The FBI is reportedly investigating New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office hiring practices.

According to the Albany Times-Union, senior staffers who were hired to work for the governor were allegedly listed and being paid by other state agencies, which would make the Democrat's staff and budget look smaller than it really was.

The administration received a subpoena for documents months ago and is cooperating, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, adding that other New York governors, presidents from both political parties and even the U.S. Department of Justice have all used similar staffing methods going back decades.

"In this environment, anyone can ask about anything," Azzopardi said. "Given that the federal Department of Justice and the White House have a long history of utilizing this practice, perhaps the FBI can investigate them when this charade is over."

... or is he forcing the long-overdue issue of Palestinian statehood front and center?

Promises, promises. Nearly all U.S. presidents of the last thirty years have made campaign promises to move the American embassy in Israel to the contested city of Jerusalem in order to secure the Israel lobby's support. But once in office, none have ever followed through. That is, until now. Last week Trump dropped a matzo ball-encrusted bombshell on Palestinians, the Middle East and much of the whole world when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and said that he intends, in fact, to follow through on his promise to move the embassy ... in one or two years.

Was Trump merely making good on a deal he made for campaign funds, and not seeing how it could harm a 'dead in the water' peace process? Or was this decision part of a larger plan to team up with Saudi Arabia and Israel in a plan to topple Iran? On the other hand, Trump might be playing Netanyahu in order to get greater concessions for Palestinians during peace talks later. And how does Trump's Israeli settlement profiting son-in-law Jared Kushner fit into all of this?

Whatever the answers, the Middle East is now, more than ever, riled up with indignation and sees Trump's decision as symbolic of a U.S. choice to effectively end Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty.

Join us this week on Behind the Headlines as we follow this story, Brexit, the ongoing Russiagate Mueller investigation and more. Tune in at 6-8pm CET (4-6pm UTC / 12-2pm EST).

*Shlemiel: A jewish or Yiddish term meaning "unlucky bungler" or "chump." It is a common archetype in Jewish humor, and so-called "shlemiel jokes" depict the shlemiel falling into unfortunate situations.

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The gradual acceptance of digital currencies, with major exchanges about to launch bitcoin futures trading, may prompt some oil producing nations to ditch the US dollar in crude trade in favor of cryptocurrencies, an oil analyst says.

Russia, Iran and Venezuela have more than one thing in common. All three are major oil producing nations dependent on the dollar since the global crude market is traditionally dominated by contracts denominated in US currency.

Moscow, Tehran and Caracas are also facing US sanctions; penalties which are proving effective since the sanctioned countries are dependent on the US dollar to sell their crude.

Like a headless turkey running around in circles, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's anti-Trump investigation is dead, even if he does not yet realize it. While his investigation stumbles onward, with life support provided by the biased media, from a legal perspective the viability of any criminal case that Mueller could possibly bring has been effectively gutted thanks to the news (suppressed for months by Mueller's team) that the FBI's "key agent" in both the Russia investigation and the Clinton email probe was an ardent Hillary supporter with an anti-Trump bias.

Under federal law, a prosecutor is required "to disclose exculpatory and impeachment information to criminal defendants and to seek a just result in every case." Specifically, pursuant to Giglio v. United States, prosecutors are obligated to provide defendants with impeachment evidence, which includes, according to the DOJ's guidelines, evidence of a witness's biases, "[a]nimosity toward defendant," or "[a]nimosity toward a group of which the defendant is a member or with which the defendant is affiliated."

As a result, in any prosecution brought by Mueller against a Republican target, defense counsel would be entitled under the Constitution to all evidence in the government's possession relevant to exploring the apparent biases of FBI agent Peter Strzok and his animosity toward Trump and the Republican Party. This, in and of itself, could be a case-killer because it is very unlikely that Mueller or the DOJ would want defense counsel poring through all the records and documents, emails, and texts in the DOJ's and Strzok's possession revealing the agent's biases since this could fatally undermine any other cases or investigations the agent has worked on-such as the FBI's decision to recommend charging General Flynn with lying to federal agents even though Hillary Clinton's besties, Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, were given a free pass despite apparently doing the same thing.

After decades of waste, overpayments, trillions of missing or improperly accounted for dollars, and most recently losing track of 44,000 US soldiers, the Pentagon is about to undergo its first audit in history conducted by 2,400 auditors from independent public accounting firms to conduct reviews across the Army, Navy, Air Force and more - followed by annual audits going forward.

The announcement follows a May commitment by Pentagon comptroller David Norquist, who previously served as the CFO at the Department of Homeland Security when the agency performed its audit. "Starting an audit is a matter of driving change inside a bureaucracy that may resist it," Norquist told members of the Armed Services Committee at the time when pressed over whether or not he could get the job done at the DHS.

According to the DoD release:

The audit is massive. It will examine every aspect of the department from personnel to real property to weapons to supplies to bases. Some 2,400 auditors will fan out across the department to conduct it, Pentagon officials said.

"It is important that the Congress and the American people have confidence in DoD's management of every taxpayer dollar," Norquist said. -defense.gov

The Congressional Black Caucus PAC (CBC PAC) spends lavishly on upscale resorts and hotels, catering at exclusive restaurants, and on fundraising and Broadway tickets, according to a review of campaign finance records.

The CBC PAC, which is the fundraising arm of the Congressional Black Caucus, puts far more money towards administrative and fundraising purposes than it donates to candidates, the intended purpose of the political action committee.

The CBC PAC claims its mission is to increase "the number of African Americans in the U.S. Congress" and to "support non-Black candidates that champion our interests, and promote African American participation in the political process-with an emphasis on young voters," according to its website.

The Russian government has reportedly drafted a list of 126 companies (primarily enterprises owned or operated by the state) that will be permitted to reach state procurement deals in secret. Beginning on December 15, these companies' contracts with the government will move to Russia's platform for defense orders, where they won't need to disclose their clients.

According to Kommersant, the measure is most likely designed to counter future U.S. sanctions against persons and businesses with ties to the Russian government.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday jogged the memory of the Western partner about their "successes" in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan in comment to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's statement that Russia has "arrogated" the defeat of Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) in Syria.

"The Western partners have been saying in the recent days that it was not Russia but them, the coalition to defeat Islamic State in Syria. The last to say this was French Foreign Minister Mr. Le Drian," she wrote on her Facebook account. "Dear Sirs, stop it! Your successes are Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. Come on, be proud of them."

Yes, the blockchain is truly revolutionary.Yes, bitcoin is Tulipmania 2.0.

Yes, cryptocurrency is a nail in the coffin of the bankster parasites.

Yes, digital currency is a tool of the totalitarian tyrants.

No, these statements are not contradictory. But don't worry if you think they are. You're just a victim of the bitcoin psyop.

What's the bitcoin psyop? Well, look at a headline like this:

"Former Chairman of Federal Reserve to Speak at Blockchain Conference"

If you immediately think "Aha! I knew it! The Fed is behind this bitcoin nonsense, after all!" then you might want to stop and contemplate this headline from two years ago:

"Ben Bernanke: Bitcoin Has 'Serious Problems'"

Do you think there's some kind of contradiction here? Or do you think that Bernanke has "flip-flopped" on the issue? Or do you suspect that Bernanke was always secretly behind bitcoin but couldn't admit it until now?

If so, then you have fallen for an embarrassingly simple trick. That trick is to use the words "bitcoin" and "blockchain" and "cryptocurrency" and "digital currency" interchangeably, as if they are all the same thing. They are not.

Confused? Well, fear not! Our good friends at the Bank for International Settlements have written a handy-dandy article that explains everything to you in simple, everyday language. They've even illustrated that article with easy-to-understand infographics!

A powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militant commander has visited the Lebanon-Israel border expressing support for the Lebanese and Palestinians against the Jewish state.

Qais al-Khazali of the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, a group that staged spectacular attacks against U.S. troops before their withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 appeared in military uniform in a video while touring the border with Israel along with members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group.

The visit was blasted by Prime Minister Saad Hariri who said in a statement that it is a violation of Lebanese, law adding that it happened six days ago. Hariri ordered that al-Khazaali be banned from entering Lebanon again.

The video was aired by Asaib Ahl al-Haq al-Ahd TV station Thursday night.