Report: Andrew McCabe Launched Obstruction Probe into Trump Before Mueller Appointment

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe reportedly launched an obstruction of justice investigation into President Donald Trump prior to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.

CNN reported Thursday evening that in the days following Comey’s ouster in May 2017, McCabe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and other leading FBI officials met to discuss how to curb the president from future actions they thought would add to the turmoil at the FBI.

Among the options discussed was Rosenstein donning a wire during meetings with President Trump in an attempt to capture what he believed was manic behavior demonstrated by the president that could potentially be used to convince cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment. Rosenstein has vehemently denied the proposition was a serious one and, after several meetings with the president, the Justice Department’s number two official appears to be safe in his position.

CNN reports:

The obstruction probe was an idea the FBI had previously considered, but it didn’t start until after Comey was fired. The justification went beyond Trump’s firing of Comey, according to the sources, and also included the President’s conversation with Comey in the Oval Office asking him to drop the investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The new details about the genesis of the obstruction case into Trump that became a key element of the Mueller probe shed light on the chaotic week following Comey’s firing and the scramble to decide how best to respond. They also help to explain the origins of the Mueller investigation that has stretched across 19 months, consumed Trump’s presidency and is building toward a dramatic day of courtroom filings on Friday.

Prior to Comey’s firing, top FBI officials had discussed opening an obstruction investigation based on the President saying to Comey, “I hope you can let this go” when discussing Flynn. That episode was later described in memos Comey wrote following the February meeting that the former FBI director would leak soon after his firing.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/06/report-andrew-mccabe-launched-obstruction-probe-into-trump-before-mueller-appointment/

Intel. Dem Castro: ‘I’m Almost Certain’ Stone Will Be Charged for Lying to Intel. Committee

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat,” House Intelligence Committee member Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said he is “almost certain” that Roger Stone will be prosecuted for lying to the committee.

Castro said, “I’ll tell you right now that Roger Stone, I’m almost certain, will be prosecuted for lying to the House Intelligence Committee. In the same sitting, he first said, to Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, that he had no advanced knowledge of the email dumps, and then when I followed up a few hours later, he admitted that he did. So, he basically gave us both sides of that answer while we were in the committee room.”

https://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/12/06/intel-dem-castro-im-almost-certain-stone-will-be-charged-for-lying-to-intel-committee/

Sears chairman Eddie Lampert offers to buy Sears out of bankruptcy, including 500 stores

The chairman and largest investor in Sears Holdings is offering to buy the retailer out of bankruptcy — including 500 of its remaining stores — in what may amount to the chain’s last hope to survive its precipitous decline.

Sears chairman and hedge fund investor Eddie Lampert, who was also CEO until the retailer’s October bankruptcy filing, disclosed the offer Thursday.

“Sears is an iconic fixture in American retail and we continue to believe in the company’s immense potential to evolve and operate profitably as a going concern with a new capitalization and organizational structure,” Lampert said in a letter.

“Our proposed business plan envisages significant strategic initiatives and investments in a rightsized network of large format and small retail stores, digital assets and interdependent operating businesses.”

Lampert said the acquisition would keep 50,000 Sears employees working.

He said the deal would include 500 stores, which covers essentially all of the locations Sears has not identified for closure. The deal would include Sears and Kmart stores.

It would also include the Kenmore appliance and DieHard tool brands, key real estate and the company’s inventory and receivables.

Lampert described his offer as worth about $4.6 billion “in total consideration.” He said the price would include debt to be issued by Sears, “a credit bid” of about $1.8 billion and the assumption of certain liabilities.

A Sears spokesman declined to comment on the offer.

In recent years, Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments, has loaned Sears more than $2.4 billion in financing. So he could lose a fortune if Sears is forced to liquidate or sticks creditors with steep losses.

https://govtslaves.info/2018/12/06/sears-chairman-eddie-lampert-offers-to-buy-sears-out-of-bankruptcy-including-500-stores/

Ex-Pentagon Analyst: US, Russia Must Updade 'Increasingly Irrelevant' INF Treaty

The US government’s recent ultimatum on exiting the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty affords the United States and Russia an opportunity to upgrade an accord obsoleted by new technology, former Pentagon analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

"The treaty is technologically dated and increasingly irrelevant… the emergence of newer technologies that can deliver nuclear payloads from mobile and fixed ground launchers really requires a new treaty," Kwiatkowski, who is also a former US Air Force lieutenant colonel, said.

Russia has repeatedly denied US claims that it breached the treaty's terms. In fact, Russia has repeatedly complained that the US Aegis Ashore systems in Europe violate the treaty because they are equipped with launchers capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at intermediate ranges.

Kwiatkowski said the INF has also been rendered out of date by major strategic changes including the expansion of NATO and the hasty absorption of former Warsaw Pact countries into the Western alliance.

The ultimatum could also ignite talks that can lead to a new multifaceted treaty aimed at controlling a larger set of destructive weapons, Kwiatkowski said.

On Thursday, the US State Department said Russia must eliminate or modify its 9M729 missile system because its range allegedly violates the INF treaty, which bans ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (311 to 3,417 miles). Earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave Moscow 60 days to comply with the accord or the United States would suspend its treaty obligations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Wednesday that if the United States believes that it should have weapons banned within the INF Treaty, then Moscow will follow suit. Putin also said the United States has still not provided any evidence to back allegations that Moscow has violated the treaty.

In a Time magazine essay published on Wednesday, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the INF with US President Ronald Reagan in 1987, said one of his main accomplishments with the United States was the effort to destroy thousands of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, historic results that were now at risk as the world faces a new arms race. Only US-Russian joint efforts can avert a devastating war and restore a more just and human world order, the former Soviet premier concluded in the essay.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201812071070466322-usa-russia-inf-treaty-upgrade-new-technologies/

US not discussing military response to Kerch Strait incident — general

"Obviously my job in uniform is to make sure that the President has options available, should he decide to respond with military force," he added.

WASHINGTON, December 7. /TASS/. The United States has not been discussing the possibility of a military response to the recent incident in the Kerch Strait, in which Russia had to detain three Ukrainian warships for violating its border, the US highest-ranking military officer said on Thursday.

"There has been no military response… not has been a discussion about a military response," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters at a conference organized by The Washington Post.

"There is not a discussion ongoing right now in the military dimension in response to Sea of Azov. Obviously my job in uniform is to make sure that the President has options available, should he decide to respond with military force," he added.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on November 25 that the Ukrainian warships, the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu, had breached the Russian state border on Sunday morning and attempted to carry out illegal maneuvers in Russia’s territorial waters later. The Ukrainian vessels ignored the legitimate demands of the Coast Guard of the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet to stop immediately and end their dangerous action. The Ukrainian warships carried on, blatantly disregarding these orders, which triggered a chase involving some gunfire to stop them. Consequently, the ships were detained in Russian territorial waters.

After the incident, the Kiev government accused Russia of blocking Azov Sea ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. Russian authorities denied the reports, saying they never prohibited the navigation of ships via the Kerch Strait.

http://tass.com/world/1034813