Category Archives: Trump Administration

Erdogan of Turkey to Visit Trump White House

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This visit is on and off and maybe on again. The meeting is scheduled the same day as the open impeachment inquiry hearings begin.

President Erdogan is angry with the United States due to Congress moving legislation to apply sanctions that would affect Turkey as a result of the invasion into Syria.

Turkey has been threatening Europe, especially Germany with more migrants and Chancellor Merkel capitulated. Erdogan is in fact deporting what he calls ISIS fighters to their home countries including the United States. Stating that Turkey is not a hotel, even if the home country has revoked citizenship, he is deporting them.

Now that Erdogan feels like he is in the driver’s seat, he has been also bombing Iraq as recently as last week.

On Tuesday morning Turkish air strikes targeted Kurdish forces on Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq.

According to initial reports, the Turkish Air Force struck at bases used by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and its ally, the Yazidi Shingal Protection Units.

If Erdogan does meet President Trump it is going to be an interesting session. Trump is slated to confront Erdogan about buying the Russian air defense system and the recent three sanctions that Trump lifted could easily be applied again. Tensions are in fact high.

This is what happened the last time Erdogan was in Washington DC.
U.S. Secret Service agents were among those attacked during the May 16, 2017 protests. Two Diplomatic Security special agents, six U.S. Secret Service officers and one MPD officer sustained multiple injuries, with at least one taken to the hospital.

THAWING TIES: Erdogan to meet Trump | Local News for ...

Just last month, the House of Representatives passed a resolution 405-11 reaffirming the United States’ condemnation of “the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.”

“Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide in 1944, and who was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century,” the resolution states.

Turkey does not recognize the loss of 1.5 Armenians as genocide.

Meanwhile, a closer look at Turkey reveals the following:

 

  • In Germany, Turkey controls 900 mosques out of a total of 2,400. These Islamic centers not only serve members of the Turkish diaspora, but also stop them from assimilating into German society. Speaking with Turks in Germany, Erdogan urged them not to assimilate, and called the assimilation of migrants in Europe “a crime against humanity.”
  • Erdogan has also been expanding Turkey beyond its borders – starting with Cyprus, the Greek Islands, Suakin Island (Sudan) and Syria.
  • Mosques, migrants and the military are now Erdogan’s new weapons in his threats against the West.

Erdogan is the head of NATO’s second-largest army; he has spies throughout Europe through a network of mosques, associations and cultural centers; he has brought his country to the top of the world rankings for the number of imprisoned journalists and has shut the mouth of German comedians with the threat of legal action. By keeping migrants in Turkish refugee camps, he controls immigration to Europe.

The worse Erdogan behaves, the greater his weight in Europe. In a 2015 meeting, Erdogan reportedly was “openly mocking” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other “senior European leaders”, as Juncker asked Erdogan to consider how he was treated “like a prince” at a Brussels summit.

Turkey’s 2018 military budget increased to $19 billion, 24% higher than 2017, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Erdogan has placed Turkey’s military — once a bastion of Turkish nationalism and secularism — under his political authority. While Europe is pacifist and refuses to invest in its own security or, like Germany, support NATO’s budget, Turkey is belligerent.

Ever since his Justice and Development Party (AKP) became Turkey’s dominant political force in 2002, for Erdogan, elevating the public role of Islam has been more than a slogan. At public gatherings, the Turkish president has made the “rabia“, a hand gesture of four fingers raised and the thumb hidden, to protest the overthrow of Egypt’s Islamist then President Mohamed Morsi by Egypt’s military. Erdogan evidently sees himself as a global Islamic leader with national elections to win. Through four million Turkish Muslims in Germany and vast communities in the Netherlands, France, Austria and beyond, Erdogan does indeed have enormous influence in Europe.

Erdogan has also been expanding Turkey beyond its borders – starting with Cyprus, the Greek Islands, Suakin Island (Sudan) and Syria. “We are a big family of 300 million people from the Adriatic to the Great Wall of China”, Erdogan said in a recent speech from Moldova. The borders of Turkey, he stated in Izmir, span “from Vienna to the shores of the Adriatic Sea, from East Turkistan (China’s autonomous region of Xinjiang) to the Black Sea”. More here.

 

Iran’s Underground Enrichment Facility

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Under the Iran deal, Iran agreed to redesign, convert and limit its nuclear facilities.

Particular focus was put on Iran’s uranium-enrichment capabilities, putting serious limitations on uranium-enrichment facilities in Iran – Natanz and Fordow. Among other resolutions, Iran also agreed to allow inspection of all its nuclear facilities and the IAEA inspectors will be able to request visits to military sites. However, it doesn’t guarantee them access to military sites.

Fordow is Iran’s second fuel enrichment facility, buried under a mountain in the Great Salt Desert near the holy city of Qom. Before the Iran deal, the bunker was filled with 2,710 centrifuges that could enrich uranium to weapons-grade materials.

Under the nuclear agreement, Iran agreed to stop any uranium enrichment and uranium enrichment R&D at Fordow and turn the plant into a nuclear physics and technology center that will produce radioisotopes for use in medicine, agriculture, industry and science.

Reported in part by Free Beacon:

U.S. State Department officials described Iran’s blocking of an international nuclear inspector from accessing key nuclear sites last week as an “outrageous and unwarranted act of intimidation” amid growing concerns Iran is hiding undeclared nuclear materials.

The administration suspects that Iran is trying to prevent international inspectors from confirming its work with prohibited nuclear materials.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the two issues the IAEA acting director general described in today’s special session of the IAEA Board of Directors,” the official said. “First, that the IAEA has detected evidence of potential undeclared nuclear material in Iran, and second, the detention of an IAEA inspector. Along with Iran’s expansion of proliferation-sensitive nuclear activity, this pattern of deception and intimidation is unacceptable. All nations should be concerned that Iran is not fully cooperating with the IAEA and should demand Iran immediately redress these serious problems.”

The diplomatic escalation comes as Iran breaches limits on the amount of enriched uranium it produces and the enrichment methods it uses. It escalated installations of advanced centrifuges in the past week and has vowed to continue doing so.

Nuclear experts told the Free Beacon that Iran’s behavior raises multiple questions and concerns about the nature of its ongoing work.

“Assuming the IAEA version of events is correct and she did not have explosive contamination on her person, then Iran may be testing what the reaction is to denying inspectors access to safeguarded sites,” David Albright, a former weapons inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, told the Free Beacon.

“How long does it take for this episode to be reported to the board and media?” he asked. “Does the IAEA send a replacement quickly? How many countries and which ones believe the Iranian rationale? Is there outrage or are there divisions that delay a coordinated response?”

Andrea Stricker, a nonproliferation analyst and research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described Iran’s actions as “highly provocative.”

It “gives the impression that Iran could be considering curtailing inspection authorities as a future step to draw down its JCPOA commitments,” Stricker said. “It’s a hostile sign for sure.”

Will the Investigations Include the Unmasking Scandal?

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2016: Primer

Could it be that the Obama White House called for a favor from the Washington Post to help on this? The Obama White House used media to an historic art form including selling the bad Iran nuclear deal. Anyway…

The operatives needed to have the list of names first and Trump shared some names that included Whalid Phares, Joe Schmitz and Carter Page. Remember the FISA application scandal listed Carter Page’s name. Further, Joe Schmitz, a former Defense official and lawyer was also a top executive at Blackwater. No wonder there was the festering story about Eric Prince and his alleged nefarious meeting in the Seychelles with Putin’s money-man, Kirill Dmitriev.

Dots connecting…

Moving forward to April of 2017…

Per Eli Lake at Bloomberg:

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White House lawyers discovered that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Lake further reports that Rice’s pattern of requesting unmasking was discovered by Trump National Security Council staffer Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whom The New York Times reported last week was one of Nunes’s sources. Cohen-Watnick informed the White House Counsel’s office, Lake reports.

Okay, then we heard that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power also ordered unmaskings, of which she later denied.

Samantha Power testified in Gowdy’s committee last week, and Fox News reported weeks before her appearance that she was thought to have made as many as 260 requests to “unmask” Americans caught up in the surveillance of non-U.S. citizens.

But Tuesday evening, Gowdy told Fox News that Power told his committee that she was not the official requesting that unmasking in every case. More here.

Moving way ahead to February of 2017, enter Congressman Adam Schiff.

Donald Trump believes House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff is trying to hire White House employees to gain an edge in his investigation of foreign attempts to influence the president, people familiar with the matter said.

Schiff has hired one former career official at the National Security Council, Abigail Grace, who left the White House last year, the people said. She has a congressional email address and is listed in a directory as working for the Intelligence Committee’s Democratic majority.

A second career employee detailed to the Trump White House is also considering joining Schiff’s staff, according to people familiar with the matter. They didn’t identify the person. More here.

Abigail was a research associate with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New America Security.

The Washington Examiner has reported that two ex-NSC staffers are now employed by Schiff. Abigail Grace, who worked at the NSC until 2018, was hired in February, while Sean Misko, an NSC aide until 2017, joined Schiff’s committee staff in August, the same month the whistleblower submitted his complaint.

Eric Ciaramella, the alleged Ukraine whistleblower, was a guest of Vice President Joe Biden at a glitzy lunch in October 2016 to honor the prime minister of Italy.

Biden co-hosted the banquet with former Secretary of State John Kerry for then-Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Ciaramella, who is of Italian heritage, was among the U.S. officials who accepted an invitation. This week, the Washington Examiner reported that Ciaramella is now a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council, reporting to the director of national intelligence. More here.

Now remember during a hearing where AG William Barr asserted there were indications of the government spying on the Trump campaign? Barr has seen major indicators that such activity did occur and hence he hired U.S Attorney John Durham to track the records of the origins of the Russia investigation. The Democrats and media blew up about the term ‘spying’. Well then debates happened in the public square about spying versus surveillance. Okay, how about moles? How about using encrypted text messages between groups of operatives? How about all of it?

America is waiting and waiting and waiting for the IG report, for the Durham report, for the declassification of documents….waiting and waiting.

So when it comes to the list of witnesses that the Republicans are asking Congressman Schiff for permission to provide testimony, the list should be much larger. Others that should be included are: Lisa Monaco, Dennis McDonough, John Brennan, James Clapper, Samantha Power, Mike Morell, Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, George Soros, Igor Sikorsky, Col. Andriy Ordynovych among others.

Waiting and waiting…

 

 

 

 

FBI in Joint Ukraine Corruption Investigation Since 2016

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It is labeled to be the largest bank theft of the 21st Century. Did FBI Director Wray briefed President Trump on this prior to the contention phone call with Ukraine President Zalensky? You can bet members of Congress know this as well giving plenty of reasons to delay transfer of military assistance until a condition report was provided.

Read on…

Congressman Nunes issued a letter to Chairman Schiff seeking approval of the Republicans witness list  uring the impeachment inquiry. The list is pretty good and most interesting is Nellie Ohr, the wife of Bruce Ohr who worked with Fusion GPS using Ukraine as a channel.

Good, this list is a great start but hardly complete. There should be at least ten more on the list, yet Congressman Nunes may be holding back on additional names so as not to interfere or complicate John Durham’s work.
The matter of the impeachment operation managed by Speaker Pelosi has now centered on a quid pro quo scandal that bubbled to the surface as a result of at least three whistleblowers reporting on the President Trump phone call with Ukraine President Zelensky asking for a favor with regard to the Bidens and holding back military aid. Obama essentially held back requested military aid to Ukraine by not fulfilling the country’s request for military weapons, rather Obama only provided night vision goggles, radar equipment and MRE’s. President Trump allowed the real request to finally move to Ukraine which included Javelin missiles. So, ignore all that, because President Trump is NOT the first President or American politician to request foreign assistance for political purposes by far.
Further the matter of investigating the Bidens and Burisma was underway long before VP Joe Biden announced his candidacy for President. 
Two channels of concern are important here and they include the Obama administration infecting the US election process by using Ukrainian-American Alexandra Chalupa who was a contractor for the DNC. She visited the Obama White House 27 times according to visitor logs. At least one of her missions was the plot against Paul Manafort. Another channel is the matter of corruption in Ukraine. Beyond the matter of the Obama administration merging USAID with Burimsa to advance the energy business in Ukraine, which was later stopped due to corruption, there is a much larger scandal that has been in the works for many years and it regards billions stolen from Ukraine, You read that right, BILLIONS.
Beyond the mutual legal assistance cooperation agreement between the United States and Ukraine signed by President Clinton, there is the FBI cooperation agreement.
    Over the next two years the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA) (International Corruption Unit) will cooperate in investigations related to money laundering, international asset recovery and Ukrainian high-level officials’ bribery and corruption. This is stated in the Memorandum of Understanding between the NABU and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was signed on June 29,2017, by the NABU Director Artem Sytnyk and the Head of the FBI Criminal Division Matthew Moon.
The abovementioned Memorandum was signed in continuation of cooperation launched last year when in June 2016, the Parties agreed to support each other. Thanks to the cooperation of the FBI and the NABU, the employees of the Special Operations Department of the NABU had the opportunity to train the skills of possession of weapons in conditions of physical and mental load, speed and accuracy of shooting, tactical training, identifying of the real goal and a potential threat, adopting competent tactical decisions in stressful situations.
Since February 2016, the representative of the FBI has a permanent Office in the NABU and jointly with the NABU Detectives works on the execution of international requests and controls their passage through the competent authorities of the United States of America.
Also, on June 19, 2017, the NABU Detectives in cooperation with the FBI detained 7 persons involved in demanding and receiving an improper advantage for the illegal lobbying of interests of a foreign company in amber mining in Ukraine.
As a part of a new Memorandum the NABU and the FBI will exchange the information, conduct trainings and joint investigations of the corruption offences. The Ambassador also informed Director Sytnyk that the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section of the Embassy (INL) will provide U.S. Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers to train with NABU’s tactical officers on the execution of high-risk warrants and other tactical law enforcement operations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, Director of NABU told US Ambassador about plans to create a criminal laboratory for electronic devices and data carriers, equipment for which will be provided by British partners in the nearest future. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt said that FBI employees have a unique experience in decoding, and data recovery, and expressed readiness to further support the Bureau in implementing new technologies in investigations.
 
It should be reminded that the FBI with the support of the US Embassy to Ukraine provided the NABU`s Department of analysis and data processing with the equipment for criminal proceedings documents digitalizing.
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff are essentially covering for Biden and Obama. Remember, Biden tells us he does not need nor has he asked for Obama’s endorsement. Consider, the plot against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a large mobilized operation that failed, the choreographed operation against candidate Trump failed with the Russia collusion operation as noted in the Mueller report. This impeachment plot against President Trump is actually a good thing for America while boring and tedious is soon to show how the nasty underbelly of Washington DC works against a duly elected President and against Republicans. This too will fail, so be patient, we will have a trifecta of failed plots against Republicans. Take notes and then vote accordingly.

Obama Admin Tried to Partner with Burisma

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Where is Chairman Adam Schiff now? He brought in George Kent, the former charge d’affair at the Kiev embassy for testimony. And the whistle blew except Schiff did not run out to the hallway outside his office to the nearest microphone.
Hat tip again to John Solomon for his report and tireless investigative work.
In part from his report:

George Kent, the former charge d’affair at the Kiev embassy, said in testimony released Thursday that the State Department’s main foreign aid agency, known as USAID, planned to co-sponsor a clean energy project with Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas firm that employed Hunter Biden as a board member.

At the time of the proposed project, Burisma was under investigation in Ukraine for alleged corruption. Those cases were settled in late 2016 and early 2017. Burisma contested allegations of corruption but paid a penalty for tax issues.

Kent testified he personally intervened in mid-2016 to stop USAID’s joint project with Burisma because American officials believed the corruption allegations against the gas firm raised concern.

“There apparently was an effort for Burisma to help cosponsor, I guess, a contest that USAID was sponsoring related to clean energy. And when I heard about it I asked USAID to stop that sponsorship,” Kent told lawmakers.

When asked why he intervened, he answered: “”Because Burisma had a poor reputation in the business, and I didn’t think it was appropriate for the U.S. Government to be co-sponsoring something with a company that had a bad reputation.”

Kent’s testimony confirms earlier text messages I reported on in September. Those text messages show that Devon Archer — Hunter Biden’s business associate and fellow board member on Burisma — boasted to an American lawyer in December 2015 that the pair was seeking to do a project with USAID.

And internal State memos I obtained this week under FOIA show Hunter Biden and Archer had multiple contacts with Secretary of State John Kerry and Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken in 2015-16, and that Burisma’s own American legal team was lobbying State to help eliminate the corruption allegations against it in Ukraine.

Hunter Biden’s name was specifically invoked as a reason why State officials should assist, the memos show. A month after Burisma’s contact with State, Joe Biden leveraged the threat of withholding U.S. foreign aid to force Ukraine to fire its chief prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who at the time was overseeing the Burisma probe.

Joe Biden says he forced the firing because he believed Shokin was ineffective, but Shokin says he was told he was fired because the American ice president was unhappy the prosecutor would not drop the Burisma probe.

Okay, so just to continue to check things out here for context and details, I trotted over to the Obama White House archives…BINGO! YIPPEE….Solomon is right on point.

Image result for usaid ukraine energy

2014 and read carefully the following:

For Immediate Release
April 21, 2014

FACT SHEET: U.S. Crisis Support Package for Ukraine

President Obama and Vice President Biden have made U.S. support for Ukraine an urgent priority as the Ukrainian government works to establish security and stability, pursue democratic elections and constitutional reform, revive its economy, and ensure government institutions are transparent and accountable to the Ukrainian people.  Ukraine embarks on this reform path in the face of severe challenges to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, which we are working to address together with Ukraine and our partners in the international community.  The United States is committed to ensuring that Ukrainians alone are able to determine their country’s future without intimidation or coercion from outside forces.  To support Ukraine, we are today announcing a new package of assistance totaling $50 million to help Ukraine pursue political and economic reform and strengthen the partnership between the United States and Ukraine.

Elections and Constitutional Reform:  Constitutional reform and free and fair elections are keys to Ukraine’s democratic development.  Assistance in this area is a down payment on the country’s democratic development.  We stand ready to provide further assistance to the new government after elections.

  • The United States is contributing an $11.4 million package to support the integrity of the May 25 elections.   These funds are being used to advance democratic processes – not to support a particular candidate or electoral outcome.  These efforts include voter education programs, transparent election administration, effective oversight of the election process, election security and a redress of infractions, and a diverse, balanced and policy-focused media environment.
  • The United States is contributing support and monitors to the OSCE’s election observation mission and other monitoring groups.  U.S. funded programs will provide at least 250 long-term observers and over 1,700 short-term observers.
  • We are also sending additional experts to provide advice on issues such as constitutional checks and balances, local governance, public participation, and the establishment of an independent, transparent judicial system.

Economic Assistance:  The United States has already signed a $1 billion loan guarantee to help Ukraine meet its financial obligations and protect vulnerable citizens from the impact of economic adjustments.  We have also supported Ukraine’s work with the IMF to secure a loan program worth $14-$18 billion.   As these U.S., IMF, and European funds begin to flow, we will have technical experts from the U.S. Treasury Department on the ground to help the Ukrainian government allocate them effectively to stabilize the economy and ensure all the regions benefit.  Currently, there are three banking advisors in Kyiv and we will be deploying public debt management and macroeconomic advisors in the coming week.  We are also committed to providing additional technical assistance in the areas of budget and tax administration.

Energy Security:  Over the coming weeks, expert teams from several U.S. government agencies will travel to the region to help Ukraine meet immediate and longer term energy needs.

  • Today, a U.S. interagency expert team arrived in Kyiv to help Ukraine secure reverse flows of natural gas from its European neighbors.  The team will continue on to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia in the coming days to work on the details of these arrangements.  Reverse flows of natural gas will provide Ukraine with additional immediate sources of energy.
  • U.S. technical experts will join with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and others in May to help Ukraine develop a public-private investment initiative to increase conventional gas production from existing fields to boost domestic energy supply.  A technical team will also engage the government on measures that will help the Ukrainian government ensure swift and environmentally sustainable implementation of contracts signed in 2013 for shale gas development.
  • Department of Energy and USAID specialists will travel to Ukraine next month to provide advice on how to maximize energy efficiency, which could deliver potentially huge cost savings to Ukraine and rationalize energy consumption.

Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption:  The United States is committed to helping Ukraine break the cycle of corruption that acts as a tax on business, an impediment to economic growth, and a drain on public trust in government.  Technical advisors from the Departments of State and Justice have already been advising the government on anti-corruption measures.  Today we are expanding this assistance program with additional commitments.

  • Attorney General Holder will co-host an international conference in London April 29-30 to help identify, trace, and recover proceeds of corruption stolen by the former regime.  This is part of an ongoing effort, including work by an FBI investigative team on the ground in Kyiv to help the government of Ukraine recover assets stolen from the Ukrainian people.
  • The United States will provide advice and assistance to help modernize Ukraine’s government procurement in accordance with international standards, including the creation of a vetted anti-corruption unit.   We will offer technical assistance to that vetted unit to help build a sustainable anti-corruption regime within Ukraine, as we have done with substantial results in other parts of the world.
  • Specialized teams of prosecutors and investigators will help the Ukrainian government with other forms of technical assistance to put in place the proper legal and regulatory framework to fight corruption.  The teams will also serve as a resource to ensure follow-through and effective implementation.

People-to-People Ties:  To further strengthen ties between the people of Ukraine and the United States, we are announcing our intent to establish a new bilateral visa regime that will extend the standard validity of visas for businesspeople and tourists from 5 years to 10 years on a negotiated reciprocal basis.

Security Assistance:  In addition to the $50 million package, today we are announcing the provision of $8 million of non-lethal military assistance to allow the Ukrainian armed forces and State Border Guard Service to fulfill their core security missions.  The additional supplies include:

  • Explosive Ordnance Disposal equipment and handheld radios for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
  • Engineering equipment, communications equipment, vehicles, and non-lethal individual tactical gear for Ukraine’s Border Guard Service.

This is in addition to the $3 million of Meals Ready to Eat and nearly $7 million of health and welfare assistance the United States is already providing to Ukraine.  The United States will continue to actively review requests for additional support as Ukraine’s government further modernizes its armed forces and deals with evolving threats.