Damn this is frustrating. Sorry folks, but this absolutely confirms the ongoing corruption within the DOJ that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is allowing. This is a Trump administration cover-up. The DOJ has issued a press release [SEE HERE] outlining a plea agreement with Mr. Wolfe where all charges are dropped except a single count of lying to investigators.
Senate Security Chief James Wolfe was given a plea deal by the DOJ allowing him to plead guilty to a single count of lying to federal authorities, and avoiding all other consequences.
The DOJ never openly admitted that Wolfe leaked the 83 Page FISA application on March 17th, 2017 from the Senate Intelligence Committee; and the media have never admitted to receiving it. This pleading today covers-up the entire scheme and throws a blanket over massive and consequential downstream ramifications to the Senate Intelligence Committee and U.S. Media that will now remain hidden. FUBAR !
WASHINGTON DC – Former veteran Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of making false statements to federal agents.
The guilty plea represents an about-face for Wolfe, 57, who earlier in the proceedings had vowed, through his lawyers, to “vigorously” fight charges that he lied to the FBI about his contacts with reporters. Monday’s hearing had been on the calendar as a routine status hearing, but the judge began by announcing Wolfe was in court to enter a guilty plea.
Wolfe wasn’t charged with leaking classified or other sensitive information, a fact his lawyers repeatedly emphasized. He was indicted earlier this year on three counts of making false statements to the FBI who questioned him about his contacts with reporters. By pleading guilty, the number of charges was knocked down to just one count. (read more)
This is a cover-up, plain and simple. The political ramifications to the disclosures would be too damaging to the institutions. Wolfe claiming he never leaked classified information, and the DOJ allowing him to make that statement, means they current DOJ has made the decision to hide the most damaging information to preserve politicians, protect the intelligence community and, as a consequence, cover for the media.
Josh Gerstein
✔@joshgerstein
NEW: Senate aide pleads guilty to lying in probe of leaks about Carter Page. Admits to undisclosed contacts with reporters, but continues to deny leaking classified info. Likely sentence 0-6 months https://politi.co/2CMzu9i
Ex-Senate aide pleads guilty to lying to the FBI in leak probe
James Wolfe admitted to a single felony count of making a false statement in the course of a federal investigation.
politico.com
Here’s the backstory:
Connecting the Wolfe indictment to the recently released Carter Page FISA application it becomes obvious in March 2017 Senate Staffer James Wolfe sent reporter Ali Watkins a copy of the 82-page FISA Title-1 origination application. Here’s how we know:
On/around March 16th, 2017, the Senate Intelligence Committee requested a copy of the FISA application used against Carter Page. How do we know this? Because a part of the indictment against James Wolfe tells us what took place.
Page #5 of the Wolfe indictment (unsealed in June 2018) describes Reporter #2 Ali Watkins.
Page #6 describes one of the leaks; one of the very specific leaks by Wolfe to Watkins. Read carefully:
That document described is clearly the FISA application used against Carter Page that was disclosed Saturday. Note the description (above) and the date of the FISC release disclosed: March, 17th, 2017 – FISC CLERK COPY STAMP page 83
♦Yes, that means the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has had the FISA application against Carter Page in their possession since March 2017.
Next: Note the FISA application (original first application) is 83 pages, with a blank page. That’s 82 pages total.
Note page #6 of the Wolfe indictment: “82 text messages” corresponds with James Wolfe texting 82 images of the FISA application to Ali Watkins. Wolfe likely took pictures of each application page and sent them to Ms. Watkins.
Important to note: depending on how the FISA copy was processed by the DOJ(?), and considering this was to the Senate Intel Committee, it is likely the SSCI copy was not heavily redacted (if at all).
♦Yes, that means reporter Ali Watkins (Buzzfeed then New York Times) has had a copy of the original FISA application against Carter Page since March 17th, 2017.
♦Yes, that also means the U.S. DOJ has known since December 15th, 2017, that SSCI Chief Staffer James Wolfe leaked the FISA application to the media in March 2017.
♦Yes, that also means the U.S. DOJ has known the media has been holding a copy of the original FISA application since March 17th, 2017.
Further….
SSCI Chairman Richard Burr and SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner are “Gang-of-Eight” intelligence oversight members.
They have top level security clearances, so they could/would be permitted to see the FISC release w/out redactions.
However, in March 2017, at the time this application was sent to the SSCI, there was also an ongoing Intelligence Community leak investigation taking place. Actually, more like a “leak hunt”. This ongoing “leak hunt”, in connection to the later capture of James Wolfe, becomes a more important consideration when you think about the recent FISA application public release.
From the Wolfe indictment we discover: On December 15th, 2017 James Wolfe was busted; the FBI had him dead-to-rights. However, the grand jury proceedings didn’t start until May 3rd, 2018; and the indictment was sealed until June 7th, 2018. That means six months passed between busting Wolfe on Dec. 15th, 2017, and indicting Wolfe on June 7th, 2018.
It is difficult to gain a search and seizure warrant on a journalist. However, it is noted Reporter #2, Ms. Ali Watkins, was identified and an appropriate search warrant was authorized by the court. Ms. Watkins was notified after execution of the search warrant. February 13, 2018:
RECAP: Wolfe FBI interview 12/15/17; one search warrant executed Jan-Feb 2018; grand jury seated May 2018; indictment/arrest of Wolfe June 2018
Here is where it gets interesting. Back to the FISC application released. Remember, we must think of this release in four segments:
♦Original application – Oct ’16
♦Renewal – Jan ’17
♦Renewal – April ’17
♦Renewal – June ’17
However, when the FISA application was released publicly, *they* (unknown) released the March 17th, 2017 copy (the one sent to the SSCI) of the original.
Why release (segment #1) from the March 17th, 2017, copy?
The answer to that question goes back to the leak hunting taking place on/around March 17th, 2017, when the FISA application was first released to the SSCI.
*They* (again, unknown) likely put a subtle leak tracer in the FISC application when it was released. A slight variation in the copy sent to the SSCI that would help the leak hunters identify the leak, if the tracer information was found in media reporting.
So there is something slightly different about the March 17th, 2017, version of the Carter Page FISA application…. than the unmodified original version held at the FISC.
That is why the publicly released version has segment #1 dated as March 17th, 2017. Whoever made the decision to release the application needed to publicly release the same version as was previously used to track leakers.
NOTE: It is highly likely one of the “leak tracers” was to change the dates within the FISA application and/or the FISA renewal(s). This explains why the dates are all redacted in the FISA Application release:
However, as the case against Wolfe continued there were more curious and troubling legal developments.
First, we know from overwhelming circumstantial evidence, conveniently overlooked by media, that one of Wolfe’s specific leaks involved sending his concubine Ali Watkins a copy of the 82-page FISA application used to gain a Title-1 surveillance warrant against U.S. person Carter Page. {Full Backstory Here} Some key things about this leak:
It is highly likely there were no redactions in the copy Wolfe leaked to the media.
It is highly likely Wolfe was caught in a leak hunt, and the copy given to him included a specific, and intentionally wrong, internal date using October 19th as the origination date for FISA application approval. (The actual date was Oct 21st).
However, despite overwhelming and easy to prove evidence against him, Wolfe was never charged with the Carter Page FISA leak. The DOJ/FBI have him dead-to-rights on that leak, but he was charged with the more disingenuous crime of lying to the FBI.
These explosive details have been largely ignored by media, and two recent legal filings add even more layers of intrigue. Last week a federal judge denied a request by Wolfe’s lawyers to put a gag order on the entire U.S. government; to include President Trump:
The scant media coverage all focused on a narrative that Mr. Wolfe was requesting a gag order against President Trump in his case. However, as you can see above, that was not the request. More broadly Wolfe’s attorneys were attempting to bar any government official from any public statement. This is Key…. keep that in mind as you look at the second development.
After losing the gag order request, lawyers for Mr. Wolfe have sent letters to every Senator who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. [As we have shared for years, the SSCI is the deepest and most corrupt part of the Deep State swamp.]
The lawyers for Wolfe are putting the senators on notice they might be called as defense witnesses. Read carefully, including between the lines (emphasis mine):
WASHINGTON—Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have been notified they may be asked for testimony as part of the criminal trial of a veteran Senate staffer accused of lying to the FBI while working for the panel.
Attorneys for James A. Wolfe sent letters to all 15 senators on the committee, notifying them that their testimony may be sought as part of Mr. Wolfe’s defense, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Wolfe, who for nearly 30 years served as the director of security for the intelligence committee, was arrested last month and charged with lying to the FBI about his contacts with reporters while the bureau was conducting an investigation into leaks of classified information to journalists. Mr. Wolfe wasn’t charged with leaking any information.
Mr. Wolfe’s defense lawyers are considering calling the senators as part of the proceedings for a variety of reasons, including as potential character witnesses and to rebut some of the allegations made by the government in the criminal complaint, these people say. (link)
Remember, Wolfe isn’t charged with the leaks, he’s charged with lying to the FBI. His lawyers inferring that Senators might be called to rebut the allegations, seems to imply that Senators might have authorized the content of those allegations; or, put simply, Senators might have authorized or instructed Wolfe to make the leaks to the media.
…”to rebut some of the allegations” … “in the criminal complaint”
Pause on that for a moment.
Two things jump out to me immediately; things that could be considered heavily corrupt based on how the reader views the current DOJ institution; if ‘corrupt’:
#1) perhaps that’s why the DOJ didn’t charge Wolfe with the specific leak(s). If the DOJ had charged him with specific leaks to the media there could be Senators at risk of criminal conspiracy.
#2) perhaps these notification letters are Wolfe saying he will burn everyone if he is taken down, therefore his defense is to hide behind the Senators and make them pressure the DOJ to drop/lessen charges against him.
Something sketchy is definitely going on.
WASHINGTON – [cont,,] People familiar with the case are bracing for the possibly that lawmakers could try to invoke constitutional immunity to avoid testifying. The “speech or debate” clause of the constitution states that members are largely privileged from arrest while attending sessions of Congress and that “they shall not be questioned in any other place” about their legislative duties.
However, very little case law exists on the clause. David Schultz, who teaches law at the University of Minnesota, said he wouldn’t expect a court to entirely excuse members of Congress from testifying in a criminal proceeding, even if it is related to their official duties. (more)
Go read Jeff Carlson’s article at The Markets Work –SEE HERE– He too is noticing that something increasingly sketchy and curious is happening.
Again, here’s a time/date listing of the corrupt activity taking place by Vice-Chairman Mark Warner at the same time the March 17, 2017, FISA application was released to the SSCI:
March 16th, 2017, SSCI requests copy of FISA application from Court
March 17th, 2017, a copy of the application with an intentionally adjusted date (Oct 19th) was delivered to James Wolfe, Director of Security for the SSCI.
March 17th, 2017, Wolfe sends reporter Ali Watkins a copy of the original FISA application via 82 picture text messages (one per page) thereby distributing the wrong date. He may have also shared with other reporters.
Numerous media reports surface using the October 19th false date.
October 31st, 2017, FBI notifies Security Director James Wolfe of a leak investigation (hunt for leakers) looking at the Senate Intelligence Committee.
December 14th, 2017, Ali Watkins announces she will no longer be covering the SSCI.
December 15th, 2017, FBI confronts James Wolfe with evidence that he is one of the people leaking classified intelligence to journalists.
Before the end of December 2017, Wolfe resigns.
FBI gains national security search warrant against reporter Ali Watkins and all of her electronic communications. Watkins is notified by her network provider on February 13th, 2018.
May 3rd, 2018, grand jury proceedings against Wolfe. Indictment remains under seal.
June 7th, 2018, indictment is unsealed – James Wolfe is arrested.
RESOURCES :
♦Sketchy Richard Burr, Mark Warner and James Wolfe – SEE HERE
♦James Wolfe Arrest – SEE HERE
♦The Story Behind the Wolfe Arrest – SEE HERE
♦Details of Wolfe leaking FISA application – SEE HERE
Everything surrounding the “disappearance”, perhaps “murder”, of Saudi critic/journalist Jamal Khashoggi screams manufactured geopolitical propaganda. All current narrative indications are pushing in one direction. Here are the warning flags:
♦Flag #1 – Jamal Khashoggi in self-exile, worked for The Washington Post, and was hiding behind ‘residency’ in the U.S. WaPo is a notorious left-wing intelligence propaganda outlet for the most politicized elements within the U.S. intelligence apparatus.
♦Flag #2 – Turkey (Recep Erdogan) pushing the narrative. Erdogan is a notorious liar when it comes to his interests, and a master manipulator. Turkey/Erdogan is the most openly staunch supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and has a self-interest in distracting/deflecting U.S. economic pressure from their ongoing relationship with Iran.
♦Flag #3 – Saudi Arabia [Mohamed Bin Salman (MbS)] has been instituting political and cultural reforms that are antithetical to the advanced objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood, Recep Erdogan (wants new Ottoman Empire), and extreme Islam.
♦Flag #4 – The voices behind the U.S. push to promote the Jamal Khashoggi story are all aligned in one purposeful and ideological direction. Former Obama officials including: John Brennan, Samantha Power, Valerie Jarrett et al, are all pushing the story in a transparent effort to create division between the U.S. and KSA and by extension benefit their Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian allies.
♦Flag #5 – The left-wing, highly political, intelligence apparatus – and all DC interests are joined by the notorious right-wing members of the UniParty war machine. [Rubio, Sasse, Flake, Schumer, Menendez, et al] Together with the exact same left-wing media voices (right and left), and all the political ‘think-tanks’, who advance the DC drumbeat. Yes, the gang is all back together again in their high-brow pontification of ‘muh values‘.
♦Flag #6 – The story is being pushed into U.S. media outlets by a notorious Muslim Brotherhood mouthpiece, Khaled Saffuri:
[I]n the past 24 hours we now have a glimpse of exactly who is feeding the establishment media reporting on the Khashoggi matter — including at least one source who was tied to a joint Libyan intelligence and al-Qaeda plot to assassinate the Saudi crown prince.
Khaled Saffuri is the protege of al-Qaeda fundraiser Abdurahman Alamoudi, who is currently serving a 17-year sentence in federal prison for his role as bagman for the Libyan/Al-Qaeda assassination plot. (read more)
Two distinct issues within the corruption story: (1) FISA abuse during the election; (2) A soft-coup attempt following the election. Though there is overlap surrounding the motive behind both issues, each is an independent and unique investigative pathway. John Ratcliffe does a great job walking through each distinction.
Texas Representative John Ratcliffe is one of the few Judiciary Committee members who has reviewed the totality of all classified FISA information held by the DOJ and FBI. Ratcliffe discusses the upcoming testimony of Nellie Ohr and how that pertains to the ongoing investigation into FISA abuses by Sally Yates and Andrew McCabe.
Representative Ratcliffe also outlines the second issue involving the soft-coup effort and how current DAG Rod Rosenstein and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe are in conflict with each other. Ratcliffe explains how he has seen all of the documents and gives a specific example to how they relates to the request for declassification in exposing the corruption. Very good interview:
Ohio Representative Jim Jordan discusses Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein refusing to answer questions from congressional oversight, and the upcoming additional testimony of James Baker (Team McCabe) and the first round of questions for Ms. Nellie Ohr.
Representative Jim Jordan appears with Sara Carter and Greg Jarrett to discuss the refusal of Fusion-GPS media hub and professional propagandist Glenn Simpson to appear before congress. [Discussing This Story]
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Jim Jordan also points out the risk in President Trump’s current strategy. Timing the most damning evidence against the soft-coup usurpers to come out after the election; in combination with the DOJ/FBI influenced IG report on FISA abuse; can also mean that if Democrats win the house the corruption scandal simply melts back into the swamp…
I’m going to walk through a long-held hypothesis of sorts, surrounding how multiple institutions within government were weaponized around politics. The foundation is what we already know about how the intelligence apparatus was politically weaponized by multiple Obama-era officials.
Jeff Carlson has assembled a strong and in-depth outline covering most of the weaponized intelligence agencies and how they related to “spygate” – SEE HERE –
However, there has also been a strong suspicion that most of the corrupt origination activity would never surface.
The downstream ramifications to the institutions of our IC apparatus would be too destructive. What follows below is the story that will never reach sunlight officially.
When reading the Department of State (DoS) letter today, I cannot avoid reviewing the information against the backdrop of known DoS corrupt political activity that extends beyond the Clinton emails scandal. For this explanation, here’s the excerpt that matters:
Forget Clinton’s motives for a moment. We all know her “request” was a proactive measure due to the likelihood her clearance was going to be forcibly revoked. Requesting the removal avoids multiple political and logistical issues of her security file being damaged by a forced revocation. The request is transparent in motive; so lets get beyond the surface issue.
The “researchers” who Secretary Clinton designated is the topic of interest; and the redacted identifications therein are telling. The Executive Order referenced is HERE. The subsection [Sec. 4.4 (a)(2)] involves:
Sec. 4.4.Access by Historical Researchers and Certain Former Government Personnel.
(a) The requirement in section 4.1(a)(3) of this order that access to classified information may be granted only to individuals who have a need-to-know the information may be waived for persons who:
(1) are engaged in historical research projects; (2) previously have occupied senior policy-making positions to which they were appointed or designated by the President or the Vice President; or
(3) served as President or Vice President.
Essentially what this tells us is that Secretary Hillary Clinton used her authority to waive the ‘need to know‘ limit on the people she listed. In essence, she gave unlimited access to her “researchers” for an unspecified reason.
When I see the wording, immediately I think of two distinct reasons for Clinton to grant her researchers with top-level security access to classified information: (1) to participate in searches of FISA databases (ie. ‘queries’); and (2) to make unmasking requests for any results within those search query results.
Keeping in mind these appear to be State Department access / authorized researchers. The DoS is one of the intelligence authorized access portals. [FBI, DOJ-NSD, NSA, CIA, DoD are others.] In short, Clinton ‘researchers’ would have access to compartmented intelligence gathering systems, ie. FISA intelligence systems.
Now, remember all of the ‘unmasking requests’ attributed to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers? Hundreds of them. Ambassador Samantha Powers is a top-level official, for Obama a cabinet level official, within the Department of State.
In October of 2017, HPSCI lead investigative House member Trey Gowdy questioned Ambassador Powers about those unmasking requests.
Prompted to 04:38. Just hit play:
Brett Baier: “You are also looking, and have talked to the former Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power. We reported that she requested or her officer requested 260 plus efforts to unmask, in other words, get who was talking about picked up in surveillance. How did she answer that question? Why so many?”
Trey Gowdy: “Well, I’ll tell you broadly, uh Brett, I think if she was on your show, she would say those attempt to unmask may have been attributed to her. But they greatly exceed, by an exponential factor, the requests that she actually made. So that’s her testimony, uh, and, and she was pretty emphatic.
The surveillance community, the intelligence community, has assigned this number of requests to her – her perspective, her testimony is: ‘they may be under my name, but I did not make those requests‘.”
“So, we’ve got to get to the bottom of that; if there was someone else making requests on behalf of a principal in the intelligence community we need to know that because we are getting ready to reauthorize a program, that’s really important to the country, but also has a masking component to it.”
Can you see the possibilities here?
We already know the intelligence systems were weaponized for political opposition research. The FBI assembled a FISA-Title-1 surveillance warrant on U.S. citizen Carter Page, using completely fraudulent information and misled the FISA court.
Those FISA issues are still being investigated by the Goodlatte/Gowdy Joint House Committee and, the DOJ (Rosenstein) is working earnestly to block any declassification of documents that would evidence the corruption. Additionally, Inspector General Michael Horowitz is also investigating corruption within the FISA process.
However, we don’t need to wait for the House or IG to tell us the FISA(702)(16)(17) search queries were weaponized for political use, because FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer already outlined the investigative findings of NSA Director Mike Rogers in his admissions to the FISC (FISA Court).
♦ Thousands of search queries from November 1, 2015, to May 1, 2016.
♦ 85% of those Search queries were unauthorized (ie. illegal).
There is a reason why the FISA abuse origination story is every discussed.
The period in review matches exactly the period in which Fusion-GPS was conducting opposition research. November 2015, is when Nellie Ohr, DOJ-NSD official Bruce Ohr’s wife, was hired by Fusion-GPS.
All of these data-points flow in one distinct direction: a collective effort within various administrative IC agencies of the U.S. government to use access to intelligence systems to conduct research on their political enemies. That includes candidate Donald Trump.
In the aggregate the Clinton “researchers” are advancing her interests through the insider use of a system that is ideologically aligned with her political objectives.
While the 2016 FBI unit, headed by Andrew McCabe, is facilitating -via contractors- a fraudulent and corrupt operation against Clinton’s political opponent; at the same time the Clinton research team are using their DoS access point to unmask the results of the names that come from the Fusion-GPS team, and flow those results into the bloodstream of the Obama administration.
This is all one massively corrupt enterprise using intelligence gathering databases.
However, here’s the punch in the gut. The U.S. government doesn’t want the previous corrupt use of the system to surface, because that could potentially put the entire intelligence system at risk… The public might demand the entire system is dismantled. As a consequence even the non-corrupt entities within government are not in position to make the jaw-dropping weaponization public.
Now, considering that Ambassador Samantha Powers was not making the unmasking requests, and that someone -likely Clinton ‘researchers’- within the DoS compartment was making them through her office, re-read this letter from HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes to DNI Dan Coats in 2017:
“I was urging my former colleagues, and, and frankly speaking the people on the Hill [Democrat politicians], it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can – get as much intelligence as you can – before President Obama leaves the administration.”
“Because I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior [Obama] people who left; so it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy, um, that the Trump folks – if they found out HOW we knew what we knew about their, the Trump staff, dealing with Russians – that they would try to compromise those sources and methods; meaning we no longer have access to that intelligence.”
“So I became very worried because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew that there was more. We have very good intelligence on Russia; so then I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were also trying to help get information to the Hill.” [ie. Democrat politicians] (link)”
There have been daily revelations showing a considerable collaboration between the White House, Hillary Clinton, the DNC, Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson; his wife Mary Jacoby, DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr and his wife Fusion GPS employee Nellie Ohr, Russian Dossier author Christopher Steele, FBI agent Peter Strzok and his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page; and the highest levels of officials within the FBI, including Chief Legal Counsel James Baker and FBI Asst. Director Andrew McCabe.
Accepting all of that mounting evidence, does that March 2017 interview with former Obama administration official Evelyn Farkas (Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense), appearing on MSNBC, make even more sense now?
A statement from Senate Judiciary Committee today outlines a letter received from the U.S. State Department highlighting security ramifications of the ongoing issues of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -and her staff- transmitting classified information over unsecured networks:
WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department recently confirmed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security clearance has been withdrawn at her request. Clearances for five other individuals whom Clinton designated as researchers have also been withdrawn, including close aide Cheryl Mills, according to the State Department’s update of its ongoing review of the mishandling of classified information related to the use of Clinton’s non-government email server.
Documents containing classified material have been sent to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and all valid security incidents have been added to the security file for some individuals. Department authorities are continuing to review tens of thousands of documents for classified content.
The update was provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and is being released for the first time following consultation with the State Department. The update follows a letter from the Department in May of 2017 confirming the Department’s review into any mishandling of classified information stemming from the use of Clinton’s non-government email server. That letter, which responded to an inquiry from Grassley, also outlined the review and adjudication process. (LINK)
This is an interesting panel segment. It is not often you get the primary source (Meadows) and the recipients (Carter, Solomon and Hannity) all in one panel segment. Representative Mark Meadows has been the primary source for information from within the joint committee oversight hearings to Sara Carter, John Solomon, Sean Hannity, Greg Jarrett and Catherine Herridge.
All of the panel participants concede that most of the declassified evidence against the soft-coup officials will not come out until after the mid-term election. Additionally, it appears to be generally accepted now that AG Jeff Sessions will be fired (allowed a graceful exit) in the lame-duck congressional period or soon after.
Earlier today President Trump met with Jim Brown and Kanye West in the Oval Office for a discussion about multiple issues involving social policy, mental health, endorsement deals, stop-and-frisk policies and support among African Americans for the president.
[Transcript] Oval Office – 12:32 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Jon, you know Jim Brown? The greatest of all time.
Q It’s an honor, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And what people don’t know, Kanye — everybody knows, right? Every — does the world know Kanye? Kanye, what people don’t know about Jim — they say — first of all, he’s the best football player. But they say he was an even better lacrosse player. Do you think so?
MR. BROWN: Never thought about it.
THE PRESIDENT: Huh?
MR. BROWN: Never thought about it.
THE PRESIDENT: I heard he was even — at Syracuse.
MR. BROWN: I love the game. Yes, I loved it. I loved all the sports.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s great to have you, Jim. Great to have you.
MR. BROWN: It’s good to be here, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Kanye, it’s great to be with you.
MR. WEST: Great to be here.
THE PRESIDENT: And these are two friends of mine. And Kanye has been a friend of mine for a long time. And Jim is — Jim came out of nowhere, and he said, “I like what the President is doing.” A long time ago we met. Right? And I just appreciated it very much.
And, you know, if you look at the employment numbers, if you look at the median income, if you look at every single indicator, we’re keeping our promise, Jim. Thank you. And I want to thank you.
MR. BROWN: And I like North Korea.
THE PRESIDENT: I like North Korea too.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah. Well, he’s — turned out to be good. Dialogue. We had a little dialogue. And Secretary of State just came back — Mike. He just came back from North Korea. We had very good meetings, and we’ll meet again. But we’re doing good. No more nuclear testing. No more missiles going up. No more nothing. And it’s — that was headed to war. That was headed to war.
MR. BROWN: Yeah. I mean, it was — to me, it seemed like that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. It was so close. We spoke — I spoke to President Obama. I will tell you, that was headed to war. And now it’s going to be — I believe it’s going to work out very well.
MR. WEST: You stopped the war —
THE PRESIDENT: We really stopped the war. Saved millions of lives. You know, Seoul has 30 million people. You don’t realize how big. Thirty million people who are right near the border; 30 miles off the border. Millions of people would have been killed. And I will say, Chairman Kim has been really good. Really good. And we’ve made a lot of progress.
That’s nice that you say that, because that’s a big — that’s a big thing. These folks were covering — they were covering North Korea not — I think not very promisingly. And there were a lot of problems. President Obama said that was his biggest problem. And I don’t say anything is solved —
MR. WEST: You, day one, solved one of the biggest problems.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
MR. WEST: We solved one of the biggest problems.
THE PRESIDENT: It was a big solving. And not solved yet, but I think we’re along — I think we’re on the way.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. It’s — we’re well on our way.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: In a short period of time, Jim. Very short period of time. You know, I left Singapore three months ago. And we’ve made a lot of progress. So it’s very good. Hey, look, that’s one of many things. But I appreciate everything with you.
I’ll tell you what — Kim was in. Mrs. Johnson, we got her out. She was very unfairly treated. And there are many other people like that, that —
MR. WEST: Yeah, we have Larry Hoover’s lawyer with us today. And it’s a prisoner that was focused on — he has six life sentences, and they have him next to the Unabomber doing 23 and 1. That means —
THE PRESIDENT: What did he do? Larry? What happened?
MR. MOORE: Why was he in?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, tell me. Tell us.
MR. MOORE: Allegedly, it’s for conspiracy from prison — from state prison. You know, it’s alleged. But we do believe even if he did commit those crimes, the sentence was overly broad and too strict.
THE PRESIDENT: What was the sentence?
MR. MOORE: Six consecutive life sentences in the most secure prison in the world, also known as “a clean version of hell,” for basically an economic crime.
MR. WEST: What prison is that? Name the prison.
MR. MOORE: ADX supermax, in Florence, Colorado. They house the Unabomber, al Qaeda operatives, mass killers, Oklahoma City bomber, things of that nature.
THE PRESIDENT: How old is he? How old?
MR. MOORE: Sixty-eight.
THE PRESIDENT: Sixty-eight years old?
MR. MOORE: Yes, 68 years old.
MR. WEST: And really, the reason why they imprisoned him is because he started doing positive for the community. He started showing that he actually had power, that he wasn’t just one of a monolithic voice, but he could wrap people around.
So there’s theories that there’s infinite amounts of universe and there’s alternate universe. So it’s very important for me to get Hoover out, because in an alternate universe, I am him. And I have to go and get him free because he was doing positive inside of Chicago, just like how I’m moving back to Chicago and it’s not just about, you know, getting on stage and being an entertainer and having a monolithic voice that’s forced to be a specific party.
You know, people expect that if you’re black you have to be Democrat. I have a — I’ve had conversations that basically said that welfare is the reason why a lot of black people end up being Democrat. They say — you know, first of all, it’s a limited amount of jobs. So the fathers lose the jobs, and they say, “We’ll give you more money for having more kids in your home.” And then, we got rid of the mental health institutes in the ‘80s and the ‘90s, and the prison rates just shot up.
And now you have “Chiraq,” what people call “Chiraq” — which is actually — our murder rate is going down by 20 percent every year. I just talked to the superintendent; met with Michael Sacks; that’s Rahm’s right-hand man. So I think it’s the bravery that helps you beat this game called life.
You know, they tried to scare me to not wear this hat — my own friends. But this hat, it gives me — it gives me power, in a way. You know, my dad and my mom separated, so I didn’t have a lot of male energy in my home. And also, I’m married to a family that — (laughs) — you know, not a lot of male energy going on. It’s beautiful, though. But there’s times where, you know, there’s something about — you know, I love Hillary. I love everyone, right? But the campaign “I’m with her” just didn’t make me feel, as a guy, that didn’t get to see my dad all the time — like a guy that could play catch with his son. It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman. That was my — that’s my favorite superhero. And you made a Superman cape.
For me, also as a guy that looks up to you, looks up to Ralph Lauren, looks up to American industry guys — non-political, no bullshit — put the beep on it, however you want to do it, five seconds delay — and just goes in and gets it done.
Right now, you gave me the heart to go to Adidas. Because at Adidas, when I went in, in 2015, we were a $14-billion company losing $2 billion a year. Now we have a $38-billion market cap. It’s called the “Yeezy effect.”
And I went to Casper. We had a meeting in Chicago. And I said, “You have to bring manufacturing onshore.” And not even shore; into the core. It’s not about the border; it’s the core of Adidas. And Chicago is the core of Middle America. And we have to make Middle America strong.
So I had the balls — because I have enough balls to put on this hat. I mean, this Adidas thing made be a billionaire. And I could have lost $200 million walking away from that deal. But even with that, I knew it was more important for me to take the chance of walking away from that deal than to have no fathers in Chicago with no homes. And when we do have prison reformation, for no — because it’s habilitation, not rehabilitation, because they didn’t have the abilities in the first place. We never had anyone that taught us. They didn’t teach us. Exactly — we had no one that “taught” us. Right?
So it’s more important than any specific deal — anything — that we bring jobs into America, and that we provide a transition with mental health and the Amer-I-Can education curriculum that Jim has worked on. Larry Hoover also has a curriculum that he’s worked on. We have Montessori curriculums that we worked on. WeWork has a beautiful curriculum. The Waldorf establishment has a curriculum. We have meditation. There’s a lot of things affecting our mental health that makes us do crazy things that puts us back into that trap door called the 13th Amendment.
I did say “abolish” with the hat on. Because why would you keep something around that’s a trap door? If you’re building a floor — the Constitution is the base of our industry, right? Of our country, of our company. Would you build a trap door that if you mess up and you — accidentally something happens, you fall and you end up next to the Unabomber? You end up — you got to remove all that trap door out of the relationship.
The four gentlemen that wrote the 13th Amendment — and I think the way the universe works, it’s perfect. We don’t have 13 floors, do we? You know, so the four — the four gentlemen that wrote the 13th Amendment didn’t look like the people they were amending. Also at that point, it was illegal for blacks to read — or African Americans to read. And so that meant if you actually read the Amendment, you would get locked up and turned into a slave.
Again — so what I think is, we don’t need sentences; we need pardons. We need to talk to people. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I was connected with a neuropsychologist that works with the athletes in the NBA and the NFL. And he looked at my brain — it’s equal on three parts. I’m going to go ahead drop some bombs for you — 98 percentile IQ test. I had a 75 percentile of all human beings, but it was counting eight numbers backwards, (inaudible), so I’m going to work on that one. The other ones, 98 percent — Tesla, Freud.
So he said that I actually wasn’t bipolar; I had sleep deprivation, which could cause dementia 10 to 20 years from now, where I wouldn’t even remember my son’s name. So all this power that I got, and I’m taking my son to the Sox game and all that, I wouldn’t be able to remember his name from a misdiagnosage.
And what we need is, we can empower the pharmaceuticals and make more money. That’s one thing — I’ve never stepped into a situation where I didn’t make people more money. So we can empower pharmaceuticals, we can empower our industries, we can empower our factories. We can bring not only Adidas onshore, we can bring — Foxconn has set up a factory in, I think, Minnesota.
Oval Office
12:32 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, you know Jim Brown? The greatest of all time.
Q It’s an honor, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And what people don’t know, Kanye — everybody knows, right? Every — does the world know Kanye? Kanye, what people don’t know about Jim — they say — first of all, he’s the best football player. But they say he was an even better lacrosse player. Do you think so?
MR. BROWN: Never thought about it.
THE PRESIDENT: Huh?
MR. BROWN: Never thought about it.
THE PRESIDENT: I heard he was even — at Syracuse.
MR. BROWN: I love the game. Yes, I loved it. I loved all the sports.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s great to have you, Jim. Great to have you.
MR. BROWN: It’s good to be here, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Kanye, it’s great to be with you.
MR. WEST: Great to be here.
THE PRESIDENT: And these are two friends of mine. And Kanye has been a friend of mine for a long time. And Jim is — Jim came out of nowhere, and he said, “I like what the President is doing.” A long time ago we met. Right? And I just appreciated it very much.
And, you know, if you look at the employment numbers, if you look at the median income, if you look at every single indicator, we’re keeping our promise, Jim. Thank you. And I want to thank you.
MR. BROWN: And I like North Korea.
THE PRESIDENT: I like North Korea too.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah. Well, he’s — turned out to be good. Dialogue. We had a little dialogue. And Secretary of State just came back — Mike. He just came back from North Korea. We had very good meetings, and we’ll meet again. But we’re doing good. No more nuclear testing. No more missiles going up. No more nothing. And it’s — that was headed to war. That was headed to war.
MR. BROWN: Yeah. I mean, it was — to me, it seemed like that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. It was so close. We spoke — I spoke to President Obama. I will tell you, that was headed to war. And now it’s going to be — I believe it’s going to work out very well.
MR. WEST: You stopped the war —
THE PRESIDENT: We really stopped the war. Saved millions of lives. You know, Seoul has 30 million people. You don’t realize how big. Thirty million people who are right near the border; 30 miles off the border. Millions of people would have been killed. And I will say, Chairman Kim has been really good. Really good. And we’ve made a lot of progress.
That’s nice that you say that, because that’s a big — that’s a big thing. These folks were covering — they were covering North Korea not — I think not very promisingly. And there were a lot of problems. President Obama said that was his biggest problem. And I don’t say anything is solved —
MR. WEST: You, day one, solved one of the biggest problems.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
MR. WEST: We solved one of the biggest problems.
THE PRESIDENT: It was a big solving. And not solved yet, but I think we’re along — I think we’re on the way.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. It’s — we’re well on our way.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: In a short period of time, Jim. Very short period of time. You know, I left Singapore three months ago. And we’ve made a lot of progress. So it’s very good. Hey, look, that’s one of many things. But I appreciate everything with you.
I’ll tell you what — Kim was in. Mrs. Johnson, we got her out. She was very unfairly treated. And there are many other people like that, that —
MR. WEST: Yeah, we have Larry Hoover’s lawyer with us today. And it’s a prisoner that was focused on — he has six life sentences, and they have him next to the Unabomber doing 23 and 1. That means —
THE PRESIDENT: What did he do? Larry? What happened?
MR. MOORE: Why was he in?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, tell me. Tell us.
MR. MOORE: Allegedly, it’s for conspiracy from prison — from state prison. You know, it’s alleged. But we do believe even if he did commit those crimes, the sentence was overly broad and too strict.
THE PRESIDENT: What was the sentence?
MR. MOORE: Six consecutive life sentences in the most secure prison in the world, also known as “a clean version of hell,” for basically an economic crime.
MR. WEST: What prison is that? Name the prison.
MR. MOORE: ADX supermax, in Florence, Colorado. They house the Unabomber, al Qaeda operatives, mass killers, Oklahoma City bomber, things of that nature.
THE PRESIDENT: How old is he? How old?
MR. MOORE: Sixty-eight.
THE PRESIDENT: Sixty-eight years old?
MR. MOORE: Yes, 68 years old.
MR. WEST: And really, the reason why they imprisoned him is because he started doing positive for the community. He started showing that he actually had power, that he wasn’t just one of a monolithic voice, but he could wrap people around.
So there’s theories that there’s infinite amounts of universe and there’s alternate universe. So it’s very important for me to get Hoover out, because in an alternate universe, I am him. And I have to go and get him free because he was doing positive inside of Chicago, just like how I’m moving back to Chicago and it’s not just about, you know, getting on stage and being an entertainer and having a monolithic voice that’s forced to be a specific party.
You know, people expect that if you’re black you have to be Democrat. I have a — I’ve had conversations that basically said that welfare is the reason why a lot of black people end up being Democrat. They say — you know, first of all, it’s a limited amount of jobs. So the fathers lose the jobs, and they say, “We’ll give you more money for having more kids in your home.” And then, we got rid of the mental health institutes in the ‘80s and the ‘90s, and the prison rates just shot up.
And now you have “Chiraq,” what people call “Chiraq” — which is actually — our murder rate is going down by 20 percent every year. I just talked to the superintendent; met with Michael Sacks; that’s Rahm’s right-hand man. So I think it’s the bravery that helps you beat this game called life.
You know, they tried to scare me to not wear this hat — my own friends. But this hat, it gives me — it gives me power, in a way. You know, my dad and my mom separated, so I didn’t have a lot of male energy in my home. And also, I’m married to a family that — (laughs) — you know, not a lot of male energy going on. It’s beautiful, though. But there’s times where, you know, there’s something about — you know, I love Hillary. I love everyone, right? But the campaign “I’m with her” just didn’t make me feel, as a guy, that didn’t get to see my dad all the time — like a guy that could play catch with his son. It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman. That was my — that’s my favorite superhero. And you made a Superman cape.
For me, also as a guy that looks up to you, looks up to Ralph Lauren, looks up to American industry guys — non-political, no bullshit — put the beep on it, however you want to do it, five seconds delay — and just goes in and gets it done.
Right now, you gave me the heart to go to Adidas. Because at Adidas, when I went in, in 2015, we were a $14-billion company losing $2 billion a year. Now we have a $38-billion market cap. It’s called the “Yeezy effect.”
And I went to Casper. We had a meeting in Chicago. And I said, “You have to bring manufacturing onshore.” And not even shore; into the core. It’s not about the border; it’s the core of Adidas. And Chicago is the core of Middle America. And we have to make Middle America strong.
So I had the balls — because I have enough balls to put on this hat. I mean, this Adidas thing made be a billionaire. And I could have lost $200 million walking away from that deal. But even with that, I knew it was more important for me to take the chance of walking away from that deal than to have no fathers in Chicago with no homes. And when we do have prison reformation, for no — because it’s habilitation, not rehabilitation, because they didn’t have the abilities in the first place. We never had anyone that taught us. They didn’t teach us. Exactly — we had no one that “taught” us. Right?
So it’s more important than any specific deal — anything — that we bring jobs into America, and that we provide a transition with mental health and the Amer-I-Can education curriculum that Jim has worked on. Larry Hoover also has a curriculum that he’s worked on. We have Montessori curriculums that we worked on. WeWork has a beautiful curriculum. The Waldorf establishment has a curriculum. We have meditation. There’s a lot of things affecting our mental health that makes us do crazy things that puts us back into that trap door called the 13th Amendment.
I did say “abolish” with the hat on. Because why would you keep something around that’s a trap door? If you’re building a floor — the Constitution is the base of our industry, right? Of our country, of our company. Would you build a trap door that if you mess up and you — accidentally something happens, you fall and you end up next to the Unabomber? You end up — you got to remove all that trap door out of the relationship.
The four gentlemen that wrote the 13th Amendment — and I think the way the universe works, it’s perfect. We don’t have 13 floors, do we? You know, so the four — the four gentlemen that wrote the 13th Amendment didn’t look like the people they were amending. Also at that point, it was illegal for blacks to read — or African Americans to read. And so that meant if you actually read the Amendment, you would get locked up and turned into a slave.
Again — so what I think is, we don’t need sentences; we need pardons. We need to talk to people. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I was connected with a neuropsychologist that works with the athletes in the NBA and the NFL. And he looked at my brain — it’s equal on three parts. I’m going to go ahead drop some bombs for you — 98 percentile IQ test. I had a 75 percentile of all human beings, but it was counting eight numbers backwards, (inaudible), so I’m going to work on that one. The other ones, 98 percent — Tesla, Freud.
So he said that I actually wasn’t bipolar; I had sleep deprivation, which could cause dementia 10 to 20 years from now, where I wouldn’t even remember my son’s name. So all this power that I got, and I’m taking my son to the Sox game and all that, I wouldn’t be able to remember his name from a misdiagnosage.
And what we need is, we can empower the pharmaceuticals and make more money. That’s one thing — I’ve never stepped into a situation where I didn’t make people more money. So we can empower pharmaceuticals, we can empower our industries, we can empower our factories. We can bring not only Adidas onshore, we can bring — Foxconn has set up a factory in, I think, Minnesota.
But you know what I don’t like about — it’s not that I don’t like — what I need Saturday Night Live to improve on, or what I need the liberals to improve on is, if he don’t look good, we don’t look good. This is our President.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s true.
MR. WEST: He has to be the freshest, the flyest, the flyest planes, the best factories. And we have to make our core be in power. We have to bring jobs into America because our best export is entertainment and ideas. But when we make everything in China and not in America, then we’re cheating on our country and we’re putting people in positions to have to do illegal things to end up in a cheapest factory ever: the prison system.
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll tell you what — that was pretty impressive, folks. (Laughter.) You know, I hate to say this — Jim, do you want to say something? (Laughter.) What do you after that?
PARTICIPANT: You don’t mind if I —
THE PRESIDENT: You are — please, Jim. Please.
MR. BROWN: If he doesn’t look good, we don’t look good.
THE PRESIDENT: Great, right? Isn’t that a great statement?
MR. BROWN: Yes, it is.
THE PRESIDENT: And it’s so true.
MR. BROWN: Makes a lot of sense.
THE PRESIDENT: As a country. It’s — very — I’ve never seen Jim Brown impressed before. (Laughter.) He was impressed. That’s true. That statement is amazing, huh?
MR. BROWN: Yeah, yeah. It makes a lot of sense.
THE PRESIDENT: I want to say it’s great to have you guys here. And we’re going to go and we’re going to have some lunch.
That was quite something. That was quite something.
MR. WEST: It was from the soul. I just channeled it.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q Can I just ask a quick question of Kanye?
THE PRESIDENT: Really very interesting.
Yes, yeah. Please.
Q So you had said, of President Bush, that he doesn’t care about black people. And you’ve heard some people say that about this President. What do you — how do you respond to that? What do you make of that?
MR. WEST: I think we need to care about all people. And I believe that when I went on to NBC, I was very emotional, and I was programmed to think from a victimized mentality. A welfare mentality.
I think that with blacks and African Americans, we really get caught up in the idea of racism over the idea of industry. We say if people don’t have land, they settle for brands. We want Polo-sporting Obama again. We want a brand more than we want land. Because we’ve haven’t known how it feels to actually have our own land and have ownership of our own blocks.
So when you don’t have ownership, then it’s all about how something looks. It’s about the patina; it’s not about the soul, it’s not about the core. So we focus more on, is somebody wearing something; is someone disrespecting so I got to shoot them. Or the idea of someone being racist.
You know, we talk about police murders, which we definitely have to discuss, and we have to bring nobility to the police officers and make — the police officers are just like us. But there’s this whole hate-building, right? And that’s a major thing about racial tension.
And we also, as black people, we have to take a responsibility for what we’re doing. We kill each other more than police officers. And that’s not saying that the police officer is not is not an issue, because they are in a place — a position of power. But sometimes they’re in a place of law enforcement. They need to be law-power. It’s force versus power. And when you — you shouldn’t have to force people to do that.
So a lot of times the police officer is sitting there, they’re being forced to do this and forced to do that block. And then they force somebody into something and force into something. We have to release the love throughout the entire country and give opportunities. A lot of times it’s just the overall lack of reparations that we, at any given point, we say, “Oh, this is racist. This is racist. This is racist. This is racist.”
So we don’t have reparations, but we have the 13th Amendment. We got to open up the whole conversation. So — and that’s a move. One of the moves that I love that liberals try to do — the liberal would try to control a black person through the concept of racism, because they know that we are very proud, emotional people. So when I said “I like Trump” to, like, someone that’s liberal, they’ll say, “Oh, but he’s racist.” You think racism could control me? Oh, that don’t stop me. That’s an invisible wall.
Q But you don’t think — you reject those who say he’s racist?
MR. WEST: On your question — and you had one question; we’re going to do it to another question.
Q (Laughs.) Okay.
MR. WEST: I answered your question. I don’t answer questions in simple soundbites. You are tasting a fine wine. It has multiple notes to it. (Laughter.) You better play 4D chess with me like it’s Minority Report. Because it ain’t that simple. It’s complex.
Q When would you like — I’m from the Chicago Sun Times, sir. I would like to know what you would like to ask President Trump to do for Chicago. You’re here to talk about crime in Chicago.
MR. WEST: The thing that the head of the police and Mike Sacks met with me last night at the Soho House about was we feel that “stop and frisk” does not help the relationships in the city. And everyone that knew I was coming here said, “Ask about stop and frisk.” That’s the number-one thing that we’re having this conversation about.
Another thing is opening up industries. And we’ve got to get some tax breaks too. Because we’re making — we got a Speedfactory in Atlanta, but the shoes are costing us $300, so it’s costing us too much to make things.
So we need some prototypes here so we can get people back working, so China can’t just beat us and Vietnam can’t beat us. You got Levi’s, the greatest jeans company in the world, making their jeans in Vietnam.
So we’re going to need to get a few breaks to be able to have some places in my hometown of Chicago, and 2.7 million to the 9 million surrounding suburbs where we can create some factories.
Now, I think it would be cool for them to be Trump factories, because he’s a master of industry. He’s a builder. And I think it would be cool to have Yeezy ideation centers, which would be a mix of education that empowers people and gives them modern information like — sometimes people say, “This kid has ADD. This kid has ADD.” He don’t have ADD. School is boring. It was boring. It’s not as exciting as this. We have to make it more exciting. We have to mix curriculums.
You play basketball while you’re doing math. You learn about music while you meditate in the morning. We have to instate mental health and art programs back into the city. So those are —
And also, Larry Hoover is an example of a man that was turning his life around, and as soon as he tried to turn his life around, they hit him with six life sentences. So I believe he’s — you say don’t tear down the statues? Larry Hoover is a living statue. He’s a beacon for us that needs to see his family; that needs to go out and represent. When you have a block leader on every single block, they can own the block as their own. That’s something I learned from Jim Brown, from “Amer-I-Can.”
We need to put curriculums for people who really came from the streets, not people who were just trying to set us up to go into a work system or prison system that applies to what people are really going through, which Jim Brown has created.
Q What about gun violence? With all the debate about the Second Amendment going on, how do you fix that?
MR. WEST: The problem is illegal guns. Illegal guns is the problem, not legal guns. We have the right to bear arms.
Q President Trump has said that he favors “stop and frisk.” Are guys going to be discussing that? Do you think you can change his mind?
MR. WEST: Yeah. We’re going to discuss that. I didn’t mean to put you on blast like that, bro, but —
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. It’s okay. (Laughter.)
MR. WEST: But this is definitely a —
THE PRESIDENT: Hey, I’m open-minded. I’m here. I am open-minded.
Q Mr. President, would you like him to speak at one of your rallies?
THE PRESIDENT: He can speak for me anytime he wants. He’s been a great guy. He’s a smart cookie. Smart. He gets it. These two guys — Jim Brown. He’s been doing this for a long time.
MR. BROWN: Yes, sir.
Q Is this a future presidential candidate?
THE PRESIDENT: Could very well be.
MR. WEST: Only after him. It’ll be 2024.
THE PRESIDENT: Could very well be. That’s good. I’m glad to hear that.
MR. WEST: We have a good — and the thing is, let’s stop worrying about the future. All we really have is today. We just have today. Over and over and over again, the eternal return. The hero’s journey. And Trump is on his hero’s journey right now. And he might not have expected to have a crazy motherfucker like Kanye West run up and support, but best believe we are going to make America great.
Now, the thing is my — another thing is black people have an issue with the word “again.” And I believe — my feeling from that is because I’m going to throw — I’m going to go all the way, (inaudible), because time is a myth. All we have is now. All we have is today.
So the word “again” — it doesn’t hurt us because the idea of racism and slavery, different things; it hurts us because we need to focus on who we are now, today, I believe.
So I actually brought some hats in that have a bit of a transition. I’m not trying to put you — (inaudible) in the spot a little bit. I made a hat that says “Make America Great.” Just that.
But I would love to see, at the Super Bowl, Trump wearing the “Make America Great” hat; Colin making — wearing the “Make America Great,” and showing that we can bend a bit on this side, we can bend a bit on this side, and we can learn how to be malleable in the infinite universe that we are and the loving beings that we are. That we don’t have to stick to our own traditions. And we aren’t a side. We are one unit. We are one country. We are one moment in history and time. We might have been here before, but right now we’re here together. And our greatest value that people have are other people. And we need to stop working on (inaudible). It’s like gang again.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you this question. You’re in the Oval Office —
MR. WEST: Okay. (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: How does it feel to be in the Oval Office?
MR. WEST: Oh, it is good energy in this.
THE PRESIDENT: Isn’t it good energy?
MR. WEST: It’s good energy.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s a great place. Jim, how do you feel?
MR. BROWN: I feel good. I truly feel good. And thank you, too.
THE PRESIDENT: You are so respected. And what Kanye is doing has been incredible. All over the world they’re talking about this. And I have to tell you, I had important meetings today with senators and with everything. Nobody cared. They wanted this meeting. This is the meeting. Is that right? I can say that to Jon.
Q We care about other stuff, too.
THE PRESIDENT: The others were good, right? But this is what they want.
MR. BROWN: (Inaudible) honor you would be here.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s my honor, Jim. I want to tell you. I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time.
MR. BROWN: Well, thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: Long time. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. No athlete like you.
MR. BROWN: Well, you know why I’m here? I’m here to serve.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. That’s really nice, Jim.
MR. BROWN: I’m not here to ask of anything. (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: And you know, that’s always been the way Jim has been — for a long time. And he just wanted to help. And it’s something special.
Jennifer, did you have a question?
Q I guess — just you — what do you feel about stop and frisk? Are you going to, you know —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re going to look at it.
Q — back-track on your comment (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m open to everything. Hey, look, I think it’s a shame what’s happening in Chicago.
Q And what else can be done in Chicago?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m in Chicago a lot, too. I have nice things in Chicago. You know that, right? And I hate to see what’s happening. They’re having numbers — the numbers of people being shot and killed and it’s — it’s not for this country. So they have to do something. And I am totally open. If we can do it a different way, Kanye, I’m totally open. I mean, we all agree they have to do something, that’s for sure.
Q Mr. President, is it a law enforcement issue? A legislation — a legislative issue?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, maybe it’s a combination of both. Yeah, I guess it is. But I think it’s probably a combination of both. And it’s also a respect issue. They respect this guy. They respect this guy. That’s a big thing. Right now, they’re not respecting, let’s say, your mayor, or let’s say your leadership in Chicago. But certainly it shouldn’t be happening. What’s going on there should not be happening.
Steve? Go ahead.
Q Sir, what do you want this meeting to lead to in terms of prison reform?
THE PRESIDENT: Honestly, from our standpoint, this was just set up to be a lunch of two people that I like. And I guess they like me. And we’re going to have lunch. We’re going to talk.
MR. WEST: You said — you said, I guess, you know I love you.
THE PRESIDENT: I know.
MR. WEST: Did I —
THE PRESIDENT: But I don’t want to take — I don’t want to put you in that spot, but —
MR. WEST: No, I’m standing in that spot. I love this guy right here. Let me give this guy a hug right here. (Laughter.) I love this guy right here.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s really nice. Come here. That’s really nice. And that’s from the heart. I didn’t want to put you in that position. (Laughter.) But that’s from the heart. Special guy.
These two are special people. Whether you like it, whether you don’t like it, they’re special people. And I appreciate it. Jim, Kanye, I appreciate it. So let’s go have some lunch.
It is reported today that Fusion-GPS co-founder, Glenn Simpson, will not agree to testify to congress and will invoke his fifth amendment privilege to avoid answering questions.
Chris Steele – Bruce Ohr – Glenn Simpson
This is interesting for several reasons. Recent evidence and testimony has conflicted with Simpson’s prior testimony. Specifically testimony from DOJ official Bruce Ohr who testified to meeting with Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele in August 2016 prior to the FBI seeking a FISA application against Carter Page.
In prior testimony Simpson said he only met with Mr. Ohr sometime after Thanksgiving of 2016. Not coincidentally it is the FBI interview notes of Bruce Ohr that congress has requested to be declassified, and that DAG Rod Rosenstein wants to keep hidden.
Simpson hired Bruce Ohr’s wife Nellie Ohr, in late 2015 to work on the Trump opposition research project. That oppo research effort evolved into the Christopher Steele authored dossier after the DNC and Hillary Clinton hired Fusion-GPS in April of 2016.
One of the most likely reasons for Simpson to take the fifth amendment is his network of activity extends beyond the DOJ and FBI, and directly connects to the Obama White House during the election time-frame the dossier was being assembled. It does not seem coincidental the Obama administration recently began seeding the media with a story about why the White House was active in the ‘Trump Russia Collusion’ narrative.
The New York Magazine article dated October 10th (yesterday) is a clear signal that someone in/around the previous Obama administration team is seeking to create a plausible ‘by the book‘ excuse, for why the White House was engaged with the same elements constructing the Trump dossier. The timing is simply too transparent.
The NYMAG article outlines a secret meeting and secret strategy from the Obama White House to force candidate Donald Trump to accept a defeat in the 2016 election:
In October 2016, senior staff in the Obama White House discussed what they should do if Hillary Clinton won the November election and Donald Trump refused to accept the result as legitimate.
[…] The Obama White House plan, according to interviews with Rhodes and Jen Psaki, Obama’s communications director, called for congressional Republicans, former presidents, and former Cabinet-level officials including Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, to try and forestall a political crisis by validating the election result.
In the event that Trump tried to dispute a Clinton victory, they would affirm the result as well as the conclusions reached by the U.S. intelligence community that Russian interference in the election sought to favor Trump, and not Clinton. (read more)
Remember, despite the claims by DNI James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan, in the final report NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers disagreed with the premise the Russian election involvement was to help Trump. Specifically the Russian efforts went both ways including the organization of anti-Trump rallies at Trump Tower.
That NYMAG report, published yesterday, appears to be an attempt to make an excuse for why the White House was engaged with the participants in the Russia Collusion narrative.
However, in hindsight, the actions and motives by all of the participants in October 2016, become increasingly clear. As quoted by Hillary Clinton during the second debate, October 9th, 2016:
HILLARY CLINTON: “But, you know, let’s talk about what’s really going on here, Martha, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin, meaning Putin and the Russian government, are directing the attacks, the hacking on American accounts to influence our election.
And WikiLeaks is a part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information, we don’t even know if it’s accurate information, and then they put it out. We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. And believe me, they’re not doing it to get me elected. They’re doing it to try and influence the election for Donald Trump.“
Again, in hindsight, the above highlighted part of Clinton’s statement during the second debate inherently implies her knowledge of the closed-door white house meeting. Clinton didn’t stop at saying Russia was trying to interfere in the election, she specifically framed the issue as Russia trying to help Trump win the election.
Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank.
Back to Glenn Simpson…
It is entirely likely Glenn Simpson knows exactly who, from the White House, was involved in the efforts to support his anti-Trump work. Simpson’s wife, Mary Jacoby, visited the White House on April 19, 2016, the day after NSA Director Mike Rogers shut down contractor access to the NSA and FBI database on April 18, 2016.
The wife of Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS), Mary B. Jacoby, with years of Russia-angled reporting –including Donald Trump– visits the White House in April 2016, at the same time as the DNC and Clinton hire Fusion GPS to conduct the opposition research on Donald Trump, surrounding Russia. [WH Log Link]
(The Hill) A lawyer for Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, told the head of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that his client will “invoke his constitutional rights not to testify,” defying a GOP-issued subpoena seeking to compel him to give a closed-door deposition.
The lawyer, Joshua Levy, told Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) in an electronic letter that Simpson will not participate in this committee’s inquiry because it “is not designed to discover the truth.”
“Consistent with the September 27, 2018 letter we sent to you, Mr. Simpson, whose testimony is a matter of public record, will not be participating in a confidential deposition before this Committee,” lawyers for Simpson write, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Hill.
“He will instead invoke his constitutional rights not to testify under the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.” (read more)
Why should anyone be surprised and I’m sure FBI/DOJ lawyers told Simpson to take the fifth!@TheLastRefuge2
Fusion GPS co-founder will invoke ‘constitutional rights not to testify’: lawyers https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/411062-fusion-gps-co-founder-will-invoke-constitutional-rights-not-to?amp&__twitter_impression=true … via @thehill
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
Josh Gerstein✔ @joshgersteinNEW: Senate aide pleads guilty to lying in probe of leaks about Carter Page. Admits to undisclosed contacts with reporters, but continues to deny leaking classified info. Likely sentence 0-6 months https://politi.co/2CMzu9i
SSCI Chairman Richard Burr and SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner are “Gang-of-Eight” intelligence oversight members.
Centinel2012 