Puppet MastersS


Black Cat

Fusion GPS scandal implicates MSM in possible pay-to-publish scheme

Lee Smith
The Federalist
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 19:12 UTC
Fusion GPS TRump Steele dossier
Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson (left); President Donald Trump (center); Ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele (right).
A court filing from the U.S. district court for DC shows that Fusion GPS paid several journalists and was paid by a media organization.

Court filings released last month by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence suggest growing evidence of a pay-to-publish scandal that may shake large parts of the Washington press corps.

At the center of the controversy is the Washington DC-based communications shop Fusion GPS, which assembled and distributed the so-called "Steele dossier." It's named after former British spy Christopher Steele, who is believed to have authored the document alleging that Donald Trump and members of his campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Steele acknowledges that some of the dossier's information is sourced to Russian officials, including a "top-level intelligence officer."

In its other Russia-related work, Fusion GPS engaged in a media campaign opposing a law targeting foreign nationals across the globe for human rights abuses. In its advocacy against the Global Magnitsky Act, a worldwide extension of the U.S. legislation imposing sanctions on Russian officials and other figures associated with the Russian government for their involvement in the detention and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, Fusion GPS mirrored Kremlin talking points.
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Info

Uzbekistan finally makes decree banning evidence obtained under torture


bne IntelliNews
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 22:13 UTC
Mirziyoyev
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decree on November 30 making evidence obtained under torture inadmissible in the Central Asian country's courts.

Uzbekistan is known as one of the world's worst human rights abusers. The decree is likely meant to put to rest years of international concerns about torture in Uzbekistan and rights groups' accusations regarding the widespread abuse by Uzbek authorities in the ex-Soviet country's police stations, jails, and prisons.

The decree states that any evidence obtained by the country's investigators through "torture, psychological and physical pressure and other cruel, inhumane methods that humiliate the dignity of parties in criminal cases or their close relatives" cannot be admissible in court, as well as any other information obtained via the violation of the rights of suspects and defendants.

Comment: Good move on Mirziyoyev's part. Now, it's just up for all those countries who already have such legislation to actually start putting it into practice. We won't hold our breath:

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Star of David

Netanyahu's real agenda for controlling Golan Heights is oil for lsrael

F. William Engdahl
Newsbud
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 22:00 UTC
putin assad
© Sputnik/ Michail Klementjew
On November 26 Israel's Jerusalem Post reported a sensational offer from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Israel's Netanyahu conveyed via Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the Israeli paper, Assad is ready to agree to a demilitarized zone of up to 40 kilometers from the Israeli border in the Golan Heights as part of a comprehensive agreement between the two countries in return for an Israeli guarantee it will not continue to try to remove Assad's regime from power. The discussion took place in the recent surprise meeting in Sochi between Assad and Putin, just prior to Putin's meeting with the leaders of Turkey and Iran to discuss Syria.[1]

The report also claims that Putin then called Netanyahu to relay the message, and that the Israeli prime minister said he would be willing to accept the deal, but that Israel's goal of eradicating Iran and Hezbollah from the country would remain in place, suggesting a typical Netanyahu ploy to have his cake and eat it too.[2] The problem to date with the report of a possible Assad offer to demilitarize the zone around the Golan Heights is that it is not confirmed independently by any Syrian government sources nor Russian, only by an "unnamed Israeli source" quoted in the Kuwait newspaper Al Jarida and later carried in Israeli media.

A more reliable indicator of Netanyahu policy towards Syria in the Golan region is a statement he made on November 13 when he declared that Israel will continue to take whatever military action inside Syria it deems necessary: "I have also informed our friends, firstly in Washington and also our friends in Moscow, that Israel will act in Syria, including in southern Syria, according to our understanding and according to our security needs." [3]

In April 2016, at the first-ever Israeli Cabinet meeting held in the illegally-occupied Golan Heights, Netanyahu declared defiantly that the occupied Golan Heights, "will remain under Israel's sovereignty permanently." [4]
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Safe

Saudi "corruption crackdown" sparks flood of money-laundering inquiries in Swiss banks

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 22:03 UTC
swiss bank
© mago stock&people / Global Look Press
There are two divergent views on the crackdown on corruption by Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), which led to the arrest and detention of 200 princes, ministers and former ministers.

On one hand, it was a masterstroke which will earn political capital with the Saudi people and catalyse an Arab Spring in which MBS is a modernizing reformer who will liberalise Islam.

On the other, it was nothing other than a cynical and desperate attempt to tighten his grip on power and weaken competing clans within the ruling family (especially sons of former King Abdullah) as the nation risks splitting apart due to political and economic fissures. Last week, we noted that former head of the National Guard and senior member of the Abdullah clan, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, purchased his freedom for a cool $1 billion.

If you put yourself in the position of being a Saudi prince or wealthy Saudi official, whatever your opinion of MBS's motivation, you would be forgiven for taking additional measures to make it harder for his henchmen to seize your wealth if you found yourself in the crosshairs.

Comment: This is rich. The Saudis have been laundering money in Swiss banks for decades. All part of "business as usual". But now that MBS has publicly acknowledged the graft - and made an effort to go after it - the banks are left in the position of perhaps having to go along with it. What do they do? Acknowledge that certain Saudis have been laundering money for years, and the banks haven't done anything about it? Deny it? It's a bit of a pickle.

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Info

Another staffer accuses Conyers of inappropriate touching - in church

Benny Johnson
The Daily Caller
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:51 UTC
conyers
Michigan Congressman John Conyers is facing new accusations of sexual assault by another member of his former staff.

Monday, Attorney Lisa Bloom, released a sworn affidavit by former Conyers staffer, Elisa Grubb, accusing the congressman of regular, sexually explicit behavior toward staff.

The accusations included detailed descriptions of how Conyers would call staff into his office while he was naked and how he would regularly grope their "buttocks and thighs."

One particularly distressing detail claims Conyers sexually assaulted Grubbs while in church. "Rep. Conyers slid his hand up my skirt and rubbed my thighs while I was sitting next to him in the front row of the church."

Grubbs claims there were other witnesses to this event.

Comment: It's confirmed: Conyers has retired: Hypocrisy? Hysteria? See our discussion on the wave of "sexual harassment" accusations:

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Arrow Down

San Francisco removes Kate Steinle memorial at family's request - also because it was created by Alt-Right group

Victoria Taft
IJR
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 21:31 UTC
steinle memorial
A memorial to Kate Steinle, the 32-year-old Bay Area woman shot and killed while on a walk with her dad, has been removed by the city of San Francisco, and the reason why is a stunner.

On Thursday, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was found not guilty of murder and involuntary manslaughter in Steinle's killing. Instead, the jury only found him guilty on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Garcia Zarate, a seven-time felon and five-time deportee, was in the U.S. illegally.

People brought flowers, cards and other items to the Steinle memorial, which sprang up around a bench on the pier where she was killed.

But now, the shrine has been removed.

And the people asking for its removal are the biggest surprise.

CBS San Francisco reported that Steinle's parents asked for the shrine's removal. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's spokeswoman Deirdre Hussey said:
The Steinle family placed a request with the Mayor's Office for the bench to remain as it was intended - a simple memorial in recognition of Kate and her spirit.
But the reason isn't simply because the family wants to leave Steinle's bench unadorned.

Comment: And the politicization continues:

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War Whore

Mainstream media ignore Trump officials' collusion with Israel


RT
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 20:16 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersFormer U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
Media hysteria over alleged Russian collusion continues, even as President Donald Trump's short-lived national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about speaking with Russian officials to advance Israeli interests.

On Friday, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators twice during an interview with the FBI in January, according to a signed Statement of Offense.

An indictment released by the office of special prosecutor Robert Mueller says that Flynn spoke with Sergey Kislyak, then-Russian Ambassador to the United States, twice in December, when Trump was president-elect.

According to the court documents, Flynn contacted Kislyak on December 19, 2016, the day after former President Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions against Russia as punishment for alleged Russian "meddling" in the 2016 US presidential elections.

While various talking heads have claimed that Flynn was working to undermine Obama's sanctions, the documents only show Flynn asked Russia to "refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia."


Comment: So basically Flynn was doing what a good diplomat should do, engaging in dialogue with another country in order to de-escalate what could otherwise become a tense situation. It goes to show you how messed up the world is when he gets indicted for doing the right thing.


Shortly after, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would not expel any US diplomats, but rather invite them to the Kremlin for holiday celebrations.
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Document

New report says Manchester attacks could have been avoided


RT
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:13 UTC
manchester attack mourning
© Andrew Parsons/ Global Look Press
The attack on the Manchester Arena that killed 22 people in March could have been stopped if MI5 had investigated intelligence it had on the bomber, according to a major government report.

David Anderson QC, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the "true significance" of Salman Abedi, who carried out the ISIS-linked mass atrocity, "was not appreciated at the time."

Anderson said that, while he cannot prove if the attack could have been stopped, it "might have been averted had the cards fallen differently."

There was intelligence on Abedi received by MI5 in the run up to the attack that was not related to terrorism but linked to other forms of criminality, possibly gang activity, Anderson added.

He added that the intelligence services had made decisions about Abedi that were understandable but, in hindsight, were wrong. This applied particularly to the fact that Abedi could have been stopped at the airport on his return from Libya, but he was not."With the benefit of hindsight, intelligence was misinterpreted in 2017," Anderson said.
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Dollar

Trump supporters are helping pay Flynn's lawyer bills

Max Kutner
Newsweek
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 21:09 UTC
flynn
© SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTYMichael Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, leaves a courthouse in Washington, D.C., on December 1.
Since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on December 1 to lying to federal agents, his allies have expressed support and donated to a legal defense fund that his family set up months ago.

The office of special counsel Robert Mueller announced the charge against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying about conversations he had last December with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. at the time. Flynn has agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team.

Two of Flynn's siblings, Joseph Flynn and Barbara Redgate, established the Michael T. Flynn Legal Defense Fund in September. A link to the fund appears on Flynn's Twitter profile, and his family members have tweeted the link.

"The costs of legal representation associated with responding to the multiple investigations that have arisen in the wake of the 2016 election place a great burden on Mike and his family," the website for the fund says. "They are deeply grateful for considering a donation to help pay expenses relating to his legal representation."

The website says that it will accept only donations from United States citizens and permanent residents and that all the money will go toward "attorneys' fees and other costs related to legal representation."

Comment: Flynn is the sacrificial lamb sent to slaughter. The Russiagate investigation is a fraud and a joke. It was created without any evidence to support the crimes it alleged to investigate. Now, it is resorting to frivolous charges like the one against Flynn, which were only possible because of FBI entrapment. While the deluded Never-Trumpers are ecstatic, if things continue as they have been proceeding, Mueller's investigation will go down in history as a monumental waste of time and money, proving the opposite of what it set out to prove, and leaving the deep-state establishment with a whole lot of egg on their faces.

See also:

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Star of David

In Advance of Embassy Move, Expecting Violence, US Consulate Forbids Employees From Traveling to Jerusalem's Old City, West Bank


Sputnik
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:04 UTC
US Israeli flags

The US Consulate General in Jerusalem has forbidden government employees and their families from traveling to Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank. They have also advised US citizens to be careful while traveling through those areas, anticipating protests and demonstrations regarding the prospective move of the US embassy in Israel.

Comment: Tomorrow (Wed.) Trump is expected to announce that the US recognizes Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Bad idea, unless it's some kind of 'bold' move to push the farcical "Arab Israeli peace process" forward by tacitly recognizing that the 'one state solution' is the only solution. Given that Israel has established hundreds of illegal settlements on Palestinian land, this would indeed seem to be the reality on the ground.

Israel will, of course, welcome this move, but do they realize that in any future single state it will likely be forced to cease its persecution of Palestinians and allow them to live in Israeli as equal citizens? This is why the Israelis have preferred, for almost 70 years, to refuse both the one state and two state solutions. Neither presents a palatable choice for the rabid racists and 'chosen people' that have been running Israel for so long.

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