dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

John Bolton’s Praise Of ‘Honorable’ John Kelly Backfires Spectacularly

Former national security adviser John Bolton tried praising former White House chief of staff John Kelly for going public with his criticism of President Donald Trump.

But given Bolton’s own reluctance to speak out ― apparently to save his revelations for a book ― it didn’t go over very well.

Kelly made headlines on Thursday for speaking in support of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who reported Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals. Kelly also praised immigrants, who Trump constantly smears, among other criticisms of the president at an event in New Jersey.

Bolton last year refused to appear during the House impeachment inquiry for a voluntary deposition, and his attorney said he would sue if subpoenaed. He said he would testify if called before the Senate during Trump’s impeachment trial, but GOP leaders allowed no witnesses.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the House impeachment managers, said managers approached Bolton to sign an affidavit regarding what he witnessed during his time in the White House.

He declined.

“For whatever reason, he apparently was willing to testify before the Senate, but apart from that, seems intent on saving it for his book,” Schiff said earlier this month on MSNBC. “He’ll have to answer for that.”

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/john-bolton-john-kelly-praise-091249302.html

LA church leaders charged with marriage, immigration fraud

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three officials with a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles have been charged as part of an alleged scheme to trick followers into becoming fundraisers and arrange sham marriages to keep them in the U.S.

Federal agents arrested the local leaders of Kingdom of Jesus Christ church during a raid last month. They were each charged Wednesday. Conspiring to commit forced labor trafficking and immigration and marriage fraud were some of the charges, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Guia Cabactulan, 59, was the church’s top official in the United States, according to the indictment. Marissa Duenas, 41, allegedly handled immigration matters as the “human resources leader” and investigators believe Amanda Estopare, 48, tracked fundraising and funneled money to the church’s leadership in the Philippines, the newspaper reported Thursday.

A magistrate judge had ordered all three women detained after their arrests last month. Attorneys for Cabactulan and Duenas didn’t immediately respond to requests from the Times for comment. It was unclear from court records if Estopare had retained a lawyer.

Israelito Torreon, an attorney for the church in the Philippines, previously denied all accusations. Torreon said the U.S. charges stemmed from a campaign, waged by disgruntled ex-members, “to exact revenge” and drag the church and its leader, Apollo Quiboloy, “into a quagmire of shame, blatant humiliation and defeat.”

Quiboloy was neither charged nor identified by name in court documents; prosecutors and agents have referred only to the church’s “leader,” the Times said.

Workers who say they managed to escape from the church told the FBI that they had been sent across the U.S. to work long hours soliciting donations for the church’s charity and were beaten and psychologically abused if they didn't make daily quotas, according to an affidavit filed last month in support of the charges. Some described having to live in cars at truck stops.

The immigrants essentially became full-time workers, sometimes referred to as “miracle workers,” in a crusade to raise money for the nonprofit Children’s Joy Foundation USA, which was supposed to benefit poor children in their homeland. But the complaint said most of the money raised was used to finance church operations and fund the leaders' lavish lifestyles.

The church claims a membership of 6 million people and backed the 2016 candidacy of President Rodrigo Duterte, a close friend of Quiboloy.

Between 2014 and the middle of last year, $20 million was sent to the church in the Philippines, the FBI said.

Investigators documented 82 sham marriages over a 20-year period between top fundraisers and church members who were U.S. citizens.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/la-church-leaders-charged-marriage-051818185.html

Merkel in Danger as Fight to Succeed Her Runs Out of Control

Bloomberg) – A 1920s-themed Berlin ballroom packed with several hundred supporters was the unlikely stage for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative nemesis to unveil his comeback bid.

“I’m ready to do this,” Friedrich Merz told the audience when someone asked whether he was going to enter the race for the leadership of Merkel’s party and run to succeed her as chancellor in Germany’s next election.

The supervisory board chairman of BlackRock Inc.’s German unit, who is leaving the post to focus on politics, sprinkled his speech late Thursday with criticism of Merkel’s climate policy and her response to European proposals by France, suggesting she’s too cautious. He also expressed “a lot of respect” for the four-term chancellor, who has said she won’t run again in 2021.

Still, there’s no mistaking it: Merz is back and that’s bad news for Merkel. Her plan to serve out her term through 2021 may run into trouble if her longtime critic finally wins the party chairmanship. And it’s not the only risk. Another leading contender – Health Minister Jens Spahn – has also gone on the attack, with Merkel seen as weakened by the collapse of her succession plan.Merz, 64, comes from the conservative wing of the Christian Democratic Union and has been a harsh critic of Merkel’s more centrist approach ever since she fired him as her caucus leader in 2002.

His first comeback attempt failed in 2018 when he narrowly lost the contest for the CDU leadership against Merkel’s protege Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Now, the chance for revenge is coming into sight again.

Merkel’s team is alarmed about the prospect of Merz becoming party leader, according to one official with knowledge of their thinking. They are hoping that North Rhine-Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet will strike a deal with Spahn to avoid an open power struggle.

What worries Merkel is that Merz could force an unpredictable three-way contest by seizing the initiative early and pressing his claim with members, the official said.

Adding further complexity to the situation, Spahn – a frequent Merkel critic in the past – is giving no signs of playing nice. He called on the CDU to emancipate itself from Merkel.

“We have to look forward”, Spahn said in an interview with Spiegel magazine. “After so many years marked by Angela Merkel, the CDU has to learn to walk again.”

His choice of words is highly provocative, as they echo Merkel’s 1999 attack on Helmut Kohl, when the former chancellor was damaged by a party finance scandal. Her assault at the time contributed to his downfall and paved the way for her rise.

Polling Tension

Merz has an early edge in the race. Seven out of 10 CDU supporters see him as a good chancellor candidate, and across the political spectrum he’s ahead of his rivals with 40% approval, compared with Laschet’s 30% and Spahn’s 24%, according to an Infratest dimap poll conducted for public broadcaster ARD.

Still, just tossing Merkel aside would be dangerous. Given her public support, the CDU could lose about 2.4 million voters, or nearly a quarter of its support, after she steps down, according to a Forsa poll published in German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

Parliamentary President Wolfgang Schaeuble, the elder statesman of German politics, said the CDU should stick to the process laid out by Kramp-Karrenbauer.

“She will now talk with all those within the CDU who have shown interest,” and then discuss the situation with the Bavarian sister party, he said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio on Friday. The former finance minister, who supported Merz in the party leadership race in 2018, didn’t want to publicly voice his support for Merz when asked by the interviewer.