Steele To Ohr In Secret 2016 Meeting: Russia Has Trump "Over A Barrel" With "Explosive Information"

Former UK spy Christopher Steele told then-DOJ #4 Bruce Ohr at a 2016 breakfast that the Kremlin had Donald Trump "over a barrel" thanks to "potentially explosive information" in the possession of Russian intelligence, reports AP, citing "multiple people" familiar with the encounter.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-31/steele-ohr-secret-2016-meeting-russia-has-trump-over-barrel-explosive-information

NOTE: Desperate times…

Putin Condemns Zakharchenko's Assassination: "Dangerous Choice In Favor Of Destabilization"

update: Per Reuters: "Russia’s state investigative committee said on Friday it was treating the killing of Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, as an act of international terrorism."

"A criminal investigation into the killing has been opened, the committee said in its statement."

Meanwhile local reports say Zkharchenko's personal body guard is being searched for after fleeing the scene: Bodyguard may have been involved in DPR leader's murder, he disappeared after blast, he is being searched for - Source: IFX

And further, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly issued a statement: "Those responsible for Zakharchenko's assassination made a dangerous choice in favor of destabilization, and attempt to put the Donbas people on their knees, but they won't succeed."

Donetsk separatist media have reported 5 people killed at Separ cafe, the site of the blast:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-31/terrorist-attack-leader-donetsk-peoples-republic-killed-cafe-blast

Twitter Announces New Policies for Political ‘Issue Ads’

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/08/31/twitter-announces-new-policies-for-political-issue-ads/

Report: Andrew Gillum’s Brother Paid by Undercover FBI Agents Posing as Developers

A story from Tallahassee Reports published Thursday offers details about an FBI investigation into possible corruption in the city of Tallahassee while Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee in Florida’s upcoming gubernatorial election, was mayor.

According to the story by Steve Stewart, FBI agents posing as developers made payments to Andrew Gillum’s brother, Marcus Gillum, as part of an effort to show they were seeking business with the city of Tallahassee.

“The payments were said to be in the thousands of dollars per month,” Stewart wrote. “The length of the engagement was not known.”

“Marcus Gillum’s name has surfaced in relation to the federal investigation several times,” he added. “Most notably he was mentioned in public reports as part of a group that vacationed in New York in August 2016. The group included FBI agents posing as developers, Adam Corey, and Mayor Andrew Gillum. Adam Corey, the former campaign treasurer to Mayor Andrew Gillum, is a central figure in the federal investigation and, at the time of the New York Trip, was a city [lobbyist] and a city vendor.”

Stewart’s report caught the attention of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), an ally of Gillum’s Republican opponent Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who took a shot at Gillum late Thursday on Twitter.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/31/report-andrew-gillums-brother-paid-by-undercover-fbi-agents-posing-as-developers/

Deep State Strikes Again: Leaked Diplomatic Cable ‘Rebukes’ Trump on South Africa

Foreign Policy, a left-leaning publication on international affairs, obtained and published the contents of an internal diplomatic cable from the U.S. embassy in South Africa back to the State Department in Washington, DC, which “rebukes” the president for his tweet last week about land reform and farm murders in South Africa.

Foreign Policy’s Robbie Gramer and Colum Lynch reported Wednesday:

[T]he U.S. Embassy in South Africa has tacitly rebuked the president in a cable sent clarifying the issue and correcting misperceptions put forward by the president …

The cable, sent Wednesday morning and obtained by Foreign Policy, does not mention the president or his tweet at all. Titled “Despite Crime Epidemic, Farm Murders Down,” the cable outlines statistics on murder rates on white-owned South African farms.

“Some journalists and lobby groups have simplified complex land disputes to serve their own ends,” the cable says.

Political officers from the U.S. Embassy reached out to a broad array of experts—including farmers, police, crime researchers, and academics—to gauge the extent of violence against white farmers. They found “no evidence that murders on farms specifically target white people or are politically motivated,” the cable states.

“Farmers suggested that they are more vulnerable to violence because of the remoteness of the farms and inadequate responses of law enforcement agencies, but they also noted that farm violence has never resulted in any kind of land seizure,” according to the cable.

Trump’s tweet appeared to respond to a State Department statement, aired on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, which appeared to defend the South African government’s approach to land reform in optimistic terms.

Though the South African government rejected Trump’s tweet, and commentators in South Africa were generally critical of the president, some applauded his stance.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/31/deep-state-strikes-again-leaked-diplomatic-cable-rebukes-trump-on-south-africa/

NOTE: This is starting to look like OPEN treason