As for the FBI and the Clintons, Remember FileGate

Posted on July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Image result for clinton filegate

Louis Freeh, Director of FBI from 1993 – 2001 James Comey, Director of FBI, appointed by Barack Obama and in 1996, Comey acted as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee

Is it any wonder that Comey gladly resides in the Clinton web of corruption? Is it any wonder the Department of Justice resides there as well? Since the media wont remind you…..I will. Take a walk on the wild history side….

Alexander, et al. v. FBI (Nos. 96-2123/97-1288) – “Filegate”

In the early 1990’s, President and Hillary Clinton violated the privacy rights of their perceived political enemies by wrongly accessing and misusing the FBI files of Reagan and Bush I staffer and others. This scandal became known as “Filegate.” In pursuing its Filegate investigation, Judicial Watch learned with the help of whistleblowers Sheryl Hall and Betty Lambuth that the Clinton-Gore White House had hidden over 1.8 million e-mails from courts, Congressional investigators and independent counsels for nearly two years. Plans were also uncovered to destroy the files. To keep the e-mails secret, Clinton-Gore White House officials threatened contractors and staff with their jobs or jail time. Once the failure to produce the e-mails was revealed, the cover-up began; a cover-up that included obstruction and false testimony. Then, on hearing the testimony of the White House whistleblowers, a federal court judge ordered the testimony of former high-level Clinton-Gore White House officials in a court hearing to examine the threats, obstruction and alleged false testimony.Evidence showed that the e-mails are incriminating and covered virtual all of the Clinton-Gore scandals, yet these e-mails were not considered by Independent Counsel Robert Ray who gave the Clinton-Gore White House a clean bill of health. (View ethics complaint.)In January 2001, the e-mail files were placed under custody of the National Archives (NARA) and were restored, costing the American tax-payers over $13 million.In December 2002 the court ordered the files be searched. The NARA is responsible for responding to all special access requests and subpoenas that are made pursuant to the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The PRA generally restricts public access to the Clinton Presidential and Gore Vice Presidential records for five years after the end of the administration and for specific records for an additional seven years. Judicial Watch is representing plaintiffs in a class-action suit filed by the White House employees of Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations whose FBI files were wrongly accessed by the Clinton White House. The FBI and White House are being sued for breach of the Federal Privacy Act while other individuals, including Hillary Clinton, are being sued for invasion of privacy.

Going further:

Iran, China Lead the World in Stealing U.S. Military Equipment and Technology According to Justice Department Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch has launched an investigation regarding covert efforts by foreign nations to violate our export control laws. And here’s what we’ve found out so far: Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Iran and China lead the world in stealing sensitive U.S. military equipment and technology according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The documents include a report entitled, “Significant Export Control Cases Since September 2001,” prepared by the Counter Espionage Section (CES), which includes the charges, investigative agency, defendants and disposition of each case.

According to this report, which was originally labeled “For Official Use Only,” Iran and China were cited for 31 and 20 violations respectively between September 29, 2001 and May 16, 2008.

And here are just a few of the “significant” cases listed by the CES:

U.S. v. Eugene Hsu, et al. (9/21/01): Eugene Hsu, David Chang and Wing Chang were charged with “Conspiracy and an attempt to export military encryption units to China through Singapore.” All received guilty verdicts however Wing Chang is still listed as a fugitive.
U.S. v. Avassapian (12/03): Sherzhik Avassapian was a Tehran-based broker working for the Iranian Ministry of Defense when he attempted to “solicit and inspect F-14 fighter components, military helicopters and C-130 aircraft which he intended to ship to Iran via Italy.” Avassapian pleaded guilty to issuing false statements.
U.S. v. Kwonhwan Park (11/04): Kwonhwan Park was charged with “Exporting Black Hawk engine parts and other military items to China.” Pleaded guilty and sentenced to 32 months in prison.
U.S. v. Ghassemi, et al. (10/06): Iranian national Jamshid Ghassemi and Aurel Fratila were charged with “Conspiracy to export munition list items &emdash; including accelerometers and gyroscopes for missiles and spacecraft &emdash; to Iran without a license.” Ghassemi and Fratila are at large in Thailand and Romania respectively. Justice is currently seeking their deportation.

(By the way, in taking a look at the sentences given to those who are caught, the relatively light punishments do not seem to fit the serious crimes, which is one reason why this problem is getting worse. Just 32 months in prison for trying to steal military equipment and send it to a nation hostile to the United States?)

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES

Lest anyone think this data is historical in nature and does not reflect today’s reality, in October 2008, the Department of Justice announced that criminal charges had been issued against more than 145 defendants in the previous fiscal year. And approximately 43% of these new cases involved munitions or other restricted technology bound for Iran or China.

A Justice Department press release included in our materials noted: “The illegal exports bound for Iran have involved such items as missile guidance systems, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) components, military aircraft parts, night vision systems and other materials. The illegal exports to China have involved rocket launch data, Space Shuttle technology, missile technology, naval warship data, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or ‘drone’ technology, thermal imaging systems, military night vision systems and other materials.”

The bottom line here: These documents show that Iran and China have concerted efforts to obtain U.S. military technology in violation of our laws. And the Obama administration needs to maintain vigilance against the illegal efforts of enemies such as Iran to obtain our sensitive technologies.

And this new information is a useful reality check as to the intentions of Iran as this administration continues to kow-tow to Iran over its nuclear weapons program.

Judicial Watch Pushes for Victory in Filegate Lawsuit

If there is one legal case that exemplifies the “never-give-up” attitude of Judicial Watch and its attorneys it is the Filegate lawsuit, which was filed 13 years ago when Bill and Hillary Clinton still occupied The White House. As long-time readers of the Weekly Update know, over the years, Judicial Watch has continued to aggressively pursue justice in this matter, earning some key victories along the way (like the discovery of the hidden White House emails, to name just one example).

And just this week, on October 19, we filed a “Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment,” asking the U.S. District Court to rule in favor of two Filegate victims, Cara Leslie Alexander and Joseph P. Duggan [Cara Leslie Alexander, et al. v. FBI, et al., C.A. No. 96-2123 (RCL)].

At its core, Judicial Watch’s Filegate lawsuit is the Clinton White House’s illegal maintenance of the private FBI files of hundreds of former Reagan and Bush officials.

Specifically with respect to Judicial Watch’s clients, the Clinton White House procured their private FBI files in 1993 and 1994 respectively by claiming the two individuals required access to the Clinton White House. One problem. Neither individual worked for the White House any longer and therefore did not require access. This was simply a ruse by Clinton officials to get their hands on the files, something they did with regularity. In fact, one FBI official testified they made 488 such requests based on the bogus claim of “access” in a single year!

And to make matters worse, not only did the Clinton White House misstate the facts to get the private FBI files, it held on to them for almost three years!

Now, after 13 years of pushing the same tired justification for this illegal handling of private information, the FBI and the Obama White House (defending corruption in the Clinton White House) have asked the court to rule in its favor by filing a “Motion for Summary Judgment.” (A “summary judgment” is granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.) We filed our own Cross Motion for Summary Judgment in reply, and here is our basic argument:

Over the long and complex history of this matter, certain key facts have remained irrefutable. First, FBI background investigation files are perhaps some of the most sensitive records that the federal government maintains on individuals.

Second, the FBI has never disputed that it sent literally hundreds of these files to the Office of Personnel Security (“OPS”), a component of Executive Office of the President (EOP), despite the fact that OPS’s requests for the records were, in the FBI’s own words, “without justification and served no official purpose.” Indeed, the FBI has admitted that it failed to “institute sufficient protections to effectively safeguard the records”…and that their handling of the matter resulted in “egregious violations of privacy.”

…There can be no genuine dispute that the FBI violated the Privacy Act by failing to establish appropriate administrative safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of its background investigation files and that its failure to do so was in flagrant disregard for Plaintiffs’ rights under the Privacy Act.

Third, regardless of the circumstances under which OPS acquired the records at issue, there has never been any dispute that OPS continued to maintain them long after it was known that the persons who were the subjects of these records never worked at the Clinton White House and had no need for access to the Clinton White House.

As we further noted in our Cross Motion, even Bill Clinton himself has said his administration should be held accountable. Clinton told historian Taylor Branch in preparation for his recently published book, “those files did not belong at The White House,” and that they “should have been isolated and returned immediately.” According to Branch, Clinton said “[h]is administration should and would be held accountable.”

We agree.

But the Obama administration has taken the legal position that the Privacy Act does not apply to the Executive Office of the President and the Clinton FBI files scandal was not a scandal.

This will be worrying to those of us concerned about the Obama White House’s collecting “fishy” emails and compiling an enemies list of new organizations, radio hosts, businesses, and industry associations to attack and smear. Is the Obama defense of the FBI files scandal less about that Clinton scandal and more about what his White House is up to now?

Judicial Watch Unveils ACORN Affiliate Map

Another week. Another ACORN scandal story. You will recall a few weeks ago, two young conservative journalists caught ACORN workers red-handed trying to advise the undercover reporters on how to evade paying taxes, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Well, there’s another tape. This according to The Associated Press:

The new videotape shows filmmakers Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe, posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend, soliciting advice about a possible housing loan from workers in the Philadelphia office of ACORN Housing Corp…The Philadelphia visit is significant because of a dispute over statements ACORN has made defending what took place when Giles and O’Keefe visited the Philadelphia office last summer.

Supporters of O’Keefe and Giles said ACORN has lied about whether the two were thrown out of the Philadelphia office, how much time they spent there and whether they explicitly told ACORN workers that Giles was a prostitute….

Okay, so we all know about ACORN’s alleged corruption. We knew it when ACORN workers in Florida registered Mickey Mouse to vote in the last presidential election. We knew it when the New York Times reported that the ACORN founder’s brother embezzled almost a million dollars from the organization. We knew it when the Nevada Secretary of State told Fox News that the ACORN chapter in his state hired convicts still in prison for canvassing voters. A criminal prosecution of the organization is proceeding there. All this is why the U.S. Congress took steps to sever the group’s funding, the IRS and the U.S. Census Bureau severed ties with the group.

But as much as we know about ACORN corruption, we know so very little about how ACORN actually operates. The organization’s complicated structure has made it difficult to identify how many affiliates are associated with the organization. And that’s just the way ACORN likes it.

As Rep. Darrel Issa, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, put it in his detailed report on ACORN’s alleged criminal activity: “Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate.”

Well, to help shed some light on ACORN and its operations, Judicial Watch has created a Google Earth map identifying 281 known ACORN branches and associated organizations. The idea is to compile and organize as much information as possible on ACORN-related organizations. You can check out the map for yourself here, but this is a brief summary of what ACORN organizations and affiliates the map includes:

ACORN – Founded in 1970, with national headquarters in New Orleans, New York, and Washington, DC. ACORN has over 75 regional offices throughout the U.S., and works on issues including voter registration, raising minimum wage, improving education, and providing affordable housing to low-income members.
ACORN Housing Corporation – ACORN Housing is the most prominent offshoot of ACORN, and provides services to clients trying to obtain affordable housing. ACORN Housing was created in 1987, and receives funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
ACORN Affiliates – Judicial Watch created a category for all affiliates that are tied with ACORN, including the ACORN Institute, ACORN International, and ACORN Law for Education Representation & Training.
ACORN Housing Affiliates – This category specifies associates of ACORN Housing. Many of these housing companies, including ACORN Community Land Association, 385 Palmetto Street Housing Company, and MHANY 2003 HDFC, work closely with ACORN Housing and receive funds from them.
Other ACORN Affiliates – In addition to the numerous offices ACORN and ACORN Housing have throughout the U.S., there are additional organizations that are affiliated with ACORN, although their names might imply differently. These groups include Citizens Consulting Incorporated and Citizens Services Incorporated, both of which are responsible for organizing many of ACORN’s activities. Other known affiliates include the Affiliated Media Foundation Movement, the American Environmental Justice Project, AGAPE Broadcasting Foundation, the Working Families Organization, and the Hospitality Hotel and Restaurant Organizing Council.

This new research tool is just one component of Judicial Watch’s large-scale investigation of ACORN. As I’ve mentioned previously, Judicial Watch currently has over two dozen FOIA requests related to ACORN activities. Click here to find out more.

Infatuation with Gen. Flynn is Dangerous/Misguided

Posted on July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Nothing is ever as it seems and further no one is ever as they seem.

While General Michael Flynn has been the darling on television regarding his full blown opposition of Barack Obama’s strategy on Islamic State, Flynn has other dark positions. Over the weekend, it has been reported that GOP presumptive nominee, Donald Trump is considering General Flynn as a possible vice president choice.

Flynn was fired. General Flynn was correct in naming the enemy and hence his leadership came into question from a politically correct DNI. That is a shame, yet there are other underlying questions that must be noted.

In part from NYP: Two years ago, I was called into a meeting with the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and the director of national intelligence, and after some “niceties,” I was told by the USDI that I was being let go from DIA. It was definitely an uncomfortable moment (I suspect more for them than me).

I asked the DNI (Gen. James Clapper) if my leadership of the agency was in question and he said it was not; had it been, he said, they would have relieved me on the spot.

I knew then it had more to do with the stand I took on radical Islamism and the expansion of al Qaeda and its associated movements. I felt the intel system was way too politicized, especially in the Defense Department.

Flynn is a democrat. Here is a very interesting interview between al Jazeera and General Flynn. He is not especially an advocate of Israel.

Flynn raised eyebrows among some U.S. foreign policy veterans when he was pictured sitting at the head table with Putin at a banquet in Moscow late last year celebrating Russia Today, an international broadcasting network funded by the Russian government. Flynn told Russia Today in an interview published on Dec. 10 that the United States and Russia should work together to resolve the Syrian civil war and defeat Islamic State.

The Obama administration has protested Russia’s military intervention on behalf of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, accusing Moscow of hitting opposition forces rather than ISIS.

Has Trump’s people really taken a long look at General Flynn’s positions on issues? While there are priorities for sure, government can multi-task as can Congress.

In part from Politico: Issues like abortion and same-sex marriage are not at the top of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s list of priorities, the former intelligence official and registered Democrat who is reportedly being vetted as Donald Trump’s running mate said Sunday.

“What people do in their private lives, these are not big issues that our country is dealing with that will cause our country to collapse,” Flynn told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week.” “I’m more concerned that our country could collapse because we are not dealing with education issues, immigration issues.”

Asked his stance on non-military issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, Flynn suggested that he is not particularly concerned about either.

On abortion, he said, “I think it’s a — I think for women — and these are difficult issues, but I think women have to be able to choose what they — you know, sort of the right of choice, but I think that that’s a difficult legal decision that — and I think that women are so important in that decision-making process.”

“They are the ones that have to make the decision, because they’re the ones that are going to decide to bring up that child or not,” Flynn said.

As far as the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationally, Flynn responded, “You know what? I’m like — I’m about national security. I’m not going to, you know, I mean.”

“But if you become a vice president, you have to be prepared to be president,” Raddatz said. “Sure, sure,” Flynn responded.

On immigration, as Raddatz referred to “undocumented immigrants,” Flynn took issue with the term.

“So, undocumented or illegal?” he asked. “OK, so if it’s illegal, it’s illegal. If they’re here illegally then, it’s illegal. Back to my very first point, the rule of law in this country is probably the single biggest strategic advantage that we have above and beyond all other countries in the world, and we cannot allow the rule of law to break down.” More from Politico.

Dallas Terrorists Went to School for Tactics

Posted on July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Johnson was also an active member of the Houston chapter of the New Black Panthers. This comes from the former investigation by the Department of Justice over the Philadelphia polling intimidation case.

Related reading: The Huey Newton Gun Club

Dallas police chief: Shooting suspect planned larger attack

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said early Sunday that shooting suspect Micah Xavier Johnson was planning a larger attack.

Brown said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Johnson was practicing “explosive detonations,” adding that he had enough bomb-making materials to have “devastating effects.”

“We’re convinced that this suspect had other plans,” Brown said, adding that Johnson thought what he was doing was “righteous.”

Brown also said that Johnson’s plans were underway well before police-involved shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana last week, adding that those incidents “sparked his delusion to fast track his plans.” More from TheHill.

The suspect in the deadly attack on Dallas police officers scrawled letters in his own blood on the walls of the parking garage where officers cornered and later killed him, the police chief said Sunday.

Micah Johnson, a 25-year-old Army veteran, wrote the letters “RB” and other markings, David Brown told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Investigators are looking through evidence from Johnson’s suburban Dallas home to try to figure out what those letters might mean, Brown said. More here.

Dallas gunman learned tactics at Texas self-defense school

FNC: DALLAS – The gunman who killed five police officers at a protest march had practiced military-style drills in his yard and trained at a private self-defense school that teaches special tactics, including “shooting on the move,” a maneuver in which an attacker fires and changes position before firing again.

Micah Johnson, an Army veteran, received instruction at the Academy of Combative Warrior Arts in the Dallas suburb of Richardson about two years ago, said the school’s founder and chief instructor, Justin J. Everman.

Everman’s statement was corroborated by a police report from May 8, 2015, when someone at a business a short distance away called in a report of several suspicious people in a parked SUV.

The investigating officer closed the case just minutes after arriving at a strip mall. While there, the officer spoke to Johnson, who said he “had just gotten out of a class at a nearby self-defense school.”

Johnson told the officer he was “waiting for his dad to arrive” and pick up his brother. No one else was apparently questioned.

On Friday, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings described Johnson as “a mobile shooter” who had written manifestos on how to “shoot and move.”

Authorities have said the 25-year-old gunman kept a journal of combat tactics and had amassed a personal arsenal at his home, including bomb-making materials, rifles and ammunition.

The academy website refers to one of its courses as a “tactical applications program,” or TAP.

“Reality is highly dynamic, you will be drawing your firearm, moving, shooting on the move, fixing malfunctions, etc. all under high levels of stress,” the website says. “Most people never get to train these skills as they are not typically allowed on the static gun range.”

The TAP training includes “shooting from different positions,” ”drawing under stress” and “drawing from concealment.” Everman declined to specify which classes Johnson took.

“I don’t know anything about Micah. I’m sorry. He’s gone. He’s old to us. I have thousands of people,” Everman told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The two men, however, were friendly and talked in Facebook conversations in August 2014. Everman knew Johnson had been out of the country. Army officials said he had been deployed in Afghanistan around that time.

Everman suggested that Johnson “let me know when you make it down this way.”

“Will be great to get you back in the academy,” Everman said, according to a comment thread saved by the AP before Johnson’s Facebook profile was taken down.

“I concur!” Johnson replied.

More recently, a neighbor reported to investigators that Johnson had been seen practicing some sort of military drill in his backyard in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, said Clay Jenkins, the Dallas County judge, the county’s most senior elected official.

Tensions were still high Saturday in Dallas, where 20 square blocks of downtown remained cordoned off as a crime scene. The police department tightened security Saturday evening after receiving an anonymous threat.

Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama called Johnson a “demented individual” who does not represent black Americans any more than a white man accused of killing blacks at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, represents whites.

“So we cannot let the actions of a few define all of us,” Obama said from Warsaw, Poland, where he attended a NATO summit.

The president planned to visit Dallas in a few days and to convene a White House meeting next week with police officers and community and civil rights activists.

It was the third time in as many days that Obama has spoken about the fatal police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota that were immediately followed by the sniper attack in Dallas.

Johnson, who donned a protective vest and used a military-style semi-automatic rifle, was killed by a robot-delivered bomb Thursday after the shootings, which marked the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In all, 12 officers were shot just a few blocks from where President John F. Kennedy was slain in 1963.

Johnson was a private first class with a specialty in carpentry and masonry. He served in the Army Reserve for six years starting in 2009 and did one tour in Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014, the military said.

The attack began Thursday evening while hundreds of people were gathered to protest the police killings of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot near St. Paul, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling, who was shot in Louisiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white officers.

Video showed protesters marching along a downtown street about half a mile from City Hall when shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.

Marcus Carter, 33, was in the area when people started running toward him, yelling about gunshots. Carter said the first shot sounded like a firecracker. But then they proceeded in quick succession, with brief pauses between spurts of gunfire.

“It was breaks in the fire,” he said. “It was a single shot and then after that single shot, it was a brief pause,” followed by many shots in quick succession.

After shooting at the Dallas officers, Johnson tried to take refuge in a parking garage and exchanged gunfire with police, authorities said.

During negotiations, he said he wanted to exterminate whites, “especially white officers,” the police chief said.

DeRay McKesson Arrested in Baton Rouge

Posted on July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Black Lives Matter Activist DeRay McKesson Arrested During Protest

Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson was arrested Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. while protesting the death of Alton Sterling, according to several reports.

Mckesson was broadcasting the march on Periscope and filmed a portion of his arrest.

The Black Lives Matter activist was arrested while marching in Baton Rouge on Airline Highway. Police had told demonstrators to stay off the road. But McKesson reportedly said to those marching that there is no sidewalk, The New York Times reported.

DeRay posted to Periscope here.

In the broadcast, about five minutes in, police can be heard saying: “City police. You’re under arrest. Don’t fight me. Don’t fight me.”
Mckesson then says: “I’m under arrest, y’all.”

The phone is handed off to other protesters who continued videotaping and explaining the incident.

A Louisiana State Police official told a reporter with The Advocate that the protesters were “clearly blocking the roadway.”

“We welcome the protests. We want them to voice their opinions. That’s what we’re here to do, to make sure they’re safe and they’re able to do that,” he said in a video the reporter posted on the reporter’s Twitter account.

“We wouldn’t arrest people who are quietly protesting off the roadway,” he said.

As noted going back to Baltimore, DeRay has a nefarious background and has been in White House sessions with Valerie Jarrett and Barack Obama.

**** After unsuccessfully running for Mayor of Baltimore, DeRay has another job…..teaching your kids.

Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson to join new city schools cabinet

BaltimoreSun: Mckesson was named interim chief human capital officer on Tuesday by incoming schools CEO Sonja Santelises. It was the second and most high-profile cabinet appointment made by the new chief, who begins her tenure Friday.

Santelises said Mckesson, who spent about two and a half years overseeing key reforms as a strategist and special assistant in the human capital office, would lead the office at least through the fall.

“He has the depth of knowledge of the system, and he has proved that he can lift the work in a short amount of time,” Santelises said in an interview. “And he has proven his dedication to the children of Baltimore.”

Mckesson called Santelises a “gifted leader” and said he was proud to join her team.

“At its core, this role is about finding great people, matching them to the right role, and helping them to develop and experience careers in the service of our kids,” Mckesson said. “I am excited to return to city schools … and to continue doing the work to ensure that every child in Baltimore City receives a world-class education.”

The 30-year-old Baltimore native and Black Lives Matter activist is fresh from an unexpected run for mayor of Baltimore. He finished sixth in the Democratic primary.

Mckesson catapulted onto the national media stage nearly two years ago when he took a leave of absence from his job as senior director of human capital in the Minneapolis Public Schools system to protest the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

Mckesson founded and leads We the Protesters, a group that advocates policy changes against police violence.

2 More Obama Executive Orders, Curious and Late

Posted on July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 by Denise Simon

Is this one a set up for the International Criminal Court? What about Russia, China or the drug cartels? It is curious that this comes last month when Syria has been at war for 5 years with 700,000 dead. Or could this also be a set up for gun control in America?

Executive Order — Comprehensive Approach to Atrocity Prevention and Response

EXECUTIVE ORDER

– – – – – – –

A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ATROCITY PREVENTION AND RESPONSE

Section 1. Policy. As articulated in Presidential Study Directive-10 (PSD-10), preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States. Noting that governmental engagement on mass atrocities and genocide too often arrives too late, when opportunities for prevention or low-cost, low-risk action have been missed, PSD-10 directed the establishment of an interagency Atrocities Prevention Board (Board), with the primary purpose of coordinating a whole-of-government approach to prevent mass atrocities and genocide. PSD-10 also directed an interagency study to develop and recommend the membership, mandate, structure, operational protocols, authorities, and support necessary for the Board to coordinate and develop atrocity prevention and response policy. This order continues in place the Board established in 2012 as I directed in PSD-10, sets out the support to be afforded by executive departments, agencies, and offices, and updates and memorializes the terms on which the Board will continue to operate in the service of its important mission.

The Board shall be composed of individuals at the Assistant Secretary-level or higher who shall be designated by the leadership of their respective departments or agencies. Within 60 days of a vacancy on the Board, the relevant department or agency or office head shall designate a replacement representative and notify the National Security Advisor. In addition to the Chair, the Board shall consist of the designated representatives from the following:

the Office of the Vice President;

the Department of State;

the Department of the Treasury;

the Department of Defense;

the Department of Justice;

the Department of Homeland Security;

the U.S. Mission to the United Nations;

the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

the Central Intelligence Agency;

the U.S. Agency for International Development;

the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and

such other agencies or offices as may request to participate in coordination with the Chair.

The Board shall be composed of individuals at the Assistant Secretary-level or higher who shall be designated by the leadership of their respective departments or agencies. Within 60 days of a vacancy on the Board, the relevant department or agency or office head shall designate a replacement representative and notify the National Security Advisor. In addition to the Chair, the Board shall consist of the designated representatives from the following:

the Office of the Vice President;

the Department of State;

the Department of the Treasury;

the Department of Defense;

the Department of Justice;

the Department of Homeland Security;

the U.S. Mission to the United Nations;

the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

the Central Intelligence Agency;

the U.S. Agency for International Development;

the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and

such other agencies or offices as may request to participate in coordination with the Chair.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice, in coordination with the Department of State, shall continue to develop proposals for legislative, regulatory, or administrative amendments or changes that would permit the more effective use and enforcement of immigration and other laws to deny impunity to perpetrators of mass atrocities and that would enhance our ability to prosecute such perpetrators subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and remove those who are not citizens. Read the whole EO here.

*****

There is yet another Executive Order and this is due to Mr. Weinstein, an American citizen being killed by an Obama drone strike.

The violent death of an American at the hands of his own government proved a searing moment in a drone war that has come to define the nation’s battle with Al Qaeda, especially since President Obama took office. Visibly upset, Mr. Obama came to the White House briefing room shortly after his staff issued a written statement announcing the deaths to make a rare personal apology.

“As president and as commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations,” the grim-faced president told reporters as television cameras broadcast his words. “I profoundly regret what happened,” he added. “On behalf of the United States government, I offer our deepest apologies to the families.”

Executive Order — United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties in U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force

(iv) maintain channels for engagement with the International Committee of the Red Cross and other nongovernmental organizations that operate in conflict zones and encourage such organizations to assist in efforts to distinguish between military objectives and civilians, including by appropriately marking protected facilities, vehicles, and personnel, and by providing updated information on the locations of such facilities and personnel.

Sec. 3. Report on Strikes Undertaken by the U.S. Government Against Terrorist Targets Outside Areas of Active Hostilities. (a) The Director of National Intelligence (DNI), or such other official as the President may designate, shall obtain from relevant agencies information about the number of strikes undertaken by the U.S. Government against terrorist targets outside areas of active hostilities from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, as well as assessments of combatant and non-combatant deaths resulting from those strikes, and publicly release an unclassified summary of such information no later than May 1, 2017. By May 1 of each subsequent year, as consistent with the need to protect sources and methods, the DNI shall publicly release a report with the same information for the preceding calendar year. Read the full Executive Order here.