Exclusive: New Emails on Secret Benghazi Weapons

Is Obama's Government going to get away with the Benghazi terrorist attack and his lack of response to it?

On the third anniversary of the Benghazi terrorist attack, emails reviewed by Fox News raise significant questions about US government support for the secret shipment of weapons to the Libyan opposition.
During the Spring of 2011, as the Obama administration ramped up efforts to topple the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a licensed American arms dealer, Marc Turi, his business partner formerly with the CIA, senior US military officials in Europe and Africa as well as a former staffer for republican Senator John McCain considered logistics for arming the rebels, according to the emails exclusively obtained by Fox Business and Fox News.
Turi is facing federal trial this December on two counts that he allegedly violated the arms export control act by making false statements. Turi denies the charges, and alleges there was a rogue weapons operation run with the knowledge of Mrs. Clinton's state department.
The email dated March 22, 2011 was sent by Admiral James Stavridis, when he was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, from his government email account to Turi's business partner David Manners.
The email was also copied to General Carter Ham, then head of the defense department's Africa command. Stavridis vouches for Manners as a United States Naval Academy classmate and "former CIA Officer with deep connections throughout the near Middle East."

"The person in charge of the operation from a US DoD perspective is General Carter Ham, the commander of AFRICOM...Clearly, what you are describing is a State Department lead"
- March 2011 Email, Admiral James Stavridis, SACEUR

Also copied on the email is Mike Kostiw who worked for Senator John McCain until February 2011 on the Senate Armed Services committee. It is not known from the emails reviewed by Fox whether the parties responded, or whether others were brought into the discussion.
Stavridis tells Manners "The person in charge of the operation from a US DoD perspective is General Carter Ham, the commander of AFRICOM...Clearly, what you are describing is a State Department lead."
Fox News contacted Stavridis who is now the dean at Tuft's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Ham, now retired, and Kostiw, in the private sector, seeking a further explanation of the email and the context in which it was sent. Stavridis said he had "nothing to add. Don't remember the email specifically. Dave Manners is a USNA classmate I've known for 40 years. Wish I could be more helpful." There was no immediate response from Ham or Kostiw. Manners turned down an earlier request from Fox to discuss the matter.
In a sworn declaration to the District Court of Arizona May 5th 2015, Manners said, "It was then, and remains now, my opinion that the United States did participate, directly or indirectly, in the supply of weapons to the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC)." The timing matters because in the Spring of 2011 the Libyan opposition was not formally recognized, and the direct supply of arms was not authorized. At that time, the CIA director was David Petraeus.

As part of Fox's ongoing reporting of the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack, Fox News senior executive producer Pamela Browne interviewed Turi, who recalled this email exchange--- adding it came after he applied for a license through the State Department to sell weapons.
"At that point in time, this would've been the first application where the thought process was: the US government was going (to) directly support the Libyan TNC-not use any ally, use their own resources and support," Turi explained. "I actually-we met: Kostiw, and Manners, and myself. and I said, 'Listen, we're going to need overflight permission."
Turi said support for arming the Libyan rebels came from the most senior levels of the US government. Turi's claim is consistent with a Reuters news service exclusive report from March 31, 2011 that stated "President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi...Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter."
"I'm being extremely transparent and you gotta understand from a, a person in my position, you're not going to go to a country that's under war and hold yourself out there like you're a black market arms dealer. You are committing suicide," Turi said.
"'Hey, I'm here. I'm an option for you if you wanna use that option.' Otherwise, they're gonna do it themselves and that's exactly what they wanted to do because what happens is, if you don't want a US footprint-any type of US entities that's subject to subpoena powers - what do you do? You outsource it and that's what they did."
Turi and his company, Turi Defense Group deny they shipped any weapons, arguing their concept to use an Arab ally instead, so there would be a "zero foot print" for the US government, was used but without strong security and vetting procedures in place.
March 2011 was a busy time for Hillary Clinton. Even today, congressional investigators doubt they have all of the emails from her personal server when she was Secretary of State. On March 14th, 2011, along with Chris Stevens, who was then the number two man in Libya serving as the embassy's deputy chief of mission, Clinton met with Libya's Mustafa Jibril in Paris-- a senior member of the TNC. The next day, Secretary Clinton met with Egypt's new foreign minister Nabil el Arabi in Cairo and walked through Tahrir Square with her senior adviser Huma Abedin. At the same time, Turi's proposal, a 267-million dollar contract, was working its way through US government channels.
Turi provided Fox News with emails he exchanged - in early April 2011 - with Chris Stevens to alert him to the proposed weapons deal. The emails were previously cited by the New York Times, but Fox News has made the message traffic public.
Stevens replied with a "thank you " and wrote "I'll keep it in mind and share it with my colleagues in Washington."
As Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge first reported, a heavily redacted email released to the Benghazi committee in May clearly states that on April 8, 2011, a day after the Turi/Stevens exchange, Clinton was interested in arming the rebels using contractors:
"FYI. the idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered," Clinton wrote. Significantly, the state department released emails blacked out this line, but the version given to the Benghazi select committee was complete.
In May 2011, Turi got a brokering approval from the State Department for Qatar. Federal court documents show that on June 14th, a Russian businessman wrote to Turi indicating Chris Stevens was the State Department's point man for arming the rebels.
Document 55, exhibit F, contains an email from the Russian, stating "I sent you an email days back and no answer from you....anyhow, Mr. Stevens the American embassedor (sic) in benghazi (sic) has been informed of the arrangement...and things should be ok."

Perry suspends presidential campaign

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday that he's suspending his presidential campaign, becoming the first in the crowded Republican field to bow out.
The longest-serving governor in Texas history announced his decision during a speech Friday night in St. Louis before conservative activists.
"I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States," Perry said.
Perry, who also ran in 2012, has struggled to get his campaign off the ground, finding himself strapped for cash and stuck in polling at near 1 percent.
In his St. Louis speech, Perry took some parting, albeit veiled, shots at primary front-runner Donald Trump, saying the eventual nominee "must make the case for the cause of conservatism more than the cause of their own celebrity."
But he went on to say, "We have a tremendous field of candidates -- probably the greatest group of men and women -- I step aside knowing our party is in good hands."
He said the party must "listen to the grassroots, listen to that cause of conservatism."
With the campaign crunched for cash, Perry's‎ senior staff had been volunteering for the past month.
Asked what led to Friday's decision, Perry communications adviser Lexi Stemple told FoxNews.com ‎Perry's team was behind him "all the way" and it was "his decision in the end."
But she also said: "Finances are never simple when there are 17 candidates, quality candidates, in a presidential race. It's very expensive to run for president, and even more so with so many people in the race."
Stemple noted Perry had acknowledged it was a "difficult path forward to the nomination after finances became an issue" but said he campaigned hard even after that point.
Perry is the first major candidate to bow out, leaving the field of Republicans at 16 candidates, just days before the next GOP debate.
His former GOP opponents were quick to praise him once he announced he was leaving the race. Donald Trump tweeted that Perry was "a terrific guy and I wish him well." Dr. Ben Carson's statement, delivered via his press secretary, described Perry as a "very decent and fine gentleman" while Jeb Bush tweeted, "Amen. God bless Rick Perry for his continuing commitment to that cause."
At the lead-off GOP debates in August, Perry's polling left him in the undercard debate, but former HP head Carly Fiorina stole the spotlight in that event. She has climbed in the polls since; Perry has not, and was again relegated to a pre-debate forum at next week's debate at the Reagan Library outside Los Angeles.
He still delivered a stronger performance at that first debate than he did four years ago, when he couldn't remember the third federal agency he'd promised to close if elected and muttered, "Oops" -- a moment that doomed his bid in 2012. But few noticed in a GOP campaign dominated by billionaire Donald Trump, who stole away Perry's Iowa campaign chairman after Perry was forced to suspend paying members of his staff as his campaign fundraising dried up.
A group of super PACs, largely funded by three big Perry backers, briefly kept him afloat by raising $17 million, hiring their own Iowa staff and producing television and digital ads and mailers. His decision Friday appeared to come as a surprise to those groups.
A pro-Perry super PAC emailed its supporters Friday morning saying it was back on television in Iowa to promote his candidacy. A Twitter message from the group sent later in the morning further emphasized, "In It For the Long Haul."

Trump says US, Europe should be doing more to help Ukraine

Asleep he's got to better than Obama? 

KIEV, Ukraine –  Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who is leading the Republican presidential field in the polls, told a gathering of the European elite in the Ukrainian capital that America and Europe should be doing more to support Ukraine.
In an unusual appearance Friday night by satellite feed, Trump told participants at the pro-Western Yalta European Security conference why he was seeking the GOP presidential nomination and expressed support for Ukraine.
“My feeling toward the Ukraine and toward the entire area is very very strong. I know many people who live in the Ukraine. They’re friends of mine. They’re fantastic people,” Trump said, noting that he had known and admired Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk for many years and had learned much from him.
Trump also suggested that President Barack Obama was partly responsible for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aggression by paying only “lip-service” to reversing Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea over a year ago. “Our president is not strong and he’s not doing what he should be doing for the Ukraine,” Trump said. “Part of the problem that the Ukraine has with the United States is that Putin does not respect our president whatsoever,” Trump said.
Trump’s remarks to this assembly of the Ukrainian and European political elite in Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Russian-supported secessionist forces in the country’s industrial heartland, differed from earlier statements he made in August about Ukraine’s plight. Last month, he told a political rally in North Carolina that Europeans, and wealthy Germany in particular, should do more to reverse Russia’s annexation of Crimea and he “wouldn’t care” if Ukraine joined NATO.
On Friday night, by contrast, Trump said that Ukraine was “not getting the support that you need” and deserve.
Many in the audience seemed stunned that Pinchuk would invite Trump to address his conference, since Pinchuk is known to have given millions to the Clinton Family Foundation and has hosted Bill and Hillary Clinton at earlier conferences. Indeed, Bill Clinton also appeared by satellite linkup Friday to express his support for Ukraine and implicitly criticize Obama by stressing the need to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which Obama has not done lately.
In an interview Thursday, Pinchuk said that he had invited Trump to express his views because he was leading the GOP presidential field by huge margins in the polls and, therefore, he thought it important for Ukrainians to learn more about Trump and his foreign policy views.
Asked by Doug Schoen, a Democratic pollster and Fox news commentator, what he would do about Ukraine’s conflict with Russia if he were elected, Trump told the 350 conferees that Ukraine was not “given the proper respect from other parts of Europe,” which he would remedy, and that Obama, too, was not doing enough to help Ukraine, a comment that prompted applause and a few cheers from a largely skeptical crowd.
In his 20-minute appearance in Kiev, which was frequently interrupted by satellite connection problems, Trump repeated much of what he has told Americans. He called Obama a leader who “waffles.” He called his recent deal with Iran to prevent the radical regime from acquiring nuclear weapons one of “the worst contracts that anybody has seen.”
Trump also supported the creation of a “safe zone” in Syria, saying that he doubted Europeans could handle the massive influx of refugees from the Middle East. The world, he said, was getting ever more dangerous. “There’s conflict everywhere,” he said, noting that Ukraine had withstood many challenges and crises that would have crushed other countries.
Trump’s remarks about the need to support Ukraine differed from his statements in August in which he predicted that he would “get along very well with Putin” because he knew “many of his people: and had hosted a major event for him two years ago in Moscow. “It was a tremendous success,” said Trump, praising his own accomplishments, a hallmark of his stump speeches.
He said he was running because “I love my country, but it’s having a lot problems." Americans, he added, supported him because they wanted someone “who’s strong and frankly, can make American great again.”
Reaction to Trump’s appearance here and his remarks was decidedly mixed. Several participants seemed aghast that Pinchuk would invite so polarizing an upstart in American  politics to address the 12th annual gathering of political and academic heavyweights.
Dominique Strauss Khan, the former French political superstar whose career was felled by allegations that he had sexually abused a maid in a New York hotel, called Trump’s appearance“incredible.” Several Ukrainian and European participants asked incredulously whether Trump could actually secure his party’s presidential nomination. But while Trump’s speech from New York was initially greeted by some jeers in the conference hall, he received polite, if not enthusiastic, applause at the abrupt end of the linkup.
For his part, Trump said he had agreed to speak because he had known and admired Pinchuk for years. What went unsaid was Trump’s apparent desire to counter the American public’s perception that he knows and cares little about foreign policy.

Russia warns US of ‘unintended incidents’ over Syria

Obama has made America look Weak to the rest of the World. But the Democrats just blindly keep following him.

The growing rift between the United States and Russia over concerns that Moscow is employing its military to protect the Middle East nation's embattled president appeared to widen Friday when a Russian official called for military cooperation with Washington in order to avoid "unintended incidents."
The comments were made after Western intelligence sources told Fox News that Russia escalated its presence in the country days after a secret Moscow meeting in late July between Iran's Quds Force commander -- their chief exporter of terror -- and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Officials who have monitored the build-up say they've seen more than 1,000 Russian combatants -- some of them from the same plainclothes Special Forces units who were sent to Crimea and Ukraine. Some of these Russian troops are logistical specialists and needed for security at the expanding Russian bases.
President Obama warned Russia on Friday against “doubling down” on sending support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling the pursuit a "mistake."
"But we are going to be engaging Russia to let them know that you can't continue to double-down on a strategy that is doomed to failure," Obama said at a Maryland event.
Russia denies allegations that it is helping to build Assad's military. Moscow claimed its increased military presence is part of an international effort to help defeat the Islamic State. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on world powers to join Russia in that pursuit, arguing that Syria’s army is the most efficient force to fight extremists in the Middle East.
"You cannot defeat Islamic State with air strikes only," Lavrov said, a clear dig at the White House’s strategy. "It's necessary to cooperate with ground troops and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the IS."
Reuters reported that Russia also called for military-to-military cooperation with the U.S. to avert "unintended incidents."
Moscow's recent support of Assad has dampened U.S. hopes that Moscow was tiring of the Syrian president. Syria has been dripped by a long-lasting civil war for more than four years, a conflict that has claimed more than 250,000 lives and created a vacuum for extremism to thrive.
U.S. officials have been gauging Russia’s willingness to help restart a political process to remove Assad from power. Obama, however, noted that the prospect of that happening its very grim in light of new Russian action in the region.
"It could prevent us from arriving at the political solution that's ultimately needed to bring a peace back to Syria," he said.
Secretary of State John Kerry has lashed out at Russia’s presence in Syria, warning the recent buildup could lead to an escalation of the bloody conflict.
Despite the warnings from the U.S., Lavrov said Russia would continue to supply Assad with weapons that he said will help defeat Islamic State fighters.
"I can only say, once again, that our servicemen and military experts are there to service Russian military hardware, to assist the Syrian army in using this hardware," he said at a news conference in Moscow. "And we will continue to supply it to the Syrian government in order to ensure its proper combat readiness in its fight against terrorism."

Obama Watergate Cartoon

White House: Obama wants to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016

The United States is making plans to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming budget year, a significant increase from the 1,500 migrants that have been cleared to resettle in the U.S. since civil war broke out in the Middle Eastern country more than four years ago, the White House said Thursday. 
The White House has been under heavy pressure to do more than just provide money to help meet the humanitarian crisis in Europe. Tens of thousands of people from war-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa are risking their lives and dying en masse during desperate attempts to seek safe haven on the continent.
The refugees from Syria, however, would be people who are already in the pipeline and waiting to be let into the United States, not the thousands working their way through eastern Europe and landing in Greece. It was not immediately clear how admitting a larger number of Syrian refugees who are in the processing pipeline would help alleviate the crisis that European countries are grappling with.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said about $4 billion that the administration has provided to relief agencies and others is the most effective way for the U.S. to help shoulder the crisis, but that President Barack Obama has decided that admitting more Syrian refugees in the budget year that begins Oct. 1 would also help boost the U.S. response.
About 17,000 Syrians have been referred over the last few years to the U.S. for resettlement by the U.N. refugee agency. About 1,500 are in the U.S., with another 300 scheduled to be allowed in this month. That leaves about 15,000 Syrians waiting for the clearance process to conclude, according to the State Department.
Obama would like to admit 10,000 of those, according to Earnest's announcement.
Earnest said earlier this week that the administration has been looking at a "range of approaches" for assisting U.S. allies with 340,000 people freshly arrived from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Many are fleeing parts of Iraq that are under the Islamic State group's control. The 1,500 Syrians who are resettling in the U.S. represent a small percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes due to the civil war in Syria.
Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. will increase its worldwide quota for resettling refugees by 5,000, from 70,000 to 75,000 next year -- and the number could still rise, according to two officials and a congressional aide who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Kerry said after meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee members that the U.S. would increase the number of refugees it is willing to accept. He did not provide a specific number.
"We are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe," he said Wednesday.
Germany is bracing for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Kerry's predecessor at the State Department, called for an "emergency global gathering" at the U.N. General Assembly meeting this month, where countries could pledge aid money and to accept some of the migrants.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the U.S. should increase the number of refugees it resettles next year by more than the 5,000 figure to help European countries, saying the figure suggest by Kerry "is far too low." Pelosi, D-Calif., said the U.S. accepted far more refugees after the Vietnam War and could do so again.

Front-runner status challenged? Polls show Clinton trailing Sanders in Iowa, NH

Just days after a New Hampshire poll showed Hillary Clinton slipping further behind Bernie Sanders in the vital early primary state, a fresh survey shows the Vermont senator narrowly edging ahead of her in Iowa as well. 
The Quinnipiac University poll shows Sanders leading Clinton 41-40 percent.
The results are well within the margin of error and represent a virtual tie in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. But together, the polling in New Hampshire and Iowa indicates Clinton's front-runner status is now being challenged in the primary season's two lead-off contests.
"Obviously the campaign is delighted," Sanders Press Secretary Lilia A. Chacon said in a statement. "People and Iowans are responding to a message based on issues. The more people know about Bernie the more they like him."
The Clinton campaign is stressing that they always thought this would be a "close race."
"No non-incumbent candidate other than Sen. Harkin has gotten more than 50 percent in the [Iowa] caucus -- which is why we are working hard to earn every vote," a campaign official said in an email, while touting Clinton's growing ground game in the Hawkeye State.
Despite the latest set of polls, Clinton continues to lead by a comfortable margin in national surveys.
The Iowa contest also is more than four months away. And even if Clinton lost the two lead-off contests, she could soldier on in other early-voting states like South Carolina and gather the delegates needed. She leads by double digits in virtually every poll in South Carolina, and in Florida.
But as with other recent polls, Sanders' rise underscores a potential vulnerability for Clinton who for months was the unquestioned front-runner but lately has faced growing questions about her personal email controversy.
While other rivals -- like former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb -- have failed to catch fire with voters, Sanders is gaining ground and Vice President Biden is still weighing a Democratic bid. The latest Quinnipiac poll suggests the VP has a built-in base of support; in Iowa, 12 percent said they back Biden.
And Sanders' 41 percent marked a major jump from a July survey by the same polling outfit. At the time, Sanders had 33 percent, to Clinton's 52 percent.
The Iowa poll follows an NBC/Marist survey Sunday showing Sanders with a 9-point lead in New Hampshire.
Sanders himself downplayed the daily drip-drip of polling results.
Asked about the Quinnipiac survey on Thursday, Sanders said, "Polls are polls -- today there is one poll, tomorrow there is another poll."
The Quinnipiac poll of 832 likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers was taken Aug. 27-Sept. 8. It had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

America to mark 14th anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks

From New York City to Shanksville, Pa., from the White House to baseball stadiums around the nation, America will pause once again Friday to mark the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The largest ceremony will take place at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum near the site of the World Trade Center's twin towers, which were brought down when two hijacked passenger jets slammed into them that day. Families of the victims will gather at the memorial's plaza for what has become a tradition of tolling bells, observing moments of silence, and reading the names of those who died.
The plaza is reserved for victims' relatives and invited guests for the morning ceremony, but will be open for the public to pay their respects in the afternoon. An estimated 20,000 people flocked to the site last year, the first year the public was able to visit on the anniversary.
"When we did open it up, it was just like life coming in," National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum President Joe Daniels told the Associated Press this week, adding "the general public that wants to come and pay their respects on this most sacred ground should be let in as soon as possible."
The Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania is marking the completion of its visitor center, which opened to the public Thursday. At the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and other officials will join in remembrances for victims' relatives and Pentagon employees.
President Obama is scheduled to observe a moment of silence with the first lady and White House staff on the mansion's South Lawn before visiting Fort Meade in Maryland, in recognition of the military's work to protect the country.
Ohio's statehouse will display nearly 3,000 flags — representing the lives lost — in an arrangement designed to represent the World Trade Center towers, with a Pentagon-shaped space and an open strip representing the field near Shanksville. Sacramento, Calif., will commemorate 9/11 in conjunction with a parade honoring three Sacramento-area friends who tackled a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound high-speed train last month.
Major League Baseball will pay its own tribute to mark the anniversary of the attacks. At every stadium where a big league game is played Friday, there will be moments of silence, as well as other remembrances. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear caps with flag patches
In Washington, some members of Congress plan to spend part of the anniversary discussing federal funding for the ground zero memorial. The House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing Friday on a proposal to provide up to $25 million a year for the plaza.
The memorial and underground museum together cost $60 million a year to run. The federal government contributed heavily to building the institution; leaders have tried unsuccessfully for years to get Washington to chip in for annual costs, as well.
Under the current proposal, any federal money would go only toward the memorial plaza. An estimated 21 million people have visited it for free since its 2011 opening.
The museum charges up to $24 per ticket, a price that initially sparked some controversy. Still, almost 3.6 million visitors have come since the museum's May 2014 opening, topping projections by about 5 percent, Daniels said.
Any federal funding could lead to expanded discounts for school and other groups, but there are no plans to lower the regular ticket price, he said.
This year's anniversary also comes as advocates for 9/11 responders and survivors are pushing Congress to extend two federal programs that promised billions of dollars in compensation and medical care. Both programs are set to expire next year.
But some of those close to the events aim to keep policy and politics at arm's length on Sept. 11.
Organizers of the ground zero ceremony decided in 2012 to stop letting elected officials read names, though politicians still can attend. Over the years, some victims' relatives have invoked political matters while reading names — such as declaring that Sept. 11 should be a national holiday — but others have sought to keep the focus personal.
"This day should be a day for reflection and remembrance. Only," Faith Tieri, who lost her brother, Sal Tieri Jr., said during last year's commemoration.

11 confirmed shootings in Arizona prompt serial shooter fears

Authorities in Arizona are investigating 11 confirmed shooting incidents within two weeks—most reported along the I-10— that include a confirmed gunshot early Thursday that left a hole in the side of a commercial tractor-truck.
The shootings have rattled nerves and heightened fears of a possible serial shooter, and some motorists have started avoiding using the freeways, instead taking city streets. No one has been seriously hurt in the shootings, although one bullet shattered a windshield and the broken glass cut a 13-year-old girl.
Authorties say that eight of the damaged vehicles were hit by bullets and three by projectiles such as BBs and pellets.
Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead has called the incidents "domestic terrorism crimes."
"Anytime that you have multiple shootings against American citizens on a highway, that's terrorism," Milstead said. "They're trying to frighten or kill somebody." He did not elaborate.
The latest incident happened just before 6 a.m. local time Thursday, when a commercial truck driver found a bullet hole in his cargo area after making hours of deliveries, so it was impossible to know where or exactly when it happened.

"Anytime that you have multiple shootings against American citizens on a highway, that's terrorism"
- Frank Milstead, director of Department of Public Safety

Milstead's agency brought in the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and local police to assist in the investigation. Authorities have been conducting surveillance and deploying undercover detectives and members of the SWAT team and a gang task force.
Investigators are also appealing for help via social media, news conferences, TV interviews and freeway billboards. The messages have morphed from "report suspicious activity" to "shooting tips" to the more ominous "I-10 shooter tip line" on Thursday. Earlier this week, police quadrupled the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction to $20,000.
Thousands of tips have come in, many proving to be false leads based on road hazards routine in Arizona, like windshields cracked by loose rocks sent airborne by the tires of other vehicles. On Thursday alone, drivers reported possible shootings of an armored truck, two cars and two tractor-trailers. Authorities and TV crews scrambled to these scenes, only to discover minor damage.
Juan Campana works at an appliance business near where many of the shootings occurred. He was surprised to look up and see helicopters on Wednesday after the 10th reported shooting.
Campana said he's not taking the freeway anymore.
"I go through the streets when I go home," he said.
Raul Garcia, a state trooper public information officer, told FoxNews.com that anyone who witnesses a shooting should call 911. He did not describe the firearm used and would not confirm media reports that there may be copycats.
"What we have is a very dangerous situation and somebody knows something," he said. "You need to let law enforcement know."
Milstead said drivers are fortunate that no one has been killed or seriously hurt, but if the incidents continue,"it's just a matter of time before there is a tragedy."
The shootings haven't fit any obvious pattern. Most happened on Interstate 10, a main route through Phoenix. Bullets have been fired at various times of the day, striking a seemingly random assortment of vehicles, from an empty bus to tractor-trailers to pickup trucks, cars and SUVs.
Helicopters flew up and down Interstate 10 on Thursday as an officer monitored a wall of TV monitors carrying live surveillance video from every freeway in metro Phoenix. The Arizona Department of Public Safety has enlisted the help of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, local police and undercover law enforcement officers.
"We have a number of officers ... both uniformed, non-uniformed, plainclothes, undercover vehicles, marked vehicles on the road patrolling, looking for the suspect, looking for leads," said Bart Graves, another DPS spokesman.
Many longtime Phoenix residents still remember the random shootings that terrorized the public a decade ago. Nearly 30 people were shot, and eight killed, including a cyclist who was riding down the street and a man who was sleeping at a bus stop. Two men were eventually caught and convicted.
These shootings also recall other random highway and roadside shootings, most notably the sniper attacks that terrorized the nation's capital more than a decade ago before two men were captured there.
The Phoenix shootings have brought back memories of other random highway and roadside shootings in recent years, most notably the sniper attacks that terrorized the nation's capital more than a decade ago.
A series of apparently random roadside shootings in northern Colorado earlier this year raised alarm that a serial shooter might be trolling areas roads.
A member of the task force investigating the northern Colorado shootings that left a cyclist dead and a driver injured called authorities in Arizona to see if there were any similarities, said David Moore, a spokesman for the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. Investigators found no links, he said.
A man was convicted last year of terrorism charges after opening fire on a busy Michigan highway because he believed the drivers were part of a government conspiracy against him. An Ohio man took shots at several cars and houses over several months in 2003, killing one person, before being caught and sent to prison.
Making an arrest in such cases requires a large number of officers who are ready to flood an area immediately after shots are fired, said Lt. Ron Moore, who commanded a Michigan task force that investigated the 2012 spree in which 23 vehicles were shot on or near Interstate 96.
"You have to bring all the resources you can to bear on the problem - and that's exactly what we did," said Moore, an officer in Wixom, Michigan.

Carly Fiorina Cartoon

Donald Trump insults Fiorina's appearance in magazine profile

Donald Trump is under fire yet again after insulting the physical appearance of fellow GOP presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
"Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president," the Republican frontrunner said in the interview. "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?"
Trump has been criticized for his insults against women. During last month's Fox News' GOP debate he was asked about calling some women "fat pigs" and "disgusting animals," and said he couldn't remember using such words.
Fiorina told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on “The Kelly File” Wednesday that Trump’s comments “speak for themselves” and are “very serious.”
“Maybe just maybe I’m getting under his skin a little bit because I’m climbing in the polls,” she said.
Fiorina has been rising in the polls since her strong performance in the Aug. 6 debate for second-tier GOP candidates sponsored by Fox News and Facebook.
The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive has fought to be included in the main event for CNN’s Republican presidential debate to be held Sept. 16th.
The deadline to qualify for the networks national televised, main-stage debate is Sept. 10.

Dispute among House GOP jeopardizes vote on Iran nuclear deal

Conservative House Republicans forced an abrupt about-face from party leaders Wednesday as a rule to debate a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal was scrapped in favor of an approach involving votes on three related measures.
The first measure specifies that the Obama administration had not properly submitted the accord to Congress. The second is a bound-to-fail vote to approve the deal, and a third would prevent Obama from lifting congressionally mandated sanctions on Iran. Debate and votes were to begin Thursday.
"We need to pull every tool out of the toolbox to stop this bad deal," said Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas.
The rebels were egged on by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has repeatedly allied himself with House conservatives to thwart the plans of GOP leaders. He and others argued that the disapproval vote should be delayed, contending the 60-day deadline clock on the congressional review period can't really start until lawmakers get information on separate agreements negotiated with Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"I don't believe the [60-day] clock has started," said Rep. Pete Roskam, R-Ill. "Either stop the clock or disclose the documents."
Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, one of the conservative rebels, told reporters that he believed there were two so-called "side agreements" that had not been disclosed to Congress.

More on this...

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• Greta: Why is Obama hiding the full Iran deal from us?

"I believe those documents exist," Pompeo said.
However, that claim is contrary to how the House GOP leadership, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif, acted over the summer. After the final agreement was sealed in July, GOP leaders started a 60-day clock, which mandated that Congress consider and vote on the deal by September 17 under legislation passed earlier this year.
Republican leaders did not sound receptive to conservative attempts to change the terms of the debate.
"Right now we've got strong bipartisan opposition to this deal. It's my opinion that we're far better off focusing on the substance" rather than the timing of a vote, said Sen. Bob Corker, R- Tenn., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
The White House and Democratic lawmakers were dismissive of the conservative moves. "Sounds like a plan hatched up at Tortilla Coast on a Tuesday night," said White House spokesman Eric Schultz, naming a restaurant near the Capitol where congressional conservatives meet.
 In response to Schultz, Pompeo retorted, "I haven't been to Tortilla Coast in months."
The maneuvering appeared to be moving forward without the blessing of the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which has led opposition to the accord. An official with the group said its preference was for a straight vote on the disapproval resolution — something Senate Democrats are trying to block with a filibuster.
The fate of that effort remained uncertain. In the Senate debate did begin on the resolution Wednesday, with some describing the vote, which could occur yet this week, as among the most consequential in their lifetimes. Underscoring the occasion, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged all senators to be present, though most Democrats and some Republicans ignored the request.
The international accord aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions will likely move ahead barring truly dramatic turnabouts. Even if Congress succeeds in passing legislation aimed at undermining it by next week's deadline, President Obama would veto such a measure and minority Democrats command enough votes to sustain the veto.

Amid ‘disaster of Biblical proportions,’ administration reportedly to accept 5,000 more refugees

WASHINGTON –  In response to international calls to help ease the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis, the Obama administration reportedly is prepared to increase the number of refugees the U.S. resettles -- by roughly 5,000.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that, according to unnamed sources, Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill that the United States will boost its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000 to 75,000 next year, a number that could increase further. A fraction of those would be from Syria.
A 5,000-person increase would be far short of what aid groups and others have called for – the International Rescue Committee and other groups have urged the U.S. to resettle 65,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.
The administration, though, has struggled to respond to the growing crisis -- and strike a balance between calls to accept more refugees and warnings that bringing in thousands from Islamic State-controlled territory would pose a grave security risk.
Kerry, without putting a number on it, said Wednesday that the U.S. would allow more refugees into the country.
"We are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe," he said. "That's being vetted fully right now."
Europeans countries already are facing the prospect of hundreds of thousands of refugees, many from Syria, seeking entry. Australia announced Wednesday that their country would permanently resettle 12,000 Syrian refugees.
Without spelling out their own proposals, Obama administration officials have acknowledged the extent of the humanitarian crisis.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday that the current refugee crisis is a "disaster of Biblical proportions." At the same time, Clapper said he worries about the background of some of those fleeing Iraq and Syria.
"Exactly what's their background?" Clapper said during an industry conference. "We don't obviously put it past the likes of ISIL to infiltrate operatives among these refugees."
Clapper went on to say the U.S. has a program in place to screen those coming into the country but he is not as confident that some European nations possess that same capability.
The White House is facing pressure from all sides to do more to address the crisis.
Shortly after Kerry's meeting, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona went to the Senate floor to urge stronger leadership from Obama on stemming violence in the Middle East and North Africa. He stood next to an enlarged, close-up photo of the dead body of three-year old Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian boy who drowned along with his 5-year-old brother and mother when their small rubber boat capsized as it headed for Greece.
"This image has haunted the world," McCain said. "But what should haunt us even more than the horror unfolding before our eyes is the thought that the United States will continue to do nothing meaningful about it."
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the Obama administration has been looking at a "range of approaches" for assisting U.S. allies with 340,000 people freshly arrived from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Kerry's predecessor, called for an "emergency global gathering" at the United Nations General Assembly meeting later this month, where countries could pledge aid money and to accept some of the refugees.
The top three groups of people resettled by the U.S. are Burmese, Iraqis and Somalis.
While Germany braces for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year, the U.S. hadn't previously said if it would increase its worldwide quota. Throughout Syria's 4 1/2-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians -- a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes.
Asked directly if the Obama administration felt responsible to share Europe's refugee burden, Earnest stressed U.S. support thus far: $4 billion in humanitarian aid, more than any other country has provided, and ongoing diplomatic work to resolve Syria's conflict peacefully.
The diplomacy appears nowhere near ending violence that started in 2011 with a government crackdown on political opponents, spawning an armed insurgency and eventually leading to Islamic State extremists seizing much of the country.

Dozens of intelligence analysts reportedly claim assessments of ISIS were altered

Dozens of intelligence analysts working at the U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM) have complained that their reports on ISIS and the Nusra Front in Syria were inappropriately altered by senior officials, according to a published report.
The Daily Beast reported late Wednesday that more than 50 analysts had supported a complaint to the Pentagon that the reports had been changed to make the terror groups seem weaker than the analysts believe they really are. Fox News confirmed last month that the Defense Department's inspector general was investigating the initial complaint, which the New York Times reported was made by a civilian employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The assessments in question are prepared for several U.S. policymakers, including President Obama.
The Daily Beast report, which cited 11 individuals, claimed that the complaint being investigated by the Defense Department was made in July. However, several analysts reportedly complained as early as this past October that their reports were being altered to suit a political narrative that ISIS was being weakened by U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria.
"The cancer was within the senior level of the intelligence command," the report quotes one defense official as saying.
According to the report, some analysts allege that reports deemed overly negative in their assessment of the Syria campaign were either blocked from reaching policymakers or sent back down the chain of command. Others claim that key elements of intelligence reports were removed, fundamentally altering their conclusions. Another claim is that senior leaders at CENTCOM created a work environment where giving a candid opinion on the progress of the anti-ISIS campaign was discouraged, with one analyst describing the tenor as "Stalinist."

More on this...

• Exclusive: Kurdish soldier on ISIS chemical weapon attack

• Failed US policy against ISIS to blame for refugee crisis?

The report alleges that when the analysts' complaints were initially aired, some of those who complained were urged to retire, and did so. Facing either resistance or indifference, other analysts self-censored their reports, the Daily Beast claims.
The defense official quoted by the Daily Beast said that some who spoke up did so out of guilt that they did not express doubts about former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's alleged chemical weapons program in the run-up to the Iraq. War.
"They were frustrated because they didn’t do the right thing then," the official said.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees have been advised of the complaint that prompted the inspector general's investigation, which is required if Pentagon officials find the claims credible.
Government rules state that intelligence assessments "must not be distorted" by agendas or policy views, but do allow for legitimate differences of opinion.
Central Command spokesman Col. Patrick S. Ryder said in a statement Wednesday that they welcome the IG's "independent oversight."
"While we cannot comment on ongoing investigations, we can speak to the process and about the valued contributions of the Intelligence Community (IC)," he said, adding that intelligence community members typically are able to comment on draft security assessments. "However," he said, "it is ultimately up to the primary agency or organization whether or not they incorporate any recommended changes or additions. Further, the multi-source nature of our assessment process purposely guards against any single report or opinion unduly influencing leaders and decision-makers."
Earlier this summer, on the eve of the anniversary of the launching of airstrikes against Iraq, the Associated Press reported that U.S intelligence had concluded that the airstrikes had helped stall ISIS after sweeping gains in the summer of 2014. However, the report also said the terror group remained a well-funded army that could easily replenish its numbers as quickly as fighters were eliminated.

Ben Carson Cartoon

Hillary Clinton offers first apology for private email server

Hillary Clinton offered her first apology for using a private email server while secretary of state, calling it a “mistake” in an interview that aired Tuesday.
“Even though it was allowed, I should have used two accounts. One for personal, one for work-related emails,” she told ABC News. ”That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility.”
The comments came just a day after Clinton told the Associated Press she did not need to apologize for her actions because “what I did was allowed.”
At the State Department's request, Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of work-related emails last year, while the FBI has also taken possession of the server after Clinton resisted giving up until last month.
When asked by ABC News if she could survive the ongoing FBI investigation, Clinton cited her lengthy existence on the political stage.
“As you might guess I’ve been around a while, lots of attacks, questions raised. I can survive it because I’m running to be president, to do what the country needs done,” Clinton told ABC. “I believe the American people will respond to that.”
But just as the interview aired, Clinton’s apology already came under fire.
“The only thing Hillary Clinton regrets is that she got caught and is dropping in the polls, not the fact her secret email server left classified information exposed to the Russians and Chinese,” RNC National Press Secretary Allison Moore said in a statement. “Hillary Clinton’s reckless attempt to skirt government transparency laws put our national security at risk and shows she cannot be trusted in the White House.”
Clinton became emotional after she was asked about her mother’s influence on her campaign.
“She told me every day, you got to get up and fight for what you believe in no matter how hard it is,” Clinton said. “And I don’t want to just fight for me. I mean I can have a perfectly fine life not being a president. I want to fight for all the people like my mother who cares who needs somebody in their corner.”
The former secretary of state restated her apology in a note to supporters on her Facebook page late Tuesday, but also called her use of a personal e-mail account  "aboveboard and allowed under the State Department's rules.
"Everyone I communicated with in government was aware of it," Clinton added. Later in the note, she said, "I know this is a complex story. I could have—and should have—done a better job answering questions earlier."
Clinton’s latest efforts to explain the private email server controversy has continued to sometimes overshadow her presidential campaign, with multiple polls showing a majority of Americans don’t find her honest and trustworthy.
In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 61 percent of voters said they did not consider Clinton honest and trustworthy compared to 34 percent who did ascribe those qualities to her.
Clinton also has her status as the Democratic front-runner on the line, as the latest NBC News/Marist polls released Sunday showed Sen. Bernie Sanders with a 9-point lead over her in New Hampshire.
The polls also showed Sanders, a Vermont Independent, gaining ground on Clinton in Iowa.
The states -- Iowa and New Hampshire -- are the first and second, respectively, to hold 2016 primary vote, where the outcomes of those ballots often determine the future of the presidential campaigns.

Ben Carson calls for guest-worker status for immigrants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson jabbed Tuesday at front-runner Donald Trump's proposal to deport everyone who is in the country illegally, calling the plan impractical.

"People who say that have no idea what that would entail" legally and otherwise, Carson said, adding: "Where you going to send them?"

The retired neurosurgeon spoke before The Commonwealth Club of California on Tuesday in a 75-minute event in which he took questions from the audience on topics ranging from abortion to immigration, taxation to race relations.

Carson's longshot candidacy is buoyed by humor and a self-deprecating demeanor that some would-be voters say they find refreshing. Trump, the brash front-runner in the GOP nomination fight, has made immigration a centerpiece of his candidacy. Trump says he would deport those living in the country illegally — estimated at 11 million people.

Carson said he would secure the border, but also grant guest-worker status to people who are in the country without documentation. That way, they can pay taxes and come out from the shadows, he said.
Mass deportation, he said, would be expensive and impractical, and crippling to the hotel and agriculture industries.

San Francisco venture capitalist Scott Russell, an unaffiliated voter, called Carson charismatic, yet positive.

"He wasn't trying to attack other candidates or trying to say negative things," Russell said. "I like people who describe their policies, but don't spend their minutes trying to attack others."

Carson is scheduled to attend a rally in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday.

White House considering ‘resettlement,’ other options for refugee crisis

The White House has to be Kidding us, right? We can't control our own borders as it is!

The Obama administration is "actively considering" options for addressing the global refugee crisis, including the possibility of "refugee resettlement," the White House said Tuesday. 
Without going into specifics, White House officials said the State Department is leading a "reconsideration" of how best to deal with the flood of refugees into Europe and elsewhere.
"There is no denying that the situation that many of our European partners are confronting right now is a significant one," Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. National Security Council spokesman Peter Boogaard also said the administration is in "regular contact" with countries in the Middle East and Europe grappling with the influx of more than 340,000 people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
"The Administration is actively considering a range of approaches to be more responsive to the global refugee crisis, including with regard to refugee resettlement," he said in a statement.
The comments come as the U.S. government faces rising international pressure to accept more refugees, many of whom are fleeing the civil war in Syria and areas in Iraq under the control of Islamic State militants.
Countries like Jordan and Turkey have absorbed the bulk of the refugees, and European countries are now facing a huge influx. The U.S. so far has accepted a limited number of Syria refugees -- a State Department spokesman last week said they likely would admit up to 1,800 refugees for permanent resettlement by the end of the fiscal year.
Without issuing any new estimates for refugee resettlement, White House officials on Tuesday stressed that the U.S. has provided over $4 billion in humanitarian assistance since the Syrian crisis began, and over $1 billion in assistance this year.
Any consideration of allowing more refugees into the United States, though, will be accompanied by concerns in Washington about security.
Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement Tuesday that "it doesn't make sense from a logistical or a security standpoint to move large numbers of them to far-off countries like the United States."
"Ultimately, we need to address the cause of this crisis or we will just have more and more migrants displaced," he said.
Earnest acknowledged Tuesday that safety and security would be taken into account in any resettlement effort.
The U.S. has sometimes expedited resettlement, as it did in 1975, when it helped tens of thousands of refugees from South Vietnam and other nearby areas settle in the United States after the fall of Saigon.
But for fiscal year 2015, which began Oct. 1, the U.S. government authorized 70,000 refugees to be resettled in the United States. The cap is set by the White House, which works with Congress and takes into account funding and the potential social and economic impact of refugees in the country.

Report: Patriots' Spygate scandal was bigger in scope than first realized

An ESPN story claims Bill Belichick and the Patriots videotaped opposing coaches signals as far back as 2000.  …

As it turns out, Spygate had a larger scope than we realized.

ESPN had a huge story on Tuesday, saying when the league investigated the New England Patriots in 2007 they were found to have "a library of scouting material containing videotapes of opponents' signals, with detailed notes matching signals to plays for many teams going back seven seasons." There were 40 games worth of tapes, ESPN said.
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The tapes and notes were found, and then destroyed on commissioner Roger Goodell's orders: league executives "stomped the tapes into pieces and shredded the papers inside a Gillette Stadium conference room," the ESPN story said.
And this all leads us back to deflate-gate, and Goodell's overreaction to it.
The story said owners were upset with how Goodell handled Spygate. It's no secret to anyone anymore that Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been one of Goodell's biggest allies. In an emergency session at the league's spring meetings in 2008, Goodell told the owners that cheaters would be dealt with forcefully, ESPN wrote. One owner told ESPN that deflate-gate was "a makeup call" for the spying scandal.
Goodell, on ESPN Radio less than an hour after the Spygate story was published, said he hadn't seen the story but Spygate had nothing to do with the current scandal.
"I’m not aware of any connection between the Spygate procedures and the procedures we went through here," Goodell told ESPN Radio. "We obviously learn any time we go through a process, try to improve it and get better at it, but there’s no connection in my mind to the two instances."
The ESPN story goes into detail about how the Patriots allegedly used the taped information, highlighting a 2000 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the preseason, the Patriots allegedly taped the Buccaneers' defensive signals. New England played Tampa Bay in the season opener. Backup quarterback John Friesz was told to memorize the signals in the preseason film, watch the Bucs' signals from the sideline during the regular-season game, relay the defensive play to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis who would relay them to then-starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, ESPN reported. Although the Patriots lost that game, ESPN said the Patriots knew 75 percent of the Buccaneers' defenses that day and the Pats "realized that they were on to something." A former Patriots assistant, who wasn't named, told ESPN the system of videotaping signals and cataloging signals "got out of control."
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Maybe the most shocking tale comes deep in the story, after all the descriptions of the Patriots' spying, when former New England coaches and employees are cited as describing an even more effective cheating system:

"Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team's offense."

Maybe you thought deflate-gate was dying down. Nobody figured on Spygate getting more fuel, eight years after the fact.
UPDATE — The Patriots responded to the ESPN story. Here's the team's statement, via CSNNE:
“The New England Patriots have never filmed or recorded another team’s practice or walkthrough. The first time we ever heard of such an accusation came in 2008, the day before Super Bowl XLII, when the Boston Herald reported an allegation from a disgruntled former employee. That report created a media firestorm that extended globally and was discussed incessantly for months. It took four months before that newspaper retracted its story and offered the team a front and back page apology for the damage done. Clearly, the damage has been irreparable. As recently as last month, over seven years after the retraction and apology was issued, ESPN issued the following apology to the Patriots for continuing to perpetuate the myth: ‘On two occasions in recent weeks, SportsCenter incorrectly cited a 2002 report regarding the New England Patriots and Super Bowl XXXVI. That story was found to be false, and should not have been part of our reporting. We apologize to the Patriots organization.’
“This type of reporting over the past seven years has led to additional unfounded, unwarranted and, quite frankly, unbelievable allegations by former players, coaches and executives. None of which have ever been substantiated, but many of which continue to be propagated. The New England Patriots are led by an owner whose well-documented efforts on league-wide initiatives – from TV contracts to preventing a work stoppage – have earned him the reputation as one of the best in the NFL. For the past 16 years, the Patriots have been led by one of the league’s all-time greatest coaches and one of its all-time greatest quarterbacks. It is disappointing that some choose to believe in myths, conjecture and rumors rather than giving credit for the team’s successes to Coach Belichick, his staff and the players for their hard work, attention to detail, methodical weekly preparation, diligence and overall performance.”

Spending Cartoon

Congress returns to tight deadlines, key votes on Iran deal, Planned Parenthood

Congress returns Tuesday to face several key decisions and short-term deadlines -- including votes on the Iran nuclear deal and a spending bill that if connected to efforts to defund Planned Parenthood creates the potential for another government shutdown.
The House and Senate could vote as early as this week on the Iran deal.
Both GOP-controlled chambers are expected to pass motions of disapproval for the deal. But President Obama is expected to veto the motions and ultimately complete his historic foreign policy deal because neither chamber has the two-thirds majority to override the presidential veto.
Republicans argue the deal, in which Iran will curtail its nuclear development program in exchange for the easing of billions of dollars worth of economic sanctions, gives too many concessions to the rogue nation.
GOP leaders are playing down talk of a government shutdown that's being driven by conservative lawmakers determined to use the spending legislation to strip funds from Planned Parenthood.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in fact, suggested last week that such an effort is pointless because Obama would reject any such bill.
“The way you make a law in this country (is) the Congress has to pass it, and the president has to sign it,” McConnell told WYMT-TV, in his home state.
“The president's made it very clear he's not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood -- so that's another issue that awaits a new president hopefully with a different point of view.”
The president must sign a stopgap spending bill by Sept. 30 to keep the federal government fully operational.
Still, Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate and one of Congress’ most conservative members, appears to be going ahead with a defunding effort, asking McConnell not to schedule a vote on the issue.
Republicans were blamed for the Cruz-led partial shutdown in 2013 over ObamaCare, but neither party wants to risk being blamed for another one in a presidential election year.
Planned Parenthood is under intense scrutiny after secretly recorded videos raised uncomfortable questions about its practices in procuring research tissue from aborted fetuses.
The first days for Congress, after a roughly eight-week summer break, also are expected to include efforts to increase the government's borrowing authority and avoid a first-ever federal default.
Members also will try to reach a deal on a long-sought highway bill, consider extending roughly 50 tax breaks, pass a defense policy bill that Obama has threatened to veto and renew the Federal Aviation Administration's authority to spend money.
House GOP leaders are expected to try to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding without creating the possibility of a shutdown, as Pope Francis plans to speak on Capitol Hill on Sept. 24.
They have been considering separate legislation this month cutting Planned Parenthood's funds, a GOP aide and a lobbyist said.
The leaders hope such a bill, which would advance free of a filibuster threat by Senate Democrats, would satisfy Planned Parenthood's opponents and free up the temporary government funding bill.
Obama would almost certain veto that bill, too. But it would allow Republicans to vote for the changes and make a case for electing a GOP president to institute them.
Facing demands for negotiations to lift domestic agency budgets hit by the return of automatic spending cuts, known as sequester, McConnell has signaled that he is open to talks on a deal that would pair increases for domestic programs with budget relief for the Pentagon.
To get to an agreement, however, Republicans must strike a deal with Obama and his Democratic allies over companion spending cuts elsewhere in the budget to defray the cost of new spending for the Pentagon and domestic programs.
There's a limited pool of such offsets, at least those with an acceptable level of political pain, and considerable competition over what to spend them on.
For instance, McConnell helped assemble a 10-year, $47 billion offsets package to pay for a Senate bill with small increases for highway and transit programs. Democrats are eyeing the same set of cuts to pay for boosting domestic agencies.
No one is underestimating the difficulty in reaching an agreement.
Speculation is growing that Republicans will try to advance a bill that would keep most federal agencies operating at current budget levels, with only a few changes for the most pressing programs. The White House has pledged to block that idea.
One potential glimmer of hope for the talks is that earlier this year Republicans reversed a position they held in talks two years ago and declared that additional defense spending doesn't require companion spending cuts.
Congress also needs to raise the government's $18.1 trillion borrowing cap by mid-November or early December, an uncomfortable prospect for GOP leaders already facing potshots from Tea Party purists and Republican presidential candidates as next year's nomination contests loom.

Hundreds of police officers attend funeral for slain Illinois lieutenant

ANTIOCH, Ill. –  Several hundred police officers from around the country attended a funeral Monday for a suburban Chicago lieutenant shot and killed last week, and residents of the area turned out by the thousands to watch the hearse go by.
Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, who was 52 and on the cusp of retirement after more than 30 years with the Fox Lake Police Department, was shot and killed shortly after he radioed in that he was chasing three suspicious men on foot.
His more than mile-long funeral procession wound through small-town Fox Lake and lakeside forests that were the focus of a manhunt for the still at-large suspects. Fox Lake is a close-knit village of around 10,000 people and located about 50 miles north of Chicago.
Many of those looking on from the roadside applauded as the procession went by. Blue ribbons — a mark of respect for police — were tied to trees along the way. Pictures of the officer were placed along the route. And one person held a up a sign that read, "You will never be forgotten."
Gliniewicz's wife, Mel, wore a police badge on a necklace at funeral services earlier at a high school auditorium in Antioch, her husband's hometown not far from Fox Lake. Mourners walked by his flag-draped coffin, many hugging his wife and their four sons.
Fox Lake's recently retired police chief recalled Gliniewicz's fondness for the phrase "embrace the suck," about dealing with difficult tasks. "Now we're doing it today," Michael Behan told the packed auditorium about Gliniewicz's funeral.
While most people run from danger, Gliniewicz ran toward it, Joliet Police Officer Rachel Smithberg said.
"Every day he put on his uniform and said, 'Send me,'" she said, a few feet away from Gliniewicz's open casket.
Gliniewicz, who also served in the U.S. Army, told dispatchers last Tuesday that three men ran into a swampy area and requested a second unit. He died from a gunshot wound shortly after backup officers found him about 50 yards from his squad car.
Attendees at the service included Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, both of whom also hugged Gliniewicz's wife and kids.
On a stage next to the coffin was a policeman's uniform and medals pinned to it. Part of the display included a statue of a soldier, standing at attention and clutching a rifle.
Bagpipers performed as pallbearers placed the casket in the hearse at the start of the 18-mile procession to Fox Lake and then back to Antioch, where Gliniewicz was to be buried later Monday at Antioch's Hillside East Cemetery.

Military selects rarely used charge for Bergdahl case

Military prosecutors have reached into a section of military law seldom used since World War II in the politically fraught case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan.
Observers wondered for months if Bergdahl would be charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the U.S. to bring him home. He was — but he was also charged with misbehavior before the enemy, a much rarer offense that carries a stiffer potential penalty in this case.
"I've never seen it charged," Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army's top lawyer, said of the misbehavior charge. "It's not something you find in common everyday practice in the military."

"I've never seen it charged."
- Walter Huffman, a retired major general

Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he "left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations."
Huffman and others say the misbehavior charge allows authorities to allege that Bergdahl not only left his unit with one less soldier, but that his deliberate action put soldiers who searched for him in harm's way. The Pentagon has said there is no evidence anyone died searching for Bergdahl.
"You're able to say that what he did had a particular impact or put particular people at risk. It is less generic than just quitting," said Lawrence Morris, a retired Army colonel who served as the branch's top prosecutor and top public defender.
The Obama administration has been criticized both for agreeing to release five Taliban operatives from the Guantanamo Bay prison and for heralding Bergdahl's return to the U.S. with an announcement in the White House Rose Garden. The administration stood by the way it secured his release even after the charges were announced.
The military has scheduled an initial court appearance known as an Article 32 hearing for Bergdahl on Sept. 17 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The proceeding is similar to a civilian grand jury, and afterward the case could be referred to a court-martial and go to trial.
Misbehavior before the enemy was used hundreds of times during World War II, but scholars say its use appears to have dwindled in conflicts since then. Misbehavior before the enemy cases were tried at least 494 times for soldiers in Europe between 1942 and 1945, according to a Military Law Review article.
Legal databases and media accounts turn up only a few misbehavior cases since 2001 when fighting began in Afghanistan, followed by Iraq less than two years later. By contrast, statistics show the U.S. Army prosecuted about 1,900 desertion cases between 2001 and the end of 2014.
The misbehavior charge is included in Article 99 of the military justice code, which is best known for its use to prosecute cases of cowardice. However, Article 99 encompasses nine different offenses including several not necessarily motivated by cowardice, such as causing a false alarm or endangering one's unit — the charge Bergdahl faces.
The complexity of Article 99 may be one reason it's not frequently used, said Morris, who published a book on the military justice system.
"It is of course more complicated than the desertion charge, not as well understood, a higher burden on the government to prove," he said.
Huffman, now a law professor at Texas Tech University, said another reason may be that different parts of military law already deal with similar misconduct, including disobeying orders and avoiding duty.
Recent prosecutions under the misbehavior charge include a Marine lance corporal who pleaded guilty after refusing to provide security for a convoy leaving base in Iraq in 2004. A soldier in Iraq was charged with cowardice in 2003 under Article 99 after he saw a mangled body and sought counseling, but the charges were later dropped.
The specification that Bergdahl faces appears in the 1971 case of an Army captain accused of endangering a base in Vietnam by disobeying an order to establish an ambush position. The captain was found guilty of other charges including dereliction of duty.
Another case cited in a 1955 military law journal says an Army corporal was convicted under Article 99 of endangering his unit in Korea by getting drunk on duty. The article says he "became so drunk that it took the tank company commander thirty minutes to arouse him."
For Bergdahl, the Article 99 offense allows the prosecutors to seek a stiffer penalty than the desertion charge, which in this case carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Bergdahl's attorney, Eugene Fidell, has argued his client is being charged twice for the same action, saying in a previous television interview that "it's unfortunate that someone got creative in drafting the charge sheet and figured out two ways to charge the same thing."
The scholars say that's a valid issue for Fidell to bring up in court, but it may not sway military authorities.
"The question is: Is it a piling on?" said Jeffrey K. Walker, a St. John's University law professor, retired Air Force officer and former military lawyer. "It does almost look like you're trying to get two bites at the same apple."