Texas secretary of state resigns amid voter purge controversy

May 28 (UPI) – Texas Secretary of State David Whitley abruptly resigned Monday amid criticism for challenging the citizenship status of thousands of voters in the state. Whitley turned in his resignation letter on the last day of the legislative session.

"Working alongside the employees in the secretary of state's office, county election officials and representatives of our #1 trading partner, Mexico, has been my distinct honor and privilege," Whitley said in the letter to Gov. Greg Abbott. "And to have your trust in doing so goes beyond what I ever dreamed of as a kid growing up in a small South Texas community." Whitley was appointed to the position in December. Now, Abbott will assign a replacement, though they won't be confirmed until the legislature meets again.

Whitley drew criticism for claims that nearly 100,000 non-citizens had registered to vote, and ordering the names be reviewed and purged from voter rolls. It's an issue also popular with President Donald Trump, who's taken a stand against what he's called "rampant" voter fraud in the United States. Texas ended Whitley's voter purge last month as part of a settlement with civil rights groups. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled in February there hadn't been widespread voter fraud, and called Whitley's purge a "mess."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/05/28/Texas-secretary-of-state-resigns-amid-voter-purge-controversy/9761559059388/

Second GOP lawmaker blocks $19B disaster aid bill

May 28 (UPI) – Within days of the first, a second GOP lawmaker has blocked a $19 billion aid bill for victims of California wildfires, Midwest floods and coastal hurricanes. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said no to the bill's immediate passage with unanimous consent Tuesday in a pro forma session, demanding the vote be held after the House returns from recess next week, while criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats for trying to pass the bill during recess.

"If the Speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the speaker of this House should have called a vote on this legislation before sending its members on recess for 10 days," Massie. His no vote marks the second time in four days a sole-Republican congressman has delayed the disaster aid bill's passage. Prior to the first pro forma vote, the bill had already been gridlocked for nearly six months as Senate Republicans were reluctant to approve more recovery funds for Puerto Rico, which President Donald Trump opposed, before a Senate deal last week.

On May 24, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, similarly objected to the $19 billion disaster aid bill, which otherwise would've passed at that time. The Texas Republican said he opposed the bill since it didn't include $4.4 billion for the U.S.-Mexico border crisis and would increase the federal deficit, adding attempt to pass the bill during recess was "swampy."

In the compromise reached last week, Congress agreed across partisan lines to fund $600 million for Puerto Rico's nutritional assistance program and $300 million in Housing and Urban Development grants to offer relief to residents devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The bill's passage has been further complicated by the White House on May 1 sending a request to Congress for $3.3 billion in emergency funds to cover humanitarian assistance at the U.S.-Mexico border and another $1.1 billion for border operations with the surge of Central American migrants.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/05/28/Second-GOP-lawmaker-blocks-19B-disaster-aid-bill/7471559066383/

>>6612677

Agreed, no reason it would seem for him to leave otherwise.

Fake social media accounts spread pro-Iran messages during U.S. midterms: FireEye

(Reuters) - A network of fake social media accounts impersonated political candidates and journalists to spread messages in support of Iran and against U.S. President Donald Trump around the 2018 congressional elections, cybersecurity firm FireEye said on Tuesday. The findings show how unidentified, possibly government-backed, groups could manipulate social media platforms to promote stories and other content that can influence the opinions of American voters, the researchers said. This particular operation was largely focused on promoting “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes,” according to the report by FireEye.

The campaign was organized through a series of fake personas that created various social media accounts, including on Twitter and Facebook. Most of these accounts were created last year and have since been taken down, the report said. Spokespersons for Twitter and Facebook confirmed FireEye’s finding that the fake accounts were created on their platforms. Lee Foster, a researcher with FireEye, said he found some of the fake personas - often masquerading as American journalists - had successfully convinced several U.S. news outlets to publish letters to the editor, guest columns and blog posts.

These writings displayed both progressive and conservative views, the report said, covering topics including the Trump administration’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. “We’re assessing with low confidence that this network was organized to support Iranian political interests,” said Foster. “However, we’re not at the point where we can say who was doing it or where it’s coming from. The investigation is ongoing.”

Before the 2018 midterms election, the nameless group created Twitter accounts that also impersonated both Republican and Democratic congressional candidates. It is unclear if the fake accounts had any effect on their campaigns. The imposter Twitter accounts often plagiarized messages from the politicians’ legitimate accounts, but also mixed in posts voicing support for policies believed to be favorable to Tehran. Affected politicians included Jineea Butler, a Republican candidate for New York’s 13th District, and Marla Livengood, a Republican candidate for California’s 9th District. Both Livengood and Butler lost in the election. Livengood’s campaign called the situation “clearly an attempt by bad actors” to hurt her campaign, and noted that Livengood was “a strident opponent of nuclear weapons in Iran.” Butler could not be immediately reached for comment.

Twitter said in a statement that it had “removed this network of 2,800 inauthentic accounts originating in Iran at the beginning of May,” adding that its investigation was ongoing. Facebook said it had removed 51 Facebook accounts, 36 Pages, seven Groups and three Instagram accounts connected to the influence operation. Instagram is owned by Facebook. The activity on Facebook was less expansive than that on Twitter and it appeared to be more narrowly focused, said Facebook head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher. The inauthentic Facebook accounts instead often privately messaged high profile figures, including journalists, policy-makers and Iranian dissidents, to promote certain issues. Facebook also concluded the activity had originated in Iran.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-socialmedia/fake-social-media-accounts-spread-pro-iran-messages-during-u-s-midterms-fireeye-idUSKCN1SY26Q?il=0

James Comey Tweets last couple of days.

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/1133485937210613761

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/1132799939350847488

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/1131973126248640512

Obama secretly tried to help Iran use U.S. banks to convert $5.7 billion in Iranian assets

The Obama administration secretly tried to help the country that screams “death to America” use U.S. banks to convert $5.7 billion in Iranian assets. First, Obama failed to disclose to Congress the existence of secret side deals on inspections when he transmitted the nuclear accord to Capitol Hill. (They were only uncovered by accident when then-Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) learned about them during a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency officials in Vienna.) Then, Obama secretly sent a plane to Tehran loaded with $400 million in Swiss francs, euros and other currencies on the same day Iran released four American hostages, which was followed by two more secret flights carrying another $1.3 billion in cash.

But wait there’s more! Republicans on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), revealed in a report that the Obama administration secretly had tried to help Iran use U.S. banks to convert $5.7 billion in Iranian assets. This was after Obama promised Congress that Iran would not get access to the U.S. financial system — and then after lied to Congress about what he had done. In July 2015, Obama Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that, under the nuclear accord, Iran “will continue to be denied access to the [U.S.] financial and commercial market” and that “Iranian banks will not be able to clear U.S. dollars through New York, hold correspondent account relationships with U.S. financial institutions, or enter into financing arrangements with U.S. banks.” A few weeks later, one of Jack Lew’s top deputies, Adam Szubin, said the exact same thing in a testimony to the Senate banking committee.

However, Senate investigators found that on Feb. 24, 2016, the Obama Treasury Department “granted a specific license that authorized a conversion of Iranian assets worth billions of U.S. dollars using the U.S. financial system” — exactly what Jack Lew and Adam Szubin promised would not happen — including unlimited future Iranian deposits at Bank Muscat in Oman until the license expired.

https://milnenews.com/2019/05/28/obama-secretly-tried-to-help-iran-use-u-s-banks-to-convert-5-7-billion-in-iranian-assets/