Former Bolton Chief Of Staff Urges Him To Delay Book Until After Election

Fred Fleitz, a former chief of staff to John Bolton, urged the former national security adviser on Monday to delay publication of his memoir until after the November election, asserting that a tell-all book would “set a dangerous precedent” by discouraging future presidents from seeking advice from their top national security staff.

“Given the importance of protecting a president’s confidential discussions with his senior advisers, I strongly disagree with Bolton’s decision to release the book before the November presidential election and call on him to withdraw it from the publisher immediately,” Fleitz wrote in a Fox News op-ed.

The New York Times reported Sunday that a manuscript of Bolton’s forthcoming book claims that President Trump told him in an August 2019 conversation that he was withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to force officials there to cooperate with investigations into Joe Biden and other political opponents.

The allegation undercuts one of Trump’s defenses at his Senate impeachment trial. Trump has insisted that he withheld a nearly $400 million aid package to Ukraine over concerns about corruption there, and also because the U.S. was contributing too much compared to European nations.

Democrats called for the Senate to vote to invite Bolton to testify at President Trump’s impeachment trial, which began its second week on Monday. Senate Republicans had hoped to complete the trial this week without calling witnesses, but two moderate Republicans, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, said on Monday that the leaks of Bolton’s book made them more likely to vote for witnesses.

Fleitz, who served as Bolton’s chief of staff in 2018, said that he does not know what is in the book, which will be published on March 17.

“If a manuscript of this sensitivity was to be published at all, this should happen after the election, not in the spring of 2020,” said Fleitz, who was also Bolton’s chief of staff at the State Department from 2001 to 2005.

“I don’t understand the need for a former National Security Adviser to publish a tell-all book critical of a president he served, especially during a presidential reelection campaign that will determine the fate of the country,” Fleitz continued.

“There will be a time for Bolton to speak out without appearing to try to tip a presidential election.”

https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/27/former-bolton-chief-of-staff-urges-him-to-delay-book-until-after-election/

Suing California to Produce a State Checkbook

Just a few of the serious financial problems facing California include unfunded public employee pension promises, a potential state credit downgrade, an unprecedented homeless crisis, and a net out-migration of 912,000 residents since 2010.

One easy step California can take is to join every other state in the union and open up its state checkbook for review. Allowing citizens, journalists, watchdogs, academics, and public policy experts to review state spending would help the state get its fiscal house in order.

Unfortunately, last fall, California State Controller Betty Yee (pictured) rejected our sunshine request for the state checkbook. Oddly, the rejection didn’t argue the law, but instead claimed that the controller couldn’t locate a single one of the 49 million bills she paid last year.

This admission provides a troubling clue to California taxpayers who are wondering how and where their money is being spent. The answer is the people spending it literally don’t know. Or they at least say that don’t.

It is of course unimaginable, and laughable, that the state that is home to Silicon Valley can’t put basic transparency tech in place. That state’s feigned tech illiteracy begs the question: What are they trying to hide?

Taxpayers in California certainly want to know what’s happening to state funds. It shouldn’t take subpoenas and litigation to “find” up to $320 billion in annual state payments and show taxpayers how their money was spent.

So, our organization at OpenTheBooks.com, alongside our attorneys at Cause of Action Institute, a government oversight organization, filed an open records lawsuit in Sacramento state court. Our lawsuit begins the process of forcing open the state’s line-by-line expenditures.

We’ve never lost a state checkbook transparency fight. In 2012, we successfully sued Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka (R), and, in 2018, we sued Wyoming State Auditor Cynthia Cloud (R).

We believe the open government movement is revolutionizing U.S. public policy and politics. Just like the microscope transformed medicine, big data is modernizing government.

The purpose of transparency isn’t to scold state officials but to encourage accountability, trust, and better public policy. Here are just three of many critical issues facing the Golden State that could be improved by transparency:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/23/suing_california_to_produce_a_state_checkbook_142216.html

REPORT: Here’s How Much of YOUR Money Dems Wasted on the Impeachment Probe

At the end of the day, taxpayers are always stuck footing the bill.

And Democrats have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars to carry out their sham impeachment witch hunt into President Donald Trump.

According to research done by the Heritage Foundation, House Democrats drained $3.06 million on the entire impeachment process against President Donald Trump.

“The $3.06 million price tag for taxpayers of the formal impeachment inquiry so far includes the salaries of 106 congressional employees who largely didn’t attend to normal duties from September through December,” the Daily Signal reports. “It also includes the estimated hourly fees of six lawyers of record for witnesses who appeared during hearings, whether behind closed doors or public.”

But wait, it get’s worse.

That does not take into account the bill for the latest round of the process in the U.S. Senate.

Add up lawyers’ fees and the salaries of staff whose duties have been consumed by impeachment proceedings, and taxpayers are footing a hefty bill.

As the Daily Signal reports, the price tag could be even higher:

The total likely is a low estimate because it does not factor in overtime hours for U.S. Capitol Police when House hearings ran well into the late evening. The total also doesn’t include the cost of executive branch expenses, travel costs for witnesses, or supplies and materials.

As support for impeachment appears to be dropping, Democrats are going to have to prove to voters that they’re doing the right thing, and they need to do it before public opinion turns even further away, tanking Democrats’ chances in 2020.

You can read more from our friends over at TrendingPolitics.com

https://thedcpatriot.com/report-heres-how-much-of-your-money-dems-wasted-on-the-impeachment-probe/

Trump, Erdogan discuss Libya ceasefire, ending violence in Syria

US President also highlighted the importance of Turkey and Greece resolving their disagreements in the eastern Mediterranean

WASHINGTON, January 28. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed over the phone on Monday the Libyan ceasefire and the need to stop violence in Syria, Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere wrote on his Twitter account.

"Today, Trump spoke with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop," Deere noted.

"President Trump also highlighted the importance of Turkey and Greece resolving their disagreements in the eastern Mediterranean," he said.

Earlier, amid the continuing shellings of Syria’s Aleppo by militants, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria said that militants were plotting chemical weapons provocations in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

https://tass.com/world/1113523

US stops all weapon deliveries to Iraq, citing security concerns – Air Force spokesman

All US deliveries of weapons and ammunition to Iraqi security forces have been suspended, amid rising tensions over US presence in Iraq that followed the drone assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

The halt includes the US Air Force’s program of supplying parts and missiles to Iraq’s fleet of F-16 fighter-bombers, the news portal Inside Defense reported on Monday. Deliveries will begin again “when the environment in Iraq is safe enough to resume,” USAF spokesman Brian Brackens told Inside Defense in an email.

Brackens is the spokesman for USAF’s Life Cycle Management Center, a procurement and logistics organization based at the Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio.

A contract to supply Iraq with $1.8 billion worth of weapons, including the air-to-air Sidewinder and ground-attack Maverick missiles, was signed in May 2016. The last delivery before the halt was made on November 14, according to the subscription-only portal, which says it specializes in news about Pentagon programs, procurement and policy-making.

Iraqi armed forces were rebuilt around US weapons and doctrines after the 2003 invasion and occupation by the US-led coalition. They proved woefully inadequate when facing Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists in 2014, but have since managed to liberate most of Iraq from the group’s control, though with thousands of US troops in “advise and assist” capacity.

Just last week, the Iraqi defense ministry posted a video of an air strike by its F-16s against IS targets in the Hamrin Mountains.

https://www.rt.com/news/479338-us-weapons-iraq-suspended/

Esper Won't Rule Out Troop Drawdown in Africa as France Urges Troops to Stay

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that U.S. strategic goals could include drawing down troops in Africa despite French pleas that American support is "critical" to countering the growing strength of terror groups in the region with links to the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

"My aim is to adjust our footprint in many places," including Africa, to free up forces for a "great power competition" against China and Russia, he said at a joint Pentagon news conference with French Defense Minister Florence Parly.

Esper said no final decisions have been made on withdrawing the estimated 6,000 U.S. troops in Africa, but said the priority must be either to bring the troops home or reposition them for a possible great power conflict.

He declined comment on whether the U.S. would abandon the drone base recently built in Niger at an estimated cost of more than $100 million as part of any potential drawdown.

Esper added that other European nations could fill the void if the U.S. withdraws support for the French.

"I think it's time for other European allies to assist as well in the region," he said, "and that could offset whatever changes we make as we consider next steps in Africa."

"We know perfectly well" the U.S. priorities, Parly said, but she suggested that Esper reconsider when it comes to Africa.

"I will mention again that U.S. support is critical to our operations, and its reduction would severely limit our effectiveness in our operations against terrorists" in the Sahel (sub-Sahara), where France intervened in 2013 and now has about 4,500 troops in Mali in a continuing counter-terror war.

"Our friends in the Sahel are in a situation where our assistance is critical, and I have expressed the hope that both the United States and France will keep on supporting them," Parly said.

Since the French intervention in Mali, the U.S. has been aiding French troops with intelligence, aerial surveillance and in-flight refueling.

Parly's visit came a day after insurgents attacked a Malian army camp near the Mauritanian border, killing 20 government troops in the latest in a series of attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, according to Agence France-Presse.

In late October, another attack by militants claiming allegiance to ISIS killed 53 Malian soldiers, according to government reports.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/01/27/esper-wont-rule-out-troop-drawdown-africa-france-urges-troops-stay.html

Nicki Minaj’s brother, Jelani Maraj, sentenced to 25 years to life for raping stepdaughter

The brother of rapper Nicki Minaj was sentenced to 25 years to life on Monday in Long Island for raping his stepdaughter.

Jelani Maraj was convicted in 2017 in Nassau County Court of repeatedly raping his then 11-year-old stepdaughter.

“She was 11 years old and you did this,” State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald told Maraj in Nassau County Court, Newsday reported.

The judge then turned to the victim, who was present in the courtroom.

“I sat there and I believed every word you said,” he said of her trial testimony.

The girl testified at the three-week trial that Maraj anally raped her and slapped her in the face at their Baldwin home before telling her to keep quite about his actions.

“He would call me his puppet and told me I had no say in what he did to me,” she testified in October of that year, saying Maraj sexually abused her multiple times.

The girl — who was 14 when she gave her testimony — said the first assault took place in April 2015 in Maraj’s bedroom.

“He told me to take off my pants…He told me to come under the covers with him, and he started to caress my back," she said. “He took off his boxers… after that, we had sex.”

She testified the abuse continued for months, even after her brother walked in on Maraj assaulting her.

“I was on my forearms on the bed and my pants were pulled down,” she told the courtroom.

The victim said she asked her then 8-year-old brother not to tell their mother.

Maraj denied the allegations, claiming the child sex abuse charges were a shakedown by his then wife, who allegedly sought $25 million in hush money.

A forensic geneticist testified at the trial that she found a “mixture” of DNA on the little girl’s pajama bottoms when they were tested in 2015. There was male DNA found, she said.

Maraj’s attorney appealed conviction in 2018, claiming that there was jury misconduct, Newsday reported.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-nicki-minaj-brother-jelani-maraj-sentenced-20200127-rutl2g35k5bxddfim5ch2ahmtu-story.html

Australian shares drop and global markets take a hit amid virus spread fears

There are rising fears the spread of the lethal coronavirus could damage global markets – and it’s already having an impact Down Under.

The Australian Securities Exchange dropped by 1.7 per cent on opening this morning, representing a drop of more than $36 billion, while the All Ordinaries is also down by almost $40 billion.

Those losses are a direct result of global concern about the virus’s spread, with US markets shedding more than 1 per cent already.

Overnight the Australian dollar also took a hit, buying 67.57 US cents at 7am this morning, down from 68.46 US cents at the market close on Friday before the Australia Day long weekend.

Companies with the heaviest losses so far are those with the strongest ties to the Chinese economy or reliance on Chinese tourism, including Webjet, Fortescue and Star Entertainment.

The only companies to record rises are in the gold and health sectors.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday up 2.5 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 7090.5 points, despite worry about the coronavirus. The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 4.2 points higher, or 0.06 per cent, at 7203.2.

IG Australia market analyst Kyle Rodda said experts had been bracing for the ASX200 to drop today.

“SPI Futures are suggesting that the index ought to shed roughly 80 points at the open as the market plays a bit of catch-up following the Australia Day holiday,” he said.

“The move will come off the back of a subdued day’s trade on Friday, which saw the ASX200 close practically flat.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/markets/australian-markets/australian-shares-set-to-drop-and-global-markets-to-take-a-hit-amid-virus-spread-fears/news-story/6353293ef0a599e259659e0624db904b

‘This should not happen to anyone else’: Ex-trans joins lawsuit against UK gender clinic

Keira Bell was given puberty blockers and testosterone injections by the Tavistock clinic and underwent a double mastectomy at age 20.

LONDON, England, January 27, 20202 (LifeSiteNews) ― A young woman who has given up her attempts to “become” a man has joined a lawsuit against the U.K.’s Tavistock Centre.

Keira Bell, 23, has joined former Tavistock psychiatric nurse Sue Evans and a gender-confused girl’s mother, known only as Mrs. A, in bringing the action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS [National Health Service] Trust. This foundation runs the United Kingdom’s only “gender identity development service” (called GIDS) for children.

In a hearing last week, Bell’s lawyer Jeremy Hyam QC stated that the young woman had an interest in the case, as she had undergone so-called gender transition treatment. Bell was given puberty blockers and testosterone injections by the Tavistock clinic. Later she underwent a double mastectomy at the age of 20.

“She now very seriously regrets the process and feels that the way it was handled and her involvement in it was not appropriate and her approach is to say, essentially, this should not happen to anyone else,” Hyam said.

Mr. Justice Supperstone ruled that Bell should be permitted to be one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Bell and her fellow plaintiffs Susan Evans and Mrs. A have raised over £37,000 ($74,500 USD) to fund the inquiry into the Tavistock Centre. Bell outlined her reasons for joining the suit on their webpage, hosted by fundraising site CrowdJustice.com.

“I have become a claimant in this case because I do not believe that children and young people can consent to the use of powerful and experimental hormone drugs like I did,” Bell said.

“I believe that the current affirmative system put in place by the Tavistock is inadequate as it does not allow for exploration of these gender dysphoric feelings, nor does it seek to find the underlying causes of this condition,” she continued.

“Hormone-changing drugs and surgery does not work for everyone and it certainly should not be offered to someone under the age of 18 when they are emotionally and mentally vulnerable.”

Bell added that treatment for gender dysphoria “urgently” needs to change so that it doesn’t put youngsters like herself “on a torturous and unnecessary path that is permanent and life-changing.”

She thanked Evans for beginning the case and pledged to end what the nurse had begun.

“I want to thank Sue Evans for having the courage to begin this case,” Bell stated.

“Many members of the public here and around the world have given financially and sent messages of encouragement. With your help I plan to finish what Sue has begun.”

Evans launched the enquiry into the practises at Tavistock because of what she witnessed there as a psychiatric nurse.

“While working [at the Tavistock Clinic] I quickly became concerned about the treatment approach,” she wrote on the fundraising page.

“When I joined the [GIDS] team I had expected that the young people would be assessed in depth and given support and psychological treatment over several years,” she continued.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/ex-trans-woman-joins-lawsuit-against-uk-transgender-clinic

Johnson & Johnson Advised Coronavirus Simulation and Now Stands To Gain Financially With New Vaccine

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted Event 201, a high-level pandemic exercise focused on a coronavirus outbreak — yes they ran a simulation of exactly what we see unfolding right now, before it happened!

The pandemic exercise was conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During Event 201 Johnson & Johnson was asked specifically about a coronavirus vaccine.

When asked, the Johnson & Johnson representative talked about the need for regulatory flexibility for an accelerated vaccine, financing and business. Not once did he mention safety or effectiveness. In today’s news, we see that Johnson & Johnson are currently working on a vaccine and they’re “pretty confident” they can quickly develop one.

Links

Did Bill Gates & World Economic Forum Predict Coronavirus Outbreak? An Inside Look May Shock You!

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/01/did-bill-gates-world-economic-forum-predict-coronavirus-outbreak-an-inside-look-may-shock-you.html

Event 201

http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/

J&J scientific officer ‘pretty confident’ they can create coronavirus vaccine as outbreak widens

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/27/jj-pretty-confident-it-can-create-china-coronavirus-vaccine.html

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/01/johnson-johnson-advised-coronavirus-simulation-now-stands-to-gain-financially-with-new-vaccine.html

Turkey helping terrorists conduct false-flag chemical attacks in Idlib, Aleppo: Syria

Syria has written protest letters to the United Nations, informing the world body that “Turkey” is helping terrorists conduct false-flag chemical attacks in northwestern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo in an attempt to implicate Damascus.

In two identical letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the head of the UN Security Council, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Monday that it has been confirmed that the Turkish government is supporting terrorist groups to fabricate a fake chemical attack south of Aleppo and another one in the northeast of Idlib to frame the Syrian army.

The letters, quoted by Syria's official news agency SANA, added that it is a known fact that whenever foreign-backed terrorists “feel cornered,” the so-called civil defense group White Helmets begin staging fake chemical attacks “upon the instructions of their masters in Western states” to create a pretext for the US and its allies to launch a military attack against the Arab country.

The Western-backed White Helmets is known to have been actively involved in false flag chemical attacks in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib in April 2017, and the other in the Damascus suburb town of Douma in April 2018.

Following the staged chemical attacks, the US and its allies launched rocket attacks against positions of the Syrian army troops as they blamed both incidents on Damascus, which strongly rejected the accusations.

Elsewhere in the letters to the UN, the Syrian foreign ministry said “the White Helmets and the terrorists’ media tools continue to promote fabricated and false claims about alleged use of chemical weapons, while the states that sponsor and support terrorists ignore all information about the terrorists’ preparations to use chemical weapons.”

The Syrian army, backed by Russian air cover, has already regained almost all territories once controlled by terrorists, except portions of Aleppo and large swaths of Idlib, which are still held by foreign-backed militants.

In August last year, Syrian troops commenced an ongoing full-scale offensive to flush terrorists out of these two regions. The Syrian army says that it is resolute to crush militants in these two regions and pave the way for the safe return of the displaced to their homes.

The ministry also stressed that what the Syrian government troops, along with their allies, are doing in the south of Aleppo and southeast of Idlib “is part of its sovereign and constitutional right to defend its people and land,” adding that the military operation “is to end the suffering of civilians” in these two regions.

In conclusion, the letters asserted, “The Syrian Arab Republic reiterates its stern condemnation of any use of chemical weapons by anyone, under any circumstances, and any place.” The ministry also called on the UN chief and the UNSC to denounce terrorists’ crimes against Syrians, urging the world body to support Damascus in its years-long war against terrorism.

Syria surrendered its stockpile of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the United States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/01/27/617234/Syria-UN-UNSC-Turkey-terrorists-false-flag-chemical-attack-Idlib-Aleppo-White-Helmets

Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers

Ring isn’t just a product that allows users to surveil their neighbors. The company also uses it to surveil its customers.

An investigation by EFF of the Ring doorbell app for Android found it to be packed with third-party trackers sending out a plethora of customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). Four main analytics and marketing companies were discovered to be receiving information such as the names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers, persistent identifiers, and sensor data on the devices of paying customers.

The danger in sending even small bits of information is that analytics and tracking companies are able to combine these bits together to form a unique picture of the user’s device. This cohesive whole represents a fingerprint that follows the user as they interact with other apps and use their device, in essence providing trackers the ability to spy on what a user is doing in their digital lives and when they are doing it. All this takes place without meaningful user notification or consent and, in most cases, no way to mitigate the damage done. Even when this information is not misused and employed for precisely its stated purpose (in most cases marketing), this can lead to a whole host of social ills.

Ring has exhibited a pattern of behavior that attempts to mitigate exposure to criticism and scrutiny while benefiting from the wide array of customer data available to them. It has been able to do so by leveraging an image of the secure home, while profiting from a surveillance network which facilitates police departments’ unprecedented access into the private lives of citizens, as we have previously covered. For consumers, this image has cultivated a sense of trust in Ring that should be shaken by the reality of how the app functions: not only does Ring mismanage consumer data, but it also intentionally hands over that data to trackers and data miners.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/01/ring-doorbell-app-packed-with-third-party-trackers.html

Billionaires and Big Pharma Are Bankrolling the Transgender-Industrial Complex

Many Americans are absolutely flabbergasted by the sudden rise of the transgender movement. Immediately after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), Olympian Bruce Jenner was calling himself "Caitlyn" and activists were preaching a new understanding of gender that rejected age-old wisdom and basic biology. By 2016, Barack Obama was foisting this ideology on broad swaths of American society, as his Justice Department threatened North Carolina for protecting the privacy of women in public restrooms.

Last week, Jennifer Bilek shed some much-needed light on the situation in a tour-de-force article published in First Things. As it turns out, the transgender movement did not come out of nowhere. In fact, this juggernaut has been bankrolled by the heir to a massive medical device fortune and helped along by veterans of notorious liberal billionaire George Soros's Open Society Foundations. Rich LGBT activists allied to turn a state blue and collaborated with the U.N. to foist transgenderism on countries across the world.

Bilek noted that people who identify as LGBT have long been the underdogs in a majority heterosexual culture. Yet the LGBT movement today "looks nothing like that band of persecuted outcasts… Its advocates stand at the top of media, academia, the professions, and, most important, Big Business and Big Philanthropy."

She drew attention to Jon Stryker, grandson of Homer Stryker, the orthopedic surgeon who founded the Stryker Corporation. That corporation sold $13.6 billion in surgical supplies and software in 2018. Jon, the heir to the fortune, is gay. He created the Arcus Foundation to serve the LGBT community. Between 2007 and 2010 alone, Arcus gave more than $58.4 million to pro-LGBT programs and causes. Stryker himself has given more than $30 million to Arcus in that three-year period, through his stock in Stryker Medical Corporation.

Jon's sister Ronda Stryker is married to William Johnston, chairman of the wealth management firm Greenleaf Trust, where Jon Stryker served as a founding board member. Ronda is also the vice-chair of Spelman College, which received a $2 million Arcus grant for a queer studies program. Johnston and his wife have given Spelman $30 million overall, the largest gift from living donors in its 137-year history. Ronda is also a trustee of Kalamazoo College, which received a $23 million Arcus social justice leadership grant in 2012, and a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/billionaires-and-big-pharma-are-bankrolling-the-transgender-industrial-complex/