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What's behind Grassley and Graham's letter recommending criminal investigation of Chris "Dirty Dossier" Steele?

Byron York
Washington Examiner
Sat, 06 Jan 2018 20:39 UTC
grassley
© AP Photo/Cliff OwenSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa (pictured right), and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote a Thursday letter to the Justice Department about Christopher Steele, the author of the Trump dossier. Here's what seems to be going on.
There's been a lot of confusion about the decision by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and crime subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham to refer Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier, to the Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation.

The two senators sent a brief letter Thursday to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher Wray. The letter, which was unclassified and released to the public Friday, was a cover letter for what Grassley and Graham called a "classified memorandum related to certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets regarding the so-called 'Trump dossier' that Mr. Steele compiled on behalf of Fusion GPS for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and also provided to the FBI."

Grassley and Graham said that, on the basis of the classified information laid out in the memo, "we are respectfully referring Mr. Steele to you for investigation of 18 U.S.C. 1001, for statements the committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained in the dossier." (18 U.S.C. 1001 is the same federal false statements law that special counsel Robert Mueller has used to charge Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos in the Trump-Russia investigation.)

That's all Grassley and Graham said, or at least all they said that was released to the public. The classified memo, of course, was not released at all.

Comment: See also:

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Hardhat

Kushner Companies being investigated by SEC for shady use of visa program for foreign investors

Joshua Eaton
ThinkProgress
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 20:13 UTC
nicole kushner
© ALBEE ZHANG/AFP/GETTY IMAGESNicole Kushner Meyer, third from left, at a May 7, 2017, event where she urged wealthy Chinese invest and get a visa in return
The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into the Kushner Companies' use of an obscure and controversial visa program that lets foreign investors effectively buy an immigration visa to the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The company, which is owned by the family of senior White House advisor and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, received a subpoena last May for information related to its use of the EB-5 visa program, according to the report, which is based on anonymous sources "familiar with the matter." The news follows on a report in The Wall Street Journal last August that The Kushner Companies received a similar subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York.

"Kushner Cos. utilized the program, fully complied with its rules and regulations, and did nothing improper," general counsel Emily Wolf said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal at the time. "We are cooperating with legal requests for information."

The SEC investigation is being run out of the commission's Texas office, in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, The Journal reports.

Comment: The Kushners have a storied history of corruption, crime and shady deals of all sorts: Jared Kushner: Friend or foe? Son of a gangster, son-in-law of President Trump

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Dollars

Drudge outs Bannon and Breitbart's new benefactor

Larry O'Conner
Washington Examiner
Thu, 04 Jan 2018 19:48 UTC
steve bannon
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Bannon loses financial backing from Rebekah Mercer

New media pioneer Matt Drudge has used his influential Twitter feed to report that Steve Bannon has aquired a new benefactor for his political and media ambitions.
Steve Bannon finding opportunity and happiness in the arms of a new billionaire benefactor, Miles Kwok, aka Guo Wen Gui. Mercer is yesterday's mashed potatoes... pic.twitter.com/m88VI09Leg

- MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) January 4, 2018
[Ed note: The tweet has been deleted]

The tweet shows a picture of Bannon smiling with a gentleman Drudge identifies as "Miles Kwok aka Guo Wengui." The tweet is classic Drudge with his trademark wit: "Steve Bannon finding opportunity and happiness in the arms of a new billionaire benefactor, Miles Kwok, aka Guo Wen Gui. Mercer is yesterday's mashed potatoes..."

Comment: More from the New York Times:
[...]
The Mercers were blunt on Thursday in cutting the cord, reiterating support for Mr. Trump while disavowing Mr. Bannon's remarks and disowning his political endeavors. "My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements," Rebekah Mercer, Mr. Mercer's daughter, said in a statement. "I have a minority interest in Breitbart News and I remain committed in my support for them."

The reference to Breitbart seemed an implicit threat. Mr. Bannon is chairman of Breitbart, and many staff members there believe there is a strong chance he might lose the job, though he was dismissive of that possibility on the site's daily editorial conference call on Thursday night, according to one person with knowledge of the call.

Mr. Bannon's predicament highlights a stark reality in American politics, unchanged even after Mr. Trump's convention-defying victory: The influence of even the most influential political strategists is inextricably linked to the donors behind them and the politicians in front of them.

"If Trump is openly breaking with him, that dramatically lowers his capital," said Dan K. Eberhart, an Arizona oil investor and Republican donor who has spoken to Mr. Bannon about his plans to build an antiestablishment political operation. "He is a strategic thinker, and a lot of the things he said make sense, but this stuff from the book - I'm not going to defend that."

[...]

The loss of the Mercer family's support will be particularly hard for Mr. Bannon to overcome. The Mercers began drifting from Mr. Bannon months ago amid concerns about how the controversy he was generating was affecting the family, according to family associates. The Mercers were upset further when they learned that Mr. Bannon had privately boasted that they would back him if he ran for president, according to one family associate.

The family has pumped tens of millions of dollars into businesses and groups that formed the platform from which Mr. Bannon has waged his populist antiestablishment crusade. Besides their share of Breitbart, they are invested in the political data firm Cambridge Analytica, where Mr. Bannon sat on the board, and the investigative nonprofit group Government Accountability Institute, which Mr. Bannon co-founded.


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Attention

Democracy as a weapon of mass destruction: US actions in Syria, Ukraine, Iran


Sputnik
Sat, 06 Jan 2018 19:51 UTC
neighborhood dust
© Molly CrabappleWe did this for you. Assad must go.
The US has taken advantage of the recent mass antigovernment protests in Iran to reinforce pressure on that country, in line with President Trump's already harsh stance against Tehran. The human-rights-based mantra being employed evokes memories of regime change in Ukraine, and the de-facto US intervention in Syria.

Sputnik takes a look back at US rhetoric and actions in Syria and Ukraine, and compares them with the rhetoric being used in relation to the recent unrest in Iran.

Syria: From Support for Peaceful Protesters to Support for Daesh

What began as a peaceful protest movement against Syrian authorities in 2011 turned into a bloody civil conflict which virtually destroyed the Middle Eastern country by 2017. Before demonstrations started in March 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had been in office for almost 11 years, vacillating between traditional one-party rule and democratic political and social reforms. While on the surface, it may have seemed that the protests were 'warmed up' by the winds of the so-called "Arab Spring," it soon became evident that something much bigger was at play.
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Question

Paul Ryan accused of interfering in Mueller's investigation

cpowell
Bluedot Daily
Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Paul Ryan
© unknownSpeaker of the House Paul Ryan
The staggering number of Republicans caught up in the scandal surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election keeps growing by the day, as Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI both pursue leads and interview key players.

And it's far from just Donald Trump, his cabinet, and his campaign/administration staffers embroiled in the corruption. It extends to many in the United States Congress as well.

Comment: Grasping at straws. Tidbits seem to be the hallmark of this professional investigation - especially when there is so little to go on and even less to judge.

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Telephone

Trump ready to talk with Kim under certain conditions


RT
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 00:55 UTC
KimTrump
© extra.ie
Donald Trump has said he is "absolutely" willing to talk on the phone to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Tuesday's North-South meeting yields positive results.

President Trump, who has shown nothing but contempt for his North Korean counterpart, spoke to the media at Camp David Saturday, once again claiming credit for facilitating intra-Korean dialogue. Pyongyang and Seoul earlier this week reactivated a communication hotline that's been silent for nearly two years.

"He [South Korean President Moon Jae-in] actually thanked me," Trump said recalling a recent conversation with the South Korean president. "He said, and a lot of people have said, and a lot of people have written, that without my rhetoric and without my tough stance... And it is not just the stance, this is, this is what has to be done if it has to be done, that they wouldn't be talking about Olympics, they would not be talking right now." Trump himself, of course, was the loudest of the "lot of people" who said that.

He suggested that he'd be willing to speak directly with Kim if certain conditions were met. "Sure, I always believe in talking," the US president said, adding that Kim "knows I'm not messing around, not even a little bit." The specific preconditions, however, were not expanded on. "If something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity, that would be a great thing for the world," he added.


Comment: The video portion that involves North and South Korea and Trump's willingness to talk to Kim occur in two segments: starting at 9:58 and again at 13:20. As for the rest, the president touches on numerous topics on how the US moves forward, in a calm, organized and informative Q&A - worth the listen.

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Clock

Judge removes curfew for Imran Awan, ex-Dem IT aide, continues GPS device requirement

Alex Pappas
Fox News
Fri, 05 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Awan
© Disobedient MediaImran Awan, ex-IT aide
A federal judge has ended curfew restrictions for ex-Capitol Hill IT aide Imran Awan but is still requiring him to wear a GPS monitoring device as he awaits trial on fraud charges and prosecutors argue he is a flight risk.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan revoked Awan's curfew restrictions and stopped requiring him to be drug tested, according to a Wednesday court filing. But Chutkan kept in place the GPS monitoring device and requirement that he not travel outside a 150-mile radius of his home.

Awan, a former IT aide for Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has been enrolled in the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) with conditions that he abide by an electronically monitored curfew of 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. and a limit on traveling beyond 150 miles from his residence. Awan and his attorney had attempted to lift those conditions, including the electronic monitoring bracelet.

But federal prosecutors had warned that could give Awan an opening. "The government asserts that Awan is a flight risk and that his participation in HISP is by far the least restrictive condition that can be imposed on him to ensure his return to court," they argued.

A grand jury in August returned an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, with a total of four counts, which included federal bank fraud and conspiracy. Awan has pleaded not guilty to all charges.


Comment: The DNC scandal has many conspiratorial facets and this is only one of them!

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Attention

Gorbachev urges leaders of Russia and US to 'prevent collapse' of INF treaty


RT
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 14:43 UTC
Gorbachev
© BBCFormer Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has called on Russia and the US to come to terms over the crucial 1987 nuclear arms control treaty. Its breakdown may trigger the collapse of international disarmament, he said.

Speaking to Kyodo News, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said: "Now the task of preserving disarmament agreements is one of the most important."

The international nuclear disarmament treaties (the INF Treaty, the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) "all are parts of a single architecture that can collapse if one of its elements is undermined," Gorbachev said. "I still hope that the leaders of our countries have enough wisdom to prevent this."

"I urged the presidents of Russia and the US to tackle the problem personally; to reaffirm commitments to the treaty, and to instruct diplomats and militaries to solve the problems," he said.

"We must not forget that the movement towards a world without nuclear weapons is the most important obligation of the nuclear powers enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty."

Comment: Negating a long-standing treaty in order to embellish defenses has nul purpose, unless the defenses are not what they seem or the intent for peace has changed.

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Attention

DC Press Corps knew for a year Killary was behind the Russia dossier and they hid it from the public

Cristina Laila
Gateway Pundit
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Newsheadlines
© unknown
The DC press corps and prominent Washington journalists knew Hillary Clinton paid for the dossier as early as September of 2016 yet they suppressed the information and acted as if the salacious document was legit intel.

The liberal mainstream media withheld this from the American public for a year! This is why Americans loathe the mainstream media. They are nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democrats and Deep State hacks.

Paul Sperry of The New York Post said an ex-Trump campaign advisor told him prominent DC journalists admitted to him DURING the campaign they KNEW Hillary Clinton was behind the Russia dossier yet they continued to report as if the salacious document was legit intelligence!


Comment: Are we, at this point, shocked or surprised?

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Bad Guys

Mueller's Russia probe grand jury looked like 'a Bernie Sanders rally,' says witness

Richard Johnson
Page Six
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 19:24 UTC
mueller Trump
The federal grand jury handing down indictments for special counsel Robert Mueller doesn't appear to include any supporters of President Donald Trump, according to one witness who recently testified before the panel.

"The grand jury room looks like a Bernie Sanders rally," my source said. "Maybe they found these jurors in central casting, or at a Black Lives Matter rally in Berkeley [Calif.]"

Comment:

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