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The head of the District of Columbia National Guard has been ordered
to step down immediately after President-elect Donald Trump takes
office.
Maj. Gen. Errol Schwartz will be stepping down at
12:01 p.m. on Jan. 20, just after Trump is sworn in, Maj. Byron Coward, a
guard spokesman said.
Schwartz, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, told The Washington Post in an interview "the timing is very unusual" but that he's following orders.
Unlike the commanders of state-level National Guard
units, the head of the District's National Guard serves at the pleasure
of the president. At the time Schwartz departs, he will be in the midst
of commanding thousands of Guard troops from the District and around the
country who are providing support for the inauguration.
“My troops will be on the street,” he said in an
interview, according to the paper. “I’ll see them off, but I won’t be
able to welcome them back to the armory.” He went on to say that he
would “never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”
Phil Mendelson, the D.C. Council chairman, criticized the move.
“It doesn’t make sense to can the general in the
middle of an active deployment,” Mendelson told The Post. He added that
Schwartz’s sudden departure will be a long-term loss for the District.
“He’s been really very good at working with the community, and my
impression was that he was good for the Guard.”
The Post reported that there have been contradictory
stories about the behind-the-scenes developments leading to the
decision. A person close to the Trump transition team reportedly said
transition officials wanted to keep him, but the Army pushed for a
replacement. Schwartz reportedly said the orders came in an email from
the Pentagon. He will be replaced by a brigadier general at 12:01 p.m.
Maj. Gen. Errol Schwartz
|
Conservative Blogger
Saturday, January 14, 2017
‘VERY UNUSUAL’ Head of DC National Guard to step down during inauguration
Friday, January 13, 2017
Glenn Greenwald: Democrats hoping intelligence agencies will 'undermine and subvert' Trump presidency
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| Greenwald: Shadowy foes at war with Trump as Dems cheer |
Greenwald spoke to "Tucker Carlson Tonight" regarding reports that Trump and President Barack Obama had been briefed about unverified allegations that Russian spies had collected compromising personal and financial information about the president-elect. A dossier containing the most salacious allegations was published by BuzzFeed earlier this week.
Greenwald said Democrats and liberals are "hoping ... that this unelected faction in Washington will undermine and subvert and destroy the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s presidency before he’s even inaugurated and I think what you’re seeing is actually quite dangerous."
The Intercept writer told Carlson that he believed the Central Intelligence Agency supported Democrat Hillary Clinton during the recent presidentil election because Trump "was a threat to the CIA’s primary institutional priority of regime change in Syria.
"Beyond that," Greenwald added, "Clinton wanted a much more confrontational and belligerent posture toward Moscow, which the CIA has been acrimonious with for decades, whereas Trump wanted better relations. I think they viewed Trump as a threat to their institutional preeminence, to their ability to get their agenda imposed on Washington."
Greenwald also said that most of the mainstream media is unduly deferential toward the U.S. intelligence community, despite their reputation for skepticism of such institutions.
"Whenever it comes to national security issues, especially in the post-9/11 era ... you see this incredibly close relationship between the media and the intelligence agencies," he said. "When [the media] serve their agenda, they get scoops, they get secret documents, they get access, and I think a lot of that is what you’re seeing on top of the fact that the media has been aligned against Trump and will side with anybody who wants to subvert him, including the CIA.
George Soros lost nearly $1B in weeks after Trump election
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| George Soros reportedly lost nearly $1 billion after becoming bearish after Donald Trump’s election. |
The 86-year-old was cautious about the market prior to November’s election became more bearish after Trump’s win. So far, the bet was a mistake, and the stock market has risen about 9 percent over the past two months, the report said.
Soros Fund Management LLC has about 250 traders and manages about $30 billion. The billionaire took a more active role in the company in anticipation of turmoil in China and the European Union, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Over the past few years, Soros has become an advocate and donor for liberal causes. His name reportedly appeared in the Wikileaks emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta 60 times.
Soros, who last year, called on a “global system of political decision-making,” came out strongly against Trump during the campaign. He reportedly contributed $7 million to Priorities USA Action and gave Clinton’s campaign the maximum $2,700 donation. He also contributed $5 million to a super PAC aimed at mobilizing Latinos and other immigrants in hopes to stop the Trump campaign.
Soros has a long history of contributing millions to liberal political causes, and pockets don't get much deeper than his. He ranked No. 23 in the latest Forbes richest men list.
The Wall Street Journal reported that overall, Soros’ fund is up about 5 percent on the year.
Obama, Biden made aware of dubious dossier of Trump allegations before leak
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| Turning point in Trump's relationship with intel community? |
Biden said in an interview with the Associated Press that neither he nor Obama asked U.S. intelligence agencies to try to corroborate the unverified claims that Russia had obtained compromising sexual and financial allegations about Trump.
"I think it's something that obviously the agency thinks they have to track down," Biden said. He added later, "It surprised me in that it made it to the point where the agency, the FBI thought they had to pursue it."
Biden added that the briefing he and Obama received from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and others, there were “no conclusions drawn” from the leaked dossier, which was produced in August and then released publicly this week by the media. Biden said it was "totally ancillary" to the purpose of the meeting, which was to brief Obama on a report he ordered documenting Russian interference in the U.S. campaign.
"As a matter of fact, the president was like, 'What does this have anything to do with anything?'" Biden said. He said intelligence leaders responded by saying "Well, we feel obliged to tell you, Mr. President, because you may hear about it. We're going to tell him," referring to Trump.
Biden said intelligence leaders told him and Obama that they couldn't say whether or not the allegations were true or untrue. He said there was "hardly any discussion" about the allegations in the briefing.
"Neither the president nor I asked for any detail," Biden said. But he added of the dossier: "I've read everything."
Trump confirmed earlier Thursday that Clapper spoke to him by phone, apparently sometime after a press conference in which Trump lashed out at media outlets, including Buzzfeed and CNN, that ran the story and speculated it was leaked by federal officials.
"James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated," Trump tweeted. "Made up, phony facts. Too bad!"
On Wednesday, Clapper released a rare statement addressing rising tensions between spy agency chiefs and Trump, who believes the intel community has become politicized and is working to undermine him. He also acknowledged contacting Trump directly to express "profound dismay" about the leaks to CNN and Buzzfeed — the latter of which published the unverified allegations in full.
"I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC," Clapper said. "The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions."
Several media outlets reported that the salacious material, originally compiled by a former British intelligence officer turned political consultant, was relayed to Trump when he was briefed on the intelligence community's evidence of Russian hacking in the 2016 election.
The source said that intelligence officials who briefed Trump on Friday brought up the allegations verbally, but added that they were "barely mentioned in passing."
A government source told Fox News that the intelligence community wanted to give Trump a heads-up that the allegations had been widely circulating and that a lot of media outlets were sitting on the story. The source said the claims did not constitute a "central element" of Trump's briefing.
CNN initially reported that Trump and President Obama were presented with a two-page summary that detailed the allegations. The report said the summary was attached to a broader report about Russian operatives' activities during the 2016 election.
At the Wednesday press conference, Trump said that he had learned details of the allegations "outside of the meeting" with intelligence officials.
"It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It didn't happen," Trump said, later adding. "But I read what was released and I think it's a disgrace. I think it's an absolute disgrace."
Ex-spy allegedly behind Trump dossier reportedly helped FBI in FIFA probe
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| Krauthammer on Buzzfeed-Russia-Trump debacle |
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| Christopher David Steele |
The former British spy who allegedly created an incriminating but now-discredited dossier on President-elect Donald Trump reportedly helped the FBI build its case against FIFA officials back in 2010, The Washington Post reported.
Christopher David Steele, 52, who was last seen leaving his home in southwest of London on Wednesday, apparently to avoid detection and escape possible retribution once his identity as the source of the salacious document became known, the New York Times reported.
A person close to Steele said he left his home because he now fears a prompt and potentially dangerous backlash from Moscow against him and his family, the Telegraph reported.
Trump lashed out at the media for publishing the unsubstantiated material and at the U.S. intelligence officials, accusing them of leaking the allegations and likening the leaks to Nazi conduct.
Reuters reported on Thursday that in 2009, Steele’s London-based consulting firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, was hired by England’s Football Association to investigate FIFA over corruption allegations.
It was his work on corruption in international soccer “that lent credence to his reporting on Trump’s entanglements in Russia,” the report said.
Before developing the material on Trump, Steele was hired to investigate former European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, EurActiv.com said. Steele’s work occurred while Georgieva was a candidate for U.N. secretary-general.
Steele, who previously worked years undercover in Russia, London and France for MI-6, was specifically tasked with investigating her alleged links to a Bulgarian organized crime group known as Multigroup, a shady business empire run by Iliya Pavlov who was assassinated in Sofia in 2003.
Last October Georgieva resigned from the European Commission to take a job with the World Bank.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Spicer: 'Rude, inappropriate' CNN reporter owes Trump an apology
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| CNN reporter Jim Acosta |
Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that CNN reporter Jim Acosta should apologize to President-elect Trump after Spicer said Acosta was "rude, inappropriate and disrespectful" during Trump's press conference earlier Wednesday.
"I think Mr. Acosta owes the president-elect and frankly the entire press corps an apology for his childish and inappropriate behavior," Spicer told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
TRUMP SPARS WITH REPORTER FOLLOWING RUSSIA CLAIMS
Acosta repeatedly called on Trump to let him ask a question after the president-elect disparaged reports by CNN and BuzzFeed that Russian spies have collected compromising information about him. Trump refused to call on Acosta, at one point telling him "Don't be rude" before finally blasting CNN's report as "fake news."
After the press conference, Spicer said he approached Acosta and "I informed him that I thought that no one should be treated that ... disrespectfully, and that if he did it again in the future, I would have him removed."
"No one needs to be treated with that level of disrespect and rudeness," Spicer later added.
The former Republican National Committee spokesman added that the contentious nature of Wednesday's presser could be a preview of future briefings under a Trump administration.
"If you want to have a conversation and engage in a polite and respectful manner with the president-elect, he’s gonna treat you in kind," Spicer said. "But if you come in hot and want to be disrespectful and rude, as Jim Acosta was today, he’s not gonna sit back and take it. This is a man who fights and wins."
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