Dissident British Ex-Diplomat Craig Murray Indicted For Blog Posts in Kafkaesque Case

Craig Murray, a former UK diplomat turned anti-war activist, has been charged with contempt of court for writing blog posts. He faces a possible two years in jail, with no jury and no freedom of speech defense permitted.

The renowned British peace activist and former diplomat Craig Murray has been charged with contempt of court for writing blog posts.

The suspicious indictment represents a heavily politicized, Kafkaesque case in which Murray has virtually none of his rights guaranteed. It also appears to be a part of the British government's aggressive crackdown on the Scottish independence movement.

In comments to The Grayzone, Murray described the case against him as a thoroughly undemocratic attack on free speech, and warned it may be punishment for his dissident journalism and activism exposing the UK's crimes and lies.

Murray said he faces the possibility of "no jury, no 'beyond reasonable doubt' test, no public interest defence allowed, no freedom of speech defence allowed, and up to two years in jail and an 'unlimited' fine."

Craig Murray served as Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004. The UK Foreign Office fired him for his exposure of British and US involvement in egregious human rights violations in the country. Murray had blown the whistle on torture, warning that the CIA was using highly dubious intelligence obtained from tortured detainees.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61414

Top Intelligence Office Says No Evidence Pandemic Originated In Wuhan Lab

Former top intelligence officials worry the president is attempting to politicize intelligence gathering

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement saying it's continuing to search for an answer about the origins of the virus

Trump has floated the idea of seeking damages from China

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unusual statement Thursday, saying there’s no evidence the coronavirus pandemic originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, amid reports the White House was pressuring intelligence agencies to find a link.

“The entire intelligence community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China. The intelligence community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the statement reads.

The statement said intelligence agencies are still trying to determine “whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

The statement followed a report in the New York Times, which reported were being pressed on the question of whether the virus can be tied to a lab, possibly to bolster a threat to seek damages for the economic and human costs the pandemic has wrought floated by Trump this week.

Chinese authorities have discounted the possibility and pushed back by accusing the U.S. military of developing and spreading the pathogen. Experts have ruled out the possibility the virus was developed as a bioweapon although a lab accident has not been ruled out.

The Times said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was pushing intelligence agencies to find more information, highlighting efforts to politicize intelligence gathering.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a Washington Post op-ed Trump’s decision to fire key intelligence officials for not toeing the line has had a dangerous impact.

“President Trump has made no secret of his distaste for the intelligence community’s independence, which is fundamental to its proper functioning. … I have been deeply disturbed watching the president disparage the work of these brave Americans and publicly cast doubt on intelligence findings that run counter to his political narrative,” Warner wrote.

He warned: “If presenting objective information about threats to the United States is treated as political disloyalty to the president, our intelligence community simply cannot function as it was intended to. The consequences of this breakdown will undoubtedly be measured in American lives.”

In an op-ed published this week by Foreign Policy, former acting CIA director Michael Morell, former White House deputy national security adviser Avril Haines and former deputy CIA director David S. Cohen warned Trump is trying to politicize intelligence operations, a dangerous practice given the current situation.

https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-intelligence-top-intelligence-office-says-no-evidence-pandemic-originated-2968074

>>8974668

Notable

This was flagged a while back as the strategy, keep delaying extending and claiming new outbreaks

More Than 30 Million Americans Unemployed: Another 3.8 Million Seek Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment claims rose for the sixth straight week as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with 3.8 million Americans filing initial claims and bringing the total to nearly double the number of unemployed during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

“Another 3.8 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, said in a statement. “That measure, shockingly high under any circumstances, means that the total number of new claims is 30 million since the pandemic and economic slowdown erupted."

Economists say the unemployment rate for April could reach 20%, which is the highest rate since the Great Depression, which reached a rate of 25%, the Associated Press reported. During the Depression, 15 million Americans were without jobs.

The unemployment report followed Wednesday's release of first quarter results for the gross domestic product. The Commerce Department reported the economy contracted 4.8% just two weeks into pandemic mitigation efforts. Estimates for the second quarter contraction range as high as 40%.

“The United States hit a grim milestone that just months ago seemed unimaginable: More than 30 million workers, or 1 in 5 members of the covered workforce , have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment in the last six weeks,” Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and one of the nation’s leading unemployment insurance experts said in a statement.

“The COVID-19 crisis has made us accustomed and de-ensitized to previously unthinkable phenomena, but today marks a tough reality for our country and for American workers .”

Last week more than 4.4 million workers filed for unemployment benefits, leaving as many as 26 million Americans jobless over a five-week period when the coronavirus outbreak began closing businesses, causing a mass furlough of employees.

https://www.ibtimes.com/more-30-million-americans-unemployed-another-38-million-seek-unemployment-benefits-2967961

Trump: 'CNN and Others Should Pay for What They've Done to General Flynn'

After documents were released showing that the FBI set up General Flynn, President Donald Trump went after CNN and others who did everything in their power to destroy the general’s good name and reputation over the years.

“CNN doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn & why they got the story so wrong,” Trump wrote on Twitter after he realized that the left-wing news channel ignored yesterday’s revelations about the FBI’s horrible conduct in the case against Trump’s former national security adviser. “They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man & his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!”

As PJ Media reported Wednesday, handwritten FBI notes recently provided to Flynn’s lawyers show that the FBI “deliberately tried to catch then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in a lie to get him prosecuted or fired.” “

What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” one of the notes read.

In another note, the author explained he had misgivings about the FBI’s conduct. “I agreed yesterday that we shouldn’t show Flynn if he didn’t admit,” the FBI author wrote. “I thought [about] it last night, [and] I believe we should rethink this… We regularly show subjects evidence, with the goal of getting them to admit wrongdoing. I don’t see how getting someone to admit their wrongdoing is going easy on him.”

You’d think this is rather important information about this case. But, remarkably, the mainstream media are extremely reluctant to cover any of it thereby proving Trump right: like the FBI, they actively worked to destroy this man, purely and only because he had the audacity to support Donald Trump for president. Sick.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/michael-van-der-galien/2020/04/30/trump-cnn-and-others-should-pay-for-what-theyve-done-to-gen-flynn-n386818

Bill Gates paralyzed half a million children with polio vaccines – do we really want him vaccinating the world for coronavirus?

It is difficult to understand how a man whose vaccine initiatives have injured and killed untold thousands of innocent children all around the world is now being given a platform to push for mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination as a condition for ending the lockdowns.

Bill Gates, in case you had not yet figured out the character in question, is pushing not just for mandatory vaccination for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), but also for “digital certificates” that prove vaccination status. This is the only way people will be allowed to return to work, assuming Gates gets his way.

But have people forgotten that Gates has spent billions of dollars over the years vaccinating children for other things, all the while inflicting them with permanent injury and even death? A single vaccine campaign that Gates launched in India for polio ended up causing non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP), or permanent paralyzation, in nearly half a million children between the years of 2000 and 2017.

After the Indian government demanded that Gates and his cronies leave India following this epidemic of permanent injury, rates of NPAFP dropped precipitously. But this has not stopped Gates from inflicting similar damage elsewhere, with injury and death tolls that more than likely are in the tens of millions, at this point.

An outspoken eugenicist and “elite” supremacist, Gates lives to vaccinate. After conveniently ditching the board of Microsoft right as the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic started to come into full swing, Gates has been doing nothing other than advocating for mass vaccination and indefinite lockdowns until everyone on the planet is jabbed.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, explains why the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is 56 to 100 times more deadly than seasonal influenza:

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2020/04/30/bill-gates-paralyzed-half-a-million-children-with-polio-vaccines-do-we-really-want-him-vaccinating-the-world-for-coronavirus/

New Docs Detail How FBI Concluded Flynn Probe ‘No Longer a Viable Case’ in Jan 2017 – But Rogue Strzok Went off the Rails and Kept it Going!

New documents filed in Flynn’s case reveal the FBI investigation was concluded on January 4, 2017 as ‘no longer a viable case’ – but rogue Strzok and other FBI leaders went off the rails and kept the investigation going.

On January 4, 2017, the FBI field office found “No derogatory information” on Flynn and decided to close CROSSFIRE RAZOR.

But Peter Strzok wasn’t finished with Flynn because he had a political ax to grind.

FBI Washington Field Office Report:

FBI and US Govt (CIA?) databases showed “no derogatory information” on Flynn.

Flynn determined to be “no longer a viable candidate” as part of the Crossfire Hurricane case.

Peter Strzok kept the case open anyway!

Peter Strzok texts to the FBI Case Manager handling the Crossfire Razor (Flynn) case.

Strzok: “If you haven’t closed RAZOR, don’t do so yet”

Strzok: “7th floor involved” (FBI Leadership)

(Possible use of Logan Act “violations” to keep investigation open)

On Wednesday it was revealed the FBI framed General Flynn.

The unsealed FBI notes written by Bill Priestap revealed the intent of the FBI’s ambush interview of Flynn in January of 2017.

“What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute [Flynn] or get him fired?” Bill Priestap wrote.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/breaking-new-docs-detail-fbi-concluded-flynn-probe-no-longer-viable-case-jan-2017-rogue-strzok-went-off-rails-kept-going/

Netanyahu calls on Hezbollah to be banned worldwide

Germany outlaws Hezbollah, raids mosques and local leaders’ homes

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ordered that Hezbollah’s activities be banned due to violations of criminal law, he announced on Thursday.

Police in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Berlin began searches in mosques and residences tied to Hezbollah, “due to their financial support and propaganda for the terrorist organization,” after the ban was announced at 6 a.m.

Israel and the United States have long pushed for Germany to ban the Shi’ite terrorist group. Germany previously drew a distinction between Hezbollah's political arm and its military units, which fought alongside President Bashar Assad's army in Syria.

Hezbollah symbols may not be used publicly in any assembly, or in print, audio and visual material in Germany, and its assets will be confiscated “to the benefit of the Federal Republic of Germany,” the Interior Ministry’s press release read.

The ban is because Hezbollah is a terrorist group, and also because it “calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel and questions the right of the State of Israel to exist.

“The organization is therefore fundamentally against the concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents itself as a political, social or military structure,” the ministry said.

“Its violent denial of the right to exist of the State of Israel also fundamentally opposes Germany’s national ethos,” another Interior Ministry document states.

The order allows German authorities to “use all available instruments of the rule of law to crack down” on Hezbollah and its German sub-organization, the statement reads.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the decision, saying it is “very important and values-based.”

Banning Hezbollah is “significant in the world battle against terror,” Katz added. “I want to express my appreciation to the German government for this step and am certain many governments in the Middle East and victims of Hezbollah’s terrorism share my gratitude.”

Katz called on additional European states and the EU to follow Germany’s lead and say that “Hezbollah, its military and political arms, is a terrorist organization and must be treated that way.”

“This is a welcome, much-anticipated and significant German decision,” said American Jewish Committee head David Harris. "We now hope other European nations will take a close look at Germany’s decision and reach the same conclusion about the true nature of Hezbollah.”

Yesh Atid-Telem leader Yair Lapid, who has long advocated for European countries to ban Hezbollah, praised Germany on Twitter.

https://www.jpost.com/international/germany-bans-hezbollah-conducts-police-raids-on-possible-members-626364

Sneaky fuckers using a pic of Assad to link him to them. Looks like more of a set up of the Albert Pike third world war, like Deblasio attacking Jews then giving free meals for Ramadan

Dr. Fauci Introduces "Operation Warp Speed" - A 'Manhattan Project'-Style Program To Find A Vaccine: Live Updates

Update (1412ET): In addition to cranking out more courses of remdesivir, the White House is launching a new federal effort to direct the search for a coronavirus vaccine - a "Manhattan Project"-type effort purportedly inspired by a WSJ story about a group of leading scientists working with the administration - Dr. Tony Fauci confirmed on Thursday.

The plan is to have 100 million doses of a workable vaccine ready by January.

Here's Reuters with the details on 'OWS':

The Trump administration is planning to speed up development of a coronavirus vaccine with the goal of having 100 million doses ready by the end of 2020, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Executives and other experts have previously suggested that clinical trials to guarantee a vaccine is safe and effective could take a minimum of 12 to 18 months.

Several agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services announced plans earlier in April to partner with more than 15 drug companies as well as European regulators in an effort to spur development of vaccines and treatments for the disease.

The latest Trump administration efforts to speed vaccine development were originally reported by Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter.

Called "Operation Warp Speed," the project will join private pharmaceutical companies with government agencies and the military in trying to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months.

It said a White House meeting on the project was scheduled for Wednesday.

Last month, President Donald Trump directed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to speed development of a vaccine, and administration officials have been meeting on the effort for three to four weeks, the report added.

The administration’s initiative comes a week after HHS said it had replaced Rick Bright as director of a key U.S. agency charged with developing drugs and vaccines for COVID-19.

Bright has said he was ousted as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, because he resisted the administration’s efforts to push malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine touted by Trump to treat the coronavirus even though their effectiveness has not been demonstrated and there are concerns about heart damage.

Lawyers for Bright, an expert in vaccines and therapeutics who served as an adviser to the World Health Organization, have said he will file a whistleblower’s complaint with two government offices over his removal.

Under Bright’s leadership, BARDA recently announced nearly $1 billion in support of vaccine manufacturing efforts by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The agency had a total of $5 billion set aside for vaccine development.

The program, which was first detailed in a series of leaks last night, aims to speed up the timeline for a mass produced vaccine.

Of course, it's a moonshot - and some critics are complaining that the only thing it accomplishes is wasting more taxpayer dollars on backstopping drug companies that are already racing to find a vaccine. Moreover, certified geniuses like Bill Gates insist it will take up to 2 years to find a vaccine.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/airbus-reports-abysmal-earnings-russian-mafia-busted-trafficking-ventilators-live

==

Steele reveals he believes Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice knew about his anti-Trump research==

Rice denies former British spy's account, which comes in a novel litigation by three Russian businessman suing over Britain's data laws .

The documents underlying his now infamous Russian dossier are long since destroyed, but Christopher Steele’s recollections of his political opposition research on President Trump nearly four years later are poised to create new heartburn for Democrats.

Steele recently testified in a British court that he believed both then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and then-Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice were aware of his dossier research as it was going on in summer 2016.

The testimony makes his most direct link yet between his Russia collusion research and the top of the Clinton campaign and Obama White House.

Steele told a British court he believed he had been hired by the Fusion GPS firm owned by Glenn Simpson through the Democratic National Committee-linked law firm Perkins Coie to assist the Clinton campaign during the election, according to a transcript of the testimony.

“I presumed it was the Clinton campaign, and Glenn Simpson had indicated that. But I was not aware of the technicality of it being the DNC that was actually the client of Perkins Coie,” Steele testified in March under questioning from lawyers for Russian bankers suing over his research.

“You knew it was the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign didn't you?” a lawyer for the businessmen asked.

“I believed it was the campaign. Yes,” he answered.

“The leadership of the Clinton campaign?” he was asked.

“Fine, the leadership of the campaign,” Steele conceded.

The lawyer persisted.

“You also understood that Hillary Clinton herself was aware of what you were doing?” the lawyer asked.

“I think Glenn had mentioned it, but I wasn't clear,” Steele answered.

Then Steele was confronted with what lawyers said were notes he took at a meeting with the FBI in 2016 in which he purported to tell agents that Clinton was aware of his research. The lawyers read from those notes during the court proceedings.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/steele-testifies-he-believes-hillary-clinton-susan-rice

SteeleTestimonyonClinton.pdf

https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2020-04/SteeleTestimonyonClinton.pdf

SteeleRiceTalbottTestimony.pdf

https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2020-04/SteeleRiceTalbottTestimony.pdf

‘Dirty cop Comey got caught!’: Trump unloads on FBI after documents reveal effort to set up General Flynn

President Donald Trump has bashed former FBI Director James Comey, after unsealed documents revealed an agency plot to entrap Gen. Michael Flynn in a bid to take down the Trump presidency.

“DIRTY COP JAMES COMEY GOT CAUGHT!” Trump tweeted on Thursday morning, in one of a series of tweets lambasting the FBI’s prosecution of retired army general Michael Flynn, which he called a “scam.”

Flynn served as Trump’s national security adviser in the first days of the Trump presidency, before he was fired for allegedly lying about his contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

An FBI investigation followed, and several months later, Flynn pleaded guilty to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about lying during interviews with agents. He has since tried to withdraw the plea, citing poor legal defense and accusing the FBI and Obama administration of setting him up from the outset.

Documents unsealed by a federal judge on Wednesday seem to support that argument. In one handwritten note, dated the same day as Flynn’s FBI interview in January 2017, the unidentified note-taker jots down some potential strategies to use against the former general.

“We have a case on Flynn + Russians,” the note reads. “What’s our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”

The unsealed documents also include an email exchange between former agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, in which the pair pondered whether to remind Flynn that lying to federal agents is a crime. Page and Strzok were later fired from the agency, after a slew of text messages emerged showing the pair’s mutual disdain for Trump, and discussing the formulation of an “insurance policy” against his election.

Flynn’s discussions with Kislyak were deemed truthful by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Additionally, a Washington Post article published the day before Flynn’s January 2017 interview revealed that the FBI had tapped his calls with the Russian ambassador and found “nothing illicit.”

Still, Section 1001 of the US Criminal Code, which makes it illegal to lie to a federal agent, is broad in its scope. Defense Attorney Solomon Wisenberg wrote that “even a decent person who tries to stay out of trouble can face criminal exposure under Section 1001 through a fleeting conversation with government agents.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/487394-comey-trump-fbi-documents-flynn/