Anonymous ID: fbe3c6 April 8, 2019, 7:35 a.m. No.6095963   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5975 >>6065 >>6266 >>6380

Ukrainian to US prosecutors: Why don't you want our evidence on Democrats?

 

Ukrainian law enforcement officials believe they have evidence of wrongdoing by American Democrats and their allies in Kiev, ranging from 2016 election interference to obstructing criminal probes. But, they say, they’ve been thwarted in trying to get the Trump Justice Department to act.

 

Kostiantyn Kulyk, deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s International Legal Cooperation Department, told me he and other senior law enforcement officials tried unsuccessfully since last year to get visas from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev to deliver their evidence to Washington.

 

“We were supposed to share this information during a working trip to the United States,” Kulyk told me in a wide-ranging interview. “However, the [U.S.] ambassador blocked us from obtaining a visa. She didn’t explicitly deny our visa, but also didn’t give it to us.”

 

One focus of Ukrainian investigators, Kulyk said, has been money spirited unlawfully out of Ukraine and moved to the United States by businessmen friendly to the prior, pro-Russia regime of Viktor Yanukovych.

 

Ukrainian businessmen “authorized payments for lobbying efforts directed at the U.S. government,” he told me. “In addition, these payments were made from funds that were acquired during the money-laundering operation. We have information that a U.S. company was involved in these payments.” That company is tied to one or more prominent Democrats, Ukrainian officials insist.

 

In another instance, he said, Ukrainian authorities gathered evidence that money paid to an American Democrat allegedly was hidden by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) during the 2016 election under pressure from U.S. officials. “In the course of this investigation, we found that there was a situation during which influence was exerted on the NABU, so that the name of [the American] would not be mentioned,” he said.

 

Ukraine is infamous for corruption and disinformation operations; its police agencies fight over what is considered evidence of wrongdoing. Kulyk and his bosses even have political fights over who should and shouldn’t be prosecuted. Consequently, allegations emanating from Kiev usually are taken with a grain a salt.

 

But many of the allegations shared with me by more than a half-dozen senior Ukrainian officials are supported by evidence that emerged in recent U.S. court filings and intelligence reports. The Ukrainians told me their evidence includes:

 

Sworn statements from two Ukrainian officials admitting that their agency tried to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election in favor of Hillary Clinton. The effort included leaking an alleged ledger showing payments to then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort;

 

Contacts between Democratic figures in Washington and Ukrainian officials that involved passing along dirt on Donald Trump;

 

Financial records showing a Ukrainian natural gas company routed more than $3 million to American accounts tied to Hunter Biden, younger son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, who managed U.S.-Ukraine relations for the Obama administration. Biden’s son served on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma Holdings;

 

Records that Vice President Biden pressured Ukrainian officials in March 2016 to fire the prosecutor who oversaw an investigation of Burisma Holdings and who planned to interview Hunter Biden about the financial transfers;

 

Correspondence showing members of the State Department and U.S. Embassy in Kiev interfered or applied pressure in criminal cases on Ukrainian soil;

 

Disbursements of as much as $7 billion in Ukrainian funds that prosecutors believe may have been misappropriated or taken out of the country, including to the United States.

 

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/437719-ukrainian-to-us-prosecutors-why-dont-you-want-our-evidence-on-democrats

 

This probably made weekend bread but I wasn't able to find it but by the views it must have… zerohedge picked it up this morning though….

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-08/solomon-ukrainian-prosecutor-says-justice-department-refused-evidence-dems

Anonymous ID: fbe3c6 April 8, 2019, 7:43 a.m. No.6096043   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6266 >>6380

US withdraws troops from Libya amid rival militias fighting near capital

 

BENGHAZI, Libya — The United States said Sunday it has temporarily withdrawn some of its forces from Libya due to “security conditions on the ground,” as a Libyan military commander’s forces advanced toward the capital, Tripoli, clashing with rival militias.

 

A small contingent of American troops has been in Libya in recent years helping local forces combat Islamic State and al-Qaida militants, as well as protecting diplomatic facilities.

 

"The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable," said Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command. "Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of existing U.S. strategy."

 

He did not provide details on the number of U.S. troops that have been withdrawn or on how many remain inside the country.

 

Footage circulating online showed two apparent U.S. Navy transport craft maneuvering off a beach in Janzour, east of Tripoli, sending up plumes of spray as American forces were ferried from the shore.

 

India also evacuated a small contingent of peacekeepers. The Indian foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, said the country’s 15 Central Reserve Police Force peacekeepers were evacuated Saturday from Tripoli because the “situation in Libya has suddenly worsened” and fighting has moved into the capital city.

 

“We will continue to monitor conditions on the ground in Libya,” Col. Chris Karns, USAFRICOM’s director of public affairs, told Military Times in an email. "U.S. Africa Command continually assesses the disposition of its forces in Libya. Broad support to counter-terrorism activities represents various capabilities, to include airpower and other options.

 

“We still have capability to limit ISIS-Libya’s freedom of movement, constrain its ability to reinforce its fighters, and degrade its command and control,” he said. “The U.S. has demonstrated a resolve toward degrading and disrupting ISIS and other terror groups. U.S. Africa Command conducted six air strikes in 2018 against terrorist organizations in Libya.”

 

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/04/07/us-withdraws-troops-from-libya-amid-rival-militias-fighting-near-capital/

Anonymous ID: fbe3c6 April 8, 2019, 7:50 a.m. No.6096107   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6149 >>6266 >>6380

To Get Trump’s Tax Returns, N.Y. Democrats Try a New Strategy

 

ALBANY — In an attempt to work around the White House, Democratic lawmakers in Albany are trying to do what their federal counterparts have so far failed to accomplish: to obtain President Trump’s tax returns.

 

Albany lawmakers are seeking state tax returns, not the federal ones at the heart of the current standoff in Washington. But a tax return from New York — the president’s home state, and the headquarters of his business empire — could likely contain much of the same financial information as a federal return.

 

Under a bill that is scheduled to be introduced this week, the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance would be permitted to release any state tax return requested by leaders of three congressional committees for any “specific and legitimate legislative purpose.”

 

The bill is the most recent proposal from New York lawmakers trying to cast light on the president’s personal finances and business dealings, but it could also open the Democratic majorities in the Legislature to charges of politicizing state law to embarrass the president ahead of his expected re-election campaign.

 

State Senator Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation, defended the bill, saying it is designed to be “a safety valve for any attempt by the White House to block the Congress from doing this at the federal level.”

 

“We’re creating a parallel track,” Senator Hoylman added.

 

The bill would amend current state laws that generally prohibit such private tax information from being released, and would cover a broad range of filings, including personal income taxes, corporation taxes and real estate transfer taxes.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/nyregion/trump-tax-returns-ny-state.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 

Definition of desperation & panic combined?

Anonymous ID: fbe3c6 April 8, 2019, 7:57 a.m. No.6096188   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6266 >>6380

Europe's Right-Wing Populists Unite Behind Salvini Ahead Of EU Elections

 

With EU elections just around the corner, Europe's conservative populist parties announced a new alliance Monday with the goal of becoming the strongest faction in the European Parliament, while seeking to radically influence EU policies on security, migration, family values and the environment, according to Euro News.

 

"The news is that we are broadening the community, the family. We are working for a new European dream today. For many Europeans, the EU (European Union) is a nightmare," Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters following a meeting of Europe's far-right party leaders met in Milan on Monday. Salvini is spearheading the alliance, called "Towards a Europe of Common Sense," which he says he hopes will "win and change Europe."

 

Salvini was joined Monday by the far-right Alternative for Germany’s co-leader Joerg Meuthen, Olli Kotro of the euroskeptic populist party The Finns, and Anders Vistisen of the right-wing, populist Danish People’s Party. Those parties now come from other parliamentary groups, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD). -AP

 

The alliance hopes to form a majority bloc following the May 23-26 elections - "the most numerous, important, determined and forward-looking group," according to Salvini.

 

"We are not aiming to lose or just participate. Our goal is to win and change the rules of Europe."

 

The group's top priorities are a halt to all clandestine migration, restoring political sovereignty to EU nations, protecting "European culture," and stronger European borders - while the #1 threat to Europe is Islamic extremism.

 

"As interior minister for 10 months, the No. 1 risk in Italy and Europe is Islamic extremism, Islamic fanaticism, Islamic terrorism," said Salvini. "There are extreme-right and extreme-left minorities in Italy and in Europe, (but) they fortunately are controlled and of limited numbers."

 

Salvini rejected the notion that the groups are filled with political extremists bent on totalitarian rule.

 

"Today at this table there are no nostalgic extremists," he said, adding: "The only nostalgics are in power in Brussels. Today, we look ahead with a clear memory of what happened in the past, but the tired debate of right, left, fascist, communist, is not what makes us passionate."

 

The alliance, which is holding a rally on May 18 in Milan's central Piazza Duomo, says their invitation is open to all like-minded parties who wish to join the faction. If they win a majority in the EU elections, the group would cancel for good the process of inviting Turkey to become a member of the European Union - a process which has been stalled for years.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-08/europes-right-wing-populists-unite-behind-salvini-ahead-eu-elections

 

<If they win a majority in the EU elections, the group would cancel for good the process of inviting Turkey to become a member of the European Union - a process which has been stalled for years.>

 

Unless they change Istanbul back to Constantinople and rewrite the song.

Anonymous ID: fbe3c6 April 8, 2019, 8:02 a.m. No.6096245   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Clinton: Nielsen departure will not stop Trump 's 'dehumanization and cruelty toward migrants'

 

Hillary Clinton on Monday said that the Trump administration's treatment of migrants will remain unchanged despite Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation as Homeland Security Secretary.

 

“Let's be clear: This administration's dehumanization and cruelty toward migrants will not stop after Kirstjen Nielsen leaves office. It is their principal policy," the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee tweeted.

 

Trump announced Nielsen's resignation Sunday, promoting Kevin McAleenan to acting Department of Homeland Security secretary.

 

Nielsen was the public face of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that drew widespread criticism last summer.

 

The policy resulted in thousands of children being separated from their families at the border.

 

Several commentators and politicians have said that Nielsen will be remembered primarily for her role in that policy.

 

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/437829-clinton-trump-administrations-dehumanization-and-cruelty-toward

 

Project much HRC?

 

"HRC dehumanization and cruelty toward migrants will not stop after she leaves state"…