Tag Archives: Uranium One

Dec 1 2018

THE MAGNITSKY ACT – BEHIND THE SCENES


The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes is a Norwegian, internationally supported investigative documentary feature. Its scheduled premiere at the European Parliament in Brussels on April 27 2016 was cancelled at the last moment due to the legal threats from the protagonists at the centre of the investigation. A few days later ARTE (a French-German TV network that co-financed the film) annulled the May 3 broadcast at a short notice. The legal and political pressure on the film and its makers has continued ever since. In September 2018 the film was taken down by Vimeo for alleged defamation.

The film tells the story of how William (Bill) Browder, an American born investment consultant and manager of a fund trading in Russian energy companies’ shares, invented a seminal narrative of Russian corruption and brutality.

Using PowerPoint presentations and two websites Browder (and a team of his mainly Russian U.K. based associates) developed a story about a lawyer and heroic whistleblower Sergei Magntisky who had uncovered an elaborate financial fraud and exposed its perpetrators, in particular, two police officers who subsequently had Magnitsky arrested and imprisoned. During Magnitsky’s year long detention he was, according to Browder, tortured every day to be forced to take back his accusations of the police. Magnitsky refused and was beaten to death, Browder claims, by eight riot guards in an isolation prison cell in November 2009.

The fraud Magnitsky allegedly uncovered was a large fraudulent refund (approx. USD 230 million) of taxes on dividends to three shell companies under Browder’s control. The taxes were paid by the companies upon the sale of shares at the beginning of 2006. At the end of 2007 USD 230 million was wired back to the companies. Even though Browder does not deny that he was a de facto owner of the companies (“through which we made all our investments in Russia”) – formally they were subsidiaries of HSBC Management Guernsey Ltd. – Browder claims he had lost control over them (they were “stolen” by Russian criminals) by the time the fraudulent refund was received by the companies.

The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes explores the veracity of Browder’s claims. Andrei Nekrasov, the film’s director, started out by believing Browder, as did virtually all mainstream media of the world. At a closer look it turned out, however, that the company theft story was riddled with inconsistencies, and the whistleblower role had been falsely assigned to Magnitsky to reinforce the impression that the companies had been stolen by the people Magntisky had allegedly accused.

Browder’s version of the events has, however, been universally accepted as true and indicative of total corruption and lawlessness Vladimir Putin presides over. As the Magnitsky narrative evolved over the years Browder started to claim that Putin personally had been motivated to target Magnitsky and him, Browder. The Russian state, Browder claims, has been covering up the crime because a part of the stolen 230 million was sent to Putin’s friend, cellist Sergei Roldugin. This is one in the multitude of Browder’s claims that is shown to be baseless in The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes.

The media’s wholesale adoption of a narrative sourced solely by Browder, a businessman with a vested interest in the case, is exceptional. The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes being all but suppressed by those it exposes, Andrei Nekrasov has, nevertheless, extensive experience discussing the case with journalists working for mainstream corporate media, such as Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Foreign Policy. The director concluded that each time there was little interest in the details of the white collar crime at the centre of his investigative film. Instead, the reporters seemed to be concerned with the political and even geopolitical context of the Magnitsky story. Nekrasov’s impression is that the implications of the possibility that Browder’s version of the financial fraud might be false are considered potentially too damaging to the political and media establishment. The mistake cannot be undone, and must be turned into an unassailable truth at any cost.

Browder’s story is at the foundation of the so-called Magitsky Acts, or laws, in a number of countries, that are supposed to punish the alleged torturers and killers of Magnitsky and other human rights violators. The fact that the American, Canadian, British and other governments have put their stamp of approval on Browder’s version of events involving Magnitsky is used to discredit The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes. That is a highly spurious argument, as the evidence of political institutions and governments having been deceived or co-opted by Browder is contained in the film itself.

CREDITS
Director: Andrei Nekrasov
Producer: Torstein Grude
Written by: Andrei Nekrasov and Torstein Grude
Editor: Philipp Gromov
DOP: Tore Vollan, Torstein Grude and Joona Pettersson
Original Music: Karsten Fundal
Original title: The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes
Year: 2016
Length: 152 min, 125 min
Languages: English, Russian, German, French
Production company: Piraya Film.
Co-production: Illume and Wingman Media
Production countries: Norway, Finland, Denmark
Distribution: Piraya Film.
Festival distribution: The Norwegian Film Institute
SUPPORTED BY
The Norwegian Film Institute (Norwegian state film funding body, Oslo)
Filmkraft Rogaland (Norwegian state film funding body with regional base in Rogaland)
The Finnish Film Foundation SES (Finnish state film funding body, Helsinki)
The Nordic Film & TV Fund (Nordic film funding body, Oslo)
Fritt Ord (The Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo)
Stiftelsen Matriark (The Matriarch Foundation, Stavanger)
Piraya Film (Producer, Stavanger)
Torstein Grude (Producer, Stavanger)
Andrei Nekrasov (Director, Stavanger)
Hinterland AS (Equipment rental / post production company, Stavanger)
NRK (Norwegian state broadcaster)
YLE (Finnish state broadcaster)
ZDF/Arte (German/French state broadcaster)
SCREENINGS AND AWARDS
2016 Premiere an the European Parliament in Brussels – cancelled due to legal threats by Bill Browder and Marieluise Beck
2016 ARTE broadcast – cancelled due to legal threats by Bill Browder and Marieluise Beck
2016 The Newseum, Washington DC, USA.
2016 The official world premier in Oslo.
2016 The Norwegian Short Film Festival, Grimstad, Norway – cancelled due to legal threats by Bill Browder
2016 Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Malmö, Sweden
2016 Moscow International Film Festival, Russia
2016 Bergen International Film Festival, Norway
2016 Kapittel Film, Stavanger, Norway
2016 Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy, Finland
2017 Eurodok, Oslo, Norway
2017 Tampere Film Festival, Finland
2017 Nordic/Docs, Fredrikstad, Norway
2017 The Norwegian Short Film Festival, Grimstad, Norway
2017 Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin, Germany
2017 International Festival Signes de Nuit, Paris, France
2018 Festival Internacional Signos de la Noche, Tucumán, Argentina
2018 International Festival Signs of the Night, Bangkok, Thailand
2018 Telepolis Salon, Munich, Germany
~
2016 Special Commendation – Prix Europa TV Documentary
2017 Main Award, Student Jury – Festival international Signes de Nuit, Paris
2018 Night Award, Festival Internacional Signos de la Noche – Tucumán, Argentina
2018 The Signs Award, 16th International Festival Signs of the Night, Bangkok, Thailand
“
Why is the U.S. mainstream media so frightened of a documentary that debunks the beloved story of how “lawyer” Sergei Magnitsky uncovered massive Russian government corruption and died as a result? If the documentary is as flawed as its critics claim, why won’t they let it be shown to the American public, then lay out its supposed errors, and use it as a case study of how such fakery works?
Robert Parry, investigative journalist
WATCH THE FILM
watch the film with German subtitles
watch the film with Dutch subtitles

watch the film with German subtitles
watch the film with Dutch subtitles

watch the film with German subtitles
watch the film with Dutch subtitles

“
“Meanwhile I am beginning to think that we are all just a part of the Browder PR machine (…) Here I will just quote from “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence“: When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Robert Otto, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency; Page 187
ON THE RECORD
NEW! Andrei Nekrasov
Hermitage did not lose control of its companies and was involved in the preparation of the tax refund. I can’t prove Hermitage actually received the 230 million dollars because it operated through figureads and offshore structures, but I can prove that the story of the company theft is false, and false stories are not knowingly told without a reason.
Torstein Grude
Producer, Piraya Film
Deceptive legal letters from Hermitage Capital and Carter-Ruck lead to takedown of The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes from Vimeo. Piraya Film will not be silenced and will provide the film on other platforms soon.

Piraya Film challenges Vimeo’s censorship of The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes
in a legal letter.

Andrei Nekrasov and Vetta Kirillova
Bill Browder and his story about the alleged Whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
The former hedge fund manager, who became rich in Russia, now presents himself as one of the greatest human rights activists and has so far successfully prevented the screening of a revealing film.
Rober Parry
A Blacklisted Film and the New Cold War
As Congress still swoons over the anti-Kremlin Magnitsky narrative, Western political and media leaders refuse to let their people view a documentary that debunks the fable.
Lucy Komisar
The Man Behind the Magnitsky Act
Did Bill Browder’s Tax Troubles in Russia Color Push for Sanctions?
Gilbert Doctorow
Film by Andrei Nekrasov: ‘The Magnitsky Act. Behind the Scenes’
A new documentary blows apart the West’s Russia-bashing narrative about the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky. So the response has been to stop the public from seeing the film while calling it Russian “agit-prop”.
Andrei Nekrasov
Andrei Nekrasov’s statement for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee Magnitsky Hearing.

It would be disingenuous not to recognise that every speaker here, apart from myself, represents Bill Browder’s version of his Russian activities and Sergei Magnitsky’s role in the affair. And – five minutes is all I am given to present my case.
Andrei Nekrasov
Andrei Nekrasov’s Statement to U.S. Congress, June 2016
Statement Into a Record of June 2016 House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing: U.S. Policy Toward Putin’s Russia.
Andrei Nekrasov
A request to correct a false statement in a New York Times article.
The bombshell New York Times article about the fateful Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 contained at least one falsehood. We could prove that in any independent probe. Nekrasov wrote a letter to the editor (letters@nytimes.com) in accordance with all NYT guidelines, asking for the falsehood to be corrected. It was left intact, and no reply was received.
Nov 30 2018

Foreboding – FBI Raids Home of Clinton Foundation Whistleblower…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 30, 2018 by

The Daily Caller has an exclusive report tonight that is very troubling, and, unfortunately in alignment with a previous suspicion CTH shared when it was first announced that John Huber was scheduled to testify to congress on December 5th.

According to the Daily Caller: FBI agents raided the home of a recognized Department of Justice whistleblower who privately delivered documents pertaining to the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One to a government watchdog, according to the whistleblower’s attorney.

The Justice Department’s inspector general was informed that the documents show that federal officials failed to investigate potential criminal activity regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and Rosatom, the Russian company that purchased Uranium One, a document reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation alleges.

The delivered documents also show that then-FBI Director Robert Mueller failed to investigate allegations of criminal misconduct pertaining to Rosatom and to other Russian government entities attached to Uranium One, the document reviewed by TheDCNF alleges. Mueller is now the special counsel investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.

“The bureau raided my client to seize what he legally gave Congress about the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One,” the whistleblower’s lawyer, Michael Socarras, told TheDCNF, noting that he considered the FBI’s raid to be an “outrageous disregard” of whistleblower protections.  (continue reading)

Make sure you read the entire article because if the DOJ was intending to throw a bag over the entire Clinton Foundation investigation and cover-it-up, that raid is exactly what they would do. This is presumably the investigation that John Huber was/is controlling.

When congressman Mark Meadows reported that U.S. Attorney John Huber was scheduled to testify on December 5th, 2018, CTH warned:

This could be a troubling indication because: (a) Huber wouldn’t be able to testify about an ongoing criminal investigation; and (b) this framework would infer DOJ officials (above Huber) have made a determination -or agreed with his determination- that no legal liability is possible within the matters Huber reviewed.  (link)

If the reporting of the raid by the Daily Caller is accurate; and given the nature of the timing for that raid; and accepting the at risk elements within the whistleblower case extended beyond Hillary Clinton to Robert Mueller; and noting how the SSCI was the recipient of the information/evidence as transmitted by Michael Horowitz; there is a solid appearance of the DOJ maneuvering to cover-up the underlying DOJ/FBI corruption by seizing -and controlling- all of the evidence.

[Additionally, in the background are the fingerprints of the self-serving quid-pro-quo between DOJ and SSCI] Just sayin’…

If that apparent cover-up perspective is accurate, then so too is THIS.

A cover-up just seems so implausible, because the activity is just so brutally obvious.

How is this level of blatant disregard possible?  Seriously, I really don’t know.  Perhaps these DOJ and FBI officials are genuinely inside a bubble and don’t know the level of information that exists outside DC…. or, maybe they just feel so above the law they simply don’t care.  I don’t understand it either; but it’s happening – regardless.

“For the bureau to show up at Mr. Cain’s home suggesting that those same documents are stolen federal property, and then proceed to seize copies of the same documents after being told at the house door that he is a legally protected whistleblower who gave them to Congress, is an outrageous disregard of the law.” (read more)

It would appear there is no limit to what the corrupt Deep State officials will do to hide their unlawful activity; and apparently there’s not an honest person amid the organizations who can stop them.   FUBAR.  Very disturbing.

I hope I’m wrong.

Maybe there’s a valid reason for this FBI raid; if so, I can’t think of one.

Nov 30 2018

Panda Requests “Fair Minded” Trade Discussion in Advance of G20 Dinner…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 29, 2018 by

President Trump took all the ‘dragon slayers’ with him to Argentina likely anticipating a rapid Chinese evolution from Panda to Dragon.  Trump’s delegation selection sends exactly that message.  If cunning Chairman Xi exhibits wounded sensibilities, well, tough.

China deployed the panda mask for over a year in an effort to wait-out President Trump, fair enough; however, that strategy has a severe downside.

If lack of engagement is part of Beijing’s economic defense mechanism, ie. retaining the status quo,  you can expect President Trump to provoke the confrontation.

Does Xi feel rucky?

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China and the United States can reach a trade agreement at the G20 meeting in Argentina this week, the state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial on Friday, but Washington must be “fair minded” if it wants to defuse spiraling tensions.

“Beijing wants a deal, just as Washington does. And it is willing to cooperate with Washington in dealing with concerns about trade if they are fair-minded,” the paper said.

“Should there be any other aspirations, such as taking advantage of the trade spat to throttle Chinese growth, then an agreement is unlikely to be reached.”

World leaders started arriving on Thursday in Buenos Aires ahead of the gathering of the Group of 20, where global trade tensions, fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, are expected to dominate the agenda.  (read more)

There is no doubt in my mind that President Trump has a very well thought out long-term strategy regarding China. President Trump takes strategic messaging toward the people of china very importantly. President Trump has, very publicly, complimented the friendship he feels toward President Xi Jinping; and praises Chairman Xi for his character, strength and purposeful leadership. Trump knows how to play their panda/dragon games.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and then the  action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately. The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask. Chairman Xi and President Trump are scheduled for a dinner on Saturday night; their first face-to-face meeting in a year.

The entire planet is focused on the dynamic of Chairman Xi and President Trump.  Billions waged on the position of an eyebrow, or the hint of a smile.  Epic stuff.  In the multinational finance world this is bigger than the moon landing, world cup and Olympics combined.  Every nuance and inference to be reviewed in slow-mo replay by hedge-fund managers looking for any indication of hope.

The funniest thing is Donald Trump doesn’t care about all that.  He has the desired ‘America First’ outcome gamed out; POTUS is only looking to see which direction Xi is leaning.  From there Trump puts the instructions to the team (Mnuchin, Pompeo, Ross, Lighthizer and Navarro); yet even they don’t know the full plan, no-one does except President Trump… for a reason.

The Wall Street global financial crowd is on pins-and-needles hoping desperately the confrontation between China and the U.S. doesn’t escalate.

Meanwhile, blue-collar Main Street USA is hoping ‘bull-in-a-china-shop-Trump‘ shows up and punches Xi in the nose; diplomatically of course.

Peter Navarro, Trump’s hardline trade adviser, will attend the meeting between the leaders, a U.S. official told Reuters. Another official said Navarro’s addition was meant to send a message to China about the administration’s resolve on trade. Navarro has advocated a tough stance against Beijing. (more)

Nov 30 2018

President Trump and First Lady Melania Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the G20 Summit…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 29, 2018 by

President Donald Trump and Fist Lady Melania Trump arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the G20 Summit of world leaders.  Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived with the first couple met by local dignitaries.

Nov 30 2018

White House / EU Auto Summit Scheduled For December 4th…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 29, 2018 by

This is one of those reports that seems small and appears way over there on the periphery. However, if MAGAnomics and trade are important to you, this story is very much worth paying attention to.

As CTH shared last week the White House reached out to EU auto executives to request a meeting.  There is a VERY STRONG likelihood the message within this meeting will surround potential tariffs, and questions from team Trump about the intents of EU (mostly German) automakers against the backdrop of the USMCA.

The potential for auto-tariffs terrifies the EU (specifically Germany), because most of their profits from within the industry come from access to the U.S. market.   Few major markets in the world can afford the scale of automobile purchases as a wealthy U.S.A. does.  The profit margins are much smaller in all other countries.  Without the U.S. market, these auto companies would be in deep financial trouble.  Enter Trump’s leverage:

BERLIN (Reuters) – Top executives from German carmakers Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler are finalizing plans for a White House meeting on trade policy next week, German and U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Officials from the carmakers, asking not to be named, said the meeting was tentatively set for Tuesday, and would include VW Chief Executive Herbert Diess, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche and BMW production chief Oliver Zipse.

President Donald Trump has been harshly critical of German automakers and what he sees as an unfair trade imbalance on autos.

He has threatened for months to impose tariffs on vehicles assembled in the EU, a move that could upend the industry’s business model for selling cars in the United States.

However, he has refrained from such a measure while Washington and Brussels undertake talks to cut other trade barriers.

The CEOs plan to make clear they cannot negotiate on behalf of the EU, people close to the matter said last week. (read more)

I love that last line: “CEOs plan to make clear they cannot negotiate on behalf of the EU“, that’s funny; and the best part is Trump knows exactly the silliness of that statement.  Whatever the German auto-sector demands, the EU delivers – P.E.R.I.O.D.

But seriously, the primary question for the U.S. team revolves around seeking to understand how the EU companies will comply with the new U.S-Mexico-Canada  (USMCA) trade pact to avoid the import tariffs.  [Angela Merkel is irrelevant]

The answer is more important to Mexico and the U.S. because no-one is foolish enough to build a manufacturing plant in the left-wing North known as Canada.  So POTUS wants to know how the EU is going to comply with the new 75% origination rules within the U.S. and Mexico agreement.

The outcome of the EU answer(s) will likely determine the scale of tariff that President Trump is considering on the entire industry.  President Trump is actually constructing a 10/25-year economic ‘business plan‘ for the entire country.

Stay tuned…. this is the fun stuff!

Nov 30 2018

President Trump Impromptu Remarks Departing White House…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 29, 2018 by

President Trump delivers remarks to the media prior to departing the White House en route to Argentina for the G20 summit.  The president remarks about the plea agreement by Michael Cohen to special counsel Robert Mueller.

Nov 30 2018

Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty to Lying to SSCI…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 29, 2018 by

Don’t get so caught up debating the granular issues over ‘muh Russia’ that you fail to elevate and see the landscape from the 30,000 ft. level.   The Rosenstein/Mueller move today is all about protecting the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) from President Trump (declassification threats); and it was specifically scheduled, timed, to be launched today as Trump leaves for the G20 to achieve maximum political damage.

Michael Cohen pleads guilty today (full pdf below) to lying in written testimony to the SSCI:

(WaPo) […] Cohen admitted as a part of his plea that he lied in part to “minimize links” between the Moscow project and Trump, and in hopes of limiting ongoing probes into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Prosecutors said in court documents that he discussed efforts to obtain Russian government funding for the project as late as June 2016 and discussed the status and progress with Trump more than he had previously told congressional investigators. (more)

This power-move by Mueller and Rosenstein (the small-group teams within the construct and not just the individuals), is another move with a similar motivation to the plea agreement over SSCI security director, James Wolfe.  Whitaker is powerless to stop it. Rosenstein and Mueller are protecting their allies in the most corrupt committee in DC.

Remember, those SSCI Senators (Vice-Chair Mark Warner, Dianne Feinstein and senior staffer Dan Jones etc.) were coordinating with Fusion GPS and the Clinton campaign allies; and were direct participants in “Spygate” and the insurance policy known as the special counsel.

This is one of the reasons why it is likely, damned near certain, that senior SSCI senators instructed James Wolfe to leak information, including the March 17th copy of the Carter Page FISA application, and that is why Rosenstein and Mueller let James Wolfe plea to a much lesser one-count crime of lying.

Remember when SSCI senator Dianne Feinstein released the transcript of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson’s testimony so that all of downstream participants could coordinate their stories?   Oh, how quickly we forget.

It is near certain that Feinstein gave up her Senate Intelligence Vice-Chair position following the 2016 presidential election because there was an inherent political risk for any intelligence-oversight Democrat in relation to the FBI’s Trump operation, “spygate”.  Feinstein’s staffer, Dan Jones, then paid Fusion-GPS $50 million to continue the efforts.

Remember Oleg Deripaska’s lawyer/lobbyist Adam Waldman having secret text messages with new SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner relaying communication from Christopher Steele that Senator Warner wanted to keep quiet?

Adam Waldman texting Senator Warner about Chris Steele and outlining how Feinstein’s former senior staffer Dan Jones was coming to see him.

(link)

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is as corrupt and complicit within the entire spygate fiasco as the DOJ and FBI.  That’s why Mueller and Rosenstein (small group) are working to protect the Senators and staff just like they protect the corrupt officials in the DOJ and FBI.  Mueller’s entire operation is structured around this type of scheming cover-up.

The Cohen plea is part of creating that DC swamp leverage that benefits all of these creatures….. and it is timed to undermine the President at the beginning of the G20 because the geopolitical perspectives/policies of Donald Trump, that are counter to the indulgent life amid the benefactors inside DC, is what made Trump the original threat to the system.

This is Deep State (via Mueller/Rosenstein) fighting President Trump; and trying to blunt the declassification weapon he holds.  Nothing more:

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/394490430/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-PUAFspeiBECifBHWOEcB

.

~By Michael Caputo:  ‘In 2009, my wife and I moved to my hometown of East Aurora, New York to have a family. Making far less money back home, we had a far better quality of life. That is, until the Trump-Russia narrative took off. Today, I can’t possibly pay the attendant legal costs and live near my aging father, raising my kids where I grew up.

‘Your investigation and others into the allegations of Trump campaign collusion with Russia are costing my family a great deal of money – more than $125,000 – and making a visceral impact on my children.

‘Now I must to move back to Washington, New York City, Miami or elsewhere, just so I can make enough money to pay off these legal bills. And I know I have you to thank for that.

‘Here’s how I know: how many of you know Daniel Jones, former Senate Intelligence staffer for Senator Dianne Feinstein? Great guy, right? Most of you worked with him. One of you probably just talked to him this morning.

‘Of course, very few of us in flyover country knew Daniel until recently. Now we know that he quit his job with your Senate committee not long ago to raise $50 million from ten rich Democrats to finance more work on the FusionGPS Russian dossier. The one the FBI used to get a FISA warrant and intimidate President Donald Trump, without anyone admitting — until months after it was deployed — that it was paid for by Hillary Clinton.

‘In fact, good old Dan has been raising and spending millions to confirm the unconfirmable – and, of course, to keep all his old intel colleagues up-to-speed on what FusionGPS and British and Russian spies have found. Got to keep that Russia story in the news.

‘Of course Dan’s in touch with you guys. We know from the news that he’s been briefing Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of this committee. Which one of you works for Senator Warner? Please give Danny my best.

‘I saw some of his handiwork just last month. Remember this lede paragraph, from McClatchy on April 13?

‘The Justice Department special counsel has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

‘That’s your pal Dan, isn’t it? He came up with some kind of hollow proof that Michael Cohen was in Prague meeting with Russians when he wasn’t. He tried to sell that to reporters, and they didn’t buy it because it doesn’t check out. So, to get a reporter to write up his line of bull, he gave the documents to the Office of Special Counsel.

‘We know that’s likely, because he’s told people he’s briefing investigators.

‘So, technically, the special counsel’s office has evidence. Your pal Dan gave them more of the Democrats’ dossier, funded by more Democrats, provided again by Russian and British spies. Information no reporter would write up, but now there’s an angle: the Special Counsel has it. Now it’s a story.

‘It’s a clever but effective ruse. That’s a story, just like when reporter Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News wrote this gem on September 16, 2016:

‘“…U.S. officials have since received intelligence reports that during that same three-day trip, Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin associate … a well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News. That meeting, if confirmed, is viewed as especially problematic by U.S. officials…”

‘Dozens of stories were written from the Isikoff piece, doing real damage to the Trump campaign. Of course, now we know Isikoff’s reference to “intelligence reports” was just him renaming a dossier funded by Democrats and dug up by his longtime pal Glenn Simpson and some foreign spies. Once Simpson gave his Clinton campaign opposition research to the feds, it was news.

‘This was especially true after Isikoff intentionally labeled the campaign materials as intelligence – just like McClatchy called Dan’s information “evidence.”

‘But who is McClatchy’s second source? It couldn’t be Dan; he was the first source. It couldn’t be Simpson; he works for Dan. It can’t be the Mueller investigation; they kicked the McClatchy story to the curb with aplomb. So who could it be – perhaps one of his former Senate Intelligence colleagues? I mean, you’re all in this together. You’re the swamp.

‘What America needs is an investigation of the investigators. I want to know who is paying for the spies’ work and coordinating this attack on President Donald Trump? I want to know who Dan Jones is talking to across the investigations – from the FBI, to the Southern District of New York, to the OSC, to the Department of Justice, to Congress.

‘Forget about all the death threats against my family. I want to know who cost us so much money, who crushed our kids, who forced us out of our home, all because you lost an election.

‘I want to know because God Damn you to Hell.

(Source and Source)

Nov 29 2018

President Trump Discusses His Decision Not to Declassify “Spygate” Documents…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 28, 2018 by

The New York Post has an article today, surrounding an interview with President Trump, where the topic of declassifying the evidence behind ‘Spygate’ surfaced.

To say there is a massive schism amid supporters of the President on this issue would be an understatement.

On one hand the declassification would potentially, and finally, outline the scale of the FBI/DOJ politicization and weaponization of intelligence against the President – exposing the entire ‘spygate’ scandal in all its glory.  On the other hand that potential is also seen as political leverage against the schemes of DC and all the characters.

Here’s the quotes that matter:

(New York Post) […]  “If they go down the presidential harassment track, if they want go and harass the president and the administration, I think that would be the best thing that would happen to me. I’m a counter-puncher and I will hit them so hard they’d never been hit like that.”

“I think that would help my campaign. If they want to play tough, I will do it. They will see how devastating those pages are.”

“It’s much more powerful if I do it then,” Trump said, “because if we had done it already, it would already be yesterday’s news.”

Trump added Wednesday that his lawyer Emmet Flood thought it would be better politically to wait.

“He didn’t want me to do it yet, because I can save it,” Trump said.

The president also pushed back on the notion that all the Justice Department documents should eventually be released for the sake of transparency.

“Some things maybe the public shouldn’t see because they are so bad,” Trump said, making clear it wasn’t damaging to him, but to others. “Maybe it’s better that the public not see what’s been going on with this country.”  (more)

From the CTH perspective this interview essentially solidifies something we have been outlining for several months: President Trump is applying the consideration of leverage to his decision-making.

Many have refused to accept “leverage” was part of President Trump’s primary determination and decision-making.  CTH has been heavily criticized for even presenting such analysis.  Hopefully, this interview puts an end to those criticisms.

Leverage is the primary filter here; and it’s not just leverage against domestic political enemies.

President Trump has fifty years of business skills in various predatory and adversarial financial deals.  Leverage, or the ability to force an opponent to take an action that benefits your position, is the most valuable weapon in deals; business or politics the same is true.

This type of leverage is extremely valuable and it’s not just against Democrats, Obama and the Never Trump alliance (ie. Sea Island group).  President Trump is in a fight against multiple enemies from all sides, across all aisles and political alignments.  The declassification leverage is like an atomic hammer that strikes everyone in a 360° blast radius.

And it is not limited to domestic adversaries.  This leverage has a geopolitical value.

Think about geopolitical trade deals with Five-Eyes allies.  Think about how President Trump may need an ally to take a position adverse to their preferred interests. The potential for declassification of intelligence documents showing complicit corruption within the U.K. and Australia could destroy politicians external to the U.S.

Think about an ally being asked to take a position on China (trade), Iran (sanctions), Russia (energy), etc.  Movement on any of these geopolitical issues, and many more, can be tilted -in part- based on the threat of sunlight or declassification. Leverage is a tool.

Getting particular democrats to support the USMCA; what’s that worth?

Getting a southern border wall and sensible immigration law; what’s that worth?

What does President Trump value?  What is important to him?

What part of the transactional relationship can be enhanced by leverage?   Pro-tip: it’s not personal; it is not leverage to benefit Trump personally; he doesn’t care about that shallow stuff… his view of the horizon is much longer, much further; much more consequential.

It annoys the heck out of many people, me included, that Donald Trump is willing to absorb so much inbound fire, unnecessarily; which, by extension, means that his supporters are forced to absorb so much inbound and unnecessary fire; but he is.

What is President Trump’s primary objective?   Save the U.S.A. through economics.

Economic security is national security.

I think much of our angst is because we look too short-term; and the media does a great job of convincing us President Trump is selfish.  Perhaps they are correct. Perhaps I’m wrong; but I see this leverage issue as something Trump views as important – obviously; or he wouldn’t approach it that way.

Would President Trump trade a $500 billion per year positive benefit to the U.S. economy in exchange for never outlining the fraud against him?

Would President Trump accept new jobs for a million Americans in exchange for never outlining the 2016 fraud against him?

Yeah.

He would.

Without question.

And he wouldn’t care if it meant he could never win in 2020.

He ain’t a politician.

Piss you off?

Probably.

That’s Trump.


Nov 29 2018

Flake’s Revenge – Senate Cancels Votes on 21 Federal Judges After Jeff Flake Blocks Committee…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 28, 2018 by

Outgoing U.S. Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona has given the American electorate the big middle finger for Christmas.  Flake has followed-through on his vow to block more than 20 judicial nominees; forcing the Senate Judiciary Committee to abandon six federal circuit court nominees, and 15 federal district court nominees.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Wednesday that he is canceling votes on nearly two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees that were expected to come up in the Judiciary Committee this week.

The cancellation of the committee’s Thursday business meeting comes as Senate Republicans are in a standoff with outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has vowed to oppose all court picks until he gets a vote on legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller.

The notification from the Judiciary Committee didn’t specify when, or if, the committee votes on the nominations would be rescheduled. Six circuit court nominees had been expected to get a vote, as well as 15 district court nominees.  (read more)

Nov 29 2018

Melania Trump Liberty University Convocation and Town Hall Discussion on Opioid Crisis…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 28, 2018 by

First Lady Melania Trump delivers a speech at the Liberty University convocation, and participates in a town hall discussion of America’s opioid crisis.