Posts

ObamaLeaks in the White House

After highly classified details of a U.S. cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program were made public, President Obama went to the White House press room to denounce those who suggested the leaks were coming from his top national security aides. “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive [and] it is wrong,” the president declared.

Well, the Federal Bureau of Investigation may disagree. The Post broke the news Sunday that the FBI has launched an “aggressive” investigation into “current and former senior officials suspected of involvement” in the leak that Obama personally ordered cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear program using a computer virus called Stuxnet. The New York Times story which first revealed the details of the cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program cited as sources “members of the president’s national security team who were in the [Situation Room]” and even quoted the president asking during a top secret meeting: “Should we shut this thing down?” Only Obama’s most trusted national security advisers would have been present when he uttered those words.

Now several members of that inner circle are receiving promotions. Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough has just been named the new White House chief of staff. And John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, has been nominated to be next director of the CIA. With the investigation reaching the top echelons of the administration, it is time for the White House to come clean and tell the American people which of Obama’s senior advisers is under investigation. There are no confirmation hearings for the chief of staff post, but Brennan will soon appear before the Senate on Feb. 7 for his confirmation hearings. If confirmed, he will be responsible for protecting our nation’s secrets. Congress has a right to know what he knows — and if he is being questioned by the FBI in the leak probe.

And the Stuxnet inquiry is only the beginning. The Justice Department is also investigating the disclosure of the role played by a double agent, recruited in London by British intelligence, in breaking up a new underwear bomb plot in Yemen. How far up the chain of command has that investigation gone? And how about the disclosure of classified details of the CIA drone campaign, including the fact that Obama personally selects the names on a terrorist “kill list”? Or leak to the New York Times of classified details of yet another covert operation in which “C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government”? Or the revelation last summer that the U.S. was considering launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan against the Haqqani network? Or the disclosure of classified operational details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — which prompted then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to visit Obama National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in the West Wing and advise the White House to “Shut the [expletive] up”?

Read more from this story HERE.

FBI Raids Offices of Menendez Donor Linked to Alleged Prostitution Scandal

The FBI has raided the offices of Dr. Salomon Melgen, an opthalmologist and Democratic Party donor reportedly connected to New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s alleged solicitation of prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

The Miami Herald reports: “FBI agents raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor accused in the conservative press of providing free trips and even Dominican Republic prostitutes to New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”

Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, late Tuesday night to start hauling away potential evidence in about a dozen white vans.

The exact focus of the investigation is unclear, as is whether it is tied to Menendez, a Democrat. A spokesman for Menendez couldn’t be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.

Melgen has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million, for taxes owed from 2006 to 2009, according to records filed with the Palm Beach County recorder’s office. A previous IRS lien for $6.2 million was released in 2011.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Emails Show FBI Investigating Sen. Bob Menendez for Sleeping with Underage Dominican Prostitutes

Documents published online for the first time Thursday indicate that the FBI opened an inquiry into New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on August 1, 2012, focusing on repeated trips he took to the Dominican Republic with longtime campaign contributor and Miami eye doctor Salomon Melgen. TheDC reported in November that Menendez purchased the service of prostitutes in that Caribbean nation at a series of alcohol-fueled sex parties.

The documents, which The Daily Caller had obtained hours earlier from an anonymous source, also indicate that Carrie Levine, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), was alerted on April 9, 2012 to Menendez’s habit of paying for sex while outside the United States.

ABC News senior investigative producer Rhonda Schwartz was aware as early as May 2, 2012, the documents show, when Levine wrote a source in the Dominican Republic to say that she had “shared your allegations, but not your identities, with a respected, trusted journalist with whom we have worked on other stories.”

In another email two days later, Levine identified that journalist as one who “works for ABC News.” By May 16, Schwartz was emailing Levine’s original source with questions.

Information made available to Schwartz and Levine at that time included allegations that some of Menendez’s prostitutes were as young as 16. The source also alleged that Sen. Menendez was taking “non-authorized trips” to the Dominican Republic, suggesting that he may have been evading Senate Ethics committee rules covering disclosures when third parties pay for a senator’s travel.

Read more from this story HERE.

LA Times Interviews Alaska Militia Leader About Informant Fulton and FBI

The Los Angeles Times is continuing its coverage of the FBI’s involvement in Alaska politics via its leftwing informant, Bill Fulton.

In its article last night, the Times interviews an Alaskan militia leader, Norm Olson, who claims that Fulton “was used by the FBI to wreck Joe Miller’s bid” for the US Senate.

But most of Olson’s vitriol seems directed at Fulton’s efforts to infiltrate Alaska’s Citizens Militia, based out of Kenai, Alaska. Olson lambasted Fulton for trying to play “the big man in Anchorage, boasting about this and bragging about that, how he was ex-military intelligence.” He told the Times that the Obama supporter had “tried to target his militia as well, supplying him with a ‘barn full’ of military gear,” suggesting the type of entrapment others close to Fulton have previously complained of.

But Olson, the streetwise founder of the Michigan Militia prior to his move to Alaska several years ago, was “wary of Greeks bearing gifts.” Claiming he knows a little bit about the FBI, Olson explained that, “anybody comes up to me with fancy toys or gift items, I’m always a little bit wary of what’s going on. I tell people, if you really want to give me something, give me cash, and make it anonymous.”

One member of the Kenai’s Alaska’s Citizen Militia forum suggested that the FBI might have Fulton killed and then try to pin it on the Alaska militias: “If he does get whacked it will be used to label Alaska militia men and women as dangerous terrorists. I would not put it past the FBI to grease him themselves in order to set up a false flag against the patriot movement up here.”

Olson seemed to agree stating, “They’ll paint the [Alaska] militia much like the mafia: you can [get] out, leave feet first. They can use his ‘passing’ as a message to anyone who affiliates with the militia that they are the savages that the central government paints us out to be.”

He concluded that the FBI would use Fulton’s death as a way to eliminate “any hope for a political comeback” for Joe Miller, stating that “Joe’s support for the militia, the Constitution, state Sovereignty and the Rule of Law is well known. Placing him in a controversy about the suspicious nature of Bill Fulton’s death would absolutely disable Joe.”

Fulton, who is in hiding Outside, apparently has gotten the message: “I don’t think the militia guys in Alaska are so happy about me right now,” he told the Times.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times article HERE.

Joe Miller, Schaeffer Cox, and the FBI Informant who handcuffed Tony Hopfinger

With the conviction and sentencing of Fairbanks Militia Leader Schaeffer Cox several days ago, the left leaning media organizations have again resurrected speculation about Joe Miller’s connections to not only Mr. Cox but also to the federal informant who was largely responsible for Cox’s demise, Bill Fulton.

Joe’s spokesman reports that in the last two days he’s fielded contacts about this from reporters associated with the leftwing Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, and Salon.

These extremely biased outlets should have directed their inquiries to me. I’ve known Joe Miller for ten years. I’ve gone on a medical mission trip to a communist-controlled island in the Philippines with Joe. And, in interest of full disclosure, I’m a longtime business partner and friend of Joe’s.

So it should come as no surprise that I’ve been closely involved with Joe’s political activities. From his first legislative run in 2004, to his 2008 attempt to rid the Alaskan Republican Party of Randy Ruedrich, through his 2010 U.S. Senate run, I worked with Joe to effect political change.

Joe’s 2008 effort to unseat the Republican Party Chair and replace him with a conservative took place about a year and a half after Sarah Palin was elected governor of the State of Alaska. As one of Alaska’s six Republican Party regional chairs, Joe was one of the few Republican Party officials to genuinely support Sarah Palin in her run for Governor. Governor Palin and Joe maintained contact after this and jointly shared the goal of reforming the Alaska Republican Party.

In 2008, I suggested to Joe that he make an attempt to remove Randy Ruedrich as chair of the ARP during the state convention that year. We knew that the effort would be challenging as removal would require a vote of two-thirds of the delegates at the state convention.

Joe went for it and, in his typical fashion, devoted 110% of his energies toward the effort. He contacted the Governor and secured her support. We then sent out mailers and contacted delegates throughout the state.

Upon arrival in Anchorage, we suspected we had a majority of the support of the delegates but were unsure if we had the necessary two-thirds to remove Ruedrich. So the effort continued on the ground.

I invited Schaeffer Cox to several meetings that Joe Miller, Bill Fulton, and many others attended during the convention. Unlike Joe, I had met Schaeffer previously and knew he was helping organize the Ron Paul supporters going to the convention. Schaeffer was about my age and, like me, was involved in construction. He had no known connections to any militia groups and, at the time, was new to politics.

Neither Joe nor I, however, knew anything about Bill Fulton prior to the 2008 state convention. He was a delegate there and sought out Joe directly. He expressed grave dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Alaska Republican Party and volunteered to help in the effort to organize other delegates who were opposed to Ruedrich. As I recall, he attended virtually every meeting the anti-Ruedrich faction had during that convention.

While we were working to organize and convince delegates, a number of troubling things happened to our volunteers. One, Joe’s former clerk from his U.S. Magistrate Judgeship days, had the lugnuts on her vehicle loosened while parked outside the convention and, had she not noticed this prior to driving away, could have been severely injured. We also discovered that private investigators had been employed against the delegates that were leading the efforts against Ruedrich.

Fulton sprang to action. He immediately insisted that he provide security to the core volunteers who were working to unseat Ruedrich. And he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He represented that he owned a security firm and knew the ropes of a security operation. So he, and other delegates that were associated with his firm, started to watch volunteer’s vehicles and keep an eye out for other shenanigans.

After the convention ended, Cox decided to run for the legislature. He made an impressive showing in the primary against an incumbent legislator, winning over 36% of the vote in a three-way race.

Joe had a few conversations with Schaeffer at the convention and during Schaeffer’s campaign but after Cox lost his election to the State House, Cox started going radical. Joe had nothing to do with him at this point, presciently warning a number of us, including me, that Cox was headed down a self-destructive path.

Fast forward to 2010. Bill Fulton hit the political scene again, not only as a delegate to the 2010 Republican convention, but also as the campaign manager for Lieutenant Governor-candidate Eddie Burke. After Burke lost the Republican primary, Fulton made a bee-line for Joe Miller again, as early as the evening of primary night, August 24, 2010. He also followed Joe around at the Glenn Beck event the next month.

But it wasn’t until the ill-fated town hall meeting in October that Fulton made his mark on Joe Miller’s senate campaign. One of Joe’s supporters who knew Fulton from the Eddie Burke campaign, called him to provide security as required by the venue’s contract. At the conclusion of the town hall, Tony Hopfinger, who had earlier followed Joe into a restroom, questioning him while Joe was relieving himself, was handcuffed by Fulton after Joe had already left the building.

The handcuffing almost immediately hit the headlines. And, even though Joe had had nothing to do with Fulton’s presence at the town hall and in no way directed or condoned the handcuffing, the damage was done.

Several months later, Schaeffer Cox was indicted by the federal government for his militia activities. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that one of the government’s lead informants in the Cox case was none other than Bill Fulton. It was also discovered that Fulton was working and being paid as the federal government’s confidential informant during the exact same time frame that he was handcuffing blogger Tony Hopfinger at Joe Miller’s event.

I have no idea what makes people like Bill Fulton and Schaeffer Cox tick. But I do know this: Joe Miller has an extreme love for this country and its people and will continue to fight selflessly to restore Liberty.

Too many have become weary in their efforts against increasing regulations and decreasing rights. William Wilberforce did not give up after all his years of failure in Parliament and because of it slavery was abolished in England.

Joe Miller and I believe in a limited government that stays out of the way of its citizens freedoms. I hope you will join the cause of Liberty and support the people who champion her cause.

Video: US Suspects Iran Behind Hostage Photos of Ex-FBI Agent, As Wife Calls for Action

The wife of a missing retired FBI agent is calling on the U.S. government to put more pressure on Iran to send her husband home, as she releases photos that she received two years ago of her husband as a hostage.

Robert Levinson, a private investigator, disappeared in 2007 on the Iranian island of Kish. The Iranian government has repeatedly denied knowing anything about his disappearance, and the disturbing video and photos that Levinson’s family received in late 2010 and early 2011 seemed to give credence to the idea.

U.S. officials now see the government of Iran behind the images and video, intelligence officials told The Associated Press, and Levinson’s wife, Christine Levinson, wants the world to know she hasn’t given up hope of seeing him again.

“I believe he is still alive,” she said in an interview Tuesday night with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “I believe he is spending every waking hour making sure that he is well enough to come home to us.”

Their oldest daughter is getting married in a month, Levinson said. U.S. officials have told her they are doing everything they can, but investigators haven’t been able to find much information about him.

Read more from this story HERE.

USA Today: Petraeus and Broadwell Used Common ‘Email Trick’ Used by Terrorists

Paula Broadwell, ex-mistress of disgraced former CIA chief David Petraeus, could have used several different methods to hide her identity if in fact she sent anonymous, threatening emails to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, experts say.

But Shawn Henry, who retired in March as the FBI’s executive assistant director in charge of all civil and criminal cyber investigation worldwide, says the FBI had many techniques available to trace the communications.

“Somewhere along the way, her IP address was captured,” Henry said.

Someone trying to remain anonymous can hide emails by routing them through different servers and using public computers that don’t keep activity logs, he said. Broadwell may have thought she had done everything to hide her tracks, but often people make mistakes, leaving their emails traceable by investigators, he said.

The Associated Press, citing a law enforcement source who declined to be identified, reported that Petraeus and Broadwell apparently used a “dropbox” to conceal their email traffic.

Read more from this story HERE.

Probe Widens: Petraeus Scandal Leads to Investigation of Commander in Afghanistan

KABUL—U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Tuesday asked the Senate to put on hold the confirmation of the top commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John Allen, as the new NATO supreme allied commander for Europe following the discovery of allegedly inappropriate communications between the general and a Tampa social planner.

The planner, Jill Kelley, is at the center of a scandal involving Gen. Allen’s predecessor as the top coalition commander in Kabul, Gen. David Petreaus, who resigned as CIA director last week after acknowledging an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began probing the matter earlier this year, after Ms. Kelley complained about harassing emails that, according to officials, were eventually traced to Ms. Broadwell. Both women are married, as are Gens. Petreaus and Allen. As part of this inquiry, the FBI also uncovered some 30,000 pages of emails between Ms. Kelley and Gen. Allen, a senior defense official told reporters traveling with Mr. Panetta.

Mr. Panetta said in a statement that the Pentagon received the information concerning Gen. Allen from the FBI on Sunday, and has opened its own investigation. Adultery is a crime under the military code of justice. Gen. Allen’s spokesman declined to comment on the matter and referred all queries to the Pentagon.

Read more from this story HERE.

FBI Reportedly Searches Home of Petraeus Mistress

FBI agents raided the Dilworth, North Carolina home of Paula Broadwell, the woman accused of having an affair with former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus Monday night. Petraeus resigned last Friday, citing his infidelity.

Local stations WSOC, WCNC, and WBTV reported the FBI confirmed its agents were inside Broadwell’s home, but nearly a dozen agents on scene “would not confirm what they were looking for” as they were “carrying boxes and taking photographs inside the home.” Several reporters relayed what they saw at the home through Twitter as it happened.

Broadwell was Petraeus’s biographer and may have started her affair with him while embedded with the general in Afghanistan. Broadwell allegedly sent threatening emails from a dummy account to a Florida woman, Jill Kelley, which Kelley reported to the FBI. An FBI investigation discovered Broadwell was having an affair with Petraeus after the menacing emails were traced to accounts associated with her. Broadwell had supposedly suspected Kelley was romantically involved with Petraeus and was apparently jealous of her.

Broadwell may have had access to classified information. She revealed last month during a speech at the University of Denver that terrorists may have attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi to take back prisoners detained at a secret CIA prison. The CIA has denied Broadwell’s allegations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. Under Criminal Investigation by FBI

Federal prosecutors and FBI agents in Washington have launched a new criminal investigation of Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. involving alleged financial improprieties, including possible misuse of funds monitored by Congress, law enforcement sources tell NBC News.

The probe prompted lawyers for Jackson — who has been on a leave of absence from Congress since June for medical treatment — to meet with federal prosecutors this week in an attempt to persuade them not to bring charges against the congressman, sources said.

The sources said it was unclear whether Jackson, who has not been seen in his office for months, would be charged before the November election — a subject that was discussed between Jackson’s lawyers and the prosecutors this week. Jackson’s lawyers urged the prosecutors not to file charges before the election — but prosecutors refused to make any commitments, the sources familiar with the meeting said.

Either way, the new investigation could ratchet up pressure for Jackson to step aside. Despite his illness — which his office has said involves his treatment for bipolar disorder — Jackson is running for re-election, seeking a 10th term. His lawyers did not return email and phone call request for comment.

Frank Watkins, Jackson’s congressional spokesman, says he has not reached out Jackson and has not spoken to him about the investigation, and that the first he heard of the investigation was when he was contacted by the Chicago Sun Times, which first reported the story. He said he believes Jackson is still in DC.

Read more from this story HERE.