Democrats accuse VA secretary of campaigning for Trump, GOP on official time

In a letter sent Tuesday to Wilkie and VA oversight agencies, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee ranking member Jon Tester, D-Mont., charge that Wilkie “may have misused taxpayer funds and other government assets in an effort to benefit the re-election of President Trump and certain Republican candidates seeking office in 2020.”

Veterans Affairs officials dismissed the accusations as a political stunt.

“The lawmakers' partisan letter, which has no Republican support, calls into question who’s being partisan in this situation,” VA press secretary Christina Noel said in a statement. “Secretary Wilkie’s official travel is available online for everyone to see, and these trips to hear firsthand from our employees in the field are a fundamental responsibility of any VA secretary. The notion that these visits are somehow improper is absurd.”

The concerns come just days after the Office of Special Counsel announced that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated laws regarding improper politicking in office. During “official” travel to North Carolina, he advocated on behalf of Trump’s re-election campaign, which the agency said was a violation of the Hatch Act.

In their letter to VA — also sent to the department inspector general and Office of Special Counsel for potential investigation — the Democratic leaders said they have seen similar, troubling patterns in Wilkie’s recent trips.

They cite three recent official trips as a particular cause for concern: one in North Carolina in August, one in Maine in August and a trip to Montana in September. In all three cases, Wilkie appeared in campaign-style events with Republican incumbents.

“Our review of publicly available information, media reports, social media postings, and other data suggests that the travel, events, and other related official actions of VA senior leaders are steering the Department away from its apolitical mission and potentially using department resources in an attempt to tip the scale in favor of the president and other Republican candidates,” the pair wrote.

“Furthermore, efforts to engage in overtly political activity may have come at the expense of legitimate functions of the Department’s mission — to provide health care, benefits and memorial services to our nation’s veterans.”

Takano and Tester also charged VA leadership with blocking congressional Democrats from meetings with VA staff in recent months.

“For example, VA staff were scheduled to participate in an August 19, 2020 virtual townhall event organized by Chairman Takano’s congressional office regarding the Loma Linda, California facility. Shortly before the event, your staff communicated that VA would no longer attend,” the pair wrote.

“However, on that same day VA did participate in a different event involving a Republican Member of Congress in Louisiana physically visiting a VA facility. Inconsistent and politically driven blocking of Members of Congress conducting their oversight and legislative responsibilities is not acceptable or allowed under law.”

The pair has requested a full accounting of VA leadership travel in recent months, as well as information on employee training regarding the Hatch Act. They’ve also asked for information regarding planning of online benefits forums and other outreach events to ensure those are not being used for partisan advantage.

VA officials said all of the secretary’s travel is available online on the department’s web site. Since August, he has traveled to 12 states: North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut, Montana, Maryland, Colorado, Wyoming, California and Florida.

Trump administration officials have been repeatedly criticized in recent years for ignoring rules regarding the separation of official duties and time spent on political activities.

That includes Trump’s own decision to deliver his closing speech to the Republican National Convention from the White House lawn, a decision critics said violated several existing statutes about use of public land for political activities.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/10/13/democrats-accuse-va-secretary-of-campaigning-for-trump-gop-on-official-time/

Army Probe into Helicopters Buzzing DC Protesters Now Under Pentagon Review

The Secretary of the Army today said that the Defense Department is now reviewing the investigation into military helicopters that allegedly flew dangerously low over crowds during a June 1 race protest in Washington D.C.

The Army opened an investigation into reports including video footage of Army UH-60 Black Hawk and UH-72 Lakota helicopters with medical markings that flew low enough to kick up debris on demonstrators who were defying the District's 7 p.m. curfew.

"The Army has completed its portion of the … investigation," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters during a Monday roundtable at the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting.

The investigation is now with the DoD Inspector General's office for further review, McCarthy said.

"They review these in these cases," McCarthy said. "To my understanding it will be released when it is completed."

McCarthy added that the pending release of the investigation is at the "discretion" of the DoD IG.

The protests in D.C. turned violent late on Sunday May 29, resulting in protestors clashing with law enforcement and National Guard troops. Several monuments were damaged and about five soldiers were hit in the head by flying bricks and other debris, Army officials have said.

"The protest became very violent on Sunday evening, in particular, and it was necessary to bring the support to help local law enforcement and federal law enforcement officials due to the tremendous damage and police officers and Guardsmen being injured," McCarthy told reporters at the roundtable.

The Army's senior leadership authorized the Guard to use helicopters to "observe and report" on demonstrations, Army officials have said.

Army officials have been tight-lipped about the investigation, but Maj. Gen. William Walker, commander of the D.C. National Guard, told reporters in early June that "there was no order" given for helicopters to fly low "to disperse the crowd."

McCarthy stressed that the Army does not "police American streets," but responded to requests for support from federal, state and local law enforcement.

"In the instance of National Guardsmen being called up that are uniquely trained for these types of operations, if we are called, we will … support that to protect federal property and support law enforcement," McCarthy said.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/10/13/army-probe-helicopters-buzzing-dc-protesters-now-under-pentagon-review.html

>>11055636

needs a better sauce

>>11055618

>escapes

Wuhan level security

‘Free Syrian Army’ Supporters Claim 16 Militants Arrested For Refusing To Fight In Azerbaijan, Say Those Sent Being Used As Cannon Fodder

Free Syrian Army supporters have claimed that up to 16 of the armed group’s militants have been arrested by a Turkish-backed group in northern Syria for refusing to fight in Azerbaijan.

The claims were posted at the twitter account ‘@517design’, and state that theTurkish-backed Hamza Division in Afrin, located in the Aleppo countryside, has arrested 13 militants who refused to fight in Azerbaijan. According to the statements, up to 400 of the militants have refused to go.

Last week Al Masdar News posted a video which it claims is an imam in northern Syria trying to recruit fighters to go to Azerbaijan.

The commentary at ‘@517design’ adds that the mercenaries recruited from the battlefields in Syria are being used as cannon fodder by Azerbaijan in its war against Karabakh, to reduce the number of casualties suffered by the Azeri army.

Related commentary disputes the figures that have been provided by the ‘Syrian Observatory on Human Rights’, which has said that the total number of Syrian mercenaries deployed to Azerbaijan is around 1450, out of which 78 have been killed.

However, earlier it was claimed by @Elizrael that approximately 150 dead bodies have been transferred back to Syria.

Statement from Free Syrian Army supporters, condemning arrest of 16 (AlMayadeen says 13) Syrians, who refused to go to #Azerbaijan. They say number of those who refuses is 400.

They thought it's a vacation, but appeared to be a one way ticket.#ArmeniaAgainstTerrorism pic.twitter.com/BzWwLfVKtb

— ∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎ ∎∎∎∎∎∎ (@517design) October 13, 2020

A related development indicates the possibility that the ‘Syrian ratline’ of mercenaries for hire may already have been tapped to foment terror and instability in other parts of the Caucasus.

On Tuesday, Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, claimed that the terrorists who were killed in a special operation in Grozny had come to Chechnya from Syria.

“Lately these “devils” have been in hiding outside Russia and they are holed up in Syria and other countries. Now after receiving an order from their Western sponsors, they came back and decided to carry out a number of terror attacks,” Kadyrov wrote.

According to Kadyroz, the four militants had been on a wanted list for a long time. The four gunmen opened fire on law enforcement officers in Grozny and were quickly neutralized. Two law enforcement officers were also killed in the confrontation, and another was wounded. LINK

https://southfront.org/free-syrian-army-supporters-claim-16-militants-arrested-for-refusing-to-fight-in-azerbaijan-say-those-sent-being-used-as-cannon-fodder/

Jewish NSW Premier and corrupt MP Daryl Maguire and President Xi pictured together in 2014

https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-premier-gladys-berejiklian-icac-daryl-maguire-to-give-evidence-at-corruption-hearing/cc1d5fe3-709c-41ff-9322-24fd0016cedf

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian facing day of reckoning as Daryl Maguire fronts ICAC

A humbled Gladys Berejiklian says she's living a "personal nightmare", but it could be about to get a whole lot worse.

The NSW Premier's explosive evidence at the state's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that she had a "close personal relationship" with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire has put her political career on life support.

But today it is Mr Maguire's turn to give evidence at the hearing, which has been set up to probe whether the former member for Wagga Wagga used his political influence in business deals.

It will be the first time we have heard from Mr Maguire since the Premier's admission of their relationship, which was kept secret for five years.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-14/nsw-premier-gladys-berejiklian-daryl-maguire-icac-hearing/12762374

Never-Trump group is 2020’s top ‘dark money’ spender so far

President Donald Trump’s reelection effort faces an onslaught of attack ads from well-funded groups run by disaffected Republicans. And one of the most prominent of these Never-Trump groups isn’t disclosing its sources of funding.

Defending Democracy Together has spent $11.5 million on independent expenditures opposing Trump or backing Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit and thus not required to disclose its donors, it’s the top spending “dark money” group of the 2020 election cycle so far.

Through its project Republican Voters Against Trump, the nonprofit runs an onslaught of unconventional ads featuring Republicans who plan to vote against Trump in November. In addition to paying for TV ads and billboards in swing states, Defending Democracy Together has spent nearly $5.2 million on online ads aiming to spur Republicans to vote for Biden.

It also has a Republican Voters Against Trump super PAC that has spent $4.2 million to influence the presidential race. The PAC ads feature opinions from Republicans who say they regret voting for Trump in 2016. It also ran a Spanish-language ad comparing Trump to foreign dictators. That group is expected to reveal its donors before Election Day, but like other super PACs it could dodge true disclosure by reporting its allied nonprofit as its only donor.

One of the group’s most prominent ads puts the spotlight on Olivia Troye, who advised Vice President Mike Pence on homeland security, counterterrorism and the coronavirus pandemic. Troye left the Trump administration in August. One month later, she endorsed Biden for president and attacked Trump over his handling of the pandemic.

“If the president had taken this virus seriously, or if he had actually made an effort to tell how serious it was, he would have slowed the virus spread, he would have saved lives,” Troye said in the ad released last month.

Republican Voters Against Trump recruited several former Trump administration officials to publicly endorse Biden. Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, publicly rebuked Trump in a recent ad. Elizabeth Neumann, another former high-ranking DHS official, appeared in another ad in late August and said Trump “absolutely failed” to protect Americans from COVID-19.

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/never-trump-groups-darkmoney-1020/

The Iconic Moment ACB Demonstrated Her Brilliance Without Saying a Word

Judge Amy Coney Barrett repeatedly demonstrated her judicial brilliance during Tuesday’s hearing, but the most iconic moment of them all came during Texas Senator John Cornyn’s questioning.

“Most of us have multiple notebooks and notes and books and things like that in front of us,” observed Senator Cornyn. “Can you hold up what you’ve been referring to in answering our questions?”

With a grin, Judge Amy Coney Barrett held up the notebook that had been provided to her.

“Is there anything on it?” asked Senator Cornyn.

“The letterhead that says U.S. Senate,” replied Barrett.

Without any notes whatsoever, Judge Amy Coney Barrett has demonstrated she can handle the most aggressive onslaught of loaded questions with ease. Her ability to recall quotes, statutes, cases, and relevant laws is extraordinary, so much so that she’s been able to outsmart Democrat senators with troves of notes and diligent staffers trying to trap her in a corner.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/10/13/watch-the-iconic-moment-acb-demonstrated-her-brilliance-without-saying-a-word-n1044807

>>11055851

Israel attacks USS Liberty

During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypt’s Gaza Strip. The intelligence ship, well-marked as an American vessel and only lightly armed, was attacked first by Israeli aircraft that fired napalm and rockets at the ship. The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions. Eventually, the ship was able to make contact with the U.S. carrier Saratoga, and 12 fighter jets and four tanker planes were dispatched to defend the Liberty. When word of their deployment reached Washington, however, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them recalled to the carrier, and they never reached the Liberty. The reason for the recall remains unclear.

Back in the Mediterranean, the initial air raid against the Liberty was over. Nine of the 294 crew members were dead and 60 were wounded. Suddenly, the ship was attacked by Israeli torpedo boats, which launched torpedoes and fired artillery at the ship. Under the command of its wounded captain, William L. McGonagle, the Liberty managed to avert four torpedoes, but one struck the ship at the waterline. Heavily damaged, the ship launched three lifeboats, but these were also attacked–a violation of international law. Failing to sink the Liberty, which displaced 10,000 tons, the Israelis finally desisted. In all, 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded in the two-hour attack. In the attack’s aftermath, the Liberty managed to limp to a safe port.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/israel-attacks-uss-liberty

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/06/fifty-years-later-nsa-keeps-details-of-israels-uss-liberty-attack-secret/

>>11055537

you did good yesterday go for it, hijack it if comms engage Anon's know!

AMERICA WANTS TO SEE ALL THE RUSSIA PROBE BOMBSHELLS BEFORE THE ELECTION! RETWEET IF YOU AGREE! RELEASE!

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https://twitter.com/realTrumpForce/status/1315771838157463553

>>11056222

the money was for nuke program