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The Mueller investigation's Strzok problem

PeterStrzok
© Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok testifies at the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Joint Hearing on, “Oversight of FBI and DOJ Actions Surrounding the 2016 Election" in Washington on July 12, 2018.
A long-awaited milestone in the special counsel investigation into issues surrounding the 2016 election was reached on Dec. 4. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team made a court filing in which it gave recommendations to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan about his forthcoming sentencing of former Trump national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, which is currently scheduled for Dec. 18.

I say currently scheduled because, thus far, Flynn's sentencing date has been delayed three times since he pleaded guilty to one count of perjury on Dec. 1, 2017. If you're keeping track, that's more than a year ago. So there's a chance it may be delayed yet again.

The chief revelation of this new filing that has grabbed the most media attention is that Mueller is recommending no jail time for Flynn, due to Flynn's extensive cooperation with the special counsel.

What's getting less coverage is that the filing reveals Flynn gave 19 interviews, not just to the special counsel team over the past year as he cooperated, but also to "other offices" within the Department of Justice (DOJ). That very likely means Flynn gave testimony to both DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and U.S. Attorney John Huber. Flynn pleaded guilty to giving a false answer during an FBI interview about some phone calls with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016.

The FBI agent who conducted the interview that led to the Flynn perjury charge from Mueller's team was none other than Peter Strzok, a name that is well-known to those who have followed the Spygate twists and turns over the past year.

Comment: That would be a problem. Shows the zeal for the hunt and kill without the checks and balances of real oversight and attention to legalities.


Footprints

Galloway: 'Theresa May's premiership, the Achilles heel of the entire Brexit'

red heels
© Reuters
Appointing Theresa May, who didn't believe in Brexit, as prime minister was a fatal flaw. That is why she deliberately sabotaged the negotiations and brought about this dog's Brexit, British politician George Galloway has told RT.

British Prime Minister Theresa May cancelled a crucial vote on her Brexit deal which was set to be decided on by the House of Commons this Tuesday. She admitted that the vote was cancelled as she feared she would lose it "by a significant margin." The Brexit vote will now happen "before January 21," her spokesperson said Tuesday.

RT asked political analysts what other possible twists and turns might be ahead.

George Galloway, British politician, broadcaster and writer, called the situation May is in an absolute chaos which is "humiliating the country, her own party and democracy itself." He thinks the appointment of a person who didn't believe in Brexit as Prime Minister was "a fatal flaw." "It is an Achilles heel of the entire thing...[May] deliberately sabotaged these negotiations and brought about this dog's Brexit," he added.

In his view, "this is not Brexit that she is proposing. And therefore a good one hundred of our own MPs will never vote for it, whatever reassurance she brings back. It is like Chamberlin waving his piece of paper promising peace in our time," said Galloway.

Comment: See also:


Star of David

IDF finds another Hezbollah 'attack tunnel' from Lebanon to Israel

Israelidiggers
© AP/Mohammed Zaatari
Israeli equipment work on a section of the Lebanese-Israeli wall near Kafr Kila, Lebanon.
Israel has identified one more Hezbollah tunnel in the region close to the border with Lebanon, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) press service reported on Tuesday.

According to the IDF, this is the third tunnel exposed by the Israeli forces that was made by militants from the Hezbollah group.

The discovery of the third tunnel dug from Lebanon into Israel comes amid Operation Northern Shield, an Israeli campaign to find and destroy tunnels allegedly dug by Hezbollah militants to enable them to illegally transfer fighters and arms into Israel.


Comment: See also:


Bullseye

Foreign Office orders investigation into reports a state-funded body targeted Corbyn

JCorbyn
© Reuters
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn
The Foreign Office minister, Alan Duncan, has ordered an investigation into reports the government provided funding to a Scottish-based company meant to counter online Russian propaganda, which also spread unfavourable views about Jeremy Corbyn.

The Institute for Statecraft, based in Fife, received hundreds of thousands of pounds in Foreign Office money.

According to the Sunday Mail, leaked documents show it tried to promote tweets calling the Labour leader a "useful idiot" who helped the Kremlin cause, and attacked members of his staff.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Duncan said he had learned about the allegations at the weekend and ordered an immediate investigation.
"I don't know the facts but if there is any kind of organisation for which we are paying which is involved in domestic politics in that way, I would totally condemn it, and I have already over the weekend asked for a report to be on my desk by 10 o'clock this morning to say if there is any such activity," he said.
Asked if this meant anti-Labour attacks by Statecraft must stop, Duncan said: "Not only must it stop, I want to know why on earth it happened in the first place."

Duncan has previously responded to a parliamentary written question on the subject. His answer showed that in the 2017-18 financial year the Foreign Office funded the Institute for Statecraft's Integrity Initiative with £296,500. This financial year, the sum was due rise to £1,961,000, the answer said.

Comment: See also: Secret Scottish-based office led infowars attack on Labour and Jeremy Corbyn


Bullseye

US sanctions three N. Korean officials alleging human rights abuses

Kim and Choe
© AP
Choe Ryong-hae • Kim Jong-un
The United States said on Monday it had sanctioned three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for serious human rights abuses and censorship.

The U.S. Treasury named the men as Ryong Hae Choe, an aide close to Kim who leads the Workers' Party of Korea Organization and Guidance Department; State Security Minister Kyong Thaek Jong; and Propaganda and Agitation Department head Kwang Ho Pak.

It was not clear whether the decision to sanction the three men was related to U.S.-North Korean nuclear diplomacy, which has made little obvious progress since Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June.

The sanctions, which freeze any assets the officials may have under U.S. jurisdiction and generally bar them from transactions with anyone in the United States, were announced as the U.S. State Department released a six-monthly report on North Korean abuses.

"Human rights abuses in North Korea remain among the worst in the world and include extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement accompanying the report.

North Korea has repeatedly rejected accusations of human rights abuses and blames sanctions for a dire humanitarian situation. Pyongyang has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programs.

Comment: The US' one-trick leverage.


Cookie

Understatement of the year: Ukraine a 'problem for European security' sez Greek diplomat

Porchenkoguysplane
© REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko addresses servicemen at an airforce base near Zhytomyr, Ukraine, on December 6, 2018.
Kiev's belligerent policies pose a "constant" security threat to Europe, Greece's alternate foreign minister said, adding that the last thing Europe needs is another "hotspot of tension."

"It is true that Ukraine is a constant problem for the European Security System," George Katrougalos told the Greek Kokkino radio broadcaster when asked to comment on the recent maritime incident in the Black Sea when a group of Ukrainian ships illegally crossed into the Russian territorial waters. He added that "the last thing that we need is another hotspot of tension ... at the heart [of Europe]" and vowed to raise this issue at a meeting of the EU foreign ministers.

The minister also referred to Ukraine as a "troubled and complicated" area, adding that the crisis there could be resolved only through "respect for the international law" and "belief that [all the] differences can be resolved only through dialog." He then called for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements by saying that the accords provide all the necessary "political steps to bring the situation back to normal."

Comment: The caliber and actions of the Ukrainian government is traceable to the dictates of its 'mentors'.


Mail

Moscow ready to release correspondence with US on alleged Russian election meddling

computer, typing, hacking
© Sputnik / Kirill Kalinnikov
Russia is prepared to declassify all correspondences with the US related to alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016, according to a senior official of the Cyber Threats Response Center.

"We are ready to make public all correspondence if the US side gives its consent to it," Nikolai Murashov, deputy director of the FSB-run CTRC, told reporters on Tuesday. These files are now classified, he said.

Magnify

WADA officers launch planned inspection of Russian anti-doping agency

Russian anti-doping agency
© Sputnik / Evgeni Odinokov
Russian anti-doping agency
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officers have arrived in Moscow to conduct a planned audit of the Russian anti-doping body, which was reinstated in September following a three-year suspension.

The anti-doping officials are expected to spend several days in Russia before making a detailed report on RUSADA's progress, including imperfections which should be corrected by the Russian authorities.
"WADA auditors visit is being held in full compliance with RUSADA road map," RUSADA Deputy Chief Margarita Pakhnotskaya was quoted as saying by TASS.

"They have already started working (in Moscow). During four months after RUSADA's reinstatement WADA should conduct detailed inspection of all departments. The auditors will not give any assessments right after the check, they will just compile a report on the work they will do."

Quenelle - Golden

Obsession with penetrating everything: US Air Force conducts drill simulating 'forcible backdoor entry'

paratroopers
© Reuters / Tami Chappell
FILE PHOTO
A "conga line" of over 10 transport aircraft startled aviation fans during the US military's annual "Joint Forcible Entry Exercise" in the skies of Nevada.


Comment: Sounds 'sexy' (if that's your kind of thing).


Noticing the large line of C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft carriers prepared for take off at the Dyess Air Force base in Texas early Sunday morning, some aviation fans on Twitter became understandably worried.

Comment: Of course. Why would the US military even bother conducting drills to defend the US from invasion - it hasn't been invaded since 1812.


Bad Guys

Thierry Meyssan: Who owns Macron?

macron
© Inconnu
Le président Macron
President Macron is often presented as a Rothschild Boy. This is true, but secondary. Thierry Meyssan demonstrates that he owes his electoral campaign mostly to Henry Kravis, the boss of one of the world's largest financial companies, and to NATO - a considerable debt which weighs heavily today on the solution to the Yellow Vests crisis.

Emmanuel Macron did not feel destined for a career in politics. As a young man, he hoped to become a philosopher, then a senior civil servant, then a business banker. To help him on his way, he frequented Uncle Sam's fairy godmothers - the French-American Foundation and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

It was in this milieu that he met Henry and Marie-Josée Kravis, in their residence on Park Avenue in New York [1]. The Kravis couple, unfailing supporters of the US Republican Party, are among the great world fortunes who play politics out of sight of the Press. Their company, KKR, like Blackstone and the Carlyle Group, is one of the world's major investment funds.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Révolution Jaune? France Revolts Against Macron