FBI-CIA Dispute Erupts Over Whether Comey Or Brennan Pushed Steele Dossier

A dispute has erupted over whether former FBI Director James Comey or his CIA counterpart, John Brennan, promoted the unverified Steele dossier as the Obama-era intelligence community targeted the Trump campaign.

According to Fox News, an email chain exists which indicates that Comey told bureau subordinates that Brennan insisted on the dossier's inclusion in the intelligence community assessment (ICA) on Russian interference. Also interesting is that the dossier was referred to as "crown material" in the emails - a possible reference to the fact that Steele is a former British spy.

In a statement to Fox, however, a former CIA official "put the blame squarely on Comey."

"Former Director Brennan, along with former [Director of National Intelligence] James Clapper, are the ones who opposed James Comey’s recommendation that the Steele Dossier be included in the intelligence report," said the official.

"They opposed this because the dossier was in no way used to develop the ICA," the official continued. "The intelligence analysts didn't include it when they were doing their work because it wasn't corroborated intelligence, therefore it wasn't used and it wasn't included. Brennan and Clapper prevented it from being added into the official assessment. James Comey then decided on his own to brief Trump about the document."

Former GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy - a longtime defender of the FBI - told Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Tuesday night that "Comey has a better argument than Brennan, based on what I've seen."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-15/fbi-cia-dispute-erupts-over-whether-comey-or-brennan-pushed-steele-dossier

That Time John Bolton Said It's Good To Lie About War

Journalist Whitney Webb recently tweeted a 2010 video clip I’d never seen before featuring US National Security Advisor John Bolton defending the use of deception in advancing military agendas, which highlights something we should all be paying attention to as Trump administration foreign policy becomes increasingly Boltonized.

On a December 2010 episode of Fox News’ Freedom Watch, Bolton and the show’s host Andrew Napolitano were debating about recent WikiLeaks publications, and naturally the subject of government secrecy came up.

“Now I want to make the case for secrecy in government when it comes to the conduct of national security affairs, and possibly for deception where that’s appropriate,” Bolton said. “You know Winston Churchill said during World War Two that in wartime truth is so important it should be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies.”

“Do you really believe that?” asked an incredulous Napolitano.

“Absolutely,” Bolton replied.

“You would lie in order to preserve the truth?”

“If I had to say something I knew was false to protect American national security, I would do it,” Bolton answered.

“I don’t think we’re often faced with that difficulty, but would I lie about where the D-Day invasion was going to take place to deceive the Germans, you’d better believe it,” Bolton continued.

“Why do people in the government think that the laws of society or the rules don’t apply to them?” Napolitano asked.

“Because they are not dealing in the civil society we live in under the Constitution,” Bolton replied. “They are dealing in the anarchic environment internationally where different rules apply.”

“But you took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and the Constitution mandates certain openness and certain fairness,” Napolitano protested. “You’re willing to do away with that in order to attain a temporary military goal?”

“I think as Justice Jackson said in a famous decision, the Constitution is not a suicide pact,” Bolton said.

“And I think defending the United States from foreign threats does require actions that in a normal business environment in the United States we would find unprofessional. I don’t make any apology for it.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-16/time-john-bolton-said-its-good-lie-about-war

Part 1

>>6514101

So that’s a thing. And it’s important for us to know it’s a thing because of the way things are heating up in Iran right now, since Bolton’s fingerprints are all over it.

Bolton has long been calling for war with Iran and in a paid speech in July 2017 told his pro-regime change MEK terror cult audience that they would be celebrating the successful overthrow of the Iranian government together before 2019. Now we’re seeing threat alarms being elevated and fearmongering about Iranian missiles being circulated, with reports being leaked to the press of possible plans to send 120,000 US troops to the region.

This is an environment that is ripe for deceptions of all sorts, and, given what Bolton said on live television nearly a decade ago, we would all do very well to remain very, very skeptical of any and all news we hear about Iran going forward. If for example you hear that within this environment of escalated tensions and military posturing Iran or one of its “proxies” has attacked the United States in some way, your immediate response should be one of intense skepticism about what the mass media talking heads are telling you to believe.

Back in 2012 at a forum for the Washington Institute Of Near East Policy think tank, the group’s Director of Research Patrick Clawson openly talked about the possibility of using a false flag to provoke a war with Iran.

“I frankly think that crisis initiation is really tough, and it’s very hard for me to see how the United States president can get us to war with Iran,” Clawson began.

(Can I just pause here to note what a bizarre series of words that is? “Get us to war with Iran?” Get us to the thing that every sane human being wants to avoid with every fiber of their being? You want to “get us to” there? This is not the kind of thing normal humans say. You only hear this kind of insanity in the DC swamp where creatures like John Bolton have their roots.)

“Which leads me to conclude that if in fact compromise is not coming, that the traditional way that America gets to war is what would be best for US interests,” Clawson added. “Some people might think that Mr. Roosevelt wanted to get us into the war… you may recall we had to wait for Pearl Harbor. Some people might think that Mr. Wilson wanted to get us into World War One; you may recall we had to wait for the Lusitania episode. Some people might think that Mr. Johnson wanted to get us into Vietnam; you may recall we had to wait for the Gulf of Tonkin episode. We didn’t go to war with Spain until the USS Maine exploded. And may I point out that Mr. Lincoln did not feel that he could call out the Army until Fort Sumter was attacked, which is why he ordered the commander at Fort Sumter to do exactly that thing which the South Carolinians said would cause an attack.”

“So if, in fact, the Iranians aren’t going to compromise, it would be best if somebody else started the war,” Clawson continued. “One can combine other means of pressure with sanctions. I mentioned that explosion on August 17th. We could step up the pressure. I mean look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down. Some day, one of them might not come up. Who would know why? We can do a variety of things, if we wish to increase the pressure (I’m not advocating that) but I’m just suggesting that this is not an either/or proposition — just sanctions have to succeed or other things. We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier at that.”

Part 2

‘As if Germany is a US colony’: Bundestag energy chief lashes out at Russia sanctions

Only the US – not Germany or the EU – is interested in economic sanctions against Russia, the head of the Bundestag’s economy and energy committee has said. German MPs are looking at ways to lift the restrictions, he added.

Bundestag energy and economy chief Klaus Ernst of Die Linke party accused the US of behaving as if Germany is its colony, as Washington tries to bully Europeans out of buying Russian gas.

“Those measures don't only target Russians, they deliberately target Europeans, for example German energy companies involved in Nord Stream 2,” he said at a conference on the prospects of energy cooperation between Russia and the EU, organized by the Russian Gas Society – an association of Russian energy companies, relevant research institutions and local administrations.

US officials, including President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Berlin ambassador Richard Grenell, have mounted an offensive against the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that is expected to be completed in 2019. With the stated goal of countering Russian “leverage,” they are threatening European companies with sanctions if they continue investing in the project.

“The actions of the US ambassador to Germany are simply unacceptable,” Ernst said, as cited by Russian media.

It's as if Germany is a US colony.

The real goal, according to Ernst, is to make the EU buy American gas instead: “The Americans are using politics to realize their own interests in this field.”

The threats have had no effect so far, with Nord Stream 2 construction continuing to surge ahead. The Gazprom-owned pipeline's operator stated that each of its European partners, which include German, French, British, Dutch and Austrian companies, have invested around a billion euros in it.

Speaking of other economic measures in place against Russia, Ernst noted that the US is the only party that wins from them.

“There are currently discussions about this in the Bundestag economy committee, and it is growing stronger – how sanctions against Russia can be lifted. Neither Germany, nor Europe is interested in these sanctions. The only ones winning from these sanctions are the Americans.”

https://www.rt.com/news/459487-germany-us-colony-nordstream/

EU Fines 5 Banks $1.2 Billion In 'FX Cartel' Case

Over the past few years, US prosecutors fined more than a dozen banks $11.8 billion over allegations of collusion and manipulation in the FX market - a case that helped upend the culture of traders sharing "market color" in Bloomberg chatrooms. Those same banks have reached other settlements over behavior tied to the 'FX Cartel' not only in the US, but also in the UK, with the initial round of penalties coming in 2015.

But in what has become an unceasing loop of punishments, prosecutions and fines, not unlike the rate-rigging and the LIBOR manipulation scandal, it's now Europe's turn.

NEU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Thursday announced that five banks had agreed to pay fines totaling €1.07 billion ($1.5 billion) after colluding to "rig" currency markets to benefit their trading books.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-16/eu-fines-5-banks-12-billion-fx-cartel-case

Seems like a means to fund the EU and get banks off the hook!

‘Culture of impunity’ or ‘unfair investigations’? UK veterans to be shielded from legal claims

Former UK military personnel are to receive stronger legal protections to stop “repeated or unfair investigations” under new government proposals, raising concerns it could “facilitate a culture of impunity.”

The new measures are set to be unveiled by Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt within days. It would mean current and former personnel only being prosecuted in “exceptional circumstances” over crimes committed during service more than 10 years ago.

Rights Watch UK, an organisation that evaluates the human rights compliance of the British government’s actions, branded the proposals “deeply problematic” as they could see crimes such as torture being covered up.

https://www.rt.com/uk/459396-veterans-war-legal-protections/

Police execute search warrant at Catholic Diocese of Dallas

DALLAS (AP) — Investigators who were “thwarted” during earlier investigations of child sexual abuse by priests on Wednesday searched the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to obtain evidence of sexual misconduct, according to a police commander and police records.

Investigators searched the diocesan headquarters, a storage unit it uses and the offices of a church, police Maj. Max Geron told reporters.

“We believe at this point that the execution of the search warrants was wholly appropriate for the furtherance of the investigation at this point,” Geron said.

The events began last August with the investigation of Edmundo Paredes , a former priest who is believed to have fled Texas following claims that he abused three teenagers. That investigation resulted in allegations of abuse by others, Geron said.

Copies of the warrants refer to the 70-year-old Paredes and four others. All five were named in a report released in January by the diocese that identified former priests credibly accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Paredes is suspended from the diocese; the other four are suspended, on leave, retired or removed from the ministry.

Police Detective David Clark in an affidavit supporting the warrants described a diocese that wasn’t forthcoming with critical files and relied on personnel to identify predatory behavior when they had no background or training to do so.

Investigators in a meeting with diocesan attorneys in January requested the number of priests’ files that were flagged for sexual abuse, Clark wrote in the affidavit. But the attorneys wouldn’t provide the number, arguing that it was “privileged” information.

Clark later wrote that he was given incomplete and inaccurate files, despite “assurances” to the contrary from priests and church lawyers. The detective said his efforts to obtain records that likely contained information on the alleged sexual abuse of children “were thwarted.”

Bishop Edward Burns brushed aside the claim Wednesday that his diocese stymied efforts to obtain files on clerical abuse, saying church officials are being as transparent as possible.

“I stand confident that as the bishop of the Diocese of Dallas that we are doing this right,” Burns said during a press conference. “We’re doing everything possible to create a safe environment.”

Burns also said a retired FBI agent who the diocese brought in to review its files told him the affidavit and search warrants were rife with errors. He did not name the former agent.

The group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, released a statement commending police with raiding the “secret archives” of the diocese.

https://apnews.com/3277f30dc5f742e4bae23b099bef7679

BOMBSHELL: Bayer discovers “black ops” division run by Monsanto, shuts it down, initiates internal investigation as law enforcement prepares criminal charges against the chemical giant

For over a decade, Monsanto has been engaged in building and maintapining “hit lists” of journalists, lawmakers and regulators to be taken out if they opposed the evil agenda of GMOs and toxic glyphosate weed killer chemicals that now inundate the world food supply. Any influential person who opposed the Monsanto agenda was subjected to one or more of the following:

Attempted bribery

Death threats and intimidation

Character assassination through well-funded “negative P.R.” campaigns

Defamation via coordinated Wikipedia attacks, run by Monsanto operatives

Career destruction, such as getting scientists blacklisted from science journals

Being doxxed, having their home addresses publicized and their families and co-workers threatened

In other words, Monsanto has been running a “black ops” division for over ten years, spending perhaps $100 million or more on efforts to silence, destroy or assassinate anyone who interfered with the agricultural giant’s market dominance.

Now, the criminal mafia activity that Monsanto has carried out for years is finally being exposed as law enforcement closes in on the crimes of this evil agricultural giant now owned by Bayer, a corporation that appears to be making an effort to “clean house” and end the Monsanto crimes that targeted journalists, lawmakers and regulators with intimidation and bribery campaigns.

Law enforcement preparing criminal charges against Monsanto division operatives

“French prosecutors said on Friday they had opened an inquiry after newspaper Le Monde filed a complaint alleging that Monsanto – acquired by Bayer for $63 billion last year – had kept a file of 200 names, including journalists and lawmakers in hopes of influencing positions on pesticides,” reports Reuters.

https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-05-15-bayer-discovers-black-ops-monsanto-internal-investigation-law-enforcement-criminal-charges.html

California braces for feet of snow from storms; 'significant severe weather event' to impact Plains

It may be May, but Spring has not quite sprung in the Golden State.

Parts of California still resemble a scene out of winter, with a series of storms bringing several feet of snow to mountain areas, ahead of a "significant" severe weather threat across the nation's midsection.

The National Weather Service said that a series of Pacific storms are bringing heavy rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds across the West. A winter storm warning was issued Wednesday night that will run through Friday morning for the southern Sierra Nevada.

US in new push to resolve Israel-Lebanon sea border dispute

Lebanese President Aoun told US officials that Lebanese officials have a 'unified stance' regarding the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel

Israel and Lebanon both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to unleash offshore oil and gas production as it grapples with an economic crisis. Washington is mediating between the two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948.

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5509846,00.html

Hackers for hire get government stamp of approval

HackerOne announced it is one step closer to achieving coveted approval for operating on federal networks.

The San Francisco-based “hacker-powered security” company said May 15 it had achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) In Process status for Tailored Low impact Software-as-a-Service (Li-SaaS).

A release noted that the “In Process” status signifies the addition of HackerOne’s full suite of solutions into the FedRAMP marketplace. These solutions include bug bounty, vulnerability disclosure and compliance solutions.

The company said it expects to achieve FedRAMP Authorized status, the final stage, by 2020.

“HackerOne is extremely proud to take the first step in being recognized by the FedRAMP program and its mission to standardize security in the public sector,” said Matt Bianco, director of federal at HackerOne. “This milestone demonstrates the unique approach HackerOne is taking to assist the federal government in securing their systems. By meeting FedRAMP’s rigorous security standards, any federal agency will soon be able to seamlessly implement crowdsourced security solutions from HackerOne.”

To date, HackerOne has participated in a number of closed vulnerability disclosure efforts and bug bounties, including Hack the Pentagon, Hack the Army, three iterations of Hack the Air Force, Hack the Defense Travel System and Hack the Marine Corps.

https://www.fifthdomain.com/civilian/2019/05/15/hackers-for-hire-get-government-stamp-of-approval/

Yale, MIT study: 22 million, not 11 million, undocumented immigrants in US

The undocumented population in the United States could be twice as large as the most commonly-used estimate, according to a research study published Friday in the scientific journal Plos One.

The paper, led by Mohammad M. Fazel-Zarandi, a researcher at Yale and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimates there are 22.1 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Fazel-Zarandi's study compared inflows and outflows of immigrants as well as demographic data. According to the report, the number of undocumented immigrants could be as low as 16.5 million, or as high as 29.1 million.

“We combined these data using a demographic model that follows a very simple logic,” Edward Kaplan, a co-author of the report, told Yale Insights. “The population today is equal to the initial population plus everyone who came in minus everyone who went out. It’s that simple.”

Most previous estimates, based on the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey (ACS), place the undocumented population at around 11 million people.

The ACS is generated annually through interviews with about 3.5 million people.

"You find it’s based on one very specific survey and possibly an approach that has some difficulties. So we went in and just took a very different approach," Jonathan Feinstein, another co-author, told Yale Insights.

Still, the new study found similarities in growth patterns of the undocumented population to the ACS reports of the past two decades.

Most immigration researchers have reported a plateau in growth of that population since 2007, spurred mainly by the decrease in Mexican illegal immigration to the United States.

The reduction in illegal crossings by Mexican citizens coincided with an increase in illegal immigration from Central America and Asia. But the overall undocumented population has leveled off, and possibly slightly decreased.

The Pew Research Center, which provides regular updates on immigration statistics – based in part on ACS numbers – estimated last year that the undocumented population dropped to 11.3 million from a high of 12.2 million.

https://thehill.com/latino/407848-yale-mit-study-22-million-not-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-in-us

Oops, a huge skeleton falls out of Mueller’s closet!

Barr’s Investigator John Durham Once Probed Mueller in a Shocking Case

Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham was appointed to investigate the origins of the Russia-Trump probe. Apparently, he has been on the job for weeks.

Durham is the perfect investigator for the job by all accounts and he had experience with Robert Mueller in the Whitey Bulger case. He did not side with Mueller and Mueller’s agents suffered the consequences of Mueller’s, some would say, corrupt leadership.

THE WHITEY BULGER CASE

Back in the late 1990s, there were “allegations that FBI informants James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and Stephen ‘The Rifleman’ Flemmi had corrupted their handlers.

So, in 1999, Janet Reno appointed John Durham as Special Prosecutor and charged him with investigating FBI corruption in Boston.

As it turned out, FBI agents aided mass murderer, Whitey Bulger and hid his crimes. Bulger was a protected informant.

Durham sent one agent involved to prison for 10 years.

Then-US Attorney, Robert Mueller is probably the one who should have landed in the pen. He allowed four innocent men to be sent to prison for a murder he knew they didn’t commit. He did it to protect Bulger.

One of the four men was in Florida at the time of the murder and could not have committed the murder.

When Durham went through the documents. He found that the four men, Enrico Tameleo, Joseph Salvati, Peter J. Limone, and Louis Greco, had actually been framed.

https://aresathena.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/oops-a-huge-skeleton-falls-out-of-muellers-closet/

Canadian drug makers hit with $1.1B lawsuit for promoting opioids despite risks

Unproven claim alleges companies promoted addictive opioids despite knowing risks

Canadian drug makers enriched themselves at the expense of vulnerable patients by illegally and deceptively promoting highly addictive opioids that have killed thousands in recent years, a proposed class action filed Wednesday asserts.

The untested statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court seeks more than $1.1 billion in various damages from almost two dozen companies, including some of the biggest pharmaceutical names in the country such as Apotex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson, and the Jean Coutu Group.

The suit, filed on behalf of patients who became addicted to prescribed opioids, also seeks a declaration that the companies were negligent in how they researched, developed and marketed opioids starting in the 1990s.

"The defendants knew that anyone who injected opioids would be at significant risk of becoming addicted," the claim asserts. "As such, the defendants breached statutory and common law duties to the plaintiff and class who became addicted to opioids for which the defendants owe damages."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioids-suit-1.5137362

Trump rolls out 'pro-American' immigration plan

President Trump on Thursday rolled out his new immigration plan, pledging it would make the U.S. system the “the pride of our nation and the envy of the world.”

During a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House, Trump said his proposal would overhaul the legal immigration system to favor high-skilled workers over family reunification while pouring more money into border security and cracking down on “meritless” asylum claims.

“Our proposal is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker. It’s just common sense,” he said.

But Trump also acknowledged the plan faces an uphill battle on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and some Republicans have voiced skepticism about what they say is an incomplete proposal that does not address the fate of roughly 11 million people living unlawfully in the U.S.

“Today we are presenting a clear contrast. Democrats are proposing open borders, lower wages and, frankly, lawless chaos. We are proposing an immigration plan that puts the jobs, wages and safety of American workers first,” he said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/444092-trump-rolls-out-pro-american-immigration-plan

Riyadh submits letter to UN Security Council denouncing Iran and Houthis

Saudi Arabia submitted on Wednesday a letter to the United Nations Security Council, in which it held Iran and the Yemeni Houthi group responsible for targeting their oil facilities on Tuesday.

The letter was handed over by the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, according to Saudi TV channel Al Arabiya.

The letter included “Saudi Arabia’s holding of Iran and the Houthi militias it supports fully responsible for Tuesday’s attack on the kingdom’s oil facilities.”

According to the same source, a joint message was sent from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on the attack and sabotage operation that occurred last Sunday against four ships in the international sea off the UAE’s territorial sea and coasts.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced that bombed drones attacked two oil-pumping stations from the Eastern Province fields to Yanbu Commercial Port on the western coast by the Houthi group.

The attack came hours after the Houthis announced the launch of seven drones, and the carrying out of attacks on vital Saudi facilities, according to the group’s TV channel Al Masirah.

On Monday, Riyadh announced that two Saudi carriers had been hit by a sabotage attack on their way to cross the Persian Gulf near the UAE’s territorial sea.

Riyadh’s announcement came after the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, in which it said that four merchant ships of several nationalities (not identified), were subjected to sabotage operations near the territorial sea on the way to the Port of Fujairah.

Earlier this week, the United States announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier and strategic bombers in the Middle East, after “indicators of a real threat from the Iranian regime.”

The Strait of Hormuz, the primary energy transport waterway in the world, witnessed a war of statements between Tehran and the Gulf States after Iran’s threat to close it in response to a US move to reduce Tehran’s oil exports to “zero”.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190516-riyadh-submits-letter-to-un-security-council-denouncing-iran-and-houthis/

SaudIsraelia projection

Netanyahu corruption case files leaked

Evidence pertaining to one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption cases has been leaked to the media, appearing to show his quid pro quo deal with a newspaper tycoon in return for favourable media coverage.

Published by Israel’s Channel 12 last night, the leak included a transcript of a conversation between Netanyahu and the publisher of popular Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which lies at the centre of what has become known as Case 2000. In the case, Netanyahu allegedly offered to pass legislation that would impede the activities of Mozes’ rival newspaper, Israel Hayom, in return for more favourable media coverage of the prime minister and his policies.

Israel Police also suspect that, in return for curbing Israel Hayom, Mozes offered to hire journalists recommended by Netanyahu to undermine his rival politicians.

In the leaked conversation, “Mozes can reportedly be heard admitting [to] slanting coverage against Netanyahu’s election rivals and ‘hiding’ negative articles about the premier’s wife [Sara], while urging the prime minister to file a libel lawsuit and figuratively ‘kill’ a Yedioth writer who is a fierce Netanyahu critic,” the Times of Israel (ToI) reported, citing the Channel 12 broadcast.

The TV channel said that in a recording from December 2014 — ahead of Israel’s 2015 election — “Netanyahu can be heard complaining to Mozes that [election rivals Yair] Lapid and [Naftali] Bennett were being handled with kids’ gloves in Yedioth and [its associated online publication] Ynet”.

ToI adds that the pair “also discussed Netanyahu’s desire to ensure that Bennett win ‘under 15’ seats in the election,” adding that his Jewish Home party “eventually won eight [seats], but was projected at the time for as much as 17,” suggesting the policy was successful.

READ: Netanyahu to curtail Israel Supreme Court, guarantee immunity from prosecution

The leak of the recordings will likely be greeted with frustration by Netanyahu and his legal team, who have fought to keep such information out of the media.

In March, the prime minister’s lawyers asked Israel’s Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, not to release the case materials until after the general election on 9 April, fearing any leaks could drive voters away from his Likud party in the final weeks of campaigning. Mandelblit relented and agreed to withhold the evidence until 10 April, making the evidence available for collection immediately afterwards.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/72712/netanyahu-corruption-case-files.html

In new transcripts, PM and newspaper boss discuss his demand for kinder coverage

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-new-transcripts-pm-and-newspaper-boss-discuss-his-demand-for-kinder-coverage/

Poland raises prison time for child sex after priest abuse film 'Tell No One' goes viral

Home / News / Poland raises prison time for child sex after priest abuse film 'Tell No One' goes viral

Poland raises prison time for child sex after priest abuse film 'Tell No One' goes viral

07:41 0 Comments - News

Poland's government plans to jail paedophiles for longer after a powerful new documentary about abuse among priests went viral.

“Tell No One", by independent journalist Tomasz Sekielski, has been viewed more than 15 million times since it was posted to YouTube on Saturday.

The Law and Justice (PiS) government, which is closely allied with Poland's Catholic church, said parliament would debate the proposed changes within days.

The announcement came ahead of a tight race in elections to the European Parliament.

'Deeply moved'

"Paedophilia has been treated too lightly by our judicial system," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters on Tuesday.

The sentence for rape of a child, which is currently up to 15 years in prison, would be increased to 30 years if the plans are passed by Parliament.

“Tell No One” shows the meeting of victims of paedophile priests with their abusers and challenges the church hierarchy for its weakness — and sometimes absence — of sanctions.

"I am deeply moved by what I saw in Tomasz Sekielski's film, and I apologize for all the wounds inflicted by the men of the Church," the Polish primate Archbishop Tomasz Polak said in a statement.

http://www.stationgossip.com/2019/05/poland-raises-prison-time-for-child-sex.html

Bizarre Republican statements about rape

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/05/bizarre-republican-statements-about-rape.html

Canada Joins the Authoritarian Censorship Agenda

Here’s how the Canadians will deal with citizen journalism and narrative debunking—they’ll force the taxpayers to subsidize corporate news rackets.

“Federal agencies will publish an A-list of newspapers and websites deemed reliable under a multi-million dollar subsidy program, the Department of Finance yesterday told the Senate national finance committee,” reports an Ottawa website, Blacklock’s Reporter.

Bill C-97 the Budget Implementation Act proposes a 15 percent tax credit to a maximum $75 for subscribers of websites operated by a “qualified Canadian journalism organization”. Criteria are not known. The tax credit is projected to cost $11 million in 2020. It expires in 2024.

The bill also amends the Income Tax Act to offer lucrative payroll subsidies for news organizations “primarily engaged in the production of original written news content”. A total $360 million would be paid over four years through a 25 percent payroll tax credit for publishers, the equivalent of a maximum $13,750 per newsroom employee, retroactive to January 1, 2019.

Not only will Canadians be forced at gunpoint to pay the salaries of official government script readers described as journalists, but the government is now in the process of making sure the average citizen will be prevented from viewing “misinformation” on social media.

From Global News:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said social platforms were “failing their users” on Thursday, while speaking at the Viva Technology conference in Paris.

He said his government would hold companies to account for fake news, and that they had to make major improvements to their means of dealing with the issue or there would be “meaningful financial consequences…”

Speaking about Canada’s upcoming federal election, he said the government was taking steps to eliminate fake news and that a new task force had been created in order to identify threats to the election and prevent foreign interference.

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/05/canada-joins-the-authoritarian-censorship-agenda.html

After India province, Islamic State proclaims a new province in Pakistan

The group calling itself the Islamic State has announced the establishment of a new overseas province in Pakistan, just days after proclaiming another new overseas province in northern India. Until recently, the Islamic State’s operations in Asia were conducted under the banner of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, or IS-KP. The shadowy group was founded in early 2015 and was led by former Taliban warlords who pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the spiritual leader and self-proclaimed emir of the Islamic State. Since that time, at least two of IS-KP’s leaders have been killed by United States forces, while the group has been engaged in a war against rival militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, notably the Taliban.

Last week, the Islamic State announced the establishment of a new overseas province in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. The announcement was made by Amaq, which serves as the news agency of the Islamic State. According to the news release, the Islamic State named the new province “wilayah al-Hind” (province of Hind). It is based in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, which is located in one of the three administrative divisions of the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. On Wednesday a new press release by Amaq proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic State – Pakistan Province. In the same press release, the Islamic State said that the new overseas province’s first action was the killing of a Pakistani police officer in Mastung, a mountainous town located in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province. In addition to killing the police officer, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an armed attack at a gathering of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Pashtun-dominant Taliban group that operates on Pakistani soil. The attack took place last week in Quetta, the largest urban center and provincial capital of Baluchistan.

Last month, the Islamic State said it was behind a suicide attack at a Quetta outdoor marketplace, which killed 20 and injured over 50 people. The attack was targeted Pakistani Hazara Muslims, who are seen as heretical by several militant Islamist groups that operate in the region. The latest announcement of a new Islamic State overseas province may be seen as evidence that the Islamic State is gradually moving its center of operations to the eastern regions of Asia. In April the militant group said it was behind a barrage of synchronized suicide attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed over 250 people.

https://intelnews.org/2019/05/16/01-2549/

FBI Tells The Governor Of Florida About Election Hacking, But Says He Can't Tell Anyone Else

I thought this was America, but whatever. Secrecy in all things government, despite the (often misheld) presumption that our public servants will be open and honest about issues that affect us.

It's no secret voting systems and databases are not secure. These are problems that date back 15 years, but have shown little improvement since. Election interference is just another tool in the nation-state hacking kit, and the US is far from immune from these attacks.

Federal agencies investigating election interference are at least speaking to officials in states affected by these efforts. But those officials are apparently not allowed to pass on this information to those affected the most: voters.

Gov. Ron DeSantis met with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last Friday to discuss the revelation in Robert Mueller’s report that “at least one” Florida county had its election information accessed by Russian hackers in 2016.

DeSantis told reporters Tuesday that he had been briefed on that breach — which he said actually happened in two counties in Florida — but that he couldn’t share which counties had been the target.

“I’m not allowed to name the counties. I signed a (non)disclosure agreement,” DeSantis said, emphasizing that he “would be willing to name it” but “they asked me to sign it so I’m going to respect their wishes.”

The FBI does love its non-disclosure agreements and gag orders. It uses these to keep service providers from talking about demands for user data and law enforcement agencies from talking about surveillance tech. It seems state officials shouldn't have to sacrifice the public's right to know for their right to know. This isn't normal, and even Governor DeSantis seemed to recognize that.

DeSantis’ comments came during a surreal Capitol news conference during which he wouldn’t elaborate on the highly unusual situation of the federal government asking a governor to sign a nondisclosure agreement, especially in a case involving that governor’s own state.

DeSantis didn't say much, thanks to this apparently voluntary gag order. He did say what was accessed was likely voter databases rather than vote tallying equipment. He also said the attack resulted from successful spearfishing targeting one of the vendors used by the unnamed Florida counties. The FBI sort of backed this up in a statement, saying none of the detected activity "impacted vote counts or disrupted electoral processes."

Still, none of this makes it clear whether or not the counties themselves have been informed of the breach. Or the vendor. Or the voters in the county. The federal government says don't talk about what you've learned, and the residents of the state are at the mercy of the man who thought the flow of information should stop with him.

But it's not just Governor DeSantis and his willingness to sign an NDA. It's the fact that the DHS and FBI demanded one be signed in the first place. This isn't how a democracy should be run. If there are threats to election security, everyone needs to know, not just a few officials at the top of the food chain.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190515/14210642216/fbi-tells-governor-florida-about-election-hacking-says-he-cant-tell-anyone-else.shtml

>>6514440

>>6514379 Netanyahu corruption case files leaked

Come on baker don't be protecting this war criminal

Breaking ranks, influential Likud MK blasts immunity law for Netanyahu

Legislation ‘offers zero benefit and exacts maximum damage,’ warns Gideon Sa’ar, drawing rebuke from Likud officials

An influential Likud lawmaker who has butted heads with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past on Thursday slammed the party’s plan to pass a special law that would grant the premier immunity from prosecution while in office.

“This legislation offers zero benefit and causes maximum damage,” warned MK Gideon Sa’ar in an interview with Channel 12 news on Thursday, amid reports that the prime minister has been advancing just such a bill and briefing Likud’s lawmakers on how to sell it to the public.

Netanyahu faces an expected indictment in the coming months, pending a hearing before Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, in three corruption investigations.

While Sa’ar wouldn’t commit to how he would vote on such an immunity bill, he noted that “we told the public [during the recent election campaign] that we weren’t going to do this. I think a law like this will hurt Likud and won’t help the prime minister.”

He added that he “isn’t the only one who’s concerned” within Likud’s top ranks.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/breaking-ranks-influential-likud-mk-blasts-immunity-law-for-netanyahu/

>>6514465

Ok Ty

GozNym Cyber-Criminal Network Operating out of Europe Targeting American Entities Dismantled in International Operation

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goznym-cyber-criminal-network-operating-out-europe-targeting-american-entities-dismantled

In Video: Site Of Ansar Allah UAV Attack On Saudi Pumping Stations

The media wing of Yemen’s Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) released a video, which shows an impact of the May 14 UAV strike on pumping stations of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline.

https://southfront.org/in-video-site-of-ansar-allah-uav-attack-on-saudi-pumping-stations/

More attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure!