BLUF:
[Politico via Right Scoop] Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered the Justice Department to dig into allegations in a POLITICO report that a series of potential drug prosecutions related to the pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah were abandoned as the Obama administration pressed to strike a deal with Iran over its nuclear program.
Sessions indicated that he was troubled by allegations that Project Cassandra ‐ the Drug Enforcement Administration’s drive to target Hezbollah’s foray into drug trafficking ‐ ran into high-level roadblocks that stymied many of the cases agents wanted to bring as well as efforts to get suspects extradited from overseas to the U.S.
"Operations designed to investigate and prosecute terrorist organizations that are also fueling that drug crisis must be paramount in this administration," Sessions said in a statement released to reporters Friday evening. "While I am hopeful that there were no barriers constructed by the last administration to allowing DEA agents to fully bring all appropriate cases under Project Cassandra, this is a significant issue for the protection of Americans. We will review these matters and give full support to investigations of violent drug trafficking organizations."
#1
About time. This will climb all the way back into Comey and Mueller, resulting in their being charged, arrested prosecuted convicted and imprisoned.
[PATCH] A local Democrat and state representative pleaded guilty this morning to assaulting a political opponent during a state Senate ballot recount in November 2016. State Rep. Katherine Rogers, D-Concord, 61, pleaded guilty to the assault charge as part of a plea deal that would help her avoid jail time as well as a fine so long as she stays out of trouble during the next year and attends anger management classes during the next 90-days. Both Rogers and the victim ‐ Susan Olsen, a former state representative candidate from Warner and a well-known 2nd Amendment rights activist ‐ were in Concord District Court on Dec. 22, 2017, for the plea and sentencing.
Back on Nov. 16, 2016, during the recount for the District 7 state Senate seat held at the state archives building, Rogers put her arm around Olsen and then struck her with a semi-closed right hand on the side of the head.
In the complaint, Olsen stated that Rogers was challenging many of the ballots and requested that they be put closer to her so she could see them, according to evidence gathered during the investigation. At that time, Rogers put her hand on her shoulder, as if to hug her, stated that she wanted Olsen to be happy, and then struck her. Olsen warned Rogers that if she touched her again, she'd have her tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... and stated that Rogers ‐ a former county attorney ‐ replied, according to an affidavit, "in a low, mocking, angry whisper," something to the effect of "Hit me. I know you want to. Go ahead. Hit me."
After the case was filed Rogers' attorney ‐ William Christie of Shaheen & Gordon ‐ told media outlets that the incident was a ploy and being played up for political purposes. Neither Christie nor Rogers returned requests for comment to Patch at the time. Olsen, however, countered that she waited until the end of the legislative session to file the charge in order for it to not be perceived as political. During the investigation by New Hampshire State Police, a witness came forward to corroborate Olsen's complaint after Patch and other outlets reported the charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
After the case was filed Rogers' attorney ‐ William Christie of Shaheen & Gordon...
Gee - I wonder why Rogers just got a slap on the wrist?
[FOX - via LI] Among the many aspects of Elizabeth Warren’s Cherokee deception, perhaps the Pow Wow Chow cookbook stands out for its multi-layers of ridiculousness.
Elizabeth Warren is not Native American, much less Cherokee as she claimed.
Yet Warren submitted recipes to a 1984 cookbook called Pow Wow Chow identifying herself as Cherokee. The cookbook also had a recipe from her husband for Oriental Stir Fry, and he was identified as Cherokee (there’s no indication he actually is).
This would be ridiculous if it stopped there, but it didn’t.
It turned out that a number of the recipes were nearly identical to recipes published elsewhere previously. Boston Radio host Howie Carr discovered that three of Warren’s recipes appeared to be plagiarized:
And the marketing plan? Once again we find ourselves following the money:
#1
Pow Wow Chow: A Collection of Recipes from Families of the Five Civilized Tribes : Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, and some uncivilized others.
Posted by: Daniel ||
12/24/2017 3:41 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I recall the Aztecs liked their heart done rare.
#14
IIRC, the Cherokee scholar Sequoya simply "appropriated" the idea of a written / alphabetic language from the hegemonic colonizers of North America. The very idea of a written cookbook is an outrageous example of colonized thinking.
#15
Be sure not to tell Fauxcahontas about the
"Seal of the Republic of Massachusetts" with its " Indian thereon, dressed in a shirt and moccasins, holding in his right hand a bow, and in his left hand an arrow". She'll either claim him as her long lost ancestor, or start a hysterical campaign to have that sacrilegious and appropriated image removed altogether.
Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.
McCabe spent hours in Congress this past week, facing questions behind closed doors from members of three committees. Republicans said they were dissatisfied with his answers; Democrats called it a partisan hounding.
McCabe, 49, holds a unique position in the political firestorm surrounding the FBI . He was former director James B. Comey’s right-hand man, a position that involved him in most of the FBI’s actions that vex President Trump and in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, a matter that still riles Democrats.
McCabe won’t become eligible for his full pension until early March. People close to him say he plans to retire as soon as he hits that mark. "He’s got about 90 days, and some of that will be holiday time. He can make it,’’ one said.
My research indicates Mr. McCabe, if found guilty of a crime intersecting with his Government duties, would lose his pension.
#2
This man is effectively resigning in dishonor...he can polish that turd up by calling it an early retirement, but he is still a dishonorable turd...
And if he enabled the unmasking and leaking of classified information he will be an inmate.
We will throw in Two - count it Two CT Intel officials as well as an added chock bloc to solidify a case so expostfactocradudeliterious you won't what hit the obamas in your heart!
For the low, low price of your tax money, you get obamas "scandal free" administration for your dining this festivous season with heads of intel committee at every seat at your Family Table!
And if you act now, you will receive these Directors of the CIA Faberge Egg bobble dolls with a DOJ Star to top your Yalda tree this Festival of Fires!
#4
He'll be busy pulling his defense together at his new job over at the Clinton Foundation whilst on retirement leave.
I doubt it will happen, but the first thing DoJ or the Bureau should do is yank his security clearance. I'll bet Clinton still has a clearance as well.
#5
As far as I'm aware, they are all holding current clearances. For what, I do not know.
It is still operating on it's own volition with no authorization from lead office.
It is not a normal American thing unless you have like a hoover (Ahembama) at the helm.
#8
Early 2018 prognostication: IG will expose him as a political hack and a liar and he'll roll
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2017 9:28 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Suspend him now without pay. BTW if you used your position and power towards a crime, you do NOT get credit towards service for that time...at least a couple years shy then, for him
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2017 9:45 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Salt in the wound.... Federal Employee Annual Bonus program.
#11
He will retire and immediately claim the 5th as a private citizen. And take a long vacation overseas where he will find it "inconvenient" (like Roman Polanski) to testify?
A passenger on a flight from Houston to Washington D.C. has accused United Airlines of giving her first-class seat to U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. D-Houston, and then threatening to remove her from the plane for complaining and snapping a photo of the Houston congresswoman.
"It was just so completely humiliating," said Jean-Marie Simon, a 63-year-old attorney and private school teacher who used 140,000 miles on Dec. 3 to purchase the first-class tickets to take her from Washington D.C. to Guatemala and back home.
When it came time to board the last leg of her flight home from George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Dec. 18, after a roughly hour-long weather delay, Simon said the gate attendant scanned her paper ticket and told her it was not in the system.
Did you cancel your flight?, the attendant asked.
"No," she said she replied. "I just want to go home."
Her seat, 1A, was taken, she was told. Simon was given a $500 voucher and reseated in row 11, Economy Plus.
Simon later learned that Jackson Lee was in her pre-purchased seat and has alleged that the congresswoman received preferential treatment, which United denies.
"After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer appears to have canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, D.C. within the United mobile app," United said in a statement. "As part of the normal pre-boarding process, gate agents began clearing standby and upgrade customers, including the first customer on the waitlist for an upgrade."
Simon denies that she cancelled her ticket. She sent a reporter a screenshot of the United website showing only one "inactive" reservation ‐ a flight to Houston in August to visit her daughter that she had to cancel because of Hurricane Harvey.
A United official said screenshot doesn't show the December flight as cancelled because she ultimately took the flight.
The official provided another screenshot of United's internal software system and said that it showed the flight had been cancelled on a mobile app, though a reporter was unable to independently verify that on Saturday because of the system's coding.
Jackson Lee issued a statement on Saturday afternoon saying: "I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary."
Simon said she saw Jackson Lee board the plane with a flight attendant before all of the other passengers, but did not know who she was until another passenger told her after they were seated.
A mechanical problem with the plane delayed take-off and after about 50 minutes, she said, passengers were invited to consult with a gate agent about alternative flights.
Simon said she went to the front and snapped a photo of Jackson Lee and told a flight attendant that she knew why she'd been bumped.
In her statement, Jackson Lee said she overheard Simon speaking with an African-American flight attendant and saw her snap the photo.
"Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice," Jackson Lee said in the statement. "This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people. But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry."
Simon said Jackson Lee's statement accused her of racism, adding: "I had no idea who was in my seat when I complained at the gate that my seat had been given to someone else," she said. "There is no way you can see who is in a seat from inside the terminal."
About five minutes after Simon took the photo on the plane, Simon said, another flight attendant sat next her and asked if she "was going to be a problem."
Simon said she replied that she just wanted to go home.
She said the plane took off at 12:50 p.m. and she arrived home that night, still upset. Simon wrote a letter to airline's CEO and posted it on Facebook and Twitter. A "resolution manager" called her Saturday morning and apologized at least a half-dozen times, she said.
She said she wants a formal, written apology from United.
"It's just impossible to suspend disbelief and swallow that story that I cancelled my flight," Simon said.
United has suffered a string of customer relations gaffes this year.
In June, a woman said she was forced to give up her 2-year-old's $969 seat on a flight from Houston to Boston and hold him for roughly three hours because the airline sold the seat.
In April, Dr. David Dao was forcibly removed from a United Express flight in Chicago to make space for crew members headed to Louisville, Ky.
The airline announced policy changes after that incident and its CEO, Oscar Munoz, has promised a "culture shift toward becoming a better, more customer-focused airline."
#2
Quite humorous actually. They unknowingly pushed an attorney to the back of the bus. $25,000,000. in personal damages should send the appropriate message. Jury trial please.
I didn't think the airlines could stoop any lower. I was wrong again.
#3
United (Breaks Guitars) claims Simon cancelled her ticket which is why they upgraded Lee (she needs to change that triggering name.) Yet they put her on the plane, with a $500 voucher? That doesn't sound like United (Breaks Guitars). They MIGHT have gotten away with saying they 'screwed up and booked the seat twice, so sorry' which is quite plausible except for the Lee angle.
A Republican congressman on the House Judiciary Committee says Hillary Clinton received special treatment during the email investigation in 2016 while she was running for president.
"We have email evidence from Andrew McCabe indicating that Hillary Clinton was going to get an 'HQ Special,' a headquarters special," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) alleged on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" Friday.
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe met with both the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees in closed-door hearings on Thursday.
"The Judiciary Committee is engaged in an investigation, particularly as it relates to the handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal and any potential investigations of the Clinton Foundation and the handling of bribes or other types of improper payments," Gaetz said.
He explained that the "headquarter special" was an indication that "the normal processes at the Washington field office weren't followed and he had a very small group of people that had a pro-Hillary Clinton bias who had a direct role in changing the outcome of that investigation from one that likely should have been criminal to one where she was able to walk."
#3
After his interrogation on Friday and Saturday, he decided he needed to get his retirement papers in before he was fired...preemptive to avoid termination...
I suggest he will find a couple of cardboard boxes on his desk on Tuesday and a couple of security guards to supervise his packing out.
[RADIOSHABELLE] U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison on Thursday called for investigations into reports that federal immigration agents have mistreated 92 Somalis who were shackled for 2 days on a botched deportation flight.
Ellison, a Democrat who represents Minnesota’s 5th District, home to a large Somali-American community, said constituents contacted him "to express grave concern about alleged human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... abuses of 92 Somali nationals while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in transit through Dakar, Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... " from Dec. 7 to Dec. 9.
The flight left around 3 a.m. on Dec. 7 from Louisiana, but the detainees never made it to Somalia. They were returned to Miami around midnight on Dec. 8.
Some of those on the flight said in a lawsuit that agents physically and verbally abused them during the flight, which lasted for 40 hours, including 23 hours when the flight was on the ground at an airport in Dakar.
As the plane sat on the runway, the 92 detainees remained bound, their handcuffs secured to their waists, and their feet shackled together for 48 hours, according to the lawsuit.
Seven men who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their fellow Somali detainees, who are now in detention centers in Florida, allege that when the plane’s toilets overfilled with human waste, they were left to urinate into bottles or on themselves. They say agents allegedly restrained them, kicked them and dragged them down the aisle.
Calling the abuse reports "profoundly disturbing," Ellison said he’s pressing the agency to explain:
• Why the plane returned to the U.S.
• "Why were individuals with medical needs not allowed accommodations for their health, such as the detainee with diabetes who was not given access to his medication?"
• "What disciplinary actions will be taken against the ICE officers who struck and choked detainees or otherwise used excessive force during the tarmac delay, given that all detainees were wearing restraints and could not pose a threat to the officers?"
The immigration enforcement agency says the abuse allegations are untrue and that no one was injured during the flight. Those being deported on the charter removal flights were restrained for the safety of those on board, the agency added, noting that 61 of the 92 detainees on the flight had criminal convictions, including homicide, rape, and aggravated assault.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
#1
They say agents allegedly restrained them, kicked them and dragged them down the aisle.
Isn't there a tenent of Islam that allows their adherents to lie about certain things to unbelievers? Damn, what is that word again?
Most Americans are struggling financially after 8 years of Obama’s Socialist hell. Things are turning around, but the holidays are especially tough for families living paycheck to paycheck as they figure out how to fit a little Christmas shopping into their budgets.
Hillary is completely removed from the average struggling American being that she’s a government elitist who hasn’t worked a normal job in decades so she shamelessly begged for money going into the holiday weekend.
Hillary went on a tweetstorm pushing six radical, anti-American far left groups she financially backs.
#3
Why not use a few $mil from the her $145M profit from the illegal American uranium sale to the Russians? Just the passive income from that $145M invested in a Dow Jones index fund would have yielded her $54M (37.5%) in the year since President Trump was elected.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/24/2017 9:55 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Just trying to keep her name out there for the true believers to pine for and to scream at the sky.
I predict in another year of investigation, there will be so much Zerobama era abuse and corruption out there for people to see that hell will break loose on the Dem side of the aisle as they finally realize how they were duped into supporting such an odious person.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.