Russian hackers targeted conservative think tanks prior to midterms

Here We Go Again

Microsoft on Monday said it seized websites created by Russian hackers to imitate conservative American think tanks, but instead redirected visitors to websites where their passwords could be stolen.
The New York Times reported that some of the sites that were targeted were the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute, think tanks that have disagreed with President Trump on ending Russian sanctions.
Three other fake domains were designed to look as if they belonged to the U.S. Senate.
“To be clear, we currently have no evidence these domains were used in any successful attacks before the DCU [Digital Crime Unit] transferred control of them, nor do we have evidence to indicate the identity of the ultimate targets of any planned attack involving these domains,” Microsoft said on the blog.
Microsoft called the hacking group Strontium; others call it Fancy Bear or APT28. The special counsel Robert Mueller indictment has tied it to Russian's main intelligence agency, known as the GRU, and to the 2016 email hacking of both the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.
“The Russians are seeking to disrupt and divide,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president said, according to the paper. “There is an asymmetric risk here for democratic societies. The kind of attacks we see from authoritarian regimes like Russia are seeking to fracture and splinter groups in our society.”
The Washington Post reported that there were phony versions of six websites.
Smith said there is no sign the hackers were successful in persuading anyone to click on the fake websites, which could have exposed a target victim to computer infiltration, hidden surveillance and data theft.
Both conservative think tanks said they have tried to be vigilant about "spear-phishing" email attacks because their global pro-democracy work has frequently drawn the ire of authoritarian governments.
"We're glad that our work is attracting the attention of bad actors," said Hudson Institute spokesman David Tell. "It means we're having an effect, presumably."
Microsoft calls the hacking group Strontium; others call it Fancy Bear or APT28. An indictment from U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller has tied it to Russian's main intelligence agency, known as the GRU, and to the 2016 email hacking of both the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.
"We have no doubt in our minds" who is responsible, Smith said.

McGahn's lawyers assure his lengthy interviews with Mueller's team 'did not incriminate' Trump: report

White House counsel Donald McGahn’s attorneys reportedly assured President Donald Trump’s lawyers that he doesn’t believe his lengthy interviews with Special Counsel Robert Mueller incriminated the president.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that McGahn’s attorneys issued assurances in the wake of Trump’s legal team criticism of the New York Times article claiming his lawyers have little knowledge what McGahn told the special counsel.
Bill Burck, an attorney for McGahn, told the president’s attorneys over the past weekend that McGahn didn’t say that Trump is guilty of any wrongdoing during his interviews with Mueller’s investigators.
“He did not incriminate him,” Burck wrote in one email, according to the Post.
Rudy Giuliani told Fox News on Monday that former Trump attorney John Dowd “got a complete version of what McGahn said during that period of time,” while noting that he personally wasn’t aware of all the details McGhan told the investigators. “Now, I do,” he added, saying he went over the details in the recent days.
Despite the criticism of the media reports about McGahn’s interviews with the special counsel, Trump used the interviews to portray the White House as being cooperative with the investigation and as evidence that Mueller’s team is scrambling for evidence.
“Disgraced and discredited Bob Mueller and his whole group of Angry Democrat Thugs spent over 30 hours with the White House Counsel, only with my approval, for purposes of transparency,” Trump wrote in a tweet on Monday. “Anybody needing that much time when they know there is no Russian Collusion is just someone looking for trouble.”
McGahn reportedly had three lengthy interviews with the special counsel investigators since last November, who are investigating the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The White House counsel, who’s believed to have become a key witness in the probe, was asked by investigators about Trump’s private actions when he decided to fire FBI Director James Comey, publicly attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his failure to control the probe, and when he indicated willingness to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the Post reported.
Trump’s legal team was assured that McGahn told the special counsel that he didn’t witness the president committing any crimes and would have left his position if he had.
But Burck also warned that McGahn is merely a witness and he doesn’t know if Mueller has more evidence about any alleged wrongdoing by the president or if the information McGahn provided could be used in a broader case.

Michael Avenatti Cartoons

Cohen investigated for bank fraud, campaign finance violations: report says

Federal investigators in New York are reportedly working to determine if Michael Cohen—President Trump’s former lawyer—committed bank fraud on over $20 million worth of loans, and possible campaign finance violations.
The New York Times on Sunday reported that the loans in question were for a taxi business that is owned by Cohen and his family.
Investigators are trying to determine if he misrepresented assets in order to obtain the loans from Sterling National Bank and the Melrose Credit Union, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has been investigating Cohen for months, raiding his home, office and hotel room in search of documents related to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and a separate $130,000 payment the attorney facilitated before the election to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who says she had sex with Trump in 2006.
The report said prosecutors are investigating whether or not Cohen violated campaign finance laws by securing these deals with women who claimed they had sex with Trump.
Cohen, long a loyal counselor to the president, has more recently signaled that he’d be open to cooperating with prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors are reportedly focused on Cohen’s investments in taxi medallions, the report said.
The Times reported that Cohen used 32 medallions as collateral for loans, and the medallions--at the time-- brought in more than $1 million a year and are valued at over $1 million. Authorities are reportedly investigating if Cohen failed to report the income to the IRS.
The Times report said that it is not clear if Cohen spoke to prosecutors about a potential deal. Cohen did not respond to the paper for comment.
A spokesperson for Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, told NBC News: "Lanny cannot comment on advice of counsel since there is an ongoing investigation."

Avenatti, mulling WH run, tells anti-Trump Dems in New Hampshire to 'fight fire with fire'

Michael Avenatti headlined a Democratic Party event in Greenfield, New Hampshire.  (Fox News)

Michael Avenatti took aim at President Donald Trump and called on Democrats to “fight fire with fire” as he headlined a Democratic Party event Sunday in the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House.
The Los Angeles-based attorney, best known for representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against the president, told Fox News and other news organizations that “I’m absolutely being serious” as he mulls a run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
And his message to other potential Democratic White House hopefuls is that the 2020 “election is going to be a brutal, knockdown, street fight, and if someone’s not up for that type of campaign, they need to stay home and not seek the nomination.”
He also brushed aside any concerns that his law firm's legal issues could hurt him politically.
Headlining the Hillsborough County Democrats summer picnic and fundraiser, Avenatti repeatedly fired away at the president, saying to big applause that “Donald Trump does not have the knowledge, wisdom, compassion or fortitude to serve as president of the United States.”
But he added that “this president, no matter how corrupt or cruel he is, he knows how to fight.”
Avenatti said that Democrats “have a tendency to bring nail clippers to a gunfight” and he told the crowd of party officials, candidates and activists, “I believe that our party, the Democratic Party, must be a party that fights fire with fire. I believe we cannot be the party of turning the other cheek.”
And as he did during a stop last weekend in Iowa – the state that holds the first-in-the-nation caucus – Avenatti modified a slogan made famous by former first lady Michelle Obama, urging that “when they (Republicans) go low, we hit harder.”
He closed his nearly 25-minute speech with a variation of Trump’s signature campaign line, saying, “We will make America gracious again. We will make America fair again. We will make America dynamic again. We will make America respected. And above all else, we will make America America again.”
Avenatti arrived in New Hampshire from Florida, where he headlined a Democratic Party event in Tampa Saturday night. He told reporters he’s headed back to Iowa in a few days and announced he’d return to New Hampshire in late September.

I don’t think [President Trump is] very quick on his feet. I don’t think he’s that intelligent and I think he’d be completely outclassed.
- Michael Avenatti

Pushing back against charges that his political testing of the waters is a publicity stunt, Avenatti argued, “I’m not going to go out and do this and give speeches like this and talk to people on some lark. I’m going to seriously consider this because the 2020 election is a critical election, I would venture to say the most critical in modern times.”
Avenatti warned, “If the Democratic Party proceeds to nominate the person who would be the best president, that is going to be a mistake.”
He said 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton “was the most qualified individual to ever run for the White House in the history of our nation.”
LIZ PEEK: IS AVENATTI READY TO RUN? HIS LEFT-WING MEDIA ALLIES CERTAINLY THINK SO!
But he added that “all the experience in the world, all the qualifications in the world, all of the policy positions in the world, they don’t mean anything if you can’t beat Donald Trump in the general election, period.”

Avenatti said, “Donald Trump doesn’t want to debate me on a national stage. That’s for sure. There’s no question about that.”  (Fox News)

Asked how he would take the fight to the president, a confident Avenatti claimed, “Donald Trump doesn’t want to debate me on a national stage. That’s for sure. There’s no question about that.”
“I think he’s a bully and I think he doesn’t like people who punch back and I think I’d be incredibly effective against him,” Avenatti added. “I don’t think he’s very quick on his feet. I don’t think he’s that intelligent and I think he’d be completely outclassed.”
AVENATTI: 'I'M EXPLORING A RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES'
Avenatti’s firm Eagan Avenatti was settling a case with the Internal Revenue Service over $880,000 in unpaid payroll taxes. The firm had defaulted on millions of dollars in debt and had fallen years behind in paying its payroll taxes.
Asked by Fox News if he was concerned his firm’s legal issues could affect his hopes of running for the White House, Avenatti said, “I’m not worried about it. Show me anybody who’s had great success and I’ll show you somebody that’s had great challenges.”
On policy, Avenatti told the crowd that as president, he’d push for Medicare for all, ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, and what he called “sensible gun control in America,” adding, “We should never have another school shooting on U.S. soil.”
He also called for investing in public school teachers and securing the nation’s borders “while at the same time honoring the values and principles that founded this country.”

Drive-by shooting at US embassy in Turkish capital, no casualties: report

Turkish authorities on Monday responded to a drive-by shooting at the U.S. embassy in Ankara amid increased tensions between the two countries over the detained American pastor, Reuters reported.
There were no injuries, but a window in a security cabin was reportedly hit. The shooting occurred at about 5 a.m. local time.
The report said the embassy was set to be closed this week for Eid al-Adha festival.
Private Ihlas news agency said four to five rounds were fired from a moving white car and targeted security booth outside Gate 6.
Earlier Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration rebuffed Turkey’s offer to release pastor Andrew Brunson if the U.S. halted the investigation into Turkish bank Halkbank.
The Turkish government agreed to drop terrorism charges against the pastor in exchange of the U.S. government dropping fines totaling billions of dollars against the bank.
“A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the first place,” the official told the Journal.

Giuliani on dangers of Trump-Mueller interview: 'Truth isn't truth'

President Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, proclaimed Sunday that "truth isn't truth" while attempting to explain his reluctance to have Trump sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team.
"I am not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury," Giuliani said on NBC News' "Meet The Press." "And when you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he's going to tell the truth and he shouldn't worry, well that's so silly because it's somebody's version of the truth. Not the truth."
"Truth is truth," interrupted moderator Chuck Todd, to which Giuliani responded: "No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth."
An apparently exasperated Todd joked, "This is going to become a bad meme," before telling Giuliani, "Don't do 'truth isn't truth' to me."
"[If] they have two pieces of evidence," Giuliani shot back, "[and] Trump says I didn’t tell them and the other guy says that he did say it, which is the truth? Maybe you know because you’re a genius."
"At that point, you’re right," Todd answered. "... No, you’re right. I don’t read minds on that front."
Trump repeatedly has said that he is open to sitting down with Mueller's investigators. However, attorneys Giuliani and Jay Sekulow have cautioned against it.
Both sides have exchanged proposals for interview conditions, but no agreement has been struck. The president's lawyers also have said they would fight any attempt by Mueller to issue a subpoena to Trump.
Giuliani also accused the special counsel's office of illegally leaking to The New York Times that White House Counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating extensively with the Mueller probe. The Times published the story Saturday, drawing an angry response from the president on Twitter.
"The only other one that could've done it was McGahn," Giuliani said. "I mean, I didn't leak it to The Times and Jay Sekulow didn’t leak it to The Times, the president sure as heck didn't, so who could it be? It could be McGahn, and McGahn’s not doing it. He would've done it a long time ago if he was going to do it.
"They’re down to desperation time," Giuliani said of the Mueller team. "They have to write a report and they don’t have a single bit of evidence."
Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted that McGahn was not, as he put it, "a John Dean type 'RAT,'" -- a reference to the White House counsel for Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Dean eventually cooperated with prosecutors and congressional investigators, providing key testimony that led to Nixon's resignation in the face of certain impeachment and removal from office in 1974.
Giuliani told NBC that Trump didn't raise executive privilege or attorney-client privilege during those interviews because his team believed — he says now, wrongly — that fully participating would be the fastest way to bring the investigation to a close.
"The president encouraged him to testify, is happy that he did, is quite secure that there is nothing in the testimony that will hurt the president," Giuliani said.
McGahn's attorney William Burck added in a statement: "President Trump, through counsel, declined to assert any privilege over Mr. McGahn's testimony, so Mr. McGahn answered the Special Counsel team's questions fulsomely and honestly, as any person interviewed by federal investigators must."

Border Wall & the Blue Wave Cartoons

FACT

The main source of income in Mexico?

Remittances from Mexican immigrants in the United States to their families back home are a major source of income in Mexico, second only to oil and surpassing even the tourism industry. Money sent back in 2004 totaled $16.6 billion, a 28 percent increase over the previous year.

Yeah Right :-)