Grassley Lifts Hold on Counterintel Chief Nominee Evanina After AG Barr and DNI Grenell Release Russia Probe Documents

After two years Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) finally lifted his hold on President Donald Trump’s pick for counterintelligence chief, William Evanina.

Grassley was waiting for DOJ documents on possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia which he claimed were given to House committees for their investigations.

Senator Grassley praised AG William Barr and acting DNI Richard Grenell in a statement released on Monday adding that he did not question Evanina’s credentials.

President Trump has nominated William Evanina for the post twice but Sen. Grassley had placed a hold on the nomination.

DNI Rick Grenell has only been acting DNI since February and is already making his presence known.

The Politico reported:

Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday lifted his hold on President Donald Trump’s pick to be the nation’s counterintelligence chief, ending a blockade that began nearly two years ago.

Grassley initially blocked William Evanina’s nomination to head the National Counterintelligence and Security Center in June 2018, demanding the Justice Department fork over documents on its probe of possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow — which he claimed House committees received in their Russia investigations, including those related to Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who became a go-between for former British spy Christopher Steele and the FBI.

In a statement submitted for the record Monday, Grassley stressed that he “did not question Mr. Evanina’s credentials in any way” and said his change of heart came after he received the documents he requested, praising Attorney General William Barr and acting DNI Richard Grenell.

“If their predecessors had simply respected legitimate congressional oversight and their agreements with me and the Judiciary Committee from the beginning, Mr. Evanina would have been confirmed long ago,” according to Grassley.

“Let this also be a reminder that when it comes to congressional oversight, I will use all the tools at my disposal to get to the truth of the matter and get access to the records that I believe are necessary to advance my investigations,” he added.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/big-development-grassley-lifts-hold-counterintel-chief-nominee-evanina-ag-barr-dni-grenell-release-russia-probe-documents/

More Coronavirus Fakery: Virginia Officials Pad Their COVID Numbers – Admit to Counting Same Person Three Times if They Received 3 Different Tests

The commonwealth of Virginia saw a surge in coronavirus cases this week after they changed the way they are counting COVID-19 testing.

Commonwealth officials announced that if the same person tests positive for coronavirus three times that will count as three separate cases of the virus.

Virginia is padding their numbers.

Via Dinesh DSouza:

Governor Ralph Northam’s response team is explaining why the commonwealth has lagged in testing when compared to other states.

The state saw a historic increase in testing numbers Friday, jumping 15% in the last 24 hours, but a change in the methodology is behind the spike.

“You need to know the exact number of tests not the number of people who had tests,” said Dr. Daniel Carey, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources.

During a COVID-19 briefing, The Virginia Department of Health announced it will now count the number of positive virus tests instead of the number of people who test positive.

That means if one person is tested three-times and all three tests come back positive, it counts as three instead of how the numbers were being counted before, which would have only been one because it was a single patient.

In March Governor Blackface Northam announced he was closing the state until June 10th.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/coronavirus-fakery-virginia-officials-pad-covid-numbers-admit-counting-person-three-times-received-3-different-tests/

The Federal Reserve: More Lethal than Coronavirus

Last week the Federal Reserve announced it will keep interest rates at or near zero until the economy recovers from the government-imposed shutdown. Following this announcement, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell urged Congress and the Trump administration to put aside any concerns about the deficit and spend whatever it takes to stimulate the economy and combat coronavirus.

The Federal Reserve previously announced it would make unlimited purchases of Treasury securities, thus encouraging Congress and the president to increase spending and debt. With some members of Congress talking about another multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bill, and with President Trump proposing a two trillion dollars infrastructure plan as a way to get Americans back to work, it is obvious, and not surprising, that Congress and President Trump gleefully agree with Powell’s advice.

Increasing the purchase of federal debt is not the only action the Fed has taken in a desperate attempt to keep the economy afloat. Since the coronavirus lockdowns began in early March, the Fed has greatly expanded its balance sheet. The Federal Reserve has also launched an unprecedented program to “loan” money directly to businesses.

While some states are beginning to end the lockdowns, it may be months or even another year before all the lockdowns are finally ended. It is unlikely that the economy will completely recover after the shutdown ends.

The economy was teetering on the brink of a recession months before anyone heard of coronavirus. Last September, a panicked Fed began emergency infusions of cash into the repurchasing market, which is where banks make short-term loans to each other. The Fed’s balance sheet expansion also began in September. The Fed was also pushing interest rates down before the coronavirus panic, and it will likely keep rates at or even below zero long after the crisis related to the shutdown subsides.

Economic stagnation combined with zero or negative interest rates remove incentive for people to save. This depletes the supply of private capital available to invest in businesses and jobs. The lack of private capital will put pressure on the Federal Reserve to maintain, and even expand, its new lending programs indefinitely.

Each of the Federal Reserve’s responses to the coronavirus shutdown increases the distortions of the market caused by the Federal Reserve’s meddling with the money supply and interest rates. These increased distortions guarantee the inevitable crash will be much more severe than the current downturn. The one upside is that the next meltdown will likely lead to the end of the fiat money system and thus the end of the welfare-warfare state.

The only way to minimize the coming crisis is to begin immediately unwinding the current system. The first step is to end the lockdown and let businesses reopen and people go back to work. Congress must then begin challenging monetary policy by passing the Audit the Fed bill. Congress should also cut spending, starting with ending our hyper-interventionist foreign policy and bringing the troops home. Ending the welfare-warfare state and the fiat money system may cause some short-term pain, but that pain will be dwarfed by the long-term gains in liberty, peace, and prosperity.

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2020/may/04/the-federal-reserve-more-lethal-than-coronavirus/

Illegal Immigrants Are Suing the Government for Being Denied Coronavirus Stimulus Checks

A group of illegal immigrants with children who were born in the US are suing the federal government because they did not get checks from the stimulus package.

The Georgetown University law school’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of the group in Maryland’s federal district court on Tuesday.

They claim that their exclusion is a violation of the Constitution.

“The refusal to distribute this benefit to U.S. citizen children undermines the CARES Act’s goal of providing assistance to Americans in need, frustrates the Act’s efforts to jumpstart the economy, and punishes citizen children for their parents’ status — punishment that is particularly nonsensical given that undocumented immigrants, collectively, pay billions of dollars each year in taxes,” their lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit alleges that their children, who were born in the US, are being “punished” because their parents are illegal immigrants.

In order to receive funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided $1,200 for adults and $500 for each child, the person needs to have a Social Security number, something you only have if you are a US citizen.

Norma claims she lost her job at a restaurant and can’t get any money because she is not a citizen.

“I have lost my job, and in my home three adults have the coronavirus; none of us are working,” one of the plaintiffs, identified only as “Norma” said in a statement released through her lawyers. “My son is an American citizen, and we need him to receive the CARES Act benefit to provide food and a roof over his head until this difficult moment passes.”

The lawsuit argues denying relief money to children of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment “because the children are being discriminated against and treated differently from other US citizen children.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/illegal-immigrants-suing-government-denied-coronavirus-stimulus-checks/

Useless & invasive? UK’s Covid-19 contact tracing app gets bad reviews after reportedly failing all performance tests

Many Britons are scoffing at a government plan to roll out an NHS Covid-19 app to trace cases of the virus, describing the initiative as unnecessary and intrusive. The app received poor marks during initial trials.

The tracing app uses Bluetooth technology to register a “contact” when people come within six feet of each other. Those who later develop symptoms of coronavirus can inform the app, which then sends an alert to the people they've been in contact with.Similar apps have been adopted in countries such as Singapore and Germany. However, the idea has been met with considerable suspicion in Britain.

Former BBC reporter Anna Brees questioned why health officials and the media were urging people to download the app without first asking if it’s what the public actually wants.

“Why not design an app at speed which allows us all to vote on this? Freedom or control? I like freedom,” she noted.

Others noted that the program relies on constantly changing variables in order to function properly, making it “a complete waste of time.”

Shona Ghosh, Business Insider's UK tech editor, wrote that privacy concerns have prevented her from endorsing the new app – at least for now.

Ongoing trials on the Isle of Wight, ahead of a nationwide roll out scheduled for later this month, have resulted in similarly poor reviews. Senior NHS sources told Health Service Journal (HSJ) that the app has failed “all of the tests” necessary to be released. One official expressed privacy concerns, noting that it would be impossible to make the program anonymous and non-intrusive.

The real problem is the government initially started saying it was a ‘privacy-preserving highly anonymous app’, but it quite clearly isn't going to be… The second you say, ‘actually I'm positive’, that has to go back up to the government server, where it starts to track you versus other people.

There are also questions about basic feasibility. The program would be voluntary, but would require widespread usage in order to actually be effective. Researchers say an estimated 80 percent of smartphone owners would have to actively use it. That's a huge percentage – considerably more than the 67 percent of UK smartphone users who have downloaded popular messaging system WhatsApp. People would also have to be honest and diligent about reporting potential symptoms to the NHS.

https://www.rt.com/uk/487798-coronavirus-app-tracing-uk-privacy/

Sweden: Migration agency expects 21,000 new ‘asylum seekers’ in 2020

Sweden’s Migration Board in April estimated that 21,000 people will seek asylum in Sweden this year, 2,000 fewer than were estimated the agency’s February forecast.

On its website, the Migration Board states that the number of migrants seeking asylum in Sweden has nearly halved since the end of March due to conditions which have resulted from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Individuals seeking asylum presently are those who were already in the country prior to the pandemic’s outbreak.

Based on the assumption that lockdown measures will be eased and travel restrictions will be lifted this summer, the agency expects the number of migrants seeking asylum in Sweden will be reduced from 23,000, as was forecasted in February, to roughly 21,000 for the year 2020.

If the migration agency’s 2020 projection are correct, the number of migrants seeking asylum this year will be comparable to the numbers seen in the previous two years. However, if coronavirus restrictions continue into the summer, the migration authority expects there to be significantly fewer asylum seekers this year.

Henrik Holmer, the Migration Board’s planning manager, says: “If the restrictions remain, we can land down to, or even below, 10,000 asylum seekers this year. On the other hand, we may see a rapid increase again if restrictions start to be eased.”

The return of rejected asylum seekers to their homelands is also expected to be affected by lockdowns and border closures. The migration agency projects that 7,000 rejected asylum seekers will leave on their own in 2020, about 3,700 fewer than the agency forecasted in February.

“Even in this area, the length of travel restrictions is a crucial factor. It is also uncertain to what extent the flight capacity will be able to return to previous levels,” Holmer says.

Lastly, in addition to travel restrictions, the European Union’s relationship with Turkey will certainly play a role in the number of migrants seeking asylum in Sweden.

At the beginning of April, after removing nearly 6,000 migrants from the Greek-Turkish border region to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that he wouldn’t deter migrants from heading back to the border once the pandemic is over, as Voice of Europe reported.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/05/sweden-migration-agency-expects-21000-new-asylum-seekers-in-2020/

Lockdown “Snitches” Fear Retaliation for Reporting Neighbors, After Names Released Online

In George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Thought Police (Thinkpol) used informants to gather intelligence on potential subversives and eliminate them. The superstate’s power was largely derived and maintained from their ability to turn everyone, including children, into informants, or ‘snitches’, for Big Brother.

Though his predictions have materialized into non-fiction, Orwell wasn’t a psychic. The culture of snitching has long been the foothold of tyrannies throughout this planet’s history. Through fear, entire societies are convinced by their rulers that a certain group of people is “the enemy” and they will not be “safe” unless they inform the government about the behavior of “the enemy.”

Throughout history, extensive propaganda campaigns have been waged on citizens by governments — defining their enemy. In the Ottoman empire, Christian minorities, including Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks were labelled as the enemy and citizens turned in their neighbors as more than a million people were marched to their deaths. During the Holocaust, the Germans were told to that the Jews were their enemy and we know how that unfolded. The same goes for the Slavics in Russia, the Chinese in Japan, the Haitians in the Dominican Republic, Tibetans in China, and son on.

All that governments throughout history have had to do to wage mass murder and genocide against an innocent group of people is declare them the enemy and ask their citizens to report them. As police cannot be everywhere all the time, citizen snitches are the real ‘Big Brother.’

In fictional dystopias and in non-fictional dystopias like the ones mentioned above, the state relies on its subservient and obedient informant citizens to police their own. This distrust among neighbors promotes group think and makes those who may have rebellious tendencies stand out.

Since 9/11, the US government has ramped up its propaganda on encouraging citizens to snitch on each other. In every airport, bus station, and populated area in general there are signs constantly telling Americas if the “see something, say something.”

Fast forward to 2020, during a COVID-19 pandemic and the fear-ridden populace has been primed to do the bidding of the state. Across the country tip lines have been established for citizens to rat out their neighbors and, across the country, those tip lines are flooded by government informants telling on their neighbors for not staying six feet apart. Some 9-1-1 call centers have even been inundated with calls by citizens reporting their neighbors for coughing. Seriously.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/snitches-fear-retaliation-reporting/

Instead of Dumping Out Their Milk, Dairy Farmers Bottle It Themselves—Sell Out in Hours

(RTN) The American spirit lives on at a 300-year-old, cream-line dairy farm, where a farmer is working around the clock to bottle his own milk after his processor told him to dump it. Locals are lining up to support him.When Ben Brown’s dairy processor told him they could no longer buy his milk, he got to work bottling it himself.

He sells some of it at his on-site farm store, but a large portion of it used to be sold to a dairy processor who pasteurized and bottled it for local restaurants and markets.

When he realized he would have to dump hundreds of gallons of milk each week until his 70 milking cows dried up, he couldn’t bear it.

In a post on Facebook, the dairy announced their new hours to make sure they didn’t waste the milk.

As many of you know, all the excess milk we do not bottle is shipped to SCHNEIDER’S in Pittsburgh PA. They have just contacted us and told us they WILL NOT be picking up our milk on Wednesday or Friday. (They pick up our milk every other day) that means they are asking us to DUMP DOWN THE DRAIN a total of…

We are totally disgusted by this kind of waste.

(We also do not get paid for the dumped milk obviously)

We can only pasteurize and bottle 30 gallons at a time, but we are going to work around the clock to try and bottle as much as we can this week. We are REALLY going to try to not waste a drop!

So, we are going to…..

OPEN UP OUR FARM STORE on Wednesday now too!

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/instead-of-dumping-out-their-milk-dairy-farmers-bottle-it-themselves-sell-out-in-hours/

Senate Republicans Starting To Raise Concerns About America’s Massive Coronavirus Spending

A number of Republicans in the Senate are starting to raise concerns about the massive amount of money the U.S. has spent combatting coronavirus, the Daily Caller has learned.

The federal government has appropriated nearly $3 trillion in roughly six weeks for coronavirus relief and number of Republican Senators shared their concerns over the amount of money being spent, when asked by the Daily Caller. Many are saying they are encouraged to see states reopen their economies so that the borrowing from the federal government slows down.

“Congress took unprecedented action to provide emergency relief from this economic devastation to the tune of nearly $3 trillion. As we’ve seen, that relief can only go so far. In just the last five weeks, more than 30 million Americans have lost their jobs. Entire livelihoods have been shattered. Our deficit this year is projected to swell to nearly $4 trillion – an unprecedented level that we’re borrowing from the generations to come,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told the Daily Caller.

“We cannot simply spend our way out of this crisis. I’m encouraged to see states begin re-opening the economy region by region, based on the science and public health guidance. Moving forward, as we help the American people safely return to work, my priority will be focused on helping the economy recover. We should start by continuing to waive every regulation that was waived during this crisis, and begin to repeal the most costly of the major regulations that have accumulated over the past decade. Regulatory relief, coupled with tax relief, will be critical to revitalizing our economy,” Cruz continued.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/05/05/senate-republicans-raise-concerns-about-massive-coronavirus-spending/