The Intercept Fires Co-Founder Who Publicly Discussed Reality Winner 'F*ck-Up'

Laura Poitras, co-founder of The Intercept, was fired from the publication two weeks ago in what she says was retribution for publicly discussing the outlet's mishandling of a leak by former NSA intelligence officer, Reality Winner.

The firing, outlined in a Thursday open letter, came after Poitras shared her frustrations with the New York Times regarding The Intercept's mishandling of the Winner matter, telling them that First Look (The Intercept's parent company) engaged in "a cover-up and betrayal of core values," and that the lack of accountability over what happened "promoted a culture of impunity and puts future sources at risk."

Winner, 28, mailed top secret classified intelligence to The Intercept on May 9, 2017. Three weeks later, the outlet contacted a 'government agency' to let them know about the documents, and gave the FBI / NSA information which was then used to easily identify her.

A Trump-hating radical who wanted to "burn Donald Trump down to the ground," Winner had dreams of traveling Afghanistan where she would pledge allegiance to the Taliban. The intelligence she leaked suggested that Russia hacked the 2016 US election by accessing voter registration rolls in the US using a phishing operation. The Intercept then published a report on June 5th, 2017 'confirming' that Russia hacked the election, and hours later, the FBI arrested Winner.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/intercept-fires-co-founder-who-publicly-discussed-reality-winner-fck

China back to playing 'its childish games' with Australia

Sky News host Chris Smith says China is back to playing “its childish games,” amid reports Beijing has instructed the owners of more than $1 billion worth of Australian coal to find new buyers.

Mr Smith said 73 ships containing 8 million tonnes of Australian coal, which have been floating off China’s coast since June, have been “basically been told to bugger off”.

It comes after China accused Australia of weaponising national security after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg blocked a major takeover deal.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation withdrew its $300 million bid for South-African owned, Australian-based construction company Probuild, after the government indicated it would be turned down on national security grounds.

The Treasurer's decision was believed to have been based on the company's links to China's military.

Beijing says the move was a "political decision" and "detrimental to mutual trust".

Mr Smith said China were being "incredibly childish".

"It's also tit for tat. China is currently enduring a freezing winter and these arrogant dictators would rather see tens-of-millions of their people left shivering than take our coal,” Mr Smith said.

“Beijing has targeted our coal, our wine, barley, beef, lobster, copper, sugar, and timber”.

“And guess what else they're bagging … our delicious, award-winning cherries”.

"They've been called inferior in taste and quality … by The Global Times".

Mr Smith said the Chinese government is hiding behind its "mouthpiece" newspaper.

“They want to be treated like the rising superpower, of the globe, yet they don't even have the decency or maturity to pick up the telephone and have a conversation with our government like real adults”.

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6222763989001

Report: Afghanistan Lets Go 10 Chinese Caught Building Fake Uyghur Terror Cell

The human rights magazine Bitter Winter reported on Wednesday that the government of Afghanistan deported ten Chinese nationals last week initially accused of engaging in terrorist activity, but later believed to be attempting to create a fake Uyghur terrorist cell to defame the ethnic group.

Reports of the arrests in Kabul first surfaced in India’s Hindustan Times and named the alleged leader of the group as Li Yangyang, a Han Chinese name. The Hindustan Times was the first to report, last week, that Kabul had reached a deal with China to return the Chinese citizens implicated to their home country without creating a public scandal.

“Last week, a chartered plane left Kabul airport to an unknown destination in China. Aboard were ten Chinese nationals, who had been arrested in Afghanistan on December 10,” Bitter Winter noted on Wednesday, “some in the house of one Li Yangyang, believed to be a high-profile intelligence agent, where weapons, ammunitions, and drugs had also been found.”

Afghan authorities had collected evidence linking the group of ten to the Haqqani Network, a deadly jihadist organization with ties to the Taliban. Subsequent evidence seemed to indicate, however, that the group in question was not looking to engage in legitimate jihadist activity but, rather, create a fraudulent jihadist organization presumably manned by ethnic Uyghur people, according to the initial report from the Hindustan Times.

The Indian newspaper stated that China attempted to pressure the Afghan government to “hush up the case.” Given the little information from officials in either Afghanistan or China, if the story is true, Beijing may have succeeded. Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh publicly denied that any arrests of Chinese citizens had occurred at all.

“No foreign citizen has been arrested in an effort operation in the Khairkhaneh area. The arrested are the palmadis that are under the scope,” Saleh said in December in a Facebook post. “A number of them have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in kidnapping and assassination.”

By the new year, however, the head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) admitted that Chinese individuals had been arrested in the country.

“Regarding the Chinese network, I can confirm for you that, yes, they have been arrested; however, I can’t go into the details because of the sensitive nature of the case,” Ahmad Zia Saraj affirmed last week, according to Afghanistan’s Tolo news agency.

The Bitter Winter details largely regurgitate a Hindustan Times report from last week that claims the Chinese citizens arrested have returned home. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Indian newspaper claimed that Afghanistan had demanded a formal apology not to file charges against those arrested. No evidence exists that China provided an apology, but “diplomats and security officials in Kabul … confirmed to Hindustan Times that the 10 had been allowed to board a chartered aircraft that flew them out of the country on Saturday,” January 2, the newspaper claimed. The report asserted that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had personally approved the release.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2021/01/14/report-afghanistan-lets-go-10-chinese-caught-building-fake-uyghur-terror-cell/

Biden’s Labor Secretary Pick Linked to Union Extortion Allegations

President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to helm the department of labor has been linked to allegations of union extortion over the past decade.

Earlier this month, Biden announced that he had chosen Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as secretary of labor. Walsh, a former president of his city’s building and construction trades council, was considered a favorite of top labor leaders like AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka for the role. The mayor’s personal ties to Biden, who spoke at his 2017 city inaugural, also likely helped him clinch the post.

“He’s a friend and knows Joe: They’ve worked together on numerous occasions,” Trumka told Politico last year. “They have the relationship I think is necessary.”

Despite his ties to both Biden and labor leaders, Walsh’s links to allegations of strong arm union tactics and extortion could upend his nomination.

In August 2019, two high profile members of the mayor’s administration were convicted for allegedly violating federal law. Timothy Sullivan, Walsh’s former director of intergovernmental affairs, and Kenneth Brissette, the onetime head of Boston’s office of tourism, sports, and entertainment, were accused of conspiracy and extortion relating to a planned 2014 music festival.

According to court documents, Sullivan and Brissette allegedly extorted a music festival production company between June and September 2014. At the time, the firm was awaiting the issuance of city permits required to host its event. The company was also seeking an agreement from Walsh’s administration to to use the city-owned property for other events in the coming years.

Throughout the process, the company claims, Brissette and Sullivan repeatedly urged the hiring of union labor to work the event, most notably individual associated with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 11. The union, which has longstanding ties to Boston Democrats, had previously attempted to obtain a contract with the production company, but had been turned down in favor of another, non-union vendor.

When the company refused to hire members of Local 11, it claims that Brissette and Sullivan orchestrated the delay of the city permits required to host its event. Three days before the festival was supposed to begin, Brissette and Sullivan again demanded that at least half of the production company’s event staff be union members. The company relented, hiring nine staffers from Local 11 to work the event. The decision, it claims, resulted from mounting financial pressure associated with the event and also fears that Brissette and Sullivan would prevent the firm from hosting future events on city property.

After reports of the alleged extortion became well known, the Trump-era Department of Justice pursued charges against both Brissette and Sullivan, resulting in their conviction by a federal court in 2019.

“Private companies that want to do business in Boston have the right to hire anyone they want – union or not – without fear of being threatened with economic disaster by government officials,” Andrew Lelling, the United States attorney for the district of Massachusetts, said upon the convictions.

In February 2020, the convictions were overturned by an Obama-appointed federal judge, who claimed that “neither Brissette nor Sullivan” personally benefited from the alleged extortion.

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2021/01/14/bidens-labor-secretary-pick-linked-to-union-extortion-allegations/

Billionaire Koch Network Considers Halt on Donations to Republicans

The billion-dollar GOP mega-donor Koch network, headed by billionaire Charles Koch, is threatening to cut off donations to Republicans who objected to the electoral college results of the 2020 presidential election.

In a statement to Politico, CEO of the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity Emily Seidel suggested that the group’s super PAC will “weigh heavy” who they will provide campaign cash to in the next election cycles following a riot that took place at the United States Capitol by protestors who opposed the presidential electoral college results.

Specifically, Seidel hinted that the Koch network would not donate to Republican lawmakers — such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Scott Perry (R-PA) — because they objected to the electoral college results.

Politico reports:

“Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support. And we will continue to look for ways to support those policymakers who reject the politics of division and work together to move our country forward,” said Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity and senior adviser to AFP Action, the group’s super PAC.

[Emphasis added]

Seidel’s statement follows months of the network working to operate more independently of the Republican Party. Billionaire Charles Koch has become increasingly dissatisfied with the tactics and policies of President Donald Trump and did not support him during his 2016 or 2020 election bids. [Emphasis added]

The statement is the latest by the Koch network in which they have indicated strong opposition to the Republican Party’s growing economic nationalist base that catapulted President Trump to victory in 2016 and helped a number of House Republicans win their seats in the 2020 election cycle.

For instance, the Koch network has expressed their wanting to work with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on issues like amnesty for illegal aliens, expanding legal immigration levels, and returning toa free trade policy.

The Kochs are the latest to join a corporate donation blacklist in which multinational conglomerates, Wall Street banks, and Big Tech firms have said they will not donate to election-objecting Republicans.

New York Post Op-Ed Editor Sohrab Ahmari wrote that “GOP-corporate divorce” is a necessary step forward in order for the Republican Party to get back to its working and middle class roots — representing the interests of the least connected to the Washington, D.C. political establishments. Ahmari asked:

So why are conservatives fretting about corporate America cutting off the GOP, a process merely accelerated by last week’s (disgraceful) mob assault on the Capitol. Did they think building a working-class party was going to be painless? That they could mouth pro-worker rhetoric while continuing to ignore workers’ concerns on issues like immigration and wages? A country-club party with blue-collar décor?

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) urged Republicans to use the opportunity to swear off corporate super PAC money so as not to be beholden to wealthy, well-connected donors.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/14/billionaire-koch-network-considers-halt-on-donations-to-republicans/

FBI tracking ‘extensive’ online chatter about armed protests

WASHINGTON — The FBI is tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests leading up to next week’s presidential inauguration, Director Chris Wray said Thursday.

Wray, in his first public appearance since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, said in a security briefing for Vice President Mike Pence that the FBI remains concerned about the potential for violence at protests and rallies in Washington and in state capitols around the country.

Those events could bring armed individuals near government buildings and elected officials, Wray warned, while also noting, “One of the real challenges in this space is trying to distinguish what’s aspirational versus what’s intentional.”

Wray said the FBI was receiving a “significant” amount of information that it was pushing out to other law enforcement agencies ahead of the inauguration. Information-sharing is critical before any significant public event like the inauguration, but the issue is receiving particular scrutiny because of signs law enforcement was unprepared for the violent, deadly surge at the Capitol by loyalists of President Donald Trump.

Federal officials have warned local law enforcement agencies that the riot at the Capitol is likely to inspire others with violent intentions.

“We’re looking at individuals who may have an eye towards repeating that same kind of violence that we saw last week,” Wray said, adding that since Jan. 6, the FBI has identified over 200 suspects.

“We know who you are. If you’re out there, an FBI agent is coming to find you,” he added.

More than 100 people have been arrested so far, Wray said, and there are “countless” other investigations.

States nationwide have already been stepping up security in preparation for possible armed protests and violence this weekend, particularly at statehouses amid legislative sessions and inaugural ceremonies. Officials are reassessing their security plans for high-risk targets and police in major cities are preparing to be put on tactical alert if necessary. An FBI bulletin earlier this week warned of potential armed protests in all 50 states.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/01/15/fbi-tracking-extensive-online-chatter-about-armed-protests/

>>12525563

>go fuck themselves

seconded

Supreme Court Rules Against Universal Vote-By-Mail in Texas — Thieving Democrats Hurt the Most

This is big news.

The Democrat-Marxist plan to steal elections like they did in 2020 DEPENDS on mail-in voting schemes.

It is well documented that the Democrats always do better with mail-in voting. It’s much easier to cheat that way.

No doubt, this is the Democrat-Marxist plan for the future. They were able to steal a landslide Trump victory this year using mail-in voting and other maneuvers.

On Wednesday the US Supreme Court ruled against universal vote-by-mail in Texas. This is good news for America, Texas, and the rule of law.

Bloomberg reported:

The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a Democratic bid to force universal vote-by-mail in Texas, leaving intact a state law that lets people cast no-excuse absentee ballots only if they are 65 or older.

The Texas Democratic Party and its allies argued unsuccessfully that the law violates the Constitution’s 26th Amendment, which says the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.”

Voting by mail became a sharply partisan issue amid President Donald Trump’s unsupported contentions that the practice led to widespread fraud in the November election. Texas’s Republican governor and attorney general urged the Supreme Court to reject the Democratic appeal.

Mail-in voting enabled Democrats to steal Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/good-news-supreme-court-rules-universal-vote-mail-texas-criminal-democrats-hurt/