The world’s most dangerous arms dealer

 

He’s a key figure in the clandestine wranglings of two superpowers: the United States and China. The FBI announced a five-million-dollar bounty for information leading to his arrest. Intelligence agencies and investigators have been trying for decades to stop him in his tracks: the arms dealer Karl Lee.

Trump: One step closer to being prosecuted?

Former US President Donald Trump said on Monday the FBI conducted a surprise "raid" at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate," Trump said in a statement.

Six men charged in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

 The FBI was apparently well aware of the activities of the men charged Thursday and there does not seem to have been an imminent threat posed to the governor.

First, how long will it take before Donald Trump and the usual crowd of Republican cowards come forward to not only defend these fools, but start promoting them as patriots.  

This is the type of lawless behaviour that Donald Trump has encouraged starting with his announcement to run, throughout the campaign and has continued through his time in office.  Even though his rhetoric had led to violence against those in opposition to his polices. Republicans in general and Donald Trump in particular have failed to condemn those involved. 

An FBI-led investigation identified six men who were trying to plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The investigation involved multiple confidential sources and undercover FBI personnel.

Based on court documents, the FBI was well aware of the activities of the men charged Thursday and there does not seem to have been an imminent threat posed to Gov. Whitmer, a Democrat.

The documents identify the defendants as Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta.

At a meeting in July, allegedly attended and recorded by one of the confidential sources, the men “discussed attacking a Michigan State Police facility, and in a separate conversation after the meeting, Garbin suggested shooting up the Governor’s vacation home," authorities allege.

  

America Leads The World In Stupid

Donald Trump Americas Idiot in Chief actually believes that the coronavirus will just go away without there having a vaccine developed to help stop its spread.  Magical thinking should help. Perhaps he can call in Hermione Granger for the assist. 

Remember  this the same fool he stated that the number of cases would go from 15 to zero with more than 1 million presently infected and that the coronavirus would magically go away in April due to the heat.

Michael Flynn Donald Trump's national security advisor who lasted an incredible 22 days in the job. Talk about historic.  Was accused of lying to FBI agents (Which is a crime.) during their investigation into Russian interference in the 2026 election. He plead  guilty twice and was to be sentenced.  However that all changed when the Department of Justice decided to withdraw all charges against him.  To ensure that the idiocy of situation wasn't lost on the world  Kayleigh McEnany has accused the FBI of manufacturing the case against Flynn.  Remember the fool twice plead guilty to those charges in court.


One would think that being told the truth about the coronavirus and the best ways to keep ones self or family safe would be important.  That's usually how it works unless of the person telling you this is a woman. The audacity of a women being allowed to tell men how to act isn't acceptable to the stupid, ignorant misogynists of Trumpland.  Instead these fools are acting Dr. Amy Acton for being, well a women and a person of authority.

Donald Trump and his cabinet members in conjunction with Fox News and other conservative media outlets are busy promoting various conspiracy theories about the coronavirus: Like it was a plot by the Chinese government and the Democratic party to prevent him from being reelected.  That the lab in Wuhan recreated the coronavirus as a biological weapon, the WHO is covering up China's involvement in its spread, and that bleach injected intravenously will prevent you from getting the coronavirus. It'll do that alright by killing you.   

There's A Special Place In Hell For People Like This

FBI raids Brooklyn man's home after he hoarded over 5000 boxes of N95 masks and was trying to sell them at 700% mark-up. pic.twitter.com/kxzKfmEzEf

— CollapsePosts📉 (@CollapsePosts) April 1, 2020

How the FBI Combats Chinese Spies & “Honey Traps”

Former undercover FBI agent Marc Ruskin reveals how the FBI and CIA fought Chinese espionage and spies infiltrating the US and America, including techniques like the infamous "honey trap." The US has much more to worry about than just the coronavirus.

MUELLER SENDS REPORT ON TRUMP INVESTIGATION TO AG BARR

By Dareh Gregorian

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday wrapped up his nearly two-year investigation into Donald Trump and Russia and sent his report to Attorney General Barr.

No details of Mueller's findings have been released, and it is not clear how soon the public will see them.

The transmission of the report to Barr concludes an investigation that has resulted in the indictments of 34 people, infuriated the president and thrown the administration into turmoil.

The long-awaited development comes almost two years after Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump" and "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation."

To date, 34 people and three companies have been criminally charged in the sprawling probe, including Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn; former campaign chairman Paul Manafort; former political adviser Roger Stone; former personal lawyer Michael Cohen; and numerous Russian nationals. There have been a number of guilty pleas and convictions — but none of the charges have directly accused anyone in Trump's orbit of conspiring with the Russian intelligence operation to help Trump get elected in 2016.

It's unclear how detailed Mueller's report is, or when his conclusions may become public. According to Justice Department guidelines, his confidential report to the attorney general is supposed to explain "the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the special counsel."

The attorney general is required to report Mueller's findings to Congress "with an outline of the actions and the reasons for them," the guidelines say, but it's unclear how long that may take.

As the Mueller investigation picked up steam and various Trump associates were charged, the president increasingly went on the offensive, blasting it as a "witch hunt" and "a hoax," calling Mueller's investigators "angry Democrats" and singling out some who'd worked on the case. He labeled Cohen "a rat" for cooperating with investigators.

Trump refused to sit for an interview with Mueller — his lawyers said they were concerned about a "perjury trap" — but he did submit written responses to Mueller's questions in November.

Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017 — eight days after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director. Comey had been leading the investigation into Russian meddling and any possible Trump campaign involvement. The president initially said he'd canned Comey at the urging of Rosenstein and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but later told NBC "Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt it was his decision, and cited his frustration with the Russia probe.

"And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won," Trump told Holt.

That fueled law-enforcement concerns that Trump was trying to obstruct the investigation — worries that were heightened a day after the firing, when he hosted two Russian diplomats in the Oval Office.

"I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job," Trump told them, according to The New York Times. "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off."

Those and other actions taken by the president since the probe began led Mueller to investigate whether Trump was trying to obstruct justice in the case, sources have told NBC News.

The FBI probe into the campaign's alleged Russia ties started in July 2016 after a little-known Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, told an Australian diplomat that the Russians had obtained thousands of emails that would embarrass Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Australian government passed that information on to the FBI after hacked Democratic National Committee emails were posted online.

That wouldn't be the only hack. Russian cybercriminals targeted Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails, U.S. intelligence officials found. They were released online just hours after the "Access Hollywood" scandal threatened to sink Trump's campaign.

Adding to investigators' suspicions was Trump's often-abrasive deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he repeatedly praised as "tough" and "strong." He was also dismissive of U.S. findings that Russia was behind the cybercrimes, noting, "It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?"

Trump initially denied that he and his campaign had anything to do with any Russians — claims that have since fallen apart.

Flynn had sat with Putin at a dinner in Moscow in 2015, and would be fired from his job as national security adviser for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the content of his conversations with a Russian diplomat. Cohen and Trump associate Felix Sater were in talks during the campaign to develop a Trump Tower in Moscow, which would reportedly come complete with a multimillion-dollar apartment for Putin. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. set up a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian entourage after they offered unspecified "dirt" on Clinton’s campaign courtesy of the Kremlin.

"If it's what you say I love it," Trump Jr. said in accepting the meeting, which would include Manafort and Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner.

Why the DeLorean failed — and became a legend

In this episode of Vox Almanac, producer Phil Edwards explores the past and present of the DeLorean Motor Company, which made the infamous DMC-12. Though many today know the car through the movie Back to the Future, DeLorean has its own incredible story to tell (and one that’s almost harder to believe than a story about time travel). John Z. DeLorean is at its center as the founder and namesake of the company. His path through the upper echelon of General Motors seemed to have set him on course for that company’s Presidency — but he dreamed of starting his own company. The result was the DeLorean Motor Company, which was established in America and eventually planted a factory in Dunmurry, Ireland, near Belfast and during the sectarian civil war known as “the Troubles.”

Trump invented a fake spy scandal. People will still believe it.

President Trump calls it calls it “spygate:” the allegation that the FBI and democrats put a spy in his campaign to help Hillary Clinton. It’s not true. Top republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan have even disputed the president. But even though it’s a conspiracy theory, millions of Americans will still believe it. It’s a playbook he has used before. “Spygate” is an attempt to delegitimize the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. If the American people lose trust in them, they won’t believe whatever the investigation finds. It’s working.

Temper Tantrum Trump Lashes Out At James Comey

President Donald Trump lashed out at former FBI Director James Comey on Friday after excerpts from Comey’s book began to circulate. 

He slammed Comey as an “untruthful slime ball” and a “proven LEAKER & LIAR,” claiming Comey has lied to Congress under oath.

Comey’s memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, has yet to be released, but a few salacious passages have been made available that paint Trump in a less-than-flattering light.

According to Comey’s book, the president was obsessed with disproving the existence of the so-called “pee tape” ― the footage that supposedly shows Trump watching sex workers urinate in a Moscow hotel suite the Obamas had stayed in.

Donald Trump provides the world daily with proof that he doesn't have the ability to hold the office to which he was elected.   He acts like  Draco Malfoy, believing he's entitled, like nobility of old and with that comes the need to bully others. Yet, like Draco Malfoy he's a weak and frightened little boy.

Sessions fires McCabe before he can retire

Trump had repeatedly attacked the veteran FBI official

Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday night accepted the recommendation that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who took the reins of the agency during the turbulent days after the abrupt firing of James Comey, be terminated — two days before he was to retire and become eligible for full pension benefits.

Though McCabe — who has been attacked by President Donald Trump — stepped down as deputy director in late January, he remained on the federal payroll, planning to retire on Sunday. The firing places his federal pension in jeopardy.

Unlike Trump's removal of Comey last year, which produced widespread resentment inside the FBI, McCabe's termination was recommended by the agency he served for 21 years.

Confidential: Surveilling Black Lives Matter

Fault Lines investigates the scope and impact of police and FBI surveillance of black activists in the US.

Rodney Barnette grew up in a segregated United States. He was drafted to go to Vietnam at the age of 21 and returned a year later, wounded in the line of duty.

After his return he joined the Black Panther Party, a civil rights movement that demanded an end to police brutality and equal rights to housing and employment. Like many other members of the group, Barnette was unaware that the FBI spied on him for years.

"Despite the fact that my dad had served in Vietnam and he is taking care of his family and is just a regular citizen, this information is being collected because he's considered an enemy by his own government," says his artist daughter Sadie Barnette.

Trump Fires FBI Director Comey

Deputy attorney general: Comey mishandled Clinton email investigation

Here are some excerpts from deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein’s memo on Comey’s firing, which goes into great detail about the FBI’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s emails:

• “I cannot defend the Director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken.” 
• “The Director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General’s authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution.”
• “The Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation.

 Follow

Ben Jacobs 

✔@Bencjacobs

The Rosenstein letter is remarkable. Comey is being fired for his press statement in July 2016 about Clinton https://twitter.com/akarl_smith/status/862062661596479490 …

6:55 AM - 10 May 2017

 
•  921921 Retweets
 
•  771771 likes

Donald Trump: 'You are not able to effectively lead'

Reporters have obtained copies of Trump’s letter to Comey, which states that the FBIdirector is “not able to effectively lead”:

While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

In March, Comey confirmed for the first time that the FBI was investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere with the results of the presidential election. Here’s the full letter.

Here are some initial high-profile reactions to the termination of Comey, a polarizing figure whose decision to disclose an inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails just before the election last year sparked widespread debate.

From a former Clinton manager:

 Follow

Robby Mook 

✔@RobbyMook

Twilight zone. I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me.

7:02 AM - 10 May 2017

 
•  1,0981,098 Retweets
 
•  2,0502,050 likes

Edward Snowden, who has been targeted by the FBI, criticized the firing, saying: “every American should condemn such political interference in the Bureau’s work.”

 Follow

Edward Snowden 

✔@Snowden

This FBI Director has sought for years to jail me on account of my political activities. If I can oppose his firing, so can you. https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/862067649748119553 …

7:17 AM - 10 May 2017

 
•  3,3293,329 Retweets
 
•  4,0074,007 likes

From Clinton’s former vice presidential candidate:

 Follow

Senator Tim Kaine 

✔@timkaine

Trump firing Comey shows how frightened the Admin is over Russia investigation

7:16 AM - 10 May 2017

 
•  1,6771,677 Retweets
 
•  3,4103,410 likes

If Donald Trump would just apply those same standards to himself, America's 3 month nightmare of his complete inability to govern could come to an end.

How far can FBI probe of Russia's role in US vote go?

FBI chief James Comey says his agency is investigating claims that Donald Trump worked with Russia to get elected.

Critics of US President Donald Trump have for months been saying that he worked with Russia to get elected.

The FBI chief James Comey says his agency is officially investigating that claim.

The White House insists the Trump campaign never coordinated with Russia. But there has been evidence that members of his campaign met Russian politicians and then lied about it.

Complete, Unedited Video of Joint FBI and OSP Operation 01/26/2016

This is the complete video footage of a joint FBI and Oregon State Police traffic stop and OSP officer-involved shooting of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. This footage, which has only been edited to blur out aircraft information, was taken by the FBI on 01/26/2016 and released by the FBI on 01/28/2016. Note regarding date/time stamp in the left corner of video: Pilots use Zulu Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), when they fly. Zulu time is eight hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST). Therefore, although this footage was taken on January 26, 2016 in Oregon, the date/time stamp on the video shows just after midnight January 27, 2016.