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House Judiciary Committee subpoenas Rob Porter, ex-White House aide

Andrew Desiderio, Eliana Johnson
Politico
Mon, 26 Aug 2019 05:03 UTC
Rob Porter Sarah H Sanders
© Carolyn Kaster/AP
Former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, pictured with former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is mentioned several times in the Mueller report.
The House Judiciary Committee on Monday issued a subpoena to former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, a key witness in former special counsel Robert Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation into President Donald Trump, as the panel weighs whether to recommend articles of impeachment.

Porter, who resigned his post last year amid allegations that he abused his two ex-wives, was at the president's side during several episodes of potential obstruction chronicled in Mueller's 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump's attempts to thwart the probe.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), in a statement announcing the subpoena first reported by POLITICO:
"The committee intends to hold hearings and obtain testimony over the coming months as part of its efforts to hold the president accountable as we move forward with our investigation into obstruction, corruption and abuse of power by Trump and his associates. This will help the committee determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the president or other Article 1 remedies. No one is above the law."
The White House will likely try to block Porter from complying with the committee's subpoena, which seeks public testimony on September 17. White House and Justice Department lawyers have repeatedly asserted that former top presidential aides have "absolute immunity" from testifying to Congress, a claim House Democrats are challenging in court with a lawsuit seeking former White House Counsel Don McGahn's public testimony.

Comment: See also:

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Document

Taliban reviews proposal on US withdrawal, final touches to the deal


RFE/RL
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 18:47 UTC
Khalilzad
© File Photo
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad
As U.S. and Taliban officials look to apparently seal a historic deal to end the 18-year Afghan conflict, leaders of the extremist militant group are reviewing the proposed agreement at an undisclosed location along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

A senior Taliban commander in Pakistan told the AFP news agency on August 28 that "all Shura (consultation) members have received the draft and they are reading it carefully."

However, he said "no go-ahead signal has been given to the Taliban negotiating team" in the Qatari capital of Doha. Their response may "take a day or two" since the group's leadership needs to reach a consensus, the Taliban official said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been leading the talks, will come to Kabul "in one or two" days and brief President Ashraf Ghani about the agreement, according to officials close to the negotiations.

The Taliban has refused to negotiate directly with the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.

Comment: Also from Sputnik 29/8/2019: Trump: US to always keep a presence in Afghanistan
US President Donald Trump has said in an interview with Fox News Radio that Washington will have to prolong the US presence in Afghanistan, even after the peace agreement with the Taliban is concluded. Trump told Fox News Radio:

"Oh yeah, you have to keep a presence. We're going to keep a presence there. We're reducing that presence very substantially and we're going to always have a presence. We're going to have high intelligence. If they ever did anything from Afghanistan, we will come back with a force they have never seen before."

According to President Trump, the size of the US contingent in the Central Asian country will first fall to 8,600 troops. "We will go down to 8,600, and then we will make a determination from there as to what happens", Trump said.

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow was ready to offer its assistance in the US-Taliban talks and act as a guarantor, should such a proposal be received.


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Rocket

Yemen Houthis launch cruise missile attack on Saudi airport


Sputnik
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 00:37 UTC
Abha Airport
© AP/Saudi Press Agency
Debris on the tarmac of Saudi Arabia's Abha Airport.
Yemen's Houthi rebel forces have attacked Saudi Arabia's Abha Airport with a cruise missile, Reuters reported, citing a spokesperson for the armed Houthi political opposition faction. There has been no official confirmation from Riyadh.

On Wednesday, Yemen's Houthis announced that they had used armed drones to attack military positions in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The Houthis routinely launch drones toward Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh has been carrying out an ongoing war in Yemen in support of the internationally-recognized government of the poorest nation in the Middle East.

Over recent months, Houthis have reportedly conducted several major drone attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities. On 17 August, a Houthi drone attack on a Shaybah oil field controlled by Saudi Arabia reportedly caused a fire at a gas plant. In response, the Saudi-led coalition targeted Houthi positions in northern Yemen.
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Black Cat

Pence plans Iceland visit over 'concerns' of 'Russian aggression' in Arctic region


RFE/RL
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 18:22 UTC
Mike Pence

Vice-President Mike Pence
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Iceland on September 4 for "national security-focused" discussions on Russian and Chinese "incursions" in the Arctic Circle, Reuters reports, citing a senior U.S. presidential official.

He leaves on September 3 with Britain and Ireland on the itinerary.

The United States has expressed concerns over Russia's aggressive behavior in the Arctic as countries in the area vie for access to minerals amid melting ice in the polar region.

Comment: What threat? Russia is perfectly entitled to militarily develop its own territory, just as it is entitled to develop its resources and protect them. Unlike the United States, it does not have bases planted all over the world, whether or not the the local government agrees.

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Cut

Electrical company threatens Pakistan PM Imran Khan's office with power cut over non-payment of bills


Khaleej Times
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:37 UTC
Pakistani PM Imram Khan

Pakistani PM Imram Khan
The secretariat has failed to pay the dues in spite of several reminder notices.

The electricity supply to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Secretariat faces disconnection over non-payment of bills running into crores [tens of millions] of rupees. The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) issued a notice to this effect on Wednesday, August 28.
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Bullseye

Do ratings trump accountability in journalism? Latest retracted MSNBC 'bombshell' suggests 'yes'

Danielle Ryan
RT
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:41 UTC
maddow
© AFP / Getty Images North America / Frederick M. Brown
Lawrence O'Donnell's walkback of a supposed "bombshell" story involving a claim that Donald Trump received loans co-signed by Russian billionaires is the latest sign that journalism has become accountability-free.

Indicating that MSNBC deliberately chose to prioritize hype over facts, O'Donnell admitted on air that the claim needed "a lot more verification before [it] can be a confirmable fact" — but he reported it anyway.

Typically, when a journalist does not have enough information to verify a claim, they wait until such time that they do. When that basic tenet of journalism is lost, the news becomes a series of "ifs," "buts," "maybes" and "possiblys."

Apologizing later, Lawrence said the story didn't go through MSNBC's "rigorous verification and standards process." One wonders if anyone from the 'rigorous verification' department has ever met Rachel Maddow — the network's very own conspiracy queen, who has become infamous for her fact-free reporting.

Comment: In further fallout from the fake MSNBC story, Eric Trump claims he will seek legal action against MSNBC and its host Lawrence O'Donnell for slandering and smearing the Trump family and company:



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Network

Iran hopes to conclude trade agreement with India to bypass US sanctions


Sputnik
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:38 UTC
iran india flags
© REUTERS / President.ir
Iran is aiming to conclude a preferential trade agreement with India by the end of 2019 and hopes it will pave the way for barter trade in agriculture and pharmaceutical goods.

Iran's ambassador to India Ali Chegeni has said the two countries have held four rounds of talks so far while another round is expected next month.

"We could do barter trade with India agriculture against agriculture, pharmaceutical against pharmaceutical and so on," Ali Chegeni said at an interactive session with Indian businessmen organised by the country's top trade body PHDCCI on Wednesday.

The ambassador pointed out that US economic sanctions could not derail Iran's strong trade relations with India, with bilateral trade surging to $17.50 billion in 2018 from $13.5 billion in 2017. "There is scope for bilateral trade to rise to $30 billion soon and then to $50 billion."
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Star of David

Israel stops 661 Gaza patients from travelling for treatment


Middle East Eye
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 17:33 UTC
First aid crews
© Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said that Israel continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of people in Gaza Strip during July, impeding 661 patients and reducing exports by 42.2 per cent.

PCHR declared in a monthly report, Tuesday: "the Israeli occupation authorities refuse to allow most of the residents of the Gaza Strip to leave or return to it through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing. However, it allows patients with serious health issues, subject to a lengthy and complicated process to obtain a pass and strict security measures, to pass through the crossing."

During the period covered by the report, the Israeli authorities prevented 661 patients referred to Israeli or to West Bank hospitals, including occupied Jerusalem.
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No Entry

US Navy port visit to Qingdao Port request refused by China - countries' ties 'have worsened'

Sarah Zheng and Minnie Chan
South China Morning Post
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 02:31 UTC
chinese port
© Alamy
The US has had port visits denied by Chinese authorities twice this month.
A US Navy warship was denied a port visit to the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao on Sunday, the US Indo-Pacific Command said on Wednesday.

The request denial comes at a time of heightened tensions between China and the United States, with the countries engaged in a prolonged trade dispute and a war of words over anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] denied the US Navy's request to visit the Qingdao Port," Commander Reann Mommsen, public affairs officer for the US Seventh Fleet, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mommsen declined to name the warship denied entry or when the request was refused, referring questions about the reasons to Beijing.
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Chess

Macron plays Russian card as part of strategy to place France at center of international stage

John Laughland
RT
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:15 UTC
eiffel tower
© Global Look Press / picture alliance / Peter Schickert
Macron's recent unilateral actions, far from ending any supposed isolation of Russia, are clearly designed to end what has sometimes appeared to be France's isolation in Europe.

In his annual address to French ambassadors from around the world in Paris on August 27, President Emmanuel Macron repeated the message he had delivered in front of Vladimir Putin at his summer residence the previous week: Europe would be committing a major strategic error if it continued to exclude Russia from its councils. It was time, he said, to "reshuffle the cards" in this difficult relationship and he repeated his call for a - as yet undefined - "common architecture" linking Russia and Europe.

To be fair, this is not entirely new music emanating from the Elysee Palace. Macron invited Putin to Versailles less than a month after his election in 2017. He traveled to the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in 2018, where France was the guest of honor. And he seemed to want to associate Russia with the G7, even without re-integrating her formally into that structure, when he invited President Putin to the Bregancon Fort on August 19, just days before the G7 summit in Biarritz. The contrast has been striking for two years now between France's openness to Russia and London's increasing hostility to her.
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