[NYP] Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified the transcripts of the phone calls between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, a senior administration official confirmed to The Post.
The move by Grenell comes on the same day he was replaced by former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tx.), who was sworn in Tuesday after being confirmed to the position by the Senate in a 49-44 vote Thursday.
Now that the declassification review process for those transcripts is complete, his successor Ratcliffe will decide whether they are released.
The trove of Russia probe documents includes transcripts of the December 2016 calls between Flynn and Kislyak.
Last week, Grenell said that he was in the process of declassifying those files after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) had asked him to do so.
Last week, Flynn’s lawyer Sidney Powell joined former National Security Adviser Susan Rice in calling for the transcripts to be released.
Powell said last Wednesday on SiriusXM’s "The Dan Abrams Show" that she "would love" to see those conversations become public, arguing that she believes the transcript would help exonerate her client.
"I think the reason we haven’t seen [the transcripts] is because the word ’sanctions’ doesn’t even appear in them," she said at the time.
Rice’s spokeswoman also called for the release of the transcripts in response to a declassified email written by Rice and sent to herself on President Trump’s inauguration day.
The email, which was declassified by Grenell, documented a Jan. 5 meeting she took part in with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates regarding Flynn.
Rice wrote that Comey had expressed some concerns about the frequency with which Flynn was communicating with Kislyak, saying it could pose an issue when it came to sharing sensitive information.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2020 9:13 Comments ||
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#2
One can only hope. I pretty much gave up on Trump selecting people for his administration when he appointed John Bolton. Perhaps the tide has turned.
Grenell is a keeper...need to find a home for him. So, meanwhile, it's back to Berlin.
#4
As much as the eurines despised Grenell for being Trump's ambassador, they probably now ironically wish he hadn't been moved to the acting DNI slot because it hurt their lovey boy Bath House.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2020 15:20 Comments ||
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[Law Enforcement Today] SPRINGFIELD, IL.- "Hey peasants! Rules are meant for thee, not for me!"
By now, Americans should realize that there are two sets of rules during the current version of America Held Hostage: The Coronavirus Edition.
While Americans are getting summoned to court for having the audacity to work out or wind surf on an open ocean, the ruling class is playing by their own rules. The latest example of hypocrisy comes courtesy of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Of course, hypocrisy is nothing new to Pritzker. Back in April when Pritzker was asked about rumors that his wife and daughter were not in Illinois but in fact were in Florida, Pritzker became defensive, no make that combative.
"My official duties have nothing to do with my family. So, I’m not going to answer that question. It’s inappropriate and I find it reprehensible."
Now back to your corner, serfs!
This past Friday, Pritzker finally admitted that his wife and daughter were in Florida at an "equestrian farm" that he owns there. He says they were allegedly there prior to his stay-at-home order issued in March.
Equestrian farm? Wonder how many of the hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents currently forced out of work by Pritzker own equestrian farms? But I digress.
Pritzker’s latest case of thumbing his nose at Illinois residents was uncovered this week by Fox 32 Chicago. According to the news outlet, Pritzker has a huge construction project going on at a horse farm he owns in Wisconsin.
Wait a minute...equestrian estate in Florida, horse farm in Wisconsin? Just like his constituents, right?
[IsraelTimes] Move comes amid growing storm after president tweets conspiracy theory accusing media critic of murder; social network flags tweets on alleged danger of mail-in ballots.
h/t Instapundit
[yahoo news] - As Governor Andrew Cuomo faced a spirited challenge in his bid to win New York’s 2018 Democratic primary, his political apparatus got a last-minute boost: a powerful healthcare industry group suddenly poured more than $1m into a Democratic committee backing his campaign.
Less than two years after that flood of cash from the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), Cuomo signed legislation last month quietly shielding hospital and nursing home executives from the threat of lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. The provision, inserted into an annual budget bill by Cuomo’s aides, created one of the nation’s most explicit immunity protections for healthcare industry officials, according to legal experts.
#1
So, basically, when he sent CV19+ people to nursing homes, he wasn't worried about ICU shortage - he was sending some business the way of his supporters?
All these people have died not because he lost it under pressure, but because he was doing business as usual?
#5
May have mentioned before that I heard from a relative that nurses at one nursing home in the Midwest all contracted COVID-19. The administration were so piss-poor to not even get the nurses tested and they had to do it themselves.
In addition, the administrators do not inform family members if nursing home residents contract COVID-19 as they are afraid the family will pull that person out of the home. Bottom line: lost revenue. Pathetic.
[Freebeacon] Liberal super PACs are pouring more than $200,000 into a contested Republican primary in New Mexico in an attempt to help the candidate they view as less electable clinch the GOP nomination.
Campaign finance reports show Women Vote!, a super PAC affiliated with EMILY's List focused on electing pro-abortion Democratic women to Congress, is distributing $22,856 worth of mailers to Republican voters throughout New Mexico's Second Congressional District. Images of the mailers obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show the group praising Yvette Herrell as "loyal to President Trump" and attacking her Republican opponent Claire Chase as a "lobbyist."
Twenty-three minute video with transcript, for those of us who prefer reading to listening.
[SharylAttkisson] Sharyl: Thank you for being on our program.
President Trump: Well, thank you.
Sharyl: Do you think that coronavirus has been as transformative to our country as 9/11 was?
President Trump: Well, I think the concept of 9/11 was, it was a little more direct. It was a hit by terrorists. But this is a hit. It came out of China, whether we like it or not, it came out of China. It could have been stopped. It came all over the world, but it didn't really go to China. They stopped their planes going into China, but they didn't stop their planes and their traffic going into the rest of the world, including the United States and Europe, and Europe is decimated. And you look at what happened all over the world, 186 countries. So now it's a very terrible thing and they could have stopped it if they wanted to, they could have stopped it. Either it was incompetent or they didn't want to, both are not very acceptable, by the way.
Sharyl: Can you take us to the moment when you remember first hearing about the highest projections? We're talking millions, and we had not been told that yet in the public, but I assume you were told that first. Were you thinking, how is this to be believed? Was it startling and frightening?
President Trump: So I was hearing millions of people, and it would have been millions of people if we didn't shut down. Now, would I shut it down again? No, because we understand it now much better. We didn't know anything about it, it was new, it was fresh.
Sharyl: You mean you would not have, in retrospect, shut down the-
President Trump: I would have done exactly. We've done the exact moves that I would have done. And I did it early. Tony Fauci, Dr. Birx, they all said what I did was incredible. In retrospect, Tony, as you know, never thought he was going to be as severe as it was. And we're talking about months later, a long time after I did the ban. I did a ban and nobody thought I should do it. I mean, literally I don't think anybody thought I should do it. I made that decision by myself and it turned out to be a great decision. Hundreds of thousands of lives are saved.
Sharyl: About four months ago, almost to the day, the first coronavirus victim in the United States was officially diagnosed.
[Dallas News] For the past two months, the state of Texas has been in a legal battle with the Texas Democratic Party and voting rights groups over a push to expand mail voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Didn't I just see the other day that even with comorbidities, those less that 65 years old have a 97% chance of surviving? In state and federal courts, the parties have argued and gotten orders from judges to allow more people to vote by mail. Those orders have been appealed and fought over. You just gotta find the right judge.
Expanded mail voting has been on in the state, then off; then on again, then off again. Most of the fighting has involved legalistic procedural challenges.
Shellie, a sixth-generation Texan, has no use for such ticky-tacky procedural arguments. But the outcome may determine whether she has to place her life in danger come July when she plans to vote in the state’s primary runoffs. Assuming the pandemic is not ancient history by then.
Shellie, 47, was diagnosed with hypertension 12 years ago. That condition, which she shares with nearly half of all adults in the United States, puts her at high risk for severe illness if she develops COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
It’s the reason she wants to vote by mail. She can apply for an exception. Dead people can't.
"I don’t see why any of us, myself or any of us Texans, should risk our lives to vote," she said. Also recently discovered, you are at more risk driving to the polling place than dying from the virus.
[Texas A.G.] Paxton says that only people who have an illness or physical disability that prevents them from going to the polls fall under the disability clause. Fear of contracting the virus, he argues, does not clear that threshold.
The Texas plaintiffs say one reason for their lawsuit is that state officials have not issued guidance to local elections administrators. Without a uniform policy, they said, a hodgepodge of rules could spring up across the state, potentially benefiting voters in one county over another. Benefiting? You mean by saving them from the hazard of driving to the polling place? If no action is taken, the plaintiffs said, Texas could see a repeat of the Wisconsin primary elections in April when voters stood in long lines and didn't follow social distancing guidelines. Stupid is as stupid does. I thought Texans were smarted than Badgers.
Either way, Shellie plans to vote in July. She's already requested a mail ballot but will go ‐ grudgingly ‐ to a polling location if the courts opt not to allow expanded mail voting. She said nothing will stop her from casting her ballot.
"Native Texans, we're a different breed of people. … If I have to risk my life to do that, I will," she said. "I don't want to and I feel I shouldn't have to, but I will." It's a primary. If there's a line, keep your distance! You're a 'different breed' than those Wisconsin people!
#3
There were what, a maximum of sixty-odd people in Wisconsin who MIGHT have contacted the virus on election day, even with nobody social distancing? That means that risks seem pretty nonexistent to me. Get over yourself and go vote. If you can't look at reality often enough to realize how little danger you're in, then maybe you shouldn't be able to vote.
#5
Absentee ballots are available everywhere. Make sure it's still the case, and that the requester is alive and who they say they are
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2020 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
The two times I had to vote absentee (traveling) I had to go to the election bureau at the county courthouse and show two photo ID and a tax form that proved my residency to obtain a ballot. What's being pitched now is mass mailing of blank ballots with no ID or residency proof required, and no control over what happens to these ballots coming or going. Anyone saying it's not a recipe for mass fraud is either stupid or dishonest.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2020 9:12 Comments ||
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#7
It is totally disgusting. What's even more disturbing they are getting away with it. We've probably all seen those meme images of all of the things we need to produce an ID for. But to treat voting so haphazardly is beyond words.
And the Dems talk about "Russian collusion" in our elections. GTFOH!
#8
I did just go sign my tax forms. With all the hoo-haw they went in less than six weeks behind schedule, though the deadline is now July 15 and may get bumped.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2020 11:58 Comments ||
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#9
Shellie, 47, was diagnosed with hypertension 12 years ago. That condition, which she shares with nearly half of all adults in the United States, puts her at high risk for severe illness if she develops COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Last I heard, there are medications that control this condition quite well. So I smell bullcrap.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/27/2020 13:28 Comments ||
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#10
^She can't afford the hypertension meds - like, what's her name, who couldn't afford morning after pills.
#11
Anyone saying it's not a recipe for mass fraud is either stupid or and/or dishonest.
That was an easy fix. No charge!
Now, if you go to a grocery story, you have to wear a mask and in the check out line they have markings on the floor six feet apart to show you where to stand to maintain social distance. It seems to me it would be easy to implement the same protocol at polling stations. Then they put hand sanitizer at the exits. What's the problem?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/27/2020 13:47 Comments ||
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#12
And the Dems talk about "Russian collusion" in our elections. GTFOH!
Yeah. I'd call this Chinese collusion.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/27/2020 13:49 Comments ||
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#13
I voted in person at the primary here in Florida on March 17. More because I could than because there was any big reason to.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2020 14:06 Comments ||
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[NYPOST] In 2013, Mayor de Blasio rode to Gracie Mansion with the theme of "A Tale of Two Cities," decrying New York City’s class divide, between rich and poor, haves and have-nots. Seven years later, with his threat to "pull" New Yorkers "right out" of the water should they dare go into the sea, Hizzoner has made clear which side of that divide he sits on.
I grew up in Brooklyn but didn’t know there was a Prospect Park until I was a teen. You can draw a straight line through Brooklyn with the park as your divider. It’s a different world beyond the park, and that world was mine. Growing up in Flatbush and then Bensonhurst, there was one place to go for summer amusement: the beach.
You’d take the B68 bus straight to Brighton, the subway to Coney Island or, if your family had a car, you could even drive to Manhattan Beach.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
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#1
Minor nitpick - Bill DeBlasio, former resident of Cambridge, MA, has no class.
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.
[NYP] Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified the transcripts of the phone calls between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, a senior administration official confirmed to The Post.
[Freebeacon] Liberal super PACs are pouring more than $200,000 into a contested Republican primary in New Mexico in an attempt to help the candidate they view as less electable clinch the GOP nomination.
In state and federal courts, the parties have argued and gotten orders from judges to allow more people to vote by mail. Those orders have been appealed and fought over.
If no action is taken, the plaintiffs said, Texas could see a repeat of the Wisconsin primary elections in April when voters stood in long lines and didn't follow social distancing guidelines.
[NYPOST] In 2013, Mayor de Blasio rode to Gracie Mansion with the theme of "A Tale of Two Cities," decrying New York City’s class divide, between rich and poor, haves and have-nots. Seven years later, with his threat to "pull" New Yorkers "right out" of the water should they dare go into the sea, Hizzoner has made clear which side of that divide he sits on.
