Och-Ziff Company and subsidiaries implicated in bribing Guinean, Zimbabwean and Congolese Authorities to get favourable business operations in these nations, Raid January 2017 report claims!

guinea-mining

“The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, at the FCA’s 2016 Financial Crime Conference, stated:15 ‘The UK is attractive to criminals and corrupt kleptocrats who steal billions from their own people, often some of the poorest people in the world.’ The Home Secretary concluded: ‘If…we develop world leading legislation to combat financial crime whilst continuing to develop the capabilities of our law enforcement agencies, then we will reduce the flow of dirty money into the City….’” (RAID, P: 14, 2017).

Well, this is not the first or the last time we will discuss mineral-resources and the extractions of these to gain quick profits, either in sophisticated ways of administrative affairs between the ones the licence the operations to the company, which usually is government officials who are pocketed by subsidiaries if multi-national corporations; this is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Guinea. As showed in the RAID report of January 2017: “Bribery in its purest form”; that I will uncover certain parts of to show the apparent companies and holding-companies that are owning and operating in the these countries by bribing officials to export minerals. They get ownership of giant mines and resources from these nations as they are licenced after favourable transactions for the governments, as they are kept bribed to uphold production as well.

This happening in nations that are sanctioned and has sanctioned persons that should stop these transactions and licences of United Kingdom and United States corporations, even if they have shell-companies and official headquarters in Tax-Havens that proves the ability of extracting the massive fortunes in these minerals, without proper transparency in the nation they operate with their mining operation.

I think the report should speak for itself and should be publically known to show how they are able to take the monies, profit and also bribing the officials without any consequences, even when the nations of Zimbabwe and DRC had sanctions against it; still the His Majesty Treasury of United Kingdom didn’t stop the transactions and trade with them. This proves that the UK Government doesn’t care about their own sanctions and how their businesses are operating without judgement and fear of getting fined for breaking laws to get rights and takeover mining operations in other countries.

Take a look! 

The review of mining licences that the Congolese government embarked on in 2007, which was supposed to clear up the murky legacy of wartime contracts, provided Och-Ziff and its collaborators with a golden opportunity to snap up valuable assets at knock-down prices. Working with the Congolese political elite, this group were able to exploit the threat of expropriation or revocation of mining permits to their own advantage. By 2014, according to Forbes Magazine, President Joseph Kabila had amassed an estimated personal fortune of US$15 billion in just over 13 years of power.xxiv In 2015, The Sunday Times Rich List estimated Michael Cohen’s wealth to be £335 million (US$500 million). Forbes puts Daniel Och’s (the founder and CEO of Och-Ziff) net worth at US$2.5 billion and Dan Gertler’s wealth at $1.18 billion. The DRC is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world, ranked 176 out of 188 countries.xxv Almost 87% of its 69 million people live on less than $1.25 a day. Put another way, that $1.25 each day equates to $450 per year, and with life expectancy of 58 years, Och’s personal fortune would last the lifetimes of more than 95,000 Congolese at today’s values” (Raid, P: 10, 2017).

Och-Ziff subsidiaries:

“Mvela Holdings is incorporated in South Africa.31 Mvela Holdings is described in the Och-Ziff release as ‘a private investment company founded in 1998 by Tokyo Sexwale, Mikki Xayiya and Mark Willcox. It is the controlling shareholder of JSE-listed Mvelaphanda Group Ltd and has a significant interest in JSE-listed Mvelaphanda Resources Ltd. It has other substantial privately held interests in the mining, energy, real estate and various other industrial sectors in South Africa and Africa.’ It appears that Mvela did not ultimately participate directly in AML” (…) “Palladino Holdings is described as a private investment vehicle, founded in 2003 by Walter Hennig holding ‘a variety of significant mining, energy and other assets in Africa.’32 A company under the name Palladino Holdings Limited is registered in the UK, and recorded as originating in the Turks & Caicos Islands.33 Other market notifications that refer to Palladino Holdings Limited as a shareholder give an address for Palladino in the Turks & Caicos Islands.34 Palladino Capital 2 Limited, a closely-related Palladino subsidiary behind a controversial loan to the Guinea government (see below), is registered in the British Virgin Islands” (…) “Other than Och-Ziff employees, directors of Africa Management (UK) Limited include or have included, Walter Hennig (Palladino), Andre Cilliers (Palladino) and its chief executive Mark Willcox (also Chief Executive Officer of Mvela Holdings)” (Raid, P: 17, 2017).

Guinea agreement:

“Och-Ziff Employee A and Och-Ziff Employee B, along with the CEO of AML and South African Business Partner, conceived of a related-party transaction that would accomplish these goals….According to the deal documents, South African Business Partner was to buy 31.5 million shares in the oil and gas company from the South African conglomerate for $77 million and then immediately resell 18.5 million of those shares to AGC II for $77 million.…” (…) “Contrary to the deal documents…Och-Ziff Employee A and Och-Ziff Employee B knew that South African Business Partner would not pay the full $77 million to the South African conglomerate. South African Business Partner bought 31.5 million shares…for only $25 million, and then immediately resold 18.5 million shares in that same company to AGC II for $77 million, providing South African Business Partner with $52 million and an additional 13 million shares in the company. With the $52 million, South African Business Partner then paid $2.1 million to Och-Ziff to satisfy an outstanding debt relating to AGC I (in which the Investor had no interest), $25 million to the government of Guinea to try to secure access to valuable mining investments there, $1 million to the agent affiliated with the a high level Guinean government official and his family, and the remainder to personally benefit himself and his business partners” (RAID, P: 19, 2017).

Guinea 2011:

“In or about March 2011, a company controlled by Coconspirator #1 [‘the beneficial owner of the Turks & Caicos Entity’ ] entered into an agreement with the Guinean government, which gave the company the option to buy into the SOMC [‘Guinean state-owned mining company’]. On or about April 29, 2011, an affiliate of the Turks & Caicos Entity loaned the government of Guinea $25 million as part of a deal to become a partner in the SOMC. Coconspirator #1 raised the $25 million through a related-party stock sale to the Joint Venture. MEBIAME signed the loan document on behalf of the affiliate of the Turks & Caicos Entity. According to MEBJAME, the partnership with the SOMC ultimately did not go forward due to negative press accounts, which indicated that the deal between the Guinean government and Coconspirator #1 was corrupt” (…) “He [Alpha Condé] said that he agreed. So we made the loan, we signed the loan to Soguipami…,and so I was authorised to sign and make the transfer.’ Another exhibit – a witness statement, from a UK High Court case, made by the chief executive of a company advising BSGR – states:67 ‘funds were transferred to Alpha Condé by way of a recorded loan of $25million and further unrecorded transfers believed to be “much much more”….Alpha Condé attempted to reward his backers. He entered into an agreement known as the Palladino Contract, pursuant to which the provider of the $25million loan would, on default of the loan, become entitled to a 30% share in a new Guinean national mining company established by Alpha Condé.’ Other exhibits in the ICSID case refer to Walter Hennig and AGC” (RAID, P: 20, 2017).

DRC laundering of mining exports:

“Gertler’s use of London markets to launder DRC assets began with another AIM-traded entity, Nikanor plc. Nikanor plc was described as ‘the holding company of a Group with copper and cobalt assets in the DRC’. The company was incorporated and headquartered in the Isle of Man.87 On 17 July 2007, Nikanor was admitted to AIM” (…) “In the Nikanor admission document, reference is made to allegations that Dan Gertler ‘acquired a temporary monopoly on sales of diamonds from the DRC as a result of improper dealings with the Government of the DRC’.88 The Nikanor admission document concludes that: ‘These allegations do not relate to the Company [Nikanor], the Group or any of their activities. They concern Mr Gertler in his capacity as a shareholder.’ Yet it is stated under ‘risk factors’ in the admission document: ‘…each of the Major Shareholders will be able to exercise significant influence over all matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election of Directors and significant corporate transactions.’ Moreover, there is also a reference to how the group of Nikanor companies with mining assets in the DRC and ‘some of the Major Shareholders’ have been ‘subject to criticism from a number of NGOs’ which included lack of transparency in the process by which the assets were awarded, the absence of public tendering and a joint venture agreement ‘unreasonably favourable to the Group and that as a result Gécamines [the DRC’s state-owned mining company] has not received proper consideration for valuable assets with a resulting detrimental effect on the economy of the DRC”(RAID, P: 22 ,2017).

Another DRC Agreement – Camrose transaction:

“The DOJ refers to ‘a $124 million convertible loan through a subsidiary company and AGC to Company B, a DRC Partner-controlled shell entity, funded in or about and between April and October 2008 (the “Convertible Loan Agreement”)’.121 Under the heading ‘C. Corrupt Takeover of DRC Mining Company’” (…) “the SEC Order states: Also in April 2008, Och-Ziff caused AGC I to enter into an approximately $124 million convertible loan with a holding company affiliated with DRC Partner. The stated uses of these funds were threefold: first, to provide DRC Partner with approximately $15 million to purchase a Congolese entity that had acquired the rights to a valuable mining asset in the DRC (the longstanding asset of a Canadian mining company) through an ex parte default judgment in the DRC that resulted in judicial misconduct proceedings; second, to provide DRC Partner with approximately $100 million to purchase a majority stake in that Canadian mining company in exchange for resolving its legal issues; and third, to advance an additional $9 million to be used for future mining operations in the DRC” (RAID, P: 26, 2017). “The transaction gave Och-Ziff control over what assets could be bought or sold by the entity, equity conversion rights into DRC Partner’s entity, a pledged interest in the shares of the Congolese entity, and a right to future deals with DRC Partner in the DRC. Moreover, the transaction gave DRC Partner complete discretion over how to use approximately $24 million of the funds provided by Och-Ziff. Further, Och-Ziff understood this transaction was part of a broader, ongoing partnership with DRC Partner. Finally, both Och-Ziff Employee A and Och-Ziff Employee B knew that DRC Partner was going to use a portion of the funds to pay bribes, and knew that the transaction was structured to accomplish that goal. This knowledge was not shared with others within Och-Ziff or with outside counsel” (RAID, P: 27, 2017).

drc-business

Camrose II:

“A 50% interest in Société Minière de Kabolela et Kipese Sprl (‘SMKK’) was acquired on 9 November 2009 as part of the CAMEC acquisition….In 2009 the Group acquired an option, for a cash consideration of US$25 million, to purchase the outstanding 50% of the issued share capital of SMKK by acquiring the entire issued share capital of Emerald Star Enterprises Limited (‘ESEL’), (an entity controlled by the Gertler family trust), the owner of the outstanding 50% of SMKK. The Group exercised this option and the acquisition of ESEL was effectively completed and control obtained by the Group in June 2010. The total cash consideration in respect of the outstanding SMKK shares, inclusive of the US$25 million option, amounted to US$75 million” (…) “Throughout the period of DRC Partner’s acquisition of Kolwezi Tailings and SMKK, DRC Partner continued to make corrupt payments to DRC Official 2. For example, on or about December 23, 2009, DRC Partner delivered $1 million to DRC Official 2; on or about January 5, 2010, DRC Partner delivered $2 million to DRC Official 2” (…) “On or about August 20, 2010, Mining Company 1 acquired 50.5 percent of Company B. Mining Company I agreed to pay up to $575 million over two years, including $50 million in cash. Och-Ziff Employee 3 and Och-Ziff Employee 5 were informed by a co-conspirator that the $50 million was for DRC Partner to “use on the ground” to corruptly acquire Kolwezi Tailings. As part of the deal, Mining Company 1 guaranteed repayment of the Convertible Loan Agreement through a novation of the loan” (RAID, P: 30-31, 2017).

Camrose Resources Limited, BVI company number: 1055983, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on 9 October 2006. “ (…) ”124 According to the company website: ‘The Fleurette Group is comprised of various businesses organized under Fleurette Properties Ltd., a company established in 2006 for the benefit of the Gertler Family Trust.’ (<http://fleurettegroup.com/&gt;). A press release attributed to Fleurette Properties Limited states: ‘The Fleurette Group of Companies is a Dutch-resident group of companies whose primary activities are the investment in, exploration, exploitation and development of mining assets in Africa. The parent company of the group is called Fleurette Properties Limited, which is owned by Line Trust Corporation Limited strictly and solely on behalf of the Ashdale Settlement, a trust established in 2006 for the benefit of the family of Dan Gertler.’” (RAID, P: 58, 2017).

“Camrose is described as holding indirect interests in five copper and cobalt exploitation licences in DRC, including a 70% interest, via the Highwind Group, in Metalkol Sarl, which ENRC states as owning ‘the tailings exploitation licence covering the Kolwezi Tailings Site (otherwise known as the Kingamyambo Musonoi Tailings, or “KMT”) (PER 652)’. See ENRC plc, ‘Acquisition of 50.5% of the Shares of Camrose Resources Limited’, op. cit” (RAID, P: 59, 2017).

UK gives Concent to Camrose transaction:

“Consent for the Camrose transaction was therefore sought from the UK authorities, consent that was clearly forthcoming. ENRC sought to prevent publication of media reports relating to the SAR: 101Reporters has published not only the SAR, but also the letter it received from ENRC’s lawyers, which stated: ‘you will respect the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality in SARs and remove that aspect from your article.’” (RAID, P: 33, 2017). “There is a permissive pathway by which mines and minerals from zones of conflict and weak governance are transferred to companies trading on AIM who, in turn, through a process of acquisition, transfer these tainted assets to companies in the premium segment of the main market. This process can only be described as asset laundering. Certain of ENRC’s Congolese and Zimbabwean assets, at the heart of the SFO criminal investigation, were derived from the acquisition of AIM-traded Central African Mining and Exploration Company Limited (CAMEC), which was allowed to flourish unchecked on the junior market, despite a myriad of compliance issues that have never been addressed by AIM Regulation” (RAID, P: 34, 2017).

zim-platinum

Zimbabwe Platinum deal:

“On 11 April 2008, CAMEC announced the acquisition of an interest in platinum mining assets in Zimbabwe via its acquisition of 100% of Lefever Finance Ltd, registered in the British Virgin Islands.209 Lefever owned 60% of Todal Mining (Private) Limited, a Zimbabwean company, which held the rights to the Bougai and Kironde claims south west of the city of Gweru in Zimbabwe. 210 The remaining 40% of Todal was held by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (‘ZMDC’), wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe” (…) “…The consideration paid for Lefever was a cash payment of US$5 million and the issue of 215,000,000 new CAMEC ordinary shares. CAMEC’s announcement of the acquisition stated:211 ‘Furthermore, CAMEC has agreed to advance to Lefever an amount of US$100 million by way of loan to enable Lefever to comply with its contractual obligations to the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Repayment to Lefever is to be made from the ZMDC’s share of dividends from Todal.’” (…) “According to the company’s own 11 April news release announcing the Zimbabwean platinum deal, CAMEC advanced the $100 million loan to Lefever to enable it ‘to comply with its contractual obligations to the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe “ (PAID, P: 38, 2017).

“Och-Ziff had control over divesting from CAMEC after the platinum deal was announced (Mugabe and senior Zimbabwean government figures were already designated under US sanctions) or after the designation of both the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC – CAMEC’s state-controlled partner in the platinum venture) and Billy Rautenbach, later described by the US as a ‘Mugabe crony’. Och-Ziff, however, held onto its CAMEC shares into 2009, selling its remaining holding only when ENRC acquired CAMEC in November of that year” (RAID, P: 41, 2017).

Important Notes:

Africa Management is referred to in the Memorandum of Association of Camrose Resources: ‘…Africa Management Limited, a company incorporated in Guernsey with registered number 47651 and whose registered office is at Ogier House, St Julian’s Avenue, St. Peter Port.’ (See Memorandum and Articles of Association of Camrose Resources Limited, Incorporated 9 October 2006, Amendment registered in this 20th day of November 2008, Memorandum of Association, 10 Definitions and Interpretation, 10.1, “Africa Management Limited”)” (RAID, P: 55, 2017).

Mail&Guardian graphic about how Tokyo Sexwale investing in Gertler corporations.
Mail&Guardian graphic about how Tokyo Sexwale investing in Gertler corporations.

That this company Och-Ziff and their subsidiaries are handling their business in this way is not acceptable, the way they are catering to corrupt government officials and stifling the citizens of the nations they are earing fortunes. These corporate-stooges are writing-off dozens of nations desirable taxes and regulated levies on businesses. As they are bribing both high-level like Alphe Conde who accepts the deals in Guinea, as well as friends of Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo, even getting Tokyo Sexwale the former minister of ANC in South Africa to be parts of their network. These levels of bribing and usage of political connection to get resources and takeover companies with ownership of licences of profitable mines, proves the graft and bribe that occurs to secure extravagant luxury for the government officials that are accepting these deals.

The Och-Ziff are using these subsidiaries and corporations to money laundering or tax-exempt them to gain more profits on the mining in the nations. Certainly done with the leadership knowledge and showed their employee tactics to bribe and secure the transactions and ownership of profitable mines. That is certainly the reason for these sophisticated business-models, that enrichen the corporate leadership and gives government officials giant envelopes to give away nations vital resources. These well-planned well-crafted companies that uses all kind of loopholes and ways to escape the punishment for their breaching of international and national law to salvage as much profit as possible.

The long-term effect is certainly that the Guinean, Congolese and Zimbabwean government get less tax on the dollar as the corporate leadership pays them directly a smaller fee, than actually paying the legitimate taxation for their operation and their owned businesses. These actions shouldn’t be in the wind, it should be in the public and be addressed, even send the corporate leadership and government officials should answer to the public thievery as the minerals are taken without proper legal rights because of the fraud, secondly the corporate and the government officials are implicated in the thievery and should be sanctioned by courts and under the rule of law. Third the corporations themselves should lose the licence and the mining operations as they got them without proper procedure and there is invalid. They should also be fined and get banned from working in this nations or the corporations with these corporate bosses that are acting for them to gain this default destructive profits. Peace.

Reference:

Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) – ‘‘Bribery in its purest form’: Och-Ziff, asset laundering and the London connection’ January 2017

Opinion: The new U.S. Intelligence Report following ‘Grizzly Steppe’ as ICA Assessing report reveals little, but the conspiracy and motive is explained!

russian-hack

Today, The Intelligence Community Assessment Report of 6th January 2017 was released, which has been delivered and now is in the public. There we’re already one report out ‘Grizzly Steppe’ of 26th December 2016 that we’re released jointly together Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and  National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) where the key aspect we’re this:

“This document provides technical details regarding the tools and infrastructure used by the Russian civilian and military intelligence Services (RIS) to compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities. The U.S. Government is referring to this malicious cyber activity by RIS as GRIZZLY STEPPE” (…) “This activity by RIS is part of an ongoing campaign of cyber-enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens. These cyber operations have included spearphishing campaigns targeting government organizations, critical infrastructure entities, think tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations leading to the theft of information. In foreign countries, RIS actors conducted damaging and/or disruptive cyber-attacks, including attacks on critical infrastructure networks. In some cases, RIS actors masqueraded as third parties, hiding behind false online personas designed to cause the victim to misattribute the source of the attack. This JAR provides technical indicators related to many of these operations, recommended mitigations, suggested actions to take in response to the indicators provided, and information on how to report such incidents to the U.S. Government” (Grizzly Steppe, 2016).

With this in mind the newly made report which is 10 pages longer or little more than the Joint Report from FBI & NCCIC in December 2016. Therefore a new report made in January 2017 should have more indications than that one, as it is also given to the President-Elect.

“Moscow’s influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations—such as cyber activity—with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or “trolls.” Russia, like its Soviet predecessor, has a history of conducting covert influence campaigns focused on US presidential elections that have used intelligence officers and agents and press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin” (ICA, P: 7,  2017)

“We assess with high confidence that Russian military intelligence (General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU) used the Guccifer 2.0 persona and DCLeaks.com to release US victim data obtained in cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets and relayed material to WikiLeaks” (ICA, P: 8-9, 2016).

“By their nature, Russian influence campaigns are multifaceted and designed to be deniable because they use a mix of agents of influence, cutouts, front organizations, and false-flag operations. Moscow demonstrated this during the Ukraine crisis in 2014, when Russia deployed forces and advisers to eastern Ukraine and denied it publicly” (…) “The General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) probably began cyber operations aimed at the US election by March 2016. We assess that the GRU operations resulted in the compromise of the personal e-mail accounts of Democratic Party officials and political figures. By May, the GRU had exfiltrated large volumes of data from the DNC” (ICA, P: 12, 2017).

“We assess with high confidence that the GRU used the Guccifer 2.0 persona, DCLeaks.com, and WikiLeaks to release US victim data obtained in cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets” (ICA, P: 12-13, 2017).

“Putin’s public views of the disclosures suggest the Kremlin and the intelligence services will continue to consider using cyber-enabled disclosure operations because of their belief that these can accomplish Russian goals relatively easily without significant damage to Russian interests” (ICA, P: 15, 2017).

If the National Intelligence Organizations of United States together says it has been interference, than it more than one chief and one mind behind the investigations. As the reports are piled up with more assessments of the Presidential Election of 2016 and the end-game that we’re in favour of Putin. Since it ended in favour and to the Russia friendly President Candidate, the DNC and now the Security Organizations are blaming the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS) instead we’re now seeing a full blow-out of information and circulated reports made by serious authorities.

These ones doesn’t drop intelligence with ease, they dislike being open to the press and keeps things hidden in the shadow is their business, therefore even smallest drops proves that it isn’t longer conspiracy. Assange of WikiLeaks has claimed it we’re private persons and not Russian Agents giving the documents to WikiLeaks. The public dumping of loads upon loads of DNC e-mails has had to hurt the confidence in Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton. Which the releases of E-Mails did with the uncovering of all kind of bad behaviour and the operations behind a Presidential Candidate in the midst of it. Something we have not really seen before and the ability to see how a Presidential Candidate really operates and how the operation has PACs to fuel monies to keep commercial, corporate media and all the other pieces of the puzzles are dancing after a Presidential Candidate in the United States. The best way to learn that is to read the mails and put it in order, to see to how they build organizations to get people elected. Therefore the DNC leak has given lots of knowledge that usually would have been in shadow and not on the sidewalk.

The acts have malicious, but also eye-opening, sure Podesta must hate WikiLeaks, as much as the others like WADA must hate FancyBears. There are others who has dropped intelligence that we’re mentioned, what was strange was that none of the connected to Anonymous or Anonymous who has operated in the United States.

What was weird that in the other one, there we’re clearly indicated operatives and nicknamed hackers mentioned in the December 2016 report, but none in the January 2017. Like they are hidden in the sphere and not known, because they could been more direct about the origin, as the other report isn’t clear about the origin, but the existence of some operatives who has hacked pages. The key of missing information is where the ones who is known is really from and why isn’t that revealed, as it would give more credibility to the report. Because when the direct actors isn’t actually portrayed, but assessed, therefore next time they could reveal more flesh on the bone. There are lose ends to between the bidding and the end-game.

There are motive and there are indicated acts of malice. But what is sure how the DNC documents went online could be more than what these reports are saying. They have not been showing the whole trip of the process of shadowing or even fishing documents of servers. What they have done is showing is the means of what it really took to hack it.

You have a motive, means for a conspiracy and possible outlets for the hacked information, you have some well-known hackers who might have hacked, but their origin is not revealed. Therefore the reports are in the flawed, they are eye-opening, but certain aspects are left in the dark, from the same dark the hackers came from and open the world to how the DNC did their work. Peace.

Reference:

Intelligence Community Assessment – ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections’ – ICA 2017-01D | 6 January 2017

NCCIC & FBI ‘TLP White’ – ‘GRIZZLY STEPPE – Russian Malicious Cyber Activity’ (29.12.2016)

Read the letter sent by more than 1,100 law professors opposing the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (03.01.2017)

sessions-letter-03-01-2017

“A group of more than 1,100 law school professors from across the country are sending a letter to Congress Tuesday to urge the Senate to reject the nomination of Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general. This is the letter they sent”

The Joint Security Report shows how the hacking of Clinton campaign and Democratic Party happen, as the leaks hurts her campaign and interfered with US Presidential Election of 2016!

wikileaks-assange-promises-leaks-on-us-election-google

We all knew that the Democratic Party where under siege during the Election 2016. That can be known by the DC Leaks, WikiLeaks and Guccifer2.0. Then you have FancyBears who dropped knowledge on athletes who we’re allowed to use questionable substances while still being allowed to be competing in world cups and at the Olympics.

President Obama Executive Order of 29.12.2016:

“Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: (i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; (ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, cyber-enabled activities originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that are reasonably likely to result in, or have materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that have the purpose or effect of: (A) harming, or otherwise significantly compromising the provision of services by, a computer or network of computers that support one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector” (Obama, 2016).

We couldn’t know who all dropped knowledge and documents about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Party. Even if there we’re indications we couldn’t’ directly know who was behind the documents. That were on the pages that I have mentioned. Me myself has downloaded the hacked document and read through a bunch of e-mails released on WikiLeaks. It had to come from somewhere and somebody else had to hack or to do some whistleblowing this information. So that the public and me could collect and analyse the intelligence that the DNC themselves wanted to keep inside their own chambers.

We could now see how a major American party did their practices of fundraising and party works in general towards an election. Like we have never seen how a campaign manager has worked and travelled, how they have gotten fundraising for a bigger political foundation as the Clinton Foundation as now. That is because of the release of e-mails and documents on a scale we haven’t seen. Before those documents has landed in one pile at one journalist or one paper and they have released piece by piece or a cover story. The WikiLeaks drop of the DNC E-Mails of Podesta was not only interesting, but revealing how the internal works of the Democratic Party works.

Therefore the release of FBI, NCCIC and Department of Homeland Security documents shows how they did this and what technic they used to get into the DNC party or WADA to take out the documents that we’re released during the 2016. This shows the power in going into other people’s and organizations computers and computer systems to gain intelligence… That cannot be spared in the conversation as the knowledge of the DNC and other organization that has intelligence that the public could have interest of knowing.

Clinton Campaign TV

Let’s take a brief look at what the State Security Organizations said now in December and before that in October on the matter!

State Actors:

Most capable, active, and dangerous cyber adversaries

Advanced tradecraft and technical expertise

Indigenously developed exploitation tools

Well resourced

Social engineering (spear phishing), extensive research and target profiling, DDoSattacks” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, P: 3, 2016).

“This document provides technical details regarding the tools and infrastructure used by the Russian civilian and military intelligence Services (RIS) to compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities. The U.S. Government is referring to this malicious cyber activity by RIS as GRIZZLY STEPPE” (…) “This activity by RIS is part of an ongoing campaign of cyber-enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens. These cyber operations have included spearphishing campaigns targeting government organizations, critical infrastructure entities, think tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations leading to the theft of information. In foreign countries, RIS actors conducted damaging and/or disruptive cyber-attacks, including attacks on critical infrastructure networks. In some cases, RIS actors masqueraded as third parties, hiding behind false online personas designed to cause the victim to misattribute the source of the attack. This JAR provides technical indicators related to many of these operations, recommended mitigations, suggested actions to take in response to the indicators provided, and information on how to report such incidents to the U.S. Government” (TLP White, P: 1, 2016).

Spearfishing a Political Party:

“Once APT28 and APT29 have access to victims, both groups exfiltrate and analyze information to gain intelligence value. These groups use this information to craft highly targeted spearphishing campaigns. These actors set up operational infrastructure to obfuscate their source infrastructure, host domains and malware for targeting organizations, establish command and control nodes, and harvest credentials and other valuable information from their targets. In summer 2015, an APT29 spearphishing campaign directed emails containing a malicious link to over 1,000 recipients, including multiple U.S. Government victims. APT29 used legitimate domains, to include domains associated with U.S. organizations and educational institutions, to host malware and send spearphishing emails. In the course of that campaign, APT29 successfully compromised a U.S. political party. At least one targeted individual activated links to malware hosted on operational infrastructure of opened attachments containing malware. APT29 delivered malware to the political party’s systems, established persistence, escalated privileges, enumerated active directory accounts, and exfiltrated email from several accounts through encrypted connections back through operational infrastructure” (TLP White, P: 2-3, 2016).

“Phishing and Spearphishing

  • Implement a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record for your organization’s Domain Name System (DNS) zone file to minimize risks relating to the receipt of spoofed messages.
  • Educate users to be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, social media interactions, or email messages from individuals asking about employees or other internal information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company.
  • Do not provide personal information or information about your organization, including its structure or networks, unless you are certain of a person’s authority to have the information.
  • Do not reveal personal or financial information in social media or email, and do not respond to solicitations for this information. This includes following links sent in email.
  • Pay attention to the URL of a website. Malicious websites may look identical to a legitimate site, but the URL often includes a variation in spelling or a different domain than the valid website (e.g., .com vs. .net).
  • If you are unsure whether an email request is legitimate, try to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact information provided on a website connected to the request; instead, check previous statements for contact information. Information about known phishing attacks is also available online from groups such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group (http://www.antiphishing.org).
  • Take advantage of anti-phishing features offered by your email client and web browser.
  • Patch all systems for critical vulnerabilities, prioritizing timely patching of software that processes Internet data, such as web browsers, browser plugins, and document readers” (TLP White, P: 13, 2016).

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With this all in mind, we can see that the Russians allegedly interfered with one specific technic to gain intelligence from their American counterparts in this perspective the U.S. Democratic National Party. The DNC and their Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton; so their effort to install and get a more Russian friendly candidate could be effective with release of certain details of her conducts and her history… that no other candidate has ever gotten more scrutiny as Clinton ever done.

We can surely remember the massive overload of e-mails, documents and also internal memo’s that could boggle political interested minds while Trump where harsh critic and also a right-wing migration biased uprising who couldn’t care less about his own moral defects, while addressing Clinton like the worst politician ever. That can be shown in history. These hacks and release of documents we’re surely important when considering how voters could be swayed away from voting the Democratic Party and their Candidate.

They did in the report site very many different hackers who even I know them and know about their works, without knowing their sources or methods of work. I only know of their pages where they drop the documentation and E-Mails, which showed internal facts I could only wish to see in the past. That I couldn’t have made articles and quick-journalism like pieces without! These hackers and these drops of intelligence we’re vital for me to know more about the DNC and Hillary Clinton. Trump told all his lies and deception in public. Clinton kept it cool, while the droppings of documents, memos and e-mails put it all online. She couldn’t hide the facts or the ways of her party since it was all out there!

I have never seen something similar and if it was done by the method told in the report, than the men or woman behind the hack is sophisticated and also smart. They knew how to get the users to lure their Intel and get it into their own servers. This by any means is a quick theft of sensitive information, which weakens the DNC and Clinton in the public eye. The Public Eye and public perception is vital to ever win an election. Peace.

Reference:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security – ‘Cyber Threats to the Homeland’ (October 2016)

NCCIC & FBI ‘TLP White’ – ‘GRIZZLY STEPPE – Russian Malicious Cyber Activity’ (29.12.2016)

Obama, Barrack – Executive Order – ‘TAKING ADDITIONAL STEPS TO ADDRESS THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO SIGNIFICANT MALICIOUS CYBER-ENABLED ACTIVITIES’ (29.12.2016)

Opinion: I respect President Duterte for his answer to the American pressure!

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I have been thinking about this for a while and I made up my mind. President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines President are by many controversial and his acts are not ordinary in society as we’re used to, but partly they work and many feels safer, though the violent police force gets rid of violent and dangerous drug-trade that has at its peak even corrupted Members of Parliament. Therefore his cabinet and his acts made both enemies locally and abroad.

His tone and demeanour is also striking, a hot-headed man who speaks his peace and war before he tries to mend the wounds created, because he figures out that the striking isn’t always the way to go and to create dialogue. But he seems like a leader who wants to be respected for being him and for his country.

Here is what happen lately and made fuzz worldwide. Because the MCC again made a decision, but without giving reasons for their suspensions that we’re for infrastructure projects, that they are now finding other funding for instead of the American funding. Duterte has gotten grand support in other Asian powers over the recent months and even gotten friendly with the Chinese, which has even respected the courts over well-resourceful islands that China has claimed.

China has offered the Philippines credit worth USD500 million to procure Chinese-made military products, Philippine defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on 20 December. In comments published by the Philippine government’s news and information bureau, Lorenzana said the funds would be made available through soft loans and would support the procurement of unspecified “big-ticket military items”. Under an initial part of the aid package, Lorenzana also confirmed that China has agreed to provide the Philippines with CNY100 million (USD14.4 million), which will support the Southeast Asian country’s acquisition of “small arms, speed boats, or night-vision goggles” (Grevatt, 2016).

Together with a big grant of monies has also come to the nation under Duterte. As this has happen after the American pressure has risen and they don’t see how this aggressive attitude doesn’t help the relationship between the Philippines and the American counterparts.

MCC cancelling grants for infrastructure projects in Philippines:

“The US-led Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has suspended a funding grant for the Philippines over “concerns around rule of law and civil liberties” under the Duterte administration. In a statement last Wednesday, the MCC said it has “deferred a vote on the re-selection” of the country for another compact grant, “subject to a further review.” No other details about the Philippines were released” (Magtulis, 2016).

Duterte’s response:

“I understand that we have been stricken out of the Millennium Challenge. Well, good, I welcome it,” Duterte said with apparent sarcasm. “We can survive without American money,” he said. “But you know, America, you might also be put to notice. Prepare to leave the Philippines, prepare for the eventual repeal or the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement,” he said, referring to a 1998 accord that governs American forces visiting the Philippines for joint combat exercises. Speaking with reporters Friday, Duterte also told U.S. workers or troops to “start packing.” (Penzenstadler, 2016).

“For the past previous months since Duterte took office, the United States has reiterated several times its concern over the alleged spate of extrajudicial killings related to the Philippine government’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs” (…) “America is a land of hypocrisy. There are 40,000 Americans killed every year, drug-related,” Duterte said in a speech before a group of exemplary government employees” (Sioson, 2016).

We can wonder how this is to be and how this will go. Certainly the killings can be questioned in the Philippines, as much the United States should question their own misgivings on this matter. The Duterte government are striking hard and trying to force it out. Though certainly the killings can be seen as causing havoc, it can also create a safer environment; as long as this is a temporary matter where the drug monies and society has been under fear because the drug-gangs in Philippines.

The United States can by all means suspend their aid to the Philippines, but they are not their lapdog and their puppet to control. As they will be muffled to be controlled and if they listen they get their candy. The MCC might review it and address the matter, but a President Duterte is right reacting and showing courtesy to the American government who does this to his administration. Instead of looking at in silence and pounding on the lost funds. Instead his proof of power comes with the strategic need of alliances that U.S. Government needs in the South China Sea.

President Trump and his nominee Secretary of State Tillerson will not have a cake-walk in Asia. President Duterte will not make it easy for somebody like them to trade the waters. Duterte has his pride and wants to make the best effort in power. The rare instance was that the international community didn’t care when the communities we’re attacked by drug-gangs and drug related

We can wonder how this will go, but one thing is for sure President Duterte will not be muffled by the American Government as his predecessor. They have followed the party line of the US foreign policy, but Duterte are acting as President on his own merry. Something the world should recognize and respect. I understand why some policies and some acts might offend and even boggle your mind, but him standing up to the U.S. shows his pride and also his vigour not be controlled and told how to be. Duterte deserves credit for that, though we can question the purpose, longevity and the current policy against the drug-lords and drug-gangs.

It might have consequences right now for the funding of certain projects that has to get funding from elsewhere, but what we can now is that Duterte will not an underling to the American Empire, but be his own and change affiliations if it benefits the Philippines, which is something he should do without any scrutiny; unless he did it without any transparent objectives and with no concern for the ramifications on his own population. Peace.

Reference:

Magtulis, Prinz – ‘US defers Philippine grant amid rule of law, rights issues’ (16.12.2016) link: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/12/16/1653963/us-defers-philippine-grant-amid-rule-law-rights-issues

Grevatt, Jon – ‘China offers USD500 million in military aid to Philippines’ (21.12.2016) link: http://www.janes.com/article/66457/china-offers-usd500-million-in-military-aid-to-philippines

Penzenstadler, Nick – ‘Philippines’ Duterte to U.S. over aid: ‘Bye-bye America’ (18.12.2016) link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/17/philippines-duterte-us-over-aid-bye-bye-america/95557384/

Sioson, Dana – ‘Duterte: ‘US a land of hypocrisy’ (20.12.2016) link: http://asianjournal.com/news/duterte-us-a-land-of-hypocrisy/

Cry havoc: Kanye creates more fuzz than actual news!

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This are one of these days where I see more articles about the meeting between President-Elect Donald J. Trump at the Trump Tower with the rapper Kanye West. What should be news that more and more people connected with either Big-Oil like the Standard Oil babies ExxonMobile, grand wizards of the economy, hedge fund infused billionaires and others are packing their offices to find ways of ravaging the faucets and gooses, while the workers are tripping and wonder what they voted in.

The American People been duped by a sales-man with such vigour and bravado that he claimed Hillary Clinton’s connection to the big business and Wall Street; while him two seconds and near the swearing-in are handpicking more Goldman Sachs officials than fish in a barrel.

With this in mind the visit of Kanye West at the Trump Tower is just a suggestion, from the man in 2011 on ‘Watch the Throne’ LP on the song ‘New Day’ wrote:

“And I’ll never let my son have an ego

He’ll be nice to everyone, wherever we go

I mean I might even make him be Republican

So everybody know he love white people”

Therefore, the truth of the matter is that this is not really a thing. If so, this is made-up to undermine the key aspects in the wind. The Goldman, the swamp swirling around the nest and dropping loads of golden eggs for the big business to use.

That the cabinet either filled with the ones that was to be cleared out of Washington D.C. or the populist agenda with men like Jeff Sessions and Stephen Bannon whose despicable worldview can destroy any kind of men has belief in decency left in the American Experience. Therefore, the scenery of this Alt-Right, White Supremacist in power should not overshadow the greedy-guts that are nominees for seriously grand opportunities.

Where bankers, where big industrialist and self-loathing interests combined with the infused tolerance for business over policy can conquer the republic’s works. As the lax-tax and corporate loopholes will be covered into a level where it isn’t a few bigger whole like a Swiss-Cheese, instead more like common water leaks like from pipes connected to the faucets.

The faucet is the sales-man on the top, the President-Elect Trump that gives all the donors of the Republican Party a feast, also the men and woman who can offer something in return; so the nomination is a future-buy in for a coming return on investment. The portfolio is more of government funds and taxes together with the estimated earnings on foreign affairs as the kickbacks through the political funded monies can return to the bankers and the industries that offered their nominees.

So we shouldn’t worry about Kanye is hanging out with the President-Elect, when the view of the man and woman handpicked to secure the coffers, misuse the immigrants as scarecrows for their economic policies to enrich themselves and their top 1 %, while leaving leaves and empty promises behind.

Therefore, American people be proud of you and yours have created! This is what you will become and what that is ahead, the President-Elect is surely going to have a blast and you as the citizen of the grand Republic going to left behind with the bill. Pay it either directly or to the rich-men is coffers or as a benefit for what you already had.

Certainly these noblemen who is handpicked by the Trump isn’t going to let you off the hook easily, they are in to cash-in or they are nominated to departments they back-in the day didn’t believe in like Ben Carson or Rick Perry. However, when they get a government position it’s all smiles and glory, even if they got no clue about the organization or its mission. Because that is not needed, because the President-Elect does not know what he is entitled to do either.

We can grin and wonder why Trump meet with Kanye, other than a publicity stunt of some kind, as the Republican blasted Obama for meeting Common at the White House, but no one is screaming vicious when Trump met with Kanye, since that is just so COOL!

Well, the reality is that the Republican party can stick it, for the pain and suffering they will give their own in the will of little government, little tax and massive army, the taxation policies as well as the prospects of Alt-Right policies to make enemies out of neighbours who are citizens as much the next one. Certainly, the Trump administration got work ahead, not only with themselves, but also with the Republic it will run. Peace.

On Trump: How did we get here?

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I got to ask! How did we get here? What happen for the worldwide of events to lead to the man of that stature to be elected as the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, the leader of the so-called free-world! That the man most enlightened and most visionary happen to be the Donald, Donald J. Trump of New York and Manhattan.

We got to ask, now that it’s a month since he won the Electoral College and days apart from when they are throwing their inherent ballot to suffocate the world for 4 years. The Electoral College that has been basis for speculations for months for all broadcaster’s from inner Montana to Hot 97 in New York. Seriously, the Democracy of world is based on few noble men and woman from the states electing a president on confidence of the rules in each state. Because the people cannot be trusted to already elect a person on the ballot. Not that the United States population is caring enough about civic education to consider a fellow caring human being, still they should reconsider their political system when a fellow like Trump can eat cake and vomit daily from the White House. Just as written here: “The Constitution does not specifically require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote in their states, but the laws of 29 states and the District of Columbia bind electors to do so. Some require pledges or threaten fines or criminal action, according to a summary of state laws by the National Assn. of Secretaries of State. No elector has ever been prosecuted for not voting as pledged. Since 1900, there have been only nine faithless electors who defected for individual reasons, including one who abstained from voting altogether” (Los Angeles Times – ‘All the times in U.S. history that members of the electoral college voted their own way’ (08.12.2016) link: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-faithless-electors-2016-story.html).

But, still with that in mind, how did we get there? It can be so many reasons, the lacking knowledge of how government works or the need for understanding of intricate policy building to succeed in Washington D.C. or that some daft small-town ignorant citizens would drop a metaphorical bomb on the lobbyists and elite in the capital. That is what they thought they did with electing a “billionaire” Trump who after becoming President-Elect started plotting together the riches, the most connected to big-business cabinet that has been in the White House. As well as taking in men who despise the ideas of certain departments and chambers they will run; so that the American government can become smaller and take in less tax of the wealthy that they all in power represent. They are walking away from the all the needed men and woman in the grass-root that ushered in the Trump Administration. So now they can do what they want without question, because the votes secured this chair’s and possibilities that is now in for the taking.

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We got there with fear, with a dishonest media, a dishonest internet, little spread of information and quick browsing through the contested campaigns as we still doesn’t know what “Making America Great Again!” means or to what extent making it better. If that is making KKK and Alt-Right accepted as a means of less-subtle racism in politics and the American communities, that has surely happen. That the Trump Campaign has surged on the fear of immigration and job-loss is clear factors, while they haven’t had a coherent plan to fix it. This has been seen as a factor while the Obama Administration took the nation from 7.9% unemployed into 4.9 % in 8 years that has happen while the Republican Party and Trump has claimed the destruction of nation as they know it. Which cannot be seen in statistics, tax-base or in sort of inflation level since the start of Recession of 2008; but that doesn’t matter because the myth of problems is what Trump needs! Just said like this: “The term Alt-Right, reputedly coined in 2008 by Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute, a bogus think-tank, encompasses views from libertarianism to paleoconservatism and onwards to the edges of pseudo-intellectual claptrap and the English language. Many Alt-Righters demonise Jews, but a few do not. Some, such as Brad Griffin of Occidental Dissent, another website, think “democracy can become a tool of oppression”, and that monarchy or dictatorship might be better; others, such as Mr Taylor, disagree. Some are techno-futurists; others espouse a kind of agrarian nostalgia. Many mourn the Confederacy. Mr Griffin thinks that, even today, North and South should separate” (…) “Yet from the quack ideologues to the out-and-proud neo-Nazis, some Alt-Right tenets are clear and constant. It repudiates feminism with misogynistic gusto. It embraces isolationism and protectionism. Above all, it champions white nationalism, or a neo-segregationist “race realism”, giving apocalyptic warning of an impending “white genocide”. Which, of course, is really just old-fashioned white supremacism in skimpy camouflage” (…) “The association precedes Mr Trump’s hiring as his campaign manager of Stephen Bannon, former boss of Breitbart News, a reactionary news website that Mr Bannon reportedly described as “the platform for the Alt-Right”, and which has covered the movement favourably” (Economist – ‘Trump and the Alt-Right Pepe and the stormtroopers’ 17.09.2016 link: http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21707201-how-donald-trump-ushered-hateful-fringe-movement-mainstream-pepe-and).

Why I ask myself this now is because of we’re soon in 2017, there will be important questions ahead. Many that we cannot foresee as much as the environment and climate change might mean for us, as kid of the 90s I remember the sun-damage danger and the Ozone, now it’s the CO2 emissions and heated polluted air, that Donald Trump doesn’t believe him because he is not a penguin who’s struggling to in dwindling ice on Greenland. As he assemble people who cares for business over environment, that cares more about production than the reasons for the earthquakes in Oklahoma state: “The state has seen a sever spike in earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher since 2008, when energy companies ramped up their hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas in the state, Choy said. The number of 3.0 magnitude quakes rose from 2 in 2008 to 889 last year, according to USGS statistics. So far this year, there have been 572” (USA Today,’ Oklahoma earthquake reignites concerns that fracking wells may be the cause’ 07.11.2016 link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/11/07/oklahoma-earthquake-fracking-well/93447830/).

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We can wonder how this might be, as the Alt-Right, Republican Cabinet is assembled by men and woman who will honour Trump, be his advisors and take orders as he doesn’t have trouble with connections with his own businesses that his kids will control while he is in command. This is still an issue a month after as he will be Executive Producer for ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ on NBC while being in the White House, which is a hobby for the old-man who just used two years becoming President. So the Trump Organization will surely be controlled from the White House as he cannot shelf his control from anything he touches, even if that breaches with the constitution. That foreign dignitaries are now renting rooms in the Trump Hotels close to the White House, as it just happen to done during the Presidential Campaign was just coincidence: “Wednesday’s grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the culmination of a $200 million project. The Trump Organization renovated the 1899 Romanesque Revival-style Old Post Office building, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. With 263 guest rooms and suites, and a ballroom that Trump has said is the biggest in the nation’s capital, the hotel is among the priciest in town. Donald Trump, speaking at the event, said the hotel came in “under budget and ahead of schedule.” He cut the ribbon in the lobby alongside wife Melania and children Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany” (Bloomberg – ‘Trump Executives Tout Brand Resilience at D.C. Hotel Opening’ 26.10.2016 link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-26/trump-executives-use-d-c-hotel-opening-to-tout-brand-resilience).

So as he was a Presidential-Candidate he could consider his time to his own business, how could we get there and how could the citizens who voted for him think he will act differently a month after? Certainly the proof now is clear that he thinks of his business and opportunities as much as he can consider America first. The public might grab glimpses of his thoughts on Twitter, but not a reality of how that will be configured in actions as President.

What the world can expect and how he will acts is unsure, more unsure than the policies of the Tories coming to the “leaving Europe and European Union in the Red-White-Blue Brexit” of Theresa May. Donald Trump might bomb somewhere for oil, he might kill kids and families to stop the civil war in Syria. What we can foresee of his actions is unknown and the US Society accepted that sort opinions and as a Commander-in-Chief is exceptional.

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The bravery and the reality, the stuttering silence of hope and only despair. Industrialization together with Multi-National Companies who gotten all freedom and liberty, while the citizens has to apply and be lucky to get jobs. The reality of Multi-National Companies steering lobbying in Washington D.C. and together with giant supported Super-PACs has picked out the “good” candidates for the Trump Administration as the roots of too big to fail is evident in the matter of businesses of the day. That is where the US dream is happening and dying. It is dying because of the Multi-National gets full control of the Senate and Congress, the President and if the Supreme Court Justices dies, than they can get their selected people to run for them there too. Not for the public good or will, but for the companies’ profits. That will be on overdrive with the men that has been picked as Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of Commerce.

How did we get to a place where the Presidential Candidate who was supposed to be there for the workers, the American workers was in shambles, that he nominees a man who has done this: “Puzder observes, “They’re not talking about $15 or $12 an hour, the kind of dramatic increases that are being bandied about in the political process right now.”  CKE’s average wage, he says, is a bit over $10 an hour, “so we’re not talking about everybody in the restaurant working for $7.25.” (In California, the minimum wage is now $10.) “But we’re talking about entry-level jobs. Are people going to want to hire entry-level employees for these very high minimums, which come with Obamacare, which come with mandatory sick leave, or other benefits which the government imposes on business for these individuals? Are you going to be able to keep minimum wage entry-level job positions open for individuals?” (L.A. Times – ‘   Does Andy Puzder really want to replace his Carl’s Jr. workers with robots? No, but…’ 30.03.2016 link: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-puzder-20160322-snap-htmlstory.html).

So with this all in mind, we should ask how we got here? Michael Moore said it so nicely back in the day: “Midwest Math, or Welcome to Our Rust Belt Brexit.  I believe Trump is going to focus much of his attention on the four blue states in the rustbelt of the upper Great Lakes – Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Four traditionally Democratic states – but each of them have elected a Republican governor since 2010 (only Pennsylvania has now finally elected a Democrat). In the Michigan primary in March, more Michiganders came out to vote for the Republicans (1.32 million) that the Democrats (1.19 million). Trump is ahead of Hillary in the latest polls in Pennsylvania and tied with her in Ohio. Tied? How can the race be this close after everything Trump has said and done? Well maybe it’s because he’s said (correctly) that the Clintons’ support of NAFTA helped to destroy the industrial states of the Upper Midwest. Trump is going to hammer Clinton on this and her support of TPP and other trade policies that have royally screwed the people of these four states” (…) “That’s a small peek into the mind of the Endangered White Male. There is a sense that the power has slipped out of their hands, that their way of doing things is no longer how things are done. This monster, the “Feminazi,”the thing that as Trump says, “bleeds through her eyes or wherever she bleeds,” has conquered us — and now, after having had to endure eight years of a black man telling us what to do, we’re supposed to just sit back and take eight years of a woman bossing us around?” (…) “The Depressed Sanders Vote. Stop fretting about Bernie’s supporters not voting for Clinton – we’re voting for Clinton! The polls already show that more Sanders voters will vote for Hillary this year than the number of Hillary primary voters in ’08 who then voted for Obama. This is not the problem. The fire alarm that should be going off is that while the average Bernie backer will drag him/herself to the polls that day to somewhat reluctantly vote for Hillary, it will be what’s called a “depressed vote” – meaning the voter doesn’t bring five people to vote with her. He doesn’t volunteer 10 hours in the month leading up to the election” (Michael More – ‘5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win’ link: http://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/).

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That Michael Moore saw it coming and asked for society to think about the reasons for protest Trump vote out there and the plans for shaking certain swing-states to the Republican Party. Something that happen… and it wasn’t beautiful the ones who had hope for another experience. We can just wonder how they got duped to follow this man and made the system ready for his as commander in chief!

I just wonder how the American Experience became Donald J. Trump, how we went from hope and change, into fear and depression, where the army and military will get more power, where the multi-national companies will be more connected with the Trump Administration and the fracking, big-oil, giant banks and finance industry get more power in the White House. The Republican Party and their loyal cronies will have both houses and the Presidency under Trump. So the possibilities are endless. We can wonder how we got here.

How did we get here? And we should ask ourselves that? The answers are many and reasons for the US election turning to Trump should be asked more times as the answers will be different with times, as the layers will peeled off and we will find the core reasons for why a Reality Star, a Real Estate Investor and a Limited Label salesman, sometimes a snake-oil of that, became the next President of the United States. Peace.

The nominations of Mnuschin and Ross proves that Donald Trump is not ‘draining the swamp’!

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The Economic Policies of any United States administration are usually bound by the people that are running two key positions; these are Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of Commerce. The Economy is bound by the decisions these ones do. This here will prove what kind of administration that Trump will run and what kind of regulations of trade, business and economy in general. Therefore the picking of personnel is central to how the state of affairs at the top of the food-chain in Washington.

Donald Trump the Presidential-Elect that has been all and mighty on draining the swamp. So he proves that it was just words during the campaign to sell to his supporters, he even pledged this earlier in the year:

“We have to give new voices a chance … so we can have a government that works again and can function properly …” Trump said” (Hughes, 2016).

Draining the Swamp:

“There is another major announcement I am going to make today as part of our pledge to drain the swamp in Washington. If I am elected President, I will push for a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress” (…) “Decades of failure in Washington, and decades of special interest dealing, must come to an end. We have to break the cycle of corruption, and we have to give new voices a chance to go into government service. The time for Congressional term limits has arrived” (…) “Not only will we end our government corruption, but we will end the economic stagnation” (Trump, 2016).

We will first see what the Treasury are supposed to do and what the department will do:

“Treasury’s mission highlights its role as the steward of U.S. economic and financial systems, and as an influential participant in the world economy” (Treasury.gov – ‘About – Role of Treasury’). So the Secretary of Treasury is important for the financial system, therefore it’s important to look at the nominee. So we have to look into the nominee who has influence of the financial systems.

Also, we have to see what is special about the Department of Commerce: “The Department works with businesses, universities, communities, and the Nation’s workers to promote job creation, economic growth, sustainable development, and improved standards of living for Americans. Through its 12 bureaus and nearly 47,000 employees located in all 50 states and five U.S. territories and more than 86 countries worldwide, the Department administers critical programs that touch the lives of every American” (Commerce.gov – ‘About Commerce’). So we can see the importance of the person leading these 12 bureaus that should make it possible to create jobs and commercial business in the United States, therefore the person leading here has to know how to improve the economic growth.

With this knowledge the persons acts before and their economic framework together with the economic platform; that means their faith in the markets or the regulations. That he will give way to free regulations for the financial markets instead of regulating them.

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Steve Mnuchin is the nominee for Secretary of Treasury:

Mnuchin worked at Goldman Sachs for seventeen years, where he eventually became an executive vice president. According to the Wall Street Journal, he left in 2002 “at the age of 39 with a reported $46 million stake in the bank.” He was recruited by his Yale roommate, Eddie Lampert, to join ESL, a hedge fund, as vice chairman. A few months later, he jumped to SFM Capital Management as its CEO. But within a few months he changed jobs again, leaving SFM to co-found Dune Capital with his former Goldman colleagues Daniel Neidich and Chip Seelig” (…) “In 2009, Mnuchin helped assemble a group of investors (including computer capitalist Michael Dell, financier George Soros, private equity investor Christopher Flowers, and hedge fund titan John Paulson) to buy IndyMac Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as part of a sweetheart deal. They renamed it OneWest Bank and kept its headquarters in Pasadena” (Dreier, 2016).

Relativity bankrupt:

Relativity explicitly blames the bank, founded by Steve Mnuchin, who until recently was one of studio founder Ryan Kavanaugh’s best friends and a company director, for violating bankruptcy procedures and for delaying the release of a movie recently considered to be the studio’s savior, a letter and an email from the company obtained by The Post reveal” (…) “ OneWest’s hoovering up of the $50 million, revealed in court papers, included $32 million drained from the studio’s library and $17.9 million from two other accounts” (…) “The bank’s actions placed Relativity in a precarious financial state, forcing it to largely “stop paying many vendor bills, to postpone production of certain film projects and to postpone the release of certain completed films,” Blackstone’s Tim Coleman, Relativity’s financial adviser, said in court papers” (McCaulay, 2016)

Foreclosure from OneWest:  

“According to Gudiel, when she tried to make the $2,500-a-month mortgage payment two weeks late in November 2009, OneWest refused the payment and instructed her to pursue a loan modification, a long process that ultimately ended in rejection in January” (…) “OneWest referred questions to the public relations firm Sard Verbinnen & Co., which said that Fannie Mae, which holds about one-third of the mortgages in the country, had not authorized them to modify the loan” (… ) “OneWest is pleased that it has been able to work with Fannie Mae, the owner of the loan, to authorize it to offer the Gudiels a loan modification that would allow the family to stay in their home,” the firm said in a statement” (Huus, 2011).

Fraud from his bank:

While the Rigalis were negotiating on the mortgage modifications, IndyMac Federal Bank failed in what would be the fourth-largest bank failure in U.S. history. What was left of IndyMac was acquired in March 2009 by a Mnuchin-led group of private investors for $1.55 billion” (…) “The Rigalis’ court filings “alleged they were led to believe, by representatives of several banks over a period of years, that their $560,000 loan would be modified. They believed they had entered into several forbearance agreements with several but related banks.” (…) “Crandall wrote in his denial of the motion that “the facts before the court are sufficient to defeat summary judgment” of most of OneWest Bank’s assertions, and he concluded that the Rigalis produced enough proven evidence to show that they could prevail in a jury trial. OneWest quickly offered a settlement, sources said” (…) “Recent legislative measures “provide an important lens” for the court to look through, wrote Crandall in denying OneWest’s motion” (…) “The judge was referring to the banking practice of dual tracking, in which a borrower in default seeks a modification while the institution continues at the same time to pursue foreclosure. By the time the borrower learns what is happening, it is usually too late to prevent the foreclosure” (Blackburn, 2013).

Just as he has become the nominee certain board positions he had to give up:

“NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), cit.com, a leading provider of commercial lending and leasing services, today announced that Steven T. Mnuchin has resigned from its Board of Directors, effective immediately. His resignation follows President-elect Donald J. Trump’s announced intention to nominate Mnuchin as the next Secretary of the Treasury” (…) “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Steven for his contributions to CIT,” said Ellen R. Alemany, Chairwoman and CEO. “Steven has been a valued member of our Board, and we wish him well in this monumental role.” (CIT.com, 2016). He also stepped down from being a board-member at Sears.

So the OneWest CEO Steve Mnuchin is becoming the Secretary of Treasury in the Trump Administration. He been a board-member in CIT and Sears, as well as been speculative in foreclosures in people’s homes as well as Relativity studio or Film Company became bankrupt because of the loans and structure of funding through OneWest. So this speculative actions can be assured of will happen, but not with just one hedge-fund Wall-Street banker bravado, but now with the economic policies as underlining from the newly nominated Munuchin.

Than we have the other nominee that will lead 12 important bureaus that is now being delegated through the financial heavy weight Ross; which also have long history on Wall Street.

wilbur-ross

Wilbur Ross is the nominee for Secretary of Commerce:  

Wilbur is another fellow with a spreadsheet that is impressive, but also sees the cynical side of the economy, where the importance of business is profits; not actually creating work. Therefore his nomination is more about securing equity is the reality than the person who actually earns those fortunes. Therefore the way he salvaged the businesses and made profits on them, as well as the reality of the man behind those transactions and how many settlements for fraudulent acts from his companies and subsidiaries. Here is a little look!

Wilbur Ross is best known for his ability to find distressed companies and turn them around for a large profit – it is a talent that has given him an estimated net worth of more than $2 billion. And in recent years Ross’s sights have been firmly set on financial companies. Since 2008 he has invested a reported $1.8 billion into banks.  But now he has had enough. NBNK Investments, the investment company in which Ross took a 30% stake in 2013 and that tried and failed to buy TSB from Lloyds, is closing. In 2010 NBNK had raised £50 million in an IPO with the aim of financing European banks. Six years later, it didn’t have a single investment to show for it” (Avery, 2016).

WL Ross & Co. LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, is a private equity firm that was founded in 2000. WL Ross registered as an investment adviser with the Commission in April 2007. WL Ross is headquartered in New York, New York. Since 2006, WL Ross has been wholly owned by Invesco Private Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of Invesco Ltd., a publicly traded company (collectively, “Invesco”). WL Ross provides investment advisory services to the WLR Funds and other private equity funds, as well as to separately managed accounts and co-investment vehicles. According to its most recent Form ADV filing as of April 21, 2016, WL Ross has approximately $4.6 billion in assets under management” (Service Exchange Commission, 2016).

“Between 2001 and 2011, WL Ross adopted a Transaction Fee allocation methodology that resulted in WLR retaining a significant amount of those fees for itself rather than allocating them to the WLR Funds for the purpose of offsetting the management fee. Specifically, WL Ross allocated Transaction Fees that it earned from portfolio investments to the WLR Funds based upon their relative ownership percentages of the portfolio company without disclosing this practice. As a result, WL Ross retained for itself that portion of the Transaction Fees that was based upon co-investors’ relative ownership of the portfolio company, without subjecting such fees to any management fee offsets. WLR did not disclose to the WLR Funds and to the Funds’ limited partners that it would allocate Transaction Fees according to the above allocation methodology, and that WLR construed the ambiguous provisions in the relevant LPAs in its own favor rather than the WLR Funds’ favor. If WL Ross had instead adopted a methodology requiring the allocation of all Transaction Fees pro rata among the investing WLR Funds (and other WLR funds that also had offset provisions) and offset the WLR Funds’ management fees accordingly, the WLR Funds (and other WLR funds that also had offset provisions) would have received the benefit of all Transaction Fees received by WL Ross. WL Ross received approximately $10.4 million more in management fees using the selected methodology than if it had allocated Transaction Fees pro rata among the WLR Funds for management fee offset purposes during the relevant time period” (Security Exchange Commission, 2016).

Earning money on failing business:

“In May the board of NBNK, made up of private equity firm WL Ross & Co’s senior vice president Stephen Johnson, and Labour life peer and barrister Lord Brennan, voted in May to make the payment to WL Ross & Co for the “recovery of legal fees and other due diligence costs.” (…) “The vehicle’s most recent accounts revealed a loss for the year of £271,000, from a loss of £182,000 the previous year” (Bambrough, 2016).

“Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross has reached a deal to buy Nexeo Solutions Holdings LLC, a distributor of plastic resins and chemicals, for roughly $1.6 billion, including debt” (…) “Nexeo is currently owned by private-equity firm TPG, which purchased the company for nearly $1 billion from U.S. specialty-chemicals producer Ashland Inc (NYSE: ASH) in 2011. The deal is expected to be announced on Monday morning” (…) “WL Ross Holding will pay $500 million in cash and fund the rest of the purchase with debt, the sources told the newspaper. TPG will roll over some of its equity into the new public company, one of the people told the Journal” (DiSavino, 2016).

“The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that the group failed to disclose its fee allocation practices, resulting in investors overpaying by $10.4m between 2001 and 2011. WL Ross was not allocating transaction fees to the funds to offset management fees, the SEC said” (…) “WL Ross also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $2.3m, but neither admitted to nor denied the SEC’s findings” (…) “We are pleased to have arrived at a resolution around historical management fee disclosure in a subset of our funds,” said Jeaneen Terrio, a spokesperson for Invesco, which bought WL Ross in 2006. “This resolution reflects a proactive approach to handling the matter and our commitment to exceeding the expectations of today’s private equity market.” (Sampson, 2016).

wilbur-ross-2012-quote

Fixing Irish Economy:

As an investor in Bank of Ireland, it would be a surprise if Ross thought otherwise – after all he needs to recoup his investment and more. But he is one of the world’s most successful turnaround financiers – his involvement in the turnaround of over $200bn of distressed assets worldwide has earned him the nickname ‘king of bankruptcy’. So his words will be a boost to Ireland’s international standing” (…) “In the past few weeks of financial turmoil, Ireland has seen some faith in the international money markets restored, with 10-year bond yields down from 14% in mid-July to around 9%.” (O’Carroll, 2011).

So Donald Trump’s way of cleaning up the swamp is giving the idiom or a myth, because Wall Street connections with Washington D.C. cartels were not supposed to happen under the presidency. With the knowledge of the men he has picked in charge of the Economy, this proves that it was never a part of plan. If so Trump has a rare way of sending of the message with hiring and nominating Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross.

These men have worked up fortunes and earned monies on the destruction of the American Dream. They have taken people’s hard-earned monies and created profits overnight. These men have used sophisticated limited liabilities companies, hedge-funds and transactions to earn monies on failed houses and companies. With ease the men and woman could be stifled even the government banks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the foreclosed homes has even been a bargain. These men are supposed to create industry and the regulations for the finance industry. Together with the creations of consolidation funds and the roll-over money from the government; so that the debt could be staying longer as Mnuchin believes even can be put into 100 year bonds. That could create an unknown inflation of funds and also of the regulations of the combined currency in the market. Something that Wall Street people sees it as an opportunity.

trump-regulations

Donald Trump has seeking to revamp the economy with men who are connected with the biggest investors of our time, with the families and using all kind of tricks to earn coins for themselves. Even the SEC has fined the companies of Mr. Ross for misbehaving with funds and with commissions, these men that has used ways of loop-holing the finance industry; the finance industry they now will steer. This can only be for the freedom of the giant companies and the wealth they have created in the market place on other people’s misery.

Trump has picked and nominated men who’s greed extend nearly no boundaries, these men will not drain a swamp or even follow up the promises on the campaign. They will continue and less regulates the economy. That might bring back the recession or even depression as the richer get wealthier and the poor will not become the middle-class.

These men has surely will secure the class there are set in and want to be part of. The one that they have been parts of and will secure the future of. These are not working-class friendly men who connect with the Indiana, Minnesota and Mississippi. So Trump clearly only a one-man show for the façade and not the real deal, sort of like a government acting on the Trump University philosophy: “You’re selling a feeling, not a product” and the same does the Trump Organization and now the Trump Administration.

The lie this time is the draining the swamp, the corporate parts of Washington D.C. politics and elites, as Trump chooses the same or even more wealthier businessmen who has more connections inside Wall Street and has more conflict of interest than before. The Trump Administration in the White House will be filled with men who have their business at heart and not the citizens who voted for him. Peace.

Reference:

Avery, Helen – ‘Banking: Wilbur Ross chases shadows’ (May 2016) Link: http://www.euromoney.com/Article/3551137/Banking-Wilbur-Ross-chases-shadows.html?copyrightInfo=true

Bambrough, Billy – ‘US billionaire investor Wilbur Ross picks up £280,000 from the ashes of NBNK’ (04.07. 2016) link: http://www.cityam.com/244546/us-billionaire-investor-wilbur-ross-picks-up–ashes

Blackburn, Daniel – ‘OneWest Bank pays 7 figures in mortgage fraud case’ (11.09.2013) link: https://calcoastnews.com/2013/09/onewest-bank-pays-7-figures-mortgage-fraud-case/

CIT.com – ‘CIT Announces Resignation of Steven T. Mnuchin from Board of Directors’ (02.12.2016) link: http://news.cit.com/press-release/corporate-news/cit-announces-resignation-steven-t-mnuchin-board-directors

Dreier, Peter – ‘The Worst of Wall Street: Meet Donald Trump’s Finance Chairman’ (10.05.2016) link: https://www.thenation.com/article/the-worst-of-wall-street-meet-donald-trumps-finance-chairman/

DiSavino, Scott – ‘Wilbur Ross to buy Nexeo from TPG for $1.6 billion: source’ (20.03.2016) link: http://www.streetinsider.com/Mergers+and+Acquisitions/Wilbur+Ross+to+buy+Nexeo+from+TPG+for+$1.6+billion%3A+source/11434492.html

McCaulay, Scott – ‘Controversial Film Financier Steven Mnuchin Joins Trump Campaign as National Finance Chairman’ (05.05.2016) link: https://filmmakermagazine.com/98428-controversial-film-financier-steven-mnuchin-joins-trump-campaign-as-national-finance-chairman/

Hughes, Trevor – ‘Trump calls to ‘drain the swamp’ of Washington’ (18.10.2016) link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/10/18/donald-trump-rally-colorado-springs-ethics-lobbying-limitations/92377656/

Huus, Kari – ‘Homeowner taps ‘Occupy’ protest to avoid foreclosure’ (17.10.2011) link: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44908122/ns/us_news-life/t/homeowner-taps-occupy-protest-avoid-foreclosure/#.WEHO5fnhDIU

O’Carroll, Lisa – ‘Ireland will be ‘Celtic Tiger’ again – Wilbur Ross’ (31.08.2011) link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/ireland-business-blog-with-lisa-ocarroll/2011/aug/31/ireland

Samson, Adam – ‘WL Ross in $14.1m settlement with US over fee disclosures’ (24.08.2016) link: https://www.ft.com/content/e8424f8f-5031-3d50-941b-a51ccaa07980

Security Exchange Commission – ‘Release No. 4494 / August 24, 2016 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-17491’ (24.08.2016)

Trump, Donald J. – ‘TRUMP PLEDGES TO DRAIN THE SWAMP AND IMPOSE CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS’ (18.10.2016) link: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/trump-pledges-to-drain-the-swamp

Statement Regarding Revocation of Relief to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. from Certain Regulatory Consequence of Enforcement Actions (18.11.2016)

wells-fargo-18-11-2016

Opinion: Jeff Sessions as Attorney General could bring back the “Shameful era”

sessionsnewspaperclip

If you ever thought the Cabinet and the picked men and might be woman under the Presidency of Trump would be without controversy, you’re wrong after he picked his Campaign Manager Stephen Bannon for Chief Strategist in the White House. There are bunch of other complicated and important roles to fill for the new Administration under Trump.

That a Senator from Alabama gets into a Cabinet isn’t new or controversial, but the long-serving Senator Jeff Sessions has a shady history and also some principals that are concerning. Especially considering that the Attorney General of the United States is this:

The Attorney General represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. In matters of exceptional gravity or importance the Attorney General appears in person before the Supreme Court. Since the 1870 Act that established the Department of Justice as an executive department of the government of the United States, the Attorney General has guided the world’s largest law office and the central agency for enforcement of federal laws” (Justice.gov – Office of the Attorney General – About the Office).

sessions

So in legal matters the appointment of Jeff Sessions will be representing the US Government and also directly advice the President, which is Trump. He is a real partner in crime, one racist to another, the company of men at the White House and tightknit elite in Washington will now have the same perspectives on Border Control, Immigration, and Abortion for instance; which are civil liberties they don’t seem to see much value in.

The man Attorney General Jeff Sessions from Alabama has this history and beliefs. Take a look!

Last Election for his Senate seat in 2014:

Sessions’ unopposed status this year helps seal Alabama’s reputation as a “red” Republican state. It’s a 180-degree turn from Alabama’s status as unfriendly territory for the GOP. Winger cites 1950, 1956 and 1974 as times when Democrats won election to the U.S. Senate without major opposition, or with no opponent at all. Until 2014, however, Republicans were never given the same pass” (Stinson, 2014).

sessions-klan-okay

Special Testimonies about him:

“Wildman writes in particular that the testimonies of two witnesses–a Justice Department employee named J. Gerald Hebert, and a black Sessions subordinate named Thomas Figures–helped to doom Sessions, then a U.S. Attorney, at his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings. According to Wildman, Hebert testified reluctantly “that in a conversation between the two men Sessions had labeled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” And Figures–then an assistant U.S. Attorney–told the committee that “during a 1981 murder investigation involving the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions was heard by several colleagues commenting that he ‘used to think they [the Klan] were OK’ until he found out some of them were ‘pot smokers.'” (TPM DC, 2009).

Voting Scandal:

“SARAH WILDMAN: Thanks for having me, Amy.

Well, as you described, Sessions was a US attorney in 1986 when Reagan appointed him to the US District Court of Alabama. He, at the time, had been at the helm of a voting scandal in Alabama, where he had charged three civil rights leaders with voting fraud, that is, falsifying absentee ballots, you know, faking various voters. And after investigation, they were all acquitted. It was called the Marion Three. One of them, Albert Turner, had been an aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. And that was sort of the tip of the iceberg about Jeff Sessions” (Wildman & Rivera, 2009).

turner

“Sessions has always been willing to take on unpopular fights. As U.S. attorney, he prosecuted a group of African-American civil-rights activists for voter fraud, and his nomination prompted charges of racism from local and national officials. Colleagues at the Department of Justice accused him of racism, too, and the late Democratic senator Ted Kennedy warned that he would be a “throwback to a shameful era.” A black colleague and even a local black journalist testified on his behalf. Ultimately, his nomination was defeated. In an unusual turn of events, Senator Howell Heflin, a conservative Democrat who was expected to support his fellow Alabamian, bucked tradition and cast the deciding vote against him” (Johnson, 2014).

Standing for existing Gun-laws:

“As you mentioned in your letter, Congress and federal officials often respond to tragic events by imposing new laws and regulations that restricts gun ownership. I do not believe the solution here is to create new laws. Instead, we should focus on enforcing existing laws, and turn our attention to criminals who obtain or use guns illegally. For Example, under current law, there is mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for discharging a firearm in relation to any crime of violence and a maximum penalty of death for criminals convicted for first-degree murder” (Sessions, 2012).

Senator Sessions Letter 2015

Immigration:

““A new study confirms that the labor-force participation rate is at a thirty-year low – meaning that small improvements in the employment rate have masked the deeper trend of a shrinking labor force with more people retiring early, going on disability, turning to welfare, and giving up looking for work altogether,” Sessions said in a statement today” (…) ““In 1999, half of teenagers had a summer job; today, it’s a mere third,” Sessions said. “Wages are also lower today than they were in 1999. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 without a high school diploma remains unable to find a job. This is more than temporary problem but an alarming trend: the workforce is shrinking and the welfare rolls are expanding.” (…) “Chronic unemployment causes enormous social harm – to schools, to families, to communities. Do we really want a society with a large, growing block of Americans who are permanently out of work?” Sessions said. “A swift amnesty and a permanent surge in low-skill immigration may make sense for some business interests – but it makes no sense for a nation that is currently struggling with exploding welfare rolls, falling wages and chronic unemployment.” (Talbot, 2013).

“Under a story headlined “Catch and Release,” CIS said the Obama Administration’s policies of prosecutorial discretion were leading to a decline in immigration enforcement” (…) “American citizens have a legal and moral right to the protections our immigration laws afford—at the border, the interior and the workplace,” Sessions said. “The Administration has stripped these protections and adopted a government policy that encourages new arrivals to enter illegally or overstay visas by advertising immunity from future enforcement.” Cason, 2014)

“Shockingly, of the 400,000 caught, 80 percent are released into the United States,” said Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. “We cannot allow the Mexican border to turn into lawless area where drugs and crime predominate,” he said”(Herera & Reyes, 2016).

Abortion:

“BLOCK: “Before the meeting today, we heard the president say he doesn’t have a litmus test around the issue of abortion. He did say he believes that constitutional values, though, include the protection of privacy and what he called bodily integrity. Could you, do you think, support a nominee who also embraces that belief?” (NPR, 2010).

“ Sen. SESSIONS: It’s the question, you know, fundamentally of a person’s constitutional analysis. You know, people can disagree. And I think it would result in simply how they analyze the cases and not just that case, but the many, many, many other issues that come before the court. So we would like to see I would like to see a nominee who is committed to faithfully following the Constitution as it is written. And that understands that they’re not empowered to consult polling data or social conditions as they interpret the existing words of our Constitution” (NPR, 2010)

I don’t want to discuss this, I just want to show this, because this should matter, but it doesn’t do for Trump, because the moral flexible man is just for his own ego. Picks the men he knows will be loyal to him and not the Government itself. These men will follow him and feel alike in manner of belief of other people and policy, even if he has so. Other than his bloated ego and wanting to have men who he can control; therefore he picks a giant fan and long-term senator.

This Attorney General is worrying because of his casual belief in changing laws and how he wants to make the immigration laws stronger and fight the immigrants. This cannot be seen as healthy stance. Welcome back the Shameful Era is now here. It’s with Bannon and Sessions, and who else that the Trump Administration picks. To now the only spineless, but decent pick of men has Reince Priebus to have White House position.

Enough of this racist nonsense, but there will be more as the Trump Transition Team is handpicking the men who are the most appealing to Breitbart and other fringe spheres of the American Experience. Peace.  

session-trump-ad

Reference:

Cason, Mike – ‘Sen. Jeff Sessions says report shows ‘immigration enforcement in America has collapsed’ (updated)’ (31.03.2014) link: http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/03/center_for_immigration_studies.html

Herrera, Sarah & Reyes, Anthony Victor – ‘Jan Brewer, Jeff Sessions tour border near Naco’ (05.11.2016) link: http://www.kvoa.com/story/33636916/jan-brewer-jeff-sessions-tour-border-near-naco

Johnson, Eliana – ‘Amnesty’s Worst Enemy’ (06.08.2014) Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384665/amnestys-worst-enemy-eliana-johnson

TPM DC – ‘Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I’d Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called ‘Boy’ (07.05.2009) link: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sessions-subordinate-i-thought-i-d-be-fired-if-i-objected-to-being-called-boy?ref=fp1

NPR – ‘Sen. Sessions On Supreme Court Vacancy’ (21.03.2010) link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126171302

Stinson, Jim – ‘Jeff Sessions makes history by being unopposed for U.S. Senate, and re-election campaign is in no hurry’ (27.07.2014) link: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/jeff_sessions_makes_history_by.html

Talbot, George – ‘Sen. Jeff Sessions: Labor Day a reminder why immigration bill must be stopped’ (02.09.2013) link: http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/09/sen_jeff_sessions_labor_day_a.html

Wildman, Sarah & Rivera, Jenny – ‘Two Decades After His Rejection from Federal Bench for Racial Bias, Sen. Jeff Sessions Leads GOP Opposition to Sotomayor’ (14.07.2009) link: https://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/14/sessions

US Senator Jeff Sessions Letter to Tom Gordon (20.07.2012)