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Jun 5 2023

BIG QUESTION and A BIG COVERUP – Durham Report Brings Sunlight on Detail Never Released by IG Michael Horowitz About FBI Targeting Trump


Posted originally on the CTH on June 4, 2023 

I’m going to go into the deep weeds on this story, because many people are missing a key facet.  The names behind the Trump targeting operation are included, along with citations for independent checks by House congressional investigators.

Inside the recently released report by John Durham [CITATION], the special counsel outlines how former FBI Director James Comey was intimately involved in the creation of the Carter Page FISA application.  Durham notes that Comey kept asking the DOJ National Security Division and FBI counterintelligence investigators, “Where’s the FISA, we need the FISA.”  However, John Durham never interviewed James Comey or Andrew McCabe.  The former FBI Director and Deputy refused to cooperate or give testimony to John Durham.  So, how did John Durham have details about the demands of Comey?

The answer is found in the footnotes.  Durham reviewed transcripts of interviews given by Andrew McCabe to the Office of the Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, who previously investigated FBI conduct in the origin of the Carter Page FISA.  Durham pulled quotes from that transcript. [Footnote #1207, page 199 – Durham Report]

♦QUESTION: If Andrew McCabe gave testimony to the OIG about the motives and impetus of FBI Director James Comey in pushing for the Carter Page FISA application, why did the OIG report never outline those transcribed interviews?  Why was the interview transcript never included in the 2019 OIG report?

[ NOTE to Congress.  Now that you know a transcribed interview of Andrew McCabe exists in the OIG office, request the transcription and release it to the public.]

Let me answer those questions without the customary pretending from the DC professional political class.  The short version is that OIG Michael Horowitz was trying to protect the DOJ and FBI. The longer version is a coverup that includes Rod Rosenstein, Bill Barr and yes, John Durham.  I will share that story below.

“Where’s the FISA?  We need the FISA?” ~ James Comey

The DOJ-NSD and FBI CoIntel needed to find a safe and legal way to spy on the Trump campaign. The 2016 FISA Title 1 surveillance of former FBI employee Carter Page became the fraudulent justification for that intent.

Because “FISA Title I” surveillance authority against a U.S. citizen is so serious (the U.S. government is essentially calling the target a spy), only a few people are authorized to even apply for such surveillance warrants.  One of the four people authorized to make such a Search Warrant request is the Asst. Attorney General as head of the National Security Division of the DOJ.

In September and October of 2016, at the same time the DOJ was putting the finishing touches on the FISA Court application to be used against Carter Page, Asst. Attorney General John P Carlin resigned as head of the DOJ-NSD. [CITATION] Did Carlin resign in protest or fear?

Here’s context:

Carter Page was used as a UCE (FBI undercover employee), responsible for the bust of a high-level Russian agent in 2013 – and remained a UCE – throughout the court case of Evgeny Buryakov, a Russian citizen who U.S. prosecutors say posed as a banker while participating in a Cold War-style spy ring. [CITATION]

Carter Page was an FBI undercover source for the FBI UP TO May of 2016.   How was it possible that on October 21st, 2016, Carter Page is put under a FISA Title 1 surveillance warrant as an alleged Russian agent?  Conclusion: Carter Page wasn’t a Russian agent. The DOJ National Security Division and the FBI Counterintelligence Division knew he wasn’t.

In order to manufacture the justification for the Carter Page FISA warrant, the DOJ-NSD and the FBI flat-out lied to the FISA Court.  Remember, IG Horowitz said there was no ‘Woods File’ in the Carter Page FISA application. Instead of the required section substantiating and citing all the claims in the application, the FBI used the Chris Steele Dossier.

However, as to the motive of John Carlin resigning before the application was completed and submitted, we look back to the March 2016 DOJ Press Release of the guilty pleading in the Evgeny Buryakov case as announced from the New York office:

…”Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced”…  (link)

DOJ-NSD head John Carlin obviously could not submit a FISA application against Carter Page, accusing him of being an “agent of a foreign government,” when just a few months earlier he used Carter Page as a witness and FBI UCE source in the case against Buryakov.

As James Comey is demanding that Andrew McCabe and his FBI counterintelligence agents get the FISA warrant, likely an ass covering necessity, the person responsible to get the warrant from the court, John Carlin, quits the DOJ.  Considering all the facets outlined above, this cannot be accidental.

Here’s where it gets SERIOUSLY sketchy.

The next in line person, who can fulfill the DOJ/FBI goal of getting the fraudulent application through the FISA court, is Mary McCord.  Put into the position as Acting Asst. Attorney General for the National Security Division, the job of submitting the FISA application now falls upon Mary McCord.

On October 21, 2016, When the FISA application was finally submitted, signed by DAG Sally Yates and FBI Director James Comey, it was Mary McCord who did the actual process of filing the application and gaining the Title-1 surveillance warrant.

At the time the Carter Page application was filed (October 21, 2016), Mary McCord’s chief legal counsel inside the office was a DOJ-NSD lawyer named Michael Atkinson.  In his role as the legal counsel for the DOJ-NSD, it was Atkinson’s job to review and audit all FISA applications submitted from inside the DOJ.  Essentially, Atkinson was the DOJ internal compliance officer in charge of making sure all FISA applications were correctly assembled and documented.

Obviously, with the background and context of the entirely fraudulent Carter Page FISA application, a government surveillance warrant using a Clinton funded political opposition research file known as the Steele Dossier to support the warrant, both Mary McCord and Michael Atkinson would know they were directly involved in an intentional effort to weaponize the mechanisms of the justice department against a political candidate.

While James Comey and Sally Yates’ signatures were on the FISA application falsely vouching for it, the attestations of legal compliance fall upon DOJ-NSD head Mary McCord and her top legal advisor Michael Atkinson.  McCord and Atkinson are doing, in October of 2016, what former DOJ-NSD head John Carlin refused to do.

WATCH WHAT COMES NEXT: Mary McCord then resigns from her position in the DOJ, and Michael Atkinson is left, as lawyer for the DOJ-NSD, to become Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.

♦ The Impeachment Effort – Do you remember how the impeachment effort against President Donald Trump was created?  Do you remember Alexander Vindman, the claims about Ukraine; the statements of hearing from a CIA whistleblower about the content of a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy?

When the anonymous CIA whistleblower complaint was filed against President Trump for the issues of the Ukraine call with President Zelensky, the Intelligence Community Inspector General had to change the rules for the complaint to allow an anonymous submission.  Prior to this change, all intelligence whistleblowers had to put their name on the complaint.  It was this 2019 IGIC who changed the rules.

Who was the Intelligence Community Inspector General?  Michael Atkinson.

When ICIG Michael Atkinson turned over the newly authorized anonymous whistleblower complaint to the joint House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee (Schiff and Nadler chairs), who did Michael Atkinson give the complaint to?  Mary McCord.

Yes, after she left main justice, Mary McCord took the job of working for Chairman Jerry Nadler and Chairman Adam Schiff as the chief legal advisor inside the investigation that led to the construction of articles of impeachment.   As a consequence, Mary McCord received the newly permitted anonymous whistleblower complaint from her old office colleague Michael Atkinson.

Can you see how Atkinson and McCord are working together, both connected to the fraud behind the false FISA application used in the Trump-Russia narrative in 2016 and 2017, now both working together on a 2019 impeachment effort against President Trump holding an identical motive?  Can you see the stunning conflicts of interest and the coordination?

The weaponized FISA surveillance of the Trump administration doesn’t exist without Mary McCord and Michael Atkinson creating the surveillance mechanism.  The weaponized impeachment origin doesn’t exist without McCord – now in congress working for Nadler/Schiff – and Atkinson changing rules as CIA Inspector General, to create the baseline of a fraudulent whistleblower complaint.   Can you see it? 

But wait…. It gets worse.

♦ Chief Justice John Roberts – As if things could not possibly be more corrupt, now we have the construct of Atkinson and McCord forming the predicate for the impeachment effort.  To wit, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts now becomes the presiding judge over the impeachment trial of President Trump.

Mary McCord is married to a fellow traveler named Sheldon L.  Snook.

From 2014 though 2020, not coincidentally the timeline of the Trump targeting and administration in office, Mary McCord’s husband, Sheldon Snook, was the special assistant to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s counselor. [CITATION]

As noted by the Washington Post in discussing both McCord and Snook, “The counselor’s office advises the chief justice not only on the management and budget of the Supreme Court but also on his interactions with the executive and legislative branches, along with numerous other public roles in which Roberts serves.” [CITATION]

From 2014 through 2020, Sheldon Snook was responsible for running the office of the lawyer legally advising and counseling John Roberts.

Let me put this another way.  The most important guy in the judicial branch, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, has a lawyer to advise and construct the responsibilities of the SCOTUS chief judge, which includes the construct of the FISA court and appointment of judges therein.

As Chief Justice, John Roberts is in charge of everything to do with the FISA court.  The guy running the office of the lawyer doing the counseling of Roberts, is Mary McCord’s husband.

Mary McCord, knowingly and with specific intent, lied to the FISA court to support the FBI targeting of Trump.  Mary McCord’s husband runs the office which would intercept any communication from the FISA court to the Chief Justice if the FISC had any concerns about the false FBI application.  See the problem?

♦ SUMMARY – Now, we go back to where we came in.

Why did the Office of the Inspector General never publish the interview transcript about Andrew McCabe talking about how desperate FBI Director James Comey was to get a FISA warrant?

Why did John Durham never publish those same interview transcripts, but instead simply referenced the existence of the transcript in a footnote?

Follow these questions to their logical conclusion, and you will discover that all of the participants including Rod Rosenstein, Bill Barr, James Baker, Dana Boente, Michael Horowitz and John Durham are trying to protect bureaucrats, who did criminal acts, and preserve institutions from collapse that sunlight would create.

Sunlight…

… The best disinfectant.

I ain’t quitting.

Until we deal with this mess, it doesn’t matter who ‘we‘ try to make president.

Jun 3 2023

Here’s What REALLY Happened With Biden’s Fall (Ep. 2023) – 06/02/2023


Posted originally on The Dan Bongino Show on Rumble on: Jun 2, 11:00 am EDT

Jun 3 2023

DOJ Closes Pence Classified Doc Investigation – Mary McCord Weighs in on Anticipated DOJ Action in Trump Case


Posted originally on the CTH on June 2, 2023 | Sundance 

This is a little long and very boring, but people keep asking.. lol

If there is one corrupt DC player who has escaped scrutiny for her corrupt endeavors, it would be Mary McCord.  More than any other Lawfare operative within Main Justice, Mary McCord sits at the center of every table in the manufacturing of cases against Donald Trump. {GO DEEP}

Mary McCord was acting head of the DOJ-NSD when the Carter Page FISA application was submitted.  After leaving the DOJ-NSD, McCord became head of the Nadler/Schiff impeachment staff.  McCord was the organizer of the Vindman CIA whistleblower during impeachment effort #1, and it was Mary McCord’s former NSD lawyer turned Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, who changed the rules for whistleblowing in the CIA -a request made by McCord- to permit anonymity.

Mary McCord was the person who went to the White House with Deputy AG Sally Yates to carry out the DOJ justice scheme to remove National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.  McCord was also selected by a seriously sketchy FISA Judge Boasberg to be the amicus for the court clouding the issues with the FBI and fraudulent information to the FISC. Mary McCord also worked with the congressional team on the second impeachment effort, and it was Mary McCord who went to work for J6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thomspon to frame the J6 case and narrative.

To say that Mary McCord is deeply and professionally attached to the lawfare effort to target Donald Trump would be an understatement.

Today, as a Lawfare contributor to MSNBC, and while discussing the dropping of the investigation in the Pence classified documents case, McCord said she can see no way the DOJ doesn’t indict Donald Trump for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents.  “I don’t think it’s realistic to think that the DOJ would avoid, from here on out through the 2024 election, taking any kind of legal action against Trump or those in his inner circle,” says McCord.  WATCH: 

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While I do not necessarily disagree with McCord on the desire of the DOJ to indict Trump, I completely disagree on any framework of validity for it.  In fact, the reality of President Trump declassifying the Mar-a-Lago documents before he left the White House, trumps any possible criminal activity.   Of course, that doesn’t stop a purely politically motivated effort.

Keep in mind, the classification of a document is whatever the Intelligence Community says it is.  This includes personal correspondence letters from Kim Jong-un to President Trump that a politically weaponized IC claims were Top Secret Compartmented Intelligence (TSCI) documents, even though they were something akin to thank you notes.

(Via Politico) The Justice Department has ended an investigation into former Vice President Mike Pence’s handling of classified documents discovered in his home, according to a letter sent by DOJ to Pence’s attorney and obtained Friday by POLITICO.

The letter, dated June 1, arrived just days before Pence is expected to launch a presidential bid. The Justice Department confirmed the authenticity of the letter but declined additional comment.

The announcement closes a chapter that began in January when Pence tapped an attorney to search his Indiana home for potential classified documents — a decision he made after a similar discovery was made at President Joe Biden’s private residence in Delaware.

Pence’s former vice presidential counsel, Greg Jacob, informed the National Archives that the search uncovered about a dozen records with classified markings in his residence. The Justice Department quickly intervened to take possession of the records, and the FBI would later search Pence’s residence for additional materials.

Immediately after the discovery of the records, Pence quickly indicated his willingness to cooperate with authorities and suggested he was unaware of the presence of the classified documents in his home. (read more)

The Jack Smith Special Counsel has been coming up empty on its special counsel review of Donald Trump for direct insurrection on January 6th, 2021, and has fallen back to a position of conspiracy to commit insurrection grounded upon President Trump asking various states to check for voter fraud.

Meanwhile the latest developments of the reported conversation President Trump had about a classified document he saw from Joint Chiefs Mark Milley has sent team Smith on another snipe hunt.   These quotes from the CNN dramatic article about it are a little funny.

[…] Meadows’ autobiography includes an account of what appears to be the same meeting, during which Trump “recalls a four-page report typed up by (Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Mark Milley himself. It contained the general’s own plan to attack Iran, deploying massive numbers of troops, something he urged President Trump to do more than once during his presidency.”

The document Trump references was not produced by Milley, CNN was told. (link)

Remember when I was writing about Mike Pompeo and Mark Milley traveling to Mar-a-Lago?

Joint Chief Chairman Milley, and SoS Mike Pompeo traveled to Mar-a-Lago in December 2019, where they informed President Trump of military strikes in Syria and Iraq *after* they took place. [Background Here] [Background Here]. President Trump made Esper, Milley and Pompeo hold a press conference without Trump supporting them; then President Trump remained silent on the issue for days.

THAT’s the picture below. 👇

[Background Here] ~ [Background Here]

It seemed like CTH was alone in noticing the issues with the Pentagon and suspicions of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley. However, a few days after the Mar-a-Lago incident, Col Douglas Macgregor expressed his own suspicions about the U.S. military attack in Iraq and Syria that paralleled our gut reaction. Macgregor stated he believed President Trump was being intentionally and “skillfully misinformed”.

I can almost guarantee you that sometime in the Trump administration, Milley drew up some kind of plan to bomb, attack or invade Iran, and President Trump dismissed him quickly for his nonsense.  I can also assure you there is an executive office memo of that ridiculous effort by Milley that was personal to the office of the president as a ‘notation of issue’ with Milley.

President Trump talking about that issue with Milley, or the event that surrounds it, is a nothingburger.   Of course, you would have to know the deep background of the Milley issues to know the greatest likelihood of any personnel memorandum held by the executive.

During the Trump administration, the media intentionally ignored the bad actors like Milley and Pompeo because they provided fuel for the accusations against the administration.  As the DOJ attempts to construct nonsense now, those prior moments do not serve as reference points, but I have them in our archives.  Go Figure!

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Life is funny.   Remember when we helped save George Zimmerman from the nonsense?  And then remember when we helped save Darren Wilson from the nonsense?  Who would have guessed that a rag-tag bunch of misfits in some obscure corner of the internet would be in the best position to serve as the key defense library for the President of the United States of America.  Life is funny; that’s why I keep saying, go enjoy it! 

May 13 2023

Anheuser-Busch Tells Beer Distributors Not to Worry, This Too Shall Pass


May 12, 2023 | Sundance 

Last week it was reported that Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told investors during a conference call that Budweiser product sales drops in the U.S. and North America were no big deal when contrast against the global sales of the brand. “The Bud Light volume decline in the US over the first three weeks of April, as publicly reported, would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period,” Doukeris said on the call. He focused attention on the company’s global reach, saying that Bud Light is just one beer within its portfolio and it’s not changing the company’s full-year outlook. {link}

Apparently, USA beer drinkers, specifically those who do not want to be identified as transgender men, are an insignificant bunch amid the world of beer drinking consumers.  However, Doukeris might start paying a little more attention as the decline in total A-B products in North America is starting to become more significant. {Source}

It’s interesting that Coors Light and Miller Lite have sales increases surpassing the sales decline of Bud Light.   This would seem to indicate hard brand switches, but Anheuser-Busch in North America held the corporate line and yesterday {source} told their distributors not to worry.

ST. LOUIS – Anheuser-Busch’s distributors from around the country met in St. Louis on Thursday. They heard firsthand about changes being made regarding the Bud Light transgender controversy.

Anheuser-Busch invited the distributors to the downtown Hyatt hotel for a yearly meeting on summer marketing plans. It was the first such meeting since transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s viral social media posts with Bud Light in early April. She received a special edition can with her picture on it. 

Market analysts report Bud Light sales are still down more than 20% for the past month. Bud Light boycotts appear to be driving down sales of fellow Anheuser-Busch brands like Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, which are down but not as sharply. 

[…] They appeared to adopt a “deflect and downplay” strategy, which almost never works. […] An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson confirms the company informed distributors of major changes in marketing structure, issuing the following statement: 

“We regularly bring our wholesaler partners and leadership together to share upcoming brand and business plans. Hosting our May meeting in St. Louis is something we started last year and is an opportunity to bring our partners together in our hometown. 

We have communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners. First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. Second, Todd Allen was appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to Benoit Garbe, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer. Third, we made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”

Anheuser-Busch and its distributors have also sent letters to bars and other retailers explaining the situation, pointing out that a single marketing official engaged with Mulvaney. (read more)  

As you can tell so far, despite the significant North American impacts to the products, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding.  It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

As noted by Dustin Smith, a business professor at Webster University who teaches college students how to manage the woke transition in corporate life, “the brewer has been supporting “Pride” events for years with no backlash. Smith predicted its brands would recover and most of its core customers would return.” {link}

Comrades, the global command and control authorities have spoken.  The tranny fluid will continue to be supported until such time as those NASCAR watching, line dancing rednecks capitulate and start drinking it again.   Look for significant ad buys on Twitter soon.

Keep watching.

May 5 2023

Something Different – Ed Sheeran Wins Copyright Lawsuit


Posted originally on the CTH on May 4, 2023 | Sundance 

Media are reporting a decision in a copyright lawsuit between the estate of Marvin Gay and singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran.  The jury has found Ed Sheeran did not violate any copyright infringement.

This sort of issue is not generally anything that interests me.  However, I watched a great video a few days ago that encapsulates the issues in the lawsuit very well, and it presents an interesting set of questions.   This is a really good video even if you have not paid attention. WATCH:

May 4 2023

The Dangers of 5G


Armstrong Economics Blog/Disease Re-Posted May 4, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Environment and Cancer Research Foundation (ECRF) reported three incidents of otherwise healthy people developing microwave syndrome after 5G towers were installed near their homes or places of work. Microwave syndrome is a condition that can occur when people are exposed to high levels of electromagnetic radiation. These radiations operate at a frequency of 300 MHz to 300 GHz and, as the Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports noted, there is “no previous research on possible negative effects on human health and the environment.”

One study from October 2022 did expose rats to 5G radiation of 3.5 GHz for only two hours a day, five days a week, for one month. They dissected the brain tissue of the test subjects and found notable changes. “Our results indicate that 3.5 GHz RFR causes changes in the energy metabolism and appetite of both healthy and diabetic rats. Thus, 5 G may not be innocent in terms of its biological effects, especially in the presence of diabetes.” The rats also experienced decreased irisin levels (a hormone correlated with weight loss and cognition) and their brain neurons began degenerating in the hippocampus region of the brain, which is responsible for memory.

The harmful effects of 5G have not been exposed; it has been labeled a “conspiracy theory” so that no one questions what this radiation is doing to our bodies. The American Cancer Society even admitted in 2020 that 5G towers may have side effects, but they were not sure. “Most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects,” the society concluded. The  International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, admitted in 2011 that 5G towers were “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

We know these towers have the potential to cause harm but no agency is seriously looking into the consequences. There are organizations, however, without a large platform that are attempting to ask governments to assess the dangers of these networks. We do know these towers are putting out dangerous levels of radiation, but per usual, we are the test subjects will not know the repercussions until it is too late.

May 3 2023

RIP Gordon Lightfoot, 1938 – 2023


Posted originally on the CTH on May 2, 2023 | Sundance 

Gifted singer, songwriter and the connective thread that runs through the memories of our lives, Gordon Lightfoot, has died. He was 84.

A gifted Canadian artist from ordinary means, Mr. Lightfoot’s hits include, “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early Morning Rain,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” and “Sundown,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1974.

 “Sometimes I wonder why I’m being called an icon, because I really don’t think of myself that way,” Mr. Lightfoot told The Globe and Mail in 2008. “I’m a professional musician, and I work with very professional people. It’s how we get through life.” (NYT)

One of his great song lines, …”the hero would be me, but heroes often fail.”   Gordon Lightfoot’s songs are sprinkled throughout multiple links in the chain of our lives. Each song reminding us of our memory attached to the moments of it.  This passing hits a little harder.

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May 1 2023

Wall St Journal Outlines Documents from Jeffrey Epstein Showing Contact with Highly Influential People, Including Current CIA Director Bill Burns and Clinton/Obama Lawyer Ruemmler


Posted originally on the CTH on April 30, 2023 | Sundance

Despite no one knowing ‘how’ Jeffrey Epstein actually made his money, one of the great mysteries amid a labyrinth of rabbit hole mysteries, the network of government officials and high-profile names who associated with and met Epstein has never been fully outlined or absorbed.

Other than a few random and specific names that surface from time-to-time, the lack of media curiosity into the bigger context of the Epstein story has always been somewhat perplexing.  One would ordinarily think the opportunity for a Pulitzer might entice an intrepid media outlet to do a lengthy dive into the matrix of Epstein; alas, no effort toward that objective ever surfaced.

Today, another fragment in the story seemingly finds its way to the surface as the Wall Street Journal outlines a list of names that were not included in the “black book” story, but nonetheless were intertwined with Epstein *after* his first conviction as a sex offender [STORY HERE].

Two of the names within documents, schedules and calendars attributed to the Epstein life include current CIA Director Bill Burns and former White House lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler.  In addition to being the White House legal counsel, Ms. Ruemmer was also the foundation lawyer for Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as the personal lawyer for Susan Rice.

(Wall St Journal) – The nation’s spy chief, a longtime college president and top women in finance. The circle of people who associated with Jeffrey Epstein years after he was a convicted sex offender is wider than previously reported, according to a trove of documents that include his schedules.

William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2021, had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. They first met in Washington and then Mr. Burns visited Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.

Kathryn Ruemmler, a White House counsel under President Barack Obama, had dozens of meetings with Epstein in the years after her White House service and before she became a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2020. He also planned for her to join a 2015 trip to Paris and a 2017 visit to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.

[…] The documents show that Epstein arranged multiple meetings with each of them after he had served jail time in 2008 for a sex crime involving a teenage girl and was registered as a sex offender. The documents, which include thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017, haven’t been previously reported.

[…] Mr. Burns met with Epstein about a decade ago as he was preparing to leave government service, said CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp. “The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector,” she said. “They had no relationship.”

Ms. Ruemmler had a professional relationship with Epstein in connection with her role at law firm Latham & Watkins LLP and didn’t travel with him, a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. Epstein introduced her to potential legal clients, such as Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the spokesman said. “I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” Ms. Ruemmler said.

A spokeswoman for Latham & Watkins said Epstein wasn’t a client of the firm.

[…] Mr. Burns, 67 years old, a career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, had meetings with Epstein in 2014 when Mr. Burns was deputy secretary of state.

A lunch was planned that August at the office of law firm Steptoe & Johnson in Washington. Epstein scheduled two evening appointments that September with Mr. Burns at his townhouse, the documents show. After one of the scheduled meetings, Epstein planned for his driver to take Mr. Burns to the airport.

Mr. Burns recalls being introduced in Washington by a mutual friend, and meeting Epstein once briefly in New York, said Ms. Thorp. “The director does not recall any further contact, including receiving a ride to the airport,” she said.

The following month, October 2014, Mr. Burns stepped down from his role at the State Department to serve as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank. He ran the Carnegie Endowment until he was nominated in early 2021 by President Biden to serve as CIA director.

The documents show that Epstein appeared to know some of his guests well. He asked for avocado sushi rolls to be on hand when meeting with Ms. Ruemmler, according to the documents. He visited apartments she was considering buying. In October 2014, Epstein knew her travel plans and told an assistant to look into her flight. “See if there is a first class seat,” he wrote, “if so upgrade her.”

[…] Epstein and his staff discussed whether Ms. Ruemmler, now 52, would be uncomfortable with the presence of young women who worked as assistants and staffers at the townhouse, the documents show. Women emailed Epstein on two occasions to ask if they should avoid the home while Ms. Ruemmler was there. Epstein told one of the women he didn’t want her around, and another that it wasn’t a problem, the documents show.

Ms. Ruemmler didn’t see anything that would lead her to be concerned at the townhouse and didn’t express any concern, the Goldman spokesman said.

[…] Over the next few years, Ms. Ruemmler, then a partner specializing in white-collar defense at Latham & Watkins, had more than three dozen appointments with Epstein, including for lunches and dinners.

“In the normal course, Epstein also invited her to meetings and social gatherings, introduced her to other business contacts and made referrals,” the Goldman spokesman said. “It was the same kinds of contacts and engagements she had with other contacts and clients.”

In 2015, she was scheduled to fly with Epstein to Paris and in 2017 he planned to stop in St. Lucia to take her to his island home in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the day, according to the documents. (read more)

Sketchy… All of it!

Dirty people, working amid a system that trades dirt as currency…

May 1 2023

If God Told You a Secret Today….


Posted originally on the CTH on April 30, 2023 | Sundance

As I am sometimes able to do, today I printed the prayer thread and took it with me.  I light what grandma always called ‘my Jesus candle‘, sit still, then walk quietly through each prayer and request with pause and deliberation.

As I generally do, I also add my own prayers targeting a turmoil that is less specific.  There is bludgeoning in the world; there is also manipulation, deception and ultimately evil. I do not like it; I am repulsed by it; and like you I choose to oppose it in every way I am able.  This is our ultimate zero-sum battle.

The task completed, I also pondered the changes of the past seven months that surround me. The physical landscape where my youth unfolded, forever changed – much of it erased completely.  Then suddenly, for some unknown reason, a thought occurred:

If God told me a secret today that I was not permitted to share; a secret that today was my last day and yet I could not reveal that knowledge, what would I do?

There is a particular clarity of life, a clarity to purpose, that seemingly happens when we put a clock on our endeavors.

Generally, we ignore the clock, abiding to life is much easier that way, and, truthfully, I do not believe there is value focusing on something we do not control.  However, while we do not control the countdown – we do control every choice we make within it.  Thus, the question holds merit, ‘What would I do?‘

If we accept that we can create something, perhaps make it just a little bit better by making a choice, then we have accomplished something; perhaps much bigger than we imagine.  It is a fundamental truth in life that if we change the way we look at something, then what we look at changes.

We always have choices.

I have long felt that life is like a series of links in a chain. You might be driving down the road and you hear a song on the radio, or see a picture, and you feel a memory….

Something triggers within you that reminds of a different time and place than where you are right now.

You reflect.

The memories you consider remind you of a totally different time in your life.

Perhaps you lived in a different place.  Perhaps you were surrounded by different people. Perhaps a different job or completely different friends. You recognize those memories were constructed like frozen moments in time.  They became individual links in the chain in your life.

We never actually realize, in the immediate moment, when one link closes and another link begins. But when we look back, we can clearly see distinct points where things changed, the link closed, and a new link began.

You see, the links are only visible in reflection.

As we reflect, we find parts of the chain in our life where each link closes and connects with the other. A beginning, and an end. At the point where the links are joined, we carry parts of the previous link forward to the next.

For many people those connections are bonded by family, or very strong lifelong relationships. Connections which continue beyond our geographic moments, jobs or temporary acquaintances.

But for everyone, the primary bonding agent brought forward from one link to the next is us, our center, our values and core principles. Our beliefs.

The strength of the steel which comprises the links of our life is forged in the fire of adversity, weakness, challenge, pain, loss, and painful growth. The steel is then cooled with the tears of triumph, hurdles overcome and resolve.

The forging makes the steel stronger and able to withstand the pressures that accompany the additional length. Slowly the chain becomes wiser as it lengthens. Able to reach further, form more significant benefits and become more useful.

Hope replaces fear. Love replaces loneliness. Success replaces adversity. These are successful links began and finished while contributing to the whole.

At times we may manipulate the links with avoidance. We hide from -or choose to avoid- an issue in our effort to begin a new link before the old one was naturally, and spiritually, prepared to be closed.

Eventually, as life continues and the chain lengthens, the weak link can fracture, and we are forced to revisit/repair what we originally chose to avoid.

You see, in life we cannot control the universal laws that guide us. So, if we manipulate circumstances to avoid confronting our own weakness, we cannot fully strengthen our life of links. Eventually, the weakness of our past will impact our future.

So, what principles do we carry from link to link? What core values and beliefs stay with us throughout the journey of our lives? The answers to these questions are what makes us human spiritual beings.

We possess freewill able to make choices about what we do, and how we define our individual humanity; but can we then define ’right’ and ‘wrong’ according to our individual principles? Or are there principles that exceed our influence and definition?

Are there natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, that cannot be subjected to the determination of man?

These are the bigger questions, perhaps the more important questions; and yet, perhaps the ones we reflect upon the least.

Consider the example of the ‘Law of the farm’ vs. the ‘Law of the School’. Natural principles vs. those made by man.

A student can skip class, take few notes, pay only half attention, then stay up all night cramming for a test and manage a decent grade. It depends on the student’s goal: grades or learning.

The student can choose to manipulate the education, by avoiding the learning and capturing the grade. This is possible in the ‘Law of the School’.

However, a farmer cannot take short cuts. A farmer cannot avoid tending to the soil, preparing the seed, fertilizing and nurturing the crop, and still gain the benefit of an abundant harvest.

The farmer must necessarily do all of the appropriate work in order to benefit from it. Such is the ‘Law of the Farm’, the natural law.

When one considers the weakness remaining within a poorly constructed and manipulated link, perhaps established by selfish choices and driven by avoidance and fear, one can be faithfully assured those who have dealt dishonestly with us will have to visit the issues of their association again.

Conversely, no amount of manipulation or avoidance on our own behalf is going to improve the frailty of any link without first resolving the lack of character which created the weakness.

So, we have choices in our lives. Decisions we each make regarding how we interact and participate in the lives and links of others, as well as how we choose to construct the links that comprise our own lives.

Do we base our sense of purpose around natural principles? Principles based on natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies.  Do we forge strong links by following our heart, our values?

If we can interact with others absent of a prideful self-driven agenda, or manipulative intent, we can then apply such principles and strength to our endeavors.

If we protect the integrity of the soil upon which we build the foundation of our lives, we can live without regret.

If we fertilize and cherish our crop, and the crop of our neighbor, with honesty and sincere appreciation for the souls we meet along our chosen path, we will live a life of abundance.

If we tend carefully to the consideration of everyone, yet holding true to our values and principles, we can strengthen ourselves amid the face of adversity and disenchantment.

If we do not hide from, nor ignore our individual and collective faults, we can build the chain of our life with strength, humility, and purpose.

This context returns me to my original thought:

…If God told me a secret today that I was not permitted to share; a secret that today was my last day and yet I could not reveal that knowledge, what would I do?

I realized I would want to SHOUT a message.

I would want each of you to know how much I cherish and appreciate you.

I would want you, the specific and unique person reading this message, to know that you matter in this grand experience of life.

I would want you to know at the essential core and fiber of your being, that you are of great value to those around you; that you have given more than you have taken; that you have deposited far more than you could ever withdraw.

I would want every intersection of my life to know that I am thankful, blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude.

If today was my last day, I would want to send this message with great deliberateness, urgency and love…. And so I have!

Today is not our last day, but I thank our God for this reminder.  Act like it might be!

Abiding love to all.

Steadfast,

~ Sundance

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…”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”.

~ Robert Frost