RESPONSE TO: “The 16 Things You Must Believe If the 'Witch Hunt' Accusation Is True” by Mona Charen  7-14-17

Unfortunately, Mona  Charen is causing more damage than she can realize. 

Discussion of  Iran [ its  nuclear and missile development programs , its expansion in Syria, and Lebanon, its pressure on the neighboring Sunni states, it's international terror operations etc.],  North Korea; China; Russia  , etc.   clearly show  many  of the difficulties  that were ignored and then left behind by presidents William Clinton and Barack Obama.  [This was after the American public had been  assured by both the Clinton and Obama administrations by lofty promises of agreements and extravagant claims of success.]

However, I will limit this note to:

1.     The media’s “collusion with Moscow” theme

2.      RESPONSE TO: “The 16 Things You Must Believe If the 'Witch Hunt' Accusation Is True” by Mona Charen  7-14-17 

3.      Putin strongly favored Hillary Clinton in the election.  

1.      Relating to the “collusion with Moscow” theme remember the following:

 The entire Democratic party/Hillary Clinton theme as to why Putin favored Trump over Hillary was that Putin  was furious with Hillary for her attempts  to interfere  against him in the Russian election. And that  Putin’s outrage against Hillary  was “payback.

 The original “Russian dossier” activity was based on the theme that Christopher Steele had access to Russia government intelligence officials who  were hostile to Donald Trump. The original financiers of this activity were Republican opponents of Donald  Trump. John McCain, who should know better than attempting  to expedite Russian collusion in trying to affect the US election was  personally and very actively involved with transmitting the dossier to the FBI, a dossier  that he believed originated with Russian government intelligence.

The subsequent funding for the efforts  to obtain what was supposed to be from  Russian intelligence  and to come directly from Russian sources { thru  cut-out   Christopher Steele)  came from  Hillary Clinton supporters and the Democratic national committee.

 The  person who turned Goldstone on to sending Goldstone’s email  to Donald Trump,Jr. (and most likely suggested the text that included Russian government support for the Trump campaign) was the same individual who sent prostitutes to the Moscow hotel to Donald Trump – where they were repelled  by his security detail. Does this not seem to you as a continuing attempt to entrap Donald  Trump?

The  Russian dossier was brought into the White House by James Comey and by John Brennan. Its existence was leaked to the media and then the full text was soon after disclosed.  The” CIA’ study”  which claimed that the CIA had a source in Putin’s inner circle and that Putin had personally ordered interference in favor of Trump in the 2016 campaign was brought into the White House and vouched  for by John Brennan. According to the New York Times up to 136 people were made aware of this study-an invitation to leak it. If in fact the CIA had an operative that close to Vladimir Putin they would have not exposed  it on this specific “finding”. Putin’s  thoughts and actions are much more vital to US national interests in such areas as North Korea, Syria, future actions in Europe, etc.

 if Putin had wanted to disrupt the American elections there were far more effective ways  that would have been easily accomplished with less traceability to Russia. One trivial example is as follows:  hackers could have seized control of local Democratic and Republican organization computers. They could have wiped out the precinct walking lists which would have paralyzed the ground games in numerous precincts. They could have wiped out the donor lists. they could have wiped out the volunteer lists. Given the recent scale of criminal and  amateur hacks this would have been an extremely small task and could have been easily accomplished given the amount of traffic and the low level of security accorded to these multiple local organization computers.

Another  concern is that the key players included  :Ben Rhodes [the creator of the echo chamber to sell the American public false information and false intelligence on Iran to promote Obama’s nuclear deal]; Susan Rice [who had a horrible reputation for deceit when she was in industrial consulting and was a willing participant in the Benghazi…” It was a video” fiction. Note here too that her talking points were jointly constructed with the CIA] ;James Comey [who immediately granted immunity to several key  Clinton aides and agreed not to  thoroughly examine their computers, etc.]  Adam ;Schiff {who willingly participated in marketing the Iranian echo chamber fiction to the American public].

2.  Review Mona Charen’s  article, item by item. ….refutation of her statements and assumptions.

1) Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner did nothing wrong by meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. The emails requesting the meeting specifically mentioned a "Russian government attorney" and added that the requested meeting concerned "very high level and sensitive information" ... that "is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." That doesn’t prove a willingness to collude.

I HAVE WRITTEN ON THIS

Unfortunately, the technique of making an allegation , then opening up   an investigative action to determine the truth or falsity of the accusation, then leaking to the media the “fact” of investigation has become common in the  back channel relationships between various intelligence operatives and  the US media. Thus, it  is imperative  that Robert Mueller set up red teams to thoroughly scrub the  allegations that are currently being made  and “leaked”.

What is certain  is that a crime   definitely exists, can be proven and can be traced to the guilty parties

The Donald Trump Jr.. meeting was disclosed in an amended security form that was submitted by Jared Kushner as part of his security clearance.[ Rather than claiming that this was a clandestine meeting, it was firmly placed on the official security records of the US government.]

Tracking down the culprits for this leak  should be relatively straightforward and should be of high priority. Definitely a crime exists. Every White House official and  support person who had access to these materials as well as every FBI investigator and  every FBI support person who had  access to these materials should be questioned under oath and subject to a polygraph test.

2) Concern about Paul Manafort’s extensive links with Vladimir Putin’s former puppet in Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, including at least $12.7 million in payments, is, to quote Manafort's words, "silly and nonsensical.

SOME CORRECT…. SOME FALSE 

3) That Jared Kushner’s attempt, during the transition, to secure a back channel with the Russian government using their secure communications equipment in the Russian embassy was not alarming/inexplicable.

CHATTER, YES…..BUT NO ATTEMPT…..  OBAMA ACTUALLY  DID THIS WITH IRAN WHEN HE WAS STILL A CANDIDATE

4) That Donald Trump’s stubborn refusal ever to breathe a critical word about Vladimir Putin

 YOU IGNORE THE STAFF GUIDANCE

Putin  is  an unrepentant,cold-blooded, self-enriching KGB agent and an opportunist  bully. On the personal level  he is   ruthless,capable of murdering critics and opponents.  His goal is to expand Russia’s control, or at least influence over the old Soviet republics and Eastern Europe and to become influential power in the Middle East. The  sole obstacle  to a world led by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Iran, ISIS, China, and North Korea is the deterrent ability of the United States.

 even as he has freely criticized U.S. allies,

THANKS TO TRUMP NATO   IS NOW STEPPING UP ON THEIR FINANCIAL AND  TROOP LEVEL COMMITMENTS. POLAND WILL HAVE  IN MISSILE-DEFENSE SYSTEM WHICH WAS CANCELED BY OBAMA.  TRUMP PUBLICLY RECOMMITTED THE US TO THE JOINT DEFENSE OF NATO. 

 or acknowledge Russian meddling in our election, is not strange.

Hacked computer server that handled DNC email remains out of reach of Russia investigators

It is perhaps the key piece of forensic evidence in Russia’s suspected efforts to sway the November presidential election, but federal investigators have yet to get their hands on the hacked computer server that handled email from the Democratic National Committee.

Indeed, the only cybersecurity specialists who have taken a look at the server are from CrowdStrike, the Irvine, California-based private cybersecurity company that the DNC hired to investigate the hack — but which has come under fire itself for its work.

Some critics say CrowdStrike’s evidence for blaming Russia for the hack is thin. Members of Congress say they still believe Russia was responsible but wonder why the DNC has never allowed federal investigators to get a look at the key piece of evidence: the server. Either way, a key “witness” in the political scandal consuming the Trump administration remains beyond the reach of investigators.

5) That Michael Flynn’s firing after less than a month on the job was really just because he had misled Mike Pence.

 HIS INVOLVEMENT WITH TURKEY , FROM MY VIEWPOINT  WAS  WRONG. IT WAS NOT ILLEGAL. HIS ONLY PENALTY, IF GUILTY,  WOULD BE TO FORFEIT AN AMOUNT FROM HIS PENSION EQUAL TO HIS NET PAYMENT FOR SERVICES.

 THE  FURY OVER THE SPEECH IN RUSSIA WAS A LOT OF NONSENSE. WE CHECKED WITH SPEAKERS BUREAUS AND THE FEE WAS AT THE LOWER END OF THE EXPECTED FEE SCALE. THIS COMPARES TO A $400,000 SPEECH MADE BY BILL CLINTON. I HAVE HAD A DIALOGUE WITH A REPORTER AND WE BOTH VIEWED THE TAPES.THE BLOOMBERG REPORTER’S ACCOUNT WAS HYSTERICALLY  ANTI-FLYNN.  I ALWAY,S WONDERED WHAT JILL STEIN WAS DOING AT THE TABLE AND WHY THAT WAS NEVER MENTIONED. OBVIOUSLY,  HER PRESENCE IN THE ELECTION WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HILLARY’S LOSS. I AM SURPRISED THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY THEORY HERE.

6) That Donald Trump’s pressure on James Comey to go soft on Michael Flynn was purely a measure of loyalty and friendship from a person who has rarely shown those traits before.

THERE IS MUCH HERE BUT NOT WHAT YOU THINK.…. SEE ALAN DERSHOWITZ ON THIS  SPECIFIC INCIDENT.

7) That Comey's firing, at least according to evolving White House accounts, was due to his mishandling of the Clinton file — no, wait. It was due to poor management of the FBI, which was suffering from low morale — uh, no. It was because of two factual errors Comey made in congressional testimony. Finally, that it was really over the “Russia thing” — but only because Trump was an innocent man frustrated by Comey's unwillingness to clear him publicly.

 I CAN’T DISCUSS THIS YET. THE REASONS  FOR THE FIRING  WERE REAL. BY THE WAY, THERE WAS MUCH CONCERN WITHIN THE FBI, WITH  WHOM I HAVE FREQUENT AND CLOSE CONTACT  CONCERNING POLITICAL INTERFERENCE FROM THE TOP IN INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER INVESTIGATIONS.  PREVIOUSLY, SEVERAL HUNDRED FBI AGENTS THREATENED  COMEY WITH RESIGNATION DUE TO POLITICAL INTERFERENCE WITH THE STARTING, CONTINUING IN CLOSING OF INVESTIGATIONS. NOTE THAT THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE GRAND JURY CALLED FOR ANY ASPECT OF THE HILLARY CLINTON “INVESTIGATIONS” OR SHOULD  I CALL THEM “INCIDENTS”.

8) That it was irrelevant that Trump told the Russian ambassador and foreign minister in the Oval Office the day after Comey's sacking that the FBI director was a "nut job" WHOSE REMOVAL HAD RELIEVED "GREAT PRESSURE BECAUSE OF RUSSIA. THAT’S TAKEN OFF.”

NOT A NUT JOB…COMEY WAS A  PANICKED  POLITICAL/BUREAUCRATIC OPERATOR.

9) It's pure coincidence that one of the only foreign policy advisers on the Trump campaign was Carter Page, who was under FBI investigation for Russia ties. In Moscow, he gave a speech denouncing U.S. policy, saying, "Washington and other Western capitals have impeded potential progress through their often hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change." Anti-anti-corruption isn’t disturbing.

JOHN BOLTON IS NOT PRO RUSSIAN…..  MOST OF THE   MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE ADVISERS  THAT I HAVE RUN INTO ARE ,LIKE ME,  EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS AS TO RUSSIAN ACTIONS AND INTENTIONS.   CONCERNING CARTER PAGE, HE HAS OFFERED TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH. RATHER THAN DEPENDING ON BIASED LEAKS I WOULD DEPEND ON SWORN TESTIMONY. THE FACT, THAT YOU COULD REFER TO HIM AS BEING “ UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION” REVEALS THE DANGER OF THE GAME PLAYED BY SUSAN RICE IN JEOPARDIZING OUR  NATION’S ABILITY TO SURVEIL TELEPHONE CONVERSATIONS IN ORDER FOR THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN  TO GAIN IMMEDIATE  POLITICAL ADVANTAGE.

10) That White House objections to sanctions against Russia, which passed the Senate 98-2, are purely procedural.

 YES, THEY ARE PROCEDURAL. TAKE OUT SOME OF THE PROVISIONS REMOVING THE FLEXIBILITY FROM THE PRESIDENT [  FLEXIBILITY THAT WAS GIVEN TO PRES. OBAMA TO BYPASS CONGRESS ON THE IRANIAN DEAL] AND YOU WILL GET A PRESIDENTIAL SIGNATURE. I AM SURPRISED THAT YOU RAISE THIS ISSUE.

FOR ME, THIS IS TRUMP’S TEST:   THE TAYLOR FORCE ACT, A BILL WHICH WILL DEFUND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY UNTIL THEY CEASE AND DENOUNCE THEIR “PAY TO SLAY” POLICY, WHICH REWARDS TERRORISTS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR ACTS AGAINST ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES."AS LONG AS THE PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT IS IN EFFECT REWARDING TERROR, WE NEED TO BE SURE WE MAKE OUR OBJECTIONS — OUR CONDEMNATION — KNOWN, AND THAT CANNOT BE MERELY IN WORDS. OUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAM MUST REFLECT OUR FEELING OF REPUGNANCE."

11) That former Manafort partner and Trump surrogate Roger Stone, who boasted about links to WikiLeaks founder and America-hater Julian Assange, and accurately predicted in August 2016 that John Podesta would be next “in the barrel,” was just lucky.

 HAD  HAD  THERE BEEN NO BAD DEEDS THERE  WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHING  TO HACK AND RELEASE.

While I would like to see Julian  Assange hung for treason for giving away defense information which jeopardized the lives of those cooperating with us in Afghanistan, I have to acknowledge that in  his 10 years of operation he has been 100% accurate and 100% honest in his presentation of information. He claims that the Democratic national committee information did not come from a state actor. Further the DNC contractors describe the murkiness and competition of the various hacking groups within Russia. That both of the main groups penetrated the Democratic National Committee makes unlikely that Putin or anyone else at the top coordinated their efforts.

12) That statements by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. about Russian financial ties are not revealing. Golf writer James Dodson quoted Eric as explaining in 2014 how the Trump organization was able to get financing for various golf courses even after the Great Recession. "Well, we don't rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia. We've got some guys that really, really love golf, and they're really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time." Donald Trump Jr., who also traveled to Russia frequently, spoke at a 2008 real estate conference and noted that "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." When Donald Trump stated, “I have zero investments in Russia,” he did not say that Russia had zero investments in him, but we should believe his other claim, “I have nothing to do with Russia.”

EVERYONE OF  THESE  DEALS HAS A MULTITUDE OF INVESTORS.  [ WE HAVE A TRUMP GOLF COURSE DEAL LOCALLY.]   THERE ARE MANY  OVERVIEW AUTHORITIES: IN THIS CASE THERE IS THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA; THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES; SEVERAL PALOS VERDES CITIES IN THE CITY OF TORRANCE; TWO SCHOOL DISTRICTS; A SANITATION DISTRICT; A WATER  DISTRICT AND MANY MORE.  THERE ARE TAXES, LICENSES,PERMITS  ETC ETC, ALL OF WHICH REQUIRE SUBMISSIONS OF DATA, REVIEW OF BOOKS AND A THOROUGH ACCOUNTING OF FINANCES,ETC..  THERE ARE ACCOUNTANTS AND LAWYERS FROM THE MULTIPLE INVESTORS ALL OF WHOM ARE CAREFUL  SINCE THEY ARE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE TO FIDUCIARIES.

 MANY OF THE REAL ESTATE INVESTORS ARE CHINESE CORPORATIONS AND/OR INDIVIDUALS. PREVIOUSLY MANY MAJOR INVESTORS CAME FROM JAPAN. MONEY TENDS TO FLOW WHERE THERE IS CASH RETURNS. WHEN REAL ESTATE INVESTORS FROM BEVERLY HIILLS  INVESTED IN REAL ESTATE IN SOUTH-CENTRAL LOS ANGELES CERTAIN BLACK LEADERS CLAIMED THAT IT WAS JEWISH MONEY ATTEMPTING TO EVICT THE BLACKS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

13) That President Trump’s failure to release his tax returns, despite repeated promises to do so, is because he is under audit.

FRANKLY,MONA I WILL TRUST IRS….NOT THE MEDIA.  SINCE THERE ARE MULTIPLE AUTHORITIES STRAINING TO COLLECT EVERY NICKEL FROM DONALD TRUMP, I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THEIR COMPETENCE AND THEIR  DILIGENCE EXCEEDS THAT OF THE MEDIA. WATCHING THE MEDIA DISTORTED FACTS IN AREAS I KNOW THOROUGHLY,  IF I WERE ASKED ,I WOULD  ADVISE DONALD TRUMP TO READ THE MEDIA COVERAGE, AND THEN SEEK THE ADVICE OF HIS LAWYERS AND ACCOUNTANTS BEFORE REVEALING ONE IOTA OF HIS RECORDS TO BE POURED OVER,  DISSECTED, AND USED OUT OF CONTEXT. WHEN WILL THE CLINTON FOUNDATION RELEASE THEIR INTERNAL RECORDS. REMEMBER THEY GET A TAX DEDUCTION AND HAVE ONLY PUBLISHED THE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY LAW. FOCUS ON WHERE THE ABUSES HAVE BEEN PROVED.

14) That it’s unremarkable that presidential spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuses to say whether Russia is an adversary, a friend or a nation about whom we should be wary.

NOT HER JOB

15) That Donald Trump is the first president since 1949 to cast doubt on America’s commitment to NATO, but this is overdue and good for the U.S.

AS I WROTE ABOVE:  THANKS TO TRUMP NATO   IS NOW STEPPING UP ON THEIR FINANCIAL AND  TROOP LEVEL COMMITMENTS. POLAND WILL HAVE  IN MISSILE-DEFENSE SYSTEM WHICH WAS CANCELED BY OBAMA.  TRUMP PUBLICLY RECOMMITTED THE US TO THE JOINT DEFENSE OF NATO. 

16) That Donald Trump’s obsessive attacks on “fake news" are not an attempt to inoculate himself against future revelations but just good old-fashioned right-wing hatred of liberals.

 FAKE NEWS HELL YES !!!    MONA …READ CAMERA … THEY HAVE EXTENSIVE EXAMPLES.  READ THE MEDIA ON: GAZA; “OCCUPATION;” SEE HOW THE MURDER OF 2    ISRAELI DRUSE BORDER POLICE  AT THE TEMPLE  MOUNT THIS AM WAS COVERED.

3.     NOW READ THIS:    Putin strongly favored Hillary Clinton in the election.  

It is surprising that in this current political debate more about the differences in energy policy and economic, military and social conditions are not raised. During the McCain campaign the US was facing the prospect of five dollars a gallon at the pump and that half of the nation would not be able to afford heat in the winter. At that time Russia enjoyed bountiful income from its petroleum exports and had a very strong political/economic lock on the Eastern European countries.

See: “Too Little, Too Late From Obama On Infrastructure Security” by Paul Brewer 

See: “Impact of U.S. Shale Oil Revolution on the Global Oil Market, the Price of Oil & Peak Oil” by Mamdouh G. Salaamed.

DS/ISA: ” We have a lot more to lose than the Russians given the comparative dependence on networked systems.

ISA : Levano computers used by the lawyers that Hillary Clinton engaged to screen her emails were hacked by the Chinese.

Putin holds both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in low regard.

Contrary to claims emanating from the Obama administration and from the Clinton campaign, Putin strongly favored Hillary Clinton in the election.

Most important to Putin is the very favorable political and economic outcomes to Russia that would occur from Hillary Clinton’s expected actions relating to fracking.

Hillary Clinton would vastly curtail fracking, either, by direct prohibition or through moratoriums; geographic area limitations; regulations; etc

[Fracking is an important innovation in oil and gas extraction. It has helped America make great strides toward becoming energy-sufficient [U.S. Now Has Largest Oil Reserves in the World, Thanks to FrackingJuly 7, 2016 by Jake Green ]

This would give Putin a vast increase in the value of Russia’s petroleum reserves and petroleum exports. It would restore Russia’s previous political and economic lock on East Europe’s energy supplies.[ It would also give Iran greatly increased petroleum income to finance its extensive terror and penetration operations throughout the world.]

A second reason is Putin’s belief, [based on years of observation of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry] that a Hillary Clinton administration would continue the parameters and trend lines established by Barack Obama .

a. Bill Clinton: announcing complete success of his negotiations with North Korea… North Korea will abandon their quest for nuclear weapons and completely demolish their nuclear development infrastructure. “Resolution of the North Korean nuclear threat”[William J, Clinton….]

b. Barack Obama ; Hillary Clinton ; John Kerry:

c. The Obama administration has pulled back in every confrontation with Putin’s Russia. Putin has seen this US pattern and has resolved to remain the first mover, not expecting much American pushback except in words.

d. Obama’s rebuke to Romney during debate (Obama to Romney: ”……you know, the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,”)

e. Obama’s open microphone (Tell Vladimir “that after my election I have more flexibility”

f. Clinton’s “re-set button” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sudCmrAsF4&ab_channel=DouglasJohnston ;

g. Acceptance of Putin’s aggressive intervention in Ukraine;

h. Iranian nuclear deal which permits Russia to sell advanced weaponry to Iran and receive hard currency (furnished by the United States); Strategy of bringing Russia into the Middle East as a major player (as discussed in Obama’s Syria Policy Striptease Tony Badran The Tablet September 21, 2016  ) .

i. Obama’s White House has cut the military “out of the loop”in key international and military decisions [testimony of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and the Joint Chiefs of Staff…]