Cohen Pleads Guilty to Lying to Congress in New Deal With Mueller After 70 Hours of Testimony

Cohen Pleads Guilty to Lying to Congress in New Deal With Mueller After 70 Hours of Testimony

Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila November 29, 2018 67 Comments

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President Trump’s former lawyer-turned-rat Michael Cohen pleaded guilty Thursday morning to a new charge of lying to Congress after getting squeezed by Mueller.

Cohen’s previous plea deal with federal prosecutors in the SDNY focused on finance felonies; he pleaded guilty to six felonies related to his personal business in August.

Then Mueller interrogated Michael Cohen for 70 hours about the Trump campaign’s so-called contacts with Russians, Trump’s business ties to Russia, obstruction of justice and talk of possible pardons, according to ABC News.

ABC reported:

Special counsel Robert Mueller has reached a tentative deal with Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and long-time fixer for President Donald Trump, sources told ABC News.

Cohen appeared in federal court in Manhattan Thursday where he entered a guilty plea for misstatements to Congress in closed-door testimony last year about his contacts with Russians during the presidential campaign.

Once among the president’s most loyal and zealous defenders in business and politics, Cohen has now promised to “put family and country first” by cooperating with prosecutors, becoming perhaps the most pivotal public witness against his former boss.

Sources familiar with the special counsel’s proposed agreement with Cohen told ABC News that the 52-year-old New Yorker will admit to making multiple misstatements to two congressional intelligence committees investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. It was not immediately clear what Cohen told the congressional committees in the fall of 2017 that he will now say was false.

Robert Mueller is desperate to produce something-anything to do with Trump-Russia collusion after a year and a half and nearly $40 million wasted on his unconstitutional witch hunt.

Mueller must justify his salary so now he is reportedly coercing witnesses to lie in order to reach a plea deal–at least that is what Jerome Corsi is alleging.

Dr. Jerome Corsi, a conservative journalist who was put through 40 hours of hellish KGB-style interrogations by Mueller’s thugs says they are forcing him to lie so he stays out of prison.

None of the charges brought by Mueller have anything to do with ‘Trump-Russia collusion.’

Mueller has forced everyone into perjury traps then charges them for making false statements.

The President slammed Robert Mueller again Thursday in a pair of tweets.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/11/cohen-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-congress-in-new-deal-with-mueller-after-70-hours-of-testimony/

Deutsche Bank Police Raids To Continue On Friday

Update: The fun isn't over for Deutsche Bank (and its weary shareholders). In fact, it might only be just beginning.

Commenting to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the Frankfurt prosecutors office said it is investigating DB's role in help clients stash their money in offshore tax shelters while helping launder proceeds from illegal activities without informing German regulators. The wrongdoing that is being investigated allegedly began in 2013 and continued through this year. In a sign that the probe could run much deeper than initially believed, prosecutors said that gathering evidence will likely require them to continue searching DB's offices for a second day on Friday.

The investigation, which was inspired by revelations contained within the 'Panama Papers' leak of client records from offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca, is so detailed that it will require searches to continue for a second day.

"The investigations relate at least to a period from 2013 to 2018 and have been running since August 2018," said Nadja Niesen, spokeswoman for the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office.

A spokesman for DB said the bank believed it had provided authorities with all of the documents they had requested.

"We felt that we had provided the authorities with all relevant information about the Panama Papers. Of course, we will cooperate closely with the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt am Main, because we too are anxious to clarify all suspicions. In recent years, we have always proven that we fully cooperate with the authorities. And we will continue to do so.

One outside legal expert quoted by the newspaper said Deutsche's board had failed to properly ensure that the bank had effective compliance controls in place.

Michael Hendricks, an attorney and expert in manager liability cases, says he sees the board as an obligation. "It is the foremost task of a board of directors to ensure an effective compliance system. Apparently, this does not work for Deutsche Bank. This is terrifying because the bank is always conspicuous," says Hendricks.

The upshot: This is just the beginning of another potentially lengthy legal saga for the bank.

• • *

Already a melting ice cube struggling with an overbearing derivatives exposure and myriad legal risks, Deutsche Bank has seemingly bounced from one criminal scandal to the next since the crisis, incurring billions of dollars in fines along the way. So it's hardly surprising that the bank's shareholders let out a collective groan Thursday morning when headlines hit that German police had raided the bank's Frankfurt headquarters.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-29/deutsche-bank-shares-slide-police-raid-frankfurt-headquarters

Bayer To Fire 12,000 - One Of Every Ten Workers - After Monsanto Legal Troubles

German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant, Bayer, announced plans to cut 12,000 out of 118,200 jobs worldwide, or roughly 1 in 10 jobs, in hopes of cutting costs and regaining investor favor after a series of legal setbacks over its purchase of Monsanto earlier this year.

As the FT reports, the proposed reorganization include a plan to exit the market for animal health products, as well the company's Coppertone sun care and Dr. Scholl’s foot care product lines; Bayer also plans to sell the group’s 60% stake in service provider Currenta.

"Including the synergies expected from the acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer anticipates annual contributions of €2.6bn from 2022 on as a result of its planned efficiency and structural measures," the group said in a statement.

Werner Baumann, the Bayer chief executive, said: “With these measures, we are positioning Bayer optimally for the future as a life sciences company.”

The group’s shares have tumbled in recent months, after a California court awarded $289MM in damages to a school groundskeeper with terminal cancer.

The jury found that the man’s sickness was the direct result of his exposure to the infamous weedkiller manufactured by Monsanto. The sum has since been reduced by a higher court, but analysts and investors worry that the avalanche of follow-up cases will be costly for Bayer all the same.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-29/bayer-fire-12000-after-monsanto-legal-troubles

Anti-war push or regime change in Riyadh: Analysts question motive of US Senate’s Yemen resolution

A Senate resolution that would end US support for the Saudi-led invasion of Yemen may be using humanitarian concerns as a pretext to dethrone Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, analysts say.

A bipartisan proposal to block any further US military assistance to the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen is one step closer to being adopted, after the Senate voted 63-37 on Wednesday to allow a floor vote on the resolution.

The legislation’s early successes have been interpreted as a kick in the teeth to US President Donald Trump’s unapologetic support for Riyadh, but some have questioned the timing of the proposal – and whether it will have any long-term effect on Washington’s deep-rooted ties to the Kingdom.

Long overdue?

The horrific war in Yemen has been raging for three years, so why is it only now that lawmakers are sharing heartbreaking photographs of starving Yemeni children on the Senate floor?

Backed by US military hardware and logistics, the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen has resulted in a “tremendous famine, the worst outbreak of cholera in modern history, and none of that seemed to move the elected officials in this country enough to do anything about it,” Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the anti-war group Code Pink, told RT.

Initially unmoved by the suffering of millions of Yemeni children, it appears that it was the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – “someone who was known to people in the elite circles in Washington, DC” – that sparked the Senate’s indignation, Benjamin said. She added that until recently, the media has kept Americans in the dark about what is happening in Yemen, much to the delight of the “strong pro-war lobby.”

However, Khashoggi’s brutal killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has developed into a “major scandal” that endangers the US’ “multi-billion dollar arms sales with Saudi Arabia,” Colin Cavell, associate professor of political science at Bluefield State College, said.

https://www.rt.com/news/445161-us-senate-resolution-saudi-yemen/

‘We’ve never really seen anything like this’: US suicide rates hit 50-year peak

The US witnessed the most deaths in a single year, since official records began, in 2017, with suicide and drug overdose deaths soaring among an aging population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It marks the third consecutive year life expectancy has dropped in the US, and the longest life expectancy decline trend since the late 1910s when WWI and the worst flu pandemic in modern history combined to kill approximately 675,000 Americans.

All told, the US recorded 2.8 million deaths in 2017, with middle-aged deaths making the biggest impact on life expectancy.

“These sobering statistics are a wake-up call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC’s director, said.

The suicide rate in 2017 was the highest in 50 years reaching roughly 47,000 cases (up from just below 45,000 the previous year).

“We’ve never really seen anything like this,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees CDC death statistics. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the US for the tenth year in a row.

Increases have been prominent among the female population despite the fact that most people who die by suicide are still male. The female suicide rate rose by 53 percent between 1999 and 2017, with a 26 percent increase for men during the same period.

“I really do believe that people are increasingly hopeless, and that that leads to drug use, it leads potentially to suicide,” said Dr. William Dietz, a disease prevention expert at George Washington University.

Among the 10 leading causes of death, only cancer deaths fell while there were increases in suicide, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, flu/pneumonia, chronic lower respiratory diseases and unintentional injuries.

https://www.rt.com/usa/445143-overdose-suicide-life-expectancy/

16 US postal workers headed to federal prison for taking bribes to deliver cocaine during routes

Sixteen U.S. Postal Service workers from across the Atlanta area are headed to federal prison after being found guilty of accepting bribes from drug dealers to drop off parcels of cocaine while working their routes. The convictions were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia on Tuesday.

Sentences handed down for the disgraced federal employees ranged from three to nine years, and all were ordered to pay restitution in amounts ranging from $1,450 to $10,500.

What are the details?

Authorities launched an undercover investigation after federal agents discovered in 2015 that drug traffickers were bribing postal workers to deliver drugs during the course of their regular routes. The drug dealers assumed that postal workers would be less likely to get caught by law enforcement, because of the official nature of their federal jobs.

Using a “confidential source” posing as a drug trafficker, the FBI was able to record the defendants all choosing to deliver cocaine rather than marijuana (because they could charge more), negotiating the price of the bribes they would accept, and offering to intercept packages on multiple occasions over a period of time.

The workers — who range in age from 26 to 64 — accepted bribes for as low as $250 to make the deliveries.

What did the authorities say about it?

“U.S. Postal Service workers are typically valuable members of the community, entrusted to deliver the mail every day to our homes,” U.S. Attorney Byung Pak said in a statement. “This important operation identified and prosecuted 16 corrupt individuals who chose to abuse that trust and instead used their positions to bring what they thought were large amounts of dangerous drugs into those same communities for a quick payoff.”

Imari Niles, special agent in charge at the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Capital Metro Area Field Office, said,”Postal employees are paid to deliver mail, not drugs. The vast majority of the Postal Service’s 600,000 employees are hard-working, trustworthy individuals.”

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston added, “Drug trafficking, in itself, is an inherently dangerous crime. When perpetrated by those in positions of public trust, citizen safety is severely compromised.”

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/11/29/16-us-postal-workers-headed-to-federal-prison-for-taking-bribes-to-deliver-cocaine-during-routes

Ukraine imposes travel, financial restrictions on Russian citizens as martial law takes effect

Ukraine has issued restrictions on any foreigners crossing from Ukraine to Crimea as part of the martial law imposed on that country for the next 30 days. This move seems primarily targeted at Russians.

Here’s what we know

On Sunday, the Russian military seized two Ukrainian naval artillery boats and a naval tug boat. The ships had been trying to pass through the Kerch Strait, the only route between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The strait had previously been designated as a shared region that both nations were free to access, but since Russia annexed Crimea it had claimed sole control of the strait.

Ukraine has said that six sailors were injured when the ships were taken, although Russia insists that it was only three and that they have been given medical assistance.

Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked the Ukrainian Parliament to impose martial law, saying that the country was under threat from “Russian aggression.”

On Monday, the Parliament voted to implement martial law for 30 days. Poroshenko had asked for 30 days following criticism that he would use martial law to postpone the Ukrainian presidential elections in March.

Russia has dismissed the entire debacle as being “undoubtedly a provocation” fabricated by Poroshenko’s administration because he had been performing poorly in polls.

As part of the new martial law, Russians living in Ukraine will be hit with travel restrictions, as well as restrictions on bank withdrawals.

About 17 percent of Ukrainians identify as ethnic Russians, and Russian is widely spoken in the eastern and southern regions of the country. While these ethnic Russians are still Ukrainian citizens and presumably would not be hit by the sanctions, this does reflect the close relationship that these border regions have with Russia.

What else?

In response to martial law, Russian state media claims that the Russian government has sent surface-to-air missiles to northern Crimea.

Poroshenko has also asked for NATO warships to be sent to the Sea of Azov. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but the international organization was created to act as a safeguard against Russian aggression in Europe.

However, the only route for ships to enter the Sea of Azov is the Kerch Strait, and the agreement between Russia and Ukraine regarding shared use of the strait specifically states that foreign warships cannot enter the Sea of Azov without the permission of both parties.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/11/29/ukraine-imposes-travel-financial-restrictions-on-russian-citizens-as-martial-law-takes-effect

Clintons Say America Should Be More Like Canada

To Bill and Hillary Clinton, Canada is just better than America.

At least when they're in country making bank, anyway.

The former president and his wife, who was Secretary of State during Barack Obama's administration, dropped in to Montreal on their second stop of their 13-city speaking tour across North America.

"Canada has done such a good job of both managing its contemporary diversity and it has a very interesting immigration system," Bill said, according to the Montreal Gazette.

"And yet it's still Canada. And I just think that you can model the idea that you can become more diverse and still keep your culture and your values. It's really very good for a modern economy. The United States will have to return to that if it expects to play a positive role in the future."

"It's going to be very bleak indeed if we all become more authoritarian and more homogenized and hunkered down on ourselves. It would be a big mistake. We shouldn't do it," he said.

Hillary Clinton also touted Canada as superior to the United States.

“I also really applaud the economic model," she said, noting that the country has socialized health care while still “having one of the most dynamic economies for building the middle class of any place in the world.”

(For the record, the United States is the No. 1 economy in the world, with a $19,390,600,000,000 annual gross domestic product, while Canada is No. 10, with a $1,652,412 annual GDP, according to a 2017 International Monetary Fund report.)

Canada’s system, Hillary said, provides “a basic level of human support that everybody should have. It should be a right, not a privilege.”

She also said that though there is partisanship and “resentment politics" in Canada, citizens there "continue to fight against that and keep trying to bring the country together around common goals while maintaining your separate identities … seems to me to be the model that people are going to wake up and look for again.”

“So I’m looking to you, Canada, to bring us back to our senses,” she said.

Ticket prices in Montreal ranged from $68.75 to $443.75, the Gazette reported, noting that the event was not a sellout but better attended than the Clinton's first stop. The 13-stop tour, dubbed "An Evening with the Clintons," began Tuesday in Toronto.

The Daily Mail reported that the Toronto venue, which can hold 19,000 at full capacity, only saw about 3,300 of its seats filled, floor row seats going for $325, regular seats selling for $83, but StubHub offering seats for as low as $6.55 Canadian.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/38831/clintons-say-america-should-be-more-canada-joseph-curl

Report: President Trump Signing Bump Stock Ban, Citizens Have 90 Days to Turn Them In

President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will be signing a ban on bump stocks that gives Americans 90 days to hand them over or otherwise dispose of them.

Bump stocks were used during the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas attack. That attack marked the first time that bump stocks were known to have been used in a crime.

The ATF circulated language to ban bump stocks at Trump’s direction in December 2017. The public was allowed to comment and gun control outlet The Trace reported that 85 percent of those who commented opposed a ban.

CNN reports that Trump is now preparing to sign the ban and it will outlaw the firearm accessories without a grandfathering option. CNN quotes a source that indicates “members of the public will be given 90 days to turn in or otherwise discard their bump stocks.”

ATF Acting Director Thomas Brandon told the U.S. Senate he anticipates a legal challenge against the ban and acknowledged that that challenge could slow the ban’s implementation.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/11/29/report-president-trump-signing-bump-stock-ban-citizens-have-90-days-to-turn-them-in/

South Korea - 11 People Charged With Leaking Samsung's OLED Secrets To China

Samsung is one of the leading companies when it comes to electronics and they must constantly fight leaks of their proprietary technology. That is what 11 people were indicted for in South Korea, leaking Samsung's OLED technology to China. The company has been able to maintain its reputation for quality and cutting-edge products through its protection of the intellectual property behind their success.

The company nearly has a monopoly on the flatscreen television market, partly due to its OLED technology that exists inside 95 percent of Samsung's panels. In fact, the OLED isn't just driving their products popularity, it is driving a significant part of the company's revenue.

China is known for its ability to back engineer products and create near identical twins to products ranging from Apple iPhones and yes, Samsung's OLED technology. Chinese smartphone manufacturers have been using Samsung's OLED panels inside their own devices and flagship smartphones. But the OLED panels inside Chinese products have a ways to go before they compare to Samsung's version of the technology.

A new indictment reveals prosecutors in South Korea are charging 11 people with leaking Samsung's OLED technology to larger continental neighbor China. Those listed in the indictment are former employees of a vendor that apparently produced automated machines that manufactured OLED panels.

The group of employees have been charged with leaking Samsung Display’s 3D Lamination technology which is used for curved OLED panels, the newest iteration of the home entertainment variety. Three of the 11 have been arrested and are awaiting trial while the others remain out of custody, including the company's CEO.

The employees even had a shell company which was set up to send information received from working with Samsung. This included everything from information about equipment to drawings of the display panels. The vendor then sold the trade secrets to an undisclosed buyer in China for a whopping $14 million. Those must have been some very detailed drawings.

The secretive group even had second identities setup to avoid detection including secondary names, phones, and personal email addresses. The employees knew what they were doing could land them in big trouble since they even had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Samsung.

Samsung is pursuing charges against the fraudulent company over the leaked technology which it claims took six years and millions of dollars to create. There was a team of 38 engineers working on the Samsung Display’s 3D Lamination technology and went as far as to get it designated as a national core technology affording it protection by South Korea's industrial technology protection laws.

Samsung said in a statement that the company is "shocked at the results of the investigation by prosecutors, at a time when competitors are intensifying their technological rivalry."

https://thegoldwater.com/news/43393-South-Korea-11-People-Charged-With-Leaking-Samsung-s-OLED-Secrets-To-China

Democrats Will Use US Climate Report Against Trump In Court

Democrats will likely use the latest federal global warming report against Trump administration in court.

“We’ll use every piece of that report that we can,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Environmentalists and trial lawyers can also be expected to seize upon the report’s alarmist findings.

President Donald Trump can expect Democrats to use the latest National Climate Assessment (NCA) in lawsuits against his administration’s “energy dominance” agenda.

“We’ll use every piece of that report that we can,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday, referring to lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Becerra, a Democrat, has filed nearly two dozen lawsuits to stop the Trump administration from rolling back Obama-era energy and environment policies, including suing to stop the building of a U.S.-Mexico border wall on environmental grounds.

California is not alone. The Golden State generally leads coalitions of other Democratic-controlled states to oppose Trump administration policies. Becerra, for example, led a group of 17 states suing to keep the Trump from undoing Obama-era fuel economy standards.

Becerra and others see the NCA, released on Nov. 23, as another tool to use in court. The NCA made dire predictions about future global warming, including rising seas, higher temperatures and slower economic growth — though the most headline-grabbing claims relied on extreme climate projections that experts questioned.

https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/29/democrats-climate-report-court-xavier-becerra/

Hungary - Viktor Orban Starts Anti-EU PR Campaign

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the EU are at odds. The EU accuses Hungary of breaking the rule of law when it comes to immigration and in response, Orban has now presented an anti-EU PR campaign.

Applying for asylum in Hungary is difficult since a few years now. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to emphasize that his country does not want any asylum seekers. And in order to counter the EU even more, Orbán has also launched a smear campaign against Guy Verhofstadt, the liberal leader of the EU Parliament.

The Hungarian PM doesn’t care much about the criticism from Brussels as of late. With Italy and Poland he has allies on his side who also want to turn around the EU asylum process.

His government is now launching a smear campaign against Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Liberals in the European Parliament.

Mr Verhofstadt has criticized Mr Orban in recent months because, in his opinion, Hungary is violating human rights.

In response, the Hungarian government places mobile billboards against Verhofstadt at a number of locations in the country.

The billboards state: "Since 2015, hundreds of people have been killed in terrorist attacks, but according to Guy Verhofstadt we do not have a migrant crisis. This is insane! "

https://thegoldwater.com/news/43397-Hungary-Viktor-Orban-Starts-Anti-EU-PR-Campaign

Former Norwegian Government Minister Charged with Sexual Abuse of Asylum Seekers

A former Norwegian cabinet minister and regional governor has been charged with sexual abuse and stands accused of abusing three “young” migrants, whom he is alleged to have led to believe he had control over their asylum status.

Svein Ludvigsen, 72, former fisheries and parliamentary affairs minister who also served as governor of the county of Troms between 2006 and 2014, has been charged with the sexual assault of three individuals described by bestselling Norwegian daily VG as “single, young asylum seekers.” A report in Norway’s Aftenposten describes the complainants as “young men.”

Norway’s Nettavisen reports Ludvigsen, a former local Red Cross committee chairman, showed “strong commitment on behalf of children, youth and refugees” during his time as governor.

Ludvigsen was arrested on January 3rd and subsequently released but has not been named in Norwegian media until now. He denies all charges.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/11/28/former-norwegian-government-minister-charged-with-sexual-abuse-of-asylum-seekers/

Ukraine Crackdown Begins – SBU Detains Fighting Age Men at Donbass Checkpoint

LUGANSK, LPR – LuganskInform reports the following: SBU personnel have begun to detain and check all men of military age at the checkpoint at the line of contact at “Stanitsa Luganskaya” , heading to the LPR. This was reported in the Center for Public Relations (DSP) Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR.

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“Personnel of the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine are detaining all men of military age (up to 50 years old) en masse in order to clarify data on military records and enter registration data,” the report said

“On November 28, residents of Lugansk, who crossed the line of demarcation in the Stanitsa Luhanska, turned to the hot line. The applicants reported illegal restriction of freedom of residents of the LPR in the areas occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Men of conscription age are sent to the field offoces for “conversations and reconciliation of military records.” Security Service officers are also interviewing all the detainees, the Interior Ministry said.

“They detain everybody – both boys and men, who are already under sixty. My grandfather and I went home (to Lugansk), they even looked at our documents like jackals. The young guys just take their hands and drag them into the trailers, as if we are going to run away from them. When we were still far in the queue, people discussed among themselves that someone was being detained there. At first they did not believe it, there are often various rumors that go, while the information comes in spurts, like the telephone game,” said one of the applicants.

“We saw for ourselves how a young guy was pulled out of the queue and taken out with a man, probably his father, and turned back to Ukraine. They said: “You have nothing to do during the occupation, you will soon defend the homeland (Ukraine) with the machine guns. ” And his father, it is clear is over sixty. Is this what kind of homeland will they defend? Do they know there that Natsik (WWII nazi rule – ed) is over? ” – added another resident of the Republic.

The authorized representative of the LPR in the negotiations in Minsk, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Vladislav Daney, urged residents of the LPR the day before to refrain from visiting the territory of Ukraine during the period of martial law.

The reason for the introduction of martial law in Ukraine was the incident in the Kerch Strait area. Three Ukrainian warships — two armored boats and a tug — came out of Odessa on the morning of November 25, and tried to break into the Sea of ​​Azov through the Kerch Strait, ignoring the warnings of the Russian side. Russian border guards were forced to close the strait for navigation, and then open fire to force the ships to stop, with the result that three Ukrainian military were wounded. The ships were detained, the seamen received medical assistance. On the fact of the incident, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on the night of November 25-26 convened a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), where he stated the need to impose martial law for a period of 60 days. [The Rada approved 30, limited to certain areas of the country – ed J. Flores]

https://www.fort-russ.com/2018/11/ukraine-crackdown-begins-sbu-detains-fighting-age-men-at-donbass-checkpoint/

Mueller Investigating Trump’s Late-Night Phone Calls to Roger Stone

The Special Counsel is investigating then-candidate Donald Trump’s late night phone calls to his longtime friend and advisor Roger Stone.

More proof that Mueller’s $40 million witch hunt is also serving as a massive opposition research operation for the Democrats all paid for by the American taxpayers.

Mueller is gunning for Roger Stone and is trying to connect the dots between Russian hackers, Stone, Donald Trump and WikiLeaks.

Roger Stone has repeatedly stated he never discussed WikiLeaks with Donald Trump–and even if he did, it is not a crime.

Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone exchanged emails about WikiLeaks in early August of 2016, just two months before Assange released John Podesta’s emails in an October surprise.

Mueller is now trying to connect this conversation Stone had with Corsi to Donald Trump and the Russians…

CT Post reported:

Caller ID labeled them “unknown,” but Roger Stone said he knew to pick up fast during those harried months of the 2016 presidential campaign. There would be a good chance that the voice on the other end of the line would belong to his decadeslong friend – the restless, insomniac candidate Donald Trump – dialing from a blocked phone number.

Those nocturnal chats and other contacts between the man who now occupies the Oval Office and an infamous political trickster have come under intensifying scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation bores into whether Stone served as a bridge between Trump and WikiLeaks as the group was publishing hacked Democratic emails.

Mueller’s keen interest in their relationship was laid out in a draft court document revealed this week in which prosecutors drew a direct line between the two men – referring to Stone as someone understood be in regular contact with senior Trump campaign officials, “including with then-candidate Donald J. Trump.”

CNN reported Wednesday that they obtained two of the written responses President Trump gave to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

According to CNN, who said they did not get a full readout of the written answers, President Trump told Mueller in writing and under oath that Roger Stone did not tell him about WikiLeaks or the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Don Jr. and Veselnitskaya.

We still don’t have any proof that the Russians hacked the DNC servers then handed Hillary’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails over to WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange has repeatedly stated on record that the Russian government did not have anything to do with the DNC server breach.

President Trump needs to go on offense soon and put an end to Mueller’s reign as King of the US Justice Department.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/11/mueller-investigating-trumps-late-night-phone-calls-to-roger-stone/

Is Angela Merkel behind the UN Migration Pact? New document sheds light

Germany’s Deception: Internal documents from Germany’s Federal Foreign Office divulge that Angela Merkel’s government has been the main mastermind behind the controversial UN migrant pact.

The document, described by MP Petr Bystron of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), reveals that the Federal Foreign Office taking credit for the disastrous UN Migrant Pact, claiming they’ve been working on the agreement since 2016.

The deception runs deep, the Foreign Office having stated that the German government has been behind the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact on Migration, saying that though they are not legally binding, they were both designed to be “politically binding”.

Belgian International Law professor Pierre d’Argent, has explained that the agreement sets up a “legal framework” that can be used by lawyers in interpretting the meaning of the law. “…one can imagine that in some cases before international jurisdictions, lawyers use this pact as a reference tool to try to guide them,” d’Argent said.

Alexander Gauland, Co-leader of Germany’s populist AfD party told Breitbart London:

“It’s becoming glaringly obvious that the German government was trying to deceive the public, and still is. They are trying to retroactively legalise Merkel’s illegal opening of the borders since 2015. If the AfD had not raised the topic of the Global Compact, no one would ever have known about it until it was too late.”

“Now we are discovering that this contract has been in the works for a long time, and on German initiative, no less. However, those responsible never bothered to mention it. For good reason. We will do everything we can to avert this disaster in the making,” he said further.

The US, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Israel, Australia, The Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and more have backed out and will not sign the pact.

“We are only responsible to our Austrian population as government officials. Austrian sovereignty has top priority for us, this must be preserved and protected,” Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache said about pulling out of the pact.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/11/is-angela-merkel-behind-the-un-migration-pact-new-document-sheds-light/

Document here if a German Anon wants to do some digging!

https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/blob/274850/be419af7324f421a7655b490a2e2ea18/vn-bericht16-17-data.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2TMTmVuXFTLmLNKLGgwNQTg8HkuixXWLVOXowDjYPaKk7ZDw3XXkJLxFs

Kremlin has no official information on Putin-Trump meeting cancellation

On November 29, Donald Trump said he decided to cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. The Kremlin has not received any official information on the cancellation of the scheduled meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Argentina on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

Earlier on November 29, Trump tweeted that he decided to cancel the meeting. "Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!" Trump wrote.

The Kremlin stressed that Putin would still participate in the G20 summit.

"We are flying to Argentina. So far, we have only seen the tweet and the media [on Trump cancelling the meeting with Putin]. We have no official information," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

"If this is so [Trump has canceled a meeting with Putin], the president [of Russia] will have a couple of additional hours on the program for useful meetings on the sidelines of the summit," the spokesman told TASS.

http://tass.com/politics/1033498

Germany calls for France to handover its permanent UN Security Council seat to the EU to 'give bloc more sway'

German finance minister Olaf Scholz claimed it would be a 'bold and smart goal'

He said France could become 'the permanent EU ambassador to the UN'

But French ambassador to the US Gerard Araud described it as 'impossible'

Germany has called for France to give up its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council so it can be turned into an 'EU seat'.

Finance minister Olaf Scholz said he recognised the move would 'take some convincing in Paris', but added that it would be a 'bold and smart goal'.

It comes after the leaders of France and Germany backed the creation of an EU army, a proposal Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has described as 'crazy'.

Mr Scholz, who is also Germany's vice-chancellor, said: 'If we are to take the European Union seriously, the EU should speak with one voice within the UN Security Council. In the medium term, France's seat could be converted to a seat for the EU.'

He said to lessen France's pain, it could become 'the permanent EU ambassador to the UN'.

Mr Scholz also said European Union governments needed to work more closely on defence spending and creating weapons.

But his suggestion of taking France's seat was shot down by the French ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud.

He described it as 'legally impossible' and 'politically impossible'.

France has been one of the five permanent Security Council members since the body was established after the Second World War to prevent another large-scale conflict.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6440673/Germany-calls-France-handover-permanent-security-seat-EU.html

British Royal Air Force kicks off ‘combat readiness’ drills with Saudi Arabia (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

London has sent its airpower and servicemen for a joint drill with Saudi Arabia, despite international pressure to wind down military cooperation with Riyadh after the Khashoggi murder and amid its devastating war in Yemen.

Around 200 Royal Air Force (RAF) servicemen and eight Typhoon jets are now in Saudi Arabia taking part in a ‘pre-planned’ Green Flag exercise to help the Royal Saudi Air Forces (RSAF) maintain its combat readiness.

“The British Royal Air Force aims to integrate all combat systems, including air combat, air support and electronic warfare, and especially how to use them against the enemy’s land defense systems for maximum operational efficiency,” Major General Haidar bin Rafie Al-Omari of the RSAF said on Monday.

https://www.rt.com/uk/444942-saudi-uk-air-force-drills/

‘F*** off home!’ Masked men pelt Ukrainian presidential candidate with eggs, pummel his team (VIDEO)

Anatoliy Grytsenko, who is in the race to become Ukraine’s president in next year’s election, has accused current head of state Petro Poroshenko of organizing an attack during a campaign visit to the Black Sea port of Odessa.

The former defense minister was due to make a local radio appearance on Wednesday night, but when he arrived at the station, the entrance was blocked by a group of masked men “of athletic build,” according to a statement from his press secretary, published by Interfax-Ukraine.

They handed Grytsenko a carved pumpkin with a dildo stuck in its “mouth”, and the words “F*** off home” written on the side, and attempted to pelt him with eggs.

Fearing a confrontation, the candidate decided to withdraw, but the gang, who did not identify themselves, instead confronted members of his team. CCTV footage leaked to social media shows a genuinely violent scuffle, featuring roundhouse kicks, mace being sprayed, and the aforementioned pumpkin broken over someone’s head.

In a Facebook post, Grytsenko said that three of his team were injured in the fight, with one suffering a concussion and cuts to his face. He added that the identity of the ringleader was widely known, and that the assailants had been acting on behalf of Poroshenko, who faces an uphill task to defeat his rivals at the ballot box.

“Why do you keep using someone else’s scythe to cut down your nettles?” wrote Grytsenko, in reference to previous violence committed by shadowy paramilitary groups in the supposed interests of political candidates.

Ukraine faces an election in March next year that is currently impossible to call. The top five candidates, including the center-right Grytsenko, Poroshenko, and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko are all polling at under 20 percent of the votes, and are each within statistical error of the next-ranked candidate.

Observers fear an uptick in the unpunished street violence, which has plagued the country since the breakup of the Soviet Union. It escalated significantly following the Maidan protests in late 2013 that catapulted former industrial tycoon Poroshenko to power.

In an incident on Tuesday, 200 uniformed nationalist paramilitaries occupied a shopping center in central Kiev, demanding that Russian companies be forced out following the Kerch Strait incident at the weekend. Outnumbered, police could do nothing but stand and watch the politically-motivated vandalism.

https://www.rt.com/news/445164-ukraine-president-gritsenko-pumpkin-fight/

Netanyahu: Military Power Is Best Answer To ‘Anti-Semitism’

“The best answer to anti-Semitism is the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces [IDF],” Prime Minister as well as Defense Minister, Foreign Minister and Health Minister of the “only democracy” in the Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu stated commenting on a poll that showed over a quarter of Europeans believe that Israeli leadership itself fuels anti-Jewish sentiment.

“Once we were a leaf driven by the wind; they could slaughter us. Today, we have the power to respond” he added saying that the IDF is has a highl-class fighting spirit.

The modern Israeli leadership has been openly denying that its own actions are fueling tensions in the Middle East, in partucular in the conflcits in Syria and Gaza. So, there is nothing new in that this appraoch is also employed toward the European audiency.

However, this situation shows that the combat against “anti-Semitism” narrative is becoming less and less useful for the Israeli leaders to justify its regional policy.

https://southfront.org/netanyahu-military-power-is-best-answer-to-anti-semitism/

US-led Airstrikes Hit ISIS Prison With SDF Captured Members (Video)

On November 28, several fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who were recently captured by ISIS, were killed and injured in an airstrike by the US-led coalition on a prison of the terrorists group in the town of al-Khasmah in the middle Euphrates River Valley.

On November 29, the ISIS-linked news agency, Amaq, released a video showing the aftermath of the US-led coalition airstrike on the prison in al-Khasmah. In the video, several injured captives can be seen confirming that they are fighters of the SDF.

“The [US-led] coalition carried out the airstrike to get rid of us,” an injured SDF fighters said in Amaq’s video.

ISIS captured dozens of SDF fighters and commanders during its recent attacks on the group’s positions in the Euphrates Valley. All the captives were Arabs, some of them had been forced to join the ranks of the SDF.

The SDF was widely criticized by many Syrian activists for deploying mostly Arabs on the frontlines against ISIS. The issue was among the resons of the tesions between the Kurdish-dominated group and the Arab population in the SDF-held areas.

Despite all the criticism, the SDF and the US-led coalition are yet to explain why the Arab fighters were abandoned in dangerous positions and later bombed by coalition warplanes.

https://southfront.org/us-led-airstrikes-hit-isis-prison-with-sdf-members-video/