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I get it that House Oversight Committee Chairman Representative Jason Chaffetz won't have Overseas Buildings Operations Director Lydia Muniz to kick around much longer, what with her being a political appointee and therefore departing her position by January 20. But the majority staff report he released this week is "littered with unsubstantiated allegations, cherry-picked evidence, and conclusions that contradict the overwhelming evidence that we obtained," in the words of the Ranking Member from the minority side of his committee. Really, what was the big hurry that this report couldn't have waited for a review by the minority side and a vote by the whole committee?
The State Department's Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs asked the Committee to submit the report for an interagency classification and sensitivity review before releasing it to the public, since it "details security methods and vulnerabilities at specific embassy construction sites, provides information that could be used to identify and target classified areas and communications, describes methods used to secure classified areas, and provides information about the Department's foreign intelligence countermeasures." But did they? No.
Here's that letter from State to Chairman Chaffetz, courtesy of CBS News.
12.01.16 JF to JEC Letter Signed by CBS News Politics on Scribd
UPDATE on December 29: I see that the HOGR Committee has now, properly and responsibly, withdrawn its staff report from the public sphere. Accordingly, I've deleted the remainder of this post. In the event the Committee re-releases the report, I'll comment again at that time.
22 comments:
TSB: As someone who operates poorly in no-light or low-light conditions and often has cost over-runs at the grocery store I thoroughly enjoyed this post because I love un-substantiated allegations designed to produce headlines. Sometimes I pass these on to Putin. gwb
GWB: Well, Putin is all the rage right now. He'd probably have some good tips on efficient embassy construction.
Lol TSB: The sun is out right now so I can clearly see a big settlement coming in the civil lawsuit against crooked Hillary. gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-12/hillary-begs-benghazi-lawsuit-dismissal-while-plaintiffs-blast-special-favors-politi
That would be nice GWB, but it isn't really a person as so much as a system that is in dire need of corrective.
James: I think this one could go systemic. It would be great for me trying to find my way to work in the dark or for tracking politicians who don't honor subpoenas. Louie Gohmert is a big fan of it. gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-13/house-passes-bill-microchip-citizens-mental-disabilities-whos-next
TSB: The CIA protesting a right wing president being installed by a foreign power is possibly the funniest thing ever. Tweeted by Neon Trotsky and passed on by Jimmy Dore/world's funniest comedian. gwb
https://youtu.be/qxJgaJr5-Lk
GWB and Skep,
Personally I think great changes are afoot. Newer generations are coming up and you can actually see old political theories, alignments, and commitments fading away, and fairly quickly too. Though I say there are great changes coming, I don't really know where it's going, just that it's going.
TSB: The Empire Strikes Back! and us Bernie Bros love it! gwb
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan and associate of Julian Assange, told the Dailymail.com he flew to Washington, D.C. for emailsy
He claims he had a clandestine hand-off in a wooded area near American University with one of the email sources
The leakers' motivation was 'disgust at the corruption of the Clinton Foundation and the 'tilting of the primary election playing field against Bernie Sanders'
Murray says: 'The source had legal access to the information. The documents came from inside leaks, not hacks'
'Regardless of whether the Russians hacked into the DNC, the documents Wikileaks published did not come from that,' Murray insists (The Dail Mail)
Murray is a controversial figure who was relieved of his post as British ambassador amid allegations of misconduct but is close to Wikileaks
TSB:
Source: Fox
The House Intelligence Committee abruptly canceled a briefing set for Thursday on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, after the CIA declined to provide a briefer for the session, Fox News is told.
Amid concerns about reports that conflict with details previously provided to the committee, Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., had requested a closed, classified briefing Thursday for committee Republican and Democratic members from the FBI, CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Agency.
(Seems funny no mention of this on the TV or C-Span. I'm starting to think this was an inside job.) gwb
TSB: Clinton Investigation Back On: FBI Agents In NY Ordered To Continue Foundation Probe
by Tyler Durden
Dec 15, 2016 2:40 PM
That brings a particular song to my ears!! After You've Gone-Suzy Boggus gwb
https://youtu.be/yBrPqcbu3V4
TSB: Friday Funnies? The Battle of Bunker Hill is over! gwb
Entire Police Department Quits After "Illegal, Unethical, And Immoral" Requests By Town Council
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-15/entire-police-department-quits-after-illegal-unethical-and-immoral-requests-town-cou
(Hard to believe there are local funding problems this bad in Mike Pence's Indiana.)
TSB: Dallas police and fire pension disaster and Bunker Hill, Indiana Police problems are illustrations of what this woman is talking about. Trump seems to be the only one who understands this. gwb
Underfunded government pensions to the tune of $1.3 trillion, with a gap that just can’t be filled, is the ticking time bomb facing the US economy which faces dramatic cuts in public services - and potentially riots reminiscent of Athens six years ago - according to former Federal Reserve advisor Danielle DiMartino Booth.
20,898
DEC 17, 2016 8:15 PM
TSB: Lots of good opinions today on whether the electoral college system is good or bad on C-Span. I think the best one was that without it in a very close popular vote there would be recounts going on for months in every close state in the country and few would accept the results.
Now that we have an 'irretrievably broke' financial situation pointing to crash of the bond,stock and currency markets worldwide I think reforming the election system will be on the back burner pretty soon. I like the idea of making it easy for everyone who is 18 or older and a US citizen to vote by paper ballots over a period like 4 days at convenient locations or by mail. gwb
TSB: Russian Ambassador In Turkey Shot, Seriously Wounded In Ankara Attack: Judging from the photo's I don't think the Ambassador is doing very well. Seems like a security problem?? gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-19/russian-ambassador-turkey-has-been-shot-condition-unknown-cnn
GWB: The Russian Ambassador is a really big problem, especially if Putin doesn't think he was a lone actor. It puzzles me why the Ambo would be at a public event without his own protection detail, but then again, the attacker was a police officer and, for all I know, might have been authorized to be there armed.
On the Electoral College, it's the great protector of Federalism, which I think is a good thing. The country isn't called the United People of America.
Skep,
that's a really good question about the Ambo's security. I'm going to ask around about it.
TSB: As usual, Juan Cole has great analysis: Altintas(who was in Erdogan's personal security detail) and other Turkish police were told in private that their government supports the guerrillas in Syria on grounds of Muslim fellow-feeling. But then the Turkish government hung the guerrillas out to dry and let Russia have its way with them. Hence, some Turkish security personnel could not accept this about-face, and needed to take revenge on a Russian official. gwb
(I suspect Trump will leave 'negotiating with Erdogan' to Putin, unlike Kerry.) Did you see the look on the Ambassador's face? I think the first shot killed him. And that seemed like 7 shots before he could even crumple.
TSB: This seems like kind of an important story. gwb
BREAKING: At Least 14 US Coalition Military Officers Captured by Syrian Special Forces in East Aleppo Bunker
DECEMBER 16, 2016 BY 21WIRE 157 COMMENTS
http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/12/16/reports-at-least-10-nato-military-officers-captured-by-syrian-special-forces-this-morning-in-east-aleppo-bunker/
Skep,
I talked to a russian guy I know who is ex-FO, who said and I'm paraphrasing, Turkey is considered a conflict zone, which means the Ambassador should have his own security detail. He didn't know why the guy didn't have his own there, said it was perhaps his own choice.
I realize that if they had been there they probably couldn't stopped the shooter (inside jobs are tough), but if they had been there we would have had a gun fight almost instantly.
James: It is really strange that the Ambo had no Russian coverage unless, as you say, it was his own choice. If that was so, then I bet Russian policies will change.
Good work James! And Merry Christmas to both of you! gwb
You too, GWB!
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