Declassified Notes Have GOP Investigators Asking About Comey, FBI; Steele Dossier Contained Falsehoods Traced to Russian Disnformation Campaign

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By Washington Examiner. . .That’s what Republican investigators are asking after the declassification of footnotes in a Justice Department inspector general report, showing the FBI received classified reports in 2017 which identified that parts of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s anti-Trump dossier were likely influenced by Russian disinformation.

DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitz determined last year the FBI properly opened its counterintelligence investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, into potential ties between the Kremlin and Trump campaign in the summer of 2016, but GOP concerns are more focused on the dossier being used to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against Trump campaign associate Carter Page and why leaders such as Comey insisted Steele’s research be included in the 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference.

One burning question, according to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, is why Comey refused to allow his security clearance to be reinstated, allowing him to avoid questions about classified information that Horowitz wanted to raise for his audit of the Russia investigation.

“Why did former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI general counsel James Baker refuse to have their security clearances reinstated before they were interviewed by the inspector general? Was it so they wouldn’t have to explain this information?” Johnson, the Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman, wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Friday. (Read more from “Declassified Notes Have GOP Investigators Asking About Comey FBI” HERE)

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Steele Dossier Contained Falsehoods Traced to Russian Disnformation Campaign

By New York Post. The FBI came to believe that the Steele Dossier contained at least two false statements that can be traced to an elaborate Russian disinformation campaign, newly unredacted Justice Department report footnotes revealed Friday — but the agency continued to rely on the controversial document as it investigated the 2016 Trump campaign’s relationship with Russia.

The declassified footnotes are from the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s previously released report on FBI misconduct.

The revelation — that the FBI believed dossier author and former British spy Christopher Steele relied in part on manipulated falsehoods — was met with ire by two senators who had pushed for declassification.

“It’s ironic that the Russian collusion narrative was fatally flawed because of Russian disinformation,” said Sens. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in a statement to Fox News.

“These footnotes confirm that there was a direct Russian disinformation campaign in 2016, and there were ties between Russian intelligence and a presidential campaign — the Clinton campaign, not [President] Trump’s.” (Read more from “Steele Dossier Contained Falsehoods Traced to Russian Disnformation Campaign” HERE)

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Poll: Here’s Who Democrats Want to Replace Joe Biden With; Will Barack Obama Come out and Support Biden?

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By New York Post. A majority of Democrats want to nominate New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for president instead of Joe Biden, according to poll results shared exclusively with The Post.

The national poll found 56 percent of Democrats prefer Cuomo, with 44 percent wanting to stick with presumptive nominee Biden — a 12-point margin well outside the 4.8 percent margin of error for the Democratic sample.

Hispanic voters, young people, women and self-identified liberals are most likely to favor dumping the former vice president for Cuomo.

The poll, conducted April 3-6, was commissioned by the conservative pro-market Club for Growth, which generally supports Republican candidates.

Cuomo denied last month that he wanted to run for president, but some Democrats still are clamoring for an alternative to Biden, who faded from public view during the coronavirus outbreak, which elevated Cuomo in daily press conferences. (Read more from “Poll: Here’s Who Democrats Want to Replace Joe Biden With” HERE)

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With Sanders Out, Will Obama Step off the Sidelines for Biden?

By Fox News. With the Democratic presidential primary race officially over and presumptive nominee Joe Biden pivoting to the general election battle ahead with President Trump, the GOP incumbent’s predecessor in the White House could soon re-enter the campaign spotlight.

Fox News has confirmed that former President Barack Obama and Biden – his vice president for eight years – have held several conversations the past couple of weeks.

Biden confirmed one of those conversations – telling donors at a virtual fundraiser last week that he had recently asked his old boss for advice on choosing a running mate.

“So I called President Obama, not as to who but how soon you have to start,” the former vice president shared. . .

But Obama’s decision to stay on the sidelines throughout the primary race has all along raised uncomfortable questions for Biden, opening the door for Trump himself to repeatedly prod his presumptive rival. (Read more from “With Sanders Out, Will Obama Step off the Sidelines for Biden?” HERE)

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FCC Asked to Revoke China Telecom’s Authorization to Operate in U.S.

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The Federal Communications Commission has been asked by a coalition of executive branch agencies to “revoke and terminate” China Telecom Corp.’s permissions to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

The company, a U.S. subsidiary of a state-owned company in the People’s Republic of China, has been under review of the Department of Justice.

It based the recommendation on changes that have developed since the permission previously was granted in 2007, including the company’s failure to follow a previous agreement with the federal department, according to officials with the Department of Justice.

“Today, more than ever, the life of the nation and its people runs on our telecommunications networks,” said John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for National Security. “The security of our government and professional communications, as well as of our most private data, depends on our use of trusted partners from nations that share our values and our aspirations for humanity. Today’s action is but our next step in ensuring the integrity of America’s telecommunications systems.”

The executive branch agencies cited “substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s operations.” (Read more from “FCC Asked to Revoke China Telecom’s Authorization to Operate in U.S.” HERE)

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Nancy Pelosi Blocks Additional Small Business Relief Funds; Pelosi Presses Mnuchin on $500B Coronavirus ‘Interim’ Package

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By The Conservative Treehouse. The initial coronavirus relief funding package (CARES Act) included $380 billion targeted to small businesses as part of the larger congressional relief package. Within the SBA section small and medium businesses can apply for loans to cover payroll (75%), called payroll protection plan (ppp); and expenses (25%). If the PPP funding is used to keep employees on payroll the loan is forgiven. Thousands of businesses have applied. . .

Senator McConnell framed a bill to provide the additional funds and asked for unanimous consent to advance the legislation. However, speaker Pelosi doesn’t want to miss an opportunity to add pet project (constituent funding) to the bill. Speaker Pelosi instructed Senator Ben Cardin to object to the unanimous consent request and block the funds. (Read more from “Pelosi Blocks Additional Small Business Relief Funds” HERE)

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Pelosi Presses Mnuchin on $500B Coronavirus ‘Interim’ Package

By The Hill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday pressed the Trump administration to boost funding for states and hospitals in the next round of coronavirus relief, which stalled in the Senate a day earlier.

In a phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Pelosi said that while Democrats support an additional $250 billion for small businesses, as the administration and congressional Republicans have proposed, they’ll also insist on language ensuring that businesses owned by minorities, and those operating in rural areas, are able to access the funds quickly, according to Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. . .

“[Pelosi] reiterated Democrats’ position that the initiative must not solidify the disparity in access to capital faced by many small businesses in underserved areas,” Hammill said in an email. . .

Democrats also want an additional $150 billion for state and local governments, to help facilitate the emergency response, and $100 billion more for hospitals and community health centers providing front-line care in the coronavirus fight. Those requests come on top of the $150 billion for states, and roughly $120 billion for hospitals, already adopted late last month in the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. (Read more from “Pelosi Presses Mnuchin on $500B Coronavirus ‘Interim’ Package” HERE)

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Barr Says Evidence From Durham Investigation Is ‘Far More Troubling’ Than Mistakes or Sloppiness; AG Says Investigation Was to ‘Sabotage’ President Trump

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By Washington Examiner. Attorney General William Barr shed new light on U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the Russia investigation.

He told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that Connecticut’s top federal prosecutor is unearthing troubling evidence and vowed prosecutions if laws were broken and a case can be made.

“My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness. There is something far more troubling here, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law, and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted,” Barr said in the segment of the interview that aired Thursday evening.

Durham was appointed last year by Barr to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and to review possible misconduct by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials. The review upgraded into a criminal investigation in the fall, giving the prosecutor the power to impanel a grand jury and hand down indictments. The attorney general told Durham to focus just as much on the time period after the 2016 election as before it.

“He is looking to bring to justice people who are engaged in abuses if he can show that they were criminal violations, and that’s what the focus is on,” Barr said. “And as you know, being a lawyer you yourself, building these cases — especially the kinds of sprawling case we have between us that went on for two or three years here — it takes some time — it takes some time to build the case. So, he’s diligently pursuing it.” (Read more from “Barr Says Evidence From Durham Investigation Is ‘Far More Troubling’ Than Mistakes or Sloppiness” HERE)

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Barr Claims Trump-Russia Investigation Was FBI Attempt to ‘Sabotage’ the President

By The Guardian. William Barr has said without evidence that he believes the Russia investigation that shadowed Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to “sabotage the presidency”, he said in an interview with Fox News Channel that aired on Thursday.

The attorney general offered no support for his assertion that the FBI lacked a basis for opening the investigation and made no mention of the fact that the bureau began its investigation after a Trump campaign adviser purported to have early knowledge that Russia had dirt on his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Barr, who has appointed a US attorney to scrutinize the origins of the Russia investigation, said the justice department has evidence there was “something far more troubling” than just mistakes during the investigation that was eventually taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller. (Read more from “Barr Claims Trump-Russia Investigation Was FBI Attempt to ‘Sabotage’ the President” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia and Russia Reach Deal to End Oil Price War

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Saudi Arabia and Russia ended their price war and are poised to deliver the oil production cut President Trump has been demanding in order to raise historically low prices that have damaged the U.S. shale industry.

Saudi-led OPEC and its allies agreed in principle to a deal during an unprecedented emergency remote video meeting Thursday to cut production by 10 million barrels per day beginning in May.

The agreement for that level of cuts would last for two months, with reductions subsequently leveling off through April 2022 depending on progress in containing the coronavirus outbreak. Trump spoke Thursday night with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia to discuss finalizing the oil production cut deal.

After the call, Trump said at his daily press conference that “they are getting close to a deal.” . . .

Trump has been pushing Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut output in the hopes that less crude on the market will raise oil prices, which have fallen by two-thirds since the start of the year and reached a 18-year low last month. (Read more from “Saudi Arabia and Russia Reach Deal to End Oil Price War” HERE)

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Graham: Senate Should Punish China ‘Severely’ for Causing Pandemic; WHO Head Cries Racism to Cover for His Enabling of China’s Lies About Coronavirus

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By Breitbart. Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the Chinese government is to blame for the coronavirus pandemic, which caused American deaths and record unemployment.

Graham said, “The first thing I want to do is get the United States Senate on the record where we, we don’t blame Trump, we blame China. The Chinese government is responsible for 16,000 American deaths and 17 million Americans being unemployed. It’s the Chinese government and the way they behave that led to this pandemic. This is the third one to come out of China. I want to make our response to this so overwhelming that China will change its behavior.” (Read more from “Graham: Senate Should Punish China ‘Severely’ for Causing Pandemic” HERE)

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WHO Head Cries Racism to Cover for His Enabling of China’s Lies About Coronavirus

By New York Post. In answer to global complaints that he helped China lie about the coronavirus threat in the crucial early days of the pandemic, the World Health Organization’s top dog has opted to play the race card.

That’s right: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is complaining that Taiwan is fostering supposedly racist attacks against him, and even death threats.

But he can’t even offer details beyond saying he’s been called names, “black or negro.”

In reality, the whole world has legitimate gripes about TAG’s blatant and loathsome loyalty to Beijing — apparent payback for China’s role in installing him as WHO’s boss.

All through January, Tedros and his minions vouched for Chinese authorities’ lies about the coronavirus, misleading other nations’ health authorities into underestimating the threat. (Read more from “Who Head Cries Racism to Cover for His Enabling of China’s Lies About Coronavirus” HERE)

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Columnist: ‘If Biden Is Serious About Winning He Needs to Accuse Trump of Willingness to Kill People’; Joe Biden’s Plan to Win Over Bernie Supporters

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By The Blaze. The Washington Post’s #NeverTrump, self-proclaimed conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin took her constant attacks against President Donald Trump to a whole new level on Thursday, saying that if Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “is serious about winning he needs to accuse Trump of willingness to kill people.” . . .

Rubin shared a headline from The Post’s live COVID-19 updates on Twitter that read, “U.S. death toll climbs, but signs emerge that new coronavirus cases…” before trailing off.

The columnist wrote in her message, “If Biden is serious about winning he needs to accuse Trump of willingness to kill people.”

Rubin’s unsolicited campaign advice to Biden did not go ever well on social media, and she was overwhelmingly criticized for her take.

The writer did not elaborate on her view, but the body of The Post’s update shared by Rubin began, “President Trump on Thursday said mass testing for the coronavirus is not necessary for the United States to get back to normal, contradicting experts who say widespread testing is critical to ease out of social distancing.” (Read more from “Columnist: ‘If Biden Is Serious About Winning He Needs to Accuse Trump of Willingness to Kill People'” HERE)

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Joe Biden’s Plan to Win Over Bernie Supporters

By Medium. Two important steps we can take to help ease the economic burden on working people — and that I will take when I am President. . .

Congress has moved to help with the CARES Act, but they must do more. In addition to funds to keep workers on payroll, the next recovery package will need to provide significant funds to states, to make sure that educators and health care workers and first responders can keep getting paid. It will have to provide hazard pay to frontline workers putting themselves at risk. It will have to provide health care coverage for millions who lose their insurance, by allowing them to stay on their health care plans and covering the cost, as well as reopening enrollment for Obamacare and creating the public option I’ve been calling for. It will have to extend unemployment benefits, and provide further direct cash relief, and take care of the people left out of the CARES Act, through an immediate cancellation of a minimum of $10,000 of student debt per person, as proposed by Senator Warren, and Social Security boosts. And so much more. . .

And that’s just immediate relief. Then comes recovery. Recovery will require long term changes to build a more inclusive and more resilient middle class, and a greener and more resilient economy. We have to think big — as big as the challenges we face. As we start to lay the groundwork for recovery, we have to build back better for the future. . .

So, as the next step in building on the progressive vision for the country that I have laid out across the course of my campaign, today I’m announcing my intention to fight for two new policies that I believe will not only help people right now when they may need the help most, but will also help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged from this crisis. The first is lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60, and the second is forgiving student debt for low-income and middle class people who have attended public colleges and universities. (Read more from “Joe Biden’s Plan to Win Over Bernie Supporters” HERE)

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New York Hospital Discharges Outpace New Admissions for 4th Straight Day

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By The Epoch Times. Hospitals in New York state have discharged more COVID-19 patients than they have added for four days in a row, according to the latest data from the state hit hardest by the CCP virus pandemic.

Hospitals in the state discharged 1,709 COVID-19 patients on April 4, while admitting 574 patients. The number of daily discharges had also surpassed the daily admissions on the three prior days, state data shows.

“Discharge rate is way up and that’s great news,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on April 5.

New York has been the U.S. epicenter for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus. While New York City has borne the brunt of the outbreak, there has been an increasing shift to Long Island, which now accounts for 22 percent of the state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations. (Read more from “New York Hospital Discharges Outpace New Admissions for 4th Straight Day” HERE)

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Fauci Says Coronavirus Hospitalizations Are Dropping Because Social Distancing Is Working

By CNN. The number of coronavirus patients in New York and Connecticut is starting to rise at a slower rate and the nation’s top infectious disease official says it’s a sign that social distancing is working.

“At the same time as we’re seeing the increase in deaths, we’re seeing a rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalizations,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters at a White House briefing Thursday.

“That means that what we are doing is working and therefore we need to continue to do it,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, added. (Read more from “Fauci Says Coronavirus Hospitalizations Are Dropping Because Social Distancing Is Working” HERE)

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New Satellites Will Be a Big Step in the Pentagon’s Plan to Link Everything

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. . .The U.S. military’s push to link every object on the battlefield leaped forward Thursday with the release of a request for proposals to build 20 tactical-communications satellites by 2022.

The year-old Space Development Agency, or SDA, hosted an industry day to tell satellite makers about its plans for “transport layer”: essentially, orbiting communications nodes to transfer data related to intelligence, battle management, navigation and timing; and more.

The transport layer won’t replace the military’s existing communications satellites or the commercial ones whose services it rents, SDA director Derek Tournear told reporters. Instead the new layer will focus on “tactical data points that need to be given to a weapon system.” It will ferry very-time-sensitive data from drones, satellites in low Earth orbit, and other sensors. Pentagon officials received $25 million to develop and flight-test the satellites in the 2020 budget, and have asked for just under $100 million in 2021, said Tournear.

A slide from Thursday’s industry day explains how the transport layer would be the middle one in SDA’s plans for a three-tier space architecture. The lowest layer will consist of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites flying about 600 km above the earth. The Pentagon has said that this sensor layer is crucial for tracking future highly maneuverable hypersonic weapons, spotting missile launchers, and noting sudden troop movements. Those satellites will send the data up to the transport layer, which itself will fly beneath a second layer of sensor satellites orbiting at roughly 1,200 km. These would also be able to watch and track the trajectory of hypersonic or other missiles. All of the satellites will work to share timing and navigation data with the ground, essentially serving as an alternative GPS system. (Read more from “New Satellites Will Be a Big Step in the Pentagon’s Plan to Link Everything” HERE)

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