Imran Awan, a congressional aide arrested by the FBI after wiring $300,000 to Pakistan and misrepresenting the purpose, had previously wired money to the Muslim country and was frantically liquidating multiple real estate properties on the day he was arrested, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.
Imran’s real estate properties provide a source of money that could be sent directly to Pakistan when two upcoming home sales close. Prosecutors have since filed paperwork saying they fear “the dissipation of the proceeds of the fraud and destruction of evidence in other locations.”
Imran was arrested July 24 — four months after the FBI says his wife Hina Alvi moved to Pakistan after learning the family was the subject of a criminal investigation into their work as IT administrators for House Democrats. On the day of Imran’s arrest, the couple accepted a buyer for one house owned by Hina with an asking price of $618,000 (Hawkshead Dr.) and listed another property for sale at $200,000 (Pembrook Village), real estate records show.
On June 20, a third house his wife owned was “sold” to his brother-in-law for $360,000 (Sprayer St.). In November 2016, a fourth home his wife owned was “sold” to his brother Jamal for $620,000 (Linnett Hill Dr.). In both cases, the bank financed nearly all of the purchase.
Read the entire article
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND - Government Crimes and Corruption
July 28, 2017
Trio of Republican senators help vote down ‘skinny repeal’ of ObamaCare
Republicans’ last-ditch effort to zap ObamaCare failed early Friday when three GOP senators joined Democrats to reject the so-called “skinny” repeal — in a vote marked by a dramatic nay from John McCain.
The Senate voted on the bill at about 1:30 a.m. just hours after it was released with the hope that it could be sent to the House and be further worked on in committee.
The defeat was the latest setback to President Trump’s promise to repeal President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.
The 51-49 vote was largely cast along party lines.
Along with McCain, who had returned to Washington from Arizona following a brain-cancer diagnosis, GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted no, despite intense pressure from the White House.
Read the entire article
The Senate voted on the bill at about 1:30 a.m. just hours after it was released with the hope that it could be sent to the House and be further worked on in committee.
The defeat was the latest setback to President Trump’s promise to repeal President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.
The 51-49 vote was largely cast along party lines.
Along with McCain, who had returned to Washington from Arizona following a brain-cancer diagnosis, GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted no, despite intense pressure from the White House.
Read the entire article
July 27, 2017
Dem Senators Claim ‘6 To 10’ Republicans Are Interested In Their Carbon Tax Bill
Democratic senators said Wednesday that they’ve had “productive conversations” with a handful of Republican lawmakers about supporting legislation to tax carbon dioxide emissions.
“We are in multiple productive conversations with Republicans in both chambers,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said at an event held at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Schatz would not name any of the Republicans he’s in talks with, fearing that naming them would scare off support.
Schatz and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse introduced a carbon tax bill at AEI in the hopes of getting more conservatives to sign onto the plan. Whitehouse said they were in talks with “six to 10” Republicans.
They’ve got a big problem, though — their bill is almost certainly dead on arrival because most Republicans oppose a carbon tax.
President Donald Trump signed a campaign pledge opposing such a tax, and his administration has largely ignored efforts by self-described conservative groups to tax carbon dioxide.
Even the 25 Republican lawmakers that joined the House Climate Solutions Caucus have been silent on the bill. Caucus co-chair Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Read the entire article
“We are in multiple productive conversations with Republicans in both chambers,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said at an event held at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Schatz would not name any of the Republicans he’s in talks with, fearing that naming them would scare off support.
Schatz and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse introduced a carbon tax bill at AEI in the hopes of getting more conservatives to sign onto the plan. Whitehouse said they were in talks with “six to 10” Republicans.
They’ve got a big problem, though — their bill is almost certainly dead on arrival because most Republicans oppose a carbon tax.
President Donald Trump signed a campaign pledge opposing such a tax, and his administration has largely ignored efforts by self-described conservative groups to tax carbon dioxide.
Even the 25 Republican lawmakers that joined the House Climate Solutions Caucus have been silent on the bill. Caucus co-chair Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Read the entire article
July 26, 2017
Buchanan, Coulter, Other Voices of the Right Cry Out in Dismay as Trump Steps Up Attacks on Sessions
President Donald Trump continued criticizing his own Attorney General Tuesday as support for Jeff Sessions poured in from across the political right.
“I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions,” President Trump told the Wall Street Journal, apparently referring to the decision by Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation back in March.
The President told the New York Times on Wednesday that he would not have nominated Sessions if he knew in advance he would have recused himself, setting off what has become nearly a week of speculation about Sessions’s future with the administration.
Later, the President continued on the same lines in an afternoon press briefing in the White House Rose Garden. “I think that’s a bad thing, not for the President but for the presidency,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to the presidency, and that’s the way I feel.”
When it came to the ultimate question of whether he wanted Sessions out at DOJ, Trump equivocated, telling reporters, “We’ll see what happens. Time will tell.”
Both statements came after the President again took to Twitter Tuesday morning to berate his attorney general for not being more aggressive in investigating alleged crimes by Hillary Clinton, leakers within the administration, and allegations of Ukrainian intelligence agencies working to hurt the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.
Read the entire article
“I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions,” President Trump told the Wall Street Journal, apparently referring to the decision by Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation back in March.
The President told the New York Times on Wednesday that he would not have nominated Sessions if he knew in advance he would have recused himself, setting off what has become nearly a week of speculation about Sessions’s future with the administration.
Later, the President continued on the same lines in an afternoon press briefing in the White House Rose Garden. “I think that’s a bad thing, not for the President but for the presidency,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to the presidency, and that’s the way I feel.”
When it came to the ultimate question of whether he wanted Sessions out at DOJ, Trump equivocated, telling reporters, “We’ll see what happens. Time will tell.”
Both statements came after the President again took to Twitter Tuesday morning to berate his attorney general for not being more aggressive in investigating alleged crimes by Hillary Clinton, leakers within the administration, and allegations of Ukrainian intelligence agencies working to hurt the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.
Read the entire article
July 25, 2017
Senator Asks DOJ About Democrats’ Work With Ukraine To Smear Trump Campaign
The Senate Judiciary Committee is questioning whether the Democratic National Committee violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by working with Ukrainian government officials to undermine Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year.
In a letter sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley pointed to a report published by Politico in January laying out DNC official Alexandra Chalupa’s collaboration with Ukrainian politicians to compile research on Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman.
Chalupa, a Ukrainian-American activist who is no longer affiliated with the DNC, was paid $70,000 as a consultant for the party during the 2016 presidential cycle. She was paid $412,000 between 2004 and last year.
Republicans have recently latched onto the Politico expose as evidence of a double standard in the reporting about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney who allegedly promised to provide opposition research on Hillary Clinton.
Trump critics have responded by pointing out that Ukraine is not an adversary of the U.S., as is Russia. The Ukrainian effort also appears to be far less sophisticated than the Kremlin’s efforts to hack Democrats’ emails and disseminate them through several websites. The DNC-Ukraine collaboration also did not directly involve the Clinton campaign.
Read the entire article
In a letter sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley pointed to a report published by Politico in January laying out DNC official Alexandra Chalupa’s collaboration with Ukrainian politicians to compile research on Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman.
Chalupa, a Ukrainian-American activist who is no longer affiliated with the DNC, was paid $70,000 as a consultant for the party during the 2016 presidential cycle. She was paid $412,000 between 2004 and last year.
Republicans have recently latched onto the Politico expose as evidence of a double standard in the reporting about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney who allegedly promised to provide opposition research on Hillary Clinton.
Trump critics have responded by pointing out that Ukraine is not an adversary of the U.S., as is Russia. The Ukrainian effort also appears to be far less sophisticated than the Kremlin’s efforts to hack Democrats’ emails and disseminate them through several websites. The DNC-Ukraine collaboration also did not directly involve the Clinton campaign.
Read the entire article
July 24, 2017
FBI Seized Smashed Hard Drives From Wasserman Schultz IT Aide’s Home
FBI agents seized smashed computer hard drives from the home of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s information technology (IT) administrator, according to an individual who was interviewed by Bureau investigators in the case and a high level congressional source.
Pakistani-born Imran Awan, long-time right-hand IT aide to the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman, has since desperately tried to get the hard drives back, the individual told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.
The congressional source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, confirmed that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network” by Imran and three of his relatives, who had access to the emails and files of the more than two dozen House Democrats who employed them on a part-time basis.
Capitol Police have also seized computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker.
Awan’s younger brothers, Abid and Jamal, his wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, Imran’s best friend, are also under investigation. There have been no arrests in the case.
Read the entire article
Pakistani-born Imran Awan, long-time right-hand IT aide to the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman, has since desperately tried to get the hard drives back, the individual told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.
The congressional source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, confirmed that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network” by Imran and three of his relatives, who had access to the emails and files of the more than two dozen House Democrats who employed them on a part-time basis.
Capitol Police have also seized computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker.
Awan’s younger brothers, Abid and Jamal, his wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, Imran’s best friend, are also under investigation. There have been no arrests in the case.
Read the entire article
July 21, 2017
US Postal Service Breaks Election Laws To Support Hillary, Media Silent
The big three networks ignored a report Wednesday uncovering violations of federal law committed by the U.S. Postal Service, which pressured managers to approve time off for employees to campaign for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.
“High-level postal officials had for years granted employees’ requests for unpaid leave, leading last year to an ‘institutional bias’ in favor of Clinton and other Democrats endorsed by the National Association of Letter Carriers, one of the largest postal unions” amounting to a violation of the Hatch Act, reports The Washington Post.
The Hatch Act is a law enacted in 1939 to prevent federal employees from supporting candidates. Investigators concluded that the postal service had been involved in the process since the 1990s.
“You kind of have to scratch your head when you have such systemic violations of the Hatch Act and nobody’s really held accountable,” Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told WaPo.
Despite the report, coverage on the nightly news broadcasts was non-existent. ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored the story entirely, but “did find the time to run a two minute and eight-second report on how Jurassic Park got the speed of the T-Rex completely wrong” according to Newsbusters.
Read the entire article
“High-level postal officials had for years granted employees’ requests for unpaid leave, leading last year to an ‘institutional bias’ in favor of Clinton and other Democrats endorsed by the National Association of Letter Carriers, one of the largest postal unions” amounting to a violation of the Hatch Act, reports The Washington Post.
The Hatch Act is a law enacted in 1939 to prevent federal employees from supporting candidates. Investigators concluded that the postal service had been involved in the process since the 1990s.
“You kind of have to scratch your head when you have such systemic violations of the Hatch Act and nobody’s really held accountable,” Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told WaPo.
Despite the report, coverage on the nightly news broadcasts was non-existent. ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored the story entirely, but “did find the time to run a two minute and eight-second report on how Jurassic Park got the speed of the T-Rex completely wrong” according to Newsbusters.
Read the entire article
July 20, 2017
Trump Delivers A Warning To Mueller
President Donald Trump told The New York Times Wednesday that it would be improper for special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate his family’s finances in a manner not related to the probe into Russian election interference.
Mueller, a registered Republican, has hired at least seven Democratic donors to join his investigative team, including one attorney who donated roughly $34,000 to federal Democratic candidates.
Trump has previously called this hiring practice “ridiculous,” and was asked by the Times whether he would ever order the Justice Department to fire Mueller. He said he would not do so, but he did say that Mueller would cross a red line by opening a broad investigation into his family’s finances unrelated to the Russia investigation.
“I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia,” Trump said.
The Washington Post has previously reported that Mueller is looking into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by asking key officials to deny that he colluded with Russia.
Trump was asked whether he knows if Mueller is looking into this and the president replied: “I’m not under investigation. For what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Read the entire article
Mueller, a registered Republican, has hired at least seven Democratic donors to join his investigative team, including one attorney who donated roughly $34,000 to federal Democratic candidates.
Trump has previously called this hiring practice “ridiculous,” and was asked by the Times whether he would ever order the Justice Department to fire Mueller. He said he would not do so, but he did say that Mueller would cross a red line by opening a broad investigation into his family’s finances unrelated to the Russia investigation.
“I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia,” Trump said.
The Washington Post has previously reported that Mueller is looking into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by asking key officials to deny that he colluded with Russia.
Trump was asked whether he knows if Mueller is looking into this and the president replied: “I’m not under investigation. For what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Read the entire article
July 19, 2017
White House: Failure To Repeal Obamacare Rests On The Democrats
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Tuesday that failing to repeal Obamacare would be the fault of Democrats.
A Senate health care reform bill supported by the White House failed to garner sufficient support and now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for a full repeal of Obamacare, which three Republican senators have already said they oppose.
While Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, Sanders said that the failure of the recent repeal bill rests on the Democrats’ shoulders.
“They’re responsible for passing Obamacare. They’re responsible for creating the mess that we’re in. They’re responsible for being unwilling to work with Republicans in any capacity to help fix a system they know is completely flawed and have publicly said so,” Sanders stated at Tuesday’s press briefing.
A reporter at the briefing brought up a previous tweet of Trump’s where he wrote, “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.”
Read the entire article
A Senate health care reform bill supported by the White House failed to garner sufficient support and now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for a full repeal of Obamacare, which three Republican senators have already said they oppose.
While Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, Sanders said that the failure of the recent repeal bill rests on the Democrats’ shoulders.
“They’re responsible for passing Obamacare. They’re responsible for creating the mess that we’re in. They’re responsible for being unwilling to work with Republicans in any capacity to help fix a system they know is completely flawed and have publicly said so,” Sanders stated at Tuesday’s press briefing.
A reporter at the briefing brought up a previous tweet of Trump’s where he wrote, “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.”
Read the entire article
July 18, 2017
Trump, McConnell, Pence Call For Full, Clean Obamacare Repeal
President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for the full, clean repeal of Obamacare in late-night statements Monday.
The statements were released after four Republican senators backed away from the repeal-and-replace bill, leaving McConnell unable to reach the 50 votes required to pass the Obamacare rewrite.
“Regretfully, it is not apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell followed in a statement 31 minutes later, at 11:48 p.m.
“So,” he continued, “in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up the House bill with the first amendment in order being what a majority of the Senate already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama: a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a state transition period to a patient-centered health care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care.”
Republican Sens. Rand Paul, a Kentucky conservative, and Susan Collins, a Maine liberal, had opposed the Senate’s second repeal-and-replace bill early on. Paul, because he felt it left Obamacare in place; Collins, because she opposed repealing the welfare programs it entailed. They were joined in their opposition Monday by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
“If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now,” Trump tweeted on June 30, referencing the first attempt to repeal and replace, “they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!”
Read the entire article
The statements were released after four Republican senators backed away from the repeal-and-replace bill, leaving McConnell unable to reach the 50 votes required to pass the Obamacare rewrite.
“Regretfully, it is not apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell followed in a statement 31 minutes later, at 11:48 p.m.
“So,” he continued, “in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up the House bill with the first amendment in order being what a majority of the Senate already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama: a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a state transition period to a patient-centered health care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care.”
Republican Sens. Rand Paul, a Kentucky conservative, and Susan Collins, a Maine liberal, had opposed the Senate’s second repeal-and-replace bill early on. Paul, because he felt it left Obamacare in place; Collins, because she opposed repealing the welfare programs it entailed. They were joined in their opposition Monday by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
“If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now,” Trump tweeted on June 30, referencing the first attempt to repeal and replace, “they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!”
Read the entire article
July 17, 2017
‘Fake News Industrial Complex’: Dr. Seb Gorka Defines the Enemy ‘Opposition Party’ Media
Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to President Donald J. Trump, has taken the next major step in the war against the legacy, establishment media: He has now defined the enemy.
President Trump and White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon—who along with Gorka is a former Breitbart News official—earlier this year identified the media class as the “opposition party.”
That happened in late January, just after the inauguration. Bannon infamously teased the media alongside White House chief of staff Reince Priebus as reporters lined an area of the White House at one point, saying there’s “the opposition party, all lined up.”
CNN and others like the New York Times and MSNBC and so many more continue to publish demonstrably fake news without correction, apology, or consequences—unless they come under serious pressure as CNN was forced to have three of its editorial staff resign over the very fake news scandal engulfing the network. But since the media continues to refuse to act appropriately, now President Trump’s and the American people’s battle against fake news is hitting a new level.
Read the entire article
President Trump and White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon—who along with Gorka is a former Breitbart News official—earlier this year identified the media class as the “opposition party.”
That happened in late January, just after the inauguration. Bannon infamously teased the media alongside White House chief of staff Reince Priebus as reporters lined an area of the White House at one point, saying there’s “the opposition party, all lined up.”
CNN and others like the New York Times and MSNBC and so many more continue to publish demonstrably fake news without correction, apology, or consequences—unless they come under serious pressure as CNN was forced to have three of its editorial staff resign over the very fake news scandal engulfing the network. But since the media continues to refuse to act appropriately, now President Trump’s and the American people’s battle against fake news is hitting a new level.
Read the entire article
July 14, 2017
Russian Lawyer Who Met with Donald Trump Jr. Worked with Democrats for Years
The revelation that Donald Trump Jr. met for 20 minutes at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016 has skyrocketed her to mainstream news media notoriety.
Although she has been painted by Democrats as a Russian government official, numerous reports and photos show she has a long record of working with U.S. political figures, including many Democrats.
For example, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group revealed on Wednesday that California Rep. Ron Dellums was a hired lobbyist for Veselnitskaya.
According to a Washington Post story, she worked for years on a case with Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, a firm that produced a widely discredited dossier against Trump.
She also worked with Christopher Cooper, the founder and CEO of Potomac Square Group, which has had Democratic clients including California Government Jerry Brown, Democratic presidential nominee Howard Dean, and Joe Trippi, according to the Daily Caller.
And it was Obama’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch that granted her an extension in late 2015 to stay in the U.S. after her visa was due to expire, under “extraordinary circumstances” related to defending a case in New York, according to The Hill. She was granted an extension through January, but it’s not yet clear how she was able to be in the U.S. in June 2016, when she met with Trump Jr., and again January 2017.
Read the entire article
Although she has been painted by Democrats as a Russian government official, numerous reports and photos show she has a long record of working with U.S. political figures, including many Democrats.
For example, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group revealed on Wednesday that California Rep. Ron Dellums was a hired lobbyist for Veselnitskaya.
According to a Washington Post story, she worked for years on a case with Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, a firm that produced a widely discredited dossier against Trump.
She also worked with Christopher Cooper, the founder and CEO of Potomac Square Group, which has had Democratic clients including California Government Jerry Brown, Democratic presidential nominee Howard Dean, and Joe Trippi, according to the Daily Caller.
And it was Obama’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch that granted her an extension in late 2015 to stay in the U.S. after her visa was due to expire, under “extraordinary circumstances” related to defending a case in New York, according to The Hill. She was granted an extension through January, but it’s not yet clear how she was able to be in the U.S. in June 2016, when she met with Trump Jr., and again January 2017.
Read the entire article
July 13, 2017
DOJ Let Russian Lawyer into US Before She Met with Trump Team
John Solomon and Jonathan Easley of The Hill write that the Russian lawyer with whom Donald Trump Jr. and others on the Trump campaign met was cleared to enter the United States under “extraordinary circumstances” by the Obama Justice Department prior to that meeting:
The Russian lawyer who penetrated Donald Trump’s inner circle was initially cleared into the United States by the Justice Department under “extraordinary circumstances” before she embarked on a lobbying campaign last year that ensnared the president’s eldest son, members of Congress, journalists and State Department officials, according to court and Justice Department documents and interviews.
This revelation means it was the Obama Justice Department that enabled the newest and most intriguing figure in the Russia-Trump investigation to enter the country without a visa.
Later, a series of events between an intermediary for the attorney and the Trump campaign ultimately led to the controversy surrounding the president’s eldest son.
Read the entire article
The Russian lawyer who penetrated Donald Trump’s inner circle was initially cleared into the United States by the Justice Department under “extraordinary circumstances” before she embarked on a lobbying campaign last year that ensnared the president’s eldest son, members of Congress, journalists and State Department officials, according to court and Justice Department documents and interviews.
This revelation means it was the Obama Justice Department that enabled the newest and most intriguing figure in the Russia-Trump investigation to enter the country without a visa.
Later, a series of events between an intermediary for the attorney and the Trump campaign ultimately led to the controversy surrounding the president’s eldest son.
Read the entire article
July 12, 2017
Bob Mueller Is Assembling a Team of Ambitious Democratic Hit Men Against Trump
Attorney Robert Barnes, a contributor to the LawNewz blog, analyzed the New York Times story that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer last June. He also discussed at length with Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate the 2016 election.
In the latest development of the email story, three anonymous sources described an email which informed Trump Jr. in advance that information was provided by the Russian government as part of a plan to help his father win the 2016 election. Donald Trump Jr. subsequently released the entire email chain via Twitter, shortly after Barnes completed his Breitbart News Daily interview.
SiriusXM host Alex Marlow noted that a comparable meeting between a Democratic campaign and an activist foreign lawyer would have been spun as international outreach and “bringing more voices to the table” in a campaign with global vision.
“Oh, exactly,” Barnes agreed. “In fact, you see Hillary’s people and the DNC, as Politico reported, directly had Ukrainian government officials propagandizing issues related to the election. “Of course, Jeb Bush was involved, and Democrats were involved in the hiring of the dossier, which was an ex-British spy, to get information illegally out of Russia. You have people like Stuart Stevens saying he’s never heard of such a thing, when it was done repeatedly in the 2016 election.”
“Of course, it’s nothing like what Ted Kennedy did when he got on the phone and asked the Russian ambassador to help with the 1984 elections and contaminate the arms treaty process in order to help defeat Reagan,” he added. “Those are actual, real, meaningful methods of interference, not just listening to a lawyer give, supposedly, information about an opponent that didn’t turn out to have much information anyway.”
Read the entire article
In the latest development of the email story, three anonymous sources described an email which informed Trump Jr. in advance that information was provided by the Russian government as part of a plan to help his father win the 2016 election. Donald Trump Jr. subsequently released the entire email chain via Twitter, shortly after Barnes completed his Breitbart News Daily interview.
SiriusXM host Alex Marlow noted that a comparable meeting between a Democratic campaign and an activist foreign lawyer would have been spun as international outreach and “bringing more voices to the table” in a campaign with global vision.
“Oh, exactly,” Barnes agreed. “In fact, you see Hillary’s people and the DNC, as Politico reported, directly had Ukrainian government officials propagandizing issues related to the election. “Of course, Jeb Bush was involved, and Democrats were involved in the hiring of the dossier, which was an ex-British spy, to get information illegally out of Russia. You have people like Stuart Stevens saying he’s never heard of such a thing, when it was done repeatedly in the 2016 election.”
“Of course, it’s nothing like what Ted Kennedy did when he got on the phone and asked the Russian ambassador to help with the 1984 elections and contaminate the arms treaty process in order to help defeat Reagan,” he added. “Those are actual, real, meaningful methods of interference, not just listening to a lawyer give, supposedly, information about an opponent that didn’t turn out to have much information anyway.”
Read the entire article
July 11, 2017
Everybody Is Forgetting That Clinton Allies Did The Same Thing As Don Jr.
Many journalists reacted breathlessly to a New York Times report on Sunday revealing that President Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer who indicated she had damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Donald Jr. admitted to the June 2016 meeting — to which he brought campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump adviser Jared Kushner — but downplayed its significance. “Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent,” he wrote on Twitter Monday morning, adding that the meeting “went nowhere” but that he “had to listen.”
Many Trump critics claimed that the NYT report supported the theory that members of the Trump campaign were somehow involved in the Russian government’s hacking of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee.
But Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort’s lone meeting with the Russian lawyer pales when compared to the coordination between Clinton allies and Ukrainian government officials who hoped to see Clinton win the 2016 election.
Read the entire article
Donald Jr. admitted to the June 2016 meeting — to which he brought campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump adviser Jared Kushner — but downplayed its significance. “Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent,” he wrote on Twitter Monday morning, adding that the meeting “went nowhere” but that he “had to listen.”
Many Trump critics claimed that the NYT report supported the theory that members of the Trump campaign were somehow involved in the Russian government’s hacking of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee.
But Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort’s lone meeting with the Russian lawyer pales when compared to the coordination between Clinton allies and Ukrainian government officials who hoped to see Clinton win the 2016 election.
Read the entire article
July 10, 2017
YOU’RE FIRED! Trump’s VA Terminates 500, Suspends 200 For Misconduct
Five hundred and forty-eight Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees have been terminated since President Donald Trump took office, indicating that his campaign pledge to clean up “probably the most incompetently run agency in the United States” by relentlessly putting his TV catch phrase “you’re fired” into action was more than just empty rhetoric.
Another 200 VA workers were suspended and 33 demoted, according to data newly published by the department as part of VA Secretary David Shulkin’s commitment to greater transparency. Those disciplined include 22 senior leaders, more than 70 nurses, 14 police officers, and 25 physicians.
Also disciplined were a program analyst dealing with the Government Accountability Office, which audits the department, a public affairs specialist, a chief of police and a chief of surgery.
Many housekeeping aides and food service workers — lower-level jobs in which the department has employed felons and convicted sex offenders — were also fired.
Scores of veterans have died waiting for care while VA bureaucrats falsified data to procure monetary bonuses, but fixes have been slow to come by largely because the union that represents VA employees has used its political muscle with Democrats to emphasize job security for government employees.
Read the entire article
Another 200 VA workers were suspended and 33 demoted, according to data newly published by the department as part of VA Secretary David Shulkin’s commitment to greater transparency. Those disciplined include 22 senior leaders, more than 70 nurses, 14 police officers, and 25 physicians.
Also disciplined were a program analyst dealing with the Government Accountability Office, which audits the department, a public affairs specialist, a chief of police and a chief of surgery.
Many housekeeping aides and food service workers — lower-level jobs in which the department has employed felons and convicted sex offenders — were also fired.
Scores of veterans have died waiting for care while VA bureaucrats falsified data to procure monetary bonuses, but fixes have been slow to come by largely because the union that represents VA employees has used its political muscle with Democrats to emphasize job security for government employees.
Read the entire article
July 7, 2017
Trump Defends Western Values in Historic Warsaw Speech
Here is a salient point or part of the Trump speech in Poland today that sets up what I think is phenomenal.
Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken. And when the day came on June 2nd, 1979, and one million Poles gathered around Victory Square for their very first Mass with their Polish pope, that day every communist in Warsaw must have known that their oppressive system would soon come crashing down. They must have known it at the exact moment during Pope John Paul II’s sermon when a million Polish men, women, and children suddenly raised their voices in a single prayer. A million Polish people did not ask for wealth. They did not ask for privilege. Instead, one million Poles saying three simple words: “We want God.”
And he’s right. That was a huge moment in the destruction of Soviet communism, Pope John Paul, part of the troika with Margaret Thatcher, Ronaldus Magnus, bringing down the Soviet Union. And Pope John Paul II, a fervent anti-communist went to Poland as pope, and the country went crazy for him. But after that comment is where Trump got to the heart of his speech.
He said, “The prerequisite for the success of Western civilization is not material riches. Economic prosperity and military might on their own are not sufficient. The critical leaven is the confidence in core Western values, such things as free speech, the equality of women, respect for individual rights, the rule of law, the affirmation of faith and family. Hence, the fundamental question facing Western nations today is whether the people continue to nurture the cultural self-confidence in those fundamental values. If they do, the West is unbeatable. If those values dissipate, the West is lost. As long as we know our history,” Trump said, “We will know how to build our future.”
Then he spent a lot of time rehearsing Poland’s heroic resistance to Nazi atrocities in the Warsaw uprising, heroic resistance to Soviet aggression. Roger Kimball, who heard the speech, wrote at PJ Media: “Not since Ronald Reagan has an American president gone so clearly to the nub of what makes the West great and what threatens that greatness.”
Read the entire article
Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken. And when the day came on June 2nd, 1979, and one million Poles gathered around Victory Square for their very first Mass with their Polish pope, that day every communist in Warsaw must have known that their oppressive system would soon come crashing down. They must have known it at the exact moment during Pope John Paul II’s sermon when a million Polish men, women, and children suddenly raised their voices in a single prayer. A million Polish people did not ask for wealth. They did not ask for privilege. Instead, one million Poles saying three simple words: “We want God.”
And he’s right. That was a huge moment in the destruction of Soviet communism, Pope John Paul, part of the troika with Margaret Thatcher, Ronaldus Magnus, bringing down the Soviet Union. And Pope John Paul II, a fervent anti-communist went to Poland as pope, and the country went crazy for him. But after that comment is where Trump got to the heart of his speech.
He said, “The prerequisite for the success of Western civilization is not material riches. Economic prosperity and military might on their own are not sufficient. The critical leaven is the confidence in core Western values, such things as free speech, the equality of women, respect for individual rights, the rule of law, the affirmation of faith and family. Hence, the fundamental question facing Western nations today is whether the people continue to nurture the cultural self-confidence in those fundamental values. If they do, the West is unbeatable. If those values dissipate, the West is lost. As long as we know our history,” Trump said, “We will know how to build our future.”
Then he spent a lot of time rehearsing Poland’s heroic resistance to Nazi atrocities in the Warsaw uprising, heroic resistance to Soviet aggression. Roger Kimball, who heard the speech, wrote at PJ Media: “Not since Ronald Reagan has an American president gone so clearly to the nub of what makes the West great and what threatens that greatness.”
Read the entire article
July 6, 2017
House Dem IT Suspects Wanted Untraceable Payments — And Sure Enough, Millions Disappeared
A Pakistani family under criminal investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police for abusing their access to the House of Representatives information technology (IT) system may have engaged in myriad other questionable schemes besides allegedly placing “ghost employees” on the congressional payroll.
Imran Awan, his wife Hina, and brothers Abid and Jamal collectively netted more than $4 million in salary as IT administrators for House Democrats between 2009 and 2017. Yet the absence of signs of wealth displayed among them raise questions such as was the money sent overseas or did something other than paychecks motivate their actions?
Capitol Police revoked the Awans’ access to the congressional IT system in February 2017 after a major data breach was detected. Their access had allowed them to read emails and files of dozens of members, including many serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
House Democrats have been nonchalant about the allegations, with some saying it was just a misunderstanding or the Capitol Police framed the Awans due to Islamophobia.
But official documents, court records and multiple interviews suggest the crew may have engaged in tax fraud, extortion, bankruptcy fraud and insurance fraud and the money could have been funneled overseas. Abid has hired high-profile attorney James Bacon who specializes in anti-money laundering litigation.
Read the entire article
Imran Awan, his wife Hina, and brothers Abid and Jamal collectively netted more than $4 million in salary as IT administrators for House Democrats between 2009 and 2017. Yet the absence of signs of wealth displayed among them raise questions such as was the money sent overseas or did something other than paychecks motivate their actions?
Capitol Police revoked the Awans’ access to the congressional IT system in February 2017 after a major data breach was detected. Their access had allowed them to read emails and files of dozens of members, including many serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
House Democrats have been nonchalant about the allegations, with some saying it was just a misunderstanding or the Capitol Police framed the Awans due to Islamophobia.
But official documents, court records and multiple interviews suggest the crew may have engaged in tax fraud, extortion, bankruptcy fraud and insurance fraud and the money could have been funneled overseas. Abid has hired high-profile attorney James Bacon who specializes in anti-money laundering litigation.
Read the entire article
July 5, 2017
CNN Blackmails Source of Donald Trump Wrestling Video
CNN threatened Tuesday to expose the identity of the Reddit user who had claimed credit for creating the spoof wrestling video that President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday morning, showing him fighting the cable network.
After reporting Monday that the Reddit user, “HanAssholeSolo,” had a history of racist and antisemitic tweets, CNN tracked him (apparently, he is male) down and attempted to make contact with him by email and telephone.
On Tuesday, the Reddit user posted an apology (since deleted, but reprinted in full below, via Buzzfeed News).
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski then reported Tuesday that CNN had “identified the man behind the account,” and had spoken with the Reddit user after he posted his apology. The Reddit user reportedly “asked to not be named out of fear for his personal safety and for the public embarrassment it would bring to him and his family,” Kaczynski said.
Ultimately, CNN decided not to reveal his identity — not for safety reasons, but for political ones, apparently reward ing him for apologizing and recanting his views. In addition, CNN threatened to expose the Reddit user’s identity in future if it disapproved of his behavior or his statements — essentially blackmailing him:
Read the entire article
After reporting Monday that the Reddit user, “HanAssholeSolo,” had a history of racist and antisemitic tweets, CNN tracked him (apparently, he is male) down and attempted to make contact with him by email and telephone.
On Tuesday, the Reddit user posted an apology (since deleted, but reprinted in full below, via Buzzfeed News).
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski then reported Tuesday that CNN had “identified the man behind the account,” and had spoken with the Reddit user after he posted his apology. The Reddit user reportedly “asked to not be named out of fear for his personal safety and for the public embarrassment it would bring to him and his family,” Kaczynski said.
Ultimately, CNN decided not to reveal his identity — not for safety reasons, but for political ones, apparently reward ing him for apologizing and recanting his views. In addition, CNN threatened to expose the Reddit user’s identity in future if it disapproved of his behavior or his statements — essentially blackmailing him:
Read the entire article
July 4, 2017
Bernie Sanders Does Not Want To Answer Questions About His Wife
If you’ve been on vacation for the past couple of weeks, you probably saw the headlines about Bernie Sanders’ wife being investigated by the FBI for alleged bank fraud. And, because you were on vacation, you shrugged and said “It figures” and found something better to do with your day.
But you’re not on vacation anymore. You’re back at work, and therefore you’re trying to find something to do other than what you’re supposed to be doing. So put in your earphones and watch this supercut of Bernie Sanders playing dodgeball, courtesy of David Rutz at the Washington Free Beacon:
“My wife is about the most honest person I know.” The “about” is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in that sentence.
Read the entire article
But you’re not on vacation anymore. You’re back at work, and therefore you’re trying to find something to do other than what you’re supposed to be doing. So put in your earphones and watch this supercut of Bernie Sanders playing dodgeball, courtesy of David Rutz at the Washington Free Beacon:
“My wife is about the most honest person I know.” The “about” is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in that sentence.
Read the entire article
July 3, 2017
Trump To Media: I’m President, You’re Not
President Donald Trump slammed the news media in a speech during a veteran’s event in Washington, D.C. Saturday evening.
The president used the podium at the evangelical event to comment on the ongoing feud with members of the national media, adding that several members of the “fake media” are attempting to silence conservatives in general.
“The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them,” he said. “The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president, and they’re not,” he told attendees at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Saturday.
Trump added that members of the media “destroyed themselves” because they went too far in their harsh coverage of his actions as president.
MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski slammed several Trump properties for hanging a fake TIME Magazine cover favorable to the president, calling the decision “stupid.” Trump fired back calling Scarborough “psycho Joe” and calling Brzezinski “low IQ Mika.” The feud has continued for several rounds over the last three days.
Read the entire article
The president used the podium at the evangelical event to comment on the ongoing feud with members of the national media, adding that several members of the “fake media” are attempting to silence conservatives in general.
“The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them,” he said. “The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president, and they’re not,” he told attendees at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Saturday.
Trump added that members of the media “destroyed themselves” because they went too far in their harsh coverage of his actions as president.
MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski slammed several Trump properties for hanging a fake TIME Magazine cover favorable to the president, calling the decision “stupid.” Trump fired back calling Scarborough “psycho Joe” and calling Brzezinski “low IQ Mika.” The feud has continued for several rounds over the last three days.
Read the entire article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)