12 May 20
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Juan Cole | Pence, Who Urged Impeachment of Bill Clinton for Lying, Would Join Trump in Welcoming Confessed Liar Michael Flynn Back to White House
Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Cole writes: "Vice President Mike Pence says he would be happy to have disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn back in the White House."
EXCERPT:
Flynn undermined US national security by frequent unauthorized contacts with the Russian ambassador, in which he made pledges that the US law of the land would be overturned.
And then he lied about it to the FBI
I’ll let you decide which of these lies amounted to an impeachable offense. Apparently Pence would only be outraged if Kislyak had been a Russian bombshell and Flynn had slept with her, and then lied about that.
Flynn confessed on two separate occasions to two different judges that he had lied, twice, to FBI agents who investigated him in January of 2017. He had earlier lied to Pence himself, denying that he had been in telephone communication with then Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late fall of 2016 when Barack Obama was still president. Obama had placed sanctions on Russia, and Flynn called up Kislyak and told him not to worry about them, that Trump would undue them. Since Flynn at that time was a private individual, his attempt to undo official US government policy was the height of impropriety, and probably a crime in itself.
But the lying to the FBI was what landed him in hot water. Jennifer Emily at the Dallas Morning News explains that Federal law says,
“Statements or entries generally (a) . . . [W]hoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, [ 1 ] knowingly and willfully — (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years.”
I had written earlier:
“Flynn had visited Moscow in 2015 and was seated with Vladimir Putin at a gala in celebration of the founding in 2000 of Russia Today, the Russian government-owned cable news channel. Flynn was allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars for this appearance. Since he is a retired general, he should not have taken money from a foreign government and/or should have reported it, since officers can always be called back up.
Then there are allegations that Flynn began meeting with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. After the Trump victory, which many believe was orchestrated by Russian cyber-cons, Flynn was in regular contact with Kislyak. He called him 5 times on Christmas Day. In a later telephone conversation, Flynn is alleged to have reassured Kislyak that new Obama sanctions would be reversed by the Trump administration.
The Moscow Times writes:
“Russian analyst Dmitry Suslov says Flynn’s five phone conversations with the ambassador on the day of sanctions were nothing out of the ordinary. ‘It was necessary for him to guarantee a smooth transition and devise a foreign policy for the administration,’ says Suslov.”
Soon after Flynn’s resignation, on Feb. 20, Tatyana Stanovaya, director of the Analysis Department at the Center for Political Technologies, wrote at Politcom.ru, according to BBC Monitoring, “ Michael Flynn’s resignation has come as a great disappointment to Russia, since his name was linked to some degree to hopes of a future warming of relations and a review of the sanctions regime.”
Chad Day at AP explains that on January 24, 2017, two FBI agents who had obtained information about Flynn’s calls to Kislyak came to the White House to interview him. Day writes, “Flynn agreed to talk with them, and when asked, denied that he told Kislyak to back off from escalating situation in response to the sanctions.” He also lied about another time he reached out to Russia, in an unsuccessful bid to protect Israel from UN censure.
Many observers have cautioned that the DOJ decision to urge that Flynn be released from prosecution (apparently on the grounds that he is Trump’s buddy) is the beginning of the end of the rule of law in the United States and a further step toward American fascism.
Eulalia Dalila Pojoy Cuyuch, 33, of Guatemala (far right) and her family say goodbye to a friend as they wait along the border fence to turn themselves into U.S. Customs on June 14, asking for asylum in Tijuana, Mexico. (photo: Gina Ferazzi/LA Times)
Trump Is Using the Pandemic to Flout Immigration Laws
Lucas Guttentag and Stefano M. Bertozzi, The New York Times
Excerpt: "For more than a month, under the guise of fighting the coronavirus, the Trump administration has used the nation's public health laws as a pretext for summarily deporting refugees and children at the border."
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Paramedics bring home a woman with COVID-19 who underwent an emergency C-section because she was gravely ill. After extensive care, including time on a ventilator, she was released from a hospital in Stamford, Conn., and she has a healthy newborn. (photo: John Moore/Getty)
Doctors Keep Discovering New Ways the Coronavirus Attacks the Body
Lenny Bernstein and Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Today, there is widespread recognition the novel coronavirus is far more unpredictable than a simple respiratory virus. Often it attacks the lungs, but it can also strike anywhere from the brain to the toes."
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When reporters stopped letting him dodge a tough question by calling on someone else on Monday, Donald Trump abruptly turned and walked out of the Rose Garden. (photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty)
Two Female Reporters Refused to Let Trump Bully Them Into Silence, So He Ran Away
Robert Mackey, The Intercept
Mackey writes: "When an actual press conference threatened to break out in the Rose Garden on Monday, as two White House correspondents refused to let Donald Trump silence them, and a third declined his request to change the subject by asking a new question, the president abruptly turned and walked away."
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Chicago residents line up to get screened for COVID-19. (photo: Joshua Lott/Reuters)
Unreleased White House Report Shows Coronavirus Rates Spiking in Heartland Communities
Jonathan Allen, Phil McCausland and Cyrus Farivar, NBC News
Excerpt: "Coronavirus infection rates are spiking to new highs in several metropolitan areas and smaller communities across the country, according to undisclosed data the White House's pandemic task force is using to track rates of infection, which was obtained by NBC News."
The data in a May 7 coronavirus task force report are at odds with President Donald Trump's declaration Monday that "all throughout the country, the numbers are coming down rapidly."
The 10 top areas recorded surges of 72.4 percent or greater over a seven-day period compared to the previous week, according to a set of tables produced for the task force by its data and analytics unit. They include Nashville, Tennessee; Des Moines, Iowa; Amarillo, Texas; and — atop the list, with a 650 percent increase — Central City, Kentucky.
On a separate list of "locations to watch," which didn't meet the precise criteria for the first set: Charlotte, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Minneapolis; Montgomery, Alabama; Columbus, Ohio; and Phoenix. The rates of new cases in Charlotte and Kansas City represented increases of more than 200 percent over the previous week, and other tables included in the data show clusters in neighboring counties that don't form geographic areas on their own, such as Wisconsin's Kenosha and Racine counties, which neighbor each other between Chicago and Milwaukee.
So far, more than 80,000 people in the U.S. have died because of the coronavirus, and the rate of new cases overall hasn't yet subsided. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 23,792 new cases on Sunday — lower than the number for each of the previous four days but more than on May 4 and May 5.
The spiking infection rates suggest that the pandemic is spreading quickly outside major coastal population centers that were early hot spots, while governors of some of the states that are home to new hot spots are following Trump's advice to relax stay-at-home restrictions.
Alabama, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee, for example, have no stay-at-home orders, according to a task force map. In other states where restrictions are being put in place or repealed at the local level, some counties are experiencing surges. Dallas and Fort Bend counties in Texas, where decisions are made locally, are on a "locations to watch" list because they have recorded increases in numbers of cases of 116.8 percent and 64.8 percent, respectively.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose state included the nation's highest-surging geographic area, said Monday that he has "felt no urgency" for Congress to approve another coronavirus response bill.
An Israeli woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. (photo: Jack Guez/Getty)
Israeli Surveillance Company Tied to Jamal Kashoggi's Murder Pitched Its Services to American Police
Joseph Cox, VICE
Cox writes: "NSO Group, the surveillance vendor best known for selling hacking technology to authoritarian governments, including Saudi Arabia, also tried to sell its products to local U.S. police, according to documents obtained by Motherboard."
EXCERPT:
"Turn your target's smartphone into an intelligence gold mine," a brochure for the hacking product, called Phantom, reads. The brochure was made by Westbridge Technologies, "the North American branch of NSO Group," it says. Motherboard obtained the document and related emails through a public records act request.
In August 2016, a Westbridge employee emailed the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) offering more information on Phantom, "a mobile intelligence system that would be a great addition to your investigative and special support offices." After remotely hacking the phone, Phantom can siphon a target's emails, text messages, and contact list, as well track their location, turn on the device's microphone and take photos with its camera, according to the brochure.
Do you work at NSO Group, did you used to, or do you know anything else about the company? We'd love to hear from you. You can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on jfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.
A former NSO employee told Motherboard that Phantom was "a brand name for U.S. territory," but the "same Pegasus," referring to NSO's phone hacking tool that the company has sold to multiple countries including the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia for millions of dollars. Infamously, Saudi Arabia used the software to surveil associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Motherboard granted the source anonymity to protect them from retaliation from NSO
Gnats hover near a barn equipped with solar panels and a wind turbine on Oct. 11, 2014, in Polk, Nebraska. The barn was built directly in the path of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline by Bold Nebraska, an organization opposed to the pipeline. (photo: Andrew Burton/Getty)
Federal Judge: Pipelines Must Not Cross Streams Without Considering Endangered Species
Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch
Rosane writes: "A federal judge upheld his April 15 ruling Monday, tossing a key permit required by the Keystone XL and other pipeline projects to cross streams and wetlands."
EXCERPTS:
The Keystone XL pipeline would carry around 830,000 barrels of oil a day along 1,200 miles from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect with pipelines traveling to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. It was first blocked by President Barack Obama over fears it would contribute to the climate crisis, but President Donald Trump resuscitated it in 2017.
"Our courts have shown time and time again that the law matters," Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) attorney Cecilia Segal said in the CBD Press release. "Today's ruling makes clear that climate-busting pipelines like Keystone XL cannot be built until the federal government does its job and properly analyzes these projects' devastating effects on their surrounding communities and wildlife. If that analysis is based on science and facts, pipelines like Keystone XL will never see the light of day because they remain, and always will be, a dire threat to our water, wildlife and climate."
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