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Judge denies media request to publish list of Manafort jurors

Manafort trial drawing
© Bill Hennessy/Reuters
Manafort Trial
As a Virginia jury continues deliberations in the tax evasion trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, the judge said he received threats over the case and refused media demands to reveal the jurors' identities.

A motion by AP, BuzzFeed, CNN, NBC, the New York Times, Politico and the Washington Post asked US District Judge T.S. Ellis III to reveal the names and addresses of the Manafort jurors, as well as the transcripts of sidebar conversations with the attorneys in the case, which remain sealed.
"I don't feel right if I release their names," the judge said, explaining that he has received threats over the case, and is now being guarded by US Marshals. "The Marshals go where I go."
Ellis explained that he intends to unseal most of the transcripts after the trial, but added that some of them will remain under seal so as not to interfere with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into claims of President Donald Trump's "collusion" with Russia during the 2016 US presidential election.

Comment: Certainly, in the volatile milieu of today's confusion of facts and perceptions often initiated and reinforced by MSM, caution and restraint are justified. Juries, especially in high profile cases, deserve protection.


Laptop

Bruce Ohr texts and emails reveal Steele had deep and ongoing ties to Obama's DOJ and FBI

SteeleOhrSimpson
© Unknown
Christopher Steele • Bruce Ohr • Glenn Simpson
A trove of emails and handwritten notes from Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr exposes the continuous contact and communication between the DOJ attorney and anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, according to notes and documents obtained by SaraACarter.com. The emails and notes were written between 2016 and 2017.

The notes and emails also reveal that Ohr was in communication with Glenn Simpson, the founder of the embattled research firm Fusion GPS, which was paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC to hire Steele.

In one of Ohr's handwritten notes listed as "Law enforcement Sensitive" from May 10, 2017, he writes "Call with Chris," referencing Steele. He notes that Steele is "very concerned about Comey's firing, afraid they will be exposed." This call occurred months after FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee and revealed for the first time that the FBI had an open counterintelligence investigation into President Donald Trump's campaign and alleged collusion with Russia.

Comment: Ohr provided DOJ access to Steele. Correspondence between them indicates Ohr had more than a gatekeeper's involvement with Steele, Simpson and Fusion GPS.
See also:


Whistle

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie: Russiagate is 'simply not a concern of normal Americans'

Thomas Massie (R-KY)
© BryN Woolston/AP
Thomas Massie (R-KY)
Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) penned a scathing opinion piece on Thursday calling out Democrats and the "anti-Trump" media for their hysterical and xenophobic approach to Russia.

The op-ed, entitled "Russia Hysteria Undercuts Our Values, Impedes Relations," argues that hysteria over Russia

"is yet another example of the disconnect between Beltway talking heads and the American people. Hard-working Americans - including constituents in my Kentucky district - care about jobs, paying the bills, putting food on the table and leaving this country a better place for their children." The "alleged 'vast Russian conspiracy,'" Massie says, is "simply not a concern of normal Americans."

Massie notes how the only so-called proof proffered to the public on Russiagate is special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russian nationals (accused of acting as internet trolls and stealing identities to do so) and 12 Russian intelligence officers (alleged to have hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016).


Heart - Black

History Repeats as Social Tension Increases in The Netherlands

Pim Fortuyn and his dogs

Dutch populist politician Pim Fortuyn with his dogs. The small dogs were seen in church during Pim's funeral
Sixteen years ago Dutch populist politician Pim Fortuyn was gunned down by a radical leftist, only minutes after he had given a radio interview at Hilversum media center. Many questions surrounding his assassination remain, however. Hated by the Left, but loved by many who still had their heads screwed on, he was a leader who represented the thoughts and feelings of Dutch nationals who could see where the country was headed. He warned about the encroaching totalitarianism of political correctness, so-called 'anti-racism', the destructive effects of mass immigration, problems in healthcare, education and so on.

In a prescient statement broadcast about 6 weeks before he was assassinated, Fortuyn spoke of the dangerous climate the Dutch establishment had created.
"The Dutch government, and I think it is a bloody shame, helps to create a climate of demonization of me as a person. And if something happens to me, then they will be partly responsible, and then they can't renounce it, in the sense that I haven't committed that attack. You have partly created that climate. It has to end."
On the evening of 6 May 2002, within hours of the assassination, riots broke out near the seat of parliament in The Hague. People were clearly heard chanting 'murderers' at the government, because they knew full well who was responsible for Fortuyn's murder. In order to deflect culpability, the Dutch elite very quickly shifted the blame to Fortuyn's followers by accusing them of racism. On that very night, the authorities organized a press conference where the people were told that the assassin had been apprehended (within minutes apparently) and that he was white rather than the expected immigrant (as if there were no white radical leftists). Political party leaders subsequently got the security detail that was denied to Pim Fortuyn. The same 'leaders' who had persecuted him relentlessly, were now whining about their own safety.

Attention

The censorship continues: Facebook removes pro-Palestinian Occupy London page

freedom of speech
© Global Look Press/ Christian Ohde
A Facebook page containing pro-Palestinian posts has been taken down by the social media giant. The latest in a string of pages removed by Facebook, it has renewed claims of "censorship" against the company.

The closure of the Occupy London page, which has garnered more than 150k followers since its opening in 2011, follows the "continual removal of posts related to Palestine", an Occupy London spokesperson told The Canary.

They added that it is not the first time the social network attempted to "censor" its content.

"It feels like censorship. For months, we faced removal of posts related to Palestine. Perhaps once every few weeks or so, a post would be taken down and admins for the page were frozen out of their personal accounts. Then, today, Facebook unpublished the entire page.

Comment: For more information see the articles below:


Bad Guys

Is Iran's leader sure there will be "no war, no negotiations" with the US?

Khamenei Iran Parliament
© Iranian Parliament Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency/AFP/KJN
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian Parliament
We can all thank God for the fact that the AngloZionists did not launch a war on the DPRK, that no Ukronazi attack on the Donbass took place during the World Cup in Russia and that the leaders of the Empire have apparently given up on their plans to launch a reconquista of Syria. However, each of these retreats from their hysterical rhetoric has only made the Neocons more frustrated and determined to show the planet that they are still The Hegemon who cannot be disobeyed with impunity. As I wrote after the failed US cruise missile strike on Syria this spring, "each click brings us closer to the bang". In the immortal words of Michael Ledeen, "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business". The obvious problem is that there are no "small crappy little countries" left out there, and that those who are currently the object of the Empire's ire are neither small nor crappy.

Having now shown several times that for all its hysterical barking the Empire has to back down when the opponent does not cower away in fear, the Empire is now in desperate need to prove its "uniqueness" and (racial?) superiority. The obvious target of the AngloZionist wrath is Iran. In fact, Iran has been in the cross-hairs of the Empire ever since the people of Iran dared to show the AngloZionists to the door and, even worse, succeed in creating their own, national and Islamic democracy. To punish Iran, the US, the USSR, France and all the other "democratic" countries unleashed their puppet (Saddam Hussein) and gave him full military support, and yet the Iranians still prevailed, albeit at a terrible cost. That Iranian ability to prevail in the most terrible circumstances is also the most likely explanation for why there has not been an overt attack on Iran for the past four decades (there have, of course, there has been plenty of covert attacks during all these years).

I won't list all the recent AngloZionist threats against Iran - we all know about them. The bottom line is this: the US, Israel and the KSA are, yet again, working hand in hand to set the stage for a major war under what we could call the "Skripal-case rules of evidence" aka "highly likely". And yet, in spite of all this saber-rattling, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has summed up Iran's stance in the following words "there will be no war and no negotiations".

First, let's first look at Iranian rationale for "no negotiations"

Hardhat

Putin: Nord Stream 2 is purely a Russian-German business project, doesn't prevent gas supplies through Ukraine

nord stream 2 pipe line sections

Nord Stream 2
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project is a "purely economic project" and does not mean the transit of gas through Ukraine will stop, Vladimir Putin has stressed during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"I am aware of the federal chancellor's position, she keeps raising the issue. All that matters to us is that this transit is economically feasible, and makes economic sense," he said.

The comments were made after Putin arrived in Berlin for a meeting with Merkel. The two will speak about the pipeline project, as well as international topics such as Ukraine and Syria.

Comment: Of course whether gas will actually flow through Ukrainian lines, given that government's propensity for theft and refusal to pay bills, is entirely another matter.


Briefcase

Manafort judge declines motion release names of jurors - reveals he's been threatened

Judge T.S. Ellis
© Diego M. Radzinschi/The National Law Journal
T.S. Ellis, III, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Va, at the Investiture ceremony of Stuart Nash to be Associate Judge at the D.C. Superior Court. June 4, 2010.
CNN, Wapo and Buzzfeed are demanding the names and addresses of the Manafort jurors be released to the public.

On Friday, Judge Ellis, a Reagan appointee, revealed he has received threats, however; he did not provide details.

Judge Ellis declined a motion by WaPo, CNN and Buzzfeed to unseal jurors names, reported Courthouse News reporter Brandi Buchman.

Comment: More details from ZeroHedge:

"I had no idea this case excited this emotion in the public," [Judge Ellis] added.


Judge Ellis also refused to release the names of the jurors at the request of a coalition of news organizations, citing safety reasons. The Washington Post, New York Times, AP, CNN, NBC, Politico and Buzzfeed all requested the names of jurors deliberating in the Manafort case.

"I don't feel it's right if I release their names," said Ellis.


On Thursday, the jury asked Ellis to redefine reasonable doubt, and had additional questions about reporting foreign bank transactions, shelf companies, filing requirements related to income and what evidence relates to each charge.
Courtroom sketc, Manafort trial

Courtroom sketch, Manafort trial arraignment



Info

Council of Libyan Tribes releases urgent statement calling for removal of Italian ambassador, respect for Libyan sovereignty

Benghazi Libya
© Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters
A historic building, that was ruined during a three-year conflict, is seen in Benghazi, Libya February 28, 2018.
The Supreme Council of the Libyan Tribes and Cities has passed to me a formal statement issued to all foreign governments and mercenaries attempting to interfere in the sovereignty of Libya. Let it be known that any person speaking for or about the government or people of Libya unless they refer to and acknowledge the Great Tribes of Libya as the Libyan people and their spokespersons, have no authority to speak for Libya or the Libyan people. Foreign governments who recognize puppet governments and self appointed militias as having any authority in Libyan affairs have no understanding of Libya or her people as all Libyans are members of tribes. Leaders in Libya that were not elected by the Libyan people are not supported or recognized by the Libyan people. Therefore, let it be known to the world that any person or persons speaking about Libya that does not refer to the Libyan people via the Great Tribes of Libya is speaking on behalf of and in support of the Khazarian Zionist New World Order that would keep their puppets and mercenaries illegally controlling and stealing from the sovereign country of Libya.

The statement was passed to me in Arabic which you can see on their letterhead posted below the English translation:

Comment: See also: Italy interferes (again) in Libyan politics, calls to postpone election, wants land for military base


Light Saber

Ex-CIA Officer Philip Giraldi : Russiagate promoter Bill Browder 'should be in jail'

William Browder  Magnitsky act
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters
William Browder
The only way to topple Bill Browder's anti-Russia narrative is to get both the mainstream media and members of the US Congress to start looking into the US financier's claims and publicly question them, Philip Giraldi, a former CIA case officer and US Army intelligence officer, told Sputnik.

Browder established Hermitage Capital Management, an investment fund and asset management company, in the late 1990s in Moscow with fellow co-founder Edmond Safra. The company was a thriving business up until November 2005, when it was blacklisted by Russian officials for being a national security threat to the country.

Two years later, Browder's company was raided by Russian authorities, who obtained several documents, including some relating to three of his holding companies. According to Browder, the seized paperwork allowed these so-called corrupt officials to claim a rebate of $230 million from the Russian state treasury.

Comment: The spotlight on con artist William Browder is getting brighter every day.