Many people are understandably tentative about the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz. How can this IG, or any IG, really be trusted to root out the rot that lies at the heart of the DC corruption?
Can we trust the IG to target the politicization of the FBI and DOJ, and do so with the righteous indignation necessary to tear out the corruptocrats? After all, what would motivate Inspector General Horowitz to participate in such a righteous endeavor?
WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration formally announced that inspectors general will have to get permission from their agency heads to gain access to grand jury, wiretap and fair credit information — an action that severely limits the watchdogs’ oversight capabilities, independence and power to uncover fraud.
An opinion, issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, says the Inspector General Act of 1978 — which was written by Congress to create the government watchdogs in order to help maintain integrity within their agencies — does not have the authority to override nondisclosure provisions in other laws, most notably in regard to grand jury, wiretap or fair credit information.
“In reaching these conclusions, our Office’s role has not been to decide what access [inspectors general] should receive as a matter of policy. Rather, we have endeavored to determine as a matter of law, using established tools of statutory construction, how best to reconcile the strong privacy protections … with the interest in access reflected in … the IG Act,” states the legal counsel’s opinion, which was dated Monday and released Thursday.
“I strongly disagree with the OLC opinion,”Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, said in a statement. “Congress meant what it said when it authorized Inspectors General to independently access ‘all’ documents necessary to conduct effective oversight. Without such access, our Office’s ability to conduct its work will be significantly impaired, and it will be more difficult for us to detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse, and to protect taxpayer dollars.” (read more)
Merry Christmas. Well, it appears people -lots of people- are quickly catching on. As we shared earlier:
“The records IG Horowitz is sharing are details his investigation has uncovered that outline the larger FBI and DOJ collusion against candidate, and possibly President, Donald Trump.
While the partially recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions watches it play out, Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein works as the conduit to ensure those records are provided to congress per request. Yes, Rosenstein, like Horowitz, is also a white hat.
Their united approach with this information is essentially confirming what CTH has written about for the past several weeks. There is a clear strategy here with the information that is surfacing for us to absorb.
Each piece of released information outlines the location of a larger piece of information. Congressional committees just need to keep asking questions, follow the trail of evidence, seek more investigative discovery material, and interview the DOJ and FBI officials named along the way.” (more)
Um,… well,… Cue The Audio Visual – “where are we going?”:
…Giddy up! Democrats just realized the years-long DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation is about to bite them, hard. We are now entering the political combat zone where congressional democrats will attack the IG, in advance of the pending report.
Ironically, the Inspector General investigation led by Michael Horowitz was originally a lame-duck request (January 12, 2017) by Democrats prior to President Obama leaving office. [OIG Origination pdf HERE] That’s one of the more brilliant aspects towards its value. The resulting investigation into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ is revealing details of how both departments were corrupted by political operatives friendly to Democrats. Consequently, their own demanded investigation now becomes a risk.
(OIG Horowitz, AG Jeff Sessions, FBI Director Chris Wray)
As described by Politico: “Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerrold Nadler of New York and two other panel Democrats asked for a full review of DOJ’s decision making that led to Tuesday night’s release of about 375 texts that the FBI officials — Peter Strzok and Lisa Page — sent over a 15-month period during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
Democrats are furious the Strzok/Page text messages were released by DOJ Inspector General Horowitz to the House Committee. They’re mad because the releases provide evidence of the corruption Jerold Nadler and Democrat leadership want to keep hidden. However, as we have shared, the Inspector General is releasing some of the evidence collected so that the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees can question FBI and DOJ leadership about the content – and this approach rolls out the much bigger story.
In essence, Inspector General Horowitz is providing the American people with information the Democrats want to keep hidden. Institutionally, the black hat usurpers, mostly mid-level management and staff within the DOJ and FBI, have been stalling and blocking congressional inquiry into their nefarious, and politically motivated schemes.
The Office of Inspector General is providing a workaround due to the non-cooperation from core FBI management who are at risk from the information congress is demanding. The career officials, Black Hats inside the FBI, those who manipulated the outcomes from within their offices for political purposes, are attempting to stop, block or significantly slow-down congressional oversight.
However, after a year of accumulating evidence, and with an OIG staff of investigators around 500 people strong, Inspector General Horowitz is able to provide the seeds of evidence congress needs to ask the right questions and share the truth with the American electorate. CTH has outlined this apparent strategy extensively – SEE HERE.
Democrat Leadership are trying to bolster the position of the career embeds by turning their fire upon the Department of Justice (Rod Rosenstein), and the Office of the Inspector General (Michael Horowitz). Essentially their goal is to stop the IG from sharing, or publicly identifying the location of, the damning evidence the FBI and DOJ black hat management are trying to keep hidden.
(L-R: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein)
Allies and enemies (black hats and white hats) are now becoming well defined:
(Politico) […] DOJ’s decision to release the text messages this week before the public IG report is finished — Inspector General Michael Horowitz has said he may be done by April — is now the subject of controversy.
[…] In their letter Thursday, the Democrats asked DOJ Public Affairs Director Sarah Isgur Flores to name the DOJ officials who evaluated the content of the text messages to ensure they could be released. They also requested the names of who at DOJ gave the green light to share the messages with the media at the same time they were being delivered to Congress. Nadler, joined by Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, also asked for a list of which reporters and media outlets attended the Tuesday night briefing and any documents they were shown.
DOJ spokesperson Isgur Flores responds:
[…] DOJ had been planning to include the text messages as part of the final IG report, Isgur Flores added, but then changed course and opted for the early release after getting congressional committee requests for the material.
She said Rosenstein consulted with the IG, who “determined that he had no objection to the department’s providing the material to the congressional committees that had requested it.” (read more)
To shut-down the criticism of the release(s), Inspector General Horowitz points out his prior statements where he said:
[page #1, point 1, paragraph 2] “At a hearing on November 15 2017, before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, I testified that the OIG had no objection to the department providing to congress pre-existing department records in its custody in response to a congressional oversight request.”
IG Horowitz is saying if the IG’s office has the records as a result of its investigation, and congress is seeking those records from the FBI, and the FBI is blocking release of their copies of those records, then the OIG’s office has no problem sharing those rightly requested records in the cause of appropriate and statutory oversight.
In essence if the FBI won’t give congress the evidence it seeks, Horowitz is saying: ‘I will’.
See, Inspector General Horowitz is wearing a big White Hat here.
The records Horowitz is sharing are details his investigation has uncovered that outline the larger FBI and DOJ collusion against candidate, and possibly President, Donald Trump.
While the partially recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions watches it play out, Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein works as the conduit to ensure those records are provided to congress per request. Yes, Rosenstein, like Horowitz, is also a white hat.
Their united approach with this information is essentially confirming what CTH has written about for the past several weeks. There is a clear strategy here with the information that is surfacing for us to absorb.
Each piece of released information outlines the location of a larger piece of information. Congressional committees just need to keep asking questions, following the trail of evidence, and interviewing the DOJ and FBI officials named along the way.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz and his extensive team of internal investigators have almost a years-worth of evidence they have gathered. Meanwhile, Asst. AG Rod Rosenstein has another team, a new task-force he put together in August as a result of instructions from AG Jeff Sessions and DNI Dan Coats.
That joint task force consists of FBI and DOJ investigators who are specifically hunting intelligence leakers; including leakers within congress who might be public officials.
TIMING – Depending on how congress proceeds with their questioning of people like: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Counterintelligence head Bill Priestap; FBI Agent Peter Strzok; DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr; FBI and DOJ Attorney Lisa Page, etc…. this is building toward a release early next year.
And all of this still doesn’t even include the “unmasking” angle. Yet.
♦Release #2 outlined the depth of FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page’s specific history in the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton to include the changing of the wording [“grossly negligent” to “extremely careless”] of the probe outcome delivered by FBI Director James Comey.
♦Release #3 was the information about DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr being in contact with Fusion GPS at the same time as the FISA application was submitted and granted by the FISA court; which authorized surveillance and wiretapping of candidate Donald Trump; that release also attached Bruce Ohr and Agent Strzok directly to the Steele Dossier.
♦Release #4 was information that Deputy Bruce Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, was an actual contract employee of Fusion GPS, and was hired by F-GPS specifically to work on opposition research against candidate Donald Trump. Both Bruce Ohr and Nellie Ohr are attached to the origin of the Christopher Steele Russian Dossier.
♦Release #5 was the specific communication between FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page. The 10,000 text messages that included evidence of them both meeting with Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to discuss the “insurance policy” against candidate Donald Trump in August of 2016.
QUESTION: I read your article on Bitcoin. I found it fascinating that defining what it is changes everything. You did not actually say what you thought it was, money, stock, or a commodity. Curious as to what you would classify Bitcoin as.
All the best
ANSWER: The definitions I presented are from the government perspective of taxation. They will naturally define it to be whatever produces the greatest tax for themselves.
Economically speaking, anything that can be exchanged to facilitate a barter transaction becomes a MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. That really can be anything. It has been food, sheepskins, seashells, cattle, bronze, silver, gold, or a derivative of something as paper money began.
Pictured here is a bronze ingot of the Minoan society. It is bronze cast in the form of a sheepskin. This reflects the transition from sheepskin to the Bronze Age. Above is a Roman ingot with the picture of a bull, which also reflects that this was a transition for cattle that was money previously.
Cryptocurrency is the next transition from tangible items being used for money moving toward electronic. It is a Medium of Exchange and that makes it really a currency and not the object itself of desire. Money will always exist in different forms because humans are not all equal in motivation, only human rights and that depends if the government has something to gain then you have no rights at all at that moment.
Trying to actually use Bitcoin in the economy is anything but something that will replace any government currency. The transaction fees are outrageous typically 3 to 4 times that of a cash withdraw from an ATM. In this video, a journalist tries to actually use Bitcoin. The pizza ends up costing him $76.16 and the fee to use Bitcoin is $9.47.
To use Bitcoin, there are middlemen who are the equivalent of a foreign exchange broker. It can take hours to get a simple order in to buy a pizza.
From a practical viewpoint, cryptocurrencies are not quite ready for prime time. They are all hype and offering a futuristic vision of beating the governments, but the computing time it takes to actually use cryptocurrency and the complexities, demonstrate that what we are dealing with is by no means some instant success story that has beaten paper currency or a credit card, which is really also electronic money.
In the past few weeks, thanks to some revealing information amid the various investigators of the DC swamp, we have been introduced to some previously unknown people.
Names like FBI Agent Peter Strzok; his mistress FBI Attorney Lisa Page; their ideological comrade Asst FBI Director Andrew McCabe; along with DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr; and his wife, Fusion-GPS contract employee Nellie Ohr. These are a few of the recent names that have hit the headlines as a result of ongoing investigations into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.
But there’s one name conspicuously absent, FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap.
When you understand how central Bill Priestap is to the entire 2016/2017 ‘Russian Conspiracy Operation‘, the absence of his name, amid all others, creates a curiosity. I wrote a twitter thread about him recently because it seems rather unfathomable his name has not been a part of any of the recent story-lines.
Bill Priestap is the head of the FBI Counterintelligence operation. He was FBI Agent Peter Strozk’s direct boss. If anyone in congress really wanted to know if the FBI paid for the Christopher Steele Dossier, Bill Priestap is the guy who would know.
♦Release #2 outlined the depth of FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page’s specific history in the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton to include the changing of the wording [“grossly negligent” to “extremely careless”] of the probe outcome delivered by FBI Director James Comey.
♦Release #3 was the information about DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr being in contact with Fusion GPS at the same time as the FISA application was submitted and granted by the FISA court; which authorized surveillance and wiretapping of candidate Donald Trump; that release also attached Bruce Ohr and Agent Strzok directly to the Steele Dossier.
♦Release #4 was information that Deputy Bruce Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, was an actual contract employee of Fusion GPS, and was hired by F-GPS specifically to work on opposition research against candidate Donald Trump. Both Bruce Ohr and Nellie Ohr are attached to the origin of the Christopher Steele Russian Dossier.
♦Release #5 was the specific communication between FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page. The 10,000 text messages that included evidence of them both meeting with Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to discuss the “insurance policy” against candidate Donald Trump in August of 2016.
In April 2016 Hillary Clinton paid Glenn Simpson with Fusion-GPS to dig up dirt on Donald Trump.
In May 2016 Fusion GPS hired Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr, to lead the opposition research effort. That same month, Fusion GPS contracted with retired British MI6 Agent Christopher Steele to write the ‘Trump Russia Dossier’.
In late June 2016 the first draft of the Steele Dossier was shared back with Fusion GPS and presumably Nellie Ohr was one of the recipients. According to Robby Mook, the partial dossier information was also given to the DNC and Clinton Campaign.
In July 2016 candidate Donald Trump won the GOP nomination. That same month the FBI Counterintelligence Division began an investigation they later described as a counterintelligence operation looking at Russian interference in the U.S. election. However, from 10 months of researched documentation, much of it in the MSM, we now know it was an FBI counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump.
Also in July 2016, immediately following candidate Donald Trump’s successful bid to win the GOP nomination, a FISA application was denied. The timing here is far too coincidental (the later narrower version clearly evidences), the FISA application was to wiretap, monitor and conduct surveillance on candidate Trump and his campaign.
In August 2016, the lead FBI Agent in charge of that counterintelligence operation, Peter Strzok told his FBI Attorney and mistress: “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
The “insurance policy” appears to be the ongoing counterintelligence operation that later utilized the Steele Dossier to get the FISA warrant and actually begin the wiretaps and surveillance. The conversation referenced between Strzok and Page took place in FBI Assistant Director Andrew “Andy” McCabe’s office.
All of this information is really just a recap. Everyone now sees this construct clearly. The Timelines are brutally obvious. Congress and DC investigators, including the years-long OIG investigation, are currently in the phase of nailing down the players and putting the final touches on the evidence. The outline is clear as day.
However, within this brutally obvious outline there’s a name missing. That name is the FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap:
FBI Asst. Director in charge of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap was the immediate supervisor of FBI Counterintelligence Deputy Peter Strzok.
Bill Priestap is #1. Before getting demoted Peter Strzok was #2.
The investigation into candidate Donald Trump was a counterintelligence operation. That operation began in July 2016. Bill Priestap would have been in charge of that, along with all other, FBI counterintelligence operations.
FBI Deputy Peter Strzok was specifically in charge of the Trump counterintel op. However, Strzok would be reporting to Bill Priestap on every detail and couldn’t (according to structure anyway) make a move without Priestap approval.
On March 20th 2017 congressional testimony, James Comey was asked why the FBI Director did not inform congressional oversight about the counterintelligence operation that began in July 2016.
FBI Director Comey said he did not tell congressional oversight he was investigating presidential candidate Donald Trump because the Director of Counterintelligence suggested he not do so. *Very important detail.*
I cannot emphasize this enough. *VERY* important detail. Again, notice how Comey doesn’t use Priestap’s actual name, but refers to his position and title. Again, watch [Prompted]
FBI Director James Comey was caught entirely off guard by that first three minutes of that questioning. He simply didn’t anticipate it.
Oversight protocol requires the FBI Director to tell the congressional intelligence “Gang of Eight” of any counterintelligence operations. The Go8 has oversight into these ops at the highest level of classification. In July 2016 the time the operation began, oversight was the responsibility of this group, the Gang of Eight:
Obviously, based on what we have learned since March 2017, and what has surfaced recently, we can all see why the FBI would want to keep it hidden that they were running a counterintelligence operation against a presidential candidate. After all, as FBI Agent Peter Strzok said it in his text messages, it was an “insurance policy”.
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
So there we have FBI Director James Comey telling congress on March 20th that the reason he didn’t inform the statutory oversight “Gang of Eight” was because Bill Priestap (Director of Counterintelligence) recommended he didn’t do it.
Apparently, according to Comey, Bill Priestap carries a great deal of influence if he could get his boss to NOT perform a statutory obligation simply by recommending he doesn’t do it.
Than again, Comey’s blame-casting there is really called creating a “fall guy”. FBI Director James Comey is ducking responsibility in March 2017 by blaming FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap for not informing congress of the operation that began in July 2016. (9 months prior).
At that moment, that very specific moment during that March 20th hearing, anyone who watches these hearings closely could see Comey was creating his own exit from getting ensnared in the consequences from the wiretapping and surveillance operation of President Donald Trump. In essence, Bill Priestap is James Comey’s shield from liability.
But more curiously for current discussion, there has been NO MENTION of Bill Priestap in any of the recent revelations, despite his centrality to all of it.
Bill Priestap would have needed to authorize Peter Strzok to engage with Christopher Steele over the “Russian Dosssier”.
Bill Priestap would have needed to approve of the underlying documents that were used for both FISA applications (June/July and Sept/Oct).
Bill Priestap would be the person to approve of paying, or reimbursing, Christopher Steele for the Russian Dossier used in their counterintelligence operation and subsequent FISA application.
Without Bill Priestap involved, approvals, etc. the entire Russian/Trump Counterintelligence operation just doesn’t happen. Heck, James Comey’s March testimony in that regard is also evidence of Priestap’s importance.
In addition, when Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates testified (with James Clapper), she too spoke of the importance of Bill Priestap as her liaison and contact within the FBI on the counterintelligence operation. [Yates never mentioned Peter Strzok – not once.] Even though it was FBI agent Peter Strzok who interviewed Michael Flynn on January 24th, [link] Sally Yates never mentioned him. EVER.
However Deputy AG Sally Yates did talk about Bill Priestap during her testimony.
Yates testified she and Bill Priestap traveled together, Jan 26th, to the White House to inform Don McGhan (WH Counsel) of Michael Flynn “misleading statements” (based on Pence media reports and Flynn prior ambush interview Jan 24th).
According to Sally Yates testimony, she and Bill Priestap reportedly presented all the information to White House General Counsel Don McGahn “so the White House could take action that they deemed appropriate.”
So we all can see that Bill Priestap is a central figure. FBI Director James Comey defers to him; Acting Attorney General Sally Yates relied on him; FBI Special Agent in Counterintelligence Peter Strzok reports to him; Yet there’s absolutely no mention of Bill Priestap in any of the explosive investigative story-lines in the past two weeks.
Why?
Bill Priestap is the FBI Director of Counterintelligence. There’s no way he hasn’t been caught inside the investigative net.
Bill Priestap’s boss, Andrew McCabe has been caught. Bill Priestap’s subordinate, Peter Strzok, has most certainly been caught. And in March 20th 2017 FBI Director Comey pushed Priestap directly in front of the congressional oversight bus.
My hunch is either Bill Priestap is going to be the attempted fall-guy for the entire scheme. -OR- Bill Priestap saw the bus coming and is assisting the swamp-draining DC investigators:
On the home-front: FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap is married to Sabina Menshell a self-employed “consultant” with a history of donations to Democrat candidates, specifically to Hillary Clinton.
Bill’s wife Sabina comes from a Goldman Sach’s connected family, which must be why Bill and Sabina can afford to live in a $3.2 million home in Washington DC.
Would be a little difficult to afford a $3,000,000.00 mortgage on a G-Man’s payroll.
We are so fortunate to have Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Stunning mastery of global events, policy, strategy, and diplomatic nuance at both the big and granular levels.
During a keynote address, “Meeting the Foreign Policy Challenges of 2017 and Beyond” at the 2017 Atlantic Council – Korea Foundation Forum, Secretary Tillerson takes the opportunity to provide another eloquent “walk around the globe” outline of current foreign engagements and ongoing U.S. policy therein. If you watched the first one, you’ll also enjoy this one.
The first 38 minutes consist of T-Rex taking a “jog”, as he put it, around the globe to help everyone understand “what’s going on”. With simple note cards for reference Tillerson walks through the most important challenges in foreign policy. The last 20 minutes of the video is also well worth watching because T-Rex goes into great detail on the subject of North Korea and how each angle of nuance plays a part of the larger dynamic.WATCH:
In a stunning display of international transparency, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley presents actual, physical, incontrovertible and, yes, uncomfortable, evidence of Iranian weapons that have been used by proxy fighters against allied nations. The presentation takes place at joint base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, DC and consists of formerly classified intelligence gathering presented openly to the international community.
Ambassador Nikki Haley presents an assembly of actual Iranian missiles and weapons that have been fired against mid-east allies within the peace coalition. After a brief speech outlining the material on display, Mrs. Haley takes questions from international media.
.
[Transcript] It’s really important that you be here today, because we have a story to tell, and the story is a very important one. And it’s not just important for the United States, it’s important for the entire international community. As President Trump announced on October 13, the United States is taking a new approach to Iran by focusing on all of the regime’s destabilizing behavior. That means we are focused not just on the nuclear program.
We’re also taking a hard look at Iran’s ballistic missile program, its arms exports, and its support for terrorists, proxy fighters, and dictators.
Our new strategy was prompted by the undeniable fact that the Iranian regime’s behavior is growing worse. The nuclear deal has done nothing to moderate the regime’s conduct in other areas.
Aid from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to dangerous militias and terror groups is increasing. Its ballistic missiles and advanced weapons are turning up in warzones across the region. It’s hard to find a conflict or a terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it.
Four days ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif wrote an op-ed assuring the world that Iran has been misunderstood. He wrote, “Iran’s military capabilities comply with international law and are entirely defensive.”
Instead of stoking violence, Zarif promised that Iran and its partners, “labor to put out fires [while] the arsonists in our region grow more unhinged.”
But the United Nations just released a new report that tells the opposite story. It tells the story of Iran as the arsonist. The report shows the Tehran regime not putting out fires, but fanning the flames of conflict in the region.
This was the Secretary-General’s fourth report detailing Iranian compliance – or noncompliance – with UN Resolution 2231. That resolution places specific prohibitions on Iranian conduct.
In its strongest language yet, the Secretary-General’s report describes violation after violation of weapons transfers and ballistic missile activity.
The United States welcomes this report, as should every nation concerned about Iranian expansion. We are grateful for the depth of the UN’s inspection and analysis. Most telling, the report makes a convincing case that Iran is illegally providing the Houthi militants in Yemen with dangerous weapons. The report provides devastating evidence of missiles, conventional arms, and explosive boats of Iranian origin used by the rebels in Yemen – all of which violate UN resolutions.
The United States and our partners went to great lengths to support the UN investigations into Iranian violations by declassifying evidence so that the world could better be informed of the extent of Iran’s malign activities.
As you know, we do not often declassify this type of military equipment recovered from these attacks. But today we are taking an extraordinary step of presenting it here in an open setting. We did this for a single, urgent purpose: because the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to engage in its lawless behavior any longer. International peace and security depends on us working together against the Iranian regime’s hostile actions.
The fight against Iranian aggression is the world’s fight. The United States is acting today in the spirit of transparency and international cooperation that is necessary to defeat this threat.
In this warehouse is concrete evidence of illegal Iranian weapons proliferation, gathered from direct military attacks on our partners in the region.
Behind me is an example of one of these attacks. These are the recovered pieces of a missile fired by Houthi militants from Yemen into Saudi Arabia. The missile’s intended target was the civilian airport in Riyadh, through which tens of thousands of passengers travel each day.
I repeat: This missile was used to attack an international civilian airport in a G-20 country.
Just imagine if this missile had been launched at Dulles Airport or JFK, or the airports in Paris, London, or Berlin. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what Iran is actively supporting.
What is most revealing about this missile is what’s not here. This is a short-range ballistic missile. It is missing the large stabilizer fins that are typically present on these kinds of missiles.
The Iranian Qiam missile is the only known short range ballistic missile in the world that lacks such stabilizer fins and includes nine valves that you will see running along the length of the missile. Those valves are essentially Iranian missile fingerprints.
On your walk through, you will also see missile debris stamped with the logo of Shahid Bagheri Industries, an Iranian manufacturer.
Those are just two of the many pieces of evidence that tell us of this missile’s Iranian origins.
It was made in Iran, then sent to Houthi militants in Yemen. From there it was fired at a civilian airport, with the potential to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia.
You will see more than that. In this warehouse there is also material from an anti-tank guided missile. Such missiles have a range of over two miles and can destroy tanks, and even buildings. You will see material from an unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as a kamikaze drone, that can take out radar sites. You will see material from a SHARK-33 explosive boat. These are boats with a warhead inside them that explodes on impact. They can blow six feet wide holes in the hulls of ships.
All of these weapons include parts made in Iran, some by Iran’s government-run defense industry. All are proof that Iran is defying the international community. And not just one time. This evidence demonstrates a pattern of behavior in which Iran sows conflict and extremism in direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
In just a minute, Laura Seal from our Defense Department will walk you through the items gathered here and explain their connection to the Tehran regime. We welcome a thorough examination of this material, not just by the members of the press here today, but by the international community.
Several countries will be sending delegations here to view this material in the next few days. Some have already been here. We are inviting the entire UN Security Council to see it for themselves. And we are inviting all members of Congress to view it.
This evidence is part of what has led the U.S. intelligence community to conclude, unequivocally, that these weapons were supplied by the Iranian regime.
The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had “Made in Iran” stickers all over it.
The United States stands ready to share what we know to further the cause of peace. We ask our friends and our allies to do the same. Iran is determined to undermine the international consensus against its conduct.
We must speak with one voice in exposing the regime for what it is: a threat to the peace and security of the entire world. We call on all nations to join us in a united front resisting this global threat. (read more)
You say, “The one-size-fits-all policy of central banks with regard to interest rates pits East v West in both Canada and the United States. Farmers, oil producers, and miners are forced to pay higher interest rates when their economies are declining because of speculative booms in Toronto or New York.”
I can see how regional Central Banks could have supplied different stimulus in different regions back in the time of the Fed’s formation when the mediums of communication were not what they are today, but how would that work now. With the ability, today to borrow money electronically from where ever it is cheapest, wouldn’t people in the high-interest regions simply borrow in the regions where the money was cheapest defeating that strategy?
Regards,
F
ANSWER: About 70% of small business are routinely turned down for business loans. The small farmers, miners, and oil producers cannot simply borrow from the cheapest source. I myself always found banks calling me asking if wanted to borrow money when things were great and I never needed it. If you are watching your business model decline, nobody will lend to a ship taking on even a little water. There is a huge difference between a consumer loan on credit cards and a small business.
Consumers already pay interest rates set by a bank which are usually covering various regions. It is true, after the collapse of 9,000 banks with the Great Depression, thereafter banks were prohibited from Interstate Banking. Indeed, Interstate Banking allowing banks across state lines became widespread in the mid-1980s, when state legislatures passed legislation that allowed bank holding companies to acquire out-of-state banks on a reciprocal basis with other states. I had been on the board of a regional bank in the early 1980s. After Interstate Banking was allowed, a New York bank came down and put in a bid for Capital State Bank. It was sold and everyone cashed-in on their shares.
The main point is that there remain regional lending problems. The banks will lend to a market that is booming and will shun away from the regions in trouble. Today, a major bank in New York goes down and it impacts the entire country thanks to Interstate Banking.
So yes, you are correct – things are different today. The regional approach served the local economies. Even the S&L industry was regional and intended to serve the local economies. Today, the restructuring of the central banks eliminating and responsibility for regional disparities combined with Interstate Banking produces a completely different set of problems that will fuel the various separatist’s movements. In Europe, we see a huge disparity between the local economies of Southern Europe v Northern Europe and there too they are trying to impose the one-size-fits-all approach to central banking. Wherever we see economic disparities, we will see separatist movements
The Trump Tax Reform reducing the corporate tax to 21% and taking effect January 1st, 2018 rather than being delayed until 2019, will be one of the biggest positive catalysts for US equities in decades. This is very interesting because it is now fundamentally validating what our computer has been projecting for highs going up to the 40,000 level on the Dow back in 2009.
Many of the domestic and institutional investors overseas are NOT in this market. They will now be forced to reposition their portfolios once the bill is passed. How to Trade a Vertical Market is absolutely critical at this point in time. This is by no means going to be easy.
We are already above the top of the Upward Channel and this will be 21,017.30. Our projections for 2017 stood at 25,648.40 and this rises to 28,045.71 for 2018. This is the next area of resistance. Once we push through that projection, the market will come back to test it. That will be the start of the slingshot upward.
The same model produced the projection at 195.97 for 1928. The year 1928 opened above the projection at 203.40, fell back to retest it dripping to 194.50, and then entered the slingshot running to 301.60 intraday and closed that year at 300.00. Keep in mind our project model gives us 25,648.40 so we are not yet through that level.
This is why I have always warned AGAINST fundamental analysis. The fundamentals ALWAYS unfold to validate what our computer forecasts to start with. Our forecast that BREXIT would win and Trump back in 2016 was possible ONLY because the computer was picking up the change in public sentiment which is driven by economics. The Trump Tax Reform is a reflection of the discontent underlying the economy. The Democrats will naturally vote in block against it because they simply like the higher taxes even if it produces fewer jobs and lower economic growth. They cannot change their color now.
NOBODY could have forecast this back in 2009. Barron’s though we were crazy back in 2011 forecasting the Dow was off to new record highs. Socrates can beat anyone, even me. So why will mainstream media not report our model’s success? Because it is not in the self-interest of themselves or government. Why interview people with opinions to fill their pages if all you have to do is try to figure out why the forecasts Socrates puts out will unfold on schedule? Don’t worry about it. Our big clients prefer that our forecasts are not on their front pages.
After the New Year, we will produce a special report on the US share market for 2018 with the turning point and price objectives for the year.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
