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Rumored immunity deal for Comey might not apply if he's responsible for FBI conspiracy to spy on Trump


True Pundit
Mon, 21 May 2018 19:59 UTC
comey mueller
James Comey has been quiet the last couple weeks.

Now Justice Department officials said any immunity deal Comey struck with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller would not absolve him from criminal charges for his role in spearheading a FBI conspiracy to spy on Donald Trump and campaign associates during the 2016 election.

One year ago True Pundit reported a high-ranking Justice Department official believed Mueller had granted a complete get-out-of-jail-free-card deal for disgraced FBI Director James Comey: A coveted immunity deal in exchange for cooperating as a key witness.

"The immunity is a done deal," a Justice Department source said. "Mueller can do whatever he wants. We (Justice) have no say but after many years working criminal cases I know Comey has been given immunity. You can tell by the way he is acting now and the fact that Mueller has kept us in the dark about his investigation."

Special Counsel spokesman Peter Carr at Justice would not comment when asked to detail the immunity arrangement between Comey and Mueller.

"As this is an ongoing investigation, we will decline to comment," Carr told True Pundit.
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Info

Special status of Mueller team lawyers could save them from being ousted in Manafort case

Josh Gerstein
Politico
Mon, 21 May 2018 19:52 UTC
ManafortMueller
© Vanity Fair
Paul Manafort • Robert Mueller
An obscure special status obtained by several of special counsel Robert Mueller's attorneys could prevent a judge from ousting Mueller's lawyers from their role in the prosecution of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in federal court in Virginia.

Several court filings indicate that when lawyers from Mueller's office appeared in federal court in Alexandria earlier this year, they did so not only as representatives of Mueller's office but as special assistant United States attorneys (SAUSAs) attached to the United States attorney's office there.

That designation gives the Mueller prosecutors a kind of dual status that could complicate any attempt by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III to try to shift the case to federal prosecutors based in Alexandria - a possibility the judge mentioned on a couple of occasions during a contentious hearing earlier this month.

A spokesman for Mueller's office, Peter Carr, confirmed to POLITICO that some of the attorneys on the special counsel's team have the SAUSA status. Carr pointed to a local federal court rule that allows federal prosecutors to handle cases there when "appearing pursuant to the authority of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia."

One lawyer who has studied the use of SAUSAs said the granting of that status to lawyers on Mueller's team theoretically gives them the authority to pursue matters that aren't within the special counsel's mandate.

Comment: See also:

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Calendar

Trump: June summit with North Korea may be delayed, or not


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 16:48 UTC
Korean flag
© WordPress.com
The summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "may or may not happen" as scheduled, depending on Kim's actions in the coming days, Trump said in a meeting with the South Korean president.

Trump and Moon Jae-in met at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the summit, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. Both remained optimistic about the meeting, though Trump said he was "not happy" about the recent changes in North Korean attitude.

The tone from Pyongyang changed after Kim's second meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump told reporters prior to the meeting, according to Reuters. He called Xi a "world class poker player" who he would like to think is committed to peace in the Korean peninsula.

"If it doesn't happen, maybe it will happen later," Trump said about the summit. "It may not work out for June 12."



Comment: President Trump seems to be the only one in the administration to convey a more-less neutral viewpoint and hopeful message regarding the talks and outcome with North and South Korea (see second video). Pence, Pompeo, Bolton have all but sunk this negotiation.

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Attention

Pompeo hurls 'assassination' charges at Iran, but no one knows what the hell he's talking about

Ricky Twisdale
The Duran
Wed, 23 May 2018 13:58 UTC
Mike Pompeo
© Reuters / Aaron P. Bernstein/KJN
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
The US Secretary of State accused Iran's Quds Force of targeted killings, yet Iran experts can't name a single example

America's chief foreign negotiator has a message for Iran: stop assassinating people. The problem is, nobody from security experts to Iranian dissidents has any idea what the hell he means.

The Guardian picks up the story:
Mike Pompeo's claim that the Iran's Revolutionary Guard is carrying out "assassination operations in the heart of Europe" has bewildered security experts and Iranian exiles, who say they are not aware of any evidence for the allegation.

The new US secretary of state referred to the alleged assassinations in his first major speech on Monday, but devoted just a single line to it amid a litany of criticisms of Iranian behaviour, giving no further details.

Experts told The Guardian there haven't been any assassinations in which Iran is even considered a suspect, since the early 1990s.

Even the State Department's spokeswoman was dumbfounded (which admittedly, is not a rare occurrence):
Asked about Pompeo's statement, the state department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said: "He has information and access to information that I do not. I am not able to comment on that in particular but I can tell the secretary has assured me that there is a basis for that point in his speech and he stands firmly behind that."
US diplomats specialising in Iran were taken by surprise by Pompeo's allegations.
The startling charge comes at the same time as Pompeo's announcement of a list of 12 impudent demands on Iran, most of which have almost no connection to geo-political reality.

Maybe Pompeo has spent too much time on the phone with Bibi Netanyahu lately, and accidentally confused the ongoing killing and abduction activities of Israel's secret service, Mossad, with those of Iran.

Comment: The man is a walking, talking disaster with a hate-on for Iran.
See also:

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Magnify

Brennan fires warning to Ryan and McConnell as Trump orders DOJ to investigate FBI campaign infiltration

Christina Laila
Gateway Pundit
Sun, 20 May 2018 00:00 UTC
John Brennan
© The Moscow Times
Former CIA Director John Brennan
Former CIA Director-turned-Twitter troll, John Brennan lashed out at Trump on Sunday evening after the President ordered the DOJ to investigate the FBI's infiltration of his campaign.

Brennan also fired a warning shot to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, claiming they will 'bear the majority of the responsibility of the harm done to our democracy' if they don't stop Trump.

As previously reported by TGP's Kristinn Taylor, President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon he is ordering the Justice Department to investigate whether the Obama administration spied on his 2016 presidential campaign.

The order comes on the heels of leaks to the New York Times and Washington Post that the Obama administration had an "informant" make several approaches to three Trump campaign officials, included one that involved an offer of cash and another an offer to "advise" the campaign.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

FEC records reveal DNC issued checks to CrowdStrike the day after the murder of Seth Rich

Alicia Powe
Gateway Pundit
Mon, 21 May 2018 00:00 UTC
CrowdStrikeLucasRich
© crowdstrike.com/KJN
Federal Election Commission records show that CrowdStrike, an FBI contractor and private cyber security firm, received a $98,849.84 check from the Democratic National Committee the day after slain DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered.

DNC leger
© Unknown
DNC Disbursements
© Unknown

Comment: That Lucas and Rich were friends is an extremely important and noteworthy detail, and may provide some connection between their deaths which has not previously been considered. If true it is an extremely new detail in the context of their deaths and the political furor surrounding both men.

See also:

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Attention

Turkey threatens Israel with sanctions after envoys' recall


Sputnik
Wed, 23 May 2018 15:13 UTC
Erdogan
© AP/Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Pool Photo
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recalled the country's ambassadors to the US and Israel, accusing them of "state terror" and "genocide," referring to the situation in the Gaza Strip.

"We will evaluate our relations, especially economic and trade relations [with Israel] again. We will take steps in this direction after the elections [on June 24]," Erdogan told journalists on the presidential plane while returning from a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Haaretz, Turkey will be the first hit by the sanctions, as its economy is having a tough time and the punitive measures could expand Turkey's trade deficit by nearly $2 billion.

Turkey-Israel Trade Relations

The countries are rather close trade partners, as 2.1 percent of Turkey's exports go to Israel. Specifically, in 2016 this number stood at $2.96 billion (from a total export of $142.5 billion).

In the opposite direction, the country's imports from Israel are way less: in 2017, the gap was $1.9 billion.

Thus, the introduction of economic measures against Israel might lead to the expansion of Turkey's trade deficit by $1.9 billion.

Comment: See also:

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Jet4

Israeli airstrike hits Gaza City port boat prepping to meet aid flotilla


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 02:47 UTC
Burning Gaza boat
© Mohammed Saber/EPA
Palestinian firefighters inspect a burning fishing boat after an Israeli air strike in west Gaza City, on May 23, 2018.
An airstrike launched by the Israeli military has hit a boat that was moored in Gaza City. The vessel was preparing to meet other boats that were trying to sail through Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, locals say.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they hit "military targets belonging to the Hamas terror organization's naval force," as well as "underground terror infrastructure." On its official Twitter account, the IDF said it was done in response to a group of people breaking through the Israel-Gaza border and setting a military post on fire.

Gaza residents cited by Reuters said the boat that was set on fire by the Israeli attack was due to sail to meet a flotilla on its way to Gaza. A number of aid flotillas have attempted to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza in recent years, but the vessels have been stopped, seized or turned back. In the most notorious case in 2010, Israeli commandos killed nine activists on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara.

Comment: How much did this unnecessary act of pure Israeli terrorism and violence cost the American taxpayer in military subsidy in order to deny aid to the Palestinians?

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Arrow Down

How democracy died in the US and France

Eric Zuesse
Sott.net
Tue, 22 May 2018 20:24 UTC
macron trump
What killed democracy was constant lying to the public, by politicians whose only way to win national public office is to represent the interests of the super-rich at the same time as the given politician publicly promises to represent the interests of the public - "and may the better liar win!" - it's a lying-contest. When democracy degenerates into that, it becomes dictatorship by the richest, the people who can fund the most lying. Such a government is an aristocracy, no democracy at all, because the aristocracy rule, the public don't. It's the type of government that the French Revolution was against and overthrew; and it's the type of government that the American Revolution was against and overthrew; but it has been restored in both countries.
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Bad Guys

Mike Pompeo makes a fool of himself laying out his twelve ridiculous and idiotic demands for Iran

Eric Zeusse
The Duran
Tue, 22 May 2018 15:11 UTC
Mike Pompeo Rouhani
On Monday, May 21st, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a dozen demands upon Iran's Government - demands which insult the sovereignty of Iran and dictate terms to its Government, as if the U.S. Government weren't the one that routinely invades and perpetrates coups overthrowing other governments, so that the peoples of the world say that the U.S. Government (not Iran) is overwhelmingly "the world's biggest threat to peace."

POMPEO SAID, ON MAY 21st:
We demand from Iran:

First, Iran must declare to the IAEA a full account of the prior military dimensions of its nuclear program, and permanently and verifiably abandon such work in perpetuity.
[Israel and the U.S. get to keep our nukes but Iran must not keep theirs, and must instead do what these two rabidly hostile bully-Governments, Israel & U.S., say.]
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