GLOBAL AWARENESS 101 - Let your VOICE be heard and get involved. OUR future depends on it!
We can do the right thing to create positive change within ourselves and the world around us! I have created this blog with the intention of keeping you informed of news that is affecting humanity and nature throughout the world! There is no better time than the present to become a global participant and not just an innocent bystander. I have provided you with several websites to help empower yourself and a list of global organizations that you can choose from to make a difference.
KTLA reports: Family is mourning after missing teen is found dead.
A teenage boy from East Los Angeles was found shot to death hours after he was reported missing last week, authorities said Tuesday. https://t.co/QuxQcLl5YS
A teenage boy from East Los Angeles was found shot to death hours after he was reported missing last week, authorities said Tuesday.
Christian Medrano, 17, was pronounced dead beneath Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, "near mile marker 482.6," at 6:17 p.m. on Dec. 5, according to the coroner's office.
Medrano was found next to railroad tracks near the First Street Bridge, his family said.
Detectives that evening had responded near Kearny and Myers streets in Boyle Heights involving the death of a male individual, said the Los Angeles Police Department, according to Patch.
Medrano was last seen around 2 p.m. that day at his home in East L.A. in the 4700 block of Hammel Avenue, according to an L.A. County Sheriff's Department statement released on Sunday. The department was asking for the public's helping finding the boy, saying that his family was "very concerned."
On Monday evening, the Sheriff's Department announced that Medrano had been found dead.
The agency asked anyone with information to call investigators at 323-224-4100. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-8477, using the mobile app "P3 Tips" or visiting lacrimestoppers.org.
Authorities provided no further details about the circumstances surrounding the teen's death. Homicide detectives say there’s no motive or suspect descriptions they can give at this time.
In a message posted on the page, Medrano described his brother as a kind person who was loved and made everyone laugh. He told KTLA that his brother didn't have any enemies.
The 17-year-old had four siblings and didn't go anywhere at night without telling their mother, his brother added.
"He was one of a kind… He was so tall, every time I would hug him, he was like a huge bear," Juan Medrano said. "He was my little brother, but he was bigger than me. He always had my back. He had everybody’s back no matter what."
Juan Medrano said his brother planned to graduate, then get his own apartment. But the family is now unsure how it will even get through the holiday season.
“We already had his presents for Christmas,” he said. “And we had lights, but we took them off because it’s not going to be the same without him.”
The family planned to hold funeral services on Sunday. Relatives said the victim's mother plans to cremate his remains so she can keep him with her.
A Fontana man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of possessing child pornography, police said.
Jeremy Nuckolls, 38, was arrested after a search warrant was executed at his home on the 11600 block of Vale Vista Drive, the Fontana Police Department said.
Nuckolls was found to be in possession of child pornography that he is believed to be distributing online, according to the department.
Investigators also believe they found evidence of domestic violence and child abuse during their search, according to a police news release.
Nuckolls was booked on suspicion of possession of child pornography, domestic violence, and child abuse, police said.
He was being held at a Rancho Cucamonga detention center on $60,000 bail, according to jail records.
Authorities did not release information on the nature of the evidence that led to domestic violence and child abuse allegations.
👇 IN OTHER RELATED NEWS 👇
What's going on with Fontana? I went looking for more information about this child pornographer in Fontana and came across a lot of other creeps in Fontana. Look at the headlines below. 😱 (emphasis mine)
Fontana Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Intoxicated Woman Following Bloomington Party https://t.co/NRm2c5roYD
BOAZ, Ala. (WAFF) - Boaz police have arrested a child porn suspect.
Police say Douglas Brooks Hamilton was taken into custody at a hotel in Collinsville. He was with a young child who had been reported missing.
He is charged with of production of child pornography.
Police say the child porn did not involve the child at the hotel. There was a different child involved.
Hamilton’s wife, Misty Priest, was also arrested. She is charged with two counts of sexual abuse and one count of production of child pornography.
Police say when they went to arrest Hamilton Tuesday, he was not home. Upon talking to people, they had reason to believe he was evading law enforcement.
Officers then discovered the child was not at school.
Police said after they got information on their whereabouts, the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office responded to the hotel and took Hamilton into custody.
WZDX News published Dec 10, 2019: UPDATE: Boaz Police Department says that Douglas Brooks Hamilton was taken into custody at a hotel in Collinsville, AL and Zane Bradley Priest was found and is now safe.
OAKLAND, NJ — An Oakland man was arrested Thursday after authorities found more than 1,800 files of child pornography at his home, authorities said.
John D. Vieldhouse, 53, was charged with possession of pornography, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced. Vieldhouse was arrested following an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.
Members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Cyber Crimes Unit executed a search warrant at Vieldhouse's home in connection with an Internet child pornography investigation, the prosecutor said.
Vieldhouse used the Internet to "view, download, or possess" about 1,800 digital files showing nude or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children, Musella said.
Vieldhouse was arrested and charged with second-degree possession of child pornography in an amount greater than 1,000 files. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.
I asked the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico why she's advocating, controversially, for the Governor (who she doesn't agree with politically) to sign an island wide law that would tell people it's ok continue cockfighting despite a federal ban that goes in to effect in 10 days. pic.twitter.com/GeA1sN8GBL
Cockfighting - it has been a way of life for centuries in the rural communities of Puerto Rico. But on December 20, it will become illegal. That's because of a federal ban that animal rights activists in the mainland U.S. had been seeking for years. Adrian Florido of NPR's Code Switch podcast reports on what the new law means for the island. And just a warning to listeners - this story does contain descriptions and scenes of violence towards animals.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTERS CROWING)
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: It takes less than three hours to drive across Puerto Rico, but the island has more than 60 cockfighting arenas. One of the oldest is the Gallera Borinquen, tucked into the Central Mountains next-door to a house that Hurricane Maria destroyed. This man standing in the bleachers surrounding the fighting pit, egging on his bird, is Johnny Rios. His rooster is not looking good.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
JOHNNY RIOS: You see, right now, he got no strength.
FLORIDO: Yours is looking pretty bad.
RIOS: Yeah, because of that wound that he got in top of the leg.
FLORIDO: But with just about two minutes left on the fighting clock, Rios' bird stabs its opponent with one of the plastic spikes attached to its feet, knocking the other bird to the ground. It's pretty gruesome. And Rios is hopeful again.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
RIOS: If that one stays like that, we win - if he stays like that, if he doesn't get up. If he gets up - don't - (speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: After all that excitement, the fight is a draw. Rios takes his bird home.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTERS CROWING)
FLORIDO: Rios lives on a little mountain peak not far away.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
RIOS: I'm 69, going on 70. And I've been fighting roosters since I was 15. My father was a cockfighter, and my grandfather was a cockfighter.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTER CROWING)
RIOS: So this has been my life and my passion.
FLORIDO: Actually, he says, it's more than that. He points to the tattoo on his left bicep. It's a rooster framed by two words, tradicion y cultura - tradition and culture. For much of his life, Rio (ph) lived in New York, where he fought roosters illegally. He says he was arrested dozens of times.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
RIOS: When I used to see the judge, the judge used to say, you're not in Puerto Rico no more; you're in New York. And in New York, we don't fight birds. OK. Well, fine. So...
FLORIDO: So 25 years ago, he moved back to Puerto Rico, where he built a house on three acres, plenty of space to raise roosters. But last year, the U.S. Congress approved a ban on cockfighting in U.S. territories...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETER ROSKAM: Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
FLORIDO: ...To take effect at the end of this year, on December 20.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROSKAM: Animal fighting is inappropriate and wrong no matter where it happens.
FLORIDO: This is Peter Roskam, who, at the time, was a congressman from Illinois and was a co-author of the ban.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROSKAM: It's against the law in the continental United States, and what we're proposing is to make that a standard in the territories as well.
FLORIDO: But the ban took the island's politicians by surprise. Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon, tried to get it thrown out.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ COLON: This is an industry that represent more than $18 million in our economy and also more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs on the island.
FLORIDO: And her argument was, look; the island is in the middle of a 13-year recession and is billions of dollars in debt. And the ban wouldn't only put cockfighters out. It would also hurt importers of grain, cage manufacturers, veterinarians and on and on.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GONZALEZ COLON: So we are talking about how distressful is the economic situation in the island, but then we are approving another federal regulation without even consulting the people of the - Puerto Rico or even the territories.
FLORIDO: That last point about the island not being consulted is a sore point for Gonzalez and for many Puerto Ricans who felt offended that, just like that, Congress would wipe out a centuries-old practice that is ingrained in Puerto Rican culture. But because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and not a state, Gonzalez Colon has very little power. She has no vote in Congress. Her efforts to kill the ban failed. And so across Puerto Rico, thousands of cockfighters are dreading the day the ban goes into effect, December 20. But many say they won't obey the ban at all, like Johnny Rios.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
RIOS: Most of the people, most of the cockfighters, (speaking Spanish), the true ones - they're going to continue on fighting. You're going to see all the chicks that I got now for next year.
FLORIDO: So you're not scaling down at all.
RIOS: Hell no. You think if I did it in New York (laughter) - that now that I'm in my own country and this had been part of our culture, I'm going to stop? What's happening is that the American people, you know, they don't know what's behind it. They don't know that it's more than just - all they see two birds fighting. It's not just two birds fighting.
KITTY BLOCK: We work in - on every continent and in over 50 countries. And we hear this argument about culture all the time.
FLORIDO: This is Kitty Block. She's president of the U.S. Humane Society. It's the organization responsible for convincing Congress to pass the cockfighting ban. I asked her to respond to a criticism that is widespread in Puerto Rico that the ban is just the latest example of powerful white Americans imposing their cultural values on Puerto Rico, that it's U.S. colonialism.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
BLOCK: Interestingly, I've been reading about some literature of someone doing some research and saying that cockfighting actually is a form of colonialism because that's what the Spaniards brought. So there's lots of different ways of looking at that.
FLORIDO: Block said the bottom line is this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
BLOCK: And we're talking about cruelty. This is not about somebody's culture or the way they want to view themselves or what they want to respect or not respect. This is about stopping a heinous act of cruelty.
FLORIDO: In Puerto Rico, there are plenty of people who agree with her, who support the ban, who do think cockfighting is cruel, and though it has been a part of Puerto Rican culture for a long time, don't think it necessarily should continue to be. But there is no organized movement against cockfighting.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOGS BARKING)
FLORIDO: Jose Torres comes from a long line of cockfighters - six generations. He lives in the Central Mountain town of Utuado. And like so many cockfighters on the island, he, too, wants to defy this impending ban. But for him, going underground is complicated.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTERS CROWING)
FLORIDO: Torres has three little kids and a wife, Lizmary Rivera. Each morning, the whole family gets up before sunrise to feed the 250 birds they have in cages in their backyard.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
FLORIDO: (Speaking Spanish).
JOSE TORRES: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: (Speaking Spanish).
Their owners pay Torres to feed them, let them out for exercise, treat their injuries. That's how Torres has made his living his whole life.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TORRES: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: "But now this industry is dead," Torres said. "We're already dead." And he said he could do what a lot of cockfighters are going to do - just raise and fight roosters illegally.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TORRES: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: But he said that with a family to support, he can't afford to be convicted of a felony.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TORRES: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: Instead, he's going to move to the U.S. to find work, like the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who fled the island's economy over the last decade. But before he goes, Torres said he's got to figure out what to do with the 50 or so roosters in his backyard that belong to him. One big question in Puerto Rico is what is going to happen to all of the fighting birds on the island. By some estimates, there are close to a million of them. A lot of cockfighters expect federal agents to start showing up to confiscate them. But Torres said, on his property, that is not going to happen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TORRES: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: "I already told my wife," he said, "and I told my mother that if anyone comes and tries to take my birds, they're going to have to kill me first." And he said he's not alone in that sentiment. A lot of cockfighters are saying the same thing because how could they ask the roosters to fight to death, Torres asked, and not be willing to do the same?
Adrian Florido, NPR News, Utuado, Puerto Rico.
CHANG: And you can find a deeper dive on this story on NPR's Code Switch podcast.
Breaking on @CNN: "This is exactly what people close to @realDonaldTrump have been saying, the FBI committed wrongdoing starting this investigation."@PreetBharara says altering a document to obtain a FISA warrant is "really serious, it doesn’t get a lot more serious than that." pic.twitter.com/IlzUlpwxdI
Washington (CNN)A former FBI lawyer is under criminal investigation after allegedly altering a document related to 2016 surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser, several people briefed on the matter told CNN.
Yet the situation did not sway an independent Justice Department watchdog from finding the surveillance was valid, sources said.
Still, the possibility of a substantive change to an investigative document is likely to fuel accusations from President Donald Trump and his allies that the FBI committed wrongdoing in its investigation of connections between Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign.
The findings are expected to be part of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's review of the FBI's effort to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide. Horowitz will release the report next month.
Horowitz turned over evidence on the allegedly altered document to John Durham, the federal prosecutor appointed early this year by Attorney General William Barr to conduct a broad investigation of intelligence gathered for the Russia probe by the CIA and other agencies, including the FBI. The altered document is also at least one focus of Durham's criminal probe.
It's unknown how significant a role the altered document played in the FBI's investigation of Page. The alterations were significant enough to have shifted the document's meaning and came up during a part of Horowitz's FISA review where details were classified, according to the sources. It did not change Horowitz's finding that the FISA application had a legal basis, The Washington Post first reported.
Some witnesses who have been interviewed in Horowitz's investigation have said they expect the inspector general to find mistakes in the FBI's handling of the FISA process, but that those mistakes do not undermine the premise for the FBI's investigation.
American intelligence agencies and the Justice Department have not swayed from their finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election by hacking the Democrats and spreading pro-Trump propaganda online. And even former top Trump campaign officials have corroborated special counsel Robert Mueller's finding that the Trump campaign planned some of its strategy around the Russian hacks, and had multiple contacts with Kremlin-linked individuals in 2016.
Horowitz's investigators conducted more than 100 witness interviews in their review. During one of interviews this year, they confronted the witness about the document. The witness admitted to the change, the sources said.
The lawyer, who was a line attorney, is no longer working at the bureau, said a person familiar with the matter. A line attorney is a lower level lawyer within the FBI.
No charges that could reflect the situation have been filed publicly in court.
The Justice Department and inspector general's office declined to comment.
Horowitz report
Horowitz is expected to release his report on December 9 and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee two days later.
The internal, independent investigator so far, over several reports, has criticized top members of the FBI for their actions leading up to and during the Russia investigation. Those IG reports have looked at situations including former FBI Director James Comey's handling of his personal memos about meetings with the President and former official Peter Strzok's anti-Trump text messages.
A finding of alleged wrongdoing from Horowitz could further fuel Republican criticism and conspiracies about previous investigators' targeting of Trump associates. It could also provide them a political boost at a moment where Democrats' impeachment investigation into Trump's political quid pro quo with Ukraine has battered the President.
The report is said to cover the FBI's approach to foreign surveillance during the Russia investigation, including of warrants used to wiretap Page, who had advised the Trump campaign in 2016. Witnesses are currently reviewing Horowitz's findings.
Horowitz has shared information from his review with Durham, CNN previously reported.
The Justice Department has been tight-lipped on outlining exactly what Durham has been looking at. But the attorney general himself said soon after appointing him that he was concerned officials acted inappropriately as they oversaw the counterintelligence probe of the 2016 Trump campaign.
Barr's embrace of these theories aligns with Trump's chief grievance that he was the victim of a "deep state" spy operation that has clouded his presidency.
The New York Times, CNN and other outlets have reported that Durham's investigation had become a criminal investigation.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the official is a lawyer who is no longer with the FBI. It has also been updated with information about the impact of the matter under investigation.
“Viva le resistance.”
The FBI lawyer under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying a document related to the surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser expressed negative opinions of @realDonaldTrump in messages to colleagues.https://t.co/LPUkzjugrh
The FBI lawyer under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying a document related to the surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser expressed negative opinions of President Trump in messages to colleagues.
Kevin Clinesmith, who was part of special counsel Robert Mueller's team, has been identified as the attorney who could face a criminal charge as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham's expansive criminal inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation, according to the New York Times.
As part of the Justice Department watchdog's now-completed investigation into alleged surveillance abuses, Clinesmith was found to have altered an email that was used by officials as they prepared an application renewal to present before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant to electronically surveil Carter Page, a onetime foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign.
Clinesmith was an attorney with the FBI’s National Security and Cyber Law Branch and worked under FBI General Counsel James Baker and Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson. He had worked on the Clinton email investigation as well as the Trump-Russia probe. Clinesmith was present in the FBI's meeting with Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in February 2017 in Chicago, Papadopoulos told lawmakers in 2018. An Australian diplomat's tip about Papadopoulos claiming the Russians had damaging information about Hillary Clinton effectively prompted the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, called Crossfire Hurricane, in July 2016.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's investigators found Clinesmith falsely asserted he had documentation to back up a claim while in talks with the Justice Department about the factual basis for a FISA warrant application renewal. He then took an email from an official from another agency that contained multiple factual assertions, added material of his own, and gave it to a fellow FBI official who was preparing an affidavit for the Page case. Clinesmith has been described in many media reports as a “low-level attorney,” but Horowitz said he “was the primary FBI attorney assigned to [the Trump-Russia] investigation in early 2017.”
Eagerly anticipated by Trump's allies, Howoritz's report is expected to be released to the public on Dec. 9, the inspector general announced this week. They believe it will reveal an effort to undermine Trump's 2016 campaign in which the FBI misled the FISA court in its reliance on an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, whose research about Trump and his associates was partially funded by Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm and Fusion GPS.
The Times, however, reported that the inspector general is expected to criticize top FBI officials but absolve them of abusing their power out of bias against Trump. Democrats, as well as current and former FBI officials, have additionally dismissed allegations of wrongdoing and have raised concerns that information about U.S. intelligence-gathering could be leveraged to discredit Mueller.
Horowitz previously identified Clinesmith as one of the FBI officials who conveyed a bias against Trump in instant messages. Clinesmith was kicked out of Mueller's Russia investigation team in February 2018. Two other FBI officials who were forced out of Mueller's team for similar anti-Trump messages were Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, both of whom have also left the bureau.
In a lengthy instant message exchange between Clinesmith and another FBI employee on Nov. 9, 2016, the day after Trump’s presidential victory, he lamented Trump’s win and worried about the role he played in the investigation into Trump and his campaign.
“My god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff,” Clinesmith said, adding, “So, who knows if that breaks to him what he is going to do?”
A couple weeks later, on Nov. 22, 2016, he said, “Hell no,” when asked by another FBI attorney if he was “rethink[ing] [his] commitment to the Trump administration.”
“Viva le resistance,” Clinesmith added.
In a scathing July 2018 inspector general report on the FBI's Clinton emails investigation, Clinesmith was criticized at least 56 times, listed as "FBI Attorney 2." Clinesmith defended himself, claiming his messages only reflected his personal views. He asserted his opinions did not affect his work.
During a hearing that June with Horowitz, North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows named Clinesmith as being one of two unnamed lawyers criticized in the inspector general report.
The initial FISA application and three renewals targeting Page required the approval of top members of the FBI, the DOJ, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but they were also handled by lower-level officials. The initial warrant application was approved in October 2016, and the final renewal came in June 2017.
Under suspicion of being a Russian agent, Page became a subject of interest in the FBI's counterintelligence investigation, which was later wrapped into Mueller's investigation. Page was never charged with a crime as part of Mueller's investigation, which failed to establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and denied being an agent for Russia.
Last summer, the DOJ took the unprecedented step of releasing more than 400 redacted pages of top-secret documents on the FISA warrant obtained to wiretap Page after Trump declassified their existence.
“We found instant messages in which FBI Attorney 2 discussed political issues, including three instant message exchanges that raised concerns of potential bias,” Horowitz wrote last year.
The first exchange highlighted by Horowitz occurred on Oct. 28, 2016, just after FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing the reopening of the Clinton email investigation. Clinesmith messaged a total of four FBI employees expressing his frustration, telling two of them, “I mean, I never really liked the Republic anyway.”
“As I have initiated the destruction of the republic ... Would you be so kind as to have a coffee with me this afternoon?” Clinesmith asked a third FBI employee.
And Clinesmith told a fourth FBI employee, “I’m clinging to small pockets of happiness in the dark time of the Republic’s destruction.”
In his attempt to explain these texts to Horowitz in 2018, Clinesmith said he was expressing his annoyance with what he saw as the FBI treating the Clinton email investigation more harshly than the Trump-Russia investigation. He continued to say he didn’t let it impact his work.
“It’s like, in terms of, of, you know, what’s not in here too is like, you know, we, at that point we had investigation, the Russia investigation was ongoing as well. And that information was obviously kept close hold and was not released until March,” Clinesmith said. “So, you know, it, it was just kind of frustration that we weren’t handling both of them the same way with, with that level I guess.”
The second exchange detailed by the inspector general occurred on Nov. 9, 2016, in which he and another FBI official were “devastated” about Trump’s victory over Clinton the day prior, and Clinesmith said he thought the Comey letter to Congress may have helped Trump win, claiming, “We broke the momentum.”
“I am so stressed about what I could have done differently,” Clinesmith said, later adding, “It’s just hard not to feel like the FBI caused some of this. It was razor-thin in some states.”
Clinesmith also trashed Trump and the Republican Party.
“The crazies won finally. This is the Tea Party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years,” he said. “We have to fight this again. Also, Pence is stupid.”
Clinesmith told Horowitz in 2018, “I wasn’t anywhere near the, the room deciding on these factors. ... It was just kind of like a discussion on how I could have either moved the process along more quickly or more efficiently at a, at a more, at an earlier time, or whatnot.”
The former FBI lawyer also attempted to explain away his third exchange on Nov. 22, 2016, in which he’d referenced “the Resistance.”
“It’s just the, the lines bled through here just in terms of, of my personal, political view in terms of, of what particular preference I have,” Clinesmith told Horowitz. “But, but that doesn’t have any, any leaning on the way that I, I maintain myself as a professional in the FBI.”
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.
The show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.
The new evidence concerning the altered document, which pertained to the FBI's FISA court warrant application to surveil Page, is expected to be outlined in Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.
But the Post, hours after publishing its story, conspicuously removed the portion of its reporting that the FBI employee involved worked "beneath" Peter Strzok, the FBI's since-fired head of counterintelligence. The Post did not offer an explanation for the change, which occurred shortly after midnight. Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by Strzok when he was leading the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the probe into the Trump campaign.
"The person under scrutiny has not been identified but is not a high-ranking official — they worked beneath former deputy assistant director Peter Strzok, according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss material that has not yet been made public," The Post wrote in its now-deleted paragraph.
The paper eventually added a correction to the bottom of its piece, reading, "Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the FBI employee being investigated for altering a document worked underneath former Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. The employee was a low-level lawyer in the Office of General Counsel and did not report to the deputy assistant director."
Nevertheless, Horowitz reportedly found that the FBI employee was involved enough in the FISA process to falsely state that he had "documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis" for the FISA warrant application, the Post reported. Then, the FBI employee allegedly "altered an email" to substantiate his inaccurate version of events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau.
In its initial 2016 FISA warrant application, the FBI flatly called Page "an agent of a foreign power."
Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry.
Durham has reportedly taken up Horowitz's findings concerning the falsified FISA document, meaning the ex-FBI lawyer who made the changes is now under criminal investigation. The Post indicated, however, that the document was not central to the legality of the FISA warrant obtained against Page.
Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically motivated. In recent months, a series of unearthed documents has strengthened those claims.
Just nine days before the FBI applied for its first FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns" about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application, according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.
The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."
Fox News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented – and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the FBI inaccurately assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that media sources independently corroborated Steele's claims, and did not clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Much of the Steele dossier has been proved discredited or unsubstantiated, including the dossier's claims that the Trump campaign was paying hackers in the United States out of a non-existent Russian consulate in Miami, or that ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to conspire with Russians. Special Counsel Robert Mueller also was unable to substantiate the dossier's claims that Carter Page had received a large payment relating to the sale of a share of Rosneft, a Russian oil giant, or that a lurid blackmail tape involving the president existed.
Despite being accused by the FBI of being a Russian agent in the FISA application, and being secretly surveilled for more than a year, Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing. He has since sued numerous actors -- including the DNC -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.
"OI [Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now, other than Stu's continued concerns."
It's unclear whether the confidential source in question was Steele or another individual. "Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.
Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.
Newly released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called "302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”
Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.
Days after @CNN hired him as contributor - - > Report says: Federal prosecutors appear to be close to a decision on whether to charge fmr @FBI official Andrew McCabe over actions during the Hillary Clinton email and Russia investigations. || https://t.co/gmc1X7dUjd
Disgraced FIRED @FBI Andrew McCabe on @CNN w/ @jaketapper talking about how ‘important’ TEXT MESSAGES ARE because thy ‘expose MOTIVE’ & what ppl were ‘trying to accomplish’ & ‘association evidence’!
JW announced it received 35 pages of records of communications between former FBI official Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page that show the attorney representing three of Hillary Clinton’s aides met with senior FBI officials. READ: https://t.co/UwiASDq2cw
The true DC criminal are being uncovered by the DOJ. The Clintons and their criminal counterparts are going down (there not going down like that Bill!!! ).
Peter Strzok’s wife discovered Lisa Page affair on his phone, DOJ reveals https://t.co/Uk6lnWWAaR
Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were having an affair. His wife figured it out before any of us knew. Lisa Page sends a message after she was confronted and Strzoks wife threatened to send pictures to her husband, and in it she acts incredulous - in case his wife sees more. https://t.co/nQWolXkX4z
Ciaramella is called “Charlie” in emails and texts between FBI agents and lovers, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page as “C”, where he appeared to be leaking them information related to General Michael Flynn.
The whistleblower reached out in October to the intel community internal watchdog to explain his or her contact with Schiff's staff, CBS News has learned. https://t.co/WPgcbI88Ym
Mark Zaid one of the attorneys representing the intelligence community whistleblower at the center of the Democrats' ongoing impeachment inquiry, tweeted conspicuously in January 2017 that a "coup has started" and that "impeachment will follow ultimately." https://t.co/ux9v322seO
The ACTUAL content/conversation between anti-Trump FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page who started the investigation into President Elect DJT and also shut down investigation into HRC.
The newly released transcripts of my interview with Lisa Page indicate that Peter Strzok had no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia prior to the launch of the FBI and special counsel investigations into the matter. pic.twitter.com/Mt8SChdocI
Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have said they hadn't seen the evidence of election-related collusion as of Mueller's appointment (5/17/17). McCabe lasted until 3/16/18
Fox Business published Oct 16, 2018: Fusion GPS co-founder pleads Fifth on the FAKE anti-Trump dossier. FOX News contributor Jason Chaffetz discusses how Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
WSJ 8/15/19: The Justice Department is investigating how a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, came to exert so much influence over the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s erroneous Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Let’s hope the department is also investigating an even more influential man who had even less business manipulating the government: Glenn Simpson, the head of opposition-research firm Fusion GPS.
That’s a pressing question in light of new documents from high-ranking Justice official Bruce Ohr, obtained recently by Judicial Watch. The papers include, among other things, a dozen official FBI interviews (known as 302s) of Mr. Ohr that date from just after the 2016 election through May 2017. The documents suggest Mr. Simpson was the real puppet master of the collusion drama.
More eye-popping in the 302s is the ease with which Mr. Simpson landed meetings with powerful officials, for no apparent purpose other than to peddle unverified accusations against the Trump team. This isn’t a former intelligence officer or government official, or even someone with specialized knowledge of Russia. Mr. Simpson is a private citizen—and one who Mr. Ohr and the FBI knew was providing information to Hillary Clinton’s team (as Mr. Ohr acknowledges in his initial 302). Yet when Mr. Simpson called, officials across Washington hopped to, swallowing the claims that would become the basis of a false hysteria.
Fox News published August 8, 2019: Justice Department releases DOJ Official Bruce Ohr's interview records. Reaction from former DOJ prosecutor Jim Trusty and former deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo.
Fox News published Oct 19, 2018: Nellie Ohr claims spousal privilege in deposition.Former Fusion GPS researcher Nellie Ohr is married to DOJ official Bruce Ohr and that's apparently a big factor in which questions she's answering in her closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill; reaction and analysis from John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush.
Peter Strzok text message to Lisa Page after Comey was fired:
JW uncovered 47 pgs of records from DOJ, including emails between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page revealing that FBI officials used unsecured devices when discuss how the U.S. could improve its sharing of sensitive data with the E.U. governing commission.https://t.co/npT2abPqO0
In a January 30, 2016 email exchange sent entirely over unsecure devices, top former FBI officials including General Counsel Jim Baker, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Strzok, Page, unidentified individuals from the DOJ’s National Security Division and NSA General Counsel Glenn Gerstell, discuss a draft document with the subject line: “Revised IC Safe Harbor Letter (from [redacted] using [redacted] iPad).”
In a February 5, 2016, email Strzok indicates to Page that at least two, and possibly more, top FBI officials had not been properly “read-in” to top secret, compartmented programs. Those included McCabe and Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Bill Preistap. It is indicated Page needs some read-ins as well.
Hi everybody. HAPPY SUNDAY! I've been enjoying today taking it easy, relaxing listening to Barbra Streisand albums... IN HEAVEN! ;) Must share this wonderful feeling! :D Enjoy this great uplifting song!
I am here to tell you that I have personally witnessed prayer work. I still get blown away when God answers my prayers. God Almighty is very real. Jesus, the living breathing WORD of God is very real. The Holy Spirit, the BREATH of God is very real. I have provided several prayers for you to use. You'll see the list of prayers on the top right side of my blog. I recommend that you print out the prayers so you have access to them at any time. I also recommend reading the Psalms section in the Bible. You'll be guided to read the Psalms that pertain to your situation.
The Word from the Bible is life giving. Why else do you think the Bible is banned in many nations of the world? People actually risk their lives smuggling the Bible into many nations. People also risk their lives smuggling PAGES of the Bible into many nations. People travel far and by foot just to get ONE PAGE of the Bible to keep with them and read. I want you to process that in your head and heart. What we take for granted, they see it as life giving, light giving in the darkness of their nations.
Please understand, this has NOTHING to do with religion. This has NOTHING to do with you attending a Church or joining an organization. The term Body of Christ refers to believers. The Body of Christ as a whole is the Church. We are the Church. It does not pertain to a building.
Praying is a very personal experience. When you pray, you are having a one on one experience with God Almighty your Creator and Source of all LIVING things. Praying draws you close to God. I promise, you will feel His presence that will bring tears to your eyes because His love is that intense. When you pray, you are calling down Heaven into your situation. Praying adds Supernatural power 5D to your natural life 3D.
as King David wrote in Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
repeat after me, "I reverse any Islamic, satanic, demonic curse, spell, incantation, hex or vex against me back to the senders head, one thousand fold. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
or better yet pray, "I reverse any any evil pronouncement, any curse, spell, incantation, hex or vex against my life (against -fill in the blank) back to the senders head one thousand fold. In the mighty most powerful wonder working name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
or "by the power and authority vested in me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, let any curse, spell, or incantation, hex or vex against me be reverse now back to the senders head one thousand fold. In the mighty most powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen." (emphasis mine)
Rise up from your rut and reclaim your spiritual passion.
Have you ever found yourself in a spiritual rut? I know I have. Life gets busy, church feels like one more thing on your to-do list, and prayer feels both cumbersome and ineffective.
Beyond the fact that life itself can become overwhelming, even sapping your spiritual vitality, there is a more pressing culprit that threatens to marginalize your prayer life: You have an Enemy waging war on your soul.
Make no mistake, this is a war. You are in the fight of your life. A very real Enemy has been strategizing and scheming against you, assaulting you, coming after your emotions, your mind, your future.
But I say Satan’s reign of terror stops here, now. He might keep coming, but he won’t have victory because his power starts failing when we start praying.
The Mystery of Prayer
I’m willing to admit, right up front, that I don’t fully understand this. There’s an undeniable, unknowable, invisible mystery to the power of prayer. That’s why our first reaction to prayer may be to dismiss it, downplay it, or even devalue its critical importance. Prayer, we think, is a good idea in theory—if only it would actually make a difference.
That thinking is what gets us in trouble. When we underestimate the power of prayer, when we think it doesn’t work, when we choose to believe that God won’t answer our prayers or that he isn’t listening, we wave a white flag and invite Satan into our situation.
Believe me when I say that praying is the last thing Satan wants you to do. He will discourage you from doing it. He will dissuade you from it, and he will disarm you by putting a distaste for prayer in your mouth. He wants to see you passionless, prayerless, and powerless. Perfectly quiet. And because prayer is the divinely ordained mechanism that leads you into the power and victory of Christ, Satan knows you’ll remain defeated and undone without it.
The Power of Prayer
Despite what we may or may not understand about prayer, God has deliberately chosen this particular vehicle as the one that drives his activity in his people’s lives. It is the means by which he allows us to partner with him in the fulfilling of his will. He has created prayer as a primary way of putting us into personal contact with him and with his eternal realities, any hour of the day or night.
Prayer is the portal that brings the power of heaven down to earth. It is kryptonite to the Enemy and to all his ploys against you.
When Paul describes our spiritual armor, he includes the belt of truth, the body armor of God’s righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit—the very Word of God. But he doesn’t stop there. “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere,” Paul says in Ephesians 6:18.
There it is. The fuel that drives everything: prayer.
Answer: The idea that power is inherent in prayer is a very popular one. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer. Consider the following:
1) The Lord God Almighty can do all things; there is nothing impossible for Him (Luke 1:37).
2) The Lord God Almighty invites His people to pray to Him. Prayer to God should be made persistently (Luke 18:1), with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6), in faith (James 1:5), within the will of God (Matthew 6:10), for the glory of God (John 14:13-14), and from a heart right with God (James 5:16).
3) The Lord God Almighty hears the prayers of His children. He commands us to pray, and He promises to listen when we do. “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears” (Psalm 18:6).
4) The Lord God Almighty answers prayer. “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me” (Psalm 17:6). “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
Another popular idea is that the amount of faith we have determines whether or not God will answer our prayers. However, sometimes the Lord answers our prayers in spite of our own lack of faith. In Acts 12, the church prays for Peter’s release from prison (v. 5), and God answers their prayer (vv. 7-11). Peter goes to the door of the prayer meeting and knocks, but those who are praying refuse at first to believe that it is really Peter. They prayed he would be released, but they failed to expect an answer to their prayers.
The power of prayer does not flow from us; it is not special words we say or the special way we say them or even how often we say them. The power of prayer is not based on a certain direction we face or a certain position of our bodies. The power of prayer does not come from the use of artifacts or icons or candles or beads. The power of prayer comes from the omnipotent One who hears our prayers and answers them. Prayer places us in contact with Almighty God, and we should expect almighty results, whether or not He chooses to grant our petitions or deny our requests. Whatever the answer to our prayers, the God to whom we pray is the source of the power of prayer, and He can and will answer us, according to His perfect will and timing.
I love to travel and get away from it all whether it's 1st class, 2nd class or 3rd class makes no difference to me. I simply love to visit new places and meet new people. I really enjoy extreme sports. I started blogging 12 years ago and love to be able to express and share thoughts with others.
Most recently a Mortgage Professional prior to implosion. Earned a living in my previous career as an Institutional Equity Trader (sell side). I have a bachelor's degree in finance with special emphasis in economics.
❤ May my heart be kind, my mind fierce and my spirit brave. ❤
Hello WORLD and welcome
Thank you for visiting. I will do my best to keep you posted to global news affecting humanity and this planet as we know it today. I will bring you global news Monday through Friday adding my insight along the way. In between the non-sense, I will pepper in a little humor, random stuff and inspiration for balance and I will use the weekend to feed your spirit.
♥♥♥ ~Love to you all, Josette Marie aka Princess Mononoke
I've been asked many times if I still track the stock market. My answer is a resounding yes. The stock market is in my blood. I'm still tracking the markets, still doing research and still following economic news. This is the one industry that is the heart of global productivity. It is essential in pumping the necessary oxygen (capital) to corporations that in turn hire employees who will in turn produce the products and services that we all use. Capitalism is a very very important element to humanity. It is what fuels dreams, self-reliance and individualism!
T.E.A.= TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY! I am an INDEPENDENT/CENTRIST Former Democrat for 20 years
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