Cambridge Professor, Stefan Halper, Outed as FBI Informant Inside Trump Campaign
Cambridge professor, Stefan Halper, 73, with deep ties to American and British intelligence has been outed as an agent who snooped on the Trump presidential campaign for the FBI.
Multiple media outlets have named Stefan Halper as the secret informant who met with Trump campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos starting in the summer of 2016. Halper is an American-born academic previously who served in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.
Halper’s sit-down conversations with Carter Page reportedly started in early July 2016, undermining fired FBI Director James Comey’s previous claim that the bureau’s investigation into the Trump campaign began at the end of that month. Halper made his first overture when he met with Page at a British symposium. The two remained in regular contact for more than a year, meeting at Halper’s Virginia farm and in Washington, DC, as well as exchanging emails. Halper met with Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis in late August, offering his services as a foreign policy adviser, the Washington Post reported Friday. Halper contacted Papadopoulos by email. Halper offered Papadopoulos $3,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to London, ostensibly to write a paper about energy in the eastern Mediterranean region. It is not clear if Halper was paid to speak with Trump campaign figures, but public records show that he has received large payments from the federal government in the last two years. The Department of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment — a think tank that reports directly to the secretary of defense — paid Halper $282,000 in 2016 and $129,000 in 2017.
U.S. and China Halt Imposing Import Tariffs
President Donald Trump on Monday touted the outlines of an agreement between the U.S. and China to reduce trade tensions between the two countries, painting the agreement as a major win for the U.S.So far, the parameters remain vague. It's unclear, for instance, how China's promised increased purchases of U.S. goods will be executed.
Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, also stressed that the deal was a preliminary agreement and there were many details to work out."This is not some term sheet for a corporate finance deal," Kudlow said during a CNBC interview. "This is a very complicated deal for the two most complex economies in the world."
Based on statements from the White House and other administration officials, here's what we know about the deal so far:
The U.S. will put on hold tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese goods: Mnuchin said the tariffs, which were imposed as punishment for alleged Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property, were "suspended" but could be reimposed.
China promised to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural and energy products: Mnuchin told Fox News on Sunday that China would increase its purchases of US agricultural products by 35% to 40% over the next year, but he did not offer details. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will work out those details during a future trip to China, Mnuchin said.
China promised to "substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China": The US runs a $375 billion annual goods trade deficit with China, its largest such imbalance with any country. Chinese officials say that would be done by increasing imports of US goods to China.
Mnuchin also said the two sides discussed increasing trade in other categories and the possibility of China overhauling some of its trade policies.
Maduro Wins Venezuelan Election
President Nicolas Maduro won a second term as president of Venezuela. Electoral officials declared Nicolas Maduro president on Sunday night, May 20th. Maduro is a socialist ruler.
In the capital and around the country, the voter turnout was extremely low, with more than half of voters not casting ballots. Election officials have said that Nicolas Maduro received 5.8 million votes, with more than 92 percent of voting centers reporting, that was nearly 68 percent of the votes cast.
Maduro’s main rival was Henri Falcón, a former state governor, who received 1.8 million votes. Henri Falcon has accused Nicolas Maduro of pressuring voters and said that he would not recognize the election results.
“We don’t recognize this electoral process as valid,” Mr. Falcón said, speaking at his campaign center before the official results were made public. “For us, there was no election. There must be a new election in Venezuela.”
Many other world leaders and countries, including the U.S. has said that the election was unfair and anti- democratic. The United States has threatened stricter sanctions on Venezuela.
School Shooting Data from 1982 to 2000 as compared to shootings from 2000 to 2018
These numbers only include shootings that resulted in 4 or more deaths. 4 or more deaths is widely considered a “mass shooting”. There is no data compiled on “non-mass” shootings or small school shootings.
According to Mother Jones: “In July 2012, in the aftermath of the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado, Mother Jones created a first-of-its-kind open-source database documenting mass shootings in the United States. Our research focused on indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker.”
From 1982-2000 there were 6 school shootings, leaving 38 people dead and injuring 99 people. From 2001-present there have been 11 school shootings, that have resulted in 134 deaths and 106 injures.
Alleged Texas school shooter spared people he liked, court document says
The teen who allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver to kill 10 people at Santa Fe high school in Texas Friday spared the people he liked during the deadly rampage, a probable cause affidavit says. Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has cooperated with police, Galveston County Magistrate Mark Henry said.
Pagourtzis is being held without bail and is accused of capital murder of multiple people and aggravated assault on a public servant. He has not entered a plea. The suspect won't face the death penalty if he is convicted. Under Texas law, offenders who are under age 18 and charged with a capital offense face a maximum punishment of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, according to Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Pagourtzis told an investigator he acted alone and spared people he liked because he wanted his story told, the probable cause affidavit says.
According to the Washington Post, Santa Fe High School was considered a hardened target, with an active-shooter plan and two armed police officers on patrol. Several law-enforcement officers were praised on Friday for quickly confronting the gunman who police say killed 10 people at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas.
Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters that "There's no alternative. Because every second means that someone else is going to die." McCraw credited two "brave officers" from the Santa Fe Independent School District, who he said "stepped up to the plate" and engaged the shooter.
Pew Research Center Poll Shows That Most U.S. Teens Are Worried That a Shooting Could Happen at Their School
From March 7- April 12, 2018, Pew Research Center polled teens ages 13 to 17 and parents with children in the same age range. Overall, 57% of teens say they are worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school, with one-in-four saying they are very worried. About three-in-ten (29%) say they are not too worried about this, and just 13% say they are not at all worried.
Nonwhite teens express a higher level of concern than their white peers. Roughly two-thirds (64%) of nonwhite teens, including 73% of Hispanics, say they are at least somewhat worried about this, compared with 51% of white teens.
School shooting fears differ by gender as well: 64% of girls say they are very or somewhat worried about a shooting happening at their school, compared with 51% of boys.
AP-NORC Poll: Gun control has highest support in five years
On March 19, 2018, 69% of Americans said they think that gun laws in the United States should be made stricter.
In October 2016, 61% of people polled said gun laws in the United States should be made stricter.
In October 2013 (when AP first asked this question), 55% of people polled said gun laws in the United States should be made stricter.
Hillary Clinton to get Harvard medal for ‘transformative impact on society’:
Hillary Clinton will receive Harvard’s prestigious Radcliffe Medal for her “transformative impact on society,” according to the Ivy League university. She will receive the award Friday as part of the school’s graduation-week activities. Organizers at Harvard say Hillary Clinton was chosen for the award because she’s a “champion for human rights,” a “skilled legislator” and “an advocate of American leadership” on the world stage.
Previous medal recipients include Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.
Yale being probed by DOE, accused of 'toxic environment against men'
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is investigating Yale University after a male student from another school filed a Title IX complaint in February, accusing the Ivy League institution of a “toxic environment against men.”
The original complaint came from Kursat Christoff Pekgoz, an English literature doctoral student at the University of Southern California. He filed the complaint after he singled out Yale for its overall culture of anti-male discrimination by providing benefits exclusively for women, despite its declining male enrollment.
The organizations that are being investigated are: The Women Faculty Forum, Working Women’s Network, the Yale University Women’s Organization, Yale Women’s Campaign School, Yale Women Innovators, Smart Women Securities and Women Empowering Women Leadership Conference.
Reuben Foster's Accuser Testifies She Lied About Domestic Violence Incident
Reuben Foster's ex-girlfriend told a court on Thursday that she lied about an alleged domestic violence incident to get the San Francisco 49ers player in trouble because she was upset with him.
Elissa Ennis testified that the linebacker didn't drag her downstairs by her hair, hit her multiple times or throw her out of the house on Feb. 11, as she originally told police. She explained her injuries which included a ruptured ear drum and bruising and cuts on her face, neck, hand and knee came from a fight with another woman the day before in a road-rage incident.
A 22-second video of that fight turned up on social media soon after, and a friend of Ennis sent it to her in mid-March. Ennis then turned that video over to her attorney for review. Ennis gave a two-hour testimony and also admitted she had tried to get domestic violence charges against a different boyfriend in 2011 when he tried to break things off.
Under questioning from Josh Bentley, Foster's attorney, she also admitted she stole money and jewelry from Foster's home. "I wanted him to go down. I was pissed," Ennis said of Foster, who had accused her of cheating and wanted to break up. “It was all a money scheme. I didn’t want to get this far in the news. It was about money.”
She also admitted to stealing more than $8,000 from Foster after taking his account and routing numbers. That money has since been seized by the bank and returned to Foster, but Ennis said she still has the two Rolexes she took from Foster in a safe deposit box in Louisiana.
Foster, 23, faces charges of domestic violence, forcefully attempting to dissuade a witness and possession of an assault weapon. He was not charged with animal abuse. Foster pleaded not guilty. At the end of the preliminary hearing, the judge said she would take time to consider the evidence before making a ruling next Wednesday.
Mail Time!
- Hey Bill, I think President Trump can ask for the resignations of Sessions & Rosenstein. Why doesn't the president go on national TV to the nation, & announce that if Sessions & Rosenstein do not hand over the requested memos to Nunes & Gowdy in 24 hours ‐ he'll fire the DOJ leaders? The fallout will be expected from the left, but Pres Trump's supporters will rejoice. A win‐win for the Pres, the congressional oversighters, & the nation.
- Hi Bill, I am a recent Premium member and ordered a signed copy of Killing the SS. Can't wait to get it. My question, I know that this topic has been discussed to death but once it was found out that the dossier was based on lies why wasn't the Mueller investigation shut down and the perpetrators of said dossier Hillary and associates prosecuted? Why is this being allowed to go on.
- Hi Bill, I really enjoyed the replay of your best of guest interviews. We appreciate all you do, and I must say you have an adorable mascot, the most famous corgi dog ever, Holly!
Word of the Day: Picayune |
