Docs show security concerns, no 'authorization to operate' for ObamaCare website

The federal ObamaCare website was launched in 2013 despite federal officials’ security concerns, according to documents recently acquired by Judicial Watch.  
On Sept. 21, 2013, 10 days before the site went live, two high-ranking Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials discussed 17 “moderate” security issues and two “high” security issues, according to Department of Health and Human Services documents acquired by the watchdog group.
The 1,000 pages of documents reveal that two CMS officials -- information security officer Tom Schankweiler and deputy chief information officer Henry Chao -- resolved both of the high-security issues but apparently left 14 of the moderate ones unresolved.
Emails also show that a separate security check found 17 “high” security issues, prompting Chao to ask, “What are we actually signing off on?”
Schankweiler responded that the numerous security issues resulted in CMS security officer Teresa Fryer refusing to authorize the website, healthcare.org, to operate, according to the documents, which were acquired through a court-ordered response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
And roughly six weeks after the launch, George Linares, the acting chief technology officer of CMS, told colleagues that the site was still running without an “ATO,” or Authorization to Operate, the documents show.
“Operating without an ATO is a serious issue and it represents a high risk to the agency,” he wrote.
“No wonder it took a federal court order to force out these new ObamaCare scandal documents,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “The Obama administration is prosecuting private companies for the same security lapses it knowingly allowed with its own Healthcare.gov.”
The website was built to accommodate Americans shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. However, the site launched amid glitches and other technical difficulties that resulted in it responding slowly and at times crashing.
The 1,000 pages of documents included emails, studies, memoranda and slide presentations from January 1, 2012 to the present.
The documents also show that on the day before the website launch, Blue Canopy, a contractor that was testing the security, reported that a problem related to receiving messages “would cause the service to crash.”

White House: US 'in touch' with Iraqi officials over kidnapped Americans

The White House said Tuesday the U.S. was "in touch" with Iraqi officials over the American contractors reported kidnapped from an apartment in Baghdad over the weekend.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest wouldn't elaborate. State Department spokesman John Kirby added, "without getting into details, I can tell you, the picture is becoming a little bit more clear in terms of what might have happened here. And we're working, again, very hard to try to resolve this."
An Iranian-backed militia is suspected of kidnapping the three men, a U.S. official tells Fox News.
The State Department and FBI are leading the investigation. Speaking to The Washington Post, a police major general described the building as a brothel, but other officials denied it.
Witnesses said men in uniform carried out the kidnapping in broad daylight Saturday, 100 yards from a police station.
"Gunmen in military uniforms came in five or six SUVs, they entered the building and then left almost immediately," said Mohammad Jabar, 35, who runs a shop down the street from the three-story apartment building where the Americans had been invited by their Iraqi interpreter.
"A few hours later we heard that three foreigners had been kidnapped by these gunmen," Jaber said.
The three were abducted in Dora, a mixed neighborhood that is home to both Shiites and Sunnis. However, they were then taken to Sadr City, a vast and densely populated Shiite district to the east, and there "all communication ceased," an Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
A similar scene unfolded in September, when masked men in military uniforms abducted 18 Turkish workers from a construction site in a Shiite neighborhood. A hostage video later showed the men standing before a banner that read "Death Squads" and "Oh, Hussein," a Shiite religious slogan. The workers were released later that month.
In December, gunmen driving SUVs raided a remote camp for falconry hunting in Iraq's overwhelmingly Shiite south, kidnapping 26 Qataris, who are still being held. Iraq's Interior Ministry said at the time that the abduction was "to achieve political and media goals," without providing further details.
Baghdad authorities said in a statement that the three Americans were kidnapped from a "suspicious apartment" without elaborating, and have provided no other details.
The kidnapping of the Americans comes at a time of deteriorating security in and around the Iraqi capital after months of relative calm. Last week two Iraqi journalists were killed within sight of a police checkpoint in Diyala province north of Baghdad.
The scale and sophistication of the recent kidnappings of foreigners suggest those responsible are operating with some degree of impunity, said Nathaniel Rabkin, managing editor of Inside Iraqi Politics, a political risk assessment newsletter.
"You kidnap 26 Qataris out in the desert, that's not like four or five yahoos out in the south. ... That's a pretty well-run operation. It must be some relatively established group that did it," he said.
The only groups operating in Iraq with those capabilities, Rabkin said, are the country's powerful Shiite militias.
Shiite militias have played a key role in battling the Islamic State group, filling a vacuum left by the collapse of the Iraqi security forces in the summer of 2014 and proving to be some of the most effective anti-IS forces on the ground in Iraq.
The government-allied militias are now officially sanctioned and known as the Popular Mobilization Committees. But many trace their roots to the armed groups that battled U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion and kidnapped and killed Sunnis at the height of Iraq's sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007. Rights groups have accused them of kidnapping and in some cases killing Sunni civilians since they rearmed in 2014, charges denied by militia leaders.
Although the militias are fighting on the same side as the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, many remain staunchly anti-American. When the Pentagon announced an increase in the number of U.S. special forces in Iraq last month, the spokesman for one militia vowed to attack them.
"Any such American force will become a primary target for our group. We fought them before and we are ready to resume fighting," said Jafar Hussaini, spokesman for the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, one of the most powerful Shiite militias.

Liberal media slams film on Benghazi attack (Don't want to see or hear the Truth)

Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a fantastic film, no less excellent for its surprisingly subtle political commentary. Far better than any direct attack ad, this film blasts President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while telling a compelling story of terror and heroism.
Cinekatz reviewer Vivek Subramanyam declared that “Michael Bay was born to make this movie.” Despite its hyperbole, this statement captures the combination of the action director behind “Transformers” and the tragic but thrilling tale of the September 11, 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
The film, based on the Mitchell Zuckoff book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi, tells the story of six ex-military security contractors working for a secret CIA base near the diplomatic compound which housed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. The movie shows how difficult it was for these men to tell friend from foe -- were the native Libyans on their side, or waiting for the perfect moment to kill them?
A nail-biter from start to finish, 13 Hours shows events in what seems like real time, jumping from location to location. The film has a purposefully disorienting feel, heightened by ominous music and stunning cinematography -- each shot captures incredible detail of a city at war with itself.
The movie is surprisingly funny despite the grave circumstances. (One commando asks another: “You’re going to fight the Holy War in your shorts? Strong move.”) The acting mostly takes a backseat to the action, but John Krasinski (Navy SEAL Jack Silva) and James Badge Dale (Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods) nail their characters' courage. Woods’ disobeyal of direct orders (“None of you have to go, but we are the only hope they have”) is powerful.

Sarah Palin endorses Donald Trump's presidential bid

Former vice-presidential nominee and governor of Alaska Sarah Palin made her first foray into the 2016 presidential race Tuesday by announcing she is endorsing Donald Trump. 
"I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President of the United States of America," Palin said in a statement from the Trump campaign announcing the endorsement.
She later appeared alongside Trump at a campaign event at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa
“You’re putting relationships on the line for this country because you’re willing to make America great again,” she said at the rally. “I am here because like you, I know it’s now or never.”
“I’m in it to win it because we believe in America,” she added.
Trump told supporters he was “greatly honored” to receive Palin’s support.
“She’s the woman that from day one I said I needed to get her support,” he said.
Palin, who became a symbol of the Tea Party movement following the 2008 presidential election, is the highest-profile backer for a Republican contender so far in the race.
In her endorsement speech, Palin praised Trump for bringing up controversial issues to create “a good, heated primary,” while taking aim at what she called “establishment candidates” in the race.
“They’ve been wearing political correctness kind of like a suicide vest,” she said.
The endorsement comes less than two weeks ahead of the critical lead-off Iowa caucus, where Trump is locked in a dead heat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In the statement announcing the endorsement, Trump's campaign described Palin as a conservative who "helped launch the careers of several key future leaders of the Republican Party and conservative movement." The statement also quoted Cruz as once saying he "would not be in the United States Senate were it not for Gov. Sarah Palin...She can pick winners."
Campaigning in New Hampshire, Tuesday, Cruz responded to Palin's endorsement of Trump, saying "regardless of what Sarah intends to do in 2016, I will remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin."
Trump's national political director Michael Glassner previously worked with Palin, who was a virtual newcomer to the national political arena when McCain named her as his running mate.
Palin is expected to join Trump on Wednesday for campaign events in Norwalk, Iowa and Tulsa, Okla.
“Even with a record number of candidates and internal calls to become more inclusive as a party, Donald Trump and Sarah Palin remain two of the GOP’s most influential leaders," Mark Paustenbach, Democratic National Committee Press secretary, said in a statement responding to the endorsement.
"Their divisive rhetoric is now peddled by everyone from Ted Cruz to Marco Rubio.  Americans deserve better than what Trump and Palin have to offer, but it seems like the other Republican candidates would rather follow in their footsteps,” the statement continued.
Palin's endorsement was not the only one Trump received Tuesday. While campaigning at Iowa's John Wayne Birthplace Museum, he received an endorsement from the western film actor’s daughter, Aissa Wayne.
Wayne said the country needs a strong and courageous leader like her father, and that he would be offering his endorsement if he were still alive.
Trump said he was a big fan of Wayne and that the actor represented strength and power — which, he said, the American people are looking for.

Inspector General: Clinton emails had intel from most secretive, classified programs

EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton's emails on her unsecured, homebrew server contained intelligence from the U.S. government's most secretive and highly classified programs, according to an unclassified letter from a top inspector general to senior lawmakers.
Fox News exclusively obtained the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified "several dozen" additional classified emails -- including specific intelligence known as "special access programs" (SAP).
That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.
“To date, I have received two sworn declarations from one [intelligence community] element. These declarations cover several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the confidential, secret, and top secret/sap levels,” said the IG letter to lawmakers with oversight of the intelligence community and State Department. “According to the declarant, these documents contain information derived from classified IC element sources.”
Intelligence from a "special access program,” or SAP, is even more sensitive than that designated as "top secret" – as were two emails identified last summer in a random sample pulled from Clinton's private server she used as secretary of state. Access to a SAP is restricted to those with a "need-to-know" because exposure of the intelligence would likely reveal the source, putting a method of intelligence collection -- or a human asset -- at risk. Currently, some 1,340 emails designated “classified” have been found on Clinton’s server, though the Democratic presidential candidate insists the information was not classified at the time.
“There is absolutely no way that one could not recognize SAP material,” a former senior law enforcement with decades of experience investigating violations of SAP procedures told Fox News. “It is the most sensitive of the sensitive.”
Executive Order 13526 -- called "Classified National Security Information" and signed Dec. 29, 2009 -- sets out the legal framework for establishing special access programs. The order says the programs can only be authorized by the president, "the Secretaries of State, Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence, or the principal deputy of each."
The programs are created when "the vulnerability of, or threat to, specific information is exceptional,” and “the number of persons who ordinarily will have access will be reasonably small and commensurate with the objective of providing enhanced protection for the information involved," it states.
According to court documents, former CIA Director David Petraeus was prosecuted for sharing intelligence from special access programs with his biographer and mistress Paula Broadwell. At the heart of his prosecution was a non-disclosure agreement where Petraeus agreed to protect these closely held government programs, with the understanding “unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention or negligent handling … could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation.” Clinton signed an identical non-disclosure agreement Jan. 22, 2009.
Fox News is told that the recent IG letter was sent to the leadership of the House and Senate intelligence committees and leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and State Department inspector general.
Representatives for the ODNI and intelligence community inspector general had no comment.
In a statement, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “The State Department is focused on and committed to releasing former Secretary Clinton’s emails in a manner that protects sensitive information. No one takes this more seriously than we do.”
The intelligence community IG was responding in his message to a November letter from the Republican chairmen of the Senate intelligence and foreign relations committees that questioned the State Department email review process after it was wrongly reported the intelligence community was retreating from the “top secret” designation.
As Fox News first reported, those two emails were “top secret” when they hit the server, and it is now considered a settled matter.
The intelligence agencies now have their own reviewers embedded at the State Department as part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The reviewers are identifying intelligence of a potentially classified nature, and referring it to the relevant intelligence agency for further review.
There is no formal appeals process for classification, and the agency that generates the intelligence has final say. The State Department only has control over the fraction of emails that pertain to their own intelligence.
While the State Department and Clinton campaign have said the emails in questions were “retroactively classified” or “upgraded” – to justify the more than 1,300 classified emails on her server – those terms are meaningless under federal law.
The former federal law enforcement official said the finding in the January IG letter represents a potential violation of USC 18 Section 793, “gross negligence” in the handling of secure information under the Espionage Act.

British UK Muslim Cartoon

Britain has let so many Muslims into their country that the Muslims are now the Majority. No wonder they are wanting to ban Donald Trump.

British Parliament, where is Obama?

Trump threatens to abandon Scotland deal as UK debates banning him

The British Parliament engaged in a sharp debate Monday over a proposal to ban Donald Trump from the U.K., as the combative U.S. presidential candidate counter-punched by threatening to walk away from a lucrative deal in Scotland.
Sarah Malone, executive vice president for Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, said Monday that the real estate magnate, if barred, would abandon plans for an additional $1.1 billion investment in Scotland’s golf-and-leisure industry.
“It is absurd that valuable parliamentary time is being wasted debating a matter raised as part of the American presidential election,” Malone said.

U.K. lawmakers took up the lively debate after receiving a petition calling for the British ban on Trump. The petition, started by activist Suzanne Kelly, garnered nearly 600,000 signatures, far more than the 100,000 needed under British law to force Parliament to debate it.
Parliament, though, does not plan to vote on the request. Further, Prime Minister David Cameron has voiced opposition to the proposal, and only Home Secretary Theresa May, a member of the British Conservative Party, can issue such a directive.
But that hasn’t stopped the Republican presidential candidate from punching back with his vow to hit the U.K. in the wallet, to try to end the largely symbolic effort.
Malone, in a written statement, argued that debating the online petition is “sending a terrible message to the world,” and British lawmakers should instead spend their time on more pressing domestic issues like job losses from the declining oil industry.
The petition was launched after Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, in the aftermath of the terror attack last month in San Bernardino, Calif., in which a Muslim husband-wife team fatally shot 14 people and wounded 21 others at a holiday office party.
The wife, Tashfeen Malik, entered the U.S. in July 2014 on a fiancée visa. And the FBI has said she and American-born husband Syed Farook had been “radicalized” before the attack.
Kelly, who started the petition, has a long history of opposing Trump and his presence in the United Kingdom, including criticism of the Trump International Golf Links in her hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland.
On Monday, the high-profile debate in the historic Westminster Hall was led by the British Labor Party’s Paul Flynn. He and others used the forum to slam Trump's rhetoric but largely stopped short of endorsing a firm visa ban.
He argued Trump’s comments are “extremely dangerous” and praised the petition effort, saying, “the vox pop is so tremendous that the petiton was signed by a half-a-million people.”
However, Flynn argued against the ban by saying it would be disrespectful to America, as a world leader in democracy, and the United Kingdom has “already given [Trump] too much attention.”
The members of Parliament were limited to six-minute speeches as a result of the overwhelming interest to be part of the debate, which included considerable discussion about inviting Trump to visit to show him how Muslims are welcomed in the United Kingdom.
“Secretary May has already banned 84 people,” said Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh of the Scottish National Party, arguing for a ban. “I don’t think anybody would have imagined this man would have made such a horrible statement.”

Trump looks to appeal to evangelicals at Liberty University

Donald Trump

Eric Trump: Down in the polls, Cruz is throwing 'Hail Marys'

LYNCHBURG, Va. –  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivered the convocation address Monday at Virginia's Liberty University, one of the country's most prominent evangelical Christian institutions.
The thrice-married billionaire businessman, who sometimes brings a copy of his boyhood bible and a photo from his confirmation to events to bolster his Christian credentials, worked to appeal to the crowd of more than 11,000 students and local residents by quoting from the scripture.
"We're going to protect Christianity," he told the audience, before proceeding to quote from what he introduced as "Two Corinthians, 3:17."
The comment prompted chuckles from students in the crowd, who were quick to point out that the New Testament book is generally referred to as "Second Corinthians."
The visit comes as Trump seeks to bolster support among the evangelical Christians who form a significant voting bloc in Iowa -- first among the early voting states in the primaries -- where Trump is currently running head-to-head against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz launched his campaign at the school.
The campus has become a popular stop for presidential contenders, welcoming candidates from both parties, including Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders.
Trump stuck to his traditional pitch during the campaign speech, but also touted the bible and promised that, as president, people would be saying "'Merry Christmas' again."
He also called for Christians to band together, saying that Christianity is "under siege."
While Trump is running against several candidates who have deep ties to Christian votes, he was given a rousing introduction by the school's president, Jerry Falwell, Jr., who called Trump a "breath of fresh air" and compared his blunt style, not only to his father's, but to that of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesus Christ. All spoke the truth, no matter how unpopular, Falwel said.
Falwell also made the case that presidential candidates should not be judged on their religiosity, noting that his father was criticized for supporting Republican Ronald Reagan, a divorced Hollywood actor over Jimmy Carter, a southern Baptist Sunday school teacher.
"My father proudly replied that Jesus pointed out that we are all sinners, every one of us," he said.
The timing of Trump's visit prompted protests from a handful of students, angry that the GOP presidential front-runner had been invited to deliver the address on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"It's just very disheartening and disappointing," said Jeff Long, a junior at the school who attended the speech wearing a shirt that read, "Black Lives Matter."
"I was disappointed, I was shocked that the school was inviting someone who does not honor the values of Martin Luther King, Jr.," he said of Trump.
Trump made only passing reference to the late King in his remarks, noting that the crowd size was testament to the civil rights champion's legacy.
"We're dedicating the record to the late, great Dr. King, ok?" he told the crowd of more than 11,000 people.
Convocation events, which occur three times a week, are mandatory for residential students at the school.

Cruz hits Trump on immigration, eminent domain in New Hampshire

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz launched one of his toughest attacks yet against fellow contender Donald Trump in New Hampshire Monday night, accusing the billionaire real estate developer of being "nowhere to be found" during the debate in Congress over whether to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.
"If you didn't stand up and fight amnesty, when the stakes were live or die, do we lose this permanently or do we win, I would suggest as voters you have reasons to doubt the credibility of the promises of a political candidate who discovers the issue after he announces for president," the Texas senator said at a town hall meeting in Whitefield.
Trump has become a figure of controversy throughout the campaign for his various immigration proposals, which have included deportation of all illegal immigrants, an end to birthright citizenship and a call to bar all Muslims from entering the United States after last month's San Bernardino terror attack.
Cruz also questioned whether Trump is a true conservative, noting donations he's made to Democrats over the years, including $50,000 in 2010 to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. And Cruz rejected Trump's self-comparison to Ronald Reagan, saying he was "pretty sure" Reagan never supported or made large donations to Democrats.
Cruz also attacked Trump for his past use of eminent domain. Trump became embroiled in controversy in the 1990’s when he attempted to use eminent domain to remove an elderly woman from her New Jersey home in order to build a new casino property.
"Donald Trump has said he thinks eminent domain is fantastic and he supports using government power to seize private people’s homes to give them to giant corporations to say hypothetically build a casino,” Cruz said. "We have an obligation to protect the rights of Americans and private property is central to the rights of Americans."
The war of words between Cruz and Trump has intensified in recent days, with Trump going on the offensive over Cruz's eligibility to be on the ballot given his Canadian birth and for Cruz's failure to disclose loans received from Citibank and Goldman Sachs for his 2012 Senate race.
Trump on Sunday called Cruz a "nasty guy" whom no one likes. Cruz tried to turn the insult into a joke on social media Monday, posting a link to the video of Janet Jackson's hit song "Nasty."
"Donald seems to be a little rattled," Cruz told reporters before a town hall in Washington, New Hampshire. "For whatever reason he is very, very dismayed. I guess as conservatives continue to unite behind our campaign, as his poll numbers continue to go down, he's a little testier."
Trump, who was also campaigning in New Hampshire Monday, had no direct response to his rival's accusations.
Polls show Cruz and Trump locked in a tight race in Iowa, but Trump is polling considerably better in New Hampshire. Cruz embarked on a five-day swing through the Granite State this week as his numbers began to show new strength.
"The American people want a steady hand at the helm," Cruz told The Associated Press in an interview on his campaign bus Monday. "They don't want, I believe, a commander in chief who wakes up obsessed with the latest polls and driven to issue a frenzy of tweets. Instead, they want a principled, steady, conservative leader who will do everything necessary to protect this nation and keep America safe."

Family of ex-FBI agent believed held by Iran lashes out at White House

The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran nine years ago, slammed the Obama administration Monday for not informing them that their relative was not included in a prisoner exchange announced over the weekend.
"We had to learn it from the TV ourselves, and that's very disappointing and heartbreaking," Robert Levinson's wife, Christine, told the Associated Press. She used stronger language in another interview, telling ABC News that she felt "extremely betrayed" by the White House.
Christine Levinson told ABC that she had tried unsucessfully to meet face-to-face with adminstration officials for the past six weeks. Hours after the prisoner exchange was announced Saturday, she said Deputy National Security Adviser Lisa Monaco called to apologize, claiming the White House had meant to inform her before the news broke, but the Iranian government had leaked the word early.
Robert Levinson disappeared from an Iranian resort on March 9, 2007, while in the country on an unauthorized mission for the CIA. It's unclear where he is; Iranian officials have said they don't know but Levinson's family does not believe them.
Levinson's son Dan told The Associated Press that it felt like "once again, he's been left behind" and that the U.S. can't give up on bringing his father back.
The Levinson family has expressed happiness for the families of the four American prisoners released by Iran in exchange for the U.S. pardoning or dropping charges against seven Iranians. A fifth American was also released separately.
In discussing the release, President Obama said the U.S. would continue working to find Levinson. But when asked by reporters whether Levinson was still alive, Secretary of State John Kerry said, "We have no idea."
Levinson's family insists he is still alive, even with health issues including diabetes, gout and high blood pressure. They last got some visual record of him in video and photos that were sent about five years ago.
“I have been held here for 3 1/2 years,” Levinson says in the video. “I am not in good health.”
"The people who are working on the case directly, they have told us there is no evidence to suggest my dad is not alive," Dan Levinson said.
"We're not going to give up because obviously we're doing everything we can," he said. "We need to make sure his country is doing the same."
The family plans to mark Levinson's upcoming birthday, which falls on March 10 — the day after the anniversary of his disappearance. It's part of the way they've tried to cope with his absence.
"We talk about him all the time," Christine Levinson said.
They've also tried to make his presence real for the three grandchildren he's never met, teaching them a song Levinson came up with when his children were small.
"If you talk to the grandchildren, they all know how to sing the baby song," she said.
Levinson's family worries about what Levinson's ordeal has done to a man who loved making friends and meeting people.
"I hope that he hasn't lost hope," Christine Levinson said.