Comey claims Senate Russia report "blows up" Barr's narrative about FBI probe

56 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Former FBI director James Comey argued on Sunday that the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on 2016 Russian interference "blows up" President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr's claims that the FBI's Russia investigation was unjustified and a "hoax."

Why it matters: The 966-page bipartisan report, which goes into more detail than the Mueller report, found that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort passed sensitive internal polling data and strategy to a Russian intelligence officer who may have been involved in the hacking of Democratic emails.

The big picture: Barr has tapped veteran prosecutor John Durham to conduct a sweeping investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia probe, which Trump and his allies have long claimed was a political hit job engineered by Comey and other Obama-era officials.

That investigation netted its first criminal charge last week from Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering an email used to obtain a surveillance warrant for former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Former CIA director John Brennan was interviewed by Durham on Friday and informed that he was neither a subject nor a target of the investigation, according to a spokesman. Comey said on Sunday that he has had "no contact" with Durham and "can't imagine" that he is a target of the probe.

What he's saying: "The Senate Intelligence Committee was looking at all information they could gather. Mueller was approaching it as a prosecutor, trying to see what evidence he could bring into court to prove something beyond a reasonable doubt," Comey said on CBS News' "Face the Nation.

"So the Senate Intelligence Committee could look much more broadly, and as you said, came to this conclusion that the head of Trump's campaign was funneling information to a Russian intelligence officer — someone he likely knew was a Russian intelligence officer."

"Let that sink in, and ask yourself: So there was nothing to investigate here, as Bill Barr said? It was a hoax? The Republicans have exploded that nonsense."

Between the lines: The Senate report was also critical of the FBI and its failures to alert the Democratic National Committee of the full threat of the Russian interference effort. Comey acknowledged that this is "fair criticism."

Asked why he never considered the scenario of Russian interference as FBI director, Comey responded: "I don't know why. It didn't occur to us that the Russians were doing something they had never done before, which is to weaponize and actually fire stolen material at our democratic process."

"Looking back in hindsight, it seems obvious. I don't know the answer as to why nobody in the intelligence community, none of the analysts, saw this coming."

https://www.axios.com/comey-senate-russia-fbi-barr-e302892d-8181-4f19-be8a-e4814f4f145d.html

White House says Trump open to amending Postal Service bill

Updated August 23, 2020 3:06 PM

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Sunday he hopes Senate Republicans amend a bill supporting the U.S. Postal Service “to get it to the president’s desk,” seemingly contradicting President Donald Trump’s calls Saturday to vote against the measure.

The bill, passed in a bipartisan vote Saturday by the House of Representatives, would send $25 billion to the Postal Service and reverse recent changes to the agency’s operations ahead of November’s election, when millions of people are expected to vote by mail.

Meadows, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said assertions that Trump would veto the bill were “not correct.” Meadows said during coronavirus relief negotiations, the administration had offered up to $10 billion for the Postal Service and to reform operations, including paying overtime for handling mail-in ballots.

Meadows criticized top Democrats for passing a piecemeal bill Saturday that did not address unemployment benefits, education, small business aid and other needed measures after they said they would support only a comprehensive package.

“Hopefully Republican senators will take the bill, amend it, take many of the things (where people are) hurting … and get it to the president’s desk,” Meadows said.

Meadows’ comments come after Trump urged the Senate to “vote NO to the Pelosi/Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now” in tweets following the House vote Saturday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called passing the bill an “emergency” as people rely on the Postal Service for their prescriptions and other needs. The bill was passed as Trump casts doubt on the integrity of voting by mail and as mail has been delayed following changes to the U.S. Postal Service under new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor.

https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/postal-service-trump-1.48508780

>>10394339

Okay, many thanks for this. So three cases (plus Comet if you want to count that) that are by "alleged" Q followers and otherwise there are no acts of violence or anything dangerous we've done.

I forgot about that mafia-boss killing. But it was really more of a MAGA thing, I think?

When Comello appeared in court in New Jersey for an extradition hearing that would send him back to New York, he suddenly displayed a hand covered in scribbled text. “United we stand,” he’d written, along with “MAGA forever” – a reference to President Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America great again.”

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/28/qanon-maga-and-the-killing-of-a-reputed-mob-boss/

>>10394440

After Comello was arrested, the government seized his computer, and Gottlieb indicated that he hadn’t seen the specific online material Comello had reviewed. But he did indicate that Comello participated in the QAnon world, either passively or actively, a fact he learned from speaking to Comello’s family and friends. They apparently indicated to Gottlieb that, in recent months, they’d noticed a change in Comello’s behavior that they attributed to his online activity and involvement with the unnamed sites.

>>10394339

(Was Sayoc a Q follower?)

One week ago, Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty to charges that he’d sent explosive devices to newsrooms and Democratic politicians across the country last fall.

An armed man who blocked traffic near the Hoover Dam last year cited QAnon slogans in letters he later wrote.

>>10394510

Yes, I think they are really stretching to find associations. So I don't know why he is lumped in with the others other than they only have maybe one Q association and they wanted to find others to flush out their reasoning.

'Hoax' book reveals extent of internal unease at Fox

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer 6 min ago

NEW YORK — Brian Stelter knows critics accuse Fox News of bending the truth in order to maintain its staunch support of and closeness to President Donald Trump. As CNN media reporter and host of “Reliable Sources,” he's often one of them.

He wasn't prepared to hear the extent of concerns about the network's direction by people who work there.

It was one of the reasons he wrote “Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth,” which will be released Tuesday. The book shot from No. 340 to No. 1 on Amazon's best-seller's list following Stelter's appearance with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC Friday.

Several people at Fox privately expressed worry to him about the growing power of prime-time opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham at the expense of Fox's news operation, he said.

“There is a real resistance inside Fox News,” Stelter told The Associated Press. “Nobody there would use that term. But there are many people there who are uncomfortable with Sean Hannity's lies and Tucker Carlson's xenophobia. It's just that they are powerless, or feel powerless, and the prime-time stars have all the power. There are Trump true believers at Fox, but there are many others who are concerned about the damage being done, and don't feel that they can speak out publicly.”

After being presented with details of the book and phone conversations Thursday and Saturday, a Fox News representative said the network was declining comment.

While Stelter relies on insider accounts for some juicy details — including that Hannity has privately expressed doubts about Trump despite being his biggest on-air fan — much of the disturbing content in “Hoax” didn't require any special access. He reported what has been said on the air and how it echoed or was echoed by Trump's Twitter feed.

Stelter is particularly scathing about the response to the coronavirus epidemic: how it was minimized by both Fox and the president, how the drug hydroxychloroquine was pushed even as studies showed it wasn't effective against the virus, and the early cheerleading for reopening society.

“It's readily apparent that Fox failed its viewers at key moments during the pandemic,” he wrote.

“This story is about a rot at the core of our politics,” he wrote. “It's about an ongoing attack on the very idea of a free and fair press. It's about the difference between news and propaganda. It's about the difference between state media and the fourth estate.”

Fox News is a money machine, and although outlets like One America News Network, NewsMax and Sinclair Broadcasting have tried, none have made a serious dent in Fox’s dominance with conservative viewers and Trump fans. New Fox CEO Suzanne Scott has been praised for her financial stewardship.

(too long, cont.)

https://www.newburyportnews.com/news/national_news/hoax-book-reveals-extent-of-internal-unease-at-fox/article_9d90c2a6-88f4-52f5-9861-a23bb556e86b.html

>>10394612

'Hoax' book reveals extent of internal unease at Fox (cont.)

Yet, Stelter's account gives a sense that, from an editorial standpoint, there's no one really in control — that Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham and the “Fox & Friends” morning team can essentially do what they want. The three prime-time hosts have personally advised Trump on policy, something that would be unthinkable at other news organizations.

Stelter was surprised at internal longing for Roger Ailes, the former chief executive who was fired for sexual misconduct in 2016 and died less than a year later. No one questioned that Ailes was in charge.

“When Ailes was forced out and when he died, the channel was still being produced for an audience of one — but now it’s Donald Trump,” he said.

Stelter said concern about the network's direction was a factor in the decisions of at least a dozen people who have left Fox News in the past four years, even if some haven't said so publicly.

Shepard Smith broke a contract to leave early weeks after a public tiff with Carlson. Megyn Kelly was stung by Bill O'Reilly's questioning of the “loyalty” of people like her who had made public accusations against Ailes; the loud booing she received from the audience at a Trump rally in 2016 made the consequences of questioning him clear.

Catherine Herridge, a respected Washington reporter who left for CBS, told colleagues that Fox management was “afraid of the news,” Stelter wrote. Political reporter Carl Cameron has been public about his discontent. The book discusses the exits of several others, including Jenna Lee, Abby Huntsman, Conor Powell, Clayton Morris and Ellison Barber.

Sean Graf, a researcher who started at Fox in 2016 and left earlier this year, told Stelter that “Fox's editorial voice, and disregard for the facts, is rejected by many of those within the organization.”

As a frequent critic of Fox and employee of rival CNN, Stelter is unpopular with many conservatives, said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative watchdog Media Research Center. They are likely to regard his book with suspicion, he said.

Graham also noted the reliance on accounts from people who are not named, saying, "I do not trust anonymous sources when the author is hostile to the subject.”

But Stelter said that there is such a fear within Fox about speaking to the press — a culture that dates to Ailes and is reinforced by non-disclosure agreements — that even some people who hadn't worked there for many years didn't want to be identified.

“I'm just as skeptical about anonymous sources as anybody else,” he said, “but there was no other way to tell a story inside Fox News.”

While he works for CNN now, Stelter said he's been covering Fox since starting a cable news blog as a college student through his years at The New York Times. He considers the book an extension of that reporting.

He brushes off potential attacks.

“Tucker Carlson has called me a eunuch and Sean Hannity has called me Humpty-Dumpty,” he said. “So I don't know what else they could possibly say about me.”

>>10394539

There's a ghost of it, though.

>>10394539

There Really Is A Covid Therapy That Works. It’s Called Leronlimab.

Thomas Landstreet Contributor, Posted On 08/23/2020

(Looks as though the same article is here.)

Leronlimab is a monoclonal antibody knocking on the door of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. President Trump has scheduled a press conference today to announce a “breakthrough” therapy. It has to be Leronlimab whose owner, CytoDyn (CYDY) just presented favorable data from a double blinded placebo controlled study. It is the only drug to have done so. The drug showed efficacy and safety in a difficult population to address: mild to moderate patients. So while Gilead’s (GILD) Remdesivir (the only other drug with an EUA for Covid), remains controversial, there’s an opening for something better and Leronlimab certainly is that.

Leronlimab has the coolest sounding function: it calms the cytokine storm. As you probably know, the Covid-19 virus is not as bad for you as your body’s immune response to it. It sets off a reaction that gets out of control, especially in the lungs. The virus invades the body infecting, injuring and killing cells. This causes infection. The injured cells scream “help” by releasing cytokines. Cytokines summon chemokines which rush to fight the infection but this causes more infection in a vicious cycle. In severe Covid disease, a “cytokine storm” takes place in the lungs causing acute respiratory distress syndrome. Leronlimab calms the cytokine storm and it does so in three days. It has proven to be a life saver. If approved, it will also save the economy.

Leronlimab is an injectable – a subcutaneous shot, like insulin – which means it can be administered in an outpatient setting, without a hospital stay. In the trial it stopped mild to moderate patients from getting worse, dramatically accelerating their time to recovery. Plus, there’s an adequate supply to meet current demand. Gilead’s Remdesivir has unsavory side effects, nebulous efficacy and requires an IV and a hospital admission. Its side effects alone are enough to prevent broad use.

CytoDyn is an underdog, rarely mentioned in the press, while the government behaves like a child in a scary movie throwing billions of dollars at politically connected pharmaceutical companies. A feeding frenzy has developed as “promising” vaccines and treatments vie for attention from the government and investors. In May, Moderna (MRNA) launched a press release announcing partial, unsubstantiated results from a trial sending the stock soaring and insiders selling. Gilead has eight paid consultants on the scientific advisory committee assembled to help the government form a Covid response.

Meanwhile, obscure, OTC-listed CytoDyn has a dramatic immediate future as it expects a FDA decision on the Emergency Use Authorization any day now. Trump has foreshadowed today’s presser describing a therapy just like Leronlimab (An HIV drug administered by shot with results within three days). The largest company on the fringe OTC market, CytoDyn, hopes to be able to “uplist” on the Nasdaq NDAQ within the next couple of weeks.

Let’s hope it happens. Leronlimab works and we need it now.

https://investorshangout.com/post/view?id=5870435

>>10394724

James K. Kallstrom (born May 6, 1943) is a former FBI Assistant Director. He led the investigation into the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800. He was a supervising agent in the New York investigation of the Cosa Nostra criminal network that resulted in the Mafia Commission Trial of 1985–1986.

Kallstrom worked for 27 years at the FBI and has been described as an expert in wiretapping. During his career at the FBI he was a leading advocate of expanding wiretapping power through the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

He is a former Marine captain and Vietnam veteran. He left the public sector for private sector employment in the financial industry beginning in 1998. After the 9/11 attacks, Kallstrom returned to the public sector to lead New York state's public safety office.

In the 2016 presidential election, Kallstrom supported Donald Trump and has referred to Hillary Clinton and the Clinton family as being criminal-like.

He called the Clinton Foundation a "cesspool". Kallstrom has established relationships with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to further his work to promote the Marine Corps – Law Enforcement Foundation (MC-LEF), a charitable organization of which he is the Chairman of the Board.

On Fox News, Kallstrom accused United States Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, of bias by behaving as if she were part of the Democratic National Committee. Wayne Barrett has written about what he sees as an alliance between Kallstrom, Rudy Giuliani, and pro-Trump supporters in the FBI.

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/James_Kallstrom

>>10394762

forgot pic

>>10394732

Yea, looking to cash in, no doubt. And this is not the therapy POTUS is going to announce today.

>>10394869

BV70 LLC

Lots of links to all this in this article:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-has-a-secret-charity-heres-who-it-gave-money-to