Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

Devin Nunes on the Memo: Democrats 'not honest actors,'FBI/DOJ 'have work to do'


RT
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 16:14 UTC
nunes FBI memo
© Nicholas Kamm / Agence France-PresseDevin Nunes
Senior officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI need to address abuses listed in the explosive GOP memo, said House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes. He dismissed criticism from Democrats as dishonest.

Declassified by President Donald Trump and published by the committee Friday over strong objections by Democrats, the DOJ and the FBI, the memo lays out the origins of the warrant to spy on Trump adviser, Carter Page, in the dossier funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Nunes (R-California) appeared on Fox News' 'Special Report' Friday evening and revealed that he commissioned the report, but that the bulk of the work was done by several committee staffers and Representative Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina). Gowdy, a former prosecutor, was the one to review the FBI/DOJ applications for a search warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

"They wouldn't have received a warrant without the dossier," Nunes told Fox's Bret Baier. "The dossier was presented as if it was true."

Comment:

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Chess

Kurz welcomes Orban to Vienna claiming to act as 'bridge-builder' between Visegrad states and Brussels


The Local
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:49 UTC
Kurz and Orban
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Tuesday that he aimed to ease east-west strains within the European Union, as his new right-wing government welcomed Hungary's incendiary Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna.

"In particular since the start of the migrant crisis (in 2015) tensions have grown in the European Union," Kurz told a joint news conference with Orban in the Austrian capital.

"Our great aim in Austria is to be a bridge-builder in this respect between the Visegrad states and the countries in western Europe," the 31-year-old conservative said.

A rift has emerged in recent years between Brussels and the Visegrad group of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia -- and in particular with Warsaw and Budapest.

A sweeping revamp of state institutions by the nationalist governments in both countries has raised worries about the rule of law, judicial independence and media freedom.
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Magnify

Ill-gotten gains: UK will seize assets held by foreign criminals, says security chief


RT
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 15:34 UTC
Properties
© Hannah Mckay / ReutersOne in six new properties in London were bought using offshore funds between 2014 and 2016.
The UK has introduced sweeping new powers which, according to the country's security minister, will be used to seize the assets of foreign criminals.

Speaking to the Times, cabinet minister Ben Wallace said that he would use "the full force of the government" to stifle the activities of investors using Britain as a haven for their ill-gotten gains. Wallace was speaking following the introduction of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) this week, created as part of the Criminal Finance Act, which allows authorities to freeze assets exceeding £50,000 in value if their owners are unable to explain how they acquired them.

"Unexplained wealth orders can be used against everyone from a local drug trafficker to an international oligarch or overseas criminal," Wallace told the paper.

"If they are an MP in a country where they don't receive a big salary but suddenly they have a nice Knightsbridge townhouse worth millions and they can't prove how they paid for it, we will seize that asset, we will dispose of it and we will use the proceeds to fund our law enforcement."

Comment: See also: Chelsea Clinton, who used embezzled Haiti disaster funds to pay for her wedding, lectures Trump on Haiti

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Briefcase

Germany is 'cooking the books' to mask trade surplus as Trump gears up for showdown with EU over trade

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Telegraph
Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:31 UTC
Germany trade surplus
© Hamburg TourismusThe port of Hamburg is bursting with German exports. There are far fewer imports.
Germany is greatly understating the true size of its current account surplus in order to deflect mounting global criticism, according to an exposé by German economists.

The annual surplus in 'real' terms - the figure that matters in trade relations - may be as much as €80bn (£70bn) higher than the sum declared by the statistics office and submitted to international bodies.

"They're cooking the books so that the surplus does not look as if it is increasing. What they are doing is a form of 'political smoothing', but very few people understand this," said Professor Heiner Flassbeck, Germany's former state-secretary of finance and now at Hamburg university.

The allegation comes at a sensitive moment, just as US President Donald Trump gears up for a showdown with Europe over trade. "I've had a lot of problems with the European Union, and it may morph into something very big from a trade standpoint," he told broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Comment: EU spokesman: Bloc stands ready to react 'swiftly' to any Trump trade curbs

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Bizarro Earth

Turkish General Staff detail results of military offensive in Afrin, Syria


Sputnik
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 15:57 UTC
Operation Olive branch afrin syria kurds
© Reuters/ Khalil AshawiTurkish forces are seen near Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, Syria January 22,2018
The Turkish Armed Forces have killed 74 more militants of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia) during the military operation in Syria's northern district of Afrin.

"The Turkish Air Force has hit 15 targets, including hideouts, firing points and weapons depots of PYD, YPG and IS terrorist groups during Operation Olive Branch. The aircraft participating in the operation have successfully returned to their bases. At least 74 terrorists were killed, bringing the total number [of killed militants] since the beginning of the operation to 897," the statement obtained by Sputnik read.

The Turkish General Staff commented on the development of the operation saying that the military advance was ongoing as planned.

Comment: There would seem to be a certain amount of political theater going on. It's highly unlikely Turkey would make such a move without Russia approval. And while Assad has no choice but to publicly announce his outrage, it's possible that Russia has counseled him as to the potentially deeper advantages of Turkey's actions, such as the elimination of foreign mercenaries who have joined YPG, and the containment of forces that might disrupt SAA operations elswhere.

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Newspaper

New sanctions on Russian debt could hit US hard, says US Treasury


RT
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:14 UTC
Steven Mnuchin
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersU.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin
The US Treasury has warned that imposing new sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt market could have massive repercussions for the US, a new unclassified document warns.

The memo, obtained by Bloomberg, outlines the risks of expanding existing sanctions on Russia to include new sovereign debt and derivatives. The Treasury did not release the report publicly.

The document warns that sanctions "could hinder the competitiveness of large US asset managers" and have "negative spillover effects into global financial markets." This could lead to a "Russian retaliation against US interests."

The report concludes that given the size of Russia's economy and its "prevalence in global asset markets," the effects of sanctions would be damaging to the US. The Russian sovereign debt and derivatives market is one of the largest among emerging markets.

Comment: Pathetic: US Treasury releases "Naughty Kremlin List" - includes entire Russian government

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Russian Flag

Countering Kortunov's bizarre case for Russia partnering with 'Deep State'

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 14:33 UTC
Democrats USA
The latest policy recommendations by the influential Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), one of the most well-respected and listened-to experts in Russia - to say nothing of the entire former Soviet space - is causing quite a stir by waxing nostalgically about the Obama years and even suggesting that Moscow should embrace the American "deep state".

Mr. Andrey Kortunov is one of the most brilliant minds in Russia and earned his place as the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), and his words accordingly carry much weight for the fact that they set the tone for countless other analysts in the country and even an untold number of policymakers who look to him for guidance.

That's why it caused quite a stir when he published his latest recommendation earlier this week at the famous Valdai Club titled "Russian Approaches to the United States: Algorithm Change Is Overdue", in which he waxed nostalgically about the Obama years and even suggested that Moscow should embrace the American "deep state".
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MIB

Russian TV report: US intelligence may be behind ultra-right 'monarchist' group in Germany

Leo Standish
Russia Feed
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel frown funny
© Fabrizio Bensch / ReutersGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Among the list of European countries that have alt-right political movements on the rise, Germany is not to be overlooked.

The following clip (with transcript below) takes a look at Germany's alt-right/monarchist movement.


Comment: Though not as extreme as the above group, political parties opposed to mass migration and the EU are growing throughout Europe: Cui bono?

Can we say 'strategy of tension'?

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Folder

Flashback Nancy Pelosi's father Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. was as crooked as they come

Phillip Crawford Jr.
Friends of Ours
Sat, 04 Jul 2015 18:42 UTC
Thomas D'Alasandro Jr.
Nancy Pelosi's father Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. allegedly was a "constant companion" of notorious mobster Benjamin "Benny Trotta" Magliano and other underworld figures during his political years in Baltimore, MD. D'Alesandro was a Congressman for five terms from 1938 to 1947, and Baltimore mayor for three terms from 1947 to 1959. Magliano was identified by the FBI as one of Baltimore's "top hoodlums," and he widely was acknowledged as the representative for New York's Frankie Carbo who made his bones with Murder, Inc. and later became a made guy in the Lucchese family. The allegations are included in D'Alesandro's recently-released FBI files which Friends of Ours has obtained pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

In 1947 the FBI investigated Magliano for securing a draft exemption from Selective Service for himself and prize fighters he controlled by falsely representing they had essential employment at American Ship Cleaning Company which was operated by John Cataneo. In fact, Magliano and his boxers had no such employment, and they were convicted with Cataneo in federal court for their unpatriotic draft-dodging scam. Peter Galiano, one of the convicted boxers, told the FBI in January 1947 that "Thomas D'Alesandro was a constant companion of John Cataneo; Benjamin Magliano . . . and [redacted]":
It was reported that these individuals had worked hard for Thomas D'Alesandro's reelection to Congress and on his campaign at that time to become Mayor of Baltimore. It was stated that John Cataneo and Magliano during the time of this campaign were under Federal indictments for violation of the Selective Service Act and for fraud against the Government and were subsequently convicted in Federal court. Cataneo allegedly admitted giving large sums of money toward the Democratic campaign and stated that he would receive the sanitation contracts for Baltimore if Mr. D'Alesandro was elected mayor.

Comment: What a lovely family. Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. See also:

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Attention

Macron: Europe and US are responsible for Libya crisis


RT
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 13:43 UTC
Sirte, Libya
© Ahmed Jadallah / ReutersSirte, Libya
The EU and the US are "indisputably" responsible for the crisis triggered by their intervention in Libya, says the French president, who has called for "military and police" action against human trafficking in the African state.

"Europe, the US and other countries bear a responsibility for what is happening in the region, this is indisputable," Emmanuel Macron said. His criticism of the NATO intervention in Libya in 2011 came during an address in Tunisia Thursday.

The West "collectively plunged" the war-ravaged nation into what he called an "anomie" without being able to manage the situation afterwards. Anomie, a French term, refers to a state of lawlessness, in which a society can't provide moral support to an individual in that society. "The idea of unilaterally and militarily resolving the situation of a country is a false idea," said the French president.
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