Category Archives: Whistleblower

Plea Deal for 7th Indictment in Brian Terry’s Murder

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In August of 2014, per the Justice Department, Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez became the 7th man charged in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Burboa was part of the rip-crew and recruited others for continued operations.

The rip crew did not have weapons on them when their backpacks were searched, but the weapons they used were instead in a hidden cached location and retrieved by the rip crew only hours later.

He and others were monitored by several U.S. agencies that included ATF, FBI and DEA. Yet he is a happier man, due to a plea deal. He pled guilty to the death of Brian Terry.

N4T Investigators: Plea deal given to man indicted in murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry

One of the men charged in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry pleaded guilty to one count of murder, Monday morning. Once a potential candidate for the death penalty after the murder of the agent, the drawn up plea deal now states that the U.S. and the defendant will ask for 360 months imprisonment, with credit for time served since his arrest in October 2012.

The Justice Department indicted Rosario Rafael Burboa Alvarez last summer in connection with the killing. Alvarez was identified as the recruiter for the rip-off crew that ran into Terry’s elite BORTAC unit in the desert in December 2010. Terry was killed in the ensuing gunfight with the rip-off crew and later two AK-47 variants found at the crime scene were identified as part of the notorious Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives gunwalking operation, Operation Fast and Furious. The scandalous operation was supposed to link guns bought at a Phoenix-area gunstore to cartel gunmen trafficking the weapons to Mexico. Instead, ATF lost more than 2,000 of those weapons. Resulting congressional investigations found that the men linked to the gun purchases were being monitored by different U.S. federal agencies like DEA, the FBI and ATF, but agents weren’t sharing the information with the other agencies.

Burboa was often identified in federal search warrants and charging papers as the recruiter of the group. Burboa, the U.S. said, recruited rip-off crews to rob drug smugglers of their marijuana loads, then paid them after they performed the robbery and returned to Sinaloa. In early December, the rip-off crew entered the U.S. from Mexico, retrieved a stash of weapons and food and went to work, hunting smugglers. Instead, they encountered Terry’s tactical unit that had taken position at the top of a wash.

As part of the plea agreement, the United States agreed not to execute Burboa and to dismiss all other charges against him, including charges of interfering with federal officers and killing Terry with “malice aforethought” the second charge in the superseding indictment.

The plea deal also notes that Burboa had already been ordered expelled from the U.S., though it is not clear if the expulsion order derives from Terry’s murder or from a previous crime.

Burboa’s 30 year sentence is in line with the sentence handed to Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, the man wounded during the firefight. Osorio-Arellanes faced life but was ultimately sentenced to 30 years in 2012. Jaime Avila, Jr., the Operation Fast and Furious gunbuyer who purchased the two AK-47s found at the murder scene was also sentenced in 2012. He received a 57 month sentence.

Dark Money Still Flows, Hillary’s Campaign and More Connections

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Group backing Clinton gets $1M from untraceable donors

By JULIE BYKOWICZ
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton told a cheering crowd at her largest rally so far that “the endless flow of secret, unaccountable money” must be stopped. Two weeks later, the main super PAC backing her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination accepted a $1 million contribution that cannot be traced.

The seven-figure donation, made June 29 to the pro-Clinton Priorities USA Action, came from another super political action committee, called Fair Share Action. Its two lone contributors are Fair Share Inc. and EnvironmentAmerica Inc., according to records filed with Federal Election Commission.

Those two groups are nonprofits that are not legally required to reveal information about their donors. Such contributions are sometimes called “dark money” by advocates for stricter campaign finance rules.

“This appears to be an out-and-out laundering operation designed to keep secret from the public the original source of the funds given to the super PAC, which is required to disclose its contributors,” said Fred Wertheimer, director of one such group, the Washington-based Democracy 21.

Wertheimer urged Priorities to return the money and said that Clinton should demand that the super PAC “publicly disclose all of the original sources of money” of any contribution it receives. More details here.

(Fair Share Action founded and funded by Tim Gill, owner of an internet technology company and an LGBT activist. Further behind the cause is Tom Steyer with Environment America, the NEA and Mark Udall. )

Then we still have Planned Parenthood and the Unions when both are fully supported by the White House and received federal dollars. Even with the 5 videos released by Planned Parenthood, not only Hillary Clinton but many others in Congress continue to stand with Planned Parenthood.

FreeBeacon:   Unions, Planned Parenthood Exchange Donations, Political Cash

About $1.5 million in the past five years

Unions received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Planned Parenthood over the past five years, while shelling out more than $1 million to the nation’s largest abortionist.

Since 2011 politically powerful labor unions and Planned Parenthood have exchanged lucrative gifts for “charitable” endeavors and political advocacy.

Planned Parenthood, which is in the midst of a scandal after a pro-life group released videos detailing potentially illegal organ harvesting techniques and sales, has contributed more than $350,000 to three labor unions. The largest donation went to Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the nation’s top political spenders, with nearly all of its money going to Democrats. SEIU received more than $285,000 from the group in 2011. The contribution was described as “charitable” in nature, according to federal labor filings.

Two $8,500 donations by Planned Parenthood to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, were also described as charitable.

Unions also engaged in charitable giving to the billion-dollar organization, pouring $520,000 into Planned Parenthood coffers in the name of donating to a non-profit organization. The New York City chapter of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was responsible for nearly half of those donations with two $125,000 donations in 2012 alone.

Most of the transactions between Planned Parenthood and unions involved political activities. Labor giant AFL-CIO cashed a check for $50,000 from the organization for an “issue advocacy group,” and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees contributed $400,000 of the $600,000 in total donations that Planned Parenthood’s political operations have received since 2011.

These transactions came from some of the most influential and largest unions in the country, including AFL-CIO, United Autoworkers Union, National Education Association, SEIU, AFT, United Food and Commercial Union, and several local affiliates.

Only one of the labor unions responded to requests for comment about the nature of their relationships with the Planned Parenthood and whether they would continue in the wake of scandal.

The New York City teachers union made a $125,000 contribution to Planned Parenthood, which does not provide mammogram services, lost cancer-screening funding from the anti-breast cancer Susan G. Komen Foundation. Komen’s funding was later restored.

A spokesman for AFT in New York City indicated that the union still supports Planned Parenthood, pointing to a resolution urging “all our members to support Planned Parenthood as members and contributors.”

Planned Parenthood did not return request for comment.

Labor watchdogs said they were not surprised at the close ties between two of the Democratic Party’s biggest constituencies. Patrick Semmens, a vice president at the National Right to Work Foundation, said there is a big gap between the beliefs of union leadership and union members. There is little that workers can do to avoid running afoul their own principles as long as states do not give them the option to break ties with membership as a condition of employment.

 

“Whether it is sending dues money to Planned Parenthood, the Clinton Foundation, ACORN or any other organization that has nothing to do with representing rank-and-file workers, employees will have no way to hold union bosses accountable for how their money is spent as long as union officials are empowered by law to make payment to the union mandatory,” Semmens said.

Some members are now suing to overturn coercive unionism in order to avoid violating their religious beliefs. California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs is suing to break ties with the California Education Association, claiming that mandatory agency fee payments to support the union’s operation violates her rights to free association and to live by her conscience.

The Center for Individual Rights (CIR), a non-profit group, helped file Friedrichs’ case in federal court.

“Partisan donations aren’t remotely related to the union’s collective bargaining mission.  Forcing teachers to pay dues to support donations to Planned Parenthood is compelled speech of the most egregious kind.  That’s why the First Amendment protects the right of teachers to decide for themselves whether to pay fees to teachers unions,” CIR President Terry Pell said.

The Supreme Court will hear the case during its next session.

White House Continues to Ignore Russian Aggressions and Violations

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First, Russia has laid claim to territory in the Artic and the White House waved off any concern.

Then the White House left the matter of seizing the chemical weapons being used by Bashir al Assad in Syria to Russia while chlorine and napalm is being used to kill people in Syria today.

Then Russia and several other countries within BRICS have established a large fund and alternative currency system bypassing all Western monetary funds and the White House along with the U.S. Treasury looks the other way.

Russia has hacked into classified and protected government computer networks with no consequence even while Russia bombers have flown within airspace challenging NORAD with provocative aggressions.

Wait, there is more.

In part from the FreeBeacon:

The White House is blocking the release of a Pentagon risk assessment of Russia’s violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to a senior House leader.

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, disclosed the existence of the Pentagon assessment last month and said the report is needed for Congress’ efforts to address the problem in legislation.

“As we look to the near-term future, we need to consider how we’re going to respond to Russia’s INF violations,” Rogers said in an Air Force Association breakfast July 8. “Congress will not continue to tolerate the administration dithering on this issue.”

Rogers said the assessment was conducted by chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, and noted that it outlines potential responses to the treaty breach.

However, Rogers noted that the assessment “seems to stay tied up in the White House.”

At the Pentagon, spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said: “The Chairman’s assessment of Russia’s Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty violation is classified and not releasable to the public.”

Also from FNC in part:

Two Russian warships have docked in northern Iran for a series of naval training exercises with the Islamic Republic, according to Persian-language reports translated by the CIA’s Open Source Center.

The two Russian ships docked in Iran’s Anzali port on Sunday and will hold “joint naval exercises during the three-day stay of the warships in Iran,” according to a Persian-language report in Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency.

“The [Russian] warships, Volgodonsk and Makhachkala docked in Anzali Port [near the Caspian Sea], in the fourth naval zone, on the afternoon of 9 August,” the report says.

The war exercises come just weeks after Iran and global powers inked a nuclear accord that will provide Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for slight restrictions on the country’s nuclear program.

Russian and Iran have grown close in recent years, with delegations from each country regularly visiting one another to ink arms deals and other agreements aimed at strengthening Iran’s nuclear program.

One last item but certainly not last, the Saudis have attempted several times to work with Russia on Syria with no viable solution.

Reuters:

Russia and Saudi Arabia failed in talks on Tuesday to overcome their differences on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a central dispute in Syria’s civil war that shows no sign of abating despite renewed diplomacy.

Russia is pushing for a coalition to fight Islamic State insurgents — who have seized swathes of northern and eastern Syria — that would involve Assad, a longtime ally of Moscow. But, speaking after talks in Moscow, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir reiterated Riyadh’s stance that Assad must go.

“A key reason behind the emergence of Islamic State was the actions of Assad who directed his arms at his nation, not Islamic State,” Jubeir told a news conference after talks with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov.

So, with these recent events, is the White House intimidated by Russia, cooperating with Russia or just ignoring Russia or perhaps a combination of all three and then exactly why. Your comments are invited.

 

Notice the VA is Running Silent on Failures?

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Leaked Document: 35,000 Combat Vets Denied VA Health Care Enrollment Due To Computer Error

Nearly all are Iraq or Afghanistan War vets.

White House and congressional reporter, The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — More than 35,000 combat veterans are being denied health care enrollment by the Department of Veterans Affairs because of a computer system error, according to an internal document obtained by The Huffington Post.

M

Page 2 and 3 here.

Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA’s Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta and a past whistleblower on VA mismanagement, provided HuffPost with a recent VA analysis of the number of combat vets, by city, who are listed as “pending” for health care enrollment because they didn’t complete a so-called means test, which assesses their household income. Many vets have to submit a means test to be enrolled, but it’s not required for combat vets, who are automatically eligible for five years of free care. The policy is spelled out on the VA’s website.

The document shows that 35,093 combat vets who applied for health care aren’t getting it because the VA system has erroneously flagged them as needing to submit a means test. However, there are places that try their best to help combat vets who require help with healthcare as well as finances through va debt management, despite their problems.

“The VA has created an illegal, artificial barrier for people to access care,” Davis said. “We’re not talking about people who didn’t get care because they didn’t want it. We’re talking about people who turned in applications and VA said, ‘No, go into a backlog because you didn’t give us financial information.'”

Combat Change Request document is here.

VA spokeswoman Walinda West confirmed that combat vets aren’t required to provide financial information to be enrolled in health care.

“VA is actively taking action to enroll and further reach out to these Veterans (by telephone and letters) due to the length of time some of these applications have been pending,” West said.

The vast majority of these combat vets served in Iraq or Afghanistan. About 16,000 of them have been pending for more than five years, while about 19,000 have been pending from between one month and five years. Combat vets lose their eligibility for free health care after five years.

The document comes on the heels of another leaked VA document from April showing that nearly one-third of 847,000 vets with pending applications for health care had already died.

Davis contacted the House and Senate veterans affairs committees about the glitch. The House committee reached out to VA officials on Aug. 3 asking for details, but hasn’t heard back yet. A spokeswoman for the Senate committee said committee staff are scheduled to meet with VA officials at the Health Eligibility Center this week and plan to press for information on this issue.

VA management has known about the problem since at least April. Last month, they issued a “change request” directing their systems management staff to create a computer script to “automatically complete a means test” for all pending combat vets.

VA staffers also started working overtime last month to call all 35,000 combat vets to let them know of their pending health care status.

The problem, though, is that nothing has happened since the change request was issued. On top of that, VA staffers are telling combat vets they have to fill out another form agreeing to co-pays before they can be enrolled — even though they already agreed to co-pays in their original application. That’s creating another barrier to enrollment for a group of vets who should never have been listed as pending in the first place.

Here’s the phone script staffers have been using at the Health Eligibility Center:

Davis said there’s a simple solution: go into the computer system, gather the Social Security numbers of combat vets listed as pending, and tell the system they are enrolled immediately. He said VA Secretary Bob McDonald has the authority to direct that change, and arguably a duty to do so since combat vets have been legally entitled to special health care eligibility status since January 2008.

Asked why McDonald hasn’t taken this action, West said the secretary “does not have the legal authority” to automatically enroll vets in health care. But she didn’t clarify whether, specifically, he has the authority to override the VA computer system error that says combat vets need to fill out a means test, which is keeping them from being enrolled.

“We are taking steps to contact and/or enroll these applicants as quickly as possible to ensure all appropriate action is taken and resolved to the satisfaction of those Veterans for whom we are honored to serve,” West said. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this issue may have caused our Veterans. We are working to get this right.”

HuffPost asked McDonald himself about the problem on Thursday, via a tweet read aloud at a Politico event, but he didn’t address it. Instead, he announced his phone number and said to call him directly.

“I’d be happy to check out their particular instance,” McDonald said to Politico’s Mike Allen, in response to the tweet. “I like to deal with specifics and not generalities. Customer service is about one-on-one care. … You have my phone number.”

HuffPost called and left a message. He didn’t return the call.

This story has been updated with comments from a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee spokeswoman.

What you Need to Know About the Visa Waiver Program

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There are 38 countries that participate in the State Department Visa Waiver Program. There are very few conditions for people traveling to the United States from those countries to enter our country. There are countless problems with this program most of which is those that over-stay and never go home.

Europe has an unspeakable problem with Islamic State sympathizers and those from the UK are allowed to travel to the U.S. without any real conditions.

To make America safer immediately a first step is to suspend this program immediately and for at least two years.

Have no fear…yeah sure. The program is getting tighter security measures.

DHS Announces Security Enhancements to Visa Waiver Program

By: Amanda Vicinanzo, Senior Editor

Just days ago, Adil Batarfi, one of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) senior commanders, issued a threat against America and the West if they continue to blasphemy Islam. Amid these continued calls for terrorist attacks on the homeland, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new security enhancements to the US Visa Waiver program (VWP).

The VWP is administered by DHS and enables eligible citizens or nationals of designated countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa. The VWP constitutes one of a few exceptions under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in which foreign nationals are admitted into the United States without a valid visa.

To enhance the security of the program, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson announced a number of additional or revised security criteria for all participants—both current and new members— in the VWP. The new criteria include the following:

  • Required use of e-passports for all Visa Waiver Program travelers coming to the United States;
  • Required use of the INTERPOL Lost and Stolen Passport Database to screen travelers crossing a Visa Waiver country’s borders; and
  • Permission for the expanded use of U.S. federal air marshals on international flights from Visa Waiver countries to the United States.

“As I have said a number of times now, the current global threat environment requires that we know more about those who travel to the United States,” Johnson said. “This includes those from countries for which we do not require a visa.”

Johnson said the new enhancements build on a number of changes implemented last September. DHS required travelers from the 38 VWP countries where a visa is not required for US entry to provide additional passport data, contact information and other potential names or aliases in their travel application submitted via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before they could travel to the US.

DHS took steps to improve the program in the wake of the adoption of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 2178 last September, which urged member nations to do more to address the growing threat of foreign terrorist fighters.

“The security enhancements we announce today are part of this department’s continuing assessments of our homeland security in the face of evolving threats and challenges, and our determination to stay one step ahead of those threats and challenges,” Johnson said. “And, it is our considered judgment that the security enhancements we announce today will not hinder lawful trade and travel with our partners in the Visa Waiver Program. These measures will enhance security for all concerned.”

Homeland Security Today reported earlier this year that lawmakers have become concerned that the program could be used as a gateway for terrorists to enter the United States. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called the VWP the “Achilles’ heel of America,” saying citizens from visa waiver countries could travel to Syria to fight for jihadist groups and return home to conducts attacks.

A UN report from earlier this year revealed that the number of foreign fighters leaving their home nations to join extremist groups in Iraq, Syria and other nations has hit record levels, with estimates of over 25,000 foreign fighters coming from nearly 100 countries.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has raised similar concerns. During an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” McCaul said, “We have a visa waiver-free system where they can fly in the United States without even having a visa. We need to look at all sorts of things like that.”

However, defenders of the program believe VWP is critical to national security. At a speech at The Heritage Foundation, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff made the case for continuing the VWP.

“Now is not the time to handicap or dismantle our intelligence collection programs … that have literally been at the cornerstone of protecting the United States since 2001.” VWP is “a plus-plus for our national security and our economic security,” Chertoff said.