US, Mexico in Meetings to Address Deadly Drug Cartel Threat

The threat of deadly Mexican drug cartels was addressed in Dec. 5 meetings between Mexico’s government and U.S. Attorney General William Barr, with a focus on bilateral cooperation, according to Mexico’s government.

The meetings come after President Donald Trump said late November that he would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations for their role in the trafficking of narcotics and people. Trump’s comments came in response to a series of bloody security breaches triggered by cartel gunmen.

Barr sat down with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other senior officials. Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference the bilateral talks would focus on cooperation, and that during the meetings a document will be reviewed that will serve as a point of reference. No further details were provided.

“Mexico is one of our closest partners and we meet regularly on a broad range of issues of mutual concern,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email on Dec. 5. “We do not discuss the contents of diplomatic conversations.”

Hugo Rodriguez, deputy assistant secretary of state for Central America, said at a Dec. 4 briefing that the United States will “have to work with [Mexico] to find the tools that are going to be appropriate in the context.

“What we’re looking to do is put at the service of the Government of Mexico any and all tools we have at our disposal to cooperate on the shared security challenge that the drug trafficking organizations pose,” Rodriguez told reporters.

Rodriguez said efforts to get the cartels designated as foreign terrorists are something the United States has been “looking very closely at.”

“I don’t think we have any specifics to share at this point,” Rodriguez said. “We’re also in conversations with the Government of Mexico.”

Tensions over the cartels intensified last month after suspected cartel hitmen massacred three women and six children of U.S.-Mexican nationality in northern Mexico.

Trump called the suspected hitman “monsters” and said that the United States is ready to get involved. He said recently that he had been working on getting the designation “for the last 90 days.”

“If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively,” Trump said on Twitter. “The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!”

Designating groups as foreign terrorist organizations enables the United States to disrupt the finances of suspected members and their supporters via U.S. sanctions like asset freezes and travel bans. It would not directly give the United States authority for military operations in Mexico.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-mexico-in-meetings-to-address-deadly-drug-cartel-threat_3166073.html

Dem Rep. Green: ‘No Limit’ to How Many Times We Can Try to Impeach Trump

Thursday on C-SPAN, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) discussed impeachment, saying “there is no limit” to how many times the House and Senate can try to impeach President Donald Trump.

Green said he suspects Trump will have additional offenses in the future, so he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will “move forward” with a vote to impeach Trump for his alleged quid pro quo demand with Ukraine and then try again “at a later time” if they find more during their investigations.

“A president can be impeached more than once,” Green advised. “So, we can do this: we can move forward with what we have on the table currently, we can take this before the Senate and we can still investigate other issues, and when the president has committed additional offenses – and my suspicion is that he will – we can take those before the Senate.”

He continued, “There is no limit on the number of times the Senate can vote to convict or not a president, no limit to the number of times the House can vote to impeach or not a president. So, my belief is that [Pelosi] will probably say we’re going to move forward with what we have now, but we’re not going to end investigations and that there may be possible opportunities to do other things at a later time.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/12/05/dem-rep-green-no-limit-to-how-many-times-we-can-try-to-impeach-trump/

Family of Disappeared Ex-FBI Agent Seeks $1.5 Billion in Damages From Iran

The family of Robert Levinson, an ex-FBI agent-turned-CIA consultant who disappeared in Iran 13 years ago, has asked a US judge for $1.5 billion in damages from Iran. Tehran recently said it opened a missing persons probe into Levinson, but his family believes he sits in an Iranian prison.

Levinson once worked for the FBI, but after retiring from the bureau, he went into a life of private work as a consultant for the CIA. While on an ill-planned mission to Iran’s Kish Island resort destination on the Persian Gulf in March 2007, Levinson disappeared, with little heard of his whereabouts since.

Levinson’s family was deterred from bringing a suit against the CIA with a $2.5 million payoff in order to keep sensitive details about his work from coming to light, but now the family has brought a new suit against the Iranian government, asking a Washington, DC, federal judge on Wednesday to grant them $150 million in compensatory damages and $1.35 billion in punitive damages as a deterrent to further hostage-taking, AP reported.

Levinson’s seven children and his wife, Christine, are expected to testify this week. Several have read emails from before Robert’s disappearance, recounted the days immediately before he left for Kish Island and testified about their mental illnesses acquired in grappling with his disappearance.

“This is an American tragedy, this is a tragedy without end,” David McGee, the family’s legal counsel, told Judge Timothy Kelly on Wednesday. “It is difficult to imagine the pain they have gone through.”

Levinson, who would be 71 now, was believed by the Obama administration to be dead. However, US President Donald Trump has revived the position that Levinson lives and is being hidden away in an Iranian prison, offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his return.

According to the Washington Post, Levinson’s apprehension was acknowledged by Iranian news outlet Press TV shortly after his disappearance in 2007, but Tehran has since denied knowledge of his whereabouts. A photo of him in a prison jumpsuit and long beard emerged in April 2011; Douglas, the youngest Levinson child, described his father as looking “hopeless” and “defeated” in the image.

Last month, Iran’s Revolutionary Court told the United Nations it had an “open case” on Levinson as a missing person investigation.

“Levinson has a judicial case in our country as he is missing …This is based on humanitarian issues,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told journalists at the time. However, he noted that US nationals - like Levinson’s family - have “no judicial or criminal case in any Islamic Republic of Iran court whatsoever.”

https://sputniknews.com/world/201912051077495044-family-of-disappeared-ex-fbi-agent-seeks-15-billion-in-damages-from-iran/

LEAK: DOJ IG Report Has 104 Criminal or Admin Investigations of Misconduct by FBI Employees

ustice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has over 100 criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct related to FBI employees, according to a leak to investigative reporter Paul Sperry.

“The criminal investigations involve serious allegations of official misconduct,” Paul Sperry said on Thursday.

Michael Horowitz is expected to release his much-anticipated report on FISA abuses on December 9 and so far all we have seen are leaks to the media.

We know that Horowitz, an Obama-appointee, did find that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith who text messaged “viva le resistance” altered an email in connection with Carter Page’s FISA application.

Mr. Clinesmith is facing a criminal investigation for altering a document related to the Page wiretaps.

US Attorney from Connecticut John Durham is currently conducting his own criminal investigation into the origins of Russiagate and unlike Horowitz, Durham has the power to indict and impanel a grand jury.

Horowitz is scheduled to publicly testify about his FISA abuse report to the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 11.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/leak-doj-ig-report-has-104-criminal-or-admin-investigations-of-misconduct-by-fbi-employees/

Developing: Passport for Mysterious Maltese Professor Joseph Mifsud Turns up in Portugal – Deep State Spy Mifsud Said he Was in Fear for His Life

Deep State Spy Joseph Mifsud is connected to the Obama Spygate Scandal after setting up George Papadopoulos and General Flynn in London. He also was close to Hillary Clinton and even dined with her in 2016.

But today Mifsud has gone missing and it is still unknown which entity or country he was working for when he spied on the Trump team.

As we noted in February 2019, candidate Trump’s unpaid volunteer George Papadopoulos was spied on by the Deep State through an individual named Joseph Mifsud.

Mifsud’s purpose was to plant information with Papadopoulos (namely that the Russians had Hillary’s emails) so that the same information could be retrieved from Papadopoulos and the Deep State could say that the Trump campaign knew Russia had Hillary’s emails.

Papadopoulos explained this in an interview with former Secret Agent and author Dan Bongino when he shared this –

Bongino: I want to get right to it. I have a list of questions for you..I guess the easiest question to ask is why did you meet with Mifsud?

Papadopoulos: Professor Mifsud is a Maltese professor. Just so everybody understands – he’s not a Russian.

I was working at this organization in London – the London Center for International Law Practice (LCILP) – that unbeknownst to me at the time was apparently some sort of front group for ex-western diplomats and ex-western intelligence types of personalities.

As well, the legal counsel for the FBI in the UK, Arvinder Sambei, just happens to also be a director at this organization I used to work for. I tell this organization ‘Look, I’m joining the Trump Campaign, I’m leaving. I’m going back to the U.S. I’m leaving London.

But they all of a sudden tell me, ‘before you leave, you really need to come to Rome with us. We want to introduce you to some people there.’ So, I say, ‘that’s fine. I’ll go to Rome. It’s a three-day holiday before I get back to Washington.

They introduce me to Josef Mifsud at this university in Rome called Link Campus. This isn’t any normal university in Rome. At the time I had no idea what this place was. But apparently, it’s a training ground for western intelligence operatives in Rome. The CIA has held symposiums there. David Ignatius from the Washington Post has actually written extensively about this place. They have connections to the FBI and other groups.

I also saw many Italian diplomats there. The ex-foreign minister of Italy was the director of this university, so things started to pop in my mind that this isn’t just a random event – a random meeting.

They tell me it’s very important for you to meet Josef Mifsud. I had no idea who this person was. He came up to me, presented himself as this mid-fifties, former diplomat, who knew the world.

The mainstream media and the FBI, DOJ and Mueller team all wanted to connect President Trump to Russia so they set up Papadopoulos and then claimed that he met with Russians. The only problem is that the Russian was not a Russian – he’s a Maltese professor. Joseph Mifsud and all the connections in London were a set up.

More

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/developing-passport-for-mysterious-maltese-professor-joseph-mifsud-turns-up-in-portugal-deep-state-spy-mifsud-said-he-was-in-fear-for-his-life/

Donald takes aim at Donald: Former EU Council head Tusk tweets image of himself holding two fingers against Trump's back as if it was a gun as he becomes latest top politician to mock US president

Donald Tusk posted image of him pointing two fingers at Donald Trump's back

Former EU Council leader made 'gun' gesture after the NATO summit in London

He then tweeted a picture of the prank from his personal account to his followers

It was the second time at the summit that Trump was mocked by world leaders

Former EU Council chief Donald Tusk fired a shot at Donald Trump today by tweeting a photo of himself pretending to point a gun into the back of the US president.

The ex-European Council chief waded into the diplomatic row which blew up at this week's Nato summit after Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron were caught mocking Trump behind his back.

After the President stormed from the gathering of heads of government in London last night, Tusk appeared to heap yet further ridicule on the humiliated US leader by sharing a picture of himself purportedly mimicking to press a handgun into Trump's back.

The photo of the two Donalds - who had an icy relationship during the Brussels politician's term at the top of the EU - was taken at last year's G7 meeting in Canada.

But by sharing the controversial picture in the wake of Trump's awkward Nato summit, Tusk has taken a blatant swipe at the reeling US leader.

The ex-Polish PM, who stepped down from his EU role last week, tweeted from his personal account to his 6,800 followers with a message of transatlantic unity.

Alongside the image Tusk wrote: 'Despite seasonal turbulences our transatlantic friendship must last #Trump #NATO.'

The intervention ratchets up his feud with the President, who he regularly took aim at during his tenure as EU Council chief.

Only a few months ago, Tusk used a United Nations speech to slam the President's views as 'false and dangerous'.

More

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7760375/Former-EU-Council-head-Tusk-tweets-image-holding-two-fingers-against-Trumps-like-gun.html

Border Patrol Finds Another Cross-Border Tunnel In Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Border Patrol agents and Mexican Federal Police discovered an incomplete cross-border tunnel running underneath the streets of Nogales on Wednesday.

The tunnel was found during a routine, bi-national tunnel sweep of the stormwater drainage system that serves both sides of the border.

The tunnel’s entrance was concealed in the floor of an existing drainage system with a pile of dirt and capped with a Styrofoam and concrete mixture. At its entrance, the tunnel was approximately three feet wide and over four feet tall. It was located 10 feet underground and extended 20 feet into the United States.

This is the 124th tunnel discovered in the Tucson Sector since 1990.

https://breaking911.com/border-patrol-finds-another-cross-border-tunnel-in-arizona/

Snow falling in the Alps on second day of summer, Australia

It's the first week of summer and rather than sunshine and heat, it's snowing.

Many parts of Victoria have shivered through a cold and wet start to the hotter months, with snow blanketing the alps, leaving Victorian's reaching for their winter woollies.

Falls Creek and The Hotham Alpine Resort in Victoria and Perisher Ski Resort in New South Wales all saw significant dumps of snow this morning, with falls of between 15cms-30cms recorded.

"We have had over 25 cm of snow overnight, and it is still going, we did think about reopening, but we thought we might leave this one to the locals, to get the last turns in for 2019," Grace Smith from Falls Creek said.

From Mt Hotham to Mt Buller, temperatures plummeted to -3C overnight

Temperatures have plummeted around the state as a strong cold front crosses Australia's south east.

Tourists visiting Mount Donna Buang - about 80kms east of Melbourne - had to battle snow and icy winds, with one holiday maker likening it to current weather back home in Europe.

In Melbourne, temperatures sat around 14C - making it the coldest day since early October.

Sydneysiders were a little bit luckier, with temperatures hovering around 21C, which is about two degrees colder than average.

Beach lovers can rejoice as the cold weather will not last long with the mercury looking to soar from tomorrow, peaking at 32C on Thursday.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/summer-snow-snow-falling-in-the-alps-on-second-day-of-summer/46a8b0ba-00b0-4c5d-b014-07f8c6ab1658

Indian film-maker sparks fury with suggestion that 'rape without violence' should be legalised and women should carry condoms and 'co-operate' with sex attackers

An Indian film-maker has been slammed for suggesting 'rape without violence' should be legalised and that women should carry condoms and 'co-operate' with sex attackers.

Daniel Shravan made the comments after the body of vet Priyanka Reddy, 27, was found charred under an overpass near Hyderabad in India after she was raped and murdered by men who had offered to help her with a puncture last week.

The film-maker, in a series of now-deleted posts, said that 'rape is not a serious thing, but murder is inexcusable' adding that 'the government should legalise rape without violence for the safety of women.'

http://www.stationgossip.com/2019/12/indian-film-maker-sparks-fury-with.html

>>7434254

Yep