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USA

White House adviser Leonard Leo: Trump likely to take two more Supreme Court picks in the next few years

Ken Klukowski
Breitbart
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 10:40 UTC
Donald Trump
© AP / Charlie Neibergall
Washington, DC - Fox News Sunday this week profiled Leonard Leo, who assists President Donald Trump and White House Counsel Don McGahn in the historic task of filling a record number of judicial vacancies. Leo predicts that President Trump will have at least two more opportunities to appoint originalists to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could define his presidency as a lasting legacy for the nation.

President Trump makes his own decisions picking federal judges, and McGahn is the senior adviser most involved in presenting those choices. But the president must fill almost 170 judicial vacancies - a historic high number - and McGahn has countless duties as the president's top lawyer, daily engaged in top-level decisions on the full range of domestic and foreign policies. He puts out the innumerable fires that any leading lawyer in the White House confronts as he helps manage the activities of 2.7 million federal employees spending a budget of $4 trillion leading a nation of 326 million citizens.

With all those demands, who advises McGahn on judges? While he has deputies and associates in the White House Counsel's Office and works with a team in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, no one plays a larger role in equipping McGahn to advise the president on judges than Leo, the executive vice president of the Federalist Society.
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Brick Wall

How much of what the Mueller probe uncovers will be made public?

Eric Tucker
Yahoo! News
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
Robert Mueller
© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, FileIn this June 21, 2017, file photo, special counsel Robert Mueller departs after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. America has waited a year to hear what Mueller concludes about the 2016 election, meddling by the Russians and _ most of all _ what Donald Trump did or didn't do.
America has waited a year to hear what special counsel Robert Mueller concludes about the 2016 election, meddling by the Russians and - most of all - what Donald Trump did or didn't do. But how much the nation will learn about Mueller's findings is very much an open question.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein may end up wrestling with a dilemma similar to the one that tripped up fired FBI director James Comey: how much to reveal about Trump's actions absent an indictment against the president. Rosenstein, who lambasted Comey for disclosing derogatory information about Hillary Clinton despite not recommending her for prosecution, may himself have to balance the extraordinary public interest in the investigation against his admonition that investigators should not discuss allegations against people they don't prosecute.

Comment: That last sentence pretty much sums it up, if somewhat downplayed. After all the back and forth, the twists and the turns, the massively complicated shifting cast of characters, if the final findings of the Mueller probe are not released to the public, people are likely going to be a lot more than 'unsatisfied'.

See also:

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Document

IG report may prove Lynch promised Clinton camp she wouldn't let FBI 'go too far' with investigation


Conservative Fighters
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 19:45 UTC
loretta lynch
The biggest shoe might be getting ready to drop.

The inspector general's report on the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state has already documented just how riddled the bureau was with bias against Donald Trump when he was the Republican candidate for president.

Now, one conservative commentator is suggesting the report holds proof that the corruption went all the way to the top of the Justice Department.

Comment: See also:

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Better Earth

India moves to use rupees in oil trade with Iran to bypass US sanctions


Sputnik
Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:14 UTC
india oil
© AFP 2018 / MONEY SHARMA
Indian refineries bought a record 27.2 million tons of Iranian crude oil in the past financial year, which wrapped up in March 2018.

India plans to make some oil payments to Iran in rupees in a bid to avoid US economic pressure on Tehran, according to several Indian government sources quoted by Reuters.

"We are looking at reviving a rupee mechanism... we have to prepare ourselves," one of the sources told Reuters.

Another source said that India's Central Bank is yet to make a final decision on returning to the rupee payments for Iranian oil.

Comment: As countries are forced by US sanctions to find alternative ways to do global trade the US will find its position in the world increasingly obsolete, and once these these mechanisms are in place, it'll be nearly impossible to reverse: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire

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Megaphone

'Look what Trump made her do!' Nancy Pelosi finds Maxine Waters comments unacceptable, but it's Trump's fault

Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
pelosi waters
© Wire services
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized comments by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) over the weekend calling on the public to "harass" members of the Trump administration - but said the President was to blame for Waters's rhetoric.

Pelosi, who serves as House Minority Leader, and would be Speaker again if Democrats win the midterm elections, tweeted Monday morning:


Comment: Rep. Maxine Waters continues to prove herself to be mentally unstable in her constant hysterical rantings. While it's politically expedient for Pelosi to condemn what Waters said, it seems she just couldn't resist twisting things to blame Trump. Waters and Pelosi are like two peas in a pod.

See also:

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Rocket

Israeli missiles target Iranian cargo plane at Damascus International Airport - Syrian air defenses fire back


Sputnik
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 08:44 UTC
Damascus International Airport
© Photo: Ercan KarakasDamascus International Airport
According to reports, two Israeli missles landed in Damascus International Airport in Syria late Monday afternoon.

The Israeli Air Force was attempting to target an Iranian cargo plane that was unloading at Damascus International Airport, according to reports. However, other reports cite the target of the missiles as a military installation not far from the airport. Two missiles were apparently used.


Comment: Israel has conducted yet another aggression on Syrian soil by firing two missiles that landed outside Damascus International Airport as the Syrian Army continues major operation in the country's southwestern provinces.
The attack reportedly targeted an Iranian cargo plane while being unloaded. Israel believes it was a shipment of weapons meant for Iranian-backed fighters fighting rebel groups across Syria.

Raw footage posted online shows Syrian air defenses open fire in an attempt to down the missiles. It is not yet known whether the Syrian military managed to effectively intercept any of the two missiles.

The attack - confirmed by a Syrian military source - comes as the government troops continue to overrun jihadi groups in Daraa Province, recapturing a key town in the northeastern countryside.


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Attention

Under the guise of MINUSMA? Uncritical corporate news reports accompany arrival of Canadian military mission in Mali


Rogerannis.com
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Canadian Troops to Mali
Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan leaves after a news conference announcing Canada will send helicopters and support troops to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, March 19, 2018. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
Two typically uncritical news reports appear in corporate media in Canada on June 24, 2018 reporting on the arrival of the first of the Canadian military mission to Mali in north-central Africa:

* Canadian peacekeepers begin arrival in Mali as yearlong mission begins, by Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press, June 24 2018

* Mali 'far messier' than other peacekeeping missions, says Canada's defence chief, CBC News, June 24, 2018. The mission will eventually count 250 soldiers.

Although operating under the aegis of the United Nations Security Council's 'MINUSMA' mission (The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali), the Canadian intervention is "not necessarily a peacekeeping mission" according to General Jonathan Vance, Canada's chief of defence staff.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

'Child separation' issue has been used to distract from the biggest scandal in US political history


State of the Nation
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
spygate


SPYGATE GOES NUCLEAR

Make no mistake about it, the utterly fake furor over "child separations" being systematically generated 24/7 by the CIA-controlled Mockingbird Media is by purposeful design.

SPYGATE is blowing up in fits and starts like Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. And Deep State knows that it needs to change the public discourse before it goes into a free-fall collapse.

The FBI ... and DOJ ... and CIA ... and the rest of the U.S. Intelligence Community are trying to contain an eruption (read MEGA-scandal) that refuses to be mitigated. Trump won't let it.

It's no coincidence that the bogus 'child separation' issue blew up (was actually blown up by all the usual suspects) along with the release of the scathing OIG Report (Office of the Inspector General).

That the final IG Report was actually A Complete and Total Whitewash by Deep State Agent Michael Horowitz shows just how dangerous this sordid political saga is to the power elite. The establishment knows that SPYGATE has the potential to expose the entire underbelly of the National Security State. This will in turn reveal to the American people that the 17 agencies which comprise the Intel Community are only there to protect the elites, not the U.S. citizenry.

Comment: Indeed, but to see how most of corporate media news is covering this story, you'd still think that Trump was somehow at fault for how he conducted his election campaign - not that there were major forces at work in Washington who acted criminally against him.

While it would be nice to see a lot of the Deep State actors involved go to jail - including Obama and Hillary - we'd do well to remember how dangerous cornered animals are.

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Bomb

Bombshell: Top Obama advisor Ben Rhodes admits Obama armed jihadists in Syria

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sun, 24 Jun 2018 21:45 UTC
Ben Rhodes
© AP via Commentary MagazineDeputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes and President Obama
Someone finally asked Obama administration officials to own up to the rise of ISIS and arming jihadists in Syria.

In a wide ranging interview titled "Confronting the Consequences of Obama's Foreign Policy" The Intercept's Mehdi Hasan put the question to Ben Rhodes, who served as longtime deputy national security adviser at the White House under Obama and is now promoting his newly published book, The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House.

Rhodes has been described as being so trusted and close to Obama that he was "in the room" for almost every foreign policy decision of significance that Obama made during his eight years in office. While the Intercept interview is worth listening to in full, it's the segment on Syria that caught our attention.

Comment: And then there's this little gem from Obama's Secretary of State, John Kerry, basically admitting to the use of ISIS and other head-choppers against the government of Bashar al-Assad:
Back in late September, the New York Times published an interesting piece: Audio Reveals What John Kerry Told Syrians Behind Closed Doors. (PolitRussia's Ruslan Ostashko commented on it here.) But the NYT piece left out THE most damning statements made by Kerry. The full video is below, followed by one of the biggest revelations:

26:09: "I mean, the reason Russia came in is because ISIL was getting stronger. Daesh was threatening the possibility of going to Damascus and so forth. And that's why Russia came in. Because they didn't want a Daesh government. And they supported Assad. And, and, uh, and we we know that this was growing. We were watching. We saw that, that Daesh was growing in strength. And we thought Assad was threatened. Uhh, we thought our, we could probably manage, uh, you know, that Assad might then negotiate. Instead of negotiating, you've got Assad and you've got Putin to support him."
So there you have it. From the horse's mouth. The U.S. knew that Russian intervention in Syria was for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of destroying ISIS and stopping them from taking control of the country. You know, 'ISIS', the mass murderers who have been slaughtering Europeans. And yet, the US responded to Russian efforts by repeatedly accusing Russia of 'killing civilians' and attempting to thwart Russian efforts at every turn.

In addition, as ISIS was getting stronger, threatening to take over Damascus, the US government sat back and did nothing in the hope that Assad would capitulate to ISIS. Does that make ISIS effectively a proxy US military force used to overthrow a legitimate government? You bet it does. Does that mean that the US and EU governments also saw attacks by ISIS in Europe as a useful way to garner public support for US and EU military involvement in Syria to overthrow Assad? We'll leave that one up to you.

All of this also gives the lie to the scurrilous campaign of lies and disinformation waged by the US and EU governments against the Russian operation in Syria. This was a campaign that the Russians knew was coming, because U.S. "diplomats" threatened them with that very prospect (see link below)

Maria Zakharova: Obama Admin Threatened Russia Would "Feel Pain" for Intervening in Syria - Proved That Evil Is Claimed Right of Mightiest Nation

So can we expect now that all those inveterate cretin political pundits in the US and Europe who still insist that the US and its 'partners' are 'supporting democracy' in Syria will now accept the simple and long-established truth: that for the last 15 years, the cabal of psychopaths that run the USA do exactly the opposite of what they claim to do, and that they have been waging a war OF terrorism, not a war ON terrorism?


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2 + 2 = 4

How the Obama administration created Europe's refugee crisis

Eric Zuesse
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 21:12 UTC
refugee crisis
The current US President, Donald Trump, claimed on June 18th, that Germany's leadership, and the leadership in other EU nations, caused the refugee-crisis that Europe is facing:

"The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"

Comment:

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