Top Democratic Operative Bill Burton Advising Facebook Whistleblower

Sources: Former Obama administration communications guru Bill Burton and his company Bryson Gillette are working the high-profile campaign

The Facebook whistleblower who revealed herself in a 60 Minutes interview is getting strategic communications guidance from a top Democratic operative, according to a source with direct knowledge of the relationship, which was confirmed by another half-dozen sources with indirect knowledge of the partnership.

Frances Haugen, the former Facebook employee who has for the past 10 months fed internal documents to a top Wall Street Journal reporter, and who revealed her identity in a primetime broadcast on Sunday, is working with the political consultant and former Obama administration deputy press secretary Bill Burton and his consulting firm, Bryson Gillette. It is unclear when Haugen's relationship with Burton and Bryson Gillette began, how big her communications team is, and whether it includes other political operatives.

But Burton is now deeply integrated with an emerging infrastructure on the left comprised of individuals and organizations, including the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, seeking to press Facebook to more aggressively police political content.

In Haugen's public testimony, industry and political insiders see a sophisticated communications campaign intended to put Facebook on defense, from a steady trickle of leaked internal documents that fueled a Wall Street Journal investigative series dubbed "The Facebook Files" to the blockbuster 60 Minutes interview to congressional testimony scheduled to begin Tuesday. Haugen on Sunday also debuted a slick personal website in part to field media requests.

"It does have the appearance of being an incredibly well-orchestrated communications campaign," said the GOP operative Kevin McLaughlin, the former director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Neither Burton nor Haugen responded to a request for comment, though sources say reporters and Burton himself have been open about the relationship.

Haugen's 60 Minutes interview kicked off a media feeding frenzy, with the story mentioned at least 200 times on cable news since the segment aired, according to a review conducted by the Washington Free Beacon.

Since 2016, both political parties have gone after Big Tech companies like Facebook, with the left charging that the company's failure to adequately police "disinformation," helped tip the election to Donald Trump and the right charging that it arbitrarily silences conservative voices.

Burton's involvement helping to manage Haugen's public debut suggests that her argument is part of a broader Democratic initiative. A Facebook employee in the company's now-defunct "civic integrity" division until May, Haugen is calling for the federal government to intervene against the company. Though she did not specify in the Sunday interview what sorts of regulations she might support, she is likely to be pressed on that when she appears on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Burton himself has also been an outspoken Facebook critic, likening them to tobacco companies that knowingly poisoned people and concealed the health risks of using their products — an analogy Haugen is expected to use in her congressional testimony.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/top-democratic-operative-bill-burton-advising-facebook-whistleblower/

Georgia Sec of State Raffensperger missing chain of custody docs for 6,995 absentee ballots, report

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been under scrutiny by critics who say some election results still in question.

A review of documents related to the 2020 election results reportedly shows the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State is missing chain-of-custody "transfer forms" for 6,995 absentee ballots in Fulton County.

The documents were provided and reviewed by the Georgia Star News in response to an open records request.

The ballots were deposited in drop boxes throughout the county.

The number of absentee ballots for which the office has no evidence of origin represents 9% of the 79,460 total the county recorded as being deposited into drop boxes, according to the news outlet.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, certified the results of the election, which gave the state's 16 Electoral College votes to then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden – by a margin of 12,670 votes out of 5 million votes cast.

Raffensperger did so without having seen or reviewed the chain-of-custody documents associated with an estimated 600,000 total absentee ballots deposited in 300 drop boxes across the state. The number of absentee ballots deposited in Fulton County drop boxes represented about 13% of the state total.

Just the News reported that the secretary of state’s office did not receive the chain of custody documents from county election offices throughout the state until January and February of 2021.

Raffensperger has never offered an explanation as to why he certified the state’s election results without having even looked at the chain of custody documents for absentee ballots placed in drop boxes.

The absentee ballots in Fulton County should have been documented on at least 140 separate drop box transfer forms, a process put into place through Emergency Rule 183-1-14-0.8-.14 promulgated by the State Election Board in July 2020.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/georgia-sec-state-raffensperger-missing-chain-custody-docs-6995-absentee

Top Democratic Operative Bill Burton Advising Facebook Whistleblower

Sources: Former Obama administration communications guru Bill Burton and his company Bryson Gillette are working the high-profile campaign

The Facebook whistleblower who revealed herself in a 60 Minutes interview is getting strategic communications guidance from a top Democratic operative, according to a source with direct knowledge of the relationship, which was confirmed by another half-dozen sources with indirect knowledge of the partnership.

Frances Haugen, the former Facebook employee who has for the past 10 months fed internal documents to a top Wall Street Journal reporter, and who revealed her identity in a primetime broadcast on Sunday, is working with the political consultant and former Obama administration deputy press secretary Bill Burton and his consulting firm, Bryson Gillette. It is unclear when Haugen's relationship with Burton and Bryson Gillette began, how big her communications team is, and whether it includes other political operatives.

But Burton is now deeply integrated with an emerging infrastructure on the left comprised of individuals and organizations, including the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, seeking to press Facebook to more aggressively police political content.

In Haugen's public testimony, industry and political insiders see a sophisticated communications campaign intended to put Facebook on defense, from a steady trickle of leaked internal documents that fueled a Wall Street Journal investigative series dubbed "The Facebook Files" to the blockbuster 60 Minutes interview to congressional testimony scheduled to begin Tuesday. Haugen on Sunday also debuted a slick personal website in part to field media requests.

"It does have the appearance of being an incredibly well-orchestrated communications campaign," said the GOP operative Kevin McLaughlin, the former director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Neither Burton nor Haugen responded to a request for comment, though sources say reporters and Burton himself have been open about the relationship.

Haugen's 60 Minutes interview kicked off a media feeding frenzy, with the story mentioned at least 200 times on cable news since the segment aired, according to a review conducted by the Washington Free Beacon.

Since 2016, both political parties have gone after Big Tech companies like Facebook, with the left charging that the company's failure to adequately police "disinformation," helped tip the election to Donald Trump and the right charging that it arbitrarily silences conservative voices.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/top-democratic-operative-bill-burton-advising-facebook-whistleblower/

To Save America, Durham Must Reveal The Whole Russiagate Story And Punish The Guilty

A bit more information has emerged from the John Durham investigation into Russiagate (or “Spygate,”as it is known hereabouts).

This is due to what is likely a leak from one or more of the targets to their loyal propagandists at CNN. (In the article, the reporters do their best to downgrade the scandal they fanned for years as no more than a trivial “dirty trick” that all campaigns do. There’s a well-known word for that adapted into the English language.)

The import of these leaks is usually to soften the impact on the target(s), but it also gives us another indication Durham is still active.

In this instance, more subpoenas have been issued, including some to Perkins Coie. That’s the Democratic National Committee’s and Hillary Clinton’s law firm that only a few weeks ago defenestrated—for reasons unspecified, but we can guess— one of Hillary’s principal lawyers, Mark Elias.

The other Clinton campaign lawyer, Michael Sussman, has already been charged with lying to the FBI on the matter of alleged Trump links to the Russian Alpha Bank, ties that turned out to be non-existent.

This time, however, we learned that “Tech Executive-1” in the Sussman indictment is Rodney Joffe, a rather distinguished cybersecurity expert, but not in this case because he was apparently involved with the same attempted deception.

Mr. Joffe was evidently no fan of Donald Trump. How far he took his enmity we shall see as this plays out.

Or we won’t. Therein lies the problem. Many are worried that Durham will only take the investigation so far and then peter out.

A real Russiagate investigation has myriad possible targets with very famous names, some of the most famous, in fact. Yet negativism about the results is everywhere in conservative circles with some justification.

When then AG William Barr gave Durham his brief, he was quoted in The Hill (March 2020) as follows:

“Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he does not expect a criminal investigation of former President Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden to result from the probe undertaken by U.S. Attorney John Durham.

“Based on the information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr told reporters at the Justice Department. ‘Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others.’”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/save-america-durham-must-reveal-whole-russiagate-story-and-punish-guilty

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/save-america-durham-must-reveal-whole-russiagate-story-and-punish-guilty

Iran Demands US Unfreeze $10BN In Assets To Return To Nuclear Negotiating Table

In what looks to be yet another serious obstacle in the way of the prospect of jump starting Iran nuclear negotiations with world powers in Vienna, which have been stalled since June, and prior to Ebrahim Raisi taking office, Iran is asking the Biden administration to immediately unfreeze some $10 in Iranian assets.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called it a necessary "sign of good will" to show that the American side is "serious" about returning to the Vienna process.

"The Americans tried to contact us through different channels (at the U.N. General Assembly) in New York, and I told the mediators if America's intentions are serious then a serious indication was needed … by releasing at least $10 billion of blocked money," the Iranian foreign minister said in a weekend interview.

Billions in its foreign-held assets have been effectively blocked for a couple years since Trump-era sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's international assets took effect. Amir-Abdollahian argued in his comments that at least "once" the US has to show its ready to consider "the interests of the Iranian nation."

"They are not willing to free $10 billion belonging to the Iranian nation so that we can say that the Americans once in the past several decades considered the interests of the Iranian nation," he explained.

Earlier last month the FM had vowed that Iran is ready to return to the negotiating table "very soon" but said the recently installed Raisi government is still "reviewing" the negotiation files.

So far the US State Department has kept mum on the Iran FM's weekend plea to unfreeze assets. It's not likely to happen given Biden is already facing pressure from Republicans and would be accused of "caving" to the mullahs in Tehran if he were to unfreeze the requested billions.

It's also unlikely that Washington would allow the Iranians to set what appear as belated pre-conditions for deeper talks, giving possible leverage to move the goal posts further.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-demands-us-unfreeze-10bn-assets-return-nuclear-negotiating-table

Several Democrat Senators Including Vulnerable Catherine Cortez Masto Backed Group that Funded Leftists Who Harassed Kyrsten Sinema

It turns out that the leftists who harassed moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) in a public restroom over the weekend are not only funded by billionaire George Soros but are also supported by a group connected to several of Sinema’s U.S. Senate colleagues including at least one vulnerable Democrat up for reelection next year.

Outrage erupted across the internet Sunday when a viral video revealed that several left-wing activists associated with the group Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) stalked Sinema into a bathroom where she teaches at Arizona State University (ASU) while demanding that she support President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. According to the Washington Free Beacon, LUCHA received over $1.5 million from the George Soros non-profit Open Society Foundation in 2019 and $250,000 in 2017. The group also reported “around $1.7 million in revenue in 2019 and $328,000 in 2017,” the Beacon noted.

Beyond Soros funding, LUCHA has received financial support from a political action committee (PAC) connected to several Democrat U.S. Senators, including Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). Per the Beacon:

Bold PAC, the fundraising arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, gave $12,500 to Living United on Aug. 4, according to Federal Election Commission records. The committee includes more than three dozen of Sinema’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate and House. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), and Robert Menendez (N.J.) are listed as members of the committee on the Bold PAC website. The senators did not respond to requests for comment about Living United’s confrontation of their Democratic colleague.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pro-immigration charity, FWD.us, gave $7,500 to Living United last year. The Ford Foundation gave the organization a $500,000 grant in 2018. The National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the country, contributed $60,000 to Living United in both 2017 and 2019.

None of Living United’s donors responded to requests for comment.

As of this writing, Menendez, Cortez Masto, and Padilla have all not publicly condemned the harassment of Sinema. Cortez Masto’s connection to this group may complicate her reelection efforts next year as her Trump-backed GOP challenger, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, is already ripping her for it:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/10/04/dem-sens-backed-group-funded-leftists-harassed-kyrsten-sinema/

‘Save Australia’ protest erupts in New York

Aussie flags were flying in New York City overnight where demonstrators chanted “Save Australia” in an anti vaccine mandate march.

Australia became the surprising focal point of an American anti vaccine mandate protest march for teachers in New York City overnight, with hundreds of demonstrators chanting “Save Australia” and some waving Aussie flags.

The large crowd gathered outside the Australian consulate in the city for speeches in support of Australia after they marched through Manhattan.

The march began in Brooklyn outside Department of Education headquarters earlier in the day, as hundreds of people gathered to hear speeches. It mobilised and moved across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan, with chants of “Wake up, New York,” “Let us teach,” and “We, the people, will not comply.”

Some members of the crowd flipped over a Covid-19 testing site tent on their way through the city, with many of them booing and chanting, “Shame on you!”

One man, recording on his phone, overturned the testing site’s table. Another then pulled down the tent, before police officers intervened.

The march ended outside the Australian consulate in Midtown, where speeches were held in support of Australia.

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/save-australia-teacher-protest-in-new-york-city-gathers-at-the-australian-consulate/news-story/c4393b3522f61f061e8f7ed7833a7522

Tom Cotton Sounds Alarm on ‘Unknown Afghans’ Fleeing U.S. Military Bases

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) says it is “alarming” that hundreds of seemingly “unknown Afghans” brought to the United States by President Joe Biden’s administration are prematurely fleeing U.S. military bases.

Last week, Reuters reported that at least 700 Afghans had fled U.S. bases in Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, New Mexico, and New Jersey for American communities before having been resettled by refugee contractors.

At Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, alone, the report stated that more than 300 Afghans had left since they started arriving weeks ago as part of Biden’s massive operation that plans to bring at least 95,000 Afghans to the U.S. for resettlement in 46 states.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cotton asked for information on the Afghans leaving U.S. bases. — including their immigration statuses and if they received approval from DHS to leave.

“A more extensive review and vetting process is absolutely essential for the tens of thousands of unknown Afghans who were airlifted during the evacuation,” Cotton writes:

The U.S. government is currently investigating multiple crimes committed in evacuee facilities. The American people have seen reports of a group of male Afghan evacuees assaulting a female servicemember at a Fort Bliss facility in New Mexico. [Emphasis added]

An Afghan evacuee allegedly sexually assaulted young boys at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Another Afghan evacuee reportedly choked his wife at Fort McCoy. The State Department has raised concerns about child trafficking by older Afghan men. Even previously-deported criminals — including an Afghan who had previously been convicted of rape in the United States, and another who had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery — were airlifted back to the United States. [Emphasis added]

In light of these reports, it is alarming that hundreds of Afghan evacuees have reportedly left U.S. military bases directly into our communities, possibly before completing our vetting and immigration processes. [Emphasis added]

Cotton is requesting DHS to respond to his questions by October 8, though the Biden administration has repeatedly refused to make public information about Afghans brought to the U.S.

Last week, Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Tom Tiffany (R-WI) asked Biden to provide them with details about the number of Afghans who have been accused of crimes while temporarily living on U.S. bases and how many Afghans have criminal records.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/10/04/cotton-afghans-us-military-bases/