Dem Obstruction: Crossfire Hurricane, Hillary’s Emails, Rich’s Laptops…

WHEN I SEE A HEADLINE, “Seth Rich’s Laptop to Be Turned Over by FBI, Judge Rules,” I wonder what the agenda really is, i.e., what story is being covered up with this incongruous placement in my RSS newsfeed, though I may just be being my cynical self. (Did I really first learn of this story way back in ’17?!)

On Wednesday, Texas Judge Amos L. Mazzant ordered “a timeline for the disclosure of information on Seth Rich’s personal laptop, Seth Rich’s work laptop, the DVD and tape drive within 14 days following issuance of this Memorandum of Opinion and Order.” This means the feds must hand over two laptops (work and personal) to the plaintiff that were owned by the decedent, among other items.

The order is, of course, referring to the DNC staffer, Seth Rich, then-27, who was killed on 7/10/16 returning home late at night in Washington, D.C.. He was reportedly on the phone with his girlfriend when shots were heard at the time. The public was led to believe it was an attempted robbery, but absolutely nothing appeared to be missing. Rumors, or evidence, depending on one’s bent, surfaced that Rich had publicly leaked thousands of DNC emails via WikiLeaks concerning alleged involvement of Russian hackers in the election of President Donald Trump and was killed as a result, or as a part of, a cover-up, depending again on one’s bent. 

Over the years, attorney Ty Clevenger has been battling the F.B.I. to get FOIA material on the case for his Texan client, Brian Huddleston. Also over the years, the F.B.I. has lied through its collective teeth, mainly by denying the existence of any materials on the case when, in fact, it had in excess of 20,000 pages of information that was likely responsive, and 1,595 directly so, to Huddleston’s request. That was back in 2017. By late 2022, the court entered an order which required the F.B.I. and D.O.J. to produce information on Rich’s laptop and documents relevant to the FOIA request. More stall tactics ensued, ad infinitum…

With Wednesday’s latest order, we should be able to finally start to get a resolution to this. If not, we’ll need to redraft the FOIA and put some teeth into it so that violators, like the F.B.I., pay consequences commensurate to what its victims do when they lie through their teeth. (Attention, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) et al.!)

Now, what stories are really out there today—being covered up like this one?

Way to Go, Joe! (Not.)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY is getting his money’s worth in terms of his quid pro quo with the Biden crime family. Let’s take a look at the month of June of 2023 in the context of Ukraine thus far. 

By mid-June, NATO allies were debating what new commitments to make to Kyiv Kiev on July 11th and 12th at some summit in Vilnius, which happens to be the capital of Lithuania. (Who knew?). The taxpayers (those who actually pay taxes, not just file a return for “free” refundable credits) get nothing for these giveaways except the ungodly bills for these governments’ follies. Joey just runs off at the mouth when he isn’t falling down the stairs. He doesn’t care. He isn’t even aware.

Joey publicly stated he won’t make it easy for Ukraine to join NATO—with his fingers crossed behind his back and a nod and wink in Zelensky’s direction. He wants Ukraine in NATO because Zelensky wants in and Joey wants Mr. Z happy so his crime family can get more kickbacks and wifey-poo, Jill (that’s Doctor Jill to you!), will be happy, too. Note his presumptuousness that it is he who decides.

Joey also knows (or has been told by an authoritative Deep Stater) that some of NATO isn’t champing at the bit on this one, anyway, at least not until the war is over, which makes sense since why would a group of elite NATO members voluntarily undertake a military expense they are not obligated to with no end game in sight? Well, never mind: they might, given they don’t pay their NATO dues because the U.S. picks up its—snd their tabs, too. 

Some NATO countries, however, are pressuring Joey to make a stronger commitment to Zelenskyland, suggesting that, perhaps, Ukraine could be promised a seat at the ever-growing NATO family table after the war with Russia. That would be a sure way to keep the war going for years to come. And perhaps that’s the point. It not only helps Joey pay back his buddy, Mr. Z, it also enriches the military industrial complex which feeds the coffers of some of Joey’s pals. 

Politico has reported that Joey was “open” to the idea of waiving the Member Action Plan for Ukraine’s NATO membership, which demands military and democratic reforms prior to being considered, so that says something. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reportedly proposed the ‘compromise’ to Joey, but that doesn’t sound quite right. (Stoltenberg, however, has emphasized the necessity of Russia losing.) More likely, Joey said he was “open” so Joey can proceed as planned and pay Ukraine back for all the goodies it bestowed to the Biden crime family over the years. Meanwhile, he’ll publicly ‘protest’ from both sides of his mouth. And, he thinks, no one will be the wiser when Ukraine gets preferential treatment. (He thinks wrong, according to recent polling.)

The alternative could be an Israeli-style model which means a commitment to Ukraine of billions more for the indefinite future without a defense guarantee. The rationale for this is to not prolong Ukraine’s war with Russia because continued fighting comes at no cost to Kyiv Kiev, or encourage any other international conflict for that matter. It also has the distinct and vital benefit of not crossing Russia’s so-called red line, something the U.S. has been aware of since about 2008 when then U.S. Ambassador to Russia and current C.I.A. Director, William Burns, when he delivered the warning in a cable that was, interestingly, released by WikiLeaks at the time. 

Also interesting is that NATO pledged to Ukraine in 2008 that it would eventually become a member and increased its interaction with the country after its 2014 U.S.-backed coup which forced former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych out of power just as Joey had hoped and predicted. (U.S. taxpayers paid, or at least went into debt, for that military adventurism, too.). Ukraine tomorrow? Asia the next day? Sounds like a set up for possible nuclear World War III to me.

Yet according to U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, Ukraine shouldn’t hold its collective breath for a NATO invite at Vilnius. For his part, Zelensky is threatening to not attend Vilnius unless Ukraine is guaranteed it will get NATO membership after the war. He might just get it thanks to Pal Joey and the dirt Mr. Z has on him. When he gets it, NATO can kiss goodbye hopes of a speedy resolution in Ukraine due to the regional instability that will necessarily result from it. 

So the money keeps rolling out of the west (read: U.S.) to the east for some reason  (like extortion, bribery, or conflicts, perhaps?) that defies logic and good sense. Just this month (so far), Joey has promised a new (the 40th) weapons package, this one worth $300 million, including, inter alia, ammunition for Patriot missile systems, HIMARS rocket systems, and Stinger anti-aircraft systems. The weapons will be sent directly from Pentagon stockpiles to support Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive and are (supposedly) a part of the $113 billion drawdown authorized by Congress for the war. More will need to be appropriated before summer ends. Thing is, there’s more at stake than just weapons and money, like regional peace and stability, to name just one.

Way to go, Joe!

Biden Regime to Further Weaponize the I.R.S.

LAST WEEK, IT WAS REPORTED THE BIDEN REGIME HAD PLANS for every American’s bank account. Effectively, the I.R.S., with all its brand-spanking new agents, would monitor the accounts of most every citizen. More specifically, banks would be required to report individual accounts with more than $600, or transactions of more than $600. It’s part of the stalled $3.5 trillion spending bill and the House Ways and Means Committee is debating it.

While this might be an effective way to curb “under-the-table” cash payments allowing low- to middle-class workers to illegally evade payroll and federal income taxes, there are less intrusive ways. And the funny thing is, it’s allegedly meant to “catch wealthy tax cheats.” As if they don’t know how to avoid taxes! See the leak from earlier this week called the “Pandora Papers,” (here) which reveals almost 12 million financial documents of the rich and famous and their evasion of taxes ,which the hallowed New York Times rhetorically asks why it’s important.

The Pandora Papers was a project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and reveals, in its own words, “a shadow financial system that benefits the world’s most rich and powerful.” (One might reasonably debate how the I.C.I.J. differs from WikiLeaks — there very well could be differences — but I digress…)

And what about the Biden scheme designed to avoid $500,000 in payroll taxes by using sub-chapter S corporations to characterize speaking fees and book deals as revenue rather than taxable wages? It also enabled them to avoid paying their “fair share” for the Obamacare scam, something the then-V.P. applauded when others had to pay. This was also revealed this week when they ceremoniously filed a tax return, in contrast to the 45th President. (Return here.) Funny how that works…

The going after “wealthy tax cheats” is supposed to sound democratic, fair and equal, and a mere law enforcement exercise. It’s not. It’s another brazen attempt to usurp some of the most basic privacy rights, and many Americans aren’t buying this bill of goods. The lack of enthusiasm for this fascism resulted in Biden sic-ing Democrat Treasury Secretary (and former dovish chairman of the Federal Reserve), Janet Yellen, out for damage control. She claimed, “It’s just a few pieces of information about individual bank accounts,” she lied in a CNBC interview.” She’s apparently not only an economist, but a political prostitute, too.

Is It Finally “Darkness at Noon” For Schiff and the Deep State?

Nearly four years ago, a Washington Post reporter erroneously asseverated that the Democrat National Committee (D.N.C.) had been hacked by Russia. She knew, she said, because it was verified by CrowdStrike and the company’s president, Shawn Henry. She lied.

Publish Free Or Die.

Thursday brought good news for Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who in 2013 was sentenced to 35 years for espionage and theft and whose sentence was commuted by then-President Barack Obama in 2017. 

To Pardon or Not to Pardon, That Is the Question for Trump.

Variations of this Julian Assange/Dana Rohrabacher story have been circulating all week; history will judge the “truthiness” of them.

When Voir Dire Fails, Try, Try Again.

President Trump’s former informal advisor Roger Stone was convicted on November 15, 2019 for process crimes in the Trump-Russia-collusion hoax, to wit, lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstructing the House investigation, after a jury trial. 

If he has his way, he’ll be retried.  

Conflicts and Conflicts and Conflicts, Oh My!

The Information Clearing House recently reported a potential conflict of interest of the judge overseeing the Julian Assange extradition case, based on some documents obtained by WikiLeaks.  The report, available here, is painstakingly detailed.

Not being a scholar or even a student of English law, it is hard to say if she will be required to recuse herself. She obviously doesn’t believe she must, insomuch as she has not officially done so as of this writing. She has been on the case since 2017.

Julian Assange and the Fallacy of the Third Red Scare

 

An interesting interview with some dude named Fidel Narvaez appeared on GlobalResearch.org in late October concerning Julian Assange, digested below.

Undercover Global S.L. in Public Spotlight in Julian Assange Case

 

 

El Pais

 

Through his father, John Shipton, Julian Assange has been cited for the Gavin MacFadyrn Award, given to whistleblowers. Assange was described as a “courageous truth teller.”  

Shipton anticipates receiving the award on behalf of his son outside London’s Belmarsh prison when he visits on Saturday.  He says this will be the 16th award Julian has received for his journalistic and other work with WikiLeaks.