Dec 21 2022

To Mitigate Risks to the DOJ and FBI Narrative, Special Counsel Lead Andrew Weissmann Snooped on Congress

Posted originally on the CTH on December 20, 2022 | sundance

In order to present an accurate record of events, it is important to remain focused on specifics. During the period from May, 2017, through April of 2019, Main Justice in Washington DC was split into two divisions.

In one division there was the Special Counsel Robert Mueller team in control of everything related to DOJ and FBI activity around the 2016 election, with emphasis on the Trump-Russia headlines. This division handled 100% of everything that was sucking up the oxygen in Washington DC. Andrew Weissmann was in charge of this division.

In the second division, there was everything else the DOJ was doing, which is to say not much. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was heading this division.

The liaison between both divisions was Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, who generally didn’t know what was going on inside the Mueller/Weissmann operation; but, as he later testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee [June 2020 link], Rosenstein had the job of signing off and authorizing everything Weissmann et al were doing. Rosenstein authorized every request and not a single ‘ask’ from the Mueller team was ever denied – including expanding the scope of the Mueller investigation, twice.

Why does this matter? It matters because everything happening in Main Justice from May ’17 to April ’19, activity that was grabbing every scintilla of media attention, was being done by the Mueller/Weissmann team. Key word ‘everything.’

There was not a single action from Main Justice that was not controlled by Andrew Weissman and company. This action includes the recent revelations of staff and congressional members from the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) having subpoenas for their private emails, phone records, text message and communication.

Andrew Weissmann sent over 2,800 subpoenas for records [See 156-Pages of Examples Here]. Some of those subpoenas were sent to various telecommunications and social media platforms so they could monitor what congress was doing.

In essence, and this is a very important part of the record that is being missed, Weissmann and his team, having been given the primary responsibility of covering up the corrupt DOJ and FBI activity from the 2016 election, needed to know what Devin Nunes and Kash Patel knew. As a result, Andrew Weissmann and team, using the figurehead of Robert Mueller as a pretext and patina, put members of congress under watch.

DAG Rod Rosenstein was likely unaware of what Weissmann and team were doing. In the world of the bureaucratic state, willful blindness has benefits and avoids a person taking a position on whether they are directly part of the corrupt activity. As a man comfortable with the Machiavellian ways of the deep swamp, Rod Rosenstein was the perfect and useful weasel on a leash for this specific role as DOJ liaison.

Again, why does this matter?

This context matters because it is much more of an explosive revelation to realize there were two sets of investigators, each investigating each other. Devin Nunes was investigating a corrupt DOJ and FBI. Weissmann and team trying to cover for corruption within the DOJ and FBI.

Chairman Devin Nunes trying to find out what was going on and put the pieces of an opaque puzzle together. Meanwhile Andrew Weissmann was in the role of blocker to the interest of Nunes, and was a stakeholder is knowing what Nunes was piecing together.

Mueller/Weissmann were on offense against President Trump, and Weissmann/Mueller were simultaneously on defense against the House Intel Committee.

Andrew Weissmann was charged with protecting the prior corrupt activity and shielding it from sunlight. In order to accomplish this goal, he had to know what Devin Nunes and Kash Patel were doing. Thus, amid the 2,800 subpoenas and search warrants, Weissmann was investigating the House investigators.

That’s the background for this story: “DOJ snooped on House Intelligence Committee investigators during Russia probe, subpoenas show”

It wasn’t the generic “DOJ” doing the snooping….

… It was the Mueller team!

Dec 20 2022

Aladdin v Socrates

Armstrong Economics Blog/Trading Re-Posted Dec 20, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty, your Socrates predated Fink’s Aladdin by a decade. Blackrock’s stock dropped about 50% from 2007 into 2010 when Socrates got the whole crash right. It picked the very day of the high in 2007 and they were calling it on the floor Armstrong’s Revenge. Socrates called for a Directional Change here in 2022 and it was correct. Socrates is forecasting Aladdin. Cool!

Socrates has forecasted events years in advance. Nothing else does that. You warned at the WEC about the danger of a fund getting too big. My question is rather straightforward. Do you think that Fink’s influence can save Blackrock in the future?

ANSWER: Fink lost a ton of money before and left that firm. He is a good salesman, but I am a trader. I watched how the Hunt Brothers ended up in bankruptcy because their position in silver was too big and everyone knew it. If they tried to sell one ounce, the market assumed here it all comes and everyone and their 5th ex-wife jumped in front to sell. BlackRock is in a vulnerable position. It is TOO BIG and that may buy influence, but in a liquidity crisis, the danger becomes you are like the Hunts and everyone will front-run you.

The marketplace is so intricate and the regulators are corrupt, anything goes for there is no loyalty on the street – ask Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns. I had the Aristotle Onasis estate precious metals positions I had to liquidate. He had the largest private holding of platinum in the world. It took me months to get approval from the CFTC just trade above exchange limits. When I got approval and called a dealer for a quote, everyone knew the position. Someone in the CFTC let their friends know.

Fink is on board with Schwab and preaches Stakeholder Capitalism. That philosophy was never Schwab’s but was born during the Great Depression before there were social programs from the government. It was a complete disaster and set the stage for the takeover boom of the 1980s.

I was advising many of the takeover players back then. I showed these charts and how the Dow bottomed in 1977 in terms of book value thanks to Stakeholder Capitalism. I showed clients we could buy companies, sell the assets, and double or triple the money. That became the genesis of the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas.

It was Milton Friedman, back in 1970, who exposed how Stakeholder Capitalism was inefficient and stupid. It was a derivative of Marxism that took down Communism. He laid out that such a role was that of government, not corporations, whose #1 fiduciary obligation was to its shareholder. Under Schwab, I could say, “OK I will go public; everyone sends in money. I will give you shares in return and then say — OMG, there are people starving in Africa!” So, I decide to give 50% of all the profits to them and not my investors. This is Stakeholder Capitalism that Fink endorses thinking it is something Schwab has invented. Worse still, he has adopted that I believe to raise money from Schwab’s disciples. It Ain’t Capitalism – It’s Marxism!

The problem I see is that you simply cannot collect that much money to manage without becoming the elephant in the room. By the time we get to 2025, it does not look like any amount of influence will matter. Aladdin is not the same as Socrates. It cannot project out decades. Fink is specializing in high-frequency trading and ETFs. This will be very interesting in the next couple of years. He claims he is investing for the long-term so don’t judge him by the fluctuations. Those who said that in 1929, “HOLD”, lost 90%. It took 26 years for the Dow to return to the 1929 levels.

Dec 20 2022

Twitter Files Part 7 – The DHS/FBI Teleporter One-Way Telecommunications Channel into Twitter, How the FBI Used and Paid Twitter for Censorship

Posted originally on the CTH on December 19, 2022 | sundance

Twitter file release #7 comes from Michael Shellenberger and focuses on how the FBI specifically engaged with Twitter before, during and after the Hunter Biden Laptop story surfaced. [RELEASE HERE]

There are some interesting facets to the Shellenberger outline including his naming of the communications method, “Teleporter, a one-way communications channel from the FBI to Twitter, ” and Shellenberger’s identification of payments from the FBI to Twitter in order to cover the expenses related to the censorship they requested.

As Shellenberger notes on paragraph 46, “The FBI’s influence campaign may have been helped by the fact that it was paying Twitter millions of dollars for its staff time. “I am happy to report we have collected $3,415,323 since October 2019!” reports an associate of Jim Baker in early 2021.”

[Twitter File #7 Release Here]

Overall, the Twitter file 7 release shows the FBI being well aware of the Hunter Biden laptop issue long before the fall of 2020 and taking specific action to mitigate any potential damage to the Biden campaign. The FBI was aware of the laptop in December of 2019, and the engagements with the social media platform were transparently proactive measures with political intentions.

The story weaves in and out of Washington DC and transfers the action items from DC to the San Francisco field office of the FBI where Elvis Chan was in charge of coordinating control over the content of the Twitter platform.

Factually, a solid argument could be made that this specific release shows how the FBI Russiagate effort against Trump needed to exit Washington DC following the 2016 election, and so the majority of FBI’s anti-Trump activity for 2020 shifted to San Francisco.

Washington DC DOJ, FBI and Intelligence Community efforts focused on protecting itself from discovery of their activity in 2015 and 2016, while San Francisco became the headquarters for FBI anti-Trump efforts targeting 2020. This location shift aligns with the datapoint of Russiagate FBI Agent Joseph Pientka transferring from DC to San Francisco; with Elvis Chan taking the place of Pientka as the targeting focused on social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube, Instagram, etc).

Former FBI Legal Counsel James Baker was fired after the Russiagate activity started to surface. Baker then becomes the General Counsel at Twitter, able to coordinate and receive ongoing FBI efforts. Baker would be positioned to influence Twitter executives to accept the FBI instructions as well as deflect any internal questions that might arrise about the platform being used as an extension of the FBI.

As noted by James Baker’s email in the file release, Baker also dissuaded the financial concerns by coordinating payments from the FBI to cover the internal costs to Twitter. The FBI was paying Twitter for influence and control operations and James Baker handled that transfer of funds.

On the financial side of the equation, I would be on the lookout for additional information about subsidies on the tech side of the platform operation. Specifically, data processing offsets for Twitter as a result of this DHS/FBI/ODNI relationship. My suspicion for multiple years has been that Twitter tech shifted from an open portal type connection (front of building) to Twitter actually operating on the backbone of DHS servers (back of building).

From the FBI San Francisco Field Office (SFFO) Special Agent Elvis Chan was coordinating the activity. Specifically, Elvis Chan was coordinating the overall FBI division influence operation of the DHS effort.

One rather stunning aspect to Chan’s role and responsibility, a point that highlights the importance placed on the FBI influence effort, showing the scale of Chan’s reach, was his ability to independently authorize security clearances for the Twitter executives based entirely on Yoel Roth just sending him a list of names.

This security clearance angle may explain why Twitter is currently concerned about releasing specific information related to the FBI “Teleporter” channel being outlined.

In summary, the Twitter File #7 release shows an active 2020 political operation conducted by the FBI in advance of the election mirroring the FBI operation in 2016 around the fraudulent Trump-Russia construct. The FBI is conducting domestic political intelligence operations on behalf of the United States government.

The FBI is essentially the soviet-era FSB.

Social media is under DHS surveillance, facilitated by platform partnerships and the FBI mission is based on the results. Domestic thought crimes and wrong-speak are a high priority.

Dec 19 2022

Twitter Files Supplemental – DHS/FBI Demands So Pervasive, Even Top Woke Twitter Executives Began to Think the Govt Was Going Too Far

Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2022 | sundance

Matt Taibbi files a supplemental thread to his review of DHS/FBI instructions, through the still undisclosed portal. [Twitter File Supplemental Here]

Just a reminder… how the ‘asks’ actually took place is still a mystery, Taibbi & Weiss et al are only privy to the internal actions and discussions after the inbound requests arrive. Put another way, we are blind to the method of the DHS/FBI portal into the network. I do not believe that secrecy is accidental.

[Twitter File Supplemental Here]

The essence of Taibbi’s supplemental report is based on a few internal emails amid the group following DHS/FBI and ODNI officials telling the Twitter rulers they were not cracking down hard enough on the platform content.

As Taibbi notes, “The questionnaire authors seem displeased with Twitter for implying, in a July 20th “DHS/ODNI/FBI/Industry briefing,” that “you indicated you had not observed much recent activity from official propaganda actors on your platform.”

Twitter official Yoel Roth then responded to the U.S intelligence community in a series of back-and-forth conversations, and internally to the Twitter censorship group.

As noted by Taibbi, “[Roth] was not “comfortable with the Bureau (and by extension the IC) demanding written answers.” Taibbi then seems to pull out the pretending not to know things card and ponders, “the idea of the FBI acting as conduit for the Intelligence Community is interesting, given that many agencies are barred from domestic operations.”

Gee, ya think? Go figure.

Within the short thread the Intelligence Community is responding to Twitter with citations from mainstream media publications like the Wall Street Journal. However, the citations from the journal are sourced from the same Intelligence Community citing them as evidence.

It’s the proverbial and circular use of the wrap up smear.

Intel community seeds media with false or manipulated narrative. Media prints false or manipulated narrative. Intel Community then uses media printed story as citation to tell Twitter to act on it.

Hmmm, where have we seen this before?

Dec 19 2022

Sunday Talks, Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan Discusses His Intended Approach to Investigate DHS, FBI and Social Media Platform Political Censorship

Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2022 | sundance

On one hand I’m thankful incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is willing to explain who he intends to call before congress to answer questions. On the other hand, my appreciation is tempered knowing open discussion of the intended investigative approach assists Lawfare operatives in their preparation.

The republican led House Judiciary Committee will be opposed by the White House, the Senate including the Senate Judiciary and Senate Intel, DHS, FBI, ODNI, DOJ-NSD, Main Justice, the Lawfare group, corporate media, Big Tech social media oligarchs and the entirety of the national security state apparatus. Navigating through this minefield of opposition will take a brutally confrontational approach.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan discusses the landscape as he currently sees it. {Direct Rumble Link} The last point about Mitch McConnell running blocker for the Democrats in relationship to the budget is a good example of the opposition the Republican House will face. – WATCH:

Dec 18 2022

Video, Tucker Carlson Is Asked Trump or DeSantis for 2024? The Response Is Refreshingly Authentic

Posted originally on the CTH on December 17, 2022 | Sundance

During the Turning Point USA America Fest, Fox News contributor and #1 rated cable news host, Tucker Carlson is asked about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump. Who would Tucker Carlson endorse in the 2024 GOP primary? {Direct Rumble Link}

The answer Carlson delivers to that question is the best 9+ minute dialogue on both men you will hear. Referencing his recent interview with Mike Tyson, Tucker begins by outlining the baseline premise inherent in questions around endorsements. The essence of the question implies an individual’s opinion of their own self-importance, which Carlson eloquently explained is irrelevant.

Tucker then delivers a very accurate encapsulation of both leaders and frames the context for both amid a scenario that no one should predict. WATCH:

Dec 17 2022

AOC’s Flop – More Spent on Fossil Fuels than the Movie Took In

Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Regarding AOC and the FLOP climate change documentary. How much fossil fuel was used for this flop of a project. Sounds contradictory to the proposed agenda the are preaching. Almost as ironic as the elite jet setting with their private jets while we should all ride bicycles to work.
MA, Thank you for being a voice of reason in these truly uncertain time.

Be well and keep doing what you do.

Regards, CRW

REPLY: I know. This is so insane. I’m sure she spent far more in fossil fuels to make this flop than the $10,000 it raked in. I have been in my fair share of movie productions. The number of people running around you can’t even count on two hands for a small film. They were even filming a movie on the beach in front of the house next door I think for the Hallmark Channel. They even had a COVID enforcer who came running up when some of the girls on the film crew just wanted to pet my dog. She came running over and said no – they could not even touch any animal. How much did it cost to fly her around?

Dec 17 2022

January 1st, 2023 Tax on ETFs

Armstrong Economics Blog/The Hunt for Taxes Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:

Hi Marty,

Please help as I invest in mostly ETFs from Australia.
I was getting USD exposure but now looks to be ending by Jan 1st, 2023.

I was Informed 2 days ago.

Could you do a post about this and any potential workarounds as I’d take a guess a lot of International clients would have a similar issue.

The US Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued a new provision under Section 1446(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) that primarily impacts non-US Persons who invest in US PTP Securities. With effect from 1 January 2023, non-US Persons will incur a 10% withholding tax on gross proceeds from sales or trading of US PTP Securities.

Regards Dean

ANSWER: This is once again the Biden Administration hunting every possible dime it can find while handing endless billion to Zelensky who may be on track to become the richest corrupt politician in the entire world. This is the notice going out to all foreigners investing in the once land of the free and home of the brave which has been downgraded to the land of the absolute fools without the hill. One bank has sent this to their clients trading in US ETFs.

Dear Customer,

Withholding Tax of 10% – Publicly Traded Partnership Interest (PTPs)

With effect from 1 January 2023, a 10% withholding will be imposed on sales and certain distributions associated with PTPs or exchange traded funds (ETFs).

PTPs trade like stocks on major U.S. and global exchanges and are often indistinguishable from equities, ETFs and other commonly traded instruments. It is critical that you understand these tax implications when you hold such PTPs and you should seek the appropriate professional advice if you are unsure of the contents of this email.

Background:

The Internal Revenue Code Section 1446(f) issued by the US Internal Revenue Service imposes rules relating to withholding of tax on transfers of Publicly Traded Partnership Interest (PTPs) and will take effect on 1 January 2023. The new rules consist of the following:

· All PTPs, including non-U.S. PTPs, are subject to the new requirements if they have gains that are effectively connected with a trade or business within the United States.

· 10% withholding will be applied to sales and certain distributions associated with PTPs. (Please note that where there is any existing withholding tax being applied today, for example to other distributions, those will continue to be applied with no change/ no reduction)

Please visit _____ official website > Notices for more details.

If you have any further questions, please email us or call our Customer Service line.

Section 1446 (see link) is part of a segment of the Code that governs withholding on nonresident aliens and foreign corporations.

Section 1446 itself deals with withholding on foreign partners who have income that is effectively connected with the US through a partnership. Section 1446(f) adds a withholding requirement that applies to the disposition of partnership interests, but it does not apply if the selling partner provides an appropriate affidavit:

“No person shall be required to deduct and withhold any amount under paragraph (1) with respect to any disposition if the transferor furnishes to the transferee an affidavit by the transferor stating, under penalty of perjury, the transferor’s United States taxpayer identification number and that the transferor is not a foreign person.”

I.R.C. § 1446(f)(2)(A).

I doubt that section 1446 applies here, as my understanding is that ETFs are taxed as registered investment companies, not as partnerships. But I am not an accountant or a tax lawyer. My reading on this text suggests that this turns on the definition of an ETF which is clearly not a partnership.

Those who are being harassed by various banks should contact their legal departments and demand their interpretation as to why suddenly an ETF is a partnership. I would love to see what explanation they have provided to apply this tax. If there is some other code they are overlapping or how they are coming up with this or are they acting out of sheer overcaution? If they will not provide an explanation, I suggest you close the account ASAP or wire out all funds until you find another firm.

Dec 16 2022

US to Hand Patriot Missiles to Ukraine? What Insanity!

Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

There is little doubt that NATO and the United States want war. I believe this insanity is being driven by the idea that they MUST destroy the Russian economy because it is 50% based on fossil fuels. The people writing the cue cards for Biden are determined to create World War III. Russia has warned that if the US goes ahead and sends Patriot Missiles to Ukraine, they warned that will lead to ‘unpredictable consequences’ and the US knows this will unleash widespread war.

Ukraine is NOT TO BE TRUSTED. They have killed their own people just to keep trying to create World War III where they want Russia utterly annihilated. I cannot stress this more. I have warned that the hatred in this region will engulf the world as it did when the Serbs assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria in 1914. There is NO solution for peace as long as NATO and the US keep supplying arms to Ukraine and instructing them NEVER to negotiate peace.

NATO is doubling its forces in some countries and uses the propaganda that they need to stop Russia’s “Imperistic” advance. The very FIRST Ukrainian coins are those issued by Nazi Germany. They joined the Natiz movement and supported the ethnic cleansing of Jews, Polish, and Russians. Never before was Ukraine a country and the Donbas has historically been occupied by Russians and both Kruschev grew up there as well as Brezhnev.

The very fact that there are NO coins ever issued by Ukraine demonstrates what I have been saying – it was never a country and now we are to engulf the entire world in destruction for the most corrupt country in Europe. There is another agenda here and it is not more truthful than the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Iraq never had.

Dec 16 2022

Matt Taibbi Discusses Ongoing ‘Big Picture’ Review of Twitter Files

posted originally on the CTH on December 15, 2022 | Sundance

uring a podcast Matt Taibbi describes the big picture takeaway of the data they have been permitted to review so far. {Direct Rumble Link}

Interestingly, Taibbi notes the silo effect within Twitter as the division in charge of taking action on requests is not necessarily the division that receives the requests. There is an inflection point between two silos. Taibbi notes the current data set does not include access to the inbound requests and instructions from government officials, they are limited to only seeing what happens after the request is received.

They are also limited in only seeing the activity that is taken within the action division where the accounts are restricted. The division within Twitter that was in the process of amplifying or boosting accounts, is a different silo.

Additionally, as Taibbi also notes, if the scale of what they are seeing in Twitter is representative of outside contacts to other social media platforms, then he is sure Facebook, YouTube, Google, Microsoft, Instagram, Apple etc. also have a process to receive and act upon these inbound DHS/FBI instructions. WATCH:

In essence, everything Taibbi is seeing is fully in line with Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop.

I'm seeing reports on "X" from across the EU that people are not happy with Brussels. First and foremost are…

Time to play hardball with the UK, EU and NATO. We can start by leaving NATO

NOPE!!!!!! Especially since the colleges today are NOT teaching, but are indoctrinating the youth today. They go against EVERYTHING we…

Posted originally on the CTH on December 20, 2022 | sundance

It wasn’t the generic “DOJ” doing the snooping….

… It was the Mueller team!

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Trading Re-Posted Dec 20, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

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Posted originally on the CTH on December 19, 2022 | sundance

Twitter file release #7 comes from Michael Shellenberger and focuses on how the FBI specifically engaged with Twitter before, during and after the Hunter Biden Laptop story surfaced. [RELEASE HERE]

[Twitter File #7 Release Here]

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Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2022 | sundance

[Twitter File Supplemental Here]

Within the short thread the Intelligence Community is responding to Twitter with citations from mainstream media publications like the Wall Street Journal. However, the citations from the journal are sourced from the same Intelligence Community citing them as evidence.

It’s the proverbial and circular use of the wrap up smear.

Intel community seeds media with false or manipulated narrative. Media prints false or manipulated narrative. Intel Community then uses media printed story as citation to tell Twitter to act on it.

Hmmm, where have we seen this before?

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Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2022 | sundance

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Posted originally on the CTH on December 17, 2022 | Sundance

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/The Hunt for Taxes Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Dec 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

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posted originally on the CTH on December 15, 2022 | Sundance

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