‘Shadowy’ dark money network behind left-wing causes exposed in new report

An expansive network of “shadowy” dark money donors has grown to rival the influence of the conservative Koch network – pumping millions into left-wing causes ranging from health care to climate change to abortion – all while flying well under the radar of public scrutiny, according to an explosive new report obtained by Fox News.

The report, by conservative watchdog Capital Research Center, describes a band of nonprofits operating under the banner of Washington-based philanthropy company Arabella Advisors. Those “pop up groups” are housed in four Arabella-controlled “sister” nonprofits, according to the report: the New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund and Windward Fund.

“Together, these groups form an interlocking network of 'dark money' pop-up groups and other fiscally sponsored projects, all afloat in a half-billion-dollar ocean of cash,” the report says. “The real puppeteer, though, is Arabella Advisors, which has managed to largely conceal its role in coordinating so much of the professional Left’s infrastructure under a mask of ‘philanthropy.’”

The report says the "hydra-like" network brought in $1.6 billion between 2013 and 2017 "to advance the political policies desired by wealthy left-wing interests," as the network’s revenues grew by 392 percent. The four Arabella-controlled “sister” groups brought in $582 million in 2017 alone, according to the report. If the four groups were a single entity, it would make them the 22nd largest public charity in America, with higher revenues than the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood or the Clinton Foundation.

“The size and scope of the Arabella network of funds demonstrates far more ‘dark money’ exists on the left side of the political spectrum than has been previously admitted,” the report says.

Arabella’s website says the company was founded to “provide strategic guidance for effective philanthropy” and is “dedicated to helping clients make a difference on the issues that matter most to them, from climate to women and girls, education, good food, and more.” All told, the company represents clients with collective assets totaling more than $100 billion.

But the report alleges the group blurs the line between philanthropy and political advocacy on issues such as ObamaCare, gun control, abortion and opposition to the confirmation of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And it says that due to the financial arrangements and lack of donor disclosure, “it is impossible to know which organization subsidizes the various campaigns and political movements spawned by Arabella’s funds.”

A January report from Issue One, a bipartisan advocacy group, shows that liberal groups spent over half of the $150 million of dark money in the latest election. Conservative groups spent a third of the figure, while nonpartisan groups spent just 15 percent.

And Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., recently said that dark money is a problem "on both sides of the aisle," though he said it "occurs mostly on the Republican side."

The Capital Research Center report warns: “Before left-of-center activists and politicians demand laws to increase transparency in the funding of campaigns and public policy advocacy, they may first wish to consider voluntarily disclosing their own funding sources.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dark-money-network-left-wing

Brexit Party Leapfrogs Labour, Tories to No.1 Spot In Shock European Election Poll

The Brexit Party, which only officially launched last weekend has already surged past the two main legacy parties in a new poll and is now rated as the lead party in voting intentions for the May European Union elections.

The new poll by major UK pollsters YouGov shows Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party surging by 12 points in a week, from 15 per cent to 27 per cent as of yesterday, the most recent figures available.

Coming in third place last week behind Labour and the Conservatives and just one point ahead of UKIP was no mean feat for a political party that had yet to launch, but the publicity generated by the party launch event in Coventry on Friday and the first rally — packing out the massive Hall One at the Birmingham International Conference Centre on Saturday — seems to have had a major impact.

Both the Conservative and Labour parties fell marginally by one and two points respectively over the polling period, but Nigel Farage’s old party was hit hardest, diving from 14 to 7 per cent in just days.

Polling monitoring group Europe Elects notes that if the findings were replicated in the European Elections in May, the outcome for the Conservative party would be their worst in history for a UK national election, going back to the foundation of the party in 1834.

Polls on British politics and particularly on the subject of Brexit must be taken with a pinch of salt — pollsters failed to predict the outcome of the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, for instance — and the latest figures from YouGov represent a massive shift. Breitbart London reported this week on another recent poll from the weekend by Opinium which put the Brexit Party on 12 per cent.

The results nevertheless bear out predictions that the establishment parties are set to perform poorly in the European Elections if they do indeed go ahead. The elections come after two delays to the legal Brexit date, and that the nation is being asked to select European Parliament candidates almost three years after the Brexit referendum is likely to be taken as a clear sign that the political class has failed to deliver.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/17/brexit-party-leapfrogs-labour-tories-to-no-1-spot-in-shock-european-election-poll/

Interesting…

Their mom must be proud.

Trump primary challenger: 'It's not spying' to investigate Trump campaign

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) argued Wednesday that it wasn't "spying" when the FBI investigated the Trump campaign in 2016, breaking with Attorney General William Barr.

"The thing a couple weeks ago where [Barr] said if the FBI opens an investigation on a Trump organization, that’s 'spying.' That’s not spying," Weld, who has launched a 2020 primary challenge against President Trump, said during an interview on CNN's "New Day."

"When an agency opens an investigation, it may be a lot of things, it may be bad news for the target. But it’s not spying. It’s just opening an investigation," he added.

Barr said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last week that he believed the Trump campaign was spied on in 2016 and added that he needed to "explore" the issue.

“I think spying did occur,” Barr said. “But the question is whether it was adequately predicated, and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.”

He later attempted to clarify his statement before lawmakers, saying he was concerned “improper surveillance” may have occurred in 2016 and he was "looking into it."

Trump has long called for a probe into the origins of the investigation of his 2016 campaign and has since seized on Barr's remarks, which Democrats have called for the attorney general to walk back.

"There was absolutely spying into my campaign," Trump told reporters last week. "I’ll go a step further. In my opinion it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying and something that should never be allowed to happen in our country again."

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/439304-trump-primary-challenger-its-not-spying-to-investigate-trump-campaign

This turkey makes jeb bush look energized.

New Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Steps Forward In Defamation Case Against Alan Dershowitz

Another woman has come forward to accuse 'billionaire pedophile' Jeffrey Epstein and his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, of molesting her and her then-15-year-old sister in 1996 at the Ohio mansion of billionaire "Limited Brands" CEO Les Wexner, according to court documents cited by the Miami Herald.

The woman, Maria Farmer, says she was employed by Epstein in his Upper East Side New York mansion, where she frequently saw "school-age girls" wearing uniforms enter the residence and go upstairs. According to her affidavit, she was told the girls were auditioning for modeling work.

And who else did Farmer see going upstairs according to her affidavit? Epstein pal and attorney Alan Dershowitz, who has been accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Roberts Giuffre - an Epstein victim who is suing Dershowitz for defamation after she came forward with her claims.

Dershowitz claims he was never in Epstein's mansion at the same time as underage girls, but Farmer said that's not true, according to her affidavit in support of Giuffre's case.

Dershowitz has said that he has never seen any underage girls when he visited Epstein at the financier’s various homes in Palm Beach, New Mexico and New York. But Farmer, who now lives in Kentucky, claims that one of her duties working for Epstein was to staff the front door to his New York estate and to keep track of visitors.

“On a number of occasions I witnessed Dershowitz at the NY mansion going upstairs at the same time there were young girls under the age of 18 who were present upstairs in the house,’’ she said, asserting that Dershowitz was so comfortable he would walk into the mansion and go directly upstairs.

…

Giuffre claims in the lawsuit that Dershowitz, 80, knew about and participated in Epstein and Maxwell’s sex trafficking operation, and that she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz and other prominent, wealthy men, when she was underage.

Dershowitz has railed against the allegations for years, maintaining that he has never met Giuffre. He also says he has documents and other evidence that prove she is lying. -Miami Herald

Of note, Farmer does not say she ever saw Dershowitz with any young girls - however at least one witness, former house manager Alfredo Rodriguez, says he saw young girls in Dershowitz's presence at Epstein's Palm Beach mansion. Rodriguez was prosecuted by the FBI after he tried to sell Epstein's "black book" of friends, business associates, celebrity guests and female masseuses for $50,000. Rodriguez was fired by Epstein in 2005 and died in prison after his prosecution.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-16/new-jeffrey-epstein-accuser-steps-forward-defamation-case-against-alan-dershowitz

This guy doesn't get to disappear…

Lori Loughlin's Daughter Is First Student Under Criminal Investigation In Admissions Scandal

A third member of the Loughlin family - the most familiar faces in the recent college admissions scam - is now facing a criminal investigation, according to The Daily Mail. A daughter of Full House star Lori Loughlin, who recently plead not guilty to charges in "the largest ever college admissions scandal" is now the focus of a Department of Justice probe as to her involvement in the case.

Multiple sources have said that the actress’ daughter was on the receiving end of a letter from federal prosecutors in Massachusetts earlier this month regarding the investigation. The letter said that Loughlin's daughter was the subject of an investigation that could result in criminal charges.

One person who saw the letter said: "It is a not-so-veiled threat. [The US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts] is making it pretty clear that they have evidence that very strongly suggests she knew of the illegal plot."

The tone of the letter was described as "ominous". A source said that these letters are an indication that prosecutors are working to obtain evidence and possibly pursue additional charges and defendants.

Another source interpreted the letter as clear telegraphing of more charges to come: "It is clear that some students are going to be charged."

Sources said that five additional people whose children received letters all refused a plea deal and filed a plea of not guilty, as Loughlin and her husband have done. Loughlin's daughters, as part of the scam, pretended they had previously been on crew teams in order to gain preferential treatment as potential athletic recruits. To sell that idea, they posed for photos on ergometers, offering the suggestion that they were aware and willing participants in their parents' plan. Loughlin daughter Olivia also reportedly had scam ringleader William Rick Singer's team fill out her college applications for her.

'On or about December 12, 2017, Loughlin e-mailed [Singer], copying Giannulli and their younger daughter [Olivia], to request guidance on how to complete the formal USC application, in the wake of her daughter’s provisional acceptance as a recruited athlete,' states the complaint.

'Loughlin wrote: "[Our younger daughter] has not submitted all her colleges [sic] apps and is confused on how to do so. I want to make sure she gets those in as I don’t want to call any attention to [her] with our little friend at [her high school]. Can you tell us how to proceed?"'

In response, Singer wrote an email 'directing an employee to submit the applications on behalf of the Giannullis’ younger daughter [Olivia].

Loughlin and Giannulli 'agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team - despite the fact that they did not participate in crew - thereby facilitating their admission to USC,' according to the documents.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-17/lori-loughlins-daughter-first-student-under-criminal-investigation-admissions-0

Kek!

Trump vetoes measure to end US involvement in Yemen war

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed a resolution passed by Congress to end U.S. military assistance in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

The veto — the second in Trump's presidency — was expected, and Congress lacks the votes to override it. But passing the never-before-used war powers resolution was viewed as a milestone for lawmakers, who have shown a renewed willingness to assert their war-making authority after letting it atrophy for decades under presidents from both parties.

"This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future," Trump wrote in explaining his veto.

Congress has grown uneasy with Trump's close relationship with Saudi Arabia as he tries to further isolate Iran, a regional rival.

Many lawmakers also criticized the president for not condemning Saudi Arabia for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi who lived in the United States and had written critically about the kingdom. Khashoggi went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October and never came out. Intelligence agencies said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the killing.

The U.S. provides billions of dollars of arms to the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. Members of Congress have expressed concern about the thousands of civilians killed in coalition airstrikes since the conflict began in 2014. The fighting in the Arab world's poorest country also has left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and has pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Trump said the measure was unnecessary because except for counterterrorism operations against Islamic State militants and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the United States is not engaged in hostilities in or affecting Yemen.

He said there were no U.S. military personnel in Yemen accompanying the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthis, although he acknowledged that the U.S. has provided limited support to the coalition, including intelligence sharing, logistics support, and — until recently — in-flight refueling of non-U.S. aircraft.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/04/17/trump-vetoes-measure-to-end-us-involvement-in-yemen-war/

The pic looks like it could have been taken in Los Angeles…

Deutsche Bank faces action over $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme

Germany’s troubled Deutsche Bank faces fines, legal action and the possible prosecution of “senior management” because of its role in a $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme, a confidential internal report seen by the Guardian says.

The bank admits there is a high risk that regulators in the US and UK will take “significant disciplinary action” against it. Deutsche concedes that the scandal has hurt its “global brand” – and is likely to cause “client attrition”, loss of investor confidence and a decline in its market value.

Deutsche Bank was embroiled in a vast money-laundering operation, dubbed the Global Laundromat. Russian criminals with links to the Kremlin, the old KGB and its main successor, the FSB, used the scheme between 2010 and 2014 to move money into the western financial system. The cash involved could total $80bn, detectives believe.

Shell companies typically based in the UK “loaned” money to each other. Companies then defaulted on this large fictitious debt. Corrupt judges in Moldova authenticated the debt – with billions transferred to Moldova and the Baltics via a bank in Latvia.

Deutsche Bank was used to launder the money via its corresponding banking network – effectively allowing illegal Russian payments to be funnelled to the US, the European Union and Asia.

The bank was entirely unaware of the scam until the Guardian and Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) broke the story in March 2017, the report says. The first it knew was an email from the Guardian and Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper asking for comment.

“Only with this intelligence received is it now possible for Deutsche Bank to start global investigations,” it notes.

In the embarrassing aftermath, the bank asked two in-house financial crime investigators – Philippe Vollot and Hinrich Völcker – to find out what had gone wrong. Their nine-page presentation was shared last year with the audit committee of the bank’s supervisory board and is marked “strictly confidential”.

The pair identified numerous “high-risk entities”. They included 1,244 in the US, 329 in the UK and 950 in Germany. These entities were responsible for nearly 700,000 transactions, the report says, involving at least £62m in the UK, $47m in the US, and €55m in Germany.

As part of its investigation, Deutsche Bank sent 149 “suspicious activity reports” to the National Crime Agency in London. Similar disclosures of potential money-laundering transactions were made to authorities in the US and elsewhere – with 30 private and corporate Deutsche Bank clients reported. Some may have been “unknowingly used”, the report says.

The affair is a further blow to Deutsche Banks’s ailing reputation. It comes amid police raids on its Frankfurt HQ over the Panama Papers, a plunging share price and talks over a possible merger with Germany’s Commerzbank. The raid last November came after German prosecutors alleged two bank employees helped clients launder money via offshore firms.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/17/deutsche-bank-faces-action-over-20bn-russian-money-laundering-scheme

Anyone taking bets the CF has a couple finger prints on this?

$20 billion…

Spain returns stolen material to North Korean embassy in Madrid

Authorities in Spain have returned material that was stolen from the embassy of North Korea in Madrid by a group of raiders in February, according to a source that spoke to the Reuters news agency. The unprecedented attack took place in the afternoon of February 22 in a quiet neighborhood of northern Madrid, where the North Korean embassy is located. Ten assailants, all Asian-looking men, entered the three-story building from the main gate, brandishing guns, which were later found to be fake. They tied up and gagged the embassy’s staff and some visitors to the embassy. After several hours spent inside the buildings, the assailants abandoned the building in two embassy vehicles that were later found abandoned.

A few weeks following the raid, a North Korean dissident group calling itself Cheollima Civil Defense —also known as Free Joseon— claimed responsibility for the attack. Cheollima Civil Defense is North Korea’s first known active resistance group. Its members call for the overthrow of the Kim dynasty. Subsequent reports said that some of those who took part in the embassy raided fled to the United States and approached the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with an offer to hand over computer hardware and telephones captured in the attack. On Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported that the FBI “returned the material [to Spanish authorities] two weeks ago”, and that Spanish police handed it over to the North Koreans. Citing “a Spanish judicial source”, Reuters said that American authorities returned the material directly to the Spanish court that is investigating the raid.

According to the news agency, Spanish authorities returned the material to the North Korean embassy without reviewing its contents, thus complying with the norms of diplomatic protocol. Data and items belonging to foreign embassies are usually off-limits to the authorities of host nations. The report did not clarify whether the FBI returned all the material that was stolen by the raiders in February, nor did it state whether the FBI reviewed its contents prior to handing it over to the Spanish court.

https://intelnews.org/2019/04/16/01-2531/

Barr Clamps Down On 'Catch And Release' With Indefinite Detention For Some Apprehended Migrants

US Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday struck down a decision allowing some asylum seekers to request release on bond in front of an immigration judge - a decision that expands 'indefinite detention' for migrants, some of whom must wait months or years for their cases to be heard.

Last month, Imimgration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the average daily population of immigrants in detention topped 46,000 for the 2019 fiscal year - the highest level since the agency was created in 2003.

Even that figure likely understates the backlog because it doesn’t include the impact of the 35-day government shutdown in December and January. Because the system’s roughly 400 immigration judges were furloughed during the shutdown, some 60,000 hearings were canceled. Thousands were rescheduled, adding to the already long wait times.

The administration “has not only failed to reduce the backlog, but has eroded the court’s ability to ensure due process” by pressuring judges to rule “at a breakneck pace” on whether an immigrant should be removed from the United States, the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. — a nonprofit organization of more than 15,000 immigration attorneys and law professors — said in a statement. -LA Times

Barr's decision applies to migrants who have illegally entered the United States as well as those apprehended within the country, according to Reuters.

"I conclude that such aliens remain ineligible for bond, whether they are arriving at the border or are apprehended in the United States," wrote Barr, who added that such people can be held in immigration detention until their cases are eventually heard, or the Department of Homeland Security decides to release them by granting them "parole."

Barr is delaying the effective date of the ruling by 90 days "so that DHS may conduct the necessary operational planning for additional detention and parole decisions."

According to law professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas, the full impact of the decision is not yet clear because it will depend on DHS' ability to expand detention capabilities.

"The number of asylum seekers who will remain in potentially indefinite detention pending disposition of their cases will be almost entirely a question of DHS’s detention capacity, and not whether the individual circumstances of individual cases warrant release or detention," said Vladeck.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-17/barr-expands-indefinite-detention-apprehended-migrants

Clamps down or 'Hammers' down… either way