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Ukraine: Probe against Burisma founder to include embezzlement of state funds

Ryaboshapka/Zlochevsky
© Ukraine Press Office/AP/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty
Ukranian Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka • Burisma Founder Mykola Zlochevsky
Ukraine has widened its investigation into the founder of energy company Burisma to include suspicion of embezzling state funds, Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka said on Wednesday.

The prosecutor who has investigated Burisma is Kostiantyn Kulyk, who previously met Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discuss accusations against the Bidens.

After he took office in late August, Ryaboshapka launched a wide-ranging audit of criminal cases to see whether they had been conducted properly. Thirteen of them relate to Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, Ryaboshapka told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday. Burisma did not respond to a request for comment.

Ryaboshapka's predecessors oversaw a series of investigations into Zlochevsky, a multimillionaire former minister of ecology and natural resources. The allegations concern tax violations, money-laundering and licences given to Burisma during the period where Zlochevsky was a minister. Ryaboshapka said Zlochevsky was now suspected of the "theft of government funds on an especially large scale," but did not provide evidence or details.

Comment: See also:


Snakes in Suits

Pompeo in charge: Morales, officials barred in Bolivian election, vows 'support' to post-coup 'government'

protesterPompeo
© Reuters/Henry Romero; Reuters/Yara Nardi
Bolivian protester • US Sec of State Mike Pompeo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has ordered officials involved in Bolivia's last election to "step aside" in the next contest, and pledged "support" for the post-coup government empowered after the ouster of Evo Morales.

Hailing Bolivia's "political transition" as "important ... to democracy in our hemisphere," Pompeo insisted in a statement on Thursday that former President Morales and other officials who took part in October's vote stay away from the upcoming ballot for the sake of a "free, fair and transparent election."
"Those who participated in the egregious irregularities and manipulation of the vote in the flawed October 20 election must, for the good of Bolivia, step aside and let Bolivians rebuild their institutions."
The top US diplomat also maintained that "violence, repression, and political intimidation have no place in a democracy," even as Morales supporters were gunned down in the streets by the very interim government that Pompeo swore to "support."

The charge of "irregularities" in October's election stems from the Organization of American States (OAS) - a multinational body based in Washington, DC and heavily funded by the US government - which expressed "deep concern and surprise" over the preliminary results, well before all the votes had been tallied. A statistical analysis of the final results conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), however, could find no such irregularities.

Comment: "It was a coup.' say Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has finally provided her take on the violent unrest that toppled the sitting president Evo Morales, telling her followers that it was a coup which shouldn't involve US interference. "What happened in Bolivia is a coup. Period," Gabbard wrote on Twitter, warning against what may lie in store for Washington's interventionists. "The United States and other countries should not be interfering in the Bolivian people's pursuit of self-determination and right to choose their own government," she argued.


Gabbard's words come days after another top-tier Democrat, Bernie Sanders, used the same vocabulary when commenting on Bolivia's turmoil. "When the military intervened and asked President Evo Morales to leave, in my view, that's called a coup," he tweeted.

See also: Morales to Correa: Coup ended stability Bolivia hadn't seen for over 180 years


Eye 2

Fiona Hill (and Dems) ignored compelling evidence of Ukrainian 2016 election meddling

Fiona Hill
© REUTERS/Erin Scott
Former National Security Council Fiona Hill said Russia likely didn't have blackmail info on former President Donald Trump.
In her testimony before the House impeachment inquiry, Fiona Hill, formerly of the National Security Council, took great pride in telling lawmakers she was a nonpartisan intelligence professional. She then labored mightily in service of a Democratic political narrative.

Specifically, Hill conflated two separate theories of Ukrainian collusion in the 2016 election. One of these is discredited, the other is quite viable. Hill helped the Democrats suggest that they have both been debunked.

Hill is too smart not to have grasped the effect of her testimony. This is exactly the kind of cynicism that fuels concerns about the unaccountable "deep state."

Comment: The Gateway Pundit opines on Ms. Hill and fills in more of her questionable links:
According to her resume Fiona Hill worked for the George Soros Open Society Institute from 2000-2006, just 13 years ago.
fiona hill soros connections

Part of Fiona Hill's CV
But there's more -

Hill has connections to Christopher Steele (who is suspected of being a source for Hill's Vox article). According to people familiar with their relationship, the two British Russia hands are not exactly friends. But they have known each other for years, beginning when Hill was working on Russia at the National Intelligence Council and Steele was on MI6's Russia desk. "She had a high opinion of Steele, and thought he was very smart," a foreign policy veteran, and one of Hill's close friends, told POLITICO. Hill spoke to Steele in 2016 and discussed him with friends in 2017, after BuzzFeed published his memos outlining a potential conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to win the election.

Hill also has past connections to Adam Schiff. Fiona Hill was a speaker, for example, at the Aspen Institute Security Forum in July 2017, an event for which Adam Schiff, now taking her testimony in a closed-door hearing, was also a speaker. This is a pattern with Schiff, given his Aspen participation in July 2018 and meeting with Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS and dossier fame, who was also in attendance.

Hill also has connections to Professor Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor at the center of the storm with George Papadopoulos. Hill has attended the conferences of the Russian Valdai Club, like Spygate principal Joseph Mifsud and his Russian contact Ivan Timofeev. She has done this under the auspices of the Brookings Institution, with which she has been affiliated as a senior fellow and program director for many years.

Hill also has deep ties to Clinton crony, Strobe Talbott (who was a recipient of the Cody Shearer dossier that later became a part of the Steele dossier): Her work at Brookings, where she has stood alongside author collaborator Clifford Gaddy as resident Russia expert since 2009, was under the leadership of long-time Clinton intimate Strobe Talbott, who headed the Institution until 2017.

And now this...

For some strange reason, Fiona Hill could not remember the Eric Ciaramella's name during testimony.

It was almost like she was afraid of mentioning his name even though she worked with him on Ukrainian policy.

That's odd.

The Washington Examiner reported:
When former National Security Council official Fiona Hill testifed before the House Intelligence Committee, she said that she could not remember the name of the Ukraine director when she joined the White House.

That person was Eric Ciaramella, the career CIA analyst who is alleged to be the Ukraine whistleblower.

Hill was White House NSC senior director for European and Russian affairs, a position Ciaramella held in an acting capacity while still Ukraine director, for a brief period immediately before she took the post.

Ciaramella, 33, is now a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council under President Trump's director of national intelligence, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
This woman should never be allowed in government office ever again. She's a crooked Soros connected traitor. Period.



Chess

'Americans sit in Army HQ, so what?' Serbia shrugs off 'RUSSIAN SPY' video scandal ahead of president's Moscow visit

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic
© REUTERS/Djordje Kojadinovic
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic
The government in Belgrade said it would not change its policy towards Moscow after a video of a suspected "Russian spy" emerged online. Serbians were quick to point out their country has been riddled by NATO spies for years.

Briefing President Aleksandar Vucic on the video at the center of the latest spy scandal, Serbian counter-intelligence agency BIA on Thursday said the man meeting a retired Serbian Army officer was a "Russian intelligence operative." Earlier, the press identified the man as Russian Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Kleban, who served at the embassy in Belgrade until June.

"We will not change our policy towards Russia, which we see as a brotherly and friendly country ... but we will strengthen our own intelligence defenses," Vucic told reporters following a meeting with his national security council.

The video shows Kleban and a man whose face is obstructed meeting at a pub and exchanging bags. The Serbian officer, identified only as Z.K., is later shown in his car, taking out an envelope full of cash from the bag that also appears to contain a bottle of liquor, and counting the money in full view of whoever was keeping him under surveillance. No intelligence service has claimed ownership of the video, and BIA itself denied it was behind the operation.

Bad Guys

US reportedly considers pulling 4000 troops out of South Korea after Seoul balks at paying 5x more

US army South Korea
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
A US army soldier stands guard in front of a F-22 stealth fighter jet at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
The United States is considering a significant cut to its troop numbers in South Korea if Seoul does not contribute more to the cost of the deployment, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on Thursday.

The US broke off talks on defense costs with South Korea this week after demanding Seoul raise its annual contribution to $5bln, more than five times what it pays now, in a rare public display of discord in the alliance. Neither side has publicly confirmed the numbers, but US President Donald Trump has stated that the US military presence in and around South Korea was "$5bln worth of protection".

"I understand that the US is preparing to withdraw one brigade in case negotiations with South Korea do not go as well as President Trump wants," a diplomatic source in Washington with knowledge of the negotiations was cited as saying by Chosun Ilbo.

A typical US military brigade numbers about 3,000 to 4,000 troops. There are about 28,500 American troops currently stationed in South Korea, which remains technically in a state of war with nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea following a 1950-1953 conflict. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper noted that he was not aware of any plans to withdraw 4,000 troops from South Korea if cost-sharing talks failed.

"We're not threatening allies over this. This is a negotiation," he told reporters during a trip to Vietnam.

Comment: The U.S. occupation of South Korea is a protection racket, pure and simple.

See also:


Stormtrooper

Bolivian police fire tear gas at mourners carrying coffins of protesters killed in previous clashes

bolivia protest
© Reuters / Henry Romero; Reuters / Marco Bello
A march in Bolivia's de facto capital was met by a harsh police response, with security forces firing tear gas at a procession of mourners bearing the caskets of fallen demonstrators, who were forced to drop them in the street.

As unrest grips Bolivia after the ouster of socialist leader Evo Morales earlier this month, violent crackdowns on protests against the country's post-coup government have only grown more frequent. Scenes from La Paz on Thursday showed armor-clad riot police repelling a protest that doubled as a funeral cortege, compelling mourners to abandon the coffins they carried.


Comment: Repressive and authoritarian from a US-installed puppet government. The story never changes yet some people want to celebrate what's happening because socialism bad.


"The de facto government of Anez does not respect the dead in their coffins, nor forgive their relatives, women and children who marched peacefully for respect for life and democracy," Morales said in a tweet on Thursday, referring to "interim president" Jeanine Anez, an opposition senator who declared herself leader soon after Morales was forced to resign under pressure from the military.

Network

Friends with everyone? Trump says US must stand with Hong Kong AND President Xi

trump
© Global Look / Stefani Reynolds; Reuters / Adnan Abibi 12
US President Donald Trump is hedging his bets on supporting the Hong Kong 'pro-democracy' rioters, making clear he is not willing to alienate China in the process. Beijing has slammed a US 'pro-rioters' bill as massive overreach.

"We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I'm also standing with President Xi. He's my friend," Trump declared on Friday morning, in response to questions about whether he would sign the bills that both chambers of Congress approved unanimously. The move would satisfy both parties in Washington, but Beijing has warned it will halt all trade talks if the bill becomes law.

"I stand with Hong Kong, I stand with freedom, I stand with all of the things that I want to do, but we are also in the process of making the largest trade deals in history," Trump continued, making clear there was more on the table than Congress' "pro-democracy" virtue-signaling.

However, that didn't stop him from taking credit for "saving" the Hong Kong protesters: "If it weren't for me, Hong Kong would have been obliterated in 14 minutes." Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said, "has a million soldiers standing outside of Hong Kong," who "are not going only because I asked him 'Please don't do that...it will have a tremendous negative impact on the trade deal.'"

Propaganda

No pantsuit for you! Hillary's white pantsuit says 'empowerment' but Tulsi's says 'fringe cult leader', according to NYT

tulsi
© REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks during the U.S. Democratic presidential candidates debate at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. November 20, 2019.
The New York Times has been accused of peddling ridiculous and shamelessly biased punditry, after the Gray Lady took aim at presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard's white pantsuit but ended up red-faced.

Style writer Vanessa Friedman argued that the Hawaii congresswoman's wardrobe made her look like a "cult leader" full of "combative righteousness." The terrifying white fabric has "connotations of the fringe, rather than the center" and even undermines "community building," the Times' writer expertly deduced.


Comment: "Style writer" Vanessa Friedman reveals herself to be a total non-entity - but what more can you expect from a "style writer"? The mindless rot emanating from the place where her brain should be is representative of the typical tripe spewed out by the New York Times for years. Reality is what they say it is, apparently. It would be funny if it weren't so Orwellian.


Unfortunately, her completely reasonable fashion analysis came under fire from fringe-loving social media users, who rudely pointed out that Friedman had drooled over Hillary Clinton's white pantsuit back in 2016.


Journalist Glenn Greenwald pointed out that usually it's considered "misogynistic" to attack female politicians about their clothing choices - but apparently an exception can be made for Gabbard, who has been lambasted in the media for challenging the Democratic establishment.

Light Saber

Righting a wrong: Labour would return Chagos Islands, says Jeremy Corbyn

chagos island protester
© Fiona Hanson/PA
Chagossians outside the high court in London in 2017.
Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to renounce British sovereignty of the remote Chagos Islands and respect a UN vote calling for the archipelago to be handed back to Mauritius.

In comments that appear to commit Labour to return the Indian Ocean islands, the party's leader said on Friday he intended to "right one of the wrongs of history".

Asked by reporters on the campaign trail in Stoke-on-Trent whether he would accept the international court ruling on sovereignty, Corbyn said: "Yes, absolutely. I've been involved in the Chagos campaign for a very long time.

"What happened to the Chagos islanders was utterly disgraceful. [They were] forcibly removed from their own islands, unfortunately, by this country.

Comment: The U.S. is equally complicit in the crime. Colonial arrogance at its finest.


Russian Flag

Drones, robots, lasers, supersonic gliders & other high-tech arms: Putin wants Russian military to be up to any future challenge

russian weaponry
© Sputnik / Russia’s Defense Ministry
Test-launch of Avangard hypersonic glider; A MiG-31 fighter jet with Kinzhal hypersonic missile; Okhotnik heavy drone; Peresvet laser system.
The Russian military will be going all out sci-fi, with Vladimir Putin saying the plan for boosting the Armed Forces until 2033 should focus on AI and weapons based on 'new physical principles.'


Comment: NATO is a tad freaked out already by Russia's military AI capabilities:

With the introduction of a whole range of state-of-the-art arms in recent years, Russia has been "able to make a step forward compared to the world's other military powers," Putin said during a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Friday.

The tally of the newest weapons and hardware in the possession of the country's Armed Forces and Navy is currently over 68 percent, he said, adding that they must be increased to at least 70 percent and maintained at that level.

The program for the development of the Russian military-industrial complex until 2033 will be approved next year for Russia to remain ahead of its rivals, the President said.

The emphasis in the plan must be put on "advanced high-precision weapons and means of aerospace defense; the active use of artificial intelligence in the production of military hardware," the President said.
The line of unmanned reconnaissance and attack aircraft, laser and hypersonic systems, weapons based on new physical principles, as well as robotic systems, capable of performing diverse tasks on the battlefield, should be expanded.
Russia requires these futuristic arms because "the world is facing serious challenges and threats," while military technologies are developing rapidly, providing for tougher competition in the area, Putin explained.