News.
Cain’s attorney, Michael Socarras, told The Daily Caller after 16 FBI agents raided the home on Nov. 19 that the agent who led the raid accused Cain of being in possession of stolen federal property.
Cain claims he that he has been recognized as a protected whistleblower under federal law by DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitz. Socarras also said Horowitz sent Cain’s information to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Grassley, in his letter to Wray, asked why Cain’s house was raided, if the FBI knew of his disclosures to Horowitz, and if the disclosures were considered protected. Further, he asked if agents seized any classified information.
© 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from nato russia – Google News. |
US Russia: Moscow rejects ‘groundless’ US claim Russia breaching arms treaty
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
MOSCOW: Moscow on Wednesday dismissed US claims it is violating a major Cold War treaty limiting mid-range nuclear arms, as a senior general lashed out at Washington’s attempts to “contain”
.
The tense rhetoric comes a day after Secretary of State
said Washington would withdraw from the treaty within 60 days if Russia does not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.
“Groundless accusations are again being repeated,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Zakharova said “no proof has been produced to support this American position” on the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which she described as a cornerstone of global security.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said facts had been distorted “in order to camouflage the true goal of the US withdrawing from the treaty”.
In October, President
sparked global concern by declaring the United States would pull out of the deal and build up America’s nuclear stockpile “until people come to their senses”.
But on Monday, the US leader said he wants talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Xi Jinping and
“to head off a major and uncontrollable arms race”.
Meanwhile, the Russian Army Chief of Staff Vasily Gerasimov said Wednesday that Moscow would increase the capabilities of its ground-based strategic nuclear arms.
“One of the main destructive factors complicating the international situation is how the US is acting as it attempts to retain its dominant role in the world,” he said in comments released by the defence ministry.
“It is for these purposes that Washington and its allies are taking comprehensive, concerted measures to contain Russia and discredit its role in international affairs.”
Signed in 1987 by then US president
and
, the last Soviet leader, the INF resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals.
But it was a bilateral treaty between the US and the then
, so it puts no restrictions on other major military actors like China.
Pompeo said at a meeting with fellow
foreign ministers on Tuesday that there was no reason why the US “should continue to cede this crucial military advantage” to rival powers.
NATO said it was now “up to Russia” to save the treaty.
The Trump administration has complained of Moscow’s deployment of Novator 9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty’s ban on missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 kilometres).
The nuclear-capable Russian cruise missiles are mobile and hard to detect and can hit cities in Europe with little or no warning, according to NATO, dramatically changing the security calculus on the continent.
The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that it had provided Moscow with “more than enough information for Russia to engage substantively on the issue”.
The information included details on the missile’s test history and the names of companies involved in developing and producing the missile and its launcher, the State Department said.
US-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations Moscow meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
The two states are also at odds over Russian support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria’s civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.
The Latest: Police arrest about 90 in raids on Italian mafia – The Washington Post
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
December 5 at 6:14 AM
BERLIN — The Latest on raids on the Italian mob across Europe (all times local):
12:10 p.m.
Police say they have arrested about 90 suspected mafia members in a series of coordinated raids in four European countries.
The arrests in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium came as part of an investigation codenamed Pollino that was launched in 2016 against the ‘ndrangheta criminal group on allegations of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, bribery and violence, said Eurojust, the European agency that fights cross-border organized crime, which coordinated the operation.
Dutch chief public prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said Wednesday dozens of raids also netted about 2 million euros in criminal proceeds as well as drugs including ecstasy and cocaine.
___
8:55 a.m.
Authorities are conducting coordinated raids in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in a crackdown on the Italian mafia.
German federal police said in a statement Wednesday that there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids on premises linked to the ‘ndrangheta, a southern Italy-based organized crime group.
In Germany the focus was on the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands and Belgium, and Bavaria to the south.
Police say the operation is being coordinated by Eurojust, a European unit established to fight cross-border organized crime
Further details were not immediately available but a news conference was scheduled for later in the day in The Hague.
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from The Global Security News. |
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from FBI News Review. |
M.N.: Investigate the entire upper echelon of the Obama’s FBI, and consider bringing the criminal charges against all the former and current FBI officials who were involved in “Clinton emails investigation” (which was designed by the adversaries, and was used to divert the resources), and “Trump – Russia NON-INVESTIGATION” for this fundamental, historical, unprecedented failure of the American Counterintelligence which is primarily the responsibility of the FBI.
The least that they can be accused of is the manifest and obvious, utter professional incompetence. The worst, no one wants to think and to talk about. They made the FBI and the American political system the laughing stock of the world. They undermined the American and the Global Security.
Investigate all of them in fullest and in-depth!
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| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring |
| E.W. “Bill” Priestap fbi – Google Search |
| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring – Washington Examiner |
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| Mueller filing: Flynn gave substantial assistance – CNN |
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| Mueller gives new details on Flynn’s secretive work for Turkey – NBCNews.com |
| Mike Flynn Report Expected to Shed Light on Mueller Probe – Wall Street Journal |
| Mueller Investigation Just ‘Tying Up Loose Ends’ Before Climax of Russia Probe in Coming Weeks: Report – Newsweek |
| Nato accuses Russia of breaking nuclear missile treaty – BBC News |
| National Republican Congressional Committee says it was hacked during this year’s election cycle – Washington Post |
| Trump Offers German Automakers a Pause on Car Tariffs, for Now – New York Times |
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| Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation – HuffPost |
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| French PM Édouard Philippe preparing to suspend fuel tax increases, according to government source – euronews |
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| The Supreme Court rejected an environmental group’s appeal to stop Trump’s border wall – Business Insider |
| Amazon briefly edges out Apple for most valuable company – Reuters |
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| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring | ||
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Bill Priestap, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, will exit the agency at the end of the year, according to a new report.
Priestap, the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterintelligence division, has decided to retire from the bureau, the Wall Street Journal reported. He was involved with the investigation regarding the unauthorized email server of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that she used while she was secretary of state and the investigation examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin. With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations. The investigations have come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, who have cited mismanagement issues in both. For example, Democrats have expressed frustration that the FBI shared they were conducting an investigation into Clinton prior to the election but waited until after the election to disclose they were also investigation Russian interference. Meanwhile, Republicans fault the FBI for going easy on Clinton and not charging her with any wrongdoing and have claimed that the FBI inappropriately obtained a surveillance warrant to monitor a Trump campaign aide. The FBI told the Journal that Priestap’s retirement was unrelated to the 2016 investigations and said he “became eligible to retire and has chosen to do so after 20 years of service.” It’s uncertain what Preistap plans to do following his retirement. |
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| E.W. “Bill” Priestap fbi – Google Search | ||
Another High-Ranking FBI Official to DepartWall Street Journal–7 hours ago
WASHINGTON—A top FBI official who helped oversee two politically … Bill Priestap, who currently serves as assistant director of the Federal … shortly before Election Day after obtaining newevidence, with some saying that it …
After a Hiatus, China Accelerates Cyberspying Efforts to Obtain US …New York Times–Nov 29, 2018
The new operatives have intensified their focus on America’s commercial …. F.B.I. director, Bill Priestap, called “the Chinese government’s direct …
Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia …Fox News–Jun 5, 2018
Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia probes than … including a closed-door interview with FBI espionage chief Bill Priestap. … 30 of that year, Strzok emailed Priestap and another FBI colleague … Top Dem blames Trump for GM plant shutdowns, praises new truce with China …
EW Priestap Named Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence …Federal Bureau of Investigation (press release) (blog)–Dec 21, 2015
FBI Director James B. Comey has named E.W. “Bill” Priestap as the assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters …
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| FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring – Washington Examiner | ||
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| Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office recommends little to no jail time for Michael Flynn in exchange for assistance – NBCNews.com | ||
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| Mueller filing: Flynn gave substantial assistance – CNN | ||
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| Prosecutors recommend no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn – Press of Atlantic City | ||
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| Mueller gives new details on Flynn’s secretive work for Turkey – NBCNews.com | ||
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| Mike Flynn Report Expected to Shed Light on Mueller Probe – Wall Street Journal | ||
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| Mueller Investigation Just ‘Tying Up Loose Ends’ Before Climax of Russia Probe in Coming Weeks: Report – Newsweek | ||
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| Nato accuses Russia of breaking nuclear missile treaty – BBC News | ||
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| National Republican Congressional Committee says it was hacked during this year’s election cycle – Washington Post | ||
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| Trump Offers German Automakers a Pause on Car Tariffs, for Now – New York Times |
FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring – Washington Examiner
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Andrew McCabe – Google News. |
Washington Examiner |
FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring
Washington Examiner With officials like former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe no longer at the FBI, Priestap is currently the last high-ranking official at the FBI who originally worked on both investigations. The investigations have come under … Another High-Ranking FBI Official to DepartWall Street Journalall 3 news articles » |
E.W. “Bill” Priestap fbi – Google Search
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
FBI veteran who worked on Clinton, Russia probes retiring
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story . |
Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation – HuffPost
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Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Top Stories – Google News. |
HuffPost |
Mueller Preparing Endgame For Russia Investigation
HuffPost WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks that they are “tying up loose ends” in their investigation, providing the clearest clues yet that the long-running probe into Russia’s interference in … Mueller to detail ex-NSA Flynn’s cooperation in Russia probeMinneapolis Star Tribune Adam Schiff: Trump is compromised. What else is he hiding and who else knows about it?USA TODAYall 335 news articles » |
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