Michael Flynn Hearing Today 11:00am – Open Discussion Thread


The DOJ, Sidney Powell and the Sullivan appointed amicus John Gleeson will hold a hearing today in the courtroom of Judge Emmet Sullivan to argue the unopposed motion to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn. The hearing begins at 11:00am ET and you can call-in to hear the audio of the live courtroom events.  (details below)

  • 877-336-1839  – (access code 5524636)
  • 888-363-4734 –  (access code 6114909)
  • 877-336-1839  – (access code 1429888)
  • 877-402-9753  – (access code 2090166)
  • 888-557-8511  – (access code 4140864)
  • 888-273-3658  – (access code 1773796)

UPDATE: If you cannot get through on any phone line use this periscope link HERE

UPDATE 2: Technical issues at the court.  Recess called until 12:35pm ET to work on issues. I’m Dropping another link (YouTube) below that was not compromised during the “technical issues”.

UPDATE 3:  Some more technical glitches and a 15 min bio break until 2:45pm ET

UPDATE 4: Hearing ended abruptly.

 

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If the true administration of justice was to prevail in this case, the judge should simply accept the unopposed motion and this would be the end of the malicious prosecution.  However, this case has so many precedents anything is possible.

If you are listening-in to the hearing, feel free to drop your thoughts and opinions into the comment section to share.

Follow-up: Project Veritas Shows Cash Exchanges for Voter Ballots Organized by Representative Ilhan Omar…


[Minneapolis – Sept 29, 2020] In part two of an explosive exposé, a Minnesota-based source tells Project Veritas that the mastermind behind the rampant voter fraud scheme is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) herself and her extensive political machine.

“Nobody would say that Ilhan Omar isn’t part of this,” said Omar Jamal, a Somali community Insider and the Chairman of the Somali Watchdog group. “Unless you’re from a different planet, but if you live in this universe, I think everybody knows it.”

Jamal said Ali Isse Gainey, a senior Ilhan Omar staffer, is at the center of the vote-buying scheme. (more)

UPDATE: The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating claims by right-wing activist group Project Veritas that individuals tied to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., engaged in illegal ballot harvesting before the election.

“We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements,” a department statement read on Monday. “No further information is available at this time on this.” (link)

 

Devin Nunes: Special Counsel and Intelligence Officials Hiding Documents Were “Straight Up Crimes”…


This is the arc of the investigative inquiry that should have been started well over a year ago. This is likely the “expanded” justification now being explained by the Durham/Aldenberg probe.  As if…. they didn’t know this prior to having the evidence slapped upside their head like a cold wet fish.

The Special Counsel was the insurance policy. The Special Counsel ran Main Justice for two years. The function of the Special Counsel was to conceal gross abuses by government agencies. Now those agency leaders are coming under scrutiny for continuing to hide documents and evidence. This stall tactic is frustrating in the extreme.

 

Former ODNI Ric Grenell Says Additional Intelligence Agencies are Intentionally Withholding Evidence of Wrongdoing…


Former Acting DNI Richard “Ric” Grenell fires a warning shot across the bow of those within the intelligence community who are refusing to release documents.  During an interview with Liz Mac, Grenell shared:

“I’m getting really impatient with those individual agencies that know exactly what I’m talking about, that know exactly what documents they need to release… they’re playing games.”

 

Oblique but BIG Release – OIG Horowitz Outlines Notification of FBI for Contractor Database Abuse…


very interesting release from the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Michael Horowitz, [SEE HERE] outlines some very interesting information especially for those who have followed the arc of the NSA database exploitation for several years.

On its face the OIG release outlines a review and finding, actually a warning, by Horowitz’s office about FBI contractor access to “a certain national security database.”  The release is titled: “Management Advisory: Notification of Concerns Identified in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Contract Administration of a Certain Classified National Security Program”, and the advisory part is particularly interesting when absorbed through the prism of prior information.

Notice the date of the first notification from the OIG to the FBI, January 22nd 2020, this is a detail within the report that will be missed by most. It was little discussed on January 29, 2019, when the OIG revealed “Misconduct by Two Current Senior FBI Officials and One Retired FBI Official While Providing Oversight on an FBI Contract” [LINK] Indeed we know the OIG was reviewing FBI contractor access to the NSA database as a result of both FISA judge Rosemary Collyer and FISA judge James Boasberg reports.

On the surface of the current release the OIG is noting concerns and a warning shared with the FBI about ongoing contractor access to the NSA database; thus, a “classified national security program” becomes defined. However, in the background of this current release it appears the OIG is using this public notification as a CYA of sorts. Meaning the OIG is saying publicly they have advised the FBI of “concerns” with this database being abused.

 

As specifically, and in my opinion intentionally, noted by the OIG the FBI used their intelligence authority to “classify” their response to IG Horowitz warning; and now Horowitz is informing the public of that opaque FBI approach.

Essentially, this can be looked at as Horowitz calling out the FBI for hiding information, yet the IG is using carefully worded public information to do so.

Read this next paragraph carefully…. EMPHASIS MINE:

[…] The classification marking of the working draft report, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on official government travel, and the unavailability to the OIG of secure video conferencing capability have contributed to the delays in finalizing this review.

So that we can begin the process of resolving issues that we identified during the review in a timely manner, we have determined that it would be in the OIG’s and the FBI’s interests to conclude our review by treating the OIG’s working draft report and its 11 recommendations as a management advisory.

Further, based on the oral and written feedback previously provided by the FBI on the working draft report, we consider the 11 recommendations contained within the working draft report to be final and their status “resolved.”

Consistent with the ordinary recommendation resolution process, we ask that the FBI please provide us within 90 days your response concerning specific actions completed or alternative corrective actions proposed or taken to address the recommendations.

So the FBI hid their response to the IG warning behind the cloud of “classification”, leaving the IG with no alternative except to say the classified response has to be accepted as the final FBI response to the IG warning.  The IG is then saying to the FBI you have 90 days to tell us what you did to address the contractor access abuses.

The OIG is covering his ass, and telling us why.

Keep in mind this contractor access to the bulk NSA metadata is a big deal.  All of the FISA audits in the past six years have pointed out how FBI contractors abuse their access to the database and unlawfully extract information without minimization efforts required by fourth amendment protections.  The scale of the abuse is actually stunning; and now the OIG has reviewed the same process and found the same issues uncorrected.

The FBI is attempting to retain an unlawful process.  Former NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers said: the system itself is too easy to exploit and too difficult to manage, as he tried to shut down part of the search function (“about queries”) within the database itself.

Here’s the full IG “Management Advisory”:

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To understand what specifically is being addressed within this IG review, it is worthwhile revisiting an interview by Flynn’s defense counsel Sidney Powell as she shares information that CTH readers are very knowledgeable about; as well as a reminder of the backstory.

Michael Flynn’s defense attorney Sidney Powell hits it out of the park as she connects the dots within the surveillance state and the use of FBI contractors to mine the NSA database.

Must Watch:

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A DEEP DIVE – How Did It Work?

Start by reviewing the established record from the 99-page FISC opinion rendered by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on April 26, 2017. Review the details within the FISC opinion.

I would strongly urge everyone to read the FISC report (full pdf below) because Judge Collyer outlines how the DOJ, which includes the FBI, had an “institutional lack of candor” in responses to the FISA court. In essence, the Obama administration was continually lying to the FISA court about their activity, and the rate of fourth amendment violations for illegal searches and seizures of U.S. persons’ private information for multiple years.

Unfortunately, due to intelligence terminology Judge Collyer’s brief and ruling is not an easy read for anyone unfamiliar with the FISA processes. That complexity also helps the media avoid discussing it; and as a result most Americans have no idea of the scale and scope of the Obama-era surveillance issues. So we’ll try to break down the language.

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For the sake of brevity and common understanding CTH will highlight the most pertinent segments showing just how systemic and troublesome the unlawful electronic surveillance was.

Early in 2016 NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers was alerted of a significant uptick in FISA-702(17) “About” queries using the FBI/NSA database that holds all metadata records on every form of electronic communication.

The NSA compliance officer alerted Admiral Mike Rogers who then initiated a full compliance audit on/around March 9th, 2016, for the period of November 1st, 2015, through May 1st, 2016.

While the audit was ongoing, due to the severity of the results that were identified, Admiral Mike Rogers stopped anyone from using the 702(17) “about query” option, and went to the extraordinary step of blocking all FBI contractor access to the database on April 18, 2016 (keep these dates in mind).

Here are some significant segments:

The key takeaway from these first paragraphs is how the search query results were exported from the NSA database to users who were not authorized to see the material. The FBI contractors were conducting searches and then removing, or ‘exporting’, the results. Later on, the FBI said all of the exported material was deleted.

Searching the highly classified NSA database is essentially a function of filling out search boxes to identify the user-initiated search parameter and get a return on the search result.

♦ FISA-702(16) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (“702”); and the “16” is a check box to initiate a search based on “To and From“. Example, if you put in a date and a phone number and check “16” as the search parameter the user will get the returns on everything “To and From” that identified phone number for the specific date. Calls, texts, contacts etc. Including results for the inbound and outbound contacts.

♦ FISA-702(17) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (702); and the “17” is a check box to initiate a search based on everything “About” the search qualifier. Example, if you put a date and a phone number and check “17” as the search parameter the user will get the returns of everything about that phone. Calls, texts, contacts, geolocation (or gps results), account information, user, service provider etc. As a result, 702(17) can actually be used to locate where the phone (and user) was located on a specific date or sequentially over a specific period of time which is simply a matter of changing the date parameters.

And that’s just from a phone number.

Search an ip address “about” and read all data into that server; put in an email address and gain everything about that account. Or use the electronic address of a GPS enabled vehicle (about) and you can withdraw more electronic data and monitor in real time. Search a credit card number and get everything about the account including what was purchased, where, when, etc. Search a bank account number, get everything about transactions and electronic records etc. Just about anything and everything can be electronically searched; everything has an electronic ‘identifier’.

The search parameter is only limited by the originating field filled out. Names, places, numbers, addresses, etc. By using the “About” parameter there may be thousands or millions of returns. Imagine if you put “@realdonaldtrump” into the search parameter? You could extract all following accounts who interacted on Twitter, or Facebook etc. You are only limited by your imagination and the scale of the electronic connectivity.

As you can see below, on March 9th, 2016, internal auditors noted the FBI was sharing “raw FISA information, including but not limited to Section 702-acquired information”.

In plain English the raw search returns were being shared with unknown entities without any attempt to “minimize” or redact the results. The person(s) attached to the results were named and obvious. There was no effort to hide their identity or protect their 4th amendment rights of privacy; and database access was from the FBI network:

But what’s the scale here? This is where the story really lies.

Read this next excerpt carefully.

The operators were searching “U.S Persons”. The review of November 1, 2015, to May 1, 2016, showed “eighty-five percent of those queries” were unlawful or “non compliant”.

85% !! “representing [redacted number]”.

We can tell from the space of the redaction the number of searches were between 10,000 and 99,999 [six digits]. If we take the middle number of 50,000 – a non compliant rate of 85 percent means 42,500 unlawful searches out of 50,000.

The [six digit] amount (more than 10,000, less than 99,999), and 85% error rate, was captured in a six month period, November 2015 to April 2016.

Also notice this very important quote: “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” This tells us the system users were searching the same phone number, email address, electronic identifier, repeatedly over different dates.

Specific person(s) were being tracked/monitored.

Additionally, notice the last quote: “while the government reports it is unable to provide a reliable estimate of” these non lawful searches “since 2012, there is no apparent reason to believe the November 2015 [to] April 2016 coincided with an unusually high error rate”.

That means the 85% unlawful FISA-702(16)(17) database abuse has likely been happening since 2012.

2012 is an important date in this database abuse because a network of specific interests is assembled that also shows up in 2016/2017:

  • Who was 2012 FBI Director? Robert Mueller, who was selected by the FBI group to become special prosecutor in 2017.
  • Who was Mueller’ chief-of-staff? Aaron Zebley, who became one of the lead lawyers on the Mueller special counsel.
  • Who was 2012 CIA Director? John Brennan (remember the ouster of Gen Petraeus)
  • Who was ODNI? James Clapper.
  • Remember, the NSA is inside the Pentagon (Defense Dept) command structure. Who was Defense Secretary? Ash Carter

Who wanted NSA Director Mike Rogers fired in 2016? Brennan, Clapper and Carter.

And finally, who wrote and signed-off-on the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment and then lied about the use of the Steele Dossier? The same John Brennan, and James Clapper along with James Comey.

Tens of thousands of searches over four years (since 2012), and 85% of them are illegal. The results were extracted for?…. (I believe this is all political opposition use; and I’ll explain why momentarily.)

OK, that’s the stunning scale; but who was involved?

Private contractors with access to “raw FISA information that went well beyond what was necessary to respond to FBI’s requests“:

And as noted, the contractor access was finally halted on April 18th, 2016.

[Coincidentally (or likely not), the wife of Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson, Mary Jacoby, goes to the White House the very next day on April 19th, 2016.]

None of this is conspiracy theory.

All of this is laid out inside this 99-page opinion from FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer who also noted that none of this FISA abuse was accidental in a footnote on page 87: “deliberate decisionmaking“:

This specific footnote, if declassified, could be a key. Note the phrase: “([redacted] access to FBI systems was the subject of an interagency memorandum of understanding entered into [redacted])”, this sentence has the potential to expose an internal decision; withheld from congress and the FISA court by the Obama administration; that outlines a process for access and distribution of surveillance data.

Note: “no notice of this practice was given to the FISC until 2016“, that is important.

Summary: The FISA court identified and quantified tens-of-thousands of search queries of the NSA/FBI database using the FISA-702(16)(17) system. The database was repeatedly used by persons with contractor access who unlawfully searched and extracted the raw results without redacting the information and shared it with an unknown number of entities.

The outlined process certainly points toward a political spying and surveillance operation; and we are not the only one to think that’s what this system is being used for.

Back in 2017 when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was working to reauthorize the FISA legislation, Nunes wrote a letter to ODNI Dan Coats about this specific issue:

SIDEBAR: To solve the issue, well, actually attempt to ensure it never happened again, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers eventually took away the “About” query option permanently in 2017. NSA Director Rogers said the abuse was so inherent there was no way to stop it except to remove the process completely. [SEE HERE] Additionally, the NSA database operates as a function of the Pentagon, so the Trump administration went one step further. On his last day as NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers -together with ODNI Dan Coats- put U.S. cyber-command, the database steward, fully into the U.S. military as a full combatant command. [SEE HERE] Unfortunately it didn’t work as shown by the 2018 FISC opinion rendered by FISC Judge James Boasberg [SEE HERE]

There is little doubt the FISA-702(16)(17) database system was used by Obama-era officials, from 2012 through April 2016, as a way to spy on their political opposition.

Quite simply there is no other intellectually honest explanation for the scale and volume of database abuse that was taking place; and keep in mind these searches were all ruled to be unlawful. Searches for repeated persons over a period time that were not authorized.

When we reconcile what was taking place and who was involved, then the actions of the exact same principle participants take on a jaw-dropping amount of clarity.

All of the action taken by CIA Director Brennan, FBI Director Comey, ODNI Clapper and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter make sense. Including their effort to get NSA Director Mike Rogers fired.

Everything after March 9th, 2016, had a dual purpose: (1) done to cover up the weaponization of the FISA database. [Explained Here] Spygate, Russia-Gate, the Steele Dossier, and even the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (drawn from the dossier and signed by the above) were needed to create a cover-story and protect themselves from discovery of this four year weaponization, political surveillance and unlawful spying. Even the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel makes sense; he was FBI Director when this began. And (2) they needed to keep the surveillance going.

The beginning decision to use FISA(702) as a domestic surveillance and political spy mechanism appears to have started in/around 2012. Perhaps sometime shortly before the 2012 presidential election and before John Brennan left the White House and moved to CIA. However, there was an earlier version of data assembly that preceded this effort.

Political spying 1.0 was actually the weaponization of the IRS. This is where the term “Secret Research Project” originated as a description from the Obama team. It involved the U.S. Department of Justice under Eric Holder and the FBI under Robert Mueller. It never made sense why Eric Holder requested over 1 million tax records via CD ROM, until overlaying the timeline of the FISA abuse:

The IRS sent the FBI “21 disks constituting a 1.1 million page database of information from 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” The transaction occurred in October 2010 (link)

Why disks? Why send a stack of DISKS to the DOJ and FBI when there’s a pre-existing financial crimes unit within the IRS. All of the evidence within this sketchy operation came directly to the surface in early spring 2012.

The IRS scandal was never really about the IRS, it was always about the DOJ asking the IRS for the database of information. That is why it was transparently a conflict when the same DOJ was tasked with investigating the DOJ/IRS scandal. Additionally, Obama sent his chief-of-staff Jack Lew to become Treasury Secretary; effectively placing an ally to oversee/cover-up any issues. As Treasury Secretary Lew did just that.

Lesson Learned – It would appear the Obama administration learned a lesson from attempting to gather a large opposition research database operation inside a functioning organization large enough to have some good people that might blow the whistle.

The timeline reflects a few months after realizing the “Secret Research Project” was now worthless (June 2012), they focused more deliberately on a smaller network within the intelligence apparatus and began weaponizing the FBI/NSA database. If our hunch is correct, that is what will be visible in footnote #69:

How this all comes together in 2019/2020

Fusion GPS was not hired in April 2016 just to research Donald Trump. As shown in the evidence provided by the FISC, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The Obama administration already knew everything about the Trump campaign, and were monitoring everything by exploiting the FISA database.

However, after the NSA alerts in/around March 9th, 2016, and particularly after the April 18th shutdown of contractor access, the Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to create a legal albeit ex post facto justification for the pre-existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion GPS gave them that justification in the Steele Dossier.

That’s why the FBI small group, which later transitioned into the Mueller team, were so strongly committed to and defending the formation of the Steele Dossier and its dubious content.

The Steele Dossier, an outcome of the Fusion contract, contains three insurance policy purposes: (1) the cover-story and justification for the pre-existing surveillance operation (protect Obama); and (2) facilitate the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign (assist Clinton); and (3) continue the operation with a special counsel (protect both).

An insurance policy would be needed. The Steele Dossier becomes the investigative virus the FBI wanted inside the system. To get the virus into official status, they used the FISA application as the delivery method and injected it into Carter Page. The FBI already knew Carter Page; essentially Carter Page was irrelevant, what they needed was the FISA warrant and the Dossier in the system {Go Deep}.

The Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion-GPS gave them that justification and evidence for a FISA warrant with the Steele Dossier.

Ultimately that’s why the Steele Dossier was so important; without it, the FBI would not have a tool that Mueller needed to continue the investigation of President Trump. In essence by renewing the FISA application, despite them knowing the underlying dossier was junk, the FBI was keeping the surveillance gateway open for Team Mueller to exploit later on.

The bottom line is this….  The NSA database has been exploited to: (1) gain opposition research on political entities; AND (2) the NSA database is being exploited to retrieve information useful for financial gains (insider information).  The contractors inside the network are in the business of selling information which they obtain from their access.

There are trillions at stake….

Sidney Powell Discusses Latest Explosive Evidence Outlining FBI Misconduct…


Michael Flynn attorney Sidney Powell talks with Liz Mac about the latest revelations and documents showing the intentional abusive motives by the DOJ, FBI and Special Counsel against her client; and by extension against a sitting United States President.

 

Flynn Family Releases Statement Following Documentary Evidence of FBI, DOJ and Special Counsel Abusive Intent…


The time for diplomatic niceties is over… The time for complimentary judicial decorum has ended….  The time has come to dispatch delicate sensibilities….  The time has come to lock the door… from the inside.  The time has come for full frontal WOLVERINE level confrontation…. The time has come for #COLD ANGER to turn the tables!

(Statement Source)

 

Robert Mueller Investigative Agent Recently Testified Special Counsel Operation was “Intended to Get Trump”…


Well, this MUST READ INTERVIEW should bring all efforts against Flynn to a halt.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jeff Jensen, has been conducting an ongoing review of the FBI investigation that led to charges in the case against Michael Flynn. As part of that review an interview was recently conducted (September 17, 2020) with the former Flynn supervisory case agent, William Barnett – who also was assigned to the Special Counsel’s Office investigating Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.

What Special Agent Barnett says under oath about the DOJ and FBI investigations is devastating to the institutions.  Here is his 302 report:

Lindsey Graham: “the primary source for the Steele dossier was likely a Russian agent”…


Quite a bit of attention today to a release of information by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham [LINK HERE].  However, missed in most reviews is a duplicitous motive for Graham to claim “the primary source for the Steele dossier was likely a Russian agent.”

In essence, Graham is promoting a defense previously explored by James Comey that investigative elements of the FBI were duped by a Russian disinformation campaign; and as a consequence their investigative efforts were done under the most honorable of motives, but they were just tricked by Russians.  Ergo, see the Russians did interfere in the election.

That’s the justification narrative, and now Lindsey Graham has positioned everyone to support it; because the alternative is the DOJ and FBI knew it was Russia-centric and were coordinating to achieve a goal provided by the use of that disinformation campaign as purposefully fed by Chris Steele.

Just to drive home the point: the FBI wasn’t duped.  The FBI knew all along the Steele Dossier was a bunch of junk nonsense from political opposition research; but they needed it, to underscore the Carter Page FISA…. which they needed to justify the surveillance.

 

Former FBI Director James Comey and Lindsey Graham are both promoting the same “FBI duped” justification narrative.  Now, is it a surprise the only witness agreeing to appear before Graham’s committee prior to the election is… wait for it…. yep, James Comey.

Imagine that.

What a coincidence.

Also, notice this from the recently released series of text messages?

Why didn’t OIG Michael Horowitz write about these controversial text messages in his IG report on FBI conduct during the 2016 election?   The report where he couldn’t find any “evidence of investigative bias”….

The Government provided copies of the production with all necessary redactions for public dissemination. These documents evidence stunning government misconduct that mandates the immediate dismissal of this wrongful prosecution. The Government’s redacted production of last evening, September 23, 2020

Did the Weissmann special counsel hide those text messages as part of their control effort over any release from the DOJ and FBI throughout their tenure?

Rhetorical question.

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Presidents Trump and Xi Deliver Dueling UN Speeches by Video


Finally, the United States has a president courageous enough to see through the empty rhetoric of such phony multilateralism and tell China and the rest of the world the truths they do not want to hear

Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist image

Re-Posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and ArchivesSeptember 22, 2020

The United Nations’ annual General Assembly high level debate week is usually a very big deal on the diplomatic calendar. World leaders assemble in New York with their entourages, deliver their perspectives on the state of the world in long-winded speeches, and conduct numerous conferences and bilateral side meetings on a variety of global issues. Of course, the world leaders are also busy attending a multitude of fancy receptions. This year, however, is very different due to the coronavirus pandemic. The UN headquarters building is eerily quiet. There are no foreign dignitaries to be seen. Speeches by heads of state and heads of government are being delivered via prerecorded videos. Although President Trump could have delivered his speech in person, he opted not to make the trip to New York and speak in front of a few UN ambassadors in a virtually empty General Assembly chamber. But President Trump nevertheless delivered via video his usual tour de force.

President Trump wasted no time holding China responsible for the global spread of the coronavirus

President Trump wasted no time holding China responsible for the global spread of the coronavirus. “We have waged a fierce battle against the invisible enemy — the China virus — which has claimed countless lives in 188 countries,” President Trump said. The United Nations “must hold China accountable.” He noted how China had criticized his restrictions on travel from China even though China had “locked down travel domestically while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world.” The president then recounted his administration’s unprecedented mobilization of resources to defeat the virus, including the progress being made to develop potential vaccines. “We will distribute a vaccine, we will defeat the virus, we will end the pandemic, and we will enter a new era of unprecedented prosperity, cooperation and peace,” he declared.

President Trump also took China to task for its record on the environment and its hypocrisy regarding its participation in the “one-sided” Paris Agreement on climate change from which the United States has withdrawn. China, he said, has dumped millions and millions of tons of plastic and trash into the ocean. It “emits more toxic mercury into the atmosphere than any country anywhere in the world.” President Trump added that “China’s carbon emissions are nearly twice what the U.S. has, and it’s rising fast.”

The U.S. president challenged the UN to remain relevant in dealing with the many problems besetting the world today. “If the United Nations is to be an effective organization, it must focus on the real problems of the world,” he said. “This includes terrorism, the oppression of women, forced labor, drug trafficking, human and sex trafficking, religious persecution, and the ethnic cleansing of religious minorities.”

President Trump extolled America’s economic and international security leadership in pursuing peace with strength. He also pointed to the historic agreements his administration brokered between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain, as well as one between Kosovo and Serbia. Inexplicably, the UN’s Secretary General Antonio Guterres made no mention of these agreements in the remarks he delivered in person before President Trump’s speech.

China’s press statement is an exercise in blame-shifting, deception, and fictional narratives.

“By taking a different approach, we have achieved different outcomes — far superior outcomes,” President Trump said. He predicted “more peace agreements shortly.”

As President Trump has done in the past, he explained that putting one’s own country first is not incompatible with multilateral cooperation. In fact, they reinforce each other. He said that “only when you take care of your own citizens will you find a true basis for cooperation.” He concluded his speech asking for God’s blessing for America and the United Nations.

China did not take long to release a rebuttal press statement accusing the United States of “spreading political virus.” China’s press statement is an exercise in blame-shifting, deception, and fictional narratives.

The press statement charged that the United States was “abusing the platform of the United Nations to provoke confrontation and create division,” adding that “the United States is weakening the UN, the WHO and other UN bodies, and undermining the authority and effectiveness of the UN.” The press release then defended China’s indefensible record on dealing with the coronavirus. It made the false claim that “China, with an open, transparent, and responsible attitude, has been giving updates and sharing experience with the WHO and other countries from the very beginning and providing active assistance to many countries, including the United States.” What a bunch of hogwash!

China’s President H.E. Xi Jinping’s speech, which followed shortly after President Trump’s remarks, was also prerecorded. While President Xi did not himself have the opportunity to reply in real time to President Trump’s extensive criticisms of China’s behavior, he obviously anticipated what President Trump would have to say about the coronavirus. Taking a not too subtle dig at President Trump’s frequent labeling of the coronavirus as the “China virus” and the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization, President Xi declared: “We should follow the guidance of science, give full play to the leading role of the World Health Organization, and launch a joint international response to beat this pandemic. Any attempt of politicizing the issue or stigmatization must be rejected.”

President Xi urged the world to “uphold the multilateral trading regime with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone

President Xi tried to portray China as the leader of multilateralism in dealing with the virus, ignoring the indisputable evidence of the Chinese regime’s refusal to make full disclosure of what it knew early on about the highly contagious nature of the virus’s human-to-human transmission. “China is actively involved in the international fight against COVID-19, contributing its share to upholding global public health security,” President Xi said with a straight face.

“COVID-19 reminds us that we are living in an interconnected global village with a common stake,” President Xi added. “No country can gain from others’ difficulties or maintain stability by taking advantage of others’ troubles.”

Is that why the Communist China regime hid the truth about the coronavirus from the world when the virus could have been contained, hoarded medical supplies such as face masks and surgical gowns and gloves imported from countries abroad to meet its own immediate needs, and then sold the supplies back to those countries at inflated prices after they became Covid-19 infected?  President Xi’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.

President Xi urged the world to “uphold the multilateral trading regime with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone.” Only so long as his regime can continue bilking the world on its way to prosperity by manipulating the global trading system and stealing intellectual property, will President Xi, in his words, “stay true to multilateralism and safeguard the international system with the UN at its core.”

Finally, the United States has a president courageous enough to see through the empty rhetoric of such phony multilateralism and tell China and the rest of the world the truths they do not want to hear.