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Armed Oregon protesters gather at Bureau of Land Management office over mine dispute, report says

More than 100 demonstrators, some of them armed, reportedly surrounded the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford, Oregon district office Thursday to protest the agency’s regulations against a rural gold mine.
Supporters of the Sugar Pine mine tell the Mail Tribune that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials lied when they said mine owners George Backes and Rick Barclay needed to file a plan with the agency for what they called previously unknown mining activity. The agency told Backes and Barclay that they had to file a plan or remove their equipment.
Some of the protesters who congregated in the agency's parking lot were members of the Oath Keepers movement, an organization made up of former and current law enforcement personnel who vow to disobey government orders they deem unconstitutional.
Mary Emerick, a spokeswoman for the Oath Keepers, told the Mail Tribune that volunteers from the organization have been guarding the mine. She said those volunteers came from various parts of the western U.S.
The armed volunteers started showing up last week after Barclay called upon them because he was afraid the agency would seize the equipment.
The miners contend they legally control all of the land and resources within the claim, which they say has been continuously mined since the 1800s. The agency has said the land belongs to the federal government and the miners have to file a plan of operations if they want to continue working in the area.
"(The miners) have a particular interpretation of the Constitution that has not been recognized by any federal court," BLM spokesman Tom Gorey told the Mail Tribune.
Although Barclay did call upon the armed volunteers, he is looking to distance himself from any actions that could replicate what happened in Nevada last year.
In that case, hundreds of armed supporters of rancher Cliven Bundy faced off against BLM agents in April to stop a roundup of cattle from public land where Bundy had allowed his stock to graze near the town of Bunkerville.
Federal officials accused Bundy of failing to pay more than $1 million in grazing fees over more than 20 years. Bundy claimed the federal government has no authority over the land.
Bureau officials backed off, and Bundy and his supporters declared victory. But BLM officials say they are still pursuing an administrative and legal resolution of the dispute.
"We are not looking for Bundyville. We are not looking to challenge anything. We are just holding our constitutional rights and property rights in reserve until we get our day in court," Barclay said.
According to agency officials, the miners have filed an appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals and a court date is expected to be determined by the board.
Gorey said the board is the “proper venue” for the miners’ claim to surface.

Tangled Clinton Web: Foundation received millions from investors as Russia acquired part of US uranium reserves

The relationship between former President Bill Clinton and a group of wealthy Canadian mining investors who made significant contributions to the Clinton family's foundation has come under scrutiny after their uranium company ended up in the hands of the Russians.
That deal, which gave the Russians access to part of the U.S. uranium reserves, all started with Bill Clinton's dealings with friend Frank Giustra.
Peter Schweizer, author of the forthcoming book, "Clinton Cash," that details family foundation donations and alleged favors, told Fox News that Clinton traveled in 2005 to Kazakhstan, where Giustra, a Canadian investor, was trying to "get control to buy a couple of uranium mines." "And he became, really, partners, in a way, with Bill Clinton-- working on philanthropic activities," he said.
At the same time, Schweizer said, "Giustra has been involved in helping to facilitate speaking engagements -- for the Clintons."
Watch "Fox News Reporting: The Tangled Clinton Web" at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, on Fox News Channel.

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New York Times reporter Jo Becker, who spent months investigating the deal before publishing a story Thursday, said Guistra and Clinton were both "whisked to the [palace] of President Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, and it's a fascinating story, because everybody walked away from the table that night with something."
Clinton, Becker said, "basically endorsed" the "progress" Kazakhstan had made on its democracy, though Nazarbayev was elected "with 90 percent-plus of the vote ... in an election that was widely criticized as being rigged."
Schweizer said Clinton even held a press conference with the president and praised his human rights record.
In the end, Giustra got what he wanted.
"The bottom line is after they leave, a couple of days later, Frank Giustra gets his uranium concessions, which end up being enormously lucrative to him and to a small group of Canadian mining investors," Schweizer said.
Becker said his company went from "a worthless shell company overnight -- became this ...huge uranium mining deal."
And then soon after that, Becker said, "Bill Clinton got a huge donation, $31 million from Frank Guistra to his charitable foundation, followed by a pledge to donate $100 million more."
Call by Fox News to the Kazakhstan Embassy were not returned.
Reached for comment, Giustra told Fox News he considers this an old story, and he's not interested in politics.
Meanwhile, his defenders insist that no undue influence was exerted in Kazakhstan because the deal did not require the Kazakh government's approval.
However, Schweizer said, corporate records "indicate very, very clearly that the Kazakh government did have to sign off and approve."
This includes, he said, a memorandum of understanding from 2005 "between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kazatomprom, which is the atomic agency in Kazakh government, so there's no way that they can argue the Kazakh government was not a party to these negotiations."
The story doesn't end there.
According to Schweizer, Kazakh officials wanted to take an equity stake in Westinghouse, a U.S. company that works in the civilian nuclear field.
That would require a review by the U.S. government.
So the potential investors came to America to see the man who could make things happen.
Becker said Guistra arranged for Kazatomprom officials to go to Clinton's house in New York.
"When I first contacted both the Clinton Foundation, Mr. Clinton's spokesman, and Mr. Guistra, they denied any such meeting ever took place," Becker said. "And then, when we told them, 'Well, we'd already talked to the head of Kazatomprom,' who not only told us all about the meeting, but actually has a picture of him and Bill at the home in Chappaqua, you know, and that he proudly displayed ... on his office wall, they then acknowledged that, yes, the meeting had taken place."
So what happened to Giustra's company that benefited from that deal in Kazakhstan? After a merger, it became a uranium giant called Uranium One.
And then, the Russians bought it. That's where the American uranium comes into play.
"Uranium One became very active in acquiring uranium assets actually in the United States itself by 2008, 2009, they were a particularly attractive target for the Russian government," Schweizer said.
And the Russians acquired that target -- acquiring what would amount to 50 percent of projected uranium output by 2015.
In other words, Russia now controls what was projected to be up to half of America's uranium.
Calls by Fox News to Uranium One were not immediately returned.
Meanwhile, former Secretary of State and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton factors into that deal.
According to Schweizer, in order for that deal to go through, it needs federal U.S. government approval.
"And one of those people that has to approve that deal is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," Schweizer said.
On Thursday, the Clinton camp pushed back. Campaign spokesman Brian Fallon issued this statement:
"No one has produced a shred of evidence that Hillary Clinton ever took action as Secretary of State in order to support the interests of donors to the Clinton Foundation. To suggest the State Department, under then-Secretary Clinton, exerted undue influence in the U.S. government's review of the sale of Uranium One is utterly baseless. It mischaracterizes the nature of the State Department's participation in such reviews, and also ignores the range of other regulatory agencies that ultimately supported this sale. It is impossible to view this allegation as anything other than just another in the many partisan conspiracy theories advanced in the Clinton Cashbook."
Schweizer told Fox News that when Clinton was the senator from New York, she objected to a foreign government owning U.S. ports and pointed to the serious implications of the Russians getting uranium.
"We're talking about things that related to the nuclear industry. We're talking about the Russian government," he said, noting Russia already provides equipment to Iran.
Further, he said the Clinton Foundation was receiving "tens of millions of dollars from shareholders in Uranium One who wanted the Russian government to acquire them because it would be a financial landfall."
In the end, a Russian company, essentially controlled by Vladimir Putin, will now be in charge of a substantial portion of American uranium.
Given that Russia sends uranium to its client state, Iran, American uranium could well be sent to the very nation the Obama administration is now negotiating with to try to slow its ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

Carter reveals Russians hacked Pentagon's network

Defense Secretary Ash Carter revealed on Thursday that the Department of Defense suffered a cybersecurity breach after Russian hackers infiltrated an unclassified defense computer network earlier this year.
In remarks at Stanford University, Carter said the DOD was able to identify the intruders within 24 hours and kicked them out, but added,"I still worry about what we don't know because this was only one attack."
A Pentagon official told Fox News that the Russian hacking of the Department of Defense was “totally separate” from recent hacks at the White House and State Department earlier this month and in March, respectively.
The revelation comes as a new Pentagon cybersecurity strategy, laid out for the first time publicly, will allow the U. S. military to use cyberwarfare as an option in conflicts with enemies.
The 33-page strategy says the Defense Department "should be able to use cyber operations to disrupt an adversary's command and control networks, military-related critical infrastructure and weapons capabilities."
Carter, who was sworn in last February, said one way the department is responding is to be more transparent about cybersecurity.
"I think it will be useful to us for the world to know that, first of all, we're going to protect ourselves, we're going to defend ourselves," he told reporters traveling with him to California. He added that the new strategy is "more clear and more specific about everything, including (U.S.) offense."
Cyberattacks against U.S. government and industry have grown increasingly more severe and sophisticated. The new strategy says, "During heightened tensions or outright hostilities, DOD must be able to provide the president with a wide range of options for managing conflict escalation."
It adds that, as part of those options, the military must have cyber capabilities that can "achieve key security objectives with precision, and to minimize loss of life and destruction of property."
The announcements come on the heels of President Obama's decision earlier this month to authorize financial sanctions against malicious overseas hackers or companies that use cyberespionage to steal U.S. trade secrets. Those companies could include state-owned corporations in Russia, China or other countries that have long been named as cyber-adversaries.

Fox News Poll: Rubio jumps to head of 2016 GOP pack, Clinton honesty questioned

The Bush dynasty is a negative for voters and Marco Rubio is seen as a leader of the future, as the Florida senator jumps to the head of the GOP pack.  The Clinton dynasty is a plus -- and even though Hillary could have an honesty problem, she dominates the Democratic side.  And both the Republican faithful (with their crowded field) and the Democratic faithful (with their sole favorite) are happy with their range of 2016 choices.
These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election.  Here are some more:
Announcing your candidacy helps your poll numbers.  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receives a five percentage-point bump after his April 13 announcement and has the backing of 13 percent in the race for the Republican nomination -- just a touch over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who gets 12 percent among self-identified GOP primary voters.  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul comes in at 10 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee earn 9 percent each and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gets 8 percent. 
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each garner 6 percent.  Last month Christie was at 4 percent and Carson at 11 percent.
White evangelical Christians are most likely to support Huckabee (13 percent), Paul (11 percent), Cruz and Rubio (10 percent each).
Top picks among the Tea Party include Walker (19 percent), Rubio (14 percent), Paul (13 percent), Huckabee and Cruz (10 percent each).
In the quest for the Democratic nomination, former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton remains on top with 62 percent support among self-identified Democratic primary voters.  She’s the only declared candidate on the Democratic side.  Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12 percent) and Vice President Joe Biden (9 percent) lag far behind.
Despite far fewer options, Democratic primary voters (71 percent) are a tad bit more likely than their GOP counterparts (67 percent) to say they are satisfied with their 2016 choices.
The Bush dynasty is seen as a negative while the Clinton dynasty is a positive.  By a 58-34 percent margin, voters say being related to previous presidents is a disadvantage for Jeb Bush, yet by a 52-39 percent margin they think it’s an advantage for Hillary Clinton.
Republicans say the Bush dynasty is a negative, yet Democrats view the Clinton dynasty as a positive.

A leader of the Future or the Past?
Who’s a leader of the future?  Rubio tops that list.  Voters see him “more as a leader of the future” (50 percent) than the past (21 percent) by a 29-point margin.
That dwarfs the numbers who see Paul (by 12 points), Warren (by 11 points) and Walker (by 10 points) as leaders of the future.  By a 2-point margin, more see Clinton as a leader of the future (43 percent) than the past (41 percent).
Biden (by 33 points) and Bush (by 17 points) are the only two seen more as leaders of the past.

Honest and Trustworthy
Of those tested on the poll, Clinton, Biden and Cruz fare the worst on the “honest and trustworthy” question.
Currently, 45 percent of voters think Clinton is honest.  That’s mostly unchanged from last month, but down 9 points from 54 percent a year ago (April 2014).  She lost ground among men (-10 points), women (-9 points) and Democrats (-7 points).  Moreover, only 33 percent of independents see Clinton as honest. That’s down 13 points since last year.
Overall, Clinton’s honesty score is negative six (45 percent “yes, she is” minus 51 percent “no, she isn’t”), Biden’s is negative four (44-48 percent) and for Cruz it’s negative one (37-38 percent).
On the positive side: Rubio (+13), Paul (+12) and Carson (+7) score best on the honesty measure.  Bush (+4) and Walker (+4) are also in positive territory.
Clinton is the only one who has a majority saying she is not honest and trustworthy (51 percent).  Still, it’s important to remember that, many on the GOP side are largely unfamiliar to voters.  As a result, 43 percent are unable to rate Carson’s honesty, 34 percent are unable to rate Walker, 25 percent are unable to rate Cruz and 24 percent Rubio.
Voters are getting more familiar with Rubio since his announcement.  The portion unable to rate his honesty dropped from 39 percent last month to 24 percent today.  Being better known cuts both ways:  both the number saying Rubio is honest (+10) and the number saying he isn’t (+6 points) went up since March.

Hypothetical Matchups
Clinton bests each of the Republicans tested in hypothetical matchups for a 2016 presidential contest: she leads Paul 46-43 percent, Bush 45-41 percent, Rubio 46-42 percent, Cruz 47-42 percent and Walker 46-40 percent.  In each of these matchups the candidates are at or within the margin of sampling error of each other.

Pollpourri
The poll asks voters whether Clinton “seems too old” and if Rubio “seems too young” to be president.  Nope. And nope.  About one in five (19 percent) says Clinton seems too old and the same number says Rubio seems too young (19 percent).
Those ages 35-54 are the most likely to feel Rubio seems too young (22 percent).  That drops to 15 percent among voters under 35.  Rubio is 43 years old.
Voters ages 65 and over are the most likely to say Clinton seems too old (26 percent) and they are more than twice as likely as voters under 35 to feel that way (11 percent).  Clinton is 67.
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,012 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from April 19-21, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The results among Democratic and Republican primary voters have an error of plus or minus five points.