Conservative Blogger
Monday, December 3, 2018
After Cohen plea deal, Giuliani questions ethics, tactics of Mueller’s Russia investigation
“This isn’t a search for the truth. It’s a witch hunt,” Giuliani told host John Catsimatidis in an interview with AM 970 in New York. “This is what is wrong with these special prosecutors and independent counsels. They think they are God.”
Giuliani added: “They seem to want to prosecute people at any cost, including the cost of ethical behavior and the rights of people.”
President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, far left, is questioning the ethics and tactics of special counsel Robert Mueller, second from right, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, in light of the surprise plea agreement Thursday with Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer. (AP, File)
Cohen confessed in his guilty plea that he lied to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal he pursued on Trump’s behalf during the heat of the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be consistent with Trump’s “political messaging.”
Cohen said he discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with members of the president’s family, according to documents filed by Mueller.
There is no clear link in the court filings between Cohen’s statements and Mueller’s central question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. And, nothing said in court on Thursday, or in associated court filings, addressed whether Trump or his aides had directed Cohen to mislead Congress.
Still, the case underscored how Trump’s business entity, the Trump Organization, was negotiating business in Moscow well beyond the point that had been previously acknowledged, and that associates of the president were mining Russian connections during the race.
“They obviously exerted a lot of pressure on him. Mr. Cohen unfortunately has a history of significant lies in the past,” Giuliani added in the interview Sunday.
Giuliani previously had said that Trump’s business organization voluntarily gave Mueller the documents cited in the guilty plea “because there was nothing to hide.”
Trump on Thursday called Cohen a “weak person,” who was lying to get a lighter sentence, and stressed that the real estate deal at issue was never a secret and never executed.
“There would be nothing wrong if I did do it,” Trump said of pursuing the project. “I was running my business while I was campaigning. There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gone back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?”
He said the primary reason he didn’t pursue it was “I was focused on running for president.”
Cohen is the first person charged by Mueller with lying to Congress, an indication the special counsel is prepared to treat that offense as seriously as lying to federal agents and a warning shot to dozens of others who have appeared before lawmakers.
DEMOCRAT BLAMES TRUMP FOR GM PLANT SHUTDOWNS
Cohen told two congressional committees last year that the talks about the tower project ended in January 2016, a lie he said was an act of loyalty to Trump. In fact, the negotiations continued until June 2016, Cohen acknowledged.
Speaking of Mueller's team, Giuliani said: “They want (Manafort) to give certain forms of evidence that would implicate the president in things that Mr. Manafort says are untrue.”
“And they are pressuring him, and creating a real risk that the man might commit perjury,” he said to Catsimatidis. “This kind of pressure can create the risk of tainted testimony.”
Springsteen says Trump is headed for second term, says democrats don’t speak same language
Bruce Springsteen-- the famous liberal rocker-- believes that President Donald Trump is headed for a second term at the White House.
In a Sunday interview with the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, the 69-year-old singer-songwriter said he hasn’t seen a democratic contender who could effectively win over blue-collar voters by speaking Trump’s language.
“I don’t see anyone out there at the moment … the man who can beat Trump, or the woman who can beat Trump,” Spring told the paper. “You need someone who can speak some of the same language [as Trump] … and the Democrats don’t have an obvious, effective presidential candidate.”
Springsteen expressed his disappointment that there wasn’t a stronger “blue wave” during the November midterms.
“I’d like to have seen a much more full-throated [rejection] of the past two years,” he said. “The country is very divided right now — there are a lot of people drinking the snake oil. So it’s a very difficult time here in the States.”
Springsteen’s comments come less than a week after an interview with Esquire in which he called the president a “deeply damaged at his core” and “dangerous.”
Trump “has no interest in united the country, really, and actually has an interest in doing the opposite and dividing us, which he does on an almost daily basis,” Springsteen told the magazine. “So that’s simply a crime against humanity, as far as I’m concerned.”
When asked by The Times if he’d consider running for president, Springsteen replied. “[N]ot in any way, in any form. I’d be terrible.”
Trump announces Chinese rollback of auto tariffs
President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping
during their bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
(AP)
President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that China had agreed to rollback its tariffs on American automobiles below 40 percent.
“China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The announcement comes a day after Trump sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina for negotiation talks and dinner.
Earlier this year, China’s tariff’s on U.S. imported automobiles stood at 15 percent from 25 percent, Politico reported. It then raised tariff rates to 40 percent amid the escalating trade war with the U.S.
The two leaders reportedly agreed on a 90-day cease-fire, during which Trump will delay the scheduled U.S. tariff increase while the world’s two most-powerful economies negotiate over the administration’s complaints that China systematically steals trade secrets and forces the U.S. to hand over sensitive technology as the price of admission to the vast Chinese market.
In return, China agreed to buy what the White House called a “not yet agreed upon, but very substantial” amount of U.S. products to help narrow America’s gaping trade deficit with China.
The timetable for China’s lowering of tariffs below 40 percent remains unclear.
3 charged, including exec with past ties to Clintons, in alleged scheme to defraud Pentagon
Three Northern Virginia men --including one who reportedly celebrated New Year's Eve in 1999 with the Clintons-- were charged last week for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud the Pentagon after receiving an $8 billion contract in 2012 to provide food and supplies to troops in Afghanistan, the Department of Justice announced.
Federal prosecutors said the three—all executives connected to Anham FZCO, a defense contractor based in the United Arab Emirates--- knowingly gave false estimates of completion dates for a warehouse intended to provide supplies for troops in Afghanistan in order to win contracts. They allegedly provided "misleading photographs" to show that the project was further along than it was.
"Specifically, the indictment alleges that, in February of 2012, the defendants and others caused Anham employees to transport construction equipment and materials to the proposed site of one of the warehouse complexes to create the false appearance of an active construction site," a Department of Justice statement read.
The company won the contract in 2011 to build warehouses at Bagram Air Field, but as the deadline approached, prosecutors said one warehouse was a concrete slab in the ground, and construction did not yet start on the second one, Stars and Stripes reported.
Abdul Huda Farouki, 75, the former Anham CEO; his brother Mazen Farouki, 73; and Salah Maarouf, 71, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to eight counts each of fraud and violating sanctions against Iran, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. The men were charged in Washington, D.C.
Abdul Huda Farouki and his wife were Washington socialites and donated to the Clinton family charity, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Washington Post reported that the former CEO celebrated New Year's Eve with the Clintons in 1999 and was invited to a state dinner. The report pointed to a Bloomberg article that cited a government audit that found that Anham overbilled the Pentagon $4.4 million.
The Journal first reported on the company allegedly moving equipment in a military contract through Iran, a possible violation of sanctions. The government said that the former CEO fired off an email to a senior defense official that "falsely claimed" senior management at the company were unaware of the transshipments.
The company has denied all charges. Anham reportedly said it helped the U.S. save $1.4 billion by reducing prices. The company echoed the not guilty pleas and said it is confident the defendants would be exonerated.
"ANHAM continues to cooperate with the Justice Department. Nevertheless, the company continues to believe that the purported violations are without legal merit," the company said in a statement on its website, the paper reported.
Their next hearing is Dec. 6.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
UN to Vote on U.S. Measure Condemning Hamas
 |
| Over a thousand people of more than 80 organizations coming from all across Europe took part in a demonstration outside the UNHRC HQ in Place de la Nation in Geneva. The protesters called for the exposure and condemnation of the UNHRC’s hypocrisy and anti-Israel bias toward Israel. |
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:11 AM PT — Sat. Dec. 1, 2018
The UN is scheduled to vote on a U.S. resolution condemning the Palestinian Hamas terror movement.Reports out of Israel say the vote will come Thursday after all 28 EU Nations said they would back the U.S. draft.
The resolution condemns the Islamic terrorist group for firing rockets into Israel and is demanding an end to the ongoing violence.
The measure was previously championed by outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and would mark the first time the UN has taken a stance against Hamas.
The U.S. had initially hoped for a Monday vote, but the Palestinians had pushed for a delay.
Trump, Putin had 'informal' meeting at G20, White House says
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, watches President
Donald Trump, right, walk past him as they gather for the group photo at
the start of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
(Associated Press)
President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had an “informal” conversation at the Group of 20 Summit in Buenos Aires on Friday, the White House said.
“As is typical at multilateral events, President Trump and the First Lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including President Putin,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Saturday, according to the Hill.
Trump had previously canceled a more formal meeting with the Russian leader, citing recent territorial disputes between Russia and Ukraine.
"Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting" with Putin, Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Russia recently seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and detained its sailors, as the neighboring countries continue to clash.
Ukraine says the sailors were taken in international waters, while Russia argues the ships violated its borders.
“I answered his questions about the incident in the Black Sea,” Putin told reporters. “He has his position. I have my own. We stayed in our own positions.”
Western leaders banded together at the summit to denounce Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Trump appeared to avoid Putin for most of the day Friday, breezing past him as world leaders stood for a photo.
"If the domestic situation and the pressure from Russophobes like Ukraine and its sponsors prevent the U.S. president from developing normal ties with the Russian president ... we will wait for another chance," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding "love can't be forced."
Trump also met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where they agreed to a 90-day truce in a bid to work out U.S. and China's trade differences.
Al Sharpton sells his life story rights for $531G — to his own charity
The Rev. Al Sharpton has found an eager buyer for the rights to his life story — his own charity.
The National Action Network agreed to pay the activist preacher $531,000 for his “life story rights for a 10-year period,” according to the non-profit’s latest tax filing, which was obtained by The Post.
NAN can apparently turn around and sell those rights to Hollywood or other takers at a profit, but neither the reverend nor the charity would identify what producers are waiting for such Sharpton content.
The document does not indicate when Sharpton, who is president of NAN, gets the cash, which is above and beyond the $244,661 he already pulled down in compensation from the group in 2017.
Sharpton also wouldn’t say when the cash would come in.
“What does that have to do with anything?” he said, speaking to The Post Saturday from South Africa, where he is hosting an MSNBC broadcast on the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth.
Sharpton claimed the idea for the deal came from two NAN board members, whom he would not name.
He said they wanted to create a source of revenue for the civil-rights organization after he steps down in about a year.
“This way they make a profit from the beginning and all of the revenues,” he said.
Sharpton said he had contracts for two movies, with a third contract in the works. One of these movies is already in production, he claimed. He would not provide details of any of the projects.
He said a play was being shopped around and there were other assets that would generate revenue for NAN, including a recording where James Brown is singing and he’s talking, and video footage of him with Michael Jackson.
“You’ve got real property here. You’re not talking about just me as an activist. These are non-related NAN things that are the saleable items,” he said.
Sharpton said that the assets were appraised and the movie deals alone could bring in at least triple to NAN over what it was paying him for the rights.
The organization says a private donor put up the money to make the purchase, but did not name the donor.
Nonprofit experts said the transaction could be troubling because NAN — whose mission includes criminal justice reform and police accountability — was doing business with its president.
If NAN paid too much it could run afoul of IRS rules regarding excess benefits given to a nonprofit’s key officials, which might put its tax-exempt status in jeopardy, Marcus Owens, a former IRS official and a partner with the Loeb & Loeb law firm in Washington, DC.
“When I see this kind of thing, it just makes me roll my eyes because there’s so much potential for funny business,” said Linda Sugin, a Fordham University Law School professor and associate dean.
“When I see this kind of thing, it just makes me roll my eyes because there’s so much potential for funny business.”The organization’s tax filing noted that the board’s unnamed “executive committee independently approved” the deal.
— Linda Sugin, Fordham University Law School professor and associate dean
But Sugin questioned such how such independence was achieved.
“In this case, it’s really difficult because of his role in the organization and just because of his overall influence,” she said.
Daniel Borochoff, the head of Charity Watch, said the transaction would have been “a lot cleaner” if Sharpton sold the rights himself to a production company and then donated any profit in excess of $531,000 to NAN.
The Harlem-based National Action Network, which Sharpton founded in 1991, holds weekly “action rallies” at its House of Justice headquarters and an annual convention that has drawn President Obama as a speaker.
The event has been sponsored in the past by large corporations, including Walmart, PepsiCo and Ford.
The nonprofit took in $6.3 million in revenue last year, up from $5.8 million the year before, according to its tax filings. Its years of outstanding taxes were paid off in 2014.
Sharpton, who hosts the “PoliticsNations” show on MSNBC, managed to pay off a chunk of his tax debt to the state and feds in the last year.
He paid $172,112 to the state, but still owes $736,375 in personal income tax and taxes for three of his companies to Albany.
City records show a $1.3 million tax lien to the IRS was satisfied in February, but records show he still has $2.5 million in outstanding federal liens against him and one of his companies.
NAN has maintained that Sharpton is paying taxes on an installment plan. The liens don’t reflect partial payments.
Trump sending Air Force One to carry George H.W. Bush’s body to DC to begin final tributes
President Trump plans to send Air Force One to Texas this week to bring the body of former President George H.W. Bush to Washington, D.C., where the body is scheduled to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol before returning to Texas for burial.
Trump's disclosure was among a list of funeral plans that emerged Saturday as the nation prepared to bid a final farewell to Bush, the nation's 41st president, who died Friday night at age 94.
"We will be spending three days of mourning and three days celebrating a really great man's life," Trump told reporters in Buenos Aires, before returning to Washington on Saturday, the Washington Times reported.
"We will be spending three days of mourning and three days celebrating a really great man's life."“Air Force One will be taking myself and a group of our people back to Washington. It will then be reset and it will be sent to Houston to pick up the casket of President Bush and it will be sent back to Washington,” Trump said, according to the report.
— President Trump
Air Force One will carry the body of former President George H.W. Bush to Washington for this week's tributes in the nation's capital.
Other details regarding the state funeral for former President Bush were revealed by his office Saturday.
The schedule for the state funeral and related services and ceremonies were broken into three stages, divided between Washington and sites in the Houston area, according to a news release from the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, the group that announced via Bush's website that it would be collaborating with the Bush family “to carry out” the former president's wishes regarding his funeral.
Family spokesman Jim McGrath said Bush died shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, about eight months after the death of former first lady Barbara Bush, his wife of more than 73 years.
The proceedings will begin Monday when Bush's remains are set to depart from Ellington Field in Houston, en route to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, according to the news release.
Following their arrival, “Bush’s remains will lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol” from Monday at 7:30 p.m. until Wednesday at 8:45 a.m., “with a guard of honor in attendance,” officials said.
After departing the Capitol, Bush's remains will be taken to Washington National Cathedral for a funeral. They'll then go back to Joint Base Andrews, with a destination set for Texas, the news release said.
Once back in Texas, “Bush’s remains will lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church” in Houston from Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. until Thursday at 6 a.m., again “with a guard of honor in attendance,” according to officials.
Later Thursday morning, a funeral service is scheduled to be held at the church, the news release said.
“Former President Bush’ remains will depart St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, and be transported by motorcade to Union Pacific Railroad Westfield Auto Facility, Spring, Texas,” according to the news release. “President Bush’s remains will then be transported by funeral car (train) to College Station, Texas.”
His remains are set to arrive at Texas A&M University at 3:45 p.m. Interment will occur at the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum, officials said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
How many times do we need to say this? If you’re here illegally and get caught, you’re going back. It’s the la...
-
CNN’s Scott Jennings once again took liberals to the cleaners on the Abrego Garcia case, the ‘Maryland man... -
The problem with the courts is the same as the problem with many of our other institutions. Called the Skins...
