Documents Reveal Reddit Co-Founder Aaron Swartz Was Caught Up in Warrantless FBI Data Collection That Would Later Be Used Against Him

Shocking new documents obtained by Gizmodo reveal that Reddit co-founder and famed digital activist Aaron Swartz was caught up in warrantless FBI email data collection which would later be used against him in an unrelated case.

Swartz is widely recognized as the face of everything wrong with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

In 2013, Swartz killed himself after being aggressively prosecuted for downloading academic articles from a subscription-based research website JSTOR – at MIT, his university – with the intention of making them available to the public. He was facing 35 years in prison for his efforts to open access to scientific publications to wider audiences.

“Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves,” Swartz wrote in his Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto. “Forcing academics to pay money to read the work of their colleagues? Scanning entire libraries but only allowing the folks at Google to read them? Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to children in the Global South? It’s outrageous and unacceptable.”

The newly released documents reveal that in 2008, roughly five years prior to the case that would ultimately lead to him taking his own life, his emails were caught up in an investigation into al Qaeda.

Later that year, Swartz came under investigation by the FBI who were seeking to determine if he had violated any laws by downloading millions of court documents from PACER. The government ultimately did not press charges in that case because the documents were public.

However, according to the new report by Dell Cameron, while the FBI was trying to build a case against the popular activist, they “began quietly building a profile of the oft-described technology ‘wunderkind,’ noting, for example, his involvement in the creation of the formatting language Markdown and RSS 1.0, and jotting down the various code frameworks that Swartz had helped to create and organizations that he had helped to found. Eventually, with all open source avenues exhausted, an FBI employee sat down at a computer terminal that, to most people, would appear plucked straight from the 1980s. The employee ran a search using the bureau’s automated case support system, a portal to the motherlode of FBI investigative files.”

When the FBI employee searched Swartz’ website domain name, it got a hit, which revealed that his domain was involved in an international terrorism investigation — specifically into al Qaeda.

“That any information about Swartz was collected during an Al Qaeda investigation—only to be retrieved nearly two years later for totally unrelated purposes—adds a familiar and sympathetic face to a controversial procedure in intelligence gathering commonly referred to as a ‘backdoor search.’ That is, the FBI gathering information about Americans who are not accused of crimes, often without a warrant; storing that information in databases, sometimes for years; and later accessing it during the course of another investigation that ultimately has nothing to do with terrorism whatsoever. (Backdoor searches are most commonly associated with Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, an authority that was unavailable to the FBI at the time.),” Cameron reports.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/documents-reveal-reddit-co-founder-aaron-swartz-was-caught-up-in-warrantless-fbi-data-collection-that-would-later-be-used-against-him/

Mueller Filing Confirms General Flynn Was Set Up – FBI Agents DID NOT Believe Flynn Was Lying

WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL 302 REPORT ON FLYNN??

Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed his memo responding to Flynn at the Friday afternoon deadline and it confirmed General Flynn was set up.

Judge Sullivan, who is assigned to General Flynn’s case demanded to see the FBI summary 302 report about the ambush Flynn interview according to a new court filing. A 302 interview with Peter Strzok about Flynn’s ambush interview was released Friday — Was Flynn’s original 302 filed with the judge?

The Special Counsel responded to Flynn’s memo on Friday by defending the circumstances behind the Flynn ambush interview, claiming Flynn tried to “minimize” what he did — this is a flat out lie.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/breaking-mueller-replies-to-flynn-cites-302-doc-taken-6-months-after-ambush-interview-agents-did-not-think-flynn-was-lying/

>>4312592

Sure looks that way

"Inclusive" Hillary Tells Americans: "If You Don't Support Democrats, Go Somewhere Else"

Hillary Clinton has a message for Bernie Bros, Democratic Socialists and other constituencies of the "Dirtbag Left".

If you have a problem with the Democrats' agenda (which, as Tucker Carlson explained in an interview last week, has shifted away from empowering "working class" Americans to favoring globalism, militarism and big business) then go vote for somebody else.

Demonstrating that she clearly hasn't moved on from the embarrassment she suffered at the hands of Bernie Sanders, who nearly defeated her in the 2016 Democratic Primary after riding a wave of support for his socialist agenda (something that polls suggest is becoming increasingly popular with young Americans), Clinton lashed out during a recent interview at "progressives" who won't stop attacking Democrats from the left.

She cited the abuse received by Kamala Harris - a potential 2020 contender (and potential Clinton rival) - as an example of why the left needs to come together and unify around whoever their party's pick might be.

"Some of my favorite Democrats - people like Kamala Harris who's out there speaking up and speaking out and is being attacked by the left - enough! If you don't want to support Democrats, then go somewhere else."

Her remarks are just the latest sign that she has learned nothing from her historic electoral loss to President Donald Trump. And that the DNC's "mother knows best" strategy is stunningly out of touch with every day Americans.

Why shouldn't progressives support Clinton? Look at her many "progressive" accomplishments: Instigating a destructive civil war in Libya, gladhanding with the Saudis, Russians and other foreign powers under the auspices of the Clinton Foundation and helping to deregulate the financial services industry in the years before the financial crisis and generally promising to support free trade, corporate welfare and a robust, muscular US military presence around the world.

When Bernie Sanders - who is still the standard-bearer of the American socialist movement - advocated for a $15 minimum wage, Clinton one-upped him by suggesting we go to $12 instead.

But it's not like disillusioned Democrats have anywhere else to turn…oh wait.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-14/inclusive-hillary-tells-americans-if-you-dont-support-democrats-go-somewhere-else

Round five: Yellow Vests prepare for massive ‘Macron resign’ protest on Saturday

Paris is bracing for yet another round of Yellow Vest protests, with demonstrators planning to take to the streets on Saturday. More than 10,000 people have already RSVP'd on Facebook to the ‘Acte 5: Macron Démission’ march.

The demonstration is scheduled to take place in the French capital on the Champs-Élysées.

The organizers, consisting of some 15 groups, have outlined their list of demands on Facebook, saying they will continue their action against Macron until all their demands are met.

“Our organizations support the demands of tax and social justice brought by the movement of yellow vests. They call for demonstrations Saturday, December 15, for social justice and tax, for a real democracy, for equal rights, for a true ecological transition…” the planners said in a statement, as quoted by Le Parisien.

Similar demonstrations are also expected to take place in other cities across the country.

Security officials are gearing up for the protests, with Paris Police Chief Michel Delpuech stating that tens of thousands of cops will be deployed across France, and some 8,000 in Paris.

“We need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios,” he said.

Delpuech told RTL that authorities are aiming to be in “better control” of the situation than they were last weekend, when more than 125,000 people hit the streets of France, 10,000 of whom protested in Paris.

Those demonstrations saw clashes between protesters and police, with officers deploying tear gas and water cannon on people who threw Molotov cocktails, burned cars, and vandalized stores. Over 260 people were injured and 1,700 detained across the country.

Ahead of the demonstrations planned for Saturday, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said it was time for the Yellow Vest protesters to scale down their demonstrations and accept that they had achieved their aims, as Macron has granted concessions as a result of the rallies.

https://www.rt.com/news/446504-france-yellow-vest-macron-protests/

Faith Healer Promoted By Oprah Faces Arrest Amid Hundreds Of Sex Abuse Allegations

"John of God is still alive."

A Brazilian faith healer who rose to international fame after being promoted by Oprah Winfrey is now wanted by authorities for sex abuse allegations by hundreds of women.

Spiritual healer João Teixeira de Faria, known as "John of God," first came under fire on Friday when a woman accused him on Brazilian television of sexually abusing her. Since that first public accusation, over 250 women have come forward to accuse him of similar abuses and prosecutors in the Brazilian state of Goias have requested his arrest.

Reuters reports that state prosecutors say Faria has been accused by at least 258 women, including some foreigners, like his first public accuser, Dutch choreographer Zahira Maus. (The South China Morning Post says the number of accusers is now over 450.) Maus first made her accusation Friday on Rede Globo (TV Globo), which reported spending three months investigating the story and conducting interviews with a dozen other alleged victims.

In his first public appearance since the accusations came to light, Faria told reporters and his followers Wednesday that he is not guilty and that he will "comply with Brazilian law."

"Brothers and my dear sisters, I thank God for being here," Faria said, Reuters reports. "I want to comply with Brazilian law. I am in the hands of the law. John of God is still alive."

As The New York Times underscores, Faria's "global fame exploded" largely as a result of Winfrey's repeated promotion of his psychic healing methods and his spiritual healing center, which is located in ​Abadiania, a small town in central Brazil. Faria's "miraculous" methods include performing surgery without anesthesia and channeling "spirits of the dead" to heal patients suffering serious conditions. After producing a profile on him in 2010, Winfrey visited his center in 2012.

Faria's fame grew to such a point that the economy of Abadiania has grown largely dependent on tourism based around visits to his spiritual center, which reportedly draws thousands annually.

Winfrey has since responded to reports of the accusations against Faria. "I empathize with the women now coming forward and hope justice is served," she said.

Reuters reports that some of Faria's followers have pushed back against the accusations, cheering him loudly when he first appeared in order to respond to the accusations on Wednesday. Some of the followers have also taken to harassing reporters covering the story.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/39366/faith-healer-promoted-oprah-wanted-police-serial-james-barrett

California Effectively Rigs 2020 Democrat Presidential Race to Favor Richest Candidates

California has effectively rigged the 2020 Democratic presidential race to favor wealthy candidates and those with big-money backing by moving their nominating contest from June to March 3rd to compete with Iowa and New Hampshire.

As it takes obscene amounts of money to reach people in California, candidates without huge personal wealth or wealthy backers are going to have even more trouble competing.

From Reuters:

California is determined to force 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls to make some hard choices.

The nation’s most populous liberal state has moved its presidential nominating contest to early in the 2020 calendar, a shift its leaders hope will give it maximum impact on the selection of a Democratic nominee and push candidates to address progressive issues such as climate change.

The reshuffling means California voters, who can cast ballots weeks before primary election day, will be helping to determine a nominee at the same time as those in traditional early primary states such as New Hampshire.

“It’s a big deal,” said Ben Tulchin, a San Francisco-based consultant who worked as a pollster for Democratic U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. “The traditional schedule had smaller states, more affordable states, retail politics. California is not like that.”

The shift to so-called “Super Tuesday” in March 2020 will change how campaigns structure their efforts and require tough decisions about allocation of resources, Democratic Party sources and strategists say. Competing in California, with its large, expensive media markets, may only be possible for the most deep-pocketed campaigns.

That factor alone might be enough to keep some of the two dozen or so Democrats who are considering entering the race from getting in.

said James Demers, who was co-chairman of Democratic President Barack Obama’s campaign in New Hampshire. “It feels like the day and age of using Iowa and New Hampshire to get a campaign started are over.”

Those two states have zealously guarded their position as the points of entry for presidential aspirants. But with their small and largely homogenous populations, they may be more a part of the Democratic Party’s past than its future, as liberal elements within the diverse party have pushed to have a bigger say in the selection of a nominee.

In the 2016 race, the two states combined to apportion 68 Democratic delegates to presidential candidates. California, the biggest prize, awarded 475.

The candidate who amasses the majority of delegates will be formally nominated at the party’s convention in the summer of 2020 and then likely will face President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the general election as he seeks a second term.

Nothing says "liberalism" like being ruled over by plutocratic billionaires!

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=59557

Supreme Court ruling granting cert in pending case could be the beginning of the end for federal regulators like the ATF, DEA and FDA

Supreme Court watchers will tell you that even though many people wait with bated breath until June of each year when the high court unveils its decisions involving controversial cases, some of the most important work done by justices during their annual sessions happens quietly.

In fact, a case with very far-reaching implications involving federal agencies cleared the high court just this week that could spell the end of the government’s vast regulatory powers.

As reported by The Truth About Guns, that could include impacting major firearms regulations issued or implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The website noted that the Supreme Court granted writ of certiorari in a case, Kisor v. Wilkie, involving a challenge to a previous legal precedent established in Auer v. Robbinsand Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., both of which “direct courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of its own ambiguous rule,” the SCOTUS Blog noted.

Granting of a writ does not necessarily mean that the high court disagrees with a lower court’s decision. What it does mean is that at least four of the justices believe that the circumstances of a case are worth a review by the high court.

The Truth About Guns (TTAG) noted further:

Under what is known as Auer deference, named for a Supreme Court case, Auer v. Robbins, courts must defer to the agency’s interpretation of that agency’s own regulations unless such interpretation is plainly erroneous. Under a related doctrine, known as Chevron deference, where a statute implicitly gives an agency the power to promulgate regulations, the courts are not to substitute their interpretation of a statute for a reasonable one that has been made by the bureaucrats.

Regulations have the rule of law even if it’s not what Congress intended

Few Americans are aware of how the regulatory process works, but it’s important to understand it in order to understand the relevance of the high court’s granting of cert in the Kisor v. Wilkie case.

Most of the time when Congress crafts a bill that eventually becomes law, the Legislative Branch leaves it up to the various federal agencies to write their own rules as to how the law will be carried out. The law itself is essentially a guideline providing the appropriate federal agency with broad policy objectives Congress seeks to achieve.

For instance, the National Firearms Act of 1934 “imposed a tax on the manufacture and sale of machine guns, suppressors, SBS/SBR’s, etc., and required them to be registered with the federal government,” TTAG reported. But the law did not actually specify how that was to be done. It wasn’t clear how Congress intended for Americans to specificallycomply with the law’s new requirements.

http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/huge-supreme-court-ruling-granting-cert-in-pending-case-could-be-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-federal-regulators-like-the-atf-dea-and-fda/

Saudi Citizen Admits to Visa Fraud and Concealing Attendance at Al Qaeda Training Camp

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/saudi-citizen-admits-visa-fraud-and-concealing-attendance-al-qaeda-training-camp

Absolute Mayhem In Manhattan Court As Mueller May Have Made A Move

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard Friday morning arguments involving a grand jury matter that is currently sealed - a typical practice while cases are pending. The publicly available information on the case offer little clues as to what's going on, as there are no description of the subject of the case, no information on the parties or their lawyers, and no public access to the documents.

The tight-lipped approach of Mueller and his team has led to rampant speculation and curiosity. In October, Politico reported that on the day a filing was due in the sealed grand jury case, a journalist overheard a man in the clerk's office request a copy of the special counsel office's latest sealed filing so that the man's law firm could put together a response. Several hours later, a sealed response was filed in the grand jury case.

It was not confirmation that the sealed grand jury case was indeed related to Mueller's investigation, but it was enough to make Friday's arguments a must-attend event. -BuzzFeed

What makes this interesting is that the federal court in DC is where Mueller's team has brought most of their cases - as there have been two other grand jury matters we know about in front of said court; one relates to Paul Manafort and the other is still pending in the DC Circuit involving former Roger Stone associate Andrew Miller.

Reporters began to gather more than an hour before arguments were scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., however no members of Mueller's team, anyone connected to the Russia investigation, or anyone from the Trump administration were spotted. After arguments began, reporters began to huddle outside the courtroom in the hopes of discovering more about the case.

The first case was argued. Then the second. Still nothing. At the end of arguments in the second case, court employees instructed everyone in the courtroom to leave. Court staff and security officials then cleared the entire floor, an unusual occurrence in the courthouse. Reporters scattered, staking out other hallways, stairwells, and exits. At one point at least 20 journalists roamed the courthouse building and its grounds.

After roughly an hour and a half, reporters were allowed back onto the floor, although the courtroom was locked and it wasn't clear if arguments had ended. A little after noon, the courtroom deputy confirmed that the judges were, in fact, done hearing arguments for the day.

"I'm ready to go to sleep forever," one reporter was heard saying as she boarded an elevator to leave. -BuzzFeed

In short - something apparently big happened today in a Manhattan court, which may or may not involve the special counsel's investigation, and nobody knows anything about the case outside of public records showing that the sealed grand jury case was filed in August, made two trips to the DC circuit, lost one appeal - and a second appeal was heard by a three-judge panel on Friday.

Until we know more, this is much ado about nothing.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-14/absolute-mayhem-manhattan-court-mueller-may-have-made-move