Ex-CIA director John Brennan should face grand jury over Russia probe handling: Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani, a personal attorney for President Trump, on Monday slammed former CIA Director John Brennan and said he should face a grand jury for his role in peddling the salacious Trump dossier that kicked off the “phony” Russia investigation.
Giuliani, who spoke exclusively with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, called Brennan the "quarterback" who took the unverified dossier from ex-British spy Christopher Steele and passed it along to then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
“Unless he’s the biggest idiot intelligence agent that ever existed—although he never really did much intelligence work—it’s false. You could look at it [the dossier] and laugh at it,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani told Fox News that special prosecutor Robert Mueller is a “puppet.”
The precise origins of the Russia probe remain unclear. Officials have previously pointed to comments Trump adviser George Papadopoulos allegedly made about Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton as touching off the investigation in July 2016.
Brennan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in February that the dossier played no role in the intelligence community’s assessment that was presented to both President Obama and Trump. Brennan said there were items in the dossier that raised his suspicions on whether it was accurate.
“I do think it was up to the FBI to see whether or not they could verify any of it,” he said.
Brennan served as the director under President Obama and has been a vocal Trump critic. He recently theorized that Russians may have dirt on Trump during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” He later clarified that he does not have any information to back the theory.
The New York Times reported on a tweet Brennan sent out after Trump’s firing of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy of the FBI.
“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Brennan wrote.
Kimberly Strassel, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, called Brennan a “ringmaster” in shaping the Russian interference narrative.
“The CIA director couldn’t himself go public with his Clinton spin—he lacked the support of the intelligence community and had to be careful not to be seen interfering in U.S. politics. So what to do? He called Harry Reid,” she wrote.

Mayor de Blasio Cartoons

While everyone obsesses over Russia, China is stealing our data blind

With all the focus on Russian hacking, Russian ambition, and Russian threats to U.S. national economic security, another Red Threat continues seemingly unabated:  China’s ongoing effort to compete as a global economic power equal to, if not exceeding, the United States. China has the population and the economic ability to compete, and has made its ambitions crystal clear with its Made in China 2025 plans.
Part of the strategy is being played out now in the battle over tariffs and trade policy, but far more important to the U.S. innovation economy is the ongoing battle over forced technology transfers and Chinese efforts to steal U.S. intellectual property and control as much data online as possible.
Over the past decade, Chinese hackers have launched cyber-attacks, stealing data from the U.S. Congress, the U.S Department of Defense, and the federal Office of Personnel Management, one of the largest data breaches and thefts of American worker identities in history. The Chinese have run sustained cyber operations against our oil industry, critical infrastructure and utility industries, and the entertainment industry.  With trade tensions running higher, China’s interest in hacking U.S. private businesses for data, trade secrets and intellectual property has only increased.
As noted by Wired magazine, Chinese government-backed hackers are also interested in so-called “command and control” opportunities in the U.S., everything from satellites and main frame computers to in-home laptops and security cameras.  Yes, the Chinese are even interested in that nanny cam you may have in your nursery.
For some hackers, dealing with personal, in-home technology is a game to show what they can accomplish. But for other hackers, it’s an effort to find new ways to access personal information and find security holes that might allow them to launch far greater cyber-attacks from home networks.

If consumers start demanding up-front, full disclosure from retailers prior to purchase, they’d likely find consumers drawn to the devices that use the American based platforms, even if those devices cost a dollar or two more.

American consumers, while alarmed by such data breaches as the Yahoo email hack in which almost 3 billion consumers had personally identifiable information stolen, or the various retail chain hacks such as Target and Neiman Marcus, still tend to be lax about the security measures they use and fewer than 15 percent utilize security measures like password keepers to secure access to their important web sites and data like bank and investment accounts, health care information and access to their cloud storage, where they upload everything from legal documents, financial information and tax returns, to family photos, music and movies.
The cloud and the access the cloud can enable to home networks is increasingly where consumers should be concerned. Most probably aren’t asking where the data from their smart devices is going, or who has access to that data. Nor are they asking what the rules and regulations governing 3rd party access to that data are and where is it actually stored.
But they should be.
Most consumers are completely unaware that the smart devices, on which they’ve come to rely for everyday home convenience, transmit data back to a platform that is then stored on “the cloud.” When you go to Walmart or Target and buy a camera-enabled smart TV or a baby cam monitor, you don’t consider that the digital video feed might be transmitted to and stored in a cloud outside the United States and viewed by a hostile, foreign government like the Chinese.
But that is exactly what is happening.
Those smart, internet of things (IoT) devices, which numbered just over 8 billion in 2017, require platforms to “plug into” and a significant amount of those devices have agreements with platforms controlled by Chinese nationals with obvious ties to the Chinese government.  That’s right, not kidding: the communist Chinese government may have access to your home via those smart devices. 
This entire trend of the internet of things and smart devices is only going to accelerate: there are estimates that by 2020 there will be over 20 billion IoT devices, all plugged in to some platform somewhere. What retailers are not telling you is that those technological wonders likely rely on platforms and cloud storage controlled by Chinese nationals – sure it’s in the fine print on page 36 of the disclosures, but when was the last time you actually read all of the fine print?  But if you did, would you still buy those phones and cameras that plug into certain platforms? 
If consumers start demanding up-front, full disclosure from retailers prior to purchase, they’d likely find consumers drawn to the devices that use the American based platforms, even if those devices cost a dollar or two more. We can be assured that the Chinese are going to wage this cyber war.  That doesn’t mean American consumers have to help them win.
Ned Ryun is the Founder and CEO of American Majority, a national grassroots organization. Learn more at AmericanMajority.org.

De Blasio lets security haul away Post reporter for asking question

Aug 11: New York's Mayor Bill deBlasio addresses the media.  (NYC Mayor's Twitter)

Mayor de Blasio is a such a big believer in the free press that he let two bodyguards physically remove a credentialed Post reporter who had the temerity to ask him a question in public on Sunday.
The unusual muzzling unfolded at the start of the annual Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan, where the reporter sought de Blasio’s reaction to The Post’s front page story about his administration’s many meetings with lobbyists.
It also came after Hizzoner appeared on national TV Sunday to proclaim, “I believe in a free, strong media with diverse views — I’ll defend it with all I’ve got.”
Just two hours later, after de Blasio cut a ribbon to kick off the parade and was posing for photos near West 37th Street and Sixth Avenue, the reporter asked him to comment on the “CITY FOR SALE” Page One story.
Instead of answering or even declining to answer the question, the mayor watched as two members of his NYPD security detail approached the reporter — who was wearing a police-issued press pass around his neck — with one grabbing his shoulder and leading him away from the mayor.
“Kevin, you have to leave. You can’t be here,” the plainclothes cop said.
Both bodyguards then escorted the reporter about a half-block away, where a member of the NYPD’s public-information office, Officer Brian Magoolaghan, told him, “Come on, Kevin. No stunts today.”
City Hall had previously declined to discuss records that showed officials held 136 meetings with lobbyists during just three months earlier this year.
The incident was reminiscent of one last month when the White House barred a CNN reporter from a Rose Garden event for shouting “inappropriate” questions at President Trump in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
De Blasio’s press secretary referred questions about the incident at the parade to the NYPD, which said in an email: “The Department takes appropriate and necessary measures to protect dignitaries, including the Mayor of the City of New York.”

New LAPD chief collected $1.27M payout before being rehired: report ( Only in California )

LAPD Chief Michael Moore Moore joined the police force in 1981 and rose through the ranks.  (Chief Michael Moore/Twitter)

Michael Moore, the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, collected a one-time retirement payment of $1.27 million after he retired for a few weeks before being rehired for the same role and pay, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
Under the city’s controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan, known as DROP, a veteran police officer or firefighter can-- for the last five years of service-- receive their pensions plus salaries. The pension payment is transferred to a special account as long as they retire.
The Times reported that Moore left his $240,000-a-year post as chief of operations and rejoined just a few weeks later for the same job at the same pay.

'You may call it suspicious timing, but I didn’t program it that way'
- Chief Michael Moore

The paper pointed out that if Moore had been promoted before retiring, he would have lost out on the money. Chiefs, the report said, are excluded from DROP.
He also managed to pull in $170,000 of unused sick and vacation days, the report said.
Since 2008, 51 “chiefs” at LAPD and LAFD have completed the program, the report said. The program paid more than $1.6 billion in extra pension checks since 2001.
 “You may call it suspicious timing, but I didn’t program it that way,” Moore said, according to the paper. He reportedly said in an interview that the plan to have him return was approved by the former police chief and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Moore is widely respected, but the paper reported that his retirement and rehiring raised eyebrows.
Keith Comrie, a former L.A. chief administrative officer, told the paper that leaders at the police and fire departments carry “sharp pencils and they stay up all night trying to figure out how to suck as much out of the city as possible.”
Moore told the paper that he was approached by the former chief, Charlie Beck, and was asked to come back on the administrator role. Moore said he was unaware that Beck was going to retire.

Police, Sessions slam Elizabeth Warren for calling criminal justice system 'racist'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., takes part in a Q-and-A with Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., at Dillard University in New Orleans earlier this month.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Top police officials in Massachusetts have accused Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of insulting rank-and-file officers when she said the criminal justice system was "racist ... front to back" earlier this month.
Warren made the remarks Aug. 3 at Dillard University, a historically black college. She cited disproportionate arrests of African-Americans for petty drug possession; an overloaded public defender system; and state laws barring convicted felons from voting after their sentences are complete.
In response, Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Frederickson called Warren's comments "an insult to the hard working men and women of the Yarmouth Police Department, as well as other Local, State and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies who are part of the criminal justice system."
In a letter to Warren, Massachusetts Chief of Police Association President Steven Wojnar said he was "extremely troubled" by the senator's comments.
"Labeling the entire criminal justice profession as 'racist' spreads false and damaging information about our members," Wojnar wrote. "When our elected officials make generalized and inflammatory statements about our entire profession, without any information to back their position, it creates further hostility toward our officers and can damage the positive relationships with our residents that we have worked long and hard to establish."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions also called out Warren during a speech in Georgia on Thursday, calling her statement "a slander of every law officer and every prosecutor in America. And, frankly, I think it is an insult to their families and to the crime victims they have helped to face their attacker."
In a statement obtained by The Boston Globe this weekend, Warren said: "I spoke about an entire system — not individuals — and will continue to work on reforms to make the criminal justice system fairer.
"The entire law enforcement system has a lot of good people who get up every day and try to make this a more just, a more fair, more responsive system. And they say over and over, the system needs reform. It needs change."
A spokeswoman for Warren's Senate re-election campaign told the Globe that Warren spoke to Frederickson on Saturday. Warren's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News.
Warren is heavily favored to win a second Senate term in deep-blue Massachusetts this November. She is also considered a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Boston Globe Fake News Cartoons

Two Jewish leaders denounced a Boston Globe editorial cartoon that they said uses a caricature of Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson with antisemitic tropes. The cartoon that appeared Friday, Dec. 1 was titled “Murder on the tax-cut express” and shows Adelson aboard a train conducted by President Donald Trump labeled as riding in the section for “priority passengers.” Adelson is shown in a dining car reading a newspaper headlined “Estate Tax Repealed,” and a waiter is serving him a large sack labeled “$14.6 billion.”
In a letter to the editor published Monday in the newspaper, Robert Trestan, regional director of the New England region of the Anti-Defamation League, and Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, said they were “deeply disturbed and offended” by the Ward Sutton cartoon.
“The portrayal — singling out, among all the donors and interests who stand to benefit, a prominent Jewish individual, Sheldon Adelson; depicting him with an exaggerated hooked nose; linking him with money; and positioning him as hidden inside the train while others conduct — evokes classic anti-Semitic imagery and reinforces existing stereotypes,” they wrote.
“At a time when hatred and bigotry of all forms are seeping into the mainstream, it is critical that the Globe and other responsible media outlets refrain from giving additional aid to those who no doubt will see this cartoon’s publication as further verification of long-established anti-Semitic views.”
The U.S. Senate early Saturday morning passed a sweeping tax bill along party lines that critics charge would benefit the wealthy and raise taxes on the middle class.
Published on December 6th, 2017

Boston paper presses coordinated response to Trump's media criticisms

President Trump, preparing to board Marine One last month. His criticisms of "fake news" are spurring a response from some news media outlets.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

A Boston newspaper is calling for publications nationwide to take a coordinated editorial stand against President Trump's attacks on the media.
"We are not the enemy of the people," The Associated Press quoted Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor for the editorial page of The Boston Globe, as saying. AP said she was referring to a characterization of journalists that Trump has used in the past.
The president, who regularly declares that his administration is getting unfair media coverage, has made frequent speeches and tweets decrying "fake news" and fabricated sources. After his recent summit in Singapore with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, he assailed fake news as "our country's biggest enemy."
The Globe has reportedly reached out to editorial boards around the U.S. to run editorials this Thursday denouncing what the newspaper called a "dirty war against the free press" -- regardless of the respective publications' political leanings.
Pritchard said about 70 outlets had committed to editorials as of Friday, with the list expected to grow, AP reported. The publications ranged from large metro dailies, such as The Houston Chronicle, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and and The Denver Post, to small weekly periodicals.
The newspaper's request was being promoted by industry groups including the American Society of News Editors.
"Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming," the appeal said.
Pritchard said the decision to seek the coordinated response was reached after Trump appeared to step up his rhetoric of late.
At an Aug. 2 political rally in Pennsylvania, for instance, he told his audience that the media was "fake, fake disgusting news."
Pritchard said she hoped the editorials would make an impression on Americans.
"I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable," she said. "We are a free and independent press; it is one of the most sacred principles enshrined in the Constitution."