Obama administration says $400M to Iran was contingent on release of prisoners

1. Muslim Terrorist attack...after spin job <> Workplace Violence.

2. Ransom is not Ransom... it is a contingency on the release of American prisoners being held in the country. Aka muddling the water.

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The Obama administration admitted Thursday that a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was contingent on the release of American prisoners being held in the country – while still denying that the payment was a ransom.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the negotiations to return the money – originally from a 1979 failed military equipment deal made between Iran and the U.S. – were conducted separately from negotiations to free the four prisoners.

The four detainees who were released on January 17 were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose case had not been publicized before the release.

However, Kirby said that the U.S. withheld the cash delivery until Iran made good on its promise to release the prisoners.

“In basic English you are saying you wouldn’t give [Iran] the 400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct?” asked a reporter at Thursday’s State Department briefing.

“That’s correct,” Kirby responded.

The new details, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, added to criticisms from Republicans that it was a ransom paid by the Obama administration. Kirby’s admission only served to add fuel to the controversy.

“What the State Department admitted today was the dictionary definition of a ransom payment and a complete contradiction of what they were saying just two weeks ago,” RNC Spokesman Michael Short said in a statement. “It’s time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”

"If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. If a cash payment is contingent on a hostage release, it's a ransom,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “The truth matters and the President owes the American people an explanation."

Earlier this month, after the revelation the U.S. delivered the money in pallets of cash, the administration flatly denied any connection between the payment and the prisoners.

"Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false," Kirby tweeted at the time.

"This wasn’t some nefarious deal," Obama said during an August 4 press conference. "We do not pay ransom for hostages."

The agreement was the return of the $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest, terms that Obama described as favorable compared to what might have been expected from a tribunal set up in The Hague to rule on pending deals between the two countries.

Abedini has claimed that he and the other hostages were kept waiting at an Iranian airport for more than 20 hours before their departure. Abedini said he was told by a senior Iranian intelligence official that their departure was contingent on the movement of a second plane.

State Department officials denied Abedini's claims to the Journal, saying the delay was due to issues locating Rezaian's wife and mother, who accompanied him on the flight.

According to the Journal, GOP leaders say they plan to hold hearings on the payment next month, when Congress returns from its summer recess. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., chair of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, last week sent letters to the Justice and Treasury Departments, as well as the Federal Reserve, requesting more information the transaction.

Obama administration says $400M to Iran was contingent on release of prisoners

Julian Assange Sees 'Incredible Double Standard' In Clinton Email Case

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has lived for four years to avoid extradition to Sweden.Carl Court/Getty Images

Julian Assange says if the United States government sees him as a threat to national security, it should see Hillary Clinton as one, too.

In an interview with Morning Edition's David Greene, the founder of WikiLeaks called the Department of Justice's decision not to prosecute Clinton for handling classified information on her private email server an "incredible double standard."

Assange has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for four years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on suspicion of rape.

In a statement last month, FBI director James Comey said the FBI "did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws," but that the use of a private email server was "extremely careless." Comey advised the Justice Department "no charges are appropriate in this case," and career prosecutors agreed.

Assange noted that, had a case proceeded, Clinton could have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917, which bans the disclosure of classified information to an unauthorized person "with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States."

Assange said in the past courts have found that a lack of intent to harm the United States did not absolve the accused of guilt.

"There has been an interpretation saying that it doesn't matter that you didn't intend to harm the United States, but they seem to have changed the standard."

In 2013, U.S. Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning was convicted of the Espionage Act after disclosing classified military information to WikiLeaks. Some have criticized the conviction, arguing Manning was a whistleblower, not a spy with intent to harm the United States.

In his NPR interview, Assange regarded the open disclosure of information with reverence. He referred to WikiLeaks' 11 million documents as a "rebel Library of Alexandria."

"I believe that the way to justice is education," Assange said. "By bringing out into the public domain how human institutions actually behave, we can understand frankly, to a degree, for the first time the civilization that we actually have," Assange said.

As an example, he cited one of WikiLeaks' more recent publications: The 20,000 hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee. Those emails revealed that some senior DNC staffers had worked to promote the candidacy of Hillary Clinton over her opponent Bernie Sanders. Four DNC officials resigned in the aftermath, including its chair, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Assange called the leak "a great journalistic scoop."

"That's a remarkable and important contribution to U.S. democracy by our sources and by WikiLeaks," Assange said. He questioned how other publications might have handled the information.

(The same way they always do)

"What media organization who had received that information would not publish it? I think that's a real question. I would like to say the answer is, no media organization would censor that material," Assange said.

But, he added, "I'm not confident that in fact all media in the United States would have published those emails," referring to what he called the partisan nature of the U.S. media landscape leading up to the election.

The potential source of the leaked material has intrigued some as much as its substance: U.S. officials have said they're "highly confident" the DNC hack was the work of the Russian government. Assange, however, said he could not give any information to Greene about who his sources are.

"So far we have a perfect record of WikiLeaks having never revealed information that exposed a source over ten years," Assange said.

In the interview, Assange also spoke about the Trump campaign - he'd happily receive any authentic "internal documentation" from it. And when asked about the murder of a DNC staffer early last month, who some have speculated was a WikiLeaks source, Assange repeated that WikiLeaks does not disclose its sources, "even dead sources."

Julian Assange Sees 'Incredible Double Standard' In Clinton Email Case

...And they were worried about Zika

Ryan Lochte, other US swimmers robbed in Rio

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CNN)Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte and three other US swimmers were safe and cooperating with police Sunday after being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. Olympic Committee said. 

One of the bandits reportedly put a gun to Lochte's forehead. 

Lochte and fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen had left a hospitality house hosted by France early Sunday in a taxi bound for the Olympic Village. 

The vehicle was "stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes' money and other personal belongings," said USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky. 

Appearing on NBC, Lochte offered chilling details. 

"We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a police badge, no lights, no nothing -- just a police badge and they pulled us over," Lochte told NBC. "They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground -- they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn't do anything wrong, so -- I'm not getting down on the ground.

"And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet -- he left my cell phone, he left my credentials."

"I think they're all shaken up," Lochte's mother, Ileana Lochte, told USA Today.

Lochte released a statement thanking family, friends, and fans for their support.

"While it is true that my teammates and I were victims of a robbery early Sunday morning, what is most important is that we are safe and unharmed," he said.

https://t.co/LgkoJe4qkm pic.twitter.com/Ed3V6vWhuf— Ryan Lochte (@RyanLochte) August 14, 2016

Bentz tweeted, "We are all safe. Thank you for your love and support."

@TheGunnyBunny P.s. the gold medal is safe 😂— Gunnar Bentz (@TheGunnyBunny) August 14, 2016

Rio de Janeiro civil police told CNN they have opened an investigation, a few hours after first learning about the robbery from the media, and had not been contacted by the USOC.

Fellow Team USA swimmer Nathan Adrian said he heard the news about the incident when he woke up, but said he wasn't worried.

"[I'm] certainly very happy that all those boys are safe, you know that's the number one priority on top of everything," he said. "Rio is an amazing city and there is going to be problems anywhere you go."

"We were given briefings in a couple of meetings coming into this," American swimmer Ryan Murphy added. "I think we all trust our security guys and they have done a great job throughout this whole trip with us."

Lochte's mugging comes after a handful of incidents that have brought Rio's safety into question.

Cellphone thefts in Rio: Pickpockets eye Olympics 

A Paralympic athlete was mugged in June, and a few days before the Opening Ceremonies, Australian Olympians were robbed after their building was evacuated. 

The window of a media van was hit by an unidentified object -- which one reporter thought was a bullet -- and shattered 

And two stray bullets were also found at the equestrian site.

With 12 Olympic medals, Lochte, 32, is the second-most decorated male Olympic swimmer of all time, behind Michael Phelps.

...And they were worried about Zika

Milwaukee riots: Violence in US city after police shoot dead armed 23-year-old in African-American community

There's no winning here. Where is the RULE OF LAW?

(Somehow you just knew he was going to have a bright future)

Oh...and 99 out of 100 rioters couldn't tell you his name.

 Another "saint" with a long rap sheet carrying a stolen gun, ordered to drop it, and wouldn't. So now, if the thugs are armed or not it doesn't matter. The new code of conduct is what?
The cops have to hold off unless they're shot at first?

The incident occurred in one of the city's most impoverished, and predominantly African-American, neighborhoods. And you can bet your predominantly bottom dollar that's where the crime is going to be. They don't call it the "hood" for nothing. Blacks are shot for a reason. Not because of racism. But because they commit the vast majority of the crimes. As I said a million times before. They're never doing anything wrong but for some strange reason they wind up getting shot. Which is fine in the black community... unless they're shot by a cop.

This happened on July 25th

2 dead, 17 hurt in shooting at teen party in Florida nightclub

Still waiting for BLM to show up.

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Violence has erupted overnight in the US city of Milwaukee after a police officer shot and killed an armed man in an African-American community.

Protesters hurled bricks and fired gunshots at police cars and set a gas station on fire.

The violence came hours after the patrol officer shot and killed the 23-year-old a pursuit that followed a traffic stop.

Milwaukee police said a uniformed officer had opened fire while chasing the man.

Neither the race of the suspect nor the officer were disclosed by authorities, though the dead man's age was given as 23.

The incident occurred in one of the city's most impoverished, and predominantly African-American, neighborhoods.

A police car with broken windows is seen in a photograph released by the Milwaukee Police Department

The suspect, who the department said had a lengthy arrest record, was armed with a stolen handgun.

It did not say whether the man fired any shots during the incident. Mayor Tom Barrett said the gun was loaded with 23 rounds.

A crowd later broke the windows of an unoccupied squad car and set another one on fire before setting a gas station ablaze.

"Our city is in turmoil tonight," said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council.

Authorities believe fires were set at a total of three locations, the mayor said, and firefighters were initially unable to combat the blazes because of shots being fired .

 

A gas station was set on fire during a night of violence

The disturbances were the latest in a series of protests that have gripped U.S. cities - including Baton Rouge, Dallas, Ferguson, Missouri, New York and Oakland - over the past two years in the wake of killings by law enforcement officers.

All of the previous incidents involved young African-American males, giving rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

"This is a warning cry," said Alderman Khalif Rainey. "Black people of Milwaukee are tired. They are tired of living under this oppression."

Firefighters were battling a second large blaze at an auto parts store near the scene. A local NBC affiliate also aired video of firefighters at bank where smoke was rising out of its front window.

The identity of the armed suspect shot dead has not yet been released

One officer was hit in the head by a brick thrown through a squad car window. Protesters fired shots and hurled rocks as police attempted to disperse the crowd, which local media reported numbered more than 100.

Three arrests were made in the city in connection with the unrest, said Assistant Police Chief James Harpole, adding that multiple gunshots were fired from various locations during the disturbances.

Police cars have also been shot at in the city

The officer involved in the shooting of the suspect was on administrative duty during the investigation and subsequent review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.

Milwaukee Police Assistant Chief Bill Jessup told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it was not clear if the suspect pointed the gun or fired at the officers.

"Those additional facts will come out in the coming days," Jessup was quoted as saying.

Milwaukee riots: Violence in US city after police shoot dead armed 23-year-old in African-American community

FBI mutiny? U.S attorney Preet Bharara to open criminal investigation into the Clinton Foundation

Having detailed Clinton-appointee Loretta Lynch's DOJ push-back against the FBI's Clinton Foundation probe, it seems Director Comey has decided to flex his own muscles and save face as Daily Caller reports, multiple FBI investigations are underway involving potential corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation, according to a former senior law enforcement official.

At the time, three field offices were in agreement an investigation should be launched after the FBI received notification from a bank of suspicious activity from a foreigner who had donated to the Clinton Foundation, according to the official.

FBI officials wanted to investigate whether there was a criminal conflict of interest with the State Department and the Clinton Foundation during Clinton's tenure.

The Department of Justice had looked into allegations surrounding the foundation a year earlier after the release of the controversial book "Clinton Cash," but found them to be unsubstantiated and there was insufficient evidence to open a case.

DOJ officials pushed back against opening a case during the meeting earlier this year.

Some also expressed concern the request seemed more political than substantive, especially given the timing of it coinciding with the investigation into the private email server and Clinton's presidential campaign.

However, as DailyCaller reports, the FBI is undertaking multiple investigations involving potential corruption charges against The Clinton Foundation.

The investigation centers on New York City where the Clinton Foundation has its main offices, according to the former official who has direct knowledge of the activities.

Prosecutorial support will come from various U.S. Attorneys Offices — a major departure from other centralized FBI investigations.

The New York-based probe is being led by Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

The official said, "involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York would be seen by agents as a positive development as prosecutors there are generally thought to be more aggressive than the career lawyers within the DOJ.”

The former official said the investigation is being coordinated between bureau field offices and FBI managers at headquarters in Washington, D.C. The unusual process would ensure senior FBI supervisors, including Director James Comey, would be kept abreast of case progress and of significant developments.

The reliance on U.S. attorneys would be a significant departure from the centralized manner in which the FBI managed the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server and email addresses.

That investigation was conducted by agents at FBI headquarters, who coordinated with the Department of Justice’s National Security Division (NSD).

While Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for Bharara, said he would “decline comment," and FBI spokeswoman Samantha Shero said, “we do not have a comment on investigative activity,” we wonder if the unusual procedures and the tone of that comment suggests a mutinous FBI standing up to the politicized Department of Justice?

FBI mutiny? U.S attorney Preet Bharara to open criminal investigation into the Clinton Foundation