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Thursday, December 7, 2017

Second Volkswagen Exec Sentenced to Prison for Diesel-Emissions Scandal


Strange how the judicial system works. This guy is going to do 7 years for a diesel-emissions scandal.


Now compare this to Clinton who denied repeatedly she never sent nor received emails that were "marked" classified on her home-brewed server, which she used exclusively while serving as secretary of state.

Comey:

"From the group of 30,000 emails returned to the State Department in 2014, 110 emails in 52 email chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received," Comey said. "Eight of those chains contained information that was top-secret at the time they were sent."


And with these 'qualifications', she not only avoided jail... she ran for president! 

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The second Volkswagen executive in less than half a year has been sentenced to prison for his role in the automaker’s diesel-emissions scandal, according to reports from a Detroit federal court.

Oliver Schmidt, 48, formerly general manager of the company’s environmental office in Michigan, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a $400,000 fine. Schmidt was arrested by the FBI in January while visiting Miami after the Department of Justice issued a warrant for him and five other executives in Germany. Volkswagen pleaded guilty as a corporation that month to three criminal felony charges and was ordered to pay $4.3 billion as part of a settlement. U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox called Schmidt a “key conspirator” who “knowingly misled and lied to government officials,” as quoted by Automotive News reporter Larry Vellequette.

“VW is not going to walk into this room. VW is a group of individuals, and it is individuals who make choices,” said prosecutor Ben Singer. “Maybe it didn’t start out as Mr. Schmidt’s scheme, but it became his scheme. And that’s important.”

Schmidt, according to Automotive News, said he learned of the defeat device in August 2015 and agreed to “talking points” from VW management prior to speaking with California environmental regulators. Those were later found to be lies, although Schmidt had actually attempted, via email to the head of Volkswagen of America in 2014, to warn management regarding a potential indictment and what the Automotive News report called “economic risks.”

“For the disruption of my life, I only have to blame myself,” said Schmidt during his sentencing. “I justified my decisions by telling myself that I was obliged to speak for my superiors. The man that stands before you today no longer believes that.”

James Robert Liang, 63, an engineer who was not part of the original federal indictment from January 2017, was sentenced to 40 months and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine in August. Liang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to committing wire fraud in violating the Clean Air Act back in September 2016.




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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

PIERS MORGAN: He claims he wants peace but Trump has just enraged a billion Muslims and poured oil on the flames of a war that could consume us all




Morgan is an asshole wuss. 

Didn't Britain just discover a Muslim planned terrorist attack to kill Theresa May?


I'll squash his argument with two indisputable facts.

1. The controversy surrounding the move of the embassy dates back decades. A law passed in 1995 under the Clinton administration considers Jerusalem the capital, and even mandates the move of the embassy there. Trump is the only president who had the balls to do it.

2. He uses the word enraged. Name me a time dating back to the RFK assassination Muslims weren't enraged about something?




It's called fear of Islam.

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Before you start to read good old Piers bear in mind every forthcoming terrorist attack, which was going to happen anyway, will quickly be blamed on Trump's Jerusalem decision. 

BTW...Here are some of Piers buddies after they were allowed to colonize his country:





What's the first thing you're told by your parents as a kid when you're anywhere near fire?

That's right: don't pour oil on it.

Why?

Well, ignore the advice and see for yourself – the fire will instantly erupt into a far larger and more furious ball of violent flame, endangering the lives of everyone in the immediate vicinity.

Today, President Donald Trump has taken a million-ton barrel of oil and tipped it all over the Middle East.

His decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as the new capital city of Israel, and to move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, is a staggeringly reckless act of willful provocation even by his tweet-enraging standards.

And it could very quickly turn out to be a far more worrying threat to world peace than even the North Korea crisis.

I don't say this lightly.


U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the proclamation Wednesday that announces the United States recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving its embassy there


To understand the enormity of this decision, it's important to understand the history behind it.

Jerusalem is at the very heart of the Israel/Palestine conflict.

West Jerusalem is the home of Israel's government; East Jerusalem is the home to 300,000 Palestinians.

Both sides insist it must be the capital of their states.

This is why America has trodden very carefully when it comes to Jerusalem, locating its embassy in Tel Aviv since Israel's creation in 1948.

They are not alone in this. No other country in the world has their Israeli embassy in Jerusalem, acknowledging that to do so would be incredibly inflammatory.

Now President Trump is re-igniting this smoldering tinderbox in spectacular fashion.

He apparently considers it a roll of the dice worth throwing to force through a peace settlement.


Palestinian protesters burn the American flag and Israeli flag in the city of Gaza City on December 6 after Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel


Almost everyone else sees it as a desperately dangerous gamble that could have disastrous consequences for the whole already war-ravaged region.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman told Trump personally in a phone call it 'would constitute a flagrant provocation of Muslims all over the world'.

King Abdullah of Jordan said it would have 'serious implications for security and stability in the Middle East'.

Turkish President Erdogan described it as a violation of international law and a 'red line' for Muslims that would force Turkey to sever all diplomatic ties with Israel.

China warned it could 'sharpen regional conflict, initiating new hostility'.

Russia, a key Middle East player, agreed, expressing concern over 'possible deterioration'.


'I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,' Trump said from the White House Wednesday. 'It's the right thing to do'

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking in similar terms to Germany and the UK, told Trump to urgently reconsider the plan, stressing that the status of Jerusalem 'must be resolved through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians'.

Pope Francis spoke of his 'deep worry' about the situation and pleaded for 'wisdom and prudence' to prevail. He said: 'I make a heartfelt appeal so that all commit themselves to respecting the status quo of the city.'

Palestinians, obviously, are livid. Their leader Mahmoud Abbas warned of 'dangerous consequences' and an end to the peace process.

Hamas, the extremist arm of the Palestinians, said it would constitute a 'dangerous escalation' that 'crosses every red line' and called for 'days of rage' to protest.

Despite this extraordinary global opposition, Trump has gone ahead and done it anyway.

As things stand, the only people who will be happy about this are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his right-wing government, and their supporters.

And the Christian Right in America.


French President Emmanuel Macron (left) told Trump to urgently reconsider the plan and Pope Francis (right) spoke of his 'deep worry' about the situation and pleaded for 'wisdom and prudence' to prevail

Having been raised Catholic allow me to say in my lifetime this is the most worthless pope we ever had. As far as Macron goes he'll be wearing this by tomorrow...





But this decision is not even something most Americans support.

A new poll by the University of Maryland found that 66% of Americans, including 44% of Republicans, oppose moving the embassy.

The majority of Americans and American Jews believe that international recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital city can and should only come to an agreement with the Palestinians on a two-state solution.

And in that eventuality, parts of the city would be ring-fenced as Israel's capital, other parts as Palestinian's capital – with each side having sovereignty over the areas in which its citizens reside.

Jerusalem is one of the most sacred cities on the planet, home to Muslims, Jews and Christians and some of the most important holy sites of all those religions.

Trump's decision tells the entire Arab and Christian world that it now belongs to the Jews of Israel and not them.

This incendiary move comes at a time when many were hoping real progress could be made in reaching some kind of two-state solution.


Palestinians play cards during U.S. President Donald Trump's televised speech in the West Bank City of Nablus, Wednesday


Protesters shout slogans against US President Donald Trump as they hold Turkish flags during a protest against the Israel in Istanbul


Indeed, Trump's own son-in-law Jared Kushner has been working for months on behalf of the administration to forge new impetus for a peace deal in an attempt to finally end the conflict.

But all his efforts, and those of the myriad others who devote their lives to this are now likely to go up, quite literally, in smoke.

I'm all for fresh new thinking when it comes to the Israel/Palestine crisis, as Trump put it today because let's be perfectly frank: none of the old thinking has worked.

This, though, is a terrible idea that will make things worse, not better.

In the short term, Trump's decision will inevitably spark a new wave of violence and instability across the region.

In the longer term, it will surely embolden Islamist terror groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS right and act as their greatest possible recruitment drive.

This, self-evidently, will make Israel less safe.

As for America, by moving from peace-broker to blatant side-taker, it is deliberately waving an Israeli red rag in the face of the Arab bull.

That can only make any resolution to this interminable issue even more unlikely.

And I fear it will also make America a less safe country, too.


An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man rides a bicycle as the US and Israeli flags are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's old city, Wednesday


Donald Trump has already enraged the world's Muslims on a regular basis.

During his election campaign, he called for a ban on all Muslims entering the US following a terror attack in California.

This week, his controversial watered-down travel ban, that targets seven predominantly Muslim countries, was given the green light by the Supreme Court.

Last week, Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by a racist, Islamophobe, criminal group named Britain First.

So Muslims already feel this President is their enemy.

Today's announcement won't just confirm that suspicion, it will heavily cement it.

The Palestinian ambassador to London said the move amounts to 'declaring war on 1.5 billion Muslims.'

Hyperbole or not, there is no question that Donald Trump has just poured oil on the fire.

Or worse, as President Erdogan's spokesman put it, he's 'plunging the region and the world into a fire with no end.'

God help us.

Who's pouring oil gas on the fire?






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Al puts another notch on the gun before the guillotine falls tomorrow













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Peter Strzok ' investigation'... Clinton vs Trump




HILLARY'S SERVER PROBE 

Peter Strzok was a key investigator into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified intelligence when she was Secretary of State. Here is how his role affected the key players. 

Huma Abedin: Cleared despite telling untruths


Hillary Clinton's right-hand woman was interviewed by Strzok and questioned about her knowledge of the existence of Clinton's secret server. 

Strzok wrote a summary of the interview which said: 'Abedin did not know that Clinton had a private server until about a year and a half ago when it became public knowledge.'

In fact, Abedin had been involved in a series of email exchanges which demonstrated that she knew about the server, including one from an IT aide which said: 'I had to shut down the server. Someone was trying to hack us...'

Cheryl Mills: Cleared despite telling untruths 


Mills was chief of staff and counselor to Clinton when she was Secretary of State. 

Strzok summarized the interview with her which he conducted in April 2016, saying: 'Mills did not learn Clinton was using a private server until after Clinton’s tenure. Mills stated she was not even sure she knew what a server was at the time.'

In fact, a series of emails from the time demonstrated that neither assertion by Mills could be true.

'HRC email coming back — is server okay?' Mills emailed to Justin Cooper, the IT aide in February 2010. 

Despite that email, Strzok accepted that she did not know what a 'server' was at the time.

In August 2011 she received an email from Stephen Mull, a State Department IT official, which said Clinton had asked for a new Blackberry which was malfunctioning 'possibly because of her personal email server is down'. 

Abedin was also sent the email. 

Hillary Clinton: Cleared her of criminal level gross negligence by removing term from critical Comey memo


Then FBI Director James Comey sent a message to three top officials in the bureau on May 2, 2016, summarizing the latest position on the Clinton probe.

It included the damning sentence: 'There is evidence to support a conclusion that Secretary Clinton, and others, used the private email server in a manner that was grossly negligent with respect to the handling of classified material.'

The phrase 'grossly negligent' was critical as that is the standard which needs to be reached to bring a federal prosecution for mishandling classified intelligence. In other words, Comey was saying that she should be charged.

But the language was changed on June 10 and the phrase 'grossly negligent' replaced by Strozk with 'extremely careless' - below the standard for prosecution. 

The memo then formed the basis for James Comey's July statement on Clinton which said she would not be charged. 

THE RUSSIA PROBE 

After Robert Mueller was appointed Special Counsel to look into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Strzok was assigned to his team. He was removed when his anti-Trump texts to his mistress came to light. Here is what is known and what is still unknown about his actions

Mike Flynn: Oversaw interviews where he lied to FBI 


Strzok was the official overseeing FBI interviews of Mike Flynn, the former general who was Trump's first national security adviser.

It is unknown exactly how many times Flynn was interviewed by the FBI but he dramatically pleaded guilty last Friday to lying to the feds in an interview in January when he was still in office.

Flynn admitted lying about his dealings with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the U.S. 

He was interviewed at least once more and now faces a sentence of up to five years in prison for his crime.

However, it appears likely he will receive a far lighter sentence as he is a cooperating witness with the Mueller investigation and has even agreed to take part in covert evidence-gathering for the FBI. 

Jared Kushner and other Trump officials: Did he oversee interviews and charges?


Mugshot: George Papadopolous, first Trump aide to plead guilty in the Mueller probe

As the FBI's most senior counter-intelligence agent on the Mueller taskforce, it appears certain that Strzok would also have overseen the interviews it is known the FBI has conducted so far, but his involvement has not been confirmed.

One of those questioned by FBI agents includes Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. 

Others known or reported to have been interviewed include Hope Hicks, now Trump's White House director of communications.

She had been his campaign spokeswoman and steamed his suits while he wore them on his plane.

Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign director, was interviewed by the FBI after his home was raided in a dramatic pre-dawn entry, and has now been charged with counts including conspiracy. 

Also charged was Rick Gates, Manafort's aide in the campaign and Manafort's long-time right-hand man. 

And the first guilty plea in the Mueller probe was by George Papadopolous, a campaign aide who admitted lying to the FBI. Again Strzok's role is still to be made public.







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Nothing going on here right?




FBI Agent Strzok fired from Mueller probe for sending anti-Trump texts to his lover interviewed Mike Flynn before his guilty plea AND Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills before Hillary was cleared


A top FBI official who was tossed from the Russia probe was behind FBI Director James Comey's use of the phrase 'extremely careless' about Hillary Clinton 

The phrase replaced Comey's 'grossly negligent' wording, which would have mirrored a criminal statute that Clinton was never prosecuted for violating

Peter Strzok, the partisan agent, was also involved in questioning Michael Flynn before he was prosecuted for lying to the Bureau

And Strzok also helped interrogate Hillary Clinton lawyer Cheryl Mills and top aide Huma Abedin, but that case produced no criminal charges 

Emails show Mills and Abedin referring to Clinton's server, but they told the FBI they were unaware it existed until it because public knowledge
President Trump has tweeted about the Strzok story, suggesting both the Flynn and Clinton investigations were tainted by bias

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This stinks about as blatantly as the tarmac meeting! So here we have an FBI agent leading an investigation of Trump, who hates Trump, and just so happens he is the agent who also investigated Clinton and her email scandal. What a fucking coincidence! Now you know why the Clinton team was granted immunity. Now you why Comey decided weeks before interviewing her he wasn't going to bring any charges... even after that blistering dissertation. Probably to relieve is own sense of shame. 

And finally Lynch's big lie "I will accept whatever recommendation the FBI and prosecutors make about charges in the inquiry over Hillary Clinton’s email server." Which dovetailed perfectly with the Comey 'recommendation' .
"Although there is evidence of potential violations regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."

The fix was in.


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 Peter Strzok has been involved in both Trump and Clinton-focused probes - and texted his lover anti-Trump messages

The FBI agent who was dismissed from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe for sending his lover anti-Trump text messages is turning into a Forrest Gump character who figured in a number of key moments in the Bureau's recent history.

Peter Strzok was reassigned to the FBI's human resources department after the text messages between him and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were uncovered. 

He was already known to be the agent who edited then-Director James Comey's reprimand of Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured private email server for classified messages. 

Strzok, among the top officials investigating Clinton, changed Comey's description of her conduct from 'grossly negligent' – language that mirrors the criminal code – to the softer words 'extremely careless.'

His photograph was revealed by Fox News

Now it can be revealed that Strzok was also part of the team that quizzed disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn before he pleaded guilty to lying during that interview. 

And he participated in the FBI's sit-down interviews with two Clinton insiders linked to her email scandal, both of whom got a free pass despite making statements to agents that were later challenged by other records.



Clinton aide Huma Abedin was interviewed by Strzok, but he didn't refer her for criminal charges despite proof she was not forthcoming about what they knew of the presidential candidate's classified email scandal





An FBI agent already under scrutiny for sending anti-Trump text messages was behind changing James Comey's description of Hillary Clinton's behavior in regards to her private email server then went to work for Mueller's Russia probe


The email probe included question-and-answer sessions with several senior Clinton aides including lawyer Cheryl Mills and chief of staff Huma Abedin.

And when those two friends-of-Hillary sat down for their third-degree sessions, Strzok – the partisan anti-Trump agent – was asking many of the questions.

Mills and Abedin both denied knowing of Clinton's unorthodox email server setup, according to summaries of their interviews that the Bureau released last year. 

'Mills did not learn Clinton was using a private server until after Clinton's [State Department] tenure. Mills stated she was not even sure she knew what a server was at the time,' one agent's interview notes read.

And Abedin told agents, they wrote, that she 'did not know that Clinton had a private server until about a year and a half ago when it became public knowledge.'

But in emails released by State, Mills and Abedin both referred to Clinton's server specifically, The Daily Caller reported Monday.

Then-FBI Director James Comey defended the Clinton aides' contradictory statements when he testified in a House Judiciary Committee hearing about six weeks before the 2016 election.

'Having done many investigations myself, there's always conflicting recollections of facts – some of which are central, some of which are peripheral,' Comey said then.

President Trump railed against Strzok's actions on Sunday, as the Washington Post and New York Times reported that his text messages 'expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton.'

ABC News had reported Strzok's departure from the Russia probe in August, but without offering a reason.

Now the controversy could taint not one, but two of the biggest federal investigations in the last year.





President Trump latched onto news reports that said FBI agent Peter Strzok was pulled off the Mueller probe after anti-Trump text messages were found. Strzok was also a lead investigator on the Hillary Clinton email probe, with Trump now suggesting bias 

'Tainted (no, very dishonest?) FBI "agent's role in Clinton probe under review,"' Trump tweeted Sunday morning. 'Led Clinton Email probe. @foxandfriend Clinton money going to wife of another FBI agent in charge.' 

The latter dig was meant for Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, whose wife took campaign donations from a Clinton ally, the outgoing Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. 

The FBI has pointed out that McCabe had no role in the Clinton investigation until months after his wife's political campaign had concluded. 

But Page, the lawyer who exchanged anti-Trump texts with Strzok, was on McCabe's staff. 

Trump went after Strzok again by writing, 'Report: "ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT LED CLINTON EMAIL PROBE"'

'Now it all starts to make sense,' Trump said. 




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