[AMV] Amerikaanse politiek #461 The General and the pervert

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Dianne Feinstein slams criminal referral: 'Not a single revelation in the Steele dossier has been refuted'

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., slammed the criminal referral of Christopher Steele by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., saying it has numerous “flaws” and “omits key facts.”

In a five-page analysis released Friday, Feinstein says the criminal referral is “not based on any allegation” that Steele, the author of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, lied to FBI investigators about former Trump aide Carter Page, or what was included in the dossier.

“[N]either provide any evidence that any of the information in Steele’s dossier is wrong. Instead, the referral is limited to a single baseless allegation: that Steele lied about his contacts with the press,” the analysis says.

This week Grassley made public more details from the Jan. 4 unclassified criminal referral of Steele. The referral asks the Department of Justice to investigate whether Steele lied to FBI investigators about his communications with the press.

The referral, which was first released in heavily redacted form on Monday, appears to confirm some level of coordination between the extended Clinton circle and the Obama administration in the effort to seek damaging information about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The less-redacted referral fails to provide further illumination on the memo mentioned in the dossier obtained by BuzzFeed, which laid out how Steele allegedly received information from "a foreign sub-source who is in touch with [redacted], a contact of [redacted], a friend of the Clintons, who passed it to [redacted]" — redactions that appeared in the first issuance of the referral.

The unredacted referral does discuss the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court applications seeking permission for the government to spy on Page.

Feinstein’s analysis claims the Grassley-Graham referral omits “key facts,” because they failed to modify the referral “before and after” the Justice Department provided the committee with documents about its interactions with Steele. This includes an Oct. 19, 2016, report that Steele received information from a “friend of the Clintons.” According to Feinstein, 14 of the 17 memos within the Steele dossier were created by him before the Oct. 19. report.

Feinstein’s analysis concludes that the criminal referral “fails to make a case” that Steele actually lied o the FBI.

“The criminal referral contains no new information. All the information in the criminal referral was already available to the FBI and the Department of Justice,” the analysis concludes. “In fact, the referral relies on publicly available information and information that was provided to Congress from DOJ and the FBI.”

In a statement accompanying the analysis, Feinstein said the Grassley-Graham referral has goals that include “undermining the FBI and Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller’s investigation, attacking Christopher Steele and deflecting attention from collusion and obstruction of justice investigations.

“Not a single revelation in the Steele dossier has been refuted. Unfortunately, the claims in the criminal referral rely on classified information, so it’s difficult to fully repudiate them here. However, as much as possible using unclassified information, the following points lay out the flaws in the criminal referral,” she said.

The Justice Department has not yet publicly commented on the Grassley-Graham referral.

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After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons in a deal that he insisted would also include compromising material on President Trump, according to American and European intelligence officials.

The cash, delivered in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel room in September, was intended as the first installment of a $1 million payout, according to American officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by The New York Times. The theft of the secret hacking tools had been devastating to the N.S.A., and the agency was struggling to get a full inventory of what was missing.

Several American intelligence officials said they made clear that they did not want the Trump material from the Russian — who was suspected of having murky ties to Russian intelligence and to Eastern European cybercriminals. He claimed the information would link the president and his associates to Russia. But instead of providing the hacking tools, the Russian produced unverified and possibly fabricated information involving Mr. Trump and others, including bank records, emails and purported Russian intelligence data.

The United States intelligence officials said they cut off the deal because they were wary of being entangled in a Russian operation to create discord inside the American government. They were also fearful of political fallout in Washington if they were seen to be buying scurrilous information on the president.

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment on the negotiations with the Russian seller. The N.S.A., which produced the bulk of the hacking tools that the Americans sought to recover, said only that “all N.S.A. employees have a lifetime obligation to protect classified information.”

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Fox removes 'Darker, Gayer, Different' Olympics column

Fox News has taken down a column on its website penned by executive editor John Moody that argued the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) wants to change the games' motto to “Darker, Gayer, Different."

The network said in a statement to The Hill that the "column does not reflect the views or values of FOX News."

In the column, which was published Thursday on Fox News's website, Moody wrote, “Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’ If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.”

Moody also scolded a USOC official for embracing the diversity of U.S. team, stating the official gave an “embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes” are on the American Olympic squad.

“No sport that we are aware of awards points — or medals — for skin color or sexual orientation,” Moody wrote.

Moody's perspective was sparked by a statement by Jason Thompson, the USOC’s director of diversity and inclusion, who told The Washington Post on Feb. 4 that while the 2018 U.S. team is more diverse than other rosters in the past, “We’re not quite where we want to be.”

“I think full-on inclusion has always been a priority of Team USA,” Thompson told the Post. “I think everybody’s always felt it should represent every American.”

Moody argued that Olympians should be chosen by merit and asked if the selections were based on "the best publicity" instead.

“While uncomfortable, the question probably needs to be asked: were our Olympians selected because they’re the best at what they do, or because they’re the best publicity for our current obsession with having one each from Column A, B and C?” Moody wrote.

“Sorry,” Moody wrote. “ ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ still works better than ‘we win because we’re different.’ ”

A Fox News spokesperson said the column was no longer on the site and does not reflect the views of the news outlet.

“John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of FOX News and has been removed," the spokesperson said in an email.

A person familiar with the network's internal structure said Moody's title is only a formal one and editors were "too deferential" to vet the story using the usual checks and balances.

“Moody’s title is a formality and he has not performed that function for several years. Editors were too deferential to him given his longevity at the network and as a result did not put the column through the proper vetting process, which is why it was taken down,” the source said.

Moody, 64, joined Fox News upon the network's launch in 1996. He left in 2009 to lead Newscore, a global wire service owned by then-Fox News parent company News Corp.

Moody returned to Fox News in 2012 after Newscore was absorbed by Fox News.

The Olympics kicked off in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Friday.

The U.S. team sent 243 athletes to South Korea, including 10 African-American and 10 Asian-American competitors. A solid majority of the roster is white.

The team also boasts the first African-American long-track speedskater to represent the U.S. in addition to its first African-American hockey player.

Adam Rippon, the first openly gay American to qualify for the Winter Olympics, is also on the squad as a figure skater.

twitter:

kylegriffin1 twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 01:50:08 W.H. Counsel Don McGahn writes to Devin Nunes that Trump is unable to declassify the Democratic memo “at this time” (Letter via pool). https://t.co/DDRJtKz7s4 reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 01:58 schreef Recce het volgende:
Het Democratische memo wordt niet vrijgegeven door Trump.

twitter:

kylegriffin1 twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 01:50:08 W.H. Counsel Don McGahn writes to Devin Nunes that Trump is unable to declassify the Democratic memo “at this time” (Letter via pool). https://t.co/DDRJtKz7s4 reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 02:10 schreef Nintex het volgende:

twitter:

AP twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 02:04:57 BREAKING: Citing national security concerns, Trump says he won't declassify Democratic memo on Russia probe, asks for revisions. reageer retweet

Trump wil een paar revisies op advies van zijn staff.

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White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Friday morning instructed senior staff to communicate a version of events about the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter that contradicts the Trump administration’s previous accounts, according to two senior officials.

During a staff meeting, Kelly told those in attendance to say he took action to remove Porter within 40 minutes of learning that abuse allegations from two ex-wives were credible, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because discussions in such meetings are supposed to be confidential.

“He told the staff he took immediate and direct action,” one of the officials said, adding that people after the meeting expressed disbelief with one another and felt his latest account was not true.

That version of events contradicts both the public record and accounts from numerous other White House officials in recent days as the Porter drama unfolded. Kelly — who first learned of the domestic violence allegations against Porter months ago — issued a glowing statement of support for Porter’s personal character after the allegations first surfaced publicly Tuesday and privately urged him to remain on the job until the next day when his resignation was announced.

At Friday’s meeting, Kelly also told subordinates to convey to other White House aides that he cares about domestic violence, according to the officials.

White House spokesmen declined to comment on Kelly’s message at the staff meeting.

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 02:57 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:
Kelly offers account of Porter exit that some White House aides consider untrue

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Die gaat vast niet lang meer mee

twitter:

SenBlumenthal twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 02:18:34 Trump’s refusal to release Democratic response to #NunesMemo makes a mockery of national security and common sense. https://t.co/6Gjx25tS8R reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 03:02 schreef ExtraWaskracht het volgende:

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Je moet ook wel meewegen wie dan in de plaats zou kunnen en willen komen. Zolang dat niet duidelijk is zie ik niet een alternatief?

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 03:04 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

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Is er niet ergens nog een generaal?

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 03:19 schreef ExtraWaskracht het volgende:

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Mattis. Maar dat zou een degradatie zijn tov zijn huidige positie.

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Communications officer Mercedes Schlapp told some staffers to come to her with questions because Hope Hicks was “dealing with a lot” and “not able to perform the duties of communications director right now,” three people familiar with the meeting tell WSJ.

twitter:

Lawrence twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 01:26:59 John Kelly's hometown paper says he is "a racist and incompetent staffer who has enabled a racist and incompetent president." https://t.co/ZKoKtnHuj7 via @BostonGlobe reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 05:04 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

twitter:

Lawrence twitterde op zaterdag 10-02-2018 om 01:26:59 John Kelly's hometown paper says he is "a racist and incompetent staffer who has enabled a racist and incompetent president." https://t.co/ZKoKtnHuj7 via @BostonGlobe reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 05:08 schreef Szura het volgende:

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Vernietigend

twitter:

TheBaxterBean twitterde op vrijdag 09-02-2018 om 19:15:37 JUST IN: Trump campaign chair in KY pleads guilty to sex trafficking of minors: 21 counts against 19 victims, to get 20 yrs in prison, “felony trafficking of a minor, felony inducing a minor to engage in sex, and a third count of giving alcohol to a minor”https://t.co/jlM9QpCzMS https://t.co/1scCWud33F reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 10 februari 2018 02:57 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:
Kelly offers account of Porter exit that some White House aides consider untrue

[..]

Die gaat vast niet lang meer mee