Ea O Ka Aina: Crime

Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts

The Dog Wags Trump

SUBHEAD: The "missile attack" on Syria hardly diverted attention from the impeachment lava flow headed Trump's way.

By Juan Wilson on 14 April 2018 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-dog-wags-trump.html)

Image above: US Tomahawk fly missiles over Damascus, Syria. Photo by Hassan Amma. From (http://www.srzd.com/geral/putin-acusa-eua-ataque-agrava-crise-humanitaria-na-siria/).

The Upside
Bombing hardly worked to divert attention from "Trump's bad press problem a year ago when US navel forces in the Mediterranean Sea sent 59 Tomahawk missiles to a pre-warned Shayrat Air Base in Syria on 7 April 2017. That "wagging of the dog" ended with Syrian combat flights resumed from the airbase the same day on the relatively undamaged runways.

Now we have another show of force against the Syrian government in reprisal for another supposed "weapons of mass destruction" incident with poison gas. This time 71 of 105 Tomahawk missiles were intercepted by high tech Russian installed missile defense systems.

This kill count was likely enhanced by US military information provided to the Russians to avoid tripping into WWIII.

The effort to drag our allies into this mess did more harm than good, in that England and France (both nuclear powers) came along for the show but Germany and Italy wanted no part i it. This effectively splits the NATO alliance in two.

The Downside
It appears the Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's "personal attorney" and "Fixer"- who did not practice law or have other clients to speak of - will likely be the fall guy for a myriad of felonies related Trump's "business activity" otherwise known as "organized crime". As in the "Godfather", Cohen has been the Consigliere (counselor Tom Hagen) to the Don ( mob boss Michael Corleone).

Unfortunately for Trump, the warrant the FBI obtained to search the home, office, and hotel room occupied by Cohen will likely produce a treasure trove of records pointing to criminal activity of the Trump organization.

If you look at the leadership personnel of the FBI, Special Prosecutor's Office, and Court of the Southern District of New York, you will realize that it is the Republicans that are legally going after Trump in a way that will likely lead to impeachment in the Republican controlled US Congress and Senate.

Trump is Toast
I think the writing is on the wall. The conservative Deep State has been embarrassed by Trump's crudeness, ignorance, narcissism, selfishness and impropriety. The stench of corruption is everywhere and it's too ugly for them to watch. George Bush was an embarrassment as well, but at least he took orders from Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove. Trump has the misconception that he's "The Boss". Sorry chump! YOU'RE FIRED!

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Trump and Russian Bombshell

SUBHEAD: Bannon claims Don Jr. took Russians to his father after their meeting with Kushner and Manafort.

By Hayley Miller on 3 JAnuary 2018 for Huffington Post -
(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-trump-tower_us_5a4cde0be4b0b0e5a7a9fe93)

Image above: Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, conmen all. From (https://www.democracynow.org/images/headlines/12/37612/quarter_hd/H04_TrumpJr_Manafort_Kushner.jpg).

[IB Publisher's note: On one hand its obvious that Steve Bannon as a bone to pick with Donald Trump. But what he indicates about the real crime isn't talking to Russians but enabling and participating in systemic criminal money laundering is what the Mueller investigation is onto.]

The former White House strategist called the infamous Trump Tower meeting “treasonous,” according to a new book.

Steve Bannon suggested President Donald Trump was aware of Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russian operatives at Trump Tower in June 2016 ― because he met with them that day, too, according to an explosive new book by acclaimed journalist Michael Wolff.

The former White House strategist was quoted by Wolff as saying there was “zero” chance Trump Jr. didn’t walk the Russian meeting attendees “up to his father’s office on the 26th floor.”

Wolff met with Bannon during the nine months he was granted far-reaching access to the West Wing and senior administration officials to write a tell-all book about the White House, Fire and Fury, set for release on Jan. 9.

The revelations appeared to contradict Trump’s repeated claims that he was unaware his eldest son, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner, had met with the Russians.

Bannon also dubbed the infamous Trump Tower meeting as “treasonous” and “bad shit,” according to Wolff. The far-right icon mocked Trump Jr. and Kushner for taking the meeting in hopes of acquiring dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump’s political opponent in the 2016 presidential race, as first revealed by The New York Times in July.

“The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor — with no lawyers,” Bannon told Wolff, according to The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book.

“Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately,” he added.

Bannon predicted special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government will focus on money laundering.

“This is all about money laundering,” Bannon told Wolff. “Mueller chose [senior prosecutor Andrew] Weissmann first and he is a money-laundering guy. Their path to fucking Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Jr and Jared Kushner … It’s as plain as a hair on your face.”

Bannon suggested Kushner’s business dealings with German financial juggernaut Deutsche Bank, which has loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kushner family real estate business, would be problematic for the administration.

“The Kushner shit is greasy,” Bannon said. “They’re going to go right through that. They’re going to roll those two guys up and say play me or trade me.”

Four Trump associates have been indicted in connection to the probe, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who also attended the Trump Tower meeting. Manafort was indicted by a grand jury in October on charges of conspiracy and money laundering.

“They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV,” he said, adding that the White House should reconsider its apparent lack of concern over the Mueller investigation. “They’re sitting on a beach trying to stop a Category Five.”

Ex Fukushima bosses on trial

SOURCE: Norman Lewter (normandlaurie@gmail.com)
SUBHEAD: Report said Fukushima was a man-made disaster caused by Japan's culture of "reflexive obedience".

By Staff on 29 June 2017 for Phys.org -
(https://phys.org/news/2017-06-ex-bosses-trial-fukushima-crisis.html)

Image above: Ex-Tokyo Electric Power chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, and former vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro, 71, and Sakae Muto, 66, were formally charged with professional negligence. From original article.

Three former executives at the operator of Fukushima's power plant start their trial Friday on the only criminal charges brought over the 2011 disaster, the worst nuclear accident in a generation.

The hearing in Tokyo comes more than a year after ex-Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, and former vice presidents Sakae Muto, 66, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71, were formally charged with professional negligence resulting in death and injury.

The indictments are the first—and only—criminal charges stemming from the tsunami-sparked reactor meltdowns at the plant that set off the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

"We hope the trial will shed light on where the responsibility for this accident lies," Ruiko Muto, who heads a group that pushed for the trial, told AFP ahead of the trial.

If convicted, the men face up to five years in prison or a penalty of up to one million yen ($9,000).
The trio are expected to plead not guilty and argue that they could not have predicted the size of the massive tsunami that slammed into Japan's northeast coast following a huge undersea earthquake.

A 2011 government panel report said Tepco simulated the impact of a tsunami on the plant in 2008 and concluded that a wave of up to 15.7 metres (52 feet) could hit the plant if a magnitude-8.3 quake occurred off the coast of Fukushima.

Executives at the company—which is facing huge clean-up and liability costs—allegedly ignored the internal study.

Waves as high as 14 metres swamped the reactors' cooling systems in March 2011.

Although the quake-tsunami disaster left some 18,500 people dead or missing, the Fukushima accident itself is not officially recorded as having directly killed anyone.

The charges against the three Tepco executives are linked to the deaths of more than 40 hospitalised patients who were hastily evacuated from the Fukushima area and later died.

More than six years after the accident, many evacuees are still living in other parts of Japan, unable or unwilling to go back home as fears over radiation persist.

A 2015 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said a misguided faith in the complete safety of atomic power was a key factor in the Fukushima accident, pointing to weaknesses in disaster preparedness and unclear responsibilities among regulators.

A parliamentary report compiled a year after the disaster said Fukushima was a man-made disaster caused by Japan's culture of "reflexive obedience".

Former TEPCO bosses indicted
By Staff on 29 February 2017 for Phys.org -
(https://phys.org/news/2016-02-tepco-bosses-indicted-fukushima-disaster.html)

Trump is a cornered animal

SUBHEAD: More than at any point since January, Trump is, right now, the most dangerous man in the world.

By William Rivers Pitt on 15 July 2017 fir Truth Out -
(http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41281-trump-is-a-cornered-animal-and-cornered-animals-are-dangerous)

Image above: President Donald Trump arrives at the start of the the G20 summit on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. From original article.

You have to hand it to this First Family. As advertised, they do nothing small. Buildings wreathed in gold, steaks thicker than city sidewalks, golf courses manicured like supermodels … and scandals rich enough to clot the blood.

The present Russia eruption is a sumptuous feast with all the trimmings, served by a court jester named Junior who, as Stephen Colbert recently observed, decided to be his own "Deep Throat" on the front page of every news publication on the planet.

All the way back to the campaign, the members of the Trump crew have been dogged by questions regarding their relationship with Russia. Before last weekend, Trump and company were content to smother themselves in smug denials while hoping Robert Mueller would get lost on the way to his office, but that all went up in a cloud of stink when The New York Times stepped to the plate.

We have emails, it said, detailing a meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and some mysterious Russian lawyer. Junior, who had denied the whole thing until the Times told him they were about to print the emails, threw caution to the wind and released the emails himself.

All of them. Maybe.

The content in brief: HEY JUNIOR, I KNOW THIS RUSSIAN LAWYER WITH TIES TO THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WHO HAS DIRT ON CLINTON SHE WANTS TO GIVE YOU BECAUSE THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WANTS TO HELP YOU WIN.

Reply: I LOVE IT, LET'S MEET AT TRUMP TOWER OF ALL PLACES AND I'LL DRAG IN THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE CAMPAIGN, BUT BE SURE TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT OUR SECRET PLAN TO HAVE THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT HELP US WIN.

It does come across as just that absurd. That meeting with the Russian lawyer so meticulously documented by Junior was in all likelihood what they call in the intelligence business a "dangle".

That is an offer of information with no real substance to gauge the interest and enthusiasm of the intended target. The fact that Russia made direct efforts to help Donald Trump win in 2016 is now settled fact, but there is far more to this than the election, and the depth of it is dangerous in the extreme.

Some years back, Sergei Magnitsky, an auditor for a Russian law firm, uncovered a tax fraud scheme in his country so vast as to beggar historical precedent.

The perpetrators were stealing whole corporations, looting them, and then using the stolen corporations to launder vast sums of dirty money. In some cases, Russian security forces were involved in these crimes.

Other instances of money laundering involved "Manhattan real estate" entities, according to the criminal complaint filed by former US Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump not long after the inauguration.

That Bharara complaint, by the way, was filed against a man named Denis Katsyv, who was the alleged mastermind of the scheme uncovered by Magnitsky.

The story did not end well for Sergei Magnitsky. He was arrested for tax evasion and jailed at the behest of the very oligarchs he was investigating, and later died in prison under very suspicious circumstances.

In retaliation for his death, Congress in 2012 passed a law freezing the assets of 18 Russians involved in the annihilation of Magnitsky. His investigation went nowhere, and when Preet Bharara lost his job as US Attorney, the whole thing quietly blew away.

Or did it? Vladimir Putin was not happy when those 18 Russians had their assets frozen, and retaliated by ending all adoptions of Russian children by US families.

To promote this edict, Putin tapped an attorney named Natalia Veselnitskaya to help with the public relations push. Natalia Veselnitskaya was also the attorney for Denis Katysyv, author of the scheme uncovered by Magnitsky, in the matter being pursued by Bharara.

Natalia Veselnitskaya was the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower in June of 2016 as part of the Russian government’s effort to help Donald Trump win the election.

On Friday morning, the story took a remarkable twist when NBC News revealed the existence of a fifth person present at the meeting with Trump Jr., Kushner, Manafort and Veselnitskaya. Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist and former counter-intelligence officer with the Soviet military, accompanied Veselnitskaya to the meeting.

Red flags began waving immediately upon this revelation: Not only were Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin associates in the lobbying effort to undo the sanctions against those 18 Russians involved in the Magnitsky affair, but Akhmetshin has been accused of orchestrating a massive international hacking conspiracy at the behest of a billionaire Russian industrialist. It is worth noting that Akhmetshin is a US citizen, and Robert Mueller's subpoena power absolutely includes US citizens.

… and then, just before 9:00am on Friday morning, Trump Jr.'s own lawyer revealed the existence of a sixth person who was present at the Trump Tower meeting. At the time of this writing, the name of that sixth person remains unknown. Before 5:00pm on the same day, CNN was reporting that eight people or more actually attended the meeting.

Magnitsky to Katsyv to Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin to Trump Tower, with Vladimir Putin hovering over it all and an indeterminate number of others along for the ride.

Junior's first explanation for the meeting was that Veselnitskaya wanted to talk about "adoptions," which may well have been code for a push to have the sanctions lifted against those 18 Russians involved in the Magnitsky matter, should Trump emerge victorious in November.

Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin have been working for years, the former at the behest of Putin, to undo those sanctions. It is all of a piece, and as the old saying goes, when you hear hoofbeats, don't think of zebras.

We are dealing with some very grim possibilities here. In the worst case scenario, the president of the United States, his son and top campaign/administration staffers got themselves involved with an agent for the Russian government who is neck-deep in a massive money laundering scandal that may very well have gotten a guy killed in prison.

These issues could explain why Robert Mueller has tapped the best money laundering prosecutors and investigators in all of US jurisprudence to join his team.

It would seem that whatever slivers of credibility the Trump administration ever possessed have been consumed by this bonfire of hubris, lying and shady dealing (though much of his base remains loyal).

Congressional Republicans are trying to pretend the White House doesn't actually exist as their legislative agenda founders like a rot-riddled rowboat. The only statement coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is "Talk to the lawyers," lather rinse repeat.

Junior is about to have a series of incredibly unpleasant conversations with some very serious people, whereupon he may come to learn -- perhaps for the first time in his life -- the meaning of the word "consequences."

Messrs. Kushner and Manafort, who were actual campaign employees when that fateful meeting took place, and are therefore subject to a whole raft of other laws, can expect the same. The legal fate of the other meeting attendees remains to be determined.

And as for the Tweeter in Chief? On Thursday, he blamed the whole thing on Loretta Lynch and the Obama administration for allowing Natalia Veselnitskaya to enter the country in the first place. This is the growling of a cornered animal.

Any takeaway from all this, though, must not include "Donald Trump is finished," because sometimes a cornered animal is exceedingly dangerous. Trump and his whole crew are preposterous frauds, but he still retains the enormous powers of the presidency, and he is watching much of his world collapse around him.

At this point, he is capable of just about anything, especially if he believes he is defending his family.

Thanks to the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, Trump has the power to start and/or escalate wars at will, and war is a time-tested method of distraction. He still has control over a vast nuclear arsenal.

The current scandal is yet another glaring indication that Trump and his people are more than comfortable engaging in shady dealings behind closed doors. Plus, in the event of a terrorist attack, real or imagined, Trump has astonishing police powers at his disposal. None of us can accurately guess what he's capable of as president.

This is not alarmism. This is enlightened self-interest. Fear and vigilance are highly appropriate responses at this juncture. More than at any point since January, Donald Trump is, right now, the most dangerous man in the world.

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Trump-Russia Timeline Perspective

SUBHEAD: Pres.Trump tweeted about thousands of stolen DNC emails the day Junior met Russians.

By Chuck Todd, M. Murry & C. Dann 10 July 3017 for NBC News -
(http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/putting-trump-russia-timeline-perspective-n781236)

Image above: Photo of Donald Trump Jr. by Leigh Vogel. From original article.

[IB Publisher's note: There is more of the material at in the source article, including videos. It is my opinion that the meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort with Russian Natalia Veselnitskaya and a former Russian military officer was not "a nothing meeting". Three hours after meeting the President bragged about a speech he was planning for the following Monday about corruption in the Clinton campaign and he tweeted about 30,000 stolen emails. That speech was never given, and later WikiLeaks began publishing thousands of Clinton campaign related emails.]

The bombshell New York Times report from Sunday afternoon might not be the smoking gun in the Trump-Russia 2016 story, but it sure looks close to one. According to the Times, President Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer in June 2016 after being promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton — “the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help.” To put this June 9, 2016 meeting into perspective, here’s a handy timeline of what happened before and after the meeting:

June 7: The 2016 primary season essentially concludes, with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the presumptive party nominees
June 9: Donald Trump Jr. — along with Jared Kushner and former campaign chair Paul Manafort — meets with Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
June 9: Trump tweets about Clinton’s missing 33,000 emails
July 18: Washington Post reports, on the first day of the GOP convention, that the Trump campaign changed the Republican platform to ensure that it didn’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces
July 21: GOP convention concludes with Trump giving his speech accepting the Republican nomination
July 22: WikiLeaks releases stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee
July 25: Democratic convention begins
July 27: In final news conference of his 2016 campaign, Trump asks Russia: “If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing”
August 4: Obama CIA Director John Brennan confronts his Russian counterpart about Russia’s interference. “[I] told him if you go down this road, it's going to have serious consequences, not only for the bilateral relationship, but for our ability to work with Russia on any issue, because it is an assault on our democracy,” Brennan said on “Meet the Press” yesterday.
October 4: WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says his organization will publish emails related to the 2016 campaign
October 7: Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence release a statement directly saying that Russia is interfering in the 2016 election
October 7: WikiLeaks begins releasing Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta’s emails
October 31: “This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,” Trump says on the campaign trail
November 4: “Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks,” Trump says from Ohio.

Bottom line: This timeline of what now know is circumstantial evidence itself of some kind of relationship that the Trump campaign had with Russian sources. The question: What else is out there? Is this just the tip of the iceberg?

The sourcing of the NYT story: It came from “three advisers to the White House”By the way, maybe the most interesting Washington parlor game right now is trying to guess the sources for the New York Times story above.

“President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.” (Emphasis is ours.)

So it’s coming from inside the White House – or from those who are advising it. Is this the beginning of every man and woman for themselves?

Here’s how Russia helped Trump in the 2016 election
In the last few days, President Trump has

downplayed Russia’s interference in the 2016 election,
criticized Barack Obama for not acting on that interference,
knocked U.S. intelligence officials, and
declared that it’s “time to move forward in working constructively with Russia.”

And to top it off, It all raises the question: So what, exactly, did Russia do in the 2016 election? Here is what the U.S. intelligence community publicly revealed six months ago:

It stole Democrats’ emails and gave them to WikiLeaks to be released: “We assess with high confidence that the GRU [Russia’s intelligence agency] relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior Democratic officials to WikiLeaks. Moscow most likely chose WikiLeaks because of its self-proclaimed reputation for authenticity. Disclosures through WikiLeaks did not contain any evident forgeries.”

It didn’t do the same for Republican/Trump emails: “Russia collected on some Republican-affiliated targets but did not conduct a comparable disclosure campaign.”

Its state-run media outlets portrayed Trump as a victim and constantly attacked Clinton: “RT and Sputnik … consistently cast President-elect Trump as the target of unfair coverage from traditional US media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment… RT’s coverage of Secretary Clinton throughout the US presidential campaign was consistently negative and focused on her leaked e-mails and accused her of corruption, poor physical and mental health, and ties to Islamic extremism.”

Assuming Clinton was going to win, it tried to cast doubt on integrity of the U.S. election: “Before the election, Russian diplomats had publicly denounced the US electoral process and were prepared to publicly call into question the validity of the results. Pro-Kremlin bloggers had prepared a Twitter campaign, #DemocracyRIP, on election night in anticipation of Secretary Clinton’s victory, judging from their social media activity.”

And it will probably do this all again in future elections: “We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States and worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes.”

Josh Green on Trump and Steve Bannon Finally, don’t miss this except from Josh Green’s new book on Trump and Steve Bannon: “Why does Trump double-down every time it seems like he should retreat? Because Steve Bannon is back in his boss’s good graces.”

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Kouchi taps Dela Cruz

SUBHEAD: Pro-development Senator Donovan Dela Cruz takes over Senate Ways And Means Committee.

By Richard Wiens on 12 May 2017 for Civil Beat -
(http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/05/dela-cruz-takes-over-ways-and-means-as-senate-shake-up-continue s/)

Image above: Ron Kouchi appearing as an extra in the Sopranos. From (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeAiL0sLaT8).

Senate President Ron Kouchi announces new committee assignments, but there’s no word yet on the possibility of a special session for rail.

The shake-up in state Senate leadership that began at the end of the legislative session with the ouster of Sen. Jill Tokuda as chair of the Ways and Means Committee continued Friday with the announcement of some new committee chairmanships.

Senate President Ron Kouchi issued a statement saying that, as expected, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz will replace Tokuda as chair of the money committee, with Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran serving as vice chair.

Tokuda lost her position after some of her colleagues saw her as an obstacle to reaching consensus on a tax plan for the Honolulu rail project. No deal was reached before adjournment May 4, and a special session on the issue is still possible.

[IB Publisher's note: Ron Kouchi is a former Kauai County Council member and later Chair. He failed in a run for Kauai Mayor and then won an election representing Kauai in the Hawaii Senate. He is now President of the Hawaii State Senate.

Donovan Del Cruz is also a Hawaii State senator. He helped Neil Abercrombie introduce the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) that would have made it easy for private developers to acquire public land for speculative development or other commercial operations.

Dela Cruz and Kouchi are two conniving and manipulative sociopaths who are in it to let the speculators succeed. That includes the players in the multi-billion dollar boondoggle of Honolulu Rail. Apparently Senator Jill Tokuda wasn't playing ball.]

Image above: Donovan Dela Cruz in 2014 advocating for Transit Oriented Development of affordable housing near Hawaii Rail Stations. From (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/13145/Lawmakers-Highlight-Need-for-More-Affordable-Housing.aspx).

Kouchi also announced Friday that the Committee on Judiciary and Labor will be split into two committees, with Tokuda chairing Labor and Sen. Brian Taniguchi chairing Judiciary.

During the just-completed session, Dela Cruz was vice chair of Ways and Means, Keith-Agaran was chair of Judiciary and Labor and Taniguchi was chair of the Committee on International Affairs and the Arts.

Kouchi also announced that Sen.Kaiali‘i Kahele will be the new majority whip.

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Wikileaks to reveal illegal CIA acts

SUBHEAD: The CIA, a state non-intelligence agency"calls him a "non-state intelligence service".

By Joe Urchill on 19 April 2017 for Zero Hedge -
(http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-20/us-preparing-charges-arrest-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange)

Image above: A photo of Julien Assange at the Equidorian Embassy in London in September 2016. From (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-16/julian-assange-press-conference-ecuador-embassy/7854166).

In a podcast interview, WikiLeaks head Julian Assange characterized his site's most recent series of leaks as showing "all sorts of illegal actions by the CIA."

In the same interview for the "Intercepted" podcast, Assange accused the CIA director of slamming him "to get ahead of the publicity curve."

The comments came at the beginning of the interview conducted by Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept, as the two discussed CIA Director Mike Pompeo's recent speech calling out WikiLeaks as a "nonstate hostile intelligence service."

"In fact, the reason Pompeo is launching this attack is because he understands we are exposing in this series all sorts of illegal actions by the CIA, so he’s trying to get ahead of the publicity curve and create a pre-emptive defense," Assange said.

The conversation addressed recent allegations that WikiLeaks has stretched the facts in its descriptions of what the CIA files showed. Those allegations were made in The Hill and other news outlets, including The Intercept.

Pompeo told The Intercept that WikiLeaks was "stretching the facts" in saying the CIA was likely intercepting new Apple cellphones to implant malware before the iPhones were sent to purchasers.
"I never liked that article," Assange said on the podcast.

Though he did not defend the Apple claim, he did say that a separate controversy referenced in The Intercept — that another WikiLeaks summary may have implied that the CIA specifically developed techniques to hack encrypted chat apps, which the documents did not show — was unwarranted.

"One of the important revelations from our initial Vault 7 publication was that the CIA had spent enormous resources on developing endpoint attacks, that is, to attack your smartphone directly. ... We thought it was very important to show that, no, that’s not true. The encryption itself is quite good, but if you can hack the endpoints, the encryption doesn’t matter," he said.

Assange also used the interview to reaffirm stances he's taken since publishing internal Democratic Party emails last year during the presidential campaign.

He said he still does not believe his site received files stolen by the Russian government and defended the site as nonpartisan. He said it would have published Republican National Committee emails if it had received them.

He also said he had no "back channel" communications with Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, as Stone has claimed. Stone has told The Hill he communicated with Assange through a mutual friend but said perhaps Assange did not consider the communications as formal as he did.

Assange told "Intercepted" that he does not have a vendetta against 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, as is often alleged.

“I think I’d probably like her in person. Most good politicians are quite charismatic in person. In some ways, she’s a bit like me, She’s a bit wonkish and a bit awkward, so maybe we’d get along,” he said.

US prepares to arrest Assange

SUBHEAD: Called a "non-state intelligence service" today by the "state non-intelligence agency".

By Tyler Durden on 20 April 2107 for Zero Hedge -
(http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-20/us-preparing-charges-arrest-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange)

In a stunning new report, CNN has just revealed, according to anonymous sources at least, that US authorities have prepared charges and will seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for intelligence leaks dating all the way back to 2010.

US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN.

The Justice Department investigation of Assange and WikiLeaks dates to at least 2010, when the site first gained wide attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former US Army intelligence analyst now known as Chelsea Manning.

This latest revelation comes after CIA Director Mike Pompeo ramped up the Trump administration's rhetoric against WikiLeaks describing it as a "non-state hostile intelligence service" earlier this week.

Ironically, as we noted this morning, Pompeo's comments can just days before the FBI and CIA admitted that they are searching for an "insider" at the CIA (not a Russian) who exposed thousands of top-secret documents that described CIA tools used to penetrate smartphones, smart televisions and computer systems.

Last week in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, CIA Director Mike Pompeo went further than any US government official in describing a role by WikiLeaks that went beyond First Amendment activity

He said WikiLeaks "directed Chelsea Manning to intercept specific secret information, and it overwhelmingly focuses on the United States."

"It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: A non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," Pompeo said.Pompeo's comments were, of course, met with an immediate snarky reply from Assange over twitter.

Julian Assange @JulianAssange

Called a "non-state intelligence service" today by the "state non-intelligence agency" which produced al-Qaeda, ISIS, Iraq, Iran & Pinochet.

3:26 PM - 13 Apr 2017

For the past several years, U.S. prosecutors have struggled with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange. In fact, in what now appears to be a very prescient opinion piece, Julian Assange recently penned an article in the Washington Post defending his publications by saying that his motives are "identical to those claimed by the New York Times and The Post."

Quite simply, our motive is identical to that claimed by the New York Times and The Post — to publish newsworthy content. Consistent with the U.S. Constitution, we publish material that we can confirm to be true irrespective of whether sources came by that truth legally or have the right to release it to the media. And we strive to mitigate legitimate concerns, for example by using redaction to protect the identities of at-risk intelligence agents.

During President Barack Obama's administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasn't alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning.

Several newspapers, including The New York Times, did as well. The investigation continued, but any possible charges were put on hold, according to US officials involved in the process then.

All that said, CNN's sources seem to believe those same prosecutors have now found a way to move forward...though we're sure the New York Times won't receive similar arrest warrants.

Of course, it's unclear what immediate purpose the charges will serve given that Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for the sole purpose of avoiding political persecution.

That said, somehow we suspect that some form of 'leverage' is about to be applied against Ecuador to help them 'remember' that they have other immediate and critically important uses for Assange's London bedroom.

.

Japanese meet their whale kill quota

SUBHEAD: Japanese whaling fleeting has reached their self-allocated slaughter quota of killing 333 minke whales.

By Heather Stimmler on 31 March 2017 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/03/japanese-meet-their-whale-kill-quota.html)

Image above: Murdered minke whale wrapped in tarp on deck of Japanese "research" vessel Nishin Maru photoraphed by Sea Shepherd Global. From (http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/i/20170115-gl-si-heli-spots-nisshin-maru-and-2-harpoon-ships-04--gnl3690,c2110221).

This season Sea Shepherdreturned to the Southern Ocean on its 11th Whale Defense Campaign, Operation Nemesis, named for the Greek goddess of inescapable justice.

As the Japanese whaling fleet have expanded their hunting grounds and lowered their self-allocated quota, the biggest challenge was to find and stop them before they’ve killed their quota of whales.

Despite our efforts to once again disrupt the slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean, the Japanese whaling fleeting has reached their self-allocated quota of killing 333 minke whales.

Today Sea Shepherd mourns the loss of these whales. We have called an emergency meeting of the Global Board of Directors in Amsterdam this weekend to review our whale defense strategy in the Southern Ocean, and will release a more detailed statement on Monday morning

We were aware of the challenges from the outset of the campaign – the doubling of the whaling area and the reduced quota that would be easier to reach – but we did our best despite the odds because it was the right thing to do.

And – as usual – we did it without any government support. It is a reminder that the needless slaughter of marine life will continue unless governments stop making hollow statements of disapproval and start taking action to hold Japan accountable.

For further information contact:
Heather Stimmler, Sea Shepherd Global Media Director
E-mail: heather@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel: +339 7719 7742

For Australia and New Zealand media requests, contact:
Adam Burling, Media Coordinator Sea Shepherd Australia
E-mail: adam@seashepherd.org.au
Tel : +61 409 472 922

More about Operation Nemesis:(http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/nemesis/about-operation-nemesis.html)

Sea Shepherd Global
Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit marine conservation movement using innovative tactics and direct action to defend, conserve and protect the worlds oceans and marine wildlife. Founded by Paul Watson in 1977, today Sea Shepherd is a worldwide movement with independent national and regional entities in over 20 countries.

With the exception of the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), they are united by a common mission through Sea Shepherd Global, based in Amsterdam, which coordinates communications, logistics and a fleet of five ships to cooperate on campaigns around the world.

Sea Shepherd investigates and documents violations of international and national conservation law, and enforces conservation measures where legal authority exists.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Japanese Whale Slaughter 1/15/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Japanese whaling inside sanctuary 12/23/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sea Shepherd to obstruct Japanese 12/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sea Shepherd Patrols Atlantic 8/9/16
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Restrictions on Hawaii public land

SOURCE: Rayne Regush (RayneRegush@aol.com)
SUBHEAD: New law will make it that much easier to legally prohibit access to public trails.

By Debora Chang on 28 March 2017 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/03/rrestrictions-on-hawaii-public-land.html)

Image above: Photo by Kaleo Lancaster of hike on Laie Ridge Trail on public land on Oahu, Hawaii. From (http://kaleolancaster.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html.

Please take some time to read about this bill which is making its way through the legislature. I’m concerned that it could make many of us criminal trespassers if passed.

It is SB895 SD1 HD1 and here’s the link to the current version: See (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=895&year=2017).

I have also attached a PDF copy of it here: (http://www.islandbreath.org/2017Year/03/170329SB895.pdf).

The bill is scheduled for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee this Wednesday, March 29.

Unfortunately, I’ve been distracted with other concerns to pay much attention to the legislative session this year (like most of us who have jobs to do). I did see a Native Hawaiian testifying against this bill on the TV news a few weeks ago, which prompted me to take a closer look.

My concerns are not with the beginning part of the bill, but with the rather innocent-looking changes proposed at the latter part of the bill.

Beginning on p. 5, agricultural government property would be added to the list of offenses qualifying as criminal trespass in the second degree. While criminal trespass in the second degree is a “petty misdemeanor,” you end up with a criminal record if found guilty of such an offense.

The bill starts off making it a criminal trespass offense to enter on to closed “improved state land.” It describes lands that are clearly developed, fenced, signed, and closed to public access.

I don’t have a problem with such regulations over state harbors, highway baseyards, etc., although advocates of the homeless seem to be most concerned about this part of the bill.

Where the bill gets especially relevant to those of us who live in rural areas surrounded by vast, undeveloped agricultural lands, is from page 5 to the last page, where it proposes to amend Section 708-814 of the HRS.

Agricultural private lands have had this protection from trespassers in the law for some time. This bill would add government property to this protection.

The only requirement would be to post no trespassing signs at reasonable intervals and next to roads or trails entering the property.

My major concern is where historic Hawaiian trails exist on private lands. These trails, in many cases, are government property.

The Haleakala Trail, Judd Trail, Hookena-Kauhako Trail, several trails to Kaawaloa, and Kauai Ala Loa, are just a few historic trails that come to mind. These trails and many others are kept closed by the state for lack of “resources” to open them to the public. While they remain closed, they are vulnerable to being “lost” to neglect, becoming overgrown and unrecognizable, damage, and destruction.

This law will make it that much easier to legally prohibit access to trails that are public trails per the Highways Act of 1892.

Most people are respectful of keep out signs, and over time the knowledge that a public trail exists in that area will be lost.

Only Native Hawaiians will be able to legally access the public trails as part of customary practices, but posting a no trespassing sign at the trail is likely to discourage or intimidate Native Hawaiians too.

The law currently protects Native Hawaiian rights to use the trails – see Section 6 on the bill’s last page. Is this an acceptable approach where public trails are concerned?

Another important detail: the Bill’s "Description" on the final page states that the criminal trespass offense applies to government agricultural property even though it may not be fenced or enclosed.

This clearly applies to historic trails, which are usually not fenced on both sides or otherwise enclosed.

The more I read this bill, the more deeply concerned I become. I urge you to email your concerns to the House Judiciary Committee members as soon as possible, if you share these concerns! Here’s the link to the committee that names the members: See (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/committeepage.aspx?comm=JUD&year=2017)

If you want to send an email to them you can use this link: See (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=895&year=2017)

There is a “Submit Testimony” button near the top. You will have to go through a sign in procedure before submitting your testimony.

Mahalo for your time and attention! If we don’t care, who will?

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Determining Kauai's Ala Loa Trail 2/18/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai's Ala Loa Trail 11/6/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Haleakala Trail is public land 4/27/14
Ea O Ka Aina: The Ala Loa Trail 4/10/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Trails and Tribulations 2/26/13

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Japanese whaling inside sanctuary

SUBHEAD: Sea Shepherd intercepts Japanese whaling fleet deep in the Australian Whale Sanctuary

By News Staff on 23 December 2016 for Sea Shepherd Global -
(http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/r/sea-shepherd-intercepts-japanese-whaling-fleet-deep-in-the-australian-whale-sanctuary,c2156478)

Image above: Sunrise over icebergs from bridge of the Ocean Warrior . From ().

Yesterday at approximately 6:40pm GMT, Sea Shepherd’s patrol vessel the Ocean Warrior intercepted one of the harpoon ships of the Japanese whale-poaching fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

"The crews of the Ocean Warrior and the MV Steve Irwin have been battling through thick fog and ice to protect the whales in the Australian whale sanctuary," said Captain Adam Meyerson of the Ocean Warrior. "The Yushin Maru was hiding behind an iceberg and came out on a collision course."

The harpoon ship was located approximately 165 miles northeast of Australia's Casey base, well inside the Australian whale sanctuary (64˚15' S 115˚06' E). Sea Shepherd's vessels are now on the hunt for the centerpiece of the illegal Japanese whaling fleet, the floating slaughterhouse known as the Nisshin Maru.

"Finding one of the hunter killer ships hiding behind an iceberg in a thick fog means that the rest of the fleet is nearby,” says Meyerson. “We all hope to have whaling in the Southern Ocean shut down by Christmas."

In the meantime, foggy weather conditions have made for poor for visibility for the whaling fleet, which is a great sign for the whales.

"While I applaud the work Sea Shepherd are doing locating the Japanese whaling fleet deep inside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, it is appalling that they are having to do the Australian Government's work for them,” said Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in a statement reacting to the news. “The whales are getting more protection from the weather than from the Australian Government.”

About Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis is Sea Shepherd’s 11th Antarctic whale defense campaign. In Sea Shepherd’s past ten campaigns over 6,000 whales have been spared the grenade-tipped harpoons of the illegal Japanese whaling fleet. Japan’s so-called “scientific research” program used to justify the killing of whales has been rejected by the International Court of Justice and the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee. In 2015 the Australian Federal Court fined the Japanese whalers $AU1 million for hunting within an Australian whale sanctuary, however it remains unpaid.

Image above: Sunrise over icebergs from bridge of the Ocean Warrior . From ().

See more here: http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/nemesis/about-operation-nemesis.html
http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/nemesis/about-operation-nemesis.html
For further information, photos and interview requests, contact:

Heather Stimmler, Sea Shepherd Global Media Director
E-mail: heather@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel: +339 7719 7742 (EUROPE, GMT+1)

For Australia and New Zealand media requests, contact:
Adam Burling, Media Coordinator Sea Shepherd Australia
E-mail: adam@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel : +61 409 472 922 (AUSTRALIA, GMT+11)

.

Wikileaks got info from Democrat

SUBHEAD: Ex-British ambassador who is now a WikiLeaks operative claims Russia did NOT hack Clinton emails.

By Alan Goodman on 14 December 2016 for the Daily Mail -
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4034038/Ex-British-ambassador-WikiLeaks-operative-claims-Russia-did-NOT-provide-Clinton-emails-handed-D-C-park-intermediary-disgusted-Democratic-insiders.html)

Image above: John Posdesta in a "I guess I blew it!" moment. From (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/russia-responsible-podesta-wikileaks-hack-230095).

[IB Publisher's note: This explanation of obtaining Wikileaks and publishing John Podesta the contents of John Podesta's emails is at least as convincing as "It was a Russian hack job!" version the Democrats are putting up. The point is "Are they the truth?" Apparently the answer is Wikileaks published the truth. The other explanation is out there too - that Podesta's staff fell for an obvious phishing effort with a staff member falling for an email saying "You must change your gmail password immediately!" In either case -the Clintons were fools who committed criminal behavior and Podesta is a fool.]

A Wikileaks envoy today claims he personally received Clinton campaign emails in Washington D.C. after they were leaked by 'disgusted' whisteblowers - and not hacked by Russia.

Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and a close associate of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, told Dailymail.com that he flew to Washington, D.C. for a clandestine hand-off with one of the email sources in September.

'Neither of [the leaks] came from the Russians,' said Murray in an interview with Dailymail.com on Tuesday. 'The source had legal access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks.'

His account contradicts directly the version of how thousands of Democratic emails were published before the election being advanced by U.S. intelligence.

Murray is a controversial figure who was removed from his post as a British ambassador amid allegations of misconduct. He was cleared of those but left the diplomatic service in acrimony.

His links to Wikileaks are well known and while his account is likely to be seen as both unprovable and possibly biased, it is also the first intervention by Wikileaks since reports surfaced last week that the CIA believed Russia hacked the Clinton emails to help hand the election to Donald Trump.

Murray's claims about the origins of the Clinton campaign emails comes as U.S. intelligence officials are increasingly confident that Russian hackers infiltrated both the Democratic National Committee and the email account of top Clinton aide John Podesta.

In Podesta's case, his account appeared to have been compromised through a basic 'phishing' scheme, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly told members of Congress during classified briefings that they believe Russians passed the documents on to Wikileaks as part of an influence operation to swing the election in favor of Donald Trump.

But Murray insisted that the DNC and Podesta emails published by Wikileaks did not come from the Russians, and were given to the whistleblowing group by Americans who had authorized access to the information.

'Neither of [the leaks] came from the Russians,' Murray said. 'The source had legal access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks.'

He said the leakers were motivated by 'disgust at the corruption of the Clinton Foundation and the tilting of the primary election playing field against Bernie Sanders.'

Murray said he retrieved the package from a source during a clandestine meeting in a wooded area near American University, in northwest D.C. He said the individual he met with was not the original person who obtained the information, but an intermediary.

His account cannot be independently verified but is in line with previous statements by Wikileaks - which was the organization that published the Podesta and DNC emails.

Wikileaks published the DNC messages in July and the Podesta messages in October. The messages revealed efforts by some DNC officials to undermine the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was running against Hillary Clinton.

Others revealed that Clinton aides were concerned about potential conflicts and mismanagement at the Clinton Foundation.

Murray declined to say where the sources worked and how they had access to the information, to shield their identities.

He suggested that Podesta's emails might be 'of legitimate interest to the security services' in the U.S., due to his communications with Saudi Arabia lobbyists and foreign officials.

Murray said he was speaking out due to claims from intelligence officials that Wikileaks was given the documents by Russian hackers as part of an effort to help Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election.

'I don't understand why the CIA would say the information came from Russian hackers when they must know that isn't true,' he said. 'Regardless of whether the Russians hacked into the DNC, the documents Wikileaks published did not come from that.'

Murray was a vocal critic of human rights abuses in Uzbekistan while serving as ambassador between 2002 and 2004, a stance that pitted him against the UK Foreign Office.

He describes himself as a 'close associate' of Julian Assange and has spoken out in support of the Wikileaks founder who has faced rape allegations and is currently confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Assange has similarly disputed that charges that Wikileaks received the leaked emails from Russian sources.

'The Clinton camp has been able to project a neo-McCarthyist hysteria that Russia is responsible for everything,' Assange told John Pilger during an interview in November.

'Hillary Clinton has stated multiple times, falsely, that 17 US intelligence agencies had assessed that Russia was the source of our publications. That's false – we can say that the Russian government is not the source.'

The Washington Post reported last Friday that U.S. intelligence agencies had 'identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails.'

The paper said U.S. senators were presented with information tying Russia to the leaks during a recent briefing by intelligence officials.

'It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,' a senior U.S. official familiar with the briefing told the Post. 'That's the consensus view.'

The paper said U.S. senators were presented with information tying Russia to the leaks during a recent briefing by intelligence officials.

'It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,' a senior U.S. official familiar with the briefing told the
Post. 'That's the consensus view.'

The Obama administration has been examining Russia's potential role in trying to influence the presidential election. Officials said Russians hacked the Republican National Committee, but did not release that information in a deliberate effort to damage Clinton and protect Donald Trump.

Several congressional committees are also looking into the suspected Russian interference.

While there is a consensus on Capitol Hill that Russia hacked U.S. political groups and officials, some Republicans say it's not clear whether the motive was to try to swing the election or just to collect intelligence.

'Now whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that's the subject of investigation,' said Sen. John McCain on CBS Face the Nation. 'But facts are stubborn things, they did hack into this campaign.'

President elect Donald Trump raised doubts about the reports and said this was an 'excuse' by Democrats to explain Clinton's November loss.

'It's just another excuse. I don't believe it,' said Trump on Fox News Sunday.

.

Clinton Foundation wedding gift

SUBHEAD: Chelsea accused of using Clinton Foundation money to live on and pay wedding expenses.

By Tyler Durden on 6 November 2016 for Zero Hedge -
(http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-06/doug-band-accuses-chelsea-using-clinton-foundation-money-pay-her-wedding)

Image above: The Chelsea Clinton's $3million wedding to former Goldman Sachs' Marc Mezvinsky. From (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-06/doug-band-accuses-chelsea-using-clinton-foundation-money-pay-her-wedding).

[IB Publisher's note: And that's why we voted for Jill Stein for President.]

A couple of days ago Zero Hedge shared a Podesta email from Doug Band about Chelsea talking openly in public about her "internal investigation" into the Clinton Foundation.

As with many of the Doug Band email chains, the rabbit hole just got a little deeper today with Band accusing of Chelsea of "using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade" among other accusations. He also concludes with another veiled threat on the consequences "once we go down this road...."

The investigation into her getting paid for campaigning, using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade, taxes on money from her parents....

I hope that you will speak to her and end this

Once we go down this road....

Image above: Image of email from Doug Band to John Pedesta regarding, in part, misuse of Clinton Foundation funds by Chelsea Clinton. From original article.

The implications are troubling: as our friends from the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation point out, "*If true* people (then) worth well into 8 figures used 501c3 $ to pay for a wedding."

The latest Band email comes after he previously accused Chelsea of talking about her "internal investigation" in the Clinton Foundation with "one of the bush 43 kids.

I just received a call from a close friend of wjcs who said that cvc told one of the bush 43 kids that she is conducting an internal investigation of money within the foundation from cgi to the foundation

The bush kid then told someone else who then told an operative within the republican party

I have heard more and more chatter of cvc and bari talking about lots of what is going on internally to people

Not smart

Something tells us that Chelsea and Doug may not be on speaking terms for a while after all the WikiLeaks revelations.

.

Clinton Foundation admits crimes

SUBHEAD: Confidential memo of audit of Clinton Foundation shows illegal activities.

By Tyler Durden on 6 November 2016 for Zero Hedge -
(http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-05/leaked-clinton-foundation-smoking-gun-memo-reveals-it-was-not-compliance-law)

Image above: Bill, Hillary and Chelsea make a presentation for the Clinton Global Initiative University, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation. From (http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/clinton-foundation-scandal/).

[IB Publisher's note: And that's why we voted for Jill Stein for President.]
There are conflicting reports whether the FBI may or may not indict the Clinton Foundation, which as the WSJ reported last week is being investigated by various FBI teams, even as other parts of the Bureau - and the DOJ - seek to squash the probe.

The latest dump of Podesta emails has revealed a critical, confidential memo from prominent New York lawyer Kumiki Gibson to Clinton Foundation Chairman Bruce Lindsey (and former Bill Clinton attorney) which was performed as part of an inside audit of the foundation, and confirms that the charitable organization (which it found "operates more like a political operation") was engaged in practices that broke the law.

As Gibson (who according to her resume "counseled the William J. Clinton Foundation, an international not-for-profit organization, on structural, legal, and compliance issues” from May 2008 until January 2014) wrote the purpose of the confidential November 10, 2008 memo, was to:

"set forth the findings of my review of the Legal and Human Resources Departments of the William J. Clinton Foundation (“Foundation”) and those pertaining to other areas of the Foundation revealed during this review, and my recommendations to the Foundation based on this review."

The summary reveals serious reservations about the viability of the foundation - which "operates more like a political operation" than a "professional, strategic, and sustainable corporation committed to advancing its overall mission" - if and when Bill Clinton were to depart and "the Foundation has to rise and/or fall on its own name and work only."

While the Foundation has grown impressively over the past several years, it has a number of fundamental organizational challenges and deficiencies that undermine its effectiveness, expose it to significant risk, and, ultimately, threaten its long-term survival. The Foundation (as opposed to its initiatives, which I have not reviewed) operates more like a political operation focused on immediate situations, tasks, and events, as opposed to a professional, strategic, and sustainable corporation committed to advancing its overall mission. While that may not be a problem while the President is personally involved in the Foundation -- and can garner support based on that involvement -- it will be a problem when he is no longer involved, and the Foundation has to rise and/or fall on its own name and work only.

The chief risks identified in Gibson's outside review, stem from both its Legal and Human Resource Departments, as well as Bill Clinton's unwillingness to "allow the Board and CEO to make the changes necessary for it to become sustainable, even great."

If the leadership (that is, the Board and the CEO) intends and wants the organization to survive beyond the President’s personal involvement, then it must take measures to move the organization onto a path of sustainability, starting with revamping both the Legal and Human Resources (“HR”) Departments; reviewing its corporate structure and governance documents; and, perhaps most importantly, having a frank discussion with the President about the current state of the organization, the future of the organization, and his appetite and willingness to allow the Board and CEO to make the changes necessary for it to become sustainable, even great.

As the summary concludes, "the time for making these changes, if they are desired, could not be better: The presidential campaign, which distracted some key employees and caused uncertainty among others about the future of the organization, is now over; virtually all of the employees interviewed are anxious for more structure, professionalism, and mission-focus; and funders are expecting the same."

Next follows a detailed and highly critical analysis of the Foundation's (1) shared values, (2) strategy, (3) structure, (4) systems, (5) staff, (6) style, and (7) skills, which the review finds "the Foundation to significant legal and reputational risks, results in inconsistencies and inefficiencies, and undermines its work and viability" and leads to the following conclusion about the CF's operational shortcomings:

The assessment of the organization through the 7-S Framework makes clear that the organization is not operating as effectively or efficiently as it should or could. Indeed, it has major deficiencies in each of the fundamental areas. Each of these deficiencies, standing alone, threatens the effectiveness of the Foundation in the short and long term. When combined, as currently the case, they threaten its very existence (absent the President’s involvement).

The outside legal review of the Clinton Foundation is that, at least operationally, the only thing that was keeping the enterprise going was the presence of Bill Clinton, whose anchor role to match donors with "uses of funds" and subsequent distribution of favors , aka "pay for play" made the former president indispensable in an organization that would otherwise not survive:

Because it is unclear whether the President wants the Foundation to exist beyond his personal involvement, the Foundation’s leadership (that is, the Board and CEO) should address this question head-on with the President. That will require a frank discussion with the President about his desire, willingness, and appetite to move the Foundation to the next level of development. If the President concludes that he does, in fact, want the Foundation to survive and thrive beyond his involvement, then he should authorize and empower the CEO and Board to make the changes necessary for this survival.

However, while all of that is troubling, and suggests that the CF was - from day one - just a corporate extension of Bill Clinton's persona, it was in no way illegal. Where the alarm bells go off, however, is taking a look at page 9 of the memo, where Gibson does a review of the Foundation's "Legal and HR Departments", something troubling emerges, which perhaps the FBI may want to take a particularly close look at. The following:

No matter what the leadership decides about the larger, over-arching question, it must act immediately to bring the Foundation into compliance with the law and standards that govern not-for-profits, and must create strong legal and HR offices so to prevent any lapses in the future.

The memo also notes that "the Foundation has very few procedures, processes, and systems in place, and even fewer that are consistent across the organization. For example, it is missing several policies/procedures that are required by law (e.g., record retention policy). Moreover, although it has an employee manual, that manual is not comprehensive and is not distributed or followed consistently across the organization."

What makes this (systems) deficiency particularly problematic is that (1) the organization is legally liable for the acts of its offices and initiatives and those who run them; (2) managers in key positions have no to little experience in not-for-profit management and thus do not even possess the right instincts when faced with a problem for which there is no policy or procedure; and (3) there is no established mechanism for catching problems and mistakes.

Gibson's take: "In short, the systems deficiency subjects the Foundation to significant legal and reputational risks, results in inconsistencies and inefficiencies, and undermines its work and viability. "

Simply stated, as of the day the memo was written, the Foundation was not in compliance with the law and with standards that govern "not-for-profits."

Among the policies and procedures that Gibson found missing or inadequate at the Foundation were the following, some of which - such as the procedures the CF was utilizing in Harlem - may be in violation of the law. Here is a brief sample of the findings:

The Foundation lacks important policies and procedures and a real process to ensure compliance, resulting in increased risks, confusion, conflicting (and perhaps arbitrary) decisions, and inefficiencies.
The Foundation does not have a record retention policy, and the procedures currently utilized in Harlem may violate the law.
It is unclear whether lower level employees actually meet the definition of exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Processes and employment decisions are made on an ad hoc basis.
Staff complained about the lack of comprehensive and/or written policies and procedures.
Staff complained about the lack of a real complaint and/or whistleblower policy.

And many more.

Furthermore, and more troubling, the review pointed to a high-ranking but unnamed foundation executive who was “being paid by [President Clinton], the government and the foundation” who “allowed the foundation to host what may have been (or may have been viewed as) a political event, apparently without official pre-approval from the foundation’s legal department and without regard, before the fact, to the impact of that decision on the foundation’s tax exempt status.”

While the conclusion avoids repeating the explicit accusation of operating outside of the law - we assume Gibson did not want to scare the Clinton Foundation too much, and thus avoid repeat work - it is a stark condemnation of the underlying practices and principles of operation:

The challenges and deficiencies plaguing the Foundation cannot be over-stated: They are real and undermine the organization’s effectiveness, immediately and more long term. To address the issues that present immediate threats, the Foundation should revamp its Legal and HR operations, should review its governance structure and documents; and should have an open and honest discussion with the President about the future of the Foundation.

It is illegal for tax-exempt non-profit foundations like the Clinton Foundation to be linked with partisan political events as described in the review report.

The Lindsey memo was distributed just two days before the Clinton Foundation signed an agreement with Obama’s transition office Dec. 12, 2008, as part of the president-elect’s decision to appoint Hillary Clinton as the nation’s chief diplomat. Obama wanted assurance that no conflicts of interest would arise between Clinton’s work as Secretary of State and the foundation, which had operations in numerous foreign countries.

It is unclear if any of these recommendations were implemented, or if the CF is now in "compliance with the law and standards that govern not-for-profits."

It is clear, however, that at least at one point it was not. It remains to be seen if such illegal activity will be grounds for the DOJ to permit the FBI to do its job and indict a foundation that, as lawyer determined, was operating in a fraudulent fashion.

.

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Ea O Ka Aina

The Dog Wags Trump

Trump and Russian Bombshell

Ex Fukushima bosses on trial

Trump is a cornered animal

Trump-Russia Timeline Perspective

Kouchi taps Dela Cruz

Wikileaks to reveal illegal CIA acts

Japanese meet their whale kill quota

Restrictions on Hawaii public land

Japanese whaling inside sanctuary

Wikileaks got info from Democrat

Clinton Foundation wedding gift

Clinton Foundation admits crimes

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