Trump era: Fascist dawn, or road to liberation?

Borderland Beat: Minute by Minute: Migrants at San Ysidro POE
Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: AFNTJ Pacific Standard Time
Sunday, November 25, 2018
For those of you not following online, or by television or radio you may wish to start at the bottom of the timeline and check AFN link for Updates.

13: 36PM: There are reportedly some attacks by Mexicans against Central Americans in the vicinity of the San Ysidro port of entry.

13: 33.- The closing of a shopping center in San Ysidro USA is reported by the migrant demonstration

13: 17 .- Elements of the Federal Police continue to seek the withdrawal of migrants in the of the Tijuana River canal. They are slowly achieving it.

13: 10.- A group of migrants returns to the access point of the TJ River canal where apparently some migrants began to throw rocks and some Molotov cocktails towards the North American side. While on the US side US authorities continue to throw tear gas.

13: 02.- Meanwhile, at the access point of the river canal Mexican federal forces also began to point the migrants towards the international line, at this point the retreat is also carried out peacefully.

13: 01.- They begin to withdraw the group of migrants who were at the access point of the railway. At the moment the migrants are retiring in order at the request of the federal authorities.

12: 54.- The Secretary of the Interior ,Alfonso Navarrete Prida , said that after the violent incursion of the migrants, some "agitators" or "provocateurs" have already been identified who, according to the official, incited violence, Navarrete warned that he will be deported.

This type of identified persons, in turn, assured that the federal forces will continue to contain without weapons and discarded the intervention of the army.

12: 47.- There were several access points where the migrants tried to cross. From the chaparral customs precinct, the traffic lanes of the Garita, on the train tracks, in some streets of the federal colony, in the canal of the river, as well as in other points of reported entry attempts.

12: 46.- There are reports that some isolated groups of just a few dozen migrants crossed at the railway access point and at the airport. However, the status of these people has not been reported.

12: 44.- The international border crossing is still closed with no announcement yet of the moment when it can be reopened.

12: 43.- An important group of federal police have arrived next to the San Ysidro POE to ask all migrants to leave. At the same time Central American migrants have said they will not stop and are ready "to do everything" before returning to their places of origin.

12: 21.- At the moment the aggression with rubber bullets and tear gas in the national territory by the Americans has stopped. However, the tension in the international line continues.

12: 20 .- The migrants who are on the side of the Tijuana River canal continue arguing that there are children and USBP should not attack them. While elements of the Border Patrol continue to challenge and provoke the migrants by signing to have them go back and not attempt to cross.

12: 16 .- At the access point of the River Canal the Americans placed a barrier of land itself that the migrants intended to start to collapse, however elements of the army and migration of the United States began to throw tear gas and shoot rubber bullets against the group that was at the same time observed several helicopters who watch the movement of migrants from above.

12: 13.- On the side of the railroad crossing there are also dozens of migrants trying to cross. It is a site where the use of rubber bullets and tear gas was reported. At the moment there is the unofficial report of two migrants injured by rubber bullets that apparently shot from US soil.

12: 11.- "They can not shoot us, we do not bring arms, we bring children" we can hear the Central Americans who are a few steps away from the United States, who crossed through the River canal.

12: 10.- The Central American migrants use the children to show them to the elements of the Border Patrol and the army to avoid being attacked.

12: 09.- Rubber bullets and tear gas grenades have begun to be thrown at the migrants apparently by the North American elements.

12: 07.- Dozens of Central Americans are already concentrated in the canal of the Tijuana River next to the international line, where they are trying to cross illegally. At the same time elements of the border police and the army are still waiting for the actions carried out by migrants.

12: 02.- Dozens ( ?? ) of motorists are interested in crossing lines while showing discomfort. Also the pedestrian crossing has been closed.

12: 01.- Mexican federal authorities as well as Americans officially close the San Ysidro International port of entry to the USA.

11: 49 AM .- Immigration staff standing guard at the facilities of the port, they told the migrants that whoever wants to continue having an opportunity to an asylum should return to the shelter.

11: 46.- Some Central American migrants have already reached the international line by the side of the Tijuana River. However, so far they have not tried to cross illegally, they only see the so-called "other side" expectantly.

11: 44.- The dozens of Mexicans who were entering the United States pedestrians ran scared when they saw the attitude of the Central American migrants.

11: 43.- On the side of the United States there is a significant number of Border Patrol Officers who remain expectant in the face of the actions of migrants on the Mexican side.

11: 35.- They begin to place metal fences almost 3 meters high at the access point of the chaparral

Point of Entry to Mexico. There are dozens of anti-riot elements of the federal police who guard the facilities and prevent the group of migrants who apparently intend to make a massive crossing to the United States.

11: 30.- Dozens of anti-riot elements of the federal and municipal police have formed fences in at least four rows as a guard at the point of access to Mexico in the sentry box, approx 100 elements.

11: 29.- The circulation of access to Mexico has been closed at the Chaparral POE to the US.

11: 27.- Migrants keep running around the international line to look for an access point. Some of them have started to show violent attitudes. While others remain in a peaceful position.

11: 25 .- At least a dozen migrants are surrounding the international line to find an access point where they can cross illegally into the United States.

11: 24.-Elements of the Federal Police managed to contain the arrival of migrants to the International line and at the moment they are trying to return while the Central Americans continue to look for a point to cross over.

11: 23- Some migrants claim that they have been beaten by Mexican Federal Police officers.

11: 22.- Dozens of migrants are already a few meters from the international line, so far without intentions of wanting to cross into the United States illegally.

11: 21.- While the federal government tries to contain the flow of migrants towards the international line. There have been dozens of people who are a few meters from the International border crossing, the hundreds of migrants swarm around the 100 or so Mexican Federal Police who are unable to retain them.

11: 19 .- Start of the clashes between migrants and anti-riot elements of the federal police. While dozens try to break into the facilities of the sentry box.

11: 17.- Dozens of Central Americans entered the federal facilities of the chaparral on the Mexican side. While some federal elements try to avoid their entry and return to those who already invaded. This while listening to the cries of the dozens of migrants.

11: 13.-The migrant march began to retreat to seek access to the international line through other points. There are already some of them trying to get to the part of the river and below the Chaparral Bridge. While some elements of the federal seek to prevent them from entering this point of the border line.

11: 02.- While federal police ask the migrants to return, they hear some shouting in the group of the protesters themselves.

10: 54.- People from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are part of the caravan and a group of only 200 to 300 migrants of the more than 5,000 that are in the shelter are those who make this planned peaceful demonstration.

10: 53.- Human Rights Organizations are present at the march as the fifth visitor of the CNDH, Edgar Corzo Sosa, who heads a group of observers of the agency, said that they supervise that the rights of migrants are respected.

10: 47.- Irineo Mujica of "Peoples Without Borders", said that the reason for this march is to make the United States see its existence and put pressure on the neighboring country to accelerate its migratory processes. NOTE: This is group Chivis referred to in her Post yesterday.

10: 46.- After stopping their march towards the international line, the migrants ask the group for prudence and demonstrate that it is a peaceful demonstration, additionally they admitted their fear that if there is disorder, their physical integrity could be endangered, thus they are seeking to remain peaceful.

10;40 AM Before the human barrier of federal police with riot gear, the demonstration has stopped at the PedWestMex Bridge, which connects the San Ysidro Port of Entry with the US, where migrants send slogans, from "Thanks to Mexico", as they chant and carry slogans where they say they are peaceful and hard-working people.

10: 38 AM : The migrant delegation, which already counts for more than 200, is already arriving at the vehicular bridge near the San Ysidro port, better known as the PedWestMex, where at least three lines of federal police in riot gear awaiting them to avoid them reaching precisely the international line.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1066830740095025153

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The situation on the boarder is scary. I was releaved to read (from post above) the migrants agreed to retreat back to their camp. It seems, that if they where receiving aid from People Without Boarders, Soros etc. then that help stopped in Tijuana as far as sustenance goes, now there are only observers as far as I can tell. Its not their MO to be obvious after all. The whole thing is insane. It certainly has flushed out the motives of the Globalists and hopefully alerted more people in the USA of the serious situation of having an open southern boarder. In part, maybe its a desperate move by the Democrats to flood the US with voters for them in the 2020 election.

I heard in one report that women and children were being paid to join the caravan. Can't say if there is any proof of that but they certainly are considered an important element in the propaganda machine. Now they're being trotted out at the boarder. Fortunately,(hopefully) there is no danger involved when they do this.
The Central American migrants use the children to show them to the elements of the Border Patrol and the army to avoid being attacked.
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Thu, Nov 19, 2018 - The Only Regime Change That Is Needed Is in Washington
The Only Regime Change that Is Needed Is in Washington - American Herald Tribune

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One of the things to look forward to in the upcoming holiday season is the special treats that one is allowed to sample. Fruitcake and nuts are Thanksgiving and Christmas favorites. They usually come in tins or special packages but it seems that this season some of the nuts have escaped and have fled to obtain sanctuary from the Trump Administration.

Currently, there is certainly a wide range of nuts available on display in the West Wing. There is the delicate but hairy Bolton, which has recently received the coveted “Defender of Israel” award, and also the robust Pompeo, courageously bucking the trend to overeat during the holidays by telling the Iranian people that they should either surrender or starve to death. And then there is the always popular Haley, voting audaciously to give part of Syria to Israel as a holiday treat.

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Ambassador James Jeffrey Nut of the Month *(Secretary Pompeo officiates the Swearing-In Ceremony for Ambassador James F. Jeffrey. Image credit: U.S. Department of State/ flickr)

But my vote for the most magnificent nut in an Administration that is overflowing with such talent would be the esteemed United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey. The accolade is in part due to the fact that Jeffrey started out relatively sane as a career diplomat with the State Department, holding ambassadorships in Iraq, Turkey, and Albania. He had to work hard to become as demented as he now is but was helped along the way by signing on as a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), which is a spin-off of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Jeffrey set the tone for his term of office shortly after being appointed back in August when he argued that the Syrian terrorists were “. . . not terrorists, but people fighting a civil war against a brutal dictator.” Jeffrey, who must have somehow missed a lot of the head chopping and rape going on, subsequently traveled to the Middle East and stopped off in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It has been suggested that Jeffrey received his marching orders during the visit.

James Jeffrey has been particularly active during this past month. On November 7th he declared that he would like to see Russia maintain a “permissive approach” to allowing the Israelis to attack Iranian targets inside Syria. Regarding Iran’s possible future role in Syria, he observed that “Iranians are part of the problem not part of the solution.”

What Jeffrey meant was that because Israel had been “allowed” to carry out hundreds of air attacks in Syria ostensibly directed against Iran-linked targets, the practice should be permitted to continue. Israel had suspended nearly all of its airstrikes in the wake of the shoot-down of a Russian aircraft in September, an incident which Moscow has blamed on Israel even though the missile that brought down the plane was fired by Syria. Fifteen Russian servicemen were killed. Israel reportedly was deliberately using the Russian plane to mask the presence of its own aircraft.

Russia responded to the incident by deploying advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria, which can cover most of the more heavily developed areas of the country. Jeffrey was unhappy with that decision, saying “We are concerned very much about the S-300 system being deployed to Syria. The issue is at the detail level. Who will control it? what role will it play?” And he defended his own patently absurd urging that Russia, Syria’s ally, permit Israel to continue its air attacks by saying “We understand the existential interest and we support Israel” because the Israeli government has an “existential interest in blocking Iran from deploying long-range power projection systems such as surface-to-surface missiles.”

On November 15th James Jeffrey was at it again, declaring that U.S. troops will not leave Syria before guaranteeing the “enduring defeated” of ISIS, but he perversely put the onus on Syria and Iran, saying that “We also think that you cannot have an enduring defeat of ISIS until you have fundamental change in the Syrian regime and fundamental change in Iran’s role in Syria, which contributed greatly to the rise of ISIS in the first place in 2013, 2014.”

As virtually no one but Jeffrey and the Israeli government actually believes that Damascus and Tehran were responsible for creating ISIS, the ambassador elaborated, blaming President Bashar al-Assad for the cycle of violence in Syria that, he claimed, allowed the development of the terrorist group in both Syria and neighboring Iraq.

He said “The Syrian regime produced ISIS. The elements of ISIS in the hundreds, probably, saw an opportunity in the total breakdown of civil society and of the upsurge of violence as the population rose up against the Assad regime, and the Assad regime, rather than try to negotiate or try to find any kind of solution, unleashed massive violence against its own population.”

Jeffrey’s formula is just another recycling of the myth that the Syrian opposition consisted of good folks who wanted to establish democracy in the country. In reality, it incorporated terrorist elements right from the beginning and groups like ISIS and the al-Qaeda affiliates rapidly assumed control of the violence. That Jeffrey should be so ignorant or blinded by his own presumptions to be unaware of that is astonishing. It is also interesting to note that he makes no mention of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, knee-jerk support for Israel and the unrelenting pressure on Syria starting with the Syrian Accountability Act of 2003 and continuing with the embrace of the so-called Arab Spring. Most observers believe that those actions were major contributors to the rise of ISIS.

Jeffrey’s unflinching embrace of the Israeli and hardline Washington assessment of the Syrian crisis comes as no surprise given his pedigree, but in the same interview where he pounded Iran and Syria, he asserted oddly that “We’re not about regime change. We’re about a change in the behavior of a government and of a state.”

Actually, the only regime change that is needed is in Washington and it would include Jeffrey, Bolton, Haley, Pompeo, and Miller. And while we’re at it, get rid of son-in-law Jared Kushner and his claque of Orthodox Jews, Jason Greenblatt the “peace negotiator” and David Friedman the U.S. Ambassador in Israel. None of them are capable of acting to advance any American national interest, which they wouldn’t recognize even if it hit them in the butt. Once they are gone the U.S. can bid the Middle East goodbye and leave its constituent nations to sort out their own problems. Jeffrey’s ridiculous prescriptions for the Syrians and Russians are symptomatic of what one gets from a team of yes-men who have latched onto some dystopic ideas and pursued them relentlessly, blinded by what they believe to be American power. Someone should tell them that their antics have made that power a commodity that is dramatically depreciating in value, but it is clear that they are not listening. #MAGA#
 
I get the impression, Trump is just trying to keep some individuals - off guard - with reports like this? Tell them, what they want to hear and then do the opposite, which was the original intent?

11.27.2018 - Trump says may cancel Putin meeting at G20 over Ukraine conflict
Trump says may cancel Putin meeting at G20 over Ukraine conflict | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: A combination of two photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as they arrive for the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he may cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina because of Russia's maritime clash with Ukraine.

In an interview with the Washington Post,
Trump said he was awaiting a “full report” from his national security team Tuesday evening about Russia’s capture of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews on Sunday.

“That will be very determinative,” Trump told the Post. “Maybe I won’t have the meeting. Maybe I won’t even have the meeting ... I don’t like that aggression. I don’t want that aggression at all,” he said.

Trump is due to meet Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, which convenes on Friday and Saturday. The Trump-Putin meeting will cover security issues, arms control, and issues in the Middle East and Ukraine, White House national security John Bolton told reporters.

Russia opened fire on the Ukrainian boats and then seized them and their crews on Sunday near Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow and Kiev have tried to pin the blame on each other for the incident.

The U.S. State Department urged European nations on Tuesday to do more to assist Ukraine in its standoff with Russia.


11.27.2018 - Trump to have packed schedule of Bilateral Meetings at G20
Trump to have packed schedule of bilateral meetings at G20 | Reuters


U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before he boards the Marine One helicopter to begin his travel to Mississippi from the White House in Washington, U.S. November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump will have a packed schedule of bilateral meetings in Buenos Aires this week on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of world leaders, the White House said on Tuesday.

Trump’s talks on the sidelines are the main focus for the White House during the multilateral conference. It is unclear whether officials will be able to reach consensus on a final joint statement, or communique, for the conference.

Trump’s highest profile meeting will come at the end of the summit, when he has a much-anticipated dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, their first meeting since the two nations imposed tariffs on each other’s imports.

Also closely watched will be Trump’s bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That meeting will cover security issues, arms control, and issues in the Middle East and Ukraine, Trump’s national security John Bolton told reporters.

Trump is also slated to meet on the sidelines with the leaders of Argentina, Germany, South Korea and Turkey, the White House said. He will meet with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and then the two leaders will meet jointly with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bolton said.

But Bolton said Trump has not planned to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA believes ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has vowed to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia.


11.27.2018 - G20 makes slow progress on communique amid 'difficult' talks
G20 makes slow progress on communique amid 'difficult' talks | Reuters

Officials from the Group of 20 leading industrialized nations gathered in Argentina are making slow progress in drafting a final communique for this weekend’s leaders summit, amid disagreements over language on trade and climate change, delegates said.

Representatives from the G20 countries known as “sherpas” began meeting in Buenos Aires on Monday to start intensive discussions around the communique, a non-binding agreement on policy issues that is due to be unveiled at the conclusion of the two-day summit, which begins on Friday.

G20 leaders have met each year since the 2008 global economic crisis to try to reach broad agreement on important issues such as trade. But increasingly they have been bedeviled by disunity, and a failure to agree on a communique this year would underscore growing divisions at a time of heightened international trade disputes.

“The talks are difficult but that is not a surprise,” a European source told Reuters on Tuesday. “Concerning the progress on the statement, the talks are still ongoing so it is difficult to predict the outcome.”

A French finance ministry source added: “It’s true the situation is quite frankly rather tense. The outcome in the coming days is quite uncertain.”

A second source at the finance ministry said U.S. officials were pushing back on any mention of the Paris Climate Agreement.

After signaling its intention to withdraw from the accord last year, the United States broke with other G20 member countries that have pledged to end coal usage and take steps to reach goals outlined in the accord.

The French are also pushing for the communique to reject protectionism and commit to reforming the World Trade Organization and the rules of global commerce, the second French source said.

An Asian delegate told Reuters there was no progress made on Monday after a half-day session. A delegate from Latin America, who also requested anonymity, said a definitive draft was not expected until Thursday.

“We are in full negotiation with the other delegations. The text will be known once the leaders approve it,” Argentina’s Pedro Villagra Delgado, the lead organizer or “sherpa” of the G20, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Villagra Delgado had said on Nov. 15 that climate change, steel and migration had emerged as the “most complicated” areas of discussion, delaying final approval on the communique.

Recent history suggests the sherpas will struggle to agree to reach consensus.
 
'Aggressive Trump doesn't like Ukrainian aggression... at all... You make my day, 'bitch'!' :lol:

Trump set to meet Putin at G20… but ‘maybe’ he won’t

US President Donald Trump is still unsure whether to meet with Vladimir Putin, pending a ‘full report’ about the Kerch Strait incident that by pure coincidence happened just days before the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina.

“Maybe I won’t have the meeting. Maybe I won’t even have the meeting,” Trump told the Washington Post in an interview on Tuesday. “I don’t like that aggression. I don’t want that aggression at all.”

Trump said he was waiting for a “full report” from his national security advisers about Sunday’s incident before making a final decision.

On Sunday, three Ukrainian Navy vessels tried to force passage through the Kerch Strait, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, before they were intercepted and captured by the Russian coast guard. Moscow has condemned Ukraine for violating Russian territorial waters, as defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Kiev has meanwhile declared a state of emergency over the incident, claiming a “Russian invasion” was impending.

A meeting with Putin is currently on Trump’s schedule for the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which runs from November 30 to December 1. Speaking with reporters earlier in the day, Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton did not mention any possibility of canceling the Putin meeting, only that Trump may not meet with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, due to his “pretty packed” schedule.

Bolton also said the White House’s position is that articulated by US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who called the incident “Russian aggression” and an “arrogant act that the international community must condemn.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has used the incident to declare martial law, a step he had not taken even at the height of the conflict in two eastern regions in 2014-2015. Kiev’s spy chief admitted that intelligence officers were on board the three captured vessels. That has led to speculation that the incident might have been a deliberate provocation ahead of the G20 summit, to prevent any kind of improvement in relations between Russia and the West.
 
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I'm getting a strong impression - recent events staged by Ukrainian President Poroshenko and the War Hawks behind him in masterminding the provocation which took place in the Kerch Strait - that separates the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea,
(Sunday Nov.25th) and now ... this Thursday Nov. 29th "raid" on Trump's former Chicago Tax Attorney and "executing search warrants at multiple locations" in Chicago (Obama's old hunting grounds), are all designed to impact domestic Political chaos on the home-front, for both Putin and Trump, compromising "a one-on-one meeting" on the cusp of the G20 Summit in Argentina? The War Hawks are out in full force on both sides of the continent, trying to put distance between Trump and Putin and any reconciliation on Peace efforts and trade agreements. Their desperation is easily apparent in plain sight.

The recent Political hype coming out of Washington, over Sanctions and trade agreements, demonizing China's efforts and Trump's Policies to come to mutual agreements, are staged power plays by the War Hawks to incite conflict between both Nations. Trump has voiced a strong opinion that he's making progress with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

On the domestic level, Trump is again facing character assassination.

On the other side of the Ocean, the situation in Ukraine and the Deep State's puppet, Poroshenko are being used to pressure Russia and further demonize Putin. Not only on a domestic and Political level but also directly attacking the Russian Orthodox Church.

I'm personally hoping - that the delay in the G20 "one-on-one" meeting between Trump and Putin - sets the stage for "a Putin and Trump meeting in Russia", at the Kremlin! That would straighten-out all the War Hawks and put them in their rightful place!


11.30.2018 - FBI Raids Trump's Former Chicago Tax Attorney Who Saved the President $14 Million in Property Taxes
FBI Raids Trump's Former Chicago Tax Attorney Who Saved the President $14 Million in Property Taxes

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The FBI raided the offices in Chicago of one of President Donald Trump’s former attorneys, Edward Burke, who is a member of the city council. Burke’s small firm represented Trump in Chicago over tax matters, obtaining $14 million in relief from property tax assessments over 12 years on the president’s flagship Trump Tower in that city.

The FBI confirmed the raid on the morning of Nov. 29 to CBS Chicago and to other news outlets, but noted warrants were executed in “multiple locations today.” That included both Burke’s law offices and his City Hall office. Office windows in both locations were covered in butcher paper after the FBI entered.

Burke represented Trump for 12 years in property-tax matters in Chicago. No details are available about the reason for the raids. The timing is coincident with Special Counsel Robert Mueller obtaining an additional guilty plea from Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.

Burke’s aldermanic and law offices didn’t immediately reply to requests from comment from Fortune.

Burke stopped representing Trump in May in a sharp break. In letters filed in county courts and to a state property tax appeal board, Burke said “irreconcilable differences” with the Trump Organization led him to halt his work on behalf of the firm entirely. He stepped aside in five cases in progress that argued for millions of dollars in refunds of property tax.

Burke’s wife, Anne Burke, was sworn in the same day to another term on the Illinois Supreme Court. Burke will seek another term as alderman, Chicago’s term for city council members, in city elections held February 2019. Burke has held his position representing Chicago’s 14th Ward since 1969.


11.30.2018 - Report: Search warrants served at Chicago alderman's office
Report: Search warrants served at Chicago alderman's office

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Boxes are carried away by investigators from Alderman Edward M. Burke's 14th Ward office in the 2600 block of West 51st Street in Chicago on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Federal agents on Thursday executed search warrants at the City Hall office of Burke in an ongoing investigation, the Chicago Tribune reported. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal agents executed search warrants at the City Hall office of a powerful Chicago alderman on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation, the Chicago Tribune reported.

An unidentified law enforcement source told the Chicago Tribune agents arrived at Ed Burke's aldermanic office Thursday morning, told staff to leave and pulled brown paper across its glass doors blocking the view. Media photographs showed similar paper across the door of Burke's 14th Ward office on Chicago's Southwest Side.

There were no arrests and none was imminent, the Tribune reported.

Later in the day, the 74-year-old Burke released a statement striking an upbeat tone, saying investigators have also requested information from his offices in previous decades.

"So once again we will be cooperating fully and I am completely confident that at the end of the day nothing will be found amiss in this instance either."

The Democrat, one of the last of the old Chicago machine politicians, has been on the council for half a century representing an area that is now largely Hispanic. Going back three decades, he has chaired the City Council's finance committee, which makes key budgetary decisions for the nation's third largest city.

Burke is also a partner in a law office specializing in property-tax appeals and its clients have included the Chicago high-rise tower that bears President Donald Trump's name. U.S. Rep.-Elect Jesus "Chuy" Garcia and other Burke critics in Chicago's Hispanic community have drawn attention to that tax work in a bid to hurt Burke politically.

Garcia issued a statement as news spread about the office raids that called Burke an "impediment to political progress and community empowerment."

U.S. attorney's office spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick and FBI Chicago spokeswoman Janine Wheeler told The Associated Press the FBI was "executing search warrants at multiple locations" in Chicago. They declined to say whether the target of the warrants was Burke.

A message left at Burke's ward office wasn't returned. There was no answer at his City Hall office. A person who answered the phone at his law office and did not identify herself declined comment other than to say: "We really don't know what's going on with all of this."
Burke's wife, Anne Burke, is an Illinois Supreme Court justice. Ed Burke's father was also influential in Democratic circles in Chicago until his death in the 1960s. Other Burke relatives have also been involved in Illinois politics.

A long series of Chicago alderman have faced state and federal investigations going back decades. Since the 1970s, nearly three dozen aldermen have been convicted. A common joke in Chicago is that so many aldermen had gone to prison that when they saw each other behind bars they'd holler, "Quorum call!"


Thursday November 29, 2018 - Putin, Trump need 'full scale meeting' to discuss Nuclear Pact: Russian source
Putin, Trump need 'full scale meeting' to discuss nuclear pact: Russian source | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Science and Education Council in Moscow, Russia November 27, 2018. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin need to meet to discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, a Russian diplomatic source said on Thursday, after Trump abruptly canceled bilateral talks with Putin at this week's G20 summit in Argentina.

“We still have to discuss the INF. This is important. We still need a full scale meeting, like one in Helsinki,” the source told Reuters.


November 30, 2018 - Russia thinks Trump canceled Putin meeting for domestic reasons
Russia thinks Trump canceled Putin meeting for domestic reasons | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin react at the end of the joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

Russia believes U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his meeting with Vladimir Putin due to domestic issues rather than the Ukraine situation, its foreign ministry said on Friday.

“Is the provocation started by Kiev in this area (Azov Sea) a real reason for the cancellation? We heard that as an official version and we accepted that. Is it a real one? I believe we should look for answers in the U.S. domestic political situation,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.


11.30.2018 - Ukraine files complaint against Russia at European Rights Court
Ukraine files complaint against Russia at European rights court | Reuters


Three Ukrainian naval ships (L), which were recently seized by Russia's FSB security service, are seen anchored in a port in Kerch, Crimea November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Alla Dmitrieva

Ukraine has filed a complaint against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights for firing on three of its ships and boarding them on Sunday, the court said.

A court statement on Friday said Ukraine had asked it to intervene to ensure the wellbeing of its sailors. Moscow accuses them of illegally crossing the Russian border and failing to comply with orders to stop.

“The Ukrainian government has asked in particular that Russia provide medical care to the wounded sailors and provide information on the state of health of the crew members. It also asks that the sailors be treated as prisoners of war,” the statement said.


11.30.2018 - EU will extend Russia Sanctions in December: Tusk
EU will extend Russia sanctions in December: Tusk | Reuters


European Council President Donald Tusk attends a news conference after the extraordinary EU leaders summit to finalise and formalise the Brexit agreement in Brussels, Belgium November 25, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The European Union will extend its existing economic sanctions on Russia next month, a top official with the bloc said on Friday after Moscow's action against Ukraine's navy in the Sea of Azov.

European Council President Donald Tusk will chair a summit of EU leaders on Dec. 13-14, which is due to roll over for another year the bloc’s measures against Russia’s defense, energy and banking sectors, punishment for Moscow’s role in the turmoil in Ukraine.

“Europe is united in its support to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is why I am sure that the EU will roll over the sanctions against Russia in December,” Tusk told a news conference in Argentina, where the leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies were meeting.

The EU first slapped sanctions on Russia after it annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Kiev in 2014. The bloc has since stepped them up as Moscow went on to back rebels fighting government troops in east Ukraine.

The EU’s Russia hawks have called for new sanctions against Moscow following the latest flare-up in tensions between Moscow and Kiev but that is not expected swiftly, if at all.


11.30.2018 - Ukraine bars entry to Russian Men of Combat Age, EU sees renewal of Sanctions on Russia
Ukraine bars entry to Russian men of combat age, EU sees renewal of sanctions on Russia | Reuters


A member of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service checks a car with a Russian number plate at the Goptovka crossing point on the border between Russia and Ukraine in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevsky

Ukraine on Friday banned Russian men of combat age from entering the country, a move introduced under martial law after Russia fired on and captured three Ukrainian naval ships off Crimea last weekend.

Ukraine announced it was barring entry to Russian men between 16-60 years and a senior state security official said Kiev was considering whether to respond in kind with “mirror actions” to the Black Sea incident.

Earlier, in a move applauded in Kiev, U.S. President Donald Trump called off a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Argentina to signal Washington’s disapproval of Russian behavior in the naval clash with Ukraine.


11.30.2018 - Ukraine's Security Service raids home of Russian-backed Monastery Head
Ukraine's security service raids home of Russian-backed monastery head | Reuters


Metropolitan Pavlo (Pavel), a member of the traditionally dominant Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and cleric of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kiev, Ukraine November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Volodymyr Petrov

Ukraine's state security service said it raided the residence of a senior Russian-backed Orthodox priest on Friday, who heads one of the country's holiest sites, citing a clause in the criminal code relating to whipping up religious hatred.

Ukraine and Russia are at odds over Kiev’s bid to set up an independent national Orthodox church and break centuries-old ties between the Ukrainian and Russian clergy.

Ukrainian leaders accuse the Moscow-backed church, widely known as the Moscow Patriarchate, of promoting the Kremlin’s interests and spreading propaganda as relations between the countries plummet.

The raid is even more sensitive since the cleric in question, Metropolitan Pavel, heads the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine’s most famous monasteries and a tourist site where mummified monks rest in labyrinthine underground caves.

The state security service was investigating him under an article in the criminal code covering “violations of citizens’ equality depending on racial ethnicity, religious convictions, incitement of inter-confessional hostility,” SBU official Ihor Huskov said.

The Moscow Patriarchate confirmed the investigation. It has consistently denied acting on behalf of Russian interests against Ukraine.

Ukraine sees the creation of an independent church as vital to tackling Russian influence on its soil.


11.30.2018 - US-China dispute casts shadow as World Leaders gather in Argentina
G20 opens Argentina summit under shadow of China-U.S. tensions | Reuters

BUENOS AIRES - The leaders of the world’s top economies gathered in Argentina on Friday for talks overshadowed by a U.S.-China trade war that has roiled global markets, bracing for the kind of geopolitical drama U.S. President Donald Trump often brings to the international stage.

The two-day annual gathering will be a major test for the Group of 20 industrialized nations, whose leaders first met in 2008 to help rescue the global economy from the worst financial crisis in seven decades. With a rise in nationalist sentiment in many countries, the group faces questions over its ability to deal with the latest round of crises.

Overhanging the summit in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, is a trade dispute between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, which have imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other’s imports.


11.30.2018 - US Trade Representative says any US-China Agreement entirely up to Leaders
U.S. Trade Representative says any U.S.-China agreement entirely up to leaders | Reuters


U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer takes part in a joint news conference on the closing of the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City, Mexico March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

There will be good discussion on "very serious issues" between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday but any agreement will be "entirely up to" the two leaders, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Friday.

Lighthizer said he is sure there will be a “positive feel” on both sides after the talks and said he would be surprised if they were not a success. But he steered clear of offering any clear statement on whether Trump and Xi are likely to resolve their trade differences.


G20 family photo

Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018.
 
11.30.2018 - Trump says some good signs on talks with China
Trump says some good signs on talks with China | Reuters


U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueREUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday there were some good signs on talks with China ahead of his meeting with Xi Jinping on Saturday.

“We’re working very hard. If we could make a deal that would be good. I think they want to. I think we’d like to. We’ll see,” he said, adding his staff was preparing for the Saturday night dinner.

Slideshow (21 Images)
BRICS slam protectionism as China-U.S. spat overshadows G20 talks | Reuters


11.30.2018 - Saudi-owned TV says Trump and Saudi Crown Prince had friendly meeting
Saudi-owned TV says Trump and Saudi crown prince had friendly meeting | Reuters


U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are seen during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported that U.S President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a friendly meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Friday. The television channel did not give further details.


11.30.2018 - Putin warmly greats Saudi Crown Prince at G20 summit
Putin warmly greets Saudi crown prince at G20 summit | Reuters


Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Russia's President Vladimir Putin during the opening of the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. Reuters TV Summit Pool via

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman exchanged a high-five and laughed heartily together on Friday as they took seats next to each other at a plenary session of the Group of 20 summit.

Putin’s friendly behavior toward the crown prince contrasted sharply with that of other leaders at the Buenos Aires summit,
amid suspicions of his possible involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamalco Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder, which has sorely tested the kingdom’s relations with the United States, other Western nations and Turkey.

Earlier, Prince Mohammed was sidelined during the official “family photo” of world leaders at Friday’s gathering and was largely ignored. He then quickly exited the stage without shaking hands or talking with the other leaders.

Russia has refrained from criticizing Saudi Arabia or the crown prince over the killing. Putin said in October he lacked information about the matter and said Russia would not tear up its relations with Saudi Arabia because of it.


11.30.2018 - Saudi Crown Prince meets China's Xi at G20 summit
Saudi Crown Prince meets China's Xi at G20 summit | Reuters


Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the opening of the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Friday, the Saudi Press Agency said on Twitter.

SPA posted pictures of Prince Mohammed talking to Xi, but gave no details of what they discussed.
 
12.01.2018 - Trump calls off G20 News Conference: tweet
Trump calls off G20 news conference: tweet | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueREUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump canceled a news conference at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Saturday following the death of former President George H.W. Bush.

“We will wait until after the funeral to have a press conference,” Trump said in a tweet. The former president’s funeral arrangements have yet to be made, according to Bush’s spokesman.



12.01.2018 - Putin, Trump briefly met on sidelines of G20 summit: Kremlin
Putin, Trump briefly met on sidelines of G20 summit: Kremlin | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin are seen during the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Friday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Ushakov said he met with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. Russia and the United States were ready to continue contact, he said.

Ushakov said he was unsure of when Putin and Trump might meet next.


Putin And Trump Don't Greet Each Other; Putin High Fives Saudi Crown Prince MBS At G20
Published on Nov 30, 2018 (10.40 min.)
 
12.02.2018 - Trump Says He Will Meet Putin At ‘The Appropriate Time’ – OpEd
Trump Says He Will Meet Putin At ‘The Appropriate Time’ – OpEd

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to the Voice of America after canceling talks with Vladimir Putin following a clash in which the Russian coast guard fired on Ukrainian vessels and jailed their crews, said he has a "very good relationship" with the Russian president and will meet with him when the time is right.

In a wide-ranging November 30 interview with VOA on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Trump also talked up a new trade deal with U.S. neighbors Mexico and Canada and suggested he is not very concerned about China's growing global reach. He indicated that he wants more beneficial trade ties with the European Union and others, saying that the United States has been "ripped off" by many countries for many years.

Trump had been scheduled to meet with Putin on December 1 for talks that the Kremlin had said could last two hours -- the first major meeting between the two since a summit in Helsinki in July, after which he faced criticism for seeming to accept Putin's assertion that Moscow did not meddle in the election that he won in 2016.

But Trump abruptly called off the meeting, tweeting on November 29 that "it would be best for all parties concerned" to cancel
because the naval craft and sailors seized by the Russian coast guard off Crimea four days earlier had not been returned to Ukraine.

In the VOA interview, Trump said that "in light of what happened with Ukraine with the ships and the sailors, it just wouldn’t be the right time, but I will meet with him. I think we have a very good relationship, and I think we’re going to have a very good relationship with Russia, and China, and everyone else. I mean, I think it’s important. So I’ll meet with him at the appropriate time."

Asked about Putin's possible motives and intentions regarding Ukraine, Trump said: “I can’t read his mind, and nobody can, and he knows what he wants to do, but we can’t allow certain things to happen, and you know, it happened, and I just can’t be a part of it.”



12.02.2018 - FBI raids home of Whistleblower who had 'dirt' on Clinton Foundation, Mueller
FBI Raids Home Of Whistleblower Who Had ‘Dirt’ On Clinton Foundation, Mueller



More than a dozen FBI agents searched for six hours the house of a contractor who had given Congress and the DOJ documents about the Clinton Foundation and the Uranium One scandal, implicating then-FBI director Robert Mueller.

Sixteen agents showed up at the Maryland home of Dennis Nathan Cain on November 19, the Daily Caller reported this week, citing Cain’s attorney Michael Socarras. They demanded to see the documents Cain had already turned over to the Department of Justice inspector-general and the House and Senate intelligence committee.

“I cannot believe the Bureau informed the federal magistrate who approved the search warrant that they wanted to search the home of an FBI whistleblower to seize the information that he confidentially disclosed to the IG and Congress,” said Socarras. He also objected to the fact that the FBI at no point reached out to him, even though Cain provided the agents with his contact information, calling that “serious misconduct.”

FBI spokesman Dave Fitz confirmed to the Daily Caller that the bureau had conducted “court authorized law enforcement activity,” declining to comment further.

The search warrant, signed by federal magistrate Stephanie A. Gallagher in the US District Court for Baltimore, said that Cain possessed “stolen federal property.”

Cain informed the agents that he was a federally protected whistleblower, but gave them the documents at their insistence, Socarras said. Even so, they searched his house for hours afterward.

What were the agents looking for? According to the Daily Caller, they were after the document suggesting that Robert Mueller – now special counsel in charge of the “Russiagate” probe targeting President Donald Trump, but FBI director back in 2001-2013 – failed to investigate allegations of criminal misconduct in the case of Uranium One.

The Canadian-based mining company controls over 20 percent of the US uranium supply, and was sold to the Russian conglomerate Rosatom in 2010. The sale needed to be approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFUS), which was chaired by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Since then, multiple whistleblowers have revealed claims of misconduct, bribery and fraud on part of the people involved in the sale, even suggesting a “pay for play” scheme in which the Clinton Foundation received millions of dollars in donations in exchange for greenlighting the deal. Republicans have also pointed to Bill Clinton’s $500,000 fee for a speech in Moscow in 2010 as evidence the Clintons were peddling influence for Russian money.

Democrats have dismissed the apparent scandal as a right-wing conspiracy theory, and Clinton herself called the accusations of wrongdoing “baloney.”

In April this year, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked the Utah-based US Attorney John Huber to investigate both the Uranium One probe and the FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. That second probe was the subject of a scathing report in June by the DOJ IG Michael Horowitz, the same official to whom Cain gave the documents as a whistleblower. The status of that investigation is currently unknown.


11.30.2018 - Trump’s Ex-Lawyer Admits Lying To Congress In Russia Probe
Trump’s Ex-Lawyer Admits Lying To Congress In Russia Probe 0

The longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump admitted he lied to Congress about the timing and extent of his discussions with unnamed Russian officials about a proposed Trump-branded development in Moscow.

The guilty plea by Michael Cohen, entered in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on November 29, was a dramatic development in the deepening legal problems Trump faces from various Russia-linked investigations ongoing in Washington and elsewhere.
The new charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller said that Cohen misled at least one congressional committee about the discussions he had with unnamed Russian and other officials about a building that Trump had long sought to build in Moscow.

Cohen had previously said that talks about the deal stopped in January 2016, but, according to Mueller’s court filing, those discussions in fact were ongoing as late as June 2016, as Trump was closing in on securing the Republican party’s nomination to be U.S. president.

Cohen admitted that he misled the Senate Intelligence Committee about that and other details in testimony he provided to the committee in August 2017.

‘Individual 1’
In his appearance in federal court, Cohen said: “I made these misstatements to be consistent with Individual 1’s political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual 1.”

Mueller’s court filing describes “Individual 1” as the owner of a “Manhattan-based real estate company”– a description that matches Trump’s.

Trump, meanwhile, had denied he had any business dealings in Russia during the 2016 election campaign, and he reacted quickly to news of Cohen’s guilty plea on November 29.

“He is a weak person. And by being weak, unlike other people that you watch, he’s a weak person, and what he’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So, he is lying about a project everybody knew about,” Trump said at the White House as he departed for the Group of 20 summit being held in Argentina on November 30-December 1.

Trump had been scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit, but in a post to Twitter just after departing the White House, Trump said the meeting had been canceled. He cited the uptick in tensions between Russia and Ukraine over a naval confrontation near the Black Sea.

The Trump Tower project in Moscow never got built, despite years of efforts by Trump to develop some sort of real estate venture in the Russian capital.

In the new charges, Mueller detailed Cohen’s direct communications with the Kremlin in early 2016. Cohen had previously said he e-mailed the office of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in January 2016, seeking to discuss “the Moscow Project,” but had received no reply.

In fact, according to the new charges, an assistant to Peskov e-mailed a reply to Cohen on January 20, 2016, and Cohen then spoke with the assistant for about 20 minutes. A day later, Cohen was contacted by “Individual 2” who asked to speak with Cohen, saying “It’s about [the President of Russia] they called today.”

While the new plea stemmed from charges brought by Mueller’s investigators, Cohen had earlier pleaded guilty in a separate prosecution that grew out of Mueller’s investigation, but was filed instead by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, will be in federal court on November 30, as part of new charges filed by Mueller that allegedly involve a shadowy Ukrainian man who U.S. intelligence believes has ties to Russian security agencies.

Manafort had been convicted by a U.S. jury of financial crimes related to his lobbying work for Ukrainian politicians, work that preceded his time as Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016.

And on November 26, a former foreign policy aide to the Trump campaign, George Papadopoulos, reported to prison to serve a two-week sentence for lying to the FBI about his conversation with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.

Also, this week, Trump submitted written answers to a series of questions made by Mueller’s investigators. The answers have not been released publicly.

‘We Swore Him Under Oath’
News of Cohen’s plea prompted scattered reaction among lawmakers in Congress.

Paul Ryan, who is resigning this year as the top Republican in the House of Representatives, said Cohen should be prosecuted.

“Well, he should be prosecuted to the extent of the law,” Ryan said at a forum hosted by The Washington Post. “That’s why we put him under oath. I mean so just back it up for a second, lying to Congress. That means he came and testified. That means we swore him under oath. That means we put him on the record. That means we did our job.”

That was echoed by Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“This is a reason people shouldn’t lie when they’re in front of a congressional investigation,” he said.

Mark Warner, Burr’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, called on Congress to pass legislation to protect Mueller from being fired by Trump. Earlier this week, the Senate majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, declined to allow a vote on such legislation.

Adam Schiff, who will be the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee beginning in January, said the plea provided new impetus to restart the committee’s investigations.

The committee’s investigation was ended in April by its Republican majority, which issued a report that largely cleared Trump and his associates of any wrongdoing in connection with Russian influence operations.

The report was criticized by the committee’s Democrats, who will now be in the majority come January.

“All these developments make clear the counterintelligence imperative for the House Intelligence Committee in the new Congress to continue to probe the Trump Organization’s financial links to Russia,” Schiff said.
 
All I can say is if Trump is Putin's puppet, why wasn't the Trump Tower built.

Trump didn't get nearly as much as Killary did working her pay for play scheme in Russia, Ukraine and other countries.

Can't see how Trump can fight the DS with the MSM firmly in hand crying Russia, Russia, Russia.
 
angelburst29 said:
Putin And Trump Don't Greet Each Other; Putin High Fives Saudi Crown Prince MBS At G20
Published on Nov 30, 2018 (10.40 min.)
Click to expand...


Kremlin explains Putin’s ‘hearty handshake’ with Saudi Arabia's prince

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud shared a hearty handshake at the G20 summit in Argentina because they have good personal relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"These are good personal relations," Peskov said commenting on the exuberant handshake before the summit’s plenary session, which came under the spotlight. Putin and Prince Salman shook hands as good friends, in a much more informal way than it usually happens at world leaders’ meetings.

According to the Kremlin, these good relations are a ground for "rather effective and mutually beneficial cooperation."

Putin earlier greeted other leaders in the same way, Peskov said, declining to give further details.

Moscow highlights that Saudi Arabia is ready to take part in an investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing after visiting the consulate general of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul on October 2. Saudi Arabia later announced that the journalist had been killed in a fight in the diplomatic mission. The international community has strongly condemned the murder and urged Riyadh to carry out a transparent investigation.

"We seek to continue fostering bilateral Russian-Saudi relations," Peskov noted. "President Putin and the Crown Prince held a rather fruitful and substantive discussion on the sidelines of the summit." He recalled that at the talks the sides discussed cooperation in the framework of OPEC plus.
 
December 3, 2018 - Trump to discuss 'Arms Race' with China, Russia some time in the Future
Trump to discuss 'arms race' with China, Russia some time in the future | Reuters



WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he will discuss military developments with his counterparts from China and Russia in the future in the hopes of ending what he described as an arms race with the countries.

“I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!” Trump wrote in a tweet, the day after he returned from the Group of 20 meeting in Argentina.

Trump did not provide further details. He signed a $716 billion defense policy bill in August that authorized military spending, strengthened rules to limit Chinese investment in U.S. technology companies and increased spending on missile defenses.

Earlier this year, the U.S. military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy, and will withdraw troops from other parts of the world to support the changing priorities.

At the same time, Washington has publicly discussed quitting a landmark nuclear arms control pact with Russia that has been in place since 1987.

Moscow has warned Washington it will be forced to respond in kind to restore the military balance if Trump carries through with his threat to quit the INF treaty, a 1987 agreement that eliminated all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both countries in Europe.

Without the treaty, some European countries fear that Washington might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe again and that Russia might move to deploy such missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad, which would once again turn Europe into a potential nuclear battlefield.

In March, China announced an 8.1 percent rise in defense spending, the biggest rise in three years, fueling an ambitious military modernization program and making its neighbors, particularly Japan and Taiwan, nervous.

Chinese state media has described the increase as proportionate and low, and said that Beijing has not been goaded into an arms race with the United States. It rejected “finger-pointing from the usual suspects.”

It said China’s defense budget was neither the largest in size, accounting for just one-fourth of the military spending of the United States, nor the fastest growing. But Beijing’s spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China’s strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles.


2018-12-03 - America is Not Trying to Divide Russia and China – America is Engaging in Ping Pong Priorities
America is Not Trying to Divide Russia and China - America is Engaging in Ping Pong Priorities - Eurasia Future



As the proverbial dust clears from a G20 summit that saw Donald Trump pursue a (temporary) policy of detente in the trade war with China while palpably ignoring Russian President Vladimir Putin, some commentators are suggesting that the US is utilizing a “divide and rule” method in respect of its relations with the two Asian superpowers. While this hypothesis is clearly attractive to those who imagine the Trump administration having some Kissingeresque qualities, unlike in the Kissinger era, the Trump White House is resolutely divided among its own high ranking officials. This is especially true when it comes to foreign policy.

The fact of the matter is that the Trump White House is divided between factions inclined towards free trade who therefore necessarily seek less strained relations with China versus protectionists who represent the hawks of the trade war. Some (though it must be emphasised not all) of the pro-free trade faction also tend to favour a more traditionally neo-con/Obama style approach to Russia. On the other hand, Trump himself tends to represent a faction of his administration that prefers to engage in proto-detente measures with Russia while seeking to implicitly downgrade relations with the economically powerful China.

Amidst these divisions, Trump appears to have devised a method where he gives each faction what they want some of the time. As events like the wars on Russia’s borders (Donbass vs. Ukraine) and the Syrian conflict are anything but static and as domestic stock market statistics, the employment rate and overall economic growth in the US are also anything but static, Trump is able to pivot his stances on Russia and China based on tackling specific issues at any given time. Taken in totality one can call this approach “ping pong priorities”.

In this sense, far from engaging in a master plan to “divide China and Russia”, something that would be virtually impossible due to the long term strategics visions of policy makers in both Beijing and Moscow, Trump is instead taking his relations with both China and Russia one event at a time. Just prior to the G20, the following happened:

–Sharp declines in the US stock markets in October

–An announcement days prior to the G20 summit that General Motors will close four American factories

–Sustained stress to a US agricultural sector hit hard by the trade war

–Little meaningful growth in the industrial sector when compared to loses in the agricultural sector

Because of this, domestic economic pressures to create some form of relief for those in the US suffering from the trade war clearly took precedent over all other matters that Trump would have otherwise had to deal with at the G20. At the same time, Russia’s skirmish with Kiev regime forces in the Sea of Azov along with the Robert Mueller “Russiagate” investigation seemingly taking a turn for the worse from Trump’s perspective, combined to make it all the more easy for Trump to cancel his planned private meeting with the Russian President. It is against this background that the US President has offered several positive Tweets regarding progress on a trade agreement with China:


[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/x/status/1069441198157455360

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.
[URL="https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1069441198157455360"]Like this Tweet[/URL]
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump'][URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069441198157455360']23:00 - 2 Dec 2018[/URL]

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump'][URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/x/status/1069575605199482881

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one. Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen. We are dealing from great strength, but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed. Level the field!
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069575605199482881']07:54 - 3 Dec 2018[/URL]

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump'][URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/x/status/1069577273819443200

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069577273819443200']08:01 - 3 Dec 2018[/URL]

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump'][URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']President Xi and I have a very strong and personal relationship. He and I are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change, on trade and far beyond, between our two great Nations. A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL!
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump'][URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069581524180324352']08:18 - 3 Dec 2018[/URL]

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']And yet one could imagine that if at sometime in the next two months China and the US fail to agree on a more substantial trade deal while tensions between Moscow and Kiev might conceivably cool down somewhat – the world could witness a fawning Trump press conference next to Vladimir Putin while on the same day Trump might Tweet rhetorical missiles at China.

Even in a subsequent Tweet where Trump mentioned that the three superpowers should work together on money saving arms reductions, the inclusion of Russia in the statement seemed like a calculated afterthought given the frosty reception Trump offered Putin compared with a more substantial and ultimately more cordial meeting with Xi. Such a Tweet is fully in keeping with the current state of Trump’s ping pong priorities.

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/x/status/1069584730880974849

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!
[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069584730880974849']08:30 - 3 Dec 2018[/URL]

[URL='https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump']The fact of the matter is that while many appear to be unconsciously nostalgic for the Sino-Soviet split of the Cold War era, in 1961 the Soviets and Chinese themselves had a falling out that was bilateral rather than conjured up in Washington. Beyond this, it took over ten years before the Nixon administration successfully exploited the Sino-Soviet split for America’s alleged gain, while even during the height of the split, both countries supported the Communist forces in Vietnam up to the point of America’s withdrawal from the south east Asian country in 1975.

Today, with win-win pragmatism and economic necessity defining the close China-Russia partnership of the 21st century, it would be difficult for any US administration to “divide” China from Russia. Beyond this if any country could divide Russia and China, it would not be the United States but India as Russia is keen on maintaining a balance between both China and India rather than playing favourites in the way that the US has done by forming a new and growing partnership with India.

Yet the recent RICs format meeting between China, Russia and India – the first such meeting in that format for 12 years, is a solid indication that Russia is far more intent on fostering an Indo-Chinese rapprochement than it is on playing one side against the other.

Thus, when all is said and done, it is clear that China and Russia remain as united as ever and that even India’s tepid relations with China are being used by Russia as an attempt to foster trilateral dialogue based on the fact that Russia enjoys uniquely positive relations with both Beijing and New Delhi. From this perspective, the RICs format appears less divided than the Trump White House.

And yet by highlighting the policy and even ideological divisions of the Trump White House, this is not to say that the US administration is as amateurish and chaotic as some would imply. Just as the concept of divide and rule is used in both hot and cold warfare, Donald Trump appears to be using the same tactic internally in the form of “ping pong priorities”. This is to say that as global trends shift, Trump shifts his policies towards Russia and China accordingly, thus satisfying (or at least partially satisfying) all factions of his White House based on which global and domestic events suggest a particular response or mentality directed towards China and Russia. The domestic motivation for Trump’s ping pong priorities is made all the more clear when one understands that China’s openness to imports from multiple nations including the United States is the material outgrowth of a concerted policy effort that began prior to Trump’s election, let alone prior to Trump’s trade war. In this sense, while China understands that it is not making any concessions to Trump by simply promoting a policy of openness to imports which was inaugurated prior to Trump’s electoral victory, Beijing is perfectly willing to engage in a latter day version of ping pong diplomacy by allowing Trump to think he won a game of ping pong with China, when in reality Trump has been busy playing ping pong with his own advisers and cabinet members and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

While ping pong priorities may suggest a lack of authenticity, considering that Trump’s greatest rivals are domestic rather than geopolitical, from his perspective it makes good sense to balance his own White House in much the same way that Russia for example balances its relations between China and India. Thus, there is plenty of divide and rule going on, but in this instance, it is all happening within Washington.

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