Puppet MastersS


Bug

Ex-FBI and CIA officials may draw withering fire for their role in Russiagate

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Russiagate
The Deep State almost always wins. But if Attorney General Barr leans hard on Trump to unfetter investigators, all hell may break lose, says Ray McGovern.

As Congress arrives back into town and the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees prepare to question ex-Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller on July 17, partisan lines are being drawn even more sharply, as Russias-gate blossoms into Deep-State-gate. On Sunday, a top Republican legislator, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) took the gloves off in an unusually acerbic public attack on former leaders of the FBI and CIA.

King told a radio audience: "There is no doubt to me there was severe, serious abuses that were carried out in the FBI and, I believe, top levels of the CIA against the President of the United States or, at that time, presidential candidate Donald Trump," according to The Hill.

King, a senior congressman specializing in national security, twice chaired the House Homeland Security Committee and currently heads its Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He also served for several years on the House Intelligence Committee.
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Megaphone

Hong Kong leader declares controversial bill to allow transfer of fugitives to mainland China "dead"


Kyodo News
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 23:47 UTC
Carrie Lam
© news.gov.hkHong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday that a controversial bill that has spurred sometimes violent protests in the territory in recent weeks "is dead," and apologized again for causing public anger by mishandling it.

But Lam stopped short of referencing the bill's "complete withdrawal," which protesters are demanding even though she has suspended the bill indefinitely, and she reiterated her intention to stay on as the territory's leader.

Her remarks are seen as her latest bid to calm the public following weeks of protests that have drawn millions of people for mass marches and occasionally turned violent as some protesters clashed with police and stormed government buildings.

The legislation, which would allow the transfer of fugitives to the mainland China, has sparked fear that Chinese authorities might use it to crack down on pro-democracy activists and critics of the Communist Party-led Beijing government.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

Mystery around Jeffrey Epstein's fortune and how he made it

Tom Metcalf, Caleb Melby, and Sophie Alexander
Bloomberg
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 20:08 UTC
Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein
In a neighborhood of millionaires and billionaires, close to New York's famous Museum Mile, two initials discreetly adorn the entrance of one of the city's most opulent mansions: J.E.

The letters stand for Jeffrey Epstein, the self-described "collector'' of rich and powerful men, who has been accused of sexually assaulting girls inside the luxurious Manhattan home.

On Monday, as federal prosecutors unsealed new charges claiming Epstein ran a sex-trafficking ring that lured dozens of young women to the house, its heavy wood doors bore crowbar marks -- evidence of how authorities forced their way in over the sultry Fourth of July weekend. Prosecutors say they discovered hundreds, possibly thousands of suggestive photographs, including those of what appeared to be underage girls.

Comment: The lack of details on how he really made his money is odd. What we do know is that the charges of child sex abuse seem to be compelling, that he is extremely wealthy and is associated with many high profile people. It's also notable that he had links with the fashion and modelling industry which has been known to facilitate the trafficking of young girls. But why is he only being brought to justice now?

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Padlock

Italian court sentences 24 to prison over South American Operation Condor

Lorenzo Tondo
The Guardian
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 13:06 UTC
eynaldo Bignone
© KATEHON.com 2016/Natacha Pisarenko/The Associated PressArgentina's last military dictator and 41st President of Argentina (1982-1983) General Reynaldo Bignone was found guilty of illicit association, kidnapping, abuse of powers in the forced disappearance of more than 100 people. He served multiple life sentences for violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
An Italian court has sentenced 24 people to life in prison for their involvement in Operation Condor, in which the dictatorships of six South American countries conspired to kidnap and assassinate political opponents in each other's territories.

The trial, the first of its kind in Europe, began in 2015 and focused on the responsibility of senior officials in the military dictatorships of Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina for the killing and disappearance of 43 people including 23 Italian citizens.

Those sentenced on Monday included Francisco Morales Bermúdez, who was president of Peru from 1975 to 1980, Juan Carlos Blanco, a former foreign minister in Uruguay, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, a former deputy intelligence chief in Chile, and Jorge Néstor Fernández Troccoli, a Uruguayan former naval intelligence officer.

Exactly how many people died as a result of the conspiracy is unknown, but prosecutors in South America and Italy provided evidence that at least 100 leftwing activists were killed in Argentina, including 45 Uruguayans, 22 Chileans, 15 Paraguayans and 13 Bolivians.

Comment: The precise number of deaths directly attributable to Operation Condor is still unknown and highly disputed. Some estimates put it as high as at least 60,000.

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Alarm Clock

Goldman: The Fed has lost control; countdown for 'the last asset bubble'

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:51 UTC
Jerome Powell
© ReutersChairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell
Back in January, when Chair Powell unexpectedly U-turned on months of hawkish policy and shocked traders when he said that contrary to what he had said just two weeks prior during the December FOMC press conference, the Fed could be "patient", rate hikes could "pause", and the Fed's balance sheet reduction is not in fact on "autopilot", the Powell Put finally emerged for the first time, and the result has been a torrid rally ever since, and the best first half market performance in decades.

It also prompted an avalanche of accusations that Powell - who has also, facing intense pressure from president Trump to cut rates or else lose his job, folded like a cheap suit - held hostage by traders who pushed stocks low enough to i) test where the Powell Put strike price is and ii) force the Fed to not only halt rate hikes, but launch an easing cycle, something it has now effectively done.

Yet as we noted in January, being held hostage or captive by the market is nothing new to Powell; in fact, it was way back when in March 2013, ahead of the Fed's taper announcement, that the Fed chair first realized that it was not the Fed that controls the market, but rather - after years of ZIRP and QE - the Fed had become a hostage of the market's every whim.

Comment: More from RT: Keiser Report: US Fed covers central bank screw-ups
The US Federal Reserve was created with the idea of ultimately being there for any instance of financial crisis in the banking system, says journalist and former banker at Lehman Brothers Nomi Prins. She joined RT's Keiser Report for the Summer Solutions 2019 episode:


"When the Federal Reserve was created we still had the gold standard... when we got to 1971 the gold standard was completely repealed... it was because what the bankers wanted... they pushed to get off the gold standard, so there would be no more solid real asset benchmark underneath currency," Prins says. That was the idea of having more fiat money and the dollar ultimately becoming even more dominant, she explains.

"The US Fed is basically the CEO of the banking system, it provides the money, regulates the banks, and the banks are members of that institution," says Prins, author of Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World.

She stresses: "You cannot have the financial system be members of a central bank that provides them cover when they screw up. That entire system has to be demolished."


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Umbrella

Corbyn: Labour would back 'remain' vote in second Brexit referendum

Heather Stewart
The Guardian
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 06:40 UTC
Jeremy Corbyn
© Getty ImagesLabour Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn has sought to draw a line under Labour's Brexit travails by announcing a "settled" policy of backing remain in any referendum called on a Conservative deal. The Labour leader has been under intense pressure to shift to an overtly anti-Brexit stance, but has insisted on consulting the party's stakeholders in recent weeks, including the trade unions.

In a statement emailed to party members on Tuesday, Corbyn made no reference to what stance Labour would take in the event of a general election in the near future, or whether Labour could enter such a contest saying it would still go ahead with leaving the European Union.

But he made clear that if a referendum was called on the Brexit deal negotiated by the incoming Conservative prime minister - or on whether to go ahead with a no-deal Brexit - Labour would support remain.

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Attention

Christine Pelosi: Warning! It's 'quite likely some of our faves are implicated' in 'horrific' Epstein case

Gregg Re
Fox News
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
ClintonEpsteinJet
© UnknownFormer US president Bill Clinton • Jeffrey Epstein • The 'Lolita Express'
Christine Pelosi, a Democratic National Committee official and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warned conspicuously on Saturday evening that it is "quite likely that some of our faves are implicated" in the "horrific" sex-trafficking case against politically connected financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein is due in court following his sudden arrest Saturday in New York on new sex-trafficking charges involving allegations dating to the early 2000s, according to law enforcement officials. He has been accused of paying underage girls for massages and sexually abusing them at his mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., and in New York City. His 72-acre private estate on the Virgin Islands, a home said to be nicknamed "Orgy Island," also has been under scrutiny.


"This Epstein case is horrific and the young women deserve justice," Pelosi tweeted. "It is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated but we must follow the facts and let the chips fall where they may - whether on Republicans or Democrats."

Comment: See also:

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Boat

Duterte dares the US to bring its fleet to fight China: 'Want trouble? You first!'


RT
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:13 UTC
Duterte
© APPhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte
If Washington wants the Philippines to fight China, the US military should come and fire the first shot, President Rodrigo Duterte argued, accusing the US of using its allies as "bait" for Beijing.

"There is always America pushing us, egging us ... making me the bait. What do you think Filipinos are, earthworms?" Duterte said in a speech in Leyte province on Friday, which only got media attention on Sunday.

"Now I say, you bring your planes, your boats to South China Sea. Fire the first shot and we are just here behind you. Go ahead, let's fight," he added. "Do you want trouble? OK, let's do it."

The remarks came as the government in Manila finds itself sandwiched between US demands for a tougher posture towards China and Beijing's maritime expansion in the South China Sea, specifically the islands that the Philippines have claimed as their own.
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Star of David

Netanyahu taunts Iran: Israeli planes can 'reach everywhere' in the ME


RT
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 15:39 UTC
Netanyahu
© 1 Israeli PM Netanyahu at Nevatim Airbase, Israel , Amos Ben Gershom/GPOIsraeli PM Netanyahu at Nevatim Airbase, Israel
As tension mounts over Iran's nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Tehran that Israeli warplanes can strike anywhere in the Middle East, "including Iran and Syria."

"Iran has threatened recently to destroy Israel," Netanyahu said in a video clip posted on Tuesday. "It is worthwhile for them to remember that these planes can reach everywhere in the Middle East, including Iran and Syria."

Netanyahu delivered his stern lecture while standing in front of an F-35 fighter jet at Nevatim Airbase in central Israel. The Israeli Air Force has used its warplanes to strike supposed Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria numerous times, most recently pounding the cities of Damascus and Homs at the beginning of July - attacks that left multiple civilians dead. Last year, Israel became the world's first military power to use the next-generation F-35 in a combat operation, reportedly against Iranian targets in Syria.

The Israeli leader's video comes a week after Iranian parliamentarian Mojtaba Zolnour remarked that "if the US attacks us, only half an hour will remain of Israel's lifespan."

The Iranian leadership has stuck with a calmer line, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stating in May that "there won't be a war" between Iran and the US. Even the usually hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader, Major General Hossein Salami, said on Monday that "the world knows" Tehran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
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Propaganda

UK tabloids: Russia hacked ambassador's Trump memos...while FM Jeremy Hunt plays along


RT
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 10:31 UTC
Headlines 3UK
© mirror.co.uk; dailymail.co.uk; thesun.co.uk
London has said there is no evidence that a foreign state was behind the recent leaks from its embassy in Washington, but this hasn't stopped British officials from quietly feeding tabloid narratives blaming Russia for the affair.

The UK government is in full damage-control mode after a series of memos penned by the UK ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, were leaked to the press. The diplomatic cables described US President Donald Trump as "incompetent."

While British officials appear to believe that the embarrassing leaks were carried out by an "unpatriotic" insider, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt didn't seem to mind playing along with tabloid speculation that Russia is somehow at fault.

Pressed by the Sun about whether he believed "hostile states such as Russia" may be behind the leaks, Hunt was all too happy to quietly fan the flames - even while acknowledging that there was no reason to suspect that Russia or any other country played a part in the incident.

Comment: RT: Kremlin responds: Scandal is between London and Washington
There is no reason for Russia to comment on the row caused by a series of leaked memos in which the UK Ambassador to the US called Donald Trump "inept" and assessed his administration as "dysfunctional."

The scandal is obviously "between Washington and London," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. "Let these two capitals deal with it. This is not our story."

The revelation raised ire in Washington, with Trump angrily saying that "we will no longer deal with him." However, outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May assured that she has "full faith" in Ambassador Darroch. Nevertheless, some UK tabloids were quick to point fingers at Russia after Jeremy Hunt said London is also examining the meddling of a "foreign state."
See also: US will 'no longer deal with' British ambassador following leaks scandal - Trump

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