Trump Pulls Ambassador Nomination of State Department Official Who Communicated with Dossier Author Christopher Steele and Bruce Ohr

A State Department official named Kathleen Ann Kavalec, who was awaiting confirmation to be a US Ambassador to Albania previously communicated with dossier author Christopher Steele and supplied information to top DOJ official Bruce Ohr before and after the 2016 presidential election.

Ms. Kavalec’s nomination was withdrawn recently by President Trump after emails surfaced showing she personally met with and communicated with the coup plotters, according to a senior White House official who spoke with investigative reporter Sara Carter.

Kavalec donated $250 to Barack Obama in 2012 and donated $250 to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Sara Carter reported:

Kavalec, as well as her colleague Jonathan Winer, a former assistant to former Secretary of State John Kerry, supplied information they had collected from Steele to Bruce Ohr, said sources familiar with the congressional investigations.

Ohr is a senior Department of Justice official who was used as a backchannel for the FBI after Steele was removed from the bureau for shopping his dossier to the media in 2016. His wife, Nellie Ohr, was working in 2016 as a contractor for Fusion GPS, who was hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC to compile the anti-trump dossier.

Rep. Mark Meadows dropped a bomb on the Deep State Monday night and revealed sitting ambassadors were involved in the coup to get Trump.

Meadows told Hannity, “There are players now, even ambassadors that are sitting ambassadors that were involved in part of this with the FBI and DOJ.”

Sara Carter obtained emails from November 21, 2016 that were exchanged between Bruce Ohr and Kathleen Ann Kavalec.

Kavalec referenced a Russian businessman by the name of “Simon Kukes” and Sergei Millian, a man who was a central (and reportedly an unwitting source) of the phony Russia dossier.

Via Sara Carter:

“Just re-looking at my notes from my convo with Chris Steele, I see that Chris and Kukes has some connection to Serge Millian, an emigre who is identified by FT as head of the Russian American Chamber of Commerce,” Kavalec told Ohr in the Nov. 21, 2016 email.

“According to what Chris said to me in early October, Millian has apparently disappeared,” i.e., left the U.S. and hasn’t been seen recently. I don’t know anything about Millian, but he is referenced in the FT story: https://ig.ft.com/sites/trumps-Russian-connections/

Ohr noted that the two had met regarding Steele’s information, which was later passed to the FBI.

“Kathy – thank you for taking the time to meet with us,” said Ohr in an email exchange on that day. “I really hope we can get something going here.”

Ohr was responding to an email Kavalec sent earlier in the day. Kukes “had left Russia because he said he was concerned he might be investigated- as I recall he said had gotten a summons to court on some issue.”

She also referenced several stories in Mother Jones and OpenSecrets.Org regarding then President Trump. She stated in one email, that “on this campaign donation story, I just wondered what, assuming this is true, the original source of the funding might have been. Best, Kathy.”

In January of this year, it was reported that Ms. Kavalec’s confirmation hearing was cancelled pending review of her involvement with Christopher Steele and Bruce Ohr by the Foreign Relations Committee, however it is now being reported for the first time that her nomination was withdrawn by the President.

This is just the tip of the iceberg — how many other ambassadors were working with the coup plotters and who are they??

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/trump-pulls-ambassador-nomination-of-state-department-official-who-communicated-with-dossier-author-christopher-steele-and-bruce-ohr/

Lavrov’s deputy to war-hawk Abrams: Venezuela ‘aid’ op unacceptable, Russia to protect its interests

Russia is opposed to any efforts by the US to use ‘humanitarian aid’ as a pretext to intervene in Venezuela, Deputy FM Sergey Ryabkov told US special envoy Elliott Abrams, adding that Moscow will protect its interests there.

The diplomats met in Rome on Tuesday to discuss the increasing tensions between Washington and Moscow over the Donald Trump administration’s continued push for regime change in Venezuela.

“We strongly urged the US side… against any temptation to resort to military power. It includes our warning against, so to speak, hardcore massive military intervention, which can’t be excluded given the type of behavior we’ve seen on the US side in recent years,” Ryabkov told RT, where he appeared live after the talks.

The same goes for “low intensity conflicts – the penetration into the sovereign territory of Venezuela from abroad by elements that could be described as paramilitaries to stage provocations and in other ways interfere in the affairs of this state,” he added.

Russia’s representative told Abrams that Moscow’s interests in Venezuela must be protected and said he assumes that Washington has heard that demand. The deputy FM also pointed out that Moscow is increasingly worried about Washington’s sanctions against Caracas.

“How can one blame the [Venezuelan] government for mismanagement, while at the same time depriving this very government of huge assets?” he said, adding that “the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela shouldn’t be abused for political reasons,” and that sanctions must be lifted to improve the life of the people.

The US has been tightening and increasing sanctions on Caracas in recent months in an effort to squeeze President Nicolas Maduro’s government out of power. Washington has called for regime change in favor of right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaido, who Trump threw his support behind in January.

Ryabkov said that during the talks, the US and Russian sides didn’t manage to find consensus on the Venezuela crisis, but acknowledged that he has a better understanding of the US side after the talks which, he said, were “an example on how things can be done professionally.”

“The differences are huge. They’re fundamental in some aspects, including on the aspect of Russia not recognizing Juan Guaido as interim president. Likewise, the US wasn’t able to understand why Russia insists that the legitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, should be respected as such.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reaffirmed that it is considering “all options” for Venezuela. Trump has said multiple times in recent months that he is not prepared to rule out US military action in the country.

Ryabkov said Moscow was willing to offer its services as an intermediary in Venezuela talks and that Guaido should take the situation and offer seriously.

“I’m sure with a considerable, sufficient degree of political will and reason this situation could be overcome and resolved. What’s needed most is intra-Venezuelan government based on the Venezuelan Constitution,” the deputy FM concluded.

https://www.rt.com/news/454248-ryabkov-russia-venezuela-abrams/

Jeff Landry: All Options Are on the Table to Break Big Tech Monopolies

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told Breitbart News that attorneys general across America — both Democrat and Republican — are considering “all actions,” including the use of existing antitrust law, to curb the growing power held by technology firms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Landry offered his remarks in a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of consolidation in regard to social platforms and the tech industry over the last decade, and the result of that has become a handful of companies that have amassed a tremendous amount of data and power over the U.S. and world economy,” said Landry.

Landry added, “Just the fact that they can censor any type of speech is problematic, on top of the fact that the monetization of people’s personal data is enriching these companies at the expense of the consumer.”

A bipartisan consensus among America’s attorneys general is arising with respect to the increasing concentration of power among several technology firms, remarked Landry.

“When you talk to attorneys general around the country — irrespective of whether they’re Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative — there is an instinct that something is going on, there is this instinctive feeling that something must be done with these companies, that they have become too big,” Landry claimed.

Marlow asked, “This is an issue where it seems like right and left, all of a sudden, are unified in their skepticism over the way these big tech giants [became] so rich and powerful. They’re the biggest lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They operate completely opaquely [with] almost no transparency. So you probably have found some — maybe unexpected — camaraderie with some of your Democrat colleagues in this regard?”

Landry replied, “What makes America great is that no one is bigger than the people, right? No one is truly bigger than the government which, of course, is a government of the people. Historically, when corporations in this country, in our free market economy, have amassed monopolistic power — power to basically control the economy — the people have stood up and said, ‘Enough is enough. Something must be done.’ There’s been a lot of positive that has come out of government taking action in this type of matter.”

“All action is on top of the table,” continued Landry. “In a couple of weeks — in fact, I think it’s next week on the 25th — there’s a roundtable being conducted by attorneys general in front of the FEC to discuss this, to discuss the harm that it’s placing on consumers, whether or not it will lead to antitrust action against the companies, or whether or not we should be looking more carefully on any mergers or consolidations or buyouts by these tech companies.”

https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2019/03/19/jeff-landry-all-options-are-on-the-table-to-break-big-tech-monopolies/