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As expected: Nellie Ohr invokes marital privilege to cut off Congressional questions about discussions with husband Bruce

Cristina Laila
The Gateway Pundit
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 19:25 UTC
Bruce Nellie Ohr Fusion GPS Trump dossier
© Fox NewsBruce and Nellie Ohr
Nellie Ohr, wife of twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr appeared on Capitol Hill Friday to face lawmakers in a closed-door grilling.

Mrs. Ohr was supposed to appear for a deposition last month but she was refusing to cooperate with lawmakers.

Now this...

Nellie Ohr invoked marital privilege on Friday preventing her from answering questions about her husband Bruce Ohr.

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Attention

Pompeo: Migrant caravan is using human shields to break through the border with Mexico


RT
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 23:36 UTC
Child human shield
© Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had some choice words about the thousands-strong crowd of Central American migrants surging toward Mexico, urging the country to take any and all steps necessary to halt the human wave.

"They are putting women and children in front of this caravan to use as shields as they make their way through. This is an organized effort to come through and violate the sovereignty of Mexico," said Pompeo, following his "good conversation" with Mexican President Enrique Pena-Nieto.

The Mexican government is "fully engaged" and is making all the necessary decisions to address the issue, Pompeo emphasized, expressing support for the government's plans to call in the UN to set up a migrant processing center. "We are jointly very focused on the caravan that is making its way through," he reiterated.

His calm words belied the urgency of the situation. Migrants are already piling up at checkpoints on the Guatemalan-Mexican border. One thousand had arrived in the northern Guatemalan city of Tecun Uman this morning. By the afternoon, one group had broken through a fence and crossed a bridge into Mexico, where they met with a group of 50 Mexican police wielding riot gear and pepper spray. The government reported four of its officers were injured in the clash.

Comment: This situation is becoming more volatile and challenging as the migrant hordes move north - patience is fraying as outbreaks of violence increase.

More from RT:
"A fairly big percentage of those people are criminals, and want to come into our country," Trump said on Friday, while visiting Arizona. "They're not coming into this country. They might as well turn back." "It's being stopped as of this moment by Mexico, and we appreciate it very much," Trump added, noting that if Mexican authorities fail to contain the caravan, "we're calling up the military, not the guard" to secure the US-Mexican border.

On Thursday, Trump referred to the caravan as an "assault on our country," citing "criminal elements and drugs pouring in." He encouraged Mexico to "stop this onslaught." He later thanked Mexico for sending police and riot gear to the Mexico-Guatemala border.

Earlier on Friday, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray vowed to meet the "challenge" of the caravan, after holding talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Mexico City.
Mexico Migrant caravan
© Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
Photos posted online show some of the migrants breaking down the fence's gate and continuing towards the border bridge.



Mexican television footage showed the migrants being met by dozens of riot police on the bridge who blocked them from entering Mexico. Some could be seen jumping into the river below to get around the block.
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Briefcase

Mueller report PSA: Be prepared for disappointment

Darren Samuelsohn
Politico
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 05:20 UTC
RobMueller
© Win McNamee/Getty ImagesWhile Robert Mueller is under no deadline to complete his work, several sources tracking the investigation say the special counsel and his team appear eager to wrap up.
And be forewarned that the special counsel's findings may never be made public.

President Donald Trump's critics have spent the past 17 months anticipating what some expect will be among the most thrilling events of their lives: special counsel Robert Mueller's final report on Russian 2016 election interference.

They may be in for a disappointment.

That's the word POLITICO got from defense lawyers working on the Russia probe and more than 15 former government officials with investigation experience spanning Watergate to the 2016 election case. The public, they say, shouldn't expect a comprehensive and presidency-wrecking account of Kremlin meddling and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump - not to mention an explanation of the myriad subplots that have bedeviled lawmakers, journalists and amateur Mueller sleuths.

Perhaps most unsatisfying: Mueller's findings may never even see the light of day.

Comment: Not another 'nothing burger'!!!

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Target

America's deafening response to assassination attempt on General Miller, top US commander in Afghanistan

Adam Garrie
Eurasia Future
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
General Austin S. Miller
© YouTubeUS General Austin S. Miller
Yesterday, two Americans and Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq were killed after Afghan guards opened fire shortly after the conclusion of a meeting between Raziq, Kandahar's governor and General Austin S. Miller, the Commander of US troops in Afghanistan. Today's blood-soaked events make it abundantly clear that the "just a bit more time until peace" narrative that the US publicly offers as well as the "Taliban vs. everyone else" narrative that the Kabul government continues to proffer are equally detached from the realities on the ground.

Yet in spite of the fact that the attack was an un-ambiguous assassination attempt on General Miller, most major US media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post and Drudge Report have buried the story far below the latest updates on the Khashoggi murder and news surrounding the forthcoming midterm elections. While the mysterious and tragic fate of Jamal Khashoggi and forthcoming US elections are indeed important stories, the attempted assassination of America's top soldier in Afghanistan has even greater long term significance. As the US war in Afghanistan represents the longest ever military operation of American forces overseas, it remains possible that a theatre of operations that has existed throughout three presidencies may well last well into a fourth or even a fifth. To put matters into further perspective, long after Turkish police finish their investigation into what happened to Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and long after November's US elections are over, there is a high likelihood that American troops will retain their presence in Afghanistan for a variety of strategic reasons (however misguided and counterproductive some of them are).

While American news followers have been questioning the implications of Washington's long standing alliance with Saudi Arabia in light of Jamal Khashoggi's apparent murder, this same demographic ought to be questioning America's long running war in Afghanistan in light of the fact that yesterday's events made it clear that the life of the top US commander is not safe in the country whose official government is an ally of the United States.

Comment: Control of information equates control of the collective mindset - thus choreographed containment of both actions and reactions of the sheeple.

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USA

US Justice Dept. charges Russian national for alleged election meddling


Sputnik
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 21:33 UTC
Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova/DoJ
© Facebook/CC BY-SA 3.0 / w/User/Coolcaesar/United States Department of Justice/KJNElena Alekseevna Khusyaynova • US Department of Justice
The US Justice Department announced, commenting on the charges, they believed that the conspiracy sought to conduct what they called "information warfare against the United States."

The Justice Department stated that Russian national Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova had been charged with alleged interference in US elections, including the upcoming midterms. According to the department, she had acted through a vast social media effort that was aimed at trying to influence American public opinion.

US President Donald Trump has commented on the situation saying that the Russian national had "nothing to do" with his campaign.

According to the Justice Department, Khusyaynova, 44, from St. Petersburg, Russia, helped control the funds and allegedly aimed to use fake social media posts to influence the American voters.

However, the criminal compliant did not include any allegation that the Russian national or a broader conspiracy had any effect on the election outcome.

Comment: The US wants bigger fish to fry than Khusyaynova. Whether she or those she worked for are criminals, remains to be proven. Meanwhile, accusations are cheap and the parameters of 'wrong-doing' seem to be morphing to suit a particular outcome.

More from The Telegraph, Oct. 19, 2018:
US government on Friday charged a Russian woman with being part of a Kremlin-backed plot to interfere with next month's midterm elections.

Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, became the first foreigner to be charged in connection with the upcoming elections, rather than the 2016 presidential race.

She was accused of having being, since 2014, the chief accountant for "Project Lakhta", a $35 million operation linked to the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, which led Russian social media disruption in 2016. She is accused of conducting "information warfare" against the United States.

Khusyaynova continued to file detailed multi-million dollar budgets through 2017, and into 2018, including expenses for placing disruptive adverts on Facebook, promoting social media posts, registering domain names, and paying activists.

The operation was said to have been funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, who is a friend of Vladimir Putin, and two companies he controls. ...

The latest charge, against Khusyaynova, was not brought by Mr Mueller as he is only looking into the 2016 campaign, not 2018.

Prigozhin, who has been sanctioned by the US government, has been nicknamed "Putin's chef" because he has organised banquets for the Russian president.
And a brief mention from Facebook:
Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, of St. Petersburg, Russia, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States for managing the financing of the social media troll operation that included the Internet Research Agency.


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Star of David

Former Israeli PM Olmert: 'Netanyahu's time is over', revive the 2008 peace plan


RT
Sat, 20 Oct 2018 15:00 UTC
Palestinian guy stone military
© Mohamad Torokman/ReutersPalestinian resident throws stone at Israeli military vehicles in West Bank.
It will take mere months to strike a deal with Palestinians if Israel returns to its 2008 two-state proposal, and the only ones opposing the plan are Benjamin Netanyahu and his circle, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

"There is no question in my mind that Netanyahu's time is over. He's gone," Olmert told TV channel i24NEWS on Friday, explaining that the current PM lacks "moral courage" to introduce a settlement, similar to the one the government laid out ten years ago.

Olmert, who governed Israel from 2006 to 2009, offered nearly complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the West Bank and the Arab-populated East Jerusalem, with placing its Old City under international trusteeship. He also proposed the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to allow Israel to keep a small portion of the Palestinian land, containing major Jewish settlements. In return, Tel Aviv was to cede roughly the same amount of land to the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian leadership rejected the plan back then, but Olmert believes that if such a deal would reappear of the table today, things would be completely different. He is "certain" that the Palestinians will sign off to the same model now.

"I know Palestinians. Many of them think that their failure to sign an agreement with me towards the end of 2008 was a historic mistake," the former Kadima party leader said. He added that the only ones opposing such a deal would be "extremists" like Netanyahu and his allies who reject the two-state solution.


Comment: Olmert calls for a reprise of his plan - perhaps worth a second review.

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Star of David

A pro-Palestine Malaysian NGO brings ICC lawsuit against Israel, the first ever filed


The New Arab
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
West Bank
© Al Jazeera/KJNThe West Bank
More that 600,000 Israeli Jews live in illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

A Malaysian NGO has become the first organisation in the world to file a lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming that the state has violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.

The resolution, which was passed in 2016, reaffirmed that Israeli settlements on Palestinian land since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a violation of international law.

The Malaysia-based MyAqsa Foundation said Israel's continued settlement activity in the occupied territories is an insult to the UN's authority.

"This resolution requires Israel to immediately stop all illegal activities in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank," MyAqsa chief executive Noorazman Mohamed Samsuddin was quoted by Free Malaysia Today as saying. "MyAqsa is convinced that the violation of Resolution 2334 will cause chaos and security instability not only in West Asia but also throughout the world," he added.

MyAqsa's CEO said that the group formalised the claims against Israel on Wednesday. He added that studies by his NGO had shown that Israel has violated at least 28 Security Council resolutions.

Comment: Unfortunately, the United Nations is impotent when it comes to loggerheads with Israel, nor does Resolution 2334 have any teeth. Commendations to the Malaysian organization for the attention-getting lawsuit and setting an example in making a stand for Palestinian justice.

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Attention

Iran is supplying Hezbollah with precision devices says US media report


Sputnik
Sat, 20 Oct 2018 07:05 UTC
C-130 Iranian plane
© AP Photo/Ebrahim NorooziIranian C-130 plane
Iran has been supplying Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group with components required to turn its rockets into precision-guided missiles, US media reported Friday.

According to Fox News, flight data suggested a delivery was made earlier this week by a cargo plane which left Tehran on Tuesday and flew back Thursday, with stops in Syria, Lebanon and Qatar.

Intelligence sources told the news channel the plane carried GPS devices and other components needed to build precision weapons at Iranian factories in Lebanon, in addition to plants in Syria and Yemen.

Western powers and Israel have repeatedly accused Iran of arming Hezbollah, including by operating factories in densely populated Beirut. The militant group said it would not respond to every allegation coming from Israel.
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Bad Guys

Trump declares 'hardened criminals' are storming Mexico border: 'These aren't little angels!'


RT
Sat, 20 Oct 2018 19:05 UTC
migrants scle wall honduras mexico
© Reuters / Edgard Garrido
Reacting to reports that a caravan of over 4,000 Central American migrants had breached the southern Mexican border, President Trump slammed the "hardened criminals" and lamented "incompetent" US immigration policy.

Echoing the criticism of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called out the migrants for using their women and children as "shields" during clashes with Mexican police, Trump mocked the "bad hombres" streaming northward as he addressed a defense industry roundtable:
"To show you how brave they are - they put all the women and children up front."
After initially breaching the fence at a checkpoint earlier today, migrants clashed with a group of about fifty police armed with riot gear and pepper spray. Four officers were reportedly injured in the melee. Others used improvised rafts and ropes to cross the river that forms much of the Guatemala-Mexico border. Mexico has dispatched 500 federales to its southern border in the hope of stemming the migrant flow.

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Stock Down

If investors dump Saudi Arabia here is the worst case scenario that could develop

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sat, 20 Oct 2018 18:39 UTC
Mohammed bin Salman
© Simon Dawson/BloombergMohammed bin Salman's ‘2030 Vision’ finally put in real doubt by one man's probable murder?
So many Wall Street CEOs and other titans of investing and industry have pulled out of next week's "Davos in the Desert" conference that even the Ritz-Carlton, owner of the Riyadh venue hosting the conference (as it did last year), has been slammed by human rights groups over its continued support for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and his brutal regime. In perhaps the biggest blow to the conference's clout, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has opted not to attend, eve as President Trump has insisted that Saudi Arabia's story about the circumstances surrounding the (now confirmed) death of critical journalist (and former government insider) Jamal Khashoggi is "credible". To deflect blame away from MbS, the Saudi leadership has orchestrated a purge of the country's senior intelligence apparatus and arrested 18 other Saudi nationals for their "involvement" in orchestrating and carrying out the killing. And in the mother of all ironies, the royal family has tasked MbS with running a ministerial committee responsible for restructuring the Saudis foreign intelligence service.

Though Silicon Valley and Wall Street would probably have you believe that they aren't simply ready to "forget" about Khashoggi, the reality is slightly more nuanced. But the simple fact is that both industries have become too reliant on Saudi money to simply walk away, as Bloomberg and the New York Times laid bare in a batch of stories that exposed this corporate indignation as little more than posturing.

Comment:

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