angelburst29 said:
Is There More to the Flynn Story? The Anglo-American Intelligence Nexus
http://www.globalresearch.ca/is-there-more-to-the-flynn-story-the-anglo-american-intelligence-nexus/5577604
The American media is ignoring a story from London about the abrupt resignation of Robert Hannigan, the head of Britain’s highly secretive Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which is the code breaking equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Hannigan’s resignation on January 23 surprised everyone, with only a few hours’ notice provided to his staff. He claimed in a press release that he wanted to spend more time with his family, which reportedly includes a sick wife and elderly parents. Given the abruptness of the decision, it seems likely to be a cover story.
[...] The UK’s formidable GCHQ does indeed have significant resources that make it the most valued partner for the NSA, but the bilateral flow of information is predominantly from Washington to London, making the relationship more valuable to Britain than to the U.S., no matter who is president.
Hannigan, who is only 51, was a senior civil servant brought into GCHQ in November 2014 for an anticipated four-year tour of duty.
Britain, like the U.S., has three principal intelligence agencies: GCHQ corresponds to NSA; the Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6) is the British CIA; and MI-5 works on internal security like America’s FBI. The CIA and NSA report to the president, while MI-6 and GCHQ answer to the UK foreign secretary, who in turn is accountable to the prime minister. MI-5 is under the British government’s Joint Intelligence Committee, while the FBI is directed by the U.S. attorney general.
The heads of CIA, NSA, the FBI, GCHQ, MI-6, and MI-5 together constitute what is likely to be the world’s most exclusive club. Though most intelligence is shared with the other “Five Eyes” English-speaking countries (Canada, New Zealand, and Australia), it is the Anglo-American relationship that drives the process and produces most of the information.
[...] Yes, I know this is largely speculation, but former colleagues and I have come to suspect something does not smell right with the Hannigan resignation and would seem to be quite plausibly related to Flynn. It also explains how and why the investigation proceeded as aggressively as it did: information derived from a major foreign intelligence partner could not be easily dismissed or ignored and would have to be acted upon.
Hannigan’s exit is almost certainly more than it seems, and the Flynn dismissal also would appear to have aspects that have not yet surfaced and, in truth, might never see the light of day.
A former chief in Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ has said the allegations that it installed hacking equipment on behalf of Barack Obama in the offices of Donald Trump ahead of the US presidential election are part of a "fake news campaign."
'Fake News' Allegations as UK Spy Agency GCHQ Brands Trump Claims 'Nonsense' (Video)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201703171051689713-trump-obama-wiretap-gchq/
GCHQ took the unusual step of issuing a statement after Fox News analyst and former judge Andrew P. Napolitano backed up claims by Trump that
the Obama administration had bugged his office with the aid of Britain's GCHQ.
Napolitano said that GCHQ had assisted the US National Security Agency (NSA) is the wiretap and that it had been done on the orders of the Obama administration.
However, GCHQ responded saying the allegation was nonsense and that the UK would never have agreed to such a request.
"Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wiretapping' against the then president elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored," GCHQ said in a statement.
The former Deputy Director for Intelligence and Cyber Operations at GCHQ, Brian Lords, dismissed the claims as another example of "fake news."
"The activity of which Fox News has reported does not fall anywhere near the constitutional remit of GCHQ. I think the key thing here is: what is the story? Is the story: GCHQ spied on President Trump? O is the story about the use of fake news as a political and geopolitical tool? What we are seeing i a trend towards using false news, manipulated news as a political and geopolitical tool. Part of the cut and thrust of political activity," he told the BBC Today program.
Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee said, March 16, there was no evidence to support Trump's claim.
"Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016," read a statement by Republican Chairman Richard Burr and Senator Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic vice chairman.
Despite this, the White House press secretary,
Sean Spicer said — of the original allegation of spying — that Trump "stands by it."
"There's widespread reporting that throughout the 2016 election, there was surveillance that was done on a variety of people," Mr. Spicer said.
A letter from US senators this week urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to investigate the funding of left-wing and radical groups around the world is part of a larger campaign to end Barack Obama’s plan to undermine nations and promote globalist causes, analysts told Sputnik.
Senators' Letter to Tillerson Start of New Campaign to Break With Obama's Legacy
https://sputniknews.com/us/201703171051672792-senators-campaign-end-obama-era/
On Tuesday, a group of US Senators led by Mike Lee called on Secretary of State Tillerson
to investigate US funding political factions within other sovereign nations, including through a George Soros-backed organization funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
"This is part of a larger Senate effort to expose, investigate and stop the Obama administration's use of federal money and power to support leftist organizations in the United States and abroad," Ohio Northern University Assistant Professor of History Robert Waters told Sputnik.
The letter specifically mentioned Macedonia, where credible organizations have noted US and EU interference in the country’s political process by aiding leftist and radical groups to foment unrest, as well as interfere in elections, courts and the media. The organizations have claimed the US attempted to undermine not only the country’s legitimate government, but also Macedonia as a unitary nation state.
The US government and billionaire financier George Soros had spearheaded the efforts ostensibly working to support democracy and free markets in former communist nations, through bodies like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Waters said.
However, "The OSFs quickly morphed into socialist one-world organizations that sought to take America's ‘social justice wars’ to Central and Eastern Europe. Obama, [former secretaries of state Hillary] Clinton and [John] Kerry followed the Soros path, putting the United States and OSFs back into sync with one another," he pointed out.
The Republican senators are not limiting their investigations to the State Department, but they are also examining how the Justice Department became involved in the pressuring and intimidation of governments and companies around the world under Obama, Waters said.
A slew of US senators have requested that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson investigate the use of tax dollars to support left-wing causes in Macedonia, Albania, Latin America and Africa.
Tables Turned: Have Obama and Soros Hacked Foreign Elections?
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703161051628013-tables-turned-obama-soros-hacked/
In recent months, foreign dignitaries, including elected leaders, have relayed concerns over the "disappointing news" that the US attempts to meddle in the political affairs of other nations, Lee said. "This includes reports of diplomats playing political favorites, USAID [US Agency for International Development] funds supporting extreme and sometimes violent political activists, and the US government working to marginalize the moderates and conservatives in leadership roles."
[...] In the lawmakers’ opinion, such use of tax funds "ultimately" subverts US initiatives to "build beneficial international relationships," and say these operations should end immediately.
The US secretary of state called on Beijing to refrain from economic pressure on Seoul and focus on Pyongyang's threat.
Tillerson Urges China to Refrain From Retaliation Against THAAD in S Korea
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201703171051687541-tillerson-thaad-korea-china/
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China on Friday to refrain from creating economic policies which could hinder South Korea’s deployment of a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system.
Tillerson continued by calling on Chinese authorities to react to "the escalating threat from North Korea" which necessitates the need for a THAAD location on the peninsula.
Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab said Friday it had paid former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn a fee in 2015 for his participation in an expert forum on cybersecurity in Washington.
Kaspersky Lab Paid Flynn in 2015 for Taking Part in Cybersecurity Forum in US
https://sputniknews.com/world/201703171051685125-kaspersky-lab-flynn/
The Hill newspaper wrote Thursday citing documents obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that
Flynn had received over $56,000 in payments in 2015 for work carried out for Russian companies, including Kaspersky Lab.
"A subsidiary of Kaspersky Lab, Kaspersky Government Security Solutions (now KGSS Inc.) paid General Michael Flynn a fee for his speech at the Government Cybersecurity Forum held by KGSS Inc. in Washington in 2015," the company's press service told Sputnik Friday.
The RT broadcaster will investigate the situation over a leaked paycheck that former US national security adviser Michael Flynn had received for his appearance at a conference in Moscow, which is a "standard" and "entirely transparent" practice, RT head of communications Anna Belkina said Friday.
RT to Investigate Situation Over Leaked Papers, Paycheck to Flynn
https://sputniknews.com/world/201703171051682864-rt-flynn-paycheck-investigation/
On Thursday, US newspaper
The Hill wrote that Flynn received over $56,000 in payments from two the RT broadcaster and Russian companies Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Kaspersky Lab. In particular, Flynn allegedly received over $45,000 for participation in a gala in December 2015 hosted by RT. US media also published leaked emails and document with RT employees' names and private data, violating their privacy.
Belkina stressed that Flynn's paid appearance at the gala had never been made a secret, adding that such events were a standard practice. 
Thanks Palinurus! Brings one back down to earth I think. This is a hair raising experience at times. :P