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Schiff confirmed John Solomon's reporting on Ukraine, despite media attacks to the contrary

John Solomon
John Solomon Reports
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
ASchiff
© UnknownHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff
"I have to thank Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman and impeachment maestro. Really, I am grateful."

While the jury is still out on high crimes and misdemeanors, Schiff has managed to produce during the first few weeks of his impeachment hearings a robust body of evidence and testimony that supports all three of the main tenets of my Ukraine columns.

In fact, his witnesses have done more than anyone to affirm the accuracy of my columns and to debunk the false narrative by a dishonest media and their friends inside the federal bureaucracy that my reporting was somehow false conspiracy theories.

Comment: More from Breitbart 18/11/2019: Two witnesses with exculpatory evidence left out of hearings
The House Intelligence Committee's witness list for this week's public hearings in the "impeachment inquiry" omits two witnesses whose closed-door sessions last month provided exculpatory evidence for President Donald Trump. Neither of the two witnesses were on Republicans' proposed list; they were called by Democrats behind closed doors.

One witness, Catherine Croft, the special adviser at the National Security Council (NSC) for Ukraine negotiations, offered at least two pieces of evidence that tend to help Trump's argument that he did nothing wrong.

First, Croft testified that the hold on aid to Ukraine this past summer was not the first. In fact, the White House had held up military aid in late 2017 — partly because of concern about antagonizing Russia, but also because of general concerns about corruption. Croft testified, Trump had rebuked then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in front of his delegation:
Screen shot #1
© Screen Shot 2019-11-18-at-11.04.16-AM
Second, Croft testified that the Obama administration had been aware of concerns about Hunter Biden and Burisma:
Screen shot #2
© Screen-Shot, 2019-11-18-at-11.07.51-AM
She also testified that Vice President Biden was "very engaged in Ukraine policy" at the time his son had been appointed.
Screen shot #3
© Screen-Shot-2019-11-18-at-11.10.37-AM
Croft's predecessor, Christopher Anderson also confirmed that there were concerns within the Obama administration about Hunter Biden serving on the board of Burisma:
Screen-Shot #4
© Screen Shot 2019-11-18-at-11.18.56-AM
Another witness, Under Secretary of State for Diplomatic Affairs David Hale, is scheduled to testify this week even though his transcript has not been released.


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X

Assange rape case dropped! Sweden forsakes probe that led him to seek asylum in UK's Ecuadorian embassy


RT
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 13:08 UTC
Assange
© Reuters/Henry NichollsWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van, after he was arrested by British police, in London, Britain April 11, 2019.
Swedish prosecutors will not pursue their rape investigation of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange any further, they announced, having successfully fulfilled their role in the years-long scheme to put Assange behind bars.

Investigators determined the evidence was simply not strong enough to support an indictment, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson told a press conference on Tuesday. Interviewing Julian Assange regarding the case would not change this assessment, she said. "The reason for this decision is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question."

The Prosecution Authority noted that, while the victim was considered credible, oral testimony regarding the case had "weakened" and that corroborating evidence was not strong enough to pursue the case.

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Calendar

N. Korea: Concessions first, meeting later, Kim will not 'gift' another summit to Trump


RT
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 19:14 UTC
KimTrump
© Global Look Press/Joyce N. BoghosianNorth Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, Hanoi 2/27/2019.
Pyongyang has made it clear that it will not agree to another high-level meeting between Chairman Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump unless Washington changes its "hostile" policies towards the Asian nation.

Talks between North Korea and the US on Pyongyang's nuclear program, kicked off by a Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June 2018, have failed to produce any meaningful results and improve bilateral relations between the two nations, North's Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan said.

The negotiating process ended up in a deadlock even though two leaders had a meeting in February, exchanged letters and met at the border between two Koreas in June.

"The US only seeks to earn time, pretending it has made progress in settling the issue of the Korean Peninsula," the official said, according to the state KCNA news agency. He went on to say that Pyongyang gained literally nothing from these talks, and would thus stop doing political favors to Trump until it gets something in exchange.

Comment: Bait and switch has limited effectiveness. Kim knows this. Does Trump?

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Whistle

Steve Bannon pushed for alleged whistleblower to be removed from NSC

Chuck Ross
Daily Caller
Sun, 17 Nov 2019 02:11 UTC
SteveBannon
© Reuters/Moritz HagerSteve Bannon
Steve Bannon said in an interview that when he was at the White House in 2017, he was involved in an effort to remove an intelligence officer suspected of being the Trump whistleblower from the National Security Council due to concerns about leaks.

Bannon, who served as White House strategist through August 2017, said in an interview with VICE published Friday:
"When I was in the White House there was a number of people in the National Security Council — the named individual eventually got let go, I believe because people were suspicious, not me, but other people around him were suspicious about his leaking, and that's why he was let go."
The whistleblower, who is reported to be a CIA analyst, filed a complaint on Aug. 12 accusing President Donald Trump of abusing his office in his dealings with Ukraine.

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Target

Bolivia's socialist purge: Politicians from Morales' MAS party and journalists threatened with sedition arrests


RT
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 19:45 UTC
Politicians/escorts
© Washington PostEcuador's politicians and their escorts
The interim government of Bolivia has tasked a special prosecutor with rooting out "subversives" in former President Evo Morales' party, and dissident journalists have also been threatened with arrest, local media reports.

A "special apparatus of the Prosecutor's Office" has been created to root out "subversion and sedition" in Morales' MAS (Movement to Socialism) party, Minister of Government Arturo Murillo announced on Sunday. He warned any leaders who might be harboring disloyalty to the new right-wing government that he already had a list of the names of "subversives," accusing them of stirring up violence in the country, and pledged to begin issuing arrest orders on Monday.

Nor are socialist politicians the sole target of the new regime's wrath - Murillo called out journalists working for MAS-related media during a press conference on Saturday, warning them that they too could be subject to prosecution for their disloyalty.

"We ask you to inform, not to misinform," he cautioned dissident reporters, insisting they "do their job and not commit sedition." Murillo's words echoed threats from Minister of Communications Roxana Lizarraga, who declared on Thursday that journalists "who are causing sedition" had been identified and warned foreign reporters they were not immune to Bolivian law.

Comment: See also:

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Heart - Black

'Shameful': Iranian FM Zarif lambastes U.S. support for rioters in Iran


Xinhua
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 19:30 UTC
Javad Zarif
© Xinhua/Li MuziIranian FM Javad Zarif
The Iranian foreign minister denounced U.S. expression of support for Iranian people as "shameful" and hypocritic, as Washington even bars delivery of food and medicines to elderly or sick Iranians.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced as "shameful" the U.S. intervention in Iranian internal affairs by supporting the rioters in the country, local media reported Tuesday.

"The regime that imposes coercive economic actions and bars delivery of food and drugs to the elderly and patients, can never claim that it's supporting the Iranian nation," Zarif was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying.

He was reacting to the remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who indicated on Saturday that Washington supports the Iranian protesters who clashed with security forces during protest against a gas price hike.

Pompeo "should first answer for the announced terrorist actions and crimes against humanity and against the Iranian nation," Zarif said, referring to the suffocating sanctions on Iran restored by the U.S. since its unilateral exit from the Iranian nuclear deal in last year.

Comment: See also:

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Brain

'EU can't defend Europe': Stoltenberg fires away at Macron's 'brain-dead' NATO caricature


RT
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 12:39 UTC
Stoltenberg
© AP/Virginia MayoNATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has taken the time to contest the French president's bombshell diagnosis of the bloc, saying that Europe can't rely on the EU alone, and singing the praises of the US.

Stoltenberg couldn't resist debating Emmanuel Macron's famous Economist interview, arguing that his organization is far from being dead. Or, at the very least, that its brain is still alive.

"European unity cannot replace Transatlantic unity as we need both," he told reporters on Tuesday. One has to understand that "especially after Brexit, the EU cannot defend Europe." Stoltenberg also kindly reminded that over 80 percent of NATO's military spending will come from "non-EU allies."

Macron sent shockwaves through European elite circles in early November when he said that the bloc is experiencing "brain death." The US isn't into defending Europe, which makes Article 5 of the NATO charter - which stipulates that an attack on one ally is an attack on all - all but meaningless, he argued.

Naturally, Stoltenberg had some words on this. Washington, he opined, "is not leaving Europe," it is actually increasing military presence with more troops, more exercises, more US investment in military infrastructure.

Comment: EU needs NATO to defend against imaginary bogeymen! NATO needs the U.S. to create them.

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Jet4

Syrian state media reports several blasts heard near Damascus airport


RT
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 20:00 UTC
anti aircraft fire over damascus
© Reuters / Feras Makdesi / FileAnti-aircraft fire is seen over Damascus, Syria.
Explosions have reportedly been heard in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital, SANA state news agency reported on Tuesday. Israel said earlier it "intercepted" four missiles from Syria.

The agency, citing its own correspondent on the ground, reported that the blasts were heard near the airport, without providing any additional details in terms of material damage or casualties.

Comment: Israel claims Iron Dome shot down missiles fired from Syria:
The IDF confirmed that the Iron Dome system had intercepted four projectiles allegedly launched from Syria. Damascus has yet to comment on these claims.


Earlier in the day, IDF warned that air-raid sirens were heard over the northern part of Israel.




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Newspaper

Newspaper publisher McClatchy teeters near bankruptcy

Josh Saul and Gerry Smith
Yahoo! News
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 19:22 UTC
Newspapers printing
© Bloomberg
The McClatchy Co., the storied news publisher weighed down by pension obligations and debt, could file for bankruptcy within the next year, according to analysts.

The company faces a mandatory $124 million contribution to its pension plan in 2020.

"If they can't offload the pensions or get pension plan relief, they'll have to file for bankruptcy," said media analyst Craig Huber, founder of Huber Research Partners LLC, who has followed the company since 1995. In an interview, Huber estimated McClatchy would have free cash flow of less than $20 million next year, a fraction of what it needs to cover its pension obligations.

A representative for the company declined to comment. In its third-quarter earnings release last week, McClatchy said the pension contribution created "a significant liquidity challenge in 2020." It also warned in regulatory documents that it may not be able to continue as a going concern.

Newspaper Roster

The Sacramento, California-based company operates 29 newspapers including the Miami Herald, The Charlotte Observer and The Kansas City Star. Other large newspaper companies are also in turmoil, with tens of thousands of newsroom jobs cut over the past decade.
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Light Saber

Erdogan: 'Turkey to look elsewhere if F-35 dispute continues'

Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu
Anadolu Agency
Tue, 19 Nov 2019 18:59 UTC
Erdogan
© Güven Yılmaz/Anadolu AgencyTurkish President and Leader of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during his party's parliamentary group meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, Turkey on November 19, 2019.
Turkish President Erdogan says he told Trump Turkey would seek other options if disagreement prevailed on F-35 fighter jets

Turkey would be forced to "look elsewhere" to satisfy its defense needs if the current dispute surrounding F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. continued, Turkey's president on Tuesday said he told his U.S. counterpart during a recent meeting.

"We said that if the current disagreement on F-35 fighter jets continues, Turkey must look elsewhere to meet medium term needs," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's parliamentary group about a meeting he had with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Nov.13.

Underlining that Turkey was a partner in the production of F-35 fighter jets, Erdogan said: "We are not a customer, we are a partner."

Comment: The wrangling between Turkey and the US over the F-35 purchase has been going on for several years now. Turkey is probably better off without them.

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