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Tag: Donald Trump

  • US poll hacking: Russia says MI6 ex-spy ‘runaway crook’ – BBC Reports

    US poll hacking: Russia says MI6 ex-spy ‘runaway crook’ – BBC Reports

    Christopher Steele

    The UK ex-spy said to be behind accusations of Russian hacking in favour of Donald Trump in the US is “some runaway crook from the MI6”, Russia’s foreign minister says.

    Sergei Lavrov said Russia did not have to prove it was not behind the hacking.

    Ex-UK spy Christopher Steele is said to have prepared memos published last week alleging Mr Trump’s election team colluded with Russia which also had salacious videos of his private life.

    Mr Trump says the claims are “fake”.

    Mr Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, was highly regarded by his bosses when he worked for the British foreign spy agency MI6, sources have told the BBC.

    He has been widely named as the author of a series of memos – which have been published as a dossier in some US media.

    • The claims – how and why?
    • How did Trump ‘compromise’ claims come to light?
    • Trump’s briefing a theatre of the absurd

    The allegations claim Russia has damaging information about the US president-elect’s business interests, and salacious video evidence of his private life, including claims of using prostitutes at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.

    US intelligence agencies considered the claims relevant enough to brief both Mr Trump and President Barack Obama.

    Mr Trump accused US intelligence of leaking the content from a classified briefing – a claim denied by James Clapper, director of National Intelligence.

    Asked by a German journalist during a news conference in Moscow, the Russian foreign minister said he was not going to prove why the allegations were “not true”.

    “I thought that the presumption of innocence was in force in Germany as in other countries. So you prove it,” Mr Lavrov said.

    “These are convulsions of those who realise that their time is running out,” Mr Lavrov said. “That is why various fakes are being fabricated.”

    The hacking scandal dominated the US election campaign, with US spy agencies concluding Russia was behind the hacking and release of Democratic Party emails intended to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton.

    Russia has consistently denied it.

  • Shock Claim: British Politician Warns Trump ‘CIA Is Plotting Assassination’

    Shock Claim: British Politician Warns Trump ‘CIA Is Plotting Assassination’

    plot assassinate trumpBritish politician George Galloway has warned Donald Trump the American deep state is engaged in a “soft coup d’etat” and the CIA is planning to assassinate him.

    The website of anonymous published a shocking claim here is the details of the claim.

    “There is a clear and present danger on his life. If I were him, I wouldn’t be going near any grassy knolls.

    I wouldn’t be on any motorcades in Dallas. I wouldn’t be traveling in an open-top car.

    “I’d be very careful if I was Donald Trump about my personal security. I think I’d have to employ guards to guard the guards.“

    Galloway, who has served 31 years as an elected British Member of Parliament, also dismissed claims that Russia was interfering in US politics – and instead pointed the finger at British intelligence services.

    “It turns out it was Britain that was interfering in the US presidential elections – not Russia.

    At least I’ve seen no evidence the Russians were, but there is plenty of evidence emerging about the British role.

    “The press conference of Donald Trump in Washington yesterday was marked by a kind of hysteria about a dossier, a very interesting file, that had been compiled by a British intelligence official.

    I can’t mention his name or else they’ll have to kill me, although it is easily accessible on the internet.“

    Galloway pointed out that British intelligence services have a long history of producing forged documents to smear and bring down world leaders.

    “In 1925 something called the Zinoviev letter helped to bring down the first ever Labour government in Britain. It purported to be a letter from the head of the Comintern, Gregory Zinoviev, to his lieutenants in British politics, giving them their marching orders and in particular inciting them to acts of sedition with the the British miliatry forces. 

    “This bought down the Labour Prime Minister even though it was quite quickly proved to be a forgery that had been produced by, you guessed it, British intelligence services. That bought down the Prime Ministership of Ramsey MacDonald – and this one is aimed at another Donald. Donald Trump.“

    Toxic coalition

    “The coalition that is assembling in Washington against him is not only the usual suspects. It is not only the military industrial complex that General Eisenhower, a Republican president of the past, warned us about. Its not only the spy agencies that have killed political opponents, from Patrice Lumumba, through Salvador Allende, Diệm in Vietnam and many others. Its not only the War Party, personified by Senator John McCain.

    “They have been joined by a new element, that is very virulent indeed.  That new element is people who at least until now would have been defining themselves as liberals, as on the left, as progressives. So hostile to Trump are they, that they have become embracing the worst people in the world. The David Frums, the John McCains. They have embraced the CIA, that once upon a time they would have known were their natural predators.

    “And that bizarre coalition, the War Party, the liberals, the spy agencies, the military industrial complex – which stands to lose almost everything if tension in the world, war in the world, becomes a thing of the past. That’s a very toxic and dangerous coalition.”

  • Flash News! Trump threatens BMW with border tax on cars built in Mexico

    Flash News! Trump threatens BMW with border tax on cars built in Mexico

    BMW
    A view shows the logo of BMW on a car in Moscow, Russia, July 6, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

     

    According to Reuters President-elect Donald Trump has warned the United States will impose a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the U.S. market.

    Trump was speaking in an interview with German newspaper Bild, which on Sunday released excerpts of his comments translated into German.

    A BMW spokeswoman said a BMW Group plant in San Luis Potosi would build the BMW 3 Series starting from 2019, with the output intended for the world market. The plant in Mexico would be an addition to existing 3 Series production facilities in Germany and China.

    Trump said BMW should build its new car factory in the United States because this would be “much better” for the company.

    He went on to say Germany was a great car producer, borne out by Mercedes Benz cars being a frequent sight in New York, but there was no reciprocity.

    Germans were not buying Chevrolets at the same rate, he said, making the business relationship an unfair one-way street. He said he was an advocate of free trade, but not at any cost.

    The BMW spokeswoman said the company was “very much at home in the U.S.,” employing directly and indirectly nearly 70,000 people in the country.

    (Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Edward Taylor; writing by Vera Eckert; editing by Andrew Roche)

  • Access to Power: VP Pence Calls Sargsyan; Erdogan & Aliyev Call Pres.-elect Trump

    Access to Power: VP Pence Calls Sargsyan; Erdogan & Aliyev Call Pres.-elect Trump

    image001 5

    Shortly after the Nov. 8 elections, I wrote a column suggesting that Armenian-Americans make every effort to contact President-elect Trump or his aides before the January 20 Presidential inauguration, after which it would be much more difficult to have access to the President.

    I am happy to report that one such successful connection was made last month by the joint efforts of Armenia’s Ambassador to Washington, Grigor Hovhannissian, and President of Prime Health Care, Mike Sarian of Glendale, California, who has extensive contacts with high-ranking Republicans.

    As a result, Vice President-elect Mike Pence called Pres. Serzh Sargsyan on December 1 to thank him for his earlier congratulatory letter to Pres.-elect Trump. According to the Armenian President’s website, Pence and Sargsyan stressed the importance of expanding political and economic relations between Armenia and the United States. “Pres. Sargsyan and Vice President-elect Mike Pence discussed also issues of mutual interest, including regional problems and challenges.”

    The Armenian President’s website drew special attention to the fact that the Pence-Sargsyan “phone call was initiated by the American side.” In contrast, Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev and Turkey’s President Erdogan were the ones calling Pres.-elect Trump on Nov. 9 and 17 respectively, making Vice Pres.-elect Pence’s call to Sargsyan politically more valuable! Trump may have asked Pence to make the call to Sargsyan due to his familiarity with Armenian issues during his 10-year tenure in the House of Representatives. As a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Cong. Pence voted for a Congressional Resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 2005, but voted against similar resolutions in 2007 and 2010, expressing concern for the possible fallout on US-Turkey relations.

    Erdogan’s and Aliyev’s other disadvantage was that their phone calls to Trump were most probably arranged through hired multi-million dollar public relations and lobbying firms in Washington, whereas Armenia did not have to spend a penny for the Pence-Sargsyan phone conversation. This successful access to the newly-elected Trump Administration confirms the importance of getting involved in American political life, so that when the need arises, such arrangements can be made with relative ease.

    Furthermore, the phone calls between Trump and leaders of several countries, including those of Taiwan, Turkey and Pakistan, came under intense scrutiny by the U.S. media. China’s leaders were upset that Trump spoke with the President of Taiwan. No U.S. President or President-elect has done so since 1979, due to the U.S. “One China” policy which recognizes Taiwan as part of the People Republic of China.

    The controversy regarding Turkey involves Ivanka Trump’s participation in her father’s phone conversation with Pres. Erdogan which some view as a conflict of interest. Ivanka was closely involved with the Trump Towers project in Istanbul and Turkish business partner Mehmet Ali Yalcindag. She attended the 2012 opening celebration of Trump Towers in Istanbul. During the phone call, Trump told Pres. Erdogan that he and Ivanka admire him and Yalcindag. Trump’s lavish words were intended to relieve the irritation caused by his earlier announced plans to ban all Muslim immigrants. In response, Erdogan had demanded that Trump’s name be removed from the Istanbul Towers.

    Another controversial phone call was the one Pres.-elect Trump made to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Trump was quoted as heaping lavish praise on Pakistan, its people and culture which drew a harsh response from India, an important U.S. ally and Pakistan’s archenemy. In contrast, back in 2012, Trump had tweeted: “Get it straight: Pakistan is not our friend. We’ve given them billions and billions of dollars, and what did we get? Betrayal and disrespect — and much worse. #TimeToGetTough.”

    Finally, readers may recall that in my last week’s column I had commended the Armenian government for blocking Pakistan’s request for Observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), due to Pakistan’s pro-Azerbaijan, pro-Turkey, anti-Armenia, and anti-Artsakh (Karabagh) policies. The Turkish media disseminated my column, although mistakenly attributing to the Armenian government my four suggestions to counter Pakistan at the UN, US Congress, Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and support India in the Kashmir conflict with Pakistan.

    Armenian-Americans should continue their efforts to cultivate good relations with the Trump Administration and Members of Congress in order to counter all anti-Armenian attempts by Azerbaijan, Turkey and their high-priced lobbying firms in Washington!

  • : Understanding Trump, Stratfor Talks, beyond Merkel

    : Understanding Trump, Stratfor Talks, beyond Merkel

    Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here.
    November 25, 2016

    A Simple Tool for Understanding a Trump Presidency

    We hear all the time about how the world “should” work. Self-proclaimed liberals and conservatives, Keynesians and Reaganites, humanists and hawks, globalists and nationalists have crammed the airwaves and filled our Twitter feeds with policy prescriptions, promoting their worldview while scorning others’. But after the emotionally charged year this has been, I suspect many people are growing weary of big theories and cursory character assassinations. Instead, it may be time to replace the pedantry with something more fundamental — and less divisive — in which to ground our thoughts and make sense of the world.

    Rather than focusing on what should happen, perhaps we would do better to turn our attention to what will happen. And in this, geopolitics can come in handy. Read more…

    Building a More Efficient World

    All countries needs basic infrastructure. Some come by it more easily than others.

    Europe Needs More Than Merkel

    The EU’s fragmentation and U.S. policy shifts will leave less room in which Berlin can operate.

    OPEC Inches Toward a Market Intervention

    Saudi Arabia is so desperate for a deal to boost oil prices, it is likely willing to compromise enough to get one.

    Stratfor Talks Podcast

    Listen to a year’s worth of conversations and insights into major geopolitical issues, from Mosul to North Korea, Chinese renditions to crises in Venezuela.
  • Add your name: Hand recount or audit in key states

    Add your name: Hand recount or audit in key states

    From: Justin Krebs, MoveOn.org Political Action [mailto:[email protected]]
    Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 1:28 PM

    Subject: Add your name: Hand recount or audit in key states

    When we hold an election in this country, every vote should be counted fairly and transparently. That’s an essential principle of our democracy.

    Dear MoveOn member,

    When we hold an election in this country, every vote should be counted fairly and transparently. That’s an essential principle of our democracy.

    Here’s what we know about the elections held two weeks ago: Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes1—but the results in a few key states mean that the outcomes of the electoral vote are likely to come down to as few as 100,000 votes. That’s why Americans deserve to be fully confident that all votes in this election are counted fairly before the Electoral College meets in mid-December.

    There is an opportunity right now to give us greater confidence in our elections, both this year and in the future—by asking for an audit or hand recount in close states including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

    Will you sign our petition asking for an audit or recount in key states?

    Ask for an audit or hand recount in key states so the American public has confidence in the election results.

    Sign the petition

    Leading computer scientists and election security experts have urgently called on election officials to transparently verify the results that have been reported by auditing the paper ballots—the actual votes cast—in key states and precincts where only computer results have been tallied.2

    To be clear: the electoral results are not likely to change. However, experts are saying we shouldn’t place all of our trust on a computer alone when the actual votes are in front of us.3

    If you believe that our democracy shouldn’t rely on computer tallies alone, then sign our petition and ask for an audit or hand recount in key states.

    Researchers have repeatedly exposed critical vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines, and in a year like this when the result was close and unexpected and where election hacking repeatedly made the news, we owe it to our democracy to make sure everyone can be as confident as possible in the outcome.4

    This is worth repeating: Americans deserve to be confident that all votes in this election are counted fairly. Fortunately, we don’t have to trust a computer to know the true results of this election. In most counties in key states, there’s also a verifiable paper trail of votes cast. We can all be confident in the results of the election by just double checking the votes as they were cast.5

    That’s why we are calling on the 2016 presidential candidates and election officials to ask for an audit or hand recount in key states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

    Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

    Thanks!

    —Justin K., Anna, Alex, Vicki, and the rest of the team

    Sources:

    1. “Clinton’s popular vote lead surpasses 2 million,” USA Today, November 23, 2016

    2. “Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at the Ballots,” Medium, November 23, 2016

    3. Ibid.

    4. “How to Hack an Election in 7 Minutes,” Politico Magazine, August 5, 2016

    5. “Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at the Ballots,” Medium, November 23, 2016

    You’re receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

    Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

    Yes, I’ll chip $5 a month.

    No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.

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