Puppet Masters
Appendix 1 identifies the total violations by the FBI of the so-called Woods Procedures, the process by which the bureau verifies information and assures the FISA court its evidence is true.
The Appendix identifies a total of 51 Woods procedure violations from the FISA application the FBI submitted to the court authorizing surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page starting in October 2016.
A whopping nine of those violations fell into the category called: "Supporting document shows that the factual assertion is inaccurate." For those who don't speak IG parlance, it means the FBI made nine false assertions to the FISA court. In short, what the bureau said was contradicted by the evidence in its official file.
The fired prosecutor, Victor Shokin, sat down with OAN News and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to explain what happened when former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko told him to stop investigating Burisma:
"Yes, that's what he told me. He came to me and said, 'you are a patriot of Ukraine, we need this billion dollars. We are at war, and if you are a patriot you will close this case'. My conversation with Poroshenko was in a phone call. It was after we started seizing Burisma assets in Ukraine when Poroshenko called me and said 'listen, this all has to stop already. Joe Biden's temper is overflowing. This seizing of Burisma assets was the last straw.'"
When the "virtually unknown" US-backed opposition figure Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" in January, he won instant support from Washington's global allies as the "legitimate" leader of Venezuela. Western media was soon consumed with a sense of hopeful anticipation that Washington was on the verge of overthrowing another 'bad actor' and preparing to pat itself on the back for supporting the cause of "democracy" and "human rights."
Change of tune
Now, nearly a year later, the sense is one of reluctant resignation and an admission that, despite best efforts, another attempt at 'regime change' has failed - and that Guaido's opposition was not all it was cracked up to be.
In a recent lament for the failed coup, the Wall Street Journal admits that Maduro appears to be "in firm control" and bemoans that the Trump administration had predicted his "imminent downfall" too early. The WSJ admits that the White House showed "excessive optimism" and suffered from what critics called "unrealistic expectations that [US] pressure tactics" would easily force Maduro from power. The newspaper acknowledges that Maduro's position is secure despite debilitating US oil sanctions and attempted international isolation.
"Trump doesn't know much about our country," said Kim Yong Chol, a senior diplomat involved in organizing the second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
He also said if Trump's style of talking to his country continues, then "the time when we cannot but call him a 'dotard' again may come." The somewhat archaic insult was used by Pyongyang at the height of tensions between the two countries in 2017, when Trump was calling Kim "Rocket Man."
After the delivery of the first regimental set of anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 Triumph to Turkey, they have already been tested and showed results that exceeded the expectations of the buyer, according to the source of the Gazeta.ru familiar with the situation.
During the testing, as a rule, it is specified at what ranges, altitudes and courses the detection of air objects is carried out, their stable support in certain modes and compliance of data obtained with the previously stated tactical and technical characteristics. Turkey's military carried out the so-called flyby of the regular and attached radar assets of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system-the 91N6E radar complex as part of the system's command post, the 92N6E multi-functional radar of the anti-aircraft missile division and the 96L6E all-altitude detector, which was deployed on a 24-meter-high tower.
According to the source of the Gazeta.ru, the Turks carried out a flyby program, which in its intensity surpasses even similar Russian drills. Two F-16s, one F-4 and a helicopter for eight hours with refueling in the air constantly were in the air, coming from different directions and heights (including extremely small), they flew into the so-called "dead funnels" of radar (objectively, every radar has some of those), carried out passes over the complexes and stations with a variety of speeds.
The entrance to the zone of destruction of air defense systems of aircraft and helicopters ended with an electronic shot of the S-400 air defense system, i.e. not a real missile was launched, but its electronic model.
Comment: See also:
- Turkey opted for Russia's S-400 as NATO allies weren't selling similar systems - FM Cavusoglu
- In swipe at US, New Delhi says foreign nations must 'respect' its decision to purchase Russian S-400systems
- US senator whines as Turkey conducts first S-400 radar tests, calls for new sanctions against 'ally'
The European Statistical Office revealed that from January to September trade between the EU and Iran was at €3.86 billion, a massive 74.92% drop compared to the same period in 2018. The report revealed that Germany (€1.23 billion), Italy (€734.78 million) and the Netherlands (€376.73 million) were Iran's top three trading partners in EU while trade with Greece (€32.08 million), Luxembourg (€506,316), Spain (€207.36 million), France (€296.5 million) and Austria (€102.11 million) had plunged by 97.13%, 91.38%, 91.17%, 86.79% and 82.38% respectively.
"President Putin is an old-school gentleman. He has a special kind of manners that we don't see enough today, including in Central Europe," the diplomat told TASS on Monday.
She came to Moscow to present the Russian edition of her book about Prince Eugene of Savoy, a German 18th-century statesman and military commander.

(L-R) Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin
Zelenskii: key notion "a flexible approach" to the Minsk Agreements
- No direct negotiations with the LDNR
- No special status
- Ukrainian control of the border with Russia
- Disarmament of the LDNR "militias"
- Removal of all foreign forces (he means Russian forces, never mind that they don't exist!)
- Creation of a "municipal police"
- Elections under Ukrainian control
Gas for Ukraine "could be cheaper by 25 percent, as compared to what the end consumer currently gets, primarily the industrial consumer, because the price of gas for the domestic consumer, for citizens [of Ukraine], is subsidized, we can't calculate the price from the subsidized price," Putin said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in return that there is a good chance that the contract on gas transit from Russia to Europe via Ukraine would be extended after January 1.
Agreement for Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and those transiting to Europe expires at the end of this year. In November, Russia's Gazprom offered Ukraine to extend the transit contract or enter into a new one for one year.
Top European politicians are apparently not respected that much by Erdogan; he struggled to name at least one single leader whom he deems to be an "example" for others to follow.
"Europe is experiencing a serious leadership crisis, there's leadership void. I can't find the courage to say [about anyone]: 'This leader is an example for Europe,'" Erdogan said on Tuesday.
While Erdogan's evaluation is not very complimentary for the present-day European politicians, at least some of the past EU leaders earned his praise.














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