Category: National Security

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Climate Change National Security U.S. Senate WTF?!

Ted Cruz Says The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Should Be Fired For Believing In Climate Change

Bless his tiny, coal-black heart, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) just cannot accept facts that go against his own fantasies and lies about something as fundamentally hazardous to every person who lives in this planet as climate change and and global warming.

It’s not that Cruz doesn’t know any better. He does. But he chooses to deny scientific evidence so he can continue to get large campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies, many of whom have major operations in the Lone Star State.

However, this time Ted is going even further over the crazy line and demanding that the the Joint Chiefs of Staff who run the U.S. armed forces be fired for daring to agree with something President Joe Biden said during a speech.

Biden told a collection of Air Force personnel that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told him that global warming is the “greatest threat facing America.”

And yes, the Defense Department has indeed warned that global warming and climate change will greatly worsen “poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership and weak political institutions that threaten stability in a number of countries.”

Despite that, Cruz couldn’t resist tweeting out a video of Biden’s speech along with a sarcastic notation that the either the top military brass be fired or President Biden was lying:

Actually, Ted, neither of those options is the least bit factual. The joint chiefs do not need to be fired and President Biden isn’t lying. Also, why did Cruz never see fit to call Donald Trump a liar? At least he’d have been right on that one.

However, something good did come out of Teddy’s snarky posting: The reactions he received from others on social media:

Sorry, Ted, but as usual you’re full of shit and too arrogant to admit your own ignorance.

 

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Corruption National Security The Trump Adminstration

Michael Flynn Is Facing Penalties From The Army For Taking Russian Money

Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn doesn’t have to worry about going to prison for lying under oath thanks to a pardon from his good friend, failed, one-term president Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get off scot-free for playing footsie with the Russians.

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Army is looking to punish Flynn for his failure to reveal that he received $45,000 from a Kremlin-controlled media organization. In return for the money, Flynn agreed to sit next to Russian president Vladimir Putin at a dinner held in 2015:

“The investigation focuses on Flynn’s acceptance of money from Russian and Turkish interests before joining the Trump administration, a potential violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause. With few exceptions, U.S. officials, including retired service members like Flynn, are prohibited from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments. Flynn retired from the Army as a three-star general in 2014.”

Army officials are also said to be upset by Flynn’s remarks about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. Flynn even went so far as to suggest that Trump — acting as commander in chief — could declare martial law and order a “redo” of the election in key swing states where President Joe Biden triumphed over Trump.

If they choose, the Army could penalize Flynn financially:

Defense Department guidelines warn that it ‘may pursue debt collection’ if a retired service member does not secure approval to accept foreign payments before doing so.

In other words, all of the money Flynn earned working for Russia or other countries would have to be paid back to the Pentagon because he failed to disclose the payments he received.

Considering all the harm Flynn has done to the United States, it’s a shame the Army can’t just lock him up and also collect the ill-gotten money.

 

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Corruption Crime Donald Trump National Security The Trump Adminstration

The Impeachment Inquiry Now Has A Star Witness Who Can Bring Down Trump

Late Friday evening, news broke that Kurt Volker, who had served as special envoy for Ukraine, had suddenly resigned from the Trump administration. The Washington Post noted:

“Volker tendered his resignation to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, within hours of an announcement from three House committees that the veteran diplomat was among State Department officials who would be compelled to testify.

“That committee has set a hearing for Thursday for Volker, one of several officials whose interactions with Trump or Ukrainian officials are outlined in a whistleblower complaint.”


As the special envoy to Ukraine, Volker tried for months to set up a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That means that Volker likely knows details about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and is also familiar with Trump’s attempt to trade $400 million in military aid for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who have been cleared of any wrongdoing regarding business dealings the younger Biden had in Ukraine.

And since Volker has insider information, he can potentially implicate his boss, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and others in the administration, including Trump. Pompeo was subpoenaed by three congressional committees on Friday for documents related to the impeachment inquiry which was formally initiated earlier this week.


Former CIA Russian operations chief Steve Hall remarked Saturday on CNN that Volker could wind up being a star witness for the impeachment inquiry:

“With Giuliani’s involvement and president saying what he did to the newly elected, very inexperienced president of Ukraine, it seems to me — and hopefully we will hear from him to discuss further what his thinking process was — it seems to me he just said ‘Look, this is kind of a mess and I don’t know that I want to be a part of it.’”


Hall also added:

“We’ll find out whether there’s any more of that or what (Volker’s) willing to say about the work he was doing either with Giuliani, or perhaps around or despite Giuliani. We need to hear more from him about that. It will be very interesting to see what he says.”

It certainly will. And if Volker can shed more light on exactly what Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Pompeo, and others in the administration did to further the Ukraine conspiracy and cover-up, he may wind up being the key to unwinding the facts that will all but guarantee articles of impeachment are drawn up against Donald Trump.

Mr. Volker, you now have the floor.

Categories
Corruption National Security Politics Russia

‘Moscow Mitch’ Gets Caught Carrying Water For Russia Again

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has repeatedly refused to allow bipartisan legislation that would protect American elections from reaching the Senate floor, accusing Democrats of wanting to pass bills that would give them an unfair advantage in the 2020 election.

McConnell’s recalcitrance when it comes to defending our election process even earned him a new nickname, Moscow Mitch, which was given to him by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.


For his part, McConnell accused those suggesting he’s protecting Russia by not letting election-security bills of engaging in McCarthyism, remarking on the Senate floor:

“I don’t normally take the time to respond to critics in the media when they have no clue what they’re talking about, but, this modern-day McCarthyism is toxic, and damaging, because of the way it warps our entire public discourse.”

And yet, once again we see McConnell involved in an issue that suggests his loyalties may be divided between his country of birth and the one being run by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

According to a bombshell new report from Politico, two former staffers in McConnell’s Senate office lobbied Congress and the Treasury Department regarding a new aluminum mill in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. That mill is being built by Russian aluminum giant Rusal:

“The Russian firm was only able to make the investment after it won sanctions relief from penalties the Treasury Department initially imposed in April 2018 on Rusal and other companies owned by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch and Kremlin ally accused of facilitating Moscow’s nefarious activities, such as seizing land in Ukraine, supplying arms for the Syrian regime and meddling in other countries’ elections.”


Yes, the sanctions were lifted by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, exactly as McConnell wanted them to be.

So two former staffers for McConnell went to bat for Rusal, the sanctions were lifted, and three months later Rusal announced it would invest in the Kentucky aluminum mill. Interesting time, isn’t it?


Here’s another question that needs to be asked: How did McConnell manage to increase his net worth from $2 million to $26 million in just ten years? He earns a salary of $193,400 a year:

Let’s be clear and not equivocate: Until Mitch McConnell proves otherwise, it should be assumed that he’s working as an agent of the Russian government and is a threat to U.S. national security. There can be no doubt who owns and controls him, and their address is in Moscow, not the Bluegrass State.

Categories
Corruption Crime Foreign Policy National Security Nukes The Trump Adminstration

Elijah Cummings Reveals Trump Has Potentially Illegal Ties To Saudi Arabia

Now we know the real motive behind Donald Trump’s attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) have nothing to do with a 2020 campaign strategy or to solidify the GOP base in anticipation of next year’s election.

Instead, it’s clear that the president is terrified. And based on a report issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that Cummings chairs, Trump has every reason to be worried about what comes next for him.


The report in question suggests that top Trump administration officials, as well as the president himself, were actively working behind the scenes to help Saudi Arabia in exchange for payoffs from business interests in the kingdom, Vanity Fair reports:

“A new House Oversight Committee report revealed the extent to which a private company and the Trump allies associated with it were able to use the administration to further their own financial interests in Riyadh. The new House report centers on how IP3, a private company described by one nuclear industry exec as ‘the Theranos of the nuclear industry,’ has been attempting to circumvent the obstacles stopping them from transferring U.S. nuclear technology to the Saudis—with the Trump team’s help. ‘With regard to Saudi Arabia, the Trump Administration has virtually obliterated the lines normally separating government policymaking from corporate and foreign interests,’ the House report alleges. “The documents show the Administration’s willingness to let private parties with close ties to the President wield outsized influence over U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia.”


Remember how Trump downplayed the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi-born journalist who worked for the Washington Post, even though U.S. intelligence confirmed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination? It would seem that the president did so because he knew people around him (and even the Trump Organization) stood to benefit financially if the Saudis were kept happy.

In a statement issued with the report, Rep. Cummings wrote:

“Today’s report reveals new and extensive evidence that corroborates Committee whistleblowers and exposes how corporate and foreign interests are using their unique access to advocate for the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. The American people deserve to know the facts about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President’s personal friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.”


These connections between the White House and Saudi Arabia are just the latest evidence that this administration is out of control and that the president and his top advisers are only interested in enriching themselves, even at the expense of U.S. national security.

Congress doesn’t need to look any further for evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors by this president. It has more than enough to begin impeachment. It’s time to take the next step and hold this criminal accountable.