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Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity: Mueller's forensics-free findings

The Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Consortium News
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 21:22 UTC
Robert Mueller
© Christopher Morris/VII/ReduxSpecial Council Robert Mueller
The final Mueller report should be graded "incomplete," says VIPS, whose forensic work proves the speciousness of the story that DNC emails published by WikiLeaks came from Russian hacking.

March 13, 2019

MEMORANDUM FOR: The Attorney General

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: Mueller's Forensics-Free Findings

Executive Summary

Media reports are predicting that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is about to give you the findings of his probe into any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump. If Mueller gives you his "completed" report anytime soon, it should be graded "incomplete." Major deficiencies include depending on a DNC-hired cybersecurity company for forensics and failure to consult with those who have done original forensic work, including us and the independent forensic investigators with whom we have examined the data. We stand ready to help.

We veteran intelligence professionals (VIPS) have done enough detailed forensic work to prove the speciousness of the prevailing story that the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks came from Russian hacking. Given the paucity of evidence to support that story, we believe Mueller may choose to finesse this key issue and leave everyone hanging. That would help sustain the widespread belief that Trump owes his victory to President Vladimir Putin, and strengthen the hand of those who pay little heed to the unpredictable consequences of an increase in tensions with nuclear-armed Russia.
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MIB

Nellie Ohr testimony confirms her work for the CIA

Jeff Carlson
The Epoch Times
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 23:28 UTC
Nellie Ohr
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesFusion GPS contractor Nellie Ohr arrives for a closed-door interview with investigators from the House Judiciary and Oversight committees on Capitol Hill on Oct. 19, 2018.
Prior to investigating the Trump campaign for Fusion GPS, Nellie Ohr worked as contractor for the CIA for up to six years

Nellie Ohr, the wife of former high-ranking Justice Department (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr-both of whom played pivotal roles in the FBI's investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign-worked for the CIA as an independent contractor for as long as six years.

Ohr was hired as a researcher by Fusion GPS-the company hired by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to produce the now-infamous Steele dossier-in 2015.

She conducted open-source research into members of the Trump campaign for Fusion GPS-which describes itself as a commercial research and strategic intelligence firm-that may have been used in the Steele dossier. She also provided her husband with a USB stick containing all her research from her time at Fusion GPS to pass on to the FBI in late 2016 after she had officially left the firm.

Prior to her work for Fusion GPS, Ohr worked for an internal open-source division of the CIA named Open Source Works from 2008 to at least June 2010; it appears likely that she remained in that role until 2014.

Notably, Open Source Works is a separate entity from the more commonly known governmental open-source division, Open Source Enterprises, f
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Light Saber

Best of the Web: 'Constructive ambivalence' masks complex scheme to contain US in Middle East

Alastair Crooke
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 10:29 UTC
assad tehran
It was the eleventh, and perhaps the most important meeting between President Putin and PM Netanyahu on 27 February, writes the well-informed journalist, Elijah Magnier: "The Israeli visitor heard clearly from his host that Moscow has no leverage to ask Iran to leave - or, to stop the flow of weapons to Damascus ... Moscow [also] informed Tel Aviv about Damascus's determination to respond to any future bombing; and that Russia doesn't see itself concerned [i.e. a party to such conflict] ".

This last sentence requires some further unpacking. What is going on here is the mounting of the next phase of the Chinese-Russian strategy for containing the US policy of seeding hybrid disorder - and of pouring acid in to the region's 'open wounds'. Neither China nor Russia wish to enter into a war with the US. President Putin has warned on several occasions that were Russia to be pushed to the brink, it would have no choice but to react - and that the possible consequences go beyond contemplation.

In short, America's recent wars have clearly demonstrated their political limitations. Yes, they are militarily highly destructive, but they have not yielded their anticipated political dividends; or rather, the political dividends have manifested more as an erosion of US credibility, and of its appeal as a 'model' for the world to mimic. There is now no 'New' Middle East that is emerging anywhere that casts itself in the American mold.

Trump's foreign policy-makers are not old-style 'liberal' interventionists, seeking to slay the region's tyrannical monsters', and promising to implant American values: that wing of US neo-conservatism - perhaps unsurprisingly - has assimilated itself to the Democratic Party and to those European leaders desirous of striking (a supposedly morally 'virtuous') pose in contra-distinction to Trump's (supposedly amoral) transactional approach.

Comment: Yes indeed, it's all about containing the US, quietly, all the while the US believes it is containing Russia/Iran/anyone who dares defy it!

See also: Bolton and Netayahu meet to discuss staying in Syria, Iran and the occupied Golan heights

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Snakes in Suits

SOTT Focus: Rubio's Gloating Betrays US Sabotage in Venezuela Power Blackout

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 21:21 UTC
marco rubio scarface
Rubio el Cubano: 'Say hello to my little friend'
US imperialists are so desperate in their regime-change predations over Venezuela, they seem to have a problem controlling their drooling mouths.

The latest orgy of American gloating was triggered by the massive power outages to have hit Venezuela. No sooner had the South American country been blacked out from its power grid collapsing, senior US officials were crowing with perverse relish.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio - who has become a point man for the Trump administration in its regime-change campaign in Venezuela - was a little too celebratory. Within minutes of the nationwide power outage last Thursday, Rubio was having verbal orgasms about the "long-term economic damage"... "in the blink of an eye". But it was his disclosure concerning the precise damage in the power grid that has led the Venezuelan government to accuse the US of carrying out a sabotage.

Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez noted how Rubio, in his tweeted comments "three minutes" after the power outage, mentioned failure of "back-up generators" in Venezuela's main hydroelectric plant, known as the Guri Dam, located in Bolivar State. The dam supplies some 80 per cent of the Venezuelan population of 31 million with its electricity consumption.
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Vader

Best of the Web: US regime change plan hatched 8 years ago proposed Venezuelan power blackout as 'watershed event' to 'galvanize public unrest'

Max Blumenthal
The Grayzone
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 18:27 UTC
guaido duque pence
© Associated Press/Martin MejiaPretend "president" Juan Guaido, Colombian President Ivan Duque (C), and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence
A September 2010 memo by a US-funded soft power organization that helped train Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaido and his allies identifies the potential collapse of the country's electrical sector as "a watershed event" that "would likely have the impact of galvanizing public unrest in a way that no opposition group could ever hope to generate."

The memo has special relevance today as Guaido moves to exploit nationwide blackouts caused by a major failure at the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant at Guri dam - a crisis that Venezuela's government blames on US sabotage.

It was authored by Srdja Popovic of the Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), a Belgrade-based "democracy promotion" organization funded by the US government that has trained thousands of US-aligned youth activists in countries where the West seeks regime change.
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Broom

May to give MPs free vote on delaying Brexit, and the four amendments - UPDATE: Surprise! MPs delay Brexit deadline till end June


RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:20 UTC
Theresa May
© REUTERS / Christopher Furlong
PM Theresa May will allow UK MPs a free vote on extending Article 50 and delaying Brexit beyond the current March 29 deadline. It comes as the Tory government have been left reeling after two days of heavy defeats in parliament.

Tonight's vote represents day three of a series of Brexit votes that has seen May's deal inflicted with the fourth biggest defeat (149) in parliamentary history and MPs comprehensively instruct the government to rule out a no-deal scenario.

Brexit delay vote

The government motion to extend Article 50 beyond the official Brexit deadline day, seeks a delay until June 30, on the condition MPs back May's negotiated deal by March 20.

Comment: So the progress report is that there is no real progress, just more self-indulgent politicking and kicking the can down the road: British parliament nullifies Brexit referendum result by voting for UK to remain in EU

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: UPDATE 14 March 2019 - 21:30 CET

3 more months of Brexit: British MPs vote for delay

Which means the British will be contesting the European Parliament elections in May.

Which means Brussels is ok with British voters returning a phalanx of anti-EU candidates.

Which means, again, the UK isn't leaving the EU.

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Handcuffs

Message to IDF: Irish prosecutor charges British soldier for killing unarmed protesters 47 years ago

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:10 UTC
Bloody Sunday protest
© EPAFamilles and friends of those killed on Bloody Sunday in 1972 march in Derry in 2010.
Today there was solemn news on the BBC. The prosecutor in Northern Ireland is going to charge a British soldier with murder for two of the 14 killings on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry.

Bloody Sunday was January 1972. Forty-seven years ago.

The families of the victims have never forgotten the fallen. They marched through the streets yesterday. The arc of history is long but sometimes it really does bend toward justice.

The Guardian reminds us that the victims were unarmed protesters. Though there were also militants in the crowd.
The inquiry found the killings were unjustified and that none of the 14 dead was carrying a gun, no warnings were given, no soldiers were under threat and the troops were the first to open fire.
Wikipedia says that the British had a reason to suppress the protests.
The authorities expected that [the plans for the march] would lead to rioting.
You know just where this story is going. Since last March 30th, Israeli soldiers have shot thousands of unarmed Palestinian protesters before the eyes of the world. Or the eyes that aren't blinded anyway. Some 256 Palestinians have died. Thousands more have been wounded, many of them maimed.
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Folder

Lisa Page transcripts reveal details of anti-Trump 'insurance policy', i.e. Russiagate

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 19:50 UTC
Lisa Page
© Leah Millis / ReutersFormer FBI lawyer Lisa Page arrives for her House Judiciary Committee deposition
House Judiciary Committee Republicans on Tuesday released hundreds of pages of transcripts from last year's closed-door interview with ex-FBI attorney Lisa Page, revealing new details about the bureau's controversial internal discussions regarding an "insurance policy" against then-candidate Donald Trump.

Page first entered the spotlight in December 2017, when it was revealed by the Justice Department inspector general that she and then-FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok exchanged numerous anti-Trump text messages. The two were involved in the FBI's initial counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 election, and later served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team.

Among their texts was one concerning the so-called "insurance policy." During her interview with the Judiciary Committee in July 2018, Page was questioned at length about that text -- and essentially confirmed this referred to the Russia investigation while explaining that officials were proceeding with caution, concerned about the implications of the case while not wanting to go at "total breakneck speed" and risk burning sources as they presumed Trump wouldn't be elected anyway.

Further, she confirmed investigators only had a "paucity" of evidence at the start.
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X

Former head of state-run Iranian TV and radio reveals government blacklist on filmmakers, actors, other artists

Frud Bezhan
RFE/RL
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 19:35 UTC
Mohammad Sarafraz
Mohammad Sarafraz is the former head of the state-run entity that runs all radio and TV broadcasting in Iran. (file photo)
Mohammad Sarafraz is the former head of the state-run entity that runs all radio and TV broadcasting in Iran.
Thousands of Iranian filmmakers, actors, and other artists are on a secret government blacklist that bans them from working or having their work shown in public.

That is the startling revelation made by the ex-head of Iran's state-run TV and radio, the first time a former official has disclosed the existence of such a list.

Mohammad Sarafraz, the former head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-run entity that runs all radio and TV broadcasting in the Islamic republic, also revealed that the country's notorious intelligence services are involved in the crackdown.

Speaking to the pro-reformist Shargh daily on March 12, Sarafraz said "intelligence organizations" had "insisted that thousands of people engaged in arts, drama, and making films and TV series should be banned from presenting their works through IRIB."

Sarafraz also said the "interference and meddling of intelligence organizations in IRIB's internal affairs" was one of the reasons he abruptly resigned in May 2016, just 18 months into a five-year term as chief.

Sarafraz's brief term was marred by scandals and controversies, including an outcry over an alleged ethnic slur against the country's ethnic Azeri minority during a children's TV show in November 2015.

Comment: One of the downsides to living in a theocracy. One of the lessons Iran has learned over the past 30+ years is that the West wants its destruction and can't be trusted. One of the lessons its leadership hasn't learned is that coarse censorship and outdated religious morality laws aren't necessary in order to be sovereign and anti-empire.

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Snakes in Suits

Rebuke to Trump: US Senate clears Yemen War Powers Resolution

Ted Barrett
CNN
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 06:49 UTC
Bernie Sanders
© Zach Gibson/Getty ImagesSenator Bernie Sanders
The Senate voted Wednesday to curtail US military support for a Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has created a humanitarian crisis in that country, a vote seen as a rebuke of President Donald Trump's Middle East policies.

The vote was 54 to 46 with seven Republicans voting with Democrats.

The measure now goes to the House, which approved a very similar measure earlier this year, to be passed again. It's expected to be vetoed by Trump. Supporters of the War Powers Resolution argued the US shouldn't be involved in the war without explicit permission from Congress.

Opponents argued the US does not have "boots on the ground" and is offering noncombat technical assistance to Saudi Arabia, an ally. Several supporters made clear their votes were also aimed at expressing their frustrations with Trump's continued support for Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been implicated in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Comment: More from Sputnik, 3/13/2019:
The Trump administration opposes a Senate joint resolution to end the US role in the Yemeni war and the president's advisers recommend vetoing the measure, the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in a notice released on Wednesday.

"The Administration strongly opposes passage of S. J. Res. 7, a joint resolution that purports to direct the President to remove United States forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen, with certain exceptions", the notice said. "If S. J. Res. 7 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the joint resolution".

The White House said the resolution would have a negative effect on bilateral relations in the region as the United States seeks to prevent the spread of violent extremist groups like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Daesh terrorist group in Yemen.

The OMB notice said the resolution would raise serious constitutional concerns because it seeks to override the US president's constitutional powers as commander in chief. In addition, the notice said the measure would establish a bad precedent by defining defence cooperation, including aerial refueling, as "hostilities".
See also:

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