- European Equities May Benefit As $1 Trillion In U.S. Buybacks Vanish Into Thin Air
European equities may start to finally see some love, as they are now positioned to take advantage of one significant coming tailwind from the U.S., according to Bloomberg. Over the next 12 months, US stocks are going to lose a significant amount of support that they have received from buybacks, as the nearly $1 trillion buyback bonanza that has fueled stock purchases in the United States starts to come to an end, according to Sanford C. Bernstein strategists.
This could be an area where European stocks, due to their low dependence on buybacks, could see help as a result.
Bernstein strategists led by Inigo Fraser-Jenkins said:
“This would remove one advantage of U.S. equities over Europe. As the buyback support is reduced it will make a stronger relative case for Europe.”
And the decision of the U.S. central bank to hold off on rate increases may have temporarily reduced concerns about debt hurting equities, but the topic is still on the table and credit spreads are expected to keep widening over the next year.
Furthermore, the significance of share repurchases to the US rally has been pronounced, with $1 trillion in buybacks in just 2018 alone, far overshadowing the $100 billion in net inflows from active and passive funds. And even though European equities have rallied to the tune of more than $1.5 trillion since December’s lows, shorting these stocks remains a popular trade globally, according to Bank of America Corp.’s latest fund manager survey. And many traders are still on the sidelines, as Europe’s ugly politics and mixed economic data continues to weigh on sentiment.
Stock funds in Europe have been hemorrhaging for nearly a year with outflows since the Brexit referendum reaching $139 billion. Redemptions have been so large that they have “erased the inflows fueled by Mario Draghi’s 2012 pledge to do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro.”
And although Bernstein strategists aren’t ready to make a buy call for European equities, low investor positioning, discounted valuations and anticipated support from reduced US buybacks are worth acknowledging, they note.
The analysts concluded: “Europe is uniquely hated. We like to be contrarian and so large outflows incline us to like a region. However, we are not quite ready to issue a ‘buy Europe’ call.”
- Poroshenko Out, Zelensky In. Will Things Change In Ukraine?
The incalculable damage that’s been done to the region for cynical geopolitical goals can never be undone but it can stop.
With art imitating life presidential elections in Ukraine ended with Volodymyr Zelenski garnering a massive majority over incumbent Petro Poroshenko. So, let’s get right to the point.
Will this change anything?
The West poured a lot of money and time into Poroshenko. It was obvious months ago he was not going to win a second term no matter what he did. With him mostly gone from the scene it is now up to Zelensky to put together a plan which goes far beyond the protest vote against Poroshenko’s obvious corruption.
The problem is we have no idea if he’s 1) capable of doing this or 2) strong enough to implement anything he comes up with.
With his party polling below 30% it’s clear this wasn’t a mandate for him but one against Poroshenko. The probability is high that he will be unable to form a stable, majority government later this year if his election isn’t a country-wide revolution but rather a short-lived temper tantrum.
Let’s hope it’s the former. Given just how deep the US ties into Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko are I would bet on the latter, unfortunately.
So, his next steps are important. And the issues facing him are severe.
From the Donbass, which he supported reconciling with versus Poroshenko’s unbridled belligerence, to Crimea. Zelensky will have to face down enormous political pressure to solve them in ways that reflect reality.
That means mending some of the bridges burned under Poroshenko with Russia, which he says he wants. But the question is whether he realizes that much of the anti-Poroshenko vote is tied into this. And just how tenuous his position as president truly is.
It means he will need to look Southeast to Pakistan where outsider and supposed political neophyte Imran Khan is walking a similar tightrope as a geopolitical hot potato. Khan is trying to do unite the civilian and military arms of Pakistan’s leadership under one roof.
It’s no small task.
And, so far, Khan has acquitted himself well. He’s cut deals with both Saudi Arabia on energy and Iran on border security/terrorism. He’s survived major conflagrations with India and Iran; false flag operations timed to create maximal chaos and paralyze his government and any reforms.
In short, Zelensky will have to lead. It will mean talking with Putin. It will mean giving up something to put the Western vultures, both in the US and Europe, at bay. And he needs to do so in a way that is orthogonal to Poroshenko.
If Zelensky is going to survive and bring Ukraine out of the mess that it’s in, he’s going to have to realize that rapprochement with Russia is the way forward.
It means having the courage to not make unruly demands on Putin. Poroshenko spent the last year of his presidency leaving poison pills behind for whoever succeeded him.
Breaking the Treaty of Friendship and attacking the Kerch Strait Bridge being the two big ones. He has to agree to back off on military use of the Sea of Azov and accept blame for the incident in return for getting the sailors Russia holds freed.
Ending the bombing of the Donbass is also needed, disengaging back to the Minsk contact lines and stop lying about the situation. This would go a long way to establish a baseline of trust.
And it’s low-hanging fruit. Ukrainians outside of the insane American diaspora, want this done. But, it’s also on a short-timer because 2019 is slipping away and a lot of energy issues have to be solved.
Putin upped the ante barring coal and oil exports to Ukraine last week placing Ukraine in a very vulnerable position come this winter. And remember, no gas transport deal at the end of this year as well.
He is not without leverage as the EU has dragged its feet on the final approvals of the Nordstream 2 pipeline. This is a pivotal moment. Gazprom and Russia are pot-committed to the project, with it nearly complete and the EU is now trying to leave it unfinished to inflict maximum pain.
The Ukrainian economy is collapsing. Coal production is down 8% year-over-year. Putin knows this and has Zelensky in a stranglehold.
Angela Merkel has made no bones about how important securing gas transit through Ukraine is to getting the EU to change its policies towards Russia. And Vladimir Putin will not budge on his negotiating any new deals until Ukraine changes.
So, all of these competing agendas are coming to a climax in the next couple of months. And off in the corner is the European Parliamentary elections in a month. And they could easily change the entire political will of the European Union.
Euroskeptics like Matteo Salvini could finally push for ending sanctions against Russia if Putin and Zelensky bury the hatchet on some of the latest issues left behind by Poroshenko. Returning the sailors would undercut the need for the latest sanctions. Withdrawing the Ukrainian Army from the contact line in accordance with the now only symbolic Minsk II agreement would melt EU resistance to lifting sanctions.
But, lastly, these things would allow for a nominal gas transit contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz which would end-run around the opposition to Nordstream 2 as Merkel tells her people and Denmark to stand down on the final permits.
Lots of ifs, I know. But that’s the path in front of Zelensky if he’s serious about making substantive changes to the dynamic in Eastern Europe. The incalculable damage that’s been done to the region for cynical geopolitical goals can never be undone but it can stop.
- Ebola Doctors In Congo Are Threatening A Strike At The Worst Possible Time
The doctors crucial to helping stop Ebola outbreaks in the Congo are threatening to go on strike indefinitely if health workers are attacked again, according to AP.
The threat comes after a Cameroon national that was working for the World Health Organization was killed last week. Dr. Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung of Cameroon was killed on Friday during an attack on an Ebola response command center in the eastern Congo.
Dr. Kalima Nzanzu urged authorities to provide greater security for the Ebola response and said that he wanted residents to understand that doctors and other medical staff are there to help fight the outbreak.
Politically, eastern Congo is a volatile area where many armed groups operate. Lack of trust in government has subverted efforts to contain Ebola since the outbreak began late last summer. Some residents falsely accuse foreigners of bringing Ebola to the area.
Just days ago, we reported that the Ebola outbreak in the Congo was close to “becoming a global emergency”. Two weeks ago, the World Health Organization issued a statement on the ongoing Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The recent spike of cases increases the threat that the deadly virus will spread to other countries and efforts must be redoubled to stop it, the WHO said last Friday after a meeting of its expert committee.
On April 12, the WHO claimed that while the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is of “deep concern” the situation does not yet warrant being declared a global emergency.
Here are a few concerning excerpts from the statement:
However, the Committee wished to express their deep concern about the recent increase in transmission in specific areas, and therefore the potential risk of spread to neighbouring countries.
Special emphasis should be placed on addressing the rise in case numbers in the remaining epicentres, notably Butembo, Katwa, Vuhovi, and Mandima.
Because there is a very high risk of regional spread, neighbouring countries should continue to accelerate current preparedness and surveillance efforts, including vaccination of health care workers and front-line workers in surrounding countries.
Cross-border collaboration should continue to be strengthened, including timely sharing of data and alerts, cross-border community engagement and awareness raising. In addition, work should be done to better map population movements and understand social networks bridging national boundaries.
The Committee maintains its previous advice that it is particularly important that no international travel or trade restrictions should be applied. Exit screening, including at airports, ports, and land crossings, is of great importance; however, entry screening, particularly in distant airports, is not considered to be of any public health or cost-benefit value. (source)
The outbreak has become the second-deadliest in history, behind the West African one from 2014-16 that killed more than 11,300 people. As of April 15, the outbreak has claimed 821 lives. The total case number is 1273. Unfortunately, both numbers are soaring, and experts say it is not even close to ending.
- 'The Satanic Temple' Has Evolved Into An Anti-Trump Movement, And Leftists Are Flocking To It
Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,
The Satanic Temple is the perfect religion for progressives. You can believe anything you want, as long as you hate what Donald Trump, Christians and conservatives believe. Unlike the Church of Satan, the Satanic Temple doesn’t even believe in a supernatural entity called Satan. Instead, they celebrate Satan as “the ultimate rebel”, and they relish in using the symbol of Satan to greatly upset Christians. The Satanic Temple was founded in 2013, and from the very beginning it was clear that they were primarily a political movement. In fact, they openly tell prospective members that the only real requirement for joining is to believe “in the political and secular actions” of the group…
“If there’s a local chapter where you are, to join you do have to be accepted, but there’s no initiation or anything. You don’t even have to be a Satanist, you can just be a strong ally who believes in the political and secular actionswithout being super stoked about all the aesthetic aspects.”
Previously, Satanism in America had always been a shadowy underground movement, but the Satanic Temple has changed all that.
Instead of avoiding the public eye, they believe that their rebellion against conservatives and Christians “requires a level of political participation”…
‘Traditionally, Satanists practice very privately, closed doors, black candles, black metal music, but with the Satanic philosophy being where Satanism represents rebellion against arbitrary authority, we believe it requires a level of political participation. I think that we need to go into the public sphere and announce ourselves without shame.’
The organization grew rapidly after it was founded, but if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election that probably would have put a damper on their political activism.
But once Donald Trump won the election, interest in the group absolutely exploded…
“The Satanic Temple attracted ‘thousands’ of new members in just the first 36 hours after the election of Donald Trump,” the group reported. “The 4-year-old temple, which had a pre-Trump membership of around 50,000, has never before seen a spike in registration nearly this big.”
“We’re definitely a resistance movement,”spokesperson and co-founder Lucien Greaves said after a speech outside the University of Colorado Boulder. “We stand in stark opposition to this idea that we must unify under a single religious banner.”
Thanks to a favorable new documentary about the group, it is getting a lot of attention right now.
And even many leftists that have absolutely no intention of joining the Satanic Temple are saying very positive things about the organization. For example, the following comes from a Huffington Post article entitled “Satan Is Having A Moment”…
Satanists, it turns out, are everything you think they’re not: patriotic, charitable, ethical, equality-minded, dedicated to picking up litter with pitchforks on an Arizona highway.
That much is clear in the fantastic new documentary “Hail Satan?” — which chronicles the rise of the Satanic Temple, a movement that has little to do with its titular demon. Founded in 2013, the organization is equal parts modern-day religion, political activist coalition and meta cultural revolution. By reclaiming the pop iconography that has long frightened evangelical America ― devil worship, ritualistic sacrifice, horns, pentagrams, the so-called Black Mass ― the Satanic Temple aims to catch people’s attention and then surprise them with messages of free speech, compassion, liberty and justice for all.
Positive articles like that make members of the Satanic Temple sound like civic-minded do-gooders that just want to make a positive impact on society, but the truth is that they absolutely loathe everything that conservatives and Christians stand for.
They really hate President Trump, and they really, really hate Vice-President Pence. Just consider what one of the co-founders of the Satanic Temple recently said about Pence…
“[President Trump] is too stupid to predict; the guy has no concept of his own limitations. The thing that makes me most comfortable with Trump is the fact that he has no vision. Mike Pence really scares me,” Lucien Greaves told The Daily Beast in an interview published on Wednesday. “Pence has a clear, theocratic vision for the United States.”
And despite the fact that they claim that they “don’t worship Satan”, the group does celebrate the black mass, it does conduct Pentagram rituals, and it does seek to put statues of Baphomet up in prominent public locations.
As the group continues to grow, their national influence undoubtedly will as well.
Perhaps it is appropriate that the Satanic Temple has gained such prominence. In our society today, we are literally locked in a battle of good vs. evil for the future of our nation, and it seems quite fitting that Satan has become a key symbol for the other side.
To me, the Satanic Temple is more than just a little bit hypocritical. They claim to not believe in any supernatural entities, and yet they were just granted tax-exempt status “as a church” by the Internal Revenue Service…
The Satanic Temple has been officially recognized as a church by the Internal Revenue Service, three months after taking Sundance by storm as the subject of the documentary “Hail Satan?” According to an announcement from “Hail Satan?” distributor Magnolia Pictures, the temple is now eligible for the tax-exempt status given to other religious institutions.
Either they are a “faith” or they are not.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling that there is a lot more to the Satanic Temple than meets the eye.
Just like their hero, the leaders of the Satanic Temple appear to be experts in deception, and they are leading thousands upon thousands of people down a very dark path.
- Preferred Pronouns Or Prison
“He.” “She.” “They.”
Have you ever given a moment’s thought to your everyday use of these pronouns?
It has probably never occurred to you that those words could be misused. Or that doing so could cost you your business or your job – or even your freedom…
Source: The Strategic Culture Foundation
- Next Stop On The War Train – Iran, Venezuela, Or North Korea?
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,
If you learn one rule about how governments function today, it should be that political leaders are usually puppets and the real decision makers are almost never out in the open. The question is, how does one know for certain that this is the case with a specific leader? His rhetoric might be compelling, he probably knows every buzzword to spark your interest, and he might even throw you some legislative scraps from the political table every once in a while to make you think that he’s going to follow through on his campaign promises, but does he actually believe in the principles he originally championed?
The litmus test for any US president is to examine the type of people he invites into his house. Who does he surround himself with? The cabinet is the president’s constant companion and decision making team. The cabinet is looking over his shoulder and influencing everything he does. If you want to find who is pulling the strings of a president, this is a good place to start.
Once you identify the major players in the cabinet, it’s important to discern what they want. What goals are they trying to squeeze out of a first or second term in the White House? What is the geopolitical or social trend they are creating through their influence? This should not be hard to read…
The problem with our current president, Donald Trump, is not that he is very different from previous presidents, but that he is very similar to them in many ways. While conservatives that voted for Trump did so most of all in the hopes that he would follow through on his promise to “drain the swamp”, he has instead been actively filling the swamp with ever more slimy and parasitic creatures. Whenever one leaves the cabinet, they are replaced with another equally ghoulish character from a roster of banking elites, think tank sociopaths and globalists.
The Mueller Report has been a highly effective distraction for both leftists and conservatives when it comes to the true loyalties of Trump. So many Americans have been obsessed with the notion of whether or not the president is controlled by a foreign power they forgot to look for the real influencers right under the roof of the White House.
The notion that Trump could still function as some kind of freedom fighter while playing 10-dimensional chess with the elitists sitting comfortably within his own decision making team is an incredibly absurd fantasy, but some people in the liberty movement still cling to this idea. Cognitive dissonance strikes when reality conflicts with what we want to see in the world, and we choose our ideal version of events over that reality.
One great danger is that a large number of conservatives will support Trump in actions that they would have once considered contrary to their principles because they want to believe he is something he is not. This includes the potential perpetuation of long running wars based on disinformation as well as the creation of new wars built on similar lies and with ulterior motives.
The veil on the Trump Administration is being slowly pulled away, perhaps not coincidentally at the same time that the Mueller Report circus has hit a crescendo. Only two days before the report was released Trump vetoed the “War Powers Act” passed by Congress, which removes US support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, a war that has gone utterly under-reported in the mainstream media even though death toll figures have recently been revised five times higher than originally indicated.
Only one week after the Mueller Report, Trump has backed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, who is now engaged in another under-reported and bloody siege in Tripoli in and attempt to assert dominance over the country. This is yet another event which is clearly being maneuvered by the elites in Trump’s cabinet, while at the same time the media is insinuating that Trump is acting “unilaterally” against their input.
Constitutionally, no president is supposed to have the power to unilaterally declare war on another country, or to involve the US in such wars covertly. Congress has quietly been ceding that authority over the past several decades. One would think that if Trump was a constitutionalist, one of his first actions would be to voluntarily return constitutional powers to the form they were original intended before they were manipulated by elitist controlled politicians. But Trump rarely even mentions the word “constitution” in public, so expecting him to defend it might be a stretch.
The underlying suspicion in Trump’s veto decision is that this is not just about Yemen, but about a war (or multiple wars) yet to be initiated. There are at least three major options on the table right now…
Iran
Everyone knows a war with Iran is coming eventually. The CIA led coup to overthrown democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh (a nationalist) and install the Shah (Mohammed Reza Pahlevi) directly resulted in the Iranian revolution in 1979. Every US president and elitist cabinet since this event has tested the waters of public sentiment on a renewed conflict with Iran. So far they have not been able to find a rationale that the citizenry is willing to buy; either that, or they have simply been too busy perpetuating wars in other regions to get to Iran yet.
However, under Donald Trump the elites have an opportunity, for now they have the option to launch wars without risking public blowback to their agenda. Confusing? Consider this – Trump has been painted as a conservative stalwart, a nationalist and populist extraordinaire that is vehemently anti-globalist (even though his cabinet is packed with elites and globalists). As a puppet president, Trump is a perfect weapon. The establishment can now launch wars without being forced to construct ANY elaborate rationale, and then they can simply blame the resulting disasters on “populism” and conservatives in general.
Perhaps this is why tensions with Iran are now skyrocketing as the US reasserts stifling sanctions and declares the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. The US is also set to end all waivers for Iranian oil exports and is threatening economic retaliation against countries that ignore sanctions. This is expected to cause gasoline prices to spike even higher in the near term.
Iran has responded by declaring the US a state sponsor of terrorism, and is threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the most important avenues for oil shipping in the world. I would also note that many European nations are not on board with higher oil prices and are seeking ways to circumvent sanctions against Iran.
The effort to foment war with Iran has been spearheaded primarily by former Director of the CIA and current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, along with CFR member John Bolton. They have insinuated that if Iran moves to block the Strait of Hormuz, war will result.
Venezuela
I have written extensively on the Venezuela situation in the past, including in my recent article ‘Is Venezuela On The Verge Of Becoming Another Syria?’ To summarize, Venezuela was already near collapse due to foolish socialist policies, but the elites have decided to help the South American country along with sanctions as well as the initiation of a coup using Juan Guaido as a frontman. Currently, Guaido has entered Venezuela under the protection of the US, and is openly fomenting revolution against Nicolas Madruro.
The Venezuela conflict seems to be headed up by Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton. Bolton has indicated numerous times that the military option is on the table for the region if Madruro refuses to step down and relinquish power, or if he dares to arrest Guaido.
A Venezuela scenario interests me greatly for a number of reason, but primarily because it matches up perfectly with a scenario described in ‘Operation Garden Plot’, a secret continuity of government and martial law program exposed during the Iran/Contra Hearings in the 1980’s. Garden Plot outlines that a crisis in South or Central America followed by mass migrations north to the US border would be a useful crisis and a valid excuse to trigger martial law measures in America, starting first on the border and then spreading from there. Isn’t this the situation we are staring to see today on the border?
A war in Venezuela, either through a coup or through direct US military action would amplify current unstable conditions to a maximum.
North Korea
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the “diplomatic negotiations” with North Korea have ended in shambles. Trump’s highly publicized walk out during the last summit was even praised by the likes of Joe Biden. NK is now threatening to return to missile and nuclear tests and cut off future summits if the US does not back off of sanctions by the end of this year.
The current state of devolving affairs with North Korea was highly predictable, though the amount of time it took for the farce to become widely evident was certainly longer than I expected. As I’ve been warning for months, there was never any intention on the part of the Trump Administration and its elitist handlers to secure a legitimate deal with North Korea, and the idea that NK would EVER denuke was ludicrous from the start.
The kabuki theater was designed as a means to solidify Trump’s base and lure the liberty movement into the neo-con fold. At the same time, it has staged the Trump Administration for an epic negotiations disaster in the near future. “So close, and you blew it…”, the media pundits will say.
North Korea is still engaging in summit negotiations, not with the US, but with Russia and Vladimir Putin. The result will likely be the exact opposite of what the mainstream media has been suggesting (i.e. renewed efforts to denuke). I suspect that this will only hasten North Korea’s break from peace talks with the West, just as Turkey’s negotiations with Putin have only hasted their departure from NATO.
The question is, if NK begins missile and nuclear tests again at the end of this year, as they seem to be threatening to do, will this be used as an excuse for a war in the region? And, is this the next stage in the scripted globalist narrative in which Trump is a “bumbling populist villain” destined to lead the nation to economic and geopolitical ruin…?
War As A Catalyst For Centralization
The purpose behind regional and global conflicts should be obvious, but for some reason the motives seem to escape many people, perhaps because they are so easily caught up in false paradigms.
Almost every war of the past century has been followed by further centralization of government power and the creation of globalist institutions which continually argue for the end of national sovereignty as THE SOLUTION to end all war. Considering the fact that all modern wars are banker engineered wars, I would suggest that forcibly and permanently removing organized sociopathic elites from positions of power and influence is the only long term solution for ending war.
War is not just “a racket” as Smedley Butler decried; war is also a useful tool for molding mass psychology. However, I want to remind everyone that not all globalist schemes succeed; many of them fail spectacularly. The covert destabilization of Syria and the attempt to lure the American public into supporting a military invasion to remove president Bashar al-Assad from power was initiated over 7 years ago and has ended with dismal results for the establishment cabal. Not only did they fail to convince Americans that CIA trained Syrian insurgents were “heroic freedom fighters” (the same insurgents that eventually formed ISIS), they also failed to convince the public and US military members that going to war in the region to unseat Assad was a rational option. The only success in Syria, I suppose, is that no one in intelligence agencies or politics has yet been punished for their covert training, arming and funding of terrorist groups.
The globalists are not omnipotent. They often misjudge and underestimate the public. Their extreme narcissism is one of their greatest weaknesses, and it is a weakness they can do nothing about; they are stuck with it and they are oblivious to it at the same time. The key to stopping new wars today rests in the hands of conservatives, for it will be in our name that the next wars will be launched. We must not allow this, let alone support it. Regardless of what part of the world the next regional conflagration emerges, regardless if it is led by the Trump Administration, it is up to us to say no, expose the agenda and shut the farce down, just as we monkey-wrenched elitist plans in Syria. It can be done.
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- Who Is Running For President In 2020 (So Far)?
The number of candidates for the U.S. Democratic presidential primaries in 2020 rose to 19 this week, with former vice president Joe Biden making his long-expected announcement.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Among the field of candidates are nine sitting members of Congress, six women and also six minority candidates. Other bids came from former and current mayors, former Congressmen, a governor, an entrepreneur and a self-help author who has been called Oprah’s spiritual adviser.
Some candidates had decided to form what is called an exploratory committee ahead of a proper campaign announcement, but all of them have since announced a full-fledged run for president.
There are two candidates for the Republican primaries so far: the current president of the United States, Donald Trump and former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld. Trump filed for a 2020 run on Jan 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration, according to the Federal Election Commission. Weld had previously been associated with the Libertarian party, but changed his affiliation back to Republican ahead of his campaign announcement and filing with the FEC on April 1.
- Johnson: Special Counsel Mueller – Disingenuous And Dishonest
Authored by Larry Johnson via Sic Temper Tyrannis blog,
While President Trump is correct to celebrate the Mueller Report’s conclusion that no one on Trump’s side of the ledger attempted to or succeeded in collaborating or colluding with the Russian Government or Russian spies, there remains a dark cloud behind the silver lining. And I am not referring to the claims of alleged obstruction of justice. A careful reading of the report reveals that Mueller has issued findings that are both disingenuous and dishonest. The report is a failed hatchet job. Part of the failure can be attributed to the amount of material that Attorney General Barr allowed to be released. It appears that Bill Barr’s light editing may have been intended to expose the bias and sloppiness of Mueller and his team.
Let us start with the case of trying to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. If you were to believe that the Steele Dossier accurately reported Vladimir Putin’s attitude towards Trump, then a Trump real estate deal in Moscow was a slam dunk. According to one of Steele’s breathless reports:
The Kremlin’s cultivation operation on TRUMP also had comprised offering him various lucrative real estate development business deals in Russia, especially in relation to the ongoing 2018 World Cup soccer tournament. How ever, so far, for reasons unknown, TRUMP had not taken up any of these.
Then there is reality. The impetus, the encouragement for the Moscow project came from one man–Felix Sater.
In the late summer of2015, the Trump Organization received a new inquiry about pursuing a Trump Tower project in Moscow. In approximately September 2015, Felix Sater . . . contacted Cohen on behalf of I.C. Expert Investment Company (I.C. Expert), a Russian real-estate development corporation controlled by Andrei Vladimirovich Rozov.J07 Sater had known Rozov since approximately 2007 and, in 2014, had served as an agent on behalf of Rozov during Rozov’s purchase of a building in New York City.30S Sater later contacted Rozov and proposed that I.C. Expert pursue a Trump Tower Moscow project in which I.C. Expert would license the name and brand from the Trump Organization but construct the building on its own. Sater worked on the deal with Rozov and another employee of I.C. Expert. (see page 69 of the Mueller Report).
To reiterate–if the Steele Dossier was based on truthful intelligence then the Trump organization only had to sit back, stretch out their hands and seize the moment. Instead, little Felix Sater keeps coming back to the well. In January 2016, according to the Mueller report.
Sater then sent a draft invitation for Cohen to visit Moscow to discuss the Trump Moscow project,along with a note to “[t]ell me if the letter is good as amended by me or make whatever changes you want and send it back to me.”
After a further round of edits, on January 25, 2016, Sater sent Cohen an invitation- signed by Andrey Ryabinskiy of the company MHJ-to travel to”Moscow for a working visit” about the “prospects of development and the construction business in Russia,” “the various land plots available suited for construction of this enormous Tower,” and “the opportunity to co-ordinate a follow up visit to Moscow by Mr. Donald Trump.
This produced nothing. No deal, no trip. But Sater persisted:
Beginning in late 2015, Sater repeatedly tried to arrange for Cohen and candidate Trump, as representatives of the Trump Organization, to travel to Russia to meet with Russian government officials and possible financing partners. . . .
Into the spring of 2016, Sater and Cohen continued to discuss a trip to Moscow in connection with the Trump Moscow project. On April 20, 2016, Sater wrote Cohen, ” [t)he People wanted to know when you are coming?,,
On May 4, 2016, Sater followed up:
“I had a chat with Moscow. ASSUMING the trip does happen the question is before or after the convention. I said I believe, but don’t know for sure, that’s it’s probably after the convention. Obviously the pre-meeting trip (you only) can happen anytime you want but he 2 big guys where [sic) the question. I said I would confirm and revert.”
On May 5, 2016, Sater wrote to Cohen:
“Peskov would like to invite you as his guest to the St. Petersburg Forum which is Russia’s Davos it’s June 16-19. He wants to meet there with you and possibly introduce you to either Putin or Medvedev, as they are not sure if 1 or both will be there. This is perfect. The entire business class of Russia will be there as well.”
On June 14, 2016, Cohen met Sater in the lobby of the Trump Tower in New York and informed him that he would not be traveling at that time.
Why was Felix Sater the one repeatedly identified pushing to arrange deals with the Russians and yet did not face any subsequent charges by the Mueller team? Sater had been working as part of the Trump team since 2003. Why is it that the proposed deals and travel to Moscow came predominantly from Felix Sater? As I noted in my previous piece–The FBI Tried and Failed to Entrap Trump–Sater was an active FBI undercover informant. He had been working with the FBI since 1998. When he agreed to start working as an undercover informant aka cooperator in December 1998 guess who signed off on the deal? Andrew Weissman. You can see the deal here. It was signed 10 December 1998.
An honest prosecutor would have and should have disclosed this fact. He, Sater, was the one encouraging the Trump team to cozy up to Russia. Mueller does not disclose one single instance of Trump or Cohen or any of the Trump kids calling Sater on the carpet and chewing his ass for not bringing them deals and not opening doors in Russia. Omitting this key fact goes beyond simple disingenuity. It is a conscious lie.
The circumstantial evidence indicates that Sater was doing this at the behest of FBI handlers. We do not yet know who they are.
But Sater’s behavior and status as an FBI Informant was not an isolated incident. We also have the case of Michael Caputo and Roger Stone being approached by a Russian gangster named Henry Greenberg. According to democratdossier.com:
Greenberg’s birth name is Gennady Vasilievich Vostretsov, the son of Yekatrina Vostretsova and Vasliy Vostretsov. He later adopted new names twice as a result of two different marriages and became Gennady V. Arzhanik and later Henry Oknyansky. Henry Greenberg is not a legal alias, but he uses it quite commonly in recent years.
But you would not know this from reading the Mueller report. Mr. Disingenuous strikes again:
In the spring of 2016, Trump Campaign advisor Michael Caputo learned through a Florida-based Russian business partner that another Florida-based Russian, Henry Oknyansky (who also went by the name Henry Greenberg), claimed to have information pertaining to Hillary Clinton . Caputo notified Roger Stone and brokered communication between Stone and Oknyansky.
Oknyansky and Stone set up a May 2016 in-person meeting.260 Oknyansky was accompanied to the meeting by Alexei Rasin, a Ukrainian associate involved in Florida real estate. At the meeting, Rasin offered to sell Stone derogatory information on Clinton that Rasin claimed to have obtained while working for Clinton. Rasin claimed to possess financial statements demonstrating Clinton’s involvement in money laundering with Rasin’s companies. According to Oknyansky, Stone asked if the amounts in question totaled millions of dollars but was told it was closer to hundreds of thousands. Stone refused the offer, stating that Trump would not pay for opposition research.
How does a guy like Vorkretsov/Greenberg, with an extensive criminal record and circumstantial ties to the Russian mob gain entrance into the United States? Very simple answer. He too was an FBI informant:
In an affidavit, Vostretsov explained to an immigration judge he worked for the FBI for 17 years throughout the world, including in the US, Iran and North Korea. He explained in the same paperwork the FBI granted him several temporary visas to visit the US in exchange for information about criminal activities.
Please take time to read the full dossier at democrat dossier.
This is more than an odd coincidence. This is a pattern. The FBI was targeting the Trump campaign and personnel in a deliberate effort to implicate them in wanting to work with Russians.
And there is more. George Papodopoulus was entrapped by individuals linked to British MI-6 and the CIA with offers to provide meetings with Russians and Putin. The Mueller account is a lie:
In late April 2016, Papadopoulos was told by London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, immediately after Mifsud ‘s return from a trip to Moscow, that the Russian government had obtained “dirt” on candidate Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. One week later, on May 6, 2016, Papadopoulos suggested to a representative of a foreign government that the Trump Campaign had received indications from the Russian government that it could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information that would be damaging to candidate Clinton.
Papadopoulos shared information about Russian “dirt ” with people outside of the Campaign, and the Office investigated whether he also provided it to a Campaign official. Papadopoulos and the Campaign officials with whom he interacted told the Office that they did · not recall that Papadopoulos passed them the information. Throughout the relevant period of time and for several months thereafter, Papadopoulos worked with Mifsud and two Russian nationals to arrange a meeting between the Campaign and the Russian government. That meeting never came to pass.
Once again, the Mueller team treats the provocateur–i.e., Joseph Mifsud–as some simple guy with ties to Russia’s political elites. Another egregious lie. Mifsud was not working on behalf of Russia. He was deployed by MI-6. Disobedient Media has been on the forefront of exposing Mifsud’s ties to western intelligence in general and the Brits in particular.
Mifsud’s alleged links to Russian intelligence are summarily debunked by his close working relationship with Claire Smith, a major figure in the upper echelons of British intelligence. A number of Twitter users recently observed that Joseph Mifsud had been photographed standing next to Claire Smith of the UK Joint Intelligence Committee at Mifsud’s LINK campus in Rome. Newsmax and Buzzfeed later reported that the professor’s name and biography had been removed from the campus’ website, writing that the mysterious removal took place after Mifsud had served the institution for “years.”
WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange likewise noted the connection between Mifsud and Smith in a Twitter thread, additionally pointing out his connections with Saudi intelligence: “[Mifsud] and Claire Smith of the UK Joint Intelligence Committee and eight-year member of the UK Security Vetting panel both trained Italian security services at the Link University in Rome and appear to both be present in this [photo].”
The photograph in question originated on Geodiplomatics.com, where it specified that Joseph Mifsud is indeed standing next to Claire Smith, who was attending a: “…Training program on International Security which was organised by Link Campus University and London Academy of Diplomacy.” The event is listed as taking place in October, 2012. This is highly significant for a number of reasons.
This is not a meer matter of Mueller and his team “failing” to disclose some important facts. If they were operating honestly they should have investigated Mifsud, Greenberg and Sater. But they did not. Two of the three–Sater and Greenber–alleged Russian stooges have ties to the FBI. And Mifsud has been living and working in the belly of the intelligence community.
When you put these facts together it is clear that there is real meat on the bone for Barr’s upcoming investigation of the “spying” that was being done on the Trump campaign by law enforcement and intelligence. These facts must become a part of the public consciousness. The foreign country that worked feverishly to meddle in the 2016 Presidential election and the subsequent rule of Donald Trump is the United Kingdom. Russia is the patsy.
- New York's "Green New Deal" To Phase Out Red Meat By 50%
New York City’s recently-approved “Green New Deal” (not to be confused with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s environmental wish-list) will slash the amount of red meat served in municipally-run facilities by half in order to combat climate change, according to Breitbart‘s Josh Caplan.
The $14 billion “Green New Deal” will phase out purchases of processed meats in city-run schools, hospitals and correctional facilities by 2040, amid an overall cut in purchases of 50 percent. New York would be the first city in the world to adopt such a policy, and was announced after New York Schools adopted “Meatless Monday” in an effort to encourage the consumption of less meat.
Chloe Waterman, who serves as Program Manager for the Climate-Friendly Food Program at Friends of the Earth, said of De Blasio’s proposal in a statement: “New York City is strengthening its climate leadership by acknowledging the importance of slashing consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions associated with factory farmed meat. Eliminating processed meat and cutting red meat purchases will pay dividends for the health of future generations and the planet.” –Breitbart
“We applaud Mayor de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and all of the advocates who made today’s announcement possible. We hope other cities will soon follow suit, said Waterman.
De Blasio (D) said on Monday during the Green New Deal announcement on Monday that he also plans to introduce a bill banning the construction of glass skyscrapers in an effort to reduce citywide greenhouse emissions by 30%.
“We are going to ban the classic glass and steel skyscrapers, which are incredibly inefficient,” said the Mayor on MSNBC‘s ‘Morning Joe’ Monday morning.
At one point during that press conference, Mark Chambers, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, chimed in to clarify that there would be no prohibition on buildings made from glass. “I want to call out that it doesn’t mean that buildings can’t use glass anymore,” he said. And the mayor himself followed the “ban” language with a less bold proclamation.
“If a company wants to build a big skyscraper,” he said, “they can use a lot of glass if they do all the other things needed to reduce the emissions.” In other words, skyscrapers made out of glass and steel will not be banned; instead, they will be required to meet certain energy-efficiency standards. –Curbed
As part of the Green New Deal, New York will power all of the city’s operations with energy generated from clean sources, such as Canadian hydropower. The city is also rolling out the mandatory recycling of organics, congestion traffic pricing, and phasing out city-wide purchases of single-use plastic utensils.
The so-called “Green New Deal” – or Climate Mobilization Act, was passed last Thursday in a 45-2 vote.
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