https://nypost.com/2020/08/31/john-ratcliffe-says-hes-working-on-russia-collusion-probe/
John Ratcliffe says heās working on Russia ācollusionā probe
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe revealed he has been coordinating with US Attorney John Durham in his probe into the origins of the āRussian collusionā investigation and plans to declassify more documents soon.
Speaking to Fox Newsā āSunday Morning Futures,ā the DNI told host Maria Bartiromo that the two men were working together and that he would not āprejudiceā Durhamās investigatory work.
āI pledged to a bipartisan group of senators that I would look at all of the underlying intelligence surrounding the intelligence communityās assessment of Russiaās interference and this idea of Trump-Russia collusion.
āBut Iām not going to prejudice John Durhamās work in connection with that, so weāve had to coordinate with his office about the timing of that. But Iām optimistic that Iāll be declassifying additional documents soon,ā Ratcliffe told the Fox News host.
Ratcliffe went on to say that the two had been in contact for months due to the similarities in their respective investigations.
āWeāve actually, for several months, been coordinating with his team of folks to make sure that he has access to all of the intelligence community documents that he needs. Heās looking at the same, some of the same documents that I am, and so our work is running on parallel paths. Now, his is a criminal investigation, and heās not sharing his findings or the work that heās doing, but Iām coordinating with him to make sure that he has the intelligence documents that he needs to do his work,ā the former Texas congressman explained.
Their work together, Ratcliffe warned, is far from over.
āWhat I donāt want to do is declassify something that might prejudice his work, so weāre going to have to coordinate as we go forward the completion of his work with my ability to declassify documents, and so weāve communicated along those lines,ā he said.
Durham was tapped early last year by Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the probe into possible collusion between Russians interfering in the 2016 election and members of the Trump campaign.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that former CIA Director John Brennan had been interviewed for eight hours on āa wide rangeā of topics as a part of the probe.
Nick Shapiro, Brennanās former deputy chief of staff, said in a statement that the former CIA director was happy to take part in Durhamās probe.
Shapiro said Brennan was ānot a subject or a targetā of any criminal investigation and that he was only questioned as a āwitness to events that are under review.ā
āBrennan welcomed the opportunity to answer Mr. Durhamās questions related to a wide range of intelligence-related activities undertaken by CIA before the November 2016 presidential election as well as the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) published in early January 2017,ā Shapiro said.
The grilling came days after former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to falsifying emails that he later used to request a surveillance warrant on Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1300487388964237312
"I'll leave you with this: that's like the arsonists blaming the firefighter." ā @PressSec
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hawaii-businesswoman-pleads-guilty-facilitating-back-channel-lobbying-campaign-drop-1mdb
Hawaii Businesswoman Pleads Guilty to Facilitating Back-Channel Lobbying Campaign to Drop 1MDB Investigation and Remove a Foreign National to China
An American businesswoman with international ties pleaded guilty today for her role in facilitating an unregistered lobbying campaign of the Administration of the President of the United States and the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of foreign principals in exchange for millions of dollars.
Nickie Mali Lum Davis, 45, of Honolulu, Hawaii, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to one count of aiding and abetting violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
āIn exchange for millions of dollars, Nickie Davis and others covertly sought to do the bidding of a foreign government and a foreign principal by attempting to influence senior U.S. government officials regarding a pending Department of Justice investigation and the extradition of a foreign national,ā said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Departmentās Criminal Division. āThough Ms. Davisās efforts were unsuccessful, this case demonstrates how foreign governments seek to advance their agendas in the United States by hiding behind politically influential proxies. Such conduct poses a serious threat to our national security and undermines the integrity of our democracy. The failure to disclose these relationships harms both the American people and government officials by preventing them from accounting for and evaluating the true source of and motivation for foreign lobbying efforts.ā
āAs this prosecution makes clear, those who line their pockets by facilitating a foreign nationalās campaign to lobby our nationās leaders will not hide under a cloak of anonymity,ā said U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price of the District of Hawaii. āThrough our investigations and prosecutions, we will uncover your criminal conduct and hold you accountable.ā
āLum Davis, along with her coconspirators, attempted to influence the Department of Justiceās independence on behalf of a foreign country in exchange for millions of dollars. The OIG worked diligently with the FBI on this matter in order to protect the departmentās integrity,ā Keith A. Bonanno, Special Agent in Charge of the DOJ OIG Cyber Investigations Office.
According to admissions made in connection with her plea, Lum Davis admitted that, between March 2017 and January 2018, she and others ā including a prominent official of a national political party with ties to the administration ā agreed to lobby the President of the United States, the Attorney General, and other high level officials in the administration and the Justice Department to drop civil forfeiture proceedings and a criminal investigation into the embezzlement of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a strategic investment and development company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia.
For their efforts, Lum Davis and others were paid millions of dollars by Foreign National A, an alleged architect of the 1MDB scheme. Lum Davis and others also agreed to lobby the Administration and Justice Department on behalf of Foreign National A and Peopleās Republic of China (PRC) Minister A, to arrange for the removal and return of PRC National A ā a dissident of the PRC living in the United States. Lum Davis and others concealed from the officials whom they lobbied that they were working on behalf of Foreign National A and Foreign Minister A and were being paid millions of dollars by Foreign National A with the expectation of tens of millions more in success fees. The lobbying campaigns were ultimately unsuccessful.
Among other actions, Lum Davis and her confederates tried to arrange meetings for PRC Minister A with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and other high-level officials during the PRC Ministerās visit to the United States in May 2017; provided talking points to the Secretary of State referencing the 1MDB investigation in advance of a meeting between the Secretary of State and the Malaysian Prime Minister in August 2017; and pushed the White House Chief of Staff for a meeting and golf game between the President and the Malaysian Prime Minister to allow the Malaysian Prime Minister to raise resolution of the 1MDB investigation. Lum Davis was paid at least $3 million for her role in the scheme, which she has agreed to forfeit as part of her plea agreement. The national political party official was paid at least $9 million.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-national-charged-destroying-hard-drive-during-fbi-investigation-possible-transfer
Chinese National Charged with Destroying Hard Drive During FBI Investigation into the Possible Transfer of Sensitive Software to China
A Chinese national and researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles has been arrested on federal charges of destroying evidence to obstruct an FBI investigation after he was observed throwing a damaged hard drive into a dumpster outside his apartment, the Justice Department announced today.
Guan Lei, 29, of Alhambra, was arrested pursuant to a one-count criminal complaint unsealed this afternoon during his initial appearance in United States District Court.
The criminal complaint alleges that Guan, who was in the U.S. on a J-1 non-immigrant visa, threw a damaged hard drive into a trash dumpster near his residence on July 25. The FBI recovered the damaged hard drive after Guan was not allowed to board a flight to China and after Guan refused the FBIās request to examine his computer. The affidavit in support of the complaint notes that the internal hard drive āwas irreparably damaged and that all previous data associated with the hard drive appears to have been removed deliberately and by force.ā
According to the complaint, Guan is being investigated for possibly transferring sensitive U.S. software or technical data to Chinaās National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and falsely denying his association with the Chinese military ā the Peopleās Liberation Army ā in connection with his 2018 visa application and in interviews with federal law enforcement. Guan later admitted that he had participated in military training and wore military uniforms while at NUDT. One of Guanās NUDT faculty advisors in China was also a lieutenant general in the PLA who developed computers used by the PLA General Staff Department, the PLA General Armament Department, Air Force, military weather forecasts, and nuclear technology. NUDT is āsuspected of procuring U.S.-origin items to develop supercomputers with nuclear explosive applicationsā and has been placed on the Department of Commerceās Entity List for nuclear nonproliferation reasons, according to the affidavit.
In addition to destroying the hard drive, the complaint alleges that Guan concealed digital storage devices from investigators and falsely told federal officials that he had not had any contact with the Chinese consulate during his nearly two-year stay in the U.S.
During his initial appearance this afternoon, Guan was ordered detained by a United States Magistrate Judge, who scheduled an arraignment for Sept. 17, 2020 .
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The felony offense of destruction of evidence carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
This case is being investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The U.S. Department of Stateās Diplomatic Security Service has provided substantial assistance during the investigation.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/operation-legend-case-day
Operation Legend: Case of the Day
Kansas City: Two Kansas City Men Charged with Illegal Firearms, after Armed Robberies, Armed Standoff with Police Officers
Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend. Todayās case is out of the Western District of Missouri ā the district where the Department of Justice launched Operation Legend, in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro who was shot while he slept in his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded close to 1,500 federal, state, and local arrests.
Michael D. Moore, 30, and Jamahl D. Jones, 33, each were charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in a two-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. Both were arrested on Monday, Aug. 17, following a brief standoff and foot chase. Officers who had been surveilling Moore followed him into a parking lot in order to arrest him on an outstanding felony arrest warrant for robbery and armed criminal action. As officers drove into the parking lot with their red and blue lights flashing, Moore got out of the BMW SUV, took cover behind the vehicle, and drew a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun from his waistband. Moore pointed his firearm directly at police officers as he attempted to take a position of cover behind his vehicle. Moore fled as additional police cars entered the parking lot, throwing away his handgun. Moore then laid on the ground about 15 feet away from the firearm, and was taken into custody. Officers recovered the firearm, which was loaded with 16 live rounds in the 16-round high-capacity magazine and one live round in the chamber. Officers identified the firearm as having been reported stolen.
Jones, who was standing beside the vehicle as officers approached, was also detained. Officers found marijuana in Jonesās front shorts pocket. Inside the vehicle, officers found a Sadarius 9mm semi-automatic handgun, which contained a magazine and 16 live rounds of ammunition with a live round in the chamber. Officers also found a box that contained 18 live rounds of 9mm ammunition, a 9mm handgun magazine, and a small safe that contained a 9mm handgun magazine and approximately 123 grams of marijuana.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Moore was involved in two armed robberies that led to the issuance of the arrest warrant and surveillance.
The victim of an armed robbery on July 1, 2020, told police officers that Moore, his brother-in-law, is an organizer for the āHonk for Peaceā group that typically assembles at local intersections. Moore invited the victim to join one assembly. When the victim arrived with another person as a passenger in his vehicle, he contacted Moore, who directed him to drive across the street to meet him. After parking his vehicle, the victim told officers, two unknown men approached the passenger side door and Moore got into the rear passenger seat. Moore allegedly put a Taurus .40-caliber handgun against the left side of the victimās head and ordered him to āgive me everything.ā One of the other men leaned inside the window and began going into the passengerās pockets as Moore did the same. Moore removed $407 from the victimās pants pocket, the affidavit says, and grabbed a pink backpack that contained a .40-caliber handgun.
On July 21, 2020, Moore allegedly approached another victim who was putting oil in his car outside a gas station in Kansas City, Mo. Moore allegedly approached him with a gun and ordered him to āempty your pockets.ā Moore and another man stole approximately $140 and fled the scene.
Moore was later identified through surveillance photos at the gas station, the affidavit says.
On July 29, 2020, police officers stopped a BMW SUV that also was captured in the gas station surveillance photos. Jones, the only occupant of the vehicle, was arrested. Officers found a Masterpiece Arms 9mm pistol with a high-capacity extended magazine inside the vehicle, as well as 146 grams of marijuana packaged in multiple individual baggies in the driverās side floorboard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8679197/Madeleine-McCann-prime-suspect-Christian-Brueckner-linked-25-burglaries-Praia-da-Luz.html
Christian Brueckner linked to 25 burglaries in Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine McCann vanished
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has been linked to 25 burglaries in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where the youngster vanished, court papers have revealed.
Police hunting the intruder who raped an American OAP in Praia da Luz looked at an astonishing 25 burglaries in just eight months they suspected could also have been committed by the man unmasked years later as the German paedophile.
Most of the burglary victims were from the UK.
And court documents show up to three break-ins analysed by police trying to solve the horrific September 2005 rape Brueckner carried out took place in one 24 hour period on holiday homes occupied by British tourists.
Cash, cameras and mobile phones were the typical items taken in the raids, which often occurred when occupants were out but at times happened when holidaymakers were in other parts of the properties targeted.
The list of unsolved burglaries emerged as a man described as a former friend of Brueckner's confirmed the convicted sex offender had broken into hotel rooms and holiday flats on the Algarve.
The pal, identified only as Manfred S, told German broadcaster RTL Brueckner had bragged to him about the break-ins when they roamed the Algarve together as small-time crooks.
He also revealed he had discovered a video camera with footage of the sex offender raping his elderly victim at her Praia da Luz holiday home, along with a video of a younger woman tied to a wooden beam in another house.
Manfred S told RTL he took the footage to police because he was so disturbed at what he saw and the video eventually led to Brueckner's conviction for the rape.
The German drifter, who lived in a ramshackle cottage a 15-minute drive from the holiday apartment Madeleine McCann went missing from on May 3 2007, received a seven-year prison sentence late last year after being found guilty of the sex attack in his homeland.
Portuguese detectives compiled a list of 25 unsolved break-ins in Praia da Luz in the first eight months of the year of the September 2 2005 rape in a bid to catch the sex offender when he was still at large.
A police report included in the court files, detailing a review of the crimes, says: 'An analysis of the break-ins that have occurred since the start of 2005, right up to the date of the sex offence, has taken place.
'The possibility the sex offender could be related to the home burglaries is not something that can be excluded.
'However it has not been possible to obtain any evidence linking the crimes, given that the identity of the person or people behind the burglaries remains unknown.' The sequence of break-ins is also laid out in the files, showing the first Praia da Luz crime occurred on January 11 and the victims were a British model and her producer partner.
The intruder crept into the property while they were in their living room and took a Ā£3,600 laptop and a Samsung mobile as well as cash, credit cards, sunglasses and a British passport.
Two teenage students from Loughborough in Leicester, aged 18 and 16, were targeted just over two months later while they were out.
They came back home to find cash and credit cards had been stolen.
The court files show three Brit holidaymakers were the victims of almost identical break-ins on the evenings of August 6 and 7, less than a month before the American OAP was raped in the same holiday resort.
The burglaries occurred while the tourists were out for the night, with the intruder forcing entry at two of the properties before stealing valuables including cash, cameras, a watch and computer equipment.
There were no witnesses to the spate of crimes and no DNA profiles are believed to have been obtained by police at the time.
Brueckner was arrested for diesel theft in the Algarve town of Portimao in April 2006 and spent the following eight months behind bars, but was a free man when the 2005 burglaries analysed by police occurred and was living near the scenes of the 25 crimes.
He admitted to a judge he was a convicted sex offender when he was held for the diesel theft, but the key information was never passed on to police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
The German drifter was linked last month by Portuguese TV to a 2007 burglary in Gale, a 45-minute drive east of Praia da Luz, that led to a family's Ā£90,000 life savings being taken.
RTP investigative reporter Sandra Felgueiras claimed he had been working with a female accomplice who tipped him off so he could break into properties in the Algarve in copycat raids to the one investigators believe resulted in Madeleine's abduction.
Brueckner was declared the prime suspect in the Madeleine case in June.
He is currently in Germany's Kiel Prison for drugs offences and is due to start a seven-year sentence for the 2005 Praia da Luz rape.
>Sometimes you have to show them
https://downdetector.com/
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Watkins_(businessman)