© TruthdigDaniel Jones: Mimicking the Clinton campaign, his Democracy Integrity Project (TDIP) hired Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to conduct new opposition research, paying them millions of dollars.
A declassified congressional report confirms that Daniel Jones, a former intelligence committee staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, hired Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to push the Russian collusion narrative against Donald Trump.
According to the report, Jones, who runs an investigative outfit called the Penn Quarter Group (PQG), told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in March of 2017 that he had retained the services of Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to "continue exposing Russian interference" in the 2016 election. Steele is the former British spy who authored the infamous unverified dossier of allegations against President Donald Trump.
Although Jones' name is redacted in the report, the biographical details plus previous reporting on the matter make clear that he is the individual referenced. The report also revealed that Jones told federal investigators that he had raised $50 million from "7 to 10 wealthy donors located primarily in New York and California."
As The Federalist
first reported in February,
Jones previously worked as a senior intelligence staffer for Feinstein, who currently serves as the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is currently investigating Fusion GPS. In that capacity, she violated committee precedent by unilaterally releasing a transcript of the testimony of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson without disclosing that a top former staffer of hers was directing the firm's efforts during the Judiciary committee's investigation.
RTSat, 28 Apr 2018 23:10 UTC
© Saudi Press Agency/ReutersUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir.
The secretary of state has commenced a three-day tour designed to rally American allies in the Middle East, as new sanctions against Iran loom and the nuclear deal with Tehran hangs in the balance.
"We are urging nations around the world to sanction any individuals and entities associated with Iran's missile program, and it has also been a big part of discussions with Europeans," Brian Hook, a senior policy advisor on Pompeo's team, told journalists shortly after landing in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Saturday evening.
Hook also accused Iran of supplying the rocket that Riyadh said was launched by the Houthis from Yemen into Saudi Arabia on Saturday, which killed one man.
"Iran's missiles prolong war and suffering in the Middle East, they threaten our security and economic interests and they especially threaten Saudi Arabia and Israel," Hook said. Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign against the Houthi insurgents in Yemen has been underway for just over three years. Almost 6,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the war, over half the Yemeni population has been left without enough food, and basic infrastructure has been largely
reduced to rubble.
Comment: Pompeo's hurried visit to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan suggests a plan is afoot - just in time for the May 12th JCPOA recertification.
RTSat, 28 Apr 2018 23:25 UTC
© Carlos Barria / ReutersFrench President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC.
A potential US walkout from the Iran nuclear deal may bring the region to the brink of a war, French Ambassador to Israel Hélène Le Gal said. She believes that Tehran would "immediately" revive its alleged nuclear weapons program.
Speaking to Ynetnews on Saturday, Le Gal warned of "huge consequences" if US President Donald Trump follows through on his pre-election pledge and pulls the US out the UN-sponsored JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), which he has long bemoaned as the "worst deal" ever negotiated.
She argued that as soon as Washington exits the seven-party agreement, it will become defunct, as Iran will follow suit.
"I don't think Iran will stay in the deal if the US is going [to leave]," she said. "The possibility of war exists," she warned. "If the nuclear deal is cancelled, Iran will immediately restart this [nuclear] program. We need the JCPOA to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons."
The warning comes just days after French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his commitment to the deal during his three-day trip to Washington, but touted a framework for more constraints to put on Iran after 2025, when the JCPOA is set to expire.
Along with Iran's already smothered nuclear program, Macron seeks to stifle its ballistic missile development and restrict its influence in the region, including in Syria and Yemen.
RTSat, 28 Apr 2018 19:45 UTC
© Stephanie Keith / ReutersNikki Haley, US Representative, United Nations
The US is unhappy that too many members of the United Nations fail to vote the way the US wants them to. It prepared lists of those that are safe from America's aid-cutting ire and those who should be afraid - like Cuba and Iran.
The Trump administration has been pursuing the 'America first' agenda quite aggressively. US Representative at the UN Nikki Haley was quite vocal in pressuring other members of the organization to do more for Uncle Sam.
The UN, as an organization, and other nations, Haley insists, have long been taking US financial contribution for granted while Americans didn't get what they deserved for it.The latest release of the State Department's annual report on voting at the UN General Assembly came with a note to the same tune.
"The American people pay 22 percent of the UN budget - more than the next three highest donor countries combined. In spite of this generosity, the rest of the UN voted with us only 31 percent of the time, a lower rate than in 2016," the US envoy
said in a statement.
Comment: NH is reminding us why everyone hates the mafia. See also:
© Screenshot/CNNKang Kyung-wha
Earlier, we talked a bit about how crestfallen the Democrats, the NeverTrumpers, and their media allies are.
The possible end of the Korean War has ruined their day. Most of the usual press outlets are doing what they can to play down the President's involvement in current historic events. Most are trying to make sure you know that they're observing President Trump's role in the Korean peace process with an intense degree of skepticism - a stance we know would never have been considered if Barack Obama had achieved, or even attempted, such a feat.
A quick spin around Twitter and you'll see people claiming that maybe the never-ending war wasn't all that bad, and that Trump had nothing to do with Kim Jong Un's sudden change of heart.
Unfortunately, Christiane Amanpour is there to set them right. As you watch the following clip, remember; she's with CNN. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when the network heads watched this... I have a hunch the CNN bullpen is a pretty miserable place today. ...More so than usual, that is.
RTMon, 30 Apr 2018 01:52 UTC
© Hannah McKay / Reuters
UK PM Theresa May has accepted the resignation of Amber Rudd as Home Secretary after new evidence suggested her knowledge of a migrant removal target system.
Rudd has been under increased pressure to resign for more than a week since she was accused of misleading Parliament over whether her department had targets for the removal of immigrants.
In a letter to May, Rudd said she was standing down on Sunday night, once again claiming that she mistakenly misled parliament and had no knowledge of the target system.
RTMon, 30 Apr 2018 00:29 UTC
© Reuters
Disagreements over the 2015 nuclear deal are growing sharper as Tehran says it will not make any additional concessions, while Mike Pompeo and Benjamin Netanyahu lob barbs at Iran during the state secretary's visit to Israel.
"
The nuclear deal or any other subject under its pretext is not negotiable in any way," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, following a phone call on Sunday.
"Iran will not accept any restrictions beyond its commitments," Rouhani was cited as saying by his press service in relation to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that eased sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for a slowdown of its nuclear program.
Comment: Why did the US turn so crazy over 'the Iran deal', a multinational agreement it too signed off on barely 3 years ago?
Back then, in July 2015, the US and its allies assumed that Syrian president Assad was a dead man walking, and it did indeed, at that point, look that way. With the 'Shia Crescent' from Lebanon to Iran broken in two by knocking out Iran's key ally in Damascus, the Americans, Israelis and Saudis were confident that they could control Iran's economic development - up to and including dictating the terms of gas/oil and infrastructure deals. They may even have been in the planning stages of next knocking out the Iranian 'regime' by spreading proxy war from 'Islamic State' across the Iranian border.
But then, three months after the conclusion of the JCPOA, the Russian military legally intervened in Syria, beat ISIS senseless, rescued Assad, strengthened inter-regional cooperation between Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus and Hezbollah, and thereby turned the Iran deal - from the perspective of America and its regional allies - into "the worst deal, EVAR!" because now Iran could strengthen ties with Europe through economic partnership while thumbing its nose at the US because Russia had its back.
This was the worst possible development for the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia, which is why they desperately want to 'fix' it, while they still can.
But can they? Again we see just how royally Russia screwed them all by intervening in Syria on September 30th, 2015...
Syrian state news reports a possible foreign attack on military bases in Hama and Aleppo provinces, citing multiple reports and videos now circulating which show massive fireballs lighting up the night sky.
Dozens of pro-government social media accounts are
claiming an Israeli strike on Brigade 47 weapons depot in Hama Sunday night. Syrian state media says rockets from an "unspecified enemy" hit military locations inside Syria, citing "a new aggression with hostile missiles" but stopped short of identifying the aggressor.
Danny Makki - a well-known journalist reporting from on the ground in Syria - also reports an official military source as saying
"A hostile Foreign attack took place at locations in Hama and Aleppo at 10:30 local time tonight."
Comment: UPDATES
Initial reports of mass injuries and perhaps casualties following the Iranian strike appear accurate, and as reporters on the ground located at the Hama National Hospital show, "civilians are donating blood for the Soldiers & Civilians who were wounded by the Israeli Israel Air Strikes tonight."
Latest reported figures are 26 dead and 60 wounded.
The Israelis have
refused to comment, as usual. The bombing itself seems to have
generated the equivalent of a 2.6 earthquake. According to Al-Ackbar journalist Firas al-Shoufi, initial reports indicate the Israelis used bunker-buster munitions.
Nickolay Mladenov
Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process/Personal Representative of the Secretary‑General Nickolay Mladenov warned of escalating tensions, foreign interference, and growing risks of miscalculations in Syria, Yemen and Gaza, saying:
"What happens in the Middle East today has immediate implications for the rest of the world. Everyone in the (region) needs to step back from the brink" to prevent further deterioration of deplorable and dangerous conditions.
Addressing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, he stressed Gaza is "coming apart as we speak," adding another Israeli war on the Strip would be catastrophic for its long-suffering people.
He called blockade-caused humanitarian crisis conditions in Gaza an injustice no one should have to endure.
RTSun, 29 Apr 2018 08:24 UTC
© Viktoria Ivanova / Sputnik
, analysts told RT.
Footage of screaming bewildered civilians and children being doused with water, presumably to decontaminate them, was a key part in convincing Western audiences that a chemical attack happened in Douma.
Russia brought the people seen in the video to Brussels, where they told anyone interested in listening that the scene was staged. Their testimonies, however, were swiftly branded as "
bizarre and underwhelming" and
even an "obscene masquerade" staged by Russians.
Comment: For more on the involvement of Daniel Jones with Fusion GPS, see also: Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, claims Fusion GPS funded by Soros