Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:07 a.m. No.10666012   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6017

https://outline.com/ELAWht

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mueller-team-had-lisa-pages-phone-it-claimed-was-lost-email-shows_3501024.html

Mueller Team Had Lisa Page’s Phone It Claimed Was Lost, Email Shows

An official who worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation wrote in a recently released email that he or she was in possession of an iPhone belonging to Lisa Page three days after the former FBI lawyer’s last day on the job and at a time when the device was thought to have been lost.

The special counsel’s office (SCO) and the Justice Department previously claimed to have no documents to show who handled Page’s iPhone after she turned it in on July 14, 2017, or who improperly wiped it two weeks later, before it could be checked for records, in violation of SCO policy.

But documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 11 tell a different story, with three officials certifying that Page turned over her phone and one claiming to have been in possession of it.

“I have her phone and laptop,” an administrative officer with the initials LFW wrote in a July 17, 2017, email to Christopher Greer, an assistant director at the DOJ Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

Beth McGarry, the executive officer at the special counsel’s office, told Greer in an email sent earlier in the day that Page “returned her mobile phone and laptop.”

On the same day, a property custodian officer, whose name is redacted in the documents, signed a form on which Page certified that she turned in her phone and the officer certified that “all government property has been returned or otherwise properly accounted for.”

The July 17 timing of the two statements and the signature is significant. The DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) previously concluded that there were no records of who had the phone after July 14.

The records about Page’s phone are part of a DOJ disclosure that revealed that members of the Mueller team improperly wiped at least 22 iPhones before they could be checked for records.

“These irregularities with the phones of Mueller investigators are either sloppiness or the deliberate destruction of evidence—and it’s probably not sloppiness,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, told The Epoch Times in an email.

On July 14, Page’s last day at the SCO, McGarry met Page to fill out her exit clearance form. Page checked a box on the form to certify that she “surrendered all government-owned property, including … cellular telephones.” McGarry signed the same form but later told the OIG that “that she did not physically receive Page’s issued iPhone.”

Page told the inspector general that she “had left her assigned cell phone and laptop on a bookshelf at the office on her final day there.”

McGarry left the special counsel’s office for the private sector in March 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“The DOJ OIG investigated the circumstances of the mobile phone issued to Lisa Page by the Special Counsel’s Office,” McGarry told The Epoch Times in an email, referring to the December 2018 OIG report. She didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up query about how to reconcile differences between the findings of the report and the new documents.

The OIG, which interviewed the records officer, McGarry, Page, and LFW for the report, told The Epoch Times that the new documents aren’t at odds with its findings.

“We stand by the information in our text message report about Page turning in the device on July 14,” Stephanie Logan, a senior public affairs specialist at the OIG, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

The report concluded that neither Mueller’s office nor the DOJ “had records reflecting who handled the device or who reset it after Page turned in her iPhone on July 14, 2017.”

Page’s phone notably never made it into the hands of the special counsel’s records officer, who told the OIG that she never received the phone to examine it for any government records that would need to be retained.

“Phone not found,” the records officer noted in a log she kept about the records on the phones assigned to the special counsel’s office staff.

The DOJ found the device more than a year later and turned it over to the OIG, which determined that all of the data was deleted from the device on July 31, 2017.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:09 a.m. No.10666017   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6018 >>6033 >>6093

>>10666012

Wiped iPhones

The records officer’s log shows that Page’s iPhone wasn’t the only device to elude an examination for government records. A total of at least 22 iPhones with unique asset tags used by the Mueller team were wiped before the records officer could review the contents, according to an Epoch Times review of four inventory logs and various forms released on Sept. 11.

The Mueller team offered a number of excuses for the deletions. Two people claimed the phones wiped themselves. Others said they erased all the data by accident or had to do so because they forgot their passwords. Andrew Weissmann, a prosecutor, wiped his iPhone twice.

Mueller’s team used a total of 92 iPhones, according to the documents. Four of the phones appear in the inventory logs, but not on the records officer’s log, suggesting they were either recorded without their unique asset tag or evaded the officer entirely. One of the four phones belonged to deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley. Another belonged to Zainab Ahmad, a special counsel attorney.

One phone was partially wiped. Four phones were improperly handed over to the OCIO and wiped before the records officer’s review. As many as seven phones with no asset tags noted by the records officer were either reassigned or wiped before the officer could assess the device for records.

The pattern of questionable deletions has drawn the attention of lawmakers. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the chairmen of the finance and oversight committees, respectively, sent a letter to the DOJ and the FBI last week asking for more information about what happened with the phones.

“It appears that Special Counsel Mueller’s team may have deleted federal records that could be key to better understanding their decision-making process as they pursued their investigation and wrote their report,” Grassley wrote. “Indeed, many officials apparently deleted the records after the DOJ Inspector General began his inquiry into how the Department mishandled Crossfire Hurricane.”

Crossfire Hurricane is the FBI codename for the investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign; Mueller took over the probe in May 2017.

Five months after Page left the special counsel’s office, the DOJ authorized a leak of 375 text messages between Page and Strzok, triggering a media firestorm over what the pair discussed. The initial and the subsequent releases of the texts showed that they expressed hatred for Trump and had a clear preference for his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Strzok told Page that “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming president, discussed an “insurance policy” in case Trump won the election, and mused about impeachment around the time he joined the Mueller team.

Page’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:09 a.m. No.10666018   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6093 >>6535

>>10666017

The OIG discovered the biased Page-Strzok texts during an inquiry into the handling of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign. After the inspector general informed Mueller of the texts in late July, Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told lawmakers that he learned of the text messages on July 27 and made the decision to remove Strzok the same day. Someone wiped Page’s phone four days later.

Strzok and Page played key roles in the FBI’s investigations of both the Trump campaign and Clinton’s use of an unauthorized email server. The OIG concluded that their bias cast a cloud over the email probe but didn’t ultimately influence the outcome of the investigation.

The OIG began looking for the phones belonging to Page and Strzok after being informed of a six-month gap in the text messages it had recovered. The inspector general received the pair’s four FBI Samsung phones in late January 2018.

On Jan. 26, 2018, Greer reached out to LFW to ask where Page’s SCO iPhone was, because the OIG wanted to speak to the official about the device.

“Yes. I know it is missing. We discovered that first,” LFW wrote back.

The DOJ tracked down the phone eight months later, in early September 2018 and handed it over to the OIG. The records officer later contacted the inspector general to find out if the phone was wiped.

“Yes that’s correct, the device had been reset to factory settings,” the OIG official wrote back.

Three months later, in December 2018, the OIG released the report on its hunt to recover additional text messages Page and Strzok sent on six phones they used, four of which were assigned by the FBI. The effort resulted in the discovery of hundreds of text messages, but none came from the special counsel’s office phones, both of which were wiped before investigators recovered them.

The following January, DOJ officials reached out to Verizon with a request for billing statements to check how many messages Page and Strzok sent on their special counsel’s office phones. Verizon responded by saying no text messages were sent, with a caveat that data did leave the device. Verizon’s report didn’t cover the most common way to send a message on an iPhone—the iMessage app—which uses an internet connection rather than the carrier’s text service.

“Both numbers did have data usage so it could mean that if any messages were sent, it could have been through some type of app but we would not know for sure from our end,” a message from Verizon stated.

Mueller concluded his 22-month investigation having found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:18 a.m. No.10666044   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>10666042

>www.marketplace.org/2020/09/16/law-allows-some-california-inmates-firefighters-records-expunged

https://a47.asmdc.org/press-releases/20200911-governor-signs-reyes-bill-provide-employment-opportunities-inmate

 

Governor Signs Reyes’ Bill to Provide Employment Opportunities to Inmate Firefighters

 

Friday, September 11, 2020

 

Sacramento – AB 2147, legislation by Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino) which provides an expedited expungement process for formerly incarcerated individuals who have successfully participated with fire suppression activities has been signed by Governor Newsom making California the first state in the nation to provide this type of relief to the formerly incarcerated that served as inmate firefighters.

 

“Signing AB 2147 into law is about giving second chances. To correct is to right a wrong; to rehabilitate is to restore.” Assemblymember Reyes continued, “Rehabilitation without strategies to ensure the formerly incarcerated have a career, is a pathway to recidivism. We must get serious about providing pathways for those who show the determination and commitment to turn their lives around.”

 

Under existing law, once released from custody a formerly incarcerated individual must finish the terms of their parole before applying for expungement of their criminal record. Even once those records are expunged, the person must disclose their criminal history on applications for state licenses. With nearly 200 occupations that require licensing from one of 42 California government departments and agencies these formerly incarcerated individuals are almost entirely denied access to these jobs. An estimated 2.5 million California workers (nearly 20% of the state’s workforce) need a professional license to work. Under, AB 2147 a person who participates as part of a state or county fire camp would be eligible to apply for expungement upon release from custody, and if the expungement is approved could seek various career pathways including those that require a state license.

 

Several studies have concluded that occupational licensing restrictions have a direct correlation on recidivism rates. For example, The Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University found that states with the most occupational licensing restrictions saw an increase in the three year recidivism rate of over 9%, while states without the same restrictions saw an average decline in recidivism of 2.5%, and concluded, “a low occupational licensing burden had a significant impact on a state’s ability to lower its new crime recidivism rate. In terms of impact, the occupational licensing burden was second only to the overall labor market conditions in significantly influencing movements in the recidivism rate.”[1]

 

In an average year, the Conservation Camp Program provides approximately three million person-hours responding to fires and other emergencies and seven million person-hours in community service projects, saving California taxpayers approximately $100 million annually.

 

Several counties across the state, including Los Angeles and San Bernardino operate fire training academies for those incarcerated in a county jail utilizing several hundred jail incarcerated individuals to fight fires. This bill includes those that have served in county fire camps.

 

Despite their low-level risk status, dedication and willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, many who participate in these programs struggle to find permanent and stable employment once released. This is in part due to significant barriers in place for individuals with a prior conviction to seek employment or even the education necessary to start a career.

 

AB 2147 becomes state law on January 1, 2021.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:28 a.m. No.10666081   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6082 >>6245 >>6517 >>6658 >>6720

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8688241/Hospital-wrongly-claims-death-elderly-woman-COVID-19.html

Hospital wrongly claims woman who repeatedly tested negative DIED of the virus

A Melbourne hospital has been caught out writing off a patient's death by COVID-19 despite the woman never contracting the deadly virus.

The elderly woman - whom Daily Mail Australia has been asked not to name - died in Bellbird Private Hospital east of Melbourne in Blackburn South last month after being removed from St Basil’s Home for the Aged.

The woman's death certificate falsely recorded she died of COVID-19, and it was only fixed after complaint from her family.

Her daughter said the word COVID was eventually scribbled out by a Bellbird doctor and changed to what actually killed her.

'The doctor said "oops sorry, I just assumed it was COVID",' the woman said.

As coronavirus cases within Victoria's aged care sector continue to soar, there are fears the 'error' may not be an isolated incident.

The aged care facility had become a hot bed for the virus in July when a serious COVID-19 outbreak was ­declared at the Fawkner centre.

It was taken over by federal health authorities on July 22, with residents moved to Bellbird Private days later.

The hospital had been converted into a coronavirus treatment hospital as Victoria's elderly succumbed to the state's tragic second wave.

On Wednesday, Victoria recorded 1177 active cases of COVID-19 with 97 active outbreaks and six dead, bringing the tally to 570.

More than 200 cases of COVID have been linked to St Basil’s since the second deadly wave kicked off.

The daughter of one St Basil's resident told Daily Mail Australia she only realised her mother had been listed as a COVID death when she went to organise her funeral.

Under current regulations stipulated by Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, victims of COVID must be buried in a body bag within their casket and cannot be viewed at the funeral home.

The woman, who did not approach Daily Mail Australia, said she had not revealed the incident earlier out of fear of reprisals on her children.

'I just got scared,' she said. 'But yes, mum's death certificate does say COVID and it doesn't say COVID now because I put up a stink.'

Already dealing with allegations of abuse against her sick mum at the hands of St Basil's, the woman said the dodgy death certificate added insult to injury.

'As soon as I saw it I called the hospital and I said "what's going on? Mum never tested positive to COVID, why have you put COVID?",' she said.

The woman explained to the doctor that her mother could not be buried clothed and would be required to be bagged.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 4:28 a.m. No.10666082   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>10666081

'I couldn't handle that. Because I knew mum didn't die of COVID and so I wasn't going to accept it,' she said. So I questioned it and it was changed and an amendment has been put through.'

The State Coroner now has two death certificates for the dead woman - one stating COVID and the other stating something else.

The woman had received the death certificate a day after her mother died within Bellbird, where she had been isolated from real COVID positive patients.

'I got it through the funeral director,' she said.

Upon learning of the issue, the Bellbird Private doctor who signed-off on the death certificate claimed it was a mistake.

On July 26, every patient entering Bellbird Private was assumed to be COVID positive, it was claimed.

'Mum was put there, but mum never tested positive to COVID. They saw her they assessed her, she was close to her use-by-date, stuff it we'll just put her there,' the woman said.

'She's going anyway, why not? So because she was at Bellbird they've thought, it's a COVID positive hospital and that's the reason for her death.'

While conspiracy theorists have long argued COVID death rates are deliberately being fudged, a spokesman for Bellbird Private said it was a one-off mistake.

'Bellbird Private Hospital has cared for a number of St Basil’s residents who were evacuated from the aged care centre after a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.

'While most of these residents were COVID-positive, a small number were negative. One resident who sadly passed away at Bellbird was COVID-negative, however, an administrative error saw COVID-19 listed as the cause of death on the patient’s death certificate,' he said.

'After being raised by the patient’s family, a corrected death certificate was issued to the family. The hospital has apologised to the family for any distress this error may have caused.'

It is understood hospital staff were advised by DHHS officials that while most of those being transported to Bellbird Private had COVID, those that did not would likely be COVID positive before they died due to exposure within St Basil's.

The admission by Bellbird is unlikely to deter Saturday’s 'freedom day' event where organisers are encouraging 500,000 people to march at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance in protest against Victoria’s lockdown laws.

Last week, Victoria Police Region Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius urged people to not attend and blasted those who planned to, calling them 'boofheads' and 'the tinfoil hat wearing brigade'.

A DHHS spokesperson dismissed rumours hospitals are being paid by the government anywhere up to $25,000 per COVID death for expenses such as cleaning.

'The department is not aware of any program that provides funding of this nature,' she said.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 5 a.m. No.10666207   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6209

>>10666198

<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/lauren-witzke-qanon-conspiracy-theory-primary-gop-delaware-biden-b451577.html

Second QAnon supporter wins Republican Senate primary

QAnon conspiracy supporter Lauren Witzke has become the second to win a Republican Senate primary this year, after an election win in Delaware.

The Republican candidate defeated her opponent, James DeMartino, who was officially endorsed by the party in Tuesday’s primary race.

Mr DeMartino had made two previously unsuccessful bids for the seat held by a Democratic candidate, in what is Joe Biden’s home state.

Ms Witzke, who was pictured wearing QAnon t-shirts and tweeting with the QAnon hashtag, has tried to distance herself from the far-right conspiracy theory, saying it was “hype”.

QAnon supporters are said to believe in the existence of "deep state" enemies of Donald Trump, some of whom have engaged in paedophilia, with information leaked by an inside figure called “Q”.

Ms Witzke, whose “America First” agenda calls for a ban on immigration to the United States for 10 years, told The Associated Press (AP) in January that she stopped promoting QAnon months earlier, saying it was "more hype than substance".

That did not stop voters in Tuesday’s primary race from referencing Ms Witzke’s support for QAnon, with an 18-year-old, Maggie Kosior, telling AP that "She is a supporter of them and so am I".

Ms Witzke is among several controversial candidates with ties to far-right conspiracy thinking, including businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won a Republican primary in Georgia despite her support for QAnon.

Still, the Delaware Republican will likely face an uphill battle to defeat her Democratic opponent, Senator Chris Coons, who won his party’s primary.

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 5:02 a.m. No.10666209   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>10666207

>QAnon supporters are said to believe in the existence of "deep state" enemies of Donald Trump, some of whom have engaged in paedophilia, with information leaked by an inside figure called “Q”.

<Ms Witzke is among several controversial candidates with ties to far-right conspiracy thinking

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 5:06 a.m. No.10666229   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6245 >>6517 >>6658 >>6720

>>10666216

<https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-lt-governor-john-fetterman-wants-bail-lowered-for-accused-rioters-in-lancaster/34038317

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor wants bail lowered for accused rioters in Lancaster

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman wants the bail of alleged rioters who were arrested in Lancaster to be lowered.

Thirteen people have been charged with rioting in the days following the shooting of Ricardo Munoz, a 27-year-old Lancaster man who could be seen on body cam video, running at an officer with a knife before he was fatally shot. You can watch raw video of the body cam video here.

https://www.wgal.com/article/raw-video-lancaster-pennsylvania-police-shooting/34014918

Nine of the 13 had their bail amounts set at $1 million. Fetterman has called one of those cases “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Lancaster police initially arrested the people who were at the protest early Monday morning and charged them with arson, rioting and refusing to leave.

After more investigation, police then arrested five more people on Tuesday, including a 16-year-old boy. Those arrests were also connected to the riot that happened Sunday night into Monday morning.

Some local activists are also upset at the bail amounts. Lancaster Stands Up is a local group working to get those arrested legal help.

“Our elected officials are acting in lockstep to really prevent the kinds of reforms that I know our community is so hungry for,” said Jules Berkman-Hill, of Lancaster Stands Up.

Lancaster Police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser said the request for high bail is based on the severity of the crimes, among other things. WGAL also spoke to Berkihiser about the shooting itself. That story is here. https://www.wgal.com/article/lancaster-police-chief-says-officer-was-justified-in-using-deadly-force-against-man-with-knife/34032852

Anonymous ID: a8cb88 Sept. 16, 2020, 5:29 a.m. No.10666310   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6333 >>6408

https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/biden-hits-trump-administration-in-leaked-call-with-poroshenko/

Joe Biden’s 2016 call with ex-Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko is leaked

A phone call between Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was leaked Tuesday showing the two former leaders discussing what he could and couldn’t tell the incoming Trump administration, with Biden telling the foreign leader that he wants to stay “deeply engaged” in their diplomatic work as a private citizen.

The call, revealed by Ukrainian politician Andriy Derkach, took place on Nov. 16, 2016, just a week after then-candidate Trump won the presidential election.

During the exchange, the outgoing vice president and the then-president of Ukraine discussed the topic of visas, “something we have tried to sell to the Ukrainian people,” Poroshenko said.

“Hey, Petro. It’s Joe. How are you?” the conversation between the two began.

“Very well indeed, as usual, when I hear your voice, my dear friend,” Poroshenko responded.

The call then went dark and picked back up with Poroshenko saying, “And if President [Obama] can also support us, not only with the means, but with visa-free, that is something we have tried to sell to the Ukrainian people. And still hoping that you can come, maybe on the 21st of November, on our anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity and that would be very big delivery.”

The vice president then told Poroshenko that he was not able to visit on the date in question before warning that a future visit on a later date was dependent on how he responded to the incoming Trump administration.

“With regard to my coming on the 21st, as I told you I can never come … the 21st. I am going to try to come immediately after, in early December. But here’s where I am now, part of my answer to that depends on what was your conversation with our president-elect?” he asked the Ukrainian president.

“One of the things I’ve been doing is spending– they are not making the– I’m not being critical, but they, the new administration, the incoming administration has been very, very slow on getting ready for transition. Quite frankly, like most of America, they didn’t think they were going to win the election, so they did not have a fulsome transition team. As a matter of fact, they changed their transition team. Transition is a very, very delicate and precise dance, it goes on from administration to administration over the last 100 years and it requires the exchange of classified information and the like,” Biden continued, knocking his incoming successors for their handling of the transition.

“And the people they put forward to be part of the transition have to be cleared to do that, just as we had to be cleared after the Bush administration, etc. They have not done that, they’re trying to catch up and do it now since they fired the guy who headed up the transition just last week. The reason I bother to tell you that is I have been somewhat limited on what I am able to tell their team about Ukraine,” he admitted.

“The truth of the matter is that the incoming administration doesn’t know a great deal about the situation. So I am meeting with the vice president-elect, who is the only one who has any foreign policy experience,” he added, speaking of Vice President Mike Pence.

He continued, “I don’t plan on going away, I mean as a private citizen I plan on staying deeply engaged in the endeavor that you have begun and that we have begun. … At least that’s my objective. That’s my objective.”

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment by the Post.