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FBI accused of omitting evidence of explosives in World Trade Center buildings from 9/11 report

Jennifer Hijazi
courthousenews.com
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 20:00 UTC

Comment: This report has since been 'de-published', but we found an archived copy...


courthouse news fbi 9/11
Nearly two decades after the deadly Sept. 11 attacks, a lawyers' group claims the federal government did not properly assess evidence known to the FBI but left out of the 9/11 Review Commission findings, including reports of pre-placed explosives at the World Trade Center.

The Lawyers' Committee for 9/11 Inquiry and Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth filed a complaint Monday against U.S. Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray, claiming the FBI failed in its federally mandated duty to assess all the evidence available that previous 9/11 commissions may have missed.

"The FBI's 9/11 Review Commission, and the FBI itself, failed to assess and report to Congress, as mandated, several other categories of significant 9/11 related evidence known to the FBI via reports in the press, via the web, and via public events and/or reflected in the FBI's own records," according to the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., federal court by lead attorney Mick Harrison.

Comment: More on this from Architects & Engineers For 9/11 Truth.

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Bad Guys

Saudi Arabia threatens to ditch dollar oil trades to stop 'NOPEC'

Dmitry Zhdannikov, Rania El Gamal, Alex Lawler
Reuters
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 19:07 UTC
Aramco plant oil saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is threatening to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passes a bill exposing OPEC members to U.S. antitrust lawsuits, three sources familiar with Saudi energy policy said.

They said the option had been discussed internally by senior Saudi energy officials in recent months. Two of the sources said the plan had been discussed with OPEC members and one source briefed on Saudi oil policy said Riyadh had also communicated the threat to senior U.S. energy officials.

The chances of the U.S. bill known as NOPEC coming into force are slim and Saudi Arabia would be unlikely to follow through, but the fact Riyadh is considering such a drastic step is a sign of the kingdom's annoyance about potential U.S. legal challenges to OPEC.

In the unlikely event Riyadh were to ditch the dollar, it would undermine the its status as the world's main reserve currency, reduce Washington's clout in global trade and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation states.

"The Saudis know they have the dollar as the nuclear option," one of the sources familiar with the matter said.

"The Saudis say: let the Americans pass NOPEC and it would be the U.S. economy that would fall apart," another source said.
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Blackbox

High-profile Russian anti-corruption cases - have the Atlanticists lost their high-level administrative protection?

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 18:52 UTC
putin cat

The cat is out of the bag!
The indictment of ex-minister Mikhail Abyzov is a clear signal; the arrest of former Khabarovsk Governor and ex-presidential representative Victor Ishayev is another.

The system of high-level administrative protection, on which these two notoriously corrupt figures have relied for the past twenty years, has ceased protecting them. There is a legion to follow them; they no longer have the telephone number to call for early warning to quash investigations before they close in, or if they do, to escape in time to the US or London.

When Abyzov recognizes he is doomed, he will start to testify against Anatoly Chubais and others. When Alexei Kudrin, chairman of the Accounting Chamber, realizes his game is up, he will start sounding more like the accountant he was in St. Petersburg than the candidate for selection to the highest national office he has aspired to be. Whether Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will be replaced before the next State Duma election falls due in September 2021, or before the election campaign commences, he is going; none of his men will be left in power.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman announced after Abyzov's arrest: "The President received the report [on the Abyzov case] in advance [of his arrest]." That is precisely what happened, not because Putin gave the order to commence the prosecution of Abyzov, but because Putin wants no one to realize he didn't. Putin has lost the initiative; he cannot protect those who have counted on his protection for two decades.

Comment: The balancing act of keeping the 'Atlanticists' and 'Sovereignists' in check may have simply become impossible to maintain. Either Putin has lost the initiative, or he's allowing to happen what has been a long time coming. See also:

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Marijuana

2020 candidate Andrew Yang promises to legalize marijuana and pardon all non-violent drug offenders on 4/20 if he's elected

John Haltiwanger
Business Insider
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 04:38 UTC
Andrew Yang
© AP Photo/Phil Long
  • Andrew Yang said if he's elected president he'll legalize marijuana and pardon non-violent drug offenders on April 20,2021.
  • Traditionally, April 20 is a holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, and is often referred to as "4/20."
  • "I would legalize marijuana and then I would pardon everyone who's in jail for a nonviolent drug-related offense," Yang said on Wednesday. "I would pardon them on April 20, 2021 and I would high-five them on the way out of jail."
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang pledged to legalize marijuana at the federal level if elected president and pardon all those who've been incarcerated for non-violent, drug-related offenses.

"I would legalize marijuana and then I would pardon everyone who's in jail for a nonviolent drug-related offense," Yang said at the National Action Network conference in New York City on Wednesday. "I would pardon them on April 20, 2021 and I would high-five them on the way out of jail."

April 20, or 4/20, is considered a holiday by marijuana enthusiasts.
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Arrow Down

Turkey's offer to address S-400 fears rejected by Pentagon

Jack Detsch
Al-Monitor
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
S-400 missile system
© Igor Zarembo/Sputnik
S-400 missile system
The Pentagon will not entertain Turkey's plan to set up a bilateral working group aimed at tempering US fears over the looming acquisition of Russian air defenses, the Defense Department told Al-Monitor today.

Speaking at a Washington panel celebrating the 70th anniversary of the NATO alliance on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu again insisted that the purchase of the Russian made S-400 was "a done deal." But he also floated the idea of creating a bilateral panel to try to quell US fears that the system could give Russia insights into Western weapons systems, including the F-35 fighter jet, for which Turkey builds the fuselage.

Cavusoglu's pitch for a working group appears to be the newest idea from Ankara to quash tensions over the pending purchase of the S-400, which Turkey insists will not be integrated into NATO networks. But the Donald Trump administration isn't interested.

"A technical working group at this stage isn't necessary or a path the US is even considering as a resolution," said Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon. "We have been clear with Turkey at all levels - the S-400 is a threat to the F-35 program and the safety of our NATO allies."

Comment: See also:

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Nuke

Satellite images show Saudi nuclear reactor close to completion


Sputnik
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 13:51 UTC
Riyadh installation
© KACST/Facebook
Riyadh has been showing interest in building nuclear power plants as a mean to diversify its energy supplies as a significant part of the fossil fuel produced in the country is consumed to power its growing electricity needs.

Saudi Arabia is close to completing the construction of its first nuclear reactor in the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh, Robert Kelley, a former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director told Bloomberg after analysing satellite images from Google Earth. Kelley said that judging by the photos it's a 30-kilowatt research reactor, which will be ready to function within a year.

The reactor itself was designed by the Argentinian company Invap SE, but the engineering was completed by Saudi specialists. Argentinian envoy to the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has confirmed to The Guardian that Invap was in charge of designing the reactor and that it will be operational "by the end of the year roughly".

Comment: See also:

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Target

Circus or civil war? Poroshenko aide trolls election frontrunner Zelensky with Pinochet picture


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 11:26 UTC
Poroshenko/Pinochet
© REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi; Global Look Press/ZUMAPRESS.com/Marcelo Monteciao
Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko • Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Political life in Kiev was invigorated this week with a promise of a debate between two presidential election frontrunners in a stadium. Less amusing were vibes of a potential coup coming from the camp that's lagging behind.

Sport venues and debates between presidential hopefuls don't usually mix, but Ukraine is set to become an exception. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and frontrunner Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to have a verbal bout sometime before the second round of presidential race at the Olympiysky stadium, one of Ukraine's biggest arenas.

Or it can be used by the Poroshenko-loyal henchmen to slaughter supporters of his opponent in their dozens and hundreds. At least that's the implication of a picture posted by one of the president's aides after Zelensky made a public challenge for a debate on Wednesday.

The picture shows the face of Poroshenko photoshopped over that of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. His government notoriously used the national stadium in Santiago to execute political opponents in the aftermath of the 1973 military coup. The words written under Poroshenko's smiling face paraphrase his actual video response to Zelensky's challenge and roughly translate as "Let it happen at the stadium then."

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

US revokes visa for ICC prosecutor over investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan


Reuters
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 03:52 UTC
Fatou Bensouda
© Diplomat Magazine
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
The United States has revoked the entry visa of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, her office said on Thursday, a response to her inquiry into possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month the U.S. would withdraw or deny visas to ICC staff investigating such allegations against U.S. forces or their allies.

United Nations human rights experts called the reaction "improper interference" in the work of the world's permanent war crimes court. It also drew criticism from within the European Union.

"We can confirm that the U.S. authorities have revoked the prosecutor's visa for entry into the U.S.," Bensouda's office told Reuters in an e-mail. It said it understood the move should not impact Bensouda's travel to the U.S. to meet her United Nations obligations.

The ICC is not a U.N. court, but Bensouda travels regularly to brief the U.N. Security Council on cases referred to The Hague by the UN body. The U.S. in not a member of the ICC, along with other major powers Russia and China.

Comment: See also:

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MIB

Russian historian says she was manipulated into helping FBI, Stephan Halper to entrap General Flynn

Catherine Herridge, Cyd Upson
Fox News
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 18:00 UTC
Svetlana Lokhova
© Fox News
Svetlana Lokhova
A Russian-born academic who was at the center of attention in 2017 for past contact with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told Fox News in an exclusive interview that she is not a spy for Moscow - and, to the contrary, believes she was "used" to smear Flynn.

"I think there's a high chance that it was coordinated, and I believe it needs to be properly investigated," Svetlana Lokhova told Fox News.

Lokhova entered the political firestorm in early 2017, as Flynn was forced out of the Trump administration over lying about his contact with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. At the time, Lokhova was contacted by three American media outlets over a four-day period - and was promptly hit with claims in the press and on social media that she was a Russian operative for Moscow.

The allegations involved her contact with Flynn three years prior at a 2014 dinner at the University of Cambridge, England, when Flynn was Defense Intelligence Agency director.

"I'm not a Russian spy and I have never worked for the Russian government," the 38-year old historian and academic said, in an interview first broadcast on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "I believe that General Flynn was targeted and I was used to do it."

Comment:


More on Halper's role in Russiagate:

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Gingerbread

'Let's not make weapons': Trump laments military spending by US, China and Russia


RT
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 21:57 UTC
Trump/Liu He
© Twitter/Donald J. Trump
US President Donald Trump • Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He
Having drastically increased the Pentagon budget and demanded more spending by NATO, US President Donald Trump is now, seriously (?), complaining that all that money could be better spent elsewhere.

Trump lamented the levels of US, Chinese and Russian military spending at a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Thursday, part of the ongoing talks to resolve the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

"As you know China is spending a lot of money on military, so are we, so is Russia and those three countries I think can come together and stop the spending and spend on things that maybe are more productive toward long-term peace," Trump said.

"I think it's much better if we all got together and we didn't make these weapons."

Comment: Trump's statement may be a flippant comment or one of those fleeting candid moments that reflects a different vision. Regardless of what Trump may or may not want, the US war machine will not be denied.

See also:

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