The Front Page Cover
~ Featuring ~
Were Democrats Working With Russia Against
Trump? That Russian Lawyer Has Ties
to Democrat Oppo Researchers
by Erick Erickson
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Top Headlines
Intelligence report warns of growing missile threats. (The Washington Free Beacon)
CNN hired top al-Qaida propagandist for award-winning Syria documentary and wants to cover its tracks. (Salon)
Trump's VA secretary is off to a fast start reforming the agency. (National Review)
Pentagon to keep paying for sex-change surgeries. (The Washington Times)
Was the Trump Jr.-Veselnitskaya meeting set up to validate the phony dossier on Trump Sr.? (Dick Morris)
liar-Hillary Clinton's charitable giving takes a dive in 2016. (The Washington Free Beacon)
Once-powerful New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's 2015 corruption conviction is overturned. (The New York Times)
Board urges more training after cop ID'd transgender woman man as male on traffic ticket. (Sun Sentinel)
Feminist geographers encourage colleagues not to cite research by white men. (The Washington Times)
Turns out Republicans are the most generous tippers. (Bloomberg)
Policy: Hitting the refresh button on net neutrality. (National Review)
Policy: A climate roadmap for President Trump. (Washington Examiner) ~The Patriot Post
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WHERE IS JEFF SESSIONS? COUP
Is Time For AG To STAND Up
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ President Trump doesn’t see what the big deal is, at least from his comments in Paris. Speaking in a thoughtful, measured manner of the meeting Don Jr. had with the Russian lawyer... “I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting.” Lou Dobbs joins Sean Hannity is discussing the events, with Hannity referencing the real Ukrainian collusion with the liar-Clinton campaign and the “RINO-McCain Fusion GPS Steele Russian” fake dossier and asking what Dobbs makes of the double standard. It’s much more than a double standard “by a long measure,” says Dobbs. “This is an effort to subvert the administration of President Donald Trump. It is nothing less. It is an effort by the deep state to roll over a duly-elected President and a legitimate government and to break the will of the American people.”... http://rickwells.us/dobbs-hannity-jeff-sessions-coup-time-ag-stand/
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Trump Admin Continues liar-nObama-Era Tradition
Of Giving Millions To Soros-Linked Groups
by Alex Pfeiffer
{dailycaller.com} ~ The Trump administration gave $6.3 million to a group linked to liberal mega-donor George Soros as part of an effort to to develop “independent, professional media” in Moldova, The Daily Caller has learned... The Agency for International Development (USAID) doles out millions of dollars to groups around the world, and frequently this money ends up in the hands of organizations supported by Soros. The Daily Caller has previously reported that USAID during the liar-nObama administration gave at least $15.8 million in Macedonia to groups ran by Soros and to organizations tied to his Open Society Foundations. This led to inquiries from several Republican congressmen and senators. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee urged President Trump at an April event to stop this practice of supporting “political activism that undermines legitimate governments and long-held cultural norms” with “leftist policies and leftist politicians.”...Why is this still happening? http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/13/trump-admin-continues-obama-era-tradition-of-giving-millions-to-soros-linked-groups/.
Hawaii Judge Grants Post-SCOTUS Injunction
As To How Trump Travel Order Applies
by William A. Jacobson
{legalinsurrection.com} ~ A federal judge in Hawaii has just granted in part, and denied in part, the State of Hawaii’s motion to enforce an injunction issued prior to the Supreme Court ruling as to Trump’s Travel Order No. 2... The key issue was who would be considered to have a “bona fide” connection to the United States under the Supreme Court ruling, such that they would be excluded from Travel Order No. 2 restrictions on entry. A full copy of the Order is embedded at the bottom of this post. https://www.scribd.com/document/353731133/Hawaii-v-Trump-Post-SCOTUS-Order-Granting-in-Part-Motion-to-Enforce-Injunction#from_embed ... http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/07/hawaii-judge-grants-post-scotus-injunction-as-to-how-trump-travel-order-applies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29
.Police officers shot in
terror attack die of their wounds
by Chana Roberts
{israelnationalnews.com} ~ Two police officers who were critically injured on Friday morning in a terror attack at the Lions Gate in Jerusalem's Old City have died of their wounds... An additional victim was injured moderately, and is fully conscious. He sustained wounds in his neck and limbs. Initial investigations show that three terrorists left the Temple Mount armed, and walked towards Lions Gate. They then spotted police officers and shot at them, then escaped back towards the mosques on the Temple Mount. Police officers chased after the three terrorists and caught up to them, eliminating all three... http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/232468?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
.Halal Certification – The Unpalatable Truth
by Jamie Glazov
{jihadwatch.org} ~ On this new special edition of The Glazov Gang, we feature Kirralie Smith, president of HalalChoices.com.au. Kirralie discusses Halal Certification: The Unpalatable Truth, unveiling a world of fraud, bribery, intimidation and corruption. https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/07/glazov-gang-halal-certification-the-unpalatable-truth
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by Erick Erickson
{theresurgent.com} ~ This will not get nearly as much coverage as Donald Trump, Jr. meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, but it does raise the issue of whether Democrats and Russians were as collaborative as the Democrats claim the Trump team was. There is a remarkably small degree of separation between Natalia Veselnitskaya and Fusion GPS, the Democrat opposition research firm that came up with the Trump dossier.
Were Democrats Working With Russia Against
Trump? That Russian Lawyer Has Ties
to Democrat Oppo Researchers
{theresurgent.com} ~ This will not get nearly as much coverage as Donald Trump, Jr. meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, but it does raise the issue of whether Democrats and Russians were as collaborative as the Democrats claim the Trump team was. There is a remarkably small degree of separation between Natalia Veselnitskaya and Fusion GPS, the Democrat opposition research firm that came up with the Trump dossier.
In 2012, the Russian government started hiring hordes of Washington law firms, lobbyists, political strategist, and others to get the Magnitsky Act repealed. The act, named for Sergei Magnitsky, sought to hold the Russian government accountable for the man’s death. Mr. Magnitsky was a lawyer who uncovered massive tax fraud in Russia. He was arrested, tortured while in prison, and died.
One of the law firms hired by Russia to work on repeal is Baker Hostetler, which also has ties to Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS. According to Senator Chuck Grassley, who wants Fusion GPS officials to testify before the Senate, Fusion GPS was also involved with the Russians over the Magnitsky Act. Senator Grassley’s office notes “Despite the reported evidence of their work on behalf of Russian interests, neither Fusion GPS nor Akhmetshin are registered as foreign agents under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).”
Grassley continued, “Fusion GPS was apparently simultaneously working on the unsubstantiated dossier alleging collusion between Trump presidential campaign associates and Russia” while helping Russia with the Magnitsky Act. It also appears the FBI was willing to pay Christopher Steele, the former spy, who helped Fusion GPS compile the dossier.
Now, let me quote directly from the Chuck Grassley press release on Fusion GPS with the major, relevant portions highlighted:
In 2013, the Justice Department opened a case to seize the U.S. assets of Russian-owned Prevezon Holdings, which received millions of dollars from the theft and used it to purchase real estate in New York, according to the department’s complaint. In response, Prevezon Holdings and the Kremlin launched a campaign to undermine the Magnitsky Act and discredit Magnitsky’s claims of corruption, according to a 2016 complaint by Hermitage CEO William Browder. Fusion GPS and Rinat Akhmetshin, among others, were involved in the pro-Russia campaign in 2016, which involved lobbying congressional staffers to attempt to undermine the Justice Department’s account of Magnitsky’s death and the crime he uncovered, repeal the Magnitsky Act itself, and delay efforts to expand it to countries beyond Russia, according to Browder’s complaint. Akhmetshin, a Russian immigrant, has reportedly admitted to being a “soviet counterintelligence officer,” and has a long history of lobbying the U.S. government for pro-Russia matters. Fusion GPS was reportedly tasked with generating negative press coverage of Browder and Hermitage.
You know who else worked for Preveson Holdings? Natalia Veselnitskaya.
According to Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik News, Veselnitskaya had “evidence showing that the grounds for the Magnitsky Act are based on lies perpetuated by UK millionaire of US origin William Browder.”
In addition to working for Prevezon Holdings and working against William Browder, just like Fusion GPS was doing, Veselnitskaya also had dealings with Rinat Akhmetshin, the founder of the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation. As noted above, Akhmetshin was named by Senator Grassley as sharing work with Fusion GPS against Browder. In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Chuck Grassley says this about Akhmetshin:
It is particularly disturbing that Mr. Akhmetshin and Fusion GPS were working together on this pro-Russia lobbying effort in 2016 in light of Mr. Akhmetshin’s history and reputation. Mr. Akhmetshin is a Russian immigrant to the U.S. who has admitted having been a “Soviet counterintelligence officer.” In fact, it has been reported that he worked for the GRU and allegedly specializes in “active measures campaigns,” i.e., subversive political influence operations often involving disinformation and propaganda. According to press accounts, Mr. Akhmetshin “is known in foreign policy circles as a key pro-Russian operator,” and Radio Free Europe described him as a “Russian ‘gun-for-hire’ who lurks in the shadows of Washington’s lobbying world.” He was even accused in a lawsuit of organizing a scheme to hack the computers of one his client’s adversaries.
As you know, Fusion GPS is the company behind the creation of the unsubstantiated dossier alleging a conspiracy between President Trump and Russia. It is highly troubling that Fusion GPS appears to have been working with someone with ties to Russian intelligence –let alone someone alleged to have conducted political disinformation campaigns– as part of a pro-Russia lobbying effort while also simultaneously overseeing the creation of the Trump/Russia dossier. The relationship casts further doubt on an already highly dubious dossier.
Radio Free Europe has a story noting Akhmetshin’s group had hired Veselnitskaya as an attorney:
Prevezon and the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation overlap in another way. In an e-mail sent in April to a Warsaw-based NGO that was hosting a speech by Browder, Russian Natalia Veselnitskaya identified herself as a lawyer working on behalf of the foundation and sought permission to attend, according to officials with the NGO, called the Open Dialog Foundation. Veselnitskaya is also a lawyer for Prevezon.
So let’s tie all this together.
Prevezon, which is a Russian group, hires Fusion GPS and Rinat Akhmetshin to generate negative press coverage on a British citizen. Prevezon also hires as legal counsel both Baker Hostetler and Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Rinat Akhmetshin also puts Natalia Veselnitskaya on the payroll.
Rinat Akhmetshin, who works in collaboration with Fusion GPS at the time it is preparing the Trump dossier, is an admitted “Soviet counterintelligence officer” who specializes in “subversive political influence operations often involving disinformation and propaganda.”
While all of this is going on, Fusion GPS is working on the opposition research dossier on Donald Trump using a foreign agent. Are we really supposed to believe that it is completely coincidental that Natalia Veselnitskaya just so happens to be the Russian lawyer who got access to Donald Trump, Jr.? Are we to believe that there is no direct relationship between Veselnitskaya and Fusion GPS?
It is remarkable how she gets a PR agent to urge Trump, Jr. to meet with her by promising Russian information about liar-Hillary Clinton’s emails as the liar-Clinton email server story is blowing up. And then it is remarkable how she gives a perfect performance to NBC News two days ago claiming she only talked with Trump about the Magnitsky Act, but assured the press that the Trump team was hoping for dirt on liar-Hillary.
It is also really remarkable that this all happens as Fusion GPS is prepping its opposition dossier and a New York Times reporter who has been following the story admits it was a year ago, at that time, that someone tipped him off about the meeting.
Add to all of that two more nuggets. Natalia Veselnitskaya had been denied a visa into the United States. She had been given temporary parole, allowing her to enter the country with an expired visa, but it has been revoked by 2016. Still, Veselnitskaya was able to enter the US anyway to meet with Trump, Jr. in the middle of 2016. It is my understanding this could have only happened in one of two ways. First, she could have argued she was the sole lawyer of representation for her client, but Baker Hostetler also represented Prevezon. She could also have been allowed into the country if she had a collaborative relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You know, the organization that was considering paying Christopher Steele for his Trump dossier work prepared for Fusion GPS.
Also, Ms Veselnitskaya, on her Facebook page, purportedly had several pro-liar-Hillary Clinton posts and anti-Trump posts.
There are three questions reporters should be asking right now.
What is the relationship between Glenn Simpson, Fusion GPS and Natalia Veselnitskaya?
Did Veselnitskaya serve as a source for the “Trump Dossier”?
Who retained Veselnitskaya to attempt to meet with Donald Trump, Jr.?
One final point: the issue is not whether this excuses Donald Trump, Jr. for poor judgment. The issue is whether certain Democrats were collaborating with Russians at a time Democrats claim the Trump campaign was collaborating with Russians. Both sides should have been dubious of Russians bearing gifts and it looks increasingly likely that neither side was. The Democrats could be trying to undermine Donald Trump with as much help from the Russians as they claim Trump received from Russia.
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