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READ THE MEMO: House Intelligence Committee report on FISA abuses

http://static.foxnews.com/pdf/370598711-House-Intelligence-Committee-Report-On-FISA-Abuses.pdf

Pentagon announces plan to expand nuclear arsenal in face of Russian threat

The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Pennsylvania returns to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington State, Dec. 27, 2017. It is one of eight ballistic-missile subs stationed at the base.  (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda R. Gray)

The Pentagon plans to develop two "low-yield" nuclear warheads to be launched from ballistic-missile submarines and warships, to send a message to Moscow -- which the Trump administration accuses of amassing a stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons. 

The new plan is outlined in Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's Nuclear Posture Review, released Friday afternoon.

"Expanding U.S. tailored response options will raise the nuclear threshold and help ensure that potential adversaries perceive no possible advantage in limited nuclear escalation, making nuclear weapons employment less likely," the new review said.
The Pentagon says Russia’s buildup of similar "low-yield" nukes is the reason it must match the threat.
“The United States would only consider the use of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan.  “Extreme circumstances could include significant non-nuclear strategic attacks,” he added without offering specifics. 
Russian and Chinese officials were briefed by State Department officials Friday morning about the nuclear posture review.
It's the first such review in seven years, but much has changed since 2010, when the U.S. unilaterally reduced portions of its nuclear arsenal. 
“Over the past decade, while the United States led the world in these reductions every one of our potential nuclear adversaries has been pursuing the exact opposite strategy,” said Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.  “These powers are increasing the numbers and types of nuclear weapons in their arsenal.”
After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, it deployed nuclear-capable intermediate range missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the border with Poland, leaving NATO leaders feeling helpless.
"Russia's nuclear saber-rattling is unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in 2015.  Any deployment of nuclear forces to Crimea would “fundamentally change the balance of security in Europe,” he added.
Russia is bound by a decades-long arms treaty, known as the INF, from deploying ground-launched intermediate-range missiles.  The Pentagon has accused Russia of violating the treaty, noting that Russia is also developing nuclear depth charges, torpedoes and anti-aircraft missiles among its 2,000 tactical nukes.
“Russia is also developing at least two new intercontinental range systems, a hypersonic glide vehicle, and a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo,” according to the review.
The United States has possessed hundreds of tactical “low-yield” nuclear warheads for decades, but they can only be delivered from planes, including B61 gravity bombs, but are vulnerable because the jets must fly over the target to use them making them susceptible to anti-aircraft missiles and guns.
Currently, only the B-2 stealth bomber can penetrate sophisticated air defenses.
The Trump administration wants to build off the previous administration’s concern that the nuclear force needs to be modernized. It has mapped out plans for the U.S. to spend more than $1.2 trillion over the next 30 years.
In 1982, B-52 bombers were equipped with air-launched cruise missiles, but those weapons are now “more than 25 years past its design life,” according to the review. The newest B-52 is also more than 50 years old, one of the reasons the Pentagon wants a replacement bomber as well replacement for the aging air-launched cruise missile.
The Air Force has 46 nuclear capable B-52H and 20 nuclear-capable B-2A stealth bombers.
Its bomber fleet is not the only aging portion of America’s "nuclear triad."
The 400 Minuteman-III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) currently deployed across three Air Force bases in the Midwest were first deployed in 1970 with a planned 10-year service life.  They are now expected to last until 2030.
The Navy has 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines capable of carrying 24 Trident D-5 intercontinental ballistic missiles, but are roughly 30 years old.
The new posture review calls for each of these submarines to carry a small number of “low-yield” nuclear  warheads, modified from more powerful ones currently inside the Trident missile.
The new missiles could be deployed in the next few years, officials say.
The Pentagon is worried Russia thinks it can use its smaller nukes against NATO in a limited war without a U.S. response.
“Effective U.S. deterrence of Russian nuclear attack … now requires ensuring that the Russian leadership does not miscalculate regarding the consequences of limited nuclear first use,” the review states.
The last nuclear posture review came out just months after President Obama set as a policy goal a world without nuclear weapons in a 2009 speech in Prague.
“Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous legacies of the Cold War," Obama said in the Czech Republic capital. "The U.S. will take concrete steps ... [to] begin the work of reducing our arsenals and stockpiles."
Obama got rid of nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missiles in 2011.
The Pentagon now wants to bring some of those weapons back.
“Every U.S. administration over the past six decades has called for a flexible and limited U.S. nuclear response options,” said the review.  “Potential adversaries do not stand still. On the contrary, they seek to identify and exploit weaknesses in U.S. capabilities and strategy.”  The U.S. nuclear arsenal cannot remain “fixed.”
Mattis spoke to reporters Friday morning, hours before the release of the Nuclear Posture Review.
"What we're trying to do is ensure that our diplomats and our negotiators are in a position to be listened to when we say we want to go forward on nonproliferation and arms control. At the same time, you do so by having an effective, safe deterrent,” said Mattis.
While not mentioning cyberattack directly, the Pentagon makes clear in this document that the U.S. reserves the right to use nuclear weapons to respond to any attack on infrastructure or population centers, even if that attack uses a conventional weapon.
It also addresses the nuclear threat from China, Iran and North Korea, in addition to Russia.
Any nuclear attack by Kim Jong Un would “result in the end of that regime,” the report says.
Greg Weaver, deputy director of strategic capabilities on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff said “there’s evidence the Russians think that their coercive nuclear use strategy has some prospect of success. We want to make sure that we disabuse them of that idea.”
The two new “low-yield” nuclear weapons are designed to do just that, Weaver said.
A sea-launched nuclear cruise missile could be fired from a warship or a submarine, but is still seven to 10 years from being fielded, said Dr. Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear policy, in a briefing with reporters ahead of the review’s release.
If Russia returns to compliance with its arms control obligation and reduces its tactical nukes, the U.S. “may reconsider the pursuit” of the sea-launched cruise missile, according to the report.
The Pentagon is hoping history will repeat itself. After the U.S. deployed intermediate-range missiles to Europe, the Soviet Union signed the 1987 INF treaty with the United States.  President Reagan’s secretary of state, George P. Shultz, said if not for the deployment of the American missiles, “there would be no incentive for the Soviets to negotiate seriously for nuclear weapons reductions.” 
Asked how the Russians were likely to respond to the Pentagon calling for “low-yield” nukes, Soofer replied, “I am sure they won’t respond well.”

Tillerson: Latin American Countries Should Not Rely on Chinese Investments

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attends the US Qatar Strategic Dialogue ‎at the State Department, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, in Washington.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is warning Latin American countries against Chinese investments, comparing it to European colonialism.
He said China only seeks to enrich itself, and governments in the region should protect themselves against predatory actors.
The Secretary of State warned Latin American countries that Chinese investments often look good, but ultimately come at a heavy price.
“We do not seek short-term deals with lopsided returns, we seek partners with shared values and visions to create a safe, secure and prosperous hemisphere,” said Tillerson. “The U.S. approach is based on mutually beneficial goals to help both sides grow, develop and become more prosperous and do so by respecting international law.”
Tillerson also criticized Russia for selling weapons to authoritarian governments in Latin America.
He said Russia is undermining Democratic governments through arms sales, which is something Latin America must guard against in order to restore shared values in the region.

Trump's SOTU speech gets strong public support, journalists still hate him, and other outrageous media fiascos

President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was met with strong public support. Seventy-five percent of Americans approved – including 43 percent of Democrats, according to a CBS News poll conducted right after the speech Tuesday. The news media have spent nearly every second since telling those same voters why they were wrong. It was a “Groundhog Day” moment with journalists playing the Bill Murray role doing the same thing they’ve done every day of this administration – criticizing President Trump.

Both CNN and MSNBC cited white nationalist nutball David Duke as supporting President Trump’s immigration views. NBC’s Capitol Hill Correspondent Kasie Hunt said Duke liked the president’s “Americans are dreamers too” comment. And CNN Political Analyst Kirsten Powers enjoyed mentioning that “white nationalists, David Duke praised him for saying this.”

NBC’s “Today” Co-Host Savannah Guthrie falsely claimed Trump is “under criminal investigation right now for obstruction of justice.” And ABC News’ Chief Political Analyst Matthew Dowd was Bill Murray-esque, once again claiming, “I think we are as divided now as we were” in the 1860s.
Perhaps Dowd can point on a map the locations of widespread red and blue armies, sieges or 750,000 deaths like we had in the Civil War.
MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow pretended President Trump “wants a war with North Korea.” And her fellow Host Joy Reid went further off the deep end, depicting traditional American values in the worst way. “Church ... family ... police ... military ... the national anthem ... Trump trying to call on all the tropes of 1950s-era nationalism.” If that’s the party line on the left, President Trump can count on being in the White House another seven years.
The coverage got so bad that CBS downplayed its own polling, reporting just once that 43 percent of Democrats liked the speech and skipping it the next day. That was better than CNN, where Political Director David Chalian tried to discredit his own poll by claiming the people who watch the speech are “fans of the person giving it.”
2. A Disaster for the Media: Even a deadly train crash brought out the worst in some prominent media figures. The train carrying Republican Senate and House members to a retreat slammed into a garbage truck, killing a passenger in the truck. Some in the media couldn’t resist making wildly inappropriate jokes.
Author Stephen King tweeted: “A trainload of Republicans on their way to a pricey retreat hit a garbage truck. My friend Russ calls that karma.” He added he was “sorry” one person died and later apologized for his hateful comment.
The Daily Caller’s Amber Athey compiled a nice list of the embarrassing statements. The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein asked: “Did they stage this metaphor?” He later erased the “insensitive” tweet. CNN commentator Keith Boykin referred to the accident as a “metaphor for American politics.”
CNN regular guest Jonathan Tasini, who the network calls a “Democratic strategist,” was thrilled by the accident and Rep. Trey Gowdy’s announced retirement. “Wow, btwn train full of Goopers hitting truck and this, God is working hard today to clean up the stink. Thank her. #TreyGowdy,” he tweeted. Tasini was mentioned by CNN 30 times in the past year, according to Nexis.
3. Media Struggle With #MeToo: “Morning Joe” long ago turned on Trump and has used almost any attack it could to discredit the president or his administration. Even that has limits.
Gossip troll/”Fire and Fury” author Michael Wolff took his act to the program on Thursday and got a rude awakening. That outlet wouldn’t tolerate him implying the U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is having an affair with Trump. Wolff tried to dance around it, despite having said Haley “seems to have embraced” the rumor that he started, according to The Washington Examiner.
MSNBC Host Mika Brzezinski didn’t let Wolff pretend he wasn’t tied to the rumor. When he hemmed and hawed, she stopped the segment and kicked him off air. “I'm sorry, this is awkward, you're here on the set with us, but we're done. Michael Wolff, thank you,” she concluded.
Wolff went off on her and her co-host on Twitter later, saying Trump was right in his many criticisms of Mika. He then added, “It really would be hard to gossip more eagerly off camera than Mika and Joe gossip.”
Brzezinski wasn’t Haley’s only defender in the press. New York Times editor and writer Bari Weiss called out the media for “slut-shaming” and added that when Haley was “smeared with the most base, sexist lie, it’s met with little more than a collective shrug.”
Haley needed the help after the Grammys credentialed Wolff’s book with a celebrity reading that included has-been politico Hillary Clinton. Matthew Dowd, who pretends to be “independent,” slammed Haley for calling the book reading “trash.” He then called on her to “have some integrity,” apparently lacking any understanding of the word’s meaning.
MSNBC Host Stephanie Ruhle attacked Haley for daring to criticize the Grammys when the award show staged the reading of Wolff’s much-questioned book. It was as if Ruhle ignored the left-wing rumors of the affair and acted shocked that Haley would object.
That wasn’t the only disastrous sex harassment problem the media were coping with. Former Boston Globe staffer Hilary Sargent skewered the paper for being unwilling to talk to ex-employees about its problems. She tweeted out a series of criticisms including this perfect one: “If you don't treat your colleagues who allege harassment and assault with the same respect as you treated the victims of abuse by the Catholic Church, then Spotlight was just a blip. It should be who you all are, through and through.”
“Spotlight” won three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor, for attacking the Catholic Church for how it handled a sex scandal. Apparently, Globe management never watched it.
4. ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Portrayed a Conservative Pundit Getting Raped: Forget the hate that the left reserves for the right during award shows. They really abuse conservatives the rest of the time. This week, in an episode naturally titled “Info Wars,” the far-left crime drama made a conservative woman the victim of a horrible rape.
Imagine the media outcry if they misrepresented liberal beliefs and then depicted a prominent liberal being sexually assaulted. It’s a reminder of just how despicable Hollywood has become.

Rude Democrat Cartoons

Surveillance memo could be declassified Friday; Trump warns Dems on DACA

The FBI said Wednesday that the bureau has “grave concerns” about the classified memo that purportedly reveals government surveillance abuses, but White House Chief of Staff John Kelly says it is going public, anyway.

“With regard to the House Intelligence Committee’s memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it,” the FBI said in a statement. “As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

But earlier Tuesday, Kelly told Fox News in an exclusive interview the classified memo will be made public soon. Kelly said White House national security aides have been reviewing the memo.
“It'll be released here pretty quick I think and the whole world can see it,” he said.
The bureau’s claim that the memo involves “omissions of fact” came a day after a source told Fox News that two senior FBI officials reviewed the memo and “could not point to any factual inaccuracies” in the memo itself.

FBI Director Christopher Wray viewed the memo on Sunday  (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

FBI OFFICIALS REVIEW SURVEILLANCE MEMO, COULD NOT CITE 'ANY FACTUAL INACCURACIES'
The two officials – one from the bureau’s counterintelligence division and the other from the legal division – followed up after an initial review of the memo during a rare Sunday trip to Capitol Hill by FBI Director Christopher Wray.
One senior U.S. official told Fox News, though, that Wray "expressed concern about the accuracy of the memo" and told others in the meeting the memo "gives an inaccurate impression of the bureau's work on this matter."
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes reacted to the bureau’s written statement by saying: “Having stonewalled Congress’ demands for information for nearly a year, it’s no surprise to see the FBI and DOJ issue spurious objections to allowing the American people to see information related to surveillance abuses at these agencies.”

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly says the memo will be released

“The FBI is intimately familiar with ‘material omissions’ with respect to their presentations to both Congress and the courts, and they are welcome to make public, to the greatest extent possible, all the information they have on these abuses,” the California Republican said. “Regardless, it’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counter-intelligence investigation during an American political campaign.”
“Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again,” he added.
On Tuesday night, President Trump was overheard telling a GOP lawmaker at the State of the Union that he’s “100 percent” behind releasing the memo.
The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to release it, but Trump is able to object to the release. Lawmakers have said the memo details abuses involving FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. A source close to the matter said the memo details the Intelligence Committee’s oversight work for the FBI and Justice Department, including the controversy over unmasking and FISA surveillance.
TRUMP OVERHEARD SAYING HE IS ‘100 PERCENT’ BEHIND RELEASING SURVEILLANCE MEMO
“The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the bureau said in its statement. “We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.”

Fidel Castro's oldest son commits suicide, Cuban state media report

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, left, the oldest son of dictator Fidel Castro, killed himself, according to Cuban state media.  (AP, File)

The oldest son of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro committed suicide at the age of 68, Cuban state media announced on Thursday.

Fidel “Fidelito” Castro Diaz-Balart is the oldest son of Castro and his first wife, Mirta Diaz Balart.

BREAKING: Cuban state media say Fidel Castro's eldest son has killed himself.

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 2, 2018

Diaz-Balart was said to have killed himself Thursday morning after receiving months of treatment for a "deeply depressed state," according to official website Cubadebate. He reportedly "required a hospitalization regime then outpatient follow-up" as part of his treatment.
Fidel Castro died in November 2016 at age 90. His brother, Raul, took over as Cuba's leader in 2008.
Before his death, Diaz-Balart was a scientific adviser to the Council of State and was the vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
Of all Castro's offspring, only Diaz-Balart, the angel-faced, blond boy from revolution-era photographs, was publically recognized. He bore a striking resemblance to his father, which earned him the nickname Fidelito, or Little Fidel.
Diaz-Balart was born in 1949 and brought to the United States in the 1950s after his parents divorced. His mother's family had ties to the Batista government, which Castro would eventually overthrow. As a result, the former Cuban leader wanted his son kept from his ex-wife's family, leading to an ongoing custody battle over the boy.
"I refuse even to think that my son may sleep a single night under the same roof sheltering my most repulsive enemies and receive on his innocent cheeks the kisses of those miserable Judases," Castro wrote to his half-sister Lidia in 1956.
While Castro was in Mexico preparing for the guerrilla war, he convinced his ex-wife to send Fidelito to visit him for two weeks. Once the boy was there however, Castro refused to send him back. Later, while the boy was out for a walk with Castro's sisters, three armed men in a car grabbed Diaz-Balart so he could be reunited with his mother.
As an adult Diaz-Balart rose to the top post at Cuba's Atomic Energy Commission before his father removed him for unpublicized reasons in the early 1990s.